oneshot. "it's just an idea, but it catches."

Irene Adler didn't mean to find out. She had stopped reading John's blog ages ago. It didn't matter anymore, it was part of a game that was long over.

She had been hiding out for a while – now it was Tunisia, but soon she's relocate more permanently to the South Pacific. Some sea and sun – it might be nice.

As a point of interest, she had tried to keep relatively up to date on new about one of her old clients back in Brittan who owed her a favour. A man named Widmore – lonely, wealthy, powerful – perfect, if only he' stop disappearing for months on end.

She read it on the internet. It was there, in the news. Apparently, he had made quite a name for himself.

Suicide of Fake Genius.

She read the article through twice, to be sure. But there it was, in black and white, Sherlock Holmes.

She scanned the article again, taking in the details. "Richard Brook," she murmured to herself. A picture was included – an actor, it said.

"I think he just likes to cause trouble."

Her eyes lingered over the title of the article, her mind racing as she tried to figure it all out. Fake genius? Of course Sherlock wasn't a fake genius, there was no way he could be. He had figured out the code, he had figured out her password, not to mention the boomerang.

And John Watson's voice, from so long ago, came back to her – "He will outlive God trying to have the last word."

Irene tapped her fingers absently. "So what happened?" she muttered. "Why would you do this if everyone thought it was all a lie?"

Then she gets an idea. It's just an idea, but it catches and soon she can't shake it. It fills her up and she wonders if you can believe something so much you can make it true. She wonders if that's what people did to God. She wonders if that's what people did to Sherlock.

Irene grabs her camera phone. She has the wild idea that none of it is true, that Sherlock is alive. He would have texted her. She must have missed it.

But of course he hasn't. It was just an idea.

It all makes her sad. Sherlock is dead, but what does that matter to her anymore? Surely, it doesn't.

Still, it is a favour she would have liked to return.