"Tuesday morning, all you gotta do is turn up and say the bag was yours." John commented irritably, looking over at their informant. The group swiftly made their away across the bridge, following Raz.

"Forget about your court date." Sherlock scolded. John pursed his lips. Adara took a double take as the passed a group of people. Although not having the time to really key in on faces she dismissed her feeling of déjà vu and continued on beside Sherlock. After crossing the bridge, Raz led them into a skate park.

"If you want to hide a tree, then a forest is the best place to do it wouldn't you say? People would just walk right past, not knowing, unable to decipher the message." Sherlock surmised as he glanced around at the plethora of layered graffiti covering every inch of the cement park. Raz pointed to a particular section of the back wall.

"There. I spotted it earlier." He explained. Adara stepped closer to the writing, eyeing the yellow Chinese figures, most of which were already buried beneath other graffiti art.

"They have been in here. And this is the exact same paint?" she inquired, looking to Raz for confirmation.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"If we're going to decipher this code, we're gonna need to look for more evidence." Sherlock hummed thoughtfully. Adara pursed her lips and eyed the exits to the skate park.

"The railway. Easiest to slip around unnoticed, chance of quick transportation." She suggested, pointing toward the opening at the far side of the park. Sherlock nodded absently and began marching that direction.

"Thanks, Raz." Adara smiled, touching the man's arm gently before taking off after him with John at her side.

...

...

The three of them split up to search around the rail yards. Sherlock walked along the rail-line and spotted an empty spray can left on the tracks. Squatting to pick it up he put the end of his flashlight in his mouth and ran a thumb over the yellow paint left on the nozzle. He sniffed it curiously. Looking up once more his eyes roamed over the surfaces nearby. Someone had used the can recently.

...

Meanwhile Adara makes her way past some walls with graffiti and posters all over it. Pausing by one she reads of the information before deciding to tear off a piece of it to take with her.

...

John shines his flashlight across another section of railway, pausing when he spots splashes of yellow paint along the tracks. Following the smudges, he raises the light up onto the brick wall of a small storage building. Stepping back to get a wider beam, his mouth drops open in shock as he looks over the yellow symbols that take over the entire wall.

...

Adara glides up beside Sherlock as he paces down a set of tracks.

"Found this. I thought it was quite the coincidence." She hummed, holding out the piece of paper for him. He stared down at the information, his eyes furrowing as he thought through the possibilities. Before he could say anything on the matter the sound of feet running towards them caught their attention. John panted as he jogged over towards them.

"Answer your phone! I've been calling you! I've found it." He huffed tiredly, turning back in the direction he had previously come from. Sherlock and Adara shared a look and chased after him.

"Your phone is never on silent." Adara muttered as they jogged after John. Sherlock pursed his lips and shot her a warning glare; to which she rolled her eyes at him.

...

John led them back to where all the markings were found, but this time it was completely blank.

"It's been painted over." John muttered in surprise. Sherlock shined his flashlight over the blank space while John continued gaping at it. Adara turned in a slow circle, seeing if anyone was still around.

"I don't understand. It..it was here….ten minutes ago. I saw it! A whole load of graffiti!" John insisted.

"Somebody doesn't want me to see it." Sherlock muttered. Suddenly he grabbed the sides of John's head with both hands.

"Hey, Sherlock what are you doing?!" John shot an utterly confused look over at Adara. She shrugged, watching the two with mild amusement.

"Shhh, John. Concentrate. I need you to concentrate. Close your eyes." Sherlock instructed sternly.

"No, what? Why? Why?" John asked incredulously. Sherlock frowned, lowering his arms to grab the man's shoulders.

"What are you doing?!" Without answering Sherlock begins spinning them both around, staring intensely at John. Adara blinked in amusement as she watched the two grown men spin in circles. John had his head cocked back, staring at Sherlock as if he had lost his mind.

"I need you to maximize your visual memory. Try to picture what you saw. Can you picture it?" Sherlock drills as they continue spinning.

"Yeah."

"Can you remember it?"

"Yes, definitely." John assured easily.

"Can you remember the pattern?"

"Yes!"

"How much can you remember it?"

"Well, don't worry…" Sherlock eyes him skeptically as he continues spinning.

"Because the average human memory on visual matters is only 62 percent accurate."

"Yeah, well, don't worry. I remember all of it." John insisted. Sherlock was not convinced.

"Really? Because the only person I know of beside me who would remember something like that is Adara." He countered.

"Yeah, well at least I would…." John grumbled, yanking himself free.

"…if I can get to my pockets!" he shot Sherlock a glare and dug into his pockets, pulling out his cell.

"I took a photograph." John explained, finding the photo and showing the two of them.

"Brilliant!" Adara laughed. John grinned at her praise as he watched Sherlock sheepishly take the phone from his hands.

