At 221B, Sherlock's phone begins to ring. His eyes snap open. Outside the court, John is hurrying along the pavement.
"Not Guilty. They found him Not Guilty. No defence, and Moriarty's walked free." John said into the phone.
Sherlock lowers his phone, staring blankly ahead.
"Sherlock. Are you listening? He's out. You-you know he'll be coming after you. Sher..." John couldn't finish.
Sherlock switches off the phone and gets up off the sofa. As Sherlock stood up to get dressed, Vaness headed down to her room. She stripped of her clothes quickly to put on a very nice dress, it was elegant black. She headed back up as Sherlock got out of his bedroom, wearing a suit.
Sherlock turned to look at her then frowned.
"No" Sherlock said firmly.
"What?" Vaness asked.
"You will not be part of this." He said.
Vaness raised an eyebrow. Sherlock pulled her arm but she stood her ground.
"I'm already part of this." she said.
"Not like this." Sherlock's face was filled with pain.
"Stay in my bedroom and don't make a single sound." Sherlock ordered pushing her to his bedroom.
"What? Pretend that I don't exists?" she asked. "You and I both know that he'll know I'm there the moment he steps in here." Vaness said gesturing to the living room.
Sherlock groaned, "I don't care! Just stay there." he said in exasperation, "please." he added.
Vaness sighed, "Fine." She turned to face him, "You don't need to protect me Sherlock. I want to fight this battle with you." she said softly.
"I know." Sherlock whispered. "But you don't need to fight my battles for me."
Vaness kissed his forehead and headed towards is bedroom, closing the door behind her. She listened for what was happening outside.
In the kitchen Sherlock switches on the kettle and slams down a small tray beside it, putting a jug of milk, a sugar bowl, a teapot and two cups and saucers with teaspoons onto the tray. The kettle comes to the boil and switches off and Sherlock, makes the tea and takes the tray to the table beside John's chair, then walks over to his own chair and picks up his violin and bow. As he begins to play Bach's Sonata No. 1 in G minor, downstairs the front door is expertly lockpicked and pushed open. Jim's easily-recognisable shadow precedes him as he slowly walks along the hall and up the stairs. Partway up, one of the stairs creaks noisily and Jim pauses for a moment, as does Sherlock's playing. A couple of seconds later Sherlock resumes from a few notes before where he stopped and Jim starts to climb the stairs again. Sherlock, standing with his back to the living room door, keeps playing until Jim pushes open the door, then he stops but doesn't yet turn around.
"Most people knock." Sherlock said then he shrugs. "But then you're not most people, I suppose."
He gestures over his shoulder with his bow towards the table.
"Kettle's just boiled." He said
Jim walks further into the room and bends to pick up an apple from the bowl on the coffee table.
"Johann Sebastian would be appalled." Jim said.
Tossing the apple and catching it, he looks around the living room as if searching for a seat.
"May I?" Jim asked.
"Please." Sherlock replied turning to face him.
He gestures with the end of his bow towards John's chair. Jim immediately walks over to Sherlock's chair and sits in that one instead. Sherlock looks slightly unnerved. Jim takes out a small penknife and starts to cut into the apple while Sherlock puts down the violin and begins to pour tea into the cups.
"You know when he was on his death bed, Bach, he heard his son at the piano playing one of his pieces. The boy stopped before he got to the end ..." Moriarty was saying.
" ... and the dying man jumped out of his bed, ran straight to the piano and finished it." Sherlock finished for him.
"Couldn't cope with an unfinished melody." Moriarty said.
"Neither can you. That's why you've come." Sherlock said.
"But be honest: you're just a tiny bit pleased." Moriarty replied.
"What, with the verdict?" Sherlock asked.
He picks up one of the teacups, adds a splash of milk and turns and offers the cup to Jim, who sits up straighter and takes it.
"With me ..." Moriarty said softly "... back on the streets."
He gazes up into Sherlock's eyes, smiling.
"Every fairytale needs a good old-fashioned villain."
He grins. Sherlock turns away and adds milk to his own cup.
"You need me, or you're nothing. Because we're just alike, you and I - except you're boring." He told Sherlock.
He shakes his head in disappointment.
"You're on the side of the angels." He said.
He sips his tea as Sherlock picks up his own cup and stirs his drink.
"Got to the jury, of course." Sherlock said.
"I got into the Tower of London; you think I can't worm my way into twelve hotel rooms?" Moriarty replied.
"Cable network." Sherlock said.
"Every hotel bedroom has a personalised TV screen ... and every person has their pressure point; someone that they want to protect from harm." Moriarty said.
