Fight for Me

Chapter 9

A fortnight later, Lydia, Zoe, Lawrence, and Noah left the hotel they had been staying at in London, starting their trek over to the train station. No one was pleased that they were being used again for smuggling, but they knew they didn't have a choice in the matter. Noah had picked up the diamonds they were transporting up north the night before and they now rested in Zoe's bag. Typically it would be Lydia who would risk having the merchandise on her person or in her belongings, but Sherlock seemed to have taken a particular interest in her and he no doubt had eyes on the group, so having it with someone else seemed the safer option.

When Lydia imagined that Sherlock was going to be keeping an eye on her, she believed it was going to be through Scotland Yard and their consequent resources, she was not expecting it to be the man himself. But as they entered the train station, there was no denying that the persistent detective was waiting for them to arrive. Beside him stood John, who looked both incredibly apologetic and like he would rather be anywhere else at that moment.

"Lia, are you seeing who I'm seeing?" Lawrence asked, his voice surprisingly lacking in fear but rather laced with frustration.

Lydia nodded almost imperceptibly and her lips tightened into a straight line, "I probably should have anticipated this, but there is no reason to panic. Thankfully we have a small package, it is easier to conceal. Zo, I would get them out of your bag if you can do so inconspicuously, they're small enough to hide on your person. I may have something that could trick him, just come with me to the loo."

"Are you sure it's worth trying to complete the mission with him being here?" Zoe questioned, flashing her a smile and keeping her tone light, as though she was merely asking about the weather.

"Of course, I don't believe they will be too forgiving if we fail such a simple task. Don't worry, we've done this a million times, the presence of a detective won't make us any less successful. I've got him handled."

She changed the subject after that as the group closed the distance between themselves and the detective they had been conversing about. Lydia shot Sherlock an annoyed look as they approached and spoke, "why am I not surprised to see you here? Come to make sure that we aren't secretly a group of assassins?"

"Assassins is unlikely with your skill sets and physiques, nor have you left behind a trail of suspicious deaths wherever you travel. I've already ruled that out," Sherlock replied in his typical emotionless tone.

Lydia smirked, "well, we certainly wouldn't be so obvious about it if we were assassins. I take it you'll be travelling with us?"

"I'm sorry, Lydia, I did try to talk him out of it," John piped up as Sherlock simply nodded.

"Oh, don't worry about it John, I know you're not to blame." She offered John a small smile, before turning back to the group. "I'm going to go head to the loo before boarding."

"I'll join you," Zoe said, ignoring the suspicious glance that Sherlock gave the two women.

They disappeared into the crowd, but were fully aware of Sherlock following them, despite him knowing that he could only go so far. After slipping into the stalls, the two women dropped their bags, Zoe removing the diamonds and Lydia taking out a pair of earrings.

Lydia muttered under her breath, "give me the bag that the diamonds are in."

Without questioning it, Zoe passed her the bag underneath the stall and Lydia dropped her jewelry into it. As she secured the bag in the waistband of her pants, she instructed Zoe, "alright, do you have a pen on you? One that doesn't have a clear barrel."

"Yeah, of course," she replied, fishing through her purse with one hand while the other held the diamonds. She passed it over to Lydia who deconstructed it, allowing the diamonds to fall into where the ink was supposed to be. After stuffing it with toilet paper so the diamonds wouldn't rattle and securing the top back on, she handed it back to her and Zoe concealed it in her purse.

"Do you really think he won't notice?" Zoe worried as they left the stalls.

Lydia nodded, "it's much more inconspicuous and I have a feeling Sherlock will suspect I have them. Just pass it off to Lawrence when it's time to make the drop."

They came across Sherlock waiting for them outside the loo, causing Lydia to raise her brows, "I'm surprised you didn't just burst in, Mr. Holmes."

"I almost did, you two were being very suspicious."

"Well maybe you should have been keeping an eye on the boys, not us," Lydia teased in return, leaving him behind as they returned to the rest of the group waiting for them.

John had clearly been trying to make some small talk, but given the fact he had essentially been sent in to spy on the group, it was rather awkward. But Lydia knew it was only going to get more awkward being stuck on the train with him and Sherlock for five and a half hours, having to watch every word that came out of their mouths so that they did not accidentally let anything slip.

Once on the train, they were forced to break up the group with four of them sitting together and the other two taking the two chairs facing each other across the aisle. Lydia almost groaned when Sherlock sat across from her, eyeing her suspiciously. Next to her, Lawrence sat down, patting her leg reassuringly as he pulled out some sheet music from his bag.

"You know this would be a lot easier if you let the four of us sit together and you and John took those seats," Lydia growled after about fifteen minutes into the journey. "We do have a concert to plan here and I am sure you can make sure that we're not making illegal drug deals from across the aisle."

His eyes flickered up to her and narrowed, "am I making you uncomfortable, Ms. Evans? Besides, I think John is quite content with our seating arrangements."

Lydia glanced over at John and Zoe, who seemed to have bypassed the awkwardness shared between John and the boys, both of them laughing. Lydia sighed and turned back to the concert list that she, Noah, and Lawrence were sorting out, proud of Zoe for not acting suspicious when she had the diamonds, but annoyed that Sherlock did have a point.

-

(A/N): So I just realised that literally every single time jump I have planned for this fic jumps a fortnight whoops (don't worry, I changed one of them to three weeks for some ✨diversity✨) Also, we love Sherlock following Lydia all the way to Edinburgh, clearly the ship is sailing I don't know what you're talking about ❤️