Chapter 5: Like ordinary people
NOTE: Finally next Chapter I hope you enjoy!
Nothing happened after their encounter on the bridge. Sherlock decided not to tell John, he didn´t like him when he´s concerned with him. And the daily routine o cases returned to his life. Of course Sherlock wasn´t idle, he started to dig deeper to find more crimes in which Moriarty was involved in the last years. She covered her tracks very well, but that was obvious to Sherlock, because she did not like to get her hands dirty. Moriarty was a specialist who was quite in demand. In vain Sherlock tried to find her routes, except of the young boy she must have killed at a very young age at this pool all those years ago. Sherlock could´t help it, he was intrigued.
Until a new case brought him and John to the Buckingham Palace, the case of the woman. Irene Adler made Sherlock forget the desperation he felt. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. Even though he knew Irene was only drawn to men intellectually and preferred women in bed, it was a more than fascinating encounter that made Sherlock realise even more that he wasn´t only a high functioning brain. His body was more than a tool for transport. After he saved her from being beheaded, he´d even considered the idea of an affair but in the end her sexual preferences and his hesitation in that manner made it impossible to stay more than a kind of friends.
A few weeks after his return Sherlock stood in front of the scratched kitchen table performing an experiment which involved strongly smelling chemicals. John had left the flat cursing in a hurry and Sherlock didn´t mind to be left alone. The sounds of rattling test-tubes and a low burning Bunsen-burner were disturbed by the text alert from his mobile. He glanced over in hope for a new case from Lestrade but stopped in the middle of his movement. The text was from an unknown number, again. Finally, he thought, while turning of the burner and moved to sit on a nearby chair.
"Ready? GM" Was the only thing she wrote.
"What for? SH" He replied.
The answer came quickly:
"Well well, I thought you had a better memory. Mind if I´m coming over? GM"
'This is an interesting change of course, what was she up to? Certainly not killing him in his own flat.' Sherlock mused over the text for a couple of minutes and finally replied:
"Not at all. SH"
He waited but no reply came. Looking around he realised the mess and decided to at least clean it up a little bit. By the time he heard the light footsteps of a woman on the stairs, he´d tea ready and waited sitting on one of the armchairs with his slim hands stapled under his chin. There was no knock on the door and Moriarty entered the flat. She looked just like the last time at the pool wearing a perfectly tailored suit with jacket and skirt in a dark blue, matching dark blue high heels and the deep red lipstick on her lips that made her look older. Sherlock could smell the faint scent of her perfume and something else, yes, cigarettes. A crooked smile lifted the right corner of her mouth while she hesitated in the doorway: "Are you going to stare at me the whole time or are you thinking about to call the police?" Sherlock hesitated for a second before he jumped from his chair and made an inviting gesture towards the other chair.
"I´m considering if you´re a vampire and if I give you permission to enter I´m damned." Irony dripping from his voice. Her smile got a little wider and she slowly walked over to the offered chair. She sat down brushing imaginary dust of her skirt and finally leaning back.
"You certainly are damned, honey." Sherlock just rolled his eyes and sat back down. "Would you mind some tea?" "I would love some." She looked immaculate as always, perfect suit all black, high heels and a deep red blouse matching the colour of her lips.
While Sherlock prepared the tea they were gazing at each other. Gemma didn´t look like a threat to him but that was rather the point, he thought. "It came to my attention you met Irene and that you were kind of interested. I was quite fond of her myself back in the days, it seems like we have the same taste. Nevertheless I´m more the jealous type; so I was not pleased to hear of your little affair back in Katarh." She mad one of her faces but Sherlock just shrugged.
"Why are you here, exactly?" Sherlock picked up his tea and slowly drank a few sips glancing at her over the verve of the cup. Now it was her turn to shrug and she admitted indifferently:
"I told you. It came to my mind that you might enjoy some comparable company. I suggest John is a good pet but he certainly cannot catch up with you. Nevertheless I do not have friends or this kind of sentimental rubbish so I admit, I´m not quite sure about this…" She made a dramatic gesture and let her hands fell over the armrests. Sherlock carefully observed her face and her body language but could see no sign of lying. He wasn´t sure if she was implying anything sexual; he could never tell when people use ambiguity in this manner. So he preferred to ignore it.
"What are you suggesting?" He simply asked instead. Her gaze roomed over him and it was easy to tell she really wasn´t sure. "I suggest we start to know each other a little better. I´ve to admit that I´m quite fond of you. Doesn´t happen very often that I meet someone as clever as yourself. Why don´t we take a little vacation from our lives? Like ordinary people, could be fun. And maybe we can live side by side afterwards or I´ll kill you."
"Vacations?" Sherlock raised his eyebrow. He didn´t have other plans so far, but going on a trip with one of the most dangerous criminals he´d ever the pleasure to meet, wasn´t surly something he had ever considered.
"Like ordinary people." She smirked a little at his concerned face. "Are you afraid of me, Sherlock Holmes?"
She paused, but Sherlock didn´t reply.
"Honey, just a little get-to-know-each-other-trip. No killing. Promise!"
She winked and leaned back in the chair taking her cup of tea with her.
It took Sherlock some time to figure this out, he didn´t know why he should do it, but he did´t know why not, either. And again the promise of adrenaline and danger at the edge of his mind seemed to cloud his judgment, when he heard himself reply, he was honestly surprised.
"Fine. When do we start?"
A smile curled Gemma´s lips up. "Tomorrow. Countryside. I already took care of everything." She raised from her armchair straitening her clothes. "Expect my text, we will take the train." And without another word she left the flat. Sherlock leaned back starring at the ceiling. Well, this was weird.