The cabbie took them away from Buckingham Palace.

"Okay, the smoking. How did you know?" John asked.

Sherlock grinned. "The evidence was right under your nose, John. As ever, you see but do not observe."

Danielle hummed. "What'd we miss?"

Sherlock pulled an ashtray from his coat. "The ashtray."

Danielle burst out laughing. She quieted herself down to giddy giggles, trying not to freak out the cabbie. John giggled with her. Sherlock put the ashtray back into his coat before joining in on the laughs.

Sometimes, this man drove Danielle completely bonkers. Other times, he made it very easy for her heart to race.

==MPH==

Danielle went over to take care of things at home. Laundry needed to be done, pets needed to be fed, and emails needed to be sent. She was grateful for the time. She'd thought Sherlock would be determined to chase after Irene Adler as soon as possible. Instead, there was a gap. A long, long gap.

Just as Danielle considered taking out Erika for an early walk, John knocked on her door.

"He says he's ready." John said.

"Ready?"

"Yeah. Said he needed a change." John explained.

Danielle glanced behind him. Sherlock was calling a cab. "Those are the same clothes?"

John checked. "...yes he is."

"Okay." Danielle gathered up her purse and coat, joining John outside. "Where to?"

"No idea."

"Business as usual, then." Danielle joked. It got John to grin.

Sherlock called out from the cab. Impatient man as always. Made them wait for ages, but when he's ready there's no time to waste.

Just another thing that made her smile.

==MPH==

They drove silently. Sherlock seemed just so lost in thought. He warned them he rarely spoke sometimes, but this just felt odd.

Eventually, Danielle spoke up. "Sherlock, what are we doing?"

"We know her address." Sherlock replied.

"What, just ring her doorbell?" John asked.

"Exactly." Sherlock answered.

John and Danielle exchanged a confused look.

Sherlock leaned toward the cabbie. "Just here, please."

The cab slowed down. Danielle fidgeted on her seat.

"You didn't even change your clothes." John pointed out.

"Then it's time to add a splash of color." Sherlock grinned at the both of them.

"I'm not giving you my purse." Danielle stated.

Sherlock merely continued to grin. The three climbed out of the cab. They walked up the road to a spot. Sherlock stopped, right in the street, then took off his scarf.

"Is that her house?" Danielle pointed at the house next to them.

"Two streets away, but this'll do." Sherlock said.

"For what?" Danielle asked.

Sherlock gestured to his face. "Punch me in the face."

Danielle blinked.

Then again.

Ah. 'Add color.' That- that is- okay.

"Punch you?" John repeated.

"Yes. Punch me, in the face." Sherlock instructed. "Didn't you hear me?"

"I always hear 'punch me in the face' when you're speaking, but it's usually subtext." John admitted.

"Maybe- maybe you don't punch anyone?" Danielle asked. "You can fake it with makeup these days."

"Yeah." John nodded.

Sherlock sighed. "Oh, for God's sake." He threw a punch at John. John grunted, stumbling back.

Danielle jumped back, yelping. "Jesus!"

Sherlock stepped back, shaking the hand from the punch. He stared at John, patiently. John stood up.

"John- wait John-!" Danielle pleaded.

John moved. He punched Sherlock. Sherlock didn't make a sound of pain.

"Thank you. That was-that was-" Sherlock began.

John leapt at Sherlock. The taller man fell back on the street.

Danielle sighed. She looked around the street, hopeful that nobody was watching this. It's gonna be all over the blog tonight, if this fight got out there. "Boys." Danielle called out.

They kept on going.

"Boys." Danielle warned. "I mean it, stop it."

They did not stop.

"John, he gets it!" Danielle pointed out. He only asked for the one punch. While, yeah, he was a cock, that didn't warrant the reaction.

"Yes! Yes you heard Danielle, John!" Sherlock croaked.

John tightened his chokehold. "You wanna remember, Sherlock. I was a soldier. I killed people."

"You were a doctor!"

"I had bad days!"

