Her black stiletto heels clicked against the stone pavings leading up to the restaurant. They were the only thing which was only and slightly battered but they would have to do, not too high but still a shoes which added a few inches to her 5 foot 5 inches. They made her legs longer and slimmer, the left which was revealed by her new dress, left appearing toned and also tanned due to the new and fresh white of the fabric. The metal belt gleamed sharply in the light of the street lamp and to say the least...she thought she looked good. Better than she had in a while. She'd used her time wisely this time, applying her makeup carefully and perfectly. Not that it looked amazing, there was only so much you could do with £4 eyeliner and £5 mascara from Boots. But it looked better than last time, just as he had asked and her hair was left down. Loose curls bounced, created just with pinning her wet hair in twists while it dried. Blow dry on a budget. The sides were pinned back from her face and it looked nice. Though she didn't know truly, to her it looked better than it did on any other day when she dressed in a rush but she just hoped it suited his requests and stopped him from walking out on her before the dinner started.

The taxi had dropped her off only a little way down the street from the well known Michelin Star restaurant, 'Texture', a quaint but expensive place she had only walked past a couple of times since moving to London. But she was on time, and after walking through the glass door of the restaurant Lucy held her purse in her right hand tightly with the nerves and approached the host's desk.

"May I help you?" An older man asked, looking up from his clipboard of bookings, long enough to give her a once over. She obviously still hadn't tried hard enough as the man's lips turned up in a smirk of distaste. She didn't let it get to her however, only stood talked and tilted her chin up.

"My name's Lucy Scott, I'm meeting someone." She kept her voice level, like she had for the police, but smiled like she'd been brought up to do. Politeness, no matter who smirked at her she could shake her manners. The smile turned natural however, when that look came to his eyes. The same look the waiter had adopted last night. The old man almost stuttered as he looked at Lucy again and nodded with a forced cough.

"Of course, right this way Miss." He ticked her name on the paper before stepped out from behind the desk and offering her a smile as she began to follow.

Instead of leading her in the direction of the bar, or the main dining area, the old host made a left and continued down a short corridor. It was darker than the rest of the restaurant which appeared light and relaxing, decorated with creams and duck egg blues and mints. But Lucy walked down a smokey hallway, decorated with old photo frames and golden brass sculptures.

The host paused in front of an off white door on their left and turned just as she stilled with him. He then swallowed deeply and put a hand on the handle of the door, ready to open it for her.

"The other member of the party has already arrived. Please let us know if you need anything." With that, the door was pushed open and she was allowed to step forward. Her eyes fell upon Mr Moriarty within mere seconds, his slicked back hair and piercing black eyes. He wasn't easy to miss seeing as he was the only one in the room, lit only by a few small lamps and a dimmed chandelier up above. Thankfully the walls were painted a lighter grey than the hallway so it was still relaxing and the table he sat at was decorated with creams and subtle blues. Had it have been under any other occasion it would have been beautiful, stunning even, but because of the man sat at that table it was haunting.

"Thank you." Lucy murmured under her breath, but she doubted the man heard it as he stepped back, closing the door and leaving her in just the company of Mr Moriarty.

"Evening." It didn't take long for his sarcastic, light accented voice to break the silence. The sound cut the tension lingering in the air and Lucy let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in. Moriarty actually stood from the table this time though and walked around to pull out her chair.

"Hello." She replied awkwardly and walked to the table, stepping in front of the chair and sitting as he pushed it back in for her. The gesture of a gentleman but up until now he had been anything but a gentleman. Teasing her, mocking her. Only when he returned to his own place at the table, next her her on the wide square around one of the corners instead of opposite her like she'd expected, did she speak again. "Thank you, for agreeing to meet with me." Moriarty fixed his tie and shrugged his shoulders.

"It's an interesting case." His lips were pouted in thought as his eyes raked over her whole being, from the curled in her hair to her covered waistline just visible above the table. "You're an interesting case..." Moriarty smirked as he changed his words and then snapped his gaze away. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to learn more."

"More? What else is there to learn about?" She had told him everything, hadn't she? About the shooting, and herself to the point he allowed her to. Never the less, she dismissed it and watched as he scanned the menu.

"Well...you." Obviously. "There's more than meets the eyes about you isn't there?" He looked up and stared at her again, sending a shiver down her back bone. Lucy felt him reading every part of her she had on show. From the rhythm of her breathing to the clenching of her jaw. They stared at each other for a few seconds until her became amused by something he was seeing. "But never mind, we'll get to that later on." Something in the way Moriarty smiled at her told her not to push him to talk about it now, so she silenced her temptation too and sat there still. "First of all, let's get down to business."

"Yes let's." Lucy found the words slipping off her tongue before it was too late to catch them and she stilled. Almost expecting him to snap at her, she cowered, but when his eyes burned into her head, nothing was said. Then, Moriarty actually laughed. A soft chuckled filled their private dinning space as he leant forward and rested his arms on the table.

