A/N - Name me one person who doesn't love the 'mysterious cheekbones' scene (don't say you do because we all know it's a lie - stop lying to to yourself).

John Watson, you flirt 😂 but Elizabeth would have to agree with you!

_______________________

After the mildly unnerving talk with the tour guide, John and Elizabeth hopped into the land rover with Sherlock again, this time without knowing where Sherlock was taking them.

As he drove, the detective would send little glances back at Elizabeth through the rear-view mirror, his mind racing as he considered those tiny seeds of doubt in his head. Who was the other person on the other end of the phone? If it was Cleo, why phone her so late at night? And if it wasn't Cleo who was it? A criminal partner? Or...a new normal lover?

"So where did you say we were going again, Sherlock?" John asked, breaking his gaze with the scenery outside to look at his friend.

"You'll see." Was all he replied.

"You say that," Elizabeth met his brief gaze in the rear-view mirror, "And then it's going to turn out to be something that we should have been at least a little prepared for."

That smile of hers didn't sit right with him this time. He simply didn't reply and focused his gaze back on the road for good. Elizabeth was hurt by his dismissal of her comment. Any other day he probably would have replied with a smart-arse comment. Even John was a little surprised that Sherlock had totally ignored her.

Nevertheless, the drive continued - in silence.

*  *  *  *  *  *

Sherlock drove into the Baskerville base, an odd sense of confidence surrounding him as they paused at the security gate. John looked behind him at Elizabeth who looked equally as concerned and then at Sherlock.

A security guard came over to the window, "Pass, please."

Sherlock dipped his hand in his pocket, calmly pulling out said pass and handed it to the guard.

"Thank you." The guard went away to check it.

"You’ve got ID for Baskerville." John stated, "How?"

"It’s not specific to this place. It’s my brother’s. Access all areas. I, um," Sherlock cleared his throat, only a little stressed, "Acquired it ages ago, just in case."

"And again, to think you scold me for stealing." Elizabeth laughed, "You're a natural by the sounds of it."

"I wouldn't say natural."

"Knowing what kind of safe was at Irene's, stealing an ash tray from Buckingham Palace, Lestrade's ID and now Mycroft's pass as well..." Elizabeth reeled off, amused by his pick-pocketing talents.

John just sighed, "Brilliant..."

"What’s the matter?"

"We’ll get caught."

"No, we won’t!" Sherlock assured them quickly, "Well, not just yet."

"In how long then?" The thief enquired, "How long do we have?"

"Caught in five minutes." Came John's response, "'Oh hi, we just thought we'd come and have a wander round your top secret weapons base.' 'Really? Great! Come in – kettle’s just boiled.' That's if we don’t get shot."

"How about," Elizabeth began to suggest, "We keep the thoughtful possibilities of death to a minimum, eh, John?"

"Just saying..."

The security guard came back over, handing the pass back to Sherlock, "Clear."

"Thank you very much." John spoke quickly.

Sherlock gave a calmer, "Thank you."

"Straight through, sir." The guard gestured as the gate opened and Sherlock nodded, driving on confidently.

"Mycroft’s name literally opens doors!" John said in disbelief.

"I’ve told you: he practically is the British government." Sherlock replied, earning a scoff from Elizabeth, "I reckon we’ve got about twenty minutes before they realise something’s wrong."

They parked near the entrance of the base, John getting out first to scan the area that was practically bursting with soldiers and scientists alike. Before Sherlock got out, he looked over his shoulder at Elizabeth, a little bit more of a friendlier look on his face as he realised he would need to keep up appearances for this to run smoothly.

"You'll need that clipboard and pen next to you."

"Why?"

"Bring it." He insisted as he opened his door, "You'll see why in a moment."

Elizabeth looked at the items next to her, and then out of the window at the two men already outside. Nervousness backflipped in her stomach at seeing how many army personnel were around. While her slate had been cleaned by Mycroft, that didn't stop the anxiety she felt about potentially being caught. With a resolved sigh, she grabbed the clipboard and pen and got out of the car.

"This way." Said a guard in front of them, effectively leading them to the front door of the base.

An army car pulled up in front of them and out jumped another guard, looking at the three of them, just as anxious as they were.

"What is it? Are we in trouble?"

