Distant Minds {{Sherlock Rp with Circledude5}}

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera laughed at John's exasperation. Speaking of which...


"14 down is exasperation." Ciera commented.


Molly walked in then, holding what was no doubt the toxicology report. "Cyclosporine levels were through the roof."

 

[Circledude5]

"As expected," Sherlock said confidently, taking the the updates report from Molly and flicking through. The paper cup of tea placed itself to the left of the pile of poisons.


"Why did this guy have so many toxic materials in him?" Sherlock thought out loud, "There was enough time for all of them to affect him, not to mention he also got shot prior to death. Someone was doing this entertainment, that much is obvious."

 

[Shadow Cat]

"Not to mention we now have an element, two toxins used as toxins, a bullet, and a prescription drug. There has to be some sort of connection." Ciera said as Molly walked back over to her seat. She walked over beside Sherlock and read the toxocology report over his shoulder. She tried to give him room, as someone like him obviously wasn't big on people being too close.

 

[Circledude5]

Once again, Sherlock felt Ciera's closeness to him as she read the toxology report over his shoulder. And, once again, he found to his surprise that he didn't care that much.


"Three toxins, actually." Sherlock said belatedly. "VX, hydrogen cyanide, and strychnine." He snapped closed the report and handed it to Ciera. "And there is no connection. That is the connection."

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera took the report wordlessly and opened it again to skim over it, making sure she got all the information. "Makes sense. Police constantly look for connections when investigating, it's what they're trained for. What better way to get away with murder than the only connection being that there is no connection."


John, who had been listening quietly, responded with a mere, "That settles it. You are both insane."

 

[Circledude5]

Sherlock turned to him with a grin. "I thought we'd established that a while ago."


John just shook his head in relative disbelief. Sherlock shrugged.


"There is actually, another very obvious connection." Sherlock said, "But it's that everything used can kill."

 

[Shadow Cat]

"Well yes, but I believe that that one is a happy coincidence. For the killer at least." Ciera looked down at her phone as it beeped. She had an incoming text. Pulling it out, she looked down at the unknown number before opening the message. Her eyes widened as she read it, and then she looked up. "I have to go." She said hurriedly as she rushed out the door. She kept rereading the message in her mind.


I have 10 snipers with their guns trained on your sister right now. Leave the hospital and get into the cab waiting outside or she dies.


~M

 

[Circledude5]

Text message followed by hurried departure.


Mycroft.


Sighing heavily in irritation, Sherlock took out his own phone to text his over-bearing brother.


11.37 am Come now, Mycroft. Must you stick your overlarge nose into the affairs of everyone I meet? SH





The response thirty seconds later made Sherlock's mood switch from irritation to dread with the speed and force of a bullet.


11.38 am I don't, brother mine. That text to Ms. Ciera Alex Belle was not sent by me, nor my assistant. I intend to pick her up this evening.





Moriarty.

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera took the first elevator she could find down to the first floor, checking her phone repeatedly in case a follow up text was received. As much as she fought with her sister, she wouldn't want her to get hurt, and especially not because of her. She stopped at the revolving door and looked out to cab outside with a growing feeling of dread.


3o seconds. My snipers are getting itchy trigger fingers.


~M





With a deep breath, she walked outside.

 

[Circledude5]

Before John could react, Sherlock had grabbed his flatmate by the elbow and dragged him out of his seat.


"What the bloody-"


But Sherlock already had his coat on and had flown out the door. He skidded around the corner and ran down the stairs two at a time, John sprinting down the corridor to keep up.


"Sherlock! Slow down!"


But Sherlock didn't. And he didn't respond either. He slammed his body against the stairwell door and caught on to the frame to turn faster. Just as he heard John on the first landing, he turned the corner in time to see Ciera walking calmly to a black taxi out front.

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera stood for a moment by the door of the taxi.


15 seconds. You're cutting it awful close.


~M





Ciera stepped hurriedly into the taxi and shut the door just as she saw Sherlock burst out of the stairwell. The driver stepped out the gas as soon as she had shut it.


Congratulations. Your sister is safe. Its up to you whether or not the same will be true of yourself.


~M





The window the separated the driver and the passenger was up and all the windows tinted, obstructing her view of where they were going. She sat back in the seat with her phone clutched tightly in her hand. She only wished she knew what was wanted of her.

 

[Circledude5]

Sherlock ran out the door, seeing the taxi driving away. He felt a sense of failure and defeat; he hadn't stopped her going. John caught up to him about fifteen seconds later, out of breath and confused.


"Where's the fire?"


"What?" Sherlock looked down at him perplexedly. Fire?


"What happened, why did we just run all the way here from the lab?" John clarified.


"Ciera's just gone with Moriarty." Sherlock breathed. John visibly paled.

 

[Shadow Cat]

The cab stopped a few blocks from the hospital. We didn't go very far, did we? She thought to herself as the cab driver walked around and opened her door. She stepped out still clutching her phone tightly and watched as the cab sped away.


She had been dropped just in front of what looked like an abandoned building.


Step inside.


~M





Ciera opened the door and slowly pushed it open, her heart pounding in her chest. She closed the door behind her, leaving it open just a crack so that anyone who might come to find her would be able to get in. In front of her was a small, rickety staircase. The entire inside of the building seemed to have been charred in a fire, and damaged by years of neglect as well as water damage. She walked lowly up the stairs, testing each step in case it decided to collapse.

 

[Circledude5]

Sherlock had thrown himself into the street, straight out in front of the first taxi he saw.


"John, hurry up!"


And for the first time, John was in the cab just seconds after Sherlock.


