Sherlock's Pov
I don't know how much time has passed, but yoga has become boring and the light from the window was gone. All that remained was the lights above that continually hummed for the entirety of me being here, and the mattress that looked like it would give you some sort of disease if you came near it.
There was also the rope that was previously wrapped around me, but it was cut too short to do any real help. Maybe I could fashion a trip wire from it, just to piss off who ever comes in next. No real danger, but then again I could use the extra rope to choke them to the point of passing out. The door opened into my cell rather than out to the hall, meaning I would have to physically snag their feet with the rope then climb on top of the person as they fell to knock them out. However carrying a bed to a destination is not a one person job, not even a two either. Possibly three hostiles, my only weapon is this rope and possibly disease carrying bed, and I haven't the fondest idea what's exactly out my door let alone this building.
I could also make a noose, there was enough rope to make one anyway. The ceilings were low enough as well, it would just be a question of of will power to not put any effort in using my legs. Suffication isn't a bad way to die, it's below hypothermia for being the least painful. That and old age of course, but I rather let my brain turn to "alphabet soup" before i get to the point of being called old.
*knock knock knock*
"Mr Holmes, we have your bed, and your doctor. We've been told by Mr Moriarty to tell you that we have stun guns and we aren't afraid to use them on her." A voice called from beyond the door, I immediately took apart his sentence. He used we twice, meaning there was multiple hostiles like I predicted but also seeing how they didn't slip up on using it twice. They also said "use it on her" rather than "use it on you" like most threats go. That was a definite term told to be used by Moriarty, not doubt about it.
"I won't be putting up a fight if that's what your implying. Just get it over with for both our sakes." I responded, I haven't had a good nights sleep in hours and I was starving, not something that mixes well with me. Plus I've been wondering who the doctor was that Moriarty has kept on the down low for the time I knew she existed.
The door opened as I shoved the excess rope under the grotesque bed, while I shoved the other half down my surprisingly still intake trousers. Two men came in first, the first one was carrying a clean twin size mattress under his arm, while the other was carrying an entire bed frame. Both men were huge, what the hell was Jim feeding these guys? Then shortly after came a man with a cattle rod in his hands, stun guns my ass. Those things were made to piss off a full sized bull and send a average human into cardiac arrest. He motioned with his rod for someone to follow, that someone being my doctor.
A pair of black flats clicked on my cement floor, followed by a pair of short slender legs and a sweater that looked comfortable and warm, something I would've killed for right about now. The person had a lab coat on, and mid length brunette hair tied back loosely in a ponytail. My heart stopped when I finally saw her face, it was Molly. Molly Hooper, my colleague, and apparently my friend. Her words, maybe mine. She looked up to see me, her face turned white, then her cheeks turned a bright red. The moment the red hit her ears is the moment she looked away, I looked down at myself to see what was so appalling to the point she couldn't look at me. Aside the fact I was shirtless my abdomen was bruised to the point of some spots being yellow.
She removed the lab coat she had on and handed it to me, the best I could do though was wrap it around myself seeing how our size difference was...obvious to say. Nonetheless it was enough for her to look to directly at me, she had bags under her eyes almost as deep as mine. Her face had no bruising which I thought was a good sign, until I looked farther down and saw marks on her neck. My hands moved on their own as I checked her shoulders and neck, she was covered in bruises and what looked liked hickies. That bastard, so that's what he meant by not sharing her.
"I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you, you know." She finally said, her small slender fingers gently wrapping around my arm to pull me off her. She stopped though when she saw the bruising left by the ropes, afraid she might hurt me more she released me. Concern grew across her face, she looked up at me and did what I just did moments before. Her hands traced my features, but she didn't touch me.
"How did they get you, your clever Molly I know you wouldn't just get into some strangers van." I attempted to make conversation, it was weak and probably wouldn't get much but it was something. Social conversation was usually Johns thing anyway.
"It was a phone call actually, imagine my surprise when my old dead ex hits me up saying they have you hostage. He sent a picture and everything Sherlock, it was terrible." She responded, her hands and eyes never stopping their examination of my body. "The news said there was a gas explosion at your flat, Ms Hudson and Fluffy got out alright. The insurance money for the building will be enough to rebuild it and everything. No one believed you were dead though, despite the body that was left that matched your dental records. You've been dead too many times to trick us again." She continued, a weak smile grew on her lips. Molly was always better at conversation than I was, it was one of the many things that drew me to her.
"And John? Is he and his family ok?" I asked, I released the lab coat against my chest as she took a closer look at the bruising. Her hands hesitated when I said that, like I hit a nerve.
"He's doing the same thing everyone else is, placing bets for the day you come back from
the grave." She looked back toward the men and motioned for them to bring something in, it was a metal cart with bandages and pills as well as an assortment of bottles and scalpels. They pushed it to her sides and turned their cow prods on to stun deliberately in front of me.
