For disclaimer and A/N see part 1
*****
The harsh crunch of snow under my heavy footsteps seemed to amplify through my body and assault my seemingly beating shoulder as I walked with quick, decisive steps. Finally reaching my target, I stopped and surveyed the building, I only hoped distaste wasn't as obviously etched on my features as it was in mind.
Over the years, I had been taken to many undesirable locations by Holmes for the purposes of his inquiries. Yet even now I couldn't quell the dislike that automatically rose in me as I looked upon the brothel Holmes had sent me to.
Sucking in a harsh breath, I drove myself to walk through the doors, the warmth and oppression of the crowded, noisy room immediately assailing me as unsympathetically as the cold outside had.
My eyes flittered over the room, and I must confess I couldn't help but stare slightly. I had been in places like this before, sometimes with Holmes and sometimes for medical purposes...but never alone, and I felt almost bare without Holmes' support.
One or two women took the trouble to look up and smile at my entrance, most didn't bother, already busy with some man or woman. A man suddenly pushed past me to get to the bar, sending me stumbling a step forward as I nervously looked about the place. It must have been painfully obvious to nearly everyone in the room just how out of place I was.
Pulling Holmes' list out of my pocket, I hastily looked down it, eager to get this over with as quickly as possible. The name given was simply Annie, and a note beside it in Holmes' familiar hand assuring that the name would be enough.
I made my way to the bar myself, apologising along the way when knocking into someone. A man behind the bar came forward, and a definite smirk played over his features as he looked me up and down, assessing me.
"And what, *Sir*..." he stressed the word with an amused quirk of his eyebrow, "...can I do for you? I'm guessing Brandy to be your poison?"
I held up a hand with a polite smile to refuse the drink, knowing it not be wise after the previous night. "No, I am quite alright, thank you. I'm looking for Annie."
His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at me, his smile still playing across his face. "Now what would *you* know of *her*?" He asked with a thoughtful expression.
"I've been sent by a friend of mine." I explained shortly, unwilling to share Holmes' name.
The blonde bartender laughed and motioned to a girl who couldn't have been much older than 15 to go and fetch her. She nodded with a slight grin and disappeared upstairs.
"And who is it I have the pleasure of serving?" The tall barman asked, again that same amusement shining in his eyes. I wasn't quite sure if I liked his attitude towards me, and I was rather wary of sharing my name with him.
"Watson." I replied shortly, giving him a slight, good-natured smile.
His restless motions around the bar that had been continuing throughout our exchange suddenly ceased as his smile widened. "And would that be a Doctor Watson?" He asked, but keeping his voice respectfully low.
Once again, I was startled at his knowledge of me. "Yes...that's right, but how did you..."
"Know?" He asked with a laugh, picking up a glass. "There is only one Watson I know of, and that is that police fellow's companion." He met my eyes, and his look made it clear that there was a reason for not speaking Holmes' name and that I should follow suit.
I nodded and smiled as he handed me a drink anyway. "Tell me, Sir, how much is it that you know of his current situation?"
"I know that a friend of his is dead...murder is the rumour going about here. Horrible." He replied. He suddenly took a great interest in the glass he was cleaning, more interest than was necessary. "It's his poor brother my thoughts are with, all they had were each other." He said slowly before looking back up at me and quirking an eyebrow with a slight smile, "but here's Annie." He motioned with his head to the steps.
I shan't soon forget that first meeting with Annie. She is perhaps the only other person whom intrigues me nearly as much as Holmes. She hurried down the steps, hands lifting her deep blue skirts just a little as delicate feet sprang on the wooden boards of the stairs. Her hair, that was an unusual shade of auburn, had obviously at some point been pinned upon her head, but as if fighting a losing battle, it was falling away, adding a look of near fluster to her, a disposition I would later find out not to be one of her usual qualities.
When she reached me, she seemed to realise what kind of state she must be in, but rather than try to rescue the hair, she instead just let it all free, revealing hair that reached past her shoulder blades, and it was a gesture, I must admit, that rather startled me.
"Madam..." I began.
"Yes, Doctor Watson, a pleasure to meet you." She greeted with a smile and took up my hand, shaking it.
I was starting to wonder if there was in fact anyone in London who did not know who I was. "Yes...I'm afraid all I know of your name is Annie..." I confessed with some embarrassment.
"And that is all you need." She quickly assured. She took a quick look around and then waved over to the bartender. "We shall be upstairs if you need us, Andrew."
He nodded back with a wink, and a slight blush overcame me as Annie motioned me to follow her back upstairs.
We entered a fairly large yet bare room. A dressing table, a cupboard a table and a bed. Annie chuckled at my look when I realised there were no chairs and she motioned me to the bed.
I sat myself down with as much delicacy as possible, still glancing around the room a little nervously. "I am here on behalf of..."
