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A gun shot snapped Holly out of her peaceful slumber, a few more rung out as she peered around the darkness of her room. One more followed and she determined it was coming from upstairs. She looked at her alarm clock and groaned at the blue lights that formed the time of 04:30. Curling back up Holly wondered why John hadn’t taken to slipping sleeping pills in Sherlock’s tea yet.It had been good timing that Holly had been looking for a place to live in London while studying at University a month ago, just as her great aunt finished renovating the third flat at 221 Baker Street. Martha Hudson didn’t take no for an answer from her favourite grandniece, not that Holly had tried too hard after seeing the room. It had been done up in a lovely mix of cream and purple. No sign of the damp that had been there when Holly had seen it previously. She had been warned about Sherlock and his eccentricities, both by Martha and by John, the other occupant of 221b. Perhaps she’d been a bit arrogant in saying she wouldn’t be bothered by Sherlock, even after being ‘deduced’ as he put it. For the first week he had seemed to take that as a personal challenge. Until she’d replaced his skull on the mantelpiece with a stuffed rat, and then a hamster, then a guinea pig, always replacing the skull as soon as she could after he’d got it back. She’d been limited by what she could fit on the small shelf but she kept it up until Sherlock had apologised at John’s insistence. After that they’d left each other alone, Holly had started her course while Sherlock and John continued to solve crimes. Every week Holly would make time to have lunch with Martha and occasionally John while Sherlock experimented on the content of the 221b fridge.Hearing no more gun fire Holly sighed contently and drifted back off to sleep, glad her first lecture in the morning wasn’t until noon.----It felt like she had slept for two seconds before she heard the angry screeching of an abused violin. Holly pulled her pillow over her ears to no help. She was tempted to text Sherlock with a ‘case’, it would take almost no effort to make the text look like it came from that DI. It wouldn’t be fair on John though, poor guy would probably get dragged out of bed. She did get a devious idea that would be so worth the lack of sleep. She dragged the duvet with her over to her laptop and started writing a simple code with the sounds of the tortured violin still piercing through her skull.With such a simple program it took little time to create, compile and send to Sherlock’s phone with a text to saying ‘Cease strangling that cat’.Smirking herself she closed her laptop and clambered back into bed, satisfied when the sound stopped. The smirk didn’t leave her face when it started, only to stop again. She really wasn’t above using underhand tactics when it came to her sleep. The code simple told the phone to start vibrating every thirty seconds, but stop if any button was pressed, every tenth time it would wait a minute, just to keep him on his toes. Sherlock would want to check his phone just in case it was a case. It would probably take him about half an hour to figure out the pattern and a bit longer than that to puzzle over it, by then hopefully Holly would be fast asleep.Of course Sherlock could always turn off his phone but Holly knew he wouldn’t, which was a shame really as restarting it would cause the code to delete itself, make it seem like a glitch. Holly couldn’t keep the grin from her face as she drifted off to sleep again.----Leaving for her lecture showed Holly that Sherlock had eventually gotten annoyed with the phone. It was currently nailed to her door. Naturally the sim card had been removed, John would probably find his phone missing, no doubt Sherlock would commandeer it until he got a new one. Still, she pried it off and chucked it down into her room, she would disassemble it for components later. Waste not, want not.Following the smell of tea, Holly found her great aunt reading the paper. There was an untouched mug of steaming tea in Holly’s mug.“Morning. Sleep well?” Holly asked, sitting by her mug. Her great aunt looked at her, noting the slightly sleep deprived look that Holly had had for all but a week since moving in.“Yes thank you. You might want to pick up ear plugs dear. It’s not good to miss out on too much sleep.”“Let me drug Sherlock and it’ll be fine,” Holly said with a mocking grin.“He’s already had his run in with drugs, we’re trying to keep him away from them,” Martha whispered looking mildly disappointed.“I guess just knocking him out with a bat every night is also bad.”“You’re beginning to sound like your brother.” Holly didn’t need to ask which of her brothers was being referred to.“Nick gave me most of my good ideas. Anyway I was going to head off soon, I was going to meet up with Jodie for a climb before Intro to Psych.”“At least finish your tea. Have you eaten yet? I do hope you haven’t just had one of those sugary things you keep in your room.” “I’ll grab something to eat at the café by the wall. I don’t always eat sugar.” That was a blatant lie. Holly preferred the fast energy, she could deal with the crash. She drained the remains of her tea. “I’ll be back for dinner,” she called out as she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “Tell Sherlock to be good.” And with that she was out the door. There were two climbing walls Holly frequented, one on Baker Street where she normally went if she wasn’t at Uni that day, and one near Mile End Road by campus where she went otherwise. Snagging a seat on the tube Holly zoned out like any good London commuter, idly considering what part of that destroyed phone would actually be salvageable and if they were needed in any of her half-finished projects.As promised Holly stepped into the café between the station and the climbing wall, it was surprisingly empty, probably not long before the lunch time rush. She picked out an overpriced sandwich and ordered an overpriced tea to go. The joys of living in London, she though sarcastically as she waited for the tea to steep. She looked around the small café, there were only four customers. A couple in the corner, probably taking an early lunch together and from their body language they seemed to be trying to convince themselves that they could make it work. A student hastily typing away at his laptop, a Mac Holly noted with mild disgust. He probably went to Queen Mary’s like her, most deadlines were at 2pm on any given day to stop students from using a midnight deadline as an excuse to get out of early classes. Most of the time it just led to all-nighters.The last customer was interesting and if she was honest, really good looking. Holly’s initial guess mutated the more she looked at him. The first look marked him as a student like the other one, complete with laptop, but not the hurried typing. He was dressed in a casual suit, some students did that, trying to convince themselves that they were better than the other students who looked like they’d just rolled out of bed. Her more detailed look showed it was expensive and tailored. Not even the most pretentious students did that at Queen Mary’s.Being careful to not stare at him too much she returned to looking at some of the other customers, returning to him every so often. People watching could look creepy from an outside perspective. Taking out the teabag she added milk to her tea, still watching the not-student out of the corner of her eye. She realise he was sitting where she would normally, it was the perfect place to observe everyone, and the shop not quite opposite reflected people coming down the street. Watching for it she supressed a smirk when his brown eyes flicked up to check around the room and the street outside. The eyes quickly flicked back to her, noticing her gaze. She winked at him as she snapped the to-go lid onto her cup, picked up her food and cup, and walked out.Jodie was waiting for her outside the sport complex with a cup of her own. Holly wasn’t entirely sure how they’d become friends, only that it had happened, though when it came to social things her memory did have a habit of giving up. Well, until she started drinking but that was another story.“You look happy.”“I’m hardly going to look miserable all the time. It gets boring.”“There’s more isn’t there, you were mean to Sherlock. That’s the only reason you’re ever this happy.” Not always, Holly just found it was better to look like she would rather be anywhere else, stopped people talking to her unnecessarily.“He was strangling a cat at three in the morning,” Holly protested. Jodie had been to her flat once and seen Sherlock and a small crush had grown from there, Holly had wondered if she actually ever spoke to him how long that crush would last, would she be like Molly who was completely smitten. She hoped not.“The violin again?” Holly nodded darkly, if she knew how to sabotage it without permanent damage then she would have done so to avoid the prank. Then again she would soon find something else that he did bad enough to do mean things in return.They talked for a bit longer while drinking, the sport complex didn’t allow external food in, and quite frankly their café was horrible so both girls avoided it. They’d timed this well though, by the time they were done and changed into climbing appropriate gear they had about an hours’ worth of climbing time before they would have to become decent enough for class. Not that anyone cared what they looked like, but it was a matter of personal respect.The climbing walls were fairly empty this time of day, mostly late teenagers and students who had the free time. They warmed up a bit and chalked up before taking on the free climbing walls. At only five meters tall they didn’t require the climbers to have ropes or a belayer below, thick crash mats took up the floor space just in case someone did fall.There was something freeing about climbing. From climbing trees to climbing walls Holly loved the feeling of escaping, from time to time she tried her hand at parkour but it didn’t feel the same. Up here she could pretend she was Spiderman or something, high up away from the pedestrian lifestyle of the rest of the world.“Five minutes left Holly,” Jodie called from the floor. Holly gave a wry smile, that was always the problem, time flies when you’re running away from real life.----In stark contrast, Intro to Psych could not have felt longer. In the 2 hour lecture Holly had managed to teach Jodie basic binary, including enough ASCII to pass notes. Half way through another binary note had joined the fray from the guy sitting behind them. It sucked that first year just went over A-Level material but attendance was important. After the lecture, the new trio headed to the café on site, they had another lecture in an hour so there wasn’t much point going anywhere. Jodie and Holly took it as an opertunity to grill their possible friend.“I’m Matt, I’ve been in your class since the beginning of semester and I code in my spare time. I just saw you guys passing notes in binary and wanted to join in. What more would you want to know?”“It’s not every day I find someone who actually codes and picked psychology.” Holly muttered into her tea, in all fairness, Jodie had dragged her along to this. It was nice to find someone like her but that was in real life, the internet was a much easier place to deal with people. “What languages?”“I dabble in most of them, I tend towards the most common ones, C is my preference at the moment.” Matt said, Holly hummed in appreciation. “What about you two?”“Oh, no I don’t code, Holly was just teaching me binary to pass the time, Jenny has the most boring delivery of material and she only reads off the slides we can all access on line.” Matt looked to Holly questioningly.“I have yet to come across a language I haven’t been able to use. I still use the usual suspects most of the time but sometimes the more uncommon ones do the job better.” There was a tense silence as Matt eyed up Holly.“Spend much time on forums or chats?” Ah, he was curious if she was a hacker. She could see it in his nervous posture. Technically she was, grey hatting most of the time but it wasn’t something she advertised. Grey hats were neutral and so was she.“Not really, my gender is rarely appreciated.” Not quite lies, Holly didn’t disclose her gender online just to make things easier. The rest of the hour went smoothly, Jodie had interjected when it got too into coding and moved it onto a more inclusive topic. Unfortunately that included plan for the weekend.“Jodie, we’re computer geeks, clubs aren’t our scene.”“Come on, a hangover means you can ignore Sherlock for the weekend and not get told to be nice. Matt, you just need to come out with us at least once, it’s one of those things friends do.”“In the three weeks you’ve known me, name one time we’ve been out, gotten drunk and I’ve had a hangover.”“Have I mentioned I hate you? Come on, it will be fun.” Jodie got up to get a new drink before they could say no.“I guess it can’t hurt.” Matt said optimistically. Holly looked at him and laughed.“Last time we went out I got into two different bar fights because of Jodie.” She pushed up her sleeve a bit to show a small line of stitches on her upper arm. “I’ve got more stitches on my back. Now tell me it can’t hurt.” Holly asked with a smirk, it was amusing to freak Matt out a bit, if he stuck around he would get used to it.
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Jodie’s first suggestion as to which club to go to was met with a resounding no from Holly. Matt was content to just watch the two ladies argue in mild amusement and occasional worry.“We are not going to a chavvy club, not after last time.” Matt wondered exactly how many nights out they had stories for. Holly seemed to end every night out with violence and Jodie occasionally got a one night stand.“Come on, you enjoyed it.” He’s also figured out this was Jodie’s catch phrase.“I enjoyed punching that guy in the face, and moshing in that non-existent mosh pit. But we both know I didn’t enjoy the club itself, or getting kicked out before I was even drunk. In fact the best part was being told never to come back.”“Fine, how about a pub? You could even bring Sherlock.” Jodie suggested looking more defeated than she was.“Sherlock doesn’t like pubs, or much by way of social interaction, and after this morning I think I’ve been added to that list again.” Jodie just looked at her and sighed.“Who’s Sherlock?” Matt asked, he’d heard the strange name a few times now.“Guy who lives in the flat above me, Jodie has a crush on him, but only because she’s seen him and not been forced to endure his presence. We don't exactly get on.” For some reason Matt had no trouble believing that. The conversation didn’t get much further as they realized if they didn’t move soon they would be late for their next lecture.----By the time the trio were finished for the day they all were ready for a drink, it was only luck that gave them all of the boring lectures on a half day, finishing at a time that was socially acceptable to start drinking. Not that it stopped Holly or Jodie on occasions, being a student had its benefits, people often expected them to be drunk all the time. Matt it seemed was fairly lightweight but Jodie was happy to support him as they moved onto the next pub in their usual crawl, their crawl that was unfortunately interrupted by some police tape.“Looks like they’ve been decorating for Halloween.” Holly sniggered, the other two joining in.“Ooh, look it’s a wild Sherlock.” Jodie stage whispered to Holly, giggling at her own reference. “I vote we find a different pub.” Holly muttered turning a bit unstably and starting to drag her friends away.“But Sherlock’s here, I want to hug him.” Jodie whined tugging at Matt’s arm, probably mistaking it for Holly’s somehow. Holly contemplated this for a bit, her mildly alcohol inhibited brain pointing out that it would be hilarious.“Make it quick, I’m too sober.” Holly’s tipsy brain was right, it was hilarious. Watching Jodie in her own slightly inebriated stated chasing Sherlock around the edge of the crime scene while Holly took over the job of supporting Matt made the day worth it. From the looks of the team working the scene it made their day too. Even John was trying not to laugh. The only thing that might have made it better would have been the Benny Hill theme song.Eventually Sherlock grabbed Holly and used her as a shield, it felt a bit childish, and really not helpful, only leading to Jodie staggering around the human shield.“Call her off.” Sherlock insisted, probably being a bit more forceful when pulling Holly, and subsequently Matt, into the path of her friend.“She’s not a dog Sherlock, be nice.” Holly chastised, slurring slightly, she’d probably drunk more than she realised if things were this slow already.“Why are you drunk? It’s half six.” It was always amusing to see Sherlock confused when people defied social norms, the ones he learnt so diligently so to try to understand people.“Not all of us have the super interesting life of a consulting detective. The alcohol is clearly only to cover up the pain of not being you.” There was no way Sherlock could miss the insincerity of her words.“Just go away and take your friend,” Sherlock seethed, stalking over to the police tape, ducking under it knowing that the students couldn’t pass without getting into trouble.----Naturally the trio ended up at another pub, at least they had eaten there to offset the alcohol in their systems, though Holly had declared that until Matt could remember his own name he wasn’t allowed more alcohol. That didn’t stop Jodie from trying to sneak him some when Holly was distracted by her phone. Upon noticing, Holly had grabbed the drink and drained it, then stuck her tongue out as she got up to get new drinks, hers had been empty and she didn’t trust Jodie to not make him drink the whole thing while she was gone.The bar was fairly crowded for a weekday but in her buzzed state she didn’t mind so much. It didn’t take long to get the attention of a bartender, she’d had a lot of practice at doing it and applying psychology was not cheating. While she waited for her drink she glanced up at the mirror behind the bar and noticed a semi familiar face also waiting at the bar next to her. Just as her drinks were deposited on the bar in front of her she noticed him glance at her in the mirror and turn just as she turned to leave with her drinks. She smirked and winked at him again before weaving through the crowd to her table.“Did the guy forget to put vodka in my coke?” Jodie asked, sipping at her drink seconds after Holly had placed it in front of her.“Nope, I just don’t want you killing Matt less than 24 hours after befriending him.” Her drink was the only alcoholic one at the table.“I’ll just go get my own then,” Jodie declared, trying to stand without tipping too far off balance.“Be my guest,” Holly grinned. After a few attempts Jodie gave up and just scowled into her drink.“Is that guy watching us?” Both girls started a bit, Matt had been quiet since the last pub after declaring he wasn’t feeling well. Jodie looked around the room, quickly finding the blond guy watching them, Holly was more subtle, holding up her glass as if inspecting it and found the guy in the distorted reflection. Of course it was the interesting guy from earlier.“Ooh, he’s hot.” Of course Jodie would say that, Holly wondered if Jodie would be willing to go flirt with him so she could get his name and then do some cyber stalking. Not that she wouldn’t mind doing bit of flirting with him herself, he was very handsome. But something about him was strange and she wanted to know what and it would bug her while she flirted. Oh that was interesting. The guy shifted to observe the rest of the room, probably to see their reaction and make it seem like he wasn’t focused on them. Holly could see from the way his jacket fell that there was something underneath. It was well hidden, almost unnoticeable but for the way he’d moved. Holly took out her phone and used its clearer reflection for a better look. The guy moved again cluing Holly into what it was. The awkward movements were often a giveaway for a concealed firearm, there was a certain amount of unconscious movement that gave it away, human nature made it that way around dangerous things.Now why would some guy have a gun at a pub? That just made Holly more intrigued and more desperate to know. Ignoring Jodie’s lustful sighs in the guy’s direction Holly navigated to the camera app on her phone. Playing up her drunkness, she took a panoramic shot of the pub, making sure to catch the mysterious guy in it. After some quick editing and some clean-up, it was being run through some facial recognition software, cross referencing with intelligence agencies and known criminals. Not that she was supposed to have access but if no one knew, no one could tell her off. Besides after being followed for a week after moving to London, then meeting Sherlock’s delightful older brother, Holly was slightly more aware of the secrets agencies of London and their uses. She figured they weren’t too much more aware of her or she probably would have been arrested by now.“He’s coming over,” Jodie hissed, smiling into her glass and looking up flirtatiously. Leaving the search running Holly switched to her Twitter typing out a quick generic tweet about drinking at the pub and posting it followed by part of the panoramic photo.“May I join you lovely ladies, and gent?” Jodie quickly shuffles around the booth to create space, the smile never leaving her face. Matt looked a bit put off at being moved so harshly. With the guy safely seated opposite her, introduced as Alex, Holly checked on her search, adding Alex as a potential name/alias. Jodie was nice enough to introduce everyone else at the table keeping Alex’s attention.With the added parameter a result pinged within a minute, sounding like a text alert. Holly flicked through the summary file she had been sent, picking out the relevant info, ever grateful that MI6 was apparently still stuck in the earlier ages of cyber security. Alex Rider, age 20, code named 009, license to kill. How lovely. That at least explained the gun. She closed the file and wiped the search before slipping her phone away.“Who was it from?” Jodie asked curiously.“My brother.”“That explains the slightly confused and uninterested look.” Holly’s phone pinged again, an actual text this time.“Fancy going over to Shoreditch Friday night, my cousin’s boyfriend is DJing at a club and can get us on the VIP list.” Holly offered, it was better than Jodie’s earlier suggestions and from the look on her face Jodie agreed. Holly looked at the two guys, Alex looked surprised at being included, Matt just agreed looking pale. “I think Matt needs to go home and sleep this off.”“I’ll take him.” Jodie offered to Holly’s surprise, “He’s in halls like me so it’s not too much out of my way.” Squeezing herself and Matt out of the booth they left Holly and Alex mildly confused.“In the months I have known that woman I have never seen her do that.” Holly muttered, pinching herself slightly just to confirm it was real. Seconds later her phone got a message which explained everything. ‘I know when a guy is more interested in someone else. He seemed to be focused on you more than me. Get in there :)’“It’s interesting that I managed to bump into you twice in one day,” Alex started, dragging her attention away from the message. He had a charming smile on his face and even with a blatantly open pose he still had his mysteries that Holly looked forward to dragging out of him. “I could say the same about you.” Holly fiddled with her drink, unsure of what approach to take, while she was intrigued by Alex she was also attracted to him. How could she not be, he was gorgeous and dangerous.----It was past midnight when the pair stumbled out of the pub. It had been an interesting night both of them dancing around certain topics while probing others. Secret agents were fun to play with and Holly hoped to do it again. The cool air turned every breath to a puff of mist. “How are you getting home?” Alex asked, rubbing his arms in an attempt to keep warm, he looked at Holly expecting her to be doing similar only to notice she seemed completely fine with the cold.“Walking.”“I’ll walk with you?” Holly shrugged and headed towards Baker Street, the agent half jogged to catch up with her and started to chatter, Holly occasionally joining in.By the time they reached 221 Baker Street, Holly felt mostly sober again. She’d kept her drinking down upon noticing Alex trying to match her, she doubted he’d be able to keep up normally. At the door there was the awkward good bye, while Holly actually had enjoyed his company it didn’t in her eyes count as a date, so she rattled of the location of the Shoreditch club and a time and made her way inside. Seconds later she popped her head back out for a final quip.“You might want to leave the gun at home.” Then the door shut before he could even remark on her comment.Holly leant against the closed door, savouring the image of Alex’s confused face. She was glad Jodie had left early and not tried to make a move on Alex, she like him.“New boyfriend?” Ah, no night out was complete without Sherlock making some sort of comment.“Not yet. Why, are you interested? I thought you had John.” She was really beginning to enjoy that glare.“He’s dangerous.” Sherlock commented, Holly assumed he was referring to Alex, not John. Not that John wasn’t dangerous in his own right.“You make it sound like I didn’t find out everything I could about him.” Sherlock smirked at that, Holly was always careful to never mention how she got any sort of information, never mentioning hacking, or often even the use of technology.“Ah yes, Mycroft asked me to request that you stop hacking into SIS files but thanks you for pointing out security flaws.”“He should count himself lucky, normally people would charge for that sort of thing.” Holly wasn’t going to admit it was her doing in front of Sherlock no matter what he said.“People normally get arrested for that-”“But he can’t prove it was me. What a shame. Good night Sherlock.” Another closed door, another savoured image.
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“You brought Sherlock with you!” Jodie cried out, delighted at the sight of the tall man standing next to Holly. She dashed over as fast as her high heels would allow her.“No. He followed me. I’m awfully tempted to tie him to a lamppost so he doesn’t bother anyone.” Holly could see that Jodie had done some pre-drinking, and wished she’d done the same, and left before Sherlock decided he needed to experience a club for a case. Lucky John had a peaceful night in, he’d seemed a bit insulted the Sherlock had deemed him not suitable for the scene but Holly could easily see his relief. It would be petty of her to try to see how many times she could get him kicked out. She would let him do the work for that.It wasn’t much later the two guys turned up and they got into the club, Sherlock showed some distaste at having his hand stamped, Holly figured at least she would be guaranteed entertainment for the night. The VIP section sat a little higher than the dance floor, overlooking the room and much to Holly’s relief it had its own bar, which meant she didn’t have to navigate the mass of sweaty bodies just for a drink. It was also better lit which led Holly to really appreciating Alex’s wardrobe choices, SIS must pay well. She glanced at Matt who had Jodie draping herself over him. Considering that girl had done the same thing to her before Holly wasn’t sure if it was her way of flirting or just a thing.“So, did you bring your gun?” Holly asked Alex casually as they lounged in the VIP area with their drinks. From her earlier look she’d guessed he hadn’t due to the amount of skin tight clothing he had on. If he had managed to hide one on his person then she would be seriously impressed.“Will you believe me if I say I didn’t?” he answered mischievously.“I don’t know, I may have to check.” Alex opened his arms in invitation, Holly grinned and clambered over to straddle his lap, she pressed her hands to his chest, his settling on her hips, sliding them under his over shirt to check the usual shoulder holster positions. Her grin widened when she felt a different holster, a small very flat blade hung across his back, the handle was directed to his left side for easy grabbing by his right hand.“Not a gun,” he smirked, Holly responded by sliding her hands down to check the back of his jeans bringing her body in closer to him. Their eyes locked as her hands slowly moved around.Just as her hands brushed over his stomach her arm was yanked away, taking her by complete surprise and pulling her off Alex, dragging her mostly onto the floor. Sherlock towered over her looking vaguely disinterested after he released her.“I need you to flirt with that guy,” he demanded pointing to a person outside the VIP area.“Go die in a hole,” Holly snarled getting to her feet and taking a drink. If she left her hands empty it would be too tempting to punch him. On the other hand she now had a potential weapon…“I need him distracted so I can pick his pocket.”“It’s a bloody club Sherlock, everyone is distracted, that is half the point.” She slammed down her empty glass and disappeared into the dancing masses, she needed to bleed out her anger and dancing worked quite well. At some point she realised she’d left Alex in the enchanting company of Sherlock but banished the thought as she felt her anger rising again. She very deliberately avoided the guy Sherlock had pointed out as she lost herself to the pulse of the music.It wasn’t long later Jodie joined her, Holly mouthed an inquiry as to Matt’s location. There was no point speaking this deep in the dance floor. Jodie pointed him out, surrounded by a gaggle of girls, Holly flicked a look back at her friends face to gauge her mood, she seemed amused more than jealous. Almost a shame, Holly would have loved to start a bitch fight.Jodie mouthed her own question, where Alex and Sherlock were. Holly looked back over to the VIP area expecting to see them there, maybe even a bit scuffed up. Instead Sherlock was sat watching the dance floor with his calculating eyes. Holly scanned the dance floor herself, looking for the messy blond hair that belonged to the sexy secret agent to no avail. Signalling to Jodie she was heading over to the VIP area, Holly weaved through the crowd.Just as she reached it someone stumbled into her, spilling their drink partially onto her. The cold wet liquid seeped through her top, luckily the wrong side to get her stiches wet, she couldn’t help but let the disgust show on her face as it trickled down her side to her jeans. She grabbed the guy and wiped her damp arm on his t-shirt before shoving him away and ascending to the VIP area.“Where’s Alex?” Holly growled at Sherlock, getting between him and his view of the people. She planned on leaving before she lost her temper and a fight broke out.“He left.”“Left the club, or just your presence?” Holly would make his life a misery for the indefinite future if he had caused Alex to leave.“Possibly both, I wasn’t paying attention to your lover boy. People here are so much more fascinating.” He looked up at her. “Would you care to move out of the way?”Holly was trying to desperately come up with some reason why she shouldn’t kick his arse. Luckily for him a reason turned up with two drinks, one offered to her by her favourite spy. Holly smiled as she took it and leant against the metal railings, making sure she kept in Sherlock’s way.“Sherlock insisted you weren’t coming back,” Alex told her as he leant on the bars next to her.“Funny, he said pretty much the same to me.” Holly said back, giving the detective the evil eye.“Is he always like this?”“Oh, no. Definitely not. He is normally so much worse.” Sherlock glared at her for that.All seemed to be settling down, Holly decided she could hang around for a bit longer, the night was still young and she still wasn’t drunk. Sherlock eventually moved to a different people watching spot leaving Holly and Alex to talk and drink. Occasionally Jodie or Matt came into sight, getting a drink or just some space.----Holly was just thinking that it was actually going to be a relatively event free night out when something hit the back of her head and her vision blurred, more than the alcohol had done.“That’s for spilling my drink bitch.” The guy who had bumped into Holly earlier was clearly on the bad side of drunk. Holly’s temper flared and she vaulted over the bars separating the VIP area, landing neatly on the dance floor, a space having been quickly made for her. She faced the guy feeling like a panther facing its prey, daring it to make a move.“You spilt it on me, there’s a difference,” Holly growled. She could feel broken glass in her hair, he’d clearly thrown a bottle at her. “I would advise that you apologise.” She was vaguely aware that Alex had reached her, as had Jodie, Matt and Matt’s entourage of girls.“Why don’t you suck my cock?” That was just crass, but unfortunately about the wittiest thing this guy was likely to come up with. Holly pondered which would be better, physical violence or verbal insults. For now verbal, she didn’t want to get arrested.Before she could open her mouth she heard her named hollered in Sherlock’s distinct voice. She groaned, punched the guy in the gut before stalking off to the VIP area. The area lacking a tall detective, Holly pushed the fuzzy drunk feeling in her brain to the side to analyse the situation. She’d regularly kept an eye on where Sherlock moved to, just in case he got into trouble. She darted off to the last place he’d been sitting, on the low table half a drink was left, wedged between the sofa cushions was a distinctly blue scarf. As she pulled it out a phone dropped out of it, having been bundled up in it.“Where’s Sherlock?”“Gone.” Holly picked up the drink and pulled out one of multiple strips of paper from her wallet. She dipped it in the drink then held it up mouthing a countdown, when she hit ten the colour of the paper changed. That was not good, Holly cursed, unconsciously slipping to Russian. She grabbed the scarf and raced to the fire exit with her friends following behind.They piled through the exit, the loud bang from the door being flung open echoed down the alleyway. There was no sign of anyone, the alleyway joining up two roads, leaving too many options. Her eyes met Alex’s and they both split, knowing they would cover both exits that way, Jodie and Matt would be of questionable help.Holly skidded to a stop when she reached the road, looking both ways for any sign of a Sherlock. Her blood ran cold when she saw a smear of blood on the corner of the brick building. She ran a finger over it confirming it was fresh. It gave her a direction and she gave chase, pulling out her phone to let the others know.The streets were usually quiet, explained slightly by the time. It allowed Holly to pick up the sounds of a struggle and strangled calls. She followed them to another alley, this one was dark and smelt rotten. Careful to make as little noise as possible she crept into the darkness. A bit further down she could see a group of people crowding around the back of a rubbish dump cheering something on. She continued her creeping, moving around to observe more. As she suspected Sherlock was there, lying on the floor, curled up as best he could to protect himself from the person kicking him. One of the guys Holly recognised from the club, the guy Sherlock had asked her to hit on. Of course it was. That meant this probably was not just ano opportunistic thing.It was unfortunate the odds were against her, and that she was drunk, and that she had no idea if anyone would actually get here in time to help. Martha was probably going to be very annoyed at her for what she was about to do, Holly thought as she tapped one of them on the shoulder and pulled her arm back, punching him in the face as he turned. The rest was a blur, Holly could barely see what she was doing, everything seemed to lag a bit so she was relying on her ability to predict movements which was of course questionable while drunk.At some point she noticed a familiar blur join in, taking the remaining people down with brutal efficiency. Recognising the immediate danger was going she stumbled over to Sherlock, shakily reached to check for a pulse.It was there, slowed but there, Holly let out a breath and awareness of her surroundings returned to her. Her three friends had caught up, Alex had been the one to help out with the guys. They were all crowding around with her.“Should we call an ambulance?” Jodie asked, sounding slight scared. Holly shook her head and fished out her phone again sending off a few texts.“He doesn’t react well to them. Help me get him to a cab?”----It only took ten minutes for the cab to get them to St Bart’s where Molly nervously stood outside waiting. They piled out of the car and carefully extracted an unconscious Sherlock, dragging him into the hospital and got him situated in one of the examination rooms. Molly flitted around checking Sherlock over and questioning them. They were so joined by John who gave a more thorough check up, shooing them away.With the night clearly over Jodie and Matt headed home. Alex had also disappeared, Holly hoped he hadn’t left without even saying good bye. Holly stayed lounging in a chair as her adrenaline crashed. Molly had followed her out and sat next to her awkwardly.“You know you’re bleeding right?” Holly giggled as she realised that she had completely forgotten about the bottle that had hit her. She also realised she was bleeding in more places, probably from the fight. “I can patch them up if you’d like?” Molly offered. Holly agreed and followed the woman to another examination room. “Good night? I mean apart from Sherlock getting drugged, and you bleeding.” Molly really was awkward at small talk.“Not too bad. You should come too next time. We’ll leave Sherlock behind.”“Clubbing’s not really my thing.”“It’s really not Sherlock’s either to be honest. How about a pub or something?” Holly suggested, the more the merrier and Molly looked like she could do with some down time. Molly was saved from answering when Holly’s phone beeped at her. Trying not to disturb Molly’s work she fished it out and unlocked it, it wasn’t a text or email. Not a conventional one anyway, it was just an alert that someone was searching through her records. Considering it was almost 2am Holly could probably assume it was Alex’s doing.In all honesty she’d been expecting it since she’d discovered his occupation.“Did someone smash a bottle over your head?” Molly asked, picking out shards of glass and depositing them in a kidney dish.“It was thrown but yes.” There was a knock at the door and Alex walked in with a charming smile. Both women eyed him up quickly then pretended that hadn’t, going back to what they had been doing, though for Holly that was just staring into space.“I just wanted to check on you before I left.” Holly was a bit disappointed he wasn’t going to stay but hid it. The night had turned into a disaster and she couldn’t really bring herself to blame him for leaving.“Just getting a few stitches. Uh, thanks for helping tonight.”“No problem.” There was an awkward silence. “I’ll just be going then.” With that he turned and disappeared out the door.“Remind me to never go anywhere with Sherlock ever again,” Holly groaned, slumping back.“Was that your boyfriend?”“No, probably not going to see him again either. Stupid Sherlock.”“Why did you go after him? Sherlock I mean. You knew he would ruin your night and stop you from getting sex.” Molly was blunt and vaguely perceptive as always.“I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I hadn’t.”“Sherlock does that to people, they hate him but can’t help but look out for him.” Molly explained with a tight smile. Holly felt sympathy for her and her blatantly obvious crush on a man who didn’t really deserve it. It was true enough though, Sherlock did have that effect on people and from what she had seen of the others and now herself, it appeared all of Sherlock’s friends were going to die of sexual frustration due to his terrible timing.
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It had been two long weeks since that night and Martha Hudson was still not talking to Holly, or Sherlock for that matter. She still made them tea, serving it in a passively aggressive manner. John was mildly better, inquiring about Holly’s injuries and following Sherlock on his adventures. Sherlock had simply ignored Holly and avoided her presence. On the plus side it made the house a bit more peaceful but Holly couldn’t help but feel a bit insulted that there was not even a hint of gratitude.To try to at least make it up to Martha, Holly had been good, staying in every night, studying hard and not antagonising Sherlock but it was starting to grate on her. She wasn’t used to being this nice, even if her being nice was just avoiding Sherlock as much as he avoided her. She had amused herself briefly by sneaking into MI6 servers and browsing some of the mission files. Holly had to admit that whoever had upgraded their digital security was good, she’d had to use some more obscure methods to get in. She also found Alex had been sent to Egypt the day after that night, it sort of explained the lack of contact, or at least she hoped that was the reason for it. She’d sent the cursory text the next morning again apologising, and another text at three days, not hacking SIS because she was trying to be good. That hadn’t actually lasted too long.She leant back in her chair, drawing her knees up to her chin to hug. Mycroft had texted her after that telling her to stop poking hornet nests. They both knew what he meant. A few days later and that method of access was blocked anyway. Holly had decided to leave a space of time before her next attempt, Mycroft shouldn’t have made it sound like a challenge though. She knew it wouldn’t be long before she caved.Her peace and quiet was interrupted by crashes from above. Holly sighed in irritation and grabbed her bag and a scarf, she needed to get out for a bit before she accidentally destroyed something in frustration again. She would find a nice coffee shop and do some work. Hacking in public was not recommended, some people were too nosy for their own good.From the looks of it Martha was out, so Holly escaped without question, wandering the streets of London until she felt like stopping. She ducked into the nearest café, sighing as warmth seeped into her body, and squirreled herself in a corner with a piping hot cup of tea in front of her and started tapping away at her tablet.It was possibly an hour later, when she was on her third cup of tea when a guy sat down opposite her looking a bit awkward.“Er, hi. You looked like you could do with some company.” That was a lie but as Holly looked at the guy she let it slide. If there was one way to catch her attention it was by being interesting, looking this awkward in designer clothes was interesting. He wasn’t all that bad to look at too. “I’m Jim, by the way.”“Holly.” He smiled, his gaze shifting to the table as if he didn’t want to be caught looking at her for too long. There was something, an impression she got from him that reeled her in. It reminded her of when she first saw Alex but that thought was squashed down, she was not going to think about him.“Did you want another cup of tea?” He offered glancing at her empty cup, Holly almost accepted but noticed the café was beyond crowded and the queue almost reached the door. If he went to get one he would be gone for a while. Jim followed her line of sight and chuckled, ducking his head more in mild embarrassment. “My place isn’t too far if you still want that tea?” Holly smiled, that was actually quite smooth.“Sure.”----“You’ve just had sex.” Holly had taken two steps into 221 when Sherlock had spoken from the top of the stairs. “I take it you just saw Alex.” He was wrong and he knew it. Holly burned with the desire to correct him, but she knew that was what he wanted and instead ignored him and went to her room. She didn’t want to play games with him right now, she still felt destructive. Dumping her stuff she headed for a shower, she needed to clear her head, things were getting too loud in there. The sex hadn’t even helped, though it had been good. Jim was sweet and hot, but there was something bothering her about him and that thought had joined the others in her brain, demanding attention.It was only when the water ran cold she finally emerged, feeling slightly better. She put on a dressing gown and headed straight for the bottle of vodka she kept in the small fridge in her room. She passed on using a glass, taking a swig straight from the bottle, there was a time and place for a glass and for now she just wanted her brain to stop overthinking. She glanced over to her work station, it had been left untouched for a while, her motivation to create dulled by the strained atmosphere in the building.Placing the bottle by her laptop she logged on, automatically checking her email. With nothing interesting there she headed to her favourite internet forum. Reading some of their bickering’s would amuse her for a while.It was only on the third page of a brony fight she noticed something interesting. The forum attracted hackers and they often left clues to private chat rooms. Holly occasionally dabbled in following them, sometimes it was fun. What made this clue interesting, confirmed when she checked the source code, was that her one of her hacker personas was mentioned by name. On principle Holly avoided anything like that, nine times out of ten it would be an attempt to identify her, followed by an attempted hack on her devices which she really didn’t want. With her current attitude she would probably leave them burning. Instead she worked of finding the source of the summons, setting a tracking program to the job while she went back to the forum. Seven times out of ten it would be some newbie hacker trying to make a name for themselves by unmasking some of the more well-known hackers. Not that there were that many well-known hackers. Holly knew for certain she was two of them, another was incarcerated and one had just gone off the grid in recent months. Other than that there were about a handful who were active and qualified for the Hackers Republic as they sometimes called themselves.It only took a few hours to track it down but what she found was more than a little disturbing. The entire computer the message had come from was factory standard except a word document with an invitation addressed to her from someone calling themselves ‘The Rat’. As she read the message she sighed, it was a request to create a complex virus, details to be given if she accepted and proved she would be able too. The payment would have been quite tempting if it wasn’t for the qualifying act to include hacking three different countries intelligence agencies and change all the door codes. It seemed like a harmless task but Holly knew better. The request being from someone called ‘The Rat’ only set of more warning bells.Opening one of her more sophisticated programs Holly set a search to see who else had been sent the summons and subsequent interest. It would be interesting to see who tried it. She was also tempted to create and sneak in little programs to see if anyone actually succeeded.As an after though, half hating herself for it, Holly picked up her phone and shot off a text to Mycroft saying that someone had shown intentions to maliciously hack intelligence agencies. And that it wasn’t her in case he was wondering. ----It was almost November by the time things got interesting again. Though some would say her definition of interesting should not include an explosion on her street followed by threats of more explosions if Sherlock didn’t dance to this new player’s tune. It seemed like everyone was busy with something, Sherlock with his new criminal friend, John had been delegated the task of tracking down some stolen information and Holly was even surprised to find Mycroft even had something for her to do, though his request had included thinly veiled blackmail about her hacking which they both knew he still couldn’t prove.But that was what found her in the office of one of her lecturers breaking into his laptop. She’d gone all out for this job, prepared for pretty much any eventuality she could think of. Even breaking out her new self-designed and created custom boots.It hadn’t taken too long to find the relevant files, copying them onto two separate USB sticks, one to be hidden in case she was caught. Just as she was about to remove the second stick, the first already hidden away, the door behind her opened and a familiar face walked in. Holly would have been a bit happier to see Alex had he not been pointing a gun in her face. He did look sexy though.“I’ll give you thirty seconds to explain yourself before I shoot you,” he informed her, never letting his aim waiver. Holly looked at him, then the gun and pulled out her phone. She noticed Alex’s grip tensed.“You said thirty seconds. Never said I needed to use all of it for explaining,” Holly said as she dialled. There was silence as it rang twice before being picked up.“This better be important.”“Well Mikey, it is. You see I have an MI6 agent pointing a gun at my head and about fifteen seconds before he shoots me. Care to weigh in?” Holly smirked a bit at the annoyed sound Mycroft made at the name ‘Mikey’.“Hand him the phone.” Holly held it out to Alex, rolling her eyes a bit as he looked between it and her before finally taking it. Whatever was said must have worked as Alex reluctantly lowered the gun and handed back her phone, the called terminated from Mycroft’s end.There was an awkward silence between the two broken when Holly removed the second USB stick and offered it. “I take it this is what you’re here for.”“Who are you and who do you work for?” Alex asked deceptively calm, taking the usb pen and stowing it securely in a pocket. As an afterthought he put his gun into its hidden holster. Holly rolled her eyes and leant against the desk, wondering how painful this encounter would end up being, and the chance of her getting to leave anytime soon. She only had had a ten minute window before the lecturer was going to be back and would rather not be around when he did.“Didn’t Mikey say?” Alex was getting closer, crowding her against the desk, stopping just shy of touching her.“I was only ordered not to kill you,” he whispered. Holly could feel her face get hot and tried to convince herself not to get turned on at this highly inappropriate time. Instead she focused on reading his reactions. Holly could see the mix of emotions on his face clear as day. On the one hand he was happy, hopefully that had something to do with seeing her. On the other he was confused and angry, probably more to do with the situation they were in.“That was sweet of him. I can’t wait until he holds that over my head next time he asks me to do something he has employees to do for him.” Of all the emotions she expected to see cross Alex’s face, sympathy wasn’t one of them. It was a useful skill to be able to read a person's emotions, but it really made her curious when the reason wasn’t obvious.The moment was interrupted by the door being flung open, Holly’s lecturer was planted in the door way pointing a gun at them, there were a few muted sounds before anyone else had a chance to react. Holly could feel things slow down as she checked herself over. A few feathered darts were poking out of her arm, a tranquiliser gun then? That was vaguely better than an actual gun Holly mused, she forced herself to check Alex who looked like he was half way through reacting, reaching for his gun, he had been hit by some too, her vision was blurring too much to count but it looked like more. Her legs failed her and she felt herself falling, her body felt so numb it was only when her vision stopped changing that she realised she’d hit the floor. The last thing that went through her mind was a sense of impending doom.