"Are we in trouble, sir?" Sherlock sharply corrected the officer.

"Yes, sir, sorry, sir."

"You were expecting us?"

"Your ID showed up straight away, Mr Holmes." He then introduced himself, "Corporal Lyons, security. Is there something wrong, sir?"

"Well, I hope not, Corporal, I hope not."

"It’s just we don’t get inspected here, you see, sir." The corporal added, "It just doesn’t happen."

"Ever heard of a spot check?" John jumped in, fetching his identification out of his pocket, "Captain John Watson, Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers." He saluted the corporal.

"Sir." Lyons respectfully saluted back, now turning his gaze to Elizabeth, "And yourself ma'am?"

"Anthea." She smiled tightly, mimicking how she new Mycroft's PA to be from the brief run-ins and stories she had heard, "Personal assistant to Mr Holmes, Corporal. I will be note-taking so just make sure you give decent answers to our questions and all will be fine. Isn't that right, Mr Holmes, Captain?"

The two men nodded in agreement.

"Yes, of course ma'am." Lyons nodded and looked at Sherlock, "Major Barrymore won’t be pleased, sir. He’ll want to see you all."

"I’m afraid we won’t have time for that." John spoke sternly, "We’ll need the full tour right away. Carry on."

Lyons hesitated, knowing his superior would not be impressed by this.

"That’s an order, Corporal." John said strictly.

"Yes, sir." And that was when the Corporal turned instantly, leading them over to the compound entrance.

A smirk lit up Sherlock's face briefly.

They reached the door, Lyons swiping his ID across the card scanner first, followed by Sherlock's stolen pass. A few moments later the door opened and they were being led down a bright, pristine hallway.

Sherlock spoke quietly, "Nice touch."

"Haven’t pulled rank in ages."

"Enjoy it?"

"Oh yeah." John looked at Elizabeth who walked between them, "You know, you were weirdly similar to Anthea then."

"I try." She smiled, then joked, "Maybe next time I could be the Captain instead of being given the stereotypical role of PA?"

Sherlock noted, "You still came across as the ballsy PA."

"Ah, that's me, boys, that's me."

Their hushed conversation came to another stop as they came across another door. One swipe of Lyons' card, then a second swipe of Mycroft's pass. The elevator doors slid open and the four stepped into the elevator.

Seconds later they were walking out into a vast room with a number of large metal cages in it and a handful of scientists all in white lab coats or white jumpsuits. As they walked past the cages, a monkey shrieked and jumped up at the bars, startling Sherlock and Elizabeth.

"How many animals do you keep down here?" The detective enquired.

"Lots, sir."

Elizabeth asked the obvious question, "Any ever escape?"

"They’d have to know how to use that lift, ma'am." Lyons turned, merely to gesture to the elevator, "We’re not breeding them that clever."

"Unless they have help." Sherlock muttered.

One of the scientists in white, a tall man with greying hair, approached them, "Ah, and you are?"

"Sorry, Doctor Frankland." Lyons explained, "I’m just showing these gentlemen and lady around."

"Ah, new faces, huh?" Doctor Frankland appeared to be quite jolly, "Nice. Careful you don’t get stuck here, though. I only came to fix a tap!"

John chuckled, Elizabeth smiled and Sherlock nodded as they watched him go. Nothing overly special about him, Sherlock thought, just another scientist.

"How far down does that lift go?" John asked.

"Quite a way, sir."

"Mmm-hmm." The army doctor nodded, "And what’s down there?"

"Well, we have to keep the bins somewhere, sir." Lyons shrugged, "This way please, gentlemen, ma'am."

Feeling a gaze on the back of her neck, Elizabeth looked over her shoulder, noticing that Doctor Frankland was still staring at them, unsmiling, until, of course, he noticed Elizabeth's gaze on him. Then his exuberant smile came back and he waved at her as the lift opened. She nodded, albeit uncomfortable and waved back before following after her boys.

"So what exactly is it that you do here?" John questioned.

"I thought you’d know, sir, this being an inspection."

"Well," John tried to brush off his lack of knowledge quickly, "I’m not an expert, am I?"

Lyons obliged in giving an answer, "Everything from stem cell research to trying to cure the common cold, sir."

