So there we were again, standing in one of the hallways of the college campus as Zoey gave Sherlock a disapproving look and Ana looked like she was going to faint. WE were standing outside Professor Roylott's office and Sherlock was trying to convince the younger McCarron to go along with his plan. Which, at the moment, wasn't working.
"I can't do this... I just cant... I can't go in that room again and with what happened to Danni..."
Sherlock had his arms crossed, a clearly annoyed look etched on his face as he looked at Zoey for some form of assistance. I assumed it was because she was the sibling and would know how to best approach the situation.
"Zoey, please do something to console your sister and explain the severity of the situation at hand." He huffed, earning an unreadable expression from her.
"No... No, I think you got it pretty well covered. Keep going. You're doing a marvelous job." She gave a small nod and looked over at Ana who was leaning against the wall beside the office door, trying to calm her breathing. "After all, using me and my sister as bait to lure out the man who killed her roommate and is currently killing our sister is a perfect plan. Nothing could possibly go wrong!"
Sherlock's eyebrows furrowed as he locked eyes with the smaller woman, mouth set in a firm line. "I don't appreciate the sarcasm, Zoey."
"And I don't appreciate you risking not only my life, but my sister's to capture this guy."
"You've risked your own life how many times since I've met you?"
"That was my life on my terms. And if I remember correctly, you were firmly against me doing so both times."
He opened his mouth to argue when Ana finally took a deep breath and stood up straight, facing the man who towered over all of us.
"If I do this, will it work? Will it save Danni?" Her voice was quiet and unsure, but I knew the kind of fire her family possessed when necessary.
"If we can discover the truth in time, there may be a chance of stopping the poison's effects and helping her." Sherlock replied flatly. It was as close a comfort they were going to get from him.
Ana looked at Zoey, who nodded the answer to her sister's unasked question as they looked at one another, reading the emotions on eachother's faces. Zoey reached out and opened the office door, making Roylott look up as Ana walked in first, followed by Zoey as Sherlock and I stayed in the hall waiting for them.
"Yes?" The man looked up at the two girls entering, seeming a bit surprised by their appearance. I kept watch from the doorway as Sherlock merely listened.
"I was wondering if I could have next week's homework in advance." Ana said quietly, playing with her fingers as she avoided eye contact.
"Ah, yes. I heard about your sister. I'm terribly sorry about that." He looked down, opening a drawer to rummage through papers. "Will you be showing up to class at all?"
"Probably not." Ana glanced towards the door and Sherlock was looking back at her, giving her a small nod to continue. "I'll only be at school tonight to gather some of my stuff and then I'll be with my sister until they figure out what happened."
"They still don't know? That's a shame. I do hope the doctors find out before things get worse."
Zoey piped up this time, seeing Ana falter. "She'll be fine. I hear the doctors started a drip that seems to be taking effect."
Sherlock raised a brow as Roylott sat up in his seat more, pausing before handing over the papers he had organized for Ana.
"You don't say? Well, best of wishes for a speedy recovery."
Ana took the assignments and smiled as Roylott walked around his desk to put a hand on her shoulder. Zoey watched him, phone falling from her injured hand as a text message shook it free from her grasp. Roylott immediately got down and scooped it up, hand brusing her ankle as he got back up. He smiled as he handed it back, tilting his head as he examined her wrist.
"Your family has a history of misfortune, I see." He chuckled slightly and turned back to his desk.
Ana headed for the door but Zoey reached out and turned a picture frame on his desk towards her slightly. "Is this your son?"
Roylott's attitude changed a bit then, faltering only for an instant. He picked up the frame a little too fast to hide the image from her, holding in to his chest. "Yes, this was my son."
"He looks like you." Zoey said with a smile, motioning to the photograph as she passed me on her way out the door. I nodded a farewell and closed the door, anticipating what was to come.
Zoey immedately took off down the hall in a huff, Sherlock following close behind as Ana walked along side me, not entirely sure what she should do next.
