Scandal in Belgravia: Sherlock and Irene Adler Prequel and Sequel

Chapter 1

First Impressions

There she was - alive and healthy and breathing - definitely not the dead body on the slab I had to identify on Christmas day, much to Molly's chagrin. "Where's John?" "John? He left hours ago. It's fascinating to sit and watch you work and think - definitely the new sexy." Irene smirked and and looked at me with those blazing green eyes. It was this game we had played ever since meeting each other a month ago. Snide remarks and flirtations and my inability to retort properly to any of them. I knew what she wanted - it was what every person in the world did. But sexual attraction had never been so blatantly and overtly been directed at me before - I hadn't noticed it and I wasn't interested in it. Except maybe during those few times before I started uni and was in an overwhelming drug haze.

"I have been mulling over something my brother said to me earlier." I had no idea why I just explained my thought out loud to this woman. There was something about her, something between us that made me say more to this one woman than any one else. She seemed disinterested. "Hmm. This might be our window, for you know - dinner." "I am not hungry." "Good, neither am I. That will make it much better." I shot her an exasperated and confused look. I wanted her to state things out loud. I was not going to be the first one to give up. "Why would I have dinner if I am not hungry?" "Oh Sherlock, you can be brilliant and yet not see what is happening right now. Have you ever had anyone? You know, had someone in your bed?" I had not expected her to get here so easily and so fast. I gulped, "Mrs. Hudson might be getting back soon - in case you want to change or tell me anything else about the case." "Deflection, really Mr. Holmes? Are you afraid? Or maybe you aren't into the particular things I can do, what being a dominatrix and all."

She noticed Sherlock getting more and more flustered and enjoyed it. Irene got up and in an instant was kneeling in front of Sherlock's chair with both hands on his knees. "I can be gentle. But I do not promise to not make you beg." Sherlock noticed her heart rate had quickened and so had this. The atmosphere in the room got more urgent. He saw that she was wearing one of his maroon robes - his finest and had what seemed to be a delicate and barely there silk slip inside. He would be lying to himself if he said he didn't want to touch her hand, her lips and her waist, undo his robe. Her hair was wet and smelled of his shampoo and her face was bare and clear and striking in its angular beauty. He imagined taking her wrist, brushing his lips across them and then holding her waist while he untied her robe. Irene had this urgent expectancy in her eyes, hesitant to make a move and to scare him when all she wanted to do was ravage him. Okay, thought Sherlock, he had done this before even if it was at least a couple of years ago - he had had sex with a woman and enjoyed it enough. Of course, Irene Adler was THE master of all kinds of sexual fantasies and whims and knew better than him. But he could do this - have her as she put it. She cocked her head to one side and smiled and rose up a little. Sherlock took her wrist and her quickened pulse and leaned in close to her, both of them just inhaling each other. "Sherlock", Irene whispered. He opened his lips a little bit and and Irene suddenly got up and looked down at him, while he still held her wrist.

She sat down on my lap and we looked at each other with an intense blazing gaze. Fuck, this woman was going to end me. Her lips were on mine and her hand was in my curls, tightening with every second. Her mouths collided together and opened wide while finding each other tongues and exploring all the sensations that came along with it. I was tightly gripping her wrist on head and I let my other hand go across her waist and then move up to her shoulder. I slid the robe from one shoulder unto her arm and toucher her exposed collarbone and neck. Our kiss deepened and grew more intense and urgent. She let out a low moan as my hand cupped her neck. I let my other hand wander down to her waist and clutch it tight. Fuck, I loved the feeling of her on my skin. I could feel this primal hunger rise up in me somewhere and everything in my body told me to have her and explore her everywhere and go inside her. I took my mouth off from her hers while she moaned and drew gasping breaths and feverishly kiss her neck and collarbones and just touching the top of her low necked slip. Irene grabbed my face and started feverishly kissing me again. We were at this for maybe 15-20 minutes but it felt like it was being prolonged forever burnished into my memory.

