And then there was three; a Sherlock Fanfiction

Twenty-six

John Watson followed Sherlock's instructions (which had been sent to him over text message as promised) and met Sherlock at Magnussen's office building in London later that evening.

He walked in through the revolving doors, and glanced around the large modern lobby.

Upon arrival, Sherlock got right to business, not bothering to explain his plan to John. He moved towards the lift quickly, telling John to "have a little faith" as he pressed a card to his phone, and then to the pad next to the door.

"Sherlock what are you-" John started, glancing around for security nervously. He heard a speaker crackle to life, and he realized that it was coming from the around area where Sherlock swiped the key card.

"Sherlock you look," a familiar woman's voice said, "what are you doing here?"

John recognized the voice as Janine's, watching in horror as Sherlock shot a phony smile at what must've been a camera.

"C'mon Janine, let me up," Sherlock whispered mischievously, winking.

John could hear Janine's slight laugh through the speaker, "Sherlock, you know I can't do that! I'm working!"

Sherlock glanced around, really put on a show; "Don't make me do it out here, in front of all these people,"

"Wha-"

Sherlock disrupted her by pulling out a little box, flashing a ring to the camera slyly. John's mouth dropped, and he could hear Janine audibly gasp. Suddenly there was a quiet buzz, and the doors to the lift opened. Sherlock smiled and tucked the ring box back into his pocket, stepping into the small room.

John stumbled behind him, still staring incredulously at his friend, "did you just propose to break into a building?"

"Yep"

John rubbed his head, "Sherlock you can't- God- you can't do that!"

Sherlock pressed a button inside the elevator, "of course I can, I just did."

•••

Lilly crept up the stairs quietly, having taken out the security guard and assistant already. She moved stealthily, entering the office with precision. The target's back was to her, so he hadn't noticed her arrival. He was hooking a watch around his wrist, completely oblivious to the gun pointing at the back of his head.

"Charles Augustus Magnussen," Lilly said, gaining his attention immediately.

He whipped around, surprised, yet he still held onto his arrogance when he saw her, "Lilly Harper, looks like you're back to your old tricks, can't say I'm surprised really,"

"Shut up," Lilly commanded, "I don't have the patience to listen to you tonight,"

Magnussen smirked, "what are you going to do, shoot me?"

Lilly held her gun steady, "You know what I'm capable of Magnussen, I've seen what's in my files."

"So that's what you're here for then? You want your files back?" Magnussen asked, taking a step towards her.

"No, actually I was sent by a friend," Lilly replied, checking to make sure the safety was off, "I'm just here to kill you."

"Really? Which friend could that be I wonder? The assassin? Or maybe it's an even older friend, one from a very dark past–"

"The former, actually. Now do me a favor and get on your knees, it's much cleaner this way," Lilly glared at him, waiting as he did as she told.

"Alright," he sighed dramatically, "oh but first, you may want to check behind you; another old friend of yours seems to have crashed the party," his eyes trailed from her face, and his smirk grew bigger.

She turned around slowly, keeping her gun steady on Magnussen.

"Lilly..."

•••

Sherlock had stood in the doorway, watching Lilly's interaction with Magnussen undetected. If Charles hadn't said anything, she probably wouldn't have ever realized he was there.

As she turned around, Sherlock couldn't help but mutter her name, just to make sure that this woman, this killer, was the real Lilly Harper.

"Sherlock, what are you doing here?" She held her gun so tight that her knuckles turned white, keeping it pointed at Magnussen.

"I'm on a case," he explained coldly.

Lilly stood still, assessing the situation, "is John here?"

"Yes, downstairs," Sherlock glanced at Magnussen, who still sat looking smug.

"What are you going to do then? Kill us both?" Magnussen mocked.

"No, she's not going to kill either of us," Sherlock declared, moving forwards.

"Sherlock, I'm here for one reason and one reason only and that's Magnussen. I'm not afraid to kill you," Lilly explained, switching her gun to face him. The silencer on the end of it looked especially sinister.

Sherlock saw something flash in her eyes, "who are you working for? Who's this 'assassin'?" he asked, taking another cautious step towards her.

Something flashed in her eyes, something that looked mildly like regret, "I'm sorry Sherlock, it's for the best,"

Before he could respond, Sherlock realized that there was a bullet lodged inside his stomach. He fell to the ground hard, struggling to stay conscious. As he fought to keep his eyes open, Sherlock attempted to reexamine the situation.

Thinking quick, Lilly hit Magnussen over the head with her gun, not quite hard enough to knock him out, but enough to disorient him. Then she paused over Sherlock's body, checked his pulse, and ran.

Sherlock stayed conscience just long enough to see the fleeing figure of Lilly and hear Magnussen shout, "give my regards to Mrs. Watson, won't you, Lilly?"

______________________________
GUESS WHOS NOT DEAD: ME! (Sorry I know I suck and I know this chapter was mediocre but I'm struggling...)

Well I didn't make my self-set deadline (big surprise) so sorry! Sherlock season 4 had really taken a lot out of me for a while so I felt I needed a break to recuperate after that super awesome but super sad season.

Also, these last few chapters wouldn't have been possible without the very helpful Sherlock transcript by Ariane DeVere that I found online! So Ariane, if you see this, THANK YOU!
(The link to this transcript is at the bottom)

And another thank you to crinthewerewolf for the new cover ❤️

Photo: me @ you guys rn

Sorry,
M

The transcript can be found here:
http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html