The Mikaelson of Baker Street

Chapter 10: A Study in Pink: pt 7

***Recap***

(Getting to his feet, he grabs his coat and scarf and heads for the door. Nikki quickly grabbed her jacket and followed after her mate. John picks up his own jacket and follows ... completely forgetting to take his walking cane with him. Outside the door, Sherlock shrugs himself into his coat while keeping his eyes fixed on the taxi, Nikki standing next to her mate. The passenger continues to look around him, then turns and looks out the back window. His gaze falls on the restaurant and he looks at it for a few moments while Sherlock stares back at him, then the man turns towards the front of the vehicle and the taxi begins to pull away from the curb.)

(Sherlock immediately heads towards it without bothering to check the road that he's running into and is almost run over by a car coming from his left. The driver slams on the brakes and stops the car but Sherlock, always keen to take the quickest route, allows his forward impetus to carry him onto the top of the bonnet. He rolls over the bonnet, lands on his feet on the other side, and then ran after the taxi. As the driver of the car angrily sounds his horn, John puts one hand on the bonnet and vaults over the front of the car, apologizing to the driver as he goes.)

***Now***

John: Sorry.

(He chases after Sherlock, who runs a few yards up the road before realizing that he's not going to catch the taxi and slows to a halt. John catches up and stops beside him.)

John: I've got the cab number.

Nikki: Good for you.

(Sherlock brought his hands up to either side of his head and concentrates, calling up a mental map of the local area and overlaying it with images of the streets along the route which he calculates that the taxi must take. Nikki quietly backed away from the two men before using her vampire speed to take off after the taxi. Sherlock and John were too distracted with the way the taxi went to even notice the disappearance of the hybrid.)

Sherlock (quick fire): Right turn, one way, roadworks, traffic lights, bus lane, pedestrian crossing, left turn only, traffic lights.

(Having worked out the route, he lifts his head and sees a man unlocking the door to a nearby building. Instantly his mind flashes up a signpost saying, "ALTERNATIVE ROUTE." Sherlock races towards the man and grabs him, shoving him out of the way before charging into the building.)

Man: Oi!

(John hurries after Sherlock, raising an apologetic hand to the man as he goes.)

John: Sorry.

(The two of them race up the stairs and out onto a metal spiral fire escape staircase leading to the roof. Sherlock, the lanky git, takes the steps two or even three at a time and John struggles to keep up with him as he scurries up behind him.)

Sherlock: Come on, John.

(Reaching the top of the stairs, Sherlock runs to the edge and looks over before seeing a shorter metal spiral staircase leading down the side of the building to another door one floor lower. He gallops down the stairs and climbs onto the railing before leaping across the gap to the next building. John scrambles onto the railing and follows. Sherlock runs across to the other side of the roof and again leaps across to the next building. John races after him, but then skids to a halt when he realizes that the gap may be too big for him to jump across. As if in sympathy, pedestrian traffic lights on the ground change from the green "It is safe to cross" sign to the red "Stop and wait" sign. John hesitates, looking down at the drop beneath him.)