...

...

Early the next morning the photograph from John's phone had been printed out and blown up so it could be divided up into multiple photos. The photos were now stuck to the mirror and labelled with the corresponding numbers. Sherlock glared at the photos, standing in front of the fireplace.

"Always in pairs, John." He muttered. John jolted awake from where he had been dozing off at the small desk in the living room. He blinked and turned to squint at Sherlock.

"Hmm?" he hummed dazedly.

"Numbers come with partners." Sherlock reiterated easily. John gazed around blankly, realizing he had missed quite a bit.

"God, I need to sleep." He whispered dazedly. Adara smiled at him sympathetically from across the table. She was already used to Sherlock's lack of rest during a case. John was just now being introduced to it. She slid an extra cup of coffee across towards him. John nodded and sipped on the drink, hoping it would kick in.

"Why did he paint it so near the tracks?" Sherlock mused aloud, completely ignoring what else was going on in the room.

"No idea." John answered tiredly.

"Thousands of people pass by there every day."

"Just 20 minutes." John whispered, rubbing his face hard. Adara smiled in amusement at how they easily held one sided conversations.

"Exactly Sherlock. Among those thousands are just the people he would need." Adara pointed out from her spot. She sipped quietly on her own cup of coffee, using the caffeine to stay awake. Sherlock was simply running on adrenaline as usual.

"Of course!" Sherlock beamed, shooting her an appreciative glance. Adara nodded.

"He wants information. He's trying to communicate with his people in the underworld. Whatever is stolen, he wants it back." Sherlock surmised with a grin. Eagerly he bolted forward, running his fingers over the symbols thoughtfully.

"Somewhere in the code." He muttered. Realizing where this was going Adara sighed and walked over to grab the photographs containing the numbers.

"We need Soo Lin Yao. Off to the museum we go boys." She announced, not glancing back to make sure they followed. Sherlock had chased after her the moment she took his photos while John mumbled grouchily before plodding behind after them.

...

...

At the National Antiquities Museum, the group met back up with Andy who they had talked to just last night.

"Two men who traveled back from China were murdered, and their killer left them messages in the Hangzhou numerals." Sherlock explained.

"Soo Lin Yao's in danger. Now, that cipher….it was just the same pattern as the others. He means to kill her as well." John told Andy, getting to the important part. Andy scratched his head and frowned.

"Look, I've tried everywhere. Friends, colleagues. I..I don't know where she's gone. I mean, she could be a thousand miles away." Andy lamented. Sherlock huffed in exasperation. Adara glared at him and smacked his arm chidingly. As she turned her head away, her gaze locked on one of the display cabinets she had seen yesterday.

"What?" Sherlock muttered, watching her frown at the pots in the display. He followed after her silently as she took a few steps closer.

"What are you looking at?" John asked.

"Tell me about those teapots." Sherlock requested, gesturing to the ones Adara was eyeing. Andy walked over to join them.

"Th..the pots were her obsession. Um, they need urgent work. If…if they dry out, then the clay will start to crumble. Apparently, you just have to keep making tea in them." Andy explained, watching them curiously. Adara hummed.

"It would seem someone has been. Yesterday only one of them was shining. Now there are two." She looked back at Sherlock knowingly.

...

...

That night a small set of fingers lace through the grating at the bottom of the wall, carefully pushing it outwards. Soo Lin crawls out of the ventilation and makes her way over to the glass display case housing the teapots and takes it to the restoration room. A tall figure watches from the shadows behind her. Soo Lin picks up the teapot and begins making the tea, pouring it into a pair of cups. She gently swirls the pot around so the liquid coats the pot, inside and out. Suddenly the figure steps up beside her.

"Fancy a biscuit with that?" she gasps in fright and drops the pot in her hands. As if anticipating the reaction Sherlock swoops down and catches it before it hits the ground. He looks up at her in mild amusement.

"Centuries old. Don't wanna break that." He points out, straightening out and handing the pot back to her. She gingerly takes it from his hand. Sherlock reaches out and turns the lamp on to shed more light in the room. He grins at her.

"Hello."

"Sherlock! You don't need to frighten the woman any more than she already is." Adara scolded as she made her way into the room to join them. Soo Lin eyed the duo warily.

"Hello Soo Lin. We need to chat." Adara told her gently.

...

Once John had joined them he took a spot across the table from the Soo Lin, while Adara had claimed a seat beside her. Sherlock opted to sit at the end of the table.

"You saw the cipher. Then you know he is coming for me." Soo Lin told them.

"You've been clever to avoid him so far." Adara pointed out.

"I had to finish….to finish this work. It's only a matter of time. I know he will find me." The woman countered, her brow furrowing in worry.

"Who is he? Have you met him before?" Sherlock inquired. Soo Lin nodded.

