Well hello there. What is this? two updates in one week? madness. Sorry for the delay earlier. there's a note at the bottom of this that will lead you to more 'Outbursts' goodness that I put up forever ago which serves as proof that I was working on this! enjoy!
Adelaide was quickly yanked inside the door with the suitcase that had the few belongings that she (currently) called her own. Before she could say anything she was pulled in the best hug she had ever experienced. Sherlock's black shirt was warm but his face was still a little chilly. He must have arrived not too long before she did and just recently took off his coat. Adelaide reciprocated and placed her arms firmly around her brother's torso. She could tell he had filled out his lanky frame that was quite unhealthily thin the last time she had her arms around him. His cologne was one that instantly calmed her as she took a deep breath and inhaled his scent. It was the most wonderful things she could have ever thought to have had happened to her. He missed her and even though he found it hard to say, she felt all the love in the world coursing to her in that embrace.
Sherlock didn't break the connection until there was a creaking from upstairs followed by hurried scampering. He scowled up in the direction of the sound, but then turned back to her. Her youngest brother staring at her with those green-blue eyes she had always been envious of even when they were being used against her to get away with God knows what. The hall was dimly lit, but she could tell that he indeed looked far better than the last time they met. His hair was trimmed, and the tailored suit was a far cry from the rags he used as camouflage in the Polish streets she found him in before. Sherlock had turned a bit awkward after the big show of affection and with a thorough bout of throat clearing, he finally found his voice, "Hello."
Adelaide gazed back, "Hello," was all that she could muster out before clearing her throat as well. "How are you, then?"
He gave the quickest of twitches to his mouth that suspiciously looked like a smile, "Far better than I was this morning. I take you have spoken with Mycroft?"
"I speak with him far more than I would like. He isn't the brightest ray of sunshine," Adelaide added an eye roll for emphasis and it brought out a genuine smile to grace Sherlock's face.
To her disappointment, that happiness disappeared when a thought came to his mind. "Were you informed of the case involving Magnusson?"
Adelaide's concern was written all over her face and her response came out rapidly, "You mean the case that found you in a drug den and lead to you trying to leak government secrets to the most manipulative man to have ever graced this earth, which then lead to you shooting said evil man in the head in front of dozens of witnesses, which then finally lead to you being banished to your ultimate death?" she took a breath, "Then, yes. I was informed of the Magnusson case."
Sherlock looked down and away from her gaze, it was timid. It was quite contrary to what people would describe him. Timid and meek were not among the usual modus operandi of the great consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes. But in her exasperation, he had felt her disappointment that came from his actions. It pained her to see so much strife in his expression.
Adelaide spoke again, but more paced than before, "I was also informed about the explicit actions by Magnusson that were impressed upon those you care about. That you did that to protect them. I'm proud that you would be so honourable." This perked him up slightly. She continued, "I understand that, but the drugs, Sherlock?" she fought the twinge that came anytime she thought about her little brother in the position to be hurting so much he'd inflict harm to himself. "I heard it from Mycroft, but I want to hear it from you." Adelaide bent lower to catch his line of sight that was concentrated on her shoes. "Is that amenable to you?"
Sherlock raised his head and nodded slightly, "After all of this is done."
Putting on a smile, Adelaide moved her attention to the former location of lurkers above them, "Okay, then. Can I meet your friend now?"
Sherlock scrunched up his face and scoffed, "I don't have a friend," Sherlock then grabbed her case and started up the stairs, at the half landing he turned around with a cheeky grin, "I have friends." He gave a wink and held out his free hand to her. She went up the stairs and took it.
With her hand encapsulated in his, a little bit of the weight of worry she had been carrying around for ages lifted ever so slightly as they approached the partially opened door to his flat.
The Watsons and Dr. Hooper scrambled back into the flat when they heard Sherlock and his guest make their way up the stairs. They tried to make themselves look like they hadn't just been lurking over the stairwell at the new Holmes. But really, they only did it for themselves, Sherlock would know, if he didn't already, that his rag-tag group of companions spied on him in what seemed to be a very emotional event for him.
