A/N: Ack! I am so so so sorry for the long wait. I had a lot of stuff to deal with at school and there's so much stuff going down between my friends it's driving me insane. I'm planning on getting the action started around the ninth or tenth chapter, maybe earlier, but I will take prompts from people if they have any to fill in the chapters leading up to the action. Thanks once again to all that subscribed and faved and reviewed my story! I love you all so much I would hug you if I could. Hope you enjoy this next chapter!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and Ariadne!
Chapter Six
Sherlock's face morphed into a mask of cold fury as he heard the familiar Irish drawl behind him. He turned around slowly and saw the consulting criminal standing behind him.
"Hi!" Moriarty greeted cheerfully. Sherlock's jaw clenched as he saw him carrying the sleeping Ariadne in his arms. Moriarty smirked at Sherlock's reaction and brought his face closer to the child's. "She's just an angel, isn't she?" He taunted.
"Let go of her." Sherlock growled menacingly. Moriarty paid no attention to Sherlock and leaned closer to study Ariadne's face.
"Such a shame she didn't get to meet her uncle Jim." He sighed. "I brought her such a lovely gift as well. Oh, well." Sherlock stiffened as Moriarty's fingers curled themselves in Ariadne's curls.
"What do you want?" Sherlock asked coldly. Moriarty walked towards Sherlock, still clutching Ariadne in his arms. She whimpered in her sleep but didn't wake up. Moriarty gazed at Sherlock's face carefully.
"I'm guessing your big brother warned you that I was coming. I can see why you weren't surprised. What a shame." Moriarty said in a singsong voice.
"Why are you here?" Sherlock hissed. Moriarty held a finger to his lips.
"Shhh! Wouldn't want to wake her now, would you?" He said in a mocking whisper. Sherlock knew he couldn't do anything while Moriarty had Ariadne in his arms. It was too dangerous.
Moriarty set Ariadne down on the sofa and faced Sherlock. "I've come to play another game with you! Aren't you excited?" Sherlock said nothing but gazed stonily at him. Moriarty sighed.
"The only thing is, you've made this game way too easy for me. You see, I've decided to see how long it would take for me to find your heart and burn it. But it seems that I've already found it. Or should I say, her?" Sherlock found himself looking at Ariadne quickly and when he looked back at Moriarty, he saw that the Irishman was grinning.
"You've become domestic, my dear Sherlock. Happy even. And that just won't do." Moriarty said, shaking his head. "I thought I found someone I could play with. Someone extraordinary. But no, you're just like everyone else. Normal." He spat. Sherlock watched him with narrowed eyes.
"Is that the only reason you came here? Because I wasn't what you expected?" Sherlock asked coldly. Moriarty stared at him, looking offended.
"No, no, no! Of course not!" He cried. Then his expression quickly changed into something sinister and her walked up to Sherlock and came face to face with him. "A new game has begun, Sherlock. But this time, there will be only one winner. Me." He hissed. Sherlock's face remained blank as Moriarty pulled away from him. The sudden smile that grew on his face was startling but Sherlock could see no trace of warmth in his eyes.
"I'll be seeing you around, my dear. Ta ta!" Moriarty waved as he exited the flat. Sherlock found himself releasing the breath he had been holding back and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes once more. He walked over to Ariadne's side and looked her over, searching for anything that Moriarty might have done or placed on her.
Sherlock spotted a silver chain around her neck and pulled it gently. A small silver crown dangled from the chain and Sherlock stared at it in disgust. He took the chain off Ariadne, careful not to wake her. He held up the chain and spotted something engraved at the back of the crown.
A picture of a dollar sign and a pair of handcuffs were engraved at the back and the words 'Love, Uncle Jim' were etched below the images. Sherlock frowned at the pendant. Moriarty was up to something and Sherlock needed to know what.
He closed his fist around the chain and paced around, occasionally glancing at Ariadne sleeping on the couch. One thing bothered him immensely, however. The fact that Moriarty broke into their home without their notice was frightening because who knows how long he stayed with Ariadne in that room? He could have hurt her but for some reason, he didn't.
