Jump Then Fall

Chapter 21

"I'M NOT SHERLOCK HOLMES!" John yelled frantically, looking at Sarah, who had become part of a Chinese escapology act.

"I don't believe you," the Opera Singer (Shan/killer) retorted, sounding bored.

It was at that moment that Sherlock did two things. One, he pushed Elsa to the side, into the shadows, so she would not be visible to anybody. Two he stepped forward and spoke; "You should, you know. Sherlock Holmes is nothing at all like him." She rolled her eyes, typical. A gun is aimed at him, and Sherlock steps into shadows next to Elsa but continued to talk. "How would you describe me, John? Resourceful? Dynamic? Enigmatic?"

Elsa rapidly whispered into his ear, "This is no time to show-off!"

"Late!?" John replied.

"Well..." Sherlock shoved Elsa to the ground, trying to make her less noticeable as he turned to hit a thug in the gut with a metal pipe. The man grunted and collapsed, dangerously close to wear Elsa was sitting. He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind a storage container. "... the radius curvature of these walls is nearly four meters. If you miss, the bullet will ricochet. Could hit anyone. Might even bounce off the tunnel and hit you."

He signaled for Elsa to stay put as he ran out of the darkness and kicked over a burning dustbin. The tunnel got significantly darker. Elsa looked up to see the scene, she could vaguely make out the outlines of everybody.

She saw Sherlock, who had been trying to untie Sarah, get attacked with a scarf ((oh, the irony)) and struggle. John was desperately trying to wiggle his way over to his date, only to end up falling over.

Elsa couldn't watch it anymore. Ignoring Sherlock's wishes, she scrambled up and stealthily sneaked her way over to Sarah, silently praying that nobody would see her. She started to untie Sarah, who barely noticed someone at her wrists trying to help. But she couldn't untie fast enough.

John knew he couldn't do much, but he had wriggled his way closer to the crossbow. He kicked it, shifting the position just before the weight made contact with the cup.

She heard the arrow let lose. She closed her eyes, expecting some sort of impact considering her standing behind the supposed target. But Elsa felt nothing, she felt nothing, but heard a sickening thunk as she assumed the arrow made contact with something. She craned her head to see Sherlock's attacker topple to the ground, arrow in his gut. Footsteps could be heard in the distance, they belonged to Shan, and Sherlock deeply considered running after her.

Muffled sobs pulled his attention back. Sarah still didn't realize that Elsa was trying her best to untie.

Sherlock unwrapped the scarf that had been used to strangle him from his neck and dropped to his knees beside Sarah. "It's all right," he said soothingly. He untied the gag from her mouth. "You're gonna be alright. It's over now. It's over."

Elsa had finished untying the ropes, and Sherlock now focused his attention to her. "I thought I made it clear that you would stay put." His voice had shifted dramatically from the tone he used towards Sarah.

She had to hold back a small whimper, cowering just a bit at Sherlock's powerful gaze. "You did," she mumble-whispered.

"Then why, why the hell did you come over here?"

"I- I- I was trying to help, you were a bit occupied..."

Sherlock darkly glared at her. "What you did, that was incredibly stupid of you."

"Well, I guess you know the capability of my idiocy now," Elsa dared to crack a grin.

Sherlock couldn't help but smile back. He reached out his hand to help her up, and Elsa obliged, now using her grip on his hand to fall into a hug. He slightly recoiled from the shock, but soon gave in to the embrace.

"Don't ever do that again, Wiggens."

"I was hoping you'd realize that I can't promise that, Holmes." They pulled apart, smiling.

"Don't worry. Next date won't be like this," John stated as he tried to comfort the still sobbing Sarah from the chair he was still tied to.

Sherlock straightened up and placed a reassuring hand on Sarah's shoulder as he looked down the tunnel.