Rabbit-in-blue said: Are you still taking prompt from the trope make-up? If so, I humility would like to request #76 (Did They or Didn't They?) and #81(The Missus and the Ex). Rated K+
"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor Hell a fury like a woman scorned."
- William Congreve, 'The Mourning Bride' (1697)
Irene eyed the rather dowdy young woman on the computer monitor doubtfully. "Really? That little mouse? Are you sure?"
Sebastian nodded. Vigorously. "Yeah, she's the one. Wiggins calls 'er 'the missus'." He gave Irene a sidelong glance. "Course, that ain't the same as what 'olmes calls you."
"The Woman," Irene said with a self-satisfied smile. "Because I eclipse all other members of my sex." Also perhaps because that was what she had once called herself online, but inconsequential details like that were easily waved away.
She returned to her study of the other woman as she obliviously continued to work, cataloging the extensive list of her obvious faults, visible even via the grainy footage of the hacked CCTV feed: small lips, small breasts, terrible clothing sense (khakis and that horrible thrift-shop cardigan with the cherry pattern under her lab coat, honestly!), hair pulled back into an unflattering pony-tail…what on Earth could Sherlock Holmes possibly see in her? She must have an exceptional mind to be so far advanced in her STEM career at such an early age, and god knew Sherlock Holmes appreciated intelligence. And, yes, there were some pluses to her physical appearance as well: porcelain complexion, uptilted pixie-like nose, enormous eyes, and a rather nice figure under all those baggy clothes, but seriously, what could he possibly…
Just then Sherlock swept into the room like he owned it (the way he always entered a room) and Irene's breath caught. Not just at the sight of his magnificent, arrogant, fit self, but at the way his expression lit up when he saw the other woman. She was standing by the microscope, her nose buried in a medical file of some sort, but he looked at her like she was his entire world. And when she looked up and saw him, her smile was just as brilliant, transforming her face from plain to beautiful in a heartbeat.
"So?" Sebastian asked as they continued to study the other couple. "Whaddaya think? Did they or didn't they?"
"Oh, they most certainly did, are, and will continue to do so," Irene breathed, then rewarded her minion (inherited, along with a substantial part of his remaining empire, from the late lamented Jim Moriarty) with a smile and a peck on the cheek. "Thank you, Sebbie, this is absolutely perfect."
He beamed at her, nodding his thanks as she pulled out her phone and made the appropriate cash transfer from one untraceable account to another. "See what else you can get out of Wiggins, then report back to me. This information makes it imperative that I alter my plans for the Holmes brothers." Her ruby-red lips curled in an unpleasant smile. "I'm sorry, Sherlock, but you really shouldn't have saved me from execution and then turned me down when I offered to 'thank' you afterwards. You know what they say about a woman scorned, after all!"
End note: Not gonna lie, that story did NOT come out the way I expected it to! It was supposed to be a little lighthearted jealousy and instead…well, you see what happened. The characters love to take control of their story lol! Irene's quote about her eclipsing all others of her sex, btw, is from ACD's "A Scandal in Bohemia".