"Sherlock?" John's voice snapped Sherlock out of his thoughts. He stopped pacing and looked at John. "Is everything alright?" John asked nervously. Sherlock looked as though he wanted to throw something.
"Look at this." Sherlock said, walking up to John and thrusting the chain into his hands. John looked at it, not really getting what Sherlock was trying to say until he flipped the crown over and saw Moriarty's message.
"How did he…?" John said, still astounded. Sherlock had thrown himself in his chair and drummed his fingers against the armrest.
"He got in through the window. He was in my room, John. Where Ariadne was sleeping." Sherlock said bitterly. John looked down at the chain once more and then at Ariadne's sleeping form.
"Did she see him?" He asked quietly.
"I don't think so. When I saw him carrying her out… Mycroft warned me he was coming." Sherlock said angrily. John shuddered at the thought of Moriarty carrying Ariadne. Sherlock must've felt so helpless watching the criminal mastermind and Ariadne.
"Well, what did he want?" John asked hesitantly.
"A new game." Sherlock muttered. "A new game. The only clue I have is those wretched markings on the back of that crown." John looked at the image of the dollar sign and the handcuffs.
"Maybe he's planning some kind of robbery?" John guessed. Sherlock shook his head.
"Too obvious. He's planning something big, John." He said thoughtfully. John sighed. He couldn't deal with this right now. He was tired and it was late and the thought of Moriarty in the same room as Ariadne made him sick.
"We'll deal with this tomorrow. I can't think properly right now, Sherlock." John mumbled, carrying Ariadne off the couch. Sherlock grunted, still deep in thought. John set Ariadne down in Sherlock's bed and walked to his room. The moment his head touched his pillow, he drifted off to sleep.
Downstairs, Sherlock was in his room, lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling.
"You're just like everyone else. Normal." Sherlock slammed his hand down on the mattress angrily. Next to him, Ariadne stirred and whimpered in her sleep. Sherlock immediately felt guilty for startling her and rolled on his side to look at her.
Ariadne's face looked so angelic in her sleeping state but her forehead was furrowed in a frown. Sherlock found himself smiling a little and he leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently. Ariadne snuggled near him and Sherlock held her close. Never in a million years did he imagine himself falling asleep with a child, his daughter, sleeping in his arms.
/
The next morning, John walked into Sherlock's room and paused in the doorway as he saw the sight in front of him. Sherlock had a slight smile on his face as he held Ariadne to him. John smiled and walked backwards out of the room quietly, closing the door as gently as he could.
"Unca Jawn?"
John entered the room again and saw Ariadne looking at him sleepily. She wriggled out of Sherlock's embrace and accidentally woke Sherlock up. He sat straight up in bed, his curls sticking out all over the place and he rubbed his eyes sleepily. John bit back a laugh as he realized Ariadne and Sherlock mirroring each other's actions unconsciously.
"Yes, Ariadne?" John said amusedly. Ariadne rubbed her eyes and reached for him.
"Bwekfast." She mumbled. John laughed and walked over to the bed. Sherlock was sitting up properly and yawned loudly.
"Up dada, up!" Ariadne insisted, now more awake. She tugged on Sherlock's arm and Sherlock laughed.
"All right, let's go." He said, giving in. Ariadne squealed and lowered herself slowly onto the floor. John followed her as she toddled unsteadily out of the room.
"You coming, Sherlock?" John asked, looking over his shoulder. Sherlock gave a nod and jumped off the bed.
"Keep an eye on her today. I'm going to do a bit of investigating." Sherlock said in a low voice as he passed. John sighed. Moriarty. He nodded and Sherlock lifted Ariadne up and set her down in her high chair. He pushed a plate of bread with jam on it towards her.
"No." She said, crossing her arms. Sherlock sighed.
"Ariadne, please. I forgot to get you your normal baby food." He said, making a face. Ariadne still enjoyed eating the mushy baby food Sherlock found repulsing. Ariadne shook her head stubbornly.
