I do not own Sherlock or John or any other character from the series. I do own Kaylee and Stephen.

Kaylee groaned as she leaned back against the counter, her arms crossed loosely over her chest, her head hanging back. The water was taking forever to boil. It had been an irritating day and now all she wanted to do was grab a blanket, curl up on the couch and watch an old romance movie. She lifted and turned her head to look out the window. It was too dark outside to see anything. She thought about how the day had gone so far. Basically . . . it had sucked. She had woken up late, which in turn, made her late for class, failed a test, got into a fight with her boss and was almost fired and then had to work overtime.

Kaylee sighed, rubbing her bare arms and looked back at the kettle; it was still warming up. She threw her arms into the air cursing the old oven and plodded through the entryway into the living room. The room was dimly lit by a lamp in the far corner by the window. The young woman fell back onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling, her brown hair blending in with the dark leather sofa. The white of the ceiling stood out blatantly against the dark red of the walls as it stared down at her. The collision between the two colors had an eerie look about them. Kaylee wondered why such a color had been chosen. The sight was uncomforting. She looked away.

There really wasn't much in the room. A small shelf full of books, a little coffee table over in the corner across from the couch which held a vase empty of flowers and an old lamp, that gave off a warm yellow light. There was also a desk directly across from the couch and above it a circular cream-colored analog clock. Kaylee found that it was 11:48.

Refusing to return her gaze upward, the brunette looked back to the shelf full of books. On the third shelf down was a small decorative box. She smiled. It had been a gift from her brother, Alec, to Stephen, the man she was staying with while she was studying abroad.

Rolling over onto her side, Kaylee pulled the pillow up from the floor and curled her body around it. So far she had enjoyed herself here. She loved listening to people talk, with their English accent. She tried imitating it a few times unsuccessfully. Some nights she would make Stephen recite out loud the book he was reading and she would fall asleep to his voice.

The combination of the dim light, the slight warm temperature, and the soft fluffiness of the couch slowly put the tired girl to sleep. She was on the brink of unconsciousness when she sprung up from the couch, sending the pillow flying.

"Oh my gosh, my report! I never sent it!" The college student went to reach for her bag which she always stored on the left side of the couch. There was nothing to grab but air. She peeked over and found the spot empty. "Oh crap, I left my bag at work," Kaylee cried smacking herself in the face. Slowly her hand slid down, pulling at her skin, making it appear droopy. She was about to let out a groan of despair when she noticed the laptop on the other side of the room sitting wide open on the desk. She had made it a rule to never touch someone else's personal belongings but tonight she would have to break that rule, her passing the class depended on it.

Kaylee crept over to the computer. Stephen had left some documents and emails open which she ignored and logged onto her school account. She pulled up the word document, thanking the heavens that she could pretty much remember everything she reads. She quickly wrote up the report and sent it in.

Kaylee sighed with relief and closed out her window. She was about to get off when something caught her eye. It was the word 'suicide.' She knew Stephen worked for the British government and sometimes worked on cases. Curiosity pulling her in, she started from the beginning of the first document and read through it.

The snooping woman couldn't stop reading, without realizing it, she was slowly leaning closer into the screen, her hands pressing on the keyboard. She went through document after document. The last thing she came across was an email. Kaylee was half way through the email when suddenly it vanished. Being so consumed in the reading, she had managed to press a certain combination of keys deleting it.

The email was gone.

"Oh crap." She whispered standing up abruptly, knocking the chair over onto the floor and backing away from the computer. Everything she had read replayed over in her head. She pressed her hands against her head and squeezed her eyes closed. The shutting of the front door brought the young woman out of her thoughts.

"Kaylee, I'm home. Sorry I'm late. It was a long day at work." She listened to Stephen's footsteps as he walked from the front door, down the hallway and into the kitchen. "Some friends of mine brought Chinese food for dinner." He unloaded his full arms onto the counter. "They had left overs so I brought some home. I know it's a little late" Kaylee watched the tall man slip off his gloves and slick his hair back. "But I figured since it's a Friday . ." Shrugging off his jacket, Stephen noticed the boiling kettle of water on the island stove. "Are you making tea?" The girl didn't respond.

The lack of a reply made the man look over at Kaylee. She stood, hands covering her mouth, face completely pale, eyes wide, the chair lay on its side at her feet. He strode over setting the chair back up. He pulled her gently to the chair and set her down.

"Kaylee, what happened?!" Stephen kneeled to her eye level, gripping both her arms gently, concern clear on his face. "What's wrong?"

The nervous woman tried to avoid making contact with his eyes. Her own zipped from his sharp nose, to his distinguished cheekbones, to the black hair that had fallen back across his forehead. They finally met with his deep set of dark grey eyes.

Before she knew it, she betrayed herself by looking over at the computer. Stephen followed her gaze. She looked back at him in time to see the color drain from his face. Letting her go, he stepped over to the laptop. The documents had been shuffled and the email was missing. When he turned to look at her again, the concern was gone, in its place was fear and anger. In a second his hands were back on her arms.

"What. Have. You. Done?!" Kaylee tried to pull away but his hold on her was solid. He began to shake her. "Where's the email? How much did you read?!"

"I-I-I" She stuttered. Stephen was shaking her too much. Suddenly he stopped, his head facing the floor.

He shook his head. "I really had hoped this wouldn't have happened."

His hands slipped from her arms. Standing up, he walked over to the shelf containing the box. Kaylee noticed his fingers brush over the gun on his belt. Reaching up, Stephen pulled the decorative box off the shelf. With his back to her, he opened it and pulled out what looked like a glasses case. Putting the box back on the shelf, the frightened girl could hear a small click of something opening. She was too petrified to move. Finally the lofty man turned holding a capped syringe. He popped off the cap and flicked the side of it. Slowly he stepped towards her. Fear moved Kaylee out of the chair and began backing away from him. Upon reaching the chair, Stephen took it with his empty hand and tossed it toward the kitchen. Two steps back, the young woman bumped into the coffee table which held the small vase. Stephen didn't stop. She grabbed the vase and threw it as hard as she could at him. He blocked the vase as it shattered against him, making tiny slicing his forearm.

Kaylee used the minor distraction to try and escape the corner she was trapped in. She was almost past him when she was tugged back and a sharp pain shot into her arm. Kaylee looked back to see the syringe sticking out. She jerked herself free of his grasp and fled into the kitchen pulling the syringe out of her arm and tossing it to the side.

She could sense Stephen reaching for her. Quickly she grabbed the kettle off the stove, swinging it by the handle, she smashed it against his face. The kettle shattered, glass flying everywhere, the hot boiling water burning the right side of her care taker's face. Some of the hot water and glass flew back at Kaylee scratching and burning small areas on her face, arms and neck. The man screamed staggering back clutching his face and tripping over the chair he had tossed earlier.

Kaylee took that moment to escape. Stepping around Stephen's wriggling form; she dashed down the hallway and out the front door. Not bothering to shut it behind her, she ran out into the street forgetting any protection against the weather and rubble on the road. The bitter wind nipped at her as she ran as fast as she could. She ignored it; focusing on trying to see straight as the drug started to kick in blurring her vision.

I know Sherlock and John weren't in this one but for sure they are in the next chapter.