Everybody Plays the Fool

If you've ever had the unfortunate experience of being inside or even near one of those filthy carnival restrooms, that was the stench that hit me out of nowhere as Basil silently closed the hidden door in the floor of the bar above us. Febreze couldn't contain the smell of this sewer

"Oh dear..." I spoke aloud in disgust.

I had Basil's fingers held firmly to my lips, commanding silence on my part. His long, slender fingers were softer than I thought they were. But it made sense in my mind as he probably doesn't do much hard labor in his cases, especially with his hands. But then my mind began to race, trying to imagine what other day-to-day activities he did with his hands...

What?!

I shook myself out of it to find Basil giving me a look of concern as he pulled his hand back. I wondered why he was looking at me so intently.

"What is it?" I asked nervously.

Basil's face relaxed again and he simply smirked at me, answering, "You're blushing, miss Hannah."

My eyes widened when he said this and I bit my tongue and said the first thing that came to mind, "Y-you're blushing," I said defensively.

Basil looked at me very much confused, and Dawaon popped his head from behind Basil, and also looked at me inquisitively, both of them cocking one eyebrow in my direction.

Basil stepped forward much to my dismay and I gasped lightly when he placed the back of his hand on my forehead, then my cheek, as if measuring my temperature. My palms began sweating with every second he stood so close to me. What he does next sends my heart pounding. He slides his hand smoothly to my chin, and very gently cups it in his hand; also placing his thumb on my lower lip, a little more tentatively than the way he had done so before. He began moving his thumb back and forth over my lips in a very small, slow touch that did more to me than he may have meant, or that he was doing on purpose. Teasing me, the lout. He had a very tender, curious expression as if he was studying me patiently.

"W-what are you doing?" I asked, trying to sound stern.

"You're blushing more. You cannot lie to me and say it is not because of me. Your song... It's intriguing. I consider myself a man very much in touch with music of all kinds. Both of my own country's creation and those of the rest of the world. Yet never in all of my years have I ever heard such a song as yours. Very heartfelt, very profound in the ways one may feel... In love. There's something quite... Out of this time about it, and yet timeless in its meaning... Don't you agree?"

In love. I stare up at him, his body only inches away from mine, and our faces closer. When he said those two simple words, my heart began to flutter as if they had a mind of their own. My lips begin to tremble a little, and I see him glance down at my lips for a moment then back to my eyes.

"W-what is it?"

"Your lips twitch," Basil said matter of factly, "I've noticed this since our first meeting. Your lips seem the twitch when you are in deep concentration. Tell me, what is it that has your undivided concentration at this moment?" Basil seemed to smirk at this and bring his face closer to mine. My inner thoughts were in a haze about now. Mark used to tell me about my lips and how they twitched, and he would kiss them so tenderly every time... And take away my breath along with it...

"I-it doesn't help that you're so close to me right now, Mr. Basil..." The words left my lips in a slight whisper.

"Is that so, miss Hannah? Would it, by chance, help if I should..." He removed his thumb from my lips and placed his lips a breath away from my own, "Close this distance?"

Warm, unbearable, soft, torturous, addicting. That was the way I could describe the kiss. There were fireworks, as is typical of most kisses with someone new. He didn't seem to be inexperienced either. It was the sort of kiss that made you want to wrap your entire body around that one person and not let go.

Basil kissed me with more certainty and passion than I would have ever expected out of someone like him. Though I don't think I'd ever not think of him as a passionate sort. He moved his hand to the back of my head and wrapped his hand in my hair. Completely drawn in, I wound my arms around his neck and sighed into the kiss, temporarily forgetting about the situation. There was a hint of a smile in his kiss at my small noises. He chuckled a bit at this as he kissed me.

His chuckle brought back thoughts of Mark... He always used to chuckle like that... So cocky in its tone and yet charming and irresistible... Mark...

I opened my eyes to find not Mark, but Basil staring intently into my eyes, eyes filled with something I couldn't describe properly; tenderness and concern and, dare I say, affection.