"No bread. Mush food!" She demanded. Sherlock shot John an exasperated look.
"She's so stubborn." Sherlock complained. "Can't you do anything about this?" He said, gesturing to Ariadne slamming her hands on the table and shouting 'No!'. John shook his head, smiling.
"She's just like you. Stubborn and headstrong." John muttered to himself.
"What was that?" Sherlock asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Nothing." John said quickly. Sherlock frowned but let it go. He walked back to Ariadne and took away her plate of uneaten bread.
"Fine, I'll get you your baby food." He said in defeat. Ariadne smiled widely and hugged Sherlock.
"Love you, dada." She said happily. Sherlock looked frozen for a second before hugging her back. He carried her out of the high chair and set her down.
"Sherlock, you're spoiling her." John said. Sherlock shrugged. He pulled on that ridiculously long coat and wrapped his scarf around his neck before helping Ariadne into a similar coat.
"John, if you want to have breakfast with us I suggest you put on a coat too." Sherlock said as he carried Ariadne down the stairs. Ariadne peered over Sherlock's shoulder and waved her hands.
"Hurry Unca Jawn!" She said. John rolled his eyes.
Like father like daughter. John thought. He locked the door to their flat and hurried down the stairs after them. Sherlock was standing on the side of the road looking around for a cab.
"Taxi!" Sherlock shouted, waving one down. John opened the door for Sherlock to slide in with Ariadne and shut the door behind him.
A few minutes later, they ended up inside a small diner near Scotland Yard. Sherlock was feeding Ariadne bits of the pancakes he had and John was wolfing down a platter of eggs and sausages. Ariadne refused to eat the pancakes unless they were slathered with maple syrup.
"More dada, more!" She demanded imperiously. Sherlock sighed and emptied out the bottle of maple syrup onto the small stack of pancakes. Ariadne clapped happily and slammed her hands down on the sticky pile in her excitement. Maple syrup splattered onto Sherlock's shocked face and on John as well.
"Ariadne!" John exclaimed. People were staring at the mess and Ariadne started pouting.
"I sowy." Ariadne mumbled, looking at her sticky hands. John melted at the sight of Ariadne's downcast expression.
"Its alright. I'll go get napkins to wipe up this mess. Sherlock, try clean up her hands will you?" John instructed as he slid out of their booth. Sherlock picked up a napkin and patted the sticky syrup off Ariadne's hands and shirt.
It took a while since Ariadne kept slapping the pile of pancakes again resulting in the syrup flying everywhere again. Sherlock finally ended up using Ariadne's scarf to wipe up the rest of mess since John ended up pissing off the waiters by taking all the napkins.
As he slipped the small scarf into his coat pocket, he felt the cool metal of a chain against his hand. He curled his fingers around it and pulled it out, eyeing the offending chain wearily. Ariadne's eyes widened at the sight of the crown dangling off the chain and made a grab for it.
"Mine." She said, yanking it out of Sherlock's hand. John looked at Sherlock, watching for his reaction. He knew Sherlock hated Moriarty and anything to do with him and if Ariadne was wearing something from Moriarty… John shuddered at the thought.
"Don't eat it." Sherlock murmured. Ariadne tiled her head and swung the chain around enthusiastically. John was surprised at Sherlock's reaction but didn't ask.
"We should get going." He told Sherlock. The detective nodded absentmindedly.
"Yes, we should. Ariadne, here." He said, taking the chain from her grasp and slipping it around her neck easily. Ariadne squealed with joy and her little hands closed around the crown.
"Yay dada!" She cried. Sherlock gathered her in his arms and stood up.
"John," He said as he stopped near the door.
"Yeah?" The good doctor asked.
"Isn't it Monday today?" Sherlock pointed out. John's face was blank for a moment until realization hit him hard.
"Oh no, the clinic!"
Yeah so I decided to end it here. Sorry if it seems like a bad ending. I felt like I was just rambling on and on and on. Again, I take prompts now so share your ideas if you have any!