It was not a mere ten minutes until I heard Shan's annoying heels yet again, her silhouette appearing not too far away, along with one single body guard.

"It looks like you're trying to prove a point here, coming in here with only one guard." I exclaimed, smirking at the stupid woman. She thought she was safe, that I wouldn't be able to snap her neck with one simple movement. It's like she hadn't even seen me kill her father without getting shot once at all. Idiot.

"Yes, I'm confident that you won't be able to escape. It's been nearly a year, and if you wanted to escape you would have by now. You're losing your touch wise phoenix." She replied, sending me back a wide smile. She thought I was bluffing! She thought I had forgotten how to unlock any lock in the world. That was not something you could forget, not at all. The person with the key is king, and I owned all keys. Nothing could keep me restrained. But apparently Shan had forgotten that little fact.

"Now then, On to more important things, Do you have the treasure?" Shan questioned, turning towards John, taking me out of my thoughts. She thought he had a treasure, a treasure that for some reason had brought the gang back to London. A treasure that Mycroft had said was stolen from the gang. The question that still remained was what was it?

"I don't know what you're talking about." John replied, blatantly confused about what was going on. He didn't understand … which meant he didn't know … which means … he's screwed. Shan was an idiot with a purpose, and that purpose was to find the treasure, and if it came to torture, well she'd do it. All this time I'd been keeping information from Shan, trying to protect Sherlock, but Shan didn't know why. She didn't know that I loved him, and was trying to make sure he was safe. She didn't know that he meant everything to me. No, to her it just meant that he knew things he shouldn't and I was making sure that the information didn't get leaked to the wrong people. She knew I was an intelligence agent, she knew I could keep my mouth shut. But what she didn't know was that John was telling the truth and he actually didn't know anything. To her, he was just another agent trying to keep a secret. And that meant one thing … trouble.

"I would prefer to make certain." Shan stated, sending a look to the man behind her. He walked to the side, pulling out a large crossbow covered by a dusty cloth. It was a toothpick crossbow, one that would be used in a chinese circus. So either, Shan was putting on a show for us, or she was going to plop one of us in front of it and see if someone sings like a canary. Knowing how good I was under pressure, it was more likely that she'd put me in the line of fire, but since Shan was an idiot there was no telling who she'd choose.

"Everything in the West has its price; and the price for your pretty friend's life is information." She continued, the man who had walked in with her picking up Sarah's chair and placing it in front of the bow. Shan knew I wouldn't speak, she knew I wouldn't tell her a thing so she was moving on from me. She knew that Sarah seemed to be a weak spot for my brother, but she still didn't want to believe that John knew nothing. Which meant one thing … shite was about to go wrong.

"Oi! Leave me alone!" Sarah screamed, tears already rushing down her face. She was scared, so scared, I could just feel it. Well, guess what, no one was going to hurt her. Not here, not now. She was John's date, John's friend that probably meant so much to him, and that meant that I would have to do everything in my power to keep Sarah safe. Right now, Sarah's life came before mine and I'd be damned if Shan tried to kill that women. Sarah was under my protection and if anything hurt her, there would be hell to pay.

"Damn right you should leave her alone." I screamed back, ready to tear the handcuffs that bound my hands together and rip Shan to pieces. Sarah was not a part of this, not the one Shan needed to hurt. She was an innocent, someone in the wrong place at the wrong time, and there was no way she was dying because of that. She. Is. SAFE. And she forever would be.

"Why, it's not like you can do anything about it." Shah replied, smiling evilly down at me. She didn't understand, she thought she was all high and mighty. That she had more power than any one in the world, that she had captured the Feng Hui and destroyed her to the point where she had resorted to begging. Nu uh, no way! She was the dumbest of the dumb, the lowest of the low, she was still an idiot teenager with a daddy complex so big that it was a miracle she could even function. I was going to do something about it, just watch and see. Because with John here, well, the distraction was never too far away. Sherlock Holmes would find us, and lord have mercy on Shan when he does, because the moment he arrives, I'm destroying her stupid dreams, and her stupid face with it.

"Where's the hairpin?" Shan angrily questioned, glaring at John. So this was what it was all about?! A stupid, bloody hairpin? If she wants a bloody hairpin, I have loads back at the flat. Now, if the black lotus came back to America for one single tiny little hair accessory the main question was … how much was it?

"What?" John stated in utter confusion. He had no clue what was going on, no idea why the gang was so set on finding a hairpin so much so that they'd kill people for it. He thought this was annoying and stupid and a total waste of time, and to be perfectly honest, he was right.

"The Empress pin valued at nine million sterling. We already had a buyer in the West; and then one of our people was greedy. He took it, brought it back to London and you, Mr. Holmes, have been searching." Shan stated, once again calling John A COMPLETELY INCORRECT NAME! This whole thing was seriously getting annoying. Clearly, he wasn't Sherlock, clearly he didn't know where her freaking pin was and clearly she shouldn't have trusted her smugglers as much as she has. Everyone just needs to move on, Shan needs a good head whacking and no one needs to get hurt. That's it, simple as that.

"Please. Please, listen to me. I'm not ... I'm not Sherlock Holmes. You have to believe me. I haven't found whatever it is you're looking for." John stated, his voice wavering as he watched Shan's bodyguard load a sharp arrow into the bow. His eyes were wide, worried. His palms, they were shaking. He thought Sarah was going to die. He was scared, scared that she'd die and it would be because of him. He thought she was a goner. But he was wrong.

"I need a volunteer from the audience!" Shan replied, glaring at John as though he were keeping things from her on purpose. She thought she was going to get her way, that he would snap and tell her everything her little heart desired. That the death of Sarah would snap poor John's wits and he would be too broken to hide all of his secrets. But the truth was, she was wrong.

"No, please. Please." John begged, tears forming in his eyes. To him, she had no more hope of her survival. To him, she was going to die because of a simple misunderstanding.

"Ah, thank you, lady. Yes, you'll do very nicely." Shan replied, walking ever closer to Sarah. To her, she had all the hope in the world. To her, Sarah was dying for a good cause.

"Ladies and gentlemen. From the distant moonlit shores of NW1, we present for your pleasure Sherlock Holmes' pretty companion in a death-defying act." Shan replied, quickly grabbing a long dagger and pulling it through the seams of the sandbag suspended in the air. Sarah began to cry, her demeanor still strong as she awaited her death. To her, she was already dead. To her there was no hope because the moment Shan had placed her in front of the bow she was too far gone to be saved. But she was wrong. They were all wrong. Sarah was neither dead nor alive, she was right where I needed her. A second from death, a moment from life. As John begged for Sarah's life to be saved, tears falling from Sarah's perfect face I was preparing. I promised to protect Sarah, and Sarah I would protect. A fire was moving in, and the wise phoenix was never far behind. It was time.