For John Watson

[howdull]

[Sherlock is still finding pieces of the melted laptop in the carpet.

It had actually been quite an ingenious booby trap to be devised by a fourteen year old boy with only household chemicals to work with but, as Sherlock surmised, rather overkill to keep his mother from finding his extensive porn collection. Not one of their more illustrious cases, but it had been quite entertaining to watch both the boy and mother's faces as he revealed that he did know the how and why. He lost interest after the mother started shouting and John started shouting and the whole thing turned tedious.

He rather thinks John won't actually be doing a full write-up of this one on his blog.

It's been two days since their last case and he's beginning to get more than a little antsy. Lestrade has sent him nothing, just a boring hit and run that he refused to even leave the flat for, and nobody interesting has appeared through the blog. Said blog he is currently scrolling through on John's laptop, having borrowed it again.

He did ask, it's not his fault John hadn't been in the room at the time.]

Bored, John.

[He doesn't even know if his flatmate is even in, but that's hardly a necessity for him to actually speak to John. Frustrated, he throws the laptop across the room to hit the wall, where it summarily breaks. Which is where he can be found whenever John appears, sulking amidst pieces of laptop, both from the melted one of their last case and John's poor broken one.]

Comments

[jumpthegun]

Molly, I need you to trust me. Sherlock and I are working on getting me out right now. But what's most important is all of those other people. I know this is hard, but I need you to be their hero right now. They need someone like you to get them out of here. You're one of the bravest people I've ever met. That's what they need.

Can you do this for me? Please? Get them out of here.

[gallowshumour]

[She hesitates a long moment, trying to find a way out of this that doesn't involve her turning her back and running away from one of her few friends when he's in danger.

In the end she makes a noise of frustration and turns, the light of her phone facing the other way.]

You better still be alive when this is over, John Watson!

[jumpthegun]

Promise you can kill me if I'm not! Be careful out there, Molls.

[He realizes too late how unwise it is to show that level of affection toward Molly directly in front of Moriarty. He's already done it before, but he should really stop for her safety. Just to be sure, he does turn back to the other man.]

You have men out there in the dark. [It's not a question. Moriarty would have needed help with the set up, and he's obviously not the one who murdered Caroline and propped her up like that when his clothes are spotless.] See they don't bother her, or I will start breaking bones, Mr. Moriarty. Yours, specifically, until your men kill me. And that would be a terrible end to the game, wouldn't it?

[It's just a bit of a trick. He's trying to be clever like Sherlock would be. John pulls out the phone he'd taken from the man and walks over to offer it back. If he can get Moriarty to unlock the mobile for a call, maybe he can snatch it away mid-discussion and get access to it that way.]

[gallowshumour]

[Moriarty hasn't moved the entire time that John has been talking to either Sherlock or Molly, just watching proceedings with a tiny smile at his lips as though everything is going to plan.

It's just so entertaining, like watching a hamster run around a wheel desperately.]

Well gosh, it looks like you've got me in the palm of your hand, I'm helpless to do anything but obey.

[He takes the phone and unlocks it slowly and deliberately, smirking up at John the whole time.]

[jumpthegun]

[John just keeps his eyes on the phone, expression stony-faced. He'll try to see the combination and memorize it quickly, or at least guess it based on the pattern of Moriarty's finger if he's being more covert about it. It's no different from reading Ella's notes while she's taking them.]

[gallowshumour]

[Moriarty doesn't bother to hide it, the code is 6341 to unlock it. However, if John gets back hold of it, he'll just find that it has Candy Crush installed and no contacts listed.]

[jumpthegun]

[6341, all right. That's easy enough. Four digits...

John's gaze flicks momentarily to the briefcase. It couldn't be that easy. Could it? Given that he knows the code, he'll wait to snatch the phone back until the other man has a chance to, John assumes, actually talk to his men. Hopefully, it won't be in code. In the meanwhile, John's going to head over to the briefcase and try the 6341 combo on it. If that doesn't work, he'll also give 1436 a go.]

[howdull]

[Neither of the combinations work. Moriarty doesn't appear to let anyone know about Molly, but the Candy Crush tunes blare out in the carriage as he sits back and starts to play.

It's only another minute or two before Sherlock rings the phone that John was given, he's at the statue of Boudicea.]

Posterity, John.

[jumpthegun]

[John answers, glaring daggers at Moriarty and stepping over to swipe his mobile away again. Okay, so... he kind of enjoys Candy Crush now and again for something mindless, but he's not going to mention that. John just shuts that down.]

That's four syllables, not four digits, Sherlock.

[howdull]

It’s Boudicca’s sixth. The sixth word of the inscription on her statue, and it’s been painted over with blood.

[Any concern for this turn of events is swallowed by excitement for the game.]

[jumpthegun]

Laying it on a bit thick. [That's directed at Moriarty in a deadpan tone more than Sherlock.] Posterity. Fine. So future generations or her descendants. We're looking for Boudicca's descendants, maybe?

