The Exception (sherlock x reader)

Chapter 18: Sherlocked

"Oh he's good isn't he?" Irene admired. This admiration was different than what he had seen back at Baker street this morning. "I should have him on a leash. In fact I might." She was making sure she enjoyed every second of their misery, like a true dominatrix.

"Fine then," Mycroft continued his last ditch effort to try and salvage the mess I had created. Uselless. His attempts are completely useless. Every aspect was thought out meticulously to ensure when she got here, tonight, that she would hold all the power and be the one to pull Mycrofts strings so the government would dance before her, doing her bidding. My brother wants to keep playing, but he refuses to see the game is over.

Irene gave Mycroft a list of her demands of course, and to no surprise it was long. What caught my attention again was when she asked if he would like to think of it and Mycroft responded with yes, she refused? Again the power had already been established, but she couldn't help to get in  more jabs, to toy with him more, just like she toyed with him. 

Oh, but of course. She loved to play with them, but she doesn't know when to stop. 

"Jim Moriarty sends his love." The name as it rolled off her tongue brought up his ice cold hatred for him. Of course he was involved, How could he not have seen it? The letters (y/n) had been hiding had clearly been from him, he intentionally tried to isolate her, push her away from me- us, so that when Irene returned, she would be the one that I was focused. Moriarty needed us both to be alone, and I let him win.

"Thank god for the consultant criminal. He gave me a lot of advice about how to play the Holmes boys. Do you not what he calls you? The Ice Man, and the Virgin. Didn't even ask for anything, I think he just like to cause trouble. Now that's my kind of man." Of course, Moriarty only causes trouble when there's a benefit to him. Part of me was itching to run straight back to Baker street, to see (y/n) and learn what Morairty had been writing all these months-

No. I can fix this.

"And here you are, the dominatrix who brought a nation to its knees. Nicely played." Mycroft had become too good at brownnosing people after so long in the government. 

My mind was racing, there was something, there had to be. And there was.

"No." I interrupted. She was close, but everyone makes mistakes, and oh she made the biggest one of them all. "Very, very close, but no. You got carried away. The game was too elaborate, you were enjoying yourself too much." Now I have the power, and I remembered what is really important in this game. "The game was too elaborate, you were enjoying yourself too much." I continued while walking over to the pair, adrenaline rushing through my veins from the thrill of winning. 

"No such thing as too much." Irene was trying to read me, but refused to let herself believe that she got this close just for the virgin to be her downfall.

"Oh, enjoying the thrill of the chase is fine. Craving the distraction of the game I sympathize entirely," Flashes of (y/n) were going through my mind as I carefully made my final move against the Woman. "but sentiment?" I had to brush away the look on (y/n)'s face, smiling and laughing at the Christmas party, was that the last time I saw her smile? "Sentiment is a chemical defect found in the losing side."

"Sentiment? What are you talking about?" Ireen brushed it off as if she didn't know how right I was in this moment. 

"You."

"Oh, dear god. Look at the poor man. You didn't actually think I was interested in you. Why? Because your the great Sherlock Holmes,the clever detective in the funny hat?" I was less focused on her words and more on her eyes. They were strikingly bright, but unsettling usually, unlike (y/n)'s that had a warm fascination behind them. All I saw in Irene's was panic as they dilated when trained on me. Dilated, (y/n)'s (color of eyes) dilated when she noticed me the other night, catching her with all those letters she'd tried to hide. 

"No." I stepped closer, never breaking eye contact. I took her wrist in my hand, gently encircling it with my fingers like I had earlier that night, and leaned in close enough to whisper. "I took your pulse." 

Irene's face was illuminated by the glowing light of the fire, the flames looked as if they were dancing across her skin, Her smooth hand slipped over mine, a surprisingly gentle touch for a woman in her profession. The look in her eyes was both inviting and terrifying all at the same time. I took the opportunity, and moved my hand to be on top of hers, it wasn't difficult to get my fingers perfectly in place on her wrist to feel the pulse from her radial artery. The moment was full of intimacy, but apparently more for her, than I, as I felt her heart race under the tips of my fingers.

"Elevated." I stated as the realization set in for Irene. "Your pupils, dilated."

(Y/n) was in the very chair I had been in with Irene, the roles reversed as I knelt in front of her, the unconscious American crumpled on the floor behind me. I craddled her injured arm, and took the other in my hand, I wanted to calm her down, knowing that easing the transition as the adrenaline left her body and the pain set in would be necessary. I took her pulse, elevated. Expected, of course, but It never dropped as much as I anticipated, even as the adrenaline subsided. It had been too long since the two of us had been this close, it always had be danger that brought us together. 

That thought hurt, even remembering it. I reached behind Irene, grabbing the camera phone that had haunted me for the last six months, but as I picked it up, this time knowing I would succeed at getting in, it felt almost lighter, less of a burden. 

"I imagine John Watson thinks love is a mystery to me, but the chemistry is incredibly simple and very destructive. When we first met you told me that disguise is always a self-portrait. How true of yu. The combination to your safe, your measurements, but this," There was a fire slowly dying in Irene's eyes as she tried to find anyway to stop my next move. "This is far more intimate. This is your heart and you should never let it rule your head." You typed in the four-letter code as you explained, more to myself than the Woman, why love is such a dangerous thing. "You could have chosen any random number and walked out of here today with everything you've worked for. But you couldn't resist it, could you? I've always assumed that love is a dangerous disadvantage. Thank you," I hesitated with the conclusion that this had shown me as I typed in the final letter, Irene should have been able to topple the entire government at her whim, but becoming too involved in the game cost her everything. "Thank you, for the final proof."

"Everything I said, it's not real." Irene said making her last effort. "I was just playing the game."

"I know." I turned the phone, revealing the code I finally cracked. "And this is just losing."

I AM SHERLOCKED

With a harmonic beep and a look of desperation in Irene's eyes, the phone opened.

"There you are brother," I handed over the phone. "I hope the contents make up for any inconvenience I may have caused you tonight."

"I'm certain they will." Even Mycroft was speechless at my hail mary that seemed impossible. 

"If you're feeling kind, lock her up, otherwise let her go. I doubt she'll survive long without her 'protection.'"

"Are you expecting me to beg?"

"Yes." My words were now the cold ones, void of any semblance of sentiment. 

"Please. You're right. I won't even last six months." Her words were flooded with emotion, but it wouldn't make a difference, not to me. I still hesitated, but this is way the game had to end. 

"Sorry about dinner." And with that note of finality, her fate sealed, I strode out of the room, headed back to Baker Street, back to (y/n) and John.