The cab ride was relatively uneventful and I spent most of it just zoning as I looked out the window. Sherlock was silent as well, not making a sound the whole ride, and was probably off in his mind palace since I had to nudge him to let him know we were here. As we headed inside the building, I shuffled nervously, a bit worried about what would happen when I bumped into Zhi Zhu again and decided to take my mind off of things as I asked Sherlock something.
"You didn't tell John about us crashing his date, did you?"
"No. Why would I do that?" He asked, giving me a disbelieving look.
"What if I did?"
His face suddenly morphed into a glare. "You told him?"
Well, that's not the reaction I expected. I guess it's a good thing I didn't tell John. I shook my head. "No. I just wanted to know what you would've done had I told him."
He seemed to get more frustrated with me, before turning away with a huff, heading inside the building with long strides, making it hard for me to keep up—something he was probably doing on purpose.
"Sherlock! I was kidding! Oh, come on! Slow down!"
He abruptly came to a stop, causing me to bump into him and I went to scold him, but he shushed me and pointed out John and his date getting tickets from the box office. The manager turned to gather the tickets John requested, and Sherlock began walking forward as the manager returned.
"Actually, I have…four in that name."
John looked at them in confusion. "No, I don't think so. We only booked two."
"Then I phoned back and got one for myself and Sam as well." Sherlock announced, surprising John as he and I walked over, Sherlock holding out his hand to John's date. "I'm Sherlock."
"Uh…hi." She said after a pause, shaking his hand.
"Hello." Sherlock replied, before walking towards the stairs.
John looked over at me and then back at Sherlock, and I hesitantly looked over at Sarah.
"I, uh…I'm Sam." I introduced, shaking her hand as well. "Sorry about Sherlock. He's a bit…different."
"I can see that." She said with a glance his way. "I'm going to the loo for a moment. Excuse me."
She left and I then turned to John.
"If you want, John, I'll get the tickets."
He frowned. "How?"
I pulled out the credit card he had given me earlier with a grin. "Sherlock's paying, right?"
He shook his head with a small laugh, but put his wallet away. "Alright. I need to go have a chat with Sherlock anyway."
His smile soon gave way to a frown as he headed part way up the stairs to speak with Sherlock and I shook my head, handing the manager the card and taking the tickets before tucking said card in my pocket. Sarah met up with me then, looking around for John, and I smiled politely before leading her to the stairs.
"Sorry. John went to go chat with Sherlock. They're over here."
"Oh, thank you."
I nodded and turned so that she was following me up the stairs and couldn't see how my kind smile slipped easily off my face as I approached the two. Being polite all the time is a pain. I never liked smiling.
"What?" I heard Sherlock question and couldn't help the small snicker at what John said next; him speaking rather loudly.
"While I'm trying to get off with Sarah!"
He noticed us then, myself clearing my throat to give him a small heads up and he turned to face her with a nervous grin, probably hoping that she hadn't heard what he said. Though I'm sure the Chinese assassins could've heard that.
"Hey…"
Sherlock rolled his eyes and began climbing the stairs, and I did the same, John and Sarah following. We were left just chit chatting about various things for a few minutes until the performance area was darkened and just a circle of candles were left; leaving the room dimly lit. Sherlock was obviously scanning the room for any threats, but I kept my eyes fixated on the center ring. Only when John spoke to Sherlock and I over his shoulder, did I draw my attention away.
"You said circus. This is not a circus. Look at the size of the crowd. Sherlock, this is…" He frowned in distaste. "…art."
"This is not their day job." Sherlock answered, smirking a bit.
It's starting…The rhythm of some drums got faster and faster and a woman—General Shan—came out on stage dressed up in a headdress and she walked over to a large crossbow, uncovering it. Music echoed through the room as she displayed a thick arrow and set it in the cross bow before dropping a feather into a small bow and causing the arrow to be launched across the room. The noise of the arrow piercing the wood was enough to startle the weak-hearted of the group watching, making me flinch a bit as I thought about what that would do to a person. After the audience clapped, Shan watched as a couple of guys came forward and two of them wrapped the other up in chains before chaining him to the board.
"Classic Chinese escapology act." Sherlock told John, Sarah and I.
"Hm?"
"Crossbow's on a delicate spring." Sherlock said, nodding to said weapon. "The warrior has to escape his bonds before it fires.
The drumming began again as Shan reloaded the crossbow and the man being chained let out an exaggerated shout as they pulled his bindings tight. I, myself, frowned as I muttered under my breath from beside Sherlock.
