John waited by the entrance to Magnussen's head-office. The crowd was slowly thinning out, leaving only a few rushing around to meet deadlines. No one paid any attention to him, which was a relief. John would have no idea what to say if someone asked why he was there, because he himself had no idea what on earth he was doing there either.

That was Sherlock's way though, just texting a random location and expecting John to pitch up. Of course John always came; his curiosity always got the better of him. Sherlock could constantly rely on John's predictability.

When John got Sherlock's text, he was surprised that his friend had the gall to even acknowledge him after the argument they had. Sure, everything calmed down when Magnussen left but the air was still tense. Magnussen's presence just changed the type of tension, almost as a reminder that he is the one who they should fight against.

John left a few minutes after, not being able to muster any conversation starters. When he was walking down the stairs he could hear Mrs Hudson arguing with Sherlock. He caught a few words like "Idiot", "Talk to him" and "text". There was no doubt who they were talking about.

Within a few minutes, John got a message:

Meet me at CAM Global News HQ at 9

SH

He rolled his eyes. John was not going to do this. He would not! John was about to pocket his phone when it vibrated again.

Also don't bring any sort of weapon.

SH

John typed back:

I am not coming

JW

He felt proud at the fact that he would not fall for Sherlock's every whim and make a fool of himself.

The phone beeped again

You are bored with home life. You are coming

SH

XXX

And now John was there, standing like the fool he is, falling for Sherlock's every whim and that made him angry.

"Magnussen's office is on the top floor, just below his private flat." Sherlock appeared beside him, giving John a fright. "There are fourteen loads of security between us and him. Two which are illegal in this country." He turned to his friend, his heart skipping a beat, but his face not betraying anything.

Sherlock, no. Just no. This is definitely not the time to be like this.

"Wonder how we are going to get in?"

"So that is what we are doing?" John asked. Even though he trusted Sherlock with his life he would not be stupid enough to break into an office that belonged to one of the country's most dangerous men.

Sherlock frowned. Why else would they be there? "Of course that is what we are doing. Come on let's get some coffee. I sure need it."

They silently walked over to the café and ordered the coffee. John noticed that Sherlock was a little bit jumpy. He was about to ask when the barista gave them their coffee.

Sherlock paid and they walked.

Sherlock nodded his head towards an elevator that moved to the very top floor. "That is Magnussen's private lift. It goes straight to his penthouse and office." They got onto the escalator. "Only he uses it and only his key card calls the lift. Anyone else who tries, security is automatically informed."

Sherlock pulled out an ordinary key-card. John realised that Sherlock certainly didn't get that legally. He looked around to see if anyone else could see it.

"Standard key card for the building. I nicked it yesterday. It only gets us as far as the canteen." He turned to John and asked:

"If we use this card on that lift what do you think will happen?"

John felt a bit thrown off by the question. "Um, I suppose the alarm would go off and you would be dragged away by security…"

"Exactly."

"…Taken to a small room somewhere and get your head kicked in." John finished, purposely saying that aloud just to see if Sherlock got the message about how angry he still was with him.

"Do we really need so much colour?"

"It passes the time." He replied, with that bit of sass that only John Watson could pull off.

Sherlock ignored him and continued. "If I then do this," He took his phone out and put the key card on the phone. "If you press you key card long enough it will corrupt the magnetic strip; the card stops working. It's a common problem. You never put your key card and phone in the same pocket. So what would happen now?"

"The card stops working."

"But it doesn't read as the wrong card now. It registers as corrupted. And if it is corrupted, how do they know that it is not Magnussen's?"

John stood in amazement at his friend as he continued to discuss his plan. John should have been used to this by now, but this particular case really took some thinking. Just like the first day he met Sherlock, the only words that came to his head to describe him was 'Brilliant'. He then remembered why he fell in love with him. All of this excitement, the adventure of the case, all of this made John feel twenty years younger. In that second he was prepared to elope and leaving his crappy life behind. He was about to tell Sherlock when his friend started to walk forward to the key pad. He placed the key card on the scanner.

John stood beside him, bemused. "You know you don't exactly look like Magnussen."

"Which in this case that is a considerably advantage."

This was the part Sherlock was dreading. He knew how much it would break John's heart. In some dark part of his heart, he actually wanted John to feel the hurt that he felt when John left him.

