No Vacancy at 221c: A BBC Sherlock Fanfic

Answers and Endings

For @ThisIsMyNote, the girl who waited, with love and many thanks.

"Ah, nice and angry I see!" Sebastian exclaimed as Sherlock entered the dim warehouse in which this horrible adventure had begun. "You must have seen my wife then," he continued with a mocking tone. "Lovely creature isn't she?" His face twisted in disgust, "I always hated those grey eyes anyway, always peering through your very soul." He faked a shudder. "I'd say the loss is an improvement, wouldn't you?"

"If I were you I'd shut up." Sherlock hissed, raising his gun quickly. "This is all about me and you now; this is the day you die."

Moran raised a gun that had been tucked into his belt with an air of boredom. "Oh, is it now?"

"Now tell me about the child, and I'll attempt to restrain myself from killing you slowly," demanded the detective, bringing a second hand up to steady the weapon.

"The child?" The man looked honestly surprised. His eyes clouded in confusion, until a light came to his face. He began to chuckle. "Oh, that child?" He shook his head in amusement. "I suppose you've heard of the dreaded room," he said spookily in a voice that might scare a four year old. "Hallucinogens are so fun, don't you think, Sherlock?" His laugh began to resemble a giggling schoolgirl.

Sherlock hid the confusion that began to overtake his mind. Glass crunched underfoot as his feet shifted slightly.

"She is so convinced isn't she?" he exclaimed in excitement. "What an idiot." He looked over at the genius, a disturbing light in his eyes. "There was no wedding. There was no torture. There is no child," he said softly, as if giving away a secret with false seriousness.

"But you couldn't resist marking her with the initials she was convinced were hers," Sherlock elaborated in disgust, mostly to mask the mixed emotions brewing beneath the surface.

"All part of the fun! Their own minds are the most dangerous of all enemies that humans possess." Sebastian's eyes shifted a bit, as if he saw something in the corner of his eye. "And now," he began slowly, "yours has betrayed you," he stated slyly.

"What do you mean?" Sherlock asked hesitantly.

"You underestimate the affection and loyalty your friends have for you," was the cryptic answer.

"Will you leave them out of this? Do you see them anywhere?! You have no leverage, Moran, now give up. Their loyalty had nothing to do with this. This is the day you die."

"Oh, Sherlock, it has everything to do with it." With long, confident strides, the man crossed the room and reached into the shadows behind the stack of barrels. A squeal and shouts of protest followed as Sebastian emerged again with Celestia in one arm and a gun pushed tightly to her temple. "Don't move!" Sebastian warned John and Mary who had been hiding as well (though on the other side of the towering steel structure). "You move and I shoot!" He backed up slowly, keeping her at arms length. "Now shoot me," he challenged Sherlock.

"Why are you here?" the detective roared in helplessness.

"This-this is ending today, Sherlock," Celestia choked in fear. "I'm ready to go, just let me."

"I'm open," Sebastian taunted, showing his exposed body. "Shoot me, go on, but she comes too." He shrugged, "or don't, and I shoot her anyway. The catch? Shoot me and I have the order out for your murder, as well as these two." He motioned to a still Mary and John.

"You have to let me go," Celeste demanded with urgency. "For you, for John, for Mary! And if you don't do it for anyone else do it for me. Do it knowing that your life is my death wish. Please," she began to hiccup through tears, "I'm ready for death, I'm done with the torment, but you still have life to live! Live, Sherlock. Live and love, and never ever forget. Promise me I'll die with your life secure," she begged.

"I'm sorry," Sherlock answered coldly, aiming his gun, "but I already have a promise to fulfill."

"Wait!" John called. They all turned to him. "What about Christine, Sebastian? You loved her, so why do this? Why take it out on her replacement?" The logic seemed to hit a nerve.

There was silence a moment. "Demons, so many demons," he hissed in answer.

In a moment, two gunshots rang through the room, one after another, and the captive and the captor fell to the ground, stone dead.