"How long have I been gone?" Another question to ask with an answer that was not going to have any reassurance to it whatsoever.
"Two weeks and a day, I have my money set on two months for your big return." The smile on her lips never grew or wavered, it was torturous to watch. She removed a bottle of ointment from the cart and gently applied it to the bruised areas of my chest, it hurt like all hell but I wouldn't let anything more but a hiss escape my lips. After the ointment came the bandages and this process continued over the entirety of my body.
"For somebody that works with the dead most of the time, your not too bad at keeping me alive." I applauded her wrap job, the smile on her face growing just a size bigger. She placed the excess bandages and ointment back on the tray and handed me back her lab coat.
I wrapped it around my torso and used the sleeves as a make shift wrap around my one shoulder. In the end result I looked ridiculous but it made Molly comfortable.
"For somebody that's been dead so many times, your not too bad at staying alive." She responded, but the smile on her face dispersed rather than glowed. My abdomen didn't feel any worse, and the bed that has been set up for me was finally done after pointless grunting when these men obviously were setting up a hidden camera under the damn thing.
"It's set up! The recorder is working! Now get out!" I demanded finally out of patience, although my outburst left Molly startled as well. As the men headed to the door so did she, but as she neared the door way she stopped. At first I thought it was for her to say her proper goodbyes, but then she retreated slowly backwards rather turning around.
"Who the hell let you out of your cage." Sebastian's voice called from beyond the doorway. Molly's foot steps kept retreating, and soon the man was in my "cage". He had a new black eye and that regular look of anger in both of them.
"It was J-jim, he sent these men and had me-" she tried to explain but Sebastian had her throat in his hands before she could finish. He didn't even need her against a wall as he lifted her by her neck right where she stood.
"Your mine, not his. You listen to what I say, not him. If you even think about disobeying me again I'll break your neck rather then squeeze it. Do I make myself cle-"
*Clang*
I picked up the medical tray that the men pushed inside and slammed it into the back of Sebastians head. He dropped Molly and threw his hands to comfort the spot I hit. I caught Molly before her head hit the ground and ushered her to the nearest guard. She was gasping for air and holding her neck as purple hand marks already began to take form. The guard took her from me and I backed away to show I wasn't going to be a threat to them, not that it mattered any way. The biggest threat in the room was Sebastian, and it didn't take a genius to figure that out.
"Leave a stick....and lock the door...." Sebastian finally said, more of demanded anyway. The last guard handed him cow prod and basically tripped over himself as he made his way out the door. The click it made reminded me that of a gun getting ready to shoot.
"You can't touch me, he'll get angry if you do." I defended myself, never have I thought I would use Moriarty's name as a shield. That didn't stop him though, if anything his steps became more menacing. The medical tray I used earlier was out of my reach eand too close to him for comfort. He clicked the prod on and white sparks came from the end, by the look in his eyes he wasn't going to just jab me with the thing once.
"I don't give a fuck about what he has to say, he didn't listen to me why should I listen to him?" He questioned, although by the rate of his steps I wasn't going to be given the chance to answer.
"You'll be better than him, the moral high ground and all that." I pulled at the rope I tucked in trousers earlier, but kept it concealed as he grew closer.
"I don't want to be better than him, I just want you to be lower than me." He spat back, swinging back his arm that held the cow prod. As he swung down at me I pulled out the rope and blocked it just as it was about to meet its mark. I twisted the rope swiftly and pulled so I now had control of where the top went and pushed up. The sparks went above my head and into the wall behind me, it busted the pokers off so now it was a dignified electric stick. A victory short lived I must say, as pushing the poker up just brought Sebastian closer.
"Big mistake, that thing would've been fast at least. Now your left with me, and a nice looking piece of rope. Not to mention that brand new bed he got you, he went to the warehouse himself to pick it out." He said as he released his grip on the now broken cow prod and placed his newly freed hands on my wrists. This bastard was one of the few people in the world that was taller than me, all by a few fucking inches and that's all he needed to over power me.
"No, the mistake here is letting go of your weapon." I said as I released the grip on my rope and the rod fell on his face. He was gonna have splitting headache by the end of today, I will make sure of it. He released my wrists as he cradled his nose, the main area that got hit by the blunt end of the stick. I pushed him off and made way for the door, it was on the other side of the room which would usually take not even five seconds to get to but every step I took felt a year of my life pass me by. When I finally reached the other side of the room and banged on the door a tightness grew around my neck. He had used my rope that I half mindedly released and wrapped it around my neck, he then dragged me backwards toward the bed.
The door grew farther away and with it so did my breath as it became harder to breath. Not only was the rope breaking the skin on my neck but it was also cutting the air off to my brain. With hands you have human error of them twitch or cramping but with rope, the only chance of survival was if it broke.
"The mistake here, Sherly, is thinking you we're gonna get out of this." He said, his mouth just inches away from my ear allowing the venom in his voice to drip down my neck.