As soon as she was a good distance from the teacher's office and safely outside, Zoey turned and hit a nearby wall with her good hand. I was glad that she was remembering to use the other one less to give it a chance to heal; although punching a solid object was not the best idea either.
"'Your family has a history of misfortune' my ass! He knows something about Danni!" She threw her hands up and growled. "And hes hiding something about his son. He was defensive about that photo, as if I would know everything about it if I got a clear look. Damn it!" Her hands moved to push her hair back as she paced now, talking mostly to herself but also venting to Sherlock. "I want to know what happened to Danni and why and I'm getting a really strong feeling that he knows!"
Ana looked at me and I shrugged, both of us then turning our attention back to the ranting woman and the stationary man merely observing her.
"So, now are you ready to follow my plan with no questions asked?" Sherlock asked, raising a brow at her. Zoey tilted her head, a rather unamuzed expression on her face. "I'm askingbecause you have a habit of arguing with me when I try to get you to follow my instructions."
"I don't argue. I just don't listen to you." She quipped, crossing her arms as she huffed, looking away like a sulking child. Sherlock stared at her, waiting for a proper answer until she finally gave in with a frustrated sigh. "Fine! I won't question what you tell me to do. Okay?"
Sherlock clapped his hands together in success, turning around to look at Ana, clutching the papers still. "Good! Now then, we need to get you back to your dorm for a loveely girls night in. We need your fellow flatmates to be aware of your little female bonding ritual and be convincing. This needs to not seem like a stake out, although that's obviously what it will be. Does that flower girl have a dorm nearby?"
"Flower girl?" Ana looked at Zoey who mouthed 'Lily' to her, making her understand and nod. "Oh, yes. Her room is just down the hall. She shares with Danni actually."
His eyes lit up. "Excellent! That is just splendid! We can search that room while you two stay in Ana's and wait."
"And do what?" Zoey asked, looking like she was already tired of dealing with him. But after all she'd been through I couldn't blame her.
"Whatever it is you women do when you gather together." He waved it off and looked around for a brief moment.
"What are we waiting for?" Ana questioned, looking up at Sherlock.
"For someone to come and try to kill you of course." He stated, furrowing his brow slightly as he looked at the younger girl with a questioning look, as if it were obvious.
Ana's face paled and she dropped the papers, making Zoey shove Sherlock and go to her sister's aid, stooping to pick up the scattered pages.
"Honestly, Sherlock! You have the grace of a newborn giraffe when it comes to people skills!"
"We would obviously interrupt the potential murderer so there's no real danger to either of your lives. Not to mention you two will be together at all times so the chances of being without some sort of defense is unlikely."
"That's not the point, Sherlock!" Zoey started to protest when he held up a finger.
"No questions asked." He said, a small smirk pulling at his lips. I had a sinking feeling that he was going to somehow make Zoey regret agreeing to that oath, if she didn't already.
"I... but..." Zoey looked at him and then at me in mild despiration before giving up. "Fine." She stated firmly, between clenched teeth. "What is the plan?"
"John will meet up with Lily, an encounter I hope you can arrange as she took off into one of the buildings as soon as we returned without even an explaination. Upon doing so, He will pretend to be her cousin in order to gain entrance to her dorm without too much gossip over a strange man in her room." I looked at Sherlock with mild confusion myself, waiting to hear the rest of the plan. "I will escort you and Ana to her dorm so that no one prevents your re-entry. I will then return down the hall to Lily's room where I will say I am a companion of John's helping to manage the stress on Lily that was caused by the attack on Danni. Then, we will merely keep an eye on the hallway and on your door for anyone trying to gain entry and thus, harm you."
Although I doubted we actually needed to have a cover in order to gain entry into Lily's dorm when we could just as easily claim to be aquaintences, it was otherwise a sound plan. Zoey sighed and looked at Ana, who was staring at the assignments in her hands intently. After a moment she spoke.
"These are only one day's assignment... And it's multiple copies."
Sherlock snatched them from her hand, flipping through the pages as he walked off, forcing us to follow.