Danielle wished someone would punch her. Then, maybe, she'd be knocked out and forget this whole thing was happening. "Honestly, you two! Break it up!"

==MPH==

Sherlock put on a vicar collar. A goddamn- no, not goddamn. It's a vicar's collar. His big bad dramatic disguise was to be like a holy man.

A priest. They needed a priest to bless them- cleanse the three of them. Or maybe that's just years of Sunday school kicking Danielle on the chest. The guilt certainly continued to crush her. Did she want to cry or laugh?

She'd figure it out. For now, she would continue holding John by the shirt collar.

"You really don't have to keep doing it." John told her. Sherlock knocked on Ms Adler's door, looking panicked and fretful.

Danielle hummed.

"Really. You can let go." John said.

"Yeah, right. Sure." Danielle gripped tighter. John sighed. "When I actually think you won't."

"Why would I?"

"Subtext." Danielle reminded him.

John gave no counter argument.

The door opened. Sherlock walked in. Danielle led John over to the door, walking them inside.

"Thank you." Sherlock told the woman at the door. "Er, ooh!"

"I-I saw it all happen. It's okay, I'm a doctor. This is my nurse." John explained.

"Hi." Danielle waved at the woman. The woman nodded at them both.

"Now, have you got a first aid kit?" John asked.

"In the kitchen." The woman replied, calmly and politely. She smiled at Sherlock, knowing. She motioned for Sherlock to wait in a separate room. "Please."

"Oh! Thank you!" Sherlock walked in.

"Stay with him." John instructed Danielle. She nodded, going in after him. "Thank you." John and the woman went off in the direction of the kitchen.

Sherlock took off his coat. He casually passed it over to Danielle. She barely grabbed it. As he sat, Sherlock gave her a smug look. Danielle rolled her eyes, unable to stop smiling with him. They sat on the couch together. The parlor room was very elegant and fancy. For someone blackmailing the British government, Danielle should expect no less.

They weren't waiting long before hearing footsteps.

"Hello. Sorry to hear that you've been hurt. I don't think Kate caught your names." She spoke.

"I'm so sorry. I'm-" Sherlock looked up, and said nothing else.

Danielle looked too. She'd be lucky if she could speak ever again.

==MPH==

Irene Adler was Danielle Nolan's first naked woman. Or, first naked person at all. Really.

It's not that surprising. Danielle kept to herself, especially when dating someone. She hadn't really gone into the dating pool. After her father died, Danielle saw even less reason to put herself out there.

Sherlock early didn't count. Danielle only saw the back. An impressive back, yes, that left her practically flustered and looking like an idiot. Her reaction then was a BAFTA worthy speech compared to this. Compared to Irene Adler.

"Oh, it's always hard to remember aliases when you've had a fright, isn't it?" Adler- Irene- Miss Irene- Miss Adler? The Woman? She walked in front of them both. As Danielle watched, the Woman leaned forward towards Sherlock.

The Woman plucked the vicar collar from his suit.

"There now-we're both defrocked, Mr Sherlock Holmes." The Woman smiled down at him.

"Miss Adler, I presume." Sherlock deadpanned.

"Look at those cheekbones. I could cut myself slapping that face." She turned that smile to Danielle, and her heart jumped into her throat. "Miss Nolan, would you like me to try?"

Danielle gawked.

The Woman brought the vicar's collar to her mouth. Dark, blood red lips bit onto the collar.

Her throat? Nah. Her heart straight up burst.

"Right, this should do it-" John was in the room now. For- wait for how long? When did he get here? Had he been here for a while? How long had she been here? Two minutes, two years? "I've missed something, haven't I?"

The Woman took the collar from her mouth. Danielle may never be able to look at anything else ever again.

"Please sit down."

Danielle checked. Yep. Already sitting.

The Woman moved away from them. Danielle watched, spellcast, as she walked over to the armchair.

"Oh, if you'd like some tea I can call the maid." The Woman offered.

"I had some at the Palace." Sherlock replied.

