A/N- So this is my first time trying a Roselock story and my first time writing Sherlock Holmes at all. I love this pairing and there aren't nearly enough stories about them. I hope I did Sherlock justice, I tried really hard. And if anyone sees something I could change or improve on I'm always open to constructive criticism. Enjoy!

Chapter One~*~ The Meeting

He hated these kinds of things; all these people, everyone expecting him to make conversation. He lifted his wrist and checked the time. He'd promised his brother an hour, (but he really did need those files for his case) and it had only been twenty minutes. He took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh. Why did Mycroft even want him here? He'd already cataloged everyone in the room. There were 7 cheaters, 5 people embezzling or stealing from work in some way, (he thought if Mycroft let him leave early he might tell him who they were, if he didn't already know) 5 pregnancies, (though 2 of them were quite obvious and one of them hadn't told her husband yet because the baby wasn't his) and 2 people taking drugs of some kind, the rest of them were just ordinary. His head whipped to the side when he realized someone was standing next to him.

She was blond, though far from natural, she had on diamond earrings, fake, but the emerald ring on her right hand was real, she came from money, but it was a recent thing, otherwise she wouldn't wear the fake diamonds, (Sentiment?) She had a long chain around her neck that dipped just past the neckline of her dress, heavy then, a man's ring? She had a glass of wine, but she hadn't taken a sip of it yet, she was bored. She looked familiar. He searched through his mind quickly, then he found it, Rose Tyler, daughter of Jackie and Pete Tyler. They had given her up as a baby. She'd only found her birth parents about four years ago. The new Vitex heiress. Supposedly she'd taken to her new life quite well.

"How long do you think he's been cheating on his wife?" She asked looking up at him and her accent was from the east end of London, but she'd polished it up a bit, not ashamed of where she was from, trying to fit in?

"What makes you think he's cheating?" He asked, looking out at the couples on the dance floor. Only one of the cheaters was currently dancing. He wondered if she really saw any of the things he saw.

"Well, he's the only one not cuddling his wife out there, everyone else is very close, but you could fit another person between them. Also he's fiddling with his wedding ring there behind her back. He keeps slipping it on and off, as though he doesn't like having it there. And there's no tan line on his finger, he just went on vacation, somewhere warm, he's got tan lines on the back of his neck, but none on his hand, he didn't wear it on vacation, and she'd got no tan lines, in fact she's a bit pale, she didn't go." She smiled up at him and he nodded his head. That wasn't bad. "Also, he has a few red hairs on his jacket, and the only red head here is the waitress over there, and she has a button wrong there in the middle, also her hair is quite a bit messier then it was an hour ago." Well, now he was impressed.

"Does his wife know?" He asked and she nodded then looked back out on the dance floor at the couple. She could see all the signs that lead her to believe that, yes, the wife did know, but decided to be a little silly.

"Course she does," She said looking back up at him with a smirk. "A woman always knows," She said wiggling her eyes brows at him. "How'd I do?"

"Rather well," He said, sounding slightly impressed with her. "Ms.?" He asked though he knew exactly who she was.

"Oh come now Mr Holmes, we both know you know exactly who I am," She said smirking at him. He was slightly taken back, not that she'd recognized him; a lot of people did these days. But that she'd seen that he recognized her.

"Indeed," He said nodding once before looking out at the party. It was some ridiculous party for some foreign dignitary; he hadn't really been listening to Mycroft when he told him about it. It had seemed as though the night was going to be slow and boring, but it didn't seem as torturous now.

"Not really you're kind of thing?" She asked, though he could tell from her tone it wasn't really a question.

"No, I made a... deal, information for my time." He grumbled and Rose laughed nodding her head. His head swiveled towards her, ready with a snarky reply when he realized she wasn't laughing at him, but as though he'd made a joke. He smiled at her again and chuckled then looked back out at the party.

"So that's how Mycroft got you to show up." She mused and his back stiffened as he looked down at her, all humor gone from his face. Another one of Mycroft's lackeys, come to watch him?

"You know my brother?" he asked, his voice had gone cold and Rose could feel him stiffen slightly and she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Was he always so suspicious?