"He probably has a key in his hands or up his sleeves. Slight of the hand tricks are more amusing than this."
Sherlock, surprisingly enough, let out a short snort; having heard me, apparently, though I didn't think about it long. A cymbal crashed then, startling—not only Sarah—but myself as well and I jumped, bumping arms with Sherlock on accident and turning beet red.
"S-Sorry."
He looked down at me, giving me a short nod, before giving Sarah and John a look; the two now linking arms and John, himself, looking quite pleased. Shan then picked up a knife and stabbed it into a hanging bag of sand that, once emptied enough, would lower a weight and set off the crossbow. Sherlock explained this for John and Sarah, and the 'warrior' began grunting and shouting as he undid his bonds, just in time to dodge the arrow as the weight set it off. I turned though, noticing that Sherlock had run off and looked over at John in worry.
"I'll go after him." I said, quietly, and before John could protest, I hurried off backstage to where I knew Sherlock had gone.
"Sherlock!" I hissed, moving through the open door, hearing Shan in the other area talking about the next act. God, that woman gives me the creeps.
Thankfully, I caught sight of Sherlock's moving shadow and hurried over to his side as he pulled back the curtain a little.
"That's him, right? Zhi Zhu?" I asked, announcing my presence to Sherlock, who wasn't the least bit shocked.
He nodded, but we both panicked when we heard the door opening and he grabbed me by the wrist and quickly pulled me behind a line of clothes, covering my mouth to keep me quiet. I came a little too close to the clothes though, bumping into them and creating noise, and Sherlock pulled me down as we listened to see if Shan had caught us. Sherlock pulled his hand away from me as we heard her leave and he caught sight of a bag of the same spray paint that had been used on the cipher, but I knew it wasn't over yet.
"Found you." Sherlock sang.
He then came out from behind the clothing and I did as well, hoping to warn him about the man hiding behind the suit of samurai armor.
"Uh, Sherlock…"
"Be quiet, Sam." He grumbled, spraying a line of paint over the mirror just as the man behind the armor began moving and I bumped into Sherlock as I backed up, catching his attention.
"S-Sherlock! We're not alone!"
"Look out!" He shouted, pulling me back as the samurai man sung at us with his weapon.
Sherlock then shoved me roughly aside, using the spray paint can to block the man's sword and hit him in the elbow, only to be kicked in the stomach.
"Sherlock!"
"Stay back!" He shouted, being kicked again before the man dropped his sword and grabbed him by the neck.
Sherlock knocked the man's hand off and sprayed him in the eyes with the yellow paint, shoving him back. Unfortunately, the man used that momentum to get back up, doing a spin kick and knocking Sherlock through the curtains. I wasn't too sure what to do and when the man turned to me, I swallowed thickly, moving to punch the man, only for him to kick me harshly in the stomach and use my clothes to throw me out after Sherlock. I couldn't roll and land like I wanted to and landed roughly on my back, all the breath being knocked out of me as the samurai man came out from behind the curtains as well with a flip.
He had apparently grabbed his sword before coming out here and raised it up to attack Sherlock and I, but good ol' John was there to tackle the man. The only problem was, he was knocked to the ground as well and none of us could really move enough to help Sherlock, when Sarah suddenly came over and slammed the arrow from before repeatedly into the man. He fell to the ground, disoriented and Sherlock managed to sit up and check for the tattoo on the bottom of his foot before helping me up and hurrying me and the others along.
"Come on. Let's go."
Once in the cab, we all gathered our breathes and headed towards Scotland Yard to report to Dimmock. Sherlock though glanced over us all quickly.
"Everyone alright?"
"Bit winded." John gasped out, holding hands with Sarah who was shaking a bit.
"I-I'm not hurt."
Sherlock nodded and turned to me. "You alright, Sam?"
I cringed, hand draped over my stomach after trying to straighten up. "Ngh, it hurts. T-That's for sure."
He rolled his eyes. "Of course, it hurts. Idiot."
I frowned at him. "Well, sorry. I'd be fine if I hadn't already been beat up yesterday by his little friend. Being hit in the stomach repeatedly before kind of makes things hurt a bit more now, don't cha think?…ass." I muttered the curse, wincing as I tried to shift into a more comfortable position, but was stopped by what Sherlock said next.
"Let me see."
"What?" I gave him an odd look and he sighed, repeating himself and reaching towards the end of my jacket.
"I said let me see it. Being hit repeatedly in the same area can cause internal bleeding, if you're not careful."