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When she eventually returned to awareness Holly just wanted to go back to blissful numbness, her body ached and where it didn’t ache it hurt. She kept still, keeping her breathing light and slow, mimicking unconsciousness. She was well practiced in that skill, her mother just thought she was a heavy sleeper. Listening out, she could isolate three other people in the room, two awake and one possibly not. From her last memories Alex was likely to be the other possibly not awake. She could tell she was tied to a chair, what felt like zipties held her hands behind the slates of the backrest. She couldn’t tell with her feet without trying to move and giving herself away. There were no other restraints she could feel which was probably good.“The drug should be wearing off.” She heard someone mutter, there was a scraping sound then silence. Then there was cold as icy water was poured over her. She involuntary tensed up, throwing her head back, suppressing a scream, mentally cursing as there was no way to fake sleep now. Her heart was racing as she tried to stop gasping for breath. The cold soaked through her skin making her shiver. She opened her eyes, blinking away water.“The girl’s awake.” No shit, really? Was the water really necessary? Holly looked towards the speaker, taking in the room now she could see. The water was pooling on her seat, soaking through her jeans and underwear making her very uncomfortable. Struggling a bit Holly found they hadn’t bound her feet to the chair legs which was mildly stupid of them. It was like they wanted her to escape. She also found she was tied back to back with who she presumed was Alex. She could feel his hands, damp from the water, she squeezed it briefly and got the tiniest squeeze in return, he was awake too then. “Don’t worry too much about her, I don’t even know why they grabbed her too.” Nice. She wasn’t even wanted as a hostage. Well, that settled it, she would escape and be out of their hair.“She could be used as leverage for him.”“We should probably move them then, before the boss gets here.” Wow these guys were amateurs. Holly just glared at the guy who dragged her chair until it was facing Alex, tied to his own chair, much more thoroughly than her. It wasn’t all bad, they obviously knew he was more dangerous as they had stripped him down to his underwear, probably on the off chance he his clothes had some form of imbedded weapon. Now really wasn’t the time to be staring though.Holly shifted around in the chair, bringing her leg up to sit on so that she was no longer sitting in a puddle of water. She could see the glare of all the eyes on her.“Have you ever sat in a puddle of water?” She hissed, shuffling around a bit for comfort, she immediately noticed the shift in their gazes from her face to her chest as she wriggled. It was slightly gross but Holly was glad it kept their attention away from her sliding out the knife from the heel of her boot and wedging it between the zip tie and the chair slate.“By all means make yourself at home sweetheart.” The grin that accompanied that made Holly’s skin crawl. She pulled at the knife, feeling the plastic strain. Just as it snapped she sneezed. She knew it wouldn’t cover the noise but she had a plan. Her captors looked at her questioningly.“My sister broke my nose when we were kids, it never healed properly,” Holly lied. “It even moves out of place if I poke it.” That caught their interest, people were so predictable, they wanted to try it out. The two guys approached her and one reached out for her nose. Just as he was about to touch it and find out her story was fake Holly lashed out, punching him in the throat. She followed the movement around and picked up the chair, arcing back to hit the other guy who still looked vaguely confused. She hit them both a few more times with the chair to make sure they stayed down. Calmed down a bit she put the chair down and approached the almost naked agent who was seriously doing a good job still faking sleep. She moved to behind him and started to cut off the tie that held his wrists to the chair.“Time to get moving?” she suggested, moving on to the other ties, glancing up at him enough to see him open his eyes and take in the room and her. He rubbed his wrists, pulling at the plastic still on them. Holly had only cut the plastic holding him to the chair so she could move on. The second he was free Holly found herself pinned to the ground, her own knife now being held to her throat. Alex was obviously grateful for her assistance.“Who are you and who do you work for?” he demanded, repeating his question from earlier.“Holly Summers, doing a favour for Mycroft Holmes to whom you spoke earlier.”“Who do you work for the rest of the time?”“No one, I’m a student. Is now really the time? Those two implied other people will be here soon.” Holly really hoped that he would at least wait until they were safe before asking any more. There were a few tense moments before Alex got up and searched the room, taking weapons off the unconscious men, kindly returning Holly’s knife to her but not giving her anything else.“You find an exit, get out of here, go home, decline anymore ‘missions’,” Alex ordered pulling her towards the door. Holly wondered if he had actually realised he was very undressed yet. Not that she personally was complaining.They stuck together for a few corridors before Alex shooed her away. It was amusing to see a secret agent running off, wielding a gun, while only in boxers, that image was going to keep her amused for a long time.It turned out splitting up was kind of pointless when Holly still couldn’t find her way out. All signs had been conveniently removed and there were no windows.Turning a corner Holly saw a man, dressed similar to those from the room, guarding a door. She dived back around the corner before she got noticed and poked her head around the tiniest bit. Weighing up her options she hid again, leaning on the wall and focusing on possible plans. It was unlikely that someone would guard an empty room. While she could probably ask for directions out of the building she doubted she would get an answer. She could also go back the way she came and look for another exit but then again they had taken her phone and she sort of wanted it back. It contained two years’ worth of modifications she did not want to have to do again.Deciding to pick a slightly ridiculous option she wandered back down the corridor and stumbled around a bit making plenty of noise. When she heard movement she dashed back to the corner and crouched, springing up as the guard rounded the corner, smashing his gun and fists into his face. She twisted the gun from his grip and kicked at his kneecaps. Keeping an eye on him she collected a few more items, like his radio, some zipties and a taser. Leaving the guy still writhing in pain and zip tied up Holly headed to the previously guarded door, peeking through the window. Making sure the safety was on she stowed the weapons as hidden as possible. Praying to any deity that existed she opened the door a crack and poked her head in.“Has any one seen a phone in here? I seem to have lost mine.” She asked as her eyes darted around the room. She seemed to be interrupting something, and it was made clear why Alex had been so undressed. He’d obviously been caught again and now some woman was questioning him while brandishing a riding crop.Then she noticed the guard on the inside of the door, looming over her. She was roughly yanked into the room, the door closing ominously behind her.--Watching Alex in action was amazing Holly decided, as she casually tased the guard holding after wresting out of his grip. Her entrance had provided enough of a distraction for Alex to burst into life, having escaped his bindings before she turned up apparently, taking down the rest of the occupants of the room.“Didn’t I tell you to leave?” he asked, walking over to a table with clothes and starting to get dressed. Holly noticed the content of her pockets next to the clothes and started putting them back into their proper places, feeling more comfortable with the reassuring weight in her pockets.“I got lost.”“We should get out of here. Missions ruined anyway.” Holly followed his angry gaze and noticed her melted and slightly crushed USB pen on the floor. She tried not to smirk, knowing she had a backup. That could wait until they were safe. She followed him in silence as he led the way out, only partially paying attention as she checked over her phone, making sure it hadn’t been compromised, then checking her emails and facebook out of habit. She noticed she had a missed call from Mycroft, she was dying to know why she’d been asked to do something that an agent had been also assigned to.Out of curiosity she opened one of her home made apps, it was still in the beta stage and she hadn’t properly tested it in an uncontrolled setting but it would help them get out as she could have sworn they’d passed that junction with the chunk taken out of the corner. It took a few seconds for the app to load and then it showed a message saying searching. Well they weren’t really going anywhere productive.Finally the screen changed and blueprints came up, showing a blue dot moving down the corridor. That was her. Holly smiled, happy that it had worked so far. She zoomed out a bit, frowning at the presence of red dots as she searched for an exit. It didn’t take too long, bit longer than she would have liked as she had to factor in the potential hostiles in red. At the next junction Holly grabbed Alex and led him away from the path he was going to take for about the fourth time.“What?”“We’ve been walking in circles.”“How do you know?” Holly tapped her phone, going to the history, hoping it would work properly. She tilted it so Alex could see. On the overlay the blue dot started tracing back, showing the path they had taken, and showing it looping.“That is the route we’ve been taking.” Alex looked at her phone and back to her.“How?” That was the questions she hadn’t wanted. She was a bit possessive of her work, especially with the time and effort put into it.“Technology is very telling these days.” Basically she pinged nearby phones and radios, the app placed them on the map in relation to her position, having searched for and downloaded the blueprints when the app had opened. Since most people had a mobile phone it was fairly useful at times, she’d added radio signals as an afterthought.Having asserted that she knew where she was going, they continued to walk in silence. Holly was a bit more weary of Alex, knowing he’d be interesting in her little program, she’d have to keep it safe now someone knew about it, and they were a spy. That was the problem with making useful things.When they finally got outside it was dark and cold. They looked to be in an abandoned industrial estate, with absolutely no form of transport nearby, not even a rusted bike.“Well that’s probably still not the worst date I’ve been on,” Holly remarked dryly, not looking up from her phone as she waited for it to give her the current location. Alex shot her a truly angry look, she could see it in her periphery but she still didn’t look up.“Is this a game to you?”“Are you always such a pain in the arse? Of course I don’t treat this as a game, if I did I would have cheats ready.” Alex just glared at her more. “Oh, you’re welcome by the way.”“For what?”“Seriously, that’s just lovely. You know what? I don’t even care anymore,” Holly scowled. It was like guys didn’t even know when to be grateful anymore. She started walking off, her phone gave her a map and the best route to Baker Street. She could hear Alex catching up with her, his feet crunching heavily against the gravel.“You shouldn’t have even been there,” he eventually said, any anger at her was gone. Holly looked at him and snorted in amusement.“Tell me something I don’t know.”“I’m sorry I was aggressive with you.” Still no gratitude but it was at least something, maybe she’d let him have the backup so he wouldn’t feel so bad about the mission. “I’m also sorry about how I behaved after the club. I was confused and your actions seemed too rational for the situation which just made me suspicious.” There was a long pause as they continued to walk. “How did you know I was MI6?”“Educated guess.” Holly lied without thinking, she knew Alex wouldn’t believe it for a second. “I have contacts I reached out to.” A more plausible lie. “You really shouldn’t keep a gun on you in public though.” Alex seemed to at least accept it and they fell to silence once more.They ended up sitting in a KFC. Alex briefly protested, saying he needed to go report in. Holly simply said she wasn’t stopping him and giggled when he had followed her in.Eventually they made it to the doorstep of 221 close to midnight. Before the awkward silence could set in Holly leaned forward and kissed him, allowing him to deepen it as he drew her closer. While the agent was distracted, and trying not to get to distracted herself, Holly lifted her foot and slipped the USB pen from it slot in the heel and slipped it into his pocket. To his credit Alex didn’t even pause, though one of his hands did move to investigate it, the other hand settled on her hip even as she eventually drew away.“Your mission wasn’t a complete failure,” she whispered before escaping into the safety of her home, again enjoying the surprised look on his face. It would probably eventually get old, but by that point she would be inviting him in instead.
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It was only when Holly stripped of her damp jacket that she noticed it. She ran her thumb over the underside of her left wrist and groaned when it came up with the soft grains of a flesh tone. She went to her bathroom and switched on the light to get a better view. Half revealed through a mix of the water and the rubbing of the zipties and her sleeve were inked wires. Holly rubbed it a bit more, tracing the design only half hidden. The wires ended just before the heel of her palm, the art done in such a way that it looked like the leads went into her skin. It would have been too hard to keep anything that went onto her hand concealed, especially with all the climbing she did. A damp flannel gently revealed the rest of the design, the wires continuing to varying end points up her arm. She rinsed off the flannel, draping it over a tap before reaching for a half empty tube of cream in her cabinet. As she went over to her desk chair her phone buzzed.‘Thank you.’ It buzzed again with another message.‘I didn’t know you had a tattoo’ Of course Alex would have noticed it. Trained spy and all that. Either that or there was surveillance in her rooms, a laughable idea.In all fairness even Sherlock had noticed something about her arm, he’d tried to find out what was up but Holly had rearranged the living room of 221b after every attempt and John had once again stepped in to get Sherlock to back off. Holly felt bad for the doctor, he ended up being the one whose patience snapped first. Though, she wasn’t completely heartless. Since Sherlock never got milk Holly often got some for 221b. John didn’t exactly know it was her though, assuming Sherlock was finally taking some responsibility and Holly figured at some point she would stop, once it was fully set in as the norm, and watch the fall out. Ok maybe she was a bit heartless, doing it for her own amusement.Opening her laptop Holly logged on and flicked through her different emailable, undetectable programs. Mycroft would probably be expecting something like this but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to do it and make sure it happened despite his best attempts.She picked a nice tricky one, an old but good idea, and sent it off. She hoped Mycroft like Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’, every single one attachment he received would play the song, automatically unmuting the device. The attachment would be accessible, nothing would block it, it would just be annoying, especially if he opened more than one. It was almost tempting to add an extension that let her know every time it happened but that would be too much risk and potentially link back to her. Mycroft didn’t have completely incompetent tech support any more.With a small smirk she sent of the little program, all it had to do was reach his inbox to start working. She uncapped the cream and started to massage it into her tattoo as she waited for confirmation. The kind of concealer she used did tend to dry up the skin when she used it a lot and even though it was getting close to winter Holly still occasionally bared her arms and so covered it up. It wasn’t that she hated it, it was just something she wanted to keep to herself. Her laptop informed her that the program had a hold on the email server, Holly now wondered how long until it got noticed, it got fixed and she got told to stop doing it. Until then she would sleep, she had a lecture in the morning and was not looking forward to the morning rush hour on the tube.----She overslept anyway.It then took a while for her to decide if it was worth trying to make it for the next one. She’d checked her phone to find a number of texts, the latest being from Jodie saying the lecture was a total snorefest and Holly had picked the better option. Before that there were two, on from Jodie and Matt each asking where she was. The last one, received first, was from Alex, Holly realised she’d never replied last night. It asked if she wanted to meet for lunch. Eyeing it with some suspicion Holly replied with a yes, replying to her friends with the general ‘I overslept’.Getting out of bed proved difficult, as it normally did. Running her fingers over her tattoo she decided to wait a day or two before reapplying the cover up, the zipties had been tight and left light bruises circling her wrists, to cover up just the tattoo would look weird, and the bruises were just not worth covering as they would fade soon. Long sleeves or arm warmers it was.Bracing herself for questioning, Holly glided into Martha’s kitchen and made herself a cup of tea.“I thought you had lectures today?” Martha asked, as predicted.“Overslept.”“Well you were out late last night. You know you can invite that young man in,” Martha said with a knowing look. “And risk him meeting Sherlock? I like the guy, I don’t want him run off by an overenthusiastic consulting six year old.” John picked that point to walk in, sporting a badly hidden smirk.“Sorry, can I borrow some milk, Sherlock’s tainted the last lot.” John explained apologetically. Martha gestured to the fridge with a long suffering smile. “If this guy can’t handle a bit of Sherlock maybe he’s not worth it,” was the doctor’s advice as he retrieved the milk.“I’m not going to measure any potential guys by how well they deal with a man-child upstairs. It gives Sherlock more importance than he deserves.”“I’m glad you think so.” The kitchen was getting crowded now as Sherlock swept in wielding sarcasm and a phone in Holly’s direction. Holly tried to keep a straight face as the distinct music from Toxic played. “Do you want me to comment on your choice of music?” Holly asked, eyeing the phone wearily. “My brother requests that you fix it.”“Fix what?” The innocent ploy wasn’t fooling anyway, Holly was too tired to put that much effort into it. Sherlock rolled his eyes and flounced out. Both Martha and John looked at her. “Mycroft deserved it.”“Oh, Holly-” Holly interrupted by pulling up her right sleeve to show the thin band of bruise. She hadn’t wanted to do this but it was better than Martha going back to looking at her disapprovingly for weeks again. Instead Martha looked horrified even while Holly skimmed the details of the night. John immediately went into doctor mode, prodding the bruise to make sure nothing else was wrong. Satisfied he dropped it and held his hand out. Holly raised an eyebrow.“People normally have both hands tied up.” True as that was Holly didn’t want the doctor to see her left wrist, not with Martha around anyway.“If that wrist was fine, so is the other one.” The doctor looked at her sternly but eventually relented and left with the milk, though Martha continued to look reproachful. Holly finished up her tea in the slightly uncomfortable silence before returning to her room, she did have things to do.----Lunch was fairly uneventful to start, Holly got her usb pen back, wiped as expected, and Alex not-to-subtly inquired after the mapping program ‘for a friend’. They ended up at his flat and as they lay naked and panting in his bed an hour later Alex took the time to properly look at Holly’s tattoo as she probes the red marks on his skin from yesterday. Holly notices him pause as he reached the slightly raised ridges and pale lines of of skin under the ink but he respectfully doesn’t inquire about it. Everyone is entitled to their own secrets, even if his job is to unearth other people’s secrets.The laziness was broken by Holly’s phone buzzing. Holly hated the fact she could not leave a message unseen or a call unanswered, she was a lot like Sherlock in that respect. Draping her hand over the side of the bed, she groped around for her jeans, fishing the phone out.‘Sherlock’s being a massive dick. BTW there’s a dead body on campus, by the canal.’ Jodie seemed a bit disillusioned then. Holly texted back, asking if that meant classes were cancelled and if the body had been killed on site or just dumped, then dropped her phone back on the floor and rolled over to face Alex. Internally she was debating over whether she should stay and hope for another round or go see the body.“There’s a dead body at Uni. Want to come see or are you going to give me a better option?”----They ended up at campus an hour later looking pleased with themselves. Alex was looking around at everything, admitting that his post-compulsory schooling wasn’t exactly typical. Surprisingly the body was still there, taped to a tree and bloated from likely being fished out of the canal before the taping.Sherlock was naturally playing up to an audience, flouncing around, occasionally insulting someone in the small group of onlookers who refused to be shooed off. Jodie and Matt were apparently skipping the lecture that Holly had been informed was still on. John was talking to the Detective Inspector as they both took stock of the scene.Holly could tell the second Sherlock noticed her presence, he sort of paused in his flouncing as his eyes darted around before approaching looking more like a hungry jackal than she ever wanted to see again. Of course the conversation between Scotland yard’s finest and a certain doctor kept them oblivious to his change and Holly knew this could get interesting if there was no intervention soon. She could see the predatory way he was looking at her and unfortunately Alex, she wondered if she should warn the poor spy. “You have a tattoo on your wrist,” Sherlock announced grabbing her wrist and inspecting it for the few seconds before she pulled it away, tugging her sleeve down over her hand.“Your observation skills never fail to astound me.” With that subject sharply cut of his attention quickly moved on to Alex.“Is this your boyfriend?” Did he have to do the weird sniffing thing with people?“Can’t deduce it?”“Well, from what I’ve seen of young adults, just because they have sex doesn’t necessarily mean a relationship,” Sherlock said dryly, giving her another piercing glance. “You watch people have sex?” It was funny to watch his face crumple into mild disgust.“Of course not-”“Then you stalk them?”“No-”“What sample size did you base your observations on? Demographics of the sample? Did you take into account different sexualities and socioeconomic backgrounds?” This was almost too easy, the case must be interesting if he was this badly off form. It was a shame he could never resist a chance to play games with her whenever he saw a new point to needle at. She could see he was dying to get in the last word so he could sweep away dramatically and focus on the case. This probably would lead to a cheap shot.“Don’t you have a lecture to be attending, I’m sure Mrs Hudson would be disappointed to hear that you’re skipping.” And there it was. Holly almost allowed him that, but bringing in Martha was below the belt. With a silent apology to John Holly called out to Sherlock’s retreating form.“We could double date with you and John some time!” This was met by John’s insistence of his straightness and Holly pretending to mishear and giving him the thumbs up.“Nice guy,” Alex commented as Jodie and Matt finally noticed them and came over.“How do you even do that?” Jodie asked, occasionally glaring off at the consulting detective who was now more aggressively deducing the scene.“Years of practice and siblings to practice on. Now I fancy a drink, anyone want to come?”
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Holly did end up on a double date. This was Sherlock’s revenge and Holly couldn’t really bring herself to break off the plans with Molly and her new boyfriend. Molly had a hard enough time trying to feel comfortable in social environments on her own and Holly would feel mean not helping out.But there was no way Sherlock could have known. Holly would admit he was good but not this good.It was awkward beyond words, doubling with a friend and having slept with both guys at the table. Catching Alex’s eye she could tell he knew something was up, he was a spy, that was expected. Catching Jim’s eye for a brief second was just more awkwardness as he immediately looked away. Molly was so innocently blind to the tension at the table.All in all, worst double date ever. Even though it wasn’t even a proper one as there was only one couple at the table. She and Alex had agreed to keep it casual considering his occupation and other reasons, but Molly was so smitten it was almost adorable. It was just a shame Molly that affection was being projected as she was using him to get Sherlock attention. So truthfully no one was dating anyone honestly at the table.----“That was so awkward.” Holly grumbled as she perched on a wooden chair, considering her cards. John had convinced her to join him and Sherlock in playing Cluedo. Holly had considered the opportunity interesting and was now regretting it as it ended up being a thinly veiled interrogation with Martha flitting around the room dusting and eavesdropping.“Of course it was. Molly can be a bit oblivious to people poor girl.” Sherlock would be that arrogant, like he was one to talk about obliviousness. At least Molly knew when something wasn’t working, she and Alex had heard Molly break up with Jim, that had been fascinating to watch.“I swear she was the only one at the table who didn’t know,” Holly muttered feeling sorry for the woman who apparently had horrible luck with guys.“Everyone at the restaurant probably knew.” Holly was starting to get the impression they weren’t actually talking about the same thing.“Why would he be dating Molly if he was gay?” John piped up. That explained what Sherlock assumed, and well, she had knowledge that proved that he had some interesting in women. Molly had never mentioned Jim possibly being gay either though so Holly doubted the break up was because of that. “Sherlock it’s your turn.”“Obviously he did it to get to me.”“Just because he left his number behind doesn’t mean he was interesting in you.” It was obvious that this argument had been done a few times.“Can I see the number?”“Are you going to hack it?” John asked as the paper was handed over. Holly rolled her eyes.“No.” Not a lie, but only because John assumed anything she did with an electronic device was hacking. The one time she’d opened command prompt on his laptop had made the doctor panic about her hacking. Holly brought out her phone and entered the number into a search program. She’d meant to look up Jim after the double date but never gotten around to it and it would have been rude to do it at dinner.“The person committed suicide.” Sherlock announced.“Didn’t we explain the rules thoroughly at the beginning? In Cluedo the person cannot kill themself.”----It was only in the safety of her room Holly actually pulled up the results. With the added information of the Jim and Sherlock interaction Holly was certain there was more to Jim than met the eye.The number being registered to a Richard Brook just added to that assumption and a quick check of St Bart’s employees showed no Jim or Richard in IT. With the spark of intrigue in her mind Holly booted up her mini mainframe, she had a gut feeling this went a lot deeper than a normal background check would cover and so would need a dedicated machine. Her baby had been made for this and Holly had been gleefully awaiting a time to test it out to its full capacity. Other than a few shakedown runs it had been sat there wondering if Holly really had too much time on her hands and too many spy novels.With all the data Holly knew on the guy entered and the search started Holly felt the anti-climacticness. It would be a while before the thorough search would be done, considering it included hacking quite a few intelligence agencies through some very roundabout ways since she wasn’t personally going to be able to guide it. Idly she heard the door slam shut, John had gone out, he was the only one who slammed the door. Dismissing it she looked over her projects, deciding which to work on now. The mostly reassembled phone was almost done, it would eventually replace hers which as a bit outdated even with her previous upgrades, there was only so much she could replace before just changing the phone.----It was about 5am when noise broke Holly out of her focus, flashes of blue light up her room periodically. It was enough to get Holly to go up and investigate. In the hallway John was leaning against the wall with a blank stare as Sherlock could not stop pacing around. Lestrade was talking to them, looking a bit sleep deprived, neither man was listening.It was a bit surreal to watch but that could have just been the effect of the still flashing lights. She was eventually noticed and Sherlock had pounced, pushing her up against the wall and demanding to know about Jim Moriarty. It took a few seconds for the connection to be made, Holly would add the name Moriarty to the search and soon as Sherlock stopped being crazy for the night. Hearing the situation explained rapidly stopped her from reacting in her usual way which would have included pain on Sherlock’s part. Holly never appreciated being manhandled, a trait left over from a rough and tumble childhood.----After three hours of dozing Holly was tempted to ignore her alarm and attempt to sleep. The alarm however, was followed by the obnoxious ringtone Jodie had insisted Holly assign to her calls. It made sense, Jodie wasn’t one to be ignored. Squinting at the screen she swiped it to answer.“You better not be thinking about skipping babes.” How Jodie was this chirpy would always be a mystery.“The thought never crossed my mind.”“Did you actually sleep last night?”“If I say no, can I skip?”“No, Matt told me something last night while we were out and drunk.” Holly had no doubts as to who got him drunk. “-and now we need to be supportive friends as some of the people who were there started giving him a hard time and he’s kind of down about it.”“What did he say?”“Turn up to class and find out,” Jodie proposed before hanging up.----Half an hour later Holly was waiting in the student café, trying not to nod off on one of the tables as she waited for her tea to cool. “Answer this for me truthfully. Did you crush up caffeine tablets into that?” Jodie asked as she sat down, gesturing to the to-go cup.“Only two.”“Why do you do this to yourself?” Holly resented the way Jodie immediately thought she was doing it on purpose.“Sleep wasn’t happening last night and Sherlock and John got into trouble and got back at like 5am with a police escort,” she spat out, wrapping a hand around her cup to gauge the temperature.“And before 5am? Wait, does it have something to do with that double date last night, did you not get home until late?” Of course that would be the first assumption.“Was not a date. It was two hours of awkwardness and torture, followed by half an hour of torture and interrogation from everyone who resides at 221.” Jodie’s eyes lit up much to Holly’s dismay, she did not want to explain why the dinner had been awkward, Jodie would never let her live it down. Why was London such an apparently small place anyway.She was saved by a nervous Matt taking up a seat. He looked to Jodie questioningly and received a shake of the head.“I’m asexual,” he blurted out before shrinking in on himself. Holly nodded understandingly, thinking back the times they’d been out, he’d had girls draped over him on occasion but never shown any interest in their offers, never had he gone home with someone else or invited them round. She had on occasion wondered why he’d never shown any interest in anyone when they went out but had figured she would find out eventually in a rare show of letting someone keep their secrets.“Is that why people were giving you trouble last night?”“Yes.” Matt didn’t look like he would last saying anything more without crying. Holly reached out and put a hand on his arm rubbing it sympathetically. She knew how stressful an accidently outing could be, she’d been sixteen when she came out as bisexual to a friend and by the next day the whole school had known. There was a reason she no longer talked to anyone from her old school.“If it makes you feel any better my night was spent having dinner with Alex, a one night stand and his totally oblivious girlfriend who is also a friend of mine.” That at least cracked a smile on Matt’s face. Jodie on the other hand was using the arm around his shoulder to keep herself from falling of her chair laughing. She was never going to live it down, but it was worth it to make Matt smile after his accidental outing of his sexuality.----It was coming up to Christmas when Holly felt things get interesting again as she visited one of her clients for some tech support. Her client had paid a lot for the privilege of having her on call to support the bespoke security systems Holly had spent part of her summer developing and Holly was happy to be able to attend uni without the threat of a huge student debt and overdraft to pay at the end.Having just arrived after a police car left Holly made a mental note to find out why. What surprised her more was how her client opened the door. Every other time she’d visited her clients assistant would let her in, but her was her client ushering her in, wearing a large coat that looked suspiciously like Sherlock’s…“I do hope I didn’t interrupt anything, you did request immediate on site assistance.” Holly said, keeping herself from glancing around the place.“Someone set off the safe and I would like it reset.” That explained the police car, the safe’s security could be lethal if the wrong combination was but in. Holly nodded and followed her client into the large living room, ignoring the blood staining the carpet. She had left instructions on how to reset the safe but she suspected there was more to her visit. So after she finished up she waited patiently. Her client was almost as good as she was with reading people and pouted a bit at being caught.“I just want to play a friendly joke on a friend,” her client informed her with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “You see, I borrowed his phone and I would like to change his text alert from me. But I simple cannot get into it. I would be willing to throw in a free session if you could help me.” It wouldn’t be the first time Holly had been offered that, every visit got the same invite. Holly had been tempted the first time but with the added context of the security she installed, she’d decided it was safer not to.“May I see the phone?” Of course it was Sherlock’s. Well, who was Holly to deny someone else the chance to play with Sherlock. She would likely be getting some front row seats to some quality entertainment. Her client always did know how to put on a good show.
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It was the Christmas party Holly almost slipped up. Though in all fairness her reaction could have been taken another way.She’d gone up to be polite with Christmassy greetings before going to Jodie’s Christmas party. With her luck she’d managed to turn up just in time for Sherlock to callously hurt Molly’s feeling and be forced to apologise. That, Holly considered, was enough of a Christmas present from any of them, she'd been unaware that Sherlock possessed the ability to be sincere.Holly had quickly made her rounds but just as she was about to leave, during a conversation lull, an erotic moan filtered through the room. The temperature seemed to increase a few degrees and more than a few people looked uncomfortable. Holly was most definitely included as she knew exactly who had made that noise, having been the one to record it and make it the text alert. At least she could pass off as being as embarrassed as everyone else. Her Client had excellent timing.At Jodie’s party she recounted the tale, removing her own involvement in the addition of the alert sound, and they giggled at Sherlock’s apparent obliviousness of what the noise was. Then again it wasn’t surprising, Sherlock had many gaps in his knowledge, Holly had almost choked when she’d heard that he couldn’t even name one planet in the solar system bar Earth.It was only when she had a pleasant buzz Holly got two texts. The first was from her Client’s assistant, Kate, saying that her Client had been declared dead.The second was from her Client saying that Sherlock was fun to play with and her services may be required with the utmost discretion. So, not dead then. Holly slipped her phone back into her pocket shaking her head slightly, grownups and their games.“Sherlock?” Jodie asked, hoping for a bit more amusement on the detectives behalf, Matt was by her side having been filled in on the sexual moaning phone, he at least knew what the sound implied.“No, well not exactly. It’s complicated.” It was a shame Sherlock didn’t have facebook. Holly would have made this his relationship status a long time ago. Before she could get back to her partying Holly felt her phone buzz and fished it out. Sherlock’s name flashed across the screen with red warning signs (for the benefit of drunk her) Moving quickly over to the nearest speaker Holly made sure the sound was almost too loud before answering.“Sherly! How’s it hanging dude?” Holly crowed playing up her inebriated state.“Are you drunk?”“Did you think I would stay sober at my friends Christmas party where I don’t have to pay for the alcohol?” There was a snort of derision from the detective.“I need your expertise with a device.” Holly almost choked. Sherlock was asking for her help, or she was drunker than she’d originally guessed. Then again it was probably her clients phone and she was not going to give up its secrets to them when they had people they paid to this kind of thing.“Ask Mycroft, he should have departments dedicated to that.”“I am loathed to ask my brother for anything.” Sibling rivalry then, he wanted to prove he could do it without Mycroft's help.“You would rather ask me over your brother? What was your childhood like? Anyway, no, busy, ask during my office hours.”“And when are your office hours?”“Sometime after Christmas, or new year’s, maybe even valentine’s day…” Holly trailed off before hanging up. Well that was fun, time for another drink and maybe to half hope Sherlock turns up to coerce her into helping, if he’d been uncomfortable at his own party this would be hilarious.----He didn’t turn up. Not while Holly was conscious anyway. Cold light burned her eyes as she squinted at the room. Taking stock she realised she was being hugged form behind and her leg was being hugged by another person on top of that. Her entire side ached from sleeping on the floor. A few more people were passed out on the floor, three people had piled onto the sofa to sleep and Holly wasn’t entirely sure how they would untangle themselves when they woke up.Pulling her leg away from Jodie, who didn’t want to give it up, Holly unwrapped herself from Matt’s embrace. She should have known, he had been declaring his platonic love for both her and Jodie not long before finding their patch of floor to sleep on. A quick check of her phone revealed the time and several missed calls and messages.“Was I hugging your leg?” Jodie grumbled while Holly flicked through the messages.“Yes, you can even see the lipstick smear.” She got a slap on her leg for her comment, right on the smear. “How long should I make Sherlock wait until I become more than just ‘convenient’? He wants my help but I don’t want to try to lord it over him and for him to just say I was just closest.”“A day and see if you could make him beg.” And now an Image (capital deserved) of Sherlock and her Client in some weird session was imbedded in her brain. Holly could feel her stomach revolting and dived for the bathroom to dry heave into the toilet which was surprisingly not already occupying a vomiting person. There was however a person passed out in the bath tub with puke smeared around.“If you never say anything like that again I might let you live.” Holly threatened as she pulled her hair into a rough bun. Jodie just cackled from the main room. The calm that descended only lasted a few minutes.“Open the door, this is the police!” Holly groaned and slumped against the bathtub as the aggressive voice of Detective Lestrade woke up the remaining occupants of the small flat. She heard the door burst open, they obviously had got keys from the accommodation office. Struggling to her feet Holly stumbled into the living room to be faced with all of Sherlock’s favourite people from New Scotland Yard.“Do you have a reason to be searching this flat?” Holly asked between yawns. They couldn’t exactly deny her an answer, they needed reasonable cause to search a building.“Anonymous tip off about drugs.” Of course it was.“Sherlock then.” Sherlock was throwing a temper tantrum, that phone must contain some pretty important information, especially if he wanted to get to it before his brother just so he could show off. Those two had issues coming out of their eyeballs. Not that it wasn’t fun to play with them on occasion. “Jodie, I swear to god if you start flirting with the lovely Detective Inspector I will do things that I cannot mention in front of said Detective Inspector without getting arrested.” Jodie pouted and muttered about how unfair Holly was.“Next you’ll say I can’t flirt with that doctor who lives with Sherlock, I know he’s not gay.”“Even if you did date him you’d still come second to the great ego.” That was actually met with grunts of agreement from the team searching for drugs. “I’m going to head home and plot payback. Lunch tomorrow Jodie? Tell Matt.” With that Holly slid past Lestrade and out the door searching for freedom.What she was not expecting was to get home and find the door ajar. Instantly suspicious Holly cautiously pushed the door open and peered inside. Seconds later she felt herself shoved in, a hand over her mouth and the other pulling her arm into a vicious lock.“From the signs, Mrs Hudson is being held upstairs against her will, probably by the CIA, don’t ask why.” Sherlock had to strengthen his grip as Holly scrambled to get free, intent on storming the upstairs flat. “I will deal with them and make sure your great aunt is safe. You go to your room and stay there until it’s safe,” Holly growled against the hand but relented, Sherlock had managed to outmanoeuvre these people before. She would go to her room and hack the CIA to make herself feel better though. Pushed towards her door Holly slunk in, once on her laptop she pulled up the feed from the living room in 221b, Mycroft wasn’t the only one who had them under surveillance, she checked out the situation and started a facial recognition scan on the unknowns in the room. She was going to ruin them, and that was after whatever Sherlock did to them.----It was like music to her ears, hearing the agent fall out of the window and hitting the pavement, and the bins on occasion. It was only after Holly saw Lestrade for the second time that day she relented and took the phone offered to her. Down in her room, refusing to be observed saying that what she was doing was illegal and she didn’t want people to watch, Holly easily accessed the device with her personal backdoor. Her Client had been busy. While it transferred to a secure server Holly created a dummy system to work side by side with the original, accessible with a different password that would stroke Sherlock’s ego for all of about five seconds. Her Client would appreciate the joke.She gave the phone back two days later saying the person who coded and modded the phone was a genius and she couldn’t crack it. All of it was technically true, it was made of genius, hers, and she couldn’t crack it, she had her own free pass though.Giving back the phone was awkward though. Holly had walked into the living room of 221b to see the unfortunate sight of her client and Sherlock in the same room with her client saying she would make Sherlock beg. Tossing the phone on the table Holly supressed the Image she’d tried so hard to forget.“It’s impossible to break into,” she muttered before disappearing back down the stairs to continue the Netflix marathon she’d been having for the last two days. She tried to focus on the potential look on Sherlock’s face as he would type in the fake password (‘I am SHERlocked’ Hilarious!) and see the dictionary definition, with illustrations, of a lesbian staring at him.She almost felt bad, knowing her client was trying to play him, pretending to be interested. It would just stroke his ego knowing someone not even attracted to his gender was interested, but her client was really good at what she did, all signs of arousal could be faked. Sherlock needed to be taken down a few pegs, having an ego at critical mass would never be a good thing, it was generally what made a person cross the line separating still mostly ok and psychopath.Pushing that all to one side she settled in to continue watching Veronica Mars for whom she would trade Sherlock with in a heartbeat.----Just as Holly was drifting off with an episode coming to it's end there was a loud knocking on her door, enough to startle her and almost make her laptop fall from her lap. The knocking repeated, more urgently. Holly closed the lid and set it aside and went to answer the increasingly annoying noise on her door.Of all the things she’d considered seeing on the other side, this was not it. Holly groaned in pain as she was forced against the wall, arms pulled painfully behind her to keep her immobile as handcuffs were hooked around her wrists and closed tight. She was kept crowded against the wall, obviously informed she might fight back, proven as she tried to snake her ankle around the back of someone’s knee hoping to upset the balance and at least be able to stand on her own.She couldn’t keep the small wince hidden as a group of armed men descended into her room, followed by a guy decked out in the same gear who looked woefully unprepared for combat. Twisting her head, Holly could see Sherlock gleefully observing the situation with more armed people by his side. Mycroft had more poise than to look pleased but looked stern as he leant on his umbrella. Martha, bless her, looked terrified, Holly hoped that she would be around when her great aunt yelled at Sherlock. John was nowhere to be seen, probably planned by at least one of the Holme’s as he would be objecting so hard right now.It wasn’t long before the men started coming out of her room carrying anything electronic they could find, much to her dismay. That stuff was expensive and she could only hope that they’d taken it apart carefully. She wasn’t that worried about the content of her machines, they would be in lockdown by now with all traces to any external servers obscured.“Well Miss Summers,” Mycroft started, fixing on a derisive grin “I think we need to have a little chat, unfortunately I’m quite busy for the next few days. I have, however, found alternate accommodation for you that I am sure you will enjoy.” Holly really doubted that.
