12: The Great Game – Part IV
Noodle Fanatic - Case solving! Um…no…Parker's not a guy…oops…
Leftthelibrary - Thank you! I do watch Merlin, but I haven't seen all of the last season (even though I know what happens). But when I finish I'll keep a Merlin Doctor x-over in mind :)
NotDead (guest) - Thanks!
Shmuuyaassyyy - Hello! Thank you! There'll be a season four though…in a while…*groans* MOFFAT! I'll keep trying my best!
In the Hickman Gallery the next morning, Parker was standing in front of the Vermeer painting, looking up information on her phone. She called up subjects such as 'Vermeer brush strokes', 'Pigment analysis', 'Canvas degradation', 'UV Light damage', 'Delft Skyline, 1600', and 'Vermeer influences'. Lily, Elizabeth, Lestrade, and Miss Wenceslas were standing behind her. "It's a fake," said Parker. "It has to be."
That painting has been subjected to every test known to science," Ms. Wenceslas said.
"It's a very good fake, then," Elizabeth said.
Parker spun around and looked sternly at Wenceslas. "You know about this, don't you? You have to know."
Miss Wenceslas turned to Lestrade, looking exasperated. "Inspector, my time is being wasted. Would you mind showing yourself and your friends out?"
The pink phone rang. Lily snatched it from her pocket and switched on the speaker. "The painting is a fake," Parker said.
There was a faint sound of breathing over the speaker but otherwise there was no response. "It's a fake," Lily said. "That's why Woodbridge and Cairns were killed.
Still there was nothing more than breathing. "Oh, come on," sighed Elizabeth. "Proving it's just the detail. The painting is a fake. We've solved it. We've figured it out. It's a fake! That's the answer. That's why they were killed."
When the phone remains silent, Parker took a deep breath to make sure she didn't loose her temper. "Okay, I'll prove it. Give me time. Will you give me time?"
After a moment, the tremulous voice of a very young boy came over the phone's speaker. "Ten…" Instantly Parker spun and looked closely at the painting.
"Guys, I need your help!" she yelled.
Lestrade was in shock. "It's a kid. Oh, no, it's a kid!"
"Nine…"
Lily and Elizabeth rushed forward, their eyes as scanning every inch of the painting. "It's a countdown," Parker said. "He's giving us time."
"Oh no…" Lestrade muttered.
"The painting is a fake," said Lily, "but how can we prove it? How? How?
"Eight…"
Lily turned and glared at Miss Wenceslas. "This kid will die. Tell me why the painting is a fake. Tell me!"
Miss Wenceslas flinched and opened her mouth. "I don't know!"
"Seven…"
Lily turned back to the painting and
Lestrade turned and walked away a few paces in nervousness.
Elizabeth started muttering to herself as he continued to scan the painting. "Must be possible. Must be staring us in the face."
"Six…"
Parker was bouncing nervously. "Woodbridge knew, but how?"
"Five…"
"It's speeding up!" Lestrade warned.
Parker's gaze fell on three tiny dots of paint in the night sky. Her mouth fell open as the penny finally dropped. She thanked her lucky stars she had gotten super memorisation as part of her super-mind power. "Oh!"
"Four…" Not wanting to waste any more time, Parker grabbed the pink phone from Lily and yelled into it. "The Van Buren Supernova!"
There was a short pause, then the boy's plaintive voice came from the speaker. "Please. Is somebody there?" Everyone in the room let out a sigh of relieved breath. "Somebody help me!"
Lily turned to Lestrade and handed the phone to him. "There you go. Go find out where he is and pick him up."
"The Van Buren Supernova, so-called," said Parker. She clicked a few things on her phone up then held it over her shoulder so that Miss Wenceslas could see the screen. "Exploding star, only appeared in the sky in eighteen fifty-eight."
She turned and threw Wenceslas a triumphant look, then walked away. Elizabeth dragged in a relieved breath, then walked closer to the painting. "So how could it have been painted in the sixteen forties?" she asked.
Parker's phone trilled a text alert. "Oh." She dug out his phone, still breathing heavily, and looked at the message which read:
I'm sure you have
other things on your
mind, but my patience
is wearing thin.