I frowned, but moved my hand so he could lift up my shirt a bit, showing the dark purple bruise that was there. I wasn't pleased though, when he pressed his cold fingers to it, igniting pain to flare up.
"Ow!" I shouted, pushing his hand off and pulling the edge of my shirt back down. "That hurts!"
"No internal bleeding." He said, turning away, completely ignoring my pissed off expression.
"You jerk." I grumbled. "That was revenge for me teasing you earlier, wasn't it?!"
The look he sent me confirmed my suspicions and I punched him in the shoulder, earning a complaint of my own.
"Ow!"
"Arse!"
"Now, now." John scolded with a chuckle. "No more fighting. We're on a case, remember?"
Sherlock and I huffed, turning away from one another as the cab pulled up to the Yard and we headed in; though Sherlock and I continued to glare at one another even as we went with Dimmock into the area where his office was.
"I sent a couple of cars. The old hall is totally deserted."
"Look, I saw the mark at the circus. That tattoo that we saw on the two bodies. The mark of the Tong." Sherlock said, rather annoyed.
At Dimmock or me, I'm not really sure at the moment. I mused as Dimmock reached his desk.
"Lukis and Van Coon were part of a-a smuggling operation. Now, one of them stole something when they were in China. Something valuable." John said, as Sherlock laid into Dimmock once more.
"These circus performers, they were sent here to get it back."
"Get what back?"
Sherlock turned away from Dimmock and I spoke up to try and help.
"An ancient Chinese artifact of some sort…though we're not sure exactly what."
He gave me a glance and looked back at the others. "You don't know?"
Everyone collectively looked up towards the ceiling, giving Dimmock his answer as he sat down with a sigh.
"Mr. Holmes, I've done everything you've asked. Lestrade, he seems to think your advice is worth something. I gave the order for a raid. Please tell me I'll have something to show for it. Other than a massive bill for overtime."
We all kind of looked at one another, before Dimmock sighed again, shifting some papers on his desk and grabbing a pen.
"Don't come back until you have something." He growled, dismissing us.
Sherlock, thoroughly frustrated, spun on his heel and hurried out with John, Sarah, and I all hurrying after him. The cab ride to 221B was filled with tense silence and once we showed up, Sherlock headed upstairs and began taking his coat off as he scanned over the photos above the fireplace.
"They'll be back in China by tomorrow." John said tiredly.
I shook my head, moving to the kitchen to start making tea. "No. They'll stay until they have what they want."
Sherlock grunted in response. "Hm. We need to find their hide-out. The rendezvous. Somewhere in this message it must tell us."
Things grew quiet and I waited, knowing that any moment now, Sarah was going to feel like a third wheel and make to leave. Sure enough, she didn't disappoint.
"Well, I think perhaps I should leave you to it."
"Yes. It would be better to study if you left now."/"No, no. You don't have to go. Does she? You can stay." John said, the same time Sherlock spoke.
I shook my head with a smile in the kitchen, preparing three cups of tea and Sherlock's coffee, already knowing that Sarah was staying for a while. I also quickly called Mrs. Hudson's phone, being careful to keep my voice down.
"Hello?"
"Yeah, Mrs. Hudson? It's Sam. Do you think you could bring us up a little something? John's got a lady friend he's trying to impress and I haven't had a chance to go shopping yet."
"Of course, deary. I just finished some biscuits. I'll bring them right over. Have you got drinks?"
"Yeah, tea and such, but maybe you could whip something up? Thanks, Mrs. Hudson. I've got to go."
I hung up on her then, just in time for the tea to be finished and I headed out and passed them around. As I did this, Sherlock dumped his photographs on the desk and began sorting through them, John heading into the kitchen, no doubt to look for food.
"Sam." Sherlock called out, catching my attention as I picked up my own cup of tea.
"Yeah?"
"Help me look through these. Tell me if you spot anything useful."
I sighed, but sat down beside him and began lazily shifting through the papers. I was being halfhearted about the task he'd just given me, knowing that there was nothing to find here, but making it look as though I was actually searching for something on the outside. And let me tell you, it's harder than it sounds when the person you're hiding it from is Sherlock Holmes.
"So this is what you do…" Sarah mused. "You and John. You solve puzzles for a living."
"Consulting detective." Sherlock snapped at her.
"Oh…"
"Behave." I grumbled to him, getting a huff in response, until Sarah came over and pointed at a paper in-between us.
"What are these squiggles?"
"Numbers." I muttered, skimming my eyes over some odd symbols on a piece of paper Sherlock had handed me.
"In an ancient Chinese dialect." Sherlock said, not as snappy as before, but still annoyed.