"SHERLOCK! My god!" Irene was still deeply kissing me but that was Mrs. Hudson without a doubt. "Irene, Irene, stop" She drew apart panting, while still sitting on me and rolled her eyes. "There goes the window." "Sherlock Holmes, never in the five years of us living here, what, what?" "Mrs. Hudson, you are back. I thought I would hear you." Mrs. Hudson had seen a lot in her life and was mostly not shocked but she was at a loss of words now. She had never seen or suspected that Sherlock would be interested in dating much less having a woman over. But here he was, looking at me like a young person caught having his girlfriend over for the first time. The woman was also stunningly beautiful. "Umm, Mrs Hudson, I would like to introduce you to Irene Adler. She will be staying with us for a while." Irene seemed surprised by this but gave the old woman a warm smile. "Mrs Hudson, I am so sorry to be meeting you like this. I think time got away from us." Sherlock looked on sheepishly. "I need to sit - sorry dear, this is nothing on you, you seem lovely. It's just that Sherlock has never interacted with anyone unless he was solving crimes. At the beginning I alway kept on asking him if he had anyone - a girlfriend or a boyfriend but he wasn't interested at all!" Irene was smirking and laughing at this. "Oh come on now. Let's hear it - how did you to meet?" They both looked affronted.

And as if the timing couldn't get any worse, Sherlock heard John's familiar footsteps come up the stairs and a low whistle. He had a grocery bag with him. "What the hell is going on here?" John must have come across a very funny scene where Sherlock and Irene stood sheepishly, almost waiting to be scolded while Mrs. Hudson was sitting on the sofa, hand to her temple. He was Sherlock's shirt had been unbuttoned halfway and Irene's robe - Sherlock's robe - was halfway down her shoulder. John looked shellshocked and then gave a small smile. "NO! You two? I have only been gone a few hours. I thought this would at least take another week or so to happen? This is amazing." He started laughing and couldn't believe his eyes. "I cannot believe Mrs Hudson caught you - me maybe, but" "John, did you know about this? Can you get me a cup of tea?" "Great okay now that everyone knows about this and seems to have been entertained, can I please ask you all to not make a big fuss and create drama out of this?" Irene smiled and with a mischievous glint placed her hand on Sherlock's arm much to the bewilderment of both John and Mrs. Hudson. "Now, now Sherlock, I think we need to give poor Mrs Hudson at least some explanation!" Irene smiled - Sherlock realized he hadn't seen her smile before. As everyone did, Mrs Hudson's presence made even the most brilliant and ruthless soldiers, detectives, politicians and blackmailers warm in her presence. Irene was no different. She went and and got a biscuit tin from the table and sat down next to Mrs. Hudson and offered her one. "I am again so sorry to have acted like a hormonal teenager. To be honest, I was also surprised to see Sherlock interested in me." John nearly choked and spilled his tea. "Well, we met on a case and I suppose now I am their client, though I was the criminal at the start. I incessantly texted Sherlock to ask him out, pretended to be dead and now here we are. My flirtations finally went through. Weirdly, I am Sherlock's client instead of the other way around." Mrs. Hudson chewed on her biscuit with her overly shocked eyes. "Well dear, you are a brave woman who will go down in history books. What do you mean client?" Irene hesitated. "Don't worry, this landlady used to be an exotic dancer and a drug peddler." "Now now dear, not a peddler, oh my husband was just running his drug business from my house, you know." "I think we are going to get along swimmingly. I am a professional dominatrix and am pretty sure have danced at some point in my life." Mrs. Hudson's eyes grew even wider and she clutched Irene's hands and looked at us. "I think we are going to like her." "Wow"

"Okay now that we have gotten introductions and affections out of the way, we can go about our business. I need to think about the phone and you can be on your way Mrs. Hudson." Sherlock looked at John pointedly. "Right, I am just going to get something from the kitchen and be in my room, then." Mrs Hudson and John exchanged pointed glances and smirks at each other and would no doubt sit and talk about this supposedly monumental moment for Sherlock. "Miss Adler, you can take my room if you please. I have some business to attend to outside and you need a place to hide." "Only if you will join me later." Irene stood on her tiptoes and kissed Sherlock's cheek, "Mrs. Hudson, John, I shall see you both tomorrow. Goodnight." and went into Sherlock's bedroom.

