Sherlock: Lover Mine [Book II]

U.S.S. Leonidas

Sherlock and Susanna arrived at the military airstrip at four pm after having spent the rest of the day informing others that they would be on a case together and packing a couple of backpacks with necessities and some equipment. Sherlock had been quiet all day, mildly upset that his girlfriend had taken on such a potentially fatal assignment just because she wanted to prove herself.

As they got out of the black sedan with their bags, Susanna turned to Sherlock with a gentle look, "Darling, I know you're not happy that I accepted the assignment but I need to know that you trust me."

"I trust you. I just don't trust Mycroft." Sherlock replied stiffly. Susanna sighed and they walked into the hangar. Niles and Mycroft were there waiting next to two fully packed green seabags of equipment and supplies. Niles held a heavy duty binder in his hand.

"Welcome. You will be flown out on by a helicopter to the boat. We managed to get their coordinates in the past few hours. The boat you will be flown to is the U.S.S. Leonidas. Once you board it, use the computer we have provided to set up a video stream," Niles passed the binder to Susanna, "We cannot disclose the entirety of the mission, but what you need is in those files."

Susanna nodded as she took the binder and put it in her backpack, "I suppose we have gear to put on before we go?"

"Yes," Mycroft confirmed, as if speaking to a child. Sherlock glared at his brother as he removed his coat and scarf in order to put on the safety gear. He stowed them in his backpack to be donned again once they'd gotten to the Leonidas. As he was securing his life vest, Mycroft walked over, "Do remember, brother mine, that this is Susanna's test."

"And one that could easily kill her." Sherlock spat.

"My point is, Sherlock, that you must not interfere. If Susanna is worthy then this should go very well."

"It will."

He looked towards Susanna as she accepted a gun and extra ammo from Niles. She knelt and secured the gun in its holster to her right ankle. Niles then handed her a small thin white square. Mycroft saw this, "Those are special grade ear transponders for you and Susanna to use on the boat."

"I won't let her out of my sight."

"On the contrary, Sherlock, the Leonidas is a sizeable vessel. You two will need to split up. Susanna has a gun and is quite a crack shot, according to Niles."

"Mummy will not be happy with you for this, Mycroft."

"I imagine that she will try to lecture me, to no avail," Mycroft piped up, "Are you all set, Susanna?"

"Yes. I'm ready." She replied, hefting one of the seabags, which were more than half her height in length, onto her shoulder. Sherlock grabbed the other bag and gave Mycroft one last glare before walking back outside to the waiting helicopter with Susanna.

In minutes they were in the air. It would be about an hour flight, which gave Sherlock enough information to approximate where they were going. Susanna stunned him when she nodded off about ten minutes into the flight, despite the monstrous cacophony of noise. Since they were sitting next to each other already, Sherlock let her head rest on him. She wasn't accustomed to staying awake for days like him, so he'd let her catch some sleep while she could.

It was just past twilight when they spotted the boat bobbing aimlessly about in the sea. Sherlock nudged his girlfriend and she jerked, throwing a right hook and narrowly missing Sherlock. He caught the runaway hand, "Susanna, wake up!" He shouted over the helicopter, leaning near her ear. This time she awoke, "We're here!"

"Thanks for waking me up!" She replied, "Why are you grabbing my hand like that?!"

"You tried to hook me in the jaw!" She grimaced.

"Sorry!!" She leaned past him to look at the vessel. It had running lights on but there seemed to be no activity onboard. No signs of life, "The lifeboats, all but one, have been jettisoned!!" Sherlock looked back at the boat and indeed, the lifeboats were all suspiciously missing. The one remaining was seemingly untouched, though.

The helicopter touched down on the boat's helipad and the couple unbuckled themselves, grabbing their things and offloading from the aircraft. Once they were a safe distance away, the copter lifted up and left. Sherlock immediately shed the safety gear and retrieved his coat and scarf while Susanna got out the binder.

"U.S.S. Leonidas. Crew of thirty. Ten British Sailors, fifteen U.S. Naval Officers, and five U.S. Marines. Under the command of Captain Jerome A. Michaelis..," She read off some more information and then returned the binder to her backpack, "We need to get to the radio room."

"Because..?"

"The lifeboats are missing. The Communications Officer should have sent out the appropriate signal for abandoning the vessel. There is no record of receiving a signal, so someone could have sabotaged the communications equipment," She pulled out the white box and opened it, revealing two flesh colored ear pieces and six replacement batteries, "Here, put yours in but don't turn it on just yet." She took one and handed it and three batteries to him. She then inserted her own earpiece and put the box back in her bag.

"Alright. Let's go, lover mine."

Thank you for reading!!