|| Be Her Guard || Sherlock Holmes x Reader

|♢| Chapter 25 |♢| Mind Trap

Sherlock has been arched forward for what most would say is an uncomfortably long time, however, he barely shifts, keeping his eyes locked on the screen of the laptop before him. He also gives little acknowledgement to the figure who peers over his shoulder quite annoyingly, watching his every movement carefully as he types.

"What are you doing now?" The silence between them is finally broken.

"I asked Mycroft to get me all the nearby security footage that would've been recording starting an hour before Apollo's arrival. I don't have any direct angles on the flat itself, but as you can see here, a silver Volkswagen fitting the description Mrs. Hudson gave can be seen turning this corner towards the flat here-" he switches the video to the next, "-before later being seen entering the frame of the cameras down the street here."

"What about Speedy's? Wouldn't they have better footage to show the front of the flat?"

"Of course, I already thought of that, and the answer is 'no'," Sherlock growls with annoyance. Whether it's aimed towards the stupid question, or the inconvenience of the cameras could be up for debate; perhaps it's both," Speedy's is the first place I went to get any possible footage, but apparently their cameras have been down all day."

He quickly dismisses the thought especially when the voice says nothing more. He instead continues on with his previous point," regardless, if that car would've continued the entire way down the street, even if going under the speed limit, it would've passed that camera sooner than it had which means it made a stop somewhere. Seeing that it's the only vehicle to make a stop on this block and fits Mrs. Hudson's description, I feel confident saying it's Apollo. Now all I have to do is just follow that license plate number and hope it brings me to his location which shouldn't be too difficult seeing that there are cameras all over London-"

"-Assuming none of the others are down, then yes," the voice reminds him, not fazed by how much he seems to fight glancing towards them for even a second," but what if he leaves London? It's already been three hours, twenty-three minutes, and forty-five seconds. He could've long boarded a plane by now and, if that's so, it would mean you're already too late, Sherlock. You've already failed to save me at this point."

Sherlock frowns, finally turning to you who stares at him with a disappointed look in your eyes. You shake your head with a trembling voice," you promised, Sherlock. You promised to protect me from him but look what's happened now. You let him get to me. He could kill me at any moment and that's if he hasn't already. He won't make the same mistake as last time either...Why did I ever trust you?"

"...I'm sorry," Sherlock lowers his head against his hand, squeezing his eyes shut. Why did you trust him? No one ever puts that much trust in him. Perhaps there's good reason for it considering you've now been kidnapped. You should've been like everyone else...You should've never trusted him.

"That's your problem, Sherlock," Mycroft shakes his head with pity, staring his little brother down from where he sits across the room, his hands folded nicely on top of his lap. He leans forward with his words," you fell in love with her. You let your silly feelings get in the way of your work despite how many times I've warned you against it. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. You have always been the more emotional out of the two of us-"

"-Be quiet..."

"And all for what? Temporary happiness? A hopeless dream that love will prevail over all for you two? Life isn't some fairytale, Sherlock. You both would've been better off if you'd never fallen in love her to begin with-"

"-BE QUIET!" Sherlock repeats with a shout, standing up harshly.

Think...He has to think straight. He's tried tracking the silver Volkswagen, but that isn't working; not quick enough. It takes time to receive and review the footage. Even with the videos he currently has, it gets messy following a single car when it disappears into dense traffic, seeming to know exactly where to turn to escape and confuse cameras. Lestrade has the license plate number and has the police keeping an eye out for it, but if Apollo's smart enough to lose a camera, he'll avoid police attention, too.