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With only her thoughts to amuse herself Holly had tried to sleep as much as possible. With no devices there was no easy way of knowing where she was or how much time had passed. At least she could amuse herself with the imagined scenario of Jodie calling her to find out why she missed lunch and some poor guy getting an earful because of it. Her personal favourite fantasy was of Mycroft answering the call and being screamed at.There was only so much her physical surrounding had held her attention. Holly did not like doing nothing. Even while watching something she had to keep her hands moving. With such a bare room, Holly had so far managed to rub all the makeup off her tattoo, chip off all of the nail polish she’d worn for the Christmas party and pick a large patch of paint off the wall. The bright lights above her never turned off but she’d managed to sleep anyway, it had never stopped her classtime naps before. Her back still ached from that night on Jodie’s floor and the thin mattress wasn’t doing her any favours.Her thoughts had briefly touched on why she had been detained, she suspected her Client had let something slip or found that she’d slept with this Moriarty guy and thought there was something more. If that was the case she hoped Molly wasn’t in another cell like her. She didn’t dwell on those thoughts, it wouldn’t end well.At least they were feeding her, though her requests for tea were sadly going unanswered, barbarians. She’d been dealing with a caffeine headache for far too long now.So now here she was, throwing an imaginary ball into the air and catching it. With only her pyjamas and the mattress as loose objects in the room Holly had decided it was for the best, she didn’t want to be half naked when they finally came for her. It was a good mental exercise anyway, predicting direction depending on the flick of her wrist, calculating how long it would travel up before dropping down. She was fond of the imaginary blue ball anyway.----After an undeterminable amount of time to Holly, the door swung open. Holly didn’t even flinch, simply catching the imaginary ball on its return and throwing it again.“Security are wondering if they should call a professional,” Mycroft comment dryly.“Are you finally admitting you need mental help for your overdramatic behaviour?” “Did you spend all your time in here thinking that one up?” Holly chuckled darkly, that wasn’t exactly the best comeback, no matter how casually he tried to say it.“I had assumed that was why you needed the time, not everyone has wit on hand.” That got a reaction, in a few quick strides Mycroft was by her mattress, his hand outstretched, the imaginary ball caught in his hand. Impressive, he had calculated its path and intervened at the right moment to hypothetically catch it had it been a real object. As she smirked at the man two guards entered the room and pulled her up, swiftly cuffing her hands behind her back.“I wouldn’t try to resist, though why listen to me?” He was taunting her, wow, something really bad must have happened. Didn’t mean that she would let him off when she was released.It was a weird experience, being half lead, half dragged down corridors, in her pyjamas, while people in business suits passed by, not even sparing her a visible glance. It was like they were pretending she was invisible. Several swipe card doors and a swipe card lift later Holly was hurried through what was close to her imagined tech paradise and into a small room off to the side. Her eyes half closed to adapt to the bright lights, the lights on her journey had been much dimmer and her eye had adjusted accordingly. Now she was half blinded.“Ms Adler’s phone is one of your creations. You will access all of the data stored on it.” Well at least she knew the source of her troubles. That didn’t explain why her tech was all set up.“Why is my stuff here?”“It’s unlikely that you would have a program left on the phone that would attack your own systems.” Oh, they tripped that did they? “You will give your full cooperation.”“And in return?” She wasn’t expecting a reward, she just wanted to know the stakes.“You won’t be tried for treason.”“That implies I’ll be charged for other offences.” Holly was not going to lay over at the first sign of a favour. She knew negotiation and to make sure all the details were in order. Having siblings helped hone that skill.“You will be granted immunity for any offences related to your work with Ms Adler in return for the data.”“Still missing anything else you might try to charge me for. I do hope you didn’t wait too long before asking me about this, after any attempt on the system it starts a self-destruct sequence. I would hate to guess how much time there is until the hard drive gets melted,” Holly said coyly, upping the stakes a bit, it wasn’t a lie exactly, it took two attempts to actually trigger it so that someone accidently trying to access it didn’t set it off. She could see the tiny movements as Mycroft tensed.“No action, legal or otherwise will be sought over any of your past activities on the condition that the data is retrieved and handed over to me and no one else.” Mycroft negotiated with gritted teeth. Holly smiled, that was the bare minimum of what she wanted but with that issue of time that she should look more worried about she would settle. She could always negotiate more when she handed it over. “Do not let her out of those handcuffs under any circumstance.” The smile dropped.“How am I supposed to get into it then if I can’t type?”“Be creative,” were Mycroft’s parting words. A guard was unfortunately left behind, Holly didn’t fuss too much.“If I’m going to be talking this guy through this I will need a drink. Go fetch.” The man looked uncertain, but looking behind her apparently got the ok from the tech guy in the room. With the man gone, Holly surveyed the room and the left over man. He had been the one who had looked so out of place during the raid on her room, he barely looked older than she was.“I’d been wondering when I would finally meet you SuperNova.” Holly tensed, her brain rapidly piecing together different plausible reasons for this guy to know that name and associate it with her. “Shall we get on with it? Apparently time is ticking.” Apparently there would be no explanation. Sighing, Holly sat down on a chair, leant back and started talking. If he knew who she was she could afford to use generally unknown jargon so if by some chance this was being recorded, only a hacker would be able to decode and thus access her system. Not that it was going to be left as it was after she left. As she spoke her mind started working on how she would reconfigure her security so the same method wouldn’t be possible.----The whole thing took ten minutes to get done uninterrupted, Holly had no idea where the guard was as he’d never returned. The guy, R apparently, was gushing over the security measures they’d had to get through. Holly had a feeling they were going to end up being used by R, no longer her proud secret. She was content to watch R squee over her phone, asking questions about it that she wouldn’t answer but he would try to guess anyway. She would admit he was kind of adorable when he wasn’t trying to be all aloof and professional, actually bordering on sexy.It was while she was watching him with slightly indecent thoughts in her head, there was a loud explosion from the other room, the door burst in to the room practically disintegrated, a wave of force followed knocked both of them to the floor. Holly struggled to her feet and looked through the doorway, seeing a mess of the tech haven she’d seen, small fires doted around the room, everything melted beyond recognition. Part of the floor had fallen away and there was creaking from the ceiling, several support beams hanging down.She glanced back at R who was gapping at the sight, she kicked his shin to get his attention. “We need to get out of here. Unlock the handcuffs then help me gather whatever we can carry.”“I don’t have the key.” Holly sighed in irritation. Why not? Did they think she would manage to get it off him, or seduce him for it? Though in all fairness she’d been tempted to try while he had been cooing over her lovely modified tablet, both to look for the key and seduce him.“Pass me a paper clip or a wire, I’ll do it myself.” R acquiesced and Holly watched him gather the laptops and anything important and portable as she manipulated the lock. He was nice enough to separate her stuff from the rest, correctly assuming she’d want to keep them as need to her person as possible. Once she had one hand free she snatched up her phone and logged in, accessing her mapping software. From the lovely wifi symbol in the corner it had already made its way in and it didn’t take long to gain a fairly up to date map of the building. It took a bit longer for it to calculate her position, several of the reference points were now missing but it got there eventually. Peering outside the door Holly started shading some of the map, telling it where she couldn’t go and then waited for it to give her a route.“That’s cool.” R had finished and had apparently been looking over her shoulder. “How did it get a map of this building? And our location? How did you do get it to do that?”“There’s a time and a place for questions that I won’t answer.” Holly muttered she hoisted the case with her stuff over a shoulder, making sure that the usb pen with the data was secure. R had his own case and another laptop in his arms. “We’re going to need to get over that wall.” Holly said, pointing to the wall opposite the door. The ceiling was a drop one so all they had to do was lift a tile and climb over. She dragged a chair over and motioned for R to get over there so she could give him a boost, taking the laptop from his hands first and the laptop bag and placing them nearby. She had no idea how physically strong R was but she knew she would be able to get up on her own. It went off without a hitch, R was balanced up there and Holly passed up his stuff, followed by her own before vaulting up. She double checked the map before kicking out a ceiling tile and dropping down. They were right by the door to the emergency staircase. She noticed something else on the screen, she’d been so focused on getting out it hadn’t quite registered with her.“In this kind of situation, what do all the doors that need a security pass do? Unlock?” R nodded. “Why?”“There are people behind that door,” Holly informed him pointing in the opposite direction to the exit. On the map there was a cluster of red dots.“The reader still has a light on this side though.” He was right, Holly pushed him in the direction of the door. It took several swiping attempts to figure out it wasn’t going to work which had Holly rolling her eyes, the system had probably been compromised by whoever organised the explosion. What she was going to do was not something she ever wanted people to know she was going to do or could even do. She navigated to another app on her phone and took R’s swipe card, holding it to the back of her phone, a few taps on her phone and a short wait before she handed it back and told him to try again, praying it both worked and he didn’t ask what she did.The light went green and there was the click of the door unlocking, seconds later it opened and people stumbled out, a light cloud of smoke drifting through with them. They quickly regrouped and headed to the stairs, smiling at R as they passed, R commented he was their boss’s second and so wanted to make sure they got out safely. It would be dangerous to go back in, that wasn’t their job.By the time they reached the ground floor Holly’s feet were in pain, the carpet was obviously not designed to be nice to bare feet. The group got through the fire door to the waiting entourage of fire engines and ambulances. Armed men stood at the perimeter with temporary barriers in place to keep the public away. Holly steeled herself as she stepped outside, the cold December wind instantly sending chills through her body. The cold concrete bit into her feet and she took some tentive steps out, a firm grip on her phone and some Russian curses on her lips. She was quickly whisked away to one of the ambulances and wrapped up in a blanket. In hind sight she should have fully removed the handcuffs at some point as one of the armed guards had darted over and stood over her menacingly, gun at the ready no matter what the paramedics were saying. The cuffs had marked her out as a captive for whatever reason.Everything seemed faint as Holly sat on the back of the ambulance, she couldn’t focus on anything, voices were just noise to her, not making sense. The world had a washed out look and she couldn’t pick out anything specific. The reality of the situation was sinking in, she could have died, that explosion could have been closer, the door could have hit her, there could have been no escape route. She wanted to scream out but nothing was happening.One word finally filtered through. Shock. She was in shock. An acute stress reaction. More sounds started making sense as her sympathetic nervous system stood down, the effects of the adrenaline wearing off. She could hear her name being called and turned blindly to the source, waiting for the world to come into focus. Though it didn’t need to, only one person she knew actually leant on an umbrella like that. It took a bit longer to identify R as the person standing next to him though the woman was a complete unknown to her.Finally the world felt normal in a rush of bright colour and loud sounds. “I had nothing to do with that,” Holly insisted immediatly. R looked thoroughly amused at that though the other two didn’t look too impressed.“Do you know where you are?” the woman inquired.“An ambulance outside Vauxhall Cross, home of MI6.” Her map had told her that. The trio exchanged glances, the woman actually looked vaguely approving and whispered something to Mycroft that cause his face to turn sour.“Someone will escort you home Miss Summers. We will be in contact with you shortly for a debrief.” Holly nodded in understanding, she had questions she wanted to ask. Her head automatically perked up at the sound of her name being called. Someone was darting between the groups of people, heading towards them. Holly smiled in recognition as the person finally got to her and swept her up in a hug.“Holly.” “Alex.”“I guess that makes finding you an escort easier,” the woman declared. Alex turned, still holding Holly and stiffened his posture.“M, Mr Holmes, R.”“It’s Q now, Boothroyd didn’t make it.” M informed him. Holly assumed M was the woman anyway. “Be quick about it.” M said in a clear dismissal. Holly wriggled out of Alex’s grip and slipped her hand into the laptop back still slung over her shoulder. Tugging out the usb pen she pressed it into Mycroft’s hand before following Alex to a car with as much dignity as a teenager wearing pyjamas and a shock blanket in the middle of a freezing cold winter day could.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Holly stood in front of the door to 221 for a while after Alex had driven off. With no keys she would have to knock or ring the doorbell. She just didn’t know who would answer with no idea of who was even home. She didn’t want the pitying looks she would probably get from Martha or John, nor did she want to see the smug look on Sherlock’s face, that just left breaking in.“I supposed you didn’t have time to grab your keys.” Holly almost jumped out of her skin as John approached. “Mrs Hudson told me what happened, Sherlock took great joy in telling me why it happened,” he explained as he opened up the door and motioned for her to enter. “Mrs Hudson remembers telling you at the beginning of your time here to stay out of trouble. She’s been worried sick about you.” He paused and looked towards her only to see her staring at her door as if she was trying to imagine what it would be like. Martha came out of the kitchen and almost dropped the dish she was drying.“Holly!” Holly was dragged away from staring at her door and a cup of tea was soon set in front of her. Martha carried on drying up, chattering about things filling the kitchen with a constant stream of noise. John hovered in the doorway observing the student, he knew that haunted look, he just didn’t know what in London could have caused it that badly. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what Mycroft had done to her.“I gave Sherlock a good piece of my mind. It wasn’t nice of him to act so happy that you were gone. John was so annoyed with him he refused to go with him on cases. We had no idea where you were. I almost called my sister. And then today when that building exploded, Sherlock looked so shocked when he saw it on the news.” Holly felt more human by the time she’d finished her tea, the squeezing pressure of the caffeine headache had almost gone and she felt warm. She stood up, her feet almost buckling as they protested, startling Martha out of her inane talking. “Oh Holly, I worry about you.” “I’m ok Martha, you know me, tough as old boots.” Her voice cracked and she felt like she wanted to just curl up and cry, but she wouldn’t. Holly allowed herself to be hugged, she knew Martha needed it just as much as she did, so she wrapped her arms around her great aunt and held on for as long as Martha needed.“I’m sorry dear,” Martha apologised eventually. “Here I am keeping you here, you probably have dozens of things you want to do right now.”“There is nothing I would have rather done than have a cup of tea and hear you talk. I haven’t had any of either since I was taken.” There was a short silence, Holly knew Martha wanted to ask about it but respectfully didn’t. “Still you should probably go sleep and shower. I don’t know how they left your room, once they left they shut the door and I don’t have a key. Come to think of it you probably don’t either, look at you still in your pyjamas, I’m surprised you didn’t freeze. I’ll call a locksmith and get you a jumper.”“No need. Come and watch.” Holly offered and led her great aunt to the door. “I installed this not long after I moved in, just in case I forgot my keys. A locksmith wouldn’t be able to open the door. I made it Sherlock proof.” Holly explained as she pressed her phone up against a patch of wall to the side. There was a click and the door opened up a bit. Holly pulled the door open the rest of the way and went down with Martha at her heels.Holly stifled a sob at the sight, her entire room had been ransacked, nothing had been left unturned. Sheets had been pulled from the mattress now on the floor, clothes were half pulled out of drawers, books had been pulled from shelves, boxes had been dragged out from under the bed and unearthed. Martha placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry Holly.”“I need to get out of here.” Holly muttered, taking off the laptop bag and dumping it on the floor. Snatching up a hoodie and a pair of jeans she pulled them on over her pyjamas, she wasn’t going to waste time getting clean clothes. A quick search located a pair of boots which were yanked on. She then dragged out her sports bag and dumped out the riffled through content before starting to shove clothes into it, occasionally pausing to wipe at her traitorously leaking eyes. Martha, unable to just stand and watch, wandered around straightening up bits and pieces, picking up Holly’s keys so she could clean up properly later.A thunder of footsteps heralded the arrival of John and Sherlock. Sherlock looked delighted as he drank in the sight of Holly’s room, John just made a small noise of sympathy. Holly paused in her packing when she noticed Sherlock, she could feel the rage building up inside her and took some deep breaths.“Get out.” Her voice didn’t crack that time. Sherlock just looked her with a mix of defiance and amusement and actually started to poke into the stuff strewn across her room. Holly saw red and grabbed the nearest solid object to throw at him. Thick psychology text books flew through the air towards the detective until there were no more in reach. Then she simply leapt at him wanting to punch him until he stopped smirking. Her dive was intercepted by John who gave Sherlock a stern look that had the detective turn heel and leave. Only once the door was shut did John put Holly down.“Do you know where you’re going?” John asked as she resumed her packing, flitting around the room for odd bits like chargers, all the electronic devices she needed were in the laptop bag but they hadn’t bothered to take any of the charging cables.“Yes, Victoria.” She was purposely being vague as she finally zipped up her bag and slung it over a shoulder, her laptop bag returning to the other one.“Do you have enough money to get there?” Martha asked anxiously. Holly smirked and left her room heading the kitchen, careful to not knock things over with the bags. She ran her fingers in the gap between the top of the fridge and the counter and pulled out an envelope.“Had this stashed here for a while just in case.” She didn’t show them the content, it contained enough money to disappear if she’d ever needed to. With every job she’d done she’d made up packs like this and stashed them around. She poked her fingers back, she’d felt something else under there. She pulled out a carton of cigarettes.“There not mine.” Martha insisted scandalised, John and Holly both recognised them as Sherlock’s preferred type. Holly pocketed them, it wasn’t the same as months of therapy she could probably do with but it was a start, the fact they were from Sherlock’s hidden stash would make them oh so much better. “Tell Sherlock, thanks.” Holly grinned, though it never reached her eyes. Martha looked somewhere between disappointed and sympathetic. They smiled at each other and Holly gave her another hug and a half wave at John before tugging on a hat and departing.----Even with another layer it was probably not enough to combat the cold but Holly felt too numb to care as she trudged over to the tube station, she could almost feel the weight of the CCTV watching her disappear into the underground.She went through the extra fuss of buying a ticket with cash and kept her head down as she went through the ticket barriers. It was at least moderately busy so Holly liked to think she didn’t stand out too much as she waited for the train.It was easy to slip into commuter mode, ignoring everyone around her and instead focusing on anything else. It’s only a few stops to Paddington where she bought her next train ticket and went to look at the board for train departures. The next one still had time so she found the nearest coffee place and got herself cup of tea and a blueberry muffin. She knew she’d want more later, the journey will be a long one but her stomach seemed to be rejecting the idea of food. Another check of the board showed her train had a platform now and so she headed towards it, looking forward to being able to sit down and relax for a bit with her headphones in and music on.She pulled out her phone once she was situated and navigated to her messages, unsurprisingly she had quite a few, mostly from Matt and Jodie, starting from angry, Matt had thought she’d ditched to try to set them up for some reason, to slightly worried when time had passed and there had been no response. They’d gone to her place to ask and mentioned how Martha had just started crying when they asked where she was. They still texted even after asking if she was dead.There was a text from John, asking where she was, it was fairly early on in her absence, probably before he’d heard any details. There was a text from Alex saying someone had said that a teenager matching her description down to the tattoo had been escorted in cuffs from the holding cells and asked if it was actually her. Her phone buzzed in her hands and a new message joined it, asking how she was. The problem was, Holly didn’t actually know, it was like there was nothing to feel, just emptiness.A beep from her phone gave her another text from Alex, a link to a youtube video and a question. ‘What can you do to help?’ The video showed five undercover agents and their cover identities followed by the words ‘Think on your sins’. From the train Holly couldn’t track down the video but she could spread confusion, she pulled out her laptop and made sure to angle is so no one could see without being ridiculously obvious and got to work.What she was doing was creating videos to be uploaded detailing people high up in criminal organisations with false fake agent personas. After the first two she sent a text back ‘Making the best of a bad situation.’So now here she was, sat on a train, copying the style of the video and adding the fake ‘uncovered identities’ to sow distrust over the original video and in the organisations themselves. She even altered the upload time so it was only a few minutes out and added some views, varying the apparently upload location. It was times like this Holly laughed at people who thought psychology was useless or easy. Manipulating people was a skill, especially on a wider scale.To top it off she took down the original video in the resulting mess along with some of her fakes. Just for the added chaos. No one would know who or what to believe.----When her laptop battery was almost dead she stopped, fairly happy with her work and in general, work like this always gave her a happy buzz. A voice announcing her stop coming up jolted life back into Holly, breaking her from her happy reprieve. The landscape was now almost fully rural over a hundred miles from the capital. The train slowed down as it entered the station, the name of the town flashing by on signs. Holly pulled together her belongings and headed for a door, the train was almost empty by now and no one else seemed to be getting off at the station. She pulled her hat down further and as soon as the doors button lit up she was pushing it, eager to carry on with her journey.Castle Cary wasn’t her final destination, it was just the nearest station. Holly sat outside the building by the bus stop and waited. She wondered if she should have called in advance, but Martha probably had called the second she left. She would be expected.The bus finally turned up and Holly got on, situating herself at the back and watched the country side go by. It was already getting dim by now and by the time Holly pushed the button to get off it was dark with the orange glow of the street lamps casting an eerie glow. She idly wondered if there was actually any CCTV around here as she started walking, the bus didn’t go far into the small village as the layout and landscape made it almost impossible for a vehicle the size of a bus. That left her with a trek through. Her stomach grumbled a bit, she’d been right, the muffin hadn’t nearly been enough but she didn’t want to stop, her feet still hurt and she knew if she stopped now she would not want to start again. To distract herself she pulled out the cigarettes, she’d smoked occasionally during sixth form but had vowed never to let it become an addiction. Lighting one up she turned to make sure the smoke never blew towards her, the comfort of nicotine relaxing her. When she was done with it she smudged it out and tossed the rest of the pack in a nearby bin.Finally the familiar driveway came into view, curving gently up a small hill, she willed her feet to keep moving just for a little longer, her bags feeling like they were full of rocks. She slipped through the gate, trying to make it soundless. The sound of barking echoed through the dark and she knew she’d been caught. She held onto the gate for support as a large black dog came to greet her enthusiastically almost knocking her over.“Heya Marple.” She allowed herself to be inspected and sniffed by the hyperactive black labradoodle who then barked and darted off, returning seconds later when Holly hadn’t kept up. Marple trotted next to her, occasionally bumping her affectionately, as she walked up to the house.Framed in the bright doorway of the converted barnhouse, a woman smiled fondly.“Martha said you’d turn up here. Come in dear, I want to hear all about it.” There was a scary glint in her grandmother’s eye but Holly suspected she wasn’t the one who would be on the receiving end of her grandmother’s anger. There had always been something hidden about Victoria but Holly had never got around to looking, she suspected if there was going to be any time she would find out what, it would be during this visit.Soon the two of them were sat at the table with tea and sandwiches. Her grandmother had some way of knowing she hadn’t eaten much but left out the lecture. Marple was lying by Holly’s feet comfortingly, occasionally poking her head up to see if any food would come her way.“You’re the only person Marple sits next to over me,” Victoria commented.“I’m her favourite.” There was a small pause where Holly could see Victoria trying to broach the topic.“Did you want to talk about today?” Holly sighed, she didn’t know how to really explain it without mentioning things that shouldn’t be mentioned.“Just the Holmes brothers being vindictive.” Holly didn’t expect the look of recognition at the name Homes, but it was there regardless. Victoria made a strangled noise.“Tell me you weren’t at Vauxhall Cross this morning.” Holly just shrunk into her chair looking guilty. “How did you get involved with the SIS? I should have known you were too quiet to be the good grandchild.” Victoria said with a touch of exasperation and some humour. “Go get a shower or a bath and then go to bed. We’ll talk more in the morning or whenever you get up.” Holly silently obeyed, looking forward to a nice long bath, she dumped her sports bag in the main guest room and went next door to start the water running for her bath. While she waited, she took out her phone and accessed one of her apps, this had the job of turning on and connecting to the microphone on her laptop that she’d left downstairs in the living room. The laptop didn’t even need to be on for the microphone to be on, a modification she’d made a while ago. She put in one of the ear buds and adjusted the settings until she got a fairly clear signal.“Mycroft Holmes! What did you do to my granddaughter?” Well that was interesting.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
By the time Holly actually went to bed she felt much more knowledgeable about her grandmother. Victoria had been the first woman in MI6 to ascend to the rank of double-0, her designation had been 003. Mycroft Holmes had been one of her apprentices, back when they had them. No matter how hard she tried, Holly could not imagine Mycroft as an active agent. She’d set a new search going through the SIS database focused on Victoria, she wanted to know more, even if the security of MI6 hadn’t been crippled after the explosion, they’d unknowingly uploaded a nifty little program that gave her apparently legitimate access when they’d tried to get to Adler’s phone. She hadn’t been that naive about what that woman had been up to and had added it just to see what she could get out of it.----When she did eventually get up it was almost afternoon and she felt much better than she had in a while. She heard barking from outside her room and was glad she’d closed the door last night, Marple had this habit of licking people’s faces in the morning and that was a wake up she’d never been fond off. As soon as she opened the door she moved out of the way to allow Marple to bounce into the room, jumping on to the bed then off a few time then having a sniff at her bag, which Holly quickly pulled away. Another of Marple’s habits was to run around with socks in her mouth and she didn’t feel like chasing her yet. Eventually she was left in peace as she checked on the search. The first thing she noticed was that a lot of it was blacked out, most of it actually. The second thing was that there was suddenly a dog’s head between her tablet and her. Marple had returned with her leash in her mouth and was looking at her pleadingly. Holly pulled on her boots and grabbed her phone and headphones while she singlehandedly clipped the leash onto Marple’s collar, an impressive feat with how much Marple was moving around, exited to be going for a walk. Victoria was on the phone when she left and playfully shooed her out.The rural village felt deserted to Holly after having lived in London for several months. No one was rushing, there wasn’t the loud rumble of buses or honking of horns. It was peaceful. She walked her usual route, down the road until she hit the river and then followed it around to the skate park just over a mile away, before looping around through some cow fields which were empty this time of year. At least it was too cold for Marple to venture into the river, she’d only been dragged in once before and never wanted to repeat it, no matter how shallow the water was through the village.----It took just over an hour to complete the circuit, as soon as Holy shut the gate behind her she unclipped the lead and Marple went running up to the house, returning with a half chewed ball in her mouth.“If you want me to throw if you’re going to have to drop it.” Holly told the dog who just bounced out of reach every time she tried to take the ball. Eventually it fell to the ground and Holly snatched it up before Marple could, throwing it towards the house for Marple to chase after.Victoria was waiting with a cup of tea ready in the living room, she knew how long Holly’s dog walks took and so had timed it well.“How much did you overhear last night?” Victoria asked once they were settled, Marple once again by Holly’s feet, this time chewing the already battered blue ball. Holly could remember the time that ball used to squeak until it was chewed out.“Enough to be really impressed and wish I could redo that poster I did about my relatives in year four.” “I had always wondered if one of my grandchildren would ever get involved in with the SIS but I never expected it to be you, or in that way. As a warning, don’t get too attached to the double 0 agent.” Holly tried not to gape with embarrassment. “And try not to antagonise either of the Holmes’s too much, they don’t always play fair as I’m sure you’ve learnt by now.”“There go my plans of ruining both of their lives, reputations and careers.” Holly grumbled sarcastically. “I didn’t even get to punch either of them.”“I’ve contacted M, she said you needed debriefing but she’ll settle for a report and I’ll give you an informal debrief here.”“How much had to be included in this report?” Holly inquired, thinking back to the apps she’d used, the mapping one was probably acceptable but the other one, pretty much its only use was to break into places., Not that Holly had any intention of doing that, it had just been an idea that had popped into her head while watching one of her spy films. Her grandmother was giving her a piercing look.“What are you trying to hide from them?”“In my defence I was never planning on using it for anything other than a harmless test run to see if it worked.”“That’s wonderful, care to elaborate on what it is? If it doesn’t need to go in the report then it won’t get mentioned again.”“It’s a swipe card override. Basically I can rewrite the data on a swipe card to get the system to accept it no questions asked.” Victoria looked at her with an unreadable expression. “When is your reading week?”“Mid-February, why?”“I think you need to unlock some of that potential I should have seen earlier. I’m going to my house in Virginia during February, I would like for you to join me. For now though, until you choose to return to London we will start with some of the theoretical and historical aspects of espionage. I would also recommend you go back to your martial arts training.” Holly had underestimated her grandmother so much, even her own mother hadn’t noticed. “Your mother mentioned you had been asking for a month solid then stopped and were studiously going to the library twice a week.” This had not been even close to what Holly had been expecting when she came out here to hide. “Just because I will be teaching you these things does not mean I expect you to become an agent. If you continue with your work you will attract unwanted interest that can be dangerous. I am simply giving you the tools to defend yourself.”Holly was aware she hadn’t said anything for a while, a cup of tea was eventually put into her hands and she was told to drink. The caffeine calmed down her thoughts until they made sense. She could probably find a classes in London, she considered even take up airsofting too, it couldn’t hurt too much.----Christmas day snuck up on the two of them when Holly’s mother turned up with the rest family in tow. Holly had spent the day hiding out in the guest room using the excuse of having lots of exams to revise for to keep her room free from siblings. She had done some revision but first year was a repeat of her last year of school, for the benefit of anyone who hadn’t picked psychology as an option.Instead she was trawling through the history of espionage, picking out notable techniques both obvious and subtle. She also had a feed on her tablet open to listen into MI6’s comm system, while showing her the emails going around about the hearing. The thing with the video hadn’t stopped there and Holly was watching the fallout. Once it was over she would email them a list of improvements to their security.At some point one of her brothers, Nick, poked his head in, keeping the door mostly shut.“I’m taking Marple for a walk, want to come?” Holly looked at him then her little set up. “I should really get this done, I have exams coming up.”“I thought you would say that.” Nick let the door swing open as Marple bounced into the room knocking over Holly’s careful set up, tangling up the cables. “Marple wants you to come.” Rolling her eyes, Holly started tidying up her area and grabbed her shoes.They spent the walk chatting about anything, of all her siblings Nick was the loudest, craziest and often most violent, but with a heart of gold. As they walked Holly waited for whatever was bothering Nick to surface, but was content to talk about the latest superhero films.“I want to propose to Amber.” Ah, there it was. Amber was a nice enough person, but always seemed uncomfortable with some of the family, not naturally social, because of that it sometimes gave the impression that Amber didn't get on with the family.“So propose, you can be the Zoe to her Walsh instead of dancing around like Simon and Kaylee.” “You’re ok with it?”“Why wouldn’t I be? Amber seems to like you and I spent half of summer trying to avoid walking in on your cutsie times.”“I’m just nervous, I never thought I would want this.”“It’s natural to feel like that. Just make sure you call or tell mum and dad in person, I swear if they find out by a facebook relationship status change there will be glitter.” Nick pulled a face, getting rid of glitter was almost as bad as trying to get rid of blood.-----It came to no surprise that after her family had left, Victoria had announced they would be going to London for a ‘Field trip’. Holly was apprehensive about returning to the Holmes turf so soon, the incident was still too fresh in her mind. She wouldn’t put it past either of them to try to use the incident against her. Victoria mentioned they wouldn't be leaving quite yet, she would still have a few more days to relax.Holly asked to be dropped off at a pub, the one she and her friends frequented. On the drive down she’d texted the name of the pub and when she thought she would be there, she wanted to let them know she was ok. Inside, Holly gravitated to their usual booth, her two friends nodding their greeting as she slid into a seat. Matt looked half asleep in his seat, having returned to staring at his mostly empty glass.“Before you say anything, were you at Vauxhall Cross when it exploded?” Jodie asked. Holly hesitated for a second then nodded. Jodie turned to Matt and stuck out her tongue. “Told you. So how come?” Holly sighed feeling tired, this was going to keep haunting her, she could feel it.“Someone needed my help but wasn’t willing to ask nicely. It was only after the building exploded I even found out where I had been. After that I just needed to get out of London before I got dragged into anything else. Seems like it’s going to happen anyway though.” Her friends looked appropriately stunned as they read between the lines.“Is this the part where you say that it’s dangerous to be friends with you and we should leave?” Jodie asked playing with her straw.“It’s always been dangerous, you knew that when I started that bar fight the first time we met. This is just on a different level, the choice however remains yours.”“I’ll drink to that, you need to go get a drink. How sober do you need to be during this kind of shit anyway?” Jodie brought up a very good point, Holly did deserve a drink, she was still only a teenager even if she was an adult too, she needed to remember that. With a quick questioning of what they were drinking Holly descended on the bar to get a round. She hadn’t been waiting long when she glanced at the mirror behind the bar to see a familiar face waiting next to her. Warm brown eyes met hers and she couldn’t keep the smile from her face.“Stalking me?”“I heard you were back in London. You didn’t actually let me know how you were.”“In all fairness, even I didn’t know.” There was a pause as the bartender took her order, he was familiar enough with her to not need to ID her.“You made quite the impression on the new quartermaster.” Alex commented in a lower voice. Holly smirked, she knew that much. “He was being very professional trying not to ask me too much about you. I could see he was dying to get your number off me but didn't want to ask me.” That was kind of interesting, only if he knew she was SuperNova then he knew how to contact her, unless he really didn’t want her to find out who he was. Then again, to get her attention she would need to have actually looked over the usual hacker summoning haunts in recent days.Holly was saved from needing to comment by the arrival of her drinks, she managed to grip them all firmly and turned to her booth. “Joining us?” Alex shook his head.“Work to do.” Holly didn’t doubt that, she knew that MI6 was still on a high alert, they’d actually started to be careful of what went through the comm channels.“I’ll see you around then. And thanks, by the way, for taking me home.”“Anytime.” And with that the agent was gone. Holly returned to the booth and deposited the drinks in front of their respective person.“Tell me this honestly, how much of that is actually vodka?” Jodie demanded.“At least half.” There was no point lying, Jodie had suggested drinking anyway, she couldn’t complain about it.“It’s not even mid-day.”“Social conventions don’t take dealing with manipulative bastards into account, I do. Hence the drink.”----A while and a few more drinks later and the trio were wandering through London trying not to show exactly how drunk they were. Matt was the most sober of the group so Holly blamed him for the idea of going to an art gallery, even if it was only to pee. The second he had left the girls’ eyesight they had got bored and wandered off. He had unfortunately found them discussing the underlying homoerotic qualities of a painting. It was a painting of a fruit basket, though they did seem to be making accurate observations, Matt himself couldn’t see the connections it but it wouldn’t be the first time.He ushered them to move along, noticing that they were gathering a lot of attention. Just as they were going into the next room Holly drew back, grabbing the others and hid behind the wall by the doorway and peeked into the room before quickly withdrawing her head.“Share with the class?” Matt asked feeling far to sober for this, he wondered if this was why the other two drank so much.“I know that guy, the one in front of that painting,” she hissed, rational thought was telling her there was no point hiding, it was a public space, she was allowed to be there.“This is an art gallery, there are a lot of paintings.” Matt was wondering why he had been left as the sober one and why the Tate didn’t serve alcohol so he could pass the responsibility onto one of the others. “Did you sleep with this guy?”“I would,” Jodie commented peering around Holly.“No, wouldn’t mind it though.” Holly mumbled, peeking her head around again and almost loosing balance, there were now two people sat in front of the painting followed by the transfer of a briefcase and the second man walking off, luckily out of the other exit.“If I let go of you, are you likely to do something you will regret when you’re sober?”“Without a doubt.”“Go for it.” Matt gave her a small push into the room then dragged Jodie back behind the wall.Holly stumbled over to the bench and all but collapsed down next to a confused looking Q. “Didn’t take you for the art kind of person.” Holly commented, squinting at the painting.“I didn’t take you for the daytime drinking kind.” Q responded dryly.“Cheaper than therapy.”“Why are you here?” "Matt need to pee.""And I'm supposed to believe that? Us meeting now is just a coincident?" Holly felt an uncomfortable stomach pang at the accusatory tone of his words. She could feel her skin heating up in embarrassment, maybe Alex had been wrong, or maybe she’d just approached wrong, maybe she should have just left when she saw him. She decided the last one was the best course of action and without answering got up to leave, forcing her body to coordinate and not looking back. As she passed by her friends they fell into step beside her.“I’m not even sober and I already regret that,” Holly mumbled, not taking her eyes off the floor as she dragged her feet over it. “I’m just going to go home and never leave my room.”
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Hacking was always a bit therapeutic for Holly, seeing her programs burrow into systems and make them dance to her rhythm. If it wasn’t for the fact MI6 had enough to deal with Holly would have unleashed some of the nastier ones out of spite. She’d replayed every single interaction with Q and the nothing made sense about his behaviour at the Tate. There had to be something missing, which left even more questions for Holly.So she therapeutically sent both Sherlock and Mycroft some of her finest programs each. She knew Mycroft could easily pick up languages, but had to wonder how familiar he was with Klingon, and how long it would take for him to learn as all of his emails were put through a translator first. Holly had to wonder about the security of Mycroft's emails, while not totally insecure, they weren't exactly hard to alter. For Sherlock, well she sent him a lovely little program to his phone that messed with his autocorrect, she was looking forward to the fall out of that one. She had not forgiven them and likely wouldn’t considering they seemed incapable of apologising or even recognising what they did was wrong. On top of that Holly had rounded up all of Sherlock’s kitchen experiment’s and put them in a blender together, after making sure nothing would badly react, then started filling plastic cups with the mixture and placing them on every single surface in their living room and kitchen. As an afterthought she sent off a text to John suggesting he sleep somewhere else tonight.Just as she was about to sneak back into her room Martha and Victoria emerged from the kitchen. Holly tried not to look too guilty.“Ah, I told you she would be around.” Martha said jovially. Holly, still trying to look innocent, tried to inch towards her door.“Get changed, we need to be leaving soon.” Victoria ordered handing over a garment bag. “If you’re going to wear your boots, polish them first and make sure you can get through security.” With a short nod, Holly took the hangers.“Don’t go upstairs for a while,” she warned before closing her door behind her.In all honesty, Holly was half terrified to open the bag, she remembered the year of the hideous jumpers and everyone’s creative attempts to not wear them. She slowly unzipped the bag and let out a sigh of relief. It was a suit at the very least, which was great as she hadn’t bothered with shaving her legs since about the last time she’d had sex. In hindsight that was actually quite a long time ago.It didn’t take more than ten minutes to get ready, and that included searching for some of the toys she’d created and hadn’t been confiscated. The sleeves of the jacket were long enough to hide the tattoo unless someone was really looking for it otherwise applying the cover up would have taken ages. All in all though she could pass as a respectable government employee with minimal effort.It was only due to the clothing Holly didn’t immediately feel out of place as they sat down in the hearing room. A couple of rows behind them Mycroft was sat with his assistant, he'd given her a miserable look though his assistant looked amused, and there were a few other people scattered through the room. Holly herself had been introduced as an assistant and was trying to act the part without looking too bored. Eventually proceedings started and Holly paid attention, knowing this would at the very least be interesting. M looked formidable even when being questioned.----It was still early into the session when her phone buzzed silently, but urgently. She tapped in the password to bring up the alert and controlled her reaction, she type a message onto the screen and nudged Victoria to get her attention, angling the screen at her. Holly’s program that had been left behind in MI6’s systems was reporting the system’s compromise, this was quickly followed by an escaped prisoner alert.Victoria took the phone from her and typed out instructions along the lines of act natural but be prepared to take cover. Holly used the cover of typing on her phone to discretely look around the back of the room using the screens reflection, noting all possible entry point and exits. She’d already considered the ones at the front since the moment she’d sat down.There was calm for a while, nothing out of the ordinary happening, but Holly couldn’t bring herself to stop glancing around. She was the first to notice something off about the man in uniform who entered the room, by the time he had pulled out a gun Holly had slipped down to take cover, Victoria close behind her. By the time the first shot rang out the rest of the room’s occupants were also diving for cover.“Comments on the situation Holly? Try not to poke your head up too much, it attracts gun fire dear.” Holly used her phone’s reflective screen to observe the intruders.“The blond is in charge, he’s here with a specific goal in mind. Ex-SIS, presumably here as a grudge, he’s focusing on M so I assume that’s his target, considering her position I assume she had to make a decision and the blond came out worse for it. He’s got a uniform, so he’s probably planned this quite thoroughly, I’m guessing he’s the escapee from MI6.” Victoria nodded approvingly. The blond man was monologuing so that was giving Victoria time for her impromptu lesson.“Suggested actions.”“Distract and protect. They’re using the doorway as partial cover, to shoot them would leave you open. No one in here is armed anyway, all weapons were confiscated on our way in. He’s focused on M at the moment so they need some form of cover to get out of the room via the side door, assuming that’s secure. He’s an Ex-agent so a lot of plans for escape would be anticipated. Best course of actions would be shoot the extinguishers near the top so the power goes up and hits them. But as I mentioned, no one has a gun in here so we would need to wait out for help. As it is he’ll probably wait out there see if anyone did sneak something in. There’s no point charging in only to find someone snuck in some ceramic knives or something else that got past the metal detectors.”“Reasonable. Though by the smirk on your face you can do one better.” Holly was smirking as she reached down to her heel and pulled out what looked like a small hockey puck.“Not tested yet, remote control smoke dispenser mixed with the paint they use in the dye packs in banks. Probably not good to breath in, or get in the eyes.”“Do I want to know why you created this?”“No.”“Then you might as well just throw it.” Unfortunately silence had fallen as the monologue finished. The second Holly popped up she would be targeted. She ducked down to the floor and crawled to the edge of the room then down to the back, hugging the cover given by the wooden benches. She heard a few gun shots but kept moving. Upon reaching the last bench Holly stopped and made sure she was ready, phone in her left hand, smoke bomb in the other, she quickly used the phone to assess the angles and in anyone was looking in her direction but it all looked good.Leaning back against the edge of the pew Holly took a few deep breaths to focus herself and block out the occasional gunfire and then she twisted, slinging the smoke bomb towards the intruders.A line of fire across her forearm had her withdrawing her arm quicker than she would have though she was capable of. Already she could see blood welling up through the new cut in the fabric. In the same movement she set off the smoke grenade, all it needed was the touch of her phone, before it got kicked away. There was a satisfying poof as her phone’s screen showed her the cloud of dark purple now obscuring the doorway and the intruders. There was a hail of gunfire, more frantic and wild, Holly huddled at the end of the row making herself as small as possible as some of the bullets came in her direction, before it quickly petered out. Using her phone again to survey the scene showed a likely retreat but she wasn’t willing to stand and test that theory. Shrugging off the jacket, Holly folded it and pulled up the sleeve of her blouse to wrap the jacket around her arm, trying not to wince too much as the material came into contact with the wound. She pulled the arm against her chest to keep the knot in place as she half crawled back to her own aisle. She noticed Mycroft hiding in his own aisle as she passed but kept going, she wasn’t going to even pretend to care. Finally she got back to her grandmother who took her arm to examine, the blood already soaked through the layers. She hadn’t seen how deep the wound had been but it was bleeding a lot and even moving her fingers hurt.“Good idea for execution, you got to a position that gave you a clear throw and made yourself less of a target and less exposure while you threw it. Unfortunately against trained people like this they were bound to be on a hair trigger. You just were unlucky enough to get hit. M is safely out with an escort, an agent turned up thankfully armed, the intruders have retreated but should be easy to spot considering they’re all purple.” Holly could only half focus on the words, she recognised the feeling of awareness numbing, the angry pain becoming the centre of her consciousness as she pressed down on it. Her grandmother kept talking, asking her questions, giving her an auditory focus.It wasn’t long before paramedics and armed guards descended on the scene, Victoria beckoned over a paramedic and there was the stinging sensation of the makeshift bandage being peeled back and placed back firmly as she was helped to her feet and towards an ambulance outside. It seemed all too familiar, being in an ambulance with the colours of the world all faded.----By the time Holly was fully back to awareness her arm was wrapped and numb. Victoria was waiting just outside the vehicle, talking on her phone. The paramedic noticed she was aware again and started giving her instructions on caring for the wound, how it had been stitched up but they would fall off in a couple of days. After that she was released and carefully climbed out, still a bit unsteady.“Not bad for your first field outing.” Victoria commented as she lead Holly to her car.“Not sure if this counts as the first.” Holly muttered, she received a stern questioning look. “Mycroft asked me to retrieve some data from one of my lecturers laptops, neglected to tell me there was an agent doing the same thing, in the confusion we both got caught. All ended fairly well though, getting underestimated helped.”“I thought Mycroft would know better than to use untrained teenagers after the last one, though he did end up being a unique asset. Still the circumstances are different and he should know better.”----The second Victoria left 221 Holly snuck out with every intention of ignoring the instruction of ‘Do Not Drink Alcohol’ she headed to her usual and claimed the booth all to herself, glaring fiercely at anyone who dared approach.Alex sat down anyway.“Apparently you had a fun outing today.” Alex said, tugging her sleeve up to reveal the bandaged arm.“Bite me.” Holly growled. She hadn’t forgotten who had told her Q seemed interested.“Rumour has it you also bumped into everyone’s favourite new quartermaster again.” Holly wasn’t blind or drunk enough to not notice Alex leading the conversation around but she wanted to know where it went to see if it filled in any of the blanks.“Did this rumour include the fact I got completely blanked.”“Yes but I have no idea how you found him that quickly.” That was what had piqued the interest then, shame the answer wasn’t as interesting as they probably assumed.“We were wandering around, Matt needed a piss and the Tate was the closest non-gross place.”“Seriously?” “Do I look like I have any other way of drunkenly tracking people?”“Your phone does have exceptional abilities.”“Not to the point I can stalk someone across London without any form of tracker.” Not completely true, with enough time and facial recognition software she would have managed it. “Finished your interrogation?”“One more question. Are you supposed to be drinking? You can’t have been shot more than two hours ago.”“Bite me.”