Wesley
She growled slightly, then looked over at the painting one last time. She switched off the phone and walked away. Miss Wenceslas was left to stare at the painting in shock.
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Lily and Miss Wenceslas were sitting side by side in front of Lestrade's desk while the inspector sat in a chair to the side of the desk. Elizabeth was leaning against the wall nearby. Lily cleared her throat. "You know, it's interesting. Bohemian stationery, an assassin named after a Prague legend, and you, Miss Wenceslas. This whole case has a distinctly Czech feeling about it. Is that where this leads?" Wenceslas looked down and didn't answer.
"What are we looking at, Inspector?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well, um, criminal conspiracy, fraud, accessory after the fact at the very least. The murder of the old woman, all the people in the flats…"
Ms. Wenceslas was panicked, and turned to Lestrade. "I didn't know anything about that! All those things! Please believe me." As she continued to stare at Lestrade, Lily gave him a tiny nod to confirm that she was telling the truth.
"I just wanted my share – the thirty million." She looked across to Lily, then sighed and lowered her head again. "I found a little old man in Argentina. Genius. I mean, really: brushwork immaculate, could fool anyone." Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. Ms. Wenceslas looked at her briefly. "Well, nearly anyone." She turned back to Lestrade. "But I didn't know how to go about convincing the world the picture was genuine. It was just an idea – a spark which he blew into a flame."
"Who?" asked Lily sharply.
Wenceslas shook her head. "I don't know." Lestrade gave a disbelieving laugh. "It's true! I mean, it took a long time, but eventually I was put in touch with people…his people." Lily slowly began to sit up in her chair, her expression becoming more concentrated. "Well, there was never any real contact; just messages…whispers."
Lily leaned closer to her, her face intense. "And did those whispers have a name?"
Ms. Wenceslas gazed ahead of herself for a moment, then looked across to Lestrade before nodding. She turned her head to Lily.
"Moriarty."
Slowly, Lily sunk back in her chair. She and Elizabeth shared shocked, worried looks as Miss Wenceslas looked anxiously at Lestrade again.
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Wearing a high-vis jacket over her coat, Parker was walking along the railway lines with the tube guard who found Andrew West's body. "So this is where West was found?" Parker inquired.
"Yeah," the tube guard answered.
"Uh-huh."
"You gonna be long?"
Parker shrugged. "I might be."
"You with the police, then?"
"Well, sort of."
"I hate 'em."
Parker looked over to him. "The police?"
"No," said the guard, shaking his head. "Jumpers. People who chuck themselves in front of trains. Selfish idiots."
Parker shrugged again. "Well, that's one way of looking at it." She squatted down to look more closely at the railway track.
"I mean it. It's all right for them. It's over in a split second – strawberry jam all over the lines. What about the drivers, hmm? They've gotta live with it, haven't they?" Parker ran her fingers along the track, then lifts her fingers to look at it.
"Yeah, speaking of strawberry jam, there's no blood on the line." She stood up again. "Has it been cleaned off?"
The tube guard shook his head. "No, there wasn't that much."
Parker quirked an eyebrow. "You said his head was smashed in."
"Well, it was, but there wasn't much blood."
"…Okay." She turned and looked along the line thoughtfully.
"Well," the guard said, "I'll leave you to it then." Parker walked a few yards further down the line and then squatted down again. "Just give us a shout when you're off."
Parker nodded. "Okie-Doke." The guard walked away. Parker stood up again and talked to herself. "Right: so, uh, Andrew West got on the train somewhere – or did he? There's no ticket on the body. Then how did he end up here?" Beside her, the points changed and one of the tracks slid sideways into a new layout. Parker squatted down again and looked at the tracks thoughtfully. "Little blood," she murmured.
"He wasn't killed here," said a voice from behind her.
Parker jumped, startled. "Yes! Yes, I was getting there, I know." She sprung to her feet and turned around to see Elizabeth and Lily standing nearby.
Elizabeth shrugged. "I know you know. West wasn't killed here; that's why there was so little blood."
Parker looked them up and down. "How long have you two been following me?"
Lily shuffled her feet. "Er…a long time. You don't think we'd give up on a case like this just to spite Elizabeth's brother, do you?"