The door opened fully and John got his first real look at Adelaide Holmes. She was tall (taller than himself), almost coming up to Sherlock's height. Her hair was lighter than Sherlock's like it had been graced by more sun than his. She had deep waves that were pulled into a loose side pony tail that went past her shoulders. She was lean, but John could see that she was strong. She was wearing clothes that didn't look like she had picked them out. The sizes were a bit off and she kept pulling at the sleeves to make them extend to her wrists. But the biggest thing that drew John in was her dark green eyes that didn't match either of her brothers. They held a glint that he had seen before in his friends and his own. This woman has seen some shit and he knew would have found her interesting even without the knowledge she was his best mate's long lost sister.
Sherlock sat the case to the side of the door and while gesturing between his sister and his friends made her introduction, "Right. This is Adelaide Holmes."
Adelaide caught John's insightful stare, no doubt that she was getting it thrice fold with Mary and Molly at his sides. She gave an icy look that struck him cold. It looked so much like Mycroft's, but unlike the elder Holmes' glare, this one rendered him silent. He was about to start kicking himself for acting like a startled buffoon, when Molly strode forward and put out her hand to the newcomer.
"Hello, my name is Molly Hooper—,"
"Sherlock's pathologist," Adelaide quickly tacked on. Instantly the ice was gone and replaced with a small grin as Adelaide grasped Molly's offered hand. "Sherlock's gone on about you. Only competent pathologist in London and the only he can completely trust. You must be some woman to get that high praise."
John was able to get himself to straights when he saw that along with Molly becoming embarrassed, Sherlock's cheeks blushed the in the slightest. He was glad for it because after releasing Molly's hand, Adelaide turned her attention to him.
With a cursorily glance, she started, "Doctor John Watson, former army Captain in Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers, wounded veteran, married less than a year, and most obviously, favourite jam: rhubarb preserves."
John was used to Sherlock's ability to strip a person down, but coming from someone else was awkward, "Why is it obvious, have I got some on my shirt somewhere?"
Adelaide quickly retorted, "No, you are clearly an adrenaline junkie with your previous choice of profession and the current company you keep with my brother. What else would be more appropriate than a jam made from a poisonous plant?" He saw her eyes soften, "And I figured it had to be someone's favourite since Sherlock demanded it whenever he took to finally ingesting calories when he was abroad before."
The room returned to its awkward silence from before. Sherlock never mentioned much from his two years away. Clearly he spent some time with his sister then. John wondered if that was a reason he returned much different than he left. John was thinking of what to say when he realised that he hadn't introduced Mary to Sherlock's sister. "Adelaide, this is my wife—," now it was his turn to be interrupted and it was by the woman he was introducing.
"Mary Watson," she stated firmly. John noticed Mary had a firm protective grasp on her expanded abdomen.
Adelaide gave a strong nod at Mary and John would swear that they were having an in depth silent conversation that no one else was privy to.
Feeling uncomfortable, John moved the conversation along, "Sherlock, does Adelaide know about the new case?"
Speaking for herself, Adelaide explained, "Mycroft informed me of the video, and the clues that were hidden inside of it. Also the thorough identification and disposal of James Moriarty. He is for certain that this is not his doing. Are you, Sherlock?"
Sherlock had been drifting a bit and John could see that he was nearly into his mind palace where he clearly wanted to be, but he came out due to the primed neural pathways that were triggered by the utterance of his name. "No, it's not Moriarty. My current hypothesis is that it is someone who was very close to him."
A wash of understanding came over Adelaide's face, "That's why I'm here? You can trust that Moran was thoroughly disposed of. I did it myself, Sherlock."
Sherlock tossed his hands about, "I know, I know. But who else would want vengeance for such a person as Moriarty?"
"Did he have any relatives, friends, lovers, admirers?"
"No, I found out his origins and all of his family had passed on, he could hardly keep a friend much less a lover, which left his biggest admirer, Moran, who was disposed of by one person working alone. Which is why I needed that person here to tell me exactly what was done and if need be, someone who can make a clear identification of Moran and I needed that person to be someone I trusted. You fitted the bill, as they say."
