Kate returns from work to find John alone in his armchair.
"Hey, where's Sherlock?" She asks as she flops down in her own armchair and stretches her back with a groan.
"Out for a case." John responses without looking up from his laptop on which he's probably typing something for his blog.
After some time Kate starts to play some tunes of the song her and Sherlock wrote between Christmas and New Year on her violin.
Suddenly the door bursts open and Kate turns her head to see the intruder and gasps. Her gasp causes John to also look up and stare at Sherlock in shock.
His face and shirt are completely covered in blood and he carries a harpoon in one hand.
"Well, that was tedious." Sherlock states and looks over to them without any emotion.
"You went on the Tube like that?!" John questions in disbelieve.
"None of the cabs would take me." Answers casually.
Kate thinks of something to say but her mouth just hangs open and she shakes her head. "Please, go and take a shower before Misses Hudson sees you dripping blood all over the floor."
He does as he's told and returns soon later all clean and with fresh cloth, only to pick up the harpoon again and pace through the living room.
By now John's reading through different newspapers and Kate's checking through the files Lestrade must've brought over earlier today.
"Nothing?" Sherlock whines at them impatiently.
"Military coup in Uganda." John offers from the current page he's reading.
"Hm." Sherlock seems rather uninterested.
"Nothing we didn't have before." Kate sighs and puts another file away to take the next one.
"Another photo of you with the, ehm..." John giggles and shows the newspaper to Sherlock.
It's a picture with the hat, Kate chuckles and Sherlock makes a disgusted sound.
"Cabinet reshuffle." John flips to the next page and reads the headline.
"Nothing of importance?" Sherlock whines and slams the harpoon on the ground before he starts to shout. "Oh, God!"
He pauses for a moment before turning back to them. First he stares at Kate but then he changes his mind and focusses on John. "John, I need some. Get me some."
John inhales. "No."
"Get me some." He demands.
"No!" John says sternly.
Kate gets up and turns towards Sherlock. "Cold turkey, we agreed, no matter what!"
Sherlock sighs and leans the harpoon against the table.
"Anyway, you've paid everyone off, remember? No-one within a two-mile radius will sell you any." John explains and tries to focus on the newspaper again.
"Stupid idea. Whose idea was that?"
Kate crosses her arms and looks at him with narrowed eyes when John just clears his throat and nods towards Kate.
Sherlock glares at her for a moment as if he remembers the day they agreed on that before he turns towards the door. "Misses Hudson!!"
He starts to search around the table and throws several files around.
"Look, Sherlock, you're doing really well. Don't give up now." John tries to explain in his calm doctor voice.
"Tell me where they are. Please. Tell me." He begs and faces them again as they stay silent. "Please."
"Can't help, sorry." Kate shrugs and sits back down to pick up yet another file.
"I'll let you know next week's lottery numbers."
They both chuckle and keep focusing on the articles they're reading.
"Oh, it was worth a try." He groans before he lays his eyes on the fireplace and throws himself on the ground in front of it to search there for his cigarettes.
"Huhu!" Mrs. Hudson exclaims as she enters the flat.
"My secret supply. What have you done with my secret supply?" He asks her.
"Mh?" She frowns.
"Cigarettes! What have you done with them? Where are they?"
"You know you never let me touch your things!" She replies with a furious tone as she looks around the mess Sherlock made. "Oh, chance would be a fine thing."
Sherlock stands up and turns towards her. "I thought you weren't my housekeeper?"
"I'm not!" She answers sternly.
Sherlock hurries towards the harpoon again and picks it up with a frustrated groan while Mrs. Hudson turns to Kate and John who both make a gesture indicating that they're drinking tea.
She gets it and turns back to Sherlock. "How about a nice cuppa? And perhaps you could put away your harpoon?"
"I need something stronger than tea! Seven percent stronger." He growls and suddenly points the harpoon at Mrs. Hudson who gasps. "You've been to see Mister Chatterjee again."
"Pardon?"
"Sandwich shop. That's a new dress, but there's flour on the sleeve. You wouldn't dress like that for baking." He starts to deduct and points the harpoon at the noticed things.
Kate rolls her eyes and turns around in her armchair to face him. "Sherlock..."
"Thumbnail: tiny traces of foil. Been at the scratch cards again. We all know where that leads, don't we?" He explains further and takes a deep sniff of the air. "'Kasbah Nights.' Pretty racy for first thing on a Monday morning, wouldn't you agree? I've written a little blog on the identification of perfumes. It's on the website – you should look it up."
"Please." Mrs. Hudson tries to shake him off.
"I wouldn't pin your hopes on that cruise with Mister Chatterjee. He's got a wife in Doncaster that nobody knows about."
"Sherlock!" Kate and John shout in union.
"Well, nobody except me." Sherlock throws his hands in the air, walks towards his armchair and leans the harpoon against the wall.
"I don't know what you're talking about, I really don't." Mrs. Hudson exclaims with a hurt voice and storms out of the flat.
The door slams shut and Sherlock crouches down in his armchair. He wraps his arms around his legs and swings back and forth like a child.
Kate throws a file she was reading on the ground with a little too much force and glares at Sherlock. "What the bloody hell was all that about?"
"You don't understand." He exhales and Kate lets out a frustrated groan.
Great. He's making her feel awfully stupid once again.
"Go after her and apologize." John orders with a serious tone.
Sherlock looks up at him with a grimace. "Apologize?"
"Mhm!" John nods.
"Oh, John, I envy you so much." He sighs.
"You envy me?" John fails to hide his smirk.
"Your mind: It's so placid, straightforward, barely used. Mine's like an engine, racing out of control, a rocket tearing itself to pieces trapped on the launch pad." He raises his voice. "I need a case!"
"You've just solved one! By harpooning a dead pig, apparently!" Kate shouts back at him.
Kate knows and understands he's frustrated but he's going on her nerves right now. If John wasn't here she would try to get a real kiss out of him and not one of those quick pecks they've been sharing the past few months. That would give his mind enough material to think about.