Elizabeth turned and started walking away. "Come on," she said. "Got a bit of burglary to do."
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The Golden Trio walked down a street towards their destination. "The missile defence plans haven't left the country," Elizabeth said, "otherwise Grant and Wesley's people would have heard about it. Despite what people think, we do still have a Secret Service."
"Yeah, I know," Parker said, I've met them."
"…Which means whoever stole the memory stick can't sell it or doesn't know what to do with it," Lily concluded.
Elizabeth looked around. "We're here," she said.
"Where?" asked Parker.
Elizabeth trotted up the steps at the side of the building which led to the front door of flat 21A on the first floor quickly followed by Lily. As Lily rummaged in her pocket, Parker whispered to him urgently. "Wait! Guys! What if someone's inside?"
"There isn't," Elizabeth said confidently. Lily picked the lock and went inside, Elizabeth following after.
"Man…" Parker said softly to herself. She hurried inside and shut the door. Lily and Elizabeth trotted up the short flight of stairs ahead of her and walked into the living room. "Where are we?"
"Oh, sorry, didn't I say?" asked Elizabeth. "Joe Harrison's flat."
Parker blinked then spoke slowly. "Joe…?"
Lily went straight over to the window and pulled back the net curtain. She grinned in satisfaction at the sight which greeted her outside. Elizabeth turned to Parker again. "Brother of West's fiancée," she said. Outside the window was a one-storey extension, the roof of which could be easily climbed onto from the window. The extension spread all the way to the bottom of the garden which ended in a wall, and directly on the other side of the wall was the railway line. "He stole the memory stick; killed his prospective brother-in-law," Elizabeth explained.
Dropping to her knees, Lily got out her magnifier and ran it slowly along the edge of the window sill. Parker and Elizabeth walked across to her and peered over her shoulder as Lily found some tiny blood-red spots on the paint. "Then why'd he do it?" asked Parker.
She straightened up and turned as someone unlocked the front door. Lily also stood up also. "How 'bout we ask him?"
Reaching round to the back of her jeans, Parker walked quietly to the door of the living room as the front door slammed. She stepped out onto the landing just as Joe, wearing his courier gear, was leaning his bicycle against the wall. When he saw Parker he picked up the bike as if he intended to use it as a weapon or simply to throw it at her. Parker instantly raised her right hand and pointed her pistol at him. "Don't." Joe kept coming but Parker shook her head. "Don't." Joe stopped and lowered the bike, sighing in a mixture of frustration and fear.
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Joe was sitting on the sofa as the Trio stood and looked at him. Joe was very distressed. "It wasn't meant to…No…" He rubbed his hand over his face. "What's Lucy gonna say? No…" He suck back into the sofa.
"Why did you kill him?" Elizabeth asked.
"It was an accident," Joe protested. "I swear it was."
"But stealing the plans for the missile defence programme wasn't an accident, was it?" Lily asked in a tone as if she were scolding a child.
Joe sighed in defeat. "I started dealing drugs," he admitted. "I mean, the bike thing's a great cover, right? I dunno – I dunno how it started; I just got out of my depth. I owed people thousands – serious people. Then at Westie's engagement do, he starts talking about his job. I mean, usually he's so careful; but that night after a few pints he really opened up. He told me about these missile plans – beyond top secret. He showed me the memory stick; he waved it in front of me. You hear about these things getting lost, ending up on rubbish tips and what-not. And there it was, and I thought…well, I thought it could be worth a fortune. It was pretty easy to get the thing off him, he was so plastered. Next time I saw him, I could tell by the look on his face that he knew. Joe looked up guiltily at Parker.
"What happened?" asked Parker.
"I was gonna call an ambulance, but it was too late. I just didn't have a clue what to do, so I dragged him in 'ere, and I just sat in the dark, thinking."
"Then you got an idea," Elizabeth said.
Lily pushed the net curtain aside and looking out of the window. "Carrying Andrew West way away from here. His body would have gone on for ages if the train hadn't met a stretch of track that curved."
"And points," Parker said.
"Exactly," Elizabeth said.
Parker began pacing. "D'you still have it, then?" Parker asked. "The memory stick?
Joe nodded.