Jim lifts his teacup to his mouth again.
"Easy-peasy." Moriarty said softly.
By now Sherlock has unbuttoned his jacket and sat down in John's chair. In a perhaps unconscious mimicking of the man seated opposite him, he too has his cup lifted close to his mouth.
"So how're you going to do it ..." Sherlock asked.
He pointedly blows gently on his tea.
"... burn me?"
"Oh, that's the problem - the final problem. Have you worked out what it is yet?" Moriarty replied softly.
Sherlock has taken a sip of his tea and looks across his cup to the other man.
"What's the final problem?" Moriarty asked.
He smiles across his own cup.
"I did tell you ..." he said softly, "... but did you listen?" He continued in a sing-song.
He takes another sip of tea and then puts the cup down into the saucer. Putting his hand onto his knee, he starts idly drumming his fingers. Sherlock's eyes lower to watch the movement.
"How hard do you find it, having to say "I don't know"?" Moriarty asked.
Sherlock puts his cup into its saucer and shrugs.
"I dunno." Sherlock answered nonchalantly.
"Oh, that's clever; that's very clever; awfully clever." Moriarty commented.
He chuckles in an upper class tone. Sherlock smiles humourlessly while putting his cup back onto the tray.
"Speaking of clever, have you told your little friends yet?" Moriarty asked.
"Told them what?" Sherlock asked.
"Why I broke into all those places and never took anything." Moriarty replied.
"No." Sherlock answered.
"But you understand." Moriarty said.
"Obviously." Sherlock said.
"Off you go, then." Moriarty said.
He has carved a piece off his apple and puts it into his mouth with the flat of his penknife.
"You want me to tell you what you already know?" Sherlock asked.
"No; I want you to prove that you know it." Moriarty said.
"You didn't take anything because you don't need to." Sherlock said.
"Good." Moriarty said.
"You'll never need to take anything ever again." Sherlock continued.
"Very good. Because ...?" Moriarty asked.
"Because nothing ... nothing in the Bank of England, the Tower of London or Pentonville Prison could possibly match the value of the key that could get you into all three." Sherlock answered.
"I can open any door anywhere with a few tiny lines of computer code. No such thing as a private bank account now - they're all mine. No such thing as secrecy - I own secrecy. Nuclear codes - I could blow up NATO in alphabetical order. In a world with locked rooms, the man with the key is king; and honey, you should see me in a crown." Moriarty said.
He smiles in delight at Sherlock.
Vaness smiled when she heard her cue. She opened the door and said, "The king is the weakest player in chess you know." She walked towards them, giving Sherlock an apologetic look.
Moriarty was looking at her with a surprised look.
"This is not chess." Moriarty said.
"And yet, I'm still a Queen." She said as she sat on Sherlock's side, on the arm of the chair. Her expression was unreadable.
Sherlock placed his hand protectively over her thigh.
"Surprised that I'm here and not hiding?" she asked Moriarty.
Moriarty looked at her curiously, analysing her.
"Not scared of the big bad guy?" Moriarty asked her.
Vaness chuckled, "Oh please, we're basically the same height." She said with a smile, then she turned serious, "I have nothing to be scared of."
Moriarty stared at her threateningly.
"I remember you clutching Sherlock's arm on the pool, you can't fool me." Moriarty said.
Vaness smiled softly.
"I already did." She said. "I'm not scared of you, Moriarty."
Sherlock tightened his grip briefly on her.
"And why is that?" Moriarty asked.
"Why not?" She asked.
"I can get you killed, little girl. In a snap of my fingers." Moriarty threatened.
"I don't think so." She replied with a smile. She meant it. It would take more than Moriarty to kill her.
"Anyway," she said, "let's continue where you left off, you were advertising all the way through the trial. Wasn't he, Sherlock?" She said.
"You were showing the world what you can do." Sherlock said quickly, glad to have Moriarty's attention back on him and not on her.
"And you were helping. Big client list: rogue governments, intelligence communities ... terrorist cells. They all want me." Moriarty said, facing Sherlock.
He lifts another piece of apple to his mouth with the penknife.
"Suddenly, I'm Mr Sex." He continued eyes briefly glancing to Vaness.
"If you could break any bank, what do you care about the highest bidder?" Sherlock asked.
"I don't. I just like to watch them all competing. 'Daddy loves me the best!' Aren't ordinary people adorable? Well, you know: you've got John and this pet of yours." Moriarty gestured to her, "I should get myself a live-in one." He suddenly said.
"Who said I'm ordinary?" Vaness asked.
"Why are you doing all of this?" Sherlock asked at the same time.