Sherlock jumps up and lands in a sitting position on his chair. "That was this morning! When's the next one?"
His fingers are rapidly tapping on his armrest and his legs won't hold still.
"Nothing on the website?" John questions and places the newspaper on the small table beside him.
Sherlock gets up to get John's laptop from the table. "Dear Mister Sherlock Holmes. I can't find 'Bluebell' anywhere. Please, please, please can you help?"
"'Bluebell'?" Kate frowns at him.
"A rabbit, Kate!" He exclaims.
John and Kate laugh.
"Ah, but there's more! Before Bluebell disappeared, it turned luminous..." He changes his voice to imitate a little girl and makes a gesture with his hands as if he has wings and flies away. " 'Like a fairy' ... according to little Kirsty; then the next morning, Bluebell was gone! Hutch still locked, no sign of forced entry."
Suddenly he stops and stares at them. "Ah! What am I saying? This is brilliant! Phone Lestrade. Tell him there's an escaped rabbit."
"Are you serious?" Kate deadpans.
"It's this or Cluedo." Sherlock challenges with a raised eyebrow.
"Nope!" She gets up to get her phone from her bag. "We are never playing that again!"
"Why not?"
"Because it's not actually possible for the victim to have done it, Sherlock, that's why!"
"Well, it was the only possible solution."
"It's not in the rules!" John takes Kate's side.
"Then the rules are wrong!" Sherlock shouts frustrated.
The doorbell rings and they all stop what they were doing.
"Single ring." Kate grins.
"Maximum pressure just under the half second." Sherlock notices.
"Client." The three of them exclaim happily.
Kate goes down and returns with a young man.
He introduces himself as Henry Knight and tells them that he wants to show them a video first. Henry's seated in John's armchair while John took a chair by the table and Sherlock and Kate just sit in their own armchairs.
The video turns out to be a documentary and Kate can see Sherlock's face fall in boredom.
"Dartmoor. It's always been a place of myth and legend, but is there something else lurking out here – something very real? Because Dartmoor's also home to one of the government's most secret of operations the chemical and biological weapons research Centre which is said to be even more sensitive than Porton Down. Since the end of the Second World War, there've been persistent stories about the Baskerville experiments: genetic mutations, animals grown for the battlefield. There are many who believe that within this compound, in the heart of this ancient wilderness, there are horrors beyond imagining. But the real question is: are all of them still inside?" The off-voice from the documentary explains, but after another cut they can see Henry Knight on the screen. "I was just a kid. It-it was on the moor. It was dark, but I know what I saw. I know what killed my father-"
Before the Henry from the documentary can explain further Sherlock takes the remote and turns off the telly before turning towards the real Henry. "What did you see?"
"Oh... I – I was just about to say." Henry stutters and points at the black TV screen.
"Yes, in a TV interview. I prefer to do my own editing."
"Yes. Sorry, yes, of course. Excuse me." He gets a napkin from his pocket and wipes his nose.
"In your own time." Kate assures him with a kind smile and gives Sherlock a look.
"But quite quickly." He tells Henry but smirks at Kate who rolls her eyes.
"Do you know Dartmoor, Mister Holmes?" Henry questions.
"No."
"It's an amazing place. It's like nowhere else. It's sort of ... bleak but beautiful."
"Mh, not interested. Moving on." Sherlock states with a bored tone and Kate nearly laughs, she can literally feel Sherlock's frustration cooking inside him.
"We used to go for walks, after my mum died, my dad and me. Every evening we'd go out onto the moor. "
"Yes, good. Skipping to the night that your dad was violently killed. Where did that happen?"
Kate just lets her head fall in her neck without comment and John also rolls his eyes now at Sherlock's behavior.
"There's a place – it's... it's a sort of local landmark called Dewer's Hollow." Henry explains and Sherlock shrugs. "That's an ancient name for the Devil."
He raises an eyebrow. "So?"
"Did you see the Devil that night?" John asks Henry with a calm voice.
"Yes." He whispers and swallows hard. "It was huge. Coal-black fur, with red eyes. It got him, tore at him, tore him apart. I can't remember anything else. They found me the next morning, just wandering on the moor. My dad's body was never found."
"Red eyes, coal-black fur, enormous: Dog? Wolf?" John suggests to Sherlock in a thoughtful voice.
"Or a genetic experiment." Sherlock adds with a badly hidden smirk.
"Are you laughing at me, Mister Holmes?" Henry snaps.
"Why? Are you joking?" He shoots back.
"My dad was always going on about the things they were doing at Baskerville; about the type of monsters they were breeding there. People used to laugh at him. At least the TV people took me seriously."
"And, I assume, did wonders for Devon tourism."
"Yeah ..." John shifts uncomfortably in his chair. "Henry, whatever did happen to your father, it was twenty years ago. Why come to us now? "
Sherlock's the one to roll his eyes now.
"I'm not sure you can help me, Mister Holmes, since you find it all so funny." Henry states and gets up, ready to leave.
"Because of what happened last night." Sherlock answers John's question and Henry stops and stares at him.
"Why? What happened last night?" Kate frowns and looks between Henry and Sherlock.
"How ... how do you know?" Henry stutters.
"I didn't know, I noticed." Sherlock starts and Kate exchanges an annoyed look with John. "You came up from Devon on the first available train this morning. You had a disappointing breakfast and a cup of black coffee. The girl in the seat across the aisle fancied you. Although you were initially keen, you've now changed your mind. You are, however, extremely anxious to have your first cigarette of the day. Sit down, Mister Knight, and do please smoke. I'd be delighted."
"How on earth did you notice all that?!"
"It's not important ..." John throws in.
"Punched-out holes where your ticket's been checked ..." Sherlock starts to explain.
"Not now, Sherlock." Kate groans. She's too tired for her brain to follow this now.
"Oh please. I've been cooped up in here for ages."
"You're just showing off." She snaps and gives him a look.
"Of course. I am a show-off. That's what we do." Sherlock snaps back at her and she lets out an ironical chuckle.
