221B week, day 1: Cold Steel Woman

BBC Sherlock

Rating: 12

Spoilers: none for Series 2

Summary: Mycroft's recruitment techniques are non-standard.

Inspired by Pavanne by Richard and Linda Thompson, which kalypso_v introduced me to.

"You can kill me of course," the man with the umbrella said, almost conversationally. "But you won't get out of the hotel alive if you do. Look out of the window."

She could just see the marksmen on the roof opposite, in the position she'd have chosen herself. She wasn't dealing with amateurs, then.

"I know who you are," the man went on. "And your background. But don't worry, Pavanne, I don't intend to reveal either to anyone else."

"I'm not for hire," she said.

"You kill for pleasure, the police think." He was tall and smartly dressed, with the same smooth air as some of the diplomats she'd shot. "They're wrong. You kill because you're trying to change the world. But you don't know yet the right way to do that."

"What do you want?"

"To offer you a position."

"In your bed?" she sneered.

"As a minor civil servant," he said, smiling. "The pay's not good, but I know that money doesn't interest you."

"I'm not working for any man."

"You wouldn't be. You'd be working for Her Britannic Majesty. She needs a woman like you. I'm authorised to offer you a new identity, a new life. The details are all down here. Look at them, and think about it," the man said, as he handed her the BlackBerry.