Fair Game (Johnlock/Morlock/Sherlock x Irene) (iamsherlocked, John Hamish Watson, The Woman, and James Moriarty)

Sherlock returned to his room to put on the suit he'd laid out for tonight. He quickly undressed, trying to figure out how he would navigate this..situation, between John and Irene. Although being naive when it came to romantic intents, he could tell that Irene had something up her sleeve, and John's apparent jealousy definitely pointed towards Sherlock's relationship with Irene, so did that mean John was interested in him or Irene? Sherlock glanced at himself in the mirror, fully dressed now and decided to return to the living room. He sat down in his chair, waiting for the other two to join him.

John removed his jumper and threw it down on the bed, then opened up the wardrobe and stared inside looking for something appropriate. He took out a shirt and held it up against himself. Red and white checks, he hadn't worn it for a while but it was nice enough. He didn't particularly have anything that could be considered appropriate ball wear so this would have to do. He found a tie in a drawer and put it on, suit jacket over the top, then re-emerged into the living room.

Sherlock was already dressed looking quite immaculate and sat in his armchair looking thoughtful. John walked over and sat in the opposite chair, giving Sherlock a small smile.

"You OK? All ready to go?"

He looks up at his flat mate, "Yeah I'm ready to get this over with."

Just having John to come with him made the idea of all the people, especially the drunk ones, more bearable. He took a sip of some tea from earlier that was frigid at this point but he pretended not to care. He didn't know what he'd do without John, he was the only one that could make him feel better with so little words.

"Boys, are you ready?" Irene opened the bathroom door and peeked over the edge. Her boys were in suit, Sherlock nicer than John, ready to take off. Sherlock looked stunning. Absolutely gorgeous. He should be seen more in his tuxedo.
John looked nice too, the extreme formal way did not suit him as well as this. She was proud of what they'd manage to do.

She stepped into the living room, with perfect dress, make-up and hair. She was very content with her looks. She stopped before them and said: "Get your guns out, we'll need them." while adjusting her revolver with a thigh band up to her leg, revealing her it through the silk folds of her dress.

Guns, boys and dancing. She was very much looking forward to this.

Regardless of John's apparent jealously earlier, Sherlock couldn't help looking Irene over from head to foot. She truly did look stunning, like a living doll. How she managed to look so immaculate all the time was a mystery to even him. He left the gun getting up to John, since he didn't have one nor did he want one. He was sure he could manage without one and if the need arose that either John or Irene would step in to help him out. He stood, adjusting his suit, he looked at Irene and addressed her quickly.

"Right, I don't want to be at the ball any longer than necessary, just to get the information I'm seeking and anything we may have to do for your case. By the way Ms. Adler, at what point were you going to let us in on this plan of yours?"

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask." When she was finished with her gun, she straightened her dress and stood tall again. She placed her hands on her waist while talking.

"Right now. The prompt for my visit is this..." She retrieved a piece of paper from her bra. She handed it to Sherlock. She knew the words blindly. The paper said:



Dear Miss Adler.

If you don't obey, I will have to take measures. Please look in the folder Photo's on your SDcard of your phone.
Poof! They magically disappeared!
I am unbelievably bored, so I propose a game. In the next 3 days, you will have the opportunity to retrieve your precious. If you don't, they will be mine forever. Imagine what I could possibly do with it.
Good luck, we will see each other very soon.
Fancy a dance, perhaps?
James Moriarty


"This was an urgent message, brought by a fearful looking bloke. Gosh, I pity him." She sighed. The weight of the Game felt heavy again. Hopefully Sherlock could still help her.

"So you want us to be your protection?"

Sherlock leaned forward on his knees and put his fingers together, obviously frustrated at being recruited to protect her.

"The information you have about Moriarty must be really good." He practically growled, "Because right now it doesn't look like there's much in it for me and John."

John dashed back to his room to retrieve his trusty army revolver from his bedside table. He checked the bullets then stuffed it into the waistband of his pants before returning to the living room.

"Fully armed," he commented, then his eyes widened as Irene removed the note from her bra and handed it to Sherlock. Just typical of her to put it there.

John wandered over to Sherlock and placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning over him to read Irene's note. He could tell Sherlock wasn't particularly impressed by it but the style of writing and the use of riddles was typical of Moriarty. He looked up from the note and towards Irene.

"So what exactly is on this SD card? What potentially dangerous things could he do with it? Is it just your life in danger or others too?"

"No, not directly. I know more martial arts than you think." She did, in fact master a couple of martial arts. Good enough to keep her alive in a fight, though she preferred to be in a power-play situation.

