"Excuse me! I need a cab, please! It's urgent!"
A cab pulls up to the side of the road, the driver impatiently motioning for Watson to get in.
"Where'ya going, mister?"
"I need to get to Tower Bridge. It's urgent. I'll pay you extra if you get there quickly." The cabbie nods, and John sits down in the cab.
He sighs. Having found a cab willing to take him to Tower Bridge, John Watson is once again left to his own thoughts. He tries not to worry, but it's incredibly hard. The pain he feels from his injuries clouds his mind. He bites his lip, attempting to stay focused, but there are so many problems right now. Once again encouraging the cabbie to drive faster, Watson estimates, based on the area of the city he's in right now, that he still has another ten minutes until he reaches Tower Bridge. He tries to stay positive, realizing that worry isn't going to help at all.
Maybe he'll be lucky. Maybe he'll catch up to Lestrade and his team before they reach Tower Bridge so that he can warn them. Even though John knows that Moriarty and his men are aware that a team from Scotland Yard is coming to the warehouse, he still retains a bit of hope.
Even though this means that they will probably not be able to rescue Sherlock Holmes.
Even though it's probably going to be a trap.
The hopes quickly fade into anxiety. There are so many 'what ifs' in this situation.
What if Wilson's key and shoes were left as a clue on purpose? What if it's all been a setup? Maybe Holmes is already dead and they are doing all of this for nothing!
John tries to think positively, but after all of this time, he finds it difficult. He's had to stay hopeful for far too long to believe that his hopes are true.
He suddenly feels the cab jerk to a halt. The cab doesn't start moving again, and John looks out the window. This is certainly not Tower Bridge. Why had the cab stopped, then? He strains to see further forward outside the window. He can see something there. Something is going on.
Curious, John opens the door of the cab and steps outside. He sees a group of people directly in front of the cab. Suddenly, he notices that a few of them are from Scotland Yard. Did Lestrade stop to see what was going on here too? And what is going on here? John walks a bit further to get closer to the group of people. He can now see what is happening.
It looks like a large fight, and some of Lestrade's team are trying to stop it. The whole scene just seems strange to John, for some reason that he doesn't quite know. As he walks closer to the group of people, he notices Lestrade isn't there.
Where is he, then? Just as John is wondering this, he hears a voice.
"Watson? Is that you?" He quickly turns to face the source of the voice. He then sees Lestrade sitting on the side of the road, one side of his face bloodied and bruised.
"Inspector Lestrade? What happened?" He hurried to Lestrade.
"Oh, it's nothing, I just tried breaking up the fight. But what about you? You're supposed to be in the hospital. Why aren't you still in the hospital?"
John shakes his head. "I couldn't stay there… I had to come warn you. They know you're coming. Moriarty, I mean. He knows that we found out where he is."
Lestrade looks extremely confused. "What do you mean? How do you know that?"
"Dr. Phillips had to tell them. They attacked him and threatened him until he told them what they wanted to know. He's badly hurt, but he's at the hospital right now. I thought… if that's what they did for information, then you and your team are in danger since they know you're coming."
Lestrade seems angry. "I've had enough of this 'Moriarty' character. I say we go to Tower Bridge right now and get back Holmes."
John shakes his head. "But they know we're coming! It's probably a trap!"
"I don't care. I'm used to danger. If we go now, we might still have a chance and catching up to them." He pauses for a moment. "But you can't come, Watson. You're still hurt and really shouldn't have come here in the first place."
"Inspector, I'm coming, whether you want me to or not. I'm not just going to leave when there's a chance that we can save Holmes."
Lestrade sighs, annoyed. He knows that John isn't just going to leave, and arguing with him will just be a waste of time. Time that don't have if they want to get to the warehouse at Tower Bridge before Moriarty and his men leave with Holmes. He nods, and the Lestrade calls over two of him men to come with them to the warehouse.
"Let's go then, Dr. Watson. We have no time to lose."
As John Watson nears his destination, the warehouse by Tower Bridge, he can clearly smell smoke in the air.
He can see flames flickering in the windows of the warehouse.
He slams his fist down. "No! They're gone already, aren't they? Of course! We didn't even have a chance and now they've burned all of the evidence!" John is losing hope rapidly.
Lestrade shakes his head. He is discouraged too, but wants to investigate every possible option.
"Maybe, the fire was just a distraction. They could be trying to escape and don't want us to notice! We should search the premises. Martin," he says, turning to one of the officers he brought with him, "Go back to town and get help to put out the fire. It's not very big. We'll look around."
The officer nods and hurries off.
"Abbott, you go the opposite way as we do. We can cover more ground that way."
The other officer turns around and starts walking toward the other side of the warehouse.
"Okay, Dr. Watson. Let's see what we can find." The two of them cautiously walk around the edge of the warehouse in total silence. Both men know that this is not a good time for talking.
Minutes pass with no discoveries.
Suddenly, they hear a voice. "Inspector! I found something over here." Turning around, John sees the other officer, Abbott, motioning for them to come.
Lestrade and Watson follow him, and after a few minutes walk to the other side of the warehouse, Abbott stops.
"It's right here, sir." Lestrade cautiously eyes the shadowy area where Abbott is pointing. After a few moments, Lestrade approaches. Looking back at John with wide eyes, he motions for John to come look. As John nears, he begins to see the object clearer.
It's another body.
And even though it is badly burnt, John can tell.
It looks a whole lot like Sherlock Holmes.
Hi! I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Encore! I'm sorry I've taken so long to update, I've just been I just haven't really had much inspiration for this story. I'd appreciate any suggestions or reviews!
Thanks for reading :)