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Bethany Simons never went to university. She had decided to hold off on it so she could go straight into the workforce to assist her mother financially. Sometimes she had regrets about not continuing her education.
School had always come easy to her. Memorization and testing were two things she excelled at. Many of her peers struggled with tests. They would get anxiety before, during, and possibly even after testing. Never Bethany. Taking tests was never a stressful event for her. She simply sat herself down and regurgitated everything she had consumed about the material. It stood to reason that university would have been much the same.
It was only now that she found herself sympathizing with her former classmates.
Jim Moriarty liked to give her tests, but they were nothing like what she was accustom to. There was no warning when his tests would come, and she didn’t even have a rough idea of the material that could be on them. Anything that caught his eye was up for grabs as a topic he might put before her; with expectations of perfection no matter if she knew anything about the subject or not.
Now she lived in a constant state of anxiety. Never knowing when he was going to decide to spring a new test on her. Or what the consequences would be if she failed.
She still had several burn marks on her hands, thighs, and stomach from where the small explosive device he had dropped in her lap had burned her. Jim was so disappointed when she had failed to disarm it in time. Never mind the fact that she didn’t have anything resembling wire cutters on hand or even in the room with her.
That was the worst physical punishment she had gotten so far, but at least it was straightforward. She was given a task, she failed, and she got hurt by the results of that failure. Other tests were not so straightforward with their punishments, such as the time she woke up trapped in the sewers below the city and failed to find her way out in the twelve minutes she had been given.
The punishment for that had been all of the furniture in her room being removed. Hell, even the light fixture in the ceiling had been taken out. It made absolutely no sense in the context of the challenge.
Jim had everything put back two weeks later after she had successfully recreated exact replicas of five different dishes from one of the top-rated restaurants across the city.
Not every success was met with a reward either. Most weren’t in fact. Normally all she got out of doing something correctly was a few kind words from Jim. If one would really consider them kind.
No, rewards usually came for entirely different reasons.
The first and most common was simple. If Jim was in a good mood Beth usually got a gift of some kind. New clothes, dinner from a restaurant she liked, a rare or limited edition book, candy, and anything else he could come up with.
Once, he actually gave her a computer for her studying. So far, he had not taken it away again.
Of course, there were rules that came along with most of these gifts. The books were not for her room but had to live in the library. Dinner from somewhere familiar meant a dinner sitting across from the consulting criminal while he scrutinized her every move. The computer had a similar edge.
Every keystroke was monitored and if she wanted to go on any sight where there was a way to communicate with others, either Sebastian or Jim needed to be present.
It was irritating, but at least it made studying for random subjects easier. The books, papers, and text Jim constantly provided were a good starting point for understanding the criminal world. From there the internet helped her uncover the rest.
Now, just because Jim was having her study something didn’t mean that it was going to be on one of his tests. It could be. That had happened when he had her understanding the metrics at which drugs were currently being sold. Size and pricing. However, she was just as likely to get tested on something completely random, or something she had previously studied.
There didn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason to his topics of choice, just like there seemed to be no reason for the changes in his mood either. One moment he could be pissed off and in the next, he is laughing as if the entire situation was hilarious.
Beth found herself exhausted by the constant shifts. Occasionally, she could affect them. A correct action or response could salvage his mood. Unfortunately, the opposite was also true.
The only constant in her life anymore was Sebastian and even his presence wasn’t that consistent. At least when he was there, she always knew what to expect from him. He never talked to her unless directed to do something for/with her by Jim or if she asked him a question. He was neither particularly mean nor particularly nice to her. Sebastian just was.
Like when he helped treat her wounds after the explosive. Jim had ordered his right-hand man to deal with it, so without any more prompting Sebastian scooped her up in his hold and took her to the bathroom.
There he cleaned each of the wounds before making sure they were cared for and covered. His touch had never once felt unkind, but at the same time, it was not comforting. He had told her everything he was going to do in a clear and clinical voice. The only time he broke that was when he let out a low sigh and told her that it was fine if she wanted to cry.
It was probably the most real thing she had heard since this all began.
She didn’t end up crying. Beth had expected herself to. Especially, after being given permission like that, but her body hadn’t done it. Occasionally she wondered if she was truly becoming numb to it all. The wounds hurt. Some of them were even what she would consider excruciating.
Still, she didn’t cry.
Now she found herself fiddling with one of the bandages on her left hand as she gave them a rest from flipping through the flight logs she was reading. Her mind was starting to get that haze she would feel when she had input too much information.
A part of her wondered if this was how university students felt. That mental tiredness that came on with focusing too hard on a subject. She had never felt this way when she studied when she was younger, so she supposed she would never really know. It wasn’t like she was going to get a shot at going to uni now.
Sometimes, when she was studying something less directly related to Jim’s work she liked to pretend that it was for school. Like she was taking a History of London class rather than a prisoner. It was a fun little game to play, but one that could only last for so long. After a few hours, she would be forced to remember that she couldn’t just pop out for some fish and chips when she was hungry and that there were no friends waiting to pull her away from her work to go out to the pub.
Reality would slam back into her, and she would be forced to shove all of her feelings of regret and sadness away. Those feelings would do her no good here. Here Bethany had bigger things to worry about. Forget cramming for finals. Bethany was simply hoping to live long enough to see her mother again.