"Where did you learn to kiss like that?" I asked, still trying to steady my voice.

"I know what you may be thinking. I may be a cold-hearted, detached, stubborn detective to many, my dear, but I am still a man... A man who can feel affection just as any other. I'm sure that shocks you after what we've been through, but you seem to have a way of bringing good things out of the worst or most stubborn of people," He looked at me and smiled and reached for my wrist on his shoulder, and kissed it sweetly, "And I may have kissed a woman before. But that is a story for another time entirely, my dear."

I could only stare at him in shock, amazement, confusion, frustration, and fondness.

"Basil... You know that I... That I'm..."

He sighed heavily and strengthened his hold on my hand, "I remember, dear. I remember your... Relationship." He said the last word with a bit of hurt in his voice. I couldn't help but bring my hand to his cheek, and he leaned into my palm slightly.

I glanced behind Basil to see the doctor lying on the floor in a puddle of water, looking quite pale. How did we not hear him fall?! I thought.

I gasped loudly at this and rushed to the doctor and quickly knelt by his left side, "Dawson! Are you alright?! Can you hear me?!"

Basil rushed over as well and knelt on Dawson's right and took his head in his hands and began to slap the doctor firmly on the cheek once and then twice, "Dawson, wake up!" He commanded, and Dawson slowly blinked his eyes open, and when they finally opened, he looked at Basil, then me, then Basil, then me, and so on. He sat up with our assistance, and we stood him back up, though he had to shake his head several times to really get it out of his system.

"Basil... You... I saw you... A-and Hannah... I saw you k..ki-ki-kis-"

"Yes, Dawson. I did kiss Hannah. Fear not, your eyes have not quite failed you yet."

"But Basil! She's meant for another ma-"

"We'll discuss this later," I intervened, and looked at Basil, "Won't we?"

He sent me a hopeful smile, and said, "Yes, we shall."

I blush, but let it go as I held my chin up and directed our attention back to the task at hand.

"Basil, I trust you know where we're meant to go from here."

Basil regained that sense of determination about him and in his eyes, and smirked, "But of course."

He lead us to the opening of the pipe and with his assistance by putting my foot in his hands, I was quickly hoisted up into the pipe. He was next, and he hoisted himself up. We both reached out our hands to the larger, much more winded and overwhelmed mouse and pulled him up, but not without letting out a few groans of effort. With this, we knew what lied ahead. We could hear Fidget's off key singing further on down the tunnels, which gave Basil an advantage should he forget the paths which were necessary. We began treading through the muck in the pipes, and as it grew darker, Basil reached behind him and grasped my small hand in his. Getting the idea, I reached my hand behind myself as well and felt for the doctor's, which he found to be a comfort later on as we ventured. I could feel Basil squeezing my hand firmly. I felt touched by the protective air he suddenly had about him, but of course, my mind was still reeling from the unforeseen happenings on just moments ago. What was I supposed to say? Supposed to do? We couldn't let something like that go unset, and I knew that should I find my way home, I would have so much guilt in the pit of my heart and mind... After all, I was kissed by another man. I did nothing, after all, he kissed me. Yet still, that was it. I didn't fight, resist, or say no.

I did nothing.

The whole ordeal began to make my stomach knot, and I wanted to get on my knees and wretch. I had just betrayed the man I loved! The man soon to be my husband! All I wanted was to close my eyes and wake up in my bed back home and realize this was all a ridiculous dream and look over at my nightstand and see that romantic daily "good morning" text from my beloved. But, a sick part of me, maybe the part of me that didn't fight when Basil invaded my lips with his, knew that my chances of returning home were slim.

All these mind-numbing, self-loathing thoughts distracted to the point that I was practically a zombie; a mindless robot following Basil in his every step and turn and occasional ducking without recalling where we were and our purpose being there, that is, until I could hear Dawson wincing behind me.

"Oh gosh," I whispered and looked behind me, "I'm so sorry, doctor! Did I hurt you?"

