Fair Game (Johnlock/Morlock/Sherlock x Irene) (iamsherlocked, John Hamish Watson, The Woman, and James Moriarty)

Sherlock sits sprawled in his chair, head leaned back so he's staring at the ceiling. He has a tiny water gun which he's using to squirt the ceiling. After a couple more squirts at the ceiling he pulls himself up, aims, and hits John in the ear.

"I'm bored."

John had been innocently minding his own business reading the paper and catching up on the latest news after a rather boring day at work by anyone's standards. He was vaguely aware of Sherlock's presence on the other armchair and of the fact that he was spraying the ceiling with a water pistol.

Suddenly he felt a cool spray of liquid hit him directly in the air. He almost jumped out of his seat.

"Ah Sherlock!" he cried impatiently, but then he couldn't help but laugh. "What are you doing? Where did you get that thing from anyway?"

"Not important." Sherlock said curtly, moving so he was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. Hands pressed together in his thinking pose. "John, is there anything interesting on the website?"

(we could either have something be on the website or have the woman come in somehow now..?)

Patience was not her best feature. She was standing before the door of 221B Baker Street, in her normal, impeccably outfit. High heels, dress (of course) and a very big bag. In that bag were other clothes, because the mission she would be giving the boys was espected to be hard. Even in hard cases she did not prefer a dress, but more casual (but not less sexy!) clothes.
She took her phone in hand and texted a message to Sherlock, knowing her 'Ah!' would be audible in 221B since such a long time.

Sherlock, dear. Open the door. I don't like waiting. -IA

John was just logging onto his laptop to check any new messages off either his or Sherlock's website, when the unmistakable sound echoed through the flat. A text message off the Woman. John gritted his teeth.

"Can't you change that bloody thing? Why is she texting you? What does she want?"

Sherlock pulls his phone out and reads the message.
"She's outside our flat."
He quickly and gracefully gets up and goes to open the door. He looks Irene over quickly and then moves out of the doorway with a quick "Come in."

Irene stepped in to the doorway and put her hand on Sherlock's chest as she purred: "It's always good to see you, Mr Holmes.", giving him a little wink.
"Now, I have business to discuss with you. I have good news for you, bad news for John." She paused her walk to the staircase and turned back a little to face him again. "Which one would you like to hear first?"

As always, Sherlock is caught off guard by Irene's demeanor, though that wouldn't be overly apparent to people who do not know him well. He turns to follow her up the staircase, as they arrive in his flat he answers her question,
"John's bad news, I don't imagine my good news is of any real consequence whereas I'm sure John's is." Sherlock crosses to sit in his chair, looking first at Irene and then to John, obviously thinking.

John stood up out of his arm chair and glared at Irene, not happy to see her in their flat wearing some flimsy excuse for a dress. She might as well just be naked, he thought bitterly. It's not like we haven't seen it all before. He noticed the way Sherlock's eyes glanced her up and down, then he turned to her impatiently.

"Well?" he asked. "You must have a pretty good reason for coming here...Not just a social call? And if there's any bad news I want to hear it. I can handle it."

Irene smiled brightly, resting her hand on her waist. Watching her favourite boys, listening impatiently. How amusing.
"Good news for you, because you won't be bored anymore." Addressing this to Sherlock, then turning to face John, saying sweetly: "Bad news for you, because you'll be spending a lot of intense time with me." and with this she gave him an asking glance, meaning: 'Problem?'

"I need you to help me with something. In trade of..." making the tension last. "I will give you information about Moriarty."

"How can we trust that your information is current or valid? And help with what, what could the infamous Irene Adler need from myself and my John?"

Although Sherlock's interest is peaked, he cannot afford to show this to Irene, lest she uses it to manipulate the situation in an unfavorable way as she had done in their last few encounters. He notices though, the excess tension she is carrying in her body, specifically in her legs, which shows that she's in a hurry and worried about the outcome of something, something business related, but also very important judging by the fact she's willing to come to them. Although she looks impeccable, a lock of hair was not pulled up next to her left ear and she was not wearing earrings, suggesting that she dressed in a hurry. She had a large bag with her, it looks stuffed, possibly indicating clothes, if clothes than it's obvious that she's planning on staying. That means the case is so important to her that she needs to start immediately, as much as she likes to fool around with us, she's not fully comfortable, there's something lurking under the surface, this case she needs help with probably puts her arse on the line, if she doesn't figure what she needs out she's likely to be in trouble with London's underbelly, but if she's willing to offer potential information about Moriarty, the danger doesn't lie with him, then who? Someone she precieves as more dangerous than Moriarty, so a past lover who's also a powerful criminal? Explaining her eagerness to have this case solved by us, pointing to possible attempts at romantic encounters with myself and John...Sherlock's train of thoughts was interrupted by the nag of a feeling, jealousy. Jealousy towards the idea of Irene trying to seduce John. But why?

John frowned and looked between Sherlock and Irene, trying to pick up any of the weird sexual tension that normally followed a meeting between the two of them. He didn't like the idea of having to work "intensely" with this woman, not after the kind of tricks she's pulled in the past. She wasn't exactly the most trustworthy client in the world.

But John could see Sherlock was immediately interested and had begun to study her intently, no doubt reading a million things about her that would slip an ordinary person's attention. The offer of information on Moriarty was, after all, too good to refuse. Finally John turned to her and indicated with his arm that she could sit down in his armchair. He headed towards the kitchen to put the kettle on.

"What do you need our help with?" he asked. "Got yourself into trouble again have you?"