"Oh, right. Yeah, well, of course I should've known that." Sarah said, shifting her gaze to me. "And, uh, you're helping them? But you're just a—"
"I'm 21." I complained, sending her a glare. "And he asked me to join him and John for a while on solving cases after he caught me being smart at an interview with a robber that I watched at Scotland Yard."
"But you're only in college."
"I'm on a travel abroad trip for school." I said, beginning to get annoyed along with Sherlock.
"Oh. Right…"
She then reached over and picked up the bag with the brick wall photo we'd gotten back from evidence and I watched silently as Sherlock looked at her in disbelief. Oh, her audacity. I thought sarcastically with an eye roll.
"So these numbers. It's a cipher."
"Exactly!" He said, rolling his eyes as well.
"And each pair of numbers is a word."
I pretended to be surprised and looked up along with Sherlock as he spoke.
"How did you know that?"
"Well, two words have already been translated." She said and I snatched the bag from her, lying it on the desk before us as she pointed them out. "Here."
"John." Sherlock said, catching his attention in the kitchen.
"Hm?"
"John!" I called out, standing up with Sherlock as he pulled the thing from the bag. "You might wanna see this!"
He hurried in from the kitchen as I grinned, watching Sherlock unfold the paper.
"Soo Lin from the museum. She started to translate the code for us. We didn't see it."
"I knew it was a good thing I handed that to her."
"A good thing, indeed." He said. "Nine mill."
"That mean millions?" John questioned, leaning over to look at the photo.
"Nine million quid. For what?" He suddenly turned around, crumpling the photo in his hands as he grabbed his coat and scarf.
"Where are you going?" John questioned.
"To the museum. To the restoration room. Oh, we must have been staring right at it!" He said loudly, putting on his coat.
"A-At what?" John asked, confused.
"The book, John! The book! The key to cracking the cipher! Soo Lin used it to do this!" He waved the photo and grabbed his scarf. "Whilst we were running around the gallery, Sam was smart enough to hand her this and she started to translate the code. It must be on her desk."
He ran out of the flat and John, Sarah, and I stared at the open door in confusion and shock. I scratched the back of my head, very much confused.
"Should I, uh, go after him?"
John shook his head, to get out of his thoughts and moved over to the kitchen table. "You can if you want, but he's probably already half-way there by now."
Now, came the choice. Do I go after Sherlock to try and get his attention before Zhi Zhu takes John and Sarah? I frowned to myself. No, that won't work. He'll be so focused on the cipher by now that he won't listen. So I stay here…but is there a way to keep John and Sarah from being taken? If I answer the door to get the takeout, will they be safe? I shook my head, starting to pace as I thought, not noticing that John and Sarah were already ordering the takeout and had started giving me odd looks. No, there's no guarantee they'll be safe, especially since Zhi Zhu is the person who wrote the cipher on the windows. Even if I was to answer the door, these Chinese assassins would probably take John and Sarah too, if only to be hostages. B-But…I have to try, right?
I was jolted out of my thoughts by a couple of knocks on the door and quickly shifted my head to look as John began heading that way.
"Oh, blimey, that was quick. I'll just pop down."
"W-Wait!" I called out, catching John just before he left the room, putting on a shaky fake smile. "I'll, uh…I'll get it."
"You don't have to. I'm fine getting i—"
"No!" I shouted, before trying to brush it off with a chuckle. "Heh, y-you've already paid for my food once. I-I can pay this time."
He frowned, suspicious of my motives. "I don't know what you're up to, but alright. Just…don't go doing anything…stupid."
"I…" What do I say? "I hear ya." I said, heading out as I swallowed back the anxiety that threatened to make me panic on the way to answer the door.
Should I try to fight back? I'll probably only end up getting more hurt, especially if there's more than one person. Either way…I don't think there's anything I could do to keep John and Sarah from being taken…except…An idea suddenly came into my head and, as much as I worried something could make it go wrong, I was willing to take the risk. For Sarah…and for John… Taking a deep breath and gathering as much courage as I could, I opened the door to see the hooded Chinese man.
Before he could get a word out, I spoke. "I know what you want and I don't have it."
He frowned, but I continued before he could react.
"However I do know where it's at…and I will tell you…on one condition."
"What is your…condition?" He asked, not looking pleased, but looking willing to cooperate, for now.
"Leave everyone in the house alone. Mark the door or whatever with your cipher, but don't touch the people inside. Do that, and I will go with you and tell you where it is."
He frowned once more. "And how do I know you're not bluffing?"
