"She's gone very quiet," John observed Scarlett as the daylight streamed into the small office through the partially opened blinds. Sherlock looked down onto her as she remained sat in his lap rather awkwardly considering one hand was held behind Sherlock's back due to the handcuffs on the drawers. Her other hand held onto Sherlock's and her head rested on his chest as she breathed lightly, completely oblivious to the world beyond her own.
"She's had a rather trying seventy two hours John," Sherlock informed his friend as they remained trapped in the room. It was the thirty first of December. New Years Eve. Sherlock had been trying to devise a plan to get them out of the room but their every move was under scrutiny and Sherlock couldn't do something without risking John and Scarlett's life.
"Haven't we all?" John muttered back to Sherlock, his face was pale white and exhaustion was beginning to get to him badly. Yet he couldn't sleep.
"No, not really," Sherlock said. "You may have been running around the streets of London but you haven't been in hospital made to suffer the loss of your baby."
John remained silent. He supposed she had a right to be more tired than him when Sherlock spoke like that.
"How do you feel about that Sherlock?" John asked his friend. "I mean really...you haven't really spoken of it..."
"I haven't really had time to talk about it John," Sherlock replied. "And considering I don't know how I feel then that means there is not much to discuss."
"How do you not know what to feel?" John asked Sherlock who simply sighed quietly and ran a hand through his black curly hair.
"I feel as though...because that child was a part of me then some part of me has died too...as much as I did not want a child I did not wish one dead..." Sherlock replied. "Can you imagine me with a child John?"
"Not an image I'd want to see," John replied and a faint smile tugged at Sherlock's lips.
"How horrid of you John," Sherlock grinned. "But in complete seriousness I am slightly saddened by the loss of our child."
"That proves your human," John pointed out and Sherlock groaned.
"God," he complained, "what a typical thing to be."
"So do you really not have a plan?" John asked Sherlock who simply just shrugged awkwardly, trying not to wake up the sleeping Scarlett as he did so.
"I'm going to try and think of something," he assured John.
"Well you don't have long left," John informed his friend and Sherlock rolled his eyes.
"I am well aware that I don't have long left," Sherlock replied. "And my brain is working overtime trying to deduce a way out of this."
"You know...if anything does happen...well...it's been nice..." John began to garble and Sherlock simply just shook his head.
"Don't be turning sentimental on me now John," Sherlock begged him. "I can't be dealing with it."
"Well I want you to know that-"
"You've grown fond of me, don't think me to be a complete arse and consider me a good friend," Sherlock finished off his sentence. "There we go. Everything has been spoken of. But I do have request."
"Which is?"
"Make sure you look after Scarlett," Sherlock told his friend.
"Of course," John promised him.
"Good," Sherlock replied. "Because if you don't then I will come back to haunt you."
...
"If you don't mind Mr Holmes," the voice of Ian Morris boomed into the office. "But we're running a tight schedule."
"I imagine you are," Sherlock replied as he slowly began to stand up but before he could fully stand straight, Scarlett grabbed onto his hand and he looked down onto her.
"Please don't..." Scarlett pleaded Ian, but her eyes remained on Sherlock's.
"Your pleas are of no interest to me," Ian told her.
"You can't do this to him!" Scarlett snapped.
"He should have left alone," Ian replied. "At least now he won't be bothering anyone else."
"Scarlett," Sherlock whispered. "Look after yourself."
"You're saying goodbye Sherlock...don't do that..." she pleaded with him and he rested his hands onto her cheeks and dropped his lips onto the top of her head.
"Go into your back pocket," Sherlock whispered to her so faintly even she struggled to hear him. Sherlock stood up straight and looked down onto her, completely emotionless, before nodding at John and then moving to Ian to accept his fate.
...
"John!" Scarlett snapped as soon as Sherlock had been escorted from the room. "I need you to go into my back pocket."
"Why?" John asked her and she began to kneel upright, resting a hand in front of her as her long blonde hair fell around her face.
"Because Sherlock felt something in there...it's the pepper spray John...in my jeans back pocket..."
"And what happens when we get it?" John asked her.
"I'll think of that when we come to it," she rushed him. "It's eight o'clock already...we need to hurry up."
"Okay, okay," John replied and began to crawl as far as the handcuffs would allow him over to Scarlett before his hand outstretched to her jeans and then he pulled back.
"What would Sherlock say?" John panicked as Scarlett turned her head to the side and looked at him.
"About what?" she snapped.
"About me putting my hand into your jeans pocket and effectively groping your bum?" John asked her and she rolled her eyes.
"I don't think he will be too bothered John," she promised him. "Now just do it."
John slowly allowed his hand to drop into her back pocket and search around for the small can of pepper spray before eventually pulling it out.
"Don't tell Sherlock," he pleaded with her and she sat up straight again and nodded before pulling on the cuffs at the desk once again, creating a loud noise.
"What are you doing?" John asked her as they saw a henchman appear. There were two of them left behind in the office building and the other three had gone off with Sherlock.
"Winging it," she told John and the man entered the room and she continued making a noise and John then began to do the same as her. They noted he was the same man who had restrained them in the room and so it was likely he had the key they needed.
"What the hell are you two playing at?" the man snapped at them and moved over to John as they didn't answer him.
"Shut up!" he demanded, raising his fist, about to punch John, but before he made contact, the blonde pulled out the pepper spray and sprayed it straight into his face making the man stumble backwards as Scarlett stuck her leg out and he tumbled over it, crashing right in the middle of a small coffee table near the sofa. He caused it to split under his weight as John smirked at Scarlett and then the other man entered the room.
"What the hell is going on here?" he asked them and Scarlett shrugged in innocence.
"He tripped," she told him and he narrowed his eyes at her.
"Our boss won't be happy to see what you've done," he told Scarlett, advancing onto her, but before he had time to think of doing anything, she raised her leg and quickly kicked him in the groin with her foot, hurting herself as she did so. She shook her foot as she brought it back down and the man held onto his groin in pain. John managed to throw the pepper spray back to Scarlett and she sprayed it into his eyes as he moved over to her again and she kicked him one more time in the groin.
"Bitch!" he snapped at her.
"My name is Scarlett actually," she retorted and he tripped over her outstretched foot, tumbling backwards, his head hitting the radiator as his body fell onto John.
"You okay?" Scarlett asked him and he nodded at her, pushing the man off with his free hand as he made sure he was unconscious.
"Fine," he said and Scarlett began to move over to the man who had the keys and she searched his pockets, her hands ran through them quickly.
"Got them!" she exclaimed and pulled one from the pocket and began to undo the cuffs on her wrists, feeling blood circulating again as she crawled over to John and did the same for him.
"That was brilliant," John told her and he began to stand up, grabbing onto her hand and helping her up before they looked down at the two henchmen.
"We need to cuff them and take their phones away," she said. "That way they can't let Morris know what our plan is."
"Like we have a plan," John snorted as they took a man each and cuffed them to heavy objects.
"We do," she nodded. "Find Sherlock."