"Demanding. It's almost sexy on you." He really knew just what to say to shut her up. The comment made her blush and caused anger to swell in her stomach, and God did he know it. Moriarty ran his tongue along his teeth, no attempt made to hide how much he enjoyed watching the heat rose to her cheeks. "You said you wanted it to 'all go way'." His voice pitched to impersonate her but once he calmed, he turned serious.

"Yes." Her answer was short. Lucy broke their contact and, for the first time, noticed the full glass of wine sat by her charger plate. But as she went to take a drink from it, holding the glass delicately, he began to shake his head slowly.

"It's funny. You sounded so pleading on the phone." Moriarty rolled his eyes in such an over the top manner, she thought his pupils were going to go to the back of his head. "The way you begged... Are you too proud to do it in person?" The way he spoke, it was like he concentrated on each word individually before in left him mouth. The man's eyes narrowed and his fingers tapped an unknown rhythm against the table top.

"I didn't beg." Lucy tried desperately to try and keep the nerves from flooding into her voice, and she succeeded. It stayed steady and she managed to meet Moriarty's eyes for a few seconds. "I asked politely." She almost dared to smirk at him, but didn't at the the last minute.

"Of course you did." Something changed then and there. Lucy could describe what it was but something...shifted. Moriarty sat back in his chair and lingered his gaze on her body again. "Make it all go away..." He followed on from where he had left off. "Do you think it's all that easy."

"You made making all the evidence disappear sound pretty simple." Lucy gave a small smile finally, whatever she'd felt come over them helped her to relax. Whether it was the way he talked to her so easily over something so wrong or seemed to accept her quips and reply with a smart sneer, she didn't know but she almost found it fun. "What's the difference? Apart from instead of evidence, it's me?" She took another large mouthful of her wine and then watched Moriarty for his reply.

"Is that what you really want? To disappear?" He looked, watching her throat as she swallowed hard. "Lucy Scott...gone forever. No more." Lucy could see him rolling his tongue along his cheeks as if he was chewing something and she didn't answer. Instead, she looked down at her lap and then linked her hands to rest her head upon them, elbows pressed against the table top.

"I thought you had invited me to dinner?" She didn't know. That's why she tried to change the direction of the conversation. She truly didn't know. Did she like being herself? Lucy didn't honestly know anymore, a part of her said no and another part said yes.

"I took the liberty of ordering for you." For a moment she thought she'd successfully diverted his thoughts, but then. "Now answer me, is that what you want?" She should have known better. Moriarty sat a little taller, a little straighter and watched her lips.

"Yes-"

"Say it." There it was. The dogs bite. Lucy jumped but not enough for him to see, she hoped, and bit down hard on her tongue before she answered. The two parts of her, the yes side and the no? They were both there screaming their own opinions, but they were greatly imbalanced. The part of her that still liked being 'her' was weak, just a whimper surviving on the fear the truth.

"I want to disappear." She did, she truly did. And now she put all her thought into it, even if that incident yesterday hadn't took place she would've felt the same. She was sick. Sick of working the way she did, thinking the way she did, hiding the way she did. "Could you do that for me? Mr Moriarty?"

"Please, call me Jim." Her eyes snapped to him, and she had to stifle a laugh at it all.

What was wrong with her? Yesterday morning she woke up the same quiet girl she had been for 27 years. Quiet and...silently spiteful. It was true. Lucy may have done her job, worked hard and studied hard all without causing anyone to bat an eyelid her way but all the while had her head been building with pressure? A pressure which had exploded yesterday afternoon. Now, the floodgates had opened.

"Could you do that for me Jim?" She tried again, hoping for a clearer answer this time.

"For a price." There was the catch, Lucy should have seen it coming. Samuel had said he'd been surprised Moriarty had agreed the first time, the second was for money.

"A price?" Repeating his words, Moriarty nodded at her. "I don't have a lot to offer you."

"Well sorry to tell you honey, but these people will never stop looking for you." What was he going to try and do? Scare her into offering him everything she owned. She wouldn't be surprised, nor would she be shocked if he ended up succeeding in making her do so. "They're loyal. They'll keep searching. I can't change your face so it's going to take a lot of work to hide you. And dear Samuel's favour had been cashed." They were interrupted then by a sharp knock on the door and as it was opened and they were joined by a waiter pushing a tray with their food on, Lucy was left to think about it all.

She needed this. No doubt about it, she needed Jim's help.

Looking up, she caught Moriarty looking at her and dropped her head down as the waiter laid the plate in front of her. It was lamb, with a rich coloured gravy and roasted vegetables. It looked lovely but her appetite wasn't strong enough for her to appreciate the near intoxicating aromas. She willed the waiter to hurry with his exit so she could asked the question balanced on the tip of her tongue. Which is why as soon as the door shut, and before either of them could raise a fork to their mouths, she spoke up.

"How much?" Lucy would humour him, play along. At least until she found out how much he wanted from her.

"Let's see." Moriarty rolled his head and took a bite of his food, his eyes them turned upwards in thought. "Passport, ID...forms...documents, accounts. The whole package?" She didn't really know how much would have to go into the whole thing, so as she listened he could have been exaggerating. But when he held her eyes and quirked a brow, Lucy felt the seriousness in his next statement. "Two Million, sterling."