%%%
“It's time to change the dressing on your hands.” Sebastian informed after three hours of silence.
Beth didn’t bother to look up from the blueprints in front of her. Her mind was too busy devouring the inner workings of the safe depicted. It was the most complex model that had been presented to her so far, but something about it just wasn’t making sense.
“Seriously. He is going to throw the tantrum of the century if they get infected.” If she lent more than half an ear to it, she would have thought he sounded like he cared. “Come on kid. Ten minutes, that’s all I ask. Let me rebandage your hands and I’ll do my best to convince him to take the parental controls off of Netflix.”
That got her attention. All things considered; Paw Patrol wasn’t the worst thing to happen to her out of all of this. Over two weeks ago she had done something to piss him off. Since then, it had been nothing but brightly colored talking animals on the telly. At this point, she would literally take the infection if it meant she could watch some doctor who.
Just something to bring a touch of normalcy to her life.
Quickly she stood and followed after the sniper toward the hall bathroom. Since she first got the burns they had left all of the medical supplies out to make it easier to deal with. Once inside he set about unwrapping the bandages on her hands.
She was quick to take note of how they were progressing. “There should be minimal scarring if we keep the infection away. How’s the pain?”
“Bearable.” Beth muttered taking the chance to flex them a bit.
“Good.” Sebastian noted. He then set about cleaning and disinfecting them. Once he was sure they each had an individual bandage he pulled out two larger rolls of gauze.
“It’s wrong.” She whispered.
The statement caused him to raise a brow. “Same stuff we have been using. Got it from the same shop and everything.”
“The blueprints.” Beth clarified before reaching out to start unrolling one of the things of gauze. “They aren’t right, something is missing. It’s another test.”
Sebastian considered that for a moment before nodding his understanding and taking the gauze from her to start wrapping her left arm. “Sounds like Jim. Good on you for catching it. That’s the sort of initiative he has been looking for from you. He’ll be pleased.”
“Does anything actually please him?” She found herself asking. “Does he feel anything at all?”
The snipper just grabbed the other roll and started wrapping her right hand. “Hard to tell. I think he does. Things piss him off for sure. That’s a feeling, right? You just keep working at it and I’m sure you will figure out your place in all of this in no time.”
Beth leaned against the counter in quiet contemplation as he reached forward lifting the hem of her shirt to wrap the large roll of gauze around her torso to ensure the smaller bandages he had already placed were covered. She didn’t bother assisting him with his work. Nor did she help when he lifted her shorts enough to do the same with the ones on her thighs.
“Is he…going to kill me?” She finally asked, voice no louder than a whisper.
Sebastian didn’t respond for a long while. She almost thought he wouldn’t as he finished up his work and straightened up once again. Ever the snipper his posture was nothing less than perfect as he appraised her. “Possibly.”
Bethany met his eyes for a moment before dropping her gaze back to the ground and nodding her head.
It was not as if this was information she did not already have but hearing him actually admit to it made the numbness settle further into her bones.
“If it’s any consolation to you, he does like you. Probably more than I have ever seen him like anyone. You have definitely held his interest longer than I thought anyone would be able to. When he first told me he wanted an assistant, I assumed I would be burying a body within the week.”
As she followed him back to the library and her incorrect blueprints she turned his words over in her mind. There was no comfort in his words. Just because Jim liked her did not mean she was in any way safe. Sebastian had said as much himself. Still, there was the slightest rush of pleasure that ran through her hearing that she was besting expectations.
%%%
Jim had been very pleased when she cracked the safe in under three minutes. His smirk had grown downright predatory when Sebastian informed him that she realized he doctored the blueprints.
“Oh, were those wrong. My fault luv, I must have grabbed the wrong set by mistake. Won't happen again.” He laughed letting her know it absolutely would happen again. “Still, good work Bethany. Maybe we can schedule a bank heist soon to get you some real-time practice. I’ve always found the safe cracking experience much more enjoyable with a silent alarm ringing in the background.”
“Sounds great Jim.” She readily agreed. Bethany found herself wondering if the enthusiasm she pumped into her voice was real. The thought of getting out of the apartment was appealing, even if it was to rob a bank.
The consulting criminal was absolutely beaming at her hearing the positive response.
It was a new thing she had been trying and so far it seemed to be going well for her. Jim seemed to stay in a much better mood when she was interested in their work.
“Wonderful, why don’t you go ahead and pick out a film for us to watch while Seb and I go sort out a little business. I’m thinking we need a casual night in tonight.” He ordered knowing she would comply without fuss. After all, picking out a movie was probably the easiest task he had given her in a long while.
After living with him for several…weeks or months or years her mind had started to lose count after the repetition of each day…she had come to learn several little things about Jim. One of which being that he had two film-watching moods.
Jim either liked animated children’s or the most bloody of gore films. Nothing in between would do.
On occasion, he would pick something else for the two or three of them to watch. He usually made it about twenty minutes in before declaring the entire thing too boring and turning it off in a huff. Sometimes he would pick another and the process would repeat, or they would have to find another activity for the night.
Recalling the time the substitute activity was dissecting frogs in the kitchen, she was very pleased that she had enough control to ensure that did not happen tonight.
By the time Jim returned she already had Beaty and The Beast queued up.