"The train napkin that you used to mop up the spilled coffee: the strength of the stain shows that you didn't take milk. There are traces of ketchup on it and round your lips and on your sleeve. Cooked breakfast – or the nearest thing those trains can manage. Probably a sandwich." He continues.
"How did you know it was disappointing?" Henry frowns.
"Is there any other type of breakfast on a train? The girl – female handwriting's quite distinctive. Wrote her phone number down on the napkin. I can tell from the angle she wrote at that she was sat across from you on the other side of the aisle. Later – after she got off, I imagine – you used the napkin to mop up your spilled coffee, accidentally smudging the numbers. You've been over the last four digits yourself with another pen, so you wanted to keep the number. Just now, though, you used the napkin to blow your nose. Maybe you're not that into her after all. Then there are the nicotine stains on your fingers ... your shaking fingers. I know the signs. No chance to smoke one on the train; no time to roll one before you got a cab here." He checks his watch. "It's just after nine fifteen. You're desperate. The first train from Exeter to London leaves at five forty-six a.m. You got the first one possible, so something important must have happened last night. Am I wrong? "
Henry just stares at him in disbelieve. "No."
Sherlock smiles smugly at Kate who closes her mouth. However often she will witness this she'll never get over how sexy it is.
Irene Adler was right: Intelligence is the new sexy.
"You're right. You're completely, exactly right. Bloody hell, I heard you were quick." Henry exclaims.John just exhales deeply and takes a sip of his coffee.
"It's my job." Sherlock states. "Now, shut up and smoke."
John turns to Henry again. "Henry, your parents both died and you were ... what? Seven years old?"
Henry lights his cigarette and takes a long drag. Kate immediately turns up her nose at the smell.
"I know. That – my – " Henry starts talking but stops when Sherlock leans forward and takes a step towards Henry to sniff in the smoke from the cigarette.
Kate just gives him a look saying something like 'Seriously, Sherlock? That's low.'.
John tries to ignore Sherlock and addresses Henry again. "That must be a ... quite a trauma. Have you ever thought that maybe you invented this story, this – "
Sherlock leans forward once again to sniff in the next cloud of smoke.
"...to account for it?" John finishes.
"That's what Doctor Mortimer says." Henry answers John after turning away from Sherlock with a confused expression.
"Who?"
"His therapist." Sherlock answers shortly before Henry also says. "My therapist."
"Obviously." Sherlock turns back to him and gives him a fake smile.
"Louise Mortimer. She's the reason I came back to Dartmoor. She thinks I have to face my demons."
"And what happened when you went back to Dewer's Hollow last night, Henry? You went there on the advice of your therapist and now you're consulting a detective. What did you see that changed everything?" Sherlock speaks seriously.
"It's a strange place, the Hollow. Makes you feel so cold inside, so afraid."
Sherlock rolls his eyes. "Yes, if I wanted poetry I'd read John's emails to his girlfriends. Much funnier."
John sighs but Kate laughs out loud and quickly covers her mouth with her hand in surprise. She remembers one night when John was out and Sherlock used his laptop for research and ended up reading those emails on accident. When Kate noticed his confused expression, she went over to read over his shoulder and laughed way too much. Then she explained some things and words that were mentioned in the mails to Sherlock and they joked about it all night.
"What did you see?" Sherlock turns back to Henry after giving Kate a quick smirk.
"Footprints – on the exact spot where I saw my father torn apart."
"Man's or a woman's?" John asks as Sherlock leans back in his chair.
"Neither. They were – "
"Is that it? Nothing else. Footprints. Is that all?" Sherlock interrupts him.
"Yes, but they were – "
"No, sorry, Doctor Mortimer wins. Childhood trauma masked by an invented memory." He inhales deeply before calling out. "Boring! ... Goodbye, Mister Knight. Thank you for smoking."
"No, but what about the footprints?" Henry looks between each of them in confusion.
"Oh, they're probably paw prints. Could be anything, therefore nothing." He leans forwards and waves with both hands towards the door. "Off to Devon with you. Have a cream tea on me."
Sherlock gets up and walks towards the kitchen.
"Mister Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!" Henry exclaims, shaking with anger and turns around to Sherlock in the kitchen.
Sherlock stops and slowly turns around again. "Say that again."
"I found the footprints...they were – "
"No, no, no, your exact words. Repeat your exact words from a moment ago. Exactly as you said them."
"Mister Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic ... hound." Henry repeats slowly and haltingly.
"I'll take the case." Sherlock announces and straightens up.
"Sorry, what?" John questions straddled.
Sherlock does his classic move in which he places his hands together in front of his mouth like for a prayer and walks behind Kate's armchair. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It's very promising."
"No, no, no: Sorry, what? A minute ago, footprints were boring, now they're very promising?"
Sherlock stops and looks at John. "It's nothing to do with footprints. As ever, John, you weren't listening. Baskerville: ever heard of it?"
"Vaguely. It's very hush-hush."
"Sounds like a good place to start."
"Ah! You'll come down, then?" Henry exclaims happily.
"No, I can't leave London at the moment. Far too busy. Don't worry – putting my best man onto it." Sherlock swirls around and places his hands on both of Kate's shoulders with an ironical grin towards Henry. "Always rely on Kate to send me the relevant data, as she never understands a word of it herself." Kate gasps and shrugs Sherlock's hands off her shoulders. "Sherlock Holmes! What are you talking about, you're busy? You don't have a case! A minute ago you were complaining – "
"Bluebell, Kate! I've got Bluebell! The case of the vanishing, glow-in-the-dark rabbit!" He looks over to Henry. "NATO's in uproar."
"Oh sorry, so you're not coming then?" Henry tries to clear the situation up.
Sherlock looks at Kate pouts and shakes his head at her death glare.
"Okay." Kate growls and gets up. "Okay."
Sherlock grins smugly and John opens his mouth to stop her but she walks off to her room. He only follows her far enough to see what she's doing. She opens the drawer which contains her bras and panties and rummages around till she reveals a pack of cigarettes. "Seriously?" Sherlock's face reddens slightly.