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Of all the situations to wake up to, this was now on Holly’s list of never again did she want to see. In hind sight turning off her phone and crashing at Alex’s place probably hadn’t helped.As it was, her grandmother, an ex-double-0 agent, was standing in the bedroom pointing a gun at a current double-0 agent who was leaning up in bed, positioned to cover her, gun in hand pointing at Victoria. Holly was currently hoping this was all just a drunken hallucination as she sat up, using her arm to keep the duvet covering herself.“You didn’t come home last night and your phone was off, Martha was worried after all that has happened recently.” Victoria informed her coldly.“Is the gun necessary?” Holly croaked, her throat unbearably dry. “I thought it would get the point across better. I take it this is your double-0 friend?” Holly could just imagine the look on Alex’s face“Yes, this is Alex, Alex this is my grandmother Victoria, I believe her file has her as Retired and Extremely Dangerous, she used to be MI6.” Alex looked a bit less tense but the situation hadn’t changed that much as neither was willing to stand down first. “Could the guns go away please?” Neither of them moved and Holly just sighed.“Turn your phone back on and make sure you apologise to Martha.” Holly nodded reaching past Alex for her phone and holding it up as she turned it on. Satisfied, Victoria looked like she was going to put down the gun when Alex’s phone started ringing. Peaking over his shoulder Holly noticed the letter Q identifying the caller. From where she was standing Victoria could clearly also see.Alex sat up properly, his aim never wavering as her reached for the phone and answered it.“Not a good time Q.” “M is dead. So is Silva. Mallory is in charge now.” Even without the call being on speaker all three of them heard it, though only the first part made sense to Holly, she could feel the tension in the room bleed away as the guns were finally put away.The phone was plucked out of Alex’s slack grip as Victoria took over the call.“Did you not hear him say now was not a good time, what if he had been in the middle of something and someone else was listening in.” She scolded.“Ms Winslow, I am fully aware of Agent Rider’s location and company. All three of you have enough authorisation to know,” was Q’s cool response. “Surveillance is so much more accessible and widespread now with all the technology we have now.”“Shame you can’t keep it safe from hackers,” Holly muttered.“Tell Miss Summers she will not be getting her smoke device back.”Groaning, Holly collapsed back onto the bed and wished it would swallow her whole. This morning was just not worth waking up to.----Eventually Victoria left for long enough for the two to get dressed, Holly considered sneaking out the window but realised with her injured arm she would probably not manage the climb down. Instead she made a quick call to Martha, assuring her that she was fine.She was almost regretting not escaping Victoria took them out for lunch, still wasn’t as awkward as that double date. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if her phone hadn’t been confiscated. She’d planned on seeing if she could subvert the equipment request and get her smoke bomb out of MI6, she didn’t want them using it, she was protective of her tech.Lunch didn’t stay boring for long. Holly was just taking a sip of her tea when an enraged Sherlock pulled her from her seat and shoved her against the nearby wall. Holly, conscious of the public location, resisted the urge to break from the grip and retaliate.“Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Those experiments were important! Weeks of work wasted.” Sherlock punctuated his rant with smaller slams against the wall.“I’ll feel some sympathy when I get my computer and those three days back.” Holly growled, a quick glance showed both Alex and Victoria were continuing like nothing was out of the ordinary. If only the rest of the restaurant were the same. John burst in and quickly made his way over and started talking to Sherlock who just whined about what Holly had done. Slowly Holly moved to take the hand off her shoulder, hoping to at least get back to her lunch.Just as she reached his wrist and pushed a bit, Sherlock’s other hand moved to grab her arm, it took a few seconds for him to realise what he could feel under her sleeve and viciously grip harder. Pain flooded Holly’s mind, making the world go white for a few seconds as her knees buckled, the solid grip tugging her arm up while the pain radiated from the wound. She was gasping for breath, tears running down her face, as she tried to force the pain to something manageable, waiting for it to calm down. It hurt more than actually getting shot, she could feel her consciousness fading out.Suddenly her arm was released and she pulled it up against her chest protectively, stumbling to the floor and shuffling back to the wall in a vain attempt to make herself seem less of a target. She tugged the hood up and curled up. This was not ok with her. At no point had she physically attacked Sherlock, it had never escalated that far. She should have realised it would get this bad, she couldn’t think why it had never occurred to her.She could hear John calling her name, hands pulling at her to uncurl but she selfishly didn’t want to, she wanted to be left alone with her thoughts and the pain in her arm. Then there was the smell of bergamot filling her nose, she tilted her head up to see her grandmother crouched down holding out a cup of tea, earl grey by the smell of it. The cup was pushed closer and Holly reached out for it. Earl grey was her comfort drink, when she didn’t resort to alcohol. She sniffed it and cautiously took a sip, the strong familiar flavours rolling across her tongue.“Doctor Watson needs to look at your arm Holly.” Instinctively Holly pulled her arm closer to her chest. “Holly, now is not the time to be stubborn. Sherlock is no longer here, no one will hurt you.” Except Holly knew there would be pain, of course there would be. She knew that she should let it be seen to but part of her just didn’t want to deal with the world, all she’d been getting recently was a bunch of crap she’d had to trudge through.Then there was something different, a phone was being held out in front of her.“If you can’t run, crawl, if you can’t crawl what do you do Holly?” Nick’s voice filtered through the phones speaker.“You find someone to carry you.” Holly choked out, staring at the phone, gripping her cup tighter as her hand started to shake.“Then let them carry you until you can support yourself again.” It sounded so simple in theory, but who did she trust to metaphorically carry her. “Can you do that for me Holly?”“What if I can’t find someone to carry me?”“Look around, these people are worrying about you, let them in. Don’t do this again Holly, don’t hide. I don’t want to see you like that again.” Holly could feel the guilt welling up inside her chest. Slowly she offered out her arm and allowed the sleeve to be pushed up. A shock of red marred the previously clean while bandages. “I’ll be there soon Holly. If you don’t trust anyone else then trust me.” The phone went silent, almost unnoticed by the fuss over Holly’s arm.----Nick met her at the hospital where Molly was keeping Holly company as the IV delivered blood into her body. The combined loss from the gunshot then the wound opening again had made the transfusion necessary.“Tell me that wasn’t self-inflicted.” Nick pleaded looking at the fresh bandages. Molly looked at Holly, startled.“It wasn’t self-inflicted.” Molly wisely left the room realising this was going to be a personal conversation.“You scared me Holly, when grandma called and said you’d been hurt and wouldn’t let anyone help you I couldn’t stop thinking about the last time.” He reached out and carefully took her left wrist, turning it to see the tattoo, he ran his thumb down it feeling the ridges running across it. “I couldn’t help remembering that promise you made when you got that tattoo.”“I keep my promises Nick. Especially that one.”“Want to tell me what happened then?” Nick sighed, sitting next to her on the bed.“Not really.” Only because she didn’t want to mention getting shot at, or any of the events surrounding it."Want to to tell me who did it?""No." With Mycroft protecting his brother Nick would not stand a chance at getting back at him, even with Holly's help at the moment. Not that revenge would make the situation any better, that was what got her into this situation in the first place. It irked Holly that at the moment she had to be the one to concede. The Holmes brothers could really do with someone taking them down a notch but even if she did do something the couldn't' pin on her she would probably still get the blame. Holly abruptly cut off that train of thought before it started plotting too much.“I’m guessing you don’t want me to mention this to mum or dad.”“I’m sure they’d find some way of making it all my fault. ‘If you’d studies engineering or computer science like we suggested then things wouldn’t be like this’. I can hear it now.”“I don’t know how they would make that connection but unfortunately I can sympathise.” They both laughed a bit, they both shared the status of black sheep for not going after technical subjects at university like their other older siblings. Nick hadn’t gone and Holly was doing psychology, they’d often joked about who was the blacker sheep.----Holly was happy when lectures started up again, she wanted to at least feel normal for a while. She was still banned from climbing for another few weeks until her arm healed more but she still went with Jodie to keep the routine. The second week back was exam week which Holly threw herself into. Her arm ached from writing so much with the cut still tender. She was so grateful for John and Martha running interference between her and Sherlock. So far she had managed to avoid him successfully, Jodie and Matt helping while they were out, keeping an eye out for the detective so they could avoid him. Holly hadn’t told them the full story but enough so they understood.Victoria had gone back to her house in Somerset, promising to give her details of her travel arrangements for her reading week. She’d also been given more things to read and practice in her spare time but for now Holly was neglecting it, trying to keep to a normal life.Most notable was the fact Holly had removed her presence from MI6’s systems completely, it had been fun for a while but only lead to trouble, she’d learnt that lesson by now. She still hadn’t got any of the rest of her rig back but by now she wasn’t expecting it anymore. The only tie she hadn’t broken with the agency was the one with Alex but that didn’t mean she was actively contacting him.Just because she was pretending things were normal didn’t mean that everything was alright. Holly knew the nightmares would eventually go, and until then she would wake up some time in the dark hours of the morning and distract herself. Sometimes she would go jogging, other times she would work on a project. If anyone had noticed they hadn’t said anything. Probably helped by the fact Holly was covering up any signs of it.----It was three am on one such occasion when Holly picked up on a hidden message from Scipo, another grey hat hacker who’d been dark for almost a year. It was short and simple directing Holly as SuperNova to a more secure page, a challenge, she’d have to hack it to get to the true message.She was hesitant, unsure if she wanted to dive back into hacking just yet but as she probed the security her interest piqued. It was Scipo after all, they’d done some work together a long time ago and so he knew exactly what to do to get her attention. With the length of time he’d been dark though, she was a tiny bit suspicious. The coding was his style though, no doubt about it.Perusing through her collection of hacking tools, Holly took the time to consider the options, for her own safety she would be making the attack through several different channels to obscure the origin point. There was a chance he’d been compromised.Because of the longer route, it would take a while to get results, Holly went back to reading through the message boards to see what else was up, Wasp had been quiet for a while after asking for information but Plague had mentioned contact recently. The members of the Hackers Republic liked to look out for each other, if nothing else but to ensure their secrecy and alert the others if they had been infiltrated. Holly was her own contact, she had two hacker personas that vouched for each other. In the beginning she hadn’t wanted to have anyone know her, she was young and it creeped her out, now it was just habit.It was almost four am when a dialog box popped up on her screen linking her to the page, now open for her to see.On the screen was an almost empty page, a short message in the middle.Text me
07594 555762
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Holly was staring at the screen of a new phone, sadly not her latest prototype, that still wasn’t finished yet. Only one number had been programed in, the one given to her by Scipo, which was why she had a whole new phone, including a new sim, paid for with cash. She’d also some of her standard programs, similar to the one she used in hacking, that obscured the origin of any messages and kept any tag along programs from reaching the phone. ‘Scipo?’ Holly honestly wasn’t sure what to expect considering how out of the blue this was. It made up for the lack of action, which Holly was not allowing herself to feel bad about missing.‘SuperNova.’ That at least confirmed it was the right person. ‘I wasn’t sure if you would text.’‘I almost didn’t, curiosity got the better of me. Why start talking now?’‘Curiosity.’ Holly wasn’t even sure if that was a reason. She placed the phone down on her desk and glanced over to her window, still dark, another early wake up. She’d been surprised that there had been any reply so soon but now she didn’t know what to say. Too restless to stay in her room, Holly changed into her jogging clothes, patting her pockets to make sure she had her keys and phone. It was the afterthought got her to take the second phone too. She jogged to the nearest park and started a lap. It gave her the time a peace to let her mind unwind. Normally she would climb but it was too early for anywhere to be open and her arm wasn’t healed nearly enough, the stitches were still there, a stark reminder of what she’d gone through and what she planned to stay away from.Her grandmother still wanted to teach her how to defend herself, Holly remained indecisive but would likely go to America just to have a change of scenery. It was tiring trying to avoid so much while trying to also keeping to a normal life.Who was she trying to kid? Her life hadn’t been normal for a while, she just was fond of the illusion.She leant against a bench and stretched, she hadn’t noticed she’d built up to a run on her route until she’d decided to take a break. Her legs burned a bit but it felt good. The park was still empty, not even the early birds were up yet. In the distance she could still hear cars, London didn’t sleep, it merely got quieter. She pulled out both phones, and checked them for messages or emails as a habit, nothing interesting tended to come before 7am but she checked anyway.Scipo had texted, three messages waited for her on that phone. After a lack of response they’d asked if she was ok, was she busy, or just didn’t want to talk. Holly was still a bit weary of her new texting companion, after the semester she’d had it was probably understandable. She texted back saying she’d gotten distracted, keeping it vague for the moment.Now that she’d stopped moving she could feel the cold seeping into her skin. She broke into a light jog to head back to Baker Street, she liked to get back before anyone noticed she was gone. That way her nightmares and lack of sleep could at least stay her business, she was not going to let Sherlock know about anything else he might exploit. Her arm still had phantom stabs of pain every time she caught a glance of him.----The house was still silent when she slipped in but just as she got to her door she heard the stairs creak. Her chest involuntarily tightened as she hoped that it was John or anyone who didn’t have the last name of Holmes.“Holly?” John’s voice questioned into the dim stairwell. Holly sighed in relief. “You’re up early.” There was something in the tone of his voice that sounded disapproving, the stairs creaked a few times as he made his way to the bottom of the stairs.“Couldn’t sleep.”“And yesterday? And the day before that?” John didn’t sound annoyed, he seemed far to used to it. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked kindly. Holly glanced around, unwilling to talk in a place she was fairly sure she would be overheard. “I’m sure there’s a coffee shop open now,” he offered, “If you don’t want to talk to me, please talk to someone.” Holly considered her options, of everyone she knew John was probably the best to talk to.“Lead on.”John had wisely resisted Holly’s attempts to find an open pub that would serve her alcohol at 6am. Instead they were at a coffee chain waiting for their respective drinks to cool. John had caught her trying to add caffeine tablets to her drink.“That probably isn’t helping your sleeping,” John reprimanded. Holly grimaced and went back to stirring her drink, she couldn’t sit still, not when she knew there was going to be a serious conversation. “I don’t want to sleep.” Holly could see the sympathy, John knew the feeling, of course he did, he’d been in Afghanistan, he’d been shot in the shoulder and sent home for it.“Nightmares?” Holly nodded, staring at her drink. “It happens after this kind of trauma, especially considering how often you see Sherlock since you both live in the same building. I don’t want to make it seem like I’m pushing you out, but it might be good for you to be somewhere else for a while. Your room probably keeps the memories of before Christmas there as a trigger, especially as Sherlock was insensitive then too. Does this make sense to you?” Holly nodded at her drink, it sounded simpler when someone else was saying it, it was hard to be objective sometimes.It made sense, looked like a trip to America might just be what the doctor suggested. Every other place she would consider sleeping had been invaded at some point, except maybe Matt’s halls but he had gone home early, missing a few lectures, he’s requested they not ask why and Holly and Jodie had respectfully not.----Eventually Holly took a leaf from Matt’s book and left early, sitting at a café, sipping tea in Heathrow’s shiny terminal five two and a half weeks before reading week. She’d told Martha she was leaving, not wanting a repeat of last time her great aunt was worried, and texted Jodie, telling her to pass it on to Matt if he got back first. It had been practically impossible to get a flight out without it being connected to her in some way, her passport was something she couldn’t not use. So instead she did everything normally, no reason for them to be suspicious if she went through all the proper channels. She wasn’t going to give them a reason to meddle. Going through security had been a bit nerve-racking, if someone had wanted to meddle that would have been the idea time, but she’d passed through without a second glance.She took another long sip of her drink as she scanned the area, more out of habit that worry. She hated the fact she was having to suppress her paranoid instinct to avoid a complete meltdown. Her phone beeped, a welcome distraction. Since their first texts, Holly and Scipo had been texting a lot more regularly, even if they did skirt around possible identifiers. It was nice, sort of, the itch to search for this person was constant but Holly resisted the urge. She was trying to be good, it meant less trouble.A flicker on the departures board caught her attention as the information updated, a gate now announced for her flight. Draining the rest of her drink and dumping the cup, she headed towards the gate, reading over the text as she walked, weaving around people and their bags.‘Have a good flight.’ Holly smiled a bit, she’d mentioned going somewhere, avoiding specifics, so Scipo would understand if she didn’t respond for a while. She replied with a simple smiley face before slipping her phone away.There were a few people already at the gate when she got there, they hadn’t started boarding yet, and probably wouldn’t for a few minutes at least. Just as she sat down her phone beeped again, the initial smile was quickly replaced by confusion as she read the latest text from Scipo.‘Enjoy First Class.’ Just as she was about to correct him she heard her name being called, a heavy feeling settled in her stomach.“Holly Summers?” A lady at the boarding desk was looking among the people waiting, her gaze stopping at Holly. “Holly Summers?” the lady questioned again. Nervously Holly nodded, holding out her passport as proof. “Your seat’s been upgraded.” Then everything clicked together. Scipo knew who she was. A million questions popped into her head as she felt her chest tightening. She could see the concern of the woman’s face and pulled together a neutral persona. Worrying about it could wait for the eight hour flight, then she could work out her next move.Holly couldn’t help but admire Scipo’s planning, he’d picked right before she wouldn’t have any access to the resources required to figure out who had changed her seat. By the time she got to a place where she did have the access, any trace would be gone.Didn’t mean she had to like what had happened. Once again something was happening without her having planned for it. That was what her brain did, it came up with every possible scenario and then figured out what was most likely to happen, from the information she had, and what would result from it. This not knowing was happening far more often than she liked.----Victoria’s house in Virginia was large and secluded, much like the one back in England. There was no Marple greeting her as she got out of the taxi though, which was a shame. Victoria greeted her at the door and gave her a quick tour before showing her to the dining room where flowers were spread out.“Always have a safe hobby, something you can fall back on if you need to appear unsuspicious or just want to quit what you do. Agents tend to have a few, that way they can rotate instead of using the same one all the time.” Victoria explained as she wrapped a bouquet. “Help me clear up the rest of these and I’ll show you the armoury.”The armoury wasn’t just one place, there were several weapons doted around the house and two main armouries, in case one was inaccessible. Holly listen though a half hour safety talk and then was walked through proper gun care. Only once Victoria thought she was ready was Holly handed an unloaded gun and carefully shown the best stances.Best education yet, Holly had thought as she lined up the sights, having been allowed to load the weapon and aim at a line of cans set up a reasonable distance away. She’d done the same with airsoft guns, before Uni with Nick, but this was so much more different, more thrilling.Victoria walked her through several guns, from handguns to a sniper rifle, asking what kind of ammunition they took and their effectiveness against various targets as they went, quizzing her on which gun would be used for hypothetical situations.As it got dark Holly expected them to pack up for the day, and as the weapons were stored safely it seemed that way. Until a pair of night vision goggle were placed in her hands.“I have no doubt that given enough time you will improve on these but for now we’ll be doing some night time tracking. You were sent off on enough camps to know how to do it in daylight.”----For the next three weeks Holly barely had time to think about her life back home. Victoria kept her busy learning new things and improving on them. Several times they’d played hide and seek with paintball replicas of the guns. Holly was getting better at not being caught, and in turn catching her grandmother.After cleaning up from one such game they relaxed by doing some more flower work. Holly had agreed it was useful to know and had a knack for making visually pleasing bouquets, something she blamed on psychology.It was during that session Holly felt something watching her. Victoria had explained in one of her lectures that gut feelings were often the senses picking up warning signs that the brain couldn’t process but still reacted to.“I know.” Holly glanced up and Victoria gave her a look and spoke again as if they were having a normal conversation, “Don’t worry about it.” The front door opened and Holly calmly kept arranging her flowers like her grandmother. She watched the newcomer come into view using the reflection of one of the glass cabinets.“Frank, so nice to see you again. What have you been doing to yourself? Holly, get the first aid kit. Someone tell Marvin to put that away before he hurts himself.” If Holly hadn’t been living with Victoria for three weeks then she would have been surprised at the calmness in which she gave out orders even with a guy dressed as a fireman bleeding from the shoulder in the living room and a crazy guy pointing a gun at them from the bushes outside the window.Quickly, she returned with the first aid kit, more people had joined them in the dining room. Uncertain what to do Holly situated herself by the woman who looked out of her depth and slightly green.“Does this happen often?”“I would like to say no, but then again I turned up after escaping a building that exploded. I’m Holly.”“Sarah.”
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Decked out in winter woodland camouflage, Holly peered through binoculars at the house that her grandmothers old friends had just entered. With half an ear she listened to Sarah and Victoria talking about Sarah and Frank’s relationship and the threats to the woman if she did anything to hurt the man. If she wasn’t so attentive to watching the surveillance on the building Holly would have asked why Sarah gets the nice treatment and Holly gets the ‘woken up with guns’ approach.
Then she heard the story about her grandmother’s lover and couldn’t help but wonder. No one had ever mentioned Victoria having another half and Holly had occasionally wondered who her grandfather was. Apparently shot, probably dead but considering her grandmother, it was possible he wasn’t, a headshot would have been a guaranteed kill, chest shots were unlikely to be survivable but still possible.
“They’re spreading out, moving to surround the building,” Holly reported, adding more detail to the exact pattern of their movements.
“Get ready to move out.” A person exited the building, quickly followed by a sniper shot that Holly could see was a kill shot. As a man came over to check the body Holly could see one of the men who had been with Frank. A shot rang out next to her as Victoria sent a warning shot, distracting the teams enough so that Frank and the crazy guy could escape. The trio of women scrambled away, Holly splitting off to add another trail.
At the rendezvous point Victoria was waiting, but Sarah was nowhere to be seen. Frank and crazy guy Marvin turned up minutes later, and after a quick discussion a plan was hatched that had all but Frank heading to Chicago to meet up later at some fundraiser thing. At her grandmothers request Holly but them on the attendees list for the event, it irked her a bit to be the getaway driver for the team but someone had to be. They would likely lock down the garage once shit went down.
So she was sat in the driver’s seat, monitoring the comm channel and occasionally blocking out signals to assist the team. As soon as she heard the VP was getting evacuated she started the car and waited.
Her heart was in her throat as a man carefully placed an injured Victoria on the backseat before climbing in and closing the door, crazy Marvin had called shotgun and as she drove off he kept his gun pointed out a window. All the lights seemed to be against them as Holly drove to the nearest safehouse. Holly could hear mumblings in Russian from the back seat but focused on driving, Keeping an eye out for tails, though Marvin was apparently good at spotting them.
In the small apartment Holly sought out the first aid kit and handed it over to the strange man, introduced as Ivan. Once Victoria was stable Ivan search the kitchen and brought out a bottle of vodka and a handful of shot glasses.
“So tell me about yourself Holly. How did you get involved in this party?” Ivan inquired as he poured out the alcohol, Marvin quickly downing his. A shot glass was pushed towards her and Holly was glad he didn’t ask if she could legally drink. The ice cold vodka soothingly burnt at her throat as she swallowed.
“Leave her alone, she’s still new to this.” Victoria was lucid enough to keep an eye on Holly. “She’s my granddaughter, yours too I suppose.” Holly almost choked on her second shot, mirrored by Ivan who added a few Russian curses. Marvin looked between them and just grunted, reaching for the bottle only for Holly to get there first and pour herself more, the bottle not even touching the table as more shot glasses were filled. Victoria looked half amused at the sight, though Holly wondered if that was with the help of the painkillers.
“Granddaughter?” Ivan muttered switching between looking at his glass and Holly.
“I always wondered why I was encouraged to learn Russian,” Holly mentioned, rolling her empty glass between her hands. She itched to do a search on Ivan, if he was in this mess then he would have some sort of interesting file for her to find.
“Don’t start a war with Russia,” Victoria ordered, giving Holly a stern look. Holly tried to look innocent but hid the failure by having another drink.
“Like I would get caught.” Holly mumbled into her glass. That gained an interested look from Ivan who dutifully filled her glass again with a grin.
“What does my granddaughter get up to then?”
“For the sake of plausible deniability I would like to say I do nothing illegal.”
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Holly was infinitely grateful for the lack of hangover the next morning as she set up surveillance equipment in an empty warehouse. The others would join her later for this trade, but she was there enough in advance looking like a teenage vandal just there to graffiti the place. She made sure to leave a few pieces of spray painted art behind so there would be no suspicion over her reasons to be there.
Finding a hiding spot she set up her laptop and quickly found the teams running surveillance on the building, luckily the outside only. She would have noticed anything inside. As Frank turned up she crashed their feeds and remotely detonated a few smoke grenades she’d ‘dropped’ on her way in to obscure any human observers allowing the rest of the group to get in unnoticed. With an eye on the screen, monitoring her own feeds, Holly assembled her borrowed sniper rifle and settled in to watch and provide her support if needed.
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In the end it wasn’t needed, though having the footage and confession that had been recorded was good, no matter what the CIA guy promised. She managed not to flinch when men were shot and killed, crimson puddles spreading form their fallen bodies. Victoria had taught her the theory of compartmentalising things like that and for her it was easy to put into practice.
After the CIA man had gone Holly began to take down her equipment, joining the others out by the car.
“I almost didn’t notice you up there in your nest,” Ivan praised fondly ruffling her hair, something Holly awkwardly endured, as he pulled her to one side. “Victoria mentioned you would be heading home soon. She has informed me of some events and I want you to know if you ever need help, I will gladly assist in any way I can. Even if you only need someone to talk to. I know I am only an old man but I never imagined I would have children, let alone grandchildren. You’ll have to forgive me if I become overprotective.”
“I’ll wait until you have a gun trained on a guy I just slept with before calling you overprotective.” Ivan chuckled.
----
As she waited at Dulles International Airport, Holly carefully added a tracing program to the seat allocations for her flight, Scipo hadn’t changed that one yet, probably in case she chose a different flight after the fun with her outbound trip. There was no guarantee Scipo would change it again, they might have predicted she would keep an eye out for it and not want her to catch on. That was a bit unfair, Scipo obviously knew who she was.
Once she got home, then she would really search for Scipo. For now she contented herself with just reading news from back home, in case there was anything important she should know about. Sherlock had started to make a name for himself, solving a few high profile cases. She couldn’t help but giggle at the picture of him wearing a dearstalker.
Her seat didn’t change. Holly wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or not as she settled in for a nap, trying not to think too much about going back home.
221 was her first brief stop, only staying long enough to dump her bags and say hi to Martha before going out to meet up with Jodie. Matt still wasn’t back, not even a text from him. Holly ignored the multiple unread messages from Scipo, still feeling the sting of betrayal.
“How do you even manage all of this?” Jodie asked as Holly finished her mostly censored tale.
“I have not got a clue but I’m beginning to suspect something genetic.”
“At least you can bring that excitement back here. It’s been horribly boring.” There was an awkward cough to the side and both girls turned to face the person. “I’m sorry, it wasn’t all boring. Holly, this is Jim.”
Of course it was.
Holly kept complete recognition from her face as Jodie shuffled across so that the newcomer could sit down. “He works in IT, but he’s really an actor.” Holly didn’t believe that for a second, sure he was a good actor but not a professional one. “I told him about how you fixed my laptop a few months ago, he’s good with computers too.” No matter how hard Jodie tried this conversation was not going to happen.
“I feel like I’m intruding,” Holly said after a few minutes of silence which she knew Jim was causing on purpose. “I still need to unpack anyway.” She felt bad leaving her friend with Jim, whom she would know more about had her computer ever been returned to her. She’d managed to read some of it before her rig was confiscated but she felt unprepared for this meeting.
“Don’t leave on my account. I can go. Jodie said you were on holiday, you two should catch up.” Holly was trying so hard not to roll her eyes. Jim looked all nervous and coy but she could see the look in his eyes that practically dared her to play.
“How about I got get a round and you can retell your story, I’m sure Jim would like to hear about the trip.” Jodie suggested, shuffling past Jim. Jim beamed at her before turning to focus his gaze upon Holly some of the shyness shed from his face.
“I hear we have more than just computer skills in common.” Jim mentioned casually, his innocent act still hanging on by a thread. He knew he had a while to talk, the pub was quite crowded. Holly could see a few people watching the table attentively, at least one had brushed a hand over a concealed weapon. They would probably work to make sure Jim had time by delaying Jodie.
“If you’re here to recruit me then seriously reconsider, I do not play well with others.”
“I was impressed by your work with Miss Adler. That phone of hers was truly remarkable, and that second account was truly inspired.” It was as if he wasn’t listening. Holly wondered if he realised that flattery was never going to work.
“Still no.”
“Think of all of those ideas you could translate into working projects. You would never want or need for anything again. The world would be at your fingertips.” Holly had a suspicion that he wasn’t actually trying to recruit her, there was something deeper than that. He had something planned and was using this conversation to find out something. “You could get back at the Holmes brothers for what they did to you.”
“If I wanted to, I would.”
“Are you trying to be the bigger person? Accepting that you’ll never beat them and so stop trying, but pretending you’re above all of that. Boring. We both know they could do with taking down a few pegs, remind them they are not untouchable.” Holly could hear an Irish lilt emerge in his voice as he spoke, something that hadn’t been there in any of their previous meetings. Was he doing it on purpose, letting her see under the mask? For what purpose? She’d passed the intrigued phase, she wasn’t going to sleep with him again either.
“Look, I have stuff to do, assignments to hand in and exams to revise for. I do not have time to play these games.”
“That is a shame. I thought you would be more fun than the Holmes brothers. You’re just boring.”
“I aim to please.”
“What if I gave you an incentive?” There was something in his playful tone that made Holly’s blood run cold. “Jodie seems like a nice girl.”
Holly leant over the table a bit, beckoning Jim in and fixing him with a playful smile and eyes of steel. “I feel like I shouldn’t need to say this, you obviously have done your research. You do anything to her and you will feel the full force of my wrath. Your plans with the Holmes’s will be ruined. That little spider web of yours will go up in flames, a warning beacon to people like you, no one will associate with the name Moriarty. Richard Brook will not be your safe persona. You will have nowhere to hide. This I promise you,” Holly hissed.
“It’s a date then. I knew you weren’t boring.” Holly growled at the man who was smiling at her. She knew she’d slipped up and been goaded into that and she was trying so hard not to let the red bleed into her vision. Too many civilians and he had too much backup. “I’ll be seeing you. Do let Jodie know I’m sorry that I couldn’t stay, work calls.”
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Holly had barely stepped foot onto Baker Street when she found herself being escorted up into the living room of 221b where Mycroft sat in one of the chairs.“Had a nice drink?”“Get to the point.” Holly was not in the mood for more games, she was jetlagged and less than sober.“You had a meeting with Moriarty, an hour later three highly secure places are broken into, a feat that would require an extremely good coder which you have shown yourself to be.” Holly wanted to punch something, Moriarty had played her and was playing with the Holmes’s, most likely using them to distract each other.“If you think I had something to do with it then why have I not been arrested and shoved into a cell for three days again? You had nothing against doing that last time.” Holly grit out bitterly.“If you wish, I could arrange for that.” Holly wished she’d just stayed at the pub until kicking out time. They both knew he couldn’t officially, he had no reasonable grounds for detaining her since their deal over Adler’s phone and she’d been behaving herself since then.“Be my guest, just get to the point before I graduate. I know you like to make a song and dance of this, Sherly does too, but seriously, just tell me what you want so I can get started on my psych essay and pretend that coming to London never screwed up my life.”“I want the code that broke into the Bank of England, Pentonville prison and the Tower of London.” Mycroft said, no hint of jest in his face or voice.“Wow, he doesn’t do things small,” Holly muttered, mind already working on it, though part of it was considering if she even wanted to help this man. “I would need time to see the security of the three buildings and work from there. It would be helpful if I ever got my tech back. I haven’t had time to source replacements.” Holly was still bitter about that, though by now she doubted she would trust anything she got back.“I have a better proposal, I am inviting you to work with the best technological resources at England’s disposal.” Mycroft grinning was truly a horrifying sight, it never boded well for the situation. Holly wasn’t sure how many different exasperated faces she could make before Mycroft actually notices she was tired of him not being straight to the point.“You don’t trust me and want someone watching over what I’m doing.” Holly translated. “If there’s someone who can keep up with me then why aren’t they doing this? Why ask me?”“Q is far too busy to be working on this full time.” Holly pinched the bridge of her nose, that was going to be awkward considering their last meeting. She wondered if there was any point trying to say no. She took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, allowing her thoughts to form in a more orderly fashion while she kept her temper in check.“Moriarty threaten my friend simply to get a rise out of me. He knows he can use it against me and I do not want to put my friends, any of them in danger because of your games. I heard what happened to John.”“Then she will be placed in a safe house until this has been resolved.” Holly sighed, that felt too much like she was doing what Moriarty wanted her to do. If she was going to get out of this with everything fine she would have to start planning. She levelled her gaze at the Holmes in front of her, trying to see this from his point of view, taking into account his resources.“What aren’t you telling me?” With any luck she would get a clue and not have to work out every possible situation. “There’s no way you are letting him do all of this without some sort of game plan. In fact I would be tempted to say you’ve been herding him to the end game, one with minimal damages and or casualties.” The grin really was creeping her out, but its growth gave her the impression she was on the right track. So with that in mind, anything she was doing was just a bonus for him, finding out how those places had been hacked wasn’t necessary to his plan. Therefore he would be unlikely to truly force her to do this, no bringing out the big guns. However by agreeing to this, knowing that he wasn’t going to bring out the trump card, it would mean in some way she was actually wanting to work for him, not simply agreeing. Last time she went down that path bad things happened.“If you’ve quite finished speculating, I believe there’s a matter of national security to attend to.” Mycroft said moving to stand up. Holly gave him a flat look.“You keep forgetting. I don’t work for you. You have agencies for this. Use them. Q might be busy but I thought you would have departments dedicated to cyber security.” Holly paused for effect, pretending to be in deep thought. “So now what, appeal to my ego? We both know appealing to my humanity won’t work. Bribing could be interesting. Threatening my friends would not be a good idea and you wouldn’t be stupid enough to let me loose with technology if I’m being forced to do this.”“Well-”“But none of that’s right is it? You wouldn’t come here personally unless you have an edge. You could have easily ordered Alex to convince me, he works for you. He would probably give better incentives than you ever could.”“Actually, I have a different approach. You have another friend, Matthew.” Holly nodded, her eyes narrowing. Now the lack of contact over the past weeks worried her. “He’s applied for a government position in cyber security for once he’s finished his degree. You may not be aware he’s completing an online degree in computer science alongside his psychology degree at Queen Mary’s. Currently his application is on the line between accepted and rejected. You have the opportunity to tip his application over the line.”If it wasn’t for the fact Holly was on the receiving end of this manipulation, she almost would have applauded his exploitation of her friendship towards his own ends. Artfully done. “I want proof that he’s applied, and proof that he’s not already been accepted.” The day Holly took this man’s words at face value was the day she went skipping through fields of flowers hand in hand with Sherlock. Mycroft nodded at one of the men who had been patiently stood in the room, a folder was produced and handed over to Holly. Access to the digital copies would have probably been too much to ask, Holly thought sullenly as she opened the file. At least with the digital version she could see when it was created and where it was stored to assess its legitimacy, with this, she’d have to make an educated guess. She levelled an unimpressed look at Mycroft. “I’ll take your word for it and look properly later. Try not to think too much about what I’ll do if you lied to me.”----Soon Holly found herself in Q-branch, staring in awe at the lovely tech surrounding her. An armed guard trailed a little behind her, Holly hadn’t figured out if it was for her protection or to keep her in line yet. Every time she reached out to run her fingers over something, a sharp cough from the guard stopped her.“Miss Summers?” one of the workers cautiously approached them, Holly nodded. “Q is on his way down. I’ve been told to show you to your work station.” The workstation was a desk with a laptop on it, her tablet was probably a better spec than this laptop was. Not exactly what Holly had been expecting when Mycroft had said ‘best technological resources at England’s disposal’.“Can I have the wifi password?” The guy looked at her sheepishly. “Tell me this place does have wifi.”“I believe you managed to get onto the network perfectly fine without a password last time you were at MI6.” Q was behind them, tapping away at a tablet, not even looking up at them.“I can go if you want.” Holly offered, gesturing to the exit. “As long as someone explains it was not my fault I was unwelcome here.” “I was under the impression that you had some sort of deal in place.” Still not looking up, Holly wondered how easy it would be to just take it.“Even as I think about it now, I’m wondering why I’m not outright blocking my friend’s admission into this world. With the attitude around here and his association to me he’d probably already doomed. Thank you for helping me realise that, I need to go make a call and break off a deal.” One day these people would realise she was not going let herself be someone to be toyed with. She sat on the desk next to the laptop and pulled out her phone, there were no signal bars, of course there weren’t, this section was underground. Tapping the wireless icon, she waited for it to change colour, turning blue, then green. The signal now showed three bars, using the network as a boost. Under the watching eyes she called Mycroft.“Mikey, you’re going to have to find someone else to do this. I don’t appreciate being put out like this. This so called ‘best tech England can offer’ is either terrible or I’m not worth lending it to, even if you used it to try to get me here. You can reject my friend’s application, it’s probably for the best he doesn’t get involved with this crap.”“That is a shame. Could you pass the phone over to Q?” Mycroft asked in a sickly sweet voice.“No. There seems to be a trend of not getting my tech back with him, I’m not letting this go.”“Then be a dear and tell him the phone in his office is ringing.” Holly rolled her eyes, that was probably payback for the Mikey nickname. She passed on the message and watched as Q scowled and left. Holly chose to ignore the tech and guard still nearby, the poor tech looked terrified and from experience the guard said nothing. Instead she navigated to her messages. She could already see several from Jodie, she’d probably seen the news about Jim by now. All of them were in full caps and most of them were unintelligible due to the typos. Alex had also texted her, requesting that HQ not be blown up during her visit again.Then there were all the unread messages from Scipo. She wasn’t that masochistically bored yet so she clicked onto her emails, then facebook when her emails showed nothing new. It was almost tempting to update her status to ‘Chilling in Spy HQ’ maybe even add a selfie for the hell of it. How long would it stay up, she wondered.More time passed and still nothing from Q, or even a call from Mycroft. Holly was resisting the urge to actually access the network and snoop around instead of just stealing their wifi. But she was trying to be good and didn’t want to end up in a cell again anytime soon.Eventually she found herself hovering over the button to messages from Scipo. Looking up, hoping for a distraction, Holly caved and clicked, scrolling up a bit to start from where she left off. There was a fair amount of apologising, to be expected, some asking if he could do anything to make it okay again, some just asking if she was okay. The texts had become less frequent over the time Holly had been in America. By the time she’d gotten back to London there’d only been one a day. The one she’d gotten today simply said, ‘I’m sorry, I’ll stop contacting you.’ Holly couldn’t help but feel a bit sad, she’d enjoyed talking to Scipo, she wished she could feel less betrayed. Her online identity was supposed to be separate from her. No one knew there was a connection.Except the one person who just stepped out of his office.
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Holly’s aggression bled through to her typing, each rapid keystroke loud and harsh against the softer pitter-patter of the rest of the department. If it had been her equipment then she might have been nicer to it, it was at least better than the laptop she’d first been supposed to use.Mycroft must really like having her as a potential asset if he’d chastised a head of department on her behalf. Q had apologised for his rudeness and assigned her a better computer before disappearing off to his office. After realising he was the only person she knew who knew about her online persona she’d watched him more carefully in the short period of time before he escaped. He’d remained professional, if not a bit cold, avoiding looking directly at her. If he was upset about her ignoring his texts the behaviour might be explainable. If he was Scipo. Now she wanted nothing more to be back in her room, turning over every rock until she could find out Scipos’s identity. Even with how apologetic the texts had been there had been no offer to reveal themself. But now she had a lead she could delve into it from his side, focussing more on him as the potential Scipo. She did not allow herself to consider it could only be Q, Moriarty could have a hacker who had found out. Hell, even Matt might have found out eventually about the connection if he was Scipo. She didn’t know how good he was but if he potentially had a place here he couldn’t be bad.This was all to consider later. For now she was searching for any programs that showed up on all three of the security systems. To be honest she wasn’t expecting one, but it was better to check first. Moriarty liked games, he let himself get caught while wearing the crown jewels for fun. His playing board was not digital though, it never had been. People were his game, he like to manipulate them, make them dance to his tune. Holly would bet all of her homemade apps that he had used humans as the weak link, there had been no single piece of code to break into the three places, just three people ready to help him.It irked her that if she suggested it she would likely be suspected as an accomplice. It sucked being able to read people sometimes. Having to explain that she 'just knew' never worked. For now she would just waste time on fruitless searched until her work naturally branched to the more likely answers. It wasn’t like Mycroft even needed this other than for his own gain.----Holly hadn’t even realised she’d fallen asleep until she suddenly felt aware of her surroundings. Slowly she started to identify the sounds of the room. It was almost empty of people, the whir of computers almost louder than the voice she could hear. She opened one eye, just a bit, the lights had been dimmed around her work space much to her relief. She was nice and warm, even if her back ached from sleeping slumped over a desk. It was quickly determined that a blanket was the cause. Someone had been nice enough to cover her with one while she slept.A few cracks of her spine later and Holly felt awake enough to look at her screen and actually understand what she was seeing. It was nice to see she was right, there was no sign of an external break in or even access. So at the very least someone had to have been on site to get any program onto the system. Holly still preferred the human theory though. Wrapping the blanket around herself more securely, Holly took her mug to the kitchen to make tea. Now she was awake she might as well keep working, at least until she had the next search running. Depended on the time anyway, she hadn’t even considered checking the time when she looked over her results. It probably wouldn’t be good to be sleeping when the rest of the employees came in. It would be interesting enough to see how many noticed she was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, she assumed it was past midnight anyway. She’d just keep her hoodie on and no one would know.While waiting for her tea to steep Holly looked back into the department, most of it was dimmer, though her area was noticeably more so. A few people sat at desks, possibly a night shift, considering the work they did here it made sense to have people watching around the clock. She wondered if any of them were responsible for the blanket.She returned to her tea, taking out the tea bag and adding milk. Pausing for a moment, she topped it up with cold water and took a sip, still a bit hot but it wouldn’t burn her tongue.“I thought you were still asleep.” Holly pivoted around, managing to not spill her precious tea, to see Q with his own mug in the doorway. He looked a lot more relaxed, his hair looked messier than it had been and his tie was absent, the top button of his shirt undone for comfort. “How’s it going?” he asked as he set about making his own tea. Holly stared at him, stunned at the casualness after the cold reception earlier.“Ruled out remote access, it’s unlikely that Moriarty directly hacked the security directly from his phone as he claimed. I’m checking for new software in the systems, installed recently, while that’s running I’m going to check into the employees who were monitoring the security system. It’s possible it was an inside job.” Holly didn’t bother with embellishments, Q could probably guess how she did it, if not, she wasn’t giving more of her techniques away.“For all three of them?”“Hacking isn’t Moriarty’s style. He enjoys playing with people, being better than them, not being better than a security system.” The break-ins were almost definitely him playing with the Holmes’s. She was just an extraneous player.“Maybe he wanted to do something different to catch us off guard.”“If he wanted to catch us off guard he would have done something dramatic.”“This wasn’t dramatic? He wrote ‘Get Sherlock’, backwards, on the case of the crown jewels before smashing it and allowing himself to be caught wearing the jewels.”“How many people were around when he did those things? Minimal amount, generally only employees and possibly inmates at Pentonville. If he wanted to be dramatic he would go larger scale, everyone would know his name and face. This was just for humiliation.”“He is on trial, his face will be on the front page of every newspaper.” Holly had half suspected he would be ushered away for a private trial. It was like they were asking to be made a fool of. Moriarty would not have allowed himself to be caught if he didn’t have a plan to get off scot free while flipping off the Holmes’s.“I bet he gets found not guilty.” Q’s face was comical. “I bet he won’t even present any evidence for his own defence. That is him being dramatic, he wants to be the word on everyone’s mind, sowing confusion, people won’t know who to trust. He visibly got caught with the crown jewels, he knows that if he gets found not guilty it will be like the ultimate screw you.”“How would he get a not guilty verdict? The jury will be selected at random from the current pool once anyone not eligible is discounted. They can’t all be plants of his and for this high profile case they will be in an undisclosed location for their own safety.”“Never underestimate Moriarty and his sphere of influence. One thing I noticed when, for the short period of time, I had my research on dear old Jim, is that each agency I borrowed information from saw a different group he associated with. Since agencies are very protective of their information on people like Jim and don’t share, no one seems to have noticed. Anyone could be his.”“Including you?” There was the coldness from earlier and the accusing tone from the gallery. Holly took a sip from her cup as she looked over the department head with a bored look.“I guess it wouldn’t be the first time your system has been infiltrated right under your nose,” she said evenly as she swept out of the room.----The lights had never been brighter over her workspace. Q’s revenge Holly guessed. She left the blanket folded on the desk as she worked, trawling through the system updates for all three places, looking for something wrong. Eventually she hacked the system and dimmed the lights so it didn’t hurt her eyes so much. If while she was at it she’d managed to hijack his headset’s connection and make nyan cat play through it, well no one had to definitively know it was her, they couldn’t prove it anyway. It was only through keeping an eye on the trial through some less that legal methods, that Holly could tell how much time had passed, her inability to sleep had kicked in and she felt like a zombie staring at the screen. Some kind person, one of the employees had handed over some new clothes, courtesy of Mycroft, as well as bringing her takeout food on occasion. Holly was just glad his taste had overridden any childish desires to humiliate her.By the time Holly had set the search for signs of an inside job going she was dying for some fresh air and a smoke, a drink would be good too but not while she was working. She snuck out with a group of employees heading out for lunch. While she was fairly sure she was free to come and go as she pleased, it was in her nature to mess with people. The fact she and Q had been subtly pranking each other since that first night might have contributed to it a bit.It came to no surprise that the London weather was cold and miserable, not that she felt the cold much, and by now she was used to the miserable. She walked for a bit before finding a shop to get her cigarettes from. She wandered around, enjoying the normalcy for the moment. With her cigarettes, and a lighter as she’d remembered she didn’t have hers, she stopped by a tree to lean against as she enjoyed the hum of London. The nicotine had a nice calming effect and for a few minutes she could forget her troubles.She’d just stubbed out the first one and been reaching for the pack when she suddenly felt aware of something, the gut feeling. She scanned the street looking for some quick cover. Ducking into a nearby shop she pretended to browse for a bit while she adjusted her look, pulling her hair out of her face back into a high pony tail and taking off her hoodie, tying it low on her hips. She walked out of the shop after a while, closely following some people. There was a more noticeable swing in her stride and she put on more energetic persona. Keeping to busy crowded streets, Holly ducked into more shops as she circled around back to MI6. She couldn’t risk taking out her phone, it was distinct enough to give here away. She couldn’t even have another cigarette without potentially being recognised by whoever had triggered her gut feeling. It had occurred to her that it could just be Mycroft or Q checking up on her, but they would have called. Even if Q wasn’t Scipo, he had other methods.Just as she was contemplating the merits of using an alleyway Holly felt a sharp sting in her bare arm and something bright in her peripheral vision. Glancing around she swore colourfully in Russian, three tranq darts were sticking out of her arm. Already her arm was going numb and she was starting to feel light headed and unbalanced, her other arm was grabbed and she saw herself being pulled towards a blurry car, stumbling slightly as her limbs stopped obeying.One day she would learn that getting involved with MI6 only really ends in trouble.
