Sherlock - The Game Is On!

His Last Vow- Seven

Chapter Seven

Third POV

"Sherlock, she loves you."

"Yes. Like I said, human error." The doors close and the lift begins its ascent. John turns to look at him. "What about Michelle?" John asked. Sherlock avoids the question. "What are you gonna do?"

"Well, not actually marry her, obviously. There's only so far you can go."

"So what will you tell her?" Sherlock briefly looks at him again before facing the front. "Well, I'll tell her that our entire relationship was a ruse to break into her bosses office. I imagine she'll want to stop seeing me at that point... But you're the expert on women."

"But what about Michelle? That girl is heartbroken because of you." The lift stops at floor the thirty second floor and the doors open. Sherlock turns on his human smile and walks out, bobbing up and down in an 'I've just come to get engaged to you' way as he looks around for his new fiancée. After a moment he stops, looking around more carefully and frowning when there's no sign of her. The boys walk into her office but she still can't be seen. "So where did she go?"

"It's a bit rude. I just proposed to her." John walks across the room towards the window and sees Janine lying on the floor. "Sherlock..." Sherlock walks over as John bends down to her. "Did she faint? Do they really do that? I hope Michelle doesn't, then again, she'll just accept the ring." John stares to his mate, bewildered. "You have a lot of hurdles to jump mate, if you want her to marry you. You'll have to get on your knees and literally beg for her to take you back after the shit you've pulled." John stated as a opinion.

Taking his hand away from Janine's head, he notices blood. "It's a blow to the head. She's breathing. Janine?" She moans quietly. Sherlock looks round the rest of the office and sees something in an adjoining room. "Another in here." John looks over to him but doesn't leave his patient.

In the next room Sherlock looks at the unconscious suited man lying face down on the floor, then does a full-circle turn to look around the rest of the room. "Security."

"Does he need help?" Walking over to the man, he looks down at him. Behind his left ear, which has an earpiece in it, is a small tattoo of the number '14'. "Ex-con." Zooming I'm on another tattoo on the man's right hand between his thumb and index finger. The tattoo is five small dots, four of them in a square shape and the fifth in the middle of the square. "White supremacist, by the tattoo, so who cares? Stick with Janine." He points to John. John obeys like a dog would to their owner.

Sherlock looks around the room again and then goes to the nearby glass desk. He bends down, holding his hand over the top of it while looking at it closely, then works his way round to the other side, looking carefully at everything. He squats down to the leather chair behind the desk and puts his hand on the seat, immediately working out the temperature of the leather:

TEMPERATURE: 35°C

In the other room, John looks up as if he has just had a thought and then gets up and walks to where he can see Sherlock next door. "Hey. They must still be here."

"So's Magnussen. His seat's still warm. He should be at dinner but he's still in the building." He looks around and then raises his eyes upwards. "Upstairs!" Sherlock loudly whispers. "We should call the police."

"During our own burglary?! You're really not a natural at this, are you?" John sighs and switches his phone off again. "No, wait, shh!" Standing at the side of the chair, he closes his eyes, sniffs deeply and holds his hands out to the sides. As John goes back to Janine, Sherlock sniffs twice more, the final one a deep long sniff, and a couple of words appear around him:

VERSACE
No 5

"Perfume, not Janine's." The words disappear from his mind. Keeping his eyes closed, Sherlock waves his hand around beside his head as if to force other suggestions from his mind. Two more brand names appear:

PRADA
Dior

He waves those away, then opens his eyes and points upwards triumphantly at the correct name as it appears:

Claire-de-la-lune

Sherlock quietly says the name out loud, then turns around, grimacing. "Why do I know it?" John looks up from where he is still checking Janine. "Mary wears it."

"No, not Mary. Somebody else." Lifting his head, he hears a noise from upstairs and his gaze becomes intense. John seems to recognise that look and whispers loudly: "Sherlock!" Sherlock's already off, running across the room to the stairwell and hurrying upwards, pausing for a moment to look up the stairs before quickly continuing on.

Up in Magnussen's private penthouse flat, Sherlock walks softly along the carpeted hall towards where he can hear Magnussen talking quietly and sounding very anxious and almost tearful. "What would your husband think, eh?" Sherlock walks carefully towards a partially open door at the end of the hall. "He... Your lovely husband, upright, honourable..." Looking through the gap of the door, he sees Magnussen on his knees with his hands behind his head and cowering. "So English. What would he say to you now?"

Standing in front of him, someone dressed all in black and wearing black gloves pulls back the pistol and silencer they are pointing at Magnussen and cocks the gun before pointing the business end at him again. He cowers, whimpering and momentarily lapsing into Danish. "You're doing this to protect him from the truth... But is this protection he would want?"

"Additionally, if you're going to commit murder, you might consider changing your perfume..." Sherlock walks into the room. The potential killer raises the gun a little, turning it slightly to the left. "Lady Smallwood." Magnussen straightens a little, breathing out a long shaky breath. "Sorry. Who?" Sherlock focuses on the back of the assassin. Magnussen's gaze goes from him to the face of his potential killer as the person adjusts their grip on the pistol. "That's... Not... Lady Smallwood, Mr Holmes." Sherlock frowns. The person in black turns to face him, aiming the pistol at him, and Sherlock looks into the face of Mary Elizabeth Watson.

He draws in a breath and rapidly flashes back to several different times when they have been together. In each of those moments his many deductions about, swarm around her. Then he's back in Magnussen's flat and the deductions fade, leaving many instances of only one word repeatedly drifting around her as she aims her gun towards him:

Liar

They too fade and he focuses on her face as she stares back at him. A single large word appears beside her face:

Liar

"Is John with you?"

"He's, um..."

"Is John here?" Mary presses on firmly. "He downstairs."

"So, what do you do now? Kill us both?" Keeping her pistol aimed in front of her, Mary smiles humourlessly over her shoulder towards him before turning her gaze back to Sherlock. As Sherlock speaks, Magnussen slowly lowers his hands and begins to reach down towards the floor on his left. "Mary, whatever he's got on you, let me help." He shifts his weight onto one foot, preparing to step towards her. "Oh, Sherlock, if you take one more step I swear I will kill you."

"No, Mrs Watson. You won't." He starts to lift his foot off the floor. Immediately she pulls the trigger. The bullet impacts his lower chest, just above his buttoned jacket and slightly to the right of his shirt buttons. Magnussen straightens up again. Sherlock's eyes unfocus and a slight look of shock appears on his face as Mary sighs regretfully. He looks down at the bullet hole and after a moment blood begins to pour from the hole. "I'm sorry, Sherlock. Truly am."

"Mary?" She turns and points her pistol down at Magnussen. His eyes widen...