Authors Note:

Here we go! A Scandal in Belgravia. Onto new mysteries and adventures now!


A Scandal In Belgravia – Part One.

The hum of a familiar song chirped and dissipated the tension that Ellen had worked so hard to create. The Bee Gees... Stayin' Alive.

"You mind if I get that?" Moriarty asked, to no one in particular.

"No, no, please. You've got the rest of your life." Sherlock replied non-nonchalantly. Moriarty reached into his pocket to answer.

"Hello...? Yes of course it is. What do you want?" he chirped, before mouthing a 'sorry' in Ellen's direction. Then in a split second his demeanour shifted, his face filled with fury.
"SAY THAT AGAIN!" he demanded, "Say that again and know that if you're lying I will find you and I will ssssskin you." He removed the phone from his ear momentarily and looked between Sherlock, Ellen and John. He sighed heavily.

"Sorry... Wrong day to die." he muttered.

"Oh. Did you get a better offer? Sherlock questioned casually.

"Wait! Are you kidding me?" Ellen spat, still gripping the gun tightly, aimed at Watson's chest.

"I think you'll find that is a good thing." Sherlock grumbled.

"Don't worry. You'll be hearing from me. Both of you." Moriarty smirked, He turned on his foot and began to stroll away, returning the phone to his ear once more.

"So, if you have what you say you have, I will make you rich. If you don't, I'll make you into shoes." he said into the mobile, before raising his hand and clicking. At once the red lasers, that had trained themselves so diligently on the three of them, disappeared. Moriarty similarly vanished from sight. Sherlock looked around for a sign of the retreating snipers without success. John let out a sigh.

"You can put that thing away now." Sherlock barked at Ellen, as he urgently made his way to Watson's side to help the doctor remove the bomb vest. John was all too happy to be rid of it as Sherlock threw it far onto the other side of the pool. Ellen dropped the gun to her side, but didn't let her eyes stray from the door that Moriarty had left from. Without warning, she felt her feet move underneath her as they paced towards the same direction. He jaw tight and her rage about to burn out of her skin. This was not over. She couldn't just allow that man to get away so easily. Sherlock, however, disagreed.

As swiftly as she had tried to head off, she'd felt a strong hand grip the collar of her jumper and yank her backwards.

"Here I was thinking, when you said you wouldn't do anything stupid, that our definitions of the word meant the same thing." he snatched the gun out of her hand and put the safety on.

"And here I was thinking we were going to try and use that thumb drive for leverage. Guess not everything gets to go our way." she snatched the gun right back and tucked it back in her pants.

"You weren't really going to shoot, were you?" John asked. Ellen dodged the man's glance and swallowed.

"Of course not." Sherlock interjected, feigning confidence, "I don't think anyone believed that she would, least of all Moriarty." he carried on. But Sherlock had seen the look in Ellen's eyes. He had hoped she wouldn't do it, but he couldn't rule out the possibility with certainty. This encounter had been eye opening in many ways.

"Sorry..." Ellen mumbled in John's direction.

"Yeah..." he said quietly, with a small nod. "We should probably get out of here."

"Need a lift?" Ellen jingled her sister's car keys.

vvvvvv

Ellen followed John's directions to their apartment and shortly arrived out the front. Holmes quickly made a move for the door once she had put her foot on the brakes, he hadn't said anything since he'd got in. None of them had.

"Are you going to be alright?" Watson asked Ellen.

"Pardon?" She was hardly paying attention.

"Are you going to be alright?" he repeated.

"I held a gun to you, and you're asking me if I'm the one that's alright." she almost chuckled.

"True." he smiled, "Doesn't mean that ordeal wasn't any less terrifying for you though."

"Hmmm..." she nodded in agreement, "Do you want to hear the truth or the answer that will make it easier for you to walk up those front steps?" she eyed his front door. John's brows furrowed.

"I'm kidding! Lighten up!"

"Are you sure?" he still hesitated to leave the vehicle, "You can come in for some tea if you want?"

"I appreciate the gesture, but I'm fine." Ellen laughed, "Besides, I really should get back to my sister and let her know what's going on."

"You can borrow our phone if you want, ring her and let her know you're safe." he insisted. Ellen paused. It would be quicker than driving all the way home and telling her. No doubt Beth would be stressed out of her mind. However, Ellen hadn't quite thought of what to tell her.

For the time being they were in the clear. But after Moriarty's attention from that fateful phone call was sedated, how long till he realized he had some unfinished business to attend to? From that question sprung forth an array of possible scenarios, none of which ended well. Ellen couldn't be certain that he would persist in murdering her or would shift focus onto her sister. The feeling that a second's notice a bullet could split her skull open kept the hairs on the back of her neck risen.

"That…" Ellen turned the car engine off, "Is probably a good idea."

John stepped out of the car as Ellen followed. Walking into the flat's corridor, she was hit with an odd smell. A musk hung in the air, but not enough to overpower the smell of the wooden staircase that lead up to 221B. The door was ajar when they got to the top, at least Sherlock had been courteous enough to not slam it behind himself. John pushed the door open and headed straight for the phone hanging near the kitchen. Ellen slowly stepped inside the apartment and couldn't help herself from looking around. Her eyes met a wall with ornate wallpaper and a big yellow smiley face painted on there. Holmes' doing, she had no doubt. Then she looked a little closer.

"Are those… gunshot marks?" she walked over to feel the dents in the wall.

"Ahhh…" John stuttered, "Yeah. Sherlock got bored. Anyway, here's the phone."