"I knew you would never look further into that drawer!" She deadpans and walks past him into the living room while tossing him the package.
He just throws it in a random corner and Kate and John give him a confused look.
"I don't need those anymore. I'm going to Dartmoor." He turns to Henry. "You go on ahead, Henry. We'll follow later."
Henry gets up. "Ehm...sorry, so you are coming?"
Sherlock was already nearly out the door when he takes a step back. "Twenty-year-old disappearance, a monstrous hound? I wouldn't miss this for the world!"
"Where are you going?" Kate shouts after him.
"Shopping! You two start packing, we leave tomorrow morning." She hears Sherlock shout back before the door downstairs slams shut.
By the time Sherlock returns Kate and John just finished packing their last thing.
Currently, Kate's kneeling on the ground in front of her suitcase in the living room and is on the phone to take the rest of the week off work.
After she hangs up she places a book in her suitcase and looks up at Sherlock while she's closing the zipper. "I was just about to pack your things for you, don't worry I wouldn't have ruined your sock order."
She lets out an exhausted breath and leans back against the back of her armchair. "Got everything you needed?"
"Yeah. And I always got a suitcase packed just in case...so I'm all set. Where's John?""In the bathroom, I think?"
"Why?"
"Taking a shit? What do I know?" Kate laughs and Sherlock grimaces. "You asked."He sits down on the bottom beside her and leans back against her armchair too. "We got a case!"Kate grins at how happy he is and rests her head on his shoulder, since Mycroft's cameras can't see them behind her armchair.
Carefully he places his hand under her chin to lift her head up again and face it towards him before leaning forward to give Kate a closed mouth kiss. She reaches for his cheek and wants to deepen the kiss but they hear the bathroom door open and Sherlock shoots up while Kate scoots forward to her suitcase.
"Got everything?" John asks with a clap of his hands as he enters the living room.
"Mh." Kate nods, avoiding to look at John so he won't notice her red face.
Same goes for Sherlock who hurries off to his room.
When he enters the living room the next morning Kate's eagerly throwing snacks in a smaller bag and Sherlock eyes her with amusement. "What's that?"
"Snacks?"
"Why?"
"It's a long trip."
"We're taking a car not the train."
Kate's face lights up. "Really? We're making a road trip? That's still a 4-hour drive, so we still need snacks!""I'm glad that I won't have to sit my ass to death on the train." John adds.
They make their way downstairs and despite Kate's protest John, the gentleman he is, also carries her suitcase down.
As soon as they leave the building Kate notices a strange Land Rover Jeep in the parking lot in front of the house.
"Wait! That's our car? I bloody love you, Sherlock Holmes!" She gasps but then her face reddens cause she didn't mean to say that and doesn't want to trouble Sherlock, since he wouldn't understand that it's just a saying.
He just clears his throat and also has a red shade on his face.
Gladly John was distracted by shouting voices that come out of Speedys. It seems like Mrs. Hudson is shouting angrily at someone.
"Oh! Looks like Misses Hudson finally got to the wife in Doncaster." John comments.
"Mh. Wait 'til she finds out about the one in Islamabad." Sherlock unlocks the car and takes the suitcases from John, who chuckles, so he can put it in the trunk.
Kate eyes the car with a grin. "Who's driving this baby?"
John shrugs and Sherlock waves with the keys.
"You have a license?" Kate crosses her arms and gives him a smug grin.
"Of cause I have a license?!" He snaps and thinks for a moment before eying her with a frown. "Do you?"
"Sure, but I'm scared to drive here. With you driving on the wrong side and all, I still think it's weird."
"You're weird and driving on the wrong side." John mocks.
"Whatever. I'm calling shotgun then!" Kate opens the passenger door.
John doesn't even try to fight with her and climbs in the backseat.
Once Sherlock is in the driver seat Kate laughs. "This is strange."
"What?" Sherlock starts the car.
"Us. Not being in a cab. Driving ourselves." She nods to Sherlock. "You in a driver seat especially...Driving lessons were hellish I imagine?" She lifts an eyebrow at him and hears John laugh quietly in the backseat.
"You could say that, yes." He smirks.God, they were in a cocky mood today and Kate was far too excited to find out what kind of driver Sherlock was.
As expected Kate and John enjoyed themselves way too much. Sherlock is a safe driver, sure, since he can deduct the driving style of the other drivers by their car, but his outbursts are nearly as good as the ones he has when he shouts at the telly.
He calms down when they finally leave London city. The fields fly past them and Kate starts to eat her snacks. She offers the boys some and John gladly takes them.
"No thanks." Sherlock shakes his head and throws a look in his exterior mirror.
"Come on, Sherlock. When's the last time you've eaten? I don't want to die in a car crash cause you faint." She pushes a gummi bear against his mouth and he opens up with a roll of his eyes.
Kate leans back in her seat with a satisfied smile and keeps occasionally feeding Sherlock sweets, testing which one he likes more than others.
She lazily stretches her arm forward to turn on the radio and Sherlock turns it off again immediately.
"Hey." She leans forward to turn it on again and gives Sherlock a warning look to leave it on.
After some time Kate finds a good channel and it seems like they're exclusively playing Disney songs today. She laughs and winks at John when she gives him more sweets and he just gives her thumbs up.
'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' from 'The Lion King' comes on and Kate turns around to John with an open mouth before she starts to sing along and points at John who joins in and sings the male part. Laughing she turns the music louder and they sing on top of their lungs. They're really into it and Sherlock just eyes them with a confused grimace. Kate holds onto Sherlock's upper arm when she sings the last few lines and when the song ends she falls back in her seat breathlessly.
"Are you done?" Sherlock eyes her from the side of his eye with a raised eyebrow and Kate starts to laugh as she gets a water bottle from her bag.
"I'm never driving anywhere with you again if it's not with public service." Sherlock speaks up.