"Who is Moran?" Mary inquired.
Sherlock answered her, "He was basically Moriarty's second hand man. He had an unhealthy attachment to his boss."
"Is there anything that was healthy about him?" Molly said to herself.
Adelaide added to Sherlock's statement, "We found him running a smuggling ring out of Bialystok, Poland. Moran had control of many other smugglers east of there. We detained him after staking him out for weeks, then he killed himself with a cyanide pill. So dramatic."
John was mulling over Sherlock's explanation of Adelaide's presence and thought it seemed feeble at best. If Sherlock had seen this person before, he would sure be able to identify him. He was Sherlock bloody Holmes. Why would he have to pull this person from obscurity to do that for him? Something wasn't adding up to him and Mary's protective behaviour wasn't helping that along.
Adelaide continued to speak, "I had shot him in the chest during our pursuit and he would have bled out anyway, but he didn't want to give away anything more."
"Did you make sure he was dead?" Sherlock asked.
"Of course I did. If the pill was fake, the exsanguination sure did him in. I pulled my bullet and cut his carotid to make sure he was gone. I had the police find him the next day. Pretty standard protocol.
Molly spoke up again, she's been getting braver, John noted mentally, "If you don't mind, what is exactly your profession that requires standard protocol of disposing people?"
Adelaide chuckled slightly, "Asks the pathologist." John caught Sherlock finding his sister's quip to also be humorous but quickly wiped his amused expression away when he was aware of John's awareness. "But in all seriousness, it's probably best you all know that I am a MI6 agent. My main tasks were covert intelligence gathering. But the mission in question was quite off the books since my partner was a dead man," she looked over at he brother. "And in any case, if this works out well, I'll be a former agent."
Sherlock perked up at that, "Former?"
"I too made a request of our brother. He is set to get me into retirement once this is finished."
"Will you stay in the country?" Sherlock asked, a gleam of what seemed to be hope flashing in his eyes.
"I do not know. It is up to the political prowess of Mycroft, but I have doubts. If the powers that be find out that I was in the country for this long already, it might put a bitter taste of his request," Adelaide sighed and appeared forlorn at the prospects of her future. "Maybe I get sent somewhere nice at least. I just hope to avoid Eastern Europe. It's not the happiest of places."
Mary was the one to ask a question that John had been wanting answered, "You didn't want to be an agent did you?" Adelaide nodded slightly, "How exactly did you end up as one, then? Why do you have so much restrictions put upon you to not even return to your home country?"
Adelaide made an exasperated sigh and looked to her brother, "Long story or short explanation that just leaves too much to the imagination and speculation?" She used her hands like scales, weighing the two options. "How about if you promise to not speculate, I will get through the short one now and long one later? Sound fair? There seems to be more pressing matters to get to."
The group agreed silently. John wasn't used to this reasonableness in a Holmes. She was a compromiser, but he could see how one might become like that being stuck in the middle of the feuding brothers. He also noticed that Mary was relaxing to Adelaide as she spoke further, she was gaining trust with his wife and it let him relax a bit himself.
"I was a PhD of archaeology student at Leeds when I met this guy. We hit it off, I did an incredibly stupid thing by not taking a position in an excavating program to stay in Yorkshire with him. I was with him for three years and I developed a bad habit of ignoring things that didn't add up. He ran a business out of his auto mechanic garage for his uncle. It turned out that his uncle was the shipping sector of a drug ring. As far as I know, Conner was only running the straight business of the garage. But the whole thing was brought down after a bad batch of cocaine was put out all over England and traced back to the garage. It wouldn't have been so terrible legal wise, but this batch ended up killing almost a dozen people. They were mostly uni students and among them were children of very, very powerful people in the government. Everyone in the ring was charged and set to life sentences. My association with Conner was known to the few in the business and they were looking to use anyone's name to lessen their sentence. So, I was set to face a similar fate if Mycroft hadn't intervened. He managed to get me into an MI6 program where I was restricted to foreign operations only, surveillance and mild reconnaissance. Mycroft put his own stipulations on that he would cancel everything and let me be prosecuted fully if I made contact with anyone from home. He practically disowned me and has been covering for my absence to my family." Adelaide ended her long speech by looking down, almost ashamed.
