Face the Odds

Chapter 25: Client

"Oh, for God's sake." Mycroft groaned. "I should have known Sherlock knew where Marie kept disappearing to in the last few months."

"Of course I knew." Sherlock snapped at the same time Marie scoffed: "Of course he knew."

"In fact," Sherlock continued with narrowed eyes on his brother, "I'm surprised this sister of mine knew it, but you didn't."

Mycroft rubbed his forehead, exhausted and aggravated, and more than a little worried.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew who 'M' was?" He asked Marie at last, glancing at the dark-haired woman, who raised a brow in return.

"Why didn't you tell me Eurus knew Jim Moriarty?" Marie countered.

Mycroft opened his mouth to protest, but Marie cut him off as she said sharply: "Don't lie to me, Mycroft – I'm through with secrets now."

Mycroft closed his mouth as Marie stated, eyeing Mycroft closely: "She knew I'd chase Sebastian, and she knew I was coming. That bullet didn't just miss; she timed it precisely so that it wouldn't kill John because she knew I was coming. How else can you explain the two tranquilisers she had loaded right after the real bullet?"

Marie fixed Mycroft with an assessing look as she pointed out: "There are only two people in this world who could have told her enough about me for her to predict my moves. And since I'm guessing it wasn't Sherlock, considering he didn't even know Eurus existed until a few days ago, I'd say it's fair to say Eurus met Jim at some point despite being imprisoned for most of her life."

Marie raised a brow as she finished: "And either you're stupider than I gave you credit for and didn't know about it for the last at least three years that Jim's been dead, or you knew they'd met."

Mycroft heaved a sigh, his shoulders drooping in defeat as he rubbed his forehead tiredly.

"Yeah, just maybe he's stupider than you gave him credit for." John deadpanned, and Mycroft closed his eyes as he massaged his temples against the migraine he could feel coming.

Sherlock meanwhile made his way down the stairs, calling to the two men he'd hired to frighten Mycroft: "Right, you two. Wiggins has got your money by the gate."

The man dressed as the girl Mycroft had chased gave a delighted thumbs up before turning and dashing away as Sherlock added sternly: "Don't spend it all in one crack den."

The clown – still standing on the upstairs landing – squeezed his big red nose, letting it squeak at them before he too walked away casually to get his agreed pay.

"Don't I get any compensation for my performance?" Marie asked with too-casual levity. "After all I did do an excellent job at mimicking your sister's voice."

Mycroft shot her a look of utter disbelief – which she ignored – while Sherlock answered with equal nonchalance as his wife: "Mm, how about I redress your shoulder and we call it square?"

"Add dinner, and it's a deal." Marie agreed, and John chimed in: "Better hurry if you want to get dinner – even the Chinese at the end of Baker Street will be closing soon."

Mycroft rubbed his head in aggravation as Sherlock finally reached the bottom of the stairs, and the younger Holmes brother gave a false smile as he said insincerely: "Oh, I hope we didn't spoil your enjoyment of the movie."

With that, the consulting detective wrapped a careful arm around his wife's shoulders, leading the way towards one of the side doors.

"You're just leaving?" Mycroft demanded in disbelief, turning to look at the pair.