Christmas Day had ended much like it had started, with Katherine in bed alone awaiting Jim to finish work. After their 'small break' they had gone downstairs to eat a dinner which turned out to be quite traditional. But then Moriarty had disappeared behind his office door and left her to entertain herself.
Fluffing the pillows up behind her, Katherine fell back with her full bowl of homemade chocolate brownies and ice cream, the rest of the tub sat next to her on the table and for once she didn't feel guilty. Christmas was a time for gluttony and after three years of dieting and a week of hell she deserved it. So, putting on some horrendous TV show and getting comfortable, she indulged. Jim wasn't there to judge her and the staff had retired for the evening. Her 'festive' agreement had been make good brownies and they can all leave early.
Well...she had her brownies and she was happy. Or at least she was content.
Beside her on the bed lay that pesky phone. Upon entering the bedroom she had picked it up, unlocked it then threw it down and walked away to have a bath. But it would not stop whispering her name in the darkness. She hated to admit it but...she was somewhat tempted. She was curious as to whether she would get a response if she texted and what he would reply with if he did, and how a conversation might develop. Of course, she had met and talked to both Holmes and brother in person but maybe they'd be more approachable though technology. They were intriguing after all, if not unbelievably rude at the same time.
9:15pm...he'd be asleep already, there was no point. However the rational tempted side of her brain soon shouted up that no one under the age of 4 went to bed this early, especially on Christmas. But he would be busy, if she was to text him she wanted him to see it and react immediately. She wanted to make an impact. Then again it was Christmas Day, a message from a stranger on such a day was more dramatic than any other day...
Katherine picked up the phone after spooning another large chunk of warm gooey brownie into her mouth. It didn't take long to select the contact and create a new message, the hard part was thinking of what to say.
She drafter several different first lines. Some of them complex, resembling small novels and other short and mysterious. In the end she settled for something simple and maybe even fun, be it a little predictable. But Katherine was predictable for the most part, and fun. She liked it, so after several more minutes of staring she took a deep breath and hit send.
To: Sherlock Holmes
Merry Christmas, Mr Holmes.
K.I.M xx
The phone was thrown to the end of the bed then as if it was going to bite her. But she just didn't want it to be a distraction. She didn't want to be like a school girl constantly checking for a reply, not that she would. She hoped he wouldn't reply...that way this stupid idea could come to an end.
It was a normal Christmas, by the Holmes standard. An evening spent in the cottage of mum and dad, each sibling trying desperately not to pluck at the others feathers, for the sake of not getting scolded.
"No." Sherlock exclaimed louder than her needed to when his mother entered the living room from behind him.
"I haven't said anything yet."
"You were thinking. More precisely you were thinking of suggesting a game of charades. So no." Mrs Holmes simply tutted and placed the plate of mince pies down on the coffee table before walking back out to check out the eggnog warming on the stove.
"Worried your intellect cannot span so far as to win a game?" Mycroft asked from his seat only a foot away, in the arm chair he insisted on occupying each time they visited.
"Haven't you got a country to run?"
"No...but only just barely." The smirk on Mycroft's face was wide but it soon melted into one of inconvenience. "My receptionist didn't show up at the beginning of the week. It caused a great pain in regards to the security of London Bridge."
"Why? Because you had to get your own lunch?" Sherlock's eyes had narrowed into slits but Mycroft turned away leaving them both in peace again. Until his phone buzzed.
Both sets of eyes in the room turned to look at the device which had dinged so loudly in the silence but while Sherlocks brow furrowed, Mycroft's unwrinkled and his eye brows rose in curiosity.
From: Number Blocked.
Merry Christmas, Mr Holmes.
K.I.M xx
"From a friend?" Mycroft enquired curiously, trying to peep at the screen of the phone.
"Friend?" Sherlock questioned, mind partially absent as he read and reread the text. K.I.M. An acronym, usually used by an organisation. But no, this was more personal than this. This was a name. Kim. No..too easy. KIM.
"Can Scotland Yard not take care of their own work for one day?" The eldest rolled his eyes but it became quite clear, quite soon that it wasn't the detective inspector that was always begging for his brothers help. "An enemy then?"