"Why would he do that? After working so hard to get you away from prison? Something else happened, didn't it?" John asked.
Sherlock spoke, "Can we discuss this later? You all agreed to that. We do have a maniac tormenting the nation and putting them in fear. I'd like to get this done with."
John sensed that he had hit on a sensitive topic. What would be worse than her getting caught in all that mess? "Right, so we have this code?" John pulled out his phone and Sherlock did the same looking over the pictures they took earlier. Mary took John's phone to see them for herself.
"Is that Greek?" she asked.
"Yes, it's a number cypher, much like the one we encountered before. I need to determine what source they would be using. It has to be something accessible and known to me since this was clearly put out for me to find." Sherlock quickly spurted out. He put his phone in his shirt pocket and flopped onto the sofa stretched out. He shut off everyone else in the room like he usually did when he entered his extensive mind of his. The group of Sherlock's associates were now left alone (mentally at least) with this new sibling of his. Molly looked like she was about to break the silence when Adelaide spoke to John.
"John, do you mind if I borrow your phone, please?"
"No. Not at all," the doctor put his phone in her awaiting hand.
"Thank you very much," Adelaide smiled genuinely, which put the man off a bit. This new Holmes had to be the most polite of the lot with sincere pleases and thank yous.
Adelaide then grabbed a notebook from the table and walked to her brother who was still in deep thought. She reached down and removed his phone from the front pocket of his shirt. John was just a little abashed about someone invading Sherlock's personal space so easily and without Sherlock even caring. Then he was further astonished when she tutted and tapped at the detective's feet to lift them up for her to sit on the far end of the sofa. Sherlock obeyed without any other reaction and the woman sat down with the phones and notebook.
John almost regretted giving Adelaide his phone because he really wanted to have evidence that this strange event actually occurred. Sherlock in his mind palace with a lady who he was comfortable enough to relax in this way. He could see Adelaide copying down the symbols and writing out their numerical meanings when she caught him staring.
"I'm more of a kinetic and tactile thinker. I don't quite have the hardware power of this one," she smiled while taking her hand and rocking Sherlock's leg when she mentioned him. Sherlock was stoic as ever, only twitching his lips as he went over his knowledge.
Mary perked up, "So gang, while he's mulling over in that brain of his, any ideas what source this cypher is using?"
Molly repeated what Sherlock had asserted earlier, "Something accessible, known to Sherlock or one of us and most likely sentimental. What would that be?"
John pondered but the smirk Adelaide was giving was the most Holmesian thing she had done since entering the flat. It was the same one Sherlock and Mycroft gave when they knew something that no one else in the room has figured out.
"You've figured it out, haven't you?" John asked unequivocally.
Adelaide looked like she got caught in an embarrassing position. "I might have an idea…but best not to ruin his fun," she said while looking down at the silently mumbling detective. "By the looks of it he's nearly there." She went back to her notes and wrote a few words down on the next page before ripping out the paper and folding it in fourths.
The tall woman then got up from the sofa and stood beside John facing the kitchen. She pulled out his shirt pocket and inserted the paper inside along with his phone. Then she gave it a quick pat and with a warning tone, waggled her finger at his face. "Now, I'm going to use the loo. I trust you, Dr. Watson that you will not peak at that until I return."
Mary gave John an eyebrow raise that disappeared into her hair line as Adelaide strode into the kitchen and glanced into the bathroom before confidently going inside and shutting the door. John gaped a bit. In the short time he had experienced Adelaide Holmes, she managed to astonish him in the littlest of ways. She was vastly different from her brothers, but John could see their similarities of intellect and passion that Sherlock brimmed with when he had a case, they were just more masked than his. She didn't hide her emotions by shutting them down and ignoring them like her younger brother, she seemed to channel them into something useful instead. John couldn't decide if this was better or worse.
He turned back to Mary and Molly who seemed to have been on the same train of thought he had been. They said nothing verbally, but their faces spoke volumes. John heard the toilet flush and simultaneously, Sherlock awoke from his mind palace and sprung to his feet.