No Sherlock. This is purely for a case, remember. Now smile.

He had to wait only ten seconds before the voice came from the other side of the intercom.

"Sherlock you complete loon! What are you doing!?"

John nearly dropped his cup. Janine. "Hang on. Is that…?" John was about to come into the camera's view when Sherlock pushed him away.

"Hi Janine." He leaned into the camera, his voice lowed into a more gravely tone. "Come on let me in."

"I can't. You know I can't." The Irish voice replied through the intercom. "Don't be silly."

Now was the time. He hated the idea of doing it. He hated it so much. But if it meant taking down a criminal then he had no other choice.

"Oh don't make me do it out here, in front of everyone."

John, still holding the cups, had no idea what was happening. He was getting some interesting stares from some of these people. It was in the least awkward.

"Do what in front of all these people?" Janine was just as confused as John was.

Sherlock took a deep breath. It wasn't like he really was going to do it. But he needed to for the case. He didn't look to John, as he would usually do for confirmation. He just had to pull the box out and propose.

Yup that was the brilliant plan all along. He was very happy when he heard that Magnussen's PA was Janine, because it opened up doors for him he didn't even know that he wanted.

If he proposed the she would surely want to bring him up and celebrate. And he knew that she would say yes. She has been dropping all sorts of hints to him that past month.

He picked the box out of his coat pocket and opened it up, giving a cute smile. Janine gasp could be heard from the other side of the intercom.

John, poor John, had no idea this was going to come. He nearly dropped the cups when he was hit with this news. His heart dropped down into the depths of his soul. All thoughts of a new life with Sherlock left his head. He really had moved on.

Sure enough the elevator opened up. Sherlock's fake smile dropped from his face as he walked to the elevator. He had to act like he usually did.

He turned to his friend, his face visibly distraught. Sherlock was starting to realise that he maybe should have let him in on this little act, but that, as we all know, is not Sherlock's style.

"You see as long as there are people, there is always a weak spot." He turned to get into the elevator when John grabbed his arm.

"Janine."

"Yes Janine is Magnussen's PA. That was the whole point."

John felt a tiny bit of relief he was not going to lie. But still…

"You just proposed so you can break into an elevator?!"

"Yeah," Sherlock got into the elevator. "It was a stroke of luck meting her at your wedding. You can take some of the credit."

"Jesus Sherlock!" John knew that Sherlock had stooped low before, but this was a new record. There is literally nothing Sherlock would do to get something he wanted. It made John think of all the times he was used as a guinea pig. The first one that popped into his mind was that day back in Dartmoor where Sherlock used him as a tester subject to see if one of his deductions was right about the Hound. That wasn't fun at all.

John threw the cups away and entered the elevator. There was something that was bothering him; he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"So I assume you are going to break up with her."

"Yes, of course. There is only so far this ruse can go, John. I imagine that she would want to anyway when I tell her that I was using her."

John couldn't help but to be pleased. There is still hope yet. He glanced down at Sherlock's pocket where the ring was held.

Then it hit him.

"Sherlock can I see the ring?"

Sherlock pulled the box out of the coat pocket and handed to John without a word. The box seemed to be worn down a bit, like it had been touched constantly. John inspected the ring. It was an elegant ring. It had a small diamond set in an elegant design. The band was polished gold, with a circler design etched into it. It looked familiar.

"If you were only going to use this as a ruse, why buy such an expensive ring?"

Sherlock froze. "How do you know that it is expensive?"

"I may not be the great Sherlock Holmes, but I am also not an idiot. When I went shopping for an engagement ring, I saw one like this in the window of one of the shops. If I remember correctly, it cost more than my life is worth. So why did you buy such an expensive ring?"

Sherlock felt his cheeks warm up. "It was a cheap knock off that I found, that is all." He grabbed the box back from John, snapped it shut and shoved it back into his pocket.

Only if John knew who it was really for. Sherlock fiddled with the box, like he had done thousands of times before. He remembered when he brought it. It was when he came back from destroying Moriarty's underground network, before he saw John for the first time in two years. It was when he swore that he would never leave him alone again. Sherlock was prepared to make the commitment, but, as it turned out, John wasn't.

Merry Christmas my Bokkies! My pressie to you.

I hope y'all have a brilliant day and pray that Santa fulls your stockings full of chocolate and fandom thingabobs.

Love from thecapefangirl