Eve tensed up, her gaze determinedly stuck on Sherlock, more out of anger than to avoid the looks John and Lestrade were no doubt giving her – although that was a major part of the reason. "Are you insane?" she scoffed, shaking her head. "That's the general opinion" Lestrade mumbled, which Sherlock pointedly ignored. "Sherlock, I've got nothing to do with Moriarty. He's your boyfriend for Christ's sake…." She seethed, crossing her arms. Sherlock just groaned in agitation, rolling his eyes "We could go back and forth in this little game for hours, which would be a tremendous waste of time, but we both know how this is really going to end" he said, smirking slightly. Eve clenched her hands in to fists "I don't have to listen to this, Sherlock" she growled, wanting to walk away, but almost unable to.

Sherlock shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets, acting as casually as anyone possibly could. "Oh, you're just loving this, aren't you?" she spat, shaking her head "Loving finding some new flaw in your little sister. Loving being so much better than me" she said, unable to keep her voice even. "Not finding, Evangeline, just stating the overly obvious" Sherlock shrugged, completely unphased by any of Eve's words or her overall demeanor. "Now now Sherlock, that wasn't very nice" another voice drawled, in a tone that closely resembled the boredom in Sherlock's voice. Eve swore under her breath "What do you want, Mycroft?" Eve fumed, trying to keep her voice quiet. "What else? Sherlock's told me about your involvement with Mr. Moriarty"

"I'm not involved with him for God's sake!"

"So is there another reason that you've been constantly sneaking off in to sent cars and coming home in a better mood than usual?"

"You can't just make a deduction from that"

"No, but I can make one from your phone"

Fuck. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know. The easiest assumption to make was that Sherlock had hacked her phone, but she knew her brother wasn't THAT straight forward. It was probably some long, winded deduction about the way she checked her phone, or how she acted when she texted, or some other tiny little detail like that. "Fine, you want an answer; I'll give you an answer" she sighed, finding absolutely no point in lying anymore "Yeah, I've been seeing Jim. It's not that big of a deal" "It's 'not that big of a deal' that you're in a secret relationship with the very madman who kidnapped you not a week ago?" Sherlock intervened, hardly letting Eve finish her sentence. His voice, Eve noted, had just a hint of protectiveness in it, like any big brother's would. "I'm not in a relationship with him" she mumbled, cursing herself mentally when she felt a light blush rush to her cheeks. "Would you like to be?" Mycroft asked, to which Eve just put her hands in her pockets "Sherlock's got it all figured out, why don't you ask him?" she muttered, her gaze dropping to the floor.

"Alright, that's enough from all three of you" John finally piped up, taking a step closer to Eve "You three screaming at each other and making accusations is only going to make things worse. And you already have a bad enough relationship between you all as it is" "Need a smoke…" Eve murmured, turning on her heels sharply to try and make a quick getaway. No such luck, however, when Mycroft grabbed her arms gently and tugged her back "I understand you're eager to either feed your unhealthy tobacco addiction or to see Jim, but there are some pressing matters that do need to be dealt with, Evangeline" he said with a cold smirk. Eve tore her arm from his grasp "Fine" she said, finally calming herself down enough to act rationally. Or at least, as rationally as she was willing to act. "Give me your phone" Sherlock said immediately, extending his hand. Eve hesitantly shifted back a bit "Why?" "Because we don't need you texting your boyfriend" "What if someone important calls me?" Sherlock gave her a tired glance in return. "Whatever…" she submitted, taking her phone out of her pocket and handing it to Sherlock, who promptly threw it over his shoulder, where it hit the back wall and fell in to a pile of papers.

Eve gawked at him, but it was like he didn't even notice her as he began to quickly pace the length of the room. "Now, although it should go without saying, Evangeline, you cannot continue to see Moriarty" Mycroft said calmly, watching his brother pace. "Yeah yeah yeah…" she half-responded, feeling that little rebellious spark in her mind that said 'You're going to do it anyways'. "Lestrade and John will watch her to make certain" Sherlock added, almost as an afterthought. "Sherlock, she's not twelve, she doesn't need babysitters" John said quickly, more because he really just didn't want to sit around all day making sure Eve didn't do something stupid. "And believe it or not I do have police work to attend to" Lestrade interjected. Sherlock chuckled at that under his breath, not even noticing the death glare Lestrade was giving him. "I need to know everything he told you. Anything that might even be remotely relevant" Sherlock said, his hands pressed together at his lips. Eve cleared her throat a little awkwardly "He didn't tell me anything about the bombings or kidnappings or anything, if that's what you're wondering"

"Everything. Tell me everything he said to you" Sherlock said again, a little more urgently. "I'm telling you Sherlock, he didn't tell me anything that you'd need to know about" she stressed, very unwilling to tell her brother some of the things Jim had said to her. "Tell me anyways" he said, stopping his pacing to look her directly in the eyes "You two aren't in a relationship anyways, so what's the problem?" he asked, arrogant as ever. Evangeline almost growled at that little comment, as she crossed her arms again and shrugged, trying to come off as relaxed "He's told me that I'm beautiful, talented, and most importantly that I'm different from the rest of my stuck-up family" she smirked "He may or may not have also tried to get me in to bed a few times". Sherlock sort of twitched at that, his entire body tensing before it was replaced with the same calm air as before; Mycroft simply sighed heavily, as though that was the sentence he'd been hoping not to hear.

Eve smirked triumphantly, before rolling her eyes, knowing that part of it was her brothers trying to protect her "I didn't take him up on that offer, by the way". Just then, the sound of Sherlock's phone going off sounded though the room, causing everyone except Sherlock to look towards it on the laboratory counter, or what was formerly known as the kitchen counter. John walked over to it "I'll get it, shall I?" he mumbled quietly, when Sherlock made absolutely no movement to get his phone. John unlocked it, reading through the text message that the consulting detective had been sent. "Guess who" he sighed, walking over and handing the phone to Sherlock. He took the phone from the doctor in a swift movement, glancing down at the illuminated screen.

We're coming towards the end of the great game Sherlock. I hope you like riddles. And say hello to Evie for me. –JM

Sherlock flicked his gaze to Eve, and then back to the message, before locking the phone and twirling it in his palm "Lestrade" he said, walking over to his desk and shuffling through his papers. "Yeah?" The inspector asked, cocking an eyebrow "I need you and that cacophony of a police department to stay out of my way when it comes to Moriarty. Especially anything that should pop up in the next few days" he said, not taking his eyes off of the papers he was hurriedly shuffling through. "You know I can't do that Sherlock. Moriarty's a murderous psychopath. It's our job as the police force to stop him" Lestrade droned, this not having been the first time that he'd needed to tell Sherlock that his word was not law. Sherlock waved him off, not listening to a word he'd said, before grabbing a handful of papers "John, Lestrade, come with me. Evangeline, don't go anywhere." He said heading, for the door, before turning to his brother "Always charming seeing you, Mycroft" he said shortly, flashing the most insincere smile that he could, before disappearing down the stairs.