Elizabeth added, noting down all these things on her clipboard, "But mostly weaponry, I presume?"

"Of one sort or another, yes."

"Biological, chemical...?" John wanted specifics.

As they reached another door, again Lyons and Holmes scanned their passes and waited for it to open. Sherlock checked his watch, clearly aware of how much time they had before people would get suspicious.

"One war ends, another begins, sir." Lyons answered, "New enemies to fight. We have to be prepared."

Down another pure white, eerily quiet corridor they went, only for Lyons to open a set of double door. They heard a monkey screech and saw two people, a man and woman, again kitted out in white, at the end of this smaller lab.

"Okay, Michael, let’s try Harlow Three next time." The woman instructed as she walked towards her desk.

"Doctor Stapleton." Lyons greeted.

Sherlock repeated this thoughtfully, "Stapleton..."

"Yes? Who’s this?"

"Priority Ultra, ma'am." Lyons explained, "Orders from on high. An inspection."

"Really?"

"We’re to be accorded every courtesy, Doctor Stapleton." Came Sherlock's serious tone, "What’s your role at Baskerville?"

She scoffed. Surely, they knew she couldn't speak about what she does.

"Er, accorded every courtesy," John repeated, "Isn’t that the idea?

"I’m not free to say. Official secrets."

"Oh, you most certainly are free and I suggest you remain that way." Sherlock spoke quite harshly towards her, earning a questioning look from John and a peek over her clipboard from Elizabeth.

"I have a lot of fingers in a lot of pies. I like to mix things up – genes, mostly." Doctor Stapleton reluctantly answered, "Now and again actual fingers."

"Stapleton." Sherlock sounded like he was on to something so his partner and friend watched expectantly as he noted something in his own notebook, "I knew I knew your name."

"I doubt it."

"People say there’s no such thing as coincidence. What dull lives they must lead."

He flashed the notebook up at Doctor Stapleton. On his pad was written 'BLUEBELL' and he waited for any hint of recognition. The scientist's eyes widened slightly as it dawned on her.

"Have you been talking to my daughter?"

"Why did Bluebell have to die, Doctor Stapleton?"

John and Elizabeth spoke simultaneously, "The rabbit?"

"Disappeared from inside a locked hutch, which was always suggestive."

"The rabbit?" John asked again, sharing a look of confusion with Elizabeth.

"Clearly an inside job."

"Oh, you reckon?" Stapleton was clearly unimpressed with this situation now.

"Why? Because it glowed in the dark."

"I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about." She tried to brush it off now, "Who are you?"

Regressing back to his calmer state from his more fierce one, Sherlock checked his watch and looked at Lyons, "Well, I think we’ve seen enough for now, Corporal. Thank you so much."

"That’s it?" The Corporal was beyond puzzled.

"That’s it." Sherlock nodded, pivoting to head to the exit, "It’s this way, isn’t it?"

Doctor Stapleton called, "Just a minute!"

But the three ignored her as they speed-walked out of the lab.

"Did we just break into a military base to investigate a rabbit?" John asked urgently.

Sherlock ignored John too as he swiftly swiped his card down the scanner. They were running out of time and they had to get out of here before the card was flagged.

As they steamed down the corridors and back into the larger lab, Sherlock felt a buzz in his pocket. He brought out his phone to read a text from his brother.

<What are you doing? M.>

Sherlock laughed, "Twenty-three minutes. Mycroft’s getting slow."

Even John and elizabeth couldn't fight back the small smiles on their faces at this, adrenaline pumping through all of their veins. Again, another two card swipes opened the reflective elevator door but they paused as they saw Doctor Frankland.

"Hello again." He greeted as they all piled into the lift.

A short few, uncomfortable seconds later, the lift doors opened to reveal another austere-looking guard in front of them. Was the jig up?

Even Lyons was shaken by his sudden appearance, "Er, um, Major - "

"This is bloody outrageous." The Major growled, "Why wasn’t I told?"

"Major Barrymore, is it?" John attempted to diffuse the situation, "Yes, well, good. Very good." He stepped out fo the elevator, Sherlock and Elizabeth following, "We’re very impressed, aren’t we, Mr Holmes?"

"Deeply; hugely." Sherlock drew his phone out again to read another text which he ignored.