"Holmes...yes." She nodded as she sat down at the dressing table, taking her brush up and running it through her hair. "I can't believe Lestrade has shut him in that house of yours...actually, yes I can believe it of him..." She murmured with a frustrated shake of her head.
"He is trying to assist..." I assured, clasping my hands together.
"Oh, I've no doubt his heart's in the right place, but that means absolutely nothing when it comes to results." She replied with an almost disbelieving chuckle as she gathered all her hair up.
I watched her actions with a moment of fascination. She had quick, delicate hands that managed to tame the pleasantly unusual hair with ease. "It's on Holmes behalf that I'm here. It seems that he hopes you can help in someway."
"Oh he does, does he?" She replied with a slightly amused smile, pinning her hair securely to the back of her head. "Well, I'll say freely now if it were anyone else, I wouldn't lift a finger to help...but as it is...although I warn now, there's not that much I can tell, not that's useful anyway."
I was only just able to hold back my sigh, but I gave a pleasant smile. "Well, then perhaps if you just start with the character of the victim...?"
Annie arched an eyebrow at me, giving an almost amused smile. "Now where's the point in that, hm? I thought you were asking on behalf of Holmes...and he already knows the boy intimately."
I looked at her with a touch of frustration that turned to annoyance as I saw the playfulness on her features...just the way her eyes held mine, it was if she could see right into my very soul, to the things that bothered me, as if, indeed, she was testing me. "Yes...well...I never met the man."
"Really?" She replied in a voice that suggested anything but the innocence of the word. "How odd..." Yet she seemed far too knowing.
I could not stand it any longer, being mocked. I sprang up from the bed, a frown on my darkened features. "Look here, if you're not going to help me, then say so now...I have more important things to do than sit here and listen to your mocking, thank you very much." I had tried to keep it as a rebuke, yet the underlying hurt of the past few days managed to seep through into it.
Annie turned completely to look at me, shock clear on her features. She stood up and moved over, to my surprise taking my hands in hers and meeting my eyes with a soft look. "Oh, Doctor...I am sorry...I was only taking a bit of fun...didn't mean for you to take it serious like."
It was embarrassment that deepened my frown that time...as I stumbled toward the door, I wondered how many more times I would make a fool of myself. I hurried down the stairs, ignoring her calls to come back and rushed past Andrew so as not to see his surprised look as I ran from the place, running as fast as I could down the icy road away from all of them, including Holmes.
*****
The harsh crunch of snow under my heavy footsteps seemed to amplify through my body and assault my seemingly beating shoulder as I walked with quick, decisive steps. Finally reaching my target, I stopped and surveyed the building, I only hoped distaste wasn't as obviously etched on my features as it was in mind.
Over the years, I had been taken to many undesirable locations by Holmes for the purposes of his inquiries. Yet even now I couldn't quell the dislike that automatically rose in me as I looked upon the brothel Holmes had sent me to.
Sucking in a harsh breath, I drove myself to walk through the doors, the warmth and oppression of the crowded, noisy room immediately assailing me as unsympathetically as the cold outside had.
My eyes flittered over the room, and I must confess I couldn't help but stare slightly. I had been in places like this before, sometimes with Holmes and sometimes for medical purposes...but never alone, and I felt almost bare without Holmes' support.
One or two women took the trouble to look up and smile at my entrance, most didn't bother, already busy with some man or woman. A man suddenly pushed past me to get to the bar, sending me stumbling a step forward as I nervously looked about the place. It must have been painfully obvious to nearly everyone in the room just how out of place I was.
Pulling Holmes' list out of my pocket, I hastily looked down it, eager to get this over with as quickly as possible. The name given was simply Annie, and a note beside it in Holmes' familiar hand assuring that the name would be enough.
I made my way to the bar myself, apologising along the way when knocking into someone. A man behind the bar came forward, and a definite smirk played over his features as he looked me up and down, assessing me.
"And what, *Sir*..." he stressed the word with an amused quirk of his eyebrow, "...can I do for you? I'm guessing Brandy to be your poison?"
I held up a hand with a polite smile to refuse the drink, knowing it not be wise after the previous night. "No, I am quite alright, thank you. I'm looking for Annie."
His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at me, his smile still playing across his face. "Now what would *you* know of *her*?" He asked with a thoughtful expression.
"I've been sent by a friend of mine." I explained shortly, unwilling to share Holmes' name.
The blonde bartender laughed and motioned to a girl who couldn't have been much older than 15 to go and fetch her. She nodded with a slight grin and disappeared upstairs.
"And who is it I have the pleasure of serving?" The tall barman asked, again that same amusement shining in his eyes. I wasn't quite sure if I liked his attitude towards me, and I was rather wary of sharing my name with him.
"Watson." I replied shortly, giving him a slight, good-natured smile.