"Unfortunately," Rose said taking another sip of her drink, allowing her distain for Mycroft Holmes to shine through in her words. "Your brother is very... tedious"

Sherlock just watched her for a moment, wondering why his brother would have any interest in an heiress. He looked up when there was a loud crash to their right. A server had dropped a tray of glasses and they shattered all over the floor. And then he saw it, the slight change in her demeanor, she was no longer the daughter of a rich man, but a soldier, assessing the situation, ready for a fight. He was surprised he had not seen it before, she was well trained. He watched her relax when she realized what had happened. And all traces of the soldier disappeared just as suddenly as they had appeared.

"Have you figured it out yet?" she asked then, looking up at him again with a smile that lit up her whole face. Her tongue touched the corner of her mouth and he had to stop himself from smiling back.

"You have extensive military training, I'd say at least 4 years, probably closer to 6. Pete Tyler is the head of the secretive organization called Torchwood, which leads me to believe he must have pulled you in almost as soon as you found him. He wouldn't have done that if you didn't have prior training." He looked at her again and she smirked and her eyes sparkled. He blinked and had to stop himself from shaking his head, when had he become so fanciful?

"Well, that's pretty impressive," she said and he opened his mouth to agree but she continued. "But you're wrong on one point."

"And what might that be?" he asked watching her more closely now.

"I had no formal training before I came here," she told him. That was an interesting way to put it. Not since I found my parents, but 'before I came here,' why was that important?

"What does my brother want with you?" he asked and she shrugged. It was unusual for people to be so... indifferent about Mycroft, especially if he had some interest in them.

"He's been trying to recruit me away from Torchwood for about 3 years now." she told him and his eyes went wide. She must be incredibly skilled for his brother to take notice. She sipped her wine and then shifted slightly. He watched her eyes dart to the left towards a blond woman; she had a drink in her hand and a very huge smile on her face. He could see from the way her hand moved that she was on the other side of tipsy.

"I'm going to save you from my mother Mr Holmes and leave before she notices us talking. Otherwise you'll be here for at least an hour, just answering questions, I'm afraid she's quite a fan of yours." she winked at him and started to step away. For some reason he was sad to see her go.

"Ms Tyler, please call me Sherlock," he said surprising himself as he spoke.

"Well then Sherlock, you should call me Rose," she said with a smile that he let himself return. She walked away into the crowd and disappeared. Well she was interesting.

~*~Thinking~*~

Sherlock stood under the awning, watching the rain pounding the ground in front of him. He'd just finished a case for Lestrade, and it'd been easy. But he'd needed something to take his mind off of thinking of Rose Tyler. It had been a week since the dinner party he'd attended for his brother. And he kept finding his mind drifting back to her. He didn't let people into his mind, especially women. Not after the last time. But there was something very different about Rose Tyler, and a large part of him wanted to puzzle her out, in a professional manor only, he certainly didn't care about getting her to smile at him again.

He watched as a man ran down the street across from him, big man, 6'2 at least 210 pounds. He was running from something, or someone, and from what he could see through the rain this was not an innocent man. He smiled; he could do with a chase. As he stepped off the sidewalk a women went streaking by, following behind the huge man. Even through the pouring rain he recognized her at once. Rose Tyler. She seemed to be alone; he started to run just in time to see her slide along the sidewalk, but she caught herself before she fell.

What the hell was she doing running in those shoes anyway? She was going to end up hurting herself. And since when did he care about a woman's foot wear? He put both arms on her waist, steading her. She looked up at him and he registered a few emotions play across her face. She was happy to see him, but not? Worry, fear, apprehension, her eyes were incredibly emotive, then they settled on acceptance and she smiled.

~*~Running~*~

Rose ran, her feet hitting the ground at a murderous pass. It was pouring down rain and she desperately wished she'd pulled her hair back before she'd headed out that morning. But she wasn't supposed to be in the field today, so she'd stupidly left it down and worn a cute pair of flats. They'd been called out almost as soon as she'd arrived, Pete asked her specifically, so she'd gone. She hated it when aliens murdered people; it was always so hard to hide from Scotland Yard. She really should talk to Pete about finding someone there to take into their confidence, ease the way a bit. She reached up and whipped her hair out of her face again and wished for nothing more than a hair band. Her quarry suddenly shot to the right, down another street and she swore.

"He's headed towards you Mickey!" Rose said into her ear piece. It had taken Pete about two years to get people to wear them, and only after extensive searches for evil alien implants. She passed what looked like a skinned human head and swore. Now it had no disguise, it was just an alien running down the streets in London.