<What’s going on, Sherlock? M.>

The three began a hasty walk down the corridor, desperate to reach the outside world again while they still appeared to have some time.

"I don't like this." Elizabeth mumbled to John, "I really don't like this."

Barrymore ranted behind them, "The whole point of Baskerville was to eliminate this kind of bureaucratic nonsense!"

"We're almost there." John mumbled back to her, trying to reassure himself and her.

"I’m so sorry, Major." The detective apologised without actually being sorry.

"Inspections?!" Barrymore snapped again.

Sherlock spoke like lightning, "New policy. Can’t remain unmonitored forever. Goodness knows what you’d get up to." He urged John and Elizabeth then, "Keep walking."

And just before they could reach the door came the unfortunate shout from the Corporal.

"Sir!" Lyons hit an alarm, changing the blinding lights to flashing red ones, "ID unauthorised, sir."

When they heard the door echo a metal click shut, it was then that they stopped walking and slowly turned to face the army personnel. Sherlock didn't panic but he knew they were going to be in a lot of trouble if he couldn't talk himself out of it.

"What?" Barrymore barked.

Lyons responded, "I’ve just had the call."

The major turned to face them, "Is that right?" He scowled at them, "Who are you?"

"Look, there’s obviously been some kind of mistake." Elizabeth spoke up in her strong yet delicate PA voice.

Sherlock handed the pass to Barrymore who took one look at it and then glared back at the detective, "Clearly not, Mycroft Holmes."

"Computer error, Major." John tried to say calmly, "It’ll all have to go in the report."

Barrymore was beyond furious as he gave the three of them a fierce look, "What the hell’s going on?!"

And then, to their utter surprise, Doctor Frankland strolled over, his jolly tranquility appearing to settle on the major. He looked at the three intruders with a smile.

"It’s all right, Major." The scientist said,"I know exactly who these gentlemen are."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I’m getting a little slow on faces but Mr Holmes here isn’t someone I expected to show up in this place."

"Ah, well - " Sherlock began.

"Good to see you again, Mycroft." He shook Sherlock's hand firmly, earning a tight smile from the detective, "I had the honour of meeting Mr Holmes at the W.H.O. conference in...Brussels, was it?"

"Vienna." He corrected.

"Vienna, that’s it." He nodded, "This is Mr Mycroft Holmes, Major. There’s obviously been a mistake."

John and Elizabeth watched this conversation silently. They weren't going to ruin it with their own words when Dr Frankland was doing extraordinarily well in persuading Barrymore that Sherlock was actually Mycroft. With a sigh, Barrymore nodded for Lyons to go and turn off the alarm.

"On your head be it, Doctor Frankland." Barrymore warned as the exit door opened.

"I’ll show them out, Corporal." Frankland commented.

"Very well, sir."

And so the four of them commenced a quick march right out of the corridor where they left a very confused Barrymore and Lyons.

Back outside, John clenched his teeth together, thankful for narrowly escaping a situation that could have been rather serious whereas Elizabeth tightly clutched her clipboard to her chest, breathing a sigh of relief as she followed after Sherlock.

"Thank you." Sherlock said as Frankland caught up.

"This is about Henry Knight, isn’t it?" He looked between them all, "I thought so. I knew he wanted help but I didn’t realise he was going to contact Sherlock Holmes!"

Elizabeth breathed a nervous, lonesome laugh, Sherlock flashed a smile and John just kept looking ahead. All were afraid, even if subtly, of someone else picking up on the fact that they were not meant to be there. At sensing this worry, the scientist tried to move the conversation along.

"Oh, don’t worry. I know who you really are. I’m never off your website. Thought you’d be wearing the hat, though."

"That wasn’t my hat." Came the detective's sharp reply.

"I hardly recognise him without the hat!" He said, looking at John.

"Wasn’t my hat..."

"I love the blog too, Doctor Watson."

"Oh, cheers!"

"The, er, the Pink thing!

"Mm-hm."

"And that one about the aluminium crutch!"

"Yes." John appeared to stand a little straighter as he walked, clearly chuffed that people liked his blog.