"It'd be so funny." Moriarty said still thinking about having a live-in ordinary person.
"You don't want money or power - not really." Sherlock said before Vaness could say anything more.
Jim digs the point of his penknife into the apple.
"What is it all for?" Sherlock asked.
"I want to solve the problem - our problem; the final problem." Moriarty replied sitting forward and speaking softly.
He lowers his head.
"It's gonna start very soon, Sherlock: the fall." Moriarty said.
"But don't be scared. Falling's just like flying, except there's a more permanent destination." He continued.
He raises his head and whistles a slowly descending note while simultaneously lowering his gaze towards the floor. His gaze reaches the floor and he makes the sound of something thudding to the ground. Raising his head slowly, he glowers across at Sherlock, who bares his teeth slightly and then stands and buttons his jacket.
"Never liked riddles." Sherlock said.
Jim stands as well and straightens his jacket, locking his gaze onto Sherlock's eyes.
"Learn to. Because I owe you a fall, Sherlock. I ... owe ... you." Moriarty said.
He continues to gaze at Sherlock, sealing his promise, Vaness stands, fixing her dress.
"He doesn't need to, I'm already here." She said, breaking the eye contact.
Moriarty turned to face her.
"You have no place in this, you are just a little ordinary girl." Moriarty said.
Vaness stared back at him.
"I told you we're the same height. And I am not ordinary. You should remember that." Vaness replied.
Moriarty gazes at her, looking up and down her body, then slowly turns and walks away. Sherlock and Vaness doesn't move as Jim leaves the room, but after a while Sherlock moves towards the apple which Jim left on the arm of his chair with the penknife still stuck in it. He picks it up by the knife handle and looks at it. Jim has dug a large circular piece out of the apple, and on the left of the circle he has carved an "I" shape while on the right of the circle is a "U" shape, forming the letters "I O U". Sherlock's mouth twitches into the beginning of a smile, then it quickly disappeared. He turned to Vaness, with pursed lips.
"I told you to stay hidden." He said sternly.
"And I told you I wanted to fight this with you." She said softly, "You are never ever going to fight alone as long as I'm here." She said.
Sherlock sighed, "He will get you killed."
"I know." Vaness smiled, "Fun isn't it?" She said.
Sherlock rolled his eyes.
The next morning the "Daily Express" front page headline screams "MORIARTY WALKS FREE" with the strapline "Shock verdict at Old Bailey trial". The opening paragraph reads: "The Judge could only look on dumbfounded as the Jury found 'Jimbo' Moriarty 'Not Guilty'. Gasps were heard around the courtroom as the Jury declared their verdict". "The Guardian" declares "Shock verdict at trial" and the article begins, "In an unbelievable turn of events Moriarty walked free today after putting up no defence at all for what has been described as the Trial of the Century. Star witness Sherlock Holmes was not present for the verdict as in another twist to the case was thrown out of court by the Judge. Questions have been asked in Parliament and the Prime Minister was quoted as saying 'This is a disgrace, a sign if ever we needed one that broken Britain is still broken...". The "Daily Star" goes with "How was he ever acquitted"
Some time later "The Guardian" declares "Moriarty vanishes"while on one of its inside pages is a cartoon caricature of Sherlock holding a crystal ball with the caption underneath reading, "What Next for the Reichenbach Hero?"
TWO MONTHS LATER.
John goes to a NatWest cashpoint machine and inserts his card. Typing in his PIN, he then selects a transaction. After a few seconds he is greeted with the onscreen message:
There is a problem with
your card
Please wait
John grimaces and a second later a new message appears:
Thank you for
your patience.
A moment later the message adds:
John
John frowns and behind him a black car pulls up to the kerb and stops. John turns and looks at it, then turns back to the ATM, sighing in exasperation. However, he still hasn't learned his lesson about getting into strange cars and apparently meekly gets in and finds Vaness seated on the backseat. Vaness smiled at him.
"Well, we are summoned." Vaness said mockingly.
"The dramatics of a Holmes." John replied and they both laughed.
They driven to an elegant white painted building which has a brass plaque outside declaring the venue to be THE DIOGENES CLUB. They go inside and enters a large room. The room contains five small round tables, each with a single armchair beside it, and four of the chairs are currently occupied by smartly dressed middle aged or elderly gentlemen reading newspapers. John looks around and then walks over to one of the older men sitting at the far end of the room. Vaness pulled him aside and covered his mouth.
"Don't say a word." Vaness whispered to him.
