Chapter 7: You Made Deals In The Dark~

Sherlock waited till Mycroft and John were down the stairs, and well on their way to Speedy's, before he slipped his mobile out of his jacket pocket,and dialed Sally Donovan.

"Hello,Freak. Have to say that went real well. One more stunt like that,and the secret's out..."

"They think I have PTSD."

"Well, you do have PTSD...Only it's a little more complicated than that, isn't it? With Freaks like you it always is...You never calculated how strong the sense of danger could be ,did you?

Never thought you'd get off on fear so much. That you'd need it...to keep that miserable pet of yours safe..."

"St. James...Is that where all of our business will be?"

Sally smiles, sitting at a desk in New Scotland Yard, twisting a pencil till she grinds off the lead. Anderson eyes her ,suspiciously.

"Don't want Phillip and Greg catching wind of this, do we? Else we're both off the team..."

"No, you're off the team. First of all, I am an agent of the British government now, by law, and not just unofficially. And when I finally play the cards back into my hand, which I will, then I will bury you..."

She smiled. "Mmm, I don't really care if you do. You'd just better make this a good game for me, yeah?"

"Careful, Sally...Those that play with fire get burned...You may well be roasted!"

"YOU KILLED SEB!"

"Shh, keep your voice down, before all London hears you, never mind Phillip and Greg! I, on the other hand, did not kill Sebastian Moran. Your lover tormented me, brutally, in ways that even Satan himself would tuck tail and flee from, and...he couldn't live with himself afterwards...He blew his own brains out. I know, I was there. They splattered all over me..."

He can hear Sally near tears on the other line;

"I...I don't believe you. You said or did something, and Seb,...he had such a lover's heart!_ he took it into his beautiful soul, and it devoured him whole. And I will never forgive you ,Freak, not for surviving this War. You may have won,and Jim and Seb may have died in vain. You may have buried them, and a whole other boneyard full. But you might do well remembering that it was I what buried you. And all I had to do was lie...and play the part of the loyal policewoman..."

"To give credit where it is deserved , admittedly, it did take me a while to pick up your scent. But what better way to ensure that the Consulting Criminal never be indisposed, than to have his best man's lover enlisted in the police force, and shoulder her way up the ranks, to being side by side the one Detective Inspector his arch enemy respects and trusts above all else? And poor fool believes you are his friend..."

"Oh, I'd gut him easy if I could. Already did in a way, didn't I? It killed him...you know. He blamed himself for everything. So did Anderson. Poor sod looked up to you, despite all he said. Any emotion I may have shown, was only to hide my great joy. I laughed behind my hand, and cried tears of joy. And drank myself stupid in celebration. And poor fools believed that I was guilty!"

"What better way to look innocent, than to be so self-condemning, my clever girl. See, I always knew you had a brain somewhere..."

"You really suck at flattery, Freak."

"Oh I know I do. Which is why I'm not flattering. You are an atrocious whore to the devil himself, and you repel me. Now answer the question, shall the Master of Ceremonies and I be meeting in St. James, or where?"

Sally smiled sickly on her end of the line. Anderson felt his blood go cold, knowing for a long time, something wasn't right with Sally.

"Train tunnels this time. We have so many more murders to "try on". You know, I'd never heard of the "Fashion Designer" before, when Jim and Seb were still alive, no thanks to you. He found me. Wanted me to smuggle him files of the very best methods of murders...It's funny, you solved all of the ones I managed to pull up. You gave such intricate detail... He was so inspired,-"think of the elegance we can give killing now! Every serial killer of the under-ground will want one of my mods!' he said. He calls you his Model. You are apparently ,to quote him , quite vogue amongst the Red-Handed League right now..."

Sherlock laughed bitterly, "Oh, that won't last long...But it won't matter, because then I will have sufficient evidence to land you all in front of a firing squad for your association with the Consulting Criminal."

"Is he really worth it, Sherlock?"

"Leave John Watson out of this..."

"But is he really worth all this pain you live with EVERY DAY? You could just let us have him, he's the one we've wanted all along. Looks like a little guinea pig,and would be perfect guinea pig material."

"You will pry John Watson out of my protection, only when you have dismembered every sinew of my body from every bone."

"Meet us at 6. We just might do that."

"I can't wait!" Sherlock hissed.

He laid back wearily, trying to think of a distraction for getting John away from the flat...so he could slip off unnoticed.