Chapter 19: And of Wizards and Their Tricks~

John held Sherlock like that for a long time, listening to his rampant pulse, praying that God would let him live, make him able to help. He didn't really know how he could help, but he knew that he would have to try. John was lost in thought, and had practically melted into his brother's feverish warmth, when his phone began to ring.

Sherlock flinched, and drew back like he'd been snakebit, super sensitive to sound and light now, John's phone making a "doodaalee" sounding sort of chime, and lighting up a neon blue. John reached out a hand and placed it on Sherlock's chest, over his heart, "Shh...It's ok...it's all fine, it's just my phone..." he whispered, and pulled it out, answering it. It was on speaker, so Sherlock could hear what was being said too:

" Yeah?"

"John, it's Sally. Sherlock's with you ,right?"

John smiled, because Sally was FINALLY calling Sherlock by his actual name.

"Yeah. And he's pretty lucid right now. My phone's on speaker, so he can hear what you're saying."

"OK, Sherlock, Anderson found the files you were talking about in Appledore. You were right, about everything. They were hidden in these hologram machines, which everybody knows that since holograms can only play under the right lazer frequency, it guaranteed that only he could watch them, only he would know they existed; the government could never bust him just for having a few scrapbooks full of undeveloped film, right?

But...Sherlock...I've been paying really close attention to everything...I mean that's what you do always ,right? And something...something is off about this, you know? I mean, first, before you passed out back in the lab, Molly was telling us about how she called hospital security on Big Scary What's His Name. When I asked her who the security guards were that she called on Mary, she said yes when I asked if their names were Clearfield and Smith? Clearfield and Smith,...were off-duty that day, and then later they went in because Anderson asked them to, and got abducted and locked up in the old Penworth place in Brixton. Who abducted them, and why exactly? I mean it didn't seem so important before, but now it kind of does...because who else is playing this game, to have abducted those guys? And if Anderson's got Clearfield and Smith with him, then who were those guards that took Mary out of the hospital?...And I guess what I really mean to say is..are they going to be coming back for more, now that we've reached a finale or something?"

Sherlock's eyes grew wide, and John could see that he had already solved it.

"Child's play, really, Sally. But...children are worse than thieves when it comes to playing fair. It's an inside job. Has to be. Anderson was abducted by Clearfield and Smith, and they made it look like they had themselves been abducted. If Molly knew the names of the guards, but she didn't know them personally enough to call them by name when she first mentioned them, that would mean she most likely identified them by their name badges. No one else was missing from the force last night ,did you say? And you yourself were able to single out Clearfield and Smith as being the only guards from the Yard that guard Bart's at night; the hospital would have its own security staff during the day. So it's simple, really. Clearfield and Smith went in to help Anderson, because it was part of the plan for his staged abduction. They supplied Magnusson's people with their own uniforms, to disguise the mock hospital guards as actual police officers. Who slipped out unobserved with Mary in tow, and before she could kill them and make a run for it, they revealed themselves as part of Magnusson's network, and took her to him, where she negotiated her bargaining chip with him, (the plan to spring the poison on me, that I was "ready" for it). For the king of blackmail didn't just come by all his resources by osmosis ,did he? Of course not; NO ONE is that clever. He obviously had help. I don't know if Mycroft has told any of you yet about the Operation of his I broke up in Cancun, but Magnusson did break into Area 51 within the last year or so, which is where he got all the toxins( these combined with the know-how ) that encouraged Pandora to hire him for her plot against me. But he didn't just sneak into the most notoriously secure and secretive American base by himself, now, did he? Magnusson's a fat spider in the center of an old cob web, he's not cut out for mission's of stealth. He was escorted onto Area 51 premises by members of the Mexican cartel, who ,as master criminals, knew very well how to sneak across American borders, and fly under U.S. federal radar. He had them escort him in, show him the "product" themselves. As a fee, he allowed them to keep some of the spoils, to sell for their own gain, but he took what ingredients he would need for his exploits that I sabotaged. Had enough left over for Mary's proposal.

I had sabotaged his work by tricks , and he meant to kill me for it, the night that Mary came and offered a better bargain, concluding a business that they had begun long before I entered the scene...

"Sherlock...you've not played fairly...Clever boy...but a very ,very bad boy..." Magnusson said...filling a syringe full of something.

Sherlock was too tired, and his skin burned too badly from having been reversed back into flesh after having been chemically altered into a living porcelain doll. His flesh was broken open by the crowbar Magnusson had beat him with when he was still under the influence of the Porcelain Serum,and so he looked like the belly of a lake dried up in the desert wind, all parched cracked places, seeming to have no blood left in him.

He was thirsty, oh God, he was so thirsty! His tongue had swollen up and he could barely move it to talk now ,which is why he said nothing in protest to Magnusson, who he had indeed tricked, and also made deals with (Mycroft's deductions so far in our narrative being very slightly off).

"You won't keep any of the promises you just made, will you, Sherlock? Of course not... you? Sell state secrets to me?! I would be a fool not to know that your brother's personal computer files would have GPS locator on them. You have taken me for a fool, if only because you have tricked me this evening...Into revealing my plan to you. Your brother would be so proud of you...of how clever you are...In coming up with such a algebraically calculated plan to take me in...But it all fell through, didn't it?...

Oh, Sherlock...tsk tsk tsk...England's ADORABLE little bloodhound...You had a dog once too ,didn't you? One you adored?...Oh come, Moriarty's not the only one your life story has been sold too...I bought it from him for a price..." Magnusson smiled wickedly through his teeth, and Sherlock sighed, wishing he'd just have it over with already. Was ready to be done now...

