A/N: This chapter follows The Reichenbach Fall, so I should probably say that anything that doesn't look familiar belongs to me. Everything else belongs to the geniuses that are Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat.
Chapter Fifteen
Kayla's POV
John and I sat together and waited for the trial to start. A few minutes after we sat down, Nicholas showed up and sat down next to me. "Sorry I'm late. Bit of an issue this morning with finding a proper suit." he complained and John grinned. John had only met Nick the day before, but they seemed to hit it off just fine. I wasn't going to lie, Nick was a great agent. He really was. I just didn't like having to work with him.
After a while, Sherlock was called to give his evidence and was standing in the witness box.
"A 'consulting criminal'." the prosecuting barrister stated, standing in front of the witness box.
"Yes." Sherlock answered simply and I thought, maybe, he would take our advice.
"Your words. Can you expand on that answer?" the prosecutor asked and Sherlock gave a slight grin.
"James Moriarty is for hire." he said simply.
"A tradesman?"
"Yes."
"But not the sort who'd fix your heating."
"No, the sort who'd plant a bomb or stage an assassination, but I'm sure he'd make a pretty decent job of your boiler."
There was muffled laughter somewhere in the courtroom and I could see the prosecutor tried to hide her smile. "Would you describe him as-"
"Leading." Sherlock interrupted.
"What?" the prosecutor asked, confused.
"Can't do that. You're leading the witness." he said and I sighed, knowing that things wouldn't be as easy as I'd hoped and Sherlock wouldn't take our advice. Sherlock then looked towards the defending barrister. "He'll object and the judge will uphold." The judge gave an exasperated look indicating this wasn't the first time the detective had done this during his evidence.
"Mr. Holmes." he warned and I was glad someone was going to try and keep Sherlock in line while he was up there.
"Ask me how. How would I describe him? What opinion have I formed of him? Do they not teach you this?" Sherlock said to prosecutor.
"Mr. Holmes, we're fine without your help." the judge said, becoming irritated with the detective.
I heard the door open behind us and glance over my shoulder to see what looked to be one of Sherlock's fangirls walk in and take a seat a few rows behind us.
"How would you describe this man-his character?" the prosecutor asked, bringing my attention back to the case.
"First mistake." Sherlock began, locking his gaze with Moriarty. "James Moriarty isn't a man at all-he's a spider at the center of a web-a criminal web with a thousand threads and he knows precisely how each and every single one of them dances."
"And how long-" the prosecutor started, but was once again stopped.
"No, no, don't-don't do that. That's really not a good question." Sherlock said, closing his eyes in exasperation.
"Mr. Holmes!" the judge warned again, this time clearly angry.
"How long have I known him? Not really your best line of enquiry. We met twice, five minutes in total. I pulled a gun; he tried to blow me up." Sherlock said. "I felt we had a special something." he added sarcastically.
"Miss. Sorrel, are seriously claiming this man is an expert, after knowing the accused for just five minutes?" the judge asked, turing to the prosecutor.
"Two minutes would have made me an expert. Five was ample." Sherlock interjected and I sighed. Of course he was going to start an argument.
"Mr. Holmes, that's a matter for the jury." the judge stated and I could practically hear the gears in Sherlock's mind begin to turn.
"Oh, really?" Sherlock asked and his eyes turned to the jury box.
John and I both brought our hands to our faces. Mine so I couldn't watch what was about to happen and John's in an 'oh, shit, no!' gesture.
"One librarian; two teachers; two high-pressured jobs, probably the City. The foreman's a medical secretary, trained abroad judging by her shorthand." Sherlock began and the judge was clearly done with Sherlock.
"Mr. Holmes!" he yelled again, but Sherlock didn't listen.
"Seven are married and two are having an affair-with each other, it would seem! Oh, and they've just had tea and biscuits." he said and then turned to the judge. "Would you like to know who are the wafer?" he asked and the judge looked like he was about to burst with anger.
