The next morning, Felix held up the newspaper.

Danielle laughed at the look on his face. "Exactly! It's insane."

The newspaper was talking about the jade pin that Sherlock had found. As he reported it to the authorities, it had taken no time for it to blow up on the news. Danielle had seen jokes about it on her late night shows already. She thought it was hilarious. The exact sort of thing she needed after the terror the week had been.

She took the newspaper from Felix. She went to the cartoons- the only reason she had a subscription to the newspapers anymore.

"Are you alright? Jesus- what happened to your wrists?" Felix flinched.

Indeed, the bruises had appeared overnight on Danielle's wrists. The previous day that had started to discolor, but Danielle had worn long sleeves so it wasn't noticed. Her sleeves were shorter today, showing off darkening bruises that were clearly from something cutting off circulation for an extended time.

"Just abducted by Chinese antique smugglers." Danielle shrugged. Felix gawked.

He never understood how Danielle could react with such nonchalance to serious things all the time. She'd always been like this. Too nonchalant about serious things, too serious about the little things. She once threw a huge crying fit when they were kids about Felix playing pots and pans. Later that week she had hid a splinter in her leg all day because she didn't want to bother anyone with a minor issue.

"It's nothing, really. Actually helped me out of a bind-" She snorted. "Sorry- bad jokes. It helped me sort out that I don't like ropes and gags."

"I didn't need to know that." Felix groaned. He ran his hand over his face. "I did not need to know your kinks."

"I don't need to know your sex life. Vengeance is great, innit?" Danielle teased. Felix groaned again. Danielle laughed. "Oh to be the elder sister ruining the day of her baby brother. Everything is right with the world. Everything is as it should be. Glorious day, glorious day."

Felix groaned, slapping his head. "I hate you."

Danielle laughed at his discomfort.

Felix shook his head. He handed Danielle a stack of mail. "This was the paper. I hope it's all bills."

Danielle stuck her tongue out him.

==NKMHLY==

She had gone over to 221b. She'd known there wasn't anything concerning, she was just feeling antsy in her own home. Felix had left for a class. She was all alone in her flat. Danielle hadn't lasted long like that.

221b she went.

There she wouldn't be alone.

Danielle saw John and Sherlock at the table by the windows. She stretched out her arms, putting on a long smile.

"-should've just got her a lucky cat."

"Hello boys!" She greeted them.

Sherlock gave her a polite turn of the lip.

John actually smiled. "Morning, Danielle. What brings you by?"

Danielle shrugged. "Just wanted to put it all to bed." She grabbed a chair from the dining table, bringing it to their side table. "Was there anything we were missing? About the case?"

Sherlocked hummed, looking down at his newspaper.

"You mind, don't you?" John prompted.

Sherlock glanced up at them. "What?"

"That she escaped– General Shan." John noted. Danielle pretended not to tense at the mention of the elderly Chinese woman. Sherlock pretended not to notice. "It's not enough that we got her two henchmen."

"It must be a vast network, John; thousands of operatives. You, Danielle, and I, we barely scratched the surface." Sherlock countered.

She was still out there

She was still out there

The woman that tied her to a chair and aimed an arrow at her chest was still alive.

Danielle told herself to be okay with that. That she would have to be okay with that. Yes the bruises were still under her shirt sleeves. Yes she had barely slept half the night. No, the times she did sleep did not end well.

She ignored it.

She ignored that feeling of low constant panic in her chest.

"You cracked the code, though, Sherlock; and maybe Dimmock can track down all of them now that he knows it." John offered.

"No. No. I cracked this code; all the smugglers have to do is pick up another book." Sherlock dismissed. He went back to his paper.

As John pondered that new information, Danielle latched onto it.

Because they couldn't take her

They couldn't do that again

Sherlock found her once

He would do it again

And John would help it wipe out

No hesitation

No questions asked

Sherlock and John would get her back

Of that, Danielle could be certain.

That didn't stop her from being scared.

Danielle could work in spite of that.

She'd done it before.

She clapped her hand on the back of the chair. "Well then I guess I should get going."

"Heading out?" John asked.

Danielle stood up. Sherlock glanced at her from over his newspaper. "Yeah." She moved the chair back. "I've got a new tenant in 223c coming in a few days, actually."

"Yeah?" John asked, surprised. "You never said anything."

Danielle gave a half-hearted shrug. "Yeah...it was a lot. I'd had it open for ages. I'm just happy someone wanted it. Still, gotta get it ready."

"You've got days for that, though." John pointed out.

Danielle blinked at him. "John. How long do you think it takes to clean a flat?"

"Not long."

Danielle didn't want to get into this argument with him just now. Bloody hell, it was like visiting home after she'd moved out. Mum had worked so often there wasn't much time for house-work, so she told her kids to do it. Danielle had done a lot of it, not because she was picking up slack but because she genuinely enjoyed it. When she'd moved out it had fallen to her younger siblings to clean. They were shite at it.

Buying her own flat, becoming a landlady, it had let her do all of that. She told her tenants she was open to coming around to clean the flats at request. She thought of it as an upgrade for a maid. Her tenants at the time had loved it- offered to even pay more in rent for it. Danielle loved it. But then 223c moved out, and 223b started having constant orgies, it just made more to clean up. She hated and loved it. New chances for cleaning, and she kept clearing her search history for half the things she'd found in 223b.

She only hoped the new bloke didn't make more confusion for her Google search history.

==NKMHLY==

"Without you– without your assistance– we would not have found passage into London. You have my thanks."

M: GRATITUDE IS MEANINGLESS

M: IT IS ONLY THE EXPECTATION OF FURTHER FAVOURS

"We did not anticipate- we did not know this man would come. This Sherlock Holmes. And now your safety is compromised."

M: THEY CANNOT TRACE THIS BACK TO ME

"I will not reveal your identity."

M: I AM CERTAIN.

BANG

General Shan fell onto her desk, dead.

==NKMHLY==

His momentary celebration for another job well done was cut off when he heard a knock on the door. He closed his laptop. He stood up to open the door for whoever was on the other side.

Outside was Danielle, panting. "Can't believe I forgot this." The landlady giggled. She handed the consulting criminal a slip of paper. "Wifi password. Got it for the whole building. God, where's my head today?"

Jim grinned. He was going to have so much fun with this woman. "It's alright, Danielle."

His landlady smiled at him. "Thanks. That was it, sorry if I interrupted anything."

"Aww, no. You didn't. It's all good." Jim dismissed.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Danielle let out a relieved breath. "Well, bye."

"Bye-bye." Jim added in a giddy waved as the door shut again. His polite smile stretched out too big. The teeth, if viewed by someone, would give off an edge they were disturbed by.

==NKMHLY==

AN: ...hehehe.

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Thanks to sonicboomboy, YamiyoSenju, Mysteriouscathat, MiaSlytherin, Zeldeza, Sunny81234, EllieGirl123, , Grinsekatze13, for following