april, 2010

"john, you had a bomb strapped to your chest, you had snipers aimed at you, and you both nearly died - and you're telling me you're fine?" the disbelief in valeria's voice was unforgiving.

"yes, i-i'm fine." john stammered, sitting tensely in his chair, arms draped along the armrests. "i've been through worse. i served in afghanistan, valeria."

valeria let out a short snort, and crossed her arms. "just - please watch out for each other, alright?" she said tiredly, casting sherlock a worried look. the detective said nothing, just nodded once from where he sat at his own armchair, hands steepled. valeria had come to recognise this as his thinking pose, and that he wasn't all too responsive in said pose.

"i don't get this guy, anyway. jim moriarty. why is he so obsessed with sherlock?" she said to no-one in particular, leaning back on the couch, her arms braced on her knees. the brown leather couch had become her designated seat, as the two armchairs were already taken by the two men.

she hadn't expected sherlock to even acknowledge her question, but just as john opened his mouth to speak, sherlock murmured, "he just wants to play."

"what?" val said sceptically with narrowed eyes, as john closed his mouth and turned to frown at his friend.

"the rest of the world is boring to him, and i am a breath of fresh air."

"and he expresses this to you by killing innocent people you didn't even know and attempting to kill john?" valeria sighed, and grumbled under her breath, "nutter."

"i have a feeling i will be seeing him again very soon." sherlock murmured to himself, ignoring valeria.

the woman sighed again. then, she squinted at the clock, and slowly she stood up, straightening her shirt. "well, it's nearly seven. i've got to go to work."

goodbyes were exchanged, and valeria left for her night shift, completely oblivious to the fact that the day he found her, the day her life would be destroyed, was drawing closer every second.

he didn't even know she existed yet. but he was searching for ways to burn the heart out of the consulting detective, and when he did find her, he would hit the jackpot.

✦✦✦

february, 2012

just two years later, valeria bishop was a proper doctor again, which was something. the rent was no longer a bother to her, and poverty was completely out of reach. her hands had steadied once more, and she hadn't let anyone slip away from her yet. everything was going splendidly for her.

well, mostly. the night shifts were rough. after almost two years, she was practically becoming nocturnal - she hardly saw john and sherlock in the day anymore. she had very little idea of what cases they were on, or whatever else was going on in their lives, as sherlock didn't text her very often. but when they did meet, and whenever their scheduled aligned (or whenever she couldn't sleep), it left valeria with a smile on her face as she drove to her next shift.

but she wasn't smiling now. she hadn't seen sherlock for at least four days, and the last shift had been particularly busy. it wasn't like she didn't enjoy her job - she just wished she had more time to herself. and she wished she still had cobie - or someone like cobie, at least. her friend was still working at the old hospital. she hadn't seen her for years.

valeria's eyes were drifting shut as she sat in the taxi going home, and as she drifted absently through the door of her apartment, she was nearly asleep.

she was so wiped out that she didn't notice the man sprawled on her couch.

she ambled over to her kitchen, giving a sleepy smile to sam as he danced around her ankles, mewling in a way that valeria didn't realise was terror.

she reached into the cupboard, found some food for sam, and scraped it into his dish by the fridge. she moved in a dazed, slow way, her eyelids drooping. turning to the fridge, she picked a few grapes out of the packet, and as she rose her hand to her mouth, she turned towards the living room - 

and saw him.

for a moment, she did nothing - just stood there with her grapes half in her mouth, eyes bleary, not moving an inch. she didn't even breathe.

the man didn't move either. he just stared at her, his arms resting on the back of the couch, one of his legs crossed over the other. he may as well have lived there. he wore a sharply cut suit the colour of the depths of the ocean, his hair was raven black, and he looked like he was about to murder her.

but he was smiling.

and yet, his eyes were so dead, so lifeless, that the smile looked like a death threat.

slowly, slowly, valeria lowered her hand, and set the grapes down upon the kitchen counter, her hands surprisingly steady, never once taking her flickering, tired eyes off the man. she was swaying from fatigue and fear as she walked steadily through the kitchen and into the living room.

how hadn't she seen him? how did he get in? what was he doing here?

who was he?

as she debated what to ask of him first, he shot off the couch, his eyes suddenly glinting wickedly.