"I'll pay you triple if you can get to New Scotland Yard in less than ten minutes." Sherlock yelled at the cabbie. The drives stepped on it, shooting down the street. In just about six minutes and fifty two seconds (and a ton of speeding and careful maneouvring), they skidded to a halt outside the Metropolitan Police and Sherlock shoved several bills through the window before he darted out and beelined for the homicide and missing person department of the building.


"I'm going to use your tracking service," the detective said to an indignant Lestrade.


"What? What for?" Lestrade question. But Sherlock had already let himself into the office with the cell phone tracking system. "Sherlock! You can't just walk in here and -"


"Ciera's gone with Moriarty to an unknown location, likely due to blackmail and we need to find her." Sherlock told the Detective Inspector as he typed the password into the system.


"How do you-"


"Sticky note. Back of the monitor. Constable Williams keeps it there." Sherlock held up the sticky to Lestrade. "You should have a word with him about security."

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera walked slowly up the stairs, eventually making it to the second floor. This floor was as rickety as the stairs, entire boards missing in some spots. She watched her step as she walked forward, stopping as she rounded a corner to find a man leaning against a small dresser.


The dresser seemed out of place in this dismal setting, a bleached white against the charred remains of the house.


"I take it you're M?" Ciera asked as she held up her phone.


"Call me Moriarty."

 

[Circledude5]

"John what's her phone number?"


As John recited the mobile number, Sherlock typed it in to his own and pressed call. Hopefully his number would show up as unknown.

 

[Shadow Cat]

Moriarty glanced down at her phone. "Let me see that." Ciera reluctantly handed it over, knowing that the snipers probably still had their scopes trained on her sister. Moriarty quickly disabled the GPS before taking the battery out and dropping the pieces down through a hole in the woodwork.


"There. Now we won't be interrupted." He paused a moment as he walked over to sit in a chair, bleached white like the dresser. "I hear you've met a man named Sherlock Holmes."

 

[Circledude5]

The phone rang thrice before shutting off.


Damn.


"What do you do next, Brother Mine?" Great. Avatar Mycroft had shown up again. "What would I do?"


As much as he hated taking his brother's advice (even if it was his mind-palace avatar version), that was the next best option. Check CCTV footage.





Sherlock dialed his brother directly next instead, rather than trying to reach him through his assistant.


He half-regretted it when his brother did actually pick up.

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. "What do you want?" Ciera asked.


"What I want is for you to know what you're getting into. You can leave now, go back to your sister and you'll both be safe. If not, I will continue manipulating you both, perhaps eventually getting one or both of you killed, to my great pleasure. Your choice."


"Why would you tell me what I'm getting into?"


"The same reason a feline plays with its prey before killing it. Fun."

 

[Circledude5]

"What now, Sherlock?" Variant of his usual reply. Sherlock grimaced.


"I need the CTTV footage from every camera within a mile radius of St. Bart's." Sherlock said. The fact that the phone had been shut off was a sign that Ciera was with Moriarty himself. And they weren't far from the hospital.


"I'm afraid I can't do that for you," Mycroft told his brother sternly. Sherlock felt like kicking something. He needed that footage!


"Give it to me, Mycroft."


"Not if you ask like that."


Sighing, Sherlock swallowed his pride. "Please."


He heard a rueful chuckle. "I can't. All footage withing a mile radius of St. Barthomew's Hospital from the past hour has been wiped clear."


"How's National Security going, Mycroft?" Sherlock hung up without waiting for an answer. She was probably dead already. Shame, he had started to become fond of her. Then again, caring is not an advantage.

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera gazed at him calmly as he simply shrugged. "Fine, if you really want to be that way. I'll have someone take you back to Sherlock's flat. But, you can't remember this visit. For two reasons, actually. The first being no one needs to know what was said in this room. The second being it will drive Sherlock mad trying to figure it out." With that, he stood and walked past her.


"What do you mean I can't remember-" Ciera began before someone from behind her shoved a needle in her neck. Her limbs went weak as they caught her weight. She could already feel her consciousness beginning to fade.

 

[Circledude5]

Sherlock looked up at John, who was standing over him. "I'm sorry, John. If she's not dead already, she will be."


John nodded.


Sherlock got up and walked out of the office and department. He was starting down the stairs when John caught up. They went together outside an Sherlock hailed a cab. However, instead of going back to St. Bart's to collect his work, Sherlock told the driver to go back to 221 Baker Street.


"If she's still alive, that's where he'll put her." Sherlock explained to John. "That's how he works."

 

[Shadow Cat]

"Don't worry, the drugs only last 10 minutes." He said as he walked out. Her consciousness faded out and she fell into darkness.


She was still unconscious when she was dropped off at Baker street and put into the bed in the spare bedroom.

 

[Circledude5]

Sherlock checked his room and the bathroom before jogging up to the second floor and looking in John's room. When she wasn't there, he went to look in the guest bedroom. To his relief, she was lying on top of it, fully clothed, and apparently asleep. Her shelf in the kitchen began filling with useless items and he ha to take a moment to toss them all in the garbage. There was no use in creating objects off of mere speculation.


Then, Sherlock turned and went back downstairs. "She's alive. Guest bedroom, John."

 

[Shadow Cat]

Ciera first became aware of a voice. It seemed to be just out of reach, nearly faded into the background. It slowly came into focus and she heard the words 'alive' and 'bedroom'. Her eyes flickered open to the sight of the ceiling above her.


Her head was throbbing, and her mouth was dry. She briefly recalled the last thing she remembered. Hearing the sound of an incoming text. She put a hand over her eyes to shield them from the light due to sensitivity. "Oww." She moaned as the throbbing in her head intensified.