The Consulting Hacker

Getting Information

Chapter Eight

"John, we're going out. Come on."

--

"Where to?" John closed his paper glaring at Sherlock, "I don't see why I have to come."

"John, you and I both know that I can't be left alone interrogating a grown adult for less than half a minute before they have a nervous break-down, let alone an imbecilic teenager, she'll probably start having a nervous break-down if I start talking to her. That is why I need you to come to the come with me to go visit her at the hospital."

"Fine, I'll come; only because I'm checking up on her, for Mrs Hudson's sake." He scowled slightly and grabbed his coat and put it on, he then swiped the newspaper off the table and made his way out of the door.

"Why are you bringing that?" Sherlock stared pointedly at the folded newspaper under John's arm.

"What, this?" Joh pulled the paper from under his arm and gave it a light shake.

"Yes, that."

"As I said Sherlock, I'm not in the mood to talk to you." John started to walk out of the door with Sherlock watching in an amused expression on his face.

"That's fine with me. I needed a quiet cab anyway."

They walked out into the crisp pre-winter air; Sherlock, whilst wrapping his navy scarf around his neck, hailed a cab.

"Guy's Hospital, please." The cab driver gave Sherlock a curt nod and slowly did a U-turn out of Baker Street.

--

The hospital smelt of detergent and was unnaturally white everywhere; however, in some places there were splashes of a sickly green. The duo turned a few sharp corners before they reached a door, John knocked quickly on it, after a second, Sherlock just walked in, not bothering to wait for a response from inside. As the door swung open, a slight suppressed sneeze could be heard from in the room.

"Look, she's asleep, we should come back later." John half-whispered as he made his way out of the door. Sherlock looked unfazed and instead decided to move closer to the chair beside the bed.

"Cate, get up. I know you're awake. We all know that people cannot sneeze in their sleep."

"Damn. So close yet so far. I fooled you thought didn't I, John?" John looked confused but still gave a slight nod; "How come you never fall for my fake 'unconsciousness'?" she looked slightly disappointed as she directed her question to Sherlock.

"Child's play."

"But I am a child, am I not?"

"Well the thing is Cate; you claim to be a 12 year old, a 16 year old and a 19 year old. How old are you really?"

"Sherlock, what are you-?" John questioned.

"These, John, these." Sherlock threw some of Cate's fake IDs onto the bed, John moved closer and picked them up, "These obviously aren't the only ones, the rest a probably littered elsewhere around her apartment." John looked at Sherlock, then at Cate. She was looking at Sherlock contentedly, a small smile tugging on her lips.

"I see you've been around my flat, I feel quite honoured. Did you enjoy the view of what was in my drawers when you were snooping? I assume you've also asked Mycroft to send you information on the people in my IDs." Sherlock didn't react.

"Possibly. You didn't answer my question; how old are you?"

"What awful manners you have. Didn't you ever learn to never ask a lady her age? It's considered impolite and intrusive." Cate looked at Sherlock unflinchingly; an irritated looked flashed across Sherlock's face, but it quickly went as quickly as it came. "And was that a 'possibly' to the view in my drawers or to the fact that you asked Mycroft for information on me?" Instead of answering, Sherlock carried on, unfazed by her question.

"Name then?" Cate paused, a look of thoughtfulness taking over her entire posture.

"Fine, I'll tell you my first name. I'm feeling generous today." Sherlock leant slightly forward, waiting for her response, "My name is... My name is... Sherlock." Cate looked absolutely serious as she said this, John suppressed his smile and Sherlock's brow crinkled up in annoyance. Cate couldn't hide her laughter anymore, she spluttered and her lips curled up into a small smirk. She turned away from Sherlock and focused her attention onto John, "So, John, anything interesting in the news today?"

Sherlock internally groaned. Small talk, why do people feel the need to make small talk? He immediately tuned out of the conversation.

"Well...um, there is currently a major hacking scandal, one suicide and two spontaneous fire deaths; one a couple days ago and one roughly a week ago." John waved the newspaper open and threw it onto the bed. Cate pursed her lips, and turned to Sherlock when she next spoke.

"That spontaneous fire death, its right up your street isn't it?"

"Maybe, I doubt it." Sherlock got up, "Come on John, we're wasting our time here. She won't tell us anything"

"Oh, that's a shame, I thought that you would be able to keep me company a little while longer," Cate looked mildly upset, "Well, if you're going, could you put the newspaper in the recycling bin, I don't really need to read it. Your summary of the newspaper was sufficient enough to keep me entertained for today. Speaking of entertainment, do you think, by any chance, that, if you ever do visit me again, that possibly you could bring my laptop? With the charger as well, please. It's quite dull here and I would love to entertain myself by watching a few movies or TV series." Cate gave them a beam.

"You shouldn't really be using technology; you should be trying to rest." John advised.

"Please, John, I'm already dying of boredom, and it's only been two hours. I promise I won't go on it too much and I'll sleep a lot."  Cate negotiated.

"Fine, I'll bring your laptop, but no charger." Cate looked dismayed.

"But, John, please."

"I'm not falling for that, I have to deal with this," he gestures to Sherlock, "I don't fall for the puppy face either so don't try that. So just the laptop then?" Cate nodded eagerly, "I'll bring it in as soon as I can, but for now, sleep." And with that he and Sherlock left the ward. As the door clicked behind them John turned to Sherlock and asked with an amused expression,

"What was in her drawers, Sherlock?"

--

YES I HAVE UPDATED. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER. AND YES, I FEEL AWFUL FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER. I PROMISE I'LL TRY TO UPDATE MORE OFTEN. KAY.

LATERZ!

anonymouse8