Being a huge fan of both Sherlock and Downton Abbey, you can probably imagine my delight at seeing Benedict Cumberbatch and Laura Carmichael together in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Anyway, I now ship them. Hopefully that will explain this maddness ;)

Usual disclaimer: I don't own the characters, or the story lines, or anything really.

Also, Massive thanks to EOlivet who has been a wonderful beta and an inspiration while I've been writing this. (Go check out her Sherlock/Downton crossover, if you haven't already.)

Enjoy :)

Part 1 - A Study in Ginger.

For the entire plane journey back, Edith couldn't stop thinking about what she had seen. The young men, some younger than her, with such horrific injuries, screaming with fear and pain, haunted her. She'd only gone over there to visit Sybil, who was now an army doctor, but the on site staff had been shorthanded so she stayed and helped out. It had been two months, nearly three, the best and worst of her life. She felt liberated, being away from Mary and all the troubles back home. Papa was worried about money issues, and whether the estate would fare through the winter. It felt like another world, but that was what she was going home to. Also now that Mary's divorce had gone through, she would be spending the winter at home and Edith didn't want to have to deal with that. She turned her attention back to her book. Flight attendants kept coming over to her and telling her to get some sleep, but she didn't feel that she could.

She was grateful when they eventually landed at Gatwick. She had missed England more than she cared to admit. Having retrieved her bag and got through security she went in search of a post box. In Afghanistan she had helped a lot of the soldiers compose letters to their families, and she promised to post this latter bunch when she was back in England, because it would be much quicker than waiting for the post out there. She bought a coffee from Starbucks and finally made her way to the station, in order to find a train to complete her journey home to Yorkshire.

"Edith, Darling, It's good to have you back. How's Sybil?" was the greeting she got from her mother. Her father and Mary were out, visiting some Lord and Lady of somewhere or other. Edith was whisked inside, her coat and bag seemed to disappear as her mother began to explain all the changes since she had been away. Then began the tour of her own home; wonderful. Edith let her mind wander, thinking about the sheer numbers of men and women they could fit in here if the house was ever turned into a hospital.

"Edith. You're not even listening to me." Her mother's rebuke made her snap back to the present.

"I'm sorry mama; it's just that I haven't slept since I left Afghanistan."

"Well, your room is all ready for you, if you want to go to bed." Edith nodded at her mother's suggestion. "Goodnight darling."

"Goodnight Mama."

That night the nightmares had started. She kept seeing their faces, but she was unable to save them. A week later her father took her to London to get psychiatric help. She was now living at Grantham House, her family's London home, that way she wouldn't disturb anyone. However it bothered her that she was the only one living in such a large house, and how much it was costing her parents.

She woke up, as per normal, from a restless night, poured herself a cup of tea and sat down to wait for her laptop to load. Sitting in the large kitchen all alone, was not ideal for Edith. She did enjoy the ability to do what she wanted without her mother criticizing, or Mary sniping at her, but wanting her own life included wanting someone to share it with. She checked her E-mails and then opened her blog. The Psychiatrist had recommended her to write down everything that happened. Edith had replied with a simple "nothing happens to me." She had considered writing a novel, but one of the soldiers had suggested that she become a writer, and he had then been cruelly snatched away. He was one of the first they lost while she was there, and it had upset her terribly. Secondly the only thing she could think of that would fill a novel was Mary and she didn't particularly want to write about her sister. She stared at the blank screen, then shut the computer down again and went for a walk in the park.

"Edith? Lady Edith?" She'd been completely lost in her thoughts and it took her a while to register that someone was talking to her.

"Thomas! Hello."

"It's Doctor Barrow now." He said smugly. "What are you doing here? Last I heard you were abroad somewhere getting shot at."

Edith laughed. "I was! To start with I just went out there to see Sybil, but I stayed nearly three months."

"I bet that was an eye-opener," Thomas observed.

"It was, but it's made life back here harder."

"So, are you staying in town 'till you get yourself sorted?" He asked.

"Yeah, but I don't like staying in that massive house on my own," Edith admitted.

"But you couldn't bear to be anywhere else. Couldn't Mary help?"

Edith gave a disgruntled snort. "Like that's gonna happen!"

Thomas chuckled to himself, unable to resist the temptation of setting up a little fun. "You could get a flat share, or something."

"Come on, who'd want me for a flatmate?" Edith knew she wasn't exactly popular, but Thomas smirked at her comment. She'd walked straight into his plot. "What?"

"You're the second person to say that to me today." Thomas explained with a hint of mischief.

"Oh, who was the first?"

TBC...