His restless motions around the bar that had been continuing throughout our exchange suddenly ceased as his smile widened. "And would that be a Doctor Watson?" He asked, but keeping his voice respectfully low.
Once again, I was startled at his knowledge of me. "Yes...that's right, but how did you..."
"Know?" He asked with a laugh, picking up a glass. "There is only one Watson I know of, and that is that police fellow's companion." He met my eyes, and his look made it clear that there was a reason for not speaking Holmes' name and that I should follow suit.
I nodded and smiled as he handed me a drink anyway. "Tell me, Sir, how much is it that you know of his current situation?"
"I know that a friend of his is dead...murder is the rumour going about here. Horrible." He replied. He suddenly took a great interest in the glass he was cleaning, more interest than was necessary. "It's his poor brother my thoughts are with, all they had were each other." He said slowly before looking back up at me and quirking an eyebrow with a slight smile, "but here's Annie." He motioned with his head to the steps.
I shan't soon forget that first meeting with Annie. She is perhaps the only other person whom intrigues me nearly as much as Holmes. She hurried down the steps, hands lifting her deep blue skirts just a little as delicate feet sprang on the wooden boards of the stairs. Her hair, that was an unusual shade of auburn, had obviously at some point been pinned upon her head, but as if fighting a losing battle, it was falling away, adding a look of near fluster to her, a disposition I would later find out not to be one of her usual qualities.
When she reached me, she seemed to realise what kind of state she must be in, but rather than try to rescue the hair, she instead just let it all free, revealing hair that reached past her shoulder blades, and it was a gesture, I must admit, that rather startled me.
"Madam..." I began.
"Yes, Doctor Watson, a pleasure to meet you." She greeted with a smile and took up my hand, shaking it.
I was starting to wonder if there was in fact anyone in London who did not know who I was. "Yes...I'm afraid all I know of your name is Annie..." I confessed with some embarrassment.
"And that is all you need." She quickly assured. She took a quick look around and then waved over to the bartender. "We shall be upstairs if you need us, Andrew."
He nodded back with a wink, and a slight blush overcame me as Annie motioned me to follow her back upstairs.
We entered a fairly large yet bare room. A dressing table, a cupboard a table and a bed. Annie chuckled at my look when I realised there were no chairs and she motioned me to the bed.
I sat myself down with as much delicacy as possible, still glancing around the room a little nervously. "I am here on behalf of..."
"Holmes...yes." She nodded as she sat down at the dressing table, taking her brush up and running it through her hair. "I can't believe Lestrade has shut him in that house of yours...actually, yes I can believe it of him..." She murmured with a frustrated shake of her head.
"He is trying to assist..." I assured, clasping my hands together.
"Oh, I've no doubt his heart's in the right place, but that means absolutely nothing when it comes to results." She replied with an almost disbelieving chuckle as she gathered all her hair up.
I watched her actions with a moment of fascination. She had quick, delicate hands that managed to tame the pleasantly unusual hair with ease. "It's on Holmes behalf that I'm here. It seems that he hopes you can help in someway."
"Oh he does, does he?" She replied with a slightly amused smile, pinning her hair securely to the back of her head. "Well, I'll say freely now if it were anyone else, I wouldn't lift a finger to help...but as it is...although I warn now, there's not that much I can tell, not that's useful anyway."
I was only just able to hold back my sigh, but I gave a pleasant smile. "Well, then perhaps if you just start with the character of the victim...?"
Annie arched an eyebrow at me, giving an almost amused smile. "Now where's the point in that, hm? I thought you were asking on behalf of Holmes...and he already knows the boy intimately."
I looked at her with a touch of frustration that turned to annoyance as I saw the playfulness on her features...just the way her eyes held mine, it was if she could see right into my very soul, to the things that bothered me, as if, indeed, she was testing me. "Yes...well...I never met the man."
"Really?" She replied in a voice that suggested anything but the innocence of the word. "How odd..." Yet she seemed far too knowing.
I could not stand it any longer, being mocked. I sprang up from the bed, a frown on my darkened features. "Look here, if you're not going to help me, then say so now...I have more important things to do than sit here and listen to your mocking, thank you very much." I had tried to keep it as a rebuke, yet the underlying hurt of the past few days managed to seep through into it.
Annie turned completely to look at me, shock clear on her features. She stood up and moved over, to my surprise taking my hands in hers and meeting my eyes with a soft look. "Oh, Doctor...I am sorry...I was only taking a bit of fun...didn't mean for you to take it serious like."
It was embarrassment that deepened my frown that time...as I stumbled toward the door, I wondered how many more times I would make a fool of myself. I hurried down the stairs, ignoring her calls to come back and rushed past Andrew so as not to see his surprised look as I ran from the place, running as fast as I could down the icy road away from all of them, including Holmes.