A/N: This is the last of my prewritten chapters, all updating will now be in real time. I am not sure how that will effect my updating schedule, but thanks again to anyone following this story. It means a lot to me.
The building before Serene bore a familiar name on the bronze plaque in front of the glassed in lobby. She finds herself standing on the street gawking up at the crystal spire. Sherlock stands close behind her while her eyes are pointed up his scan the street.
"Remaining impartial is key to my work." Sherlock's voice reverberates in her chest. Serene looks forward setting her shoulders this may be Graham's company but that didn't mean it involved him and she certainly didn't need Sherlock reminding her to keep her emotions in check.
"I don't know what you mean." Serene turns up the collar of her jacket and walks towards the lobby. Sherlock smiles, she was such a wasted opportunity. "Come along, Mr. Holmes."
Serene wasn't entirely sure where she needed to look but she wasn't going to allow Sherlock to lead her around all day. What did she know, in this moment, without him? That this building belonged to Graham's family company, this was where a homeless person had received an engraved pound coin and that meant most likely the owner of the coin worked in this building.
Serene pulled out her phone and opened the browser. She typed in the address of the building and 'employment'. Only one entry came up that was recent a law clerk for a firm on the sixth floor. She pockets the phone repeating the name over and over under her breath like a mantra as she enters the building.
She can see Sherlock following behind her on the security cameras behind the doorman's desk. She walks purposefully towards the bank of elevators hoping no one will stop her.
"Excuse me, miss, you have to sign in." The doorman's welcoming tone has an edge to it. Not directly confrontational, but annoyed.
"Of course, silly me." Serene puts on a large vacant smile and returns to the desk. "Big interview today I am so nervous."
The doorman nods and looks at her appreciatively. He glances at her name on the ledger. "Good luck ms. Laurent."
Serene beams up at him before continuing to the elevators. She catches the edge of the door just as it is about to close and finds herself alone in the elevator with Sherlock.
Serene tries to not look surprised by his presence, but he is grinning at her cheekily and she can't help herself.
"How did you get passed the doorman?"
"The benefit of a dark coat and a pretty companion." Sherlock responds matter-of-factly.
"Mr. Holmes, did you use me to sneak in here?"
"Quite effectively I might add." His grin becomes a full-fledged smile and Serene feels immediately buoyed for what they are about to do.
"Is this when we compare notes?" She looks at him through the corner of her eye.
"I prefer to not have redundant conversations."
"Then what happens when we get in there? What do we tell them? What's our story?" Serene's questions come in rapid fire and each one seems to make Sherlock's eyebrows creep higher. "You're looking at me like I have three heads."
Sherlock throws his hands behind his back, grabbing one wrist preparing to launch into a lecture.
"The more lies you tell the more you have to remember. A good detective should never have to tell a lie in the first place. A decent one shouldn't have to tell more than three; I knew the deceased, I was told to come here and I understand."
At that moment the elevator slowed and the doors opened. Sherlock stepped out and in one fluid motion pressed the button for the top floor. Before Serene could grasp what was happening she was on an elevator moving skywards towards the man she had feared this day had been driving her towards; Graham's brother.
Serene wonders what it is about large companies and glass walls. All the offices she passed looked more like fish bowls than boardrooms. Then of course her office at the university looked like a broom closet with a beetle fetish so she supposed she was no one to judge. It seemed like the interior decorator's way of saying "nothing to see, all above board in this office". She didn't know enough about Graham's company to know what kind of business they kept, but considering Graham's actions the last decade they probably had a lot to hide.
She got more than a few sidelong looks as she approached Liam's office, but the general apathy of the office worker kept her relatively unnoticed. If she had been thinking ahead this morning she would have dressed the part a little better. At least her shirtsleeves covered her scrapes; she nonchalantly tightened the scarf around her throat to hide the bruises on her neck. Liam's office was behind frosted glass panels and an imposing plaque announcing Graham's name and his position as CEO. Did Liam feel as much of a fraud in Graham's office as she felt in his apartment?