H-How do I convince him? Another idea popped into my head. Give him something that no one but I could know.
"Nine mill for jade pin dragon den black tramway." I said, trying to keep from showing just how nervous I was. "That's what your message said. I will go with you, but they are to be left alone."
He smirked then, looking smug. "Very well."
I just barely caught sight of the black weapon he used to hit me upside the head and then, the world went black.
Sherlock quickly pounded up the stairs, excited for what he had just discovered and he burst through the door to his flat with a big grin on his face.
"John! Sam! I've got it! The cipher! The book! It's the London A to Z that they used!"
"Really? You've got it?" John said, hurrying over to Sherlock's side as he showed him the photo, now with his black handwriting.
"Yes. They're looking for some sort of jade pin. This black tramway must be where their hideout is. We can get them, John!"
"That's great!" He said back, looking at Sarah in excitement as Sherlock looked around the flat.
"Where's Sam?"
"Hm?" John turned back around and did his own look over of the room. "Oh, she went downstairs to pick up the takeaway. Though I don't know why it's taking her so long."
Sherlock frowned. "I didn't see her downstairs, John."
It was John's turn to frown. "Well, she couldn't have come back up. She would have said something…"
Then, someone knocked on the door downstairs. They looked at each other, before Sherlock headed down with John, the two of them answering the door where a younger Chinese man stood holding some takeaway boxes. "You ordered, yes?"
"A-Ah, yeah…" John said, taking the food from the man before looking up and down the block. "You haven't, um, seen a younger girl with short auburn hair already, have you?"
He tilted his head, lost. "No, sir…Ah, but you may wish to clean your door. The paint is better taken off when it's fresh."
"Paint?" John questioned, just as Sherlock caught sight of the cipher spray painted across the front of the door.
"John…"
John looked back and paled. "Oh God…She's been taken."
John hurriedly grabbed a bundle of bills to pay the Chinese takeout man at the door and him and Sherlock hurried back upstairs. Sherlock immediately began pulling out a map and lying it out over the table, Sarah standing nearby in confusion as him and John hurried about.
"What's going on?"
"Sam's been taken a-and I'm really sorry, Sarah, but I think you should go." John replied, truly sorry, but knowing that now wasn't the time.
"Yes, right. I, um, hope you find him…" She said, not realizing her mistake—not that anyone was going to correct her at the moment—and gathering her things before leaving; just as John couldn't hold back anymore.
"Dammit! How couldn't we have noticed?! She was right there in the doorway for Pete's sake! We should've heard something!"
"John, will you shut up!" Sherlock snapped at him, glaring at his companion. "Panicking will not help us find her!"
John, stunned into silence, slowly nodded his head, getting control of himself as he hurried over to Sherlock's side.
"A-Alright. So what have we got?"
"The cipher that I translated is our clue. Tramway." His eyes scoured the map, before finding it, stabbing his finger into the place on the map. "There! Hurry, John!"
Sherlock quickly headed towards the door and John grabbed his coat before hurrying out after him. By the time Sherlock hailed a cab and they were on their way, John had a sudden thought.
"Sherlock?"
Sherlock made no notice of hearing him, but John continued.
"Sherlock, Sam did something odd, right before she was taken."
That caught his attention, and he turned to John with a contemplative frown.
"Odd, how?"
"She, uh…She wanted to answer the door."
Sherlock gave him a look, turning back to the window. "I don't see how that could imply anything."
John shook his head, trying to get Sherlock to understand. "No, Sherlock! I mean, she was adamant about answering the door! Stopping me and…and, I don't know! She was acting suspiciously! Like she knew that something was going to happen!"
Sherlock snapped his head back to John. "You're saying, that she knew they were coming? That she willingly let herself get taken?"
John pulled a hand through his hair, completely confused. "I don't know, Sherlock! That's why I'm asking you!"
Sherlock paused. "It's possible…"
"What?!"
"Think about it, John. Hasn't something like this happened before?"
His eyes widened. "You mean the cipher?"
Sherlock nodded, eyes narrowed. "She already knows about these things, John. I can't explain it, but it seems to be the only explanation."
"B-But why? Why wouldn't she say anything? Why'd she let this happen?!"
Sherlock shook his head with a frown. "I don't know, John, but if we want any answers we have to help her first."
I woke up slowly, head aching painfully and vision blurry. I couldn't quite remember what happened for a moment, but once I did, I quickly looked around only for pain to flare up and make me lower my head once more with a small grunt. Good…John and Sarah aren't here. Thank God…though I don't think I should be thanking him just yet. My situation doesn't look very good at the moment.
