I Always Do

Enola sits at Sherlock's desk, muttering to herself as she flips through pages. I walk around Sherlock's apartment, looking at everything I could. I of course don't touch anything, because I know for a fact that Sherlock would notice.

Enola pulls a book from one of his shelves, there's at least three hundred books. She immediately starts flipping through the pages, I get curious and look through the book shelf.

"It wasn't a date at all!"

I give Enola a confused look and she explains.

"That piece of paper I found, it said 'twelve March', I thought it was a date. It's actually an address. The Lyon's are having a ball tonight!"

She pulls the poem out of her pocket and points to the flower, "I thought this was a poppy but it isn't, it's a Sweet William. The Lyon's oldest son is named William!"

"Holy shit, you truly are amazing, Enola!"

"Let's go! We have to get ball gowns!"

~~°°••°°~~

"Enola, I don't see anyone else wearing masks," I say as we walk into the large house.

Enola looks around before turning back to me, "Right, then let's lose the masks."

We set our masks on a serving tray and walk towards the ballroom.

It's beautiful. Everyone's dressed like royalty, and some of the women are wearing extravagant wigs to match their dresses. As Enola and I walk by a group of girls they giggle and point at us.

We definitely stand out.

"I'll find William, you look around and see if you can find anything."

I nod and Enola walks off. Perhaps, I should check upstairs first?

I walk up the stairs, struggling with my dress, but once I make it to the second floor I immediately start looking.

Maybe I should check one of the rooms? Nah, that'd get me caught for sure.

There's only a few people up here, most of them are men who look down at the women below like hungry wolves.

I'm looking over the ledge when I see Enola walking towards me out of the corner of my eye.

"Did you know you have to have a chaperone to speak to a man at a ball?"

She leans against the ledge next to me.

"No. But that's absolutely absurd."

She nods in agreement, "Have you found anything?"

"Not up here, but I'm gonna go check downstairs now."

I leave her and head downstairs. There's way too many people here.

As I'm walking through a crowd I get shoved and bump into someone.

"Sorry!"

The man turns around....

"Sherlock?!"(Y/n)?!"

Sherlock frowns, "What are you doing here? Is Enola with you?"

"We're working on our case. What are you doing here?"

"Working on my case."

We stare at each other for a few seconds until he sighs, "You and Enola need to be careful."

"We are."

A pretty woman walks up, pushing me away, "Mister Holmes!"

Sherlock looks back at me, I can tell he wants me to save him from the obnoxious woman, but I give him a mocking curtsy and walk further into the crowd.

There's no time to be distracted, I need to focus on our case, not Enola's attractive brother.

I look up to see Enola talking to a woman, it's the woman from the factory. Something about her is unsettling, like she's not as innocent as she looks.

I grab a macaroon from the desert table and lean against the wall, watching the woman and Enola talk. However, not too long after I lean against the wall, the woman leaves Enola.

I eat the macaroon and continue looking around.

I begin walking to the other side of the ballroom but someone grabs my wrist. When I turn around I see an unknown man smiling at me.

"Would you like to dance?" he asks.

I pull my hand away from him, "No thanks, not much of dancer."

His eyes widen. "You're American?"

"Really? I never knew!" I say sarcastically.

He gives me an offended look, "How dare you?! Women should never talk to men like that."

"Maybe if men were smarter women would be nicer."

"Alright, leave her be."

Sherlock gets in between the man and I, giving the man an intense glare. The man finally gets the hint and walks away, muttering insults of course.

Sherlock turns to me, "I thought I told you to be careful? Irritating men who are much stronger and more violent than you is dangerous."

"I am. I just like having fun sometimes."

"Being in danger is not fun."

I roll my eyes, "Relax, I carry a weapon on me at all times."

"A weapon? You're wearing a ball gown."

I smirk, "I have a dagger stashed between my breast."

His eyes grow wide and his face reddens. "That is incredibly inappropriate."

"It's only inappropriate if I show you," I say with a shrug.

Why do men get so squeamish at the topic of women's bodies?

He shakes his head, "You're even more irrational than Enola. I didn't think that was possible."

"Well, I'm just full of surprises," I say with a wink.