"No one." There was only one logical reply to make of course, a one which took less than 30 seconds to type out but then he paused. There was no real threat. The woman was obviously sent by a woman, under the age of 40 considering the use of kisses and the number they had used. She knew him, obviously and they had met...it was far too casual for them to have not met.
Never the less he kept his reply as it was. It was simple enough to entertain any sort of mind which was on the receiving end. Afterwards, he placed the phone down and placed his hands together, bringing them to his mouth.
To: Number Blocked.
I don't believe we have met.
SH.
The phone balanced on the arm of the chair and for the next few minutes that passed, he never took his eyes off it. All the while, Mycroft studied the phone in curiosity. Everything depended on their response and the time it took for them to do it. A world of difference lay between a minute or two and luckily, he didn't have to wait anymore than ten.
Interesting.
She couldn't believe it when the phone dinged at the end of the bed, barely five minutes after she had sent the first. There was always the chance it was something else. That it was really just Jim having a big joke to try and cheer her up, he was on the other side of the bedroom door giggling in reality... but after a minute or so nothing came. Jim didn't appear, the phone just reminded her of the text two minutes later.
She was slow in reaching for the phone, but once it was in her hand she didn't hesitate any longer and opened it.
From: Sherlock Holmes
I don't believe we have met.
SH.
He had took the bait...not she just had to reel him in. She had to 'make him need her' as Jim had so lovingly put it. But how? She hadn't even made Jim need her, if anything it was the other way around.
What could she say? That they have met? That they hadn't? That... with a frustrated sigh, Katherine dropped the phone onto the thick duvet and blew the few stay bits of hair out of her face. She could do this, she'd emailed terrorist earlier in the week, she could handle Sherlock Holmes.
To: Sherlock Holmes
You're one of my Christmas Presents.
K.I.M xx
She was positively smug as she pressed send and went back to her cooling brownies, reaching for the half empty tub of ice cream on the side. It was setting up to be an interesting evening. She had gave him something which would no doubt send his alarm bells ringing, but also his intrigue.
She tuned back into the film as the reply took longer this time, but before long, the tiny bing echoed off the stone walls of the castle and the phone screen lit up.
From: Sherlock Holmes
I wasn't aware I was someones to gift.
SH.
She hadn't met him or talked to him enough to be able to tell his mood. Whether he was being sarcastic or pissed or even amused. She could read it in his voice or picture his face as he sent it. All she could do was read his chosen words and try to work out something which would send his advanced brain waves burning.
To: Sherlock Holmes
I think there's a lot of things you're not aware of.
K.I.M xx
It wasn't as good as her last, but it would do for now. And it would do until the morning.
Katherine didn't know what she was more surprised at; her growing confidence with each reply or how much she was actually enjoying it. The more he replied, the more she wanted to keep going. She was going to have fun with this. Winding him up may be the only way to make her happy, he did deserve it after all...snob.
But she didn't want to get to carried away and give him too much too soon. So Katherine decided enough was enough and turned the phone off to stop herself from being absorbed by it.
She spent the next few hours watching tv and finishing off the ice cream. It was the early hours of Boxing Day when she finally fell asleep and even later when she half awoke to see Jim sitting up in his side of the bed with her gifted phone turned on, in his hands. For a second she was nervous, then she noticed his wide smile.
Katherine closed her eyes before he could see she was awake and she had never been so grateful to herself. Because after he'd turned the phone back off and laid down, Jim shuffled over enough to wrap his arms around her and laid a kiss on her forehead.
"Good job. I love you, you minx."
She didn't say anything back, she didn't even risk smiling. She just let him hold her and listened as he fell asleep none the wiser.
Christmas was over, New Years was over. The whole...festive season was over. In the Moriarty household that revelation had little effect apart from the staff being slightly less cheery and Katherine had fewer distractions to entertain her.
Jim had left her alone for the first time since they'd arrived. Urgent business, had been his excuse. So she was sat with unknown eyes watching her every moments, making sure no one got to her and she didn't do anything stupid.
So for Katherine, severe boredom had only led to one thing.