"Understood babe!" Mickey called over the pouring rain, even with his voice in her ear he was still hard to hear. She slowed for a moment to make the turn and her flats slipped in something, damn shoes with no grip! She slid a bit but caught herself from falling fully.

"Need a hand?" A voice said to her right as strong arms steadied her and she looked up into a soaking wet Sherlock Holmes. Damn!

"I'm uh..." She shook her head, a myriad of emotions swimming through her before she decided 'to hell with it.' "Sure!" She said with a bright smile and headed down the side street she'd been running down. She was only a little surprised to find he had no problems keeping up with her. She looked quickly at him as they ran and almost started laughing when she noticed what he was wearing; the deerstalker hat. He caught her eye and smirked as they rounded the next corner.

"It was raining," He said and she did laugh, just one short burst before they heard an inhuman scream from ahead of them. 'Ok' she thought skidding to a halt in front of what looked like a part man part ant alien 'Hope he can handle this.' They had it trapped in the dead end of an alley. The Ant man, known to Torchwood as the Ackrint, were a cruel race, and this one had killed three people; they had an ability to feed on humans' memories, helping them live longer, but killing the human in the process.

"Don't let it get its hands on you head!" She yelled out the warning to Sherlock as the Ackrint attacked them. Rose was pleasantly surprised to find that Sherlock could fight. Even though he had no idea what he was fighting against he seemed to throw himself into it. He ducked and dived and kicked its feet out from under it as Rose punched it in the throat, a known weak spot, and between the two of them they had it down on the ground and out cold in a matter of minutes. Sherlock was breathing fast, staring hard at the creature on the ground. This had not been what he was expecting to find when he'd seen Rose chasing a very human man down the street. What the hell was going on?

Facts:

*Rose could see it, not in his mind

*That was not a costume of any kind

*It had looked like a man when he saw it running

*Drugged somehow?

"How are you doing?" She asked putting her hand on his arm and he jerked away looking at her. He couldn't be drugged, she'd had no time, and he could see no motive. Therefore this was nothing like what happened at Baskerville. He looked at her and saw nothing but honest concern. She reached out again and took his hand and this time he let her, twisting them a little so his thumb was resting on her pulse point.

"What-" He had to clear his voice and take a calming breath. "What is that?"

"It's an Ackrint," She said and he looked over at her, hoping that wasn't all she was going to say. "That's an alien race." He started to scoff, of course it wasn't, but then, what else could it be? And he could tell she believed what she was saying. Ok, it could be a science experiment, but as he'd told John, humans were nowhere near this kind of stuff yet, he'd ruled out hallucination and that really only left one answer.

"Alien," he murmured looking at her. The rain had slowed to an annoying drizzle and she pushed her soaking wet hair back out of her face, letting go of his hand to do it.

"Yep" she said, popping the 'p' at the end, she had a half smile on her face, though she looked slightly concerned still. She watched his eyes sweep over her. She could almost see the question pop into his head.

"You're not-

"No," Rose said cutting him off with a smile. "Totally human," He seemed to take it all in as he stared at the alien. His head whipped to the side as they heard footsteps down the alley.

"Late, again I see!" Rose called to the man running towards them. He ran over up to Rose with a smile and looked down at the Ackrint with a growl.

"You're not supposed to engage alone Rose," He said looking back at her before he hugged her quickly. Sherlock took the scene in, trying to steady his mind. Her friend was just that, a friend, which was good. Wait, why was that good? The two of them had known each other for years, far longer than the 4 she'd known her parents, so someone from her past. He had extensive training, but the rebuff had been more of a joke then an actual scolding. So he took his job serious, very serious, but wasn't worried about being a hard ass.

"Wasn't alone," Rose said pulling him for his thoughts. He noticed that her polished accent dropped a bit around her friend. She stepped over to him and smiled. "Mickey this is the bloke I was telling you I met at that stupid party I had to go to last week." For some reason it made him exceedingly happy to find she'd been talking about him. Mickey looked him up and down and Sherlock almost wanted to squirm under his gaze.

"Ah," Mickey said nodding his head with a smile. "You never did tell me his name?"

"Mickey, meet Sherlock Holmes," She gave his name an unusual importance. Sherlock watched Mickeys eyes widen and a smile crossed his face.

Mickey chuckled while nodding his head before giving Rose a look, followed by a wide smile. "The great mouse detective!"