"Well...that beloved dog of yours...Redbeard, was it?..Mmm...if I remember your Mum and Dad had him put down too...got too sick to keep anymore...did he? Well...seems you're too sick now...for your big brother to want to keep, after all the things I've done to you...after how your plans have failed. So...I'm going to put you down now too...It's no fun, is it?"

Sherlock bowed his head. He wasn't afraid to die, had already once , if you remember...

His last thoughts were apologies to everyone. Mycroft. His mum and dad. Molly...Mrs. Hudson. John. Especially John...He didn't suppose he would ever see him again, if he wouldn't be going to any Paradise.

Now that he was going to die, now that he was being murdered, one last thought came to him. He smiled, and silent tears formed, but never fell...because he realized this is what people do, what John would do in the end. They pray...

"Please...God? Yes...You,...uhmm...God..? Please...Please...err...God. Please...let him live...You know who..."

He was afraid now to even think his name, lest he put him in danger.

"I failed...I'm sorry...But...Let him live...One more miracle...just for him, would You? Please...

He just...he can't die. Just stop this...Let all of this come to an end...if only just for him...

Please..."

A gun could be heard chambering in the ugly run down shack somewhere in the slummier parts of Cancun. Sherlock's chains rattled as he looked up. Magnusson was about to use some kind of fruity poison ,so even an idiot would know that he wasn't the one chambering the gun. Someone else was here.

His heart froze when he saw who. He had wiped her from his mind, but when she came slinking into the room like a witch's black cat, he knew her.

Mary.

"Can't let you do that, Charles."

"I've already told you...I will reconsider your offers at a more opportune time..."

"Really, Charles? THIS is the most opportune time. He's busted you...it's over. That and I could kill you right now...and your plans are STILL foiled, huh?...But...if we keep him alive..."

She held up a vial, "This is Akhlys 2. The subject it worked on? It made them insanely mad with hallucinations, and they confessed to everything they ever did. Moriarty witnessed the test, before he offed hisself. Said it was too savage, he preferred to keep the meat intact when he killed his prey. But...what we want from our little fruit here is his juice...right? His protocol...his status as the World's Only Consulting Detective? You could perfect my poison to be able to work on his mind...We could reap all of his secrets,...watch it destroy him. Either it will kill him...or we will kill him. After we've left him alive long enough to see us destroy everything he worked for..."

Magnusson smiled, "Hmm...My vaults...are shockingly empty as of now...Yes, I could benefit from this...And you...I suppose this bargain is a means of buying me out...so I won't sell your secrets...naughty girl."

"Me and my Misses...the notorious Woman."

"I will include any one you ask for...so long as you can guarantee that it will work."

"You're the toxin master, not me...But I promise you...the other test was successful."

"He won't give in so easily to us. You oughta know by now that he can't be made to do anything...And we can't trick him...either..."

Mary smiled, "No, of course not...we simply buy him out. He's as loyal as an old dog ,for sure, to certain people. Ok, Sherlock...name your price?"

Sherlock drew up, hopefully, knowing what he had to do.

"No, I won't be bought. I can win my freedom, and the lives under my protection, fairly."

"Can you?" Mary chuckled.

"Yes...I'm sure the both of you would prefer a Game...a contest...a battle of wits, or whatever you want to call it, to a cheaply bought off murder, no? If you lose, your criminal careers are done for...but if I lose..."

Magnusson purred with delight.."Sounds..engaging..."

"Name your price? What will you put down on the table if you lose the game?" Mary growled.

"If I lose to your game...if I can't resist whatever poison you concot...you get my secrets...The lives of my innocents are forfeit."

Mary chuckled, "Even John?"

Sherlock moaned inwardly at the use of this name.

"Yes..." he whispered...but it was ok. He knew he could win, because there were no secrets left in his death-wiped memory vaults...He had already won the Game.

Sally and John were stunned by Sherlock's brief recount of the above story. John's stomach burned...knowing Sherlock had made the bargain for him...even if he didn't expressly say so.

"I have reason to believe that Kitty Reilly ,the investigative reporter that is partially responsible for my former death, has joined Magnusson's network, now that her own boss is dead...She might be the one behind this, having given Clearfield and Smith access to, and preconceived knowledge of the Vaults?"

"You mean...they found them so easy because one of Magnusson's people squealed on them ?" Sally asked, confused.

"No, they found them so easy because Magnusson WANTED them found. You have to fill Mycroft in on the entire story of Cancun, make sure he has all the details sorted. Have to explain to him the Network situation, and then tell him that I said you should probably be sent back to England, in the company of some of his people who are good for SWAT missions, and bail Anderson out. He's unfortunately ,once again, become just another piece in their games..."

Sally swallowed..."Why me? Why not Greg?"

"I need him here...You said you wanted to help me ,right?"

Sally swallowed. She did. She truly did. This time.

"Yeah, of course!"

"Good, then...give Mycroft my message..."

"Good luck, Sally." John gasped, and they hung up.

John stared at Sherlock.

"All of that...to save me...Save all of us...

"Yeah..."

John smiled, and nodded, trying to process that.

"So...now what do we do?"

Sherlock looked at the roof.

"The spike...where my ...execution is going to be...Magnusson will be there...Has some last well wishes for me...I believe."

John nodded, willing to follow him anywhere. Even up.