Beneath The Mask

chapter 8

_Cameron: First Offense_

I instruct the cabbie to take me to the airport. I rifle through James' wallet to see what I can find. He has his passport, of course. I also glance through his phone history to see who I can safely contact. Several are named after the seven dwarves, no doubt to protect the contacts. There is one that is frequently contacted. Little John. Must be a trusted contact. I press dial and pray this goes without a hitch.

It goes to voicemail. "Leave a message." *beep*. Surprisingly, I actually roll my eyes. "Given you don't recognize my number or my voice, I'm sure you decided to let it ring. Or maybe it's because it's after midnight. I dont care, but you will answer because I have the location." I hang up. Of course, this is me assuming 'Little John' is in on whatever it is that James had planned about Sherlock.

I redial him again. He actually picks up this time. "Who is this?"

"Call me Jean Heidi," I say.

"What do you want?"

"Russia, the eastern side." I'm assuming he knows what exactly I am referring to. "I blew my top and gave the living brother a hint, so you're going to need to act fast. I assume you were expecting to meet someone at the airport, most likely in London. He's not ging to make it unless you get someone to help him break free from the living brother as soon as possible. My only request is protection until your contact is freed."

"What kind of protection?"

"Just from the living brother. No one else. I didn't want the ticket to go to waste so I'm on the way to the airport now. Problem is, the only passport I have is our contact's."

"Isn't that a little something called 'your problem'?"

"Excuse me, I didn't have to call and tell you anything. I know as much about you as you know about me." Which is incredibly true.

'Little John' sighs at the truth of the matter. "Alright. Go to the airport. Someone'll take care of you."

"Thank you," I say genuinely. "When he's freed, you can be sure I'll inform him of your assistance."

I finally hang up. I can't believe I'm doing this. And I have a strong feeling that I'm doing exactly what James wanted me to do.

I really need sleep.

Inside the airport, I get a call. Which I answer. "Hello?"

"Outside." I follow the direction. "Van on your left." After a brief moment of trying to remember which way my left is, I hang up and get in the van.

"Jean?" a woman asks.

"Yes, ma'am," I answer.

"Call me Crystal. That's david," she says, referring to the driver. "What is it you need today in the wee hours of the morning?"

"A way to use the ticket to London. I have no passport, never needed one before," I answer.

Crystal pulls out a camera. "Smile."

"Oh, I gotta look like a mess." But I comply, nevertheless. She does something with the picture and computers and stuff that are well beyond my head. I'm sure Raven would love to play with it.

Crystal hands me the brand new passport. "Thank you," I say. It's weird, really, doing things like this when I've never had a criminal record. Regardless. I go to the terminal where I am forced to wait at the airport for several hours because that's the plane the ticket is for. I really wish I knew how to sleep in a chair.

I finally arrive in London. It's a busy airport. I keep my eyes open for whoever might be 'Little John.' A man comes up to me. "So. You know the storyteller?"

I surpress a grin. James and his fairytales. "Yes."

He shakes my hand. "Jonathan."

"Pleased to meet you. Thank you for sending assistance," I say.

"No problem. So what exactly is going on? Why are you here?"

I consider the fact we are in a very public place with many ears. "That's actually a rather awkward question to answer. But I'd be willing to try and explain on the way to wherever you were to take the Storyteller."

Seeming to understand, he does lead me to a car to take me to wherever. Now that it's safe to do so, I explain. "As you know, Jim was supposed to be the one on the plane today, but last night Mycroft arrested him. No doubt you understand Jim be a man of riddles, giving barely enough thread to hang on to, and expecting you to act accordingly. All he said is there are always two wild cards a deck before Mycroft drove off with him. So to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what to expect next. All I know is that somehow I'm doing exactly what he wanted."

He nods, appearantly this making perfect sense.

"Are you going to figure out a way to get Jim out?" I ask. I'm not sure why I asked this. Reassurance, I suppose.

"Of course," he says.

"Thank you." I mean it, too.

As soon as I get in the house, I find a bed and crash.
---
_James: 24 hours (36 awake)_

"Mr. Moriarty."

"Please, call me Jim."

"Jim," a woman with short brown hair says, "There's no point in dragging this on. When Mycroft wants something, he won't stop until he gets it -unfortunately."

"Fortunately, I'm the same way," I say with a tired smile. It's been twenty-four hours since I was arrested and placed in time-out my beloved Mycroft. Considering that happened to be in the evening. But they're not taking to some amateur here. Then I notice that I have just violated my silence policy.

"So it seems," she says, "Tell me, what do you have against him?" Having realized what I just did, I remain silent.

After some hesitation, she continues. "Well I can understand why a lot of people would have something against Mycroft." *Yeah, keep talking, lady.* "Why do you find it so hard to stop this? You're very smart. You could do so much better," she gives me a sincere, motherly look. *Gag me.* "Do you have any family, Jim?" I roll my eyes. This is painful. "I'm sure you must have parents," she chuckles. "Everyone does as some point."

"No. I came from a pod in the sky. My real name is Wasabi and I am here to destroy your Earth."

She looks at me with a blank, surprised expression. "I see..."

I just smile. "But please, continue."