The Best Man

Here We Go Again...

Sherlock arrived as soon as was humanly possible, comforted by the fact that back up was on its way. He crept in the back door, into what seemed to be a run-down office unit. He stopped trying to sneak by, remembering that his own face was probably a key into Moriarty's hub. He turned into a room, walls grey, furniture bland and shutters shut. There was a man in a suit tapping away at a laptop and Sherlock cleared his throat for his attention.

''Sorry,'' the man sounded beyond bored. ''Only Moriarty goes down, you know that.''

''I'm sure he wouldn't mind me taking a look.'' Sherlock said confidently, staring down at him. The man's head snapped up in recognition of Sherlock's voice. He stood quickly, whipping out a gun and pointing it at Sherlock. ''You stay right where you are.''

Sherlock took a step forward. ''You know,'' he tilted his head. ''I'd much rather see my boyfriend.''

The gun quavered in his hands. ''Take one more step and I'll shoot.''

''No, you wont.'' Sherlock smiled. ''Because it's Moriarty's job to kill me, not anyone else.''

''I can harm you!'' he threatened in a shaking voice.

''Oh, God.'' Sherlock huffed out, looking up at the ceiling. He struck his hand out, catching the man's wrist. The gun dropped and went off, speeding a bullet through the thin, wooden wall. Sherlock tightened his grip around the man's wrist, keeping him close as he swung a punch into his face. The man crumpled to the ground and he stayed there. Sherlock rolled his eyes and stepped around the desk, rooting for keys. Once he found them, he pulled out his phone. John was still on the other line.

''Was that a gun?'' he hissed.

''Nobody's hurt.'' Sherlock said, stepping out of the room. ''Where's the entrance to the basement?''

''It's in the back room. This is the first time they've contained me like this, Sherlock. I don't know what's going on.''

''It's okay,'' Sherlock said in a soft whisper. He peeped in the door, made sure the coast was clear, then stepped towards the trap door. ''I'll get you out. It'll be okay.'' he tried all the keys on the door, until he found the right one. ''Okay, once I get down here, where do I go?''

''There's a corridor. I'm in the very last room. You'll need a key for that too.''

''Okay,'' Sherlock eyed the ladder descending into a dark corridor. ''I'm going to hang up now, okay?''

''Okay.'' John hung up, eager to see Sherlock.

Sherlock pocketed his phone, starting to climb down the ladder. Once his feet hit a cobble-stone floor, he squinted into the darkness. ''Ever heard of electricity, Jim?'' he muttered under his breath, taking out his pocket-torch. He spotted the last door and walked to it. He knocked to alert John. ''It's me. Are the lights on in there?''

''Yeah,'' John stood from the floor, limping to the door. ''Slide the keys under the door and I'll open it from here if you can't see.''

Sherlock did so, hunkering down a moment and pushing the keys under. ''Okay, hurry up.''

''Why?'' came John's voice, trying out different keys. ''Is there someone coming?''

''...No, I just want to see you.'' Sherlock said quietly. You could clearly hear the keys give a rattle as John sped up his efforts to open the door. Sherlock glanced behind him every couple of seconds even though he couldn't see much. He felt on edge. He needed to see John. And finally the door opened and light flooded the dank corridor. Sherlock's head snapped over so he could see John and before he could even say hello, John had jumped on him in a hug.