Fight for Me

Chapter 94

"My client is offering no evidence," the barrister spoke, causing ripples of confusion to wash through the fairly empty courtroom.

Lydia's jaw clenched, knowing this was confirmation Moriarty had this all planned out. He was mounting no evidence because he had already ensured that the jury would let him walk free. She could see it in their faces, none of them willing to even glance at the man on trial, the man they were tasked to determine the fate of.

As though hearing Lydia's thoughts, Moriarty slowly turned to her up in the gallery. She desperately tried to keep her breathing even and her face void of emotion as she stared back into his soulless black eyes. He was about to be a free man and she and Sherlock were his next victims.

The jury was sent out to deliberate, but Lydia knew it would not be worth leaving the gallery, they would be back soon. Beside her, John rose from his seat and asked, "do you want to at least stretch your legs?"

"There's no point, it will all be over soon," she replied robotically, staring straight ahead as she spoke.

"Well, juries can take a while deciding. Though I reckon in this case, where even the judge has urged them towards a decision, it may take them less time."

"You think he will be found guilty then?"

"Of course. Don't you?"

She shook her head, "he will be found not guilty."

"Lydia, I know he's powerful and all, but he's mounting no evidence, there is no way anyone could possibly think anything other than he's guilty. He's going to prison, Lydia."

"If that is what you wish to believe," she spoke through a tight smile, still not moving her gaze to the man trying to converse with her.

Understanding that he wouldn't be able to sway her mind on the matter, John left the gallery and eventually took a seat in the foyer. It wasn't long before he was ushered back in, being informed the the jury had come to a conclusion.

Not guilty.

The words echoed through Lydia's head and she rose from her seat, leaving the gallery as the trial came to a close. She knew this was the outcome that they would reach, yet it still shattered her. Now she knew one thing, Sherlock and herself were in danger. It was too late to distance herself from him to protect him, they were in this together.

"No defense and Moriarty's walked free," John recounted exasperated as he led Lydia down the pavement outside the courthouse, hoping to get her home.

Suddenly Lydia grabbed John's mobile, and practically yelled, "Sherlock, he's going to be coming after you, you know this. Please, don't do anything stupid, ok? Get out of there." When there came no response from the other end, Lydia grew more worried. "Sherlock, are you even listening to me? Get out of-!"

The clicking sound informed her that he had hung up, clearly not heeding her pleas. She handed the mobile back to John, "the bastard hung up."

"He's in danger, isn't he?"

"Oh yeah, he best hope Moriarty gets him before I do."

Lydia looked around for a cab, huffing when there was none in sight, and beginning the trek back home at a hurried pace. It seemed all cabs had been rerouted to avoid the streets the two had to take to get back to the flat, which knowing Moriarty, they probably were.

As she turned the corner onto Baker Street, she watched a man in a suit disappear around the corner at the other end- the very corner she had been hiding behind the day she first reunited with John. She only got a moment's glimpse of the man, but it was all she needed to know who he was. It was too late, Moriarty had already been to see Sherlock and now Lydia could only hope he had threatened him, nothing more.

"Lydia, you alright?" John asked, a little out of breath from the distance they had crossed at such a fast pace.

She gave a nod and turned to the door of the flat, quickly throwing it open and bounding up to their flat. Sherlock was seated in his armchair, hands steepled in front of his face. He appeared unharmed physically, much to Lydia's relief, but the same could not be said about his mental state.

"Sherlock, you bloody bastard," Lydia growled as she rushed to his side, crouching beside him. "Why didn't you just leave? You knew he was coming!"

"I also knew he wasn't going to harm me. A conversation with him would help me determine his plan, his next moves. I wasn't going to waste that opportunity because you were scared."

"Sherlock, you can't keep putting yourself in harm's way like this!"

"Did you get anything at least? From your conversation?" John piped up, taking a seat in his chair.

"Apparently, he owes me," Sherlock replied, tilting his head towards a carved out apple on the coffee table. Lydia could not see the whole message but from the first two letters she could assume it read IOU.

John frowned, "owes you what?"

"A fall."

Silence fell over the flat as Sherlock returned his focus inward while John and Lydia were simply too shocked to speak. Lydia was the first to recover, placing her hand on Sherlock's arm.

"But he's not going to succeed. You'll figure out his plan and we'll stop him. Together."

"And if the only way to stop him requires us to be apart?" Sherlock inquired and Lydia immediately realised what he was implying.

"Sherlock, we've had this conversation before. I'm not going anywhere, not even if it puts me in danger. Besides, Moriarty's pissed at me too, surely it wouldn't matter if I were to break up with you. So you listen to me, we are going to fight this together, us and John. We're a team, always."

Sherlock glanced over at her for the first time since she had entered the flat, practically feeling his heart break. While he didn't know specific details, he could guess what Moriarty's plan entailed and it was unlikely that all three were going to come out of it unscathed. And he would do anything to protect the woman that he loved.

But for now, he had to hold her tight, take advantage of every minute that he could spend with her. He had laid the groundwork he needed to, now it was just a waiting game to see when Moriarty would decide to strike.

-

(A/N): Wow I decide to allow myself some slack with my schedule and then trying to get back onto a more reasonable routine and all plans of a strict schedule just goes out the window. I apologise that I keep missing days, but I hope the chapters are worth it! We're so close to the end of this book, folks!