The Woman grinned. Those lips quirked up in the most dazzling smirk. "I know." She sat down. She crossed her arms, and her legs. It blocked off the more...obvious...parts of her 'outfit'.

"Clearly."

Danielle continued to stare. The Woman never as much as twitched her way. Those blue eyes never moved from Sherlock.

"I had a tea, too, at the Palace, if anyone's interested." John added.

"Me too- I did too. But I wouldn't mind being topped." Danielle choked on a breath. "Off! Topped off. For top- for tea."

Danielle preferred to die. Right now. This very second. She settled for sinking deeper into the couch, averting her eyes from the Woman and the boys.

"D'you know the big problem with a disguise, Mr Holmes? However hard you try, it's always a self-portrait." The Woman explained.

"You think I'm a vicar with a bleeding face?" Sherlock replied.

"No, I think you're damaged, delusional and believe in a higher power. In your case, it's yourself." The Woman explained. "Oh, and somebody loves you. Why, if I had to punch that face, I'd avoid your nose and teeth too."

"Could you put something on, please? Er, anything at all." John babbled. "A napkin."

"Why? Are you feeling exposed?" The Woman asked. "Ms Nolan certainly is."

Her face burned. A bright, all encompassing burn. It hurt, actually. The embarrassment hurt.

"I don't think they know where to look." Sherlock commented.

His weight left the couch. Danielle peeked over. Sherlock took off his coat, holding it out to the Woman.

The Woman ignored it. Instead she walked right in front of Danielle. Her hips swayed, catching and keeping her focus once again.

"No, I think they know exactly where." The Woman stood in front of John.

John twitched his neck, meeting her stare.

Danielle watched them both. Her heart pounded against her ribs. The whole thing went from embarrassing to deadly when the Woman turned her head to meet Danielle's eyes. Danielle choked on nothing. She cleared her throat, still looking at the Woman.

The Woman accepted Sherlock's coat. She slipped into it, while smiling at Danielle. "I'm not sure about you."

"If I wanted to look at naked women I'd borrow John's laptop." Sherlock supplied.

"You do borrow my laptop."

"I confiscate it."

The Woman sat on the couch. Beside Danielle. Danielle tensed trying not to reach for anything or be inappropriate in any way that she hadn't already been.

"Well, never mind. We've got better things to talk about. Now tell me-I need to know." The Woman watched Sherlock. The consulting detective walked over to the fireplace. "How was it done?"

"What?"

"The hiker with the bashed-in head. How was he killed?" The Woman asked.

Sherlock scrunched up his eyebrows. He did this cute little head tilt that did Danielle no favors. "That's not why I'm here."

"No, no, no, you're here for the photographs but that's never gonna happen, and since we're here just chatting anyway-" The Woman said.

"But- but wait. Hold on." Danielle sat up. The Woman watched her again. Her stomach did barrel rolls. "That's not- nobody knows about that. He's not even blogged about it. How do you know it?"

The Woman glanced away, her eyebrows raising in delight. "I know one of the policemen. Well, I know what he likes."

"Oh." John breathed out. "And you like policemen?"

"I like detective stories-and detectives. Brainy's the new sexy." The Woman explained.

Danielle nodded, though she was barely aware of it. "Yes. Very sexy. Always been sexy, yeah."

"Positionofthecar-" Sherlock blurted.

Danielle looked up at him. Sherlock was mid-blink, as if he'd been blindsided by his own idea. Or something else. Focusing was hard today.

"Er, the position of the car relative to the hiker at the time of the backfire. That and the fact that the death blow was to the back of the head. That's all you need to know." Sherlock supplied.

"Okay, tell me. How was he murdered?" The Woman asked.

"He wasn't." Sherlock replied.

"You don't think it was murder?" The Woman kept on.

Sherlock began to pace. Slow, heavy steps as he looked around the room. "I know it wasn't."

"How?"

"The same way that I know the victim was an excellent sportsman recently returned from foreign travel and that the photographs I'm looking for are in this room." Sherlock revealed.