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A sharp agonising pain in her left hand roused Holly quite forcefully, a noise of pain quickly supressed. Her eyes darted around, trying to take in the situation, waiting for the residual lag from whatever had been in the darts to wear off. A second pain almost eclipsed the first as she finally got everything to start making sense.Her left index finger pointed upwards at an unnatural angle, the middle finger at slightly less of an angle. Holly couldn’t tell if it was broken or simple dislocated. Her arms had several straps holding them tightly to the armrests of the chair she was sat in, one even going over the back of her hands. Fidgeting around revealed plenty more restraints, binding her legs to the chair legs and her chest to the backrest. Excessive but Jim, who was watching with a smirk, probably didn’t want to risk her getting free, maybe she’d get the bad guy monologue complete with detailed plans.“It’s a shame we couldn’t be friends.” Moriarty’s Irish drawl filled the room. “I liked you. But you chose to side with the angels.” The familiar man was stood in a tailored suit, standing tall but with a casual air. He looked completely comfortable for possibly the first time she’d seen him.“Ha, ‘chose’, you think I chose that side, how cute.” She would have used air quotes had her hands been free. “Mycroft detained me for three days in a holding cell, my room was ransacked and my tech all confiscated, I still haven’t got most of it back. Sherlock assaulted me, pulling me out of a chair and shoving me up against a wall before tearing some stitches to the point I needed a blood transfusion, my friend just sat there and acted as if nothing was happening. After practically being blackmailed into helping, my supervisor’s been passive-aggressively disrupting me, even though I was apparently needed enough to warrant blackmailing. And you think I chose to side with them?” Holly sneered, playing up her distain, most of that she had provoked into happening, though the reactions always seemed a bit disproportionate.During her rant Jim just grinned, bouncing on his feet, looking happier than she really thought was warranted.“So, did you like what I did?” Holly hated how he did this, switching his approach, it made it difficult to get a good read on him. It was possible he was doing it on purpose but it was seriously annoying her, she enjoyed having that edge over people.“Which part? I have to admit, watching Sherlock dance to your little tune has been amusing. He’s missed your trick with the break ins and the trial though, I was a bit disappointed. I always am when people use a subject they know little about as the ultimate answer. ‘A simple code’, ridiculous.”“I thought you would, I put that in for you, I thought you would enjoy the puzzle. Did you figure it out?”“You used people for the break ins, they overrode the system manually, I didn’t get to figuring how you got them to cooperate, I had to first prove that it wasn’t a cyber-threat and that took ages.” Jim looked almost proud. “I also saw you managed to sway the jury into finding you not guilty. I noticed the little intrusion into their personalised TVs, perpetrated from inside the hotel’s system. Maybe if my supervisor had been a little less childish I would have mentioned it.”“I wish I’d known you were this interesting earlier. Sherlock’s so ordinary.” Moriarty nodded to somewhere behind her. Someone moved forward and pulled her right middle finger backward until there was an audible crack that had Holly gasping in pain at the newly dislocated finger, just as the others had finally gone to a dull throbbing. “I’m afraid you’ve become too volatile to be allowed to interfere with my game with Sherlock, I can’t have you ruining it.” Her right pinky was given the same treatment, with the strap over her hands she couldn’t curl up her good fingers to prevent any more abuse. Holly only just noticed Moriarty putting on a pair of leather gloves as she gritted her teeth through the fresh pain. A flash of a pale cream butterfly knife being flipped in his hand drew her attention and she added controlling her rising panic to her things to be doing. She would endure this, she had to. Her left pinky’s new pain flared up the pain in the other finger of her left hand. She knew he was taking away her ability to type, at least temporarily, she really hoped the knife wouldn’t be permanently taking it away, though dislocating them only to cut them off seemed a bit of wasted effort. She pushed those thoughts away, negative thinking was not conductive to survival.If she could escape from a building that had just exploded while in pyjamas then she could do this.If she could avoid those men in Virginia who were hunting her, Sarah and her grandmother then she could do this. If she could survive all of the bar fights and messes she got into here in London then she could do this.She was a survivor. The knife was close to her neck but Holly refused to flinch away from it. What good would it do, she couldn’t get away from it? The tip was traced across her throat, pressed hard enough to sting. “Just giving you a few reminders of our time together.” When the blade was withdrawn there was no blood, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t bleed later. There was a vaguely blank look on Jim’s face as he studied her face, the blade raised at the ready. Holly was repeating her list of things she’d got through, trying to convince herself this could be survived too.Her eyes tracked the movement of the knife up to eye level. Holly was fighting the bubbling panic as the tip got closer, resisting the urge to squirm away from it.The tense moment was broken by the Bee Gee’s ‘Staying alive’ blaring out. Immediately Moriarty drew back, emotion returning to his face as he slipped his free hand into a pocket and took out the source of the noise, tapping at the phone, silencing it.“Sherlock’s made his next move. Quite a convenient one. Well I’ve got some planning to do. You’ll understand if I leave you here. Chess is only a two player game.” Jim said sheepishly, absentmindedly wiping the blade against Holly’s arm between the straps.“Be my guest.” Holly managed to keep her voice stable, if a bit higher pitched. Jim looked happy, but it quickly changed to conflicted.“I did promise a reminder, I couldn’t leave you without one.” He glanced down to the knife and then back to her. “I had this specially made for you. It’s ceramic, undetectable to metal detectors. I thought you might like it.” With an intense look of concentration Moriarty pressed the tip of the blade up against her left shoulder, slowly applying pressure. Holly couldn’t help but tense up, biting back any sounds of pain as she felt the blade pierce her skin. “I would advise you don’t move, I believe there’s an artery around here I would like to miss.” It was only when the blade’s handle didn’t dip down when unsupported did Moriarty stop, satisfied with his work. Holly hoped he would just go and play his stupid game, leave her alone. She felt exhausted, any adrenaline rush had worn off long ago and she’d allowed the world to fade out, for her brain to disassociate the current events as if it was just a bad dream. She’d had enough of those recently. Her mantra was still going in the background of her mind, it kept her going, even though it would be so much easier to give up.“Well, it’s been fun but I have a consulting detective waiting.” Holly was only vaguely aware that the man left. She closed her eyes, telling herself she would stay awake. She didn’t even know why she wanted to stay awake.----A short buzz dragged her back to awareness, almost unwillingly as her body ached from the injuries and forced stillness. “Who’s Scipo?” a voice from behind her asked. Holly realised this was probably the person responsible for her dislocated fingers. “I ask myself that every time they text me.” Holly grumbled, her voice cracking as the skin around the knife twitched with her words.“What’s the unlock code?” “Seven, six, seven, two.” Holly didn’t miss a beat, she didn’t care anymore, not that those numbers would work.“It didn’t work.” Holly knew that, but didn’t allow herself to show the victorious smirk. She knew someone would find her now, she just had to stay alive.“That’s because you need more than just the code. I made that phone so that only I would be able to access it.”“What else does it need? Fingerprints? DNA?”“How mundane and so easy to aquire. I’m not stupid.” Her phone buzzed again.“Who’s Big Bad Wolf?” Another buzz, “...and Agent Bootycall?” Holly didn’t have the excuse of someone changed the names on her phone. She was just glad that her phone only showed the identity of the sender, not the content, considering what it probably said. Holly allowed herself a silly grin remembering the various other nicknames on her phone.“My grandmother, she worries about me almost aggressively sometimes, especially since I went to university, and my bootycall who’s probably texting for just that reason.” No he wasn’t, but the guy wouldn’t know. “I doubt I’ll be up for that any time soon though.”“Probably not.” Silence fell and Holly waited, pretending to slip back into her state of semi-awareness. It was broken by a beeping, not one of Holly’s, and was followed by a muttered “Probably a cat or something.” Holly kept her face blank, suspecting the beeps had been a proximity alarm. She hoped it wasn’t a cat. “I’ll be back in a tick, hold tight.”“And there was me thinking I would go for a wander, maybe a light jog.” She strained her ears to hear anything beyond the room, hoping there was no one else lurking behind her as she went back to her semi-aware state.A door burst open behind her, torchlights dancing across the room, armed people coming into her range of vision. Last time she’d seen people dressed like that, they had been raiding her room. Calls of “clear” echoed around as one of them approached her, removing the thick goggles to reveal familiar warm brown eyes. Holly would be lying if she said seeing him dressed like that, holding a gun wasn’t sexy. She needed to talk to her libido about appropriate timing.“No trick up your sleeve?” Alex joked as he inspected the chair, checking for potential threats.“Find my hoodie and there might be.” There weren’t but Holly would probably work on that. Alex beckoned over another guy and they started to unstrap her from the chair. About half way through a paramedic entered her vision with an armed escort and got to work, focusing on her shoulder first.Once she was finally free from the chair she was transported to a waiting ambulance, which she’d expected, and driven to hospital. Holly couldn’t bring herself to pay attention as she basked in the relief from pain, guessing she’d been given something and everything was numb and nothing hurt. ----At some point she must have passed out, as she woke in a hospital bed to an annoying beeping that reassured her that she was indeed alive. It also comforted her to know that the rescue hadn’t been the product of her desperate mind, though the details were a bit fuzzy. She did a quick check of her functionality. Her fingers were immobilised, to be expected, and her left shoulder was heavily bandaged, she wouldn’t know how mobile it would be for a while. She could see fading thick red marks striping her arms from the restraints. A colourful bunch of flowers caught her eye, she grimaced at the flash of panic she’d felt coil in her stomach, remembering the brightly coloured tranq darts that had gotten her into that mess. Holly got the feeling this would be the incident that caused her to actively need therapy that didn’t come from a bottle.She was grateful that her room was void of people. She needed time to process what had happened. If she hadn’t been hooked up to an IV she would have taken off. She knew better than to remove it herself though. She could only hope that a nurse or doctor, preferably not John, came by soon and no one else.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Through some trickery and deception, a few of Holly’s favourite tools, she was sat on a train to Basingstoke, even though all evidence suggested she was heading to Castle Cary again. She didn’t want to be found yet, staying off radar was just better, if she couldn’t be found then people couldn’t hurt her. Especially considering the news. Holly didn’t believe a word of it. Sherlock was many things, but a fraud? Not a chance. It didn’t help the ‘source’ was Richard Brook aka Mr. ‘I’m going to stab you in the shoulder so you remember me’. Until she got a hold of any footage or solid evidence of it Holly was not going to believe either of the suicides.Consulting the map on her phone as she left the station, Holly traced out the best route to take. She resisted the urge to check messages and emails, the airplane icon in the tray at the top of her screen reminding her to keep her presence minimal. Also ignored was the grumbling in her stomach, she didn’t want to get something to eat, most places had CCTV and were harder to stay anonymous in.Walking was nice, her legs were perfectly fine thankfully. Her sleeves were pulled down far enough to cover her splinted fingers, though she’d let them slip a bit earlier to gain sympathy when getting her train tickets. Harder to hid was the lack of movement, and bulk of her shoulder. She’d pulled up her hood and hunched forward in the typical antisocial fashion, with her hair tucked away and the bagginess of the hoody, she could pass off as a guy, even better.Eventually she got to a small house not far from the town center, she smiled a bit at recognising the two cars crammed into the drive as she knocked on the door.The door opened a minute later to reveal Amber looking confused for a few seconds until Holly tilted her face up and recognition dawned. “Can I come in?” Holly asked quietly, Amber quickly stepped aside and led her to the living room.“Nick’s just gone out for some bacon, he’ll be back soon. Did you want a cup of tea?”“Sure, uh, can I have a straw with it?” Holly asked awkwardly, there was no way she could hold a cup, she’d had issues getting dressed. “I’ll explain when Nick gets here.”No sooner had Amber left for the kitchen was there the scrape of keys in a lock. Nick completely bypassed the living room to get to the kitchen, presumably to put the bacon away. A few seconds passed and Holly grinned sheepishly as he backpedalled and looked at her.“Holly?” She gave a half-hearted wave, the splints sticking out slightly from her cuff. “Do I want to know?”“Probably not?”“Is this anything to do with that guy who lived in the other flat jumping off a building?”“Not directly.”“I’m guessing he’s not a fraud as the news would suggest.”“Nope.”“Richard Brook is the liar?” Holly nodded approvingly. Amber entered with her cup of tea, a straw sticking out, and placed in on the coffee table in front of Holly before sitting down. Holly could smell the hint of bergamot even though neither Amber nor Nick drank Earl Grey. “Moriarty was real.”“I knew you were my favourite sibling.”“That’s only because mum never let you count the cat. I’m guessing Moriarty is responsible for this.” Nick said, gesturing at her. Holly nodded. “So why are you here? Not that you’re not welcome but I thought you would have gone to grandma’s house.”“Did that last time. Felt like mixing it up a bit.” Victoria was too connected to everything else, it wouldn’t have helped.“I’m not going to even ask about last time.” There was a pause as Holly awkward managed to drink her some of her tea. “What do you need?”“I would say somewhere to lie low but I’ll be found before it gets dark. Probably should have told someone I was running off after what happened. And left my phone on. I just want some peace before I get swept back up into the mess.”“And food?” Amber offered, looking meaningfully at Holly. “If you’ve been travelling and hiding, I doubt you would have risked getting food after you deviated.” “As long as I can just stab it with a fork or something, anything more complicated will end up with food everywhere.” “French toast covered in sugar?” Nick suggested with a poorly hidden grin.“Uni hasn’t changed me that much,” Holly accepted with a nod.----It was Amber who managed to convince Holly to take her phone off airplane mode to let whoever might be looking for her that she was okay. The two of them watched the phone buzz with every backlogged message and missed call notifications.Once it finally stopped Holly started scrolling through the messages, skimming the first lines, it was a predictable collection of worry that had Holly sighing. It sounded ungrateful, she had all these people looking out for her and it bothered her.“How about I read them and give you the highlights?” Amber offered. Holly hesitated, before handing it over reluctantly, it was better than reading them herself.“Big bad wolf? Older Dickface? Girl who makes me be social? Guy with no alcohol tolerance? Agent Bootycall? Why do you have these as contacts? Does Nick know you have a contact called Agent Bootycall?” Handing over her phone was definitely the best decision. “What’s a Scipo?” Now it wasn’t.Nick came in with a plate of French toast, joining the fun as he looked over Amber’s shoulder, after handing over the food. “Why are we looking at Holly’s messages?”“She doesn’t want to read everyone’s concern for her wellbeing.”“Why’s is there one called Agent Bootycall?”“Take these few seconds to ask yourself this: ‘Do I really want to know why my sister calls someone Agent Bootycall?’” Nick considered it for a moment before shaking his head and going back to reading. “Wise choice.”“Is Big bad wolf grandma?” Holly nodded with a mouthful of food. “Why is she asking about your shoulder?” Holly paused mid chew and realised Nick hadn’t noticed anything wrong with her shoulder, she hadn’t exactly moved it much and she’d managed to make it less noticeable. Instead of explaining, Holly started to awkwardly tug off her hoodie, somehow managing it without tangling herself up in it. Manoeuvring it around her bandages was a bit tricky but it was a bit easier having had to put it on in the first place. There were two gasps as the shoulder was revealed. Nick kept trying to make words but nothing came out, Amber just had a hand over her mouth as she stared at it.“I got stabbed by Moriarty. He missed anything too major, he made sure of that, even had the knife custom made for me.” She had the knife on her having managed to get it before leaving the hospital. It had been a gift after all.“I’m still waiting to wake up and find out I passed out on my way back from the shops.” Nick admitted, his eyes still not leaving her shoulder. “I miss the illusion that you’re still an innocent teenager who still climbs trees and play sword fights.”“I like how you see me like that even though you bought me my first drink when I hit eighteen, and was my source of alcohol since I was sixteen.” Amber giggled at them, Holly wondered if she’d cracked, she’d thought Amber was stronger than that.“Agent Bootycall is apparently five minutes away, he says he would have given you space but your grandmother scares him.” That explained it, Holly just hoped she didn’t have to explain the nickname to Alex.----It hadn’t been five minutes back in 221 and Holly wished she’d stayed longer at her brother’s place. John looked like someone shot his dog and Martha just started crying every time she saw Holly’s injuries, even though she’d managed to wrangle the hoodie back on. Victoria was currently looking disapprovingly at her. Holly didn’t care why and just patiently waited until Victoria left.It was not long later Holly realised she couldn’t stay there, not with them mourning Sherlock who she doubted was even dead. With her scepticism of the death it would only appear callous and uncaring, not what they needed while grieving. She left a note on her door, reassuring the Martha and John that she was okay, before slipping out into the street and heading over to the underground, suppressing the urge to hide. Jodie would likely be in halls and that’s where she was going. As she stood on the crowded train, trying to avoid her shoulder getting bumped, she read over the messages properly. In the end she gravitated to the one from Scipo, the one that had allowed her to get a message out for her rescue. ‘Where are you?’ How had Scipo known she was missing, the timing was too coincidental to be asking anything else. Q immediately popped into her head. He would have known, but she needed more proof than that to know for certain though. He would have known she would make that connection, but still didn’t offer up his identity and she wanted to know why. On a whim she texted back asking who they were, she wasn’t expecting an answer, but if they started texting again then she might figure it out.She was still mulling it over when she got to Jodie’s place, absentmindedly knocking then looking surprised when the door opened. It took her a few seconds to realise the door had opened.“Jodie’s not here.” The door was closed in her face. Holly suspected the rudeness was due to the fact that she’d interrupted half-naked time. She wasn’t entirely sure why they’d even bothered opening the door.It was a short walk over to Matt’s place, Holly wasn’t expecting him to be there but while she was around she might as well try. She was greatly surprised when Matt actually was there.They ended up on the sofa with Holly attempting to use a controller as they destroyed evil in Sanctuary. Luckily Diablo 3 was easy enough that even with splinted fingers she wasn’t doing too badly.“So, you applied for a cyber-security job with the government…” Holly started, trying to kick start some sort of conversation.“I’m not supposed to tell anyone about it. How did you find out?” Matt sounded nervous, Holly couldn’t blame him, she wouldn’t be surprised if his room was bugged.“Your application was used to blackmail me.” The inventory screen came up, pausing the game for the pair of them and Matt turned to her.“What? Why?” Holly sighed and, after several attempts, got her phone out and opened her home made white noise generator/ signal blocker.“We’ve got twenty minutes of silence. What do you know of Moriarty’s trial?”“I thought he was a fake hired by Sherlock.” Holly rolled her eyes.“I can tell you with absolute certainty that he was real.”“He managed to break into three secure places using a piece of code.”“That was a lie. The government wanted that code. Unfortunately a while back I popped up on their radar as exceptional with creative code, and due to the incident surrounding that early ping I was the suspected creator of this code.”“Was it you?”“No. There is no code, he used people working at the places to make it look like he could hack in at the touch of a button. Thing is they didn’t know that at the time and asked me to find it, only they knew I wasn’t going to willingly work with them after last time. So they used your application as incentive.” Matt leant back against the sofa and unpaused the game. “Have you heard of the Hackers Republic?” he asked eventually as they cleared through the rooms leaving a trail of corpses and unwanted items. Holly was grateful her phone was still working, this was not a conversation she wanted to be overheard.“I have.”“I’m one of them.” Holly felt her heart skip a beat, Matt could actually be Scipo. He might have found out she was missing while his application was being processed.“And you decided the best course of action was to work for the government?”“I didn’t choose. I was approached, apparently I got careless, but it was strongly advised that I apply.” This time Holly paused the game.“Who approached you?”“I think his name was Mycroft, he didn’t give a last name.” Holly tossed the controller down as she felt her temper boil up, at the time his manipulation had seemed like he was just taking advantage of a situation. Now she knew he had created the situation. “Do you know him?”“He is single-handedly the bane of my life. Sherlock was less of a nuisance than he is. Everything bad that has happened to me this year has in some way been started by him.” Holly itched to cause havoc with every electronic device that man would come into contact with. With her hands like this, she couldn’t electronically unless she fancied working on her phone. Though now she thought about it she could probably link it up to her computer and use it as a keyboard, her thumbs were fine for typing.Snatching up her controller, she unpaused the game and continued slaughtering enemies with more aggression than her character looked like they could give, Dragging Matt’s character along for the ride until he joined in.“You look like you want to go start a riot.”“Don’t give me ideas,” Holly told him, the idea had already blossomed into a plan in her mind. She was almost glad that her phone rang before she got to into it. An unknown number was calling, something strange considering her number was kept private. Throwing caution to the wind Holly answered it, aware that if the call got through then the surveillance disabling software had turned off.“Holly, I heard about what happened,” Ivan greeted in Russian, “How are you?”“Recovering from a stab wound and some dislocated fingers, so not terrible, would be better if I could drink, or type, or do anything else fun.”“Shame about Moriarty’s death, I have some people who would have loved to get their hands on him.”“Send them after Mycroft.” Holly muttered darkly, keeping to Russian.“Ah, Victoria told me you had troubles with certain Holmes’s. It’s tricky for me to do anything personally, but I am owed a few favours I would be willing to call in for my granddaughter. I believe Frank hasn’t been to England in many years, and even more officially.” Holly was almost going to ask how Frank could do anything, then remembered that man just before turning up at Victoria’s house, he had walked into CIA headquarters without a second glance and clashed with a CIA agent who was trying to kill him. Q might be on the ball and notice something off but she would take great joy in distracting him.“I don’t think that’s necessary yet, I’ll let you know, but let me know if technological assistant is required, SIS have a vaguely competent quartermaster but he’s no match for me.” Ivan just laughed at that. “One day I want to see your tech skills. There might be a nice bottle of vodka in it for you.”“Someone finally speaks my language.”“That reminds me. I have a… friend I want you to meet. He should be in London in a few days, or weeks, I don’t know. I’ll speak to you later Holly.” Before she could ask more about this friend Ivan had ended the call.“I didn’t know you knew Russian. It is Russian right?”“It is Russian, my grandfather speaks it and so it was encouraged in my family.”“What was the call about?”“Asking how I was. Things travel fast in my family.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Holly didn’t go to the funeral held a few days later. She’d spent her time wisely, plotting her revenge, but now was the perfect opportunity to get some answers.
“So, who’s getting buried?” Molly moved around her, flinching at her words, almost knocking a beaker off the worktop.
“Sh-”
“Don’t even think about it. Just don’t. I have had enough of people lying to me right now.” Molly’s eyes flicked over to where Matt was leaning against a wall. Holly had asked him to come because right now she couldn’t trust herself and wanted him there to be her moral compass until she could rely on her own again.
“He knows enough.”
“My father. He’s the one they’re burying.”
“I take it you helped with the deception.” Molly nodded. “Well, I got what I came for. Matt, pub?”
“Nothing alcoholic for you.” With the strong painkillers she was taking alcohol was not recommended.
“Like I’ve forgotten.”
----
Jodie met them at the pub looking miserably into her drink, she blamed herself for Jim taking an interest in Holly, no matter how often Holly had said otherwise. The three of them sat there nursing their drinks, letting the noise of the pub wash over them.
They could see the news on the tv above the bar still covering Sherlock’s suicide. Matt avoided watching, knowing that the man wasn’t dead. Holly looked like she wanted to crawl under the table until the world stopped being crazy. Jodie kept staring at her glass as if it would make things better.
Holly wondered if this was how bad guys were created, someone dicking them over repeatedly until they cracked and went nuts. She wondered whether, if she tried, would she manage it? Could she step up to the plate and bat against the Holmes brothers with any chance to win.
If she tried that, would it go too far? Would she end up like Moriarty, searching for someone to keep her entertained until it potentially killed her? Could she involve other people in her world without any guilt? Jodie and Matt barely had any involvement and they already looked like they couldn’t handle it. Nick had Amber to worry about, Holly wouldn’t drag him into it. Victoria, she was enabling all of this, who knew what Ivan would do if he got fully involved. Then there was the rest of her family, if she went crazy and became a villain, they would be used against her.
For now she was fine with getting in at least one bit of revenge, Mycroft had crossed the line and needed something to remind him people do not like being used. She’d thought a lot about her revenge before coming up with her current favourite idea. It was almost ready to deploy, having taken longer to create with splinted fingers for half the time, even with Matt’s help. How could you get revenge on a man like Mycroft, the answer was quite simple.
----
Matt was reading over the code one last time before they sent off the compiled version, Holly was checking her digital route into the various agencies, making sure there would be no trace back to her. She’d probably get the blame anyway, but they wouldn’t be able to prove it.
“All set?” Matt asked, Holly nodded as she leant over to her mini fridge. She deftly retrieved her almost empty bottle of vodka, aware she needed to get another bottle. Two shots were poured and they each took one, Holly reached out to the keyboard and pressed the enter key, sending their hard work off. Clinking the glasses together they downed the shots in celebration as a dialog box popped up with a message of successful access and activation.
“How long do you think it will be until I get a call?” Holly asked with a smirk, refilling her glass.
“He might wait for the end of the video.”
“I hope he does, we worked really hard on that.” Matt had done most of the animation work after Holly had shown him the crudely drawn concept art and explained her idea. The method of intrusion had been all Holly. She was glad her fingers were splint free now, though they still ached on occasion.
Just after three minutes since the successful deployment, Holly’s phone rang, Mycroft’s name was on screen, with a brand new animation to go with it which sent the two students into fits of giggles. Holly took a few calming breathes before putting on her game face and answering.
“My finger splints have only just come off. If you want to try to manipulate me into doing more work for you at least wait until I can actually use them properly,” Holly grumbled out.
“I don’t suppose you are familiar with a Swedish music video known as Caramelldansen?”
“Uh, sure, it was one of those videos that went round school, everyone saw it. I think some of the sixth formers tried to do it as a flash mob once.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know why a customised version graced every single screen of every British intelligence agency?” Holly choked out a laugh, Mycroft really was annoyed, as much as he tried to not let it show in his voice.
“Seriously?” Holly giggled some more, “And you think I had something to do with it? You know I’m not the only person who can break into systems. Or did you want me to help track down whoever did? I’ve learnt my lesson playing with your agencies. There’s only so many times a girl can get hurt before she realises she shouldn’t go back.”
“If I find out you’re lying-”
“You’ll what? Risk the wrath of Victoria when she finds out that you’re picking on me again? Good luck finding the culprit, just don’t involve me.” Holly hung up and tossed her phone onto the desk.
“Feel better?”
“Much. Want to watch it again?” Matt grinned and pressed play on the video. Caramelldansen started, but instead of the two girls from the original, a recognisable cartoon of Mycroft was there doing the dance with a background of little umbrellas. It was the same cartoon that now graced Holly’s caller ID for the man, a risk she was willing to take.
----
The next day a small crate was delivered by courier. Being suitably suspicious considering her antics the day before, Holly shook the crate, unsure as to if hearing liquid was a good sign. It hadn’t exploded in her face so it was nothing really unstable. Once it was safely situated on a cleared space on her desk Holly hunted down one of her large screwdrivers, for some reason Holly wasn’t allowed a crowbar after that one time she’d dressed up as female version of Gordon Freeman for Halloween.
Wedging the tip of the flathead between the box and its lid, Holly levered it a bit, repeating the action several times around the top until the lid could be lifted free. A quick shuffle of straw to the side revealed three bottles of very expensive Russian vodka that Holly had never thought she would get to taste, and a note tucked under the middle one. Still a bit cautious, Holly fished out the note using a set of tweezers and flicked the note open.
It took Holly a few minutes to fully decipher the note, her Russian reading skills were a bit rusty. Ivan had apparently found out about the video and its distribution and correctly assumed it was her, saying that she’d earned the vodka, not just for showing off her skills but the good laugh he’d gotten out of the video that had ‘leaked’ to other agencies. International humiliation was perfect for someone like Mycroft who enjoyed having an upper hand over everyone. Having the upper hand was less effective when people were laughing at you. Two of the bottles got put straight in her minifridge, the other getting stashed under her bed. Now she could spend the rest of her day waiting for the other shoe to drop. Life was not this nice to her anymore.
She could worry about it during class though, it was the last lot before Easter so she figured she should attend. The crate was pushed to a corner of her room, she’d sort it out later. Making sure she had all the essentials, Holly grabbed her bag and left almost silently. Holly had figured out if Martha didn’t see her, she wouldn’t be reminded so often of what had happened.
----
Even with their best intentions, the trio of students ended up at their usual pub instead of their last seminar of the day. Holly was still taking it easy with the alcohol, her shoulder wound still healing, she didn’t need alcohol induced thin blood if the wound opened. Jodie seemed to be trying to make up for it though, doubling up the shots in her coke.
It was when inevitably Jodie had to use the bathroom that Matt shuffled closer and slipped a hand around her waist in an intimate guesture, alerting her that something was up. “Two guys, table in the corner, they looked too dressed up for here.” Since finding out Mycroft had manipulated them both Matt had taken a more observant look on his surroundings. It made Holly proud, even as she realised she hadn’t noticed the men in question as strange. She did now though, observing them indirectly as she giggled, pretending Matt had told her something funny. One of them looked familiar, but in a ‘seen their face before’ not a ‘knew them’ way.
When Matt went up to the bar to get a new round, doing well to keep up the presence of a close relationship as it would look suspicious if they stopped, Holly realised they were watching her, not Matt. She could recognise some of the same techniques she had used. A tug of horror pulled at her stomach when Matt returned, the two men had shifted with his return, and she recognised that awkward movement of jacket over a lump.
“If those two men leave after me, text me immediately.” Holly muttered into her almost empty glass from the last round, loud enough for Matt to hear. He reached over and squeezed her arm in acknowledgement as she leant over to kiss his cheek followed by a sad smile for the sake of observers. Holly picked up her jacket and bag before weaving through the tables to the exit.
Holly had barely got to the end of the street before her phone buzzed in her pocket. Matt had texted, the men had left after her. She hated being right sometimes, this was probably the other shoe dropping. At least they weren’t after Matt. She could barely look after herself let alone another person.
She wandered absently for a while, mixing in with crowds of people, keeping an eye on her followers, they’d split up but both were still on her tail. The more she’d watched, the more she suspected SIS as she recognised techniques used by both Alex and Victoria.
A few more streets and Holly realised she’d only seen one of them for a while and the streets were strangely empty. Consulting her mental map of this part of London, Holly slipped down one of the many alleyways, passing by a closed café and a few small shops on one side, and if she remembered correctly there was a graveyard over the wall on the other side.
As she got the kink in the alley she could see a person waiting just around the corner, using the shop windows reflection. She could hear footsteps behind her and knew they had planned to corner her. Taking a few steps back from the high wall Holly bounded forwards towards it and managed a few steps up, just enough to get a secure grip on the top. Her fingers screamed in pain as she pulled herself up quickly. She could feel her shoulder throbbing and really hoped she hadn’t reopened the wound. That was something she could afford to check later once she’d lost these guys.
She slid down and took off perpendicular to the wall, sprinting between the graves. Mathematically it would give her the best head start. Reaching the church she decided to take the cobble pathway back towards the street she’d deviated off, sticking close to the trees that were dotted along it. In the dim light of dusk she was more anonymous, more so after tugging on her jacket and pulling up the hood. With any luck it would take them longer to recognise her now as she calmed her pace to a stroll.
She was almost at the gate when she felt someone tackle her from behind. Holly twisted to avoid smashing her face into the cobbles, biting back a cry as she felt her ankle protest, as it got caught on a stone and didn’t fully rotate with her. With the full turn prevented due to her foot Holly did make noises of pain as her shoulder made contact with the ground.
She struggled against the weight of the man trying to pin her down, using the closeness, semi-predictable and noticeably held back movements, Holly managed to locate the gun she’d suspected was hidden earlier and press it to underside of the man’s chin watching him freeze up.
“Get off me now.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When the second man joined them, Holly had expected him to take one look at the situation and be pointing a gun at her. That hadn’t happened and Holly wanted to know why. The man who had been trying to pin her had kindly got off her and was standing just over an arm’s length away, hands raised in surrender, though Holly could feel a mocking tone to his body language.
With a twisted ankle among other things, Holly was aware she couldn’t stand up without leaving herself vulnerable. She would need a hand free to hold the gun. Her left shoulder had hit the ground hard and any movement shot threads of white hot pain down her arm, and because of that she couldn’t hold the gun in that hand, or use it to help herself up. She’d at least managed a sitting up position as she scrutinised her stalkers.
“Wait, is that-?” The second man asked, the question cut off with a nod from her assailant. “So why-?”
“If it makes her feel more comfortable then I can live with it.”
“What do you want? Keep in mind this is not me agreeing to anything.” Holly demanded, trying to keep her body language aggressive, even from sitting on the ground.
“I thought you said she’d been told about you?” the second man asked, he’d decided to lean against a tree and be all casual.
“I don’t know how much she got told.”
“Care to share with the class or do I have to test my aim?” Holly growled out. Their amused reaction gave her the impression she was missing something significant.
“Ivan sent me. I use ‘sent’ in the lightest possible term. More he told me you exist and said to meet you. I’m Alec, Alec Trevelyan.” That identified one of the two men, the one by the tree was still unnamed.
Ivan had said he would send a ‘friend’ to meet her she was beginning to suspect why he’d missed the details. Taking out her phone with minimal wincing and only dropping it once, her aim never wavering, Holly dialled Ivan. She was going to confirm it straight from the source.
“Holly, my dear. Did you get the vodka I sent you?”
“Yes thanks, I have a problem at the moment though.” Alec practically lit up when she replied in Russian. We’ll that was disappointing, she’d hoped this would be a bit more private.
“You found my friend?”
“Possibly. Would like a few details for confirmation.”
“His name is Alec, I haven’t seen him in years but he should still be blond, green eyes-”
“MI6? Carries a gun? Wears fucking expensive suits?”
“Ah, you figured that out. I didn’t think you would be so open to a meeting if you knew. I know your history with the organisation is not the best.”
“So stalking me was the better option?! He tackled me for fuck sake!”
“That was his decision. I must go now Holly. Oh, by the way, Alec is my nephew, be nice to him.” The dial tone interrupted any angry reply Holly had planned. Glaring at Alec and his friend, Holly started a search on her new found cousin before fully turning her attention to them debating on whether to stop pointing the gun at Alec. Eventually she placed it on the floor, if Alec wanted it then he would have to pick it up himself.
“I almost wish she’d tried to shoot you.” The man leaning on the tree commented.
“What is the deal with it?” Smirks were her only response. “Fuck it, I’m keeping it.” Holly tucked the gun securely into her bag. “I guess we should talk like rational adults.”
“We should leave Alec behind then.”
“Are you just going to lurk there or actually introduce yourself? If you want I can find out, with ease in fact, but I find it’s more polite to at least give you an opportunity before I dig out your life story.”
“I don’t think you’ll find it that easy to access my file.”
“Challenge accepted.” Holly snapped a quick photo and started running it through her search with a few parameters to narrow it down. “While that works let us adjourn to somewhere that isn’t a graveyard.” She suggested, slowly getting to her feet, favouring her right side. A glare stopped any thoughts of assisting her, she refused to need help.
----
They ended up in 221B where Holly had sought out John to check on her shoulder, giving the bare minimum explanation for her company. He tutted while he checked over her shoulder, pleased that the stiches had managed to hold, though bruises had started to form. Her ankle was sprained and she was glared at until she sat down and allowed a bag of ice to be placed on top of it.
“Why are there bullet holes in the wall?” Alec asked, lounging on the sofa. John hadn’t taken long to decide he didn’t want to be around Holly’s latest misadventure when the other offer was pub.
“Someone shot at the wall perhaps?” Two buzzes stopped the sarcasm before it started too much. Holly fished out her phone and checked the search, letting out a long, low whistle when she saw the results. “I think this calls for a bit of privacy,” she muttered, activating the anti-surveillance, disabling the timer on it. “MI6 as I predicted. Commander James Bond, 007. Alec Trevelyan, 006. Impressive I guess.” Both predictably flinched, reaching for a weapon, though never actually followed through with the movement. “That’s good, I was half expecting to get shot for that. Though in all fairness I’ve been half expecting it since I noticed you two watching me.”
“What did you do to make you feel you warranted that?”
“Nothing that can be proved.” Holly said, a bit too quickly if she was honest, still weary of the two men as she scanned the search results. “Would either of you two like a drink?” Blatant topic changing in action.
The second she had limped over to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea, the two men having declined her offer, she found Alec at her elbow trying to help, insisting she should keep off her ankle. Holly had almost made her ankle worse trying to get away from the too close agent.
Unasked, James had explained that Alec was unsure how to deal with family so would probably be overbearing until he got used to it. Holly was still convinced Victoria made the base line for overprotectiveness, Ivan sending introducing a cousin to her, no matter his what his occupation was, was not overprotective in comparison.
Eventually situated with strong tea, Holly watched the two agents from a reasonable distance, assessing them. She couldn’t tell their life from looking like Sherlock but she could still learn things.
“If you’re MI6, why didn’t you do research on me? You would have found I don’t like your agency and approached in a better way.” Alec looked a bit awkward and slightly embarrassed, his eyes shifting to the floor as he mumbled something while James smirked.
“What he means to say is; he asked, then in return got asked for a few overdue things to do before he could even ask for a favour before getting shooed out.”
“Who did you ask?” Holly already had a hunch. The two men looked uncertain at responding. “I already am familiar with your agency, apparently I even have a fair amount of clearance. The building didn’t even explode last time I was there.”
“You were at Vauxhall Cross on that day?” Holly could feel their full attention directed at her now, instead of glancing around the room as they had been doing. She nodded, shifting in her seat under their gazes, hoping this wouldn’t turn into an interrogation. Something caught Alec’s attention, Holly could see the hints of realisation.
“I remember seeing you after, on the back of the ambulance, I recognise the tattoo. I only caught a glimpse of you but the design was quick distinct. I remember wondering why you had handcuffs only attached to one arm.” Holly felt her cheeks heat up, remembering her belated thoughts that day that she should have gotten rid of them before emerging from the building.
“Wasn’t my favourite encounter with the SIS. Though none of them really are.” She admitted. It was going to be an interesting conversation if they got onto topics about how her relationships with the SIS were. The awkward silence that almost followed was cut off by the muffled sound of the doorbell.
“Expecting anyone?” Holly shook her head, taking the opportunity to deactivate her program as she limped to the stairs, letting any attempts to contact her through. Matt had asked for her to say when she was safe, she quickly shot off a text saying it was sorted before scrolling to the other message she’d got. Scipo had texted. That was strange since, despite her extending an olive branch to open communication again, they hadn’t actually texted. The first message was about the same time she would have gotten the text from Matt to let her know she was being followed, it simply said she might be in danger. The second had been during the communications black out asking if she was ok. She was still frowning at the message when she opened the door, forgetting to check through the peephole.
“So you are ok.” Alex was looking vaguely amused even as Holly’s frown deepened as her brain suggested a new Scipo possibility, Scipo had asked if she was ok and Alex’s first words had been checking just that.
“That has been debatable for the last week or so. Wait here.” Holly commanded him, allowing him at least inside enough so the door could close. It was a short trip down to her room for vodka, her night had tipped to the point sober was not going to make this enjoyable. She ignored the collective reactions as she led Alex into 221b, making a beeline for the cupboard for four glasses. She placed them on the table and poured herself a glass, leaving the bottle on the table as an invitation to help themselves.
“Ivan does send the good stuff.” Alec commented, reaching for the bottle and a glass. Holly smirked a bit as she reactivated the blackout program.
“I thought you weren’t drinking with your shoulder.” Holly glared at Alex as she defiantly took a swig, relishing in the cool burn. “Any reason you’re entertaining up here.” Alex asked pointedly, avoiding giving anything away.
“I know who they are, double 0 agents like you.” Holly said bluntly, that should at least ease things a bit, less skirting around topics they didn’t think she knew about. “Apparently Alec is my cousin.” Alex looked at her then reached for the bottle, pouring himself a healthy measure.
“Tell me I’m not going to wake up with his gun in my face.” Holly smirked into her glass.
“I guess he probably has more than one.” Alex gave her a strange look. “I borrowed his after he tackled me.” The strange question look, now with a smirk turned to Alec who nodded, Alex tilted his head towards Holly and Alec shook his head. It seemed Alex knew what was going on with the weapon and wanted to know if Holly did.
“Q’s going to crucify you.” Alex said with amusement. Things started to connect for Holly, if this was Q’s then it probably was modified. How it was modded was still unknown but she could have some fun figuring it out, it was probably the source of their amusement, her not knowing.
“I’ve lost guns before.”
“Yeah, but not to Holly.”
“Why is that such a bad thing?” Alec turned to Holly who was trying to look innocent staring at her glass.
“We don’t always get on. Half the time I don’t even know why.”
“You bruise his ego Holly.” Applying that theory to their encounters made a bit on sense actually she did tend to poke at his ego.
“I bruise everyone’s ego, Q just seems to take it personally.” Alex looked at her with an amused smirk, shaking his head slightly before taking another sip of his drink.
----
By the time Holly had cleared the building of agents she was exhausted but feeling slightly more enlightened. Spread out on her bed, she fished out her phone and navigated to the conversation with Scipo. It was difficult to focus on the screen, she’d drunk quite a lot more than she’d intending and felt like she was minutes away from falling asleep.
‘Tell me who you are.’ Her thumb hovered over the send button for a while and she debated sending it. She’d wanted to find out herself but that had been a while ago and she was getting tired of this. If she didn’t get a good response then she was just going to delete and block the number, be done with it. She wasn’t going to let it keep affecting her. She pressed send and tossed the phone onto the pillow beside her.
She must have dozed off, as she woke up to her phone alerting her to a message. It took a few attempts to unlock her phone and get to it.
‘You know who I am.’ Not good enough, but before she could do anything else another message came through.
‘I use your smoke bomb as a paper weight.’
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It had been a few days since Q had confirmed Scipo was him. Thinking about it, Holly realized she hadn’t planned out what she would do about it. Knowing didn’t seem to have really changed anything. Not right now anyway while she was still healing and adjusting to everything that had happened recently.
To deal with it, she had gone out drinking, she’d deemed her shoulder healed enough and her mental state in need of it. Both Matt and Jodie had gone to see a film that Holly personally had no desire to watch, which had been fine with her. It had left her free find someone to sleep with, without having to make sure her friends got home in one piece.
So now she was staring at the ceiling of an unfamiliar room, a naked woman pressed up against her side, arm slung over her stomach, another woman was curled up with her back against Holly’s other side. This was going to be difficult to get out of without waking either of them up, she managed it though even with her shoulder throbbing. Looking around the room for her clothes, Holly silently started to get dressed. She could feel the rest of her body aching and for once it was not all in pain.
Then she realised her t-shirt was not in the room. She debated just taking one from whoever’s room they were in, but didn’t really want to have to return it, or keep anything from the night. She opened the door a crack and peered out, spotting the familiar top slung over the back of the sofa.
From her vantage point that wasn’t the only thing she could see, and looking back at the two women still sleeping on the bed, Holly realised who she’d slept with. Trying to keep it casual, Holly silently snuck over to the sofa and snagged her top. She tugged it on before dropping down onto the sofa next to her friend who was engrossed in eating her cereal while watching tv.
“Holly? I didn’t see you come in. God you would not believe how loud my flatmates were last night.” Holly tried to suppress the flush threatening her cheeks. “Did you get up to much last night? Considering you’re here this early I’m guessing it wasn’t much fun.” Now Holly wasn’t sure if Jodie was seriously oblivious, still half asleep or just pretending. “I didn’t think security let people in before 7.” There was a pregnant pause and understanding finally reached Jodie. “Seriously Holly?! My flatmates, both of them. Did you have to?”
“I didn’t exactly remember they were your flatmates, I barely see them and I never remember what they look like.”
“Jeez, and I heard it all. How did you even make it so loud?” A grin split across Holly’s face.
“You should know or did you need a repeat performance.” It was Jodie’s turn to try not to blush. At that moment Matt wandered out of Jodie’s room looking sleep deprived and a bit hungover, his hair sticking up at all angles almost comically.
“You’re here early,” he mumbled at Holly before stumbling over to the kitchen area.
“She was here all night,” Jodie informed him with a sharp edge to her voice. It was amusing to watch his face twist up in disgust when he realised the implications.
“You need better coping mechanisms Holly.”
“Tell me something I don’t know. Unfortunately my better ones get me into trouble and make the situation worse.”
“I thought you were supposed to be avoiding anything strenuous.”
“I also got told to exercise my fingers or the joints might get stiff.” Holly informed them wiggling her fingers a bit with a wicked grin.
“Holly! That’s disgusting.” Jodie threw her spoon into the bowl for emphasis, dumping the mostly empty dish onto the battered coffee table with a loud clatter.
“You would know.” This was a fun coping mechanism.
“You two slept together?” Matt looked so adorably confused when half asleep.
“Yeah, I swear we told you this story. Freshers, tequila shots, piggybacks?”
“Nope.” Holly thought for a moment, considering how much detail to put in, before deciding to keep it simple for the sake of Matt’s still half asleepness.
“Well we were at one of those freshers events, had lots of tequila shots. I gave her a piggyback home because she couldn’t walk and we got it on. The morning after was how we became friends, her flatmates actually complained about the noise.” Holly grinned, Jodie couldn’t keep the small smile from her face, the expression then faltered slightly.
“That reminds me, we were looking for a place to live next year, will you need a place or are you staying at Baker Street?”
“I think I’ll be staying, with all the shit I get into, and that will probably keep happening, I don’t want you two to be caught in the crossfire.”
“You helped… the government, won’t they help you?” Matt asked, Holly almost laughed while Jodie just rolled her eyes as they were going to delve into secretive stuff.
“The one time my room has been invaded, it was ‘the government’, they ransacked it and stole some of my equipment. I would rather not rely on them for any help.” A short buzz interrupted their conversation and Holly tugged out her phone, rolling her eyes at the message. ‘Are you ever going to let that go?’
“Who is it?”
“Scipo.” Holly said absently, typing a scathing response about eavesdropping back. She only realized what she had said when there was a loud clatter from Matt dropping his cup onto the counter.
“As in Scipo of the Republic?” Matt asked carefully, mindful of Jodie’s presence. Holly looked like a deer caught in headlights.
“The less you know the better. So please, don’t ask questions.”
“So when I told you, you didn’t think it might be nice to return the favour.”
“I didn’t manage to get this far by telling everyone my secrets, especially ones this dangerous.”
“We’re not everyone, we’re your friends.” Holly snorted in disbelief, discreetly tapping the privacy app for what she could feel building up on the tip of her tongue.
“Yet I notice you’re not elaborating for Jodie’s sake. By the way Jodie, I’m a grey hat hacker part of an online group called the Hackers Republic. My online handle is Danamite.” One of them was anyway, but it was more that Matt had shared. “Is that sharing enough or would you like a detailed list of all my secrets?” Holly stormed out of the flat before her two friends could react, not slowing down until she was off campus, sure that she hadn’t been followed. She kept walking, embracing the light rain that cooled her heated skin as she berated herself over losing her temper. It didn’t matter that Matt had admitted to being part of it, she’d tried to keep under the radar of everyone. Even one person knowing about SuperNova weighed heavily on her. At least Danamite was less prominent in the community.
----
It was getting late as Holly wandered around Hyde Park. It was almost empty, the weather having kept to a drizzle keeping anyone who didn’t have to be out away. She eventually came to a stop halfway over the Serpentine Bridge and leant on the stone railing, looking out over the water. She could feel the dull burn creeping up her legs, she’d walked for most of the day so that wasn’t surprising. It was nice, in a weird way, feeling all the aches and pains. In another couple of weeks she could start climbing again and she looked forward to it just for this feeling.
Her attention was drawn to a muted sound. Looking down a take-away cup had been placed in front of her, steam escaping from the hole and the faintest smell of tea reaching her nose. She barely had to move her head to see who had brought her tea then went back to considering the cup, moving until she was at eye level with it.
“There’s no alcohol in it.” Her cousin informed her leaning back against the railing next to her.
“I’m disappointed in you Alec.”
“Says the girl who has been wandering around in the rain for most of the day. You could get ill.”
“There are so many things worse than that, and a lot of them are more like to happen to me than getting ill.”
“That’s adorably pessimistic of you.”
“Was there actually a reason you came or are you just here to be condescending?” Holly was seriously wondering why Ivan had thought them meeting was a good idea.
“Aren’t you curious as to how I knew you were walking around all day?” He was an MI6 agent, it didn’t take a genius to make an educated guess considering the resources at the agency’s disposal.
“No.”
“It’s an interesting story.”
“Will I think it’s interesting?”
“Probably.”
“Still don’t care.” Holly caved and took a sip of the tea, her eyes fluttering closed as the slightly bitter taste hit her tongue, warmth spreading through her body as she drank. It was exactly how she liked it, just the right amount of steeping and not too much milk.
“Can I tell you anyway?” And the moment was lost.
“No.”
“You’re boring.”
“Go find someone else to bother then.”
“I tried, I got kicked out of Q-Branch. In fact that’s ho-” Holly held up a hand and was mildly surprised when Alec actually stopped talking.
“Alec, I can’t deal with much more right now. I’m feeling so out of my depth and every time it seems to be getting better something else comes up. I don’t want this to make it worse again when I might finally have a chance of regaining my balance.” Holly took a drink, savouring the flavour as the pair leant there quietly.
“Want to talk about it?” Alec offered eventually, much more subdued to his earlier behaviour.
“I don’t know. I’ve never been one for talking about this kind of things, it’s not me. I’ve never had anyone I want to tell the whole story either.”
“What would you do? Normally I mean.”
“I used to go climbing, I can’t at the moment though. Shoulder still has some more healing to do.”
“It’s your left shoulder that’s hurt right?” Holly nodded. “And you’re right handed?” Another nod. “Fancy visiting the shooting range at ‘6? Let’s see how good you actually are.” He suggested with a teasing grin, remembering her threats when they first met.
----
Holly was beginning to like Alec, as she lined up the sights like Victoria had shown her. After a very quick safety talk he’d handed over ear defenders, a handgun and a magazine and told her to let loose.
When the magazine was empty Alec pressed the button to retrieve the paper target, giving a low whistle when he saw a nice tight cluster of holes in the centre of the target.
“Who taught you to shoot?”
“Victoria Winslow.” Both of them turned to the voice. Alex stood by the door, his own ear defenders hanging around his neck, looking too sexy for his own good, with a case in his hands similar to the one the handgun Holly was using had come from. “I’m right aren’t I?” He probed as he started to set up in his own lane.