"I'm sorry, what?" Sherlock asked; what was he talking about? It was obviously some kind of inside joke but Rose gave Mickey a withering look and smiled at Sherlock shaking her head, as though exasperated with her friend.

"Nothing, it's nothing, Mick just thinks he's being funny, which he is not." Rose said shooting Mickey a glare which only made Mickey laugh harder.

"Is it from one of John's blogs?" He asked and Rose shook her head before she puunched Mickey in the shoulder.

"Since we took him down you get to call it in and deal with the paper work," She said as Mickeys smile fell. She smiled sweetly at him, though Sherlock could see it was a bit fe

ral. "Let Pete know I'm taking the afternoon off, yeah?" She looked over her shoulder at Sherlock. "Hungry?"

~*~Questions~*~

The rain had finally stopped as they walked down the street; Rose wasn't sure what she should tell him. She had her small kit with her, which contained the Retcon, but she didn't want to have to use it. Sherlock seemed like someone who could take the truth and keep it to himself. A small part of her also didn't want to have to erase her from his memory. He'd been totally silent as they walked, probably working things out in his mind.

"I'm sure you have questions," She said finally drawing his attention to her. He looked at her as though he'd forgotten she was there, boy was that familiar. For a single moment her vision blurred and her mind seemed to fill with clouds, and she couldn't think at all. It was gone almost as fast as it had come.

"I do," He said nodding his head. He did what? She thought thinking over what she'd said, oh yeah, questions.

"Well, are you going to ask them?" She asked with a smile on her face. Her mind felt fine now and she just put it down as coming down off the adrenaline.

"I don't know; are you going to use whatever it is you have to make me forget everything? Because if you are going to use it, it would be a bit pointless to ask you my questions," Rose was a bit taken back by that but she smiled and nodded her head then gave him a questioning look. She wondered how long she'd have to hang around him before she stopped being impressed with him. "You're carrying some kind of kit in your back pocket; you've touched it three times now. Obviously you're keeping aliens under wraps, but you must run into civilians, therefor you must have something to help people forget. Which you are debating giving me."

"That's pretty impressive," She conceded with a large smile, her tongue tucked in the corner of her mouth. He looked smug and Rose laughed; now that was a very familiar look. "And no, I'm not going to use it." She told him and he looked down at her again, he looked pleased by this.

"Why?" He asked and she shrugged, but he recognized it wasn't as nonchalant as she'd wanted it to be. "So, you believe me then, that it was an alien?"

"Yes," He said simply and Rose smiled. He reminded her a bit of her first Doctor. He was a brooding mad man, only without the blue box.

"When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" He told her and she couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her. It was crazy to be standing here talking to Sherlock Holmes, him quoting famous lines from books that had never been written here.

He looked around and realized they had wondered towards Baker Street, had he done that subconsciously? "Something funny Ms Tyler?" He asked and she sighed and shook her head.

"Ah, back to surnames are we?" She asked and he was surprised by the slight disappointment in her eyes. He didn't like that, and he wasn't sure why. "And no, you just remind me of someone."

"You said you were hungry?" He said smiling at her now, a genuine smile. Well, that was different; he never smiled at people, for no reason. "There's a good fish and chips place just up the road, it's near my flat."

"No I didn't," Rose said smirking at him now and he looked at her curiously. "I asked you if you were hungry." He nodded, conceding her the point and she laughed. "But, yeah, I'd love some chips." He was surprised to find himself offering her his arm, which she took and turned down the street towards the small hole in the wall restaurant. She was clever, cleverer then just about anyone.

"We could take it back to my flat," He said as they walked in. "If you are in fact not going to..." he looked around now, they were in the restaurant now and he didn't think saying 'erase my memories' was a good idea. "Well, I do have some questions."

Rose smiled and nodded her head. He'd caught himself quickly there. She wondered what kind of questions he might have. She was also a bit excited to go to 221B Baker Street, she couldn't help it. She'd grown up watching every version of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, movies, TV shows; she'd even read a few of the books. It was one thing her mum and she had always done together. When Jackie found out Sherlock Holmes was a real person here in this universe Pete had to talk her out of going out and finding him.