Fetch it for us – if you wouldn't mind," Elizabeth said. Sighing unhappily, Joe stood up and walked into another room. The Trio gathered closer together to talk. "Distraction over," said Elizabeth, "the game continues."
"Well, maybe that's over, too," Parker said. "We've heard nothing from the bomber."
"Five pips, remember, guys?" asked Lily "It's a countdown. We've only had four."
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In the flat, the heroes were scattered about. Parker was sitting in her armchair with her feet up on the seat and her arms folded tightly around her, trying to conserve heat from the still boarded up windows. The pink phone was on the arm of the chair. Elizabeth was sitting at the dining table, typing an email up on her laptop. Lily was reading in her armchair. The TV was on and show was playing. As the audience booed noisily, Parker yelled indignantly at the telly. "No, no, no!" She gestured at the screen. "He can't be, he just can't not possible!" Sighing, she folded her arms again.
Lily smirked at Parker's comment. "Have you given Grant the memory stick yet, Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth squinted and tilted her head, dragging out the next word. "Weeeeeell…"
Parker sighed, turning off the TV. "You didn't, did you."
Elizabeth groaned. "I will eventually! We can use it!" She pulled up The Life of a Detective Hero and gestured for the others to come over. When they walked towards her, Elizabeth began to type.
Found. The Bruce-Partington plans. Please collect.
Parker's mouth fell open. "Elizabeth!" she scolded.
"Hey, do we want to catch this killer or not?" Elizabeth asked. Parker sighed in defeat and Lily gave a simple nod. Elizabeth typed some more.
The Pool. Midnight.
She sent the message, then closed the lid, breathing deeply and worriedly.
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Lily opened the door leading into the area surrounding an indoor swimming pool. The lights were on but there was nobody else around. She walked slowly towards the shallow end of the pool, the others filing in after; first Elizabeth, then Parker. They stopped at the edge of the pool and Lily turned, trying to see up into the area of the gallery above their heads. Finally, Elizabeth turned towards the pool, raising one hand and holding up the memory stick. "We brought you a little getting-to-know-you present," she said loudly. "Oh, that's what it's all been for, hasn't it? All your little puzzles; making us dance – all to distract us from this." She gestured with the memory stick, then began to turn in a slow circle as she waited for a response.
Everyone looked around worriedly and tense. A door opened halfway down the room and everyone looked around, Elizabeth still holding the memory stick aloft. And John Watson walked through the door and into the pool area, wrapped snugly in a hooded jacket with his hands tucked into the pockets. He turned and looked at the Golden Trio as they all stared back at him in absolute shock. "Evening," John said. Elizabeth's raised hand began to lower slowly but otherwise she didn't move. Lily's eyes were wide and Parker stared in utter disbelief. "This is a turn-up, isn't it, Golden Trio?
Parker eventually spoke, softly, and shocked. "John. What have you done–?"
"Bet you never saw this coming," said another voice. A young man came out from the same door John entered. He had blonde hair and icy-blue eyes…exactly like Elizabeth's. It was her younger brother, Spencer.
Elizabeth gasped and looked at her brother. "S-Spencer."
"Not just them," said a feminine voice, also walking in. Her long black hair came to her elbows and her hazel eyes looked worriedly at Lily from behind her glasses. It was Lily's sister, May.
Finally, Parker managed to move, and started to walk slowly towards the man she had believed to be so great and loyal until now. The shock and bewilderment on her face made her look like she was back in the doombot invasion. Then, with a look of despair that matched Parker's, John took his hands from his pockets and pulled open his jacket to reveal the bomb strapped to his chest. A sniper's laser immediately began to dance around over the bomb as well as the others'.
John blinked. "What…would you like me…to make him say…next?" The Trio began to copy Parker's actions, stepping towards each person for them but looking everywhere as they tried to see who else was in the area. John continued narrating the words spoken into his earpiece. "Gottle o' geer…gottle o' geer…gottle o' geer." His voice almost broke on the last phrase.
"Stop it!" Elizabeth said, looking around the room frantically.
"Nice touch," May narrated, "this: the pool where little Arlo died. I stopped him." She tried not to cringe as she listened to the next words. "I can stop everyone important to you too. " She looked down at the laser point on her chest. "Stop their hearts."