"Yes, I see now." He muttered before turning to Zoey. "Text your loud companion and tell her to accompany John to her place. I will follow the two of you. Oh, this is interesting."
"Was it a mistake?" Ana asked as Zoey started clicking away on her phone beside her. "Did he just grab the wrong file on accidnet?"
"Hardly. This was an attempt to get you to leave sooner while giving you only what you would need." Sherlock explained as he seperated out the papers, three pages each assignment, three identicle assignments. "I presume he expected you'd return to your dorm and start on the top page, only having enough time to make it through one of them before you noticed the duplicates."
"So he's predicting her death then?" I asked, noticing a familiar face come running out of a distant building towards us.
"Or at least an unfortunate occurance similar to that of Danni's." Zoey chimed in. "He knows something is going to happen to us."
Sherlock nodded. "And his unusual behavior with the photograph leads me to believe that his son has something to do with all this."
"Great. This is all just peachy." Zoey shook her head as Sherlock glanced at her, seeming to recognize something familiar about that statement; although I was clueless to the origin. "So what do we do? Just sit around and do nothing while we wait to be killed?"
"Precisely." Sherlock nodded as Lily stopped beside him, panting.
"You needed me?"
Sherlock gave a small nod. "Yes, take John here back to your dorm. He will look over the room until I join you. Stay there. Do you understand? You're to have a night in."
Lily looked at Ana and Zoey and then at me, beaming up at me. "Anything I can do to help. Come along then, Johnny boy!" She grabbed my arm and started pulling me along. "We're off to solve a murder!" For one so small, she was certainly using her energy every way possible, as she was stronger than I had first anticipated, stumbling behind her.
Looking back at Sherlock, he was handing back the papers to Ana and then turned to follow us to the dorms.
I stood outside in the hall as Lily taked with a neighboring girl, arms holding school books and both chatting about the end of semester final project. I didn't mind the wait, as it gave me a chance to keep watch over the trio down the hall. Ana had looked around nervously as she walked down the corridor, as if inspecting the surroundings for booby traps. Zoey was talking with Sherlock a few steps behind. When he responded, his voice had changed slightly, speaking with an American accent once more.
"You could just go to Lily's room and wait with John, you know." I heard Zoey say, a bit irritated but also sounding like he was going out of his way to help. I could tell she appreciated tha much at least. He was making an effort.
"After what heppened to her roommate and to your sister, I couldn't just let you two go alone." He said sweetly, getting looks from nearby students hanging around; going in and out of their own rooms for whatever reasons they had.
"Well, thank you for your concern." They were playing off one another now, blending in. I watched as Ana unlocked the door. "I'll keep in touch all night just to be safe. Keep your phone on."
"Be sure that you do. Or else I'll have to come looking for you." He threatened playfully. I could see some of the girls nearby looking on with interest and I myself was curious as to what would happen between the two of them as they appeared to be in a mock relationship.
Ana heard Sherlock's threat and turned around to look at them, Zoey standing on her tip toes to kiss his cheek.
"Come on, sis." Ana smiled, the first real smile I'd seen from her all day, as she gestured into the room with a small jerk of her head. "You can flirt anytime. Girl's night is more important right now anyway." Good, she remembered to stay with the plan.
Sherlock looked at Ana with a slight smile. "She'll be there in just a moment." And with that said, he grabbed Zoey's shoulders and pushed her against the wall, his body following a second later.
It was quite an interesting sight for m to actually witness such an action by Sherlock. His hips pinning her to the wall as one hand remained on her shoulder, the other cupping her cheek as his lips caught hers before she could protest.
Not that she did.
Instead, her hands shot up and grabbed hold of his face, kissing back eagerly. She pulled him down closer to her level as her sister looked on from the doorway, with wide eyes, mouth open.
They parted as Lily turned around behind me, letting out a groan of disappointment.
"What did I miss? I just missed something, didnt I?"
I merely shook my head as Sherlock Kissed Zoey's forehead quickly before walking back towards me, Ana still standing dumbfounded as Zoey turned and shoved her into the dorm.