"Mr. Holmes! You've been here to answer Miss. Sorrel's questions, not to give us a display of your intellectual prowess." he yelled again, but Sherlock took a breath and he couldn't keep smiling a little at the acknowledgement of his 'intellectual prowess'. John and I both gave him a stern look, but he kept smiling. "Keep your answers brief and to the point. Anything else will be treated as contempt. Do you thing you could survive for just a few minutes without showing off?" he asked and Sherlock thought about the question for a moment before opening his mouth once more.
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"I can't believe I'm bailing you out." I complained as I wrote a check, signed it, and handed it over the counter to the custody officer as Sherlock signed to get his things back. "What did we say? We said, 'Don't get clever'." I continued to rant while John chuckled from behind us.
"I can't just turn it on and off like a tap." he said and took the bag of items from the custody officer before turning to John and I. "Well?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well what?" we asked in unison and Sherlock rolled his eyes.
"You were there for the whole thing, up in the gallery, start to finish." he reiterated.
"Like you said it would be. He sat on his backside, never even stirred." John said, referring to Jim's defending barrister.
"Moriarty's not mounting any defense." I concluded and Sherlock nodded.
"But why?" he said and started for the exit. John and I exchanged shrugs of the shoulder before following after the detective. "Where's Nick?" he asked once we were outside and heading for the car.
"Said he needed to take care of something. Might come over later." I told him and he nodded. Once we reached the car, I unlocked the doors and we all got in, ready to head home.
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The three of us walked into living room and John sat down in his chair. "Bank of England, Tower of London, Pentonville. Three of the most secure places in the country and six weeks ago Moriarty breaks in, no one knows how or why. All we know is..."
"He ended up in custody." Sherlock finished for him and began to pace. When Sherlock turned to John, I went into the kitchen and began to boil some water. I heard John take a deep breath and I grinned, knowing exactly what was going on.
"Don't do that." John said and I glanced at the detective long enough to see the confused look flash across his face.
"Do what?" he asked and I chuckled. Sherlock looked to me and I only shook my head, wanting to let John handle this on his own.
"The look." John specified, his voice edging on annoyance.
"Look?" Sherlock questioned, not understanding the doctor. I knew where John was coming from. I really did. Sherlock used that look with me so many times, I learned to ignore him when he gave it and tried to figure things out on my own without Sherlock having to explain it.
"You're doing the look again."
"Well, I can't see it, can I?" Sherlock asked sarcastically and when I handed him his cup of tea, I pointed to the mirror on the wall next to him. Sherlock took the cup from me and then turned to look at his reflection. "It's my face." he stated, still confused.
"Yes, and it's doing a thing. You're doing a "we all know what's really going on here" face." John said, taking the cup I offered him.
"Well, we do." Sherlock insisted as I sat on the arm of John's chair.
"No. You know. Kayla might know. I don't. Which is why I find 'the face' so annoying." John corrected and I had to agree with John. The face was annoying, but I kept my mouth shut and drank my tea. I didn't want to let my trick slip and let Sherlock know I usually ignored him.
Sherlock rolled his eyes and stood in front of us. "If Moriarty wanted the Jewels, he'd have them. If he wanted those prisoners free, they'd be out on the streets. The only reason he's still in a prison cell is because he chose to be there." he explained and it made sense to me then.
"It's a power play." I said and Sherlock looked to me with a grin.
"But why?" he questioned, clearly pleased that I'd put it together.
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A few hours later, the doorbell rang and I got up to answer it. I knew who it was, so I took my time going down the stairs and unlocking the doors. "Are you a snail or do you just enjoy torturing me?" Nick asked, shivering on the other side of the door.
"Do I really need to answer that? 'Cause I think you already know the answer." I said, leaning on the door jam and Nick gave me a pointed look. "I mean, I can if you want, but I thought you might already know." I said and before he gave me a look that said he was going to murder me in my sleep, I moved out of the way and invited him in. He was shivering and I laughed.
"Come up and have some tea to warm up." I said and Nick wrinkled his nose. "I prefer coffee." he said and I rolled my eyes before heading upstairs, Nick not too far behind me.
A/N: Done with 1st and 2nd block exams! To celebrate, an update! I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter up, but it should be within a few days if I'm slow. Please don't forget to leave a review!