I scratched at his hands and clawed at the rope, hoping to loosen it and get a breath in to release a scream. When air did return to my lungs it was short lived for when the rope fell from my neck Sebastian's fist flew into my stomach. He hit the bruised parts that Molly worked so diligently on fixing, the bruised ribs were most definitely broken now. I crumpled but instead of falling to the ground I felt his grasp on my sides, he lifted me onto the bed and laid me out like he was modeling me for some pornographic photo shoot.
"Stop....just....stop" I groaned out, no air meant no energy, no energy meant no will to fight.
"Look at you, the great Sherlock Holmes. Someone criminals and the government both revered, begging for his life like some withering coward." A grin grew on his face, but the concerning feature was not his smile but his eyes....his eyes were spine chilling. The feeling became less of a saying as his hand grazed my cheek, then my neck, and slowly further down my frame. I pushed myself away from his grasp but the moment he saw I regained strength his hand clamped down on my neck. He pressed me deeper into the bed and crawled on top, now being able to use both hands to choke me rather than just the one.
"Nah, ah, ah...I'm far from being done here, you owe me. For every time he called out your name, instead of-" The door to my cell creaked open, and a wave of murderous intent filled the room.
"Off of him...now." Moriarty ordered. Sebastian released my throat immediately and shot off the bed, he even took a few steps away from me as extra precaution. In doing so I broke out in a coughing fit as air returned to my lungs so suddenly. I jolted up from the bed and stared at Jim in the door way, was the recorder attached to my bed live feed?
"I-" Sebastian tried to explain himself, but Moriarty pulled out a gun and cocked it at him. His eyes expressionless, he flicked the gun toward the door. Sebastian took a step it's way but Moriarty fired off a shot before he could take the second. "Fuck!" He cried, the shot was exactly where his foot would've been had he taken the next step.
"Crawl..." Moriarty demanded, once again staying completely emotionless. The once terrifying man got down on his hands and knees and crawled out of the room. If he had a tail it would be firmly stuck between his legs, I would've broken out laughing if I didn't think he would get me back later for it. Once Sebastian was out of the room the door was closed by a guard that apparently was gonna be at my door day in and day out. Based off the bags under his eyes he hasn't got that day out.
"All this trouble, over you?" Moriarty's usual chaotic tone returned, and with it his smile. He walked over to the twin size bed I was currently set on and sat on the other side. He didn't stay like that though, once he notice my bed was missing it's covers and sheets still he jumped up and ran to the door like he had forgotten something. After knocking twice and doing a little secret knock that I had quickly memorized the door opened. He stuck his hand out and when it came back inside he had a welcome basket, similar to the ones that John got when he first moved into his new home with Mary.
"I got you a welcoming gift, I bet mine is going to be so much better than Sebs." He said, shoving the basket into my bruised and battered ribs. I released a short hiss of pain, but either he didn't notice or he just didn't care.
The basket was wrapped in red tinted cellophane so I could see an altered view of what was inside, as well as it being topped with a big black ribbon bow. I looked up at him only to see the smile of a giddy child, this looked like Christmas to him.
"Come on then! Open it!" He urged on, the gun still in his hand. He didn't use it to threaten me though, just used it as an extension of himself. Slowly and carefully I undid the bow and allowed the cellophane to fall onto me. In the basket was a bunch of shredded paper and sparkles, nothing else. I looked over to the giver, he was shaking from excitement in his spot like a crazed man. Not that I ever thought he was sane anyway. "Stop being such a tease and pull it out!" He said, pointing to the mess of shredded paper.
Hesitantly I put my hand in and felt around the mess, on to for it to find a plastic box. I pulled it out and saw that attached to it was a fucking dog collar. I looked over at Moriarty in disgust, only to find the giddy child had gone and the psychopath returned. He took the collar from my hands and turned it over a few times in his own, the collar itself was as black as the box. The box however was the size of his fist, whether it was to track or shock was still unknown.
"It's for your safety, I can't always be here to watch over my dogs. Especially the feral ones, so as long as this is on your person, none of my problematic pups can touch you. They've been tagged you see, and if they get within a foot of you I'm told and I send my men on them." He handed it back to me, but didn't force it on me like I believed he would.
"I'd rather the difference be bigger, also did you say dogS, as in multiple?" I questioned him, I wasn't going to say thank you. A smile grew on his lips, but not the usual sinister that kept me up the first few nights after the incident with John and the swimming pool.
"Oh Sherlock, how I've missed you." Is all he said before planting another kiss on my lips. I pushed him off, appreciating the air I have and wanting to keep it that way. He looked at me, as if I just kicked his fucking puppy.
"I'm not in the mood."
".....get in it, or I'll take my gift." He threatened, putting his hand out to collect what he had so recently given.
𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘?
𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎, 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝.
𝙾𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚎.