Not Like You

Karen called upstairs whether anyone needed anything from the shops. John shouted back that he wanted his usual paper; Sherlock rolled his eyes knowing full well that Karen was already planning on getting it and was asking for anything else. Karen repeated this out loud. Sherlock smiled at Johns annoyed face opposite him.

Karen bounded into the living room- no sign of last night's trauma's on her face, except for slight black circles under her eyes from where they had sat up till 6 o'clock talking. Her horrific dream remained un-mentioned and she had eventually fallen asleep, her head on his shoulder, her breath gently tickling his neck.

"Need anything? Yes John I know ,your paper" she said raising a hand to John who had just slightly opened his mouth. Sherlock smiled at her.

"Very good" he mouthed.

"So nothing guys? Alright I'm off, and don't go texting me when I'm halfway home like you did last week, John" she said smirking, enjoying hers and Sherlock's new game of John baiting. She turned on her heel about to head out before grinding to halt.

Well aware that John was looking she covered the tiny amount of ground between her and Sherlock and placed her lips against his cheek. John's mouth dropped open as he witnessed Sherlock's cheeks go beetroot red- a stark contrast to the almost pure white skin on the rest of his face.

Karen laughed internally, before wandering out the door. Sherlock stayed frozen and flushed, staring at his laptop until they heard her feet on the stairs. John opened his mouth to comment but was silenced with a look from Sherlock.

The front door slammed, causing them both to jump. There was a stony silence as Sherlock practically dared John to make a comment.

"So what was that all abo-" John started.

"John don't!" Sherlock butted in looking at the window. John rolled his eyes.

"Aw come on Sherlock you went bright-" he began again.

"No John, don't!" Sherlock yelled jumping over to the window.

"SHERL-!" a definite female voice screamed from the street below, before being cut off. Sherlock and John only just made it to the window to see a now unconscious Karen being pushed into a black car. It sped off down the corner. No-body seemed to have even noticed that anything had happened. At the same moment Sherlock's phone bleeped.

Sherlock dived for it and visibly paled as he read the message.

So careless, Mr Holmes. Letting her out of your sight where anyone can get hold of her. The lesson begins now Sherlock.

-M

"Moriarty... Karen" he whispered, closing his eyes. He could still feel where her lips had connected with his cheek.

Sherlock and John wandered into the school house, guns clasped behind them. This seemed horribly familiar but this time it wasn't only them in danger. But they also had an advantage, this time they were working together, and John was able to actually pull a trigger.

"Well done Mr Holmes" a cool voice came from an open door. They turned and pointed their guns at the voice ,faltering as they saw what or who Moriarty was using as a shield. Karen was in John's place, bomb strapped to her chest, little red light flickering on her forehead, being manipulated by the man behind her. She was still but the look in her eyes told she was terrified. You didn't need to be a genius to work that out.

"You found me in less than an hour, Sherlock. I'm impressed" came that cold voice again. Sherlock opened his mouth to speak but was spoken over.

"Obvious, really. You're a creature of habit Moriarty. You always perform your murders in the same way, so it's likely that you'll visit a place where one of your previous crimes took place... even if it wasn't you personally. Especially as said crime involved Sherlock here and with the swimming pool disposed of, this was the logical choice. You probably even had a little play on words, like let the lesson begin, this being a school. You're so easy to read" Karen sneered, her voice calm and steady in a definitively Sherlockian tone- it was still hard to ignore her hands shaking slightly.

Moriarty looked confused for a moment before regaining his composure. Sherlock smiled proudly.

"I see now why you like her Holmes" Moriarty hissed, pulling Karen closer by putting a hand threateningly around her neck. She let out a small cry, which seemed to please Moriarty no end.

"She's like us" he continued, rubbing a finger over her vein in her neck. Karen pulled slightly away from him, showing Sherlock that Moriarty also had a gun pressed to her back. He had figured that with two of them and one of him he had to take some extra precautions.

"He's nothing like you" Karen hissed. "He's a good man and you're nothing but a piece of dirt. A clever piece of dirt but dirt none the-"she gasped as Moriarty enclosed his hand around her neck momentarily cutting off her air supply.

