A Study in Blue

The Warrior and His Friend

Annabeth stared at the subway map, her tears blurring the lines into colourful splodges, like paint running. She could feel the odd person staring at her but this was New York and most people didn't give her a second look. The Mist helped too.

She checked the time with Percy's watch - the one that Tyson had made to expand into a shield. He'd been missing for two days now as he'd found no clues. Sometimes when she couldn't sleep she'd get it out and remember all the break-neck adventures they'd had together. It somehow felt like the end of the road now but it had felt like that when she had thought that he had blown up in the middle of Mount Tam. And he'd turned up perfectly fine in the end.

She dried her eyes and took a deep breath. Now was most definitely not the time for crying, she scolded herself. She was a child of Athena and she did not back down from a challenge. She could solve any puzzle if she set her mind to it - it was in her DNA.

"It is certainly sprawling" commented a voice to her left. It had none of the American twang she was used to hearing all around her. If she had to guess she would say he was British - an Englishman. He stood to her right, staring at the map, holding a tissue out to her. He wore a black jacket with patches at the shoulder and the elbow. He stood with his back straight, his hands clasped behind his back, feet spread evenly apart. A warriors stance.
Annabeth was instantly wary but she accepted the hanky from the man. If he was a god or something, she didn't want to offend.
"Um... Thanks," she said.

"John!" shouted a man at the ticket booth, "John, the man won't let me buy our tickets!" The man wasn't overly tall but he was very striking. He wore a great coat with the lapels up and he carried himself with a haughty grace.

The soldier, who was evidently called John, sighed.
"Excuse me for one moment," he said before walking over to his friend. The ticket conductor was now shouting through the glass as John tried to placate him. Eventually he gave up and dragged his haughty friend away.

When John came back to the subway map, he smiled and introduced his friend as Sherlock Holmes. Annabeth replied that it was nice to meet him but the man was rather preoccupied with the map. All he said was,
"Hmm, not bad, I prefer the tube map, more ..." John cleared his throat and Sherlock snapped his attention on to her. He narrowed his eyes and she got the feeling that she was being very closely scrutinised.
"You're what, 16 but you look older...you're slightly stooped...as though you've held a heavy burden, in fact, you still are. Your watch is battered suggesting that it was once a loved one's or given to you by someone you loved a long time ago. You've been crying which suggests it was the former - a boyfriend who's missing, and he has been for a while now."

After this, Sherlock stuck his hand out formally but Annabeth was rather shocked and it didn't register at first. She shook with him and confirmed his theory, silently amazed at his quick deductions. She had to be careful though, this man was clearly very clever but she was pretty sure that he wasn't an Ancient of any kind - she couldn't let anything slip past him.

"I'm really sorry about your boyfriend. My friend is a detective -" started John.
"Consulting detective," interrupted Sherlock, "The only one one the world."
"Yes, anyway, he may be willing to take your case on, if you want? If you would like to explain what happened?"

At first Annabeth balked at the idea - there was no way she could divulge to total strangers. She had ignored Percy for a whole taxi ride for doing just that with Rachel Dare. Slowly though, she thought, 'What the hell. Percy was gone and she couldn't live without doing anything any more. Who cares if they find out about the gods. Maybe this guy and his friend can help.'
"Alright, I'll explain over a coffee."