"A book is like a magic garden." A voice said from in front of me as I tried to blink the blurriness out of my eyes and focus on General Shan. "Carried in your pocket."
She walked over to me as I tried to look around a bit, eyeing the tunnel I was in and the large cloth—covering what was most likely the crossbow—directly in front of me. General Shan brought my attention back to her though, as she lifted the sunglasses from her face.
"Chinese proverb, Mr. Holmes."
I felt my lip twitch up in amusement, glad my plan worked out, but quickly dropping it; knowing that I could still possibly die here.
"I'm not Sherlock Holmes."
"Forgive me if I do not take your word for it." She smiled, reaching into my jacket pocket and pulling out my wallet as I grimaced at the pain in my head. "Debit card. Name of S. Holmes."
"He gave it to me for groceries." I breathed out.
"A check for five thousand pounds made out in the name of Mr. Sherlock Holmes."
"He gave it to me to look after." I lied.
"Tickets from the theater, collected by you, name of Holmes."
I sighed, lifting my head and still trying to orient myself. "Doesn't look to good, does it? Shame I'm not him."
"We heard it from your own mouth." She said, still doubting me.
"Did you?"
"'I am Sherlock Holmes and I always work alone, because no one else can compete with my massive intellect'." She quoted.
I sighed again, cringing as the action made my head ache. "I was mocking him. Not that I could persuade you that I was doing an impression."
I lifted my head, spotting the small pistol she aimed at me and leaned back as much as I could, feeling fear sink into the pit of my stomach. O-Oh man. Come on, Sam. D-Don't panic! It's empty, remember? J-Just so she could, uh, try and get answers from me. Nothing wrong here! I couldn't stop the feeling though. I knew that because I changed places with John and Sarah, things would change. The plot would be messed up somewhere and I worried that maybe, just maybe, it could change here. For me. Shan's gun might actually be loaded. She might actually shoot me. I could die right here and never be able to see John, Sherlock, Bobbie, or my brothers again. Or, it could change elsewhere down the road. Because I kept Sarah from being taken, John might never meet Mary. Either way, I couldn't predict what I had changed or when it will rear its ugly head. That didn't mean I wanted to be afraid though. I didn't want to be scared. I wanted to face her like Sherlock would or with that confidence that John had. I-I-I guess it's just impossible for me, huh?…After all…I'm just some kid, right?
"I am Shan." The woman said.
"G-Good to know." I stuttered out, not taking my eyes off the gun.
"Three times we tried to kill you and your companions, Mr. Holmes. What does it tell you when an assassin cannot shoot straight?" She cocked the gun and I began struggling against the restraints on my wrist, squirming uncomfortably in my chair.
"D-Don't." I breathed out, clenching my eyes shut, turning away.
There was a click and I broke out of my panic, looking with wide eyes at the gun that hadn't shot. O-Oh God…Oh, thank God…My tense posture relaxed ever so slightly in my relief, but my breathing remained ragged in fear.
"It tells you they're not really trying." She then pulled out a clip and cocked the gun, smirking down at me as panic swallowed me once more. "Not blank bullets now. If we wanted to kill you, Mr. Holmes, we would have done it by now. We just wanted to make you inquisitive…Do you have it?"
"H-Have it?"
"The treasure." She said, glaring at me.
"Don't know what you're talking about." I lied.
"Yet my man said you knew about it. Now how is that?"
I swallowed, staying silent, whereas she smirked.
"There is more than one way to get answers out of you, Mr. Holmes."
One of her men pulled the cloth off of the crossbow, making me eye it warily.
"Everything in the West has its price." Shan said. "And the price for your life: information."
I chuckled nervously, fear rising up as tears tickled the corner of my eyes. "Heh, f-funny story about that. I-I-I, uh…I find that threatening me d-doesn't really work."
She smirked. "Is that so? Well then, I'll just have to prove you wrong, now won't I?"
She suddenly pulled the trigger to her pistol, the bullet landing just between my feet and kicking up sharp shards of concrete, making my heart jump up into my throat as panic suddenly flooded my body.
"God, oh God, oh God, oh God." I muttered under my breath, which was coming out in short gasps now as I tried to find a way out of this. Shouldn't have said that. Sooooo shouldn't have said that!
"Where's the hairpin?" She asked.
"W-What?" I stuttered out, having a hard time hearing her over the thumping of my head and the pounding of my heart.
"The Empress pin valued at nine million sterling. We already had a buyer in the West, and then one of our people was greedy. He took it, brought it back to London and you, Mr. Holmes, have been searching."