“Winslow? As in former 003 Agent Winslow? If that’s the case then I’m disappointed in this.” Alec said gesturing to the target with a playful smirk.
“I live to please,” Holly responded dryly, taking the target and inspecting her shots while Alec attached a fresh one and sent it to the back of the range.
“Have you tried shooting my gun yet?” Alec asked as Holly reloaded and line up the sights again, not missing the fact the target was no longer just circles, this was a person shaped target.
“I use it as a paperweight,” Holly informed them with vicious glee as she targeted the outline’s crotch.
“I’m sure Q appreciates the inspired use of his weapon.” Without turning the gun from the target Holly half twisted to see the newcomer.
“M.” The two agents greeted half-heartedly. Holly shrugged and went back to focusing on her shooting aware of the eyes staring at her.
“You must be Miss Summers. I’ve heard a lot about you.” M said in a deceptively even tone. Holly snorted, the only sign she had acknowledged his presence.
“I should hope so, I work hard to be an annoyance worthy of your time.”
“Oh, I thought it was our quartermaster’s time you were interested in.” Alex piped up from his lane. Holly could practically feel the sinister grin on Alec’s face, she was not going to hear the end of this.
“Bite me,” she growled, emptying the rest of the magazine into the paper man’s crotch, leaving a mess of shredded paper in that area.
There was an awkward cough from M. Figuring the faster she heard what he wanted the faster she could get back to shooting stuff in peace she made the gun safe and placed it on the small table by her lane.
“It seems that my original reason for coming down here may not be appreciated.” M said with a completely deadpan expression. It only took a few seconds to connect the dots.
“I think I should go, while I still can.” There was a hint of bitterness in her words as she marched over to the door, her eyes flicking between the two agents as she passed. It had been nice to let off steam at the shooting range but this was a reminder that it was still dangerous territory for her.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Retreating to her room wasn't her favourite option, the lack of freedom really grated on her. The alternative of roaming just didn't seem like a good idea right now, not unless she know it would be incident free. Instead Holly was hunched over at her desk, components scattered around, discarded from half-hearted attempts at projects. There was a light patter as she typed, occasionally switching to one hand to sip her tea. She’d had an idea for a new app and it burned at her mind as she mapped it out and started building the skeleton code that she would flesh out later.In the background there was a constant hum as her computer worked to install her systems to the replacement. It was long overdue, she’d been kidding herself over actually getting the original back, or even reimbursement. She’d need to add her laptop to the system's new network, but if she left this new idea for too long then it would eat her up inside. Still, the hum was nice and comforting, keeping it from being too quiet.It was refreshing, having this burst of inspiration and being able to get things done with nothing to distract her. Not that she let anything, her phone had been banished to her upturned laundry basket, the pile of clothes to be washed heaped on top. The hoodie she was wearing could probably have done with being added to the pile, but it was her favourite and she wanted all her comforts close.There was some satisfaction that no matter who banged on her door, no one had managed to get inside, the tell-tale scrapes of lock picks drawing a smile to her face and releasing a bit of that tightness in her chest. She was half hoping someone would try to shoot the lock, not that it would get them in. It was a shame she’d never gotten around to installing a webcam to watch the attempts.----The one time she’d left the building for her physiotherapy appointment, and some shopping, she’d messed with the cameras in the whole of that section of London. If she’d just done the ones on her route it would have been too obvious.The only problem she had foreseen had been getting back to her room, the one place they knew she eventually go. That’s when her true plan had kicked in. Part way through her excursion the cameras had turned back on, but they were no longer showing a live feed. They would play from a quasi-random time from when she had started her program. The result would be images of her all over London not matching up with cameras covering the same area at the same time. If anyone was trying to track her and piss on her day, then they were going to have to try harder than that. They would have no idea when she would be heading back or if she would go back.Of course Alex was waiting for her on the doorstep with that cheeky smile. Holly sat next to him, not quite close enough to touch him. She had another half hour until the cameras would revert to normal, so she could spare the time.“You haven’t been answering your phone.” Holly shrugged leaning back against the door, opening up her body language a bit, waiting for him to move on. “Q’s seems mad at you.”“Oh, wow, I’m so sorry, I’ll just stop everything so he stops being mad at me. How could I have been so selfish as to not think of him before doing such a terrible thing.” Even without the thick sarcasm layered on her vague words, there was no way the insincerity could be missed.“Did something happen? You suddenly seem more hostile about him.” So maybe she was a bit bitter about the whole Scipo thing. Her anonymity had been treasured, but now she had to work carefully, knowing that there was another person who knew who she was and could expose her and the things she’d done. But to share the problem with anyone else would mean telling them more about herself than she wanted known.“You’re a super spy. Go figure it out.” She grumbled eventually, standing up and reaching for her keys, fumbling slightly as the aches from physio flared up with her simmering anger. The keys were taken from her hand just as she lost grip, Alex easily slotted them into the door and opened it for her, following her over to her door. “By that I meant go away.”“I’m not leaving until I’m convinced you’re okay.” Holly choked back a laugh.“I’m not going to give you a choice.” Alex actually smirked at that. A hint of a smile tugged at Holly’s lips as if she could read his mind, not just the arrogance. “That smoke bomb of mine on Q’s desk, did he actually check it over, make sure it was safe or is he just keeping it as a pretty trophy?” Holly asked in a deceptively calm voice, taking out her phone and tapping out the shortcut to her blackout protocol with a small innocent smile. The shortcut was something she’d recently modified in so she didn’t have to unlock her phone to activate it. She watched the confusion on Alex’s face morph into realisation as he grabbed his own phone, growling at the lack of signal before dashing out the door.----Holly half smiled at the memory of that outing, she’d have to figure out something new for her next one, but that was half the fun. There wasn’t even anything dangerous about the smoke bomb, it was one of her early prototypes, one use only. Knowing that she couldn’t move him physically she had resorted to what came easily, deception and manipulation. Though after that she was planning additional features for any more smoke bombs that she made so next time she could do more than bluff.She paused in her typing, stretching her fingers and navigating to the chat window several layers below her project. Scanning over the conversation from when she’d last seen it showed mostly the usual content from the Republic at their semi-regular chats, vague bitching about life and vague comments on projects they were working on. Benjanoid was being particularly vocal about some guy at the place he worked at, how people with eidetic memories were dicks about it and using it to their own personal gain. Holly never managed to take these kinds of rants seriously and never shared too much of her own if she could help it. Having two different identities meant one slip up and that would bring unwanted scrutiny.Just as she was going to add some generic sympathy a new message appeared from Scipo, who hadn’t been online last time she’d looked. He was complaining. About her.Holly clenched her hands to stop from adding her own message that would reveal all too much, especially as she was signed in as Danamite, laying low online. Against her anger she waited for the full rant to appear, instead of decimating MI6’s entire network, trying to let her temper cool off before she did something she would regret and probably get caught for. Instead she grumbled at each new line of text appeared.Holy Fuck.If Holly had been holding something, she would have dropped it and it was all Scipo’s fault. After all that had happened it wasn't fair.Scipo: Even with all of this I still like her.
Scipo: I know I shouldn’t with all that’s happened but I can’t help it, I've never met anyone like her.
Scipo: What do I do?Holly dived for her keyboard, bringing up the hodge-podge security contributed to by the occupants of the chat room. She wanted to see if her suspicion was correct. She couldn’t see him openly admitting that while knowing she was there.Folded in with other layers of security was a small chunk of code, as she had suspected, that would alert him to SuperNova logging in, even included triggers on her common routes and even some of her more complex routes. If anything was activated then it would erase his messages. Luckily ‘Danamite’ had different common routes. But most of all, he didn't know she was Danamite, she still had a persona he didn't know.Now she had to figure out exactly what ‘like’ meant in this case. It felt too much like a teenage drama but Holly almost couldn't remember the last time she'd actually had someone like her, she wasn't sure what the signs were anymore. At least someone had been picking up on the signs. Thinking back, a certain agent had been dropping hints, she'd just ignored then when no other evidence presented itself.The pile of washing toppled onto the floor as she nudged the laundry basket over with her foot to retrieve her phone. She hadn’t been so cruel as to deprive it of electricity, having left it charging in its exile, so she could immediately navigate to her messages.Ignoring the words of concern and occasionally angry text she shot off a text simply saying ‘pub?’ to Alex, before tossing the phone onto her desk as she hunted down reasonably clean clothes.----“I don’t remember saying to bring a friend.” Holly growled in an angry whisper as Q was gestured into the chair across from her, completely engrossed in his tablet. “You texted me when I was told to escort him home, he hasn’t left work for three days.” Alex explained quietly, taking his own seat as the end of the small table, making sure to spread out enough so that neither Holly or Q would be able to get passed.“You could have come after.” Holly hissed, glancing over to the quartermaster, making sure there were no signs of him paying attention.“Why is it such a big deal? He could probably do with socialising outside work a bit.”“I do not need looking after.” Q piped up coolly, barely glancing up from his tablet to glare at Alex, not even sparing a look at Holly.“So we checked the smoke device out.” Alex said at a more normal volume, meaning to include Q since he had at least shown himself to be paying some form of attention.“I guess I’m definitely not getting it back. I don’t know why I think it might happen anymore.” Holly sighed, reaching for her drink. As she spoke Q’s head shot up to stare at her like a deer in headlights, before just as quickly focusing back on his tablet as if that had never happened.“Still going on about that?” he asked, stubbornly not looking up again. Holly was almost certain she could see his cheeks flushing a bit.“Stop keeping my stuff and I’ll consider it.”“I know you replaced your computer.”“How does that change anything? It was still taken in the first place.”“Because you were suspected to be involved with Miss Adler’s schemes. Which you were by the way.” Holly felt like she’d been slapped in the face, from the looks of it Alex hadn’t known the whole story for her time at MI6. “It’s not like you were detained for no reason.”“I wasn't even told why I was being held. If someone had told me then I may have help earlier.”“You were asked, more than once.”“By someone who isn't a complete tool?” Holly backtracked on her words when she saw Q's eyes narrow. “Wasn't a complete tool,” she corrected.“Well this is sufficiently awkward, I'm going to get drinks.” Alex declared pushing his chair back a bit.“Take your time.” Holly offered trying to resist the urge to chug the rest of her drink and start sliding out of her chair, ready to make her escape. The look she got told her she wasn't hiding her intentions well enough from the agent, though the grin seemed a bit out of place and slightly worrying. She noticed Alex glancing at her arm and the table. She pushed out of her chair, making her bid for freedom. The light click of metal and sudden lack of movement of her right arm were the biggest giveaways of her unsuccessful attempt.“Maybe I will take my time. Play nice.” Alex said with the tiniest trace of mocking as he watched Holly pull at her wrist, now cuffed to the table leg. “You can laugh, I probably deserve it.” Holly grumbled after Alex left.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Holly felt like she needed to find a new regular pub, though it probably wouldn't help unless her new regular was at least out of London, maybe even further, in a place so boring they wouldn't look for her. Like Wales.With the pub being so busy, there was a good chance Alex was going to be gone a while, leaving her handcuffed to a table with someone who she had a confusing relationship with. This was pretty much the exact reason she had stayed holed up in her room for so long.“I thought you could pick locks on handcuffs?” Q commented while Holly tried to not panic as she realised the handcuffs didn't have any usual method of unlocking.“I can, there does need to be a keyhole on the cuffs though.” Holly shot back, trying to calm her brain as chewing off her hand flicked through her thoughts. The attempts at figuring out the cuffs only got more desperate when she could feel Q leaning over to look.“I wondered where those went.” Holly froze as that processed. “I actually designed them after you showed me how easily regular sets could be escaped from.”“Well that's fan-fucking-tastic, I'm glad I'm your inspiration. Care to let me out?” For a second Holly wondered if he would try to use the situation to get something out of her as he sat back in his seat. After getting something from his bag Q slid around to Alex's seat and, obscuring her view of the cuffs with one hand and fiddling with the cuffs with the other, there was a click as she was freed.“I don't need you knowing how to escape these if for some reason you are detained again.”“I'll keep that in mind next time I feel the urge to piss off the government.”“Do you get that urge often?”“Yes, I try to keep it harmless though.” A grin slowly spread onto Q's face as he tapped away at his tablet for a few seconds before turning it for her to see.“Speaking of harmless pranks, any clue as to the creator?” He asked as the very recognisable Caramelldansen ft. Mycroft video played. “My fingers were still splinted when that turned up.” Holly denied instinctively, glancing over to the bar to see Alex's progress and estimate the time she still had to make her escape.“Your friend's weren't.” Holly looked at the quartermaster noticing the amused grin on his face. “I didn't think you collaborated with others any more.” They both knew why she didn't.“I don't if I can help it. Especially now.”“Are you going to make me an excuse for everything?”“Don’t make it sound like I'm targeting you specifically, your entire organisation is my excuse now. Except the things old psycho Jimmy is responsible for.” Holly explained, flexing her fingers pointedly.“How is the shoulder?” Holly sunk into her chair dejectedly as Alex sat down, blocking her escape, and placing three drinks on the table.“Probably would be a bit better had I not climbed that wall to get away from people.” Holly took a sip of the offered drink, “and even better if this actually had alcohol in it.”“You need better coping mechanisms.”“So I'm told.” Holly could see the suppressed look of recognition of Q's face at the other times she'd had that conversation and he'd been listening in. “No one seems to approve of them. Though Jodie’s flat mates didn't seem to mind.” she added as an afterthought. That got a good reaction out of Q as his cheeks lit up.“Between Q's reaction and your grin, I'm torn between wanting to know and not wanting to ask.”“Feel free to ask Q how he knows what some of my coping methods are.” Alex glanced at his quartermaster who looked uncomfortable and ready to sink under the table. Holly smirked into her glass as she watched the two men.----It took a bit of convincing to persuade Alex that she didn't need a ride home, she wanted some fresh air and alone time before she went back to her room. It naturally turned out to be a bad idea as a black car pulled up next to her and as Holly looked around for exits she realised she was essentially trapped. Noticeable agents were spread out in every direction, blending in pretty well to an untrained eye. The car door opened but to Holly's surprise it wasn't Mycroft waiting, rather the new M.“I have an offer for you Miss Summers.”“And you're going to shout it from the car?”“Quite right, would you care to get in and we can converse more privately?”“That doesn’t sound like a great idea to me, my encounters with your agency never seem to go well.”“Then I will leave you to your evening.” Holly's planning brain ground to a halt as the desire to know what he had tracked her down in public to ask her something flared into life.“Five minutes max,” Holly relented, holding up her phone with a visible timer, it would send a distress message to Victoria with the phones location if not cancelled before the time was up. M nodded and shifted over to give Holly space in the car.“I want to offer you a job.” The door had barely closed when Holly reached for the handle to get out. “Hear me out, you said five minutes.” The door was locked Holly found anyway, putting her on alert.“I said five maximum.”“It would be as a consultant for Q-Branch over summer and part time during your semesters if you wish.”“Are you high?”“You would have access to some of the most advanced technology.-“-Didn't impress me last time.”“And naturally any benefits of being employed by Her Majesty’s secret service.”“As compelling as that sounds, I have a summer job, and I would never want to work for an agency where Mycroft Holmes can hold any sway.”“What job would that be?” Holly didn't think she'd hidden it that well“Consulting on cybersecurity for a company.” Suitably vague, she wasn't going to make this easy for them. “If this job suddenly disappears, I won't be happy.”“Not many people have the guts to threaten the head of the SIS.” Mallory didn't look angry at her boldness, more amused.“I didn't threaten you. I don't need to, you've seen what can happen.”“Ah, the cartoon. I must confess I have kept a copy for when I'm having a bad day. I guess I will let you get on with your evening, if you change your mind I'm sure you can find a way to contact me.”----Holly hadn't been lying when she said she'd got a summer job, a half packed suitcase was next to her bed, ready for clothes once she finally did her laundry. She'd applied for her work Visa and it had been approved, maybe with a bit of help from her untagging her passport number so it wouldn't flag up on anyone's database.She wondered how long it would take for anyone to notice she wasn't even going to be in the country for summer. Martha knew, John knew, Nick knew. That was about it. After her last exams she would pick up her bags and be on her way to New York. There were still a few things to put into place before leaving, and of course she needed to do some studying but it would all be fine.----After a study session at Jodie's place, where Holly avoided being alone with her flatmates for any length of time, Holly trudge back to her 221c cursing the excessive heat of the capital. She noticed something off when she saw a few dark specks on the steps. Cautiously she pushed on the door, letting it swing open while she peered in, positioning herself to the side to minimise herself as a target to anyone inside. Her eyes adjusted to the dim hallway and before she could fully see the scene she dashed inside.“What kind of security do you need for your room?” Alec asked, as he looked up from sitting up against her door, a bloodstained hand holding his calf.“Enough to keep people like you out. Tell me Martha hasn't seen you, I don't need to have her questioning this.” Holly fussed as she reached over him to unlock her door, giving him enough warning that he wouldn't fall back. Chucking her bag of books and notes down her stairs she closed the door sharply as Alec tried to peer down into her room.“Do you really think I'm letting you bleed in my room?” Or seeing the mostly packed bag. “John's upstairs, he'll fix you up. He needs something to do to get him out of his thoughts.” Holly explained as she dragged her cousin up the stairs to 221b. “You can stare at that chair all you like, he's not going to materialise in it.” Holly called over her shoulder as she guided Alec onto the sofa, pushing papers aside on the low table so he could put his foot up for easy access. She could hear the shuffling behind her as John snapped out of his thoughts and came over.“What happened?” John asked, pulling at the material around the wound.“Not a clue. Found him waiting outside my room.”“Why was he there?” “Because I have bad ass security.”“I meant why would here be here in general?” Holly looked a bit guilty.“I didn't actually tell you. Oops. This is my cousin, Alec, he gets into more trouble than I do.” Holly said brightly trying to pretend it wasn't weird.“I doubt that.” Both men said in unison, there was an uneasy tension in the room as Holly avoided either of their gazes.“I'll forgo being offended this time, just fix him, I have some studying to do.” Holly excused herself, trudging down to her room. On her main screen she was delighted to see a dialog box open saying her program had finished compiling. The fruits of her procrastination and insomnia in the run up to exams. She was looking forward to it in action, but then again she didn't exactly want to have it in a position to be used.----A week and three exams later had the trio of students at their usual pub, drinking to their last exam the next morning. Holly was a bit on edge, she'd been keeping an eye on her summer arrangements, anxious about being found and having all her plans subverted. So far there had been nothing but it didn’t help her gut. The vodka was helping a bit, but was negated by Alex sliding into the chair next to her.“You aren't going to handcuff me to the table again are you?” Holly asked, edging away slightly. Her two friends had momentary reactions to that before brushing it off.“I wanted to wish you luck with your last exam. I would have before your first one but I was indisposed.” On a mission then. “Are you sure you should be drinking before your morning exam?”“Like every time you ask if I should be drinking, the answer is yes. Matt probably should stop soon though.” Holly commented, eyeing her friend who seemed to be close to passing out on the table with a few more empty shot glasses around him than last time she'd counted. “I however, need a new drink.” she declared, glad they only had a table so she could escape easily. She could tell Alex followed her to the bar without turning around.“I heard you turned down a good job.”“Of course you did-”“I'm not here to convince you otherwise.” Alex interrupted placing a reassuring hand on her arm before she could disappear into the crowd. “I just wanted you to know, if you need someone to talk to, you have me. I know that you've been through a lot and it seems like people are just using you then discarding you until they next need you again. I know what that’s like and I know its not fair to you. So if you ever need an ear you can probably find me. I'm sorry I didn't make sure you were okay earlier, it took a while to recognise the signs and longer to figure out how to offer help.” Holly was stunned, mechanically picking up her fresh drink and taking a sip without taking her eyes of Alex as she re-examined him. She could see the empathy to her situation and found herself once again wondering why, his file didn't go earlier than 18. “Thank you Alex, it means a lot.”“I can drive you to the airport tomorrow if you want.” Had she been a few seconds earlier in reacting, she probably would have managed to escape through the crowds. “No one told me, I figured you wouldn't want to stay here over summer where people might try to coerce you into doing things. I don't think anyone who I work with knows.”“Next time lead with that instead of giving me a heart attack.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Going through security had been nerve-wrecking again. Holly hoped that at some point she would be able to do this without worrying about meddling people, but at least for this time she got through without incident. With the hard part over, she waited with a cup of tea and a book for her flight to start boarding. She savoured the cup, it was likely to be the last good cup of tea she'd have for a while. Her last trip to the US hadn’t had much tea, but that was more because it hadn’t tasted much like tea and a bit to do with the events near the end of that visit.
It took a great deal of restraint to not react when Q sat opposite her. So much for an unnoticed escape. She stayed focused on her book, not needing to take her eyes off it to drink her tea, she knew exactly where it was on the table. Q seemed patient, waiting for her to acknowledge his presence. After about 10 minutes he got up and Holly relaxed a bit, taking the opportunity to glance around. He came back a few minutes later and Holly flicked her attention back to her book. Still ignoring the quartermaster Holly drained the little tea left in her cup, realising she had more than enough time for another, but then she might have to-
“Milk, no sugar, just how you like it.” Q spoke up, pushing a new cup towards her, Holly realised that had been why he had left. She eyed the cup suspiciously before taking it and giving it a cautious sniff, trying not to sigh happily at it. She marked her page and placed the book on the table between them and gave him a look.
“You have my attention.” She informed him with a steely gaze. It softened slightly after a few seconds, seeing how nervous the man looked.
“I had planned to ask if you wanted to do another collaboration or something after your exams. I know you swore of it after last time, and I know you don't like who I work for but it's rare to meet someone like you who can keep up with me. I miss having someone who doesn’t just want the end product as fast as possible,” Q confessed, fiddling with his own cup. “I probably should have known you would leave after your exams.”
“Probably. How did you find out?” Holly asked looking less than impressed. 'Keep up'? She could do more than just keep up and he knew it. There was a chance though, that he had figured it out and managed to track down her travel plans, but there was also a chance someone had told him. She would deal with the other thing he said after getting to the bottom of this. The red that tinged Q's cheeks was almost adorable if Holly had been in the mood for thinking that.
“I was going to track down which pub you would end up at after your exams. When you left your place with a bag I realised I'd made an oversight and did a manual search.” She considered his words, leaning back in her chair as she sipped her tea, noticing it was made exactly how she liked it, right steeping time, just enough milk. Her eyes flickered over him, trying to look for any hint of a different motive. “I do realise this sounds like I just want you to take up that job offer, but what I was going to suggest would be outside work, I’ve heard about some of the things you’ve created and your security was inspiring.”
Normally Holly would ignore flattery, very few people would actually know how good her work actually was, and appreciate the effort and genius that went into it. But Q knew what was needed, he could appreciate all that, and for that reason his words made her warm with pride.
"I knew I should have covered my tracks better." Holly sighed dramatically, a letting a hint of a smile show on her face to show she was just teasing now. "I do kind off miss the time when I wasn't worried about people finding me though, bare that in mind next time." Q had the decency to look a bit guilty at that, and attempted to cover it up with a sip from his own cup, earl grey by the smell of it. "At least there weren't any cryptic texts before my flight this time."
"I can send one if you like.” Holly smiled fully, half grateful that he'd given up trying to look apologetic and was taking the teasing for what it was.
“Be quick, my flight's just been assigned a gate.”
“I could delay the flight for a few minutes if you wanted.” Q offered, a shy look of mischief hinted at on his face. Holly tried not to look stunned at his words.
“You would do that? Delay my flight, with countless knock on effects, just to spend a few more minutes with me?”
“I could always blame it on you.” Holly rolled her eyes, it probably wouldn’t take much for him to convince certain people that she’d delayed flights and get her arrested again.
"While that is quite sweet, I would prefer to not be flagged up for anything until I get back.”
“It’s a date then?” Q asked with a cheeky lopsided grin. Holly drained the last of the second cup of tea and started packing up her book.
“Maybe.” As she passed by his chair she paused and leant down, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Ask again when I get back in one piece.”
----
Holly had felt something off while she waited to get through customs at LaGuardia, that creeping feeling on the back of her neck. She couldn’t remember this much security last time she visited America, even if they were attempting to blend in. It was hard to convince herself she was just being paranoid when they all seemed to be focusing in her general area.
Then she was called up to a booth, eyes following her, hands reaching for holstered weapons. Her heart was beating so loudly Holly could have sworn the entire arrivals area could hear it as she handed over her passport. She fought to keep breathing steadily as she felt the room pressing in. She wanted to get out her phone and call someone, anyone, just for a familiar voice.
“Wait one moment please.” The words cut through her building panic.
Shit.
----
So the chairs in the ‘Interview’ room were rock solid, Holly had tried all three of them as she waited. She’d taken to bouncing her imaginary ball against the opposite wall as she sat against a wall. Her phone and any other electronics had been confiscated in the pat down after being escorted out of the arrivals hall. Even her headphones had been taken, a little overboard to be honest, unless they thought she was going to use it as a garrotte. There was a new idea to work with, reinforce the cable, maybe work in some form of protected handle.
The door opened and a man walked in, looking down at her before taking a seat at the table, his back to the one way mirror, and placed a closed file on the table. Holly made a show of catching her non-existent ball and placing it on the table as she slid into the chair opposite the guy.
“Miss Summers, I’m Agent Harkin, CIA. I would like to reassure you that you are not in trouble.”
“Couldn’t have said that earlier, maybe while I was close to having a panic attack in the middle of the arrivals hall,” Holly bit out, her fingers drumming against the table in absence of anything to fidget with.
“There is surprisingly little information about you, we had to work with the scraps we had.” That sounded like bullshit to her ears.
“Just tell me what you want so I can say no and you can learn a valuable lesson about treating people from whom you want something.” Before the agent could answer there was the sound of a phone ringing. “You brought your phone in here? That’s a bit rude.” Holly rolled her eyes as she watched him try to swipe to decline the call and it clearly wasn’t working. Neat trick, she have to figure out how to do that. “Just answer it. Don’t bother leaving, you’ll only be coming back.”
"Harkin.” There was a short pause before the phone was placed on the table on speakerphone.
“Looks like you were so busy trying to get out of the country without fuss that you didn’t bother to make sure you would have a clean exit on the other side of the pond.” Holly wished that the owner of that voice was in front of her so she could punch his smug face. She had done a cursory check before heading to the airport, but nothing had been suspect. There had been enough time while she was in the air for someone to tip them off.
“Tell me you didn’t call just to rub my face in it Mikey.”
“Of course not, I would never be so petty.”
“Bullshit, you have a sibling, of course you can be petty. I’ve seen you be petty.” There was a sharp cough from the phone. “Seriously? Fine, you had a sibling. My point still stands.”
There was a long pause, the agent looked undecided over whether he should end the call or ask for the point.
“This would never have happened if you’d taken the job in London.”
“Oh, for the love of-” Holly grabbed the phone and swiped to end the call, as half expected it didn’t work. “How attached to this phone are you?” Holly asked to the bewildered agent. Barely waiting for a shrug Holly dropped it to the floor and crushed it with the leg of her chair. “You probably wouldn’t have wanted to trust that phone ever again so it was for the best,” she informed Harkin as she crouched down and pried the damaged case apart, her deft fingers picked at the electronics and she placed the sim card and micro SD card on the table. They were probably also compromised but they could probably pull some data from it without taking any unwanted extras.
“What just happened?”
“Pissing contest. You should be grateful, it’s done what was intended. I’ll help you, provided it’s not going to take long, I do have a paying job I will need to get to.” Holly declared with some bite in her word. Now she'd have to come up with another way of getting back at Mycroft. It was almost as if he liked whatever she could come up with happening to him.
----
Seven hours later Holly finally checked into her hotel, dumping her bag down and practically faceplanting on the bed. It had been challenging, which was good, it would have been irritating if they’d gone through all that fuss over something easy. The impromptu upgrade to their cyber defences hadn’t been planned, but she’d put in the framework for it. It would be embarrassing to have had worked for them otherwise. It had also given her a chance to browse their system, it had been surprising that with her reputation that they had let her near their sensitive system.
Forcing herself to move, she pulled out her laptop and booted it. She knew it wouldn’t work to erase her files from the CIA, too obvious, especially after only just visiting. Instead she just changed a few details, phone number by a few digits, the hotel she was staying at to one of a similar name, just small things that to get a bit of peace for a while.
Next she dug out her purse hoping they hadn’t touched it. It was still chunky with the lump of notes, thanks to America’s currency being more paper than she was used to. Even with the content emptied out over the bed Holly could only sigh in disappointment. The fake ID was missing. No underage drinking for her this time. Not until she could get another one.
It was tempting to just ignore her phone as it rang next to her on the bed, but she gave into curiosity.
“You’re in the wrong city if you wanted to visit you dear old grandfather.” Ivan grumbled cheerfully.
“I’m in the wrong country if I want to drink too.” Holly muttered back.
“Don’t you have a fake? I thought you were more prepared than this.”
“It got confiscated when the CIA decided they needed a favour.”
"I do hope you've checked you room for bugs then." Holly's eyes widened, how had she forgotten most basic security?
"I'll call you back."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
As much as Holly was irritated by people who didn’t understand technology, she couldn’t help but care a little less when it got her high paying jobs upgrading network security that was probably overkill.This job however, was not one of them, their head of IT was actually fairly competent, and easily identified as one of the Hackers Republic. It hadn’t taken much looking at his work to figure that out. Everyone gathered their style of coding and Holly had seen most of the more active members coding enough to recognise what she saw. It had led to a bit of confusion as to why she was needed, but keeping the system running smoothly for a bunch of self-entitled lawyers was a full time job apparently.It did mean she didn’t have to try to dumb down everything she wanted to do, Benjamin, head of IT, could follow her plan, his eyes lighting up as she outlined the upgrades and additional measures she would be working on. It still needed the final green light before she could get started but she was confident there would be no problems.By the end of it Benjamin was practically drooling, it felt good to have power like that.----With the go ahead given Holly got started, able to get back into her groove, she could forget London, the CIA and all the crap that had been happening recently. She had her desk in the IT department where she wasn’t bothered, she had ear buds in and everyone had been told to leave her to work unless it was vital. A summer like this was going to be pretty good.That’s how it was supposed to be. For two and a half weeks Holly ignored the guy tailing her, she’d already picked out his file and assignment. She pretended to forget to call anyone back in England who might want to know she was ok, Ivan was keeping Victoria updated, who was keeping Martha updated. She was pretending that her breaks we simply to try every coffee shop within a ten minute walk of the building to find a place that had decent tea, not because her fingers ached after a while and so she needed a break. She pretended that using the tattoo concealer for scars too was just to keep people from asking questions, not because she didn’t want to be reminded of the events every time she caught sight of them.She spent the first two and a half weeks trying to be normal, and it had worked for the most part.Until she walked into Louis Litt’s office to upgrade his company laptop and phone’s security. He’d been dodging his appointment for days now and was the last senior partner to have the upgrade. This time she had just marched past his secretary, having timed an alert on her computer to distract her just enough, and walked straight into the office.“How did you get passed Norma?” If he wasn’t preventing her from doing her job Holly imagined that she and Litt would get on despite his antagonistic nature.“Never underestimate the power of tech support behind schedule.”“You hacked her computer?” He was going to be one of these people.“It’s not hacking if I legitimately have access. I did try everything else first.”“I don’t have time to have some kid playing with my laptop, can’t you do everyone else first?” “I did, before I can move down to the lower levels I need to do yours, that’s how it works.” Holly was seriously beginning to lose patience, this was pushing back her timeframe and she didn’t like having her neat plans ruined because of someone being selfish. “Don’t make me lock you out of your account. I can and I will if you do not pass me your laptop right now.” It felt good to threaten, there was some satisfaction to seeing a senior partner of a well-known law firm realising she could stop him from working and potentially more without having to threaten to go to his boss.“Fine.” Ah the joys of making someone else miserable. She pulled the laptop to the corner of the desk and started work, aware of the man glowering at her as he pulled a file into the now empty space.From then was mostly quiet, Holly pattering away at the keyboard while Litt snarled at paper. When the desk phone rang neither of them initially reacted, it wasn’t Holly’s phone so she wasn’t going to touch it and Litt was glaring at it for interrupting him eventually he prodded at the desk phone.“Litt.” “There’s a call from an Agent Hotchner. He says he’s FBI.” Holly had frozen at the word ‘Agent’ but relaxed a smidge at ‘FBI’, she hadn’t done anything to get onto their radar yet.“Tell him I’m busy.”“He’s very insistent that it’s important.”“That’s what they all say, I don’t employ you to let everyone who says their business is important to get through.”“He’s FB-” Norma’s voice was cut off by a scream and a sound that chilled Holly’s spine.A gunshot.Her head jerked towards the sound, the glass walls allowing her to pinpoint the masked shooter who was marching directly toward the office she was working in. She shifted around the desk into she was between the door and the man frozen at the desk. She knew she wasn't the target, the approaching gun man had been facing directly at Litt and from the look on Litt’s face they had been acquainted.She had to wonder where security was, she couldn't blame the employees for not wanting to try to stop the guy. It was best for their own safety. There was a small click as the door opened and quick footsteps across the carpet. As a hand clamped on her shoulder she ducked out of it, twisting in the tight space to off balance the gunman. Her first priority was separating him from his gun, in the same twist her hand came up, directing the muzzle to the ceiling before wrenching it from his hand. It told her another thing, this guy was not a professional it was too easy to take the weapon.With the tables turned Holly gestured for the man to back up a she glanced at Litt who looked understandably shocked. The man at the end of her newly acquired gun was worrying her, he didn't seem too bothered about the situation, his posture was too relaxed. Someone who didn’t fear being at the business end of a gun was not someone she wanted to be in any sort of proximity to.“You should have just let yourself be a bystander kid.” The man said as he backed over to a sofa. Holly noticed his focus was no longer on the inhabitants of the office, rather just behind her. It was that point Holly became painfully aware she had her back to the door, the man had moved so subtly to begin with she hadn’t realised. She glanced to the abundance of windows, finding one that reflected the inside of the building. Behind her, in the doorway was another masked man holding a gun at her.Importantly she didn’t let it register on her face, keeping the stony professional façade.“And why is that?” she asked cockily, she was riding a lot on being able to predict these people’s behaviour. She had to, there was no way to back out now.“Because he’s not the only person with a gun pointed at them,” the second gunman spoke up, Holly could hear his amusement. Good. They both seemed to be patient, they felt like they had the time, so they weren’t going to rush this. “How do I know that’s the truth?” In the reflection she could see the man behind her walking up to her. “Why didn’t I get shot, get me out of the picture instead of letting me hold you at gun point?” Holly asked, in the corner of her eye she could see the incredulous look on Litt’s face. “This enough proof?” A blunt object was pressed against her lower back, she knew it was a gun, but was going to play for a bit longer. She pressed back against it ever so slightly.“No actually. It may surprise you to know I don’t actually have eyes in my back.” “So you would risk your life, or at the very least, the mobility of your legs on the off chance I am simply bluffing.” Holly sighed, leaning back further on the gun, still keeping her balance solidly. A twisting jerk of her hips sent them both moving. The gun slipped, scrapping painfully along her back as the force pushing back on it disappeared. This off balanced the man, helped by Holly slipping her foot out to hook around his ankle, sending him tumbling to the ground.“Oh, you do have a gun.” Holly said with some casualness as she pointed her gun at the man. “Think you can outshoot me? Remember how much of this situation has gone your way, then think again.” Through the glass walls of the office Holly could see movement as fully kitted out NYPD made their way over to the office to secure the two masked men.Holly easily relinquished the borrowed gun, adrenaline wearing off to the point she was leaning against the desk for support, while still trying to look casual. She was trying to fight off the grey on the edge of her vision and managed the searing pain on her back.“Are you crazy?” A woman with an NYPD vest stood in front of her.“Depends who you ask.” Holly replied trying to not wince too much as she pushed away from the desk, her body was beginning to ache, radiating from the line of what was probably now a vivid red mark on her back. “Did you want something? I’m already behind schedule.” Holly asked edging towards the door, she wanted to get back to work so she could forget the incident and pretend her summer was just a normal work assignment.“I’m Detective Kate Beckett. I’m going to need a statement.”----Half an hour later and Holly was trying to figure out how she would rework her upgrades so she wouldn’t be too far behind. She was still stuck answering questions from both NYPD and FBI about every aspect of the encounter. Doctor Spencer Reid looked more impressed than disapproving as she retold her story again, Detective Beckett’s friend looked delighted as she detailed out her actions. It made a bit more sense once he introduced himself.Heat Wave had quickly become one of Holly’s favourite books when it was released, and it thrilled her to be meeting the author and the inspiration for the series. She’d only just finished reading Raging Heat on the flight to New York.As soon as she was able, she escaped to the kitchen and dug out the box of earl grey she’d stashed in there, setting the kettle to boil. She didn’t need to look at her hands to know they were shaking. That had been more draining than she’d realised.While she waited for the water to boil she fished out her phone, 3 missed calls and a handful of texts. During work hours she kept her phone with her but on silent, not even vibrate. Two calls from Ivan and one from and ‘unknown’ number, Holly send a program to find out as much as possible about the number.“So, what does a cyber-security consultant do?” She was no longer alone in the kitchen, Rick Castle was pouring himself a cup of coffee from the jug.“Exactly what is says on the tin, I consult on company’s cyber-security and upgrade it if requested.”“What else do you do?”“I do other security systems, household stuff mostly for the overly paranoid.”“Where does the-” Castle did a few exaggerated film martial arts moves, “where does that come into it?”“When you do what I do, it’s always a good idea to know how to defend yourself.”“Have you ever fired a gun?”“Yes.” Holly was a bit confused with the line of questions, Castle seemed genuinely curious. It was nice though, talking to someone who wasn’t mad at her for getting into trouble. “Castle. Time to go.” Beckett barely spared Holly a glance.“I think Nikki Heat could do with another sibling who she lost contact with after joining the force.” Castle suggested with a charming smile. That explained the questions about her. “I was thinking mysterious hacker, of ‘Cyber-security consultant’ who toes the line of the law and whose skills are in demand by some questionable organisation.” Holly couldn’t help but break out a smile at that description. In the table between them Holly’s phone lit up with a new text, she snatched it up to read it knowing who sent it before she even looked.‘That’s not as funny as you think it is.’ Holly only grinned harder much to the confusion of the other two in the room.“Sorry, but that would be awesome, Nikki Heat is one of my favourite fictional characters.” Beckett still looked suspicious but Castle was beaming as he followed the detective out.Once she was alone again Holly dialled a number and waited for the call to be picked up. It didn’t take long, they were probably expecting it.“What do you mean it isn’t as funny as I think it is? It’s hilarious.” Holly demanded jokingly. “Also, back to watching me? I thought I told you I don’t like it.”“I only started when I heard what happened and you weren’t responding to anyone.” Q defended.“Kind of hard to do that when you’re being questioned.” There was a guilty pause. Holly started fitting things together, Q should have realised there would be proper procedure to follow after an incident like this, but still panicked when she hadn’t contacted anyone, resorting to something that could strain relations with America. “You were really worried.” It wasn’t a question.“You have a habit of finding trouble.” Holly was fairly sure that was Q’s way of saying yes, he was worried.“I’m fairly certain that’s genetic.” Holly insisted causing Q to laugh a bit. “I’m alright though, just a bit bruised. I probably should get back to work.”“Are you going to go back to ignoring everything again?”“Do you want me to make an exception for you?” Holly asked half-jokingly. There was silence for a few seconds.“Yes.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
With no replacement fake ID Holly was stuck to frequenting coffee shops in the hope of tea that actually tasted like tea in her spare time. She’d found a place that wasn’t too bad, but it was always quite busy. Despite that, it had a nice atmosphere and she was happy to sit in a corner typing away at a project, occasionally responding to IMs from Q. This visit actually had a purpose, she was just early having managed to make up for lost time. Benjamin had recommended her skills to someone how had sought him out, and they could pay for the full deal which was nice. New York was no Silicon Valley but in some ways it was better for her.The pair of them had just settled at a small table when they were approached by a stunning woman, Holly was fairly certain she'd stopped breathing for a second when she first saw her. The woman smiled at Benjamin before turning her attention to Holly, blond hair bouncing gently with the movement. That half smile had Holly captivated, she only could half pay attention as Benjamin made the introductions.“I do have to admit you are not what I expected when I asked Benjamin to recommend someone.” Jamie was saying ask Holly tried to reign in her emotions. It wasn’t exactly the most professional behaviour to lust after a client. She wasn’t even sure how Jamie’s accent was so attractive, it was from her own country and had never sounded so sexy.“I like to surprise people, though I do hope I’m not a complete disappointment.” Holly responded as she quickly typed out a message to Q saying she had a meeting before shutting her laptop and giving the woman in opposite her full attention, noticing that Jamie’s focus had been on her fingers as they danced across the keyboard. Holly swallowed nervously under the scrutiny, Benjamin excusing himself and leaving them alone.“I should have known I would find a fellow Brit in one of the few cafes in New York that serves slightly better than passable tea.”“Life’s too short to settle for mediocre tea every day.” Holly commented with a charming half smile.----This was the first time Holly had broken her own golden rule, the one she stuck by at all times.Don’t sleep with a client. She tried to reason that nothing had been signed before the fell into bed together but deep down she knew it still counted and just hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite her in the arse. Though as she came out of the bathroom and saw Jamie looking at her phone her gut twisted.“I do apologise, I just wanted to see your work in action." Jamie covered, Holly knew it was a lie and it tugged at her gut some more, but she was going to be a high paying client and would get all of the support that entailed.“That’s perfectly ok, it’s only natural to want to check out what I can do, I should have given you a demonstration or something,” Holly lied. “I’ll email over the specs, cost estimate and standard contract so you can read over it and everything else we discussed, and just email any changes back. I do apologise for rushing out but I still have a lot to get done today.”“That’s quite alright, I will be in touch.” As soon as the door had closed Holly had a diagnostic running on her phone to see exactly what Jamie had tried to do.----‘Your meetings look like more fun than mine.’ The words on her screen irritated Holly, even as she typed back a playful ‘So go freelance, just think of what we could do together,’ knowing that Q wasn’t going to leave his position. She wasn’t sure how he was justifying spending so much time watching her, surely he had missions to be overseeing.‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t read that message over gazing at all the expensive equipment I don’t have to pay for.’‘Oh, I thought it would be all this spying on me that was distracting you.’ He’d opened himself up for that one. 'Maybe if you'd decided to work here then I wouldn't have the opportunity.' Holly shook her head with a small smile on her face.'I can't go to the dark side.''Why not?''You have Mycroft.''...You have a good point. When are you coming back? I could use a laugh.''I don’t know, I was going to stick around for a bit longer after I finish up this contract.' As she watched her screen waiting for a response her phone lit up with an incoming call from Agent Bootycall. Holly debated for a few seconds before answering it.“Unless you can get me alcohol I can’t help you.”“If you could stop distracting my quartermaster then I will see what I can do.” Alex said with a hint of exasperation. “I’ve been standing behind him for a good 5 minutes without him noticing.” Holly could hear the sound of surprise through the phone, showing just how close Alex had been to Q.“He started it. I had planned to spend all of summer not being contacted, but someone didn’t like that.”“He’s turned a lovely shade of pink, I think he’s embarrassed.” She could hear a small scuffle and some swearing in the background. “He’s trying to take my phone off me, this is so adorable. If you could not delay your return and resolve whatever feelings you two have, that would be great. Make it worth the next few missions I’m going to be sent out with - hang on-” the background noise was muted Holly assumed by a hand, before retuning. “-an exploding dildo.”Holly pulled her laptop over and typed into the chat window, ‘I’m fond of Alex, so maybe give him two?’“What’s that Holly? You want me to tell him how you’re extremely sensitive between your shoulder blades?” She could only guess Alex was reading the chat still.“I’m not above petty revenge, remember that.” It looked like there was a lot of revenge to plan, as her list got extended by another name. “I know where you work and sleep. And while you know where I sleep, good luck getting in. You know how well that goes.”‘This sounds like it’s going to get messy, please don’t plan a large scale revenge war with my agent.’‘Aww, you make me sad.’ A knock at her door dragged Holly’s attention from the two conversations. “Is this one of you two’s fault?” Holly asked uncertainly taking her phone with her over to the door, not many people knew she was staying here.“I’m just going over the surveillance of the entrance to your hotel from the last five minutes.” Alex had handed the phone over to Q then.“Is that the only surveillance they have on me now?” That would be handy to know, basically avoid the front door.“They have thermal on your room too.”“Not at all invasive then. Why do they even care? I haven’t exactly done anything to them, I’m here legitimately.”“I believe you know whose fault it is.” True, Holly needed to plan something big for him. “Nothing suspicious has flagged up, but there were quite a few people entering, I don’t know who would be there to see you, it could be staff for all I know.” There was more knocking at the door.“Holly?” the voice sounded familiar, but the door muffled anything distinct. A quick glance down showed she should at least put some more clothes on before answering the door. Shimmying into some shorts and a tank top Holly earn't the faint question from her phone asking what she was doing.“Getting dressed. I can’t answer the door wearing basically nothing.” There was a deep silence from the phone and Holly just smirked as they realised they’d been talking to her while she had been lounging around in almost nothing. With her phone still close to her ear she opened the door a fraction. Even after recognising the two people on the other side she didn’t open it completed.“Detective Beckett, Mr Castle, what brings you to my room at this hour?”“Can we come in? This is important.” A final suspicious look before opening the door Holly quickly but casually closed her laptop. “I’ll call you guys back later, it’s all fine at the moment.” Holly told who ever had control of the phone and hung up. “So what’s up?”“There was a third person, not at the law firm, but involved. We looked into the case that drew the two assailants to Mr Litt’s office and there was a third person who lost a lot out of that case. We believe he was watching the events through a body cam’s found on both men.” Beckett explained.“You think he’ll come after me?”“Yes, which is why I would like you to come down to the precinct so we can arrange for a more secure place for you. We suspect he’s already tracked you down to this hotel. We can protect you down at the precinct.”“I have a job, I can’t do that offsite. How good is your Wi-Fi? What is your plan? Can you actually do anything if you find the guy?” Holly asked. So much for a nice peaceful summer.----“So I was thinking Ivy Winters, Nikki Heat’s younger sister, left home at 18 and changed her name when she delved into the world of hacking.” Holly was leaning against the counter, with what was apparently tea, in Homicide’s kitchen when Castle had burst in with his idea. “Is she as physically pained by not being given the Wi-Fi password?”“She would have found a way around it.” Castle said in a matter of fact way. Holly grimaced as she tried to drink her tea. “Apparently it’s bad etiquette to do that to people protecting you.”----Using her charm and some sweet talking Holly found herself with the body cams found on the two gunmen in one of the rooms that apparently was a tech lab, or just a room with a desk and a computer. Watching her work was their resident expert who was used to pretty basic stuff, observing in fascination next to Castle who was doing research for his new character. For general crime nothing more was needed than a basic knowledge, but as Holly tore her way into the body cam’s connection she could tell this was not just an off the shelf piece of equipment.Holly loathed to use her own tablet to access the cam, there was a chance they were carrying something in case someone tried to access them. Unfortunately, anything else available was not up to scratch, so with a silent apology Holly had connected it up and hoped they weren’t good enough.It didn’t take long to trace back the connection, considering it was active, not transmitting picture, but transmitting a location, which worried Holly as she saw the log tracking its movement. ‘Why are you hiding in there?’ Holly swallowed thickly as the words appeared in the programs she was using to interface with the device.‘Why are you hiding out there?’ she responded.‘I’m not, come out and play?’
