Authors's note : And we continue with His Last Vow, the next chapter ! Sorry for being late on "back from the dead" but I have too many work...
Hope you'll like it, so enjoy !
« - Additionally, said Sherlock in a suspicious voice, if you bring to commit murder you might consider changing your perfume, Lady Smallwood. »
Charles Augustus Magnussen was knelt on the floor of his office, a woman dressed in a black outfit pointing a gun on his head.
« - S..sorry, who ? asked a terrified Magnussen. This…is not Lady Smallwood… Mister Holmes… »
Sherlock frowned. The woman dressed in black turned to Sherlock, pointing her gun on his chest. Sherlock's eyes widened as his mouth dropped. It was… Mary Watson.
« - Is John with you ? she asked
Sherlock was in shock, deducing Mary a light speed. From all his deduction he has made from her since the beginning, he has missed the most important : Liar.
« - He's…, Sherlock breathed out with difficulties.
- Is John here ? she repeated seriously.
- He's downstairs. » finally said Sherlock without articulating.
Mary nodded but didn't put off her gun from Sherlock.
« - So…, Magnussen said in a low voice. What do you do now ? Kill us both ? »
Mary looked at him with a smile.
« - Mary ? said Sherlock with a shaking voice. Whatever he's got on you, let me help.
- Oh Sherlock, she said in an annoyed voice, if you take one more step closer, I swear I will kill you.
- No Mrs Watson… » said Sherlock softly.
Apparently, Sherlock's little sentence made it's effect on Mary. She took a breathe as she blinked.
- You won't. » finished Sherlock, sure of himself.
He was however interrupted by the noise of the gun, shooting into his stomach. Sherlock frowned and bowed his head to see the little stain of blood growing on his shirt.
« - I'm sorry, Sherlock, blinked Mary in a sincere voice. Truly am.
- Mary…? » muttered Sherlock before she turned her gun to Magnussen.
There, time froze, Sherlock used his mind palace to find a quick solution to this problem : he was dying. And for real this time. Molly appeared as he was downing the stairs of the palace.
« - It's not like as in the movies, she said in her joyful tone which was such a pleasure for Sherlock to hear, in every circumstances. There is not a great big splat of blood and you're flying backwards ! »
She then entered HER room in Sherlock's mind palace, the white mortuary.
« - The impact isn't spread into a wide area, she continued in a more serious tone. It's tightly focused so there is a little energy transfer You stay still, and bullet pushes trough. You must certainly going to die, she said in a strong voice, so we need to focus. »
Sherlock was lying on a metal table, covered by a white mortuary sheet. She slapped him hard and he suddenly breathed in, as coming back to life. He came back to Magnussen's office, where everything was frozen in time, except his Molly, standing in front of him.
« - I said : FOCUS ! » she shouted before slapping him hard again.
He was back in his mind palace, in Molly's mortuary.
« - So well and clever having a mind palace, said Molly in front of his corpse, looking at him directly in the eyes. But we have only three seconds of consciousness left to use it, so come on : what's going to kill you ?
- Blood loss, whispered Sherlock panicked.
- Exactly, whispered back Molly. So, it's all about one thing now, forwards or backwards. We need to decided which way you're going to fall. »
They were back in Magnussen's office and Anderson appeared, asking if there was one hole or two.
« - Is the bullet still inside you ? asked seriously Molly. Or is there an exit wound ? It will depend on the gun. »
There, Mycroft appeared and made the lesson to Sherlock to learn him not to focus on the gun but on his environnement, and in this case, the mirror behind him. If it had shuttered in pieces, it would have meant the bullet wasn't inside him anymore but he had heard no noise, so…
« - The bullet's still inside me, deduced Sherlock, like a robot.
- So we need to take him down backwards, said Anderson's voice.
- I agree, said the voice of Molly. Sherlock ? You need to fall on your back.
- Right now the bullet is caulk in the bottle, said Anderson
- The bullet itself is blocking the most of the blood flow, explained Molly as Sherlock followed her reassuring stare.
- But any pressure or impact on the entrance could dislodge it, continued Anderson.
- Plus, finished Molly, on your back, gravity's working for us. Fall. Now. » she ordered seriously.
Sherlock's concentration was only on her soft voice, listening to everything she was telling him, and he did what she wanted him to do, he fell on his back.
Suddenly, as an alarm came back in his head, he was back in his mind palace, in Molly's room.
« - What's that ?! he shouted in panic. What's happening ?! »
Molly's voice guided him through the different steps to the death to finally say :
« - You need to control the PAIN ! »
On that he gone don the stairs of his mind palace to find the room where Moriarty was enchained. But in his little speech to drown Sherlock in despair, he made the mistake to imply John Watson was certainly in danger. That made the effect of an electric chock on him and he came back to life, getting up the stairs to the consciousness, as hard as it could be.