Quick little note before I head to bed! I just wanted to see if this was a good start! I hope you are enjoying this new story with some old faces. 

but it's late and I need to wake up V early tomorrow so I'll stop

DarlaH

"New case. You in?" Sherlock asked me as the threw a ball up in the air and caught it as he laid on the couch. There was no escape from him. I just walked out of my bed room and I didn't even have the chance to go to the bathroom.

It has been a week since that time at the river. I didn't tell Sherlock about the episode I had so many nights ago and I wasn't planning on telling him. Sherlock never asked what happened either, he just moved on like he normally did. He hadn't asked about what happened in Russia since that night either and I was happy about that. As far as he knew, I was ok, changed but I was ok, I still worked well to solve cases and to him that was all the mattered.

I looked at myself who was still in PJ's and I was pretty sure my hair looked like a birds nest. I was not in any physical condition to go out and solve a case. But what he couldn't see was that I was falling apart mentally as well. It had been a few weeks were nothing happened regarding the case I was working on in Russia. I had a few meeting with Mycroft but he was just as frustrated as I was. There had been no new leads, no more closer to finding out the leader of the group then when I was in Russia. I was spending long nights trying to track down leads and late mornings to make up for those late nights. It was not healthy. 

I looked at him and thought long and hard about the matter. I didn't want to go, but needed something to do. Maybe it would distract me from the other case I was failing to solve . "Of course." I need him to believe that I was ok and then if I tried hard enough, I would believe it too.

"Great, you ready?" he asked and sat upright on the couch.

I looked at myself then frowned. Some things would never change. "You think I'm ready?"

"You look fine."

I rolled my eyes at him. "And this is why you don't have a girlfriend." I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth to look somewhat presentable. After I got ready I walked back out to see Sherlock putting on this coat. 

"Ready?"

I nodded a I put my brown oxford flats on and walked out into the London air. I watched him flag down a cab and I froze in mid step. What was I doing? Working on a case with him? I had other things to work on. I thought about Ivan and how he died in cold blood and how Kale was still out there.

I tried to control my breathing. I felt myself on the edge of a meltdown on the street. I stuffed my shaking hands in my pockets to hide them from Sherlock. I couldn't go. I had a list of things to do and I was wasting time. "I just remembered I have other things to work on. You will have to be on your own this time."

He looked at me for a long hard minute as if reading what was really on my mind and then said, "ok." With that he got into the cab and I watched them drive away.

My first lead that I had been dreading was Zane. I needed to talk to him. He always asked to talk to me. I refused to talk to him though, I couldn't go through it. But I needed to.

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I held back a shutter as I looked into those honey-colored eyes on the other side of the glass. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly to make sure I was collected as I picked up the phone. I was nervous as well as other emotions. I didn't let him see that though. My face was stoic. 

On the other side of the glass was Zane, smiling back at me. He seemed weak and too thin, like prison was slowly killing him from the inside out. I wondered if this place would really be the death of him. 

"And what do I owe this pleasure?" he said into the phone. Just the sound of his voice made my skin crawl. He knew I was here to question him. I just hoped he would tell me what I needed so I could get out as fast as I could. 

How could he be safe here in London when his brother was in a war. Did he even know that his brother was in Russia, forced to fix his mistakes? He was fixing things that he shouldn't be in charge of. Zane should be the one getting shot at in Ukraine and be getting beat up in interrogation rooms instead of Kale and all the other good people that were there now. "The people you barrowed money from, who are they?"

He raised his eyebrows in surprise by my direct question. "Wow, strait into business, like always. Oh how I have missed you, Rori. You do need to come by more often. Have you been growing out your hair? I liked it pink, but red is your colour. Just like when I first saw you in Ireland, like a raging fire."

I frowned, losing my cool for a second. "I don't have time for this Zane! Just tell me who they are!" I shouted at him and hit the glass, making him jump. "They are planning something! I was there! I saw it! But I don't know who they are! Tell me what you know."

His face grew serous for a second as he said almost in a low whisper, "they are not good people, Rori, they take things too far. If you're getting into bed with them, get out now because once you're in, you can get out."

I frowned, he was not answering my question. "But who are they?"

He looked around the empty room as if someone was watching us. "They're called different names but I knew them as beijo. Get away from them, I'm warning you. They watch you and Sherlock a little too much, more then I did, and that's saying something. They're very interested in what you are up to. They made me shoot you, only Sherlock got in the way. They wanted me to kill you. They do not like you. Rori, I'm not as bad as you think I am."