"finally! i thought i was going to have to wait for you to sit on my lap before you realised i was here!" he exclaimed, giving an extravagant eye-roll, grinning widely. valeria didn't move an inch as the man's head dipped forward. "but, darling, believe me, i wouldn't have minded." his voice was deep and impossibly smooth, and she noted his irish accent subconsciously, along with the fact that he sounded like he was going to murder her too.

he clocked the dazed look on her face, and said, "right - you're wondering how i got in. ever heard of a hair pin? amazing little invention." a pause. "gets you places." he said slowly, putting his hands in his pockets, his eyes steadily trained on her.

suddenly, she found her voice, and swallowed before saying quietly, "i don't care how you got in, i want to know why you wanted to in the first place." 

"good lord, she speaks." he said, sounding unimpressed. his face didn't shift in the slightest.

"just answer me, buddy." valeria said boldly, taking a step towards him. "i'm too tired to deal with this crap."

the man's eyes widened as he puffed out his cheeks, and valeria clenched her jaw. he was mocking her.

"alright, alright, keep your hair on." he said, pulling an odd face. "you know sherlock holmes, don't you?"

"why?" she questioned without missing a beat. she was awfully aware that whatever she said now could be used against her. cobie had a lawyer for a dad, and she had taught her a few things about keeping herself safe.

"well, him and i had a little game a few years back...and we never got to finish it.

valeria blinked. it took her a moment to realise, in her half-awake state. then - 

game.

"he just wants to play."

her eyes bugged. "holy - you're moriarty."

"ding-ding-ding! we have a winner!" he announced over-dramatically, his eyes bugging too as he did his best 1940's transatlantic accent. valeria winced. it might have been an absurd thought to have when she was facing the nutter who had nearly killed both sherlock and john, but - he was too loud for this time in the morning.

"just tell me what you want with sherlock." she said, her voice low. now she knew who he was, she made sure to choose her words even more carefully.

moriarty bared his teeth in that wicked, homicidal grin. "i don't want anything with sherlock, dear - not yet, anyway."

her eyes flickered, and she slowly began to walk backwards, away from him, as if her feet didn't belong to her. it was probably her fatigue making her think irrational thoughts, but it felt like he was leading up to...

a queasy, deep-rooted feeling churning in her stomach as moriarty started slowly walking towards her, his eyes unblinking, his footsteps in sync with hers. 

oh god.

her hand flew out blindly, and she grabbed the side of the kitchen surface. fumbling for the cutlery drawer, she drew out her sharpest chef's knife and held it up dubiously, pointing it at the advancing man, still walking backwards. the sight of the knife didn't faze him, though - he continued stalking towards her, his movements smooth and snake-like.

"get away from me." she growled, but moriarty ignored her.

"you're going to help me with mine and sherlock's game, valeria." he said, his voice dangerously low. he was in the kitchen with her now, drawing closer every moment. valeria didn't even register the fact that he knew her name - she just knew that her back was going to hit the wall at any moment, leaving her trapped.

"get away from me." she said again, holding the knife up higher, but this time her voice came out shaky and weak. moriarty seemed to find this amusing, as he smiled in a reptilian manner.

"not yet." he replied softly. valeria felt her skin crawl.

with a doctor's precision, she lunged forward with her knife, going for his shoulder - a place not quite fatal, but not quite painless. but his hand had shot out and seized her wrist before she could even cut him. letting out a grunt of desperation, valeria thrust forwards, trying to drive the knife home, but he held her off. then, with a hard squeeze, he forced her hand to relax, to let the knife fall to the ground. the blade buried into the floor, sticking handle-up.

valeria instantly went for the next best thing - slamming her hands against either side of his head to give herself a chance to get away. but moriarty realised her intentions before she had the chance to touch him, and in the blink of an eye he had her hands pinned either side of her face. she went to kick him, but he barely budged. she even tried shoving him off, but he wasn't moving. he had her trapped.

cringing at the feeling of his chest on hers, at the way he was pressing himself flush against her, how she could feel his hot breath on her face, she drew her head back as far it would go, staring at the ceiling to avoid looking at him, still struggling as much as she could. her throat bobbed as she swallowed, doing everything she could not to cry. this wasn't happening. this wasn't happening. 

moriarty stared at her, his eyes void of emotion. he clocked how frightened she looked, and, keeping both of her arms above her head with one hand, he cupped her chin with the other, and forced her to look at him. his fingers dug into her skin, hard enough to draw blood. moriarty was close enough to kiss her now, and valeria trembled as she got herself as far away from him as she could. she wasn't struggling anymore.

"c'mon, val. there's no need to be scared."

valeria felt a tear fall.

"not just yet."

another.

"but you will be. i'll make sure of that."