"P-Please. I-I'm not really him! I'm not Sherlock Holmes! You have t-to believe me! D-Do you really think he'd be as young as I am?" I begged, very much afraid for my life and trying to waste time for Sherlock and John to get here. If they even do. I might have screwed that up too.
"I need a volunteer from the audience!" She said loudly, smirking down at me.
"N-No, please!"
"Ah, thank you, Mr. Holmes. Yes. You'll do very nicely." She said, moving over to the hanging sand bag and pulling out a knife, stabbing it and letting the sand out. "Gentlemen! From the distant moonlit shores of NW1, we present for your pleasure, Sherlock Holmes in a death defying act!" She placed a black lotus flower on my lap, smirking widely. "You've seen the act before, how dull for you. You know how it ends."
"C-Come on! I-I-I'm not him!"
"That does not matter. Whether you are him or not, you have already said you have the information we need."
"I'm not Sherlock Holmes!" I shouted, tears starting to slip down my face in my panic.
"I don't believe you."
"You should, you know." A deep, familiar voice said, making Shan turn around with her gun raised as I let out a half-sob, half-sigh of relief.
"Sherlock Holmes is nothing at all like her."
I watched, breathing hard as Sherlock's silhouette ducked behind something along with John's and Shan cocked her pistol, sending one of her men after him.
"How would you describe me, Sam? Resourceful? Dynamic? Enigmatic?"
"L-L-Late." I breathed out, having forgotten about the crossbow still aimed at me for now. And a pain in the ass, if he really wants to know.
He either ignored my comment or didn't hear me. "That's a semi-automatic. If you fire it, the bullet will travel at over a thousand meters per second."
"Well?"
"Well…" Sherlock popped out from behind the shadows, knocking the man who had gone after him unconscious with a pipe, and he ducked back into the dark. "The radius curvature of these walls is nearly four meters. If you miss, the bullet will ricochet… Could hit anyone…Might even bounce off the tunnel and hit you."
John and him suddenly ran forward, knocking down one of the burning cylinders and sending a good portion of the tunnel into darkness. I struggled to try and find Sherlock as Shan ran, but upon feeling hands trying to undo my ropes, I began panicking once more.
"N-No, Sherlock! Zhi Zhu!"
Just as I tried to warn him, he was being strangled by said man and I heard grunting as John fought with the other.
"Sherlock!" John shouted, having incapacitated his offender and started running towards Sherlock, but I shook my head.
"No, John! T-The crossbow! Use the crossbow!"
He gave me a worried look, but nodded, hurrying over to said weapon and grunting with the effort of turning it. Come on, come on…He managed just in time and the arrow shot out of it, zooming by my head, hitting Zhi Zhu in the chest and forcing him to release Sherlock. I let out a sigh of relief, hearing coughing behind me as John hurried back there to probably help Sherlock out as we heard the disappearing footsteps of Shan. Finally, hands began prying at my bonds once more, Sherlock speaking quietly from behind me as I tried to get my breathing back under control. John came over and knelt in front of me, a hand on my leg as I kept my head bowed in a poor attempt to hide my tears.
"It's okay. You're going to be all right. It's over now. It's over." Sherlock said from behind me as I nodded, whole body quivering in fear.
"You alright, Sam?" John asked as Sherlock finally released me, and I couldn't help but grab a hold of Sherlock and cling to him for support.
I probably shocked him, because it took him a moment before he lightly placed a hand on my upper back and another on my head.
"I-I-I'm sorry." I cried, having given up on trying to hide my fear. "I'm s-sorry. S-Sorry."
They didn't say anything and John made sure to call the police over before we headed out. I had since let go of Sherlock, knowing that he wasn't one for dealing with emotional women, and I hadn't said a word since. I'm s-so stupid. I cried in front of Sherlock a-a-and put his life and John's in danger. T-They shouldn't have rescued me. They shouldn't have rescued some kid who thinks they know what's best. Sherlock stayed back to speak with Dimmock as John led me forward with a hand and a shock blanket over my shoulders, him hailing a cab as we waited for Sherlock.
"You sure you're alright?" He asked as one pulled up. "You've been pretty quiet."
"Yeah. Just a bit…shaken, I guess." I said, shrugging.
He frowned, going to say something more, but Sherlock showed up then and we climbed into the cab and returned home, no one saying a word. Once we were back at 221B though, something changed and Sherlock moved a kitchen chair across from his and John's, and pointed at it.
"Sit."
