Fight for Me

Chapter 29

"Is this excess of fabric really necessary?" Lydia asked as she glared in repulsion at the blue coat hanging off her frame. It was a poor quality rip off of a Yohji Yamamoto design and, although he was supposed to be a beloved designer, Lydia simply could not figure out the functionality of the fabric draped over the shoulders. It just looked like a shoddy cutting job, to be honest.

Sherlock sighed at her distaste, "please just work with me here. It is surprisingly difficult to find fake designer clothes for you when I am fairly unfamiliar with the territory."

"Fine, I don't mind the shoes, at least. A bit tall for how much walking you want me to do, but Jimmy Choo gets my approval," Lydia conceded, glancing down at the silver heels with an intricate wavy pattern creating the straps. "However, the dress is a bit modernist for me and must it show everything?"

She fruitlessly pulled down on the skirt, trying to smooth out the tight fabric bunching around her hips and trying to hide the contours and bumps of her body. Sherlock shook his head at her actions and assured her, "you look fine, Lydia, I'm sure Paco Rabanne would be honored to have his design - although made out of lower quality materials, no doubt - displayed on a frame like yours."

Lydia frowned slightly at his comment, a light blush creeping up her cheeks, "did you just give me a compliment, Sherlock Holmes?"

"Will you stop fussing if I say yes?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "I do believe I heard a compliment, this is an historic moment. Let me live in it for a moment."

Lydia closed her eyes, a bright smile stretched across her face, causing a strange excitement to rise in Sherlock. He clenched his fist, willing the feeling to go away, reminding himself how infuriating Lydia was and how often they quarreled. Sentiment was not an advantage and certainly not when it directed towards her.

He let out a huff of annoyance and grabbed the ear piece he had procured so that they could be in contact throughout the night, allowing him to know immediately if Lydia was in any sort of danger. Lydia opened her eyes as he pulled back her chocolate waves, her eyes trained on him as he carefully placed it in her ear, a focused look in his gorgeous blue eyes. Lydia frowned as she felt her heart speed up at his gentle touch, but convinced herself that it was just anxiety. She was going to try to get targeted by a serial killer, at all.

"You're sure that this is a good idea, Sherlock?" She piped up as he finished securing the piece. "I've never done anything like this before."

Sherlock nodded, "if you can smuggle drugs across borders, this should be easy work for you."

"And if you are wrong about me?"

A heavy sigh passed through his lips as he confessed, "Lydia, I know what the Rose Foundation has been doing, my brother has a file on you."

Sherlock's words were like a bomb dropped on Lydia, a sudden realisation that her attempts to hide the truth were all in vain. Her thoughts began to spin and all colour was drained from her face. She wondered how long he had known, had it been all the way back when she first entered his flat? When he was interrogating them after the concert? By the time of the charity gala, no doubt. She could have gone to him before the concert, she could have gotten protection and ended her nightmare then and there.

"Lydia?" Sherlock questioned, placing his hand on her arm to try to garner a response. She jumped at the contact, grabbing hold of his hand and pressing it back towards his wrist in an automatic response.

Realising that it was just Sherlock, her eyes widened and she apologised, "oh my god, I'm sorry, Sherlock, guess I'm just a bit jumpy. Going after a serial killer and all that."

Although Sherlock knew she was still trying to process what he had told her, he decided that that was a conversation that they could have at a later date. Right now, his main focus was making sure that Lydia would be able to accomplish the task he had given her.

"There is no reason to be nervous, Lydia, I can assure you of that," he spoke slowly, trying to dig around his mind palace for reassuring phrases to repeat to her, but he feared he must have deleted that information. "John and I will be right there with you should anything happen. Besides, you clearly know how to handle yourself."

"Yeah, I suppose," she sighed, noticeably unconvinced as she tugged on the sleeve of her dress. "As long as the killer is caught, right?"

"Lydia, listen to me, if you don't think you can do this, I can bring this to Scotland Yard to handle. But I promise you won't be in any danger, save for the typical dangers of a woman at a night club. Just remember not to leave your drink unattended or accept one from a stranger and don't-"

"I'm a woman, Sherlock, I know how these things work," Lydia interrupted, knowing that Sherlock listing everything out loud would only make her more anxious. Besides, she had had those rules engrained in her mind since she was a teenager.

At that moment John came downstairs, dressed in more formal attire than his preferred jumper. Seeing Sherlock and Lydia standing so close together informed him that Lydia was starting to get nervous about what was going to happen. He hesitated at the bottom of the stairs, unsure if he should be encouraging Lydia to put herself in so much danger, even if it did mean catching a serial killer.

Even though John didn't announce his presence, Sherlock knew he was there and took his gaze off of Lydia to meet John's eyes. "Ah, John, I take it you're ready? Take one of the ear pieces in case we get split up."

John nodded as Sherlock left Lydia's side to secure his own ear piece and grab a small tracker. Sherlock approached Lydia hesitantly with the tracker in hand, "I hope you don't mind, but I thought it best to take this extra precaution."

"Yes, of course," Lydia replied, reminding John of a soldier in her emotionless determination.

Sherlock nodded, "yes, well, there really isn't a great place to put it where it may go unnoticed or may be dislocated."

Realising that Sherlock was going to need to have access to some area of her body that was a bit inappropriate, she let out a sigh. "Fine, where do you need to stick it?"

"I'm thinking either up your skirt or on the back, around the waistline. I would prefer the latter as it being inside your skirt means if it were dislodged it would fall to the ground, which would be less likely to happen if it were on the back. I'm also assuming that that would be more comfortable for you when I secure it in place."

"Very well, do the back then," she agreed, turning so that Sherlock had access to the zipper and pulling her loose hair out of the way.

John froze as he watched Sherlock unzip the back of the dress slowly, taking care to not expose more of her bare skin than was necessary. He was having trouble processing the scene before him, although he knew that Sherlock was only doing his job, John still never imagined he would ever see Sherlock unzipping a woman's dress before his own eyes.

Sherlock carefully secured the tracker then zipped her back up, moving her hair back into place for her. "Remember, try to make sure that your hair is covering your left ear. The device should not be visible, but we certainly don't want to take any chances."

He received a nod from Lydia, who fixed her hair to effectively hide the ear piece. John joined the two of them and offered Lydia a gentle smile, "I don't know if he's thanked you for what you're doing yet, but it really is very important and we're very grateful. If anything goes wrong, say Vatican Cameos."

This caused Lydia to frown, "well that's not a very effective code phrase, is it? How am I supposed to work that into a conversation without raising suspicion?"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about raising suspicion. The minute John or I hear that, we'll have already leapt into action, there's no need to be subtle about it. Now, unless there are any other pressing matters, I do believe that it is time that we head out. We can share a cab on the way there, but Lydia, remember that you will need to walk half of the way home before grabbing a cab. John and I will be right behind you."

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(A/N): Ooh it's showtime! Will everything go according to plan or will something go awry? I hope you enjoyed this chapter!