His secretary was beautiful, an unspoken job requirement at this level of industry. She smiled radiantly as Serene approached the desk but it never quite reached her eyes.
"Good Morning, how can I help you?" There was an edge to the woman's voice. Serene kept her voice low and intimate.
"Can you tell Liam his sister-in-law has been terribly rude and shown up without an appointment?" Serene winks at the poor befuddled secretary. Surely there is gossip about the CEO's whereabouts, his strange personal life and more importantly his lack of family. She had to give the woman credit her smile never faltered, just the tiniest of creases between her perfectly arched eyebrows.
She makes the move to pick up the phone, but thinks better of it. Smoothing her skirt she stands to go speak to her boss in person.
Serene watches like a shadow play as her vague silhouette moves in the office, a dark shape rustles in return. The light bends and warps around their bodies and Serene wonders how Liam is taking the news of a mystery woman's arrival. The slim dark shape that was the secretary grows as she approaches the door and Serene quickly organizes her features into a calm expectant look.
The secretary emerges with the same immovable smile, but the crease between her eyebrows reappears as she speaks.
"He says he always has a few moments for family."
"Thank you."
When she enters the office Liam is leaning on the front of his desk, his hands in his pockets and his ankles crossed. His head is down, but he snaps up to look at her once she walks in the door. She visibly sees him relax as she enters. So he at least knows who stays in Graham's flat while he is away.
"Ah Dr. Laurent, I am relieved. I really thought my brother had gone and gotten married to some bush woman." He grins and his freckles wrinkle; it's almost enough to make Serene forgive his crude way of speaking.
"I'm sorry for the minor deception, but I couldn't think of an easy way to get your attention."
"I would have made time to meet with the beautiful woman living in my brother's flat. Forgive me for not coming to visit before, but I couldn't think of a reason beyond general curiosity." He is still leaning on his desk, relaxed, like a king. She hadn't considered how rich Graham had been growing up, but Liam exuded Oxford education and ski chalets.
"I'll remember that if I ever need you again."
"Do you need me now?" Liam's voice lowers to a sultry tone. Serene imagines he is the type to pinch waitresses' bottoms. She smiles and tries to flatten the thousand lies that spring to her mind. Sherlock had told her not to lie, but what was she supposed to say?
"I was told to come here." Sherlock's words come tumbling out of her mouth and Liam's look of shock makes her realize how that must sound. She corrects quickly. She can't out Graham if he has not yet come forward. "Not recently, of course."
"Of course, I would hope my brother would have enough filial duty in him to tell me he isn't dead personally." He laughs, but it is cold. Serene had never accounted for resentment on Liam's side. There is a small silence, but the air crackles with impatience. Don't lie, don't lie, don't lie. Serene repeats it to herself.
"I was attacked." She sees the surprise in Liam's face as she blurts out the first truth that comes to her mind. She rapidly loosens her scarf, tilting her head to show off the impressive bruise. "And I just, I uh. Oh gosh I am sorry this seems so silly, but I just need to get away from London for even just a night."
Liam looks perplexed as she stutters, but also concerned. "I am afraid I don't see the connection to me, Dr. Laurent. Not that I wouldn't love to help but-"
"I feel so awkward asking, your family has done so much for me already, but there are keys in the flat to a summer cottage and I was wondering if it would be a huge imposition-"
"Ah, say no more. My brother made it very clear every luxury in his life was to be afforded to you, and as I am stuck in London and he is otherwise disposed-"
"Oh thank you." Serene closes the distance between them. Trying to play the hopeless fawning woman as best she can. He extends his hand to her and she clasps it briefly before turning to leave.
"Don't you want directions?" Liam's voice makes her pause and she curses herself. This was a lie; she understood now why it was so dangerous.