"When I was a girl, living back in China. I recognized his….signature." she explained after a beat.

"The cipher." Sherlock elaborated.

"Only he would do this. Zhi Zhu." She explained.

"Zhi Zhu?" John asked in confusion.

"The spider." Adara translated, shooting her eyes over to John before returning her attention back to the smaller woman. Soo Lin crossed her foot over her knee and unlaced her shoe. Taking it off she revealed a black lotus flower within a circle tattooed on her heel. Adara straightened up as she looked at it. Soo Lin watched her reaction curiously.

"You know this mark?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Adara nodded.

"The mark of the Tong." Adara answered. John frowned in confusion.

"Ancient crime syndicate based in China." Sherlock elaborated. John nodded in understanding, looking back at Soo Lin.

"Every foot soldier bears the mark; everyone who hauls for them." Soo Lin explained.

"Hauls?" John asked for clarification.

"John…" Adara hummed, wishing for him to pick up on it faster than he was. The man frowned at Adara before turning to the other woman who gave him a pointed stare. His eyes widened in realization.

"Y-You mean you were a smuggler?" he asked. Soo Lin lowered her gaze, putting her shoe back on.

"I was fifteen. My parents were dead. I had no livelihood; no way of surviving day to day except to work for the bosses." She told them.

"Who are they?" Sherlock asked gently.

"They are called the Black Lotus. By the time I was sixteen, I was taking thousands of pounds worth of drugs across the border into Hong Kong. But I managed to leave that life behind me. I came to England." Her lips quirked up in a sad smile as she looked around the room thoughtfully.

"They gave me a job here. Everything was good; a new life."

"Then he came looking for you." Adara supplied. Soo Lin looked over at her with tears and paused as she saw the look of complete understanding on her face.

"You know." She realized. John frowned and glanced between the two of them. Adara smiled wryly.

"You never fully walk away from a life like that. It finds ways of catching up." She nodded. John's frown deepened even further. What was she talking about? Soo Lin swallowed thickly, her tears spilling over.

"I had hoped after five years maybe they would have forgotten me, but they never really let you leave. A small community like ours…they are never very far away." She explained, reaching up to wipe at her eyes.

"He came to my flat. He asked me to help him to track down something that was stolen."

"And you have no idea what it was?" John inquired. Soo Lin shook her head.

"I refused to help." She told him. John leaned forward.

"So, you knew him well when you were living back in China?" Soo Lin nodded.

"Oh yes." She looked up at Sherlock.

"He's my brother. Two orphans, we had no choice. We could work for the Black Lotus, or starve on the streets like beggars." Soo Lin explained.

"My brother has become their puppet, in the power of the one they call Shan. The Black Lotus general. I turned my brother away. He said I betrayed him. Next day I came to work, and the cipher was waiting." Adara frowned sadly, hurting for her. Sherlock reached into his pocket and laid out the photographs containing the ciphers.

"Can you decipher these?" he asked. Soo Lin leaned forward.

"These are numbers." She told him.

"Yes, I know." Sherlock pointed out.

"Here, the line across the man's eyes. It's the Chinese number one." Soo Lin pointed out. Sherlock pointed to the one next to it.

"And this one is fifteen. But what's the code?" he redirected.

"All the smugglers know it. It's based upon a book…." Suddenly almost all the lights in the building went out. Soo Lin looks around in horror while other three rise and glance around the room on alert.

"He's here. Zhi Zhu. He has found me." Soo Lin whispered fearfully. Sherlock takes off across the room. Left behind, John calls after him in an urgent whisper but it goes unanswered as Sherlock disappears with his coat billowing behind him.

"Sh-Sherlock wait!" Adara swiftly stood up and grabbed Soo Lin's wrist gently.

"This way." she gestured towards a small side closet, tugging Soo Lin along with her. John followed closely behind

"Get in. Get in!" he urges.

...

Meanwhile Sherlock sprints across a large open room, staircases at each end leading to the balcony above. He stops in the center, his head flitting around rapidly. Behind him a figure runs across the balcony, shooting a handgun at him. Sherlock turns and runs the opposite direction, flinging himself to the floor and sliding to safety behind a statue. The figure fires a few more shots his direction while Sherlock scrambles into a safer position.

...

Back in restoration, John perks up in alarm at the sound of gunfire. He turns to girls.

"I have to go and help. Bolt the door after me." He instructs before hurrying off. Behind him Soo Lin's face fills with dread. Once John is out the door, Adara locks it behind him and turns to look around the small room.

"Well there's no sense in us staying here unarmed." She hummed thoughtfully. Sifting through the contents of the room. A hum of satisfaction escaped her lips as she finds something. Soo Lin watched Adara curiously as the tall woman pulled out a long piece of metal piping.

