Fire and Ice

One Step Ahead

Happy Mother's Day to my favourtie/only mom who puts up with a lot from both me and my brother (sometimes my dad too). Even though she probably won't see this until next Mother's Day (long story) this chapter is dedicated to you. <3

Just a warning that there are only 3 chapters left.

***

Chapter 24: One Step Ahead

Present day...

I was too distracted by the bodies around Moriarty to fight back when someone grabbed my arms and pinned them behind my back in an uncomfortable position. All of them were dead. I never thought Moriarty would take it that far, but he did. I don't know what I expected him to do, but it certainly wasn't this.

The room was big and warehouse like. There were no windows or doors, just a big empty, grey room. It was a long and wide room, like a massive square and we were right in the middle of it. The ceiling was high and dusty, while the floor was smooth and clean. It looked well taken care of but the room was completely unused. Like a school's gymnasium.

I looked over at Sherlock. Two Leviathans were struggling to get the fob watch from him. He was holding it high over his head where the short Leviathans couldn't reach it unless they jumped. They were clawing at his face and arms, trying to reach for it. I could tell that he was bleeding, but he wouldn't budge. Only moments ago he refused to touch the thing, now he was fighting for it. One of them finally jumped and grabbed his arm. They managed to pull Sherlock's hand down into reach and uncurl his fingers from the watch before they had two more Leviathans come over and keep him from running to John's body. His face was a white as a sheet and his expression was a mix of rage and sadness.

Moriarty smiled as he took the fob watch from his Leviathan friend. He closed his eyes and rubbed his fingers all over it as if he was taking in every little detail. I knew that his plan was to open it, but could he actually get the memories from it? The watches knew who was a Time Lord and who wasn't but what did they use to tell? I assumed that Moriarty figured that out already and had a plan to avoid it. But I wasn't concerned.

Moriarty began to laugh, "Here we are, Doctor, Sherlock, and I have won."

"Not yet," Sherlock protested, he was still fighting for breath after his scuffle a minute ago. His skin was glistening in sweat, his lip was bleeding and there were white streaks on his face that showed where the nails had scraped his skin.

"I have the watch that holds all your memories, Sherlock," Moriarty taunted.

"You can't get into it. It would recognize the one it belongs to," Sherlock argued.

"That's why I've been collecting traces of your finger prints and DNA for as long I've known who you were," Moriarty smiled manically. One of the Leviathans brought over to him a small wooden box. He opened it to reveal two thin, plastic gloves. "Over the years I have collected prints for all of your fingers and most of your hands. These are what I've created from them."

As Moriarty pulled the gloves over his hands, they merged into his skin until the gloves were his skin. They just seemed to sink into him. I could believe my eyes. What kind of technology was this? Moriarty then picked up the fob watch, which he had placed in the box while putting the gloves. I assumed that Moriarty had somehow figured out that fingerprints were what the watched used to figure out who was Time Lord and who wasn't. But again, I wasn't that concerned.

Moariarty smiled and looked up at us, "You might want to watch this."

"It won't work," I said calmly.

"Quiet, Doctor!" Sebastian Moran yelled from beside Moriarty.

"It won't," Sherlock agreed.

Moriarty ignored us. Sherlock and I exchanged knowing glances as Moriarty opened the watch. Instead of the bright yellow light that usually shone from inside, the only light was the reflection of the TARDIS light behind Moriarty. When he stared inside it, the only thing he learned was the time and slowly his expression turned from excitement to anger and confusion.