"Yes, of course. So silly of me." Serene turns, grateful Liam is a stranger to her. A friend would have known exactly how unlike Serene this whole meeting was. Liam walks behind his desk and picks up a gleaming pen. He begins to sketch her a crude map Serene waits patiently on the other side of the table biting the inside of her cheek to stop the flow of lies and details she wants to pour into this silence.
As Liam rips the page off the pad of paper and hands it across the table to her he looks at her critically.
"You never told me why you were attacked." The paper is in the air between them, crisp and white. Serene smiles as she takes it and tucks it into her pocket.
"Wrong place at the wrong time, I guess."
She turns to leave desperate to get away from this strange unexpected meeting. She makes it all the way to the door before Liam's voice makes her pause again.
"Take care, Dr. Laurent"
Serene walks through the labyrinth of desks quickly, her eyes focused on the elevator. She wonders where Sherlock is in this endeavor. Out of the corner of her eye she sees a tall man pushing a mail cart. He has lost his long dark coat and his suit jacket, the sleeves of his lilac shirt rolled up to his elbows. Serene would recognize his gait anywhere. That's what he had been trying to tell her in the elevator; pretend like you belong wherever the case takes you. She curses her clumsy meeting with Liam as she seemed hadn't gotten even remotely closer to any important information.
She waits for Sherlock in a little coffee stand tucked into the lobby of the building. It affords her a convenient excuse to wait and an excellent vantage point to see and be seen. She turns the paper over and over in her hand feeling the richness of it. Even the scribble pad on Liam's desk was expensive. She traces the drawing with her finger, she has never seen Graham's writing but she wonders if they are similar. An irregularity in the surface of the paper catches her attention; the uniform glossiness was interrupted when she tilted it in the sunlight. Out of curiosity she lifts it to the light allowing sunlight to stream through the page. She very suddenly can't breath.
In the weave of the paper, only visible when backlit was an intricate circle with a simple lion design in the centre. A coat of arms or a seal, with the words "magnuficentia sanguine" curved around the symbol. A family motto? She had been living among Graham's things for two years and certainly never found anything like this. She feels panic writhe inside her it is obviously connected. They were at the source of something, but what? Was this farther spread than just this office? Could Liam be involved, he was too young to have started any of this. His father would have been the right age, his father who had died unexpectedly three years ago. She stuffs the paper in her pocket and stands quickly. She walks determinedly towards the door not caring that she is leaving Sherlock alone here. He had not wanted to bring her in the first place and he certainly wasn't relying on her.
Her panic drove her to the one place where she could seek closure on this case; she needed to speak to Graham directly. He would be exhausted from travel and still asleep in the apartment, hopefully. She felt numb as she made her way through the lobby of her apartment and placing her eye in front of the iris scanner. The elevator came to life and hummed upwards towards her apartment.
She opened the door slowly and creeps into her own apartment like a thief. She feels relief when she hears the shower running. She would have time to prepare herself before she has to speak to him. She finds herself apprehensively making tea for a strange man. She is staring at the kettle as the element heats up and the water begins to boil. In the back of her mind she hears the shower turn off and the unfamiliar rustling of another person in the apartment. She takes the kettle off the element and pours the steaming water into the teapot. She tries to calm the panic rising inside her. She hears the soft pad of his bare feet on the tile and knows she will see him again if she turns around.
"I never thought I would say this, but God bless the French." Graham's voice is warm and smooth, the way she remembered him speaking in the tents back at his camp. Her affection for him outweighs the panic and she whirls to look at him.
He is clean-shaven and his hair is damp. He is in one of his linen shirts and the khakis he wore everyday. Aside from the missing scruff he looks identical to two years ago.
"You never told me why you were back." Serene tries to smile, but she feels like the words still sound accusatory.
"Well you were so eager to get me tucked into bed, we didn't talk much." Graham was ever the cheeky pirate.
"You were falling asleep on your feet." Serene picks up the tea tray and walks towards the living room. "Lets talk now."