"Oh come on, as if public service could stop us. Besides, ...imagine how boring it would be on this drive without us!"
"It would be pleasantly quiet."
"No, it would be boring and you can't stand boring. As if driving would keep your whole brain occupied...ha-ha." Kate fake laughs obviously.
Then she has an idea. "I have a challenge for you."
"Mh?" He turns his head towards her for a second.
"Catch." She throws a sweet at him. "With your mouth, idiot."
They spend quite some time with Kate throwing sweets and Sherlock trying to catch them with his mouth, singing and discussing random topics.
Shortly before they reach their destination Sherlock stops the car at the side of the road and climbs out.
"Where are you going?"
"I wanna get a look at Baskerville."
John and Kate follow him up a little hill. Sherlock starts to climb up a higher rock and Kate follows him.
John doesn't even bother to try with his short legs so he walks further and gets out the map.
"Sherlock?" Kate looks up at Sherlock for help and he offers her his hand for the last upright part.
He pulls her up with a little too much force and she stumbles against him so they nearly stumble over the other end of the rock. Sherlock manages to steady them and Kate lets out a sigh of relive.
"There's Baskerville." John shouts up to them from his map and Sherlock lets go of Kate to turn towards a huge building complex with a fence around.
Kate just stares at Sherlock for a moment cause he looks so majestic with his coat on this rock.
"That's Grimpen Village." John points behind them.
They look in the direction before John turns around again and points somewhere left from Baskerville. "So that must be ... yeah, it's Dewer's Hollow."
"What's that?" Sherlock asks and points between Baskerville and Dewer's Hollow.
"Hmm?" John hums and lifts up his binoculars to get a closer look.
Kate narrows her eyes to concentrate on the area. "Minefield?"
"Technically Baskerville's an army base, so I guess they've always been keen to keep people out." John explains.
"Clearly." Sherlock utters casually and turns around to climb down the rock.
He lifts Kate down by her waist at the higher parts and even tho she's not that helpless at climbing downwards she doesn't complain.
Soon later they reach Grimpen Village and Sherlock pulls into the parking lot of a hostel named 'Cross Keys inn'.
While they get out their luggage and walk towards the entrance they spot a group of tourists.
"- three times a day, tell your friends. Tell anyone!" A man carrying a 'BEWARE THE HOUND!' sign tells the tourists. "Don't be strangers, and remember ... stay away from the moor at night if you value your lives!"
Sherlock pulls his coat tighter and flips up his collar as they pass them and Kate frowns at him.
"I'm cold." He tells her and she shakes her head.
It's not that cold. He knows how to make himself look attractive and doesn't even realize it.
Inside, Sherlock takes a look around, Kate leaves for the toilet and John checks them in.
When Kate returns the bartender hands John two keys. "We don't have 3 single rooms so. A double room for you boys and a single for the lady."
"We-we're not ..." John tries to explain that he's not gay for the hundredth time in his life and Kate sniggers.
Her eyes scan the room for Sherlock automatically and she finds him further into the dining room.
John just gives up with a sigh and hands the money over. "There you go."
"Oh, ta. I'll just get your change." He takes the money and leaves.
"Ta."
Kate steps up beside John and throws one arm around his shoulders with a grin. "Feels like a vacation, don't you think Johnny?"
She frowns when she notices a pile of receipts that are pinned on the counter. Her hand slits off John's shoulders and she leans forward to read 'Undershaw Meat Supplies' on one of the receipts. Quickly, she rips it out and before John can ask the bartender comes back.
"There you go." He hands John back his change.
John clears his throat and addresses the man. "I couldn't help noticing on the map of the moor: A skull and crossbones."
"Oh that, aye."
"Pirates?!" John jokes.
" Eh - no, no. The Great Grimpen Minefield, they call it." He starts to explain.
"Oh, right."
"It's not what you think. It's the Baskerville testing site. It's been going for eighty-odd years. I'm not sure anyone really knows what's there anymore."
Kate sees Sherlock checking something out on a dining table in the corner of her eye before she turns to the bartender. "Explosives?"
"Oh, not just explosives." He turns towards her now. "Break into that place and – if you're lucky – you just get blown up, so they say ... in case you're planning on a nice wee stroll."
"Ta. I'll remember." Kate smiles at him.
"Aye. No, it buggers up tourism a bit, so thank God for the demon hound! " He gets out from behind the bar to take some glasses out of a shelf and stands right beside them now. "Did you see that show, that documentary?"
"Quite recently, yeah." John answers.
"Aye. God bless Henry Knight and his monster from hell."
"Ever seen it – the hound?" Kate digs deeper.
"Me? No, no." Then he turns and points out the door to the man with the 'BEWARE THE HOUND!' sign. "Fletcher has. He runs the walks – the Monster Walks for the tourists, you know? He's seen it."
Sherlock who stands close to them now turns towards the door to look at Fletcher and leaves, most possibly to question him.
"That's handy ... for trade." John mentions.
Kate wants to follow Sherlock but another man, that appears to be the cook, appears behind the bar and the bartender turns towards him. "I'm just saying we've been rushed off our feet, Billy."
"Yeah. Lots of monster-hunters. Doesn't take much these days. One mention on Twitter and woopf." He turns from John and Kate to the bartender. "We're out of WKD."
"All right." He walks back behind the bar.
The cook turns towards them again. "What with the monster and that ruddy prison, I don't know how we sleep nights. Do you, Gary?" He turns around to the bartender.
Gary puts a hand on his shoulder with a loving smile. "Like a baby."
"That's not true." He huffs and looks back at them. "He's a snorer."
"Hey, shhh!" Garry tries to shush him.
Kate grins widely. They're cute as hell.
The cook turns to John. "Is yours a snorer?"
John just gapes and Kate laughs. "Got any crisps?"
While they wait for their order John calls Henry and once they got everything they make their way outside and find Sherlock on a bench, talking to that Fletcher guy.
Kate frowns at the beer glass in front of Sherlock. He didn't order one.