"I have never seen you let someone touch you with such familiarity, Sherlock, not even Mycroft." "An astute observation, John. Clearly she and I are past that. I am heading out." I started climbing down the stairs while John and Mrs Hudson followed me. "Sherlock, are you actually going to leave THE Irene Adler in your bedroom when your little makeup session got interrupted while you walk around thinking?" "Sherlock Holmes if you abandon that poor beautiful woman for your detecting!" "Oh relax you two, I am going to be back in twenty minutes." "Okay I am going to guess here and be discreet but you will find what you need in my bedside drawer." "John, hmm, thank you, but I do need to clear my head."

Sherlock shut the door and walked out. All he wanted to do was think on his problem, get some fish and chips and then sit on a bench. And hurry back to his Irene Adler. Irene. The Woman.

"Can you believe what just happened?" "I absolutely can't. But you should have seen them this morning, going at it - her case - with the intensity and the deductions and all of England's brains." "Perhaps Sherlock has finally met his match and he wanted someone who was just as brilliant. Oooh, I am so excited for them. I know she is experienced but I do hope Sherlock doesn't do something wrong." "Mrs Hudson, you saw how he was she she faked her death. I don't trust her. I know he is Sherlock, but she is Irene Adler and will probably run to save her own skin the moment something goes wrong." "You are a good friend John. But isn't it nice that he found someone to share his odd brilliant mind with. And my god, she is stunning." "I suppose he was waiting around for a brilliant stunning temptress to come around and match his wit. Mycroft is not going to be pleased." "I also worry that this is his actual first time." They sat there and had yet another cup of tea. After half an hour had passed, they heard Sherlock come in and John went out. "Sherlock, if you need to talk about anything anytime I will be here." "John." John got a nod and an acknowledgment and Sherlock went upstairs. He opened his bedroom door and somehow miraculously, she was still there, Irene. She was reading a book and sitting on his bed - her robe untied. "The Intricacies of Physical and Meta Level Atoms." "Science always interests me. Though I think law is more my academic pursuit." Sherlock went and sat besides her. He had taken off his coat and was just wearing his shirt and pants. "Is that what you went to university for then?" "Cambridge Law. Distinction. But I did study some physics." "Oxford. Chemistry. It come in handy every now and then when I have to do at home semi autopsies. I suppose being a lawyer comes in handy when you are trying to avoid laws." "Always the genius." She started reaching out to Sherlock and he drew back. Maybe the window had passed. "Listen, Irene, maybe we should hold off on this until I solve this case." He had felt the stirrings of something quite foreign to him and he did not want to deal with it at this moment. Irene kept a palm on his cheek. "Of course, Mr Holmes, I am a bit tired. But Sherlock, I want to tell you something. I didn't think I would ever get the chance to tell you this or that you would ever let me be this close. I don't really allow myself to be vulnerable with people as you can imagine and empathize with." Sherlock looked curious and serious at once and kept his hand on top of mine. "What is it?"

"This isn't the first time we have met. I mean when you barged into my house looking for that phone. That wasn't the first time we met Sherlock. It was ten years ago. London. Hackney Blaine. The Factory and the whole 90s drug scene." She took a deep breath and frowned, her eyes looked faraway. "What?! No one knows about that. Except Mycroft. How do you? You couldn't have been there." Irene gave me a sad smile. "So many homeless teenagers with nowhere to go ended up there and got swept away and got used and used. I did my heroin there first. I had black hair and heavy black eyeliner and I was skinnier. I was just sixteen. And not going by Irene Adler. I was running away from my immigrant overly religious parents who would have never allowed me to become who I am now. But meeting you has stayed with me. In that loft room with its yellowed walls. You were the only one smart enough to keep on having a conversation with me. But you disappeared after a month." "Rina. You changed it from Rania. I remember you. I have wondered from time to time about what happened to that girl. There are not a lot of people and faces and events I remember from those years. But I do have a photographic memory and I know your face. You were scared and yet somehow fearless and confident even then." Sherlock looked at her in wonder - they knew each other from a different life time before they were Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler. He remembered the shy and yet confident young girl with the long black hair and a wit to match his. And he remembered how she feared people would come looking for her. He realized that Irene had not gotten out of that place after a month. She had gone in even further and into sex work. Even though she was a powerful woman now, her young life could not have been more difficult. He caressed her face and put an arm around her. Her eyes which usually glowed looked far away and sad. "I am sorry Irene. I tried to look for you know, before Mycroft came and took me away. But I was not coherent. I remember feeling so cold. My first withdrawal. I am sorry that you had to go through. It was a horrible place for sixteen year olds." "I recognized your name you know - when I found out who the Royal Family had investigating me. I could never forget your name, Sherlock Holmes, and I have kept up a little bit as you became more and more famous. I of course had to change my name and identity several times before I became the dominatrix. I missed you when you left. Who else would do opiates with me AND discuss world affairs while speaking in three different languages?" She smiled. "Well, I mean we could do that now? Irene, in all seriousness, I cannot believe this but somehow from the moment I met you you felt familiar - like I always knew you."

