Distant Minds {{Sherlock Rp with Circledude5}}

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera grinned at the question and looked at Moriarty, her eyes on him. "Absolutely." She said in an overly optimistic tone as she glanced around.


"Bit boring though." She teased.

 

[Circledude5]

"I just wanted to catch up, you know, Sherlock," Moriarty started pacing. "Because really, a new player? Now I wasn't expecting that. Ice Man's apprentice with another little puppy?"


Sherlock watched Ciera closely at that description. She's a firecracker. He thought.

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera's fingers began to ball into a fist as her eyes narrowed, but she caught herself, reminding herself that she needed to keep her cool.


She walked closer to Moriarty until she was standing just in front of him, her face inches from his. "This puppy knows how to bite." She said simply with a smile.

 

[Circledude5]

Moriarty pulled away and glared at Sherlock directly. "Make sure you keep a good hold on your leash, Sherlock." He said warningly, "You never know when I might send my Panther after one of them."


"Well keep a good hold on your leash," Sherlock retorted, "I've been rather known as a good shot."

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera looked back at Sherlock briefly, trying to read the expression on his face, trying to see if he had understood the purposeful shaking of her hand.


Of course, she knew that when the man's hand shook, it had meant one thing. He was steady-handed, trained to never let his hand waver when he aimed, making him an accurate shot. But it hadn't been his gun hand the wavered, so he probably hadn't been aware of it. Moriarty, of course, had probably instructed the man to do whatever was necessary, but only if it was necessary. The man with the gun, however had most definitely been instructed by someone else not to harm the pair, hence the shaking of the hand caused by indecision and almost equal fear of both parties. He hadn't expected Moriarty's move of calling a hit on someone-John probably- and had to quickly decide which party to obey. Question was, who would want them alive that badly, and who else would have known she and Sherlock would be in that place at that particular time?

 

[Circledude5]

Sherlock assumed that Ciera's shaking hand was referring to Sebastian Moran, who had pointed the gun at her face. But the fact that it had been her left hand rather than her right when Moran was right-handed) had confused him for a moment. However, as he continued his puppy" conversation with Moriarty ("Ooh, careful, Sherlock,"), he realised that it must mean Sebastian was nervous (and/or unsure of what he was doing, of course).


Intermittent tremour in the left hand when uncertain...interesting...

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera stepped backward, unable to read his expression. She glanced over at the water as it rippled in the pool. At this point, it was simply a waiting game. Nothing would be revealed by either parties until it was supposed to be.

 

[Circledude5]

[i truly apologise for the delay; so many tests, so little time. Love-hate relationship with school :/ ]


"You do know, Sherlock," Moriarty said, and Sherlock minutely perked as the revelation of the Consulting Criminal's motivation was a definite possibility. This detail was missed by the Irishman, however, as he had gone to looking down at his shoes. "You know I'mm very sensitive to these sorts of things."


Sherlock wanted - wanted badly, at that - to ask what to get to the point. But he knew he was more likely to get nothing if he went about matters with Moriarty that way. So, he waited. And Moriarty grinned at him, daring him to ask, dangling the dangerous bait before his eyes.

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera watched in silence as Moriarty spoke, sticking a hand into his pocket and then momentarily stopped. He slowly smiled and took his gaze off of Sherlock and looked at her before snapping his fingers. "Seb!" He yelled.


She barely had time to look over before a hand was clasped around her throat and she was pushed backward until she was teetering on the edge of the pool. She watched as Moriarty brought his had out of his pocket, revealing a smallish cube.


"Block of sodium. Certainly wouldn't want this to go in there," He nodded to the pool. "Especially not with you in it." He paused as he stepped over to dangle the chunk playfully over the water at arms length. "Now tell me...why are you here? And don't give me the 'I moved here to be close to John' excuse. I'm not as gullible as Sherlock. Tell me the truth."

