Against the Odds

Chapter 5: Bomb

The man sighed and straightened. He didn't bother to pretend to read her personal information- she was too clever to fall for that, and he knew he needed to show her just what she would be dealing with, should Sherlock ever be hurt because of her.

"Miss Jones. You are a twenty-six year old woman, five foot six and roughly one hundred and fifteen pounds. You lost your parents and only family in a tragic accident when you were twelve years old. Struggled to stay afloat, moving through several orphanages because you were a difficult child with your superior intellect, cleverer than most adults even at that age but not mature enough to handle the stress and strain of you situation."

"You eventually left all institutions when you were sixteen, opting instead to become an emancipated minor. You took your GCE A-levels at that age: and passed all nine with flying colors, a remarkable feat but you hid that from the media to avoid the attention you neither cared for nor desired."

"Since then you studied at Cambridge, attaining a degree in chemistry in three years at the age of nineteen. You once again requested animosity and the news remained hidden. After that, you left the country to work in Switzerland, before returning to Britain last year. You worked for a local university and moved to Bart's after a professor recommended you in."

Rose just looked at Mycroft defiantly as he listed her history to her. He paused and looked at her levelly, before saying: "Several things become apparent from what I've found, Miss Jones." "Such as the fact that you are a creepy stalker?" She challenged and he ignored the jibe.

He said coldly: "You are always anxious to avoid attention, quite possibly because of what happened with your parents. You are also an intellect at a genius level, rivaling that of my brother, but managed to become quite a sociable woman that is managed by letting out your genii into a creative outlet- particularly highlighted in your Art and Design A-level. But despite that, you are just as untrusting of people as my brother."

She tensed a little as he narrowed his eyes and said flatly: "You are also an incredibly private person. It is unusual that it took my men a week to find information about you." She just shrugged and Mycroft came straight to the point. "Why are you living with Sherlock Holmes and why are you allowing him to have an interest in you?"

"We don't actually live together." Rose pointed out and he just looked at her pointedly. She huffed in annoyance as she said: "Look, I just needed a place close to Bart's and I liked Mrs. Hudson, plus the rent is cheap. It's not my fault Sherlock and I can now tolerate each other, and I actually like having someone that can keep up with me, too. That's all, I swear."

He leveled a look at her and he asked abruptly: "I could offer to pay you a meaningful sum of money on a regular basis if you kept an eye on him and gave me regular updates on how he is." Her eyes narrowed. "Why?" She asked, and he shrugged as he said: "Because I worry about him."

She leveled an intense look at him and then said flatly: "No." He raised a brow again. "Could it be, you've learnt to trust Sherlock Holmes, of all people?" He asked incredulously and she bit out: "That's not really your business."

He watched her struggling to maintain her cool exterior and nodded. They stayed silent for a moment before he said: "Well, then, have a very good day, Miss Jones. I think we'll see each other again. I will be keeping an eye on him..."

He trailed off suggestively, his gaze looking at her intently. She just stared right back at him, waiting for him to break it off and leave. She huffed as Mycroft left without so much as a backward glance while his PA came up, speaking for the first time, but with her gaze still fixed on her phone, as she said: "I'm to take you home. Address?"

Rose stared after Mycroft with pursed lips before she turned and walked back with the woman to the car, saying defiantly: "221 Baker Street."

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