He looks towards the dancing couples, "I thought the man I'm after was using mathematics in his ciper, but it's actually dances."

Sherlock Holmes sharing information about his case.... with me?

How intriguing.

"Well if they're using dances, then maybe they're not a man."

The music changes into something slower, Sherlock turns to me, his eyes meeting mine.

"Do you know how to dance?"

"Yes?"

"May I have this dance?"

I link arms with him, "You may."

We make our way to the dance floor, everyone's eyes fall on us, and hushed whispers can be heard.

I smirk at a group of seething women and they glare back at me.

We start dancing, surprisingly Sherlock is a good dancer.

He leans closer to my ear, "Who is that man Enola is dancing with?"

He spins us around so I can see.

It's William Lyon.

And when Enola and I make eye contact she gives me a surprised look, I shake my head at her and she smiles.

"Well? Who is it?"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

He steps on my foot, "Hey! What was that for?!"

"Just returning the favor," he says with a smirk.

The song stops and the two of us walk to the side of the dance floor.

Sherlock and I awkwardly stand next to each other. The silence is deafening.

I can't handle this.

"Thank you for the dance, Mister Holmes."

He fixes his sleeves, "Thank you, Miss (L/n)."

I look across the room to see Enola waving me over. I look back to Sherlock and he nods, "Go on. I have to get back to my flat to work on my case."

I begin to walk away but he stops me.

"Stay safe, and make sure Enola is safe as well."

"I always do, you stay safe too. And maybe avoid alcohol for a little while."

He gives me a sharp stare. I wave goodbye and he does the same before walking towards the exit.

I find Enola and she smirks, "You were dancing with-"

"Shouldn't we be working on our case?"

She nods, "Right, we're supposed to meet William in the library."

~~°°••°°~~

We finally find the library and wait inside. The door opens and I turn to see the boy from the park. The one Enola likes.

"My word, you do get in awkward places."

"Why are you holding a poker?" he asks.

Enola sets it down, "You must leave, we're waiting for another."

"Another you're scared of such that you need a weapon?"

Okay, the kid has a point.

"You are always here when I don't want you to be," Enola says in annoyance

"And sometimes here when you do."

"I like the look of the one you were dancing with. What's her name, Cicely? She would make you an excellent wife."

This is getting awkward.

"Enola, I am concerned only for you."

Well at least he's romantic.

"Tewkesbury, if you're still here, you may scare him away."

"Scare him?! What's going on?" he looks to me but I look away.

The door opens again, this time it's the police.

"Enola Homes, (Y/n) (L/n), you are both under arrest."

Two men handcuff us.

"Try to escape, and we will make this difficult. Let's make it quiet and spare the fine people any embarrassment."

"Sir, whatever this is about, I'm sure..."

Lestrade turns to Tewkesbury, "Murder, sir. This is about murder."

~~°°••°°~~

I sit in a cell by myself, they had pulled Enola into a different room for questioning. I know for a fact that neither of us touched the knife so how could they prove we did it?

"You've got the wrong people!" I yell.

The guard hits the bars of my cell, "Shut up, bitch!"

"Fuck you!" I yell back.

"That's it," the guard walks into my cell.

I can see a guard shove Enola in her cell.

The guard grabs my arm roughly, it'll be bruised in the morning

"Let her go."

The guard loosens his grip on me and I knee him between the legs. Hard.

He drops to his knees and when he drops I see Sherlock standing behind him.

"Thanks for the distraction, Sherlock."

I step over the guard and walk closer to Sherlock. "So, are we free to go?"

Sherlock looks to Enola, "They found your fingerprints on the knife."

"What?! How is that possible?!" I yell out.

Enola shakes her head, "I've been framed."

Who would frame Enola?

Sherlock turns back to me, "They've released you."

"I'm not leaving, Enola."

Enola sighs, "You need to go, (Y/n)."

I follow Sherlock out of the cell and stop in front of Enola, "I'll do whatever it takes to get you out, even if I have to kill a whole army with a spoon."

She laughs and Lestrade walks in, "You must go now."

Sherlock and I walk out of the police station, he's been quiet this whole time.

"Please tell me you've got a plan."

He smirks, "I always do."