 

[Circledude5]

By the time Sherlock fully registered what Moriarty was doing, it was too late. He lurched forward, but stopped himself. If he tried anything, Ciera would burn. Or Explode, depending on where the sodium landed. He was sure Ciera was perfectly aware of this fact as well.


"Why strychnine?" Sherlock said. Perhaps if he could get the psychopath's attention elsewhere, Ciera would be able to escape, turn the tables. Moriarty didn't respond. "I mean, you had already poisoned him with three other lethal chemicals, all of which make perfect sense, but why strychnine?"

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera stared at Moriarty blankly, barely registering Sherlock's remark. Think. Think. Think. There was still a chance he didn't know, that he was bluffing. Did she want to risk it? Yes.


"I don't know what you're talking about." She said defiantly, barely reacting when she was pushed closer to the edge. Another nudge and she would fall into the water.


"Tell me."

 

[Circledude5]

Ciera was pushed further towards the edge of the pool. Less than an inch sat between her and an alkali explosion.


But then Sherlock registered something, a fact he had ignored due to the current situation. One that was rather interesting indeed.


In his experience, the first reaction was almost always a bluff.

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera continued to stare at Moriarty, unwilling to give up the information. "No."


"I don't think you fully understand the severity of the situation, miss Ciera." Moriarty said in a polite tone.


"Oh, I understand it. I just don't care." She replied indignantly, shooting a glance toward Sherlock, wondering if he would be jumping in anytime soon. It certainly would be helpful at the moment.


"One last chance."

 

[Circledude5]

[life is really stupid. Correction: school is really stupid. Four papers? FOUR?! It's the end of the quarter, not the end of the freaking planet! You don't need to just...uhgbrgiiuabgbergvb;vfb *key mashes for the rest of life* no one likes you school. you're stupid and should be abolished. but actually no because then world would be filled with Donald Trumps (sorry if you're conservative/support him) ~---~ I'm so done with life at this point... okay rant over]


Sherlock knew he had to do something, he just hadn't formulated a plan yet. Maybe he could buy himself some time?


"Strychnine?!" He shouted. "Answer me for God's sake!" It probably wasn't the smartest thing to yell at a madman holding sodium and threatening a person he really - ...a person John really cared about at the edge of the pool. In fact, Sherlock wasn't even surprised when Moriarty shoved Ciera into the pool. But he kept the sodium in his hand, waving it about in exasperation.


"WHAT?!" Moriarty demanded. He walked right up to the consulting detective and got up into his face. "WHAT DO YOU WANT, SHERLOCK?! DO YOU WANT HER TO DIE?!"

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera gasped as soon as she began to fall backward. She lost her footing and held her breath as the exceptionally cold pool water closed over her head. She surfaced in mere moments, staying under the water long enough to get her barings and be sure that the block of sodium wasn't going to follow Her into the pool.


She surfaced, taking in a breath and looking at the two who were now conversing. Sherlock either had a plan or was completely mad. And she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know which.

 

[Circledude5]

Sherlock looked back at Moriarty calmly. "No, not particularly."


"Then maybe you should just be patient and stop interfering!" the last two words of this sentence were shouted, and Sherlock backed up a couple steps in surprise.


"I'm not really, I was just curious. I mean, your web is so far spread you could have gotten practically any poison," Sherlock said,


"Yeah, yeah, why strychnine?" Moriarty said scathingly. The psychopath had successfully been distracted. Well, for the moment, anyways. "I would tell you Sherlock, but that wouldn't be any fun."

 

[Shadow Cat]

A thought occurred to Ciera as she watched the two converse. She let out all of the oxygen from her lungs and felt herself begin to sink to the bottom. Once she had touched down on the rough surface at the bottom of the pool, she waited. The burn in her lungs was intensifying, but she was confident that she could hold it a little longer.

 

[Circledude5]

Sherlock wanted to see where Ciera had gotten to, but didn't think that breaking gaze with Moriarty was a good idea. They stared at each other, the Irishman's dark eyes searching Sherlock's with a sort of manic pleasure.