"Got it!" Sherlock pulled one of the laptops to a spot in front of the table chair and pulled up a web page that was bookmarked on it. "Now, which one, which one?"
John walked over to stand behind Sherlock and saw that he was on his blog page. "My blog? You think he used an entry as a source?"
"Yes, but I need to figure out which one he would use." He toggled between two entries before making the decision to click on the one entitled, 'The Great Game.'
Adelaide made her way back into the room, but no one really paid her any mind as she sat back down on the sofa with the notebook and Sherlock's phone. Well, no one but Molly, she notices many things that others didn't.
"So the numbers correspond with the lines and order in the line, like before right?"
Molly saw Adelaide shake her head slightly and mouth 'Nope'. She was scrolling though Sherlock's phone slowly and writing something down next to her notes.
"No, wouldn't be an accurate way to write it out. Depending on how zoomed in or out one is, the lines will change. It most likely corresponds with sentences, then the position a word is within the sentence. John," Sherlock shoved the laptop over, "Sentence 25, word 4 and sentence 207, word 5; the numbers from the pool."
John looked incredulously at him, "Oh, this is my job now?"
Sherlock looked irritated, "It's your work. Sensational as it is, you have the most familiarity …and I plan on 'crowdsourcing' this work." He handed the remaining laptops to Mary and Molly. "92, 1 and 26, 3, for Molly, and 184, 1 and 164 and 8, for you, Mrs. Watson."
Molly opened her assignment and winced at the number of times she saw her name pop up in the entry.
Mary scrunched her nose, "Why did I get stuck with the big numbers?"
John replied to her while counting each sentence with his finger on the screen, "Well, sentence 108 is the one with two beeps. But I've been counting the 'Beep. Beep. Beep.' lines as one sentence, would that be right?"
Sherlock rolled his eyes, "Beep, beep, beep lines? They are hardly a sentence put together than individually. In fact, most of the words in your blog are barely strung together to make coherent sentences. Drabble."
John gave Sherlock his best death glare when Adelaide spoke up from behind him.
"I quite enjoy John's blog. Keeps one en-ter-tained," she accented the syllables of the last word and made the group of people's heads turn towards the sofa. "John, you should look into publishing one day, if you can get enough new stories without having half of the facts redacted. You two need less cases that require a high government clearance to review."
Sherlock scoffed at her, "You enjoy my tellings better. They have more facts and less speculation on how I solved a case."
Adelaide took her notebook and ripped out the paper she was writing on and folded it again like she had before. She walked up to Sherlock and placed the paper and his smart phone into his pocket. "I do appreciate it when you show your work, but you hardly chronicle anything yourself. John is here for posterity. Also, he's a major factor that you have gotten more cases in the first place. He's a pretty great publicist."
John gave the biggest shit eating grin. Mary gave a great laugh at her husband's face and Sherlock mimicked John's glare from earlier and she stifled herself before moving attention to the others, "So, John? Molly? Have your words yet?"
"Yup, I think I might know what they mean too," John swivelled around to face Adelaide. "I have 'Woman' and 'Holmes,' sounds like you, Ms. Holmes."
Adelaide felt the whole room stare at her, and hid the uncomfortable feeling that resulted from it.
Sherlock tented his fingers under his chin, "Interesting. Molly?"
"I have gotten 'but' and 'crying,'" Molly bit her lip looking less than confident with her answers.
The detective popped his mouth and tilted his head, "Less interesting. Mary?"
Mary sighed disappointedly, "Yeah, this is weird. 'Grabbed' and 'eyes,' no clue what that means. Got anything for us, Sherlock?"
Sherlock entered his mind place and started muttering while pacing one of the halls, "Woman. Holmes. But. Crying. Grabbed. Eyes. Rearrange the words? No! Still nonsense and the order…the order seems important. What if they used the wrong source? No. No. No."
With Sherlock gone into his head, John remembered the paper Adelaide had placed in his pocket and retrieved it. He unfolded it and read the words, "Corresponding sentences and word placement. Blog of Dr. John H. Watson. The Great Game."