Jim grinned seeing it. “Off with you Sebastian. My flatmate and I have a long night of bonding ahead. No spoil sports allowed.”
Bethany watched the snipper go feeling a strange sense of dread.
Jim let out a long and exaggerated breath once they were finally alone. “Whew, I thought he would never leave. Now, what do you say we get into our pajamas and have a slumber party tonight?”
It wasn’t really a question, so Beth didn’t bother treating it like one and instead rushed off to change.
At home, her pajamas consisted of large t-shirts and shorts. Nothing fancy, but perfectly comfortable. Here Jim had gotten her several matching sets of cotton sleepwear. Tonight, she pulled out the powder blue long-sleeved top along with the matching blue and white vertical striped pants. Giving herself some extra time to change and put her hair up so it was out of her face, she knew she could not stall anymore.
Returning to the living room she was a little shocked to see how much Jim had managed in the time she was gone. The room’s lights were off, however, there were probably twenty candles lit around the space. Each held a small flame setting a nice tone for the room.
Five of the candles were on the small coffee table in front of the couch where there were a few small bowls of snacks and two pints of ice cream.
Jim grinned at her. His white teeth were illuminated like the Cheshire Cat’s by the glow from the television. “There you are luv. I was starting to get worried.”
Bethany knew better than to respond to a comment that held no question. Instead, she crept towards the couch taking her seat quickly and slipping the blanket she tended to use around her shoulders. She knew better than to consider it hers. Nothing here actually belonged to her.
“I thought a night of sweets would be just the thing for us. I got you a pint of cookie dough ice cream from the corner shop. I hope that’s alright.” He said seeming actually interested in the answer.
Beth wanted to be shocked that he knew her favorite flavor, but it wasn’t shocking at all. “It’s lovely. Thank you.”
Jim nodded leaning forward to turn the film on before grabbing his own pint of vanilla. Beth had to wonder if he actually proffered the flavor or if he just didn’t want her to actually know his preferences.
Following his lead, she grabbed her own container and dug in.
Beth ate mindlessly through the first two songs of the movie. The ice cream was rather refreshing in what was becoming a hot room with the candles.
She should have been paying more attention or more importantly, she shouldn’t have let her guard down. Somehow she got so caught up in enjoying the small night of peace, that she forgot that she was living in a warzone. She only remembered when she felt the world around her become a touch-off.
It was as if everything was moving in slow motion.
Looking towards the television she could loosely make out Belle crying in her chambers. The young woman mourning her own freedom. Beth had never related to someone more in her life. She probably should have thought about that before picking this particular film.
She had just gotten bored of scrolling when she got to the B’s and picked the first thing that she recognized.
“Are you feeling it now, luv?” Jim questioned.
Beth tried to turn towards him, but her body found the task impossible. Instead, she fell back just a little having the couch support her. At the same time, she felt the carton fall from her hand. It did not travel far as it landed in her lap along with the spoon. If she thought about it hard enough she could almost feel the coldness of the container against her legs.
“Oh yes, you sure are.” Jim laughed before reaching over to remove the objects from her lap.
Following his hands with her eyes she wondered when her hands started to tingle. Looking back up she felt startled to see that Belle was already fighting the wolves. It had been a while since she watched this, but she had thought they still had some time before that.
“What was it?” She asked. Or she tried to. Even to her own ears, the words mushed together as she spoke them.
Jim shoved a large spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. Slowly he turned towards her just a little with the spoon still fully in his mouth. He grinned around it before pulling the piece of metal out of his mouth. “Oh…right. That. Just a little something to help you relax.”
As he spoke he leaned back against the couch himself. He was almost mirroring her position, only he had the fine motor skills to sit up if he wanted.
“Seb might have mentioned that you seemed overly stressed. Thought this might help. Is it helping?” He asked voice kind and soft cluing her in that it wasn’t real.
Although the longer she thought about it, the less she could recall why it wasn’t real. “Yeah. ‘s helping.” She finally acknowledged.
From one moment to the next Jim’s hand was on her shoulder rubbing gentle circles there. Eyes moving from his hand back towards his face, she wondered if he got his eyebrows done professionally or if he did them himself. They were too perfect to be natural.
One minute Jim was almost looking peaceful and the next he was jumping to his feet grinning like the madman he is. “Come dearie. Up we go.”
Bethany was helpless as Jim reached forward pulling her up by her shoulders. Stumbling after him the two of them came to a stop between the television and the coffee table. It surprised her how she managed to stand mostly on her own when he took one of his hands away. Whatever he had given her, it did not completely take away her control.
For several moments she wondered what they were doing and then she heard it. The beginning notes of Tale As Old As Time started coming from the speakers. Before she could even blink Jim was standing right before her. One of his hands was resting on her waist and the other grabbing her smaller right one within his left.
She understood what was happening, but at the same time, the entire experience felt foreign. Without warning he started moving the two of them in time with the song. Together the two of them swayed around and instead of the rush of nausea that she was expecting, Beth found herself feeling as light as air.
It was not a long song. Bethany knew that on some level. Still, as Jim guided them around the small space she felt like they were trapped in eternity. Thinking became hard as she tried to remember anything outside of her and Jim and this song. Her whole world consisted of this moment and really, what else was there for her outside of this?
What was she without him?