"What!?" Her reaction spilled from her mouth while shock turned her stomach and her hands involuntarily began to shake. "Are you joking!? I haven't-" Lucy's eyes were wide, a real deer in headlights, but he wasn't laughing this time. "If I had that sort of money I wouldn't be hear, I would be able to take care of myself." Her voice hardened again, hiding the horror behind a strong facade. Swallowing hard, she allowed the few seconds of silence to pass over them and awaited Moriarty's reply.

"Suit yourself." Jim, a name that was almost to normal for him, kept eating whereas she hadn't even touch her food yet. Between mouthfuls, he kept looking back at her until one time he smiled devilishly. "You could always just start running. Keep running. Forever until they catch up with you and then..." She knew what he was implying and finally distracted herself by tasting the perfectly roasted lamb on her plate. After a minute though,she snapped. It wasn't fair.

"But I can't! I have nothing!" This man was sat scaring her for something which was beyond her control. She couldn't just magic up 2 million pounds! "Right now? £800, that's what I could give you."

"You pay for the service you get." Moriarty spoke effortlessly as he took his mobile from his pocket and began to type on the blackberry keys. "Two million would buy you privacy, security." He smirked, knowing that was what she wanted, and put his phone away to talk at her. "£800 will cover this dinner and my petrol home."

"But I..." Lucy started to explain, for one last time, that it was impossible. Her parents didn't have money like that, and she couldn't exactly take out a loan for it. Some of her clients may have been able to throw that sort of money at him, but not her. Then suddenly, a thought entered her head which made everything more complicated. "You knew I wouldn't be able to afford that even before I called you. You knew from last night how much money I had, approximately." Moriarty slowly took in the curve of her neck and the protruding collar bones which could be sharper, his eyes darkening.

"How would I know?" His question turned them away from talking about the price, which she was grateful for. However, Lucy would have been happier for them not to be discussing how he knew she was poor.

"The way I dressed, walked, makeup and hair. Drink choice." Thinking back to the night before, Lucy spoke any details which could have helped him to see it. Especially when she had tried to order lemonade. "You knew. So why would you agree to dinner, to waste your time when you knew I would have no choice but to decline?"it made no sense, he didn't seem like a man who would do something like that. He had better things to do, more important things to do.

"Good." Moriarty slowly nodded his head, never taking his eyes off her. Studying the curve of her bust into her waist, the slight drop of her shoulders and the shadow created by her high cheekbones. "Very good, you're smart. Poor, but smart." She smiled sarcastically at him without thinking and carefully let it drop as if it had never been there. "You're...interesting." From the way she was relaxing around him enough to snap and smirk at him, to the way something was turning in her. Moriarty had seen it before, the decline of...not sanity but morality. But there was more than just that to her, he liked her.

"How? You keep saying that but how am I?"

"You're smart. You studied in London, English, and you did well didn't you?" He clicked his tongue as she started eating, but she never stopped listening. Not even when she downed half of her glass of wine. "You grew up with money, not a lot but it was always there. Your parents backgrounds and you're well spoken." He answered the question she wasn't even given the opportunity to ask. Then Jim sat forward, leaning across the table towards her and watching her hands. They were no longer shaking, but rested lightly on the cream cotton table cloth. "But that's all so ordinary! I'm looking into your head. All those hidden thoughts." Moriarty danced his hand across the table until his finger gently stormed arose her knuckles. The gesture totally contradicted his outburst concerning her and it spun her head. His touch was light, soft, but it burned her. "Those sour and bitter thoughts. You're not ordinary, no, far from it but you lock it away."

"I don't-" Lucy went to speak but was cut off.

"Sure you do Lucy! Why did you start stealing all those things?" There was a pause left for her to answer but she stayed silent as he ripped his hand away from her. "You tell yourself it's for the money but it's not, it's to satisfy that itch to meddle." He tapped a finger against the side of his head violently but his features stayed emotionless.

"What are you trying to say?" It was an almost a whimper. The dim light created an atmosphere which was very opposite to how she was feeling. This was what she'd expect a man to do for a woman if her was trying to romance her, with the quiet dinning and privacy but he'd done it for himself obviously. Get her alone and intimidate her.

"A man like me could do a lot with a woman like you. A lot, a lot." Moriarty stopped for a few seconds, his voice coming up as a rumble in his throat. She'd never felt so on display or vulnerable. His hand was now playing with the neck of his wine glass and he fidgeted in his seat. It was then that Lucy took a deep breath in at the sight of something building behind his eyes. "I'm about to offer you a very rare and very valuable deal Miss Scott and as your consultant I advise you think about it very carefully." She was rigid in her seat. The easiness gone from her whole being. He was a true business man in that moment as he placed his fork down on the half empty plate and sucked on his cheeks, preparing his speech.

Hi :) Hope you liked this chapter! It may have been confusing, the way Lucy kept acting one way and then another the next. But I want her to be this very unsettled, confused person right now, so I hoped to jumble your heads in the same way hers would be :)