This was a rough week for Sherlock and Watson, the case is harder than most and Sherlock hadn't slept for days. He needed to solve this; he didn't know why he just did. It was about a serial killer who has taken 5 lives at, what appears to be, complete random, just taking them from the streets. The really annoying thing is that they're taken from different parts of the city, they have no connection whatsoever. Joan had tried to make him sleep, to try and calm down and take it easy but he wouldn't, he was now angrier and more frustrated than ever.

Joan had stayed at home to go over the files alone (she usually finds something when alone) while Sherlock went to the precinct to see if they had any new information about the unknown body which was found in a child's playground yesterday. Sherlock looked over the file, Luther Drund, male, early 40s, Hispanic, severely beaten and tortured till death. What kind of person does this to someone? Sherlock thought as his mind skipped through the facts. Sherlock was getting close to figuring this out, he knew the murderer was going by the code name 'bulldog' but his real name was Jeffery Peterson, all he needed to figure out was why he was killing and how to find him.

He was deep in thought when his phone suddenly went off, Watson.

"What" he said as soon as he picked it up.

"Sherlock I..." she was scared, it sounded like she was about to cry.

"Watson, I'm very busy with the case so unless you're going to say something useful, hang up" he didn't want to deal with this, he was even thinking straight. He hadn't noticed the disturbance in her voice.

"Sher- Sherlock I... I need you to li-listen to m-"she was speaking slowly.

"WATSON, do you or do you not have something to say about the case?!" he snapped at her. What was wrong with him? he didn't know why he was acting like this, he was just so tense and irritated. on any other occasion he would be at the brownstone in an instant, trying to find out everything he could so he could protect her. She was all he had.

She sniffed her nose, as she held back tears and whispered out "no but I-"

"NO, great well next time you feel like wasting my time, feel free to call. This case is important Watson, whatever you may want is not worth my time" and with that sudden burst of anger, he hung up on her. he wanted to call back and apologise but he knew it would just lead to a long conversation about anger issues, which he didn't want to go through right now.

He continued working on the case for the next 3 hours when he finally finished it. The murderer was going for streets in alphabetical order, the victims were taken at exactly 3:14, and they were just unlucky. They found out where he was going next but he wasn't there. Sherlock was annoyed and he was tired, he decided to go home and apologise to Watson for the phone call then see if she found something. He walked back home and just as he turned the corner to the street with the brownstone a white van pulled up just outside the house.

The windows were tinted so he couldn't see the driver, the side door opened and a body was thrown out.

Oh god no, no no no NO! Sherlock thought as he sprinted towards her, Joan's body was lying there, beaten and broken but still alive. The van had driven off at top speed, round the corner and out of sight. He fell down next to her and turned her body so as to see her face, she was covered in blood and was barely breathing. He pulled out his phone and dialled 911, quickly shouted the address down the phone and asked for an ambulance then hung up.

She looked just like all the other victims, her bone sticking out of her ankle, bruises and cuts all over her body and a tooth knocked out. He wanted to cry, it was his entire fault, she had called him and tried to ask for help but he was too damn stubborn to listen.

"Joan, please Joan hang in there. Please Joan don't… don't leave me Joan. I'm sorry Joan, please" he kept saying this over and over again. Trying to get her to wake up, brushing blood stained hair away from her face. Not five minutes had passed until the ambulance had arrived, but to him it felt like forever.

-time skip = 3 hours later-

They were at the hospital, Sherlock had Bell to call Joan's family, and he knew he wouldn't be able to explain what had happened without saying it was his fault. He was sitting in the waiting room, he need to know that she was alright, if she was. The nurse walked over to him.

"Mr Holmes?"

Sherlock looked up and nodded.

"Good, well she suffered a server beating and she has quite a few broken bones, she was actually very close to death, but we saved her just in time, if it weren't for you she may have died"

"Right" he said, he kept thinking that if it weren't for him then she wouldn't be here in the first place.

"Oh and one more thing, there was a message written on her back, I wrote it down on some paper for you." She handed him a small slip of white paper, the message was clearly for him.

I really hope your case was worth your Watson

to be continued...