Graham walks to the plush living room and sits cross-legged on the floor in front of the coffee table. Serene pauses with the tray when she sees him; surrounded by 1000s of dollars worth of furniture and he plonks down on the rug. Smiling she sets the tray down on the coffee table and sits on the floor across from him.
She watches him carefully prepare his tea, milk first, pouring the hot tea over top and finally stirring a teaspoon of sugar in quickly. He inhales deeply, smelling homemade English tea for the first time in a decade. He closes his eyes as he takes a first scalding sip.
"Good?" Serene tries not to laugh at him, but a small smile won't leave her face. She hadn't realized she had missed him until now.
Graham nods and places the back in the saucer. "Well, we did build an empire on the stuff."
"Oh how the mighty have fallen."
"Well someone keeps bringing unions to their over seas factories and damaging their rigs."
Serene gives him a sad look, he was a man of many principles but his actions were poorly thought out. He looks at her and nods.
"You don't need to say it, Rini. I know I am fool for trying to come back."
"Why are you back, Graham?" She has been neglecting her own tea. She begins busying herself trying to think of a way to ask about Liam.
"My last Will and Testament, actually. I am hoping to be here long enough to sort that out."
"They have phones now. You're risking your life for some paperwork?"
"I need to know my estate is settled without any chance of contention."
"I am sure no one will contest such a generous donation to charity."
"That's the thing, Rini, it isn't going to charity. Not anymore. I-" Graham pauses his smile is broad, but there is sadness in his eyes. "- have a daughter to think of now."
Serene is shocked, she hears her cup clatter on her plate, but she doesn't even remember picking it up.
"Graham-"
"Well not just a daughter really, a wife as well. I insisted we make it legal, above board in every way. Flew to Greece when she was 6 months along, met my lawyer there."
Serene doesn't know what to say, she feels her mouth hanging open and she is helpless to do anything but look at him. Graham looked shyly into his tea, tipping the liquid from side to side. His smile is slightly proud, but mostly sheepish.
"I know it is ridiculous, I really do. They're both so perfect, they've changed everything."
Serene finally finds her tongue, "it's not ridiculous." She reaches for him and they simply hold hands across the table for a long moment.
"Enough about me, I'm a lost cause. Tell me about you, Rini. How has London been treating you?"
The question is a loaded one; Graham can see as plain as day the scrapes and bruises. She hesitates about how much she can bear to tell him; her as yet undefined adoration of a Scotland Yard detective, facing a mad man in an alley, the fact her stupid impulse to seduce Sherlock Holmes had exposed his fortress to the inquiries of a strange silent man.
"Quite poorly of late." The unmistakable baritone of Sherlock Holmes cut through the air like a knife. Serene felt her heart stop and Graham immediately stood on the defensive. Serene's brain finally kicks into gear and she stumbles forward to close the curtains, pulling Sherlock all the way into the apartment from the balcony.
"How did you get in here?" Serene demands as she slams the balcony shut and closes the last curtain. "Graham, you have to leave."
"Who is this toff?" Graham still looks ready to tackle Sherlock.
"Bit of a pot/kettle assessment, don't you think?" Sherlock raises his eyebrows at Graham's insult. He holds up a set of spare keys, dangling them across his palm like a prize. "You asked me to find your matches remember, it was practically an invitation."
Sherlock pockets the keys and extends his hand to Graham, "Sherlock Holmes."
"Holmes, eh? I knew a man named Holmes." Graham eyes him suspiciously.
"I've met your brother as well, or rather Dr. Laurent did. I was otherwise engaged." He turns his attention to Serene. "Or have you not gotten to that bit?"
"Graham, I was going to tell you everything. I will just please you have to leave." Serene looks pleadingly at her friend. His hackles are still up, but his attention is fixed entirely on Sherlock. She grunts in frustration and walks to her coat. She pulls out the folded piece of paper and steps between the men's staring contest.
"Just here, take it and leave." She hands the paper to Sherlock assuming all he wanted was his stolen clue. He takes it but his eyes lock onto her, she feel exposed by their intensity.