"And you," Doctor Frankland now looked at Elizabeth, "You don't have a blog but I'm sure I've seen you in the papers with these two before. Haven't read about you on either of their blogs  - afraid I don't know your name?"

"Elizabeth Parrish." She smiled but still felt a sense of uneasiness radiate off him.

"Silent partner then? In crime solving?"

"I...dabble and prefer to keep anonymous where possible." She nodded.

Sherlock stopped walking when they were near the land rover and turned to Frankland, tired of the small talk, "You know Henry Knight?"

"Well, I knew his dad better. He had all sorts of mad theories about this place. Still, he was a good friend."

Elizabeth and John noticed Barrymore a ways behind Frankland, still staring them down with a burning gaze of suspicion. He wanted them off the site and he wanted them off it now. Frankland looked over his shoulder and understood that look too.

"Listen, I can’t really talk now." He pulled a paper card out of his lab coat pocket and handed it to the detective, "Here’s my, er, cell number. If I could help with Henry, give me a call."

"I never did ask, Doctor Frankland." Sherlock said, "What exactly is it that you do here?"

"Oh, Mr Holmes," His voice was slightly condescending, "I would love to tell you – but then, of course, I’d have to kill you!" He laughed.

John smiled a tight-lipped smile. Elizabeth didn't smile at all. Too many bad vibes emanated off him.

"That would be tremendously ambitious of you." Came the detective's stoic response, "Tell me about Doctor Stapleton."

"Never speak ill of a colleague."

Sherlock frowned at this, "Yet you’d speak well of one, which you're clearly omitting to do."

"I do seem to be, don’t I?" He shrugged.
 
The conversation was over, Sherlock surmised, "I’ll be in touch."

"Any time."

Doctor Frankland parted ways with the three, heading back in the direction of Barrymore and the compound. The investigative trio turned to approach their land rover.

John spoke up, "So?"

"So?"

"What was all that about the rabbit?"

"You know," Elizabeth elaborated, "Because at the moment, to John and I, it looks like we broke into a secure army compound just to investigate a rabbit?"

Before he even dreamed of answering, Sherlock wrapped his blue belstaff around him a little tighter and turned up the collars.

"Oh, please," John shook his head, "Can we not do this, this time?"

"Do what?" He asked cluelessly.

"You being all mysterious with your...cheekbones and turning your coat collar up so you look cool." He said as he got in the car.

Sherlock looked at Elizabeth curiously, "I don't do that."

Biting her lip as she nodded, she moved to the passenger door at the back, tickled by the detective's behaviour.

"Yeah, you do." John confirmed verbally as the other two got in the car.

*  *  *  *  *  *

As they were on their way to Henry's house, John struck up a conversation again.

"So, the email from Kirsty – the, er, missing luminous rabbit."

"Kirsty Stapleton," Sherlock explained, "Whose mother specialises in genetic manipulation."

"She made her daughter’s rabbit glow in the dark?" Elizabeth asked, truly intrigued and impressed by the scientific endeavour.

"Probably a fluorescent gene. Removed and spliced into the specimen," Sherlock said, "Simple enough these days."

"Oh! Like they, um, like they did with cats?" Elizabeth was a little bit peppy when she remembered this information from an article she had read ages ago, "They spliced a jellyfish gene into feline eggs and made glow-in-the-dark kittens."

A small smile crossed Sherlock's lips as he looked at her in his rearview mirror, "Yes. Just like that."

"So?" John pressed.

"So we know that Doctor Stapleton performs secret genetic experiments on animals. The question is: has she been working on something deadlier than a rabbit?"

Elizabeth shivered at the thought.

John nodded, turning his attention to the view outside for a moment, "To be fair, that is quite a wide field..."

*  *  *  *  *  *

They arrived at Henry's house a short while later and to say it was nice was an understatement. It was a little run-down but it was beautifully grand - both modern and old at the same time. Four floors made up the main structure of the house, in front of it was a (poorly-tended) greenhouse. Elizabeth thought this seeing as she could see the small bushes and trees crawling out of the murky windows. Besides the main structure of the house looked as though there was a smaller, two-floor glass house with a balcony.

The three walked through the greenhouse to get to the front door where Sherlock pressed the doorbell.

Seconds later Henry opened the door, all of them greeting each other.

"Come in, come in." He beckoned the three.

