bakerstreet | picture prompt meme.

Well, you know what to do if we're caught.

[Sherlock speaks over his shoulder once he gets the lock opened. He pays special attention to the sound of it to see if there's anything about it that's been tampered with. It sounds like any other mass-produced lock, so he eyes the door Joan's chosen suspiciously as he waits so they can open both doors at the same time.]

Pretend we're lost. And picking locks for fun.

[The answer is wry as she eases the door open. She pulls a small flashlight from her coat, clicks it on and looks around. It looks like this is an advertising agency. There's a large sign on the wall over the receptionist desk, Anderson Advertising, that gleams in the light. It's absolutely quiet. She goes to the desk and looks over the counter. Phone. Computer. Stationery with the logo. She doubts this is what they're looking for, unless it's a good cover.

Or break a few noses, both work for me.

[Sherlock soundlessly twists the door handle and he presses it inward by small increments. There's no resistance against the door so it lessens the possibility of a mechanical booby trap. After several seconds, he has the door open wide enough to fit through it. He reaches for his flashlight once he's inside and clicks it on, taking a look at what's around him.

Refrigeration units. Storage.]

Joan.

[He's calling out but his voice is barely louder than a whisper. He walks to one of the refrigerators and skims over a yellow slip of paper attached to it.]

Oh God...

[Bioterrorism? In New York?

Little does he know that the second he unlocked the door leading into this room, a silent alarm would have alerted the gang in charge of this operation to their presence.]

[She's on her way back to the hall when he says those words, and she quickens her step to join him. She stops when she sees the paper as well.]

Oh my god...

[This is worse than she expected. Mob activity, sure. Counterfeit operation, maybe. But this?]

Should we open them? See what they have?

I don't know about you, but I don't want to take my chances with Ebola. Ebola, Joan. Isn't that one of those haemorrhagic fevers?

[He steps back from the fridge and freezes in place. There's a distinctive click of the stairwell door opening.]

Bleeding out your eyes, ears, nose...

[The sound silences her. She looks toward the door then back at Sherlock, eyes wide. There's definitely somebody coming. She glances around, trying to find something to defend herself with.]

[Yeah, Joan, doesn't make him want to open the refrigerator any more.

Sherlock turns off his flashlight and looks around the room. If they left, they would be caught. If they stayed in here, they would be caught. It seems like there's no escaping it at this point... and since they're already in this room, it's very likely their lives will be in danger if they are identified.

Fighting is their only option. He moves to the wall near the door and flips his flashlight in his hand to test the weight of it and to ease his nerves. A flashlight may not be the most effective blunt force instrument, but it's the best he has on his person.]

[She sees bottles lined up on the shelf next to the refrigerator. She scans them, and sees one labeled HCl. Hydrochloric acid.

She grabs the bottle. She doesn't have time to protect herself. She can only hope to damage their pursuer more than herself.

She presses herself to the other side of the door, turning her head to look at Sherlock as the footsteps arrive at the door, and the doorknob turns.]

Don't spill that on yourself. Itches like hell before it burns. [Sherlock mouths to her, but he doesn't know if her night vision is good enough to read lips. He almost wishes she'd picked up the bleach also, since they could literally smoke the culprits back. Then again, if they were to be caught inside the room for very long, chlorine gas would make for a very unpleasant and choking death.

His fingers loosen and grip the torch in a wave-like manner as he waits until the young man enters headfirst. He swings his weapon downward, wincing slightly as it collides with a nasty thunk against the back of the man's scalp.]

Idiot.

[She waits, breath held, bottle raised, for someone else to enter.

She exhales as she realizes the man was alone. He's carrying a walkie-talkie, though, so more people will certainly be coming.

She sets the bottle down and grabs Sherlock's arm.]

More people will be on their way. We should hide in the offices across the hall.

[Sherlock starts to kneel down to inspect the man he's just knocked unconscious. He's still breathing, good. Still alive.

He looks up when Joan touches his arm.]

Right.

[He bends down to grab the man's arms and pull him him out of the doorway so he'd be less likely noticed. When he stands back up all the way, he straightens out his coat and then leads the way outside the room first. No one's coming so far.]