She walked towards the buzzer, whic she used the first time, and pressed it. Sure she knows now where to go but she didn't want to barge in. John was looking bewildered at what was happening. Suddenly, the same men as before came, but instead of dragging them, they simply gestured for them to follow.
Shortly afterwards John and Vaness has been taken to a smaller room and the door has been closed firmly behind them. Mycroft is in the room with them and pours himself a drink from a crystal decanter.
"Tradition, John. Our traditions define us." Mycroft said answering John's unasked question.
"So total silence is traditional, is it? You can't even say, 'Pass the sugar'." John said.
"Three-quarters of the diplomatic service and half the government front bench all sharing one tea trolley. It's for the best, believe me." Mycroft replied.
He smiles round at John but then his face becomes more grim, he looked at Vaness as he walks towards a pair of armchairs in the middle of the room.
"They don't want a repeat of 1972. But we can talk in here." Mycroft said to John.
John walks to a small table and picks up a copy of "The Sun" which is lying on it. He brandishes it at Mycroft.
"You read this stuff?" John asked.
"Caught my eye." Mycroft replied.
"Mmm-hmm." John said sitting down in one of the armchairs.
"Saturday: they're doing a big exposé." Mycroft said.
John reads the announcement at the top of the front page. The headline reads: "SHERLOCK: THE SHOCKING TRUTH" with the strapline "Close Friend Richard Brook Tells All". The article reveals that it is an Exclusive from Kitty Riley and the text reads: "Super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes has today been exposed as a fraud in a revelation that will shock his new found base of adoring fans. Out-of-work actor Richard Brook revealed exclusively to THE SUN that he was hired by Holmes in an elaborate deception to fool the British public into believing Holmes had above-average 'detective skills'. Brook, who has known Holmes for decades and until recently considered him to be a close friend, said he was at first desperate for the money, but later found he had no" — at which point the text just stops.
"I'd love to know where she got her information." John said.
"Someone called Brook. Recognise the name?" Mycroft replied.
John lowers the paper and shakes his head. He turned to Vaness.
"This is why you wanted to strangle her, right?" He asked.
Vaness smiled, "Yes, though I would have still wanted to strangle her even with just what happened in the bathroom." She said.
"So who's Brook?" John asked.
Vaness turned serious, "That, I can't tell."
"School friend, maybe?" John guessed.
Mycroft laughs in a snide way. Vaness glared at him.
"Of Sherlock's?" He chuckles again. "But that's not why I asked you here." Mycroft said.
He walks to a side table and picks up several folders. Returning to John he gives him one of them. Vaness gestured for John to open it. John opens the file and looks at the photograph on the top page.
"Who's that?" John asked.
"Don't know him?" Mycroft asked.
"No." John answered.
"Never seen his face before?" Mycroft asked again.
"Umm ..." John said looking at the photo again.
"He's taken a flat in Baker Street, two doors down from you." Mycroft told him.
"Hmm! I was thinking of doing a drinks thing for the neighbours." John replied.
Vaness winced. John smiles sarcastically up at Mycroft who looks back at him straight-faced.
"Not sure you'll want to. Sulejmani. Albanian hit squad. Expertly-trained killer living less than twenty feet from your front door." Mycroft said.
"It's a great location. Jubilee line's handy." John replied.
"John ..." Mycroft said.
"What's it got to do with me?" Mycroft asked.
"Dyachenko, Ludmila." Mycroft said walking over and giving him another of the files.
He sits down opposite John, who lets out a long tired groan as he opens the file and looks at the photograph inside before frowning a little.
"Um, actually, I think I have seen her." John said.
"Russian killer. She's taken the flat opposite." Mycroft said.
"Okay ... I'm sensing a pattern here." John replied, now sounding nervous.
"In fact, four top international assassins relocate to within spitting distance of two hundred and twenty-one B. Anything you care to share with me?" Mycroft said handing him the rest of the files.
Looking at the photographs of the other assassins, John chuckles, then looks up at Mycroft.
"I'm moving?!" John replied.
Mycroft looks back at him unamused, then narrows his eyes.
"It's not hard to guess the common denominator, is it?" Mycroft asked.
"You think this is Moriarty?" John asked.
"He promised Sherlock he'd come back." Mycroft replied.
"If this was Moriarty, we'd be dead already. Is it Moriarty?" John asked Vaness.
"Yes." She replied, "It's him."
John looked a bit unnerved. He turned back to Mycroft.
"Why don't you talk to Sherlock if you're so concerned about him?" John said.
Mycroft looks away and toys with the glass on the table beside him. John rolls his eyes.
"Oh God, don't tell me." John said.