Each person wiped their feet on the mat before walking in. Elizabeth took a very curious peek into the two rooms she had walked past with Sherlock, feeling certain urges at seeing so many fancy things. But she wouldn't. She would behave.

"Stop it." Sherlock said to Elizabeth as he paused by a doorway.

"Stop what?"

"You know what."

"No. No, I don't. Stop what?"

"Stop casing the joint."

Elizabeth's mouth fell agape and she brought her hand to her chest as she looked around her and then back at Sherlock, "I was not."

"You were and you know it."

"I would never! I was...merely admiring my surroundings, admiring Henry's house."

"Touch nothing." He warned her.

"I'm sorry - how long have you known me?" She laughed it off lightly, "I wouldn't take anything from a client."

"Government plans? Ash tray? Donovan's purse?" Sherlock let these things roll off his tongue harshly as he let his earlier worries slip into the forefront of his mind, "Countless other things that I probably don't know about?"

Elizabeth's joy faltered and she scoffed, "Jeez, wow, okay." She nodded, "The plans? That was before and I recall you saying you didn't care about my past. Ash tray? You took one too. The purse? That was for fun and in defense of you because she was being a bitch. And mentioning everything else that you probably don't know about almost sounds like you don't trust me?" Pain echoed in her eyes, "What's changed?"

Sherlock looked at her seriously, considering his words carefully and opened his mouth to speak but Henry and John joined them in the corridor.

"This is, uh...are you, um...rich?" John asked.

Henry nodded without a second thought, "Yeah."

"Right." John looked around in awe and when he saw Elizabeth and Sherlock with moody looks on their faces he frowned, "Everything okay?"

Sherlock didn't respond and followed after Henry. Elizabeth stood with her arms crossed across her chest.

"Fine. Just fine." She brushed it off, following the detective into Henry's kitchen.

John found this behaviour between them odd but joined them nonetheless. They all sat at the island, John in between the couple by their own choice as Henry boiled a kettle and took out four mugs for coffee and tea.

Once settled with their warm drinks, Mr Knight began to explain his recent revelation.

"There's a couple of words, it’s what I keep seeing. 'Liberty' - "

"Liberty?" John wanted to confirm this as he took out his notepad to jot it down.

Henry nodded, "'Liberty' and...'in'. It’s just that..." He picked up the milk carton, "Are you finished?"

They nodded and he turned to put the milk away in the fridge.

"Mean anything to you two?" John asked, hoping to get them talking to each other again.

"'Liberty in death' – isn’t that the expression?" Sherlock suggested, "The only true freedom."

Their client turned back to face them, "What now, then?"

Both Sherlock and Elizabeth took a sip of their tea at the same time.

"Sherlock’s got a plan."

The detective drew the mug away from his lips with an odd smile, "Yes."

"Right."

"We take you back out onto the moor - "

"Okay..."

"And see if anything attacks you."

"What?!" John looked at Sherlock, clearly not expecting this to be his plan.

Elizabeth almost spat out her last bit of tea as she heard Sherlock say this. She set the mug down, staring at the ceramic item for a moment as she processed this. Let's go out on the moor where there may be a potentially dangerous creature - not that monsters existed - and see if it attacks them. Yes, she thought, obviously the most logical and safe plan. She slowly looked over at the detective.

"That should bring things to a head." The detective said, unphased.

"At night?" Henry looked sick, "You want me to go out there at night?"

Sherlock nodded, "Mm."

"That’s your plan?" Elizabeth spoke, judgement lacing her tone, "Sorry but what?"

"Brilliant!" Came John's remark.

"Got any better ideas?"

"No, but - "

" - That’s not a plan." John finished for Elizabeth.

"Exactly."

"Listen, Sherlock spoke rationally, "If there is a monster out there, John, Elizabeth, there’s only one thing to do: find out where it lives."

____________________

A/N - Not to be illegal but is it just me who thinks sneaking into a place would be really cool?

Like particularly vent crawling?

Mickey, your criminal is showing 🙈 YOU HEARD NOTHING UNLAWFUL HERE...

Also, curious to know how you guys think this book will end? It's already planned out, even got a song for the last chapter and all so I'm not plot fishing, just genuinely curious 😄