“Nothing luv.” Jim answered, voice as sweet as honey. “Thankfully, I found you and together we’re going to make something wonderful of you.”
A small part of her knew he couldn’t be trusted. Snuffing that out she moved just a little closer allowing her head to lean on his shoulder. Instantly he shifted the hand from her hip a little higher on her back helping to keep the blanket on her shoulders in place. “Promise?
Jim let out the faintest of chuckles. “Of course, I promise, Beauty.”
At the new nickname, she pulled herself back just a little to glance up at him. He simply smiled down at her before singing gently along with the television. “Tale as old as time. Song as old as rhyme. Beauty and the Beast.”
In the morning, the implication of his words would scare her. In the morning, she would kick herself for choosing such a film. In the morning, she would shed a single tear for the feeling of longing wishing the sound was playing once again.
Those were things for the morning though.
Tonight, she felt Jim’s hand cup her face and did not put an ounce of effort into pulling away from him even if she was in no state to do so. Tonight, she gripped his shirt as he brought his lips to hers in what was not her first kiss, but certainly the most powerful one she had ever had. Tonight, she allowed him to guide her head to his shoulder once again after the kiss was broken; listening as he continued to hum the tune of the song that had just changed everything about their relationship over and over again.
%%%
Bethany started breaking her life into three periods after that. There was the before, which she tried never to think about. Her old life was something she mourned, but it did not do her well to dwell on that.
Then there was the pre, which was her time before their first kiss. That time was pre her understanding that this was how her life was meant to be. A time when she was still putting up a fight against what Jim had planned for her.
Finally, she landed in the now.
Whenever possible Beth forced herself to keep her mind on what was going on right now. Lesson to lesson and activity to activity she put everything she had into doing her absolute best. Jim was so changeable, so there was no point in dwelling on anything beyond what was happening right then.
She never had to worry about the future when thinking about right now. There was something freeing about it.
Part of that might have been the fact that Jim decided he liked her drugged up. He kept her on a much lower dose than he had originally given her so that she was of better use to him. Still, the drugs kept her relaxed and easily moldable.
They did make it harder to remember things, which seemed to be a bit of a bother to Jim. When her last dose was starting to wear off, sometimes she would wonder how angry it truly could make him if he continued to give it to her.
Halfheartedly she thought the benefits to him outweighed the costs. Especially considering her training was still progressing, if only a little slower.
The bank heist had gone down without a hitch. She cracked the safe of one Mycroft Holmes in less than four minutes.
Plenty of time to spare for Jim to push her up against the wall of deposit boxes and crash their lips together. That seemed to be the new way he showed her that he was pleased with her work. A kiss meant she had performed her task well enough to please him. On the flip side when she failed a task a swift backhand seemed to be the new standard reaction.
Jim might be a smaller than average man, but god could he deliver a blow. More often than not she found herself on the ground after each one. Thankfully, he seemed fine switching it up sometimes so not only one half of her face took the abuse.
Still, it was not fun having almost constant split lips and blackened eyes. On one occasion he broke her nose and it had to be set by Sebastian. At the sniper's comments about her possibly needing plastic surgery if Jim broke it again, he took better care not to hit her there when possible.
That’s not to say the other punishments stopped. Jim still doled out whatever he felt he needed to.
Thankfully, she seemed to be pleasing him more often than disappointing him anymore.
The sign of great weeks were when they watched Beauty and the Beast again. Jim had declared it their special film, so it was on quite often. Often enough that Sebastian refused to stay if they were watching it.
Due to that, Jim decided to put on Saw 6 to entice the sniper to stay. Jim knew she did not care for his gore-filled films, so he sweetly decided to up her nighttime dose. She could not think anything of the action other than it being so nice of him. Even as she fell asleep to the scream of Jigsaw’s victims.
%%%
John knew it was not good news when Mycroft and Greg arrived at 221 B together. The two of them rarely moved in concert unless Sherlock’s life was on the line. Since the genius had been in his sight all day that meant they were here about John’s other current concern. Bethany Simons.
“What happened? Have we found her?” He questioned hands falling away from where he had been trying and failing to write a new blog post.
“No.” Mycroft informed in his usual clipped tone.
Greg glanced at the older Holmes with an accusatory look. “Not found, but we have finally had a sighting. Which is good. At the very least, we know she is alive. Hopefully, Sherlock, you might be able to deduce something from the footage we have.”
Reaching into his coat the detective inspector pulled out a small tablet before handing it over to the taller man. Instantly John was on his feet wanting to go over and view the tape as well. He was stopped by a firm grip on his upper arm.
It was rather surprising to find Mycroft being the one holding him back. “Nothing good comes from you watching that doctor.”
There was a sincerity in his voice that sounded so foreign coming from the most powerful man John had ever met. He had assumed this is what the man sounded like when he was fretting over Sherlock and not hiding his motives behind shades and fake threats. To hear the tone directed towards himself filled the short man with a sense of dread.
Exactly what had happened to Bethany?
“He needs to see it.” Sherlock said voice leaving no room for argument.
Greg frowned. “Come now, Sherlock. What good comes out of that?”
John’s eyes moved to the man who had in such a brief period become the most important person in his life. Sherlock met his gaze head-on on seeming to look right into the doctor's soul. “The good is him knowing exactly what state she is in, rather than imagining the worst.”