"Too much history between us, John. Old scores; resentments." Mycroft replied.
"Nicked all his Smurfs? Broke his Action Man?" John asked.
Mycroft glowers at him. John can't help but laugh, then pulls himself together and puts the files onto the table beside him.
"Finished." John whispered. "Vaness, let's go."
He stands up and turns to leave the room, Vaness following after him.
"We both know what's coming, John." Mycroft said.
John stops and turns back, clearly now struggling to control his anger.
"Moriarty is obsessed. He's sworn to destroy his only rival." Mycroft said.
"So you want me to watch out for your brother because he won't accept your help." John said.
"If it's not too much trouble." Mycroft replied.
He directs a smile at John but it quickly fades and his expression becomes more threatening. John holds his gaze, then looks away, nods in a resigned way and turns to go to the door again. Opening it, he looks back at Mycroft once more, who still has the same look on his face, then leaves the room. Vaness was following after him.
"What are we going to do?" John asked Vaness quietly.
Vaness was avoiding his gaze, "Whatever we can." she said, "We'll do whatever we can."
221B.
A taxi drops John and Vaness off opposite the flat. As they cross the road, John can't help but be aware of people passing by in the street, wondering if any of them are the assassins keeping an eye on the flat. Vaness was taking everything in, watching and listening as hard as she can. She had little time left with Sherlock, it was making her paranoid.
When John reaches the front door - which is standing wide open - he sees that a brown envelope has been left on the doorstep. Vaness noticed this too. There is nothing written on the front but the back has a large old fashioned wax seal on it. John peels open one corner of the envelope and puts his finger in to slide it along the edge and slice the rest of the envelope open. Immediately a lot of brown dust, with some larger chunks of brown something, fall out. As he catches some of the debris and looks at it, a man's Cockney voice speaks behind him.
"'Scuse, mate." The man said.
"Oh." John said.
He steps aside as a heavily tattooed bald-headed man wearing jeans and a black vest carries a stepladder into the hallway. John turned to look back at Vaness. She didn't say anything. John enters hallway, putting the envelope into his pocket as he goes. He trots upstairs and goes into the living room, Vaness followed closely.
"Sherlock, something weird ..." John trailed off.
He stops when he sees that Greg and Sally are in the room with Sherlock. Vaness quickly entered and walked towards Sherlock who grabbed her as he was walking towards tbe dinung table.
"What's going on?" John asked.
"Kidnapping." Sherlock replied.
He sits down and Vaness stood behind him.
"Rufus Bruhl, the ambassador to the U.S." Lestrade said.
"He's in Washington, isn't he?" John asked.
"Not him - his children, Max and Claudette, age seven and nine." Lestrade explained.
Sally shows photographs of the two children to John.
"They're at St Aldate's." Lestrade said.
"Posh boarding place down in Surrey." Donovan said.
"Surrey..." Vaness whispered to herself.
"The school broke up; all the other boarders went home - just a few kids remained, including those two." Lestrade told Sherlock who is still typing
"The kids have vanished." Donovan said.
"The ambassador's asked for you personally." Lestrade said.
Sherlock is already on his feet and heading out of the door with his coat over his arm and Vaness at his side.
"The Reichenbach Hero." Donovan said sarcastically.
Vaness stopped Sherlock, she turned to Donovan.
"If you can't shut your stupid mouth then solve this one on your own. I'm not in the mood to allow you to badmouth Sherlock when it is clear that you need him." She said her voice barely above a whisper.
"Now. One more word, and you'll regret it. I swear you will." She finished threateningly.
She allowed Sherlock to drag her out, he held her hand and squeezed it, calming her. John and Greg shared a look then followed them. Sally took a few seconds to follow, clearly shaken.
AN:
i know this is a short chapter. sorry. my mind keeps drifting back to Taylor Swift's song.
I was listening to her albums when "Cornelia Street" comes up and I asked myself if "Baker Street" would fit and it did.
"i hope i never lose you, hope it never ends, I'd never walk baker street again. that's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend, I'd never walk baker street again."then this part comes in
"i packed my bags left baker street before you even knew i was gone."i basically remembered my own chapter... and i fangirled over it.
anyway, i also listened to "Betty", this time though I changed the names in my head, (Betty to Molly) and (Inez to Vaness) because James Moriarty did date Molly hooper...
i also sang it in my head with the names being Mary, John, and Vaness...
"mary i won't assumptions about why you switched your homeroom but i think it's 'cause of me... you heard the rumors from vaness you can't believe a word she said most times, but this time it was true... "John get in, let's drive" those days turned into nights..."
yes I know my mind is weird...