She figured out the clue before Sherlock did and all without having to close herself off from the world. Or what if she knew what the answer would be? Is she working with whomever is operating this? John thought about how many times he had been tricked by others. But he came to the conclusion that he would trust her. Sherlock had said that he trusted her to the end and he did not give that out lightly. His thoughts were cemented when he caught her eye from across the room. She was smirking at his review of her work and he knew that she enjoyed showing off every bit just like her brother.
John just simpered at the woman, "Adelaide Holmes, you most certainly member of your family."
Sherlock burst into one of his mind palace rooms to think, not looking as to which door it had been. In this room was Adelaide and she spoke with him in mock-scolding manner, "It's the right source. You just need to figure out what the words mean. You know you could be a tad bit more organized if you just wrote things down from time to time." He realised that he was in their flat from university, and she was dressed as she had been at that time. Hair dishevelled and in comfortable sweats like she had just come from writing her dissertation. So much younger and full of promise than the one he left in his current sitting room. "The words are clues, and you've determined that the order is important. So what do you make of the words?"
"Symbols? Something with personal meaning?"
"Really? Think simpler, brother mine." Mycroft had appeared on the sofa looking disgusted with the destination of Sherlock's mind.
Adelaide rolled her eyes at the apparition of her elder brother, "Why is he here? And why is he right? Think less about the words' meaning and more what they are. Visualise them."
With that the words 'WOMAN HOLMES BUT CRYING GRABBED EYES' appeared in the air.
"Now what, Addy?!" Sherlock growled.
She looked at him encouragingly, "Well think a step ahead. What do you think the answer to all of this will be? Is it a name? An object? A location?"
That's when Sherlock had it, "What about all three?" Maps started overlaying his face and he actually jumped excitedly. The letters of the six words stood out and started forming new words.
WOMAN HOLMES BUT CRYING GRABBED EYES
MALMESBURY ABBEY
He whisked up his mind-palace sister and gave her a strong hug and a kiss on the forehead, while Mycroft was repelled by the whole situation. Sherlock let go of her and she looked at him like he was missing something, "What's wrong? What did I miss?"
"Nothing! But you do realise that I'm in the room with you? Physically. Right this instant. Get out there!" Adelaide nudged his shoulder back. He was about to close out of his mind palace when she spoke again. "Oh, Sherlock? Check your pocket."
With that, Sherlock was back in Baker Street again. "Malmesbury Abbey. Malmesbury Abbey." He was mumbling the words while fishing out the yellow paper from his pocket. At the sight of its content, he felt the balloon of excitement deflate.
There, neatly worked out, was the solved cypher with 'Malmesbury Abbey' written out and underlined. Sherlock looked up and scowled at his sister, who currently was trying to look the least suspicious he had ever seen her.
"You solved it already?" Sherlock actually pouted.
Adelaide shrugged, "I wanted to experience a case but not to interfere. It only took you an extra ten minutes to get there."
"Malmesbury? Isn't that in Wiltshire?" Molly asked. "It's a pretty small town of what I can remember."
John searched travel paths on the laptop in front of him. "Looks like there's a train, but you have to take a bus from Chippenham." Sherlock scrunched up his face at the idea of taking a bus. Trains he loved, but that had the option of closing off in their own car from the crowd.
Seeing his mate's disgust John scoffed, "Then get a car from your brother sent over. We can drive there in two hours." John read his watch and noted the time, "Christ, it's nearly ten. How did that happen?"
Sherlock ignored John's disbelief at the lateness of the time and turned to face his sister, "Up for a drive?"
Adelaide delivered incredulously, "To a small village in the middle of no place, in the middle of the night, where unknown dangers might lie?" she gave an upturn smile to Sherlock. "I thought you would never ask."
So I actually made the cypher work with the Great Game entry on John's Blog. I also wrote out Adelaide's notes, if you go to my tumblr "Sherlocked-in-Tejas" it's the only entry there. If you have quibbles about the letters, I used very basic info and just included the picture for kicks and giggles. Let me know how you liked this Fave, follow, review :)