Slowly Mycroft’s hand released its hold. “I’m not quite sure there is much worse to see brother mine.”
Ignoring the fear, he felt hearing that, John quickly took his place at Sherlock’s side. Without any more interruptions, Sherlock played the video. Both men instantly recognized the inside of a bank vault as the setting.
Together they watched as Moriarty sauntered into the room gun pointed at the head of a terrified bank manager. It was clear the madman was thoroughly enjoying himself. After a few long moments, Bethany entered the safe as well.
Her movements were slow, but her steps seemed careful.
“Drugged. Not sure which compound or the dosage, but she is anything but sober.” Sherlock informed the room without taking his eyes off the screen. “Bruising on her face. She had been struck more than once. Could be from Moriarty himself or from someone else. They are both wearing gloves, so we cannot see if there is bruising on his knuckles.”
“Now good sir, if you would be kind enough to tell us which of these boxes belongs to a Mr. Mycroft Holmes, we can get down to business.”
On the screen, the bank manager looked petrified at the question. With a shaking hand, the man motioned to one of the safety deposit boxes on the wall.
Moriarty made a tsking sound as he approached it giving the box a good long look. No warning came as he raised the gun and smacked the butt into the man’s head with a sickening crack.
Both men winced in sympathy for how badly that had to hurt while on the screen Bethany flinched eyes looking anywhere but at the unconscious man now lying on the ground. Sherlock squinted his eyes honing in on the small tremble in her hands.
“An important lesson pet, everyone lies. The higher they are paid the easier it is for them to lie. He will probably get a bonus high enough to move his entire family to Australia for telling us that lie.”
The mastermind's voice was serious but friendly. There was something almost teacherly about the way he is handing information to her. Sherlock had to wonder if this is what it sounded like when he explained things to John since that seemed to be what Moriarty’s motives were. He knew he often came across as condescending when explaining things to other people.
It was different when explaining things to John. He knew he had the doctor's undivided attention (almost always) and that the man was actually trying to understand what Sherlock was explaining to him. That led him to keep his voice kinder than normal.
“Now, which box do you suppose is the right one then?”
Bethany glanced towards the deposit boxes studying them as if one would magically become inscribed with Mycroft’s name. After a few heavy seconds Moriarty let out a heavy laugh.
“Just kidding, luv. I had one of my cyber people figure out the correct number. Remind me when we get home to add hacking to your curriculum.”
Slipping the gun back into the waistband of his trousers the criminal patted his pockets for a moment before pulling out a scrap of paper with what probably had a number written on it.
“1018…1018…1018.” He continued muttering as he spun around the room looking for the correct box. “Ah, here we are.”
Sherlock had to stop himself from laughing seeing the box was the exact one the bank manager had pointed to earlier. In a different circumstance, it would have been funny. Unfortunately, nothing about this situation was funny.
Both the people in the safe glanced toward the unconscious man realizing that he had not actually lied to them. “Ah, well…anyways, off you go pet. Put those safe cracking skills to good use.”
Quickly Bethany stepped forward pulling two small tools out of her pockets and setting to work on cracking both of the small locks keeping the box shut.
John was busy studying the girl’s back while Sherlock focused on the criminal. It was obvious the evil man was fascinated by watching the girl work. He clearly knew that they were not going to be interrupted any time soon. That made a certain level of sense. It would do the man no good to take his hostage out not knowing that he had total control of the situation. That would explain the drugs too.
After three minutes and forty-one seconds, the door to the safety deposit box clicked open. Moriarty was quick to pull it open fully and reach in to snatch the object inside. From the brief glance before the man shoved the object into his pocket, Sherlock guessed it was a flash drive.
With the item secured Moriarty returned his focus to Bethany. “Well done luv. Very well done indeed.”
There was something different about his tone, but Sherlock could not place exactly what it was. Or at least he couldn’t until the man closed the space between the two of them on the screen. With one motion he shoved the young woman into the wall of deposit boxes causing her to flinch slightly.
Before she could fully react Moriarty closed the space left between them forcing their lips together in a kiss.
With a wounded noise, John had to look away clueing the other men in the room into what part of the video they had reached. Sherlock on the other hand forced himself to keep watching. He had to if they were going to get a full picture of the situation.
Thankfully, the kiss only lasted for a few more moments before the two separated and the man practically pulled a zombified Bethany out of the safe after him. Sherlock was thankful John did not see the way the man used the tie the girl was wearing to lead her out as if she was a dog on a leash. Bethany did not seem to be in pain by the action, so there was a little comfort in that. The video ended just a few moments later with the screen going black.
Finally lowering the device Sherlock first glanced towards John who had decided to sit in his chair. The man looked a little pale and he was clearly shaken.
“What was on the drive?”
Mycroft rolled his neck a little in annoyance before addressing his brother. “Nothing too sensitive. Nothing of importance would actually be left so unprotected. Rumor has it Moriarty was already privy to the information being stored.”
“It was left there for someone to try and steal, then?” Sherlock concluded aloud for the others in the room.
“Obviously.” Mycroft quipped. “Although, we had been planning for someone else to be the one to come searching for it. We were rather unprepared for someone of his caliber to step up to the task.”
Greg frowned. “And why exactly would he be interested in information he already had?”
