Contact High → Sherlock Holmes (BBC) [on hold]

{ forty-three }

A/N
I've decided to nix the last episode of season four, the The Final Problem, instead changing it into an AU where moriarty returns. Don't worry, season three will remain intact! Anyways, happy reading.

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There was a clatter on the stairs as John appeared in the flat. Carmen rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly and Sherlock gave a cough. Neither of them said hello. John looked back and forth between the two. There was an uncomfortable charge in the air that suggested John had just missed something big.

He was kind of glad he missed it.

"Hello," John said awkwardly. Carmen gave him a tight smile, "Uh, Sherlock was just going through the case points with me." Sherlock snorted, "Sure." Carmen gave him a glare and John hid a smile. He hadn't seen such a blatant sign of 'we just snogged!' since university.

"Um, yeah, the case?" John went with the subject, glancing up at the wall.

Sherlock picked up where he left off in his explanation, "Why would an agent give his life to tell us something so incredibly insignificant?  That's what's strange."

"Give his life?" John said curiously as he headed to sit in his chair. Carmen stayed by Sherlock and the deduction wall, watching him as he talked. It felt good to be all together again. It was like there was something inside of her that had been empty for two years, filled again. "According to Mycroft an agent died to give them a message," Carmen sighed.

"There's an underground network planning an attack on London, that's all we know," Sherlock expanded further. He gestured to the wall, pointing at the seemingly random collection of photographs, "These are my rats."

"Rats?" Carmen asked.

"Yes, my markers, agents, low-lifes. People who might find themselves arrested or their diplomatic immunity suddenly rescinded," Sherlock said, "If one of them starts acting suspiciously, we know something's up. Five of them are behaving perfectly normally, but the sixth..."

Sherlock pointed to one of the pictures and Carmen nodded, "I know him, don't I?" Sherlock nodded, "Lord Moran, Peer of the Realm. Minister for Overseas Development. Pillar of the Establishment."

"Ah, yes," John nodded, placing the man's face.

"He's been working for North Korea since 1996," Sherlock said flatly, "He's the big rat. Rat number one. He's just done something very suspicious indeed."

He led the two of them over to his laptop, showing them the security footage of the train and the disappearing Lord Moran. John watched it passively, "Um, yeah, that's strange." Carmen nodded, "Indeed. A disappearing man. You sure there's no where he could've gotten off?"

"Not according to the maps," Sherlock sighed.

"Then the maps are wrong," Carmen countered, "He can't have just disappeared. Figure it out, Sherlock."

"I'm trying," Sherlock snapped. John looked back and forth between them. It was clear that something had shifted in their relationship, but the real question was if it was a good shift or a bad shift. It would take time to tell.

"There's something, something, something I'm missing," Sherlock muttered, looking at the wall of papers he had tacked up, "Something staring me in the face."

"Any idea who they are, Sherlock?" Carmen asked, "This underground network?"

Sherlock took his phone from his pocket, checking a text. It was an update on Lord Moran's whereabouts. He stared down at the pictures, pursing his lips as he deducted Moran was right by Westminster station. John piped up from his chair, "Intelligence must have a list of the most obvious ones."