"Are you even licensed to operate a vehicle?" John asked, skeptically.
"Boring!" John was not reassured.
Finally dressed in something other than his pajamas, John was sitting in a car with Sherlock outside of Scotland Yard. Dozens of policemen were streaming by their parked car, heading in to work.
John scrunched down a bit in the car, pulling his hat further over his face. "We are both fugitives from the law, Sherlock. Tell me again why we're here?"
"We need to follow Moran, John. This is the only location we know he is likely to visit today." John rolled his eyes but knew Sherlock was right. He was proved correct after only 10 minutes, when they saw Moran enter the building. Then, they waited.
The car was warm in the morning sun, and John was still exhausted from the last 48 hours. He must have dozed off, because movement next to him startled him awake. Sherlock was starting the car and edging into the road. John scanned his surroundings and saw what Sherlock was after: Sebastian Moran, climbing into a police car.
Sherlock allowed several vehicles between his and Moran's, but stayed close enough to keep his eye on the police car. Twenty minutes later, Moran parked outside of what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. Then, he exited the car, pulled open the warehouse door, and disappeared into darkness.
"Now's the time we call for backup, right, Sherlock?"
"Come along John, there's no time. Plus they'd just get confused and make a mess of the situation. You said it yourself, 'we are both fugitives from the law'." Of course Sherlock had found a way to use John's words against him.
"Alright, but you do know I don't have my weapon anymore..." Sherlock reached under his seat and pulled out two handguns.
"Courtesy of Mycroft," Sherlock smiled, handing one to John.
"This seems very illegal and quite dangerous."
"Exactly! Our areas of expertise. Now what are we waiting for?" Without another word both men stepped out of the car and made their way towards the warehouse.
The transition from light to dark inside the warehouse was temporarily blinding. It took John several seconds for his eyes to adapt to his surroundings. Once he did he could see a wide open expanse of concrete floor, high ceilings, and crates scattered about.
Sherlock saw the three shapes first, a few hundred meters away. He put one hand on John's arm, and gestured with his other. John could just make out the shapes in the distance. He nodded and began to move cautiously towards them, trying to find cover behind crates when possible. When they had covered half the distance John was certain of what they were—Donovan, Anderson, and Lestrade—all tied to chairs. Closing the distance further, John could see that all three appeared to be unconscious. Sally looked to be in the worst shape, her breathing shallow and infrequent. Without thinking, John's medical instincts kicked in and he ran towards the her. Sherlock rolled his eyes at John's recklessness but followed, unwilling to leave John alone without cover.
John was just a few meters from Sally when he heard the click of a gun's safety, and froze.
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