"Oh, quite alright, Hannah.. er... You probably can't do much more damage to this hand after all these years, you know." He chuckled at this.

It was moments like this I could truly smile, and not feel guilty being here. The good-natured doctor always seemed to make me smile and forget about my troubles. Little did I know he would eventually come to be the best friend I could have ever asked for.

I frowned as that feeling I had before of wanting to wretch immediately, almost suddenly returned, and this time it would not be ignored.

I let go of both mice's hands and stopped and dropped to my knees and spilled the contents of my stomach painfully while attempting to muffle the sound, but being in too much pain and discomfort to think about it

"Bloody hell," Basil turned around with a whirl.

"Good heavens!" Dawson took a step back, and in a moment came back toward me to put a hand up close to my face, "Hannah what on earth came over you?"

"I-I'm fine... J-just a lot of stress... And the smell doesn't exactly help..." My stomach clenched, and despite being seemingly empty, it had made it a task to make me lose my whole stomach next.

As I wretched once again, this time I felt both hands on my back and shoulders.

"A-are you sure it is only stress? Or, perhaps, other environmental factors? Or maybe even... How long have you felt nauseous?"

I looked up at Basil, clutching my stomach in an attempt to keep my actual stomach inside of me. And I did remember, I had had stomach cramps, and a lot of bloating for several weeks, even before I woke up in this godforsaken world, but had dismissed this uneasiness simply being the result of stress and strain. And looking at Basil, his face revealed deep concern and worry, but he clearly struggled with whether or not he was willing to show it, even after he had proven himself to be the bold, scandalous type.

"Again, I'm fine."

I slowly stood back up, wiping a bit of the grime from the floor of the pipe off my skirts, and some of the mess around my mouth, and looked Basil in the eye with more pride than I had ever felt since showing up here, in that if I can throw up nearly at Basil of Baker Street's feet and not cower in fear of forever grossing him out, I'm a lot tougher than either of these men knew.

"Are you quite alright now, Hannah?" Basil asked kindly but with a tone that hinted at the urgency of pressing on.

"Yes, please, lead the way." Basil shot a small, approving smile. He seemed to like my initiative, and the doctor was equally impressed.

We three rejoined hands as we pursued our peg-legged fiend, and eventually, the sound of his singing grew faint to the point of being nonexistent, and the smallest amount of light could be seen as we came closer to the opening at the end of the long, dingy tunnel.

We propped open the sewer grate a bit and peered around for anyone who might be waiting for us. Ratigan's hideout. We were finally there. At this moment, I felt within myself somewhere that there was something about this I was supposed to remember, but for the life of me, it had escaped me. If only I could remember...

"Aha! Behold, my friends, we've found it! Ratigan's secret lair..."

There wasn't much to the structure ahead of us. Simply a barrel branded in a giant gold 'R' on the front. It didn't look imposing, but the criminal who called this place home certainly carried the much more imposing reputation in his career as a criminal.

Basil held the grate up higher, allowing me to pull myself out, and I held it in return so Basil could exit and assist our panting, robust friend. I looked around as I helped, and Basil had been right before: it was indeed filthier than even I had imagined it.

We finally left the pipes behind us as we hid behind structures and made our way closer to the entrance to the hideout. But to our luck, we spotted a large, green, empty alcohol bottle and noticed it contained tiny white stockinged legs and a little hat with the signature red pom at the top. Olivia!

"Hannah! Dawson! The bottle!" Basil exclaimed quietly and triumphantly as he hurried toward it, us following centimeters behind as we rushed to free our little Liv.

Basil jumped and straddled the neck of the bottle and attempted to free the girl from her captivity, but the cork simply wouldn't budge. Basil groaned exasperatedly.

"It's stuck!"

I tapped on the glass to attempt to wake the sleeping girl; only, to my horror, I found instead of the sweet, innocent face of our Olivia, I jumped back and recoiled as I gazed into the mischievous, dead eyes of the peg-legged figure that we had followed here. The figure we had foolishly followed into our trap.