Sherlock and Elizabeth had ended up falling asleep on the sofa together.
The detective didn't quite know how it happened. He knew that he was holding her one moment, then she had talked to him more, giving him more details about what had happened and then they were lying back on the sofa the next, with him cradling Elizabeth in his arms. She had fallen asleep, and he assumed he had fallen asleep too as one moment there was no light streaming through the windows and the next there was.
Elizabeth was still sleeping and the sun had risen higher now. He didn't want to move and disturb her because he knew she needed the peace.
The more he had thought about her admission of her worries that he would hate her, the more he tracked it back to Mycroft and all his hounding of her. All the snide and callous comments he had made about her going to prison if she did something wrong or didn't help him with the operations really did get to her. The consequence of not giving trust in order to receive it was becoming clear.
He feared that if her own worries continued, she would end up distrusting them entirely and may refuse confiding in himself and John.
Sherlock feared he would lose her.
And all because of Mycroft's stupid pestering.
The sullen thuds of John's feet rushed down the stairs. They were faster and more frantic than usual. The detective frowned.
Something was wrong.
"Sherlock?" John spoke with urgency in his tone as he practically tumbled into the apartment.
He looked towards the kitchen first, and then to the sofa where he paused a moment, stunned by the sight he saw. His brow raised in disbelief of what he was seeing. He knew they were essentially together now (he didn't care if they didn't say that yet, he knew they would be eventually), but it still shocked him to see the great detective, Sherlock Holmes, the 'high-functioning sociopath', actually showing his more human side and actually allowing the humanity in him to be seen.
"What's wrong, John?" Sherlock prompted him.
"Uh..." He blinked, hard, "The - the news. There's something you should see on the news...what happened last night?" John quietly gestured to Elizabeth.
Sherlock looked down to the still sleeping thief. He could see her eyes were still puffy from the crying which made him all the more upset by the fact that he would have to disturb her.
So, he put the effort in not to do so.
With a silent sigh, he considerately removed his arm from under her and as carefully as humanely possible moved her off him. He sat up slowly and had John help him up off the sofa. When he turned back around to look at Elizabeth, still asleep, he was satisfied with his successful efforts at not waking her.
He brought John out of the apartment and shut the door soundlessly.
"After you left, she had told me she had seen Moriarty while we were on the case."
"She what?"
"You heard me. I'll catch you up after you tell me what happened?"
"Did she say where she met him?" John asked as they went up the stairs to his apartment.
"Yes, why?"
John stayed silent as he led Sherlock into his room where the television played the news:
"At 11:30pm last night, fire services were called out to the Belle Vue apartment building, in the centre of London, where a fire consumed six floors. Luckily, all residents have been accounted for, with very few injured. It is believed that the fire was started by a knocked over candle that set alight one apartment snd then spread..."
"That was the apartment building Elizabeth stayed in, wasn't it? Was that where she met with Moriarty?" John asked.
Sherlock had worry in his eyes. He was afraid of this. Moriarty had already shown himself to unpredictable, he even said it himself that his weakness was how 'changeable' he could be.
"Elizabeth told me that Moriarty had let her leave and that he had said he would never kill her. Turns out he killed Scarlett, however, not before letting her injure Elizabeth as punishment for what she had done it seems."
"Did he call the first ambulance too?"
"Yes. So, I believe that he doesn't want to kill her but letting her go? So easily?" Sherlock shook his head, his mind racing as he tried to predict what may happen but it was impossible, "He won't let her go. Having rejected him fully - he's going to plan something big."
"Like last time?"
"Potentially." He looked at John, "Which is why we have to double our efforts to take down Moriarty and his network."
John nodded, still watching the footage of the burning apartment building, "How do you think Elizabeth will react?"
"Badly."
* * * * * * *
Elizabeth stirred from her sleep a short while after Sherlock and John had departed upstairs. She missed Sherlock's presence and warmth. But she guessed that nothing ever could tie the detective down for long before he felt the need to get busy again.
She stretched but continued to lie on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling as she had always done.
Recalling the night before, she ran her hands over her face, and felt how swollen her eyelids were. Her eyes watered at the soreness of them.
"No. That won't help." She muttered.
What she needed was cucumber. Something cold and soothing to put over her eyes.
Her head looked to the kitchen but her desire to get up still had not yet found its way to her.
Where had Sherlock gone?
That had stoked the desire to get up. Wordlessly, she sat up on the sofa, stretching again until she heard the satisfying pop and crack of her bones.