“It was a test.” Mycroft and Sherlock informed at the same time. The brothers shared a long look before Sherlock continued. “He was testing her to see if she could crack the safe. A rather rudimentary skill in his world and one she was probably completely lacking. Her picking it up that quickly tells me he has been pushing her training hard.”
John let out a frustrated sound before bringing his fist up to his mouth in the way he only did when he was trying to hold in his anger. “Did he want to be caught on camera or did he just not care?”
“Probably a bit of both.” Sherlock informed calmly. “It is likely that he still would have had her do it regardless of whether or not we were going to see it. The kiss on the other hand…he wanted us to see that.”
With how hard John was pressing his fist into his lips, the genius wondered if it would bruise.
“He’s drugging her. We have no way of knowing if it has been happening the entire time, but her ability to move while under the influence of whatever he has given her leans towards her being used to operating that way.”
Greg ran a hand through his short hair looking pained at the idea. “How far down the rabbit hole do you think she is? If we find her, are we going to be able to save her?”
Sherlock really considered everything he had seen before responding. “Yes. She was scared of him when he struck the bank manager. She was scared of him when he had his gun out and she was scared of him when he pushed her. From everything I could see she was going along with him out of fear. If given the opportunity to get away she likely to take it for now.”
“For now.” John repeated. “Not always.”
It was not a question, but Sherlock felt the need to speak to it anyway. “We have no way of knowing how far he is pushing her mind. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to assume he wants her to choose to stay by his side. Loyalty like that can only be achieved in a few ways. I doubt he is working to show her he deserves her respect, so putting additional pressure on their relationship is the next likely way for him to go about it.”
“The kissing.” Mycroft surmised.
“I still don’t…I still don’t understand that. You said he wanted a me Sherlock. You said that, but we’re not like that, so…what in the hell is he doing?” John questioned feeling years older than his age.
Greg felt pity for Sherlock having to answer a question like that.
“There are rumors John. Rumors I know you are aware of. If he believes them or even just thinks it could be helpful to achieving his goal he is going to use that.” The detective informed voice sharper than he intended.
Thankfully, if his doctor took offense, the man did not show it. He was too busy bristling at the thought of how much farther Moriarty might start pushing Bethany. She was only a kid. Not even twenty-one yet. Just a baby really and that monster was doing god knows what to her god knows where.
He felt the familiar itch for a firearm and it was a painful one he knew he would have to scratch later. Lestrade was kind enough to allow him access to the firing range at Scotland Yard due to his consultant status.
A tension settled over the room for a few moments before Mycroft huffed in some undetermined type of annoyance. “How long do we have Sherlock?”
“How long for what?” John demanded.
Sherlock spoke denying Mycroft the chance to answer. Not that he was going to. “A month. Perhaps less.”
“My thoughts as well.”
“We’re going to have to…”
“Yes. Yes, I’ll get my people on it.”
“I will be involved.”
“Of course, brother mine. Anthia will be at your service until we move.”
“And she will follow my orders?”
“If they are reasonable.”
“Reaso…”
Whatever else Sherlock was going to say was cut off by Greg aggressively waving his hands. “Enough! The both of you. No more of this Holmes crap. Just tell us what the bloody hell you are talking about.”
It seemed the girl's disappearance was eating the detective inspector more than any of the other three had thought. A silent conversation passed between the two brothers. Trying not to be rude about it, they were quick to agree that Sherlock would explain.
“Moriarty wants her loyalty and to get it he has very few paths. All include breaking her down mentally. The drugs are the first step. The kissing the second. From here I can see two possible paths. Sex or violence. If he chooses sex, he is already on that path and will get there sooner rather than later. If he chooses violence, he is going to be on a similar timetable since he will have limited other avenues to push her. Now, it's important that you hear this and really hear it, John.”
The two of them locked eyes and John hated how uncharacteristically soft his flatmate's eyes looked. This was not the first time Sherlock had ever looked at him like this, but it was rare and usually surrounded by unpleasant truths.
“When I say violence, I do not mean that he is going to hurt her. He has likely already started that based on the state of her face. I mean that he is going to push her into inflicting violence. Particularly, that he is going to make her kill someone.”
“Jesus” Greg muttered bringing a shaking hand up to his face.
He appeared to be faring only marginally better than John who was now pale in his chair. “She won’t. She won’t do it, Sherlock. What is he going to do to her if she won’t do it?”
“She might not have a choice, Doctor Watson.” Mycroft whispered.
“Even if she does, it will be one that is carefully crafted so that no matter what option she chooses, she is so traumatized that it breaks something in her.” Sherlock regretfully informed.
John clenched his jaw tightly. “Or he just kills her.” He gritted out feeling like he was going to vomit at finally understanding. “What were the two of you planning a few minutes ago? Please tell me it was a trap for the bastard.”
The brothers nodded. “A trap. One that is going to be highly dangerous.”
Hearing that allowed John to release just a little of his tension. They had a plan. The two smartest people in the world had a plan. He just hoped it would be enough. If it wasn’t he knew he would be attending a funeral for a girl he never met.
“My funeral suit needs a trip to the tailers Sherlock.”
Greg and Mycroft shared a concerned look, but John wasn’t looking at them. His eyes were drilling into Sherlock’s. The consulting detective blinked at him sharply before nodding his head. “You know my trailer is away on holiday. Seems we will just have to avoid affairs of that nature altogether.”
