Hounds Experiments & Relationships (A BBC Sherlock Fan-fiction)

14. It Was You!?

DAY TIME. CROSS KEYS INN.
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John is sitting at one of the outdoor tables, while Billy brings out a plate containing the vegetarian equivalent of a full English breakfast and puts it on the table in front of him.

"Mmm. Thanks, Billy." Says John.

Back inside, sherlock and Elisabeth are standing waiting for their cups of coffee.

"Ermm, Sherlock I wanted to tell you something." Says Elisabeth, turning to face Sherlock.

"I wanted to say... umm" She says as she starts to blush. Sherlock immediately notices and asks,

"What's wrong?"

"Umm, nothing. I just need to say something." She says. And then draws a long breath.

"Okay."

"Before I met you and John... I wasn't very happy... but, ever since our first meeting. I've been the happiest i've ever been. You've saved my life countless times. I can't thank you enough...honestly. I.."

"It's okay." Says Sherlock, smiling.

"But, all that you've done—"

"Its fine...believe me. It's been my pleasure." He says, his voice sounding very sincere.

A big smile forms on Elisabeth's face, and she squeezes Sherlock into a hug. He looks slightly surprised but doesn't try to fight it. She pulls away but then leans back in and places a soft kiss on Sherlock's lips. This time Sherlock's eyes widen. She pulls away again, turns, and picks up two of the three mugs that have been presented to them on the counter, and walks away. Sherlock who is still staring at Elisabeth in disbelief, clears his throat and picks up the last mug left, and walks outside.

Elisabeth brings over two mugs and puts one down on the table, followed by sherlock who still looks a tiny bit flustered.

"So they didn't have it put down, then – the dog." Says Elisabeth.

John starts tucking into his breakfast while Elisabeth sits down next to him.

"Obviously. Suppose they just couldn't bring themselves to do it." Says John.

"I see." Says Sherlock.

"No you don't." Says Elisabeth, smiling

"No, I don't. Sentiment?"

"Oh."

He sits down on the bench next to Elisabeth.

"Listen: what happened to me in the lab?" Says Elisabeth

Sherlock looks at her for a moment, then turns around and reaches for a box of sauce sachets, looking worried about how he's ever going to explain all this.

"D'you want some sauce with that?" He asks John.

"I mean, I hadn't been to the Hollow, so how come I heard those things in there? Fear and stimulus, you said." Asks Elisabeth.

"You must have been dosed with it elsewhere, when you went to the lab, maybe. You saw those pipes – pretty ancient, leaky as a sieve; and they were carrying the gas, so ... Um, ketchup, was it, or brown ...?" Says Sherlock, still rummaging through the box, trying desperately to change the subject.

"Hang on: you thought it was in the sugar."

Sherlock stares at her while trying to maintain a neutral expression.

"You were convinced it was in the sugar."

Sherlock looks away again.

"Better get going, actually." He says, looking at his watch.

"There's a train that leaves in half an hour, so if you want ..."

Elisabeth turns her head away as she begins to realise the horrible truth.

"Oh God. It was you. You locked me in that bloody lab." She says, as John starts giggling.

"I had to. It was an experiment."

"An experiment?!"

"Shhh." Says Sherlock looking at the people around them. John's laughter is getting more intense.

"I was terrified, Sherlock. I was scared to death."

"I thought that the drug was in the sugar, so I put the sugar in your coffee, then I arranged everything with Major Barrymore."

Elisabeth sighs in exasperation.

"It was all totally scientific, laboratory conditions – well, literally."

Flashback to Sherlock alone in a room from where he can monitor the lab. Lazily sitting in a chair with his feet up on the table, he watches the screen in front of him which shows Elisabeth racing across the darkened lab towards the cages as the 'hound' growls. A little later Sherlock wiggles his feet comfortably on the desk while Elisabeth breathes panic-stricken into her phone.

"It's in here with me." Says Elisabeth, into the phone.

"All right. Keep talking. I'll find you." Says Sherlock.

"I can't, it'll hear me."

"Tell me what you're seeing!"

He switches on a small recorder and holds it up to a nearby microphone. Savage growling is played into the lab.

"I don't know, but I can hear it now."

Back in the present, Sherlock continues his 'explanation.'

"Well, I knew what effect it had had on a superior mind, so I needed to try it on a... y'know... less than superior one."

Elisabeth glares at him.

"You know what I mean."

By this point John had stopped laughing, following a swift kick to the shin by Elisabeth, and had gotten back into eating his food.

"But it wasn't in the sugar." He says.

"No, well, I wasn't to know she'd already been exposed to the gas." Replies Sherlock.

"So you got it wrong."

"No."

"Mm. You were wrong. It wasn't in the sugar. You got it wrong."

"A bit. It won't happen again."

Sighing, John continues eating, then looks round.

"Any long-term effects?" He asks.

"None at all. You'll be fine once you've excreted it. We all will."

"Think I might have taken care of that already."

(Sherlock and Elisabeth start laughing. Sherlock then looks across to a nearby table where Gary is pouring coffee for two other customers. He smiles apologetically across to Sherlock, who puts his mug on the table and stands up.

"Where're you going?" Asks Elisabeth.

"Won't be a minute. Gotta see a man about a dog." Replies Sherlock

Smiling down at her, he turns and walks away.

Hello Again!

How are you all? This marks the end of the second, very short, story. I hope you enjoyed it, because i certainly enjoyed writing it. Next is the second proper book, that I still have no solid plans for. Lots of ideas, but i haven't stuck with something yet.

One of those ideas, however, is that I want to do it Netflix-Style. Meaning I might write the whole thing - including edits, photos, all that stuff - then publish it all at once. Which would mean that you won't have to wait for this incredibly lazy and unimaginative human to update. I may start today actually... seeing as i'm pretty bored right now and I have lots of ideas in my head right now.

Anyways...
I'll be off now, i don't want to ramble on for too long. If i do actually go through with the style that I mentioned, then you'll get updates on the conversations.

Right then... see you boys and girls soon.

Cheers.
I.W.