Sherlock could feel his instincts tugging at him to release the uncomfortable eye contact, but he stayed put, though he didn't know how long he would be able to. An inexplicable anxiety was already creeping in. He considered for a moment, still maintaining eye contact. "Power play." Sherlock said, and Moriarty began to chuckle.

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera shifted to swim, her every movement sluggish in the water. She had waited as long as she could and now she swam to the side of the pool where she saw that the ladder was. She surfaced for a moment, looking around and breathing quietly, slowly. Water dripped down her face as she saw that the interaction had not changed. They were both still staring at each other.


She began to climb out of the pool, quietly shivering when the cool air hit her. Sitting up on the edge, looked down at her arm where the blood from the gunshot was flowing more freely as it mixed with the water. She slowly took the tranq gun out of her boot where she had nearly forgotten about it. She didn't know whether or not it would still fire since it had been underwater, but it was her only choice at the moment. She was already beginning to get a bit dizzy from the blood loss. Nothing too extreme, but it was starting to make her nauseous. She held it up, pointed the tranquilizer gun at Moriarty, and positioned her finger. Then, she squeezed the trigger and prayed it would fire instead of hearing a dull click.


Woosh. The dart flew through the air and she breathed in as she waited to see whether it would find its mark.

 

[Circledude5]

Almost as soon as Moriarty had started laughing, he stopped, his eyes wide in surprise. It took a Sherlock a moment to realise what had happened. Ciera had gotten out of the pool and shot the Irishman with a tranquilser. His head whipped over to see her still holding the gun. When he brought it back, he saw that Moriarty's face had split into a drowsy grin. He was mouthing something.


"What?" Sherlock demanded. Moriarty motioned for his to come closer.


"I'll get you back, Sherlock," he whispered, a manic grin on his face. Then he collapsed, and Moran ran over.

 

[Shadow Cat]

"Come on." Ciera said simply to Sherlock as she stood and made her way out, barely emerging into the cool night air before falling onto her knees. Her wet clothes were only helping to chill her to the bone as she put a hand to her arm, the blood flow beginning to slow now that her wet skin was helping to cool her body temperature. She tucked her gun back into her boot and waited on her knees for Sherlock to come out after her so they could make their way back to the flat, and she could get out of her wet clothes, and bandage up her arm.

 

[Circledude5]

Sherlock left without a backwards glance after Ciera, and they strode quickly in the brisk air. Oh God, she was soaked through to the bone. And shivering, though she was pretending not to be. She was going to get hypothermia. Without a second thought, Sherlock slid out of his coat and stopped walking. He held it up so she could put it on.


"Here," he said flatly, "You'll freeze to death otherwise."

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera slipped off her own coat and t-shirt quickly, knowing that it wouldn't help to have the wet clothes on. She gratefully took Sherlock's coat slipped it on over her tank top. She pressed a finger to the wound on her arm as she looked over for a glimpse at it, trying to see how much blood there was. It was enough to make her dizzy, that was for sure. Though it wasn't enough to be fatal. The bullet had, thankfully, barely nicked her arm. She had that extraordinary aim to thank for that.


"Come on." She said simply as she began walking, trying to hide the pain and chill in her voice.

 

[Circledude5]

Sherlock followed, watching Ciera carefully for any signs that she wasn't any less than a little bit less than okay. He could tell that she was hiding her pain, that much was obvious, but he wanted to ensure that he wasn't anything that could be really bad.


Oh, God. John was going to murder them both. Well, no, probably just Sherlock.


But he wouldn't if he never found out.


Which he wouldn't.


Right?

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera walked. Her center of balance was off, she could tell. Her fingers and toes were numb, but not the numb the was indicative of hypothermia. She was fine for the moment. She couldn't wait until they got back. A hot shower and a nap would do her loads of good.


Strangest first day on the job ever.