%%%
Bethany was freezing, which as of late was a foreign feeling. The drugs usually kept her warm. Uncomfortably warm more often than not. Now, that warmth was gone and with it the pleasant hazy feeling she had started getting used to. Instead, the colder she got the more reality snapped back into focus.
Reality like the distance between her and the ground, which was a nauseating sixty-five stories.
She could only assume but based on the faint smirk that kept intermittently appearing on Sebastian’s face, he had gotten a kick out of making her climb each and every step. They had taken a maintenance stairwell after he had her loop the security feed there. A new skill she had acquired very recently. Sure, he had started the hack for her and gotten her to the correct place, but from there, it was on her.
Sebastian had watched her every keystroke carefully from where he had sat perched next to her in the back of the van. Originally, she had thought that was her sole purpose for being there. So, when Jim had praised her for successfully looping the feed and then promptly kicked her out of the van to follow after the sniper she had been slightly excited. It had been so long since she had gotten to spread her wings outside of the apartment.
That excitement faded by the fifteenth floor.
She didn’t know if the drugs had caused the excessive sweating she had experienced. What she did know was that she was working them out of her system like never before as she raced up the stairs trying to keep pace with the clearly in-shape sniper. Mentally she noted that she needed to find a time to suggest to Jim that they needed a treadmill.
Now, as she laid on the roof of a skyscraper she longed for that stairwell which was protected from these harsh winds. Another shiver racked over her as she tightened her grip on the binoculars Sebastian had given her.
“You with me kid?” The sniper questioned not taking his eye away from the scope of his rifle.
A sneeze was all he got in response.
“Just be glad it isn’t hot. This is way worse when it's hot. Like your skin is going to melt off. You become so sweaty, it's like your trigger finger could slip at any second. Cold is the opposite. You become stiff, so you really need to mean it when you pull the trigger.”
Bethany wondered if he noticed that she was holding her breath.
It had not yet settled in her mind what it meant to be on a mission with just Sebastian. She had learned that he handled many aspects of Jim’s business, so she had somehow deluded herself into believing that’s what they were doing up here. Even as he handed her binoculars and told her to monitor the fifty-third floor of the office building across the way.
He had pulled out his rifle as she was using the binoculars to scan that building trying to locate the mentioned floor as quickly as possible. She had heard and seen the actions, but she had not truly internalized what it meant.
Bethany would like to blame that on the drugs or the exhaustion of hiking up all those floors.
In truth, she knew that she had simply been ignoring what was right in front of her face. Afterall, the very first thing Jim had told her about Sebastian was that the man was his sniper. Naturally, that meant he killed people.
She forced herself not to give into any possible nervous habit before remembering that Jim was not in fact watching. Knowing that and feeling off-kilter from Sebastian being so chatty her bottom lip found its way between her teeth.
“Relax kid. We're just here to keep an eye on things.” The man informed sight never wavering. “You see ‘im yet?”
Beth relaxed a fraction hearing that before tunning back into the other building. She was going to ask what she was meant to be looking for when she spotted him. In a large corner office stood a sharply dressed Jim. Apparently, he had done an outfit change from his casual clothes while she was dying in the stairwell.
A small part of her mind could not help but whisper that he looked great in that suit. It was his charcoal grey one that she felt suited him better than his normal black one.
She could not help but wondering if he wore it for her, even if she had never told him it was her favorite. In all likelihood, he had noticed some micro expression she had given when he was wearing it. The idea that he was getting better at reading her even when she wasn’t saying something filled her with conflicting feelings.
Pushing those thoughts away she tried tuning back in fully. She watched as Jim glad-handed a plump-looking man in a beige suit. One that was clearly poorly tailored. He was also wearing a hairpiece. That seemed better suited to him, but it was likely new considering the fact that he was fiddling with it over and over again. This was not exactly the clientele she had been expecting Jim to have. He always seemed so grand, so she figured the people he worked with would be the same.
For fifteen minutes they just watched as the two men talked. Seemed they were working out the details for some job.
Bethany knew sooner or later Jim was going to expect her to attend these types of meetings with him. From everything she had seen so far, that didn’t seem so bad.
At least, it didn’t until the other man started repeatedly opening his hand and then clenching it into a fist. Something about the repeated action started setting off alarm bells in her head. Very bad alarm bells.
“Seb?”
“I see it kid.” The sniper commented with a new edge to his voice.
Beth gripped the binoculars so hard it started to hurt on her freezing hands. She felt herself shaking and not from the wind this time as the stranger jumped to his feet. Everything about his body language screamed aggressive. This was in sharp contrast to Jim who had remained seated and was grinning like a child. It was hard to see from so far away. The only reason she knew was due to her familiarity with this one of his facial expressions.
The shouting continued for a few more seconds before the guy ripped a desk drawer open and pulled out a gun. It was so small at this distance, but there was no doubting what she was seeing.
A strange mix of emotions overtook her as the guy pointed his guy directly at Jim’s head.
If he killed Jim would Sebastian kill her? Would he let her go? It seemed more likely he would kill her. Did she want Jim dead? The Bethany of before and pre was screaming that she did. Bethan from now wasn’t so sure. She wasn’t sure of anything except the deep desire to be anywhere else in the world right now. Even back at the apartment, rather than here.