"I called Henry –"John announces as he sits down opposite Sherlock while Kate flops down beside Sherlock.
"Bet's off, guys. Sorry." Sherlock interrupts him.
"What?" They ask in union.
"Bet?" Fletcher questions and Kate nudges her crisps a bit closer to Sherlock as a sign for him to eat.
"My plan needs darkness" Sherlock looks at his watch and then up at the sky. "Reckon we've got another half an hour of light –"
"Wait, wait. What bet?" Fletcher asks again.
"Oh, I bet Kate and John here fifty quid each that you couldn't prove you'd seen the hound."
Kate and John give each other a thoughtful look before turning back at Fletcher with enthusiastic nods.
"Yeah, the guys in the pub said you could." John adds.
"Well, you're gonna lose your money, mate." He declares to Sherlock.
"Yeah?" Sherlock replies in a challenging tone.
"Yeah. I've seen it. Only about a month ago, up at the Hollow. It was foggy, mind – couldn't make much out."
"I see. No witnesses, I suppose."
"No, but –"
"Never are."
"Wait –" He turns his phone to Sherlock to show him something and Kate leans closer and into Sherlock side to also take a look. "There."
It looks like a picture of a black dog but with that quality you can't tell its size.
Fletcher shows the picture to John and Sherlock fake snigger. "Is that it? It's not exactly proof, is it? Sorry, guys. I win."
Sherlock lifts 'his' beer glass to drink but Fletcher interrupts him.
"Wait, wait. That's not all. People don't like going up there, you know – to the Hollow. Gives them a ... bad sort of feeling."
"Ooh! Is it haunted? Is that supposed to convince me?" Sherlock brags and puts the glass down.
"Nah, don't be stupid, nothing like that, but I reckon there is something out there – something from Baskerville, escaped."
This time Sherlock sniggers for real. "A clone, a super-dog?!"
"Maybe. God knows what they've been spraying on us all these years or putting in the water. I wouldn't trust them as far as I could spit."
"Is that the best you've got?" Sherlock nods towards Fletcher's phone.
He hesitates for a moment before speaking on, nearly whispering now. "I had a mate once who worked for the MOD. One weekend we were meant to go fishing but he never showed up – well, not until late. When he did, he was white as a sheet. I can see him now. 'I've seen things today, Fletch,' he said, 'that I never wanna see again. Terrible things.'. He'd been sent to some secret Army place – Porton Down, maybe; maybe Baskerville, or somewhere else. In the labs there – the really secret labs, he said he'd seen ... terrible things. Rats as big as dogs, he said, and dogs ... dogs the size of horses."
He gets a concrete cast of a huge dog-ish footprint out of his bag and Sherlock stares at it in surprise.
"Ehm..., we did say fifty?" John turns to Sherlock and Kate rest her elbow on his shoulder as she holds out her other hand for the money.
Fletcher grins as Sherlock gets out his wallet and gives each of them fifty quid.
Sherlock gets up and Kate and John quickly finish their drinks and take their food to hurry after him towards the car.
Sherlock drives them right to Baskerville and John and Kate don't even question how he plans to get them in there.
The closer they get to the gate the more army force they can see and Kate shifts in her seat, quickly chewing down her last crisps.
A security guard stops them and steps up to the driver window. "Pass, please."
Sherlock reaches into his pocket and hands the guard a pass.
"Thank you. Any weapons?""This is my security detail, Captain John Watson. He carries a gun." Sherlock points back to John and then at Kate. "And my assistant, code name Athena, is also carrying a weapon for our protection."
"Very well, Sir. Hand them over, please, so the dog can check the car and we check the guns."
John and Kate give him their weapons and he walks away as a few other guards with a sniffer dog start check the jeep.
"You've got ID for Baskerville. How?" John whispers from the backseat.
"It's not specific to this place. It's my brother's. Access all areas. I - ehm ... acquired it ages ago, just in case." Sherlock whispers back and Kate chuckles.
"Brilliant..." John mutters sarcastically.
"What's the matter?"
"We'll get caught." Kate gives him a look.
"No we won't – well, not just yet." He snaps back.
"Caught in five minutes. 'Oh, hi, we just thought we'd come and have a wander around your top secret weapons base.'" John mutters.
"'Really? Great! Come in – kettle's just boiled.' That's if we don't get shot." Kate adds.
The security guard with the dog announces that they're clear and the other one hands Sherlock the pass and weapons back. "Thank you very much, Sir."
"Thank you."
The gate is opened and they drive through.
"Mycroft's name literally opens doors!" Kate laughs sarcastically and amazed at the same time as she puts her gun back in her holster.
Sherlock finally got her a holster he stripped from a murderer after they caught him a few months ago.
"I've told you – he practically is the British government. I reckon we've got about twenty minutes before they realize something's wrong."
They drive towards the main complex and park their car. Another guard leads them towards the building and on the way they pass many military patrols and people on scientist coats. They try to seem as casual as possible.
Suddenly a military jeep pulls up beside them and a young man jumps out. "What is it? Are we in trouble?"
"'Are we in trouble, Sir?'" Sherlock says sternly and Kate can nearly see Mycroft in front of her.
"Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir." He walks in front of them to stop them from walking further.
"You were expecting us?
"Your ID showed up straight away, Mister Holmes. Corporal Lyons, security. Is there something wrong, Sir?"
"Well, I hope not, Corporal. I hope not."
It's really strange hearing Sherlock talk like Mycroft. Even if it wouldn't matter, cause Kate doesn't think that the young corporal ever met Mycroft, but maybe Sherlock just loves to make fun of his brother.
"It's just we don't get inspected here, you see, Sir. It just doesn't happen."
"Ever heard of a spot check?" John throws in and then shows his ID to the corporal. "Captain John Watson, Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers."
They salute each other and Kate thinks that John playing his 'captain' card is the cutest thing she's ever seen.
Now the corporal looks at her and especially her gun with an unsure expression and Kate thinks of a way to introduce herself.