"Thank you" Irene thanked John for offering his armchair and sat in it, opposite Sherlock. She leaned into the chair back and crossing her legs to extend the tension.

"The matter is that yes, and I will only say this one time so pay attention: I got in trouble. The problem has grown to severe proportions, so severe that I cannot handle it anymore." She let out a deep sigh. She really hoped they would be able to help her.
"My protection is broken, by Moriarty's web. They have information that have the power to do much worse things than killing me." She had locked with Sherlock's gaze a long time before, but she leaned towards him now. Sherlock would understand what she meant.

((Oh, God. I have to make up something reanosable... I have a plan with you guys, but I don't know how I'm going to get you there...))

Sherlock leans forward too, intensifying the situation, thinking a mile a minute.

"There's compromising information as well as photographs. If these are let out they effect you not only in England, but around the world, am I mistaken?"

As interesting as this case is, it's only made more interesting by the fact that their client is Irene Adler, and by the fact that in solving this case they would undoubtedly gain a better understanding of her "protection" and what makes her tick. Which was too good to pass up, regardless of any possible danger that ensued.

((A plan? Good good good, I'll be very curious to see by what means you push us towards this plan ))

"You are not, of course." Smiling slightly, she tilted her head upwards and shifted to the tip of her chair. She was impressed by Sherlock, as always. Brainy definitely was the new sexy.

She thanked John for the mug he had placed on the small table next to the chair, not breaking eye contact with Sherlock, she continued. "Boys, I have a plan. Get your neat suits out for tonight, because we are going to the annual Ball of Westminster." She now smiled brightly, daring a little wink to Sherlock.
Dancing. Such fun.

Hmmmm...the Ball of Westminster? An intriguing place to begin this case, but he's not completely opposed, a lot can be learned from this ball. Sherlock gets up gracefully and heads to his room, as the evening is progressing quite quickly, she'll want to leave soon. He goes to his closet and finds the best suit he has short of being a full tuxedo, dressing quickly and efficiently.

Irene followed Sherlock in her gaze and as he was almost out of sight, she popped up and grabbed her bag. "I'm getting changed too." Her hair was a mess, in her opinion and her dress was not appropriate for such a formal occasion. She followed Sherlock to his bedroom, opened the door and closed it again.

Sherlock turned around in curiosity, he was in the middle of unbuttoning his shirt, his suit laid out on the bed.

"Ms. Adler, we do have a washroom located right down the hall if you'd like to change."

Her blatant move makes him nervous. Maybe she's alright with being naked in the company of mere acquaintances, but he does not share her enthusiasm for semi-public nudity.

John had been standing in the doorway of the kitchen surveying the scene with a mild amount of annoyance. The case seemed interesting enough but it was Sherlock's attitude that was infuriating. He didn't even ask her any questions about this Ball of Westminster, just leapt up and ran to his room to get changed. Since when was Sherlock interested in balls? He was just going to go to this thing without even knowing what it was even?

He followed Irene to Sherlock's room, not trusting what she was up to. He opened the door to find Sherlock with his shirt half undone and Irene standing in some ridiculous seductive pose presumably trying to impress him. John ignored Irene and spoke directly to Sherlock.

"Are we definitely going to this ball thing then?" he asked.

Sherlock sensed the annoyance in John's voice, no doubt it had to do with Irene's presence and the fact that he was so compliant to go along with her plans. He needed to get John alone to explain what he was thinking, that he wasn't just going into this blindly. He walked quickly to the door of his bedroom and put his hand on John's elbow, turning him around so they had a little bit of privacy.

"A word John, in your room."

With that Sherlock began pulling John out of his bedroom.

John hardly had time to say anything else before Sherlock had travelled across the room and he felt his flatmate's hand grab his arm, leading him away and out of the room. They walked quickly to John's room without saying another word. Once inside John closed the door behind him and turned to Sherlock with a confused expression.

"What's going on Sherlock?"

"This Ball holds more promise for us then just getting started on Ms. Adler's case. There are quite a few people who are attending tonight that I have been keeping my eyes on, some of them being Moriarty's men. I hate balls," he puts emphasis on the word 'hate' "but it's part of the case, so we'll have to suffer through it."

Sherlock knows this won't be enough to make John feel better, but he doesn't know what else to say. Sherlock slides his hand down and takes John's for a second and squeezes it. In a monotone, but obviously meant to be reassuring way he says, "There's nothing going on between me and Ms. Adler, it'll be okay." With that he turns to leave, presumably to kick Irene out of his room.

Irene had stared at them until they disappeared through the door. She rolled with his eyes while unpacking her bag. Undressing without audience. Fine. She preferred it otherwise, but now she could be a surprise. Smiling, she carefully lifted her dress out of her bag. It was beautiful. It was an emerald green backless dress. She opened the plastic protection off it and headed (with her make-up bag in hand) to the bathroom.

((the dress:))
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John listened carefully as Sherlock explained his reasons for wanting to attend this stupid ball. He couldn't really argue. He knew Sherlock was right and that he would never normally attend a ball unless it was important.

"OK...I guess I'd better get ready then..," John mumbled and turned away towards the bed.

Suddenly he felt Sherlock's hand on his and spun back round to face him, feeling a slight tingle shoot up his arm and down his back. He was surprised at the physical contact, but that and Sherlock's words made him feel a little more reassured about his intentions.

"Um..thanks...Sherlock...I'll err..." he indicated awkwardly towards the wardrobe, and Sherlock swept out of the room leaving John feeling quite red in the face.