To: Sherlock Holmes
Good Morning :)
K.I.M xx
It had been 10 days since she'd sent the first text and this was the first she had sent since. Katherine didn't want to portray her voice to be desperate. She didn't want him to grow sick of her too quickly or learn to expect a delivery every day. She was going to be as seemingly spontaneous as possible. That way, he would hopefully keep playing with her and he would not be able to work out in patterns in her texts.
That was the one thing Moriarty had warned her of earlier in the week; to watch what she was saying and make sure not to make any mistakes. He didn't expect her too, after two years she had yet to make any vital errors...in her work. Getting shot was quite the big boo boo. But she had to check, double check and check again. Read through every text in every possible way he could, if it was too informative, don't send it.
From: Sherlock Holmes
Should I expect to hear from you regularly?
SH.
They were still strangers. He couldn't have known. And even if he did remember their brief meeting, she wasn't listed under her real name.
To: Sherlock Holmes
Most certainly.
K.I.M xx
Katherine barely had a chance to put the mobile down on the dining table she sat at before she heard the front door open. Heavy footsteps could be heard searching through each room before a voice called out.
"Katherine? Katherine?" She recognised the voice, but she wasn't aware that they were meant to be here today. They were still out on the hunt, he was leading the kill team. She hadn't even seen him for almost two weeks.
"Yes?" She leant back in her chair just in time to see him walk through the door. "Sebastian?" A smile came to her face, it was a rare sighting to see him these days and it was genuinely a receiving feeling to know he hadn't sustained any injuries doing his work. At least it didn't look like it, then again he was wearing his heavy combat gear, on gun under each arm and another tucked into the back of his trousers.
He returned the smile easily, then clapped his hands. "Time to go." Sebastian gestured towards the front door with a nod of his head and just like that, all good feelings were gone and replaced with panic.
"What? What's wrong?" With wide eyes, she glanced from her have finished brunch to the sniper who had grew a smirk.
"Nothing. New house." He didn't wait for her reply and turned to the line of staff which had formed upon his arrival. "Make sure all of Mrs Moriarty's things are packed in the next half hour. And have someone try to tame those damn dogs and have them loaded in the van." It had been his job the last five times they had moved and he was not doing it again. His arms could only bare so much scratching.
"Sebastian?"
"I've been sworn to secrecy. The boss will be home tonight, he'll tell you." It must have been good news...it had to be. Sebastian's good mood meant it had to be. Unless he was just trying to mask it and keep her calm. But no, it was too genuine.
He watched her with hesitancy, Jim's word still haunted him and he knew he was being watched closer than normal...closer than Katherine quite possibly now he was alone with her. Never the less, he couldn't just stand there like a plank of wood so he took the seat next to her.
"How are you?"
"As well as can be expected apparently." Her dear friend, Doctor Phillips, had paid them a visit only two days ago. She was fully recovered in terms of the miscarriage, the gun wound...hmm.
"Consider yourself lucky, most men would be in the hospital for 2 weeks, never mind two days." He laughed and watched the movement of her shoulder as she poured him a cup of tea from the pot. She had no strength in it yet but after a couple of weeks she was able to turn and at least move her arm without too much discomfort.
"They said because of the glass and the gun it wasn't deep. No broken bones meant it was better." Katherine slowly started to recall the information she'd been told when she'd first been discharged from the hospital, back when she didn't care if it was amputated as long as she didn't have to stay there. "They say it could be 3 to 6 months before I'm back to normal."
"But no sling?" With one eyebrow raised, he was jesting and she knew it. Jim had voiced his frustration at her for being so stubborn.
"I refuse...it makes me look old and...medical." They both laughed, and afterwards a silence settled over them. She turned back to finish her food and Sebastian waited patiently, all the while studying her, trying to search for anything different. He knew men who had mentally broke after going through what she had went though, without the added loss of a child. He wanted to make sure she was stable...it was the one thing Jim never spoke of to him or anymore else.
"I'm sorry for..." Sebastian made a small look down to her stomach and she instantly knew what he was implying. Jim had told him then, he was one of the few he'd entrusted. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said-"
"It's alright, and thank you." Katherine smiled but the rise of her lips was barely visible. "Just...make sure you get them. Please."
"Already working on it." At that moment, her phone bleeped beside her hand and both pairs of eyes peered down at the screen. However, as Katherine smirked, Sebastian frowned and scoffed. So it had started?