"Kate Tylor, my assistant." Sherlock speaks for her and she gives the corporal a nod which he returns.
"Sir. Major Barrymore won't be pleased, sir. He'll want to see you both."
"I'm afraid we won't have time for that. We'll need the full tour right away. Carry on." John says but the corporal hesitates for a moment. "That's an order, Corporal."
"Yes, Sir." He spins around and leads them to the entrance.
Kate and Sherlock smirk at John while they walk towards the door. The corporal slides his security card through the reader and then waits for Sherlock to do the same. The card is accepted and the corporal opens the door for them while Sherlock checks his watch.
"Nice touch." Sherlock whispers to John as they hurry down the corridor behind the corporal.
"Haven't pulled rank in ages."
"Enjoy it?" Kate lifts an eyebrow and smirks at him.
"Oh, yeah." He tries to sound casually.
They reach another door and again both cards have to be accepted by a reader.
An elevator is revealed and they step inside. Sherlock takes a quick look at the floor numbers and Kate sees the corporal pressing the button for floor -1.
When the doors open again they find themselves in a huge lab.
They see various people in lab coats and white overalls with breathing masks. To their right are huge cages and a monkey jumps at the bars and screams at then which causes them to jump.
"How many animals do you keep down here?" Sherlock questions while swirling around.
"Lots, Sir."
"Any ever escape?" Kate requests in a formal tone.
"They'd have to know how to use that lift, ma'am. We're not breeding them that clever."
A man with a dog passes them and Kate looks at all the animals with hurt.
"Unless they have help." Sherlock sighs and steps up besides Kate to shield her view from a scientist who's giving an injection to a monkey.
Kate's not sure if Sherlock did that on purpose, but does he ever do anything on accident? Anyways, she's thankful for it and would like to hold his hand for various reasons right now but that would be strange.
A man who just took of his mask and wears a white overall walks towards them. "Ah, and you are?"
"Sorry, Doctor Frankland. I'm just showing these gentlemen around." The corporal explains.
"Ah, new faces, huh? Nice. Careful you don't get stuck here, though. I only came to fix a tap!" He smiles and walks towards the lift.
"How far down does that lift go?" John enquires.
"Quite a way, Sir."
"Mhm, ...and what's down there?" Kate questions thoughtfully.
"Well, we have to keep the bins somewhere, ma'am. This way please...."
Sherlock stays behind for a second, looking after Doctor Frankland.
"So what exactly is it that you do here?" Kate asks again and the corporal gives her an unsure look. Maybe she's a bit too curious for an assistant, so she gets out her notebook and acts as if she wants to write something down.
"I thought you'd know, ma'am, this being an inspection."
"Well, enlighten me then?" Kate states in an almost flirting tone and Sherlock's head shoots towards them again after he's been looking around for some time.
"Everything from stem cell research to trying to cure the common cold, ma'am." The corporal answers with a kinder smile now.Ordinary men are so ordinary.
"But mostly weaponry?" John questions and the corporal drags his eyes off Kate to look at him.
"Of one sort or another, yes."
They reach another door and swipe their cards through a reader once again.
"Biological, chemical ...?" Kate offers.
"One war ends, another begins, ma'am. New enemies to fight. We have to be prepared."
In the next room, they find another monkey who shrieks as they enter.
A woman looks at them and orders something to her coworker.
"Doctor Stapleton." The corporal approaches her.
"Stapleton." Sherlock mutters thoughtfully under his breath.
"Yes?" She turns towards them. "Who's this?"
"Priority Ultra, ma'am. Orders from on high. An inspection."
"Really?" She gives them a look.
"We're to be accorded every courtesy, Doctor Stapleton. What's your role at Baskerville?" Sherlock begins to question her right away. As always.
She just snorts in response.
"Ehm, accorded every courtesy, isn't that the idea?" John adds.
"I'm not free to say. Official secrets."
"Oh, you most certainly are free ... and I suggest you remain that way." Sherlock starts with a smile at the beginning that fades more and more throughout the sentence.
She stares at him for a moment. "I have a lot of fingers in a lot of pies. I like to mix things up – genes, mostly; now and again actual fingers."
Sherlock grins when she says 'genes'. "Stapleton. I knew I knew your name."
"I doubt it." She utters unbothered.
"People say there's no such thing as coincidence. What dull lives they must lead." He takes Kate's notebook out of her hand and writes something down before showing it to Stapleton.
She stares at the page and Sherlock watches her reaction with narrowed eyes while Kate, John and the corporal frown.
"Have you been talking to my daughter?"
"Why did Bluebell have to die, Doctor Stapleton?" Sherlock hands Kate back the notebook.
"The rabbit?" Kate gasps.
"Disappeared from inside a locked hutch, which was always suggestive."
"The rabbit?" John repeats Kate's question in disbelieve.
"Clearly an inside job."
"Oh, you reckon?" Doctor Stapleton snaps.
"Why? Because it glowed in the dark."
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Who are you?"
Sherlock checks his watch again. "Well, I think we've seen enough for now, Corporal. Thank you so much."
"That's it?" The corporal asks them in surprise.
"That's it." He confirms and walks towards the door they came from. "It's this way, isn't it?"
Kate and John follow him in a hurry.
"Just a minute!" Doctor Stapleton shouts after them.
"Did we just break into a military base to investigate a rabbit?" Kate mutters under her breath as she catches up with Sherlock.
He ignores her and he and the corporal slide their cards through the reader for the door again.
As they hurry through the previous lab room Sherlock gets a text and laughs. "Twenty-three minutes. Mycroft's getting slow."
They reach the elevator and when it opens they find Doctor Barrymore inside who smiles at them. "Hello ... again."
Sherlock narrows his eyes at him but gets inside.
When the doors open again a man stands before them. He gives them an angry look and the corporal steps forwards.
"Ehm, um, Major ..."
"This is bloody outrageous. Why wasn't I told?"
"Major Barrymore, is it?" John steps towards him and offers him a hand. "Yes, well, good. Very good. We're very impressed, aren't we, Mister Holmes?"