I snorted, finding that hard to believe. He wanted me dead, not that group. He hated me. I saw it in his eyes that night. He wanted me out of the way. "I highly doubt that." I got up from my seat knowing that I got enough information from him at this current moment. 

Just as I was about to put away the phone Zane said, "Wait. I have more to say about them."

"Like what?" 

"The group is run by one. But he has a handful of men that work under him."

"Did you ever talk to the leader?"

 He shook his head. "Never. But he has eyes everywhere. Just when you think you surprised him, he turns around and surprises you." he looked at the camera then smiled back at me as if we were having a pleasant conversation. But I could see fear in his eyes. This group terrified him. "You must visit me more. I do miss you."

"And I don't." And with that I put the phone up and walked away. I knew he was trying to sound better then he really was. He was a bad person but maybe this group was worse.

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I sat down on the floor typing away on my computer as I tried to find more about the group beijo. I had never heard of them being called that. So far I found out that beijo was Portuguese for a word that was similar to a goodbye. It really meant kisses, which was an odd name to call yourself.

After spending over an hour looking into this more, I didn't find much except some spray painted walls in Moscow that said Beijo. There was nothing more then that and it made me frustrated because Zane could of just made up a name to send me into a wild goose chase. But I saw his eyes, he believed his words.

At some point that evening Sherlock came walking in wearing rags that smelt heavily of smoke and some unknown chemical substance. "You smell lovely. Dappling in something that I should be concerned about?" I asked as I looked up at him from my computer.

"It was all for the name of science," he said with his words slightly slurred. I watched him stager into the kitchen then look in the fridge. "We do not have yogurt."

"No we do not," I said casually, half paying attention to him as I turned back to my research.

"But I want yogurt."

I shook my head at him. "You don't like yogurt."

"I want it."

I rolled my eyes at him. He had to be on something, but what was the real question. "Find something else to munch on. We have loads of other things to eat." 

A second later Sherlock was right beside me. He had never been so close to me before. I shifted uncomfortably on the floor so he would get the hint. He didn't move. "What are you working on?"

He was getting on my nerves already. I could barely stand him when he was not on anything but how could I take him like this? "I'm looking into beijo."

He looked at me for a good minute; he was really struggling to either come up with an answer or remember something. I couldn't decide which. "I've heard that somewhere."

"Where?" I said with eagerness in my voice.

He got up and sat down on the couch then got back up and started to pace the room. I could almost see the gears slowly turning in his head. Whatever he was on was really slowing him down. "It was months ago. On a building, a sign, a poster board. I can't remember." He moved his hands through his hair, making it even messier then before.

I sighed. He was no help. I could not stand to be in the same room as him at this moment. "Well, when you remember come find me, I have some things to do around town." With that I put my sneakers on and walked out the door.

Truth was I didn't have much patience for people that did drugs, and I was not in the mood to deal with Sherlock on drugs. There were other things, better things to do then put up with his ramblings. 

I walked down the street and got onto the tube. I wanted to see if I could find Ivan's friend. I knew that he worked for the bank of London, and I knew him by the name of Fitz Lanza but that was all I knew.

I was walking out of the tube when I saw him, Ivan. I recognize the shaved hair and dark green coat anywhere. But he was dead, I saw him die. He smiled at me kindly then disappeared into the crowed. I ran after him, I needed to talk to him. "Wait Ivan!" I shouted at him to stop. I pushed past people until I finally ran into him. I grabbed his shoulder and spun him around but it wasn't Ivan. He still had the short brown hair and brown eyes and he was even wearing the same dark green coat Ivan wore but it wasn't him. This was some other man.

Disappointment flooded through me. I knew Ivan was dead, I knew Marina was dead but I couldn't stop seeing them in the other people. I felt embarrassed; I needed a more of a level head. My mind was still in Russia and I couldn't snap out of it. "Can I help you?"

"I don't think so. Sorry, wrong person," I mumbled and walked off quickly through the crowed and got out on the other side. I shook my head to clear it, enough distraction, I needed to go to the bank of London to find Fitz. 

I walked down the street and found myself at the bank front doors. I walked in straight to the front desk were a beautiful secretary was sitting, looking over her glasses at something on her desk. She was high maintenance by the way she color organized her desk. I had to act proper to get what I wanted from her. "I would like to speak to Fitz Lanza please."

