Sherlock's mind yanked itself back to reality, but it took him a moment to figure out what was happening.
"Sherlock?"
Sherlock could feel John's warm breath on his skin, and turned to look at him.
Why is he so close? Sherlock wondered.
"Sherlock?"
Sherlock met his eyes.
"You alright?" John asked.
Sherlock blinked a few times, but a little disorientation lingered.
".. Yes.. uh.. rabbit trails, sorry. Where were we?"
"Sherlock," John's concerned gaze told that he hadn't been fooled.
"I'm fine, John." Sherlock said, "Just-"
Sherlock turned his head down and to the left, closing his eyes momentarily as the scene attempted to take over. He blinked rapidly to clear it, successfully this time.
"If you need a minute," Lestrade offered.
Sherlock shook his head and stood up, "I'm fine now."
"You sure?" John asked. "You looked pretty lost there for a second."
"I'm fine now, all good." Sherlock flashed them on of his famous smiles, which John rolled his eyes to.
Jayden came jogging up to them.
"Why'd you leave me in the dust?" Jayden asked. "I was just asking a yarder a question, you could have waited a minute."
"Lestrade pulled me along." Sherlock shrugged.
Jayden turned to John. "What's your excuse?"
"He pulled me?" John pointed at Sherlock.
Sherlock shook his head, "Nope."
Jayden looked at John then said, "Nope." in almost exactly the same tone and manner Sherlock had. "Try again."
"What are you wanting me to say?" John asked exasperatedly.
Jayden just smirked, then trotted off to follow Sherlock, who was now inspecting a different part of the room.
"Nothing, there's nothing." Sherlock said. "There are no clues except for its perfection. I don't know how-"
Sherlock cut his own words off, walking backwards towards the center of the room.
"I-" He paused. "Ohh..."
"No." John said. "I know that look. No, it's not. It can't be. Not him."
Sherlock tilted his head to side slightly.
"I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying that-"
"It looks a lot like his work."John said. "No, you're not going to say that."
"Believe me John, there's no one else in this world who wants this to be his work any less than me." Sherlock said. "But just because I don't want it to be, doesn't change the fact that it is."
The tone of his voice changed then, losing its vigor, sounding tired, almost.
"You know as well as I do that we've been waiting for him to make his play for months."
"Play?! How long will it take to pound into your head that it's not a game Sherlock?!" John said.
"Game..." Sherlock repeated, trailing off.
"Just... pretend its a game." The older boy said. "Hide and seek. Just hide until I get back, and then I'll come and find you."
"But how long will you be gone?" Sherlock mumbled, looking up at the stressed face above him as raindrops slid down into his eyes, blurring his vision.
"I'm not sure." boy said. "Probably only an hour or two though." Strong arms wrapped around Sherlock, lifting him up into an indented part of a building where an air conditioner once sat.
It's alright, just play the game and you'll be fine. Don't let anyone see you. You're safe."
"Okay..."
Sherlock came back to his wits more quickly this time, and was able to jump back into the conversation with only the slightest hesitation.
"Let's just do what we have to." Sherlock said, shaking his head slightly. "There's no way to know what he's planning, we'll just have to play it by ear."
"Sherlock..." John's mind wandered to the last time Sherlock had "played it by ear". His thoughts were soon interrupted by Jayden's zealous demands.
"Alright, newbie here!" Jayden said, waving his arms around in the air. "Will someone please tell me who "he'" is?!"
"Moriarty." Sherlock spoke in a low tone. After a moment, he realized that there was just the slightest roll to his r. He froze.
This common, subtle shift in accent was one of the many remains of his undercover time in Serbia. Yes, he had spent time in other countries as well, longer amounts even, but it was Serbia... Serbia, that stayed with him the most. Even though nearly a year had passed, the place was always in the back of his mind, just sitting there. What he learned was just waiting to come out, and not just the good parts. Serbia had changed him. In some ways, for the better, in others, the worse.
Sherlock could only hope that what had begun to come out was for the better.
Jayden stood, staring back and forth between all the adults, wondering why they weren't talking anymore, and didn't seem to be breathing either.
Lestrade's response, Jayden could tell, was primarily based off of Sherlock and John's, as though he knew what had just happened was important, but wasn't totally aware of the reason of significance.
"So... if it is this Moriarty guy, how do we stop him?"
When Jayden spoke, it was as if time had caught back up, moving at the speed it was supposed to be.
"Don't know, you never know with him." Sherlock said. "He's always got something different up his sleeve, tricks... He's got a million of them."
"You don't mean we're just going to wait?" Lestrade asked.
"Of course not." Sherlock said. "I'm sure Jayden will think of something."
Jayden, still stunned at the sudden change in pace that had occurred when he spoke, took a moment to process what Sherlock had said.
"Wait, what?"
"Do try to keep up, Jayden." Sherlock said. "I know you're not an idiot, but you really do have a tendency to act like one."
"Could you please just skip the insults and get to the point?" Jayden asked.
"Ah, yes, back to normal then." Sherlock said. "You, Jayden, are going to figure out what Moriarty is planning."
"Why me?" Jayden asked. "You know him better than I do. I've never even met the guy."
"That's exactly the point." Sherlock said. "Moriarty rarely repeats himself, has a new pattern every time. I rely on peoples' tendency to repeat their on patterns, on their habit. I know what he's done before, so I will subconsciously looking for those patterns. You however," Sherlock paused, looking towards Jayden.
"Your mind is untainted," He said, "And I'm trying my best to keep it that way."
A/N: I have recently, very recently, been informed by a guest reviewer that my author's notes have been missed. Huh. I guess I haven't done one in a while, have I? I'll have to start doing them more often again.