Look out for the <>!

"I wasn't talking to him at that time. I was with my new boyfriend," a woman told us at her house. We had been talking to her for the last 20 minutes and I couldn't stand it. She kept on telling the same lies over and over again. I knew she was lying by the way she was wrapping her arms around her chest, defensively and kept looking away from us as she answer questions.

I sighed and leaned forward in my chair with a frown. She was wasting our time. "Look, we both know you're lying. I see that in the way you keep on looking at the time. Also the some of the facts you gave us, you scratch your nose. It's like a nervous twitch. You are leaving something out. Tell us what you did and we'll cut you a deal," I said with a harsh tone, frustrated with the woman.

"I don't know what you are talking about. Now if you would, I would like you two to leave. Right now," she said getting defensive and stood up from her chair.

Sherlock looked at me with a frown. This was my fault we were getting kicked out. "Can I use your bathroom before we go?" Sherlock asked in a deep voice that almost sounded polite. He had been mainly quiet up until this point which was not normal for him. I knew he was thinking about something. Maybe the case, maybe something else but he seemed to be preoccupied.

"It's um, sure. It's on the left down the hall," she said and sat back down with a confused look.

I watched Sherlock leave the room, leaving me alone with the lies. I gritted my teeth to prevent me from saying something sharp. I looked at her and she gave me a small smile. I might have to leave without him before I explode.

"I didn't do anything. I promise," she whispered to me with fake tears welling up in her eyes. She was a good actress if I didn't know any better. Being in Russia seemed to fine tune my skills so her lies seemed so fake to me. 

That was the last straw. I couldn't stand this. It was such a petty case why was she not telling us everything? It wasn't like we were going to lock her up forever. We just needed all the information. This was why I hated humans. Always letting you down. "I'm going to say this once. I do not have the patience for this. It's either because of the lack of sleep or because I'm not adjusting but you will tell us the truth or I will get it out of you, one way or another," I said in a deep and clear voice. I wanted to scare her but the look on her face showed that I terrified her.

<>

"Are you ready?" Sherlock asked as he walked back down from the bathroom. I looked at him then back to her. I didn't realized that I was standing up.

I straightened out my shirt to look more put together. I hoped that he didn't see that. I feel like maybe I stepped over a line. That was not called for here. This case wasn't life or death, like it was in Russia. "Let's go."

"Thank you for your time," Sherlock said as I walked out. What was wrong with him? He was the one being polite? I had to be gone way too long. 

We walked to the Tube in silence but I knew he was thinking about something. He was way too quiet. We didn't say one word the whole ride. It wasn't until we left the Tube when I spoke. "Look, I'm not sorry for how I acted in there. I just couldn't stand her," I said to him as I tried to justify my actions.

"You don't need to explain yourself," he said as he looked at his phone.

I raised my eyebrows at him. He used to pick me apart out loud, but ever since I got back, he had been so quiet. "Good," I nodded as we stepped out into one of the many streets of London.

"I do think she's lying as well. We just need to get enough proof. And with this, I think we have her." Sherlock showed me a bag of dirt.

"Where did you get that?"

"From her bedroom floor."

"You went into her bedroom?" He was supposed to be going to the bathroom, that sneaky devil. I knew he was up to something. 

He shrugged and put the bag in his pocket of his jacket. I gave a small smile at him. In this aspect, he hadn't changed one bit. Always bending the rules. I was convinced that was why we worked so well together.

I heard a car muffler bang and made me jump, just enough for Sherlock to notice.

"We have to leave right now," some woman yelled at me as gunshots echoed around me, telling me I was back in Ukraine. I got up quickly from the hard wood floor I was sitting at and followed her out the door into the war zone. I ducked low to avoid being shot at. The sounds of war filled my ears. It was defining.

I ran fast as I tried to keep up this the girl in front of me. I jumped over a bloody dead body. I didn't look down at it as I passed, knowing there was no use to that. I felt a bullet whizz by my ear. I ducted even closer to the ground. I didn't know what side was shooting at me and I knew I couldn't trust anyone except the woman in front of me.

I had no time to cry in fear as I ran through the woods. I wasn't supposed to be here. I wasn't made for this. Anything would be better than this. But yet I was here because I was chasing down a lead. She was in front of me. Marina. Ivan told me about her and how she knew different information than he knew. But she was in the war front with Ukraine and Russia most of the time and if I wanted to gain her trust, I had to go to her. She made this very clear when we met in Kiev.

This was supposed to be for only a few days but I soon found out that she needed back up in the war to find out more. She was working on bringing down the group from the front lines.

Even though I didn't want to be here, I signed up because no one else would. Without her, I would not be able to gain the information I needed and without that, I couldn't return back to London. Marina was a well of information and to get all I could, I had to be with her at all times, at least that what Mycroft demanded from me.

I knew it would be bad here, but I didn't think it would be this bad. I didn't understand that this was a literal war being fought between Russia and Ukraine. I felt my legs start shaking as I saw people get gunned down close to me. I was going to have a meltdown right here and then I was going to die.

"Why are you here?" I asked Marina over the popping of guns as we hid behind a car door to be safe for a few minutes. I looked at my shaking hands with a frown. I had been here in the front lines for a total of seven days and I already had plenty enough break downs. I had seen too many people fall down dead in front of my eyes and I felt like I was going to be next.

"Because do you think this war is just about borders? It's not," she said, more like shouted to me.

"What does Russia want that Ukraine have?" At that moment there was an explosion to the left of me that caused ringing in my ears. I left shrapnel hit my face. A man no older than me appeared right beside me and ran into the smoke with a brave face. I talked to him on the train here, he was from Kiev. I heard gun fire again and screams. I wanted this to end. I wanted to go back to London.

"It's not just about Russia. There is more to this than meets the eye." She yelled as she tried to run left and right to avoid getting shot. I followed her more into the woods where we had more protection. "Take this note to Ivan. He'll want to read what I found out so far. And tell him that I love him," she said and handed me a letter. "This is where you leave. Meet me back in Kiev in a week."

"Wait, what? Your leaving me?" he couldn't just leave me. This was a war front! I barely knew how to shoot a gun. "What does Ukraine have that Russia wants?"

"Resources, Ukraine has so much more than Russia. They have funding and land that is useable. But this is really just a front." She ducked behind a tree.

"What is the bigger plan?" I asked as I ran behind a tree next to her. I heard a bullet wiz by my arm, just enough to rip my sleeve. I felt the tree shake from impact of that bullet. I ribbed my arm to make sure it was ok. Yup, it was fine. I looked back at Marina to see that she was gone. I looked around to see where she could have gone off to but I didn't see anything. I peered from behind the tree and shot off running deeper into the woods. I needed to get back to Russia and talk to Ivan. I was not built for war like this.

"Rori, I'll see you back at the flat," Sherlock's voice rang out. I looked around and I was on the some street in London with him. I didn't know how I got back here but I went with it.

"What? Where are you going?"

"I just said I was going to the hospital. I need to look at this dirt."

"Ok. I'll be waiting," I said to him as he walked the other way, away from me.