Moriarty smirked and his eyes met Sherlock's. Slowly he raised a hand and ran a single finger down her neck and across to her lips his eyes always on Sherlock. Karen whimpered and paled. The noise made Sherlock's blood boil. His hand continued to travel further south, the gun always pointing inwards towards the woman he was intentionally terrifying.

Lips, cheek, back to neck, shoulder, collar bone...

Sherlock grip on his gun tightened. He slowly raised it and pointed it directly at Moriarty's head. His hand stopped travelling.

"Don't you dare" he hissed. Karen looked at him.

"I can feel her heart beating Sherlock... its racing. Now I don't know if that's because of what I'm doing or because she's looking at you. Her knight in shining armour." He said pressing Karen to take a few steps forward. Sherlock opened his mouth but was once again cut off by Karen.

"If you're going to kill us Moriarty, just shoot me. I'll take the whole place up with me won't I?" she said a faint trace of laughter in her voice now, making it high pitched and wobbly. Moriarty frowned before doing an overdramatic sigh.

"When'd you work it out?" he said aiming the question towards Karen. She smiled in a Sherlock like way.

"6 years of studying bombs and what to do in a hostage situation. You wouldn't have pushed me forward like that... yes there is a bomb in this room but it most certainly isn't strapped to me" she said as it was the most simple thing in the world. Moriarty looked at Sherlock again. He looked slightly surprised.

"She's very good Sherlock." He said letting his grip on Karen relax but keeping the gun on her.

"Maybe worthy of someone like me... But she seems to have her sights set on you. Shame we would have made a fantastic couple" he mused out loud.

With that he pushed Karen forwards towards Sherlock. As quick as a flash she was shielded behind him and John, both of whom had guns raised, pointing at Moriarty who seemed to have every single trained sniper in the world pointing at the three of them. He didn't even bother to hold his gun in the air.

"But she is right a bomb is about to go off... let's see if you all can survive the third of my little bombs... well fourth time for you and Karen" . Sherlock froze as realisation dawned over him and a gasp from behind him confirmed that Karen had figured it out as well.

"You" she whispered, not bothering to remove the fake bomb from her chest. She pushed past Sherlock and stood eye to eye with Moriarty.

"You murdered my brother" she continued, very aware of the lights flashing warningly on her head. Moriarty smirked.

"I've had you singled out for nearly as long as Mr Holmes here, my dear. Of course it was for very different reasons as him, but I still had to remove your distractions." He hissed. His eyes flicked over her body, causing her stomach to squirm. It made her feel quite sick the way he looked at her.

Karen ashamedly felt tears spring to her eyes. She ripped the fake bomb off her and grabbed the gun that Sherlock was pointing at the sneering man. The gun from their time on the shooting range felt warm and familiar, and she at Moriarty is furious eyes. The man raised a hand and the lights on Karen flickered off.

"You going to shoot me Karen?" he said the same sneering expression on his face.

"Have you even shot a gun before?" he asked. Karen's lips flickered into a smile, and she shifted into the proper shooting stance, clicking off the safety. The noise echoed around the silent and tense room flooding with noise. Moriarty sneered again but paled slightly. Sherlock placed a hand on her shoulder; her arm was shaking below his grasp. There was blood seeping through wounds on her arms.

"Karen... you said it yourself. Your- not- like-him... now give me the gun" Sherlock whispered holding out his hand. Moriarty smiled sarcastically at him.

"Noble to the end Sherlock... if anyone's going to shoot me has to be you? Don't want to traumatise the poor girl any more than my men already have done" he sneered. Sherlock shook his head, trying not to visualise what they could have done to her. Karen let out a soft scream and moved forward towards Moriarty gun raised. She pressed it to his head. He simply looked down at her, that same condescending smile on his lips.

Karen stayed staring at the gun, pointing directly at his temple. After what seemed like an age, she dropped it to her side and looked up at him.

"We're not like you... you'll rot in jail, where you belong... I'm not like you" she whispered echoing her words from earlier, turning her back on him. Moriarty made a grab at her and she turned the gun still in her hand. It went off with a scream and Moriarty was propelled backwards, as another shot fired and the world exploded around them.