Barrymore refuses to shake John's hand and John walks past him, closely followed by Kate.
Sherlock's phone makes another sound and he gets it out of his pocket while agreeing to what John said. "Deeply; hugely."
Barrymore follows them. "The whole point of Baskerville was to eliminate this kind of bureaucratic nonsense -"
"I'm so sorry, Major."
"Inspections?!" He rages on.
"New policy. Can't remain unmonitored forever. Goodness knows what you'd get up to." Sherlock turns to Kate and John to whisper to them. "Keep walking."
The corporal catches up with them again. "Sir!"
He pushes an alarm button on the wall next to him which causes the security door in front of them to lock automatically.
"ID unauthorized, Sir."
"What?" Barrymore asks him.
"I've just had the call." He informs out of breath.
"Is that right?" Barrymore turns back to them. "Who are you?"
"Look, there's obviously been some kind of mistake." Kate tries to sue the situation in her best British accent and assistant voice she has.
Barrymore takes the pass out of Sherlock's hand and looks at the picture. "Clearly not Mycroft Holmes."
"Computer error, Major. It'll all have to go in the report." Kate states and writes something in her notebook.
"What the hell's going on?!" He shouts at them.
Kate's just about to get her gun out, when Dr. Frankland speaks up all of a sudden. "It's all right, Major. I know exactly who these gentlemen are."
To be honest Kate had already forgotten that he came up with them.
"You do?" Barrymore turns towards them.
"Yeah. I'm getting a little slow on faces but Mister Holmes here isn't someone I expected to show up in this place."
"Ah, well ..." Sherlock starts to explain.
Dr. Frankland offers him his hand. "Good to see you again, Mycroft."
John and Kate try to hide their confusion while Sherlock shakes Dr. Frankland's hand with a fake smile.
"I had the honor of meeting Mister Holmes at the W.H.O. conference in..." He thinks for a moment. "...Brussels, was it?"
"Vienna." Sherlock corrects him.
"Vienna, that's it." He grins at Barrymore. "This is Mister Mycroft Holmes, Major. There's obviously been a mistake."
Barrymore nods at the corporal who runs off to switch the alarm off. Once the lights stop flashing and the alarm dies down Barrymore glazes between them. "On your head be it, Doctor Frankland."
Dr. Frankland just laughs and turns to the corporal. "I'll show them out, Corporal."
"Very well, Sir."
They hurry out of the building with worried faces.
"Thank you." Sherlock mutters to Dr. Frankland.
"This is about Henry Knight, isn't it?" He questions and they just exchange looks. "I thought so. I knew he wanted help but I didn't realize he was going to contact Sherlock Holmes!"
Sherlock gives him a forced smile.
"Oh, don't worry. I know who you really are. I'm never off your website. Thought you'd be wearing the hat, though." He explains and Kate chuckles with John.
"That wasn't my hat." Sherlock deadpans.
"I hardly recognize him without the hat!" He tells Kate and John who fail at holding their grin back.
"It wasn't my hat." He repeats sternly.
"I love the blog too, Doctor Watson."
"Oh, cheers!"
Kate nearly gasps, he was really talking about Sherlock blog before. That weird thing no one's interested in. Well...turns out someone is after all.
"The, er, the Pink thing ... and that one about the aluminum crutch!"
"Yes." John agrees.
"You know Henry Knight?" Sherlock slowly comes to a halt and turns towards Dr. Frankland.
"Well, I knew his dad better. He had all sorts of mad theories about this place. Still, he was a good friend." He looks around and sees Barrymore standing nearby. "Listen, I can't really talk now. Here's my ... ehm ... cell number. If I could help with Henry, give me a call."
"I never did ask, Doctor Frankland. What exactly is it that you do here?"
"Oh, Mister Holmes, I would love to tell you – but then, of course, I'd have to kill you!" He laughs.
"That would be tremendously ambitious of you." He responses unbothered. "Tell me about Doctor Stapleton."
"Never speak ill of a colleague."
"Yet you'd speak well of one, which you're clearly omitting to do."
"I do seem to be, don't I?" He shrugs.
"I'll be in touch." Sherlock waves with the card he gave him.
"Any time." Dr. Frankland reassures and they walk back to the Jeep.
"So?" Kate ask.
"So?" Sherlock asks back.
"What was all that about the rabbit?" John requests as he climbs in the car.
Sherlock pulls his coat tighter around him and flips his collar up once again.
Kate rolls her eyes with a sigh and leans against the car door. "Oh, please, can we not do this, this time?"
"Do what?" Sherlock stops while reaching for his door handle and looks at her.
"You being all mysterious with your cheekbones and turning your coat collar up so you look cool."
He opens his mouth to say something but thinks for a moment before opening the door. "... I don't do that."
"Yeah, you do. You're smart AND hot. We get that, so stop showing off." She chuckles and climbs in the car.
Sherlock just stares in the air for a moment and Kate has to knock against the driver seat window to get him out of his thoughts.
Gladly they really make it out of Baskerville and drive through the fields when John speaks up again. "So, the email from Kirsty – the, ehm, missing luminous rabbit."
"Kirsty Stapleton, whose mother specializes in genetic manipulation." Sherlock explains.
"She made her daughter's rabbit glow in the dark?" Kate questions.
"Probably a fluorescent gene removed and spliced into the specimen. Simple enough these days."
"So ..." She looks over to Sherlock, waiting for him to finish her sentence.
"So we know that Doctor Stapleton performs secret genetic experiments on animals. The question is: has she been working on something deadlier than a rabbit?"
"To be fair, that is quite a wide field." John says after some seconds of thinking.
Sherlock frowns at him over his shoulder in surprise and Kate chuckles.
Suddenly her phone starts to ring and she gets it out of her back.
"It's Mycie." Kate laughs. "He's probably calling to blame me for this."
"Don't pick up." Sherlock smirks. "I like to imagine him running around trying to find out what we're doing."
Kate smirks back at him and hangs up on Mycroft.