"You should have waited for me." Sherlock's voice is stern, pedantic almost. Serene swallows hard gulping down the desire to tell him to piss off.
"Every second you are here Graham is in more danger."
"Only a fool would think he could hide in his own home." Sherlock's gaze finally turns away from Serene. "You're even more of a fool if you think my brother will come put an end to you in person. He'll send a nameless MOD man, there will be no deal making. Nothing you have could be worth trading."
Graham's fists clench and unclench but he sits down again slowly. "Perhaps you are the one to make the deal on my behalf, Mr. Holmes."
"You over estimate my brother's affection for my opinion." Sherlock shrugs off his Belstaff and lays it over top of the sofa. He sits opposite Graham and contemplates him.
There is a terse moment as the two men sit opposite each other. In her time at Graham's camp Serene had become used to these meetings. Sharply dressed men trekking through the wilderness to make their plea to Graham. He would sit as he did now, silently contemplating them, watching them sweat into their linen. Sherlock wasn't sweating, nor was he in need of Graham's assistance.
"You have an advantage over me, Mr. Holmes, in that you know your brother's mind. Tell me why you went to see Liam and perhaps we can each be of service."
Sherlock doesn't make him an answer, Serene watches his fingers twitch slightly and she thinks of his violin back in Baker Street. Instead he leans forward and takes her cooling tea from the table.
He takes a sip and wrinkles his nose. "Sugar." He places the tea down again and instead steeples his hands. He is considering whether or not to take on Graham as a responsibility.
Graham has been still as a portrait as Sherlock fiddles; between the two of them Serene feels ready to burst.
Finally Sherlock removes the paper from his pocket, he is not sure what about Serene's meeting with Liam had sent her dashing back here, but as this piece of paper was what she had given him to leave, it must be important. He tilts the paper briefly before bringing it up to the light. The value of this clue is suddenly clear. He hands the paper to Graham, who takes it nodding.
"Directions to the summer house?" He barely glances at it knowing the way so intimately that the map is immediately obvious.
"I am more interested in the water mark, family motto?" Sherlock's eyes focus intently on Graham, Serene has been the recipient of this stare and she is impressed by the way Graham ignores it.
"You've been away for more than a decade, what makes you think you know your brother better than a stranger? Like I said, you have nothing of value to trade." As Sherlock speaks Graham holds the paper to the light his fingers tracing the curve of the crest.
"I thought I was the last one." Serene feels her blood run cold as Graham speaks, wistfully almost. He reaches into his shirt and pulls out a long chain. Dangling at the end is pound coin. Unlike the coin they had taken from the man's pockets this coin did not shine, it was old and worn. "Those words, Mr. Holmes, were enough to drive young man into the jungle for a decade."
"You still wear it?" Serene's voice is barely a whisper. She is in shock; she had never considered Graham would have all the answers.
"Believe it or not this coin is my greatest protection. Proof of a lineage that whether or not I trust it, is too powerful to disregard. I had thought I had saved my brother from inheriting this madness by disappearing, but apparently the wheel continued without me. Is this of value to you, Mr. Holmes?"
"Potentially not as valuable as the story behind it." Graham lets the coin drop against his shirt and leans forward on his knees.
"Then you can tell your brother I want amnesty for me, my wife and my daughter. For that I would trade anything in the world."
Sherlock stands and pulls on his coat. "I can tell my brother many things, I seldom have his sympathy. I hope you live long enough to help the case again."
Sherlock begins to leave, Serene following behind him. He stops short before the door and catches her off guard. His voice is a hushed intimate whisper. "Baker Street is a reliable place to come if you are ever in need, Dr. Laurent."
With Sherlock gone the silence seems to stretch between Serene and Graham. Finally Graham stoops to pick up the tea tray.
"I don't think your friend likes my chances." He carries the tray through to the kitchen.
"I don't like your chances." Serene sits on the arm of the sofa watching the swaying chain around Graham's neck.