Lily turned on the spot as she tried to look in all directions. "Who are you?" she asked.
A door opened at the far end of the pool and a soft male voice with an Irish accent spoke from that direction. "I gave you my number. I thought you might call," he said plaintively. The Golden Trio turned towards the new arrival, who slowly walked out into the open. It was Jim, Molly's boyfriend. But it wasn't the fumble-fingered casually-dressed Londoner who did indeed leave his number for Parker in the lab at Bart's; this was a sharply-dressed man with immaculate hair and a murderous look on his face. With his hands in his pockets, he casually began to stroll alongside the deep end of the pool, heading towards the Trio and the hostanges. All hint of plaintiveness had now gone from his voice. "Hey Nightingale, is that British Army Browning in your pocket," Parker reached down to her trouser pocket and removed a pistol from it, "or are you just worried about this meeting?"
Parker raised the pistol and aimed it towards Jim, biting her lip. Lily chose to speak up. "Both."
Jim stopped and looked back at them, unafraid. "Jim Moriarty…Hi!" Elizabeth tilted her head as she looked more closely at the man. Jim acted as if he needed to remind the Trio who he was. "Jim? Jim from the hospital?" He began to walk alongside the deep end again. Parker brought up her other hand to support the one aiming the gun. Elizabeth and Lily both raised their hands, readying their powers. Jim bit his lip as if disappointed. "Oh. Did I really make such a fleeting impression? But then, I suppose, that was rather the point." He turned to face Parker just as the sniper's laser flickered over John's upper chest. Parker briefly turned her head towards John, a questioning look on her face. Jim began to walk again. "Don't be silly. Someone else is holding the rifle. I don't like getting my hands dirty." He reached the corner of the pool and stopped. "I've given you a glimpse, Trio, just a teensy glimpse of what I've got going on out there in the big bad world. I'm a specialist, you see…" He looked surprised, as if he had only just realised the connection. "…Like you guys!"
Lily glared. "Dear Jim. Please will you fix it for me to get rid of my lover's nasty sister?" Starting to walk forward again, Jim grinned as he recognised what Lily was referencing. "Dear Jim. Please will you fix it for me to disappear to South America?"
"Just so," said Jim.
"Consulting criminal," Lily said softly.
Jim smiled proudly. "Isn't it great? No one ever gets to me – and no one ever will."
Parker cocked the pistol as she spoke. "We did."
"You guys have come the closest. Now you're in my way."
"Thank you," said Lily.
"Didn't mean it as a compliment," said Jim, turning to her.
"Yes you did."
Jim shrugged. "Yeah, okay, I did. But the flirting's over," his voice became high-pitched and sing-song, "Daddy's had enough now!" He again started to stroll closer. Jim switched back to his normal tone. "I've shown you what I can do. I cut loose all those people, all those little problems, even thirty million quid just to get you to come out and play."
The two younger hostages were stressed and shaking, May had tears streaming down her face. John was calmer than them, but was starting to feel the strain and closed his eyes briefly. Parker's eyes couldn't help but flicker across to him a couple of times as she tried to keep her focus on the man approaching them. "So take this as a friendly warning…my dears. Back off." He smiled. "Although I have loved this – this little game of ours." He put on his London accent for a moment. "Playing Jim from I.T." He switched back to his Irish accent. "Playing cheating. Did you like the little touch with the mobile number?"
"People have died," Elizabeth murmured, still loud enough for the others to hear.
"That's what people DO!" Jim screamed the last word furiously, his personality changing in an instant.
"We will stop you," Lily said quietly.
Jim was calm again. "No you won't," he said with a confident shrug.
Elizabeth looked across to the hostages. "You all right?" she asked, eyes flickering between all of them but mostly to Spencer. They all deliberately kept their gaze away from the Golden Trio, having been given instructions earlier about not talking to them. Jim walked forward again and reached John's side. "You can talk, Johnny-boy. Everyone can. Go ahead."
Refusing to specifically obey Jim's orders, John met Parker's eyes and nodded once. Parker glanced towards Elizabeth and Elizabeth held out the memory stick towards Jim. "Take it," she said.