The secretary looked up at me and then typed something on her keyboard. "He does not work here anymore."

Maybe the Beijo already got to him. "Where did he go? Last time I check he was here," I said with a frustrated voice.

"He got terminated three days ago," she said and then started to type on her keyboard again as if to tell me that she was done talking.

Knowing that there was no more information I could get from her, I dropped my head in disappointment and walked away. I had a feeling that he died instead of getting a different job. Everyone that spied on Beijo died, all my friends did in Russia. Ivan, Marina, they were all gone and it was because they knew the group was terrible and they wanted to make a difference. Now that responsibility fell on my head. I had to stop Beijo if that was the last thing I did. This was not only for me, but for my friends as well, I owed them that much.

I stepped outside and heard a jazz band playing. Suddenly I was looking at Marina in a blue strapless dress for the event we were attending. "You look always nice, you put me to shame." I said as I looked at my little black halter dress with a frown. I looked drab, she looked stunning.

We were at some high class function in Moscow Russia. I didn't really know what type of function it was for but I did know that there were some people here that we needed to get information from.

Someone behind me busted out into a fit of coughs that made me jump. We had been back from Ukraine for two days but I still couldn't help but look over my shoulder at any sudden noises. I still felt like I was at war, I was, but this was different then in Ukraine.

"You look beautiful as well." She said as if she didn't see me jump. I had been slowly losing my confidence since I had been back. She and Ivan refused to notice that I was shutting down. Or maybe they were feeling the same way but showed it differently. "Do you know who you're looking for? Remember? Victor?"

I nodded at her. "Yeah, he's the brut of a man that killed Dima."

She frowned at me. "You saw that?"

I tried to shake the memory from my mind. "I was hiding behind a box. All Dima said was 'I know who your boss is'." I thought about that moment I saw just a few days ago. I had finally found him behind enemy lines and just as I was about to come forward and ask him that same question, I was interrupted by Victor coming in and shooting him. The image is still fresh in my mind even though I tried so hard to push it away.

"Dima was closer than anyone else had gotten. He was in deep and someone found out what side he really worked on. But we'll never find out his information now that he's dead." She frowned in disappointment. "I think they are starting to pick us off. We need to hit them just as hard, starting with Victor. That is why you need to befriend Victor and maybe find out some information then kill him. I need to go to the bathroom. Will you wait for me?"

I smiled at her like I had nothing else running through my mind. Marina wanted me to kill him and I didn't have the guts to tell her that I tried to avoid killing. She had already seen me kill a few people in Ukraine, what was another more. "Of course I will. Then let's get a drink, it's all this party is good for. Oh besides finding secrets."

"You read my mind," she said and winked as she walked off to find the bathroom.

She never came back. Later that night I found out she was drugged and died in the bathroom. I never did find anything from Victor that was useful and out of spite and anger I killed him in a deserted maze garden. 

I shook my head to get the memories out of my head. Time was starting to blur together like a Tricks Yogurt cup. I felt like I deserted them back there. I felt guilty that I was here but yet I knew I would have ended up dead like so many others if I stayed.

I thought about the metal list I had and the names that had died already. Fitz, Ivan, Marina, Maxim, Troy, Dima and others. Marina was right, they were starting to slowly pick us off. I was one of the only ones that was not on the list of deaths and it worried me. I pulled my coat closer to my body and shivered as I walked through the streets of London.

Why did Beijo leave me last? Were they planning on taking me out here in London? I wanted to know what made me so different. I couldn't have been the most careful person in the group, I knew I wasn't. I was pretty reckless. The whole topic made me depressed so I quickly changed the subject to ice cream. I wanted ice cream so badly it hurt. I had some change in my pocket so I quickly made it onto the tube for the closest market.

As I walked into the store, someone bumped into me. I looked at the man that bumped into me and frowned. People could be so rude, he didn't even say sorry. "Hey watch it." I said under my breath. With my hands stuffed into my pockets, I started to walk down an aisle but quickly realized that the man slipped a note into my pocket. I pulled out a slip of paper and read the couple of sentences it had.

I'm still here. I would like to team up with you. Met me in an hour at Charring Cross station.

Fitz.

I smiled and stuffed the note back into my pocket. I was back on the case, I had a lead.