[howdull]

Perhaps, though her family lived a long time ago and most were slaughtered, I imagine finding any descendants of hers would be impossible in the time limit.

[And he doubts Moriarty would actually make an unwinnable game, because where would be the fun in that?]

I think I ought to come down and view the train carriage myself.

[jumpthegun]

[No.]

Why? If you step in here, Sherlock, you can't get out. There might be other clues around the city we'll need to get to.

[howdull]

I can step in as you step out, the weight exchange should be passable. You're more suited to running around, and I'm better suited to thinking and putting the pieces together.

[Also he wants to chat to Moriarty.]

[jumpthegun]

Sherlock, you have at least a stone and a half on me. [John has no idea what the actual differential will allow. He's not calling the man fat, but bloody hell! He also doesn't want Sherlock alone with this man.]

[howdull]

[No fun!]

It's not like I'm suggesting you switch with Mycroft, John, I doubt the pressure sensors can differentiate quite so subtly.

[jumpthegun]

Are you a bombs expert? If you get down here, what you're going to do is help Molly get people out. She should be doing that.

[He looks toward the windows.]

...Haven't heard any movement, yet.

[howdull]

Then it stands to reason that she's been somehow stopped in that particular endeavour.

[He's actually a little fond of Mary and the idea that she might be further hurt is mildly upsetting, though he'd prefer not to examine why.]

It would be better not to count on her involvement saving any lives.

[jumpthegun]

[Thank you for putting that thought fully into his head. John turns and stalks over to Moriarty. If the man doesn't move, the doctor will grasp the front of his shirt and jerk the man up and forward a little. He drops the phone from his ear, but Sherlock will likely be able to hear.]

What did you do to her? What've you had done to her?

[gallowshumour]

[Moriarty grins as he's dragged up, utterly unconcerned in the face of John's anger. He's so volatile, it's quite amusing, like a cave man.]

So suspicious, Johnny, where's the trust?

[jumpthegun]

[John's only as volatile as the situation demands, thank you. He raises the phone to his ear.]

Bring a gun if you can find one, please. And a weight to hand to me before we switch places that'll balance out our weight difference.

[John is actually the one who hangs up on Sherlock this time. The sudden aggression has cost him a little bit, even as he does his best not to show it.]

Maybe it flew out the window when you decided it was hilarious to set a deranged woman on me. [He gestures toward Caroline before letting Moriarty go.] And fabricated war crimes against me. And tried to blow up your girlfriend.

[gallowshumour]

Caroline? She would have come for you anyway, sweetheart, she really did blame you for the death of her husband. I just gave her the tools to be a little more creative, and you can't deny how fun it's been so far.

[Her plan had just been to get an appointment at his GP surgery and walk in there with a gun, start shooting until she got the man she came for. How utterly boring.]

Life is all a game, Johnny boy, and I'm the master of it.

[jumpthegun]

Life isn't a game. What you are is a master of chaos and destruction, and those are only a small part of life. I've seen so much more than that, and you don't even register there. You are nothing outside this little spider's web you've built for yourself. You couldn't last in real life for very long. You're just annoying.

Let me guess, you were that kid who liked picking on three-legged dogs and tying tin cans to cats' tails. Did it make you feel strong? Like a big man? Make up for the bullies who beat you up after school? And then you figured out how to manipulate them. And wasn't that nice? A whole group of arseholes to pick on other kids for you. Because you've never really been man enough to take on someone on your own. No, there's always a trick. Always someone standing by. Always scared of going it alone, aren't you Jim? So, you pick up Caroline. And sure, you'll tell yourself it's entertaining and maybe it is. [He raises a hand, palm up.] But we both know you're really just a coward who can't get by on his own merit or schemes.

[gallowshumour]

You sound like my first therapist.

[He grins as if in wistful memory, not really that put off by John's deductions about his childhood. It's true that he never had any friends, but that was by choice, and he had never been the target of the bullies. Jim has always known how to be a chameleon, to fit in and manipulate his surroundings to his benefit.]

But look around you, Johnny boy, all of this is 'my scheme', as you put it - I like that, by the way, very Bond villain - and you're well and truly caught in this spider's web.

[jumpthegun]

[John just narrows his gaze, more than a little irritated that his sneering didn't get more of a rise. He looks at Moriarty, then over at the briefcase.]

I usually just hoover the spiders up at home, y'know?

[He walks over to the briefcase and will try to pick it up. If it's coming, he'll carry it over to the door and hold that out onto the tracks. If he can't get the briefcase, he'll carefully tip Caroline out of her chair and carry that over.]

How sensitive is the weight trigger on this bomb, Mr. Moriarty?

[This is probably extremely inadvisable, but John's blood is boiling metaphorically and a bit literally. He's had it up to the neck with this game. And he's going to press at the boundaries of it to see what happens while he's waiting for Sherlock.]