She was grateful for last night. Grateful that the universe had given her Sherlock. Grateful of Mycroft, to some extent, for sending her off to be with his brother and John. She didn't know if she would be the same in Mycroft's custody.
But since the beginning, Sherlock had been kind to her. Of course, there were hiccups but that had been because of how they had met. That made her forgive any previous predjudices he may have had about her. He was always so nice to her. Half the time, she didn't feel like she deserved it because of everything she had done.
Elizabeth put her head in her hands, just taking a moment to breathe, to feel.
She was still stunned about him not hating her.
But perhaps she had gotten Sherlock confused with Mycroft's opinions of her?
Would he have to tell Mycroft? Would Mycroft be the one to hate her? Although, could it be possible for him to hate her anymore than he already seemed to? Would Mycroft have her sent away?
"Oh, stop it. Please, just stop it." She begged her mind not to overthink it again.
Footsteps could be heard outside the flat and the door opened to reveal Sherlock and John. They seemed pretty serious until they saw Elizabeth sat up, to which the seriousness was replaced by friendly smiles and happier greetings.
"Everything okay?" She asked them in a weary voice.
Both men nodded, prompting a suspicious look from the thief. She didn't question it though - didn't have the current energy to.
"How are you?" Sherlock asked softly.
She nodded, "My eyes feel like puffer fish and I'm pretty sure my eyes are redder than tomatoes so at least I have that going for me."
Sherlock laughed through his nose, John smiled and Elizabeth reciprocated these actions with a dopey-eyed look. The thief stood, walking past them to the kitchen.
"Does John know?" She aimed this at Sherlock.
He nodded, "Was that okay?"
"Yeah. I just - " She turned to John, "I'm sorry to you too for keeping it from you."
John shook his head, reassuring her, "Don't. I heard you were under a lot of stress. You were just doing what you thought was right. I probably would have done the same if I knew it would save someone."
"Thank you." She paused, "Do you want tea?"
"Uh, I would love to, but I need to get to work." John nodded, "See you both later then, yeah."
"Hope you have a good day." Elizabeth nodded.
After the doctor had left, Elizabeth headed over to the counter. Sherlock came up next to her and placed his hand on hers before she could pick up her mug. She looked at him confused.
"Let me make it. You just - sit down." Being kind to her took less effort than being kind to everyone else.
He could never explain why. Elizabeth nodded and mumbled her thanks before taking a seat at the table, watching the detective work meticulously fast with organising the drinks.
As Sherlock made the tea, he wondered if he and John had been right to omit the information about the apartment block being set on fire.
* * * * * * *
"Are you sure you want this?" Asked the woman with frizzy blonde hair.
"Don't question what I want. We have a deal. If you don't respect it then you and I will be having very big problems."
"No need to get all agro, Mr Moriarty. As long as you hold up your end of the bargain, we'll be fine."
The woman held out her hand for Moriarty to take but he disregarded it, turning away from her, almost wondering if he should go through with his plan.
Jim bit his nails. He was anxious to get her back. But if he did this, he knew she wasn't likely to come back at all. But she did hurt him - he wanted to hurt her back. He wanted to get it over with now but sometimes to get the best revenge, you had to take things slow, you had to wait it out.
"How long will it take?"
"For what you want to happen? A long time."
"How. Long?"
"If I had to guess, maybe about half a year, give or take."
"Are you certain?"
"I said it was guess."
He let out a frustrated shout.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just - impatient." Jim paused, "You'll keep me updated then?"
"Yes, Mr Moriarty. If anything important happens, you'll hear from one of my girls."
He nodded, "You'll get your money every month."
"And the equipment?"
"The equipment too." He offered her his hand, forcing an unsettling smile onto his face, "Lovely doing business with you."
She took his hand, giving it a firm shake, her extravagant curls bouncing as she did, "Until we meet again, Mr Moriarty."
* * * * * * *
"Elizabeth? Sherlock?" Mrs Hudson called from downstairs.
The two were sat in the kitchen, comfortable with their silence. Both were reading different books. Well, Sherlock was reading a play. A bit of Shakespeare never harmed anyone, he thought, and Hamlet proved an interesting insight of revenge against one's own family member.
However when Mrs Hudson had called, Sherlock looked up from the pages of the play:
"I believe she'll require your help."
"Why me?" Elizabeth looked up from her book.
"I just have a feeling."
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed, "We're both reading, what gives you an excuse?"