"Huh?" wondered Jim. "Oh! That!" He strolled past the hostages and reached out for the stick, grinning. "The missile plans!" He took the stick from Elizabeth's fingers and brought it to his mouth, kissing it. Behind him, John was silently murmuring to himself, perhaps trying to keep himself focussed, perhaps winding himself up to take action. Jim lowered the memory stick and looked at it. "Boring!" he said in a sickening, sing-song tone. He shook his head. "I could have got them anywhere." He nonchalantly tossed the stick into the pool. Seeing his opportunity, John raced forward and slammed himself up against Jim's back, wrapping one arm around his neck and the other around his chest. Parker backed up a step in surprise but kept the pistol raised and aimed at Jim. "Parker, run!"
Jim laughed in delight. "Good! Very good." No member of the Golden Trio moved and Parker was still aiming her gun at Jim's head but started to look up a little anxiously, as if wondering what action the hidden sniper might take.
John began speaking savagely. "If your sniper pulls that trigger, Mr. Moriarty, then we both go up."
Jim looked calmly at Parker. "Isn't he sweet? I can see why you date him. But then people do get so sentimental." Grimacing angrily, John pulled Jim even closer onto the bomb that was now sandwiched between them. Jim scowled round at him. "They're so touchingly loyal. But, oops!" He grinned briefly at John, then looked towards the Trio. "You've rather shown your hand there, Doctor Watson." He chuckled as a new laser point appeared in the middle of Parker's forehead. John stared in horror as Jim looked round at him expectantly. Parker, realising what was happening from John's expression and her friends reactions behind her, shook her head slightly. "Gotcha!" Jim sang out. He chuckled as John released his grip on him and stepped back, holding his hands up to signal to the sniper that he won't be trying anything else.
Jim glanced around at him, then turned back towards the Golden Trio while brushing his hands down his suit to straighten it. He gestured to it indignantly. "Westwood!" He lowered his hands and stood calmly in front of Parker who was still aiming the pistol at his head. "D'you know what happens if you don't leave me alone?" He glanced at the rest of the Trio. "To all of you?"
"Oh," Lily said in a bored tone, "let me guess: we all get killed."
"Kill you?" He grimaced. "N-no, don't be obvious. I mean, I'm gonna kill at least one of you anyway someday. I don't wanna rush it, though. I'm saving it up for something special. No no no no no. If you don't stop prying…I'll burn you." He ran his eyes briefly across the three of them, and his voice became vicious. "I'll burn…the hearts…out of you." His face was a snarl as he said the word 'hearts' but at the end of the sentence he looked almost regretful. He met Parker's eyes unblinkingly. "Killing at least one of you will be the best way to burn the rest." Parker blinked involuntarily, a bit nervous. Jim looked down, smiling, then shrugged. "Well, I'd better be off." He nonchalantly looked around, checking his exit route, before turning back to the Golden Trio. "Well, so nice to have had a proper chat."
Parker raised the pistol higher and extended it closer to Jim's head. "What if I was to shoot you now – right now?"
Jim was completely unperturbed. "Then you could cherish the look of surprise on my face." He opened his eyes and mouth wide, mimicking surprise, then grinned at Parker. "'Cause I'd be surprised, Nightingale; really I would. You aren't a killer. I'd even be surprised if Crystal here killed me, but less surprised than if you did." He screwed up his nose. "And I'd be just a teensy bit…disappointed. And of course you wouldn't be able to cherish it for very long." Slowly he began to turn away. "Ciao, Golden Trio." Looking back at all of them with some distaste, he walked calmly towards the side door which the hostages came through earlier.
Parker slowly stepped forward to keep him in her sights. "Catch…you…later."
The door opened and Jim's voice could be heard, high-pitched and sing-song. "No you won't!"
The door closed. No one moved for a few seconds, Parker's gun still aimed towards the door. Then everyone's gaze drifted to the hostage there for them. Everyone hurried forward to their person. Parker bent, putting the pistol on the floor, then dropped to her knees in front of John as she started unfastening the vest to which the bomb was attached. The others were doing the same with their siblings. "All right?" Parker asked. John tilted his head back, breathing heavily. "Are you all right?" Parker asked again, this time much more urgent.