From: Sherlock Holmes
Then can I at least know your name?
SH.
"New fella?" He teased, watching Katherine closely as she picked up the device and unlocked the screen.
"Hmm jealous." She began typing but very quickly deleted all that she had typed, taking a break in between to wink at Sebastian in jest.
"Oh, insatiably." The more she typed and the more she back tracked and deleted it all with a frown, the morse curious Sebastian grew. She was putting a lot more effort into it than he had expected when first hearing about the plan a few months back. He thought she'd find it a chore, but the small smile she got when she thought of something better proved otherwise. "Got anything?"
"Nope. This is only the second time...I'm at a loss of what to say."
"Well you know Jim, play with him. Keep him on his toes, use that wit of yours." She was being used to get intel from the man himself, whether Jim had told her that he didn't know. She had most likely been told it was just a game, and it was. But it was the start the THE game, it was down to Katherine to get the big ball rolling.
"I don't have wit." Katherine tutted.
Any further conversation was interrupted when her head housekeeper knocked sharply on the door. She was panting and looked rather flushed.
"Excuse me, Mrs Moriarty. Mr Moran, the dogs have bit Mr Thompson. No one else will go near them." Oh for gods sake, some people weren't able to handle anything without being overseen by someone competent.
Katherine's shoulders sagged and she released a deep sigh, almost making to woman wince. Though not as violently as Sebastian already was. With a hand rubbing his stubbled chin, he looked at Katherine and chuckled nervously.
"Care to help?"
He was a grown man who'd seen war and fought off men twice his size, but faced with three little puppies and he was scared. Well...puppies, man eating Dobermans. Same thing.
She nodded and clicked send on the message which was still sat open on the phone.
To: Sherlock Holmes
I've given you my name ;)
K.I.M xx
Then, she dropped it into the pocket of her cardigan and stood, ready to lead Sebastian up to where she knew the dogs would be, in her bedroom. They were very protective and very territorial, they had all been since she got them. It was sweet, they even knew when to step in between herself and Jim. Unlike her, he would never go for them knowing their physical bite was even stronger than her verbal one.
They jogged up the stairs, ignoring the spluttering imbecile who was getting his hand wrapped in the corridor. Get shot and you may get sympathy, get bit and go cry in the basement. Katherine followed the barking to her bedroom door and wasted no time in walking straight in.
"Hello my darlings." The three boisterous boys instantly stilled, silenced and stood to attention with their ears pointed up towards the ceiling. But one by one they started to pine as she sank to the ground and they trotted over, nudging her hand with their noses. "Oh what's the matter? Hmm? Did horrible Graham try and come ruin your fun?" They were very sensitive, you had to be gentle with them. Like children, you couldn't just go barging it, you had to sugar coat changes. Just as she was settling them, Sebastian took a first step into the room and the eldest, Lecter, barred his teeth and barked. "Hey! Hey...come here..." He silenced immediately under her hand and Katherine smiled, looking back over her shoulder at Seb. "See, they're just big puppies still."
"You have balls." He was stood, admittedly sheepish, in the door way to the bedroom, watching on curiously.
"Come on." Her endless cooing to the boys was cut short when one went rogue and jumped up at Sebastian. He was innocently curious, until he started to growl. "Hey! Freddie down!" Like a soldier following his sergeant, the dog jumped down and went back to her.
No wonder Jim listened to her. Sometimes Sebastian wondered if she was the only one who could tell Jim what to do and live to tell the tale. He'd never seen her try, but he'd noticed bruises on her arms and legs at odd times over the course of their marriage. Then again, he said she'd live, not that she'd be safe from him altogether.
"There you go." Katherine smiled, holding her arm on her injured side to her chest as the other handed him the three leads, each with a pooch strapped to the end. "Now, I must oversee my packing."
Katherine, fitted with a smug grin, left the room and as she did she heard one of her phones go off in her pocket. She would only glance at it, but she wouldn't respond. She was far too busy for such chit chat.
However, she was most surprised to see the message was not from the detective, but Jim, on her regular phone.
From: Number Blocked.
Good news. See you soon.
JM x