"Thanks." Ellen took the landline out of John's hand and began to type in her sister's number. John walked off into the kitchen and put on the kettle. Putting the device to her ear she heard the ringing, eagerly anticipating her sister to pick up. The ringing stopped and Ellen heard rustling as if on the other end the phone was being pulled out of a pocket.

"Hello, Beth?" Ellen questioned.

"Hello Ellen." a voice replied, only it wasn't her sister. Ellen felt her heart almost jump out of her chest. She knew who it was instantly.

"Ellen?" the voice asked again, when she didn't respond.

"John," Ellen covered the phone momentarily, "I'm just going to take this outside."

"Sure." John shout back, the kettle boiling. Ellen went back out to the corridor from where she entered the apartment and closed the door behind her.

"Dad?" she almost couldn't believe it was him.

"I'm sorry I can't speak to you in person." he spoke softly. She could feel tears itching in her eyes, "But it's not safe."

"I know." Ellen croaked back. There was silence between the two of them. The weight of tonight had finally hit her. Before her father spoke again she already knew what he was going to say.

"I don't know when I can come back. Or if I even can." Peter's tone was still delicate, "But you and Beth are going to be safe. I'm with someone now who can ensure that the man who took you can't lay a finger on you again."

"Ha." Ellen scoffed, "Clearly not after tonight."

"You're talking what happened at the pool?"

"Wait… how do you know-."

"Like I said..." Peter interrupted, "He's not laying his hands on you anymore and there's an active task force ensuring that he can't."

"Sure didn't feel that way when I had sniper lasers aimed at my heart." Ellen grew perturbed. Again the two fell back into silence. Ellen noticed her free hand was shaking and quickly balled it to calm herself. She sat down on one of the stairs.

"What did you do?" she dared to utter into the phone. Her father let out a exasperated sigh.

"Tried to leave a terror cell." he replied, "And apparently I joined the group with the maniacal genius for a leader."

"I gathered as much." she remained stoney, "...Why?"

"Paid better money I guess and I thought they aligned more with my values. I was wrong on that account too." Peter confessed, "When I got in bed with them, they weren't about kidnapping and blowing people up."

"You. Moriarty… Nickolas Night. Right?"

"Yeah…" the man sounded embarrassed.

"Did you kill Night…?" the question came out of her mouth before she could stop herself. She could hear her father's breathing change. In everything but words she could hear his confession.

"Right then…" Ellen spoke to herself, "I should probably let you get back to your running and hiding."

"Please." Peter begged, "Don't be like that."

"I have had the threat of death looming over me for every hour over the past week. Because you couldn't put your family first. Because you couldn't quell your ambition and realise that involving yourself with terrorists was a stupid idea." she spat, careful not to raise her voice too high.

"He killed your mother." Peter raised his voice in desperation. Once more, Ellen didn't have a response. Peter scrambled to explain.

"I tried to leave once before and he poisoned her with small amounts of radiation until she had the cancer. I have a contact who tipped me off about it. He's the one protecting you and your sister."

"Stop talking." Ellen demanded dryly. The tears welled in her eyes making it hard to see.

"He calls himself The Informant. I already spoke to your sister and gave her his number. If you need anything you can call him."

"Seriously." Ellen barked, "Enough."

"He's not going to get away with it." Peter's voice resumed its quiet demeanour, "I'm not going to stop until Moriarty is out of the equation…" Ellen remained silent.

"You and Beth need to take care of one another now. Have each other's backs without me. Make sure she doesn't make anymore stupid decisions because a boy told her to." he said gingerly, "For what it's worth. I am sorry… and I love you." And without anymore to add from Ellen, the phone line went dead. Ellen took it away from her ear and sat in the stillness of 221 Baker St's corridor. She dried the water that had pooled in her eyes, making sure not to let a tear drop. She got to her feet and let out a big breath, putting on a brave face before heading back inside to 221B.

"Thanks again." Ellen smiled, returning the phone to it's cradle.

"You're welcome." John smiled back. He had scribbled something on a notepad and handed it to her, "That's our number. In case you do need anything, if Moriarty comes back after you or something."

"Cheers." she took it and folded the piece of paper and headed for the door once more, "Tell Sherlock I say thank you too."

"Will do."

With that she left the flat and went back down to her car. She switched back into autopilot and made her way back to her own apartment. She pushed down the urge to analyze what the future held. She pushed away her anger and her upset. She didn't think about her father or what Moriarty had done to her mother. Just blared the radio all the way home.

She put the keys in the door quietly and entered the place she had been away from for so long. Everything looked as ordinary as she had left it. But the girl walking inside wasn't ordinary any more.

Ellen took off her shoes and neatly placed them on the shoe rack beside the door. One soft lamp illuminated the hallway to where the rest of the rooms were. She walked to the bathroom and begun to brush her teeth, not daring to glimpse her appearance in the mirror. She hid the gun under the bathroom vanity. Then she began to head towards her own bedroom. Getting to the door she stopped. Her bed still unmade from when she had rushed out the door to get to work the other day. She turned on her heel and peered into her sister's room, seeing Beth inside sound asleep. Ellen switched off the lamp and padded inside. She pulled down the sheets and laid down close to her sister. Despite being quiet, she had roused Beth.

"Hey..." Beth croaked. Ellen didn't respond, but simply wrapped her arms around her little sister and held her tightly. Beth did the same. Then the tears finally came. Beth didn't say a word as Ellen sobbed into her pyjamas, just simply held her tighter. That was all she needed. Not long after they were both asleep. Drained and terrified of what was to come.