A Rose By Any Other Name | Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 9

John felt as if he was trying to argue with Sherlock during the cab ride back. It took a half an hour's worth of bickering to convince Aryn that she needed to sober up a bit more before going to Scotland Yard to clear up whatever it was she had just had an epiphany about.

In the vehicle, she chewed anxiously on the small sandwich John had bought for her, sipping from a bottle of water. She was sweating with anticipating. She was excited to get back and talk to everyone about it, not even hinting to John about what she had figured out.

John finally cleared Aryn after she opened her mouth to him to show she had eaten her entire "meal". As much as he tried to get her to do it, she refused to let him treat her wounds because, as she put it, "there simply wasn't time."

The cab pulled up to the curb in front of Scotland Yard. Aryn didn't even give it a chance to stop moving, let alone stop to pay the fare. She sprinted towards the building, leaving John to apologetically give the cabby money before chasing after her. Heading straight up to Lestrade's office, Aryn raced wildly through the various desks until she made it, Donovan, Anderson, and Lestrade discussing other matters within.

"Bloody hell," Lestrade commented, seeing the wounds on Aryn's body. "Where were you?"

John came in soon after, breathing heavily and looking at Lestrade in a way that said he'd explain later.

Aryn didn't say a word to anyone. Her hair was running wild and parts of her clothes were torn from where she had fallen. Her breaths were deep and her face was rosey. Blood had dried on her face from her other wounds and her eyes were wild with excitement. She began to look through Lestrade's desk without asking, opening drawers and lifting papers out of the way as she searched.

"What is going on?" Donovan questioned, walking up to Aryn. "You can't just bust in here like this and..." She sniffed the air around Aryn. "...have you been drinking?"

Donovan shot a concerned look to Lestrade, but Lestrade did nothing. He let Aryn look through his desk for whatever she needed to find.

"If you're not going to do anything—" Donovan warned, her blood starting to boil due to Lestrade's passiveness. She reached for Aryn's wrist to try and stop her.

Quicker than she expected, Aryn twisted her wrist out of Donovan's grasp.

A loud thud indicated that Aryn was more aware of everyone in the room than they realized. John was surprised with the skill she had shown, pinning Donovan to the desk so that her arm was pulled up towards Aryn and her face was pressed against the cool wood of the desktop.

"Let. Me. Work."

Lestrade walked around to take Donovan away from Aryn as he watched this woman he cared about frantically go through his office.

"What is she trying to find?" John asked, looking from face to face with concern.

"A-ha!" she exclaimed, holding up a pad of Post-Its.

John wondered at that point if she had really sobered up enough. She was holding up the Post-Its as if she had just found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

Without acknowledging anyone, she started to walk briskly towards the meeting room.

Her heart was racing and her head was pounding with both excitement and because of how much alcohol she had consumed. To be honest, she didn't even remember how many shots of whiskey she had ingested.

Opening the door, she was surprised to see Sherlock on the other side.

He was looking at the boards, the ring hidden safely in his palm. Its cold silver pulsated in his hand, his mind still focused on the argument that took place in that very room earlier.