When the call was done, Sher looked up at the empty room, which was barely lit. Her eyes ached from the struggle to see anything at all.
"Hello?" She called through the emptiness to the man she knew was watching her in a room nearby. "I did as you asked. Can I see him now?"
No reply arrived and Sher was frustrated. "Hello?" She called again. "Please?"
The door opened to a crack. The light that leaked in blinded her, so Sher lifted a hand to stop it from reaching directly to her eyes.
The door closed and Sher was able to see again, yet she dared not move. Last time the door opened, a man beat her until she agreed to have the phone call.
"Sher?" She heard a silent whisper. "Sher, are you here?"
"James?" She asked.
"Sher?" Sher could hear the relief in his voice. She struggled to get to her feet, ignored the pain and ran to him. As she clutched his left arm, he twitched.
"I'm sorry," she said, terrified, "are you ok?"
He lifted his eyes to her face. "I am now."
Sher smiled a sad smile and hugged him. "I'm sorry." She said. "Without me you wouldn't had to go through all of this."
At first she was terrified. As she walked out of the restaurant, a man in mask attacked her. She had known some self-defense, Mycroft made sure of that years ago, but the man overcome her. He injected her something and it was done. She was unable to resist, and could do nothing but stay motionless as he lifted her up and got her into his car. He laid her in the back seat and was about to close the door. She attempted speaking and failed. He put a glove covered finger to his lips.
They drove for a while. She couldn't remember all of the trip, and her mind betrayed her. When the vehicle stopped, he came back for her and threw her into this room. She was sore and stiff, but still clear minded enough to refuse having that phone call he asked he to do, using the speaker that changed his voice and was hurting her ears, threatening to hurt James if she won't. And then he came back in. When he was done, she barely had enough strength to ask to see James afterward.
The conversation was an odd one, with the metal voice in her ear, guiding her what to say. But she still understood enough. The man she was speaking to, the one called Watson, he was at the restaurant. That was the man Mycroft was looking at when he left.
And so her fear shifted to anger on Mycroft. Because, clearly, it all had something to do with him. And therefore, in all matters regarding James, it was her fault.
"I'm so sorry." She repeated, until James calmed her down.
"It's alright." He said. "Everything will be just fine. Would you like to sleep for a while?"
She was tired. But she knew the masked man was watching, and she didn't want to show him weakness.
"No," She said. "I'm fine."
James kissed her once, very gently, and her eyes we're filled with tears. He wiped them and looked at her.
"Sleep." He said. "You look like you need it."
Sher curled herself on his chest and fell asleep in an instant.
She woke up not long after. When she asked James how long it has been, he said he thinks that almost an hour.
She stood up and started walking around the room.
"What are you doing?" Asked James.
"Stretching my legs." She said. "Care to join?"
"Yes," answered James and stood, all his weight on his left side. He started stretching before realizing Sher wasn't joining him. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"Your left hand." She said.
"What about it?"
"You leaned on it. Earlier you twitched when I touched it, James." She said. "How did you lean on it?"
"I guess it stopped hurting." He replied.
"No, it didn't." Understanding crept into Sher's mind, one bit at a time. "It never hurt at all, did it? You were pretending, you tricked me, you were working with him all along."
"Him?" Asked James, but his pretense worked on her no more.
"The man in the mask." She said. "The one who kidnapped me, who dosed me, who beat me up."
"Sher, I'm not working with him." Said James in a voice that was just a bit too calm, too steady.
"Why should I believe that?" She asked simply.
"Because I am him."
Sher watched him with shock. "No. No. No, that can't be... you can't be..." she mumbled.
"Only I am." He looked at her with this smile of his that once could've make Sher jump on him, but no more.
"Who are you?" She asked in disgust.
"Jim. Jim Moriarty." And that stupid smile again.
"What do you want from me?" She asked.
"From you? Nothing but cooperation." He said. "Do the talks I want you to. Say what I want you to."
"Why did you take me then?"
"To send your father into action."
"My father?" Sher was confused. "But Mycroft wasn't even there."
Moriarty laughed. It sounded like grating on a wall. "Mycroft, yes. Don't worry, he'll join the party soon enough." He said with a smile that was different from what she knew. It wasn't the smile she was used to. This wasn't James's smile this time. This was the smile of Jim Moriarty.