"This will do quite nicely." She grinned deviously, gripping her new weapon.

...

John cautiously made his way into the large room, ducking for cover behind a column when more shots were fired. The figure ran back across the balcony and disappeared. Once the firing stops, Sherlock popped out from his hiding place and takes off across the room and up the stairs after him. John looked around his column at the other end of the room while Sherlock reaches the top of the stairs. The taller man races around the corner and turns into another display room. As he enters the hooded figure pops out of hiding and shoot at him again. Sherlock quickly ducks behind a display cabinet.

"Careful!" he shouts indignantly as the shooting continues.

"Some of those skulls are over two hundred thousand years old! Have a bit of respect!" he shouts. The shooting stops.

"Thank you." Sherlock pauses to catch his breath, frowning as he takes in the new silence of the room. Slowly he peers around the glass case and the man is gone.

...

Back in restoration, Soo Lin looks around anxiously while Adara stands by the door.

"Stay here." She whispered. Slipping out the door, Adara closed it behind her. She stands with her back against the door and long pipe in hand. Her eyes flit around in the silence as she glanced at both entrances. Thinking through everything she knew about Zhi Zhu she glanced up along the ceiling decor. A small grin graced her features.

"They say there's no honor among thieves, but I don't see why we can't be civil here." She called out calmly. The figure by the ceiling vent tilted his head. Adara took a step forward before she swung her weapon between her hands with expert precision. She whirled it around with deadly force before bringing it to a stop at her side, splitting her legs apart as she prepared for confrontation. Her eyes narrowed as she watched his hand twitch to his side….for his gun no doubt.

"Forgo the weapon. Let's settle this on equal ground…..a duel if you will?" she taunted. Her heart hammered in her chest, hoping that he would take the bait. In all honestly, he could just shoot her but she had hoped that the Tong had some sort of honor code to fall back on. The figure dropped down to the floor, setting his weapon on one of the desks beside him. Reaching to his thighs he pulled out a pair of sticks before linking them together, making his own bo-staff.

"Well dammit…..didn't think you'd have one too." Adara muttered under her breath. Swallowing she readied her own weapon, holding it across her chest. The man followed. In one swift movement Adara lunged forward, swinging her pipe down and across. Zhi Zhu dodged her attack before swinging out one of his own, which Adara blocked easily. Thus, a flurry of swinging and movement ensued as the duo dueled acrobatically across the room. Adara kept her movements on the offensive, never letting is counter attacks slow her down. If she paused for a moment, she knew he would take advantage.

Realizing she had backed herself against a corner of the room, Adara turned sprinting towards the wall. As he struck out towards her, she leapt into the air and pushed off the wall. Adara back flipped over the man's head and landed somewhat gracefully behind him. She led out a huff of exertion, a grin spread across her face in triumph. The man spun in surprise and furiously began swinging his staff at her. Adara managed to spin them around as she blocked his frenzied swings. She led him towards the closest desk, hoping to trap him. However, Zhi Zhu back-flipped onto a tabletop with Adara's pipe following his movements. However, before she made contact he leapt into the air and did multiple aerial spins before landing behind her, twirling his staff in the air. Adara glared at him tiredly.

"Ok, not everyone is a professional." She lamented irritably. The man's head ticked to the side, almost as if amused behind his mask.

...

In the closet Soo Lin clenched her eyes shut in fear as she heard the fight just outside the door, flinching at each clang of metal and grunt of exertion. Taking a shaky breath, she started crawling out of her hiding place. Glancing towards the two still battling she made her way over towards the closest desk. On it lay the forgotten photos and papers that Sherlock had brought. She used the desk to pull herself into a standing position. The movement caught the other's eyes.

"Soo Lin? What are…" Adara turned her head slightly in surprise…she paused her movements. As she predicted, Zhi Zhu took immediate advantage and struck the side of her head. Adara's head snapped forcefully to the side as the rest of her body spun with it. She dropped to the floor instantly. With his opponent gone the man silently approached, stopping just in front of Soo Lin. In turn she gazed up at him gently. Her eyes soft and sad, Soo Lin reached out to cup her brother's cheek, peeling his mask and hood away so she could properly look at him.

...

Across the museum John continued searching for Sherlock when a single gunshot rang out. Whipping around, his face falls into horror as he realizes where the shot came from.

"Oh my god." He muttered before racing back to the restoration room. Entering, he slowed his gait and looks around cautiously. Making his way across the room his eyes frantically look around in the darkness before he froze. Groaning in guilt he stares down at Soo Lin, who now lies dead across the table with a black lotus flower in her hand. Closing his eyes in grief he glances around for the other woman he left behind.

"Adara?" John quietly called. Getting no reply, he began circling around the room in search of her. After passing a couple desks he finds who he was looking for….unresponsive and face down on the floor.