A Sign Of Two

16 - Sherrinford

(((SHERLOCK'S POV)))

I watched over Eliza as she slept. The soft beeping of the heart monitor hummed in my ears. We'd been in Bart's hospital for a few hours after the explosion at Baker Street, and I was running out of time. 

Eliza was fine, a few cuts and bruises but nothing major. She still hadn't woken up yet and as much as I wanted to stay with her and be there when she opened her eyes...I needed to go.

I needed to go to Sherrinford and meet with my sister. I needed to go to Eurus and find a way to stop any more harm coming to Eliza or John or Mrs Hudson. 

There was a large red button on Eliza's bedside table. Calmly, I walked over and pressed it.

A few seconds later a male nurse came rushing into the room. He was overweight, sweaty and had a confused look upon his annoying face.

"Sir...is everything alright?" the nurse asked, out of breath.

"Yes why wouldn't everything be alright?" I responded.

"Well you just pressed the emergency assistance button sir"

"Ah, well you see I'm in need of some assistance" I smiled and resisted the urge to tell the nurse about his inevitable heart failure if he didn't start maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

"But sir-"

"This is Eliza Moore, she's my..." I paused for thought. I wondered if she was my girlfriend or my fiance. I did propose to her the last time we spoke but she didn't give me an answer. "Partner" 

"I need you to make sure she doesn't leave this hospital for at least another 24 hours"

I had to make sure Eliza didn't come with me to Sherrinford. She needed to be somewhere safe, away from the chaos. If anything happened to her...I don't think I could ever forgive myself. 

The nurse looked at me. "I'm sorry sir I don't have the authority to make those decisions-"

"Well make sure somebody with authority knows that she isn't to leave for another 24 hours"

"Sir-"

I took a step forward and looked down at the nurse.

"Listen closely, my brother is Mycroft Holmes, bit of a pompous fop but he holds a very significant place in the British government. If I hear about Eliza leaving this hospital before this time tomorrow afternoon I'll make sure you're made redundant by the end of the week. Are we clear?"

"Uh"

"Brilliant"

And with that, I turned on my heels and walked out.

(((ELIZA'S POV)))

*5 Hours Later*

I stepped out of the helicopter and took in my surroundings. Sherrinford.

It was a dreary place, secluded on an island in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by the cold, unforgiving ocean. Armed special forces officers littered the area and the waves that splashed against the edge of the island looked as if they might swallow us up if the wind picked up any more. I was escorted inside to a room with Mycroft, John and another man in a suit whom i didn't recognize. 

John's eyes widened. 

"Eliza? You're...You're supposed to be in hospital...what are you doing here?"

I looked at John. "Are you kidding me? How could you leave me in hospital and come here without me?! I'm involved in this too. I can help. You might have gotten hurt and you guys were going to leave me behind and let me deal with the guilt."

"How did you even get here anyway?"

"Mycroft owed me a favor"

John looked at Mycroft in disbelief. "Sherlock is going to kill you"

Mycroft rolled his eyes slightly and sat back further in his chair. "That's the least of my worries right now" he gestured to the screen, it was lit up with old security footage. The security tapes were of a single woman in a cell. A woman who I could only assume was Eurus Holmes. 

*15 Minutes Later*

"So everyone who went into Eurus' cell got affected" John said to the unfamiliar man, who turned out to be in charge of Sherrinford. "Enslaved, as you call it" 

"Doctor Watson I think you should-" Mycroft started.

"Shut up" John snapped at Mycroft before turning back to the man in charge. "One question. That's your voice isn't it? That's your voice on the security footage. If Eurus has enslaved you, then who exactly is in charge of this prison?!"

My stomach lurched. 

The man stood up. 

"I'm sorry" he said as he pulled out a button from his blazer pocket. "Very very sorry" 

He pressed the button and alarms began to wail and echo throughout the whole island. Security guards with automatic guns swarmed in and grabbed us. They started to escort us out when John spun around quickly and headbutted a guard in the face.

I took the hint and sent an elbow into one security guard's ribs before kicking another in the crotch. John and I bolted for the stairs and a sickly familiar voice started to wail from the speakers. 

"Red alert" it said "Red alert" 

John and I paused. We walked into a room full of TV's. The voice through the speakers got louder.

"Did you miss me? Miss me? Miss me? Miss me?"

Images of Jim Moriarty appeared on the screens and my heart sank. I never encountered Moriarty whilst he was still living, but the stories had been drilled into me by both Sherlock, John and Sherlock's parents. I knew what he did to the man I loved and I also knew he'd blown his own brains out on the top of Bart's hospital years ago, so how he was appearing now was a mystery to me. 

John and I were too absorbed in Moriarty appearing all over the screens to notice the guards coming up behind us. John fell on the floor and I was about to shout when something blunt and heavy hit me across the head and the world started to spin. I fell to the ground.

*30 Minutes Later*

"Eliza?" 

A voice, fuzzy.

"Eliza" 

Baritone.

"Eliza"

Sherlock?

I opened my eyes. I was in a grey and white room with glass walls. It looked like a prison cell.

John was sitting up on a bed next to me, Mycroft was in one corner of the room, the man in charge of Sherrinford, the governor, was in the opposite corner. Sherlock was crouched beside me, his hand in mine. 

He kissed me, it was a long kiss, full of desperation. It was as if no one else was in the room, nothing else mattered.

"You're awake" he smiled.

"Duh" 

"You weren't supposed to leave the hospital" his tone turned more serious "I asked them to keep you there for a reason"

"Sherlock I can look after myself. I don't need protecting" 

"Then why were you lying here unconscious?"

I scowled.

Suddenly, the sound of a phone dialing echoed through the speakers. Then, a voice. A child.

"Help me! Please I'm on a plane and everyone's asleep! Help me!" 

The lights in the room flashed red. I suddenly felt as if I was taking part in a theater performance. An actor in Eurus' masterpiece. 

Then, Jim Moriarty's voice.

"Hello. My name's Jim Moriarty" My blood turned cold. "Welcome, to the final problem"