"Yeah-yeah," stuttered John. "I'm fine." Having unfastened the vest, Parker jumped up and hurried round behind John, starting to pull the jacket and the bomb vest off in one go. "I'm fine," John insisted. Parker, also breathing too fast, continued trying to tug the jacket and vest off. "Parker," John said breathily Finally Parker managed to roughly strip the jacket and vest off John's arms. "P-Parker!" Parker bent and skimmed the items as far away along the floor as she could, while John staggered at the vehemence with which her girlfriend just ripped them off him.
John sighed and he reached up and pulled the earpiece from his ear, breathing heavily as delayed shock began to hit him. Parker turned and stared at him for a moment, as Lily and Elizabeth ran out with their siblings. Parker pulled John into a tight hug for a moment before glancing around and hurrying back to pick up the pistol before racing towards the door that Moriarty left through. John's knees buckled and he staggered towards the nearest support, which was the edge of one of the changing cubicles. "Oh, boy." He turned and dropped down into a squat, bracing his back against the cubicle's edge as he blew out a long breath and tried to calm himself down. Parker came back in, having seen no sign of Moriarty outside. She started to pace up and down near John, so hyper and distracted that she didn't even realise that she was scratching the back of her head with the business end of a loaded and cocked pistol. John looked up at Parker. "Are you okay?" he asked breathlessly.
Parker continued pacing and continued scratching her head with the gun. "Me? Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine. Fine." She turned to John, wide-eyed and breathless. "That, er…thing that you, er, that you did; that, um…" she cleared her throat, "…you offered to do. That was, um…good. Thank you."
John merely stared blankly ahead of himself. "I'm glad only your friends saw that."
Parker had temporarily lowered her hand long enough to not be risking accidentally shooting herself in the head – although she had terrible jitters as she held the gun down by her side. She lifted the gun again as she raised her hand to rub her chin while looking down at John in confusion. "Hmm?"
John spoke, but was still not meeting Parker's eyes. "You, ripping my clothes off in a darkened swimming pool. Bit early, don't ya think."
Parker shrugged, still nervous. "To be honest, I don't care what people think. Well, except for when I'm around them and I can hear them think." She looked down at John, then grinned. John snorted laughter, then leaned forward and prepared to stand up. But before she could move, the beam from a sniper's laser began to dance over his chest.
John looked down at it and his face filled with horror. "Oh…" he said in anguish.
A door near the deep end of the pool opened and Jim came through, clapping his hands together and turning to face the hero and the blogger. "Sorry fellas!" Jim said cheerfuly. "I'm soooooo changeable!" John grimaced in disbelief. Parker kept her back to Jim, looking up into the gallery to try and judge how many snipers there might be up there. There were quite a few because there were at least two laser points hovering over John, and at least three more travelling over Parker's body. Jim laughed and spread his arms wide. "It is a weakness with me but, to be fair to myself…it is my only weakness." He lowered his hands and put them in his pockets. Parker turned her head and looked down at John, who lifted his own head to meet her gaze. "You can't be allowed to continue. You just can't. I would try to convince you but," he laughed and his voice becomes sing-song again, "everything I have to say has already crossed your mind!"
Parker, who had looked away for a moment, turned and looked down at John again, her face showing several mixed emotions such as worry, fear, regret, and anger, but her eyes screamed a simple, silent request. John responded instantly with a tiny nod, giving her full permission to do whatever she deemed necessary. Parker turned to face Jim, gathering all the bravery she had. "Probably my answer has crossed yours."
She raised the pistol and aimed it at him. Jim smiled confidently, with no fear in his expression. Slowly, Parker lowered the pistol downwards until it was pointing directly at the bomb jacket. All three sets of eyes locked onto the jacket, John breathing heavily, Parker trying calm but somewhat unnerved. Jim tilted his head, looking a little anxious for the first time. As Parker held her hand steady, continuing to aim towards the jacket, Jim lifted his head and locked eyes with one of his new nemeses. Parker gazed back at him and Jim began to smile. Parker's eyes narrowed slightly, finger at the trigger, ready to pull at any moment…
HAHA! Season one, finished! Who's excited for my SiB rewrite? :D Not as big of a cliffhanger because we know what'll happen. Well…I could easily change it *evil grin* See ya tomorrow!
