It Started With Stealing | Sherlock Holmes

18 - Pout

"See, photographic evidence that you pout. Do you think John might like to see it?" She teased him.

The detective made a swipe for the phone but missed as she pulled her hand back like lightning.

"Delete the photo."

"Why? It's just pouting - wait, you don't want people to see anything other than the cold, hard exterior of the highly functioning sociopath." She sang again.

This confused Sherlock as he knew he hadn't told her that line.

"John told me that story." She sensed his question.

"If you want the phone, you'll have to go through me."

"Is that a challenge?" The detective questioned, already standing up from his stool.

"Not really but - "

Sherlock made another attempt to grab the phone from her hands. Elizabeth immediately took two quick steps back with an amused look on her face. So they were to play a little game? Okay, she thought, but she wasn't going to make it easy.

"Calm down there, detective," She chuckled, "You really don't want me to have this photo do you?"

"Just delete the photo, Elizabeth, and we can go back to normality."

"No."

"Elizabeth - "

"You want the phone, you've got to catch me."

She immediately started backing away into the lounge area of the flat. Sherlock followed slowly, eyes narrowed and questioning whether she really thought she would get away with this or not.

"I'll win."

Elizabeth chuckled, "You won't. But you can certainly try."

She raced off down the stairs where Mrs Hudson was hoovering the hallway, Sherlock hot on her tail. She yelped as Elizabeth leapt over her hoover.

"What on earth are you two doing?" The landlady yelled over the noise of the hoover.

"Do you want to see an adorable picture of Sherlock, Mrs H?" Elizabeth chortled as she ran down the hallway.

"She's blackmailing me!" Sherlock argued.

Mrs Hudson tutted at the two of them. They were like two children fighting over a toy but never let it be said that it wasn't amusing. Elizabeth was cornered at the end of the hallway, or so Sherlock thought.

"You can't get past now. Give up." Sherlock stated, arms held out to prevent her from leaving.

Smiling, the thief shook her head, "Alright, you got me." She held her hands up in surrender.

Sherlock held his hand out for the phone but already knew he had made a mistake when Elizabeth ducked and dodged past him, leapt once again over Mrs Hudson's hoover and zoomed back up the stairs. Laughing, he went after her again. She went in through the kitchen door but Sherlock already knew where she would go. Elizabeth threw a look over her shoulder in search of the detective but didn't see him and instead ran straight into him.

The moment they collided, Elizabeth yelped and Sherlock oof-ed as she had run into him at full speed.

Having slipped on the rug when he was hit, Sherlock fell back but pulled Elizabeth with him. In no time at all were they both on the floor, giggling away like toddlers at their mischief. Elizabeth rolled off of Sherlock and lay beside him, still snickering.

"That wasn't fair. You weren't supposed to go through the main door."

"No rules were ever stated."

Elizabeth turned her head to give Sherlock a playful frown.

"God, I'm warm and I'm in shorts. Aren't you dying in your suit?"

"Judging by my steady pulse, no."

"Alright, smartarse." She elbowed him lightly.

Then she realised she didn't have her phone, "Wait - "

"Looking for this?" Continuing to stare up at the ceiling with a shit-eating grin, Sherlock held his arm up for her to see her phone.

Scoffing, she held out her hand, "I'll have that back now then."

"Oh, no, you won't."

"Oh, yes, I will."

"Not until I delete the photo."

"You need my passcode for that."

"It's twenty-zero-one."

Her mouth hung open, "I know I shouldn't be surprised but how did you know that?"

"We got you the phone remember. And it's the same password we gave you."

"How did you know I wouldn't change it?"

"Because it's your birth day and month. Easy to remember. Too lazy to change it. And you want us to trust you. If you changed it you knew we would immediately become suspicious." He said all this while deleting the photo before handing the phone back to her.

Elizabeth was fighting back a grin though as she sat up and locked her phone again.

"What?"

"I said nothing."

"No, but you're smiling."

"Am I not allowed to smile?"

"You already sent it to John and Mrs Hudson didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. When we were running."

Her phone buzzed, "John loves it."

"Of course he does."