“When whatever here happens, I am going to pack up quickly. I expect you to be at least ten flights down before I catch up to you, do you understand?” Sebastian ordered in a sharp voice.
“What’s going to happen?” She found herself whispering.
Sebastian ignored the question completely. “It is much easier going down than up, but be sure not to trip on your own feet. That would be a nasty fall.”
In a sick suspense, she watched Jim stand slowly with his hands raised next to his head. The setting and action took her back to the start of all this. Back to when she was just a lowly accountant.
Kicking those thoughts away she took a deep breath and tried focusing. It seemed she was just in time to notice a small hand sign from Jim. A flick of the wrist caused a slight movement beside her. Before she could ask, she saw the effect in the form a small red dot on the businessman’s chest
Jim seemed to say something that drew the man’s attention there as well. Upon seeing it, all hell broke loose. The guy lunged and at the same time, Jim turned his hand into a fist.
Seb’s shot was quieter than she would have expected given how close she was. She swore the cracking of the glass across the road was way louder. It felt like the ringing of it stayed in her ears well after it happened. The sound was so loud that she almost missed Seb’s order to move.
Thankfully, some part of her seemed to be aware of her surroundings and did as previously instructed.
With how tired she had been from getting up the stairs, she would not have thought moving at this speed would be harder. It seemed, however, that terror was a great motivator.
Sebastian didn’t catch up to her until they were already down twenty-two flights of stairs. The only reason she knew he did was because of some witty compliment he tossed out seeing that she had bested his physical expectations.
When they reached the ground floor his hand found its way around her upper arm guiding her quickly and forcefully where he wanted her to go. They didn’t pass anyone until they were out on the street, but she knew better than to try and interact. Instead, she kept her gaze pointed at the ground even as he pushed her into a building that was clearly a café.
“Table by the window.”
Instructions received she rushed over and sat. The adrenaline did not wear off as Sebastian sat across from her several minutes later. Nor did it wear off as he placed a paper cup in her hands. “Hot chocolate. Figured you would need something warm with how cold it was up there."
She whispered her thanks, likely too quiet for him to hear, but he made no comment on it. Instead, he started scanning the café. He settled after the third time he did it with one final confirmation that his case was safely at his side.
A small laugh escaped her lip after she took the first sip of her drink.
“Something wrong?” He asked voice casual while looking out the window.
“No…it just…tastes funny.”
Beth regretted saying it as the sniper's eyes snapped towards her sharply. He studied her for a moment before letting out a small laugh himself. “That’s cause it’s the first one you’ve had in ages that isn’t drugged, kid.”
This pulled another throatier laugh from her. One that seemed to settle something in him. At the very least he allowed his eyes to turn back towards the window.
Together they sat for over two hours. Two hours of her keeping her mind carefully blank. Occasionally, Sebastian would start talking about nonsense when someone got too close to their table and he went up to the counter twice more to order more drinks and a few pastries.
Finally, a familiar van pulled up outside.
Beth didn’t know what to feel seeing Jim was the driver, so she tried not to feel anything. Instead, she just followed instructions as he motioned for her to climb in the passenger seat. Even as Sebastian took off in a different direction once she was in the vehicle.
“Sorry about that luv. I was not expecting that to get so…messy. Shame really. That was going to be a fun one. Oh well. More time for training you I suppose.” He laughed twisting his whole head to look at her.
That was when she noticed the small bandage on his ear. He noticed her staring and blushed a little. “Just a scrape. My fault really. I should have let Sebby do his thing the moment he pulled out the gun. He got a quick one-off on me.”
Beth didn’t respond. She knew it was a trap to respond. Instead, she leaned back in her seat and allowed her mind to wander. Jim didn’t seem bothered as he restarted the car.
So far, she had managed to avoid thinking about what she had actually seen just a few short hours ago. Without thinking about it, she could ignore what she had seen through those binoculars. Now though, she couldn’t get the sight out of her head.
There was no splash of blood like in the movies. Just a body falling. Quick, like it was nothing. It was over in an instant. Too fast for her to have actually done anything. Not that there was anything she could have done. Still, she did not like the sick feeling in her stomach.
Replaying it over and over again in her mind she flinched when something became overwhelmingly clear.
Jim seemed to notice her shift because he made quick work of parking the car. “Well, luv?”
“He didn’t get a shot off before he died.” She muttered eyes boring into the glow box. “What happened to your ear?”
Jim let out a little laugh before grabbing her chin in an iron grip and forcing her to look at him. She shuddered as he reached up and ripped the bandage off his ear showing no wound. “Seems you were paying attention after all. Very good Beauty. Test passed.”
His words should have been comforting, but there was something off in his eyes. Something she couldn’t really place.
After a moment he loosened his grip on her chin before lowering his hand to her tie. She held her breath as she methodically unknotted it and continued holding it as he brought both hands up to securely wrap it around her head covering her eyes. She finally let it out as the knot was tied off.
That was a mistake as the moment he let go of the cloth he grabbed her sweater using the leverage to pull her forward smashing their lips together in a smothering kiss. One that left her breathing harder than any other before it.
“Come now Beauty. Let's get home. I think it’s a human centipede trilogy kind of night. Maybe pizza for dinner. Or possibly burgers. I’m in the mood for something greasy.”