a/n Holmes in peril? Watson to the rescue.

7 x 100B drabbles (if 221B counts as one word)

Sherlock Holmes and companions do not belong to me

Many thanks to medcat for beta reading and encouragement.

Sound and Motion

1

The first sound is that of the front door to 221B bursting open. This startles the landlady who has been anxiously awaiting his return. A medical bag is hastily dropped at her feet. She speaks but her words are brushed aside by a hurried cry of "No time now! " With coat flying and hat askew he pelts up the stairs. She tries once again to get his attention but finds herself addressing an empty hall to the accompaniment of racing footsteps on the landing.

Recognising the futility of continuing a one sided conversation her voice falters and stops. "But..."

2

Next, the dull thud of a shoulder against a door as he hurtles into the sitting room. The scene before him is just as he had pictured during his frantic race from Clinic to Baker Street. His friend is sitting calmly, tea cup in hand, watching as his adversary raises a revolver to firing position. The doctor throws himself at the would be assassin and the momentum propels them onwards and down.

He registers the click of a trigger and a growing painful pressure as his whole weight falls onto the muzzle of the gun jammed tight against his breastbone.

3

But…..no sound of a gunshot, no bullet tearing through bone and flesh, no blood spilled .Just the sound of two bodies locked together, tumbling and hitting the ground. The lower one strikes his head against the far wall and is still. The upper one rolls carefully away from the other and off his aching shoulder. He stretches out painfully to recover the gun from the now senseless grasp and automatically turns his head to check that his friend is unscathed.

His hand then instinctively moves to the ringed bruise on his chest wall and he takes a deep breath.

4

And the next sound. A cry of relief? A whisper of concern from his friend? Or perhaps more likely a hiss of anger at a reckless and foolhardy action? Instead, a soft chuckle from the still seated detective, tea cup elegantly raised in one hand.

"Oh well done, Watson!" he exclaims. "You really have excelled yourself! Perhaps it would have been wiser for you to join in after he had pulled the trigger and in your enthusiasm you appear to have been careless of your bad shoulder, but on the whole, my dear fellow, you have played your part brilliantly!"

5

The next sound; a swiftly stifled groan as the doctor cautiously levers himself up into a sitting position. He blinks, then stares in bemusement at the smiling detective. A rush of heat spreads slowly across his face as it gradually dawns on him that somehow, somewhere, someway he has once again missed the point. Some vital factor has passed him by, some subtle clue has escaped his notice and he has unwittingly provided mere entertainment for his friend.

Clearly, the life or death situation he had launched himself into a few moments before was not as he had originally believed.

6

Fortunately, the sound of Mrs Hudson bustling in distracts them before either one can speak. She stops. Her gaze shifts from the unconscious stranger, past the ruffled doctor and on to the imperturbable detective.

"Mr Holmes, I am terribly sorry but Dr Watson was in too much of a hurry for me to pass on the message as you had instructed." She turned her head.

"He wanted me to be sure to tell you, Doctor, that it would be quite safe for you to tackle the intruder. Thanks to Inspector Lestrade, his revolver has already been emptied of its bullets."

7

Further sounds; a clock ticking quietly on the mantelpiece, the clatter of a cab passing on the street below ,a whistle heralding the arrival of the Yards brightest and best, the quiet regular breathing of an unconscious blackmailer and the fading footsteps of a landlady discreetly leaving the room.

Then, the sharp exhalation of a thoroughly rattled and annoyed doctor as he picks himself up off the floor and checks his latest collection of bruises.

And finally, the sound made by a china tea cup as it falls from a suddenly shaky hand onto the hearth and smashes to bits.

End