His Last Vow (Sherlock Holmes X OC)

FOUR- The Mind Palace of a Dying Detective

EARLIER

Sherlock walked softly along the carpeted hall towards where he could hear Magnussen talking quietly, sound anxious and tearful. He expected Anita to give more of a fight when he told her to stay, but preferred that she didn't. Unlike what most people would think, Sherlock didn't like fighting with her. She always made fantastic points. She would have made a great lawyer.

"What- what- what would your husband think, eh? He...your lovely husband, upright, honorable...so English. What- what would he say to you now?" Magnussen asked as Sherlock approached the room and saw Magnussen cowering down on his knees.

In front of him was a figure dressed in all black, pointing a gun at Magnussen. The figure cocked the gun and pointed it at him again and Magnussen whimpered and started to beg in Danish. Sherlock was pretty sure Anita could say 'beautiful' in Danish, but he wasn't completely confident in that answer.

"You're- you're doing this to protect him from the truth...but is this protection he would want?" Magnussen questioned the figure. Sherlock slowly walked to stand a few feet behind the person holding the gun.

"Additionally, if you're going to commit murder, you might consider changing your perfume, Lady Smallwood," he said, confidently. Magnussen straightened up a bit and let out a shaky breath before speaking to Sherlock.

"Sorry. Who? That's not...Lady Smallwood, Mr. Holmes," he said and Sherlock frowned. The figure turned around and Sherlock was face to face with Mary Watson, who pointed the gun at him.

"Is John with you?" she asked Sherlock.

"He's, um..." Sherlock said, shakily. He was suddenly extremely grateful he told Anita to stay downstairs.

"Is John here?" Mary repeated, firmly.

"He's- he's downstairs." Mary nodded then looked back at him.

"And Anita? Is she here too?" she questioned and Sherlock nodded.

"So, what do you do now? Kill us both?" Magnussen asked Mary, softly. She smiled humorlessly at him as Sherlock found his voice again.

"Mary, whatever he's got on you, let me help," he said as he prepared to step towards her.

"Oh, Sherlock, if you take one more step I swear I will kill you," Mary said, somewhat exasperated. Sherlock shook his head and gave her a small smile.

"No, Mrs. Watson. You won't."

He started to lift his foot off the floor and, immediately, Mary pulled the trigger and the bullet impacted him in his lower chest. Sherlock's eyes became unfocused and he had a slightly shocked look on his face as Mary sighed, regretfully. Sherlock looked down at the bullet hole and watched as blood began to pour out.

"I'm sorry, Sherlock. Truly am," Mary said, tearfully. She really did like Sherlock and Anita; she was a lovely person to watch movies with.

"Mary?" Sherlock asked as he raised his head towards her. She turned and pointed her gun at Magnussen and-

MIND PALACE

The room darkened around Sherlock and a spotlight shined onto his face as he stared ahead of himself in shock, a loud siren blaring in his ear repeatedly. Then Molly appeared, wearing her lab coat, and walked around Sherlock.

"It's not like it is in the movies. There's not a great spurt of blood and you go flying backwards," she said, smiling but then her face became more serious.

"The impact isn't spread over a wide area. It's tightly focused, so there's little or no energy transfer," Molly continued while she was in a white mortuary room. Molly walked over to the body lying on the table, which was covered with a white sheet. She reached down and pulled back the sheet and revealed Sherlock lying under the sheet, naked and his eyes closed.