It Started With Thieving | Sherlock Holmes

8 - New Partners

A/N - Sorry for disappearing for so long. I still can't promise these updates will be often as I have also started university now so have a ton of work to do on top (ngl most of it is watching and critiquing movies though so we love that #filmmaking). Other than that, hope you all enjoy ^-^

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When the pair returned to the hotel, before the detective could even broach the topic of the issues with his plan, Elizabeth shut herself away in her seperate room. The click of the lock upset the metaphorical butterflies in his stomach and he stood there, mouth slightly agape. Stepping closer, staring at her door, although he was tempted to knock, he fought the urge and turned away. He knew she would need some time.

Plus, he had a new case to start investigating, as painful as it was without his not-partner-partner's help.

* * * * * * *

Sat with her back to the door, Elizabeth leant her head against the wood while her arms tightly clutched her knees close to her chest. How could Sherlock betray her trust like that? Well, it hadn't been the first time he had betrayed her trust since they had been reunited.

She held her breath as she heard the soft creak of the floorboards from behind the door. Elizabeth knew Sherlock was stood behind the door, probably questioning whether to speak to her or to leave her be for some time alone. Hearing a gentle exhale through the wood and footsteps quietly shuffling away, she resumed her own breathing. Thank God, she thought, she was spared from his concern for a short while.

And yet, at the same time, she wished he had chosen to speak with her.

Running her hands over her face and through her brunette locks, she tugged at her hair, eyes closed, teeth clamped together, letting out a quiet growl. She took a breath but flinched when she heard the sound of his hotel door bang shut. Where had the detective decided to go this time? Was this the point in their reunion where he ditched her and had decided to move countries already? No, that was a ridiculous thought. He had a case to solve and over his dead body would he leave it unsolved, that she knew for a fact.

She was in a half a mind to get up and race after him, to join him on whatever lead she assumed he had disappeared to investigate. But then, her fist would clench when the thought of Sherlock forcing her to talk to that doctor would crawl to the front of her mind again. Then, the clenching of her ready-to-fight fist would ease again when she considered the doctor's words: visit a therapist or counsellor...what good would that do her? What good would it be to her to keep reliving events past?

What good was it doing her to be with him, who also counted as an event long past to her?

She was afraid to be abandoned by him but what if it was the other way around? What if she left first? What if she abandoned him for all of his mistakes like he had done to her? Starting over again didn't seem like such a bad idea, until she processed the thought of doing so alone and, as of recently, it had been nice not to be alone, even after the gut-wrenching tragedies that had struck.

Round and around Elizabeth's mind went, carefully playing with the thoughts while the detective was out.

* * * * * * *

The local police station was quieter than he expected. Officers breezily flit in and out of the station with a quietly powerful presence. No officer or detective, it seemed, appeared to be panicked about the thought of a young woman found dead with vampiric bite marks on her neck. All was calm - eerily so.

Sherlock peered around, hoping the relaxed police staff wouldn't notice him slink into the elevator up to the offices. The key about blending in was to be confident, to act as though you were meant to be there the entire time.