AU One-Shots.

"Let it breathe." Sherlock Holmes au.

Mina Stoker walked into her hotel room, shutting the door behind her. Pulling off her coat, she went over to the side door that connected her room to the room next to it, and opened it, revealing Robert Barnum, the great detective, sitting there with a lockpick in his hand.

"I see you've taken up my offer." She handed him an unopened wine bottle. "Perhaps you'll find this easier to open.''

He took it, standing up, and followed her into the room. Glancing at the label, he read"Margot '58. A comet vintage." He turned his head, noticing as Mina walked past him, and began to undress.

"If you're going to watch me take off my clothes, the least you could do is help me with the buttons, Robert." Mina told him, knowing he was watching.

Robert headed over to Mina, and very tentatively reached for the first button on the back of her black silk polonaise dress, and hesitantly unbuttoned it.

"That's better. Thank you."

Robert swallowed, unbuttoning the next button, and Mina asked "How is it going with our case that you refuse to take?''

"Oh, I'm afraid I've hit a dead end." Robert told her, unbuttoning the rest of the buttons fast and stepping away from her.

"Literally. I've found Reardon.''

Mina smiled, sliding out of the dress, and threw a ruffled dark red silk robe over her undergarments. "I knew I could count on you, Robert."

"He's buried in Blackwood's tomb. If you still need him...."

Mina turned around, her face one of shock. "Oh dear. My boss won't be too happy." She then tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and sighed.

"I do hope my client does not come looking for a refund."

Robert shrugged. ''He is a professor, is he not?"

"How do you know?''

"I couldn't see his face, but I spotted chalk on his lapel. I must wonder, though, if he will be as content with the results as you are, Mina. You did seem uncharacteristically ill at ease in his presence. Your hand was trembling, and your gaze was averted away from him."

Mina unlaced her corset and let it drop beneath the robe, and tugged her robe to pull it up again.

"The eye patch was a nice touch, I hope."

"But I never knew a professor to carry a gun, and that gun to be such a clever contraption in itself.''

"Let's not argue anymore." Mina told Robert, who replied, "We're not.''

"Well, then, Reardon is dead, which is wonderful news. That means the case is closed, and your services are no longer required. Which makes this a social visit, don't you think?"

"Social visit? I prefer to see it as a 'you're over your head, Wilhemina Stoker' visit. '' Robert remarked, as he poured the wine into a glass.

Continuing on, he remarked ''Whoever killed Reardon, they were covering their tracks. It means that you're the next end to be snipped. You have to be careful."

"Let it breathe, Robbie. I've never been in over my head. You know that."

"Leave now, Mina. Disappear. You've always been good at that. Or you can stay and volunteer for protective custody." Robert pleaded.

"If I'm in danger, so are you, Robert. Come with me, please. What if we could trust each other?"

Robert took a drink of the wine, and said," I disagree. When a man you ask me to find ends up dead in the coffin of the most notorious murderer since Jack the Ripper, and that murderer returns from the dead, not only is it my business, it's the business of Scotland Yard and the highest levels of British government. They will most certainly consider your retience to be an obstruction of justice. Which in relation to a crime of this magnitude would certainly mean prison time. "

"See, Robbie? We are arguing.''

Robert moved closer to Mina." You're not listening, Mina. I'm taking you to either a railway station or a police station. So what is it to be?"

Mina moved closer to Robert, looking him in the eye."Must we really decide now?" she asked sweetly.

"You decide, what will it be?''

"I told you to let it breathe." Mina sighed, and then Robert felt something, and he glanced at his wine glass.

"Can you taste the comet?'' she then asked, and Robert suddenly realized that Mina had opened the wine bottle before he'd came, drugged it, and then shut the bottle again.

He fell to the floor, and she knelt down, taking his face in her hands.

"Why couldn't you have just run away with me?'' and she kissed him hard on the mouth, then pulled away.

--------------------

The chambermaid entered the room, and was shocked to see a man there, chained to the bed, naked for all except a pillow which covered his private parts.

"Madam, do not worry. Under this pillow lies the key to my release."

The maid, upon hearing this, screamed, and ran out of the room.

Hope you like this one. I love the Sherlock Holmes 2009 film, and I thought they did a good job on it. Mina and Robert are from my story So it is love, which is published here on Wattpad.