"Anyways, I am not the type for riddles. I like my information clearly presented." She adjusted the paper in her bra again and leaned forward. "And aren't you bored, Mr Holmes? You don't know what interesting unforeseen events tonight may happen..." Leaving the meaning(s) to be interpreted by Sherlock.

"John, do you remember the last time we met? I had a considerable number of photographs of one of her Majesties, which caused not only for me, but for her and with her the British royal family a thread. I didn't care, because I was the only one who was in possession of these photographs. I have a lot more of celebrities, scandals and other secret information. Moriarty would not to run from this chance, would he?"

"Before we leave, Mrs. Adler, do please tell us a little more about the information you have on Moriarty. I need to know it's something worth taking this case for." Sherlock was used to getting toyed with by this woman and wanted to make sure this wasn't another one of those situations. John's hand was still on his shoulder, which should have been annoying to him but somehow was strangely comforting.

((Are will still involving the ferret and the scroll? O.o))

((I think Moriarty will not be present at the ball, but he will hide a hint somewhere or a henchman or something, which can include our ferret and our scroll. But hey: we have 3 days Luckily, an SD-card is very little ))

((Good information about him... Maybe the 01010110 code or something? What is Moriarty's weakest link?))

(( The whereabouts of Sebastian Moran would be useful to Sherlock....and we all know Moriarty has a weakness for his favourite sniper....XD ))

"Mr Holmes, have you ever heard of Colonel Sebastian Moran?" Irene asked, lifting her eyebrows.

((Thanks! =) ))

"I'm familiar with him yes. Are you implying that your information has to do with him?"

Some information on Sebastian Moran would be crucial in giving them a leg up on Moriarty. It was also possible that this ball would yield some highly important information.

"I know what he likes." introducing another subject wasn't really what she aimed at right now, so she continued: "Anyway, I do. Do we have a deal?"

Sherlock hesitated, weighing the pros and cons, but he couldn't pass up information on Sebastian Moran.

"Deal."

John nodded in agreement and went to grab his coat. He'd never heard of this Sebastian Moran but Sherlock clearly recognised the name and if he was someone to do with Moriarty then the information would be worth having. Either way it appeared Sherlock had made up his mind. He patted the gun in his waistband reassuringly, then turned to address the other two.

"Well...ready when you are."

She touched the gun on her upper thigh to be sure it was in place and grabbed her coat, ready to go. "More than ready, you?" she asked Sherlock.

"I'm ready."

He stood, gliding to the door and opening it for both Irene and John. Once they were out of the doorway he threw on his coat and scarf. Being sure to flip the collar of his jacket up before descending the stairs and entering the night.

Sherlock had never heard of the 'Ladies first' principle, so Irene followed him close down the stairs. Watching him flipping his collar up made her smile. It reminded her of the time that she was in possession of the famous coat. Sweet memories.

Once they got outside Sherlock hailed a cab for all three of them and they were off to the Westminster Ball. Upon arriving it was much bigger than Sherlock had hoped it would be. He groaned inwardly at the idea of so many people, and therefore ambient noise that would have to be dealt with while he was looking for clues and listening for information. He let Irene go on ahead but held John back, wanting to have a semi-private word with him.

"When we enter we'll split up, you take the South side of the ballroom and I'll take the North. I want to get out of this bloody thing as soon as possible."

Life was made a lot easier by the addition of Watson. Not only did he have someone to share his most intimate cases with but he also had someone he knew would always do his best and not lead Sherlock astray.

When they arrived at the ball John was about to go straight in after Irene when he felt a tug on his sleeve pulling him backwards. It was Sherlock.

He listened carefully to the instructions and nodded to show he'd understood. "Sure. No problem," he replied, and was about to walk through the doors when a sudden thought stopped him. "Wait...erm...what is it that I should be looking for exactly?"

Sherlock rolled his eyes, okay, John was not always as...quick to catch on as he hoped, he'd have to lay it all out for him.

"Anything suspicious, I'm sure you've learned enough from me by now to know when someone is not who they seem or if they have something important to hide. Deduce something John! Obviously we're looking for Moriarty's men and anything else that may seem out of order. Yes, this means keeping an eye on Irene also, just because she brought us this case doesn't mean she'll be completely honest with us."

John nodded enthusiastically. "Right yeah of course, no problem Sherlock. I'll come and find you if I see anything suspicious, or call you. Answer your phone!"

He grinned and walked on ahead of Sherlock taking one final look back and giving him a short wave before disappearing through the crowd of the busy ballroom.

Irene looked back at the two before going in. She waited until Sherlock came closer. She had something to say.

"You know what he's like, Moriarty. He likes to play games, so keep the possibility in mind that he might make us wait for the hint until late in the night."

She tugged him at his sleeve, dragging him softly to the ballroom while saying: "Until then, enjoy the evening."