‘Don’t bring your friends.’
‘The girl dies if you do.’ Holly’s brain was going into overdrive. She knew she should have asked more about this third person, they clearly weren’t just another gunman, they were likely the brains behind the whole operation. They were good enough to be in a relative position of power.‘What girl?’‘Come out and play.’ It wasn’t a suggestion this time.
‘Follow the man with the red cap.’ It just got worse, Holly had a sinking feeling that this was bigger than the two gunman and third accomplice.“I need some air.” Holly declared, blanking the screen and disconnecting it.“Beckett said you need an escort.” The tech guy said frowning.“I will literally stand on the doorstep of this building for a minute then come back in.” “I’ll go with?”“I can’t think with people watching me.” Holly said, vetoing Castle's offer. With no other objections she marched out, taking out her phone and typing a text as she navigated to the front of the building.‘I’m probably about to do something stupid.’
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Knowing how to get out of handcuffs was a neat trick Holly had learnt in her early teens. It had come in surprisingly handy on occasion. This wasn't one of those occasions. Having your hands cuffed to a metal pipe bolted to the table in front of a detective made it a bit pointless to even try.Castle was absent from the room, only Beckett was sat in the room with her. Holly wasn’t sure if it was because she’d left the precinct while supposedly in protective custody, or if she had been caught with a gun in her hands pointing at a man who had just been shot. It didn’t seem to matter that she’d been protecting Alexis, Castle’s daughter or that she was a bit bruised from fighting over control of the gun in the first place."You have to understand how it looks," Beckett was saying. "You holding a gun over a now deceased man.""I didn't shot that gun, I was already tested for gunshot residue." Holly insisted, rolling her eyes at the repetitiveness of their conversation. "You're just trying to get me to confess so you don't have to do any more investigating. Have you even dug the bullet out of the guy yet? I bet it's not even the same kind from the gun I was holding.""Until that happens I have to try to get the truth out of you.""Well congratulations, you succeeded. Go ask Alexis she was there too.""We already have her statement, she couldn't see much and so doesn't know if you shot or not. We don't have any other explanation as to how he victim got shot.""This is horse shit and you know it, just because you only have one suspect doesn't mean they did it, it leads to confirmation bias."----It was another hour and a half before Holly was freed and slightly peeved. She wanted to get drunk and wallow in misery for a bit but still lacked a fake ID. She tore into the evidence bag of her belongings with savage intent, stowing them in there right full homes. A quick look at her phone reveal a dozen or so attempts to contact her. She shot off a few reassuring texts knowing it would filer out to people who needed to know."Wait up!" Holly barely slowed her pace until a hand landed on her shoulder, she ducked out of it before any sort of grip could take hold, still defensive after the three hours of insisting she was innocent. "I wanted to thank you." Rick Castle stood there looking genuinely glad, "I know you haven't eaten yet so you are coming to eat with me and Alexis." He pause and a worried look crossed his face, "and possibly my mother." Holly looked at the man who had almost lost his daughter, seeing the genuine emotion written on his face.“I guess I could eat.”----Holly rushed through the last of the work at Pearson Hardman, trying to keep to the original time frame, Jessica was understanding of the situation and happy with her dedication to her work. She handed over the reins of her system to Benjamin, with clear instructions and a contact email if he did need help.Contact with anyone back home had become pretty sparse, it had been equal parts refreshing and worrying, which was why she was catching an earlier flight home. She thought back to the last time she'd spoken to Q weeks ago, he’d seemed pretty annoyed with her after the stunt she pulled, ‘recklessly putting her own life in danger’, it was contact with him she missed the most, as much as it had annoyed her to begin with when she wanted to be left alone and he kept contact.There was still plenty of time before her course started again to figure out what was going on, what she wanted out of a friendship with Q. Knowing his actual name would be a good start.----Baker Street was her first stop back in England, to be closely followed by a pub. She’d just spent almost three months sober and was looking forward to being able to slow her brain down to reasonable levels for a bit. As she opened the door to a dark 221 she felt her gut twinge and went on alert, something was wrong. Dumping her bag and boots in the hallway so she could move quietly she made a quick detour to the kitchen to grab a knife. Opting to use her phone to open her door, she silently padded down the stairs, missing out the one with the creak. Her room was bathed in a dim light from her high window, the moon shining through, highlighting her room with different shades of grey.Holly remembered leaving her room nice and tidy when she left, bed made and everything put away. That's not what she saw now.Someone had been sleeping in her bed, her duvet was pulled down and everything was slightly rumpled. Her futon was pulled out and occupied, in the dim light Holly couldn’t see who and at this point she was getting to angry to care. She heard the toilet flush and a tap turn on in her bathroom.She crept over to by the door and flattened herself against the wall to the side. The tap turned off and there was a click of the lock and a ribbon of light appeared as the door swung open.There was a few seconds of movement as she sprung, Holly grabbed the man who had just emerged and pressed the knife to his throat, her hand steady and unwavering even with the adrenaline coursing through her body, her other hand pulled his thumb back in a painful lock. The man struggled and managed to knock over some books, waking up the occupant of her futon. Suddenly there was now a gun pointed at her and her hostage, probably more at her but she’d position as much of herself behind her hostage as possible.It took a few more seconds to register in the bad lighting that it was Alec holding the gun, still pointing at her even though he could tell it was her. Her hostage struggled a bit until she kneed him.“Put the knife down.” Alec requested using a calm tone of voice, his eyes never leaving her.“Tell me how you got into my room, and why you did it.” Holly growled out.“Put the knife down first.”“Bite me.”“You’re not a killer Holly.” Not yet but Holly was still young, there was still time.“Try me. I gave fair warning I was not going to take this shit. My room is off limits.”“We just need a place to hide out for a bit.” Holly still wasn't sure who her hostage was, she had a few theories but she wasn't willing to shift her focus of the immediate threat.“Use a safe house.”“There’s a suspected leak in Q-Branch, and after an attempt on Q’s life I needed somewhere unknown and secure to take him. We both agreed here would be good.” Holly growled out a sigh and released her hostage, shoving him over to Alec. Sure enough, now she could see him properly, it was indeed the quartermaster looking half dishevelled from sleep. She placed the knife on her desk where everyone could see it. Alec responded by clicking on the safety and placing it on one of the bookshelves. As he was close, he also turned on a lamp allowing them to see each other instead over just standing in the dark. Holly felt the majority of her anger fall away, she was too tired for this.“Well, my flat is secure, you couldn’t get into it last time you dropped by. So how did you get in now?” Her voice kept a sharp tone as she glared at them. It was hard to miss the look Alec gave Q now it was lighter, Q just looked sheepish but stayed silent. “Or I can announce to the world where you are. Your choice.” That got her a mumbled answer. Holly took out her phone and poised a finger above the screen. Alec looked uncertain, she could see his hand slowly making its way back to the gun.“I used that pass card you altered the day Vauxhall Cross exploded.” Holly put her phone back in her pocket. That was at least an answer, and was plausible, she hadn’t thought about protecting her own room against it. She stalked over to him and held out her hand for it.“I value my privacy.” Q awkwardly crawled over to her bed and rummaged in a bag on the floor next to it. Holly became acutely aware that in the summer heat neither male in her room was wearing more than underwear. Alec was unsurprisingly littered with scars or varying shapes and the odd tattoo, Holly hadn’t been expecting to see a pattern of dark ink on the quartermaster’s pale shoulder blade. Even with her excellent eyesight the light was too poor to make out the actual design.Soon the pass was produced and handed over. Holly took it over to her desk and turned on her computer, it took next to no time for it to load up the main system, everything else would wake up quickly, but this way should could start and not have to wait for everything. She glanced over to the two men who hadn’t moved. “Go sit down or something, it makes me nervous when people hover.” They both shuffled over to the futon and Holly seriously was wondering why she hadn’t just kicked them out. It took almost no time to reprogram the pass, if asked, Holly would have no idea why she didn’t just wipe it and make it useless. Instead she coded it for her door, adding an alert to her phone and laptop if it was ever used. She had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time this happened, no matter how hard she tried to remove herself from these endeavours, but at least next time she wouldn’t be caught unaware. She passed on the gist of what she had done, missing out on the alert, glaring at them as she gave the pass back. With that done she turned back to her computer and reached over to her mini fridge and retrieved her current bottle of vodka, she was not going to spend their time in her room sober. As she reached for a glass she heard a hopeful noise behind her, sighing she turned and saw Alec looking longingly at the bottle.“Seriously? You’re working.”“Never stopped me before, besides, that’s the good stuff.” It was one of the bottles Ivan had sent her.“I know.” The cousins looked at each other until Holly reluctantly retrieved another glass. “How long are you two going to be here?”“As long as it takes. Why?”“I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth crashing at a friend’s place until you’re gone.” That probably came out meaner than she intended but she was too sober to really care. She didn’t like people being in her room, no one had been in her since Christmas and that had been a terrible experience. Then there was the fact Q had been in the same room as her computer for an unknown amount of time. In hind sight she was glad she’d used her phone to unlock it, the same way she opened her door, no password for a key logger to get, but he wasn’t just an amateur, there was so much more he could have done. The thought grew in her brain until she practically dived for her desk, checking the ports on her computer for something trying to interact with her mainframe. “I didn’t touch it.” Q piped up defensively. Holly turned her head to level him with an unimpressed look. “If I had broken into Q-Branch and been in there unattended and you came in and I said I hadn’t touched anything, would you believe me?” She asked, smirking when Q seemed to struggle for a response. Finding nothing in the ports she shuffled out from under her desk and set her computer shutting down, she would take it apart in the morning and make sure there was nothing new inside. She drained the rest of her drink and headed for the stairs. “I’m going to grab my bag so no one trips over it, then I am going to pull up a patch of floor and try to sleep through my jet lag. That means no pillow fights, romance movies or gossiping like teenagers at a sleepover.” Holly declared as she went to retrieve her bags. By the time she got back the two men had moved, Alec was lying on his back still on the futon, a blanket half covering him, Q was sat on the floor looking guilty.“It’s your bed.” He offered by way of explanation. Holly sighed, at least he’d offered, she dumped her bag out of the way and turned to face him, she’d been raised to polite to turf someone out of bed.“I’m not kicking you out of bed in the middle of the night, I’m not likely to actually sleep so just take it.”“I’m sure you could share it.” Alec seemed far too amused from the undisputed futon.“You could take the floor.” Holly suggested sweetly as she pulled clothes out of her bag and headed for her bathroom, locking the door behind her. She could feel a twitch coming on as she saw the toilet seat left up. Leaning against the door she slid down until she was sitting and let her head rest against the wood. She felt so unprepared for this, having been hoping for a few days to get back into the swing of it.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Holly wasn’t sure if it was insomnia or the fact there were two people also in her room that was keeping her awake. Under a blanket which was doing a half-arsed job of covering her, Holly was just staring at her ceiling willing her brain to shut up long enough for her to sleep. The floor of her room was surprisingly comfortable, for a floor anyway. It didn’t stop her from getting bored and getting her laptop out and sending her revenge off to Mycroft. An 8 hour flight had done most of the work for her but she felt productive as she sent it on its merry way.The silence was a bit unnerving when she put her laptop to the side and tried to sleep again, knowing there were two other people in the room it felt like one of them should be making sleep noises, but there hadn’t been a sound from either of them. Sunlight was pouring through her windows, though she knew it couldn't be later than 5am. Thinking about it, that was probably late enough there would be some shop open soon so she could get milk and breakfast in a bit, she would go for a jog first, try to burn off some energy.She got dressed in the bathroom, still weirded out by people in her room, even Jodie and Matt hadn’t been in there. She was as quiet as possible as she slipped on some shoes and crept up the stairs."I thought you weren't back until the weekend." John stood by the open door, it looked like he had a similar plan. He glanced nervously at her door, Holly suspected he knew about the two men currently sleeping in her room."I finished up early. Can't sleep with jet lag," -and insomnia. "You going for a jog too?" John nodded, holding the door open and letting her take the lead, falling in step next to her. Holly noticed that even with Sherlock gone, John's psychosomatic limp hadn't returned.After a few light laps around a park they finished with a race back to the entrance closest to Baker Street. John managed to pull ahead in the last stretch so Holly got both drinks as the stopped off at a cafe after stretching out."I guess you found out about your room when you got back.""Kind of hard to miss, I take it you've been feeding them?" John nodded."Mrs Hudson has been too, apparently you never introduced Alec to her.""Never really came up. And I'm not exactly welcoming of people from his work.""At least you stayed out of trouble in America." Holly knew she looked guilty as he said that, no one had told him of her various exploits. "I knew it, spill, it's been far too boring at round here.""Just don't put it on your blog."----Holly was halfway through glossing over some of her exploits in the Big Apple when they both reacted to the door to the surprisingly dead café. Both of them sighed at the sight of Anthea heading over to the counter. Holly was already half out of her seat when Mycroft entered the café, a black car having materialised outside the window.“Doctor Watson, Miss Summers. Forgive the intrusion but this is quite important.” Mycroft looks unusually tense, Holly couldn’t tell whether he had found out about her latest alteration to his email or if whatever he needed was more important than getting back at her. Anthea joined them at the table as John excused himself with allusions to having important errands to run. From how easily Mycroft dismissed his excuse Holly knew he wasn’t there for the doctors help. “Don’t you have people for this?” Holly asked. The look she got back implied she was the person he had for this. “I mean people you pay.”“I believe the opportunity I’m offering you is worth more than money. I need someone with your technical skills to uncover a traitor within the SIS.” It must have been important to Mycroft if it hadn’t taken five minutes of dancing around words to get to the point. “That job you declined before you gallivanted off to the other side of the pond is still available, you need to take it.”“No. I said it before I left on my business trip and I will repeat it. I am not going to work where you might have influence.”“Now is not the time for this pettiness.” Mycroft was actually worried, not just because of the traitor, there was something personal, Holly could see the subtle tells and that worried her. “I have been very vocal about this matter, don’t you think it will look a little strange if I were to suddenly roll over?”“If I have something to hold over you to make you work there, then it may attract the traitor to you thinking you may help them to get back at the government forcing you to work for them.” “Does that plan ever work? It’s very spy movie cliché.”“If not then you will have all of the resources in Q branch to hunt them down anyway.” Holly had to wonder if Mycroft knew she had Q hiding in her bedroom. From his hints she could figure out that she was going to be hunting down whoever was the leak in Q-branch that Alec had mentioned when she got back.“Last time I got told that I got given a laptop with less processing power than my toothbrush.”“I can assure you that will not be an issue.”“Are you sure? Your quartermaster seemed to take my presence as in insult.” Mycroft almost looked human for a second before schooling his features. He glanced over to Anthea who looked at her phone and nodded.“Q is the reason we know about the traitor, he was attacked in Q-branch, all of the surveillance was wiped or malfunctioning and the records for key card access to Q-branch didn’t flag anything suspicious.” That sent Holly’s brain into action, multiple plans half forming before he’d even finished speaking.“Is Q alright, is he safe now, do you know why he was targeted, was it personal or because of his position?” Holly knew the answers to two of her questions but asked anyway as it would look suspiscious otherwise.“Yes, I presume so, I don’t know and I don’t know.”“You presume he’s safe? Mr I-have-less-respect-for-peoples-privacy-than-Sherlock-does.” Mycroft gave her an evil eye. “…Did.” Holly wondered how long he was going to keep that up.“For his own safety, his location has not been disclosed to anyone.” He didn’t know, this was hilarious, Holly made sure not to even hint that she knew more than she was letting on.“So, if I help you I will have free reign of his department without him to tell me not to do stuff?”“His second in command will monitor your activities but not intervene unless he deems it a threat.” That sounded a lot like ‘Don’t get caught’, Mycroft must be really worried about the situation to be offering an opportunity like this. Holly sipped at her tea as she considered the offer.“What if the traitor decides I’m a threat?”“I would suggest you get to them first.” Holly sighed, that sounded too much like a challenge for her to want to back down, even if it was Mycroft. It would also free up her room.“What are you going to have as a ‘hold’ over me? It’s got to be believable.” Mycroft broke into a frightening grin, the happiest he’d been the entire encounter and detailed his 'threat' out. Holly could feel a chill down her spine despite the summer heat. It wasn’t just a fake to make this more realistic, his threat held a legitimate base, one that he had probably been saving up for a special occasion. Again Holly wondered what made him so invested in this situation that he would bring out something this heavy, even just as a fake threat, and show his hand. As her head reeled with the new knowledge Mycroft and Anthea rose from their seats.“Oh, and Holly, Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus.” Holly managed to wait until the door shut behind them before dissolving into laughter. That had just pushed everything into the absurd. Mycroft had not only noticed she'd made all his outbound emails translate into Latin but actually quoted something related. That made all the effort she’d put into sentence analysis and translating the grammar rules of Latin into code worth it. Making all of his emails sign off as ‘The Dark Lord Mycroft’ was just a bit of humour on top of the Latin.----"So what have you guys been doing in here?" Holly asked as she made the two men tea. They may be unwelcome to begin with but she would be a good host. Well, not a terrible one at least. She’d decided on her way home that she wouldn’t tell them about her assignment, it would simplify things, and get revenge on the whole living in her room without telling her."Reading your text books mostly." Alec shrugged as he poured liberal amounts of milk and sugar into his cup, much to Holly's disgust. "Can't risk having too much of a presence here." Holly looked over to Q who was staring at his mug."And what did you do in my room, with all of my projects not locked away because I didn't think anyone would get into my room?" Q winced a bit and Holly could tell he'd snooped around. "My psychology text books not good enough?" "In his defence I looked first, I heard about the smoke bomb and wanted to see if you had any more." Alec commented, meeting her glare with a sheepish look. “I did stop him from snuggling up to them while he slept though.” There was a massive shit-eating grin on Alec’s face, Holly wasn’t sure if she believed him or not considering the shade of pink Q had gone."It’s probably better for my sanity I don't actually know what went on." Holly submitted, considering adding alcohol to her tea. With the initial shock and anger gone she was just resigned to whatever had happened now, it was a harsh punishment for her arrogance. “So what exactly is your plan now, because there is only so long I will let you stay in my room before bad things will happen.”“We’re supposed to wait for an all clear. Q isn’t allowed to help in case the threat is looking for his cyber footprint apparently.” Q was looking appropriately grumpy at that.“And my room of technology was the best place for him, knowing he isn’t allowed to do anything? Even I wouldn’t be that cruel.”“But now you’re back you can help.” Holly paused for about a second, again considering telling them, but then again they had broken into her room.“Like hell I will. I have said this many times, I’m not subjecting myself to that chain of command.” She was wishing she hadn’t but this was out of her hands, as much as she pretended she had made the choice to help on her own.“I guess we’ll just be stuck here longer then.” “I prefer you guys over Mycroft any day.” That was true enough but Mycroft had alluded to using the blackmail he was pretending to use.“I guess I won’t tell you what he has planned then.” “What?” Holly levelled Q with a steady glare. In the back of her mind she started to debate how much salt she would take his words with.“The video, you didn’t think he wouldn’t get his own back did you?” Holly and her arrogance again, when there had been no immediate retribution she had left it alone, then there had been the airport business, but she wouldn’t put it past Mycroft to take it further. Being held up at the airport for hours was a bit light compared to international embarrassment.“That does remind me, I owe him one.” More than what she’d done earlier, Mycroft always deserved something. She wondered if Matt was around to be her partner in crime again. “Shame you aren’t allowed to do anything or I would ask if you wanted to help. I’m going to go enjoy my freedom to not be stuck in a room full of things I can’t play with.” Placing her empty mug on her desk Holly collected her phone and headed for her door.As she pulled the front door shut behind her, her phone was already calling Jodie, if she remembered correctly Jodie, Matt and their new flat mate should have moved into their new place by now. She just didn’t know where it was, hence the call.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The problem with playing multiplayer games on one screen was there were two ways of doing it, the split screen and being distracted by everyone else, or being stuck on the same screen which had its own problems. With four of them drifting through Sanctuary sharing the same screen it was getting a bit interesting when Matt felt like dyeing all of his gear different colours. It wouldn’t have mattered hugely had looking at his inventory not paused the game for everyone, letting everyone stare at his witch doctor, unable to do a single thing.
Holly was contemplating ‘altering’ the game so he couldn’t spend more than 30 seconds every five minutes on staring at his character. If it weren’t for a promise she made to Nick when she was a teenager, she already would have done it. That didn’t mean her wizard wasn’t overpowered through knowing what to put stats into. Jodie had already commented that the arrogant comments made by the character sounded just like Holly when she went on a power trip. Jodie had picked the demon hunter and was often left behind, not quite able to get the hang of alternating between fighting and moving. Relegated to the floor in front of the sofa was Jodie and Matt’s new flat mate, James, playing a barbarian. He was arguably the only one stopping the other squishy characters from dying within seconds.
Occasionally Jodie asked questions about her trip to America, for the most part Holly answered truthfully, missing out some of the details, aware that their flatmate wasn’t used to her crap. It didn’t stop her from picking up a vibe about the guy, he listened too intently to her adventures, asking probing questions disguised with innocence. It could have just been natural curiosity but Holly had a gut feeling.
They played through Diablo 3 with a few arguments, like who had to do the booze run to the shop just around the corner and which takeaway to get. By the time it was late Holly was debating crashing on the sofa, but there was something unknown about James that she couldn’t shake. His reactions were a bit weird and his movements too controlled. Every story about his childhood was cut short or ended in a lie painted with a conveniently generic cover. Holly wasn’t sure if Jodie of Matt had noticed, though at some point she was certain Matt couldn’t actually see the screen.
As they got drunker she noticed the slip ups more, wondering if she could bait him into trying to keep up with her, something Jodie and Matt knew better than to try. She had work to do later so she couldn’t yet. There would still be time, unless she managed to kick Q out of her room and verify her systems. She wasn’t stupid enough to do a background check that might dig too deep in the presence of anyone from the government. Even if they weren’t supposed to be there.
----
It was surprisingly light when Holly made her way home, she wanted to try to sleep before being let loose on MI6’s systems. Before heading down to her room she poked her head into her great aunts flat, realising she’d not actually said hi yet.
It took a bit of convincing Martha that she hadn’t actually gotten into too much trouble in America. She relayed some of the safer stories as they had tea, dropping hints she was well aware of her guests. Before she headed off to her room she did say that she had another job and may be scarce again, but still based in London. Martha just told her to be safe before sending her down to her room with dinner for the three of them.
----
There were some mixed feelings as Holly delved into Q’s personal computer. On the one hand she was having fun as she twisted through the layers of security, it was much more thrilling than just looking through MI6’s stuff. On the other hand she was in a sub ground floor level with potentially at least person who was a traitor, and considering the apparent attempt on Q’s life it probably wasn’t the safest place she could be.
She wasn’t stupid, if these people had wanted Q dead there were other ways to do it without risking exposure. They wanted him alive, if they were just after his skills then she was at risk. If they were after something on his computer, she was at risk. If they were afraid she would find them, she was at risk. There was literally no good side if she dicked around. She would have to be on her guard.
With each short tea break she took, she observed the people who made up Q-branch. She knew that while she was there, there would be no way to see how they acted unwatched, no way to pick up on unusual behaviour. It would take a while for someone to slip up.
The only lead she’d been given was that Q had been working on something when it had happened, hence his computer being at her fingertips, slowly being unravelled. He’d managed to initiate some sort of lockdown on it, including access to access logs and security footage, if there was anything to salvage. If she could find what he was working on or who was around at the time, then maybe she could draw another attack. It was going to happen, it may as well be on her terms.
“How’s it going?” R was by her shoulder, bouncing with energy. In the few hours she’d been there, R had shown an incredible proficiency in what she now called workplace yoga. He apparently had the inability to sit in a chair like a normal person and so would be anywhere else. So far she’d seen him crouched on the floor, using a chair like a desk, lying with his legs up a wall and even leaning over a desk with a leg up on another desk nearby.
“Good enough that I wish he could watch me do this.” Holly grinned and she flicked between her laptop and the other screen.
“Are you staying late?” It was at that point Holly realised the department was half empty. She nodded, not wanting to leave the computer only half secure. “The sofa in the kitchen isn’t too bad for sleeping on, there’s a pile of blankets in one of the cupboards.” R offered before hoisting a bag onto his shoulder and heading for the lift.
Holly scanned over the remaining people, most were monitoring missions, a few were working on other projects, bringing them to a good point to pause so they could go home. No one so far had shown too much of an interest in her presence.
The smell of greasy Chinese takeaway dragged Holly’s attention to the lift which seconds earlier had opened.
“So the rumours are true.” Alex had a huge grin on his face as he placed a container of takeaway in front of her, perching on the edge of her desk. “Never thought I would see you willingly work for the government.”
“Well, that part of the rumour is blatantly not true. I was strongly ‘advised’ to do this.” Holly grumbled as she dug into her Chow Mein. “Did you just come down to deliver food?”
“I was actually wondering if you’d been into Q’s office yet.” Holly glanced at the computer she was using with a hint of confusion. “He works out here, but has an office for meetings and tinkering.” He led her to one of the doors to the side and stopped. “Your pass should get you through.” It would most definitely get her through as Holly had modified it as soon as she’d had a private moment. She swiped through and the light blinked green allowing access.
The office wasn’t much, barely more than a cupboard with a desk shoved in. Holly immediately picked out her dismantled smoke bomb on a pile of files, carefully picking up the pieces and cradling them. It was beyond repair, but it was what had told her who Scipo was in the end, it meant something to her but she placed it back on the files.
“This is my favourite decoration, Alec and I added it, I feel it brings something to the room.” Alex closed the door behind them to reveal a human shaped target from the range. For a few moments Holly was confused until she saw the grouping of shots low on the paper.
“You put my target on the back of his door.”
“In my defence, Q decided to keep it.” Just from the look on his face Holly figured that wasn’t the full story.
----
Holly wasn’t sure what time it was when she woke up slumped over the desk. Alex was leaning a chair against the desk next to her reading a book. It was reassuring that someone had been keeping an eye on her as she slept, even if she hadn’t meant to sleep. It was overdue though so understandable.
“Tea?” Alex offered, not looking up from his book. Holly grunted a yes as she lay her head back on the desk, she tilted her head so she could see the screen. It looked irritatingly familiar, as the one she’d been staring at before she’d fallen asleep.
“How’s it going?” Holly wasn’t sure how Q could stand being in such a position that allowed for people to creep up from behind. She made a frustrated noise in response, finally pulling herself up to a normal sitting position. “Think you can crack it?” Even if she wasn’t fully awake, that twigged as suspicious, she looked at the employee, wondering if she should play dumb or go on the offensive. “Q was certain you’d never be able to get though.” So unbelievable obvious, did they really think she was that useless after waking up that she would allow herself to be manipulated.
“No offense, I know he’s your boss, but I could make Q look like he’s never seen a computer before in his life.” Holly drawled out as she stretched, knowing that was the arrogance the man was looking for.
“How come you haven’t cracked it yet then?”
“If I wanted to I could have just brute forced my way in, but lost over half the data. Things like this can be delicate when someone knows what to expect from people like me.”
“How long do you think it will take then?” This was crossing into way beyond what someone would ask her in this situation. It felt too easy, someone this suspicious approaching her this early. She was almost tempted to offer up her wrists and tell them to just get it over with.
“I don’t know, depends on how interesting this gets. It’s nothing like what protects your mainframe, which is a shame, I would have more fun toying with Q if it was always this fun.”
“He knows, that’s why it’s not as fun.” Alex said as he placed tea in front of her, shooting a glare at the employee who scuttled off. “That was suspicious as anything.” He commented, having seemingly overheard most of the conversation.
“Yeah, about as subtle as a brick to the face.”
----
Things came to a climax twelve hours later after a call from Mycroft confirming a safety net if she dared allow herself to be caught up in the plot. With no one likely to give themselves away soon Holly didn’t have much of a choice if she wanted her room back. She was prepared for most things now though, taking anything she would do predictably and making sure there was an alternative she hadn’t used. Deciding she had been stuck inside for too long she headed up for a smoke break and some fresh air, as much as they contradicted each other. She saw in the corner of her eye the employee she twigged as a mole watch her, but made no movement to follow.
The light almost blinded her as she emerged onto the pavement, holding a hand to shade her eyes as the other fumbled into a pocket for her cigarettes, walking away from the entrance of the building to a side alley she knew had a blind spot.
She watched people walk past the alley’s entrance as she lit up, it was still summer holidays so there was a lot more foot traffic, a constant stream of people walking past, no one even glancing in her direction. She pretended to be lost in thought as she watched people, ignoring the light footsteps behind her as she sighed wistfully at the obliviousness of the general public.
A hand gripped her shoulder, throwing her into action, she wasn’t going to make this easy for them. She’s already punched two of them and hip checked someone by the time she’d taken full stock of the situation. A glint of silver had her backing up a bit, right into the thick arms of a person she hadn’t initially counted, a hand clamped over her mouth, the other pinning her arms to her side as she struggled, twisting her body, trying to get some leverage. Although she couldn’t see them, she could feel that they were built like a concrete wall, not giving an inch.
All too soon she felt a slight pinch in her arm, the brief panic made her lash out more, not that it did much more as she kicked at the guys legs. She mentally started listing her own safeguards for this plan, feeling the world start to get blurry and slow.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Holly tired getting tired of waking up tied to a chair, it made her back and neck ache horribly. It also meant she wasn't in full control of the situation and that was almost as bad as the aching. Her body felt slow and half numb as she tried to assess the situation. It was the first time she hadn't been woken up, tied to a chair, in a way that shocked her system into action. As she fidgeted, she could feel a pain in her wrists, more investigation worried her as it appeared they hadn't gone with a traditional method of handcuffs, plastic zip ties or even rope. Thin bands of metal dug into her skin as she probed for a locking mechanism, only finding rivet holes holding the loops closed and attached to the slats of the back of the chair.Not quite the situation she’d hoped for, but it was still salvageable. She just needed to assess her options. The room was dim, shards of bright light piercing through gaps in the cardboard covered window, lighting up the dust in the air. There was a kitchenette to one side, very empty but not clean. Twisting her head, she could see three doors, one had a letterbox, so she assumed it was to outside, the other two were identical. It looked like a basic 1 bedroom council flat, probably in the scummier area of a big city. She couldn't rule out the idea they had taken her from London. Judging from how little she could hear from the window, she guessed a tall block of flats.There was no sign of electronics, to an excessive degree, no kitchen appliances, no light bulbs, and no light switches. All the electrical sockets were mutilated, the phone socket looked like it had been chewed, along with the surrounding area, by a bear, and the aerial port for a TV was melted beyond any usable point. As soon as she got out of this place, she was wiping her file on every secret service’s database, this was ridiculous.Before she could make further observations, one of the doors opened, light flooding through, and temporarily blinding her, closed before her eyes could adjust as see through the door."So the genius is awake." If this guy was just going to be stating the obvious then this was going to get tedious very fast. The man slowly came into focus, recognisable as one of the men from the alleyway.“Just get on with it, I don’t have the patience for this crap right now.”“You don’t have a choice.” The man looked so smug at that, even if Holly hadn’t had an escape route she would have said anything to wipe that grin from his face.“You think so? You think that I’m not here because I want to be? That somehow I found the closest spot with no CCTV and a nice clear exit route for you and took a smoke break there by accident?”“No one is going to find you.”“Good, then they won’t find your bodies until I’m free and clear. You have personally inconvenienced me in so many way that I cannot forgive. You haven’t even offered me a cup of tea, so I now have a raging headache. No one is happy when I am deprived of caffeine. Last time it happened Vauxhall Cross exploded. Think about it.” While not even remotely her fault, there was enough confusion about the events that it was plausible given her history. Holly did like implying things without explicitly saying what they would assume from it. “I would offer you tea but we had to take precautions.” The man gestured to the kitchenette and various disfigured ports. Holly let her head fall back as she sighed, it was times like this her love of caffeine worked against her as she tried to ignore the pain in her head.“I’m flattered. Go find a coffee shop.” “Can’t leave you alone.”“Probably a wise choice, sort of, not really, being stuck with me.”“What can you do? You’re stuck in that chair.” To make the point the man walked over to her chair, reaching out and gently slapping her cheek, he seemed uncertain, trying not to show it. When she didn’t retaliate to the slap, he straightened up and grabbed the back of the chair, tipping it forward to the point that, if he let go, the chair would fall forward instead of returning to all four legs on the floor. Holly’s shoulders strained as they were forced to hold her body at an uncomfortable angle, the metal digging into her wrists more. The chair tilted even further, Holly had to grit her teeth as her shoulders burned. Eventually the chair was returned to its upright position. “See, I have the control. It would serve you well to remember that.” The man was even getting cocky now. That wouldn’t last long, now Holly had proven that she wasn’t escaping it would give her more leeway to make her move as the man was unlikely to feel the need to check again.“If you have the control, then why am I not doing anything? People don’t kidnap other people without needing them for something.”“That’s none of your business.”“Who am I going to tell? I’m not going anywhere yet.”“We need access to certain files, Q noticed and locked them down. You can get to them if your claims are to be believed.” It was what Holly had expected, and one of the situations she had prepared for. “We’re just waiting on a few things and then you can get to work.”“Well I imagine by now they had apprehended your accomplices. There wasn’t any CCTV in that alley, but there was other surveillance. It was nice taking a break here, it’s always an interesting experience to see people underestimating me. I just need to decide how to deal with you and it’ll be golden.” There was the sound of metal being cut and Holly brought her hands round to rub at the metal. “I’ll give you a bonus for this, but next time check for these.” In one hand was a slim pair of metal cutters, already showing signs of stress and bending. It had been made for one, maybe two uses at a push, concealed in her belt in two pieces, easily assembled for an escape like this. She’d expected plastic zip ties, or handcuffs, but this had worked nicely anyway.“We checked you for stuff like that.” The man seemed in a state of disbelief, Holly know it would only last so long and needed to make her escape now. “Not well enough. See ya.” Holly bounced over to the door and went to open it, just as she could see between the door and frame, into the hallway outside, her eyes picked out a wire branching between the two.“It’s rigged to explode if that wire breaks.” The man was right behind her, she slammed the door shut and slipped away, giving her more distance.“There is likely to be way out though, they wouldn’t trap you in here.”“Why would I tell you?”“Fair point.” Holly’s next option was the window, she quickly made her way over to it and ripped out the cardboard, slightly disconcerted that the man didn’t seem to actively be stopping her.“There’s no fire escape for you to climb down and we’re seven floors up. The window doesn’t even open.” Holly stormed back into the middle of the room, trying to look as annoyed as possible. She grabbed the chair and smashed the largest part of the window, using a leg to poke out the smaller shards at the bottom. Hands touched her shoulder and she whirled around, still wielding the chair, smacking into the man’s side. She jabbed it towards him making him back up. They seemed at a standoff, Holly couldn’t safely get out of the window while this man was still nearby, but she wasn’t going to back down. A beeping broke the tension, Holly backing up to the window again as the man flicked his eyes down to his phone, eyes darting across the small screen. Holly wasn’t reassured by the change in the man’s face as it hardened with resolve, the phone tossed carelessly to one side.He gave a sardonic smile and backed up the short distance to the front door, opening it a crack. While Holly had no proof that the guy had been telling the truth when he said it was rigged to explode, it could be rigged to anything, she needed to get out quickly. The man didn’t seem to care that he would be in the range. Holly was already running for the door that the man had initially emerged from.The sound of that wire being tripped seemed to echo through the room as Holly burst through the door, making a lighting quick assessment before diving behind a sturdy looking desk. She hadn’t quite cleared it when the rush of the explosion caught up with her, tossing her against the wall, along with debris from between her and the source. She hit the wall hard, knocking the breath from her lungs, the sharp sting of rubble hitting her. The air was hot as she tried to breathe again. She couldn’t hear anything but a high pitch ringing as she tried to get her brain to assess the situation, trying to get her body to move so she could get somewhere safe. She could feel bile making its way up from her stomach as she tried to sit up, the bitter taste making her gag.She made a point not to look at herself, if she was hurt then it would slow her down, if she didn’t know about it then it wasn’t hurt. It worked better in theory, sharp stabbing pains distracting her as she tried to pretend each lung full of warm air wasn't painful, and that her vision wasn't swimming. She pushed away the part of her that just wanted to give up, she could feel her will crumbling with every movement.It felt like hours had passed by the time she got to the door and surveyed the wreckage of the main room. The door way was gone, a larger hole remained gouging out part of the flats both above and below the one she was in. Floorboards were shredded halfway into the room, the ceiling hanging down in places. Holy dragged herself over to the window, hoisting herself up and sticking her head out. She wasn't getting out as she was, but the fresh air was nice, even if it was still warm from the summer heat. It tasted clean and she counted that as a win.----“Holly?!” Crusty eyelids worked their way open, not remembering being closed in the first place. The room was dark, a proper dark, not just blocked out sunlight. A torchlight bounced around lighting up the ruined room. Holly blinked to try to clean the mess from her eyes and make sense of the situation. More torchlights joined the first making Holly dizzy as they danced around, some centring on her, blinding her.
She lifted up an arm to block the light from her eyes, the pain making her work for it.“She’s alive.” Any instinctive sarcastic comment was lost in her dry mouth.“Good.” That posh voice sounded horribly familiar. A torch shone past the speaker, illuminating his silhouette for a moment, which was all it took to identify him.“Mikey?” Holly managed to rasp out.“I apologise for taking so long, we had to evacuate the area and make sure nothing else was going to explode.” Holly wasn’t sure if she was imagining the genuine regret in his voice. Calls of clear started filling the air from the other occupants of the small flat. “You’ll be pleased to know the rest of the operation went off without a hitch.” Holly just grunted, now her mouth was moist, all she could taste was bile. Someone in green offered her a bottle of water, the first swig was immediately used to try to rinse the out the taste, the rest she drank greedily as she felt hands on her, probing for those pains with what seemed like laser guided accuracy. It was agony as she felt herself lifted and carried down what seemed like endless stairs, she allowed her mind to take a step back, not trying to focus on anything. When she saw the flashing blue lights and familiar sight of an ambulance she allowed herself a small smile. She could see who was carrying her now, even with the full gear partially obscuring his face, those warm brown eyes were so familiar. She was safe.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“It’s all safe, you can vacate my bedroom now.” Holly had waited until Mycroft had made his courteous visit to her hospital bed to make the all safe call to the pair hiding in her room. She savoured the slight widening of Mycroft’s eyes, fairly certain he had forgotten how to breathe.
She also enjoyed the shocked pause on the other end of the call.
“I thought you weren’t going to help.” Q questioned, she could almost hear his brain whirring into action.
“I also said I would never willingly work for Mycroft.” Holly was fairly certain she had just broken Q from the aborted half words coming from the phone.
“Why?” Finally a coherent word was formed.
“Because I was needed. I also wanted my bedroom empty again. It's difficult to do what I do best with the government breathing down my neck."
"I do hope you aren't going to be tampering with my emails again, it does get ever so tedious to sort." Mycroft refused to be forgotten now that he had regained his bearings with the situation.
"Is Mycroft there?" Sighing Holly put the phone on speaker and dumped it on the bed and glared at the older Holmes.
"New accommodation has been arranged for you, your personal belongings have been transported over. I would worry more about your department than getting your place in order as to my knowledge Holly has only been in one of those places recently." Holly regretted dumping the phone as it hurt to reach for it so she could throw it at Mycroft.
"You couldn't have waited until he left my room could you?" She hissed over the yelp from the phone.
"It's only fair." Nothing in his face said it was about fair.
"Since when have you cared about fair?" Her question echoed by Q.
“Don’t be bitter. I wish you a speedy recovery Miss Summers, but not too speedy, it is quite tedious to have to learn a new language every time you decide to be petty.” Mycroft picked up the phone and ended the call, slipping the phone into his jacket.
Holly’s phone hadn’t been found anywhere, mostly because she hadn’t taken it with her when she went out to be kidnapped. Not that anyone else knew that and so had been searching for it. Holly hadn’t wanted to risk someone else getting their hands on it. While she was confident in her abilities, recent events had reminded her that she needed to stop assuming no one could beat her.
Left alone in the hospital room, sterile and almost silent, but for the machines beeping, Holly was left alone with her thoughts, something she was never fond of. She stretched out her limbs, one by one, testing at what point she could feel the pain. She knew what should hurt, a doctor had listed off her injuries, but painkillers numbed a lot of it down. The pain felt nice, something Holly never thought she would even consider, but pain meant she was still alive and she wasn’t in some horrible afterlife haunted by Mycroft.
----
The next time she woke, it was to the smell of tea, which was strange considering the tea a nurse had reluctantly got for her hadn’t even smelt like tea at the time, let alone now when it would be cold. She patiently waited for her vision to clear, the painkillers were making her feel all fuzzy and every time she tried to turn it down, they would always go back up the second a nurse visited.
Of all the people Holly had been expecting, Mallory was no one of them.
“I feel like we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.” He held out a take away cup in offering. “I have been reliably informed of how you take your tea.” This felt like a big favour she was going to be asked to do. She accepted the tea and gestured to a seat, she would hear him out at least. “I just want you to read this.” He held out a piece of paper from a pocket. Holly got the feeling it would be destroyed after being read. She could understand why, too much surveillance jamming technology would royally screw over hospital equipment.
She had to reread the words a few times, it was a mix of a request and some information. Mallory really must have seen her as an asset, or just not like Mycroft almost as much as she did, maybe both.
