221B

Chapter 13 - The Great Game

"Come on." Sherlock says, disturbing me out of my thoughts, striding across the living room.

"What?" I ask, standing up. "We just got back."

"Yes, and you should be expecting this by now. Good thing you didn't take your groupie coat off, because we're going back outside."

"What?" I say loudly. "'Groupie coat'?" I repeat. "What the devil is that supposed to mean?"

He stops in the living room doorway, looks round at me, and smirks. "You know what I mean." He smirks, then turns and heads down the stairs.

"No, no actually I don't." I say, quickly following him. We stop in the hallway just a couple feet away from the door, facing one another. "This is another time when I don't know what you mean by that."

He smirks again. "Come on, Kate. You're a smart girl. You are completely capable of figuring it out."

A moment later, I heave a sigh. "Sherlock, it is not my fault that we have nearly the same type of coat. Besides, what does it matter to you? A coat’s a coat. It doesn’t matter. And I'm definitely not your groupie-though I'm sure you wish I was." Now it's my turn to smirk, and turn towards the door.

We walk out of 221B and I stop short.

“Wait, isn’t that the girl from-?” I ask, looking at a homeless girl-the very same one who Sherlock had talked to not too long ago. She stands by the railings on the other side of Speedy’s. She shakes a paper cup at everyone who passes by her.

“Possibly.” He says quickly. “Look, there’s John.” He points towards a taxi, which is pulling up to us. John gets out, and Sherlock walks over to him. I follow.

“Alex Woodbridge didn’t know anything about art.” John says to us.

“And?” Sherlock asks.

“And…”

I see Sherlock look at the girl again and then starts heading towards her, still talking to John.

“Is that it? No habits, hobbies personality?” He asks.

“No, give us a chance! He was an amateur astronomer.” John replies.

Sherlock stops short, then turns and points towards the taxi John had just gotten out of.

“Hold that cab.” He says.

John jogs over to the taxi. Before following, I turn and see Sherlock go over to the girl and hand her a slip of paper a moment later. With that, he turns and walks back to us.

“Fortunately, I haven’t been idle.” He says.

“What was that all about?” I ask him. He looks at me.

“What was what all about?”

“You know.”

He smirks. “You’ll see later on.”

“Just tell me.”

“No.” He shakes his head slightly. “It’s better to be…surprised.” He opens the cab door and slides in. I follow him and shut the cab door.

We get out of the cab at Vauxhall and are walking along. Sherlock buttons up his coat and looks up at the sky.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He asks.

John and I both look up at the sky.

"I thought you didn't care about things like that." John says.