Ten years ago, Sherlock Holmes met Rina Adnan in an abandoned London factory in one of its grimier areas. They were 17 and 16 each and looking for ways to escape their respective hells and their ever present minds. They were both certified geniuses, except Sherlock couldn't talk to other children while Irene or Rina was also a social expert. She knew and used social situations to her liking even if she didn't like others her age. She first noticed Sherlock as he was sitting in a corner smashing up a few pills. The factory what many runaway teenagers called home was abandoned and then redone by some people who wanted to sell drugs and unknown teenagers were easy targets. They got shelter and their drug of choice while the sellers profited. At night, this place became a rave, loud electronic music and a variety of drugs and irresponsible children. It was hell. Most girls there were forced into sex work and often the boys too. You could there but rarely anyone escaped. No one wanted to. It was in this situation that Irene saw Sherlock, not mingling with the other rave goers and immediately she went up to him to sell him some heroin. "Is this floor taken?" He shook his head and stared at her. "Sherlock Holmes." "That's a funny name. Rina. From Essex. As you can get by the accent. What are you doing and do you share? I have some H and E myself" His eyes suddenly brightened, relieved that she wasn't coming over for small talk. He offered her his coke and she quickly explained and calculated the whole thing and told him about the operation. They would lie there for hours in a groggy drug haze with some 20 other people. Of course, Mycroft had used his considerable resources to track a young Sherlock down and almost shut down the operation. Someone had warned the main guys and they had taken Irene with them knowing she would earn money later.

"I was forced into this and it took me a while to decimate my enemies and whoever steals and uses young girls. But then I couldn't get out - I didn't sell drugs but I did make some high profile friends and allies. And now I suppose the Palace and the Parliament hate me." "Mycroft would hate you less if he knew where you started from. Incidentally I have also gone on an enemy decimating spree in the last two years."

I knew there were no such things as coincidences. I knew she was it for me - the woman for me. The girl whom I had lost and this glorious powerful creature who stood before me. I knew it at that moment that I could go against her enemies and all the kings men and horses, only to make sure she lived. I was also aware that she would probably betray me at some point and it wouldn't matter. She was the woman for me and I had always known her.

They had gone through similar journeys except Sherlock was a drug addict who had connections and a place at Oxford and a brother who would watch over him and bring him back. Irene was a young woman of color who had no one and a drug habit with nothing to pay for - only her physical beauty and her glorious brain. She had lost herself to the people who would hurt her but had played the long game and beaten them at it and was now powerful with her allies and secrets across Europe. She also loved Sherlock - she knew that much, from the moment they met and when she realized he would be her greatest enemy and her greatest ally. She knew there would be no other match for her in this life time. She would have to betray him and maybe even kill him but maybe spare him. Her love would be beyond this.

They sat there for more than an hour, entwined in each other without having to talk - thinking over what the other had gone through. It was late into the night when Irene passed out and Sherlock unbuttoned his shirt and drew a blanket over them. By this time Mycroft had found out that Irene Adler was living at 221B Baker St and was fuming at his little brother. He had never thought Sherlock would fall prey to the charms of a a glorified prostitute but I suppose he was also a common man then, like John Watson. Mycroft would have have make long apologies to the Crown and the government offices.