I wasn't sure what was going on, but did as he asked, though John seemed to understand and began arguing with him.
"Sherlock! You want to do this now?! We just got her home after being kidnapped!"
"It's fine, John." I said, giving him a small smile. "I don't mind."
He looked over at me, but finally sighed and sat down as well, giving Sherlock a chance to ask whatever it was he wanted to ask.
"You knew about this, didn't you?"
Oh no…Please don't be asking what I think you're asking. "Knew what?" I asked, playing dumb.
Sherlock frowned. "You knew you were going to be taken, just as you knew about the cipher being a book code and Soo Lin being alive, and that if you told us about the book code we wouldn't go after her."
I lifted my gaze, keeping my eyes locked with his in an attempt to show that I wasn't lying, even though I was. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He smirked suddenly, throwing me off guard. "And there she is."
"Huh?"
Even John was confused.
Sherlock though, continued to grin, leaning forward as I furrowed my brows, lost. "The real Sam. The Sam that's been hiding behind the mask of a child. Now tell me, because I know you're lying." His grin fell and he gazed back at me seriously. "How did you know and why didn't you tell us anything?"
I stayed silent, knowing that I couldn't answer him. Especially since I didn't even know really what had happened. And trying to explain something as ridiculous as jumping onto a time-line of a TV show, to the Sherlock Holmes? No. I knew better. I knew that would cause more problems than I could fix and I wasn't going to be the one putting people's lives on the line because I decided to be a blabber mouth. I can't help him, because helping him could be the death of us all.
"You know things, Sam. Things you shouldn't know and I want to know where you got that information and why you didn't say anything. Did you really think you could hide it from us? Hide it from me?" Sherlock stood, moving in front of me and glaring down at me before kneeling so that he was at my eye level, dark eyes boring into my very soul in search of answers. "Tell me."
"No." I said, defiantly.
His lips twitched in annoyance. "I can get answers out of you if I wanted to, Sam, so it'd be best if you told me. I could always send you to my brother and he could get answers instead."
My heart plummeted into my stomach at the thought of Mycroft interrogating me, but I quickly shoved the fear back, gaze hardening. I can't. What if Moriarty gets word? I could be killed for these very same answers…I can't tell him anything…as much as I want to. I saw Sherlock still staring at me, waiting and I frowned.
"No."
I could tell that he was getting frustrated, but John suddenly intervened.
"Sam, just tell us." He said, sounding concerned. "Maybe we could help somehow."
"You can't." I said, looking over at him and feeling my gaze soften slightly. "You couldn't do anything and…and I can't tell you."
Sherlock huffed then, moving towards his bedroom door and pausing, turning and giving me a scathing glare. "Then pack your bag. You're returning to your class first thing tomorrow morning. Goodbye, Sam."
He stomped upstairs to his room and I was forced to close my gaping mouth, looking down at my lap as tears threatened to burst through. No. I can't cry. I-I knew this was going to happen. I knew he'd find out and do this but…that doesn't mean it hurts any less. I felt a hand land on my shoulder and swallowed down my tears as I looked over at John, who was still giving me that worried look.
"I'm sorry, Sam…but we're just worried about you. Are you sure there's nothing you can tell us?"
"I-I can't, John. I'm sorry, but…it's impossible. I-I can't tell you guys."
He let out a disappointed sigh and nodded, giving me a pat on the back and heading towards his own room, sending me one last look.
"Goodnight, Sam."
As soon as the door shut, the tears came back up again and I just let them fall down my face as I continued to sit in the chair I had been left in. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…Early the next morning, before anyone had come down for breakfast, I picked up my suitcase and quietly as I could, headed down the stairs before catching a cab. I took one last look up at 221B Baker Street and caught sight of a tall, lanky shadow just before it moved back behind the curtains. I bowed my head sadly and climbed into the cab, hoping that they'd at least take the time to read the letter I left behind and silently wishing them good luck.
To Sherlock and John,
I know you want answers, but there is not much I can tell you. I do have information, but it is impossible to explain how I came about it or what it is exactly without putting people's lives in danger; more specifically, both of yours. Rest assured though, I will not tell anyone no matter what happens and I thank you for taking me with you on your case. I learned a lot and perhaps, we'll bump into each other again some time. But for now, farewell and…I'm sorry.
Sam
P.S. John, I will send you my stories through your
email if you're still interested and there's no milk left in your fridge.
Thought you should know.
P.S.S. Sherlock, thank you for noticing me and
I believe there is mold growing on the eyeballs in the fridge.
Unless that's a part of your experiment, I suggest throwing them out.