Danielle grinned, giggly. That was Sherlock, doing it again. He got himself back on track.

"Okay, but how?" The Woman asked.

"So they are in this room. Thank you. John, man the door. Let no-one in. Danielle, stay here." Sherlock instructed. Sherlock gave John a knowing stare. John let out a small huff before exiting the room.

Danielle recalled that sort of instruction. One night, in Baker Street, around take away, the three of them came up with all sorts of secret codes for things. The incident at the pool scared all three of them, probably deeper than any normal therapist could reach. The codes they devised would keep the others in the know in case of any future incidents of being kidnapped, or being in danger.

That code told John to set off a fire alarm. Danielle, in that scenario, stayed by Sherlock. Her responsibility- as ordered by John- would be to get Sherlock out if danger occured.

"Two men alone in the countryside several yards apart, and one car." Sherlock began.

"Oh. I-I thought you were looking for the photos now." The Woman said.

"No, no. Looking takes ages. I'm just going to find them but you're moderately clever and we've got a moment, so let's pass the time." Sherlock replied. "Two men, a car, and nobody else. The driver's trying to fix his engine. Getting nowhere. And the hiker's taking a moment, looking at the sky. Watching the birds? Any moment now, something's gonna happen. What?"

"The hiker's going to die." The Woman said.

"No, that's the result. What's going to happen?" Sherlock pressed.

"I don't understand."

"Oh, well, try to."

"Why?"

"Because you cater to the whims of the pathetic and take your clothes off to make an impression. Stop boring me and think. It's the new sexy." Sherlock snarked. "Danielle?"

Danielle considered it. "The car...makes a noise."

Sherlock smiled at her. The barrel rolls were back. "A loud one too."

"So, what?" The Woman replied.

"Oh, noises are important. Noises can tell you everything. For instance-"

The fire alarm went off. Danielle stood up, walking over to Sherlock's side. The Woman watched with concerned eyes. They darted not to Sherlock, or to Danielle, but to the mirror just behind them above the fireplace.

"Thank you. On hearing a smoke alarm, a mother would look towards her child. Amazing how fire exposes our priorities." Sherlock turned around. He checked the fireplace, finding secret buttons.

Danielle giggled. "Really?"

The mirror began moving up. The small safe was revealed, tucked behind it into the wall. "Really hope you don't have a baby in there."

"John! All clear!" Danielle called out. The alarm kept going. "John! Turn off the alarm!"

"Give me a minute!" John called back.

Danielle checked with Sherlock. "Putting a baby in a safe?"

Sherlock grinned. It made Danielle giggle.

"Hmm. Should always use gloves with these things, you know." Sherlock began his rant, figuring things out in real time. "Heaviest oil deposits' always on the first key used- that's quite clearly the three- but after that the sequence is almost impossible to read. I'd say from the make that it's a six digit code. Can't be your birthday-no disrespect but clearly you were born in the eighties; the eight's barely used, so-"

"I'd tell you the code right now but you know what? I already have." The Woman admitted.

Sherlock and Danielle looked at the Woman. Both of them frowning, confused.

The Woman smiled. "Think." She taunted.

They received no time to think. No sooner did she request it, the door swung open. Three men with guns came in. One kept a weapon aimed at John's head, ushering the doctor inside the living room.

Danielle gasped.

"Hands behind your head." The first man ordered, his accent American. "On the floor. Keep it still."

He aimed his gun at Danielle. She tensed, but raised her hands. Sherlock's fingers brushed by her's, quickly rubbing them in a gesture meant to bring comfort. It helped calm her racing heart.

==MPH==

AN: Sorry this took so long! I got sent online harassment, and when I complained to my bosses about it they said it was *all my fault that I got the harassment- and I'm lucky I didn't make it worse*. So to fix it, they fired me. As one does. But I managed to finish this and other chapters in my new free time.

Also some people have made comments and I want to hear from you guys: poly Johnlock with Danielle. How y'all feel about it?

Thanks to Denah Ward, Role with life, and BibiLeseratte8 for following