“I’ll be back in work on Monday.” Holly said, her way of agreeing to the request that she finished her time in Q-Branch. She itched to get back to her room and start putting in some measures for her safety, based on the information on the note. Mycroft was taking some liberties with the SIS and Mallory wasn’t happy about it and suspected there was more to it than Mycroft was letting anyone know.
----
Holly was in the process of being discharged when she had another visitor. Q looked a bit uncomfortable as he hovered in the doorway.
“Your room is back to being yours. Everything is still there.”
“Thanks, I guess.” The silence was horribly awkward as the doctor finished up and left.
“How are you?” He asked hesitantly. He fell in step next to her as she headed to the exit.
“Bruised and bored.”
“Right.” They reached the foyer, and Holly was wondering if Q was going to say whatever was bothering him.
“Did you ask her if she’s coming?” Alec appeared next to them, a sly grin on his face. Q shook his head slightly.
“Would you like to get some lunch?” Holly wasn’t sure if it was what was left of the drugs in her system or if this all felt a bit weird. She nodded and followed them out onto the sunny London streets.
It was just as they were being led to their seats at a fairly fancy restaurant that Alec bailed after receiving a text.
“He was never going to have lunch with us.” Holly commented as she scanned the menu. “There are only two seats at the table. I’m surprised he stayed that long.” She closed the menu and placed it carefully on the table, leaning on interlaced fingers as she levelled him with a look, ever since she’d got back from America he had been acting strange and she wanted to know why.
“Ah, I’m glad I caught you both.” Holly was certain Mycroft had actually just materialised out of the air next to the table. She was not going to admit to having lost her focus when looking at the quartermaster. Q looked mildly irritated deciding to study the menu intently and ignore both her and Mycroft. She turned in her seat, mustering up all the irritation she could and reigned it in, letting it bleed through her words.
“I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this, but piss off Mycroft. I have just gotten out of hospital, which I am blaming all on you by the way. The painkillers are wearing off and I can’t take any more for another three hours. I am bruised, hungry and have only had one decent cup of tea in the last week. If you do not kindly fuck off I will ruin you.” Mycroft opened his mouth to retort but Holly held up a finger. “We both know what will happen if you push me right now. Do not make me a player in one of your little games.” Looking like he’d swallowed a lemon, Holly’s favourite expression on the man, he turned to Q who had somehow managed to get a wine list and was studying that like he would be tested on it.
“Remember what we discussed.” That apparently was cryptic enough to be deemed a good departing phrase.
“You sure I can’t tempt you with freelance?” Holly asked trying to temper the residual snark in her voice. The menu was lowered and there was something lit in his eyes she couldn’t quite read through his glasses.
“There are still benefits to working in government.” He finally put down the menu and held up a black card. Holly gave him a puzzled look. “Lunch on Mycroft?” Q offered with an impish grin and a sparkle in his eyes that got Holly feeling more than a little turned on. Looking closer at the card revealed Mycroft’s name, A grin spread across her face when she realised he had pickpocketed him while she had been talking.
“And here was I thinking you were disgustingly straight-laced.”
----After lunch they once more took to the streets of London, Holly leading but refusing to reveal the destination. It was a bit boring that they ended up at Jodie and Matt’s place.
“Were you mugged?” Jodie demanded seconds after opening the door and seeing Holly. She found herself dragged in by her t-shirt, only just grabbing Q to take him with her. “No wait, there was an explosion in a block of flats in the last week. That sounds more like you.” Jodie was rambling as she shoved Holly onto the sofa, putting the kettle on and pulling mugs from various places. Matt barely looked up from his game, James was lying upside-down on the floor with his controller, feet in the free space next to Holly.
Once she was just waiting on the boiling water Jodie finally noticed Q, her eyes narrowing.
“You look familiar. Have I slept with you?” She looked over to Holly for some indication, only getting a slight shake of the head and an expression of amusement at Q’s face.
“He was that guy from the national portrait museum that Holly humiliated herself in front of.” Matt filled in, not even hesitating with his game.
“I was drunk.” Holly tried to defend herself, she had been trying to forget that incident.
“When aren’t we?” Matt objected, drunkness wasn’t an excuse and they both knew it.
“I’m guessing now, you’ve got painkillers again haven’t you?” Jodie asked as she fussed over the tea. “How do you take your tea…?” Jodie asked Q, hoping for a name.
“Same as Holly.” Jodie glared at him as she filled up the mugs. Holly noticed he hadn’t been paying too much attention, instead, glancing over at James, slipping his phone out of a pocket, his forehead creasing as if he was on the verge of figuring out a puzzle. Holly itched to know what he was typing in, but his phone was a place she’d never managed to access. Not that she had tried too hard recently.
Her suspicions about James only grew when they finished the level and she saw that look of surprise and more importantly, recognition, on his face when he move to sitting up properly and noticed Q standing by the kitchen counter.
Shifting to lie across the now free sofa space, Holly casually suck her hand down between the cushions and retrieved her phone, getting a quick profile picture of the blond and starting a search.
Q’s phone beeped first, looking utterly confused until he looked over at Holly, meeting her eyes with shock, his eyes wandering down to where her phone rested against her chest.
“You didn’t have your phone on you when you were moved to the hospital, no one could find it. You hid it here.” Q commented, thinking out loud. Said phone picked that moment to beep, the two of them still watching each other with a growing intensity. “Don’t read that.” He ordered as she reached for it. Her hand paused, hovering over it. Daring him to stop her.
“Why not?” Her tone was dangerous and challenging, if he was asking her not to read it then something was up with James and he knew about it. Both of them were on a hair trigger. She could see Q tensing, ready to go for her phone if she picked it up
“What’s going on?” Matt asked the question on the other student’s minds, the three of them were watching in frozen confusion.
“Holly is about to do something that even she won’t be able to dig out of. What she needs to realise was this was not done on purpose.” Her curiosity was at an all-time high, wondering what her search had dug up.
“So what is your plan from here?” Holly asked, sitting up casually, catching her phone before it fell but placing it in her lap when Q twitched towards her. “You can’t kill an idea. By telling me not to look, I know there’s something to see. You can’t get rid of that thought.” Q looked pained as he pinched the bridge of his nose, adjusting his glasses slightly, buying time to figure out how to handle her. He knew he had already lost that fragile friendship they’d been building.
“Promise me you will wait and I will explain it all later.” He pleaded, he had nothing to offer that she had any interest in and they both knew it. He was relying on what was basically her good will. Holly’s mind was running through various situations of how this could pan out, trying to figure out the most plausible from what she knew on the quartermasters thought process.
“I promise, but I have a deadman switch, if something happens to me, bad things will happen.” Holly warned, too many situations had involved her never seeing the light of day again. Getting her phone back had been vital to starting to protect herself again, and now she was going to have to build those walls higher.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Holly took her time drinking her tea as the four students waltzed through Sanctuary, the tension in the room entertaining her. Jodie looked half amused and half fed up. Matt kept stealing confused glances between Holly and Q. James looked confused, trying to secretly study Holly. Q was hovering near Holly twitching any time her hand reach for her cup, which sat next to her phone on the coffee table, ready to pounce if she picked up the wrong one.
The second she placed her finally drained cup back on the surface, the screen lit up with Mycroft’s cartoon and associated song, drawing everyone’s attention off the TV. Matt was trying a bit too hard to look innocent of his involvement. With a sigh Holly looked at Q who was looked at the phone.
“Is that who I think it is?”
“With all the effort clearly put into that, it would be a waste to let it go unused.” Still not admitting her connection to it. The phone was still ringing on the table, Mycroft was going to be persistent and probably annoying.
“Decline it, I’ll call him. We should get going.” With her tea finished she had no easy excuse to draw it out. She swiped at the phone, glad that it worked remembering the visit to the CIA.
“I guess I’ll see you guys later. Pub?” Making plans just so suspicion would be flagged if she didn’t show.
----
As the pair exited the block of flats, a black car drew up at the curb. Holly shot Q a hurt look and started walking towards Baker Street, he quickly fell into step next to her.
“If we are going to have this talk it will be on my terms.” She stated sharply, any pretence of friendliness she’d displayed at the flat was gone. She could feel the anger burning at her skin, she hadn’t even found out what was going on, but she knew it wasn’t going to be something she liked. She kept up a brisk pace, despite Q having a longer stride he still had to hurry to keep up.
Eventually they were sat in 221B, Holly had rather pointedly directed him up the stairs rather than down into her room. John was sat in his chair reading a newspaper, purposefully ignoring them. Holly left Q to sit awkwardly as she made four cups of tea.
“I’m not supposed to let you know, let alone let Doctor Watson know.” He protested as she sat the full cups on a table just as the doorbell rang. Moments later a woman Holly didn’t recognise joined them, escorted up by Martha who just pursed her lips at Holly in a disapproving manner.
“Moneypenny?” Q half greeted, it was reassuring that Q knew her.
“Q. Miss Summers, I’m Eve, M’s assistant. I have some paperwork for you to sign, it has been amended with regard to recent events.” A small wedge of paper was produced and placed on the table, the spare mug of tea was gratefully taken.
“That was fast.” Holly commented as she skimmed the pile, it was two copies of a contract, one for them and one for her.
“The modifications were prepared just in case an incident like this happened. You’re making quite a name for yourself.”
“Shame it’s too late to take back.” There was silence as she flicked through, occasionally turning back to double check a clause and make sure both copies were identical. Eventually she finished and signed her name and dated it on the last page of both piles. Moneypenny reach over to countersign both piles and took one.
“A moment Q?” The pair slipped out of the room. Holly got up to make another cup of tea and one for John out of curtsey, she would kill for an energy drink, let her mind go so fast it would just be a blur that she could tune out.
John finally broke the silence that followed Q’s return and Moneypenny’s departure. “Do I want to know?”
“Curiosity says yes, experience says no.” Holly said into her cup, she avoided looking at Q, unsure of what he would have been told. “I have a lot to catch up on, I’ll be down in my room.” She tucked her contract under her arm and picked up her tea.
“That reminds me, I think Alec left something in your room.” Holly didn’t even bother trying to figure out if that was just an excuse, just allowed him to follow her down to her room.
It was probably neater than how she’d left it, the bedding had been changed, everything was dust free, and things were in a bit more order. She dumped her contract in a drawer. Tea placed on the desk and shoes kicked off she crawled under to start disconnecting her tower. She worked quickly even with her limbs aching in the cramped space.
“I didn’t touch it.” Q insisted, hovering in the middle of her room, it practically confirmed there was nothing left behind for him to collect.
“I’m fairly certain, had you been gone before I got back, you wouldn’t have mentioned being in this room.” From the silence that followed Holly knew she’d hit the nail on the head there. She finished disconnecting and pulled the case out and tipped it onto its side.
“Probably not.” She hadn’t expected Q to actually admit it, no matter how sheepishly, or to be holding out the screwdriver she needed to take the side off.
“The fact you knew where this was just makes me worry more.” She informed him as she got to work, the new scabs on her wrists pulling painfully with the turning movement, making her progress slow. She glared off Q before he could even offer to help. “Why are you still here?”
“As I said, I didn’t touch it, but I am curious as to what it looks like on the inside.”
“There’s a well-trained team of hamsters with tiny typewriters. I just want to make sure you haven’t brainwashed them into forgetting how to use it.” She should just be telling him to leave, but her genius craved an audience, this was exactly why no one was allowed near her brain child, then she could resist the temptation to show off. Besides, it would be getting a revamp and she could apply some of it to her new part time job.
“How long has it been since you took your tablets?” He could see her struggling as the movements jarred her aching arms, beads of blood pooling at her wrists.
“Almost long enough for me to take more. But I don’t want to be playing in here, she gestured at her computer, “while not in my right mind.”
“You’re in pain, it’s not going to get better just because you ignore it. Let me be your hands at least.” Holly let out a bark of laughter and was about to go on about not trusting him but was interrupted before she could start. “You’re letting me stay and watch, you must trust me a bit.” He had a point, why hadn’t she been more forceful in kicking him out rather than the passive questioning of why he hadn’t left?
“Fine.” She grabbed her large screwdriver from under her mattress, getting a raised eyebrow. “It’s so I can poke you if you don’t do what I ask. You can finishing opening the case.”
----
Holly couldn’t remember how she ended up so warm and comfortable, everything felt so light in her head, it felt like she was lying on clouds.
It was her brain reminding her that clouds were not fluffy, just a collection of cold water droplets, and that kicked her back into the waking world. Her eyes snapped open as she bolted upright before her body reminded her she was still not healed and she groaned in pain, flopping back onto her bed. It felt strange to be back in her bed finally.
“You looked like you needed that sleep.” Q was still in her room, he was reclining across her futon, reading something on a tablet. Her floor and desk had the scattered components of her computer and anything else she’d demanded be broken down. “According to Doctor Watson you don’t seem to get a lot of sleep normally. I’ll go get you a cup of tea.” And for the first time in a while, she was left in her room alone, her dismantled computer reflect what her life felt like, a sprawling mess, taken apart and in need of fixing up with a thorough inspection.
She needed to make a plan, the contract in her desk felt like a lead weight, and she still didn’t even know what was up with James that had triggered the extra sections. But now she was allowed, the contract included a non-disclosure agreement that promised she would regret breaking it for the rest of her life. Maybe allowed was not the right word, more that she had found the information fair and square and now needed to write a report on how she managed it. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d done thing, she’d started out doing bounties for software firms.
Taking out her phone she unlocked it and braced for the worst. James Adams, Cherub agent. So what was a cherub agent? If they hadn’t made a big deal and added agent would she have even looked twice him? She skimmed over the initial bio, a couple of reports on anger issues, all his qualifications. Mission reports, what was more interesting was his age for them. He had been just a kid for most of these. It surprised her less that in probably should have that the government was using children. It made sense, kids were overlooked. She’d used this to her own advantage on many occasions.
She kept reading even as she heard Q return, tea placed on the side, the bed sunk slightly as he sat next to her, easily recognising what she was reading.
“It’s not just for the government’s sake they’re kept secret, but for their own safety on missions. They have helped a lot with gathering information and giving us the advantage. It’s a very need to know basis section, but if you’re going to be helping build up their cyber security then you should know the stakes.”
“Do you ever wonder if other governments have done the same thing?” Q opened his mouth to respond, only to close it again. “That’s a no then. It’s interesting, you use them like you’re the only ones to think of it, does that mean you do the very thing you laugh at others for doing? Forgetting about the children.”
“I honestly don’t know how we would start to monitor that without letting on that we use them ouselves.”
“It’s a problem for another day and another person, I need to put his back together.” She gestured to the parts. “As much as you helped take it apart, all it takes is a sleight of hand trick and I would never know you’ve added something.” Q raised his hands in surrender.
----
It was actually dark outside by the time Holly was satisfied and fired up the machine. It had taken a lot longer to put back together as she inspected and cleaned each piece. Each modular system inside was booted up and checked before being connected to the next cleared piece and checked again. If she could think up a way of infiltrating her own system then she checked for it. With her creativity it took a while. She’d even come up with new ideas as she went through the process.
It was a nice state of bliss, the world didn’t exist outside her and the technology around her. She was creating, using her mind instead of trying to numb it out, and it felt good.
She watched her screens go through its boot up, opting for a full one, rather than the express she normally picked. The login took longer too, after being dismantled it required more verification to gain access in case of unauthorised modifications.
The was a strange feeling of happiness as her desktop loaded up, a nice contentment, the high of letting her mind loose and riding the creation that followed.
“I wish my department had that kind of ethic. You barely even touched your tea you were so engrossed in your work.” Holly gave a tired smile, this was why she didn’t do it. Everything faded out, and if she didn’t have an end goal then she was lost to wherever her thought process took her for as long as it took to end and that could be scary. Even now she could feel a headache come on.
“Trust me when I say it wouldn’t go well.” She mumbled as she looked for her painkillers.
“Still, that was pretty intense.” Q passed them over from the bedside table, Holly couldn’t remember putting them there, but took the maximum she could take, dry swallowing them. Deciding that was a bad idea as she hadn’t drunk anything in a while she reached for her mini fridge. Vodka sounded good right now. “Are you seriously going to consider chasing those with vodka?” When someone else said it, maybe that wasn’t her best idea. “I’ll get you some water.”
It seemed like no time had passed before he was back at her side with a glass of water which Holly drained.
“Does this always happen?” He looked a bit concerned, it started to outweigh the impressed look he’d had before. She lowered herself to lying on the floor, an arm covering her eyes as she waited for the rush to be over, trying to ignore the extraneous thoughts pushing forward.
“Yes, not a good idea to have more of me.”
“Don’t you want to be on your bed?”
“Floor keeps me grounded, gives me something to focus on.” She could hear him move to sit on the floor next to her, a cautious hand reaching out to brush hair from her face.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Just keep talking to me.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It seemed like Jodie had run out of sympathy for Holly as she grilled the student on everything that had happened since she had left for America, searching for the details Holly had missed out the first time. Matt had opted out of meeting up so Jodie had demanded it be a girl’s only catch up.“All of this and you still haven’t slept with him?” Jodie asked as she finished up with how she’d woken up against Q’s leg, offered him tea and then watched him leave.“Is that your main priority right now? Me getting laid?”“Not just laid, laid by your lover boy. Sounds like you have some serious chemistry.” Holly didn’t like that smile, it looked to be playful, but she could see the deviousness behind it.“I want so badly to be drunk right now. I would rather be in pain and drunk.”“Well stop getting into trouble. I need my climbing partner back. Matt doesn’t like heights and I don’t know James enough to want to go with him.” Holly had mentioned the earliest she could do some light climbing would be a few weeks.“Hey Holly, I heard someone spent the night in your room.” Alex was so not welcome right now with that smug grin. He could turn up when she was in trouble, but was not allowed when Jodie was trying to dive into her non-existent love life.“This is a girl’s only gossip session, while your input is appreciated, please leave.” Holly would have kissed her friend if she had the energy.“I can’t stay anyway, I’ll see you on Monday Holly.” She could hear the smugness in his voice and it echoed through her head as he took off. Holly groaned and let her head fall onto the table, making a sound of disgust at the mild stickiness of the pub table.“New job?”“Contract work, again, at least it’s in London this time. I bet everyone I’m working with knows their boss slept in my room.” “You made your bed-”“I slept on the floor.”“Well next time choose the bed, those springs could do with some exercise.”“I wish I could hate you sometimes.”“No you don’t. You need me to tell you to go for it. Get over whatever is stopping you, it’s not as important as you think. You clearly have feelings for him and by the looks of it, he may have a thing for you. I may not know what vague thing you two fought over yesterday, but it seemed like he was trying to protect you from the consequences of your actions, it’s why you let him in, even if you didn’t realise it. If you try and there’s no spark, at least you tried. ”“But what if-?”“Don’t Holly. I know you’re going to overthink the crap out of this, but you need to push it away. If you can survive whatever shit you get into, then you can make a move find out if he likes you.”----A hush fell over Q-branch as Holly stepped inside. Eyes glancing over to her before back to their screens, all chatter had died out leaving a tense quiet in the room.“You must have left an impression last time you were here.” Moneypenny stepped in after her, having escorted her through security and down, probably so she didn’t deviate and cause trouble.“I don’t think they even remember that.” Holly grumbled, fidgeting with her new pass, the last one got confiscated as soon as it was recovered.“Ah, Miss Summers. Thank you Moneypenny, I’ll take it from here.” M stood in the doorway to Q’s office, through the gaps Holly could see the familiar dark hair behind him. M gestured for her to join them in the office and closed the door behind her, but not before she saw Moneypenny collaring an employee, probably to ask about the reaction to Holly.M didn’t stay for long, explaining what he wanted from Holly and asking them to play nice, he expected Holly to report in at the end of the day with a projected time scale. Holly wondered how long it would take for the gossip to reach him.The two of them were left alone in the office. Holly picked up the bits of her smoke grenade, running her fingers over the casing, sharp edges from when it had been broken open. She had thrown that at people all too willing to shoot at her, she still had the scar on her arm, but it wasn’t her first scar and definitely wasn’t her last.“Not much of a paperweight like this.” She commented, casually leaning against the desk next to him maybe a touch closer than would be just friendly. Jodie’s words were running through her head. She could lose. She could lose big, everything she’d built up, but she was realising that was a risk she wanted to take. Here was her chance and she was going to see where it went.“Couldn’t take any chances with my safety.” He hadn’t made any move to direct her away or to work, it was a promising sign.“I’m not sorry.”“I didn’t think you would be.” He reached to take the piece from her, pausing as he touched her hand, the looping red scab and dull bruising around her wrist stood out more than her tattoo. “Have you taken any painkillers today?” “No, I need my head clear for this.” She tugged at his hand, bringing Q to his feet in front of her, her free hand cupped his jaw and brought him close, her thumb tracing small circles on his skin. She felt the weight of his hand gently touching her waist, pulling himself flush against her. She could feel her heart starting to race, an unfamiliar feeling in situations like this.Before she could make a move, a sharp knock at Q’s office door echoed out. The grip on her waist loosened as he moved away, putting as much space between them as he could in a small room, almost like he had been burnt. She could see he wanted to say something to her, but his eyes kept flicking over to the door as the knocking repeated.“I guess I should get to work.” To say she was disappointed was an understatement. Q was showing no cues as to whether he had wanted it to go further or not, slipping into the professional guise almost as soon as the knock had sounded. “I’m going to grab a cup of tea, then you can show me where I’ll be working once you’ve dealt with that.” Her words were curt as she made for the exit, pausing slightly as she saw her target pinned there. Halfway through the next set of knocking Holly pulled open the door almost catching Alex off guard. It took him less than a second to see her, look past her and see Q and grin.“Looks like you two were getting cosy.” Not as much as she’d hoped for.“My assignment is need to know, we couldn’t exactly discuss it out here.” Holly said sharply, gesturing to the rest of the room, who again were all looking at her. She pushed the agent out of the way and made a beeline for the kitchen.To her dismay Moneypenny was leaning against the counter, a shark like grin on her face. Holly set about making her tea, waiting for the woman to just say what was clearly on her mind.“So, you and the quartermaster?”“Why is that everyone’s favourite topic right now?”“Q has managed to avoid being the topic of choice by somehow keeping his life outside work unknown and uninteresting. You’ve managed to change that so naturally that created a buzz.”“How does everyone even know?”“Standard procedure after something like this, Q has a tail for a week just in case someone was missed. For some reason 009 volunteered.” Of course, she should have known, Alex had been trying at this for a while now. So why was it when she tried something he was the one to interrupt her?“How important is 009? If he goes missing for a day or two, would he be missed?” “Please don’t mess with my agents Holly.” Q practically traced her steps making his own tea, only stopping at the kettle that was on its way to boiling.“I’ll consider it. Maybe. I promise nothing.” Cold and professional, why was this familiar?----Q had manged to clear a desk that overlooked the rest of the room, no one could sneak up on her. She appreciated it, she wasn’t sure if it was done on purpose for her, but it was good all the same. She settled into her work, glancing over the room every so often to see if anything significant changed. It bugged her how a hush would fall every time she left her workstation, but it was starting to taper off as the day went on. Probably because at no point did she go near Q. She’d managed to desynchronise their tea breaks so they would never be in the kitchen at the same time. It looked like he was working with her on that one, though she wasn’t sure if it was to try to dispel the rumours or just to avoid her.It was quite fascinating to see Q-branch fully at work. Being here technically of her own free will meant she wasn’t busy trying to irritate someone, or get something done fast so she could leave. Now they knew she wasn’t here because she had to be, they let their behaviour relax, though none of them dared approach her, even R left her alone, keeping his workplace yoga limited to the middle of the room.One of them had looked like they were going to at around midday, probably for lunch, but Holly had been engrossed in her report that she hadn’t seen what stopped the man. She had powered through, ignoring it, partly out of stubbornness and a bit out of habit.It was only when Q had been gone for a while in the afternoon that Holly took a longer break in the kitchen, giving her wrists a rest and doing some of the hand exercises she learnt from physio. With her mind not focused on work she could feel the ache of her body more, the bruises that still marked her skin. She couldn’t help prodding a few of the visible ones, seeing how much they hurt and comparing the colours.“I should have known you were a masochist.” Alex asked, appearing in the doorway. Holly didn’t know enough about the agency to know how the dynamics of the departments worked and whether agents coming into Q-Branch kitchen was normal.“Do they not make you do actual work around here?” Artfully avoiding the question. Holly could tell she wasn’t fooling the agent.“Actually I have a mission, but Q is not around to give me my toys giving me some free time. Try not to get into trouble while I’m gone. So masochist?”“I’m working here aren’t I?” Alex’s eyes lit up, taking from that everything Holly had let slip in.“Finally noticed? Or just stopped being in denial? Was there more to your meeting with him earlier?” As expected, Holly was instantly regretting her words.“Surely you have a mission briefing to reread or something?” “He does.” Q turned to Alex with a very neutral expression. “I apologise for the delay. Now you can collect your toys and leave my department.” Holly wondered if the bright lights contrasting the less lit main room was on purpose. It made it difficult to actually keep track of the main area and allow for people turning up unexpectedly. With that in mind she wondered how long Q could have been listening considering his use of the words toys. If he heard that then he heard how she saw working here.Now she was probably going to overthink that until she drove herself nuts, Jodie was right she needed to stop doing that. She grabbed her mug of tea and followed Alex out of the kitchen, not even glancing at Q as she walked past, ignoring the slight brush of clothing.Of course he’d used that to pass a note. She was a little impressed at how subtly he’d managed it, but she was going to ignore it until she was at least done and out of the building for the day. Between now and then she had a lovely meeting with M to endure.----‘I’m sorry, we should talk’The note was laying on the table of the pub between a cluster of empty glasses and Holly’s head.“It could mean anything.” Jodie was trying to be supportive this time after hearing of Holly’s encounters. Then relented over drinking after making sure Holly hadn’t taken any painkillers.“Why do you think it’s driving me nuts? You told me not to overthink this, now what? I can’t not overthink this. I already have dozens of reasons he would write this and they aren’t getting happier.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Holly managed a week with the same routine, which included jogging before work, avoiding Q all day in his own department, then alternating between getting drunk at Jodie and Matt’s place, working on a project and physical recuperation.It should have been hard to avoid Q considering his position, but Holly had experience and creativity. She’d had a computing teacher who had wanted to talk to her for an entire term. Holly had even attended lessons and still managed to avoid the chat. Most of her teachers had given up trying to talk to her and get her to work to the system, be a high achiever they could show off. As long as on paper she got the grades they had let her be. But her computing teacher had seen something in her, called it a remarkable, almost unholy, balance of imagination and logic. That was promptly followed by realising she had been the one behind some of the schools technical, but harmless, difficulties. So she’d had a legitimate reason to avoid him, even as much as he never told anyone else.Avoiding Q was just a matter of stepping up, adjusting her technique and a little manipulation of his department, both the employees and the system. It helped immensely that she reported to M, not Q.Until the fire alarm went off a week into her employment. A few key presses locked down her workstation and she followed the others out. Even after all her time in Q-Branch she still felt like an outsider, which was fine with her, no ties to make her want to come back. So she stood a little off to the side of the huddle that made up the Q-Branch employees, leaning against a wall in the shade.Discreetly looking through half closed eyes she could see Q flitting around making sure his staff were all accounted for, followed by someone pointing her out, presumably at his request. A quick glance showed no escape route, this was starting to scream of a set up.“We need to talk.” The note bearing those words flashed up in her mind like a neon sign, imprinted on her brain from staring at it every night. “No we don’t.” She refused to even look at him, trying to push away the image.“You can’t spend the next three weeks ignoring me.”“You want to bet?” In response Q stepped closer, bringing him into her personal space, a bit closer than was really suitable for a professional setting. She glanced over to his branch, some of them trying to subtly watch the interaction.“As you may have noticed, we are always being watched. A change is coming and you need to be careful who you interact with. Trust no one.” His voice was low and his lips barely moved. “Once you go back to your course, don’t answer the call.” If he only knew it was too late for that warning. She tilted her head back against the brick wall, casting her gaze to the sky. She couldn’t look at him anymore. This felt like a relationship that she should have kissed goodbye a long time ago. It hurt, like an ache in her chest, knowing she’d given it far too many chances, wanting it to work, and still gotten nowhere.“This isn’t the end.” Holly’s head snapped down, only to see Q’s retreating back.----The all clear came around and everyone filed back over to the building. Holly could blame the summer heat all she wanted on how she managed not to realise she’d been guided to a black car. The door was opened for her, and from the look on M’s face, this meeting wasn’t optional. Reluctantly she slid in, recognising the importance of this if it couldn’t be done in his secure office.“Look familiar?” M asked as a photo was brought out. Holly’s breath caught in her throat.“Didn’t he shoot himself?” The photo was passed over to her, with a closer inspection she could see enough differences to relax the tiniest of bits.“The likeness is remarkable. This is Max Denbigh, He’s heading the entire project that you need to get on. I would bet anything he is the rotten apple.” Holly nodded along, slightly surprised she was getting any information instead of getting dumped in. “I need you to help create Nine Eyes, the main goal of Denbigh’s project. I can’t let him have any of my own people. Any personal they have requested are too valuable to risk with this assignment.” That was like a slap to the face. “This means you will have no inside back up. I understand this is a huge risk to you, and if you were one of my people you wouldn’t have even been considered, but your position makes you too useful.”“Once this is done, consider me done with the SIS.“I can’t guarantee you will be left alone.”“Then they will learn the hard way.”----Two days after her contract in Q-branch ended, having done everything to shut the doors behind her, she sat in the cool interior of a café watching the world go by. Her phone inbox was depressingly void of recent texts. The last few had just been wishing her a happy birthday before going quiet again. Q had tried to talk to her again, but as she had been ignoring him before, it was easier just to continue rather than have to stop all over again. She regretted not trying again while she had the chance, being childish and hiding when it seemed to close to her getting hurt. Now it was just safer to have burnt that bridge so it couldn’t be used against her. Jodie had spent what felt like hours drunkenly ranting at her for that.She’d almost picked a pub to wallow in, but she was waiting for this job offer and pubs weren’t the best place for them. So she was sat in a corner, looking unapproachable as she worked on some harmless code.“Is this seat taken?” Her shoulder twinged, the voice sounded so horribly familiar, but she forced a smile on and politely responded that it was free. “Miss Summers?” The hard look in her eyes couldn’t be shaken when her name was said like that.“I would ask what I could do for you but I fear the answer.” “I have an offer for you, more than generous I think you’ll find.” Nothing would be worth this, but she needed to do this, the very idea of Nine Eyes was horrifying, and one day it would happen. Maybe not this time if she could help it, but maybe next time, with a different name, a different crusade, or the time after that.“I’m taking a sabbatical from work to resume my studies, so unless you are here as a potential study partner, I cannot help you.”It took half an hour of sweet talking and flattery for Holly to give in and accept the position.It took four hours to get so wasted she didn’t even try to get down her stairs, just leaning on her door feeling miserable as she toasted to the impending alienation for an indefinite period of time by anyone she dared care about.----“If Mrs Hudson sees you like this, she will blame herself.” Holly had not actually figured out how to deal with John, pushing him away wouldn’t work. He’d been through enough of that anyway and probably wouldn’t believe any sort of crap she tried to feed him.“I hate you.” She tried to clear her eyes of the crustiness while blocking out the blinding light of what was probably the crack of dawn.“Well you can hate me while we take a nice morning jog so you can at least have a better excuse for looking like this.”“I can live with that.” She still almost tumbled down her stairs as she went to get changed.“Celebrating or mourning?” John asked as they started off with a light jog to the park.“Both.” She could feel the look asking for more. “New job. Still government.”“I thought you were going to concentrate on your studies.”“I’ve already done the first semester worth of assignments and extra reading, don’t ask where I got the free time.” Not sleeping again, she hadn’t managed more than a few hours of sleep since her that meeting turned briefing with M.“You need someone to watch your back.” That came fairly out of the blue during their break, the words low and hidden by the paper cup of tea. “What makes you say that?”“Surveillance has been pulled on Baker Street, I haven’t seen any of your unusual friends in a while. It’s too sudden to have happened naturally. And then your state this morning. You’re going deep and they can’t help.” The pressure Holly had been feeling in her chest lessened just a bit. “I’m not sure if I should be thanking your army days, medical training or Sherlock for that. Please not Sherlock.” The smile was sad, but a smile nonetheless. John was moving on.“It doesn’t matter, but if you need anything I can help you with, just ask. Everyone still assumes I’m useless, living an empty life without Sherlock. It still hurts, him being gone, but he’s not the first close person I’ve lost.”“Why John, there is more to you than meets the eye.”----It did feel empty not having that playful fun with some of the SIS. No texts when she alluded to something that would push Q’s buttons, no random encounters with tea. At least she was back to climbing with Jodie, it was almost like a year ago when she had started first year, when things were simpler. Except now most of her free time was filled with going to work on a project that should never see the light of day, for people she wasn’t if they suspected they had ulterior motive for doing the work. Every day that went off without her being escorted to a windowless room for the rest of her life didn’t quell the uneasy feeling in her stomach.Max Denbigh seemed to be going out of his way to make sure she was happy in her role. He’d convinced her to be the second highest in the department, giving her a fancy title of system architect. Where her boss drove the project, she directed it. At first she had thought the rest of the team would be difficult due to her age, or lack of formal education. Sometimes she could see it on the tip of their tongues when she assigned tasks, but she felt that it was the frequent visits from Max that kept them in place. But a few weeks in and they had settled into the project and to her semi-leadership.It was mid-October, during reading week, when Max approached her desk just after lunch, with a hard hat on his head and a spare in his hand.“Field trip time.” That grin sent mild panic to Holly’s brain, an image of the dark room where Moriarty had stabbed her, with that same grin, was superimposed over her vision briefly. She pushed it away, trying to also push away the uneasy feeling that had come with it.The field trip was to the almost finished, purpose built, building that would replace Vauxhall Cross, with the plan to merge MI5 and MI6 into it. That was something Holly was fairly certain she wasn’t supposed to know, and even more certain was to see if she would inform anyone she used to know in MI6. This was reinforced by the fact no one else in her department had been shown the new building. He asked a few probing questions about her previous work, disguised as asking how she was enjoying the work.The tall building wouldn’t look out of place with the growing number of glass towers in the centre of London, it was of an equally unimpressive ‘modern’ design. She walked around the area where Nine Eyes would be installed, visualising how it would look set up in the empty space, allowing herself a brief smile at the thought that it would never be allowed to go online.“I thought it would be good for you to see where your hard work would end up.” Max was smiling at her, misunderstanding her happiness. “You’ve been working hard these past few weeks, take the rest of the day off. They can manage without you until tomorrow.” That was they could see if she reported back to anyone, Holly presumed. It didn’t matter, she was on her own and this just compounded it.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Why is the option for bringing someone already ticked?” Having lunch with Nick while he was in London for work had managed to break up the work/studying monotony for a while. He’d taken the opportunity to hand her a wedding invite, describing the plans as they were so far. “Because you have to bring someone, it’s not optional for you.” Now she realised why he had waited to give it to her in person.“That would be fine if my social life wasn’t in a horribly empty state.” Jodie, Matt, James and John were the only ones she really spoke to at the moment. Jodie was the only one she would consider inviting, but even that didn’t seem like a good idea, Jodie knew too much.“That’s being overdramatic. Martha was telling me about some of your friends.”“She missed all the lovely crashing and burning I’ve been doing recently.” Even if it was self-inflicted.“Well you have most of a year to find someone or I’ll stick you on the kid table.” While the threat had merit, they both know it wouldn’t be a good idea. “Holly?” Both siblings turned to the voice, helping a blonde woman out of her coat Rick Castle beamed at Holly. “I thought it was you. This is Gina, my publisher, Gina, this is Holly, she was involved in a case a few months back.”“This is Nick, my brother. Nick, Rick Castle, author of the Derrick Storm books that mum secretly loves. New York was interesting, don’t tell parents.” Castle excused himself back to his lunch meeting.“At least you didn’t get a stab wound this time.” Nick said critically looking how over for any indication his statement was false.“That is very true.” Anything else that happened could stay quiet.Before they left Castle beckoned her over. “I think you’ll like my new book.” That roguish grin was almost worrying.“I will buy it the second it comes out on this side of the pond.”----Once again Jodie held a Christmas party, allowing Holly a chance to let her hair down and get drunk. John had been invited, both girls knowing he had nowhere else to be, but he had declined, not wanting to be the old man there.Even once the music was low and it was late, almost early, with everyone else seemingly passed out around the small flat, Holly felt alone again. It felt like a glimpse back into the life she should be having through uni. Picking herself out of the pile of people on the sofa she headed for the door, it hurt to be surrounded by people and still feel alone.The winter chill nipped at her skin, reminding her that her jacket was still upstairs. No one would be awake to let her back in so she push on toward home. She almost made it to the first corner before she heard yelling, the streets otherwise empty. Instinct made her want to ignore it, fairly certain no one would be calling her, but as she trudged on she could hear someone running up behind her. The poor lighting from the street lights didn’t allow her to identify her pursuer as she glanced at shop windows hoping for a reflection.Which is how she and James ended up tumbling to the floor when she whirled around, heel slipping on some ice and taking him with her.“You left your jacket, you’ll get a cold.” James offered up the clothing once they got to their feet. It was dripping a bit from the encounter with the pavement and its perpetual mix of puddles, ice and slush that plagued London in winter. “Er, you can have my hoodie.” He offered realising the jacket wasn’t going to help her keep warm.“Thanks but I’m fine, I’ll warm up from the walk.”“I’ll walk with you?” it was only because he phrased it as a question she considered it. She wondered if the fact James used to be a Cherub was known by her employer, and as such would this look suspicious. “Sure.” It couldn’t hurt, she wasn’t supposed to know anyway.“So how do you know Q?” Ah, she’d forgotten about that. It had been a subject never brought up, Holly guessed it was because either Jodie or Matt were always around.“That is not where our conversation is going.” Holly cut off that thread before it could start. If nothing else she didn’t trust their conversation to be private. James gave her a curious look.“Got any plans for Christmas?” A safe topic, she could live with that.Christmas as it was passed with little fanfare, making sure to visit home when Victoria wouldn’t be also be visiting. The project was coming along quickly and she needed to stay above suspicion or they would take her off it before she could finish her work. She saw Amber's engagement ring finally, and listened to her switch between gushing and ranting about the wedding preperations.There was some excitement in the team as the launch date was announced a week into January based on their predicted finish date. Having managed to integrate her pieces into the system Holly only hoped they didn’t find it before launch. It almost saddened her to think of all the hard work that would never fully go online. Unfortunately modules of the system were already being used, proof that was apparently needed to reassure higher ups that it would work. That had been something she’d had to account for, making sure it worked perfectly, but would still go down with the rest of it.----About a week before launch Holly was certain every single person with a cold was being used as a courier for meaningless bits of paperwork to her. After the third time Max asked if she was ok it clicked that she was supposed to be coming down with it too, she wasn’t above suspicion after all. They didn’t want her to be around for the launch in case she tried to mess it up or do something stupid. So after some protesting and sniffling Holly was sent home.Everything was already in place, their precaution was useless by now, unless they managed to find all the seemingly harmless bits she’d left behind. They would have to find all of it, she’d trodden that fine line between covering all possibility and overdoing it to the point they would notice.“You’re home early.” John looked like he had just got back from some shopping.“I have a cold.” She responded rolling her eyes, she could see some sort of understanding in his eyes considering her attitude and complete lack of physical symptoms.“Come upstairs, I’ll make you a cup of tea.”Once settled, the blackout protocol activated, both with a steaming cup of tea, Holly slouched on the sofa with a disgruntled sigh.“Do you ever look at people and just see idiots?” she groaned into the mug.“That sounds suspiciously Holmes like.”“Oh god, that’s almost worse.”“Yes, it is. So what’s the latest?” Every so often, to no particular schedule Holly had been updating John on the progress. They were always brief to keep it from being suspicious but it was the only thing that had kept Holly from completely losing herself to the loneliness of the path she had picked.“Launch is in a week as you know. Max has been sending everyone with a cold to my desk, fairly certain they’ve been making sure to put germy hands on everything. I took the hint before Max decided to up the attempt to keep me away from the launch.”“Probably wise. Do you think he knows you know about it?”“I don’t know. I’m just a bit glad I haven’t actually got the cold. I need to keep an eye on things just in case. Could you help keep up the pretence, go full on doctor mode if you have too?”“Of course.” Holly wondered if this helped John too, she knew he felt the monotony of life too, especially after Sherlock.----“Who’s Scipo?” Holly broke away from her screen, noticing her phone was ringing in John’s hand. It was still a few days until launch, Max had told her to stay home saying the stress of the launch might make it worse. She’d stayed in 221B so they could keep up the appearance that she was ill but being looked after, even when her friends visited.“Leave it.” This couldn’t happen so close, he was too important to get dragged in to this. It ached in her chest to push away again but this was at a critical time, she couldn’t risk any sort of leverage at that level.“What if it’s important?”“It could be, leave it anyway.” The ringing stopped and Holly expected that to be the end of it. A text beeped through and John offered over the phone. “I don’t want it.”“A text won’t hurt. It’s already been received.” It wouldn’t be picked up by the system anyway. She hadn’t been stupid enough to put exceptions in, but she knew what she needed to do to keep some of her stuff private. All would have been too suspicious. She caved to John’s look and took the phone.‘I’m a third wheel on a mission not even on the books and all I want is to hear your voice telling me it’s going to be ok.’ The ache intensified as she tried to push away the feelings of missing him, feeling the tears building. She blinked them away, taking a few deep breaths. She could last until after launch. She had to.“That’s the most human I’ve seen you since this started.” John commented, she had no idea when he’d made tea, but he was offering her a mug and a sympathetic look.“I can’t afford to be human, I need to make sure this works, no mistakes, no distractions.”“And after?”“After? I don’t know.” She knew what she wanted, but she also knew she couldn’t have it all.----Trust Max to be dramatic and make the launch midnight when most people would be asleep, not even knowing there would be a fundamental shift in the intelligence world.If Holly had truly been ill she would have slept through it, but as it was she was keeping a close eye on it as she had been for the last week making sure nothing significant had changed that might affect her plan.At half eleven her phone rang, Max Denbigh written on the screen in a warning red. She let it ring out, knowing she would be asleep at this time. Seconds after the screen turned black, it lit up again. Holly waited a moment before answering, pushing a finger against her nose to make herself sound all blocked up.“Hey.” “I know you’re ill and I wouldn’t ask if I had another choice, but this is urgent. I need you on site to fix this now. There should be a car there soon.” The call ended before she had a chance to respond. John appeared in the doorway looking serious, even in pyjamas. “What do you need?”“I need to look like I have a cold in the next five minutes.” She sent off a quick text before following John to the kitchen where he’d had things setup for this, just in case.----She didn’t recognise the guy in the suit, he hadn’t been around the building when she had still been at work. Or he could be external, for whatever was twigging as suspicious with Max. As soon as she was passed the security station she was slammed up against the wall, her bag taken from her and cuffs fitted, arms pulled back behind her. It was hard to stay in character of being ill while this happened, limiting herself to peering up at the guy with an unfocused confusion. At least they took the lift up to Max’s office, she didn’t fancy the stairs like this.The office was a bit fuller than she’d been expecting, as they exited the lift she could pick out M and some other guy. Max was trying to look like he still had a handle on the situation, gun in hand, pointing at an even less concerned M.“It doesn’t matter what your quartermaster attempts to shut this down. I had the best working on this. I’m not sure if anyone told you this, but Q has never managed to break into one of Miss Summers systems, and considering the reports from her team she really pulled out all the stops for this.” Through the glass Holly could see Q working at one of the work stations, she hadn’t noticed him initially, the reflection from the glass working against her until she really looked. He looked up for a brief second, enough time to catch her gaze, his movements stuttering to a stop. She could see him mouth her name with wide eyes before turning his attention back to the screen in front of him, his face turned to grim determination.“Unfortunately, as the only one who could dismantle Nine Eyes fully, Miss Summers has become a liability.” Holly’s blood ran cold as she felt the guy press a gun to the back of her head. “Anything she may have left behind should have been flushed out by now, a few nasty surprises left in there.” Max almost looked impressed. Holly was just hoping he dragged this out so she could think of some way out of this without being shot. “She tried a bit too hard to be clean.”Was that truly the case? There were dozens of other reasons not to trust her, was trying to be too clean really the one?There was a scuffle, bringing Holly out of her little world of self-preservation, the world slowed as many things happened at once.“Shoot her.” Max choked out as he struggled again M who had him backed up against a short glass barrier, beyond which was a drop down to the reception. A shot rang out and everything went dark.