[Joan didn't fully close the door across the hall, so a push opens it.]

We should probably go to one of the offices in back. Lock and barricade the door.

[They're dealing with people willing to infect the New York populace with ebola. Who knows what sort of fire power they have?]

[Once they're outside the rogue storage room, Sherlock lets Joan lead the way while he takes a few extra moments to shut and lock the door behind them. It won't buy them much time, but every second counts. Once finished, he hurries after Joan and gets his first look at this room. Anderson. Well, that name brings back some eye rolling memories.]

Let's look for one with a window while we're at it.

[There's no use just barricading the door if they're going to be cornered.]

Got it.

[The first couple offices are facing the interior of the building. The door to the last office is the only one with a name plate, obviously the boss' office, and it's along the exterior, doubtless with a window. Joan tests the doorknob, swears quietly when it doesn't open, and pulls out the picks again.]

[Sherlock is still holding his torch, so he flicks it on and aims the beam of light for Joan to see by. There's no window on the door to the main hallway and the hallway itself is still light, so there's little to no risk of someone noticing the fluctuating like from inside the office.

The only reason he's letting Joan unlock the door at this point is because he wants to give her a chance to prove she's capable with it under extreme stress. If she takes too long, he will take over.]

We don't have all evening.

[Joan was a surgeon. She's able to keep her cool, keep her fingers moving quickly and methodically. Again, she's not as quick as Sherlock would be, but only just. The lock clicks, she opens the door, and ducks inside.]

[Sherlock clicks the light off since it may be seen from outside, then he pockets his torch and closes the office door with his hip.]

Still want to barricade the door?

[He asks, looking at the large and heavy-looking oak desk in the centre of the office. It could be moved if they both put their backs into it, but it would be a complete pain in the arse.]

[She checks out the window. It being on the first floor, it's not designed to open, apparently to keep out intruders.]

Unless you want to start by putting a chair through the window...

What's outside the window?

[Sherlock takes a moment to think and doesn't really listen to Joan's answer if and when she gives one since the information doesn't change anything. Either they will use the window or they won't. What he needs to do is weigh their options and decide which harbours the lowest risk.

They've been caught on camera all evening and leaving a broken window might be cause enough to look at the security footage, so they should use that as a last resort.

They can't leave these offices through the main route until normal business hours begin, which would mean spending the rest of the night trapped inside this room with a desk against the door.

There's the possibility that they will move the desk and have to break the window anyway.

There's also the possibility that they will be smoked out of the room and taken into custody if they leave the room through the window escape. In fact, there's no telling this organisation isn't already preparing for that.

Maybe the safest bet is staying inside the office for now. If they hold out the entire night, then they can be much safer. If it were only his neck on the line, he wouldn't hesitate at all in leaving through the window.]

Help me with this.

[He goes around to take one side of the desk and waits for Joan to take the other.]

Alley.

[She considers their options as well. Breaking a window will get attention from both the outside and inside, and they really don't want any more attention than they absolutely can't help. So she's relieved when Sherlock chooses the desk and not the chair through the window.

She goes to the other side of the desk and braces herself to push with all her strength.]

[He plucks the power extension cable from the side of the desk before they start pushing. It's hard work with their lack of combined body weight even if they have all the muscle needed for it, but they eventually drag the over-sized desk to the door. As far as a barricade goes, this one would definitely be worth while.

Finished with the work, Sherlock is left leaning forward over the desk and feeling a bit winded.]

Next time... I'm going with the window.

Not going to argue.

[Her arms ache, and she's pretty sure she pulled something in her back.]

Watch them not even come this way.

That would be ideal.

[He'd rather expend the effort and stay safe regardless than to be lazy and have it backfire.]

Now what?

[This is going to get boring, fast.]

[Better boring than dead.]

Keep the lights off. We should probably stay down, too. We don't want someone to see us through the window.

I know that.

[The voice he's using is quiet but still a bit snappish. Sherlock does know it. He'd been about to remind her of the same dangers but she'd beaten him to it. Is it always this annoying?]

picture prompt meme.

You know... I probably should have more of a plan for this, but I don't XD /makes it up as they go

Seat of the pants RPing is the best kind!

Keeps things exciting XD

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