"Rather it's giving you an excuse. You're bored to tears reading that. I know you'd prefer to help Mrs Hudson instead."
Elizabeth couldn't argue. He was right. She had challenged herself to read more classics but man, were they masters of describing one tree for five pages. She stood up from her chair.
"Coming, Mrs Hudson!" She turned back to Sherlock, "I like how I can rely on you to tell me what I'm bored of."
Sherlock offered a small smile as she bounded down the stairs.
"Oh, Elizabeth, dear, don't suppose you can help me put all this rubbish in the bins, quickly?"
"Sure." She obliged, grabbing two of the black bags and following her out into the alley.
"Did you hear about the fire?" She asked, making small talk.
"Fire? Where?" Elizabeth frowned as she put the bags down to open the lid of the bin.
"Oh, it was terrible. Some place near by called Bow View - Bell Two - "
"Belle Vue?"
"Yes, that's it! Six floors of it up in smokes. Lucky no one was seriously injured..."
Elizabeth wasn't listening though for she had spaced out. Jim said he wouldn't hurt her. What if he had been lying? This was ridiculous of her though. Jim might not have even been the cause! And here she was jumping to conclusions.
"Elizabeth?"
"Hm?"
"You seemed to drift off a little there. Are you alright?"
"Yes. Yes! Fine. Let me just throw these in here for you." She said, chucking the bags over and in, "And there we are. Done." She smiled, but the fear in her eyes was prominent.
"Oh thanks, love. I won't keep you. Now get on back to Sherlock, eh?"
Elizabeth gave a little chuckle, "No problem, Mrs Hudson."
The moment she was out of Mrs Hudson's sight, the worries snuck back. Had she made a mistake? What was she thinking? Of course she had. No one rejected Jim like that and lived to tell the tale. No one did. Why would she really be any different? Because she was 'family'? Would that really make a difference? What if Irene was wrong?
She had found herself stopped in the doorway to the kitchen of 221B.
Sherlock looked up at her.
"Elizabeth? Are you alright?"
"My - my - my apartment. My old - apartment building. He set it on fire. Jim set it on fire."
Sherlock didn't react. He didn't realise she would find out this soon. He wanted to break it to her. Of course, he hadn't anticipated that Mrs Hudson might have spoken about it.
"You knew, didn't you? Sherlock, why didn't you tell me?"
He set the playbook down on the table.
"I was going to tell you, but one - we also only found out this morning and two - John and I just wanted to give you some time."
"John knew as well? Oh, but that's makes sense...That's why you were both acting so strange." She massaged her temples, unsure of how to feel about it all.
On the bright side, Sherlock had thought she would take the news a lot worse but she seemed to be dealing with it quite well.
"We don't know for sure that he started the fire."
"Oh, don't give me that. You and I both know, full well, that it was most likely Jim."
"Most likely. There is still a small probability that he didn't."
"A small probability." She scoffed.
Sherlock pressed his lips together tightly before questioning, "How do you feel?"
"I - I don know. Terrified? But also - uncertain and - and confused. I don't - I don't know. He really didn't seem like he would do anything to me in the end. He showed me mercy. But Jim is unpredictable and I really - I just don't know."
"We'll protect you."
"I'm not afraid about me, Sherlock. I mean, I am but that's not what scares me most."
"What are you afraid of?"
"Seeing you or - or John or Mrs Hudson, even, get hurt because of something that's my fault."
Sherlock got up now and walked around the table until he was stood in front of her. He took her hands in his, rubbing the back of them soothingly with his thumbs. He met her gaze.
"I don't want to lose you." The emotion was prominent in her tone, "I don't want to lose this."
"That won't happen. We'll look after each other."
Silence fell as Elizabeth rested her head on his chest.
"How do you always know the right things to say?"
"I give you the credit for that."
"What? Why?"
"Because you're teaching me that sometimes - it's okay for the heart to rule over the mind."
________________________
A/N - Curious to know if you all have a favourite episode from the series?
I can't pick one, I have to choose a favourite from each series 😂 damn indecisiveness 😂 I don't dislike the other episodes but the ones I enjoy the most are:
S1 - The Great Game (Ep3) - Love Jim
S2 - A Scandal In Belgravia (Ep1) - Love Irene
S3 - The Sign Of Three (Ep2) - Love Mary
S4 - The Final Problem (Ep3) - Love Eurus
And last but not least:
Series 5 - oh, wait...forgot we'll still be waiting a looooonnng time for that one 😂😭