Eccedentasiast (A BBC Sherlock Fanfiction)

Thirteen

She looked beautiful. Her dress swirled beneath her, an endless expanse of smoke and shadows. Her eyes shone as she took his hand. They walked towards the car.

"You look.....acceptable." He said as they climbed into the car.
Her face fell imperceptibly. She stared out of the window, a distant expression in her eyes. After a few minutes of silence, Sherlock deflated and turned to Lucy. "I guess, if we take in to account social norms, you do look, by society's standards, somewhat appealing" He turned bright red, silently cursing himself as a smile grew on her face and she turned on him with a devilish smirk. "That is not to say that-"
"Did you hear that ladies and gentlemen ! The great Sherlock Holmes finds me pretty." She laughed.

"Let's go over the plan again." Her smile faded as he spoke. He was back to business. One moment he could be laughing, smiling, warm, human. The next, cold, distant. Sociopathic. But that was Holmes for you. She sighed before turning to him. "There will be guards posted at every exit. We need to get through the entrances without any problems. From then on, our sole aim is to integrate ourselves with the siblings. Now remember, Jensen is cruel, conniving. He's killed countless people and has ties to the Russian Mafia. Christine is a trained seductress and is skilled with all weapons. I trust that, if the time comes, you will be able to take the shot ?" He asked, talking about the pistol hidden beneath her skirts.
Lucy froze, recalling the cold fear that had run through her as she'd picked up the weapon, the cold metal bringing back all sorts of unsavoury memories. The blood dripping from her hands. She swallowed, shifting in her seat before nodding tightly. Sherlock seemed to deem her answer acceptable, starting to speak again about how the events would go down. Lucy drowned him out, mind whirling as her nerves got the best of her. Her leg bounced up and down and she bit her polished nails anxiously.

After a while, Sherlock seemed to realise that she wasn't cracking jokes or making snide comments. "As long as we stick to the plan we should be fine." That was as close as he got to comforting. But at least he was honest.

**********

After what seemed like hours, the car came to a grinding halt. Sherlock held the door open as Lucy climbed out, facing the venue in awe. "Wow." He smirked, taking her arm. "Wow indeed. Now Mrs Wein, Are you ready ?"
"Why of course darling." She purred as we approached the guards. Sherlock passed them the invitations. They waved us through and Lucy frowned. "No metal detectors? You'd think that there would be more security."

"As long as you're not the police, any and all unsettled scores or grudge matches are fair game to be resolved here. Last year, ten people died." Her throat constricted as they walked through the open doors. They were temporarily blinded by the sudden change of dark to light but when their vision cleared they stood at the top of the stairs, dumbfounded. The ballroom was massive and packed with people, all dressed in clothes of silk and velvet. A large dance floor took centre stage, tiled enamel floors and a string quintet played hauntingly beautiful waltzes at the back of the room. People milled about aimlessly, nibbling at Appetizers and sipping from crystal champagne flutes. Lucy shrank under the lights, making herself as small as she could. Sherlock frowned before tentatively placing a hand on the small of her back. He leaned towards her so that his breath grazed the back of her neck "Breathe." He whispered. She flashed him a lacklustre smile before descending the stairs.

Lucy froze halfway as the cold metal of her shotgun grazed her leg. She lurched forwards, coming closer and closer to the marble. Sherlock grabbed her by the waist and swung her towards him. Their noses were almost touching and she felt the blood rush to her cheeks. "Try and keep your balance. It really is a simple life skill that even you should be accomplish." He hissed.

Lucy
I glared at him before steadying myself and turning away. "Let's up. We'll cover more ground that way." I said coldly, stalking away. He faltered. "No. Lucy-" I ignored his urgent whispers, smirking as he growled angrily. I stole a glass of champagne off a waiter, waltzing through the crowd of criminals. Board meetings ? Press conferences ? Those I couldn't handle. Parties however ? Those were my element.