After they got their food Sherlock stopped leading, curious to see if she knew where he lived. Not that it was a well-kept secret, but he was interested to see if she'd looked him up. She talked the whole way there, never once looking up at the street names, as she told him all about her little brother Tony. He was surprised to find himself listening to her stories, as though he cared how they got little Tony out of the tree. He very rarely listened when people talked about such ordinary things. When they got to the black door Rose stopped and turned around to smile at him. He saw her realize what he had done and was surprised by the smile. Most people didn't like it when he 'tested' them.

"You did that on purpose!" She laughed and she shook her head then shrugged. "Yes, I looked you up, happy?" He was happy, exceedingly happy, and he wasn't sure why, that was becoming a consent with her, he'd have to figure that out later.

"Just curious," He said and he opened the door and ushered her inside.

"Sherlock is that you?" A women's voice called from the room next to the front door. "John sent me a postcard from-" She cut herself off when she saw someone with Sherlock. A very pretty blond woman, soaking wet, as was he. "Oh dear you're soaked," She said and Sherlock went to brush her off but she'd been talking to Rose. "Sherlock you get that poor girl a towel!"

"This is my landlady, Mrs. Hudson," He said and Rose smiled at her. She'd actually forgotten how wet she was or her matted hair. She must look a mess. "This is Rose Tyler," He said and Mrs. Hudson's eyes widened for a moment in recognition but she just smiled. Rose liked her for only the fact that she didn't say anything about 'who she is!' as most people did.

They said good-bye and headed up the stairs towards his flat. She tripped on a step and felt a wave of dizziness, but it passed just as quickly as it hit her. He watched her as she caught herself and went on walking as though it hadn't happened. Sherlock watched after her trip, something seemed a little off with her.

"She was talking about John Watson right?" Rose asked as they walked into his flat. She took it all in with a huge smile. She almost giggled again and shook her head, what was wrong with her? She wasn't the silly fan girl type.

"Yes," he said nodding his head. "He just got married," he told her and Rose was surprised to see something dark pass over his eyes for just a moment. He didn't like his friend's new wife? No, that wasn't it. Ah, he was afraid of being left behind.

"Was it a nice wedding?" she asked and he looked at her for a moment.

"There was an attempted murder," he told her and she smiled, must have turned out ok, since he didn't seem upset about it. He walked over to his couch and set their food down on the coffee table. Then he walked around her and passed the kitchen then down the hall while Rose took off her soaked jacket and wondered what she should do with it. She didn't want to hang it on the little hooks by the

door; it would drip all over the floor.

"Did you catch the bad guy?" She asked when he came back. He gave her a withering look that said please, of course I did. She chuckled at the look on his face; his face could be very expressive. She was also touched that he'd actually gotten her a towel; somehow she didn't think he did that kind of thing for everyone.

"Yes," he said simply in answer to her question and reached for her coat. She handed it over with another bright smile. "I'll hang this in the bathroom, dry it out a bit."

"Thanks" she said noticing that he'd removed his coat as well. She ran the towel threw her hair as she walked around the living room a bit. She wondered if he'd known the owner of the skull sitting on his mantel. The encased bat surrounded by beetles was, interesting. She leaned over to get a better look at the beetles; one of them had pinchers kinda like an alien she'd just run across a few weeks ago.

"Rose," he said and she jumped slightly, she turned towards him, somewhat embarrassed at being caught snooping, though she was pleased with the use of her first name. "You're bleeding." He told her stepping up next to her and looking over her shoulder, "on your lower back."

"Oh damn!" she yelled pulling her shirt out of her pants in a rush and trying to see it. "I can't see it, is it a puncture?" she turned her back to him again and he looked down at her back. He had an odd compulsion to reach out and touch her skin but ignored it, filing it away to examine later. It was a puncture, but not a small one, like a needle would leave.

"Yes," He told her and she swore again. "Is that bad?"

"A little, yeah," She told him pulling her shirt down. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. That explained the cloudiness and tripping; oh this was going to be embarrassing.

"Should we call someone?" He asked reaching inside his jacket for his phone.

"No, it won't kill me, or leave any lastin' damage." She winced at the look that crossed over his face. "The Ackrint have these needle like things in the palms of their hands. I didn't realize it had gotten me." She said and then felt another giggle bubble up inside her. "They er... inject a toxin that removes your nature inhibitions. 'S kinda like drinking too much." He noticed that the polish on her accent had almost totally fallen away. "Makes suckin' your memories out easier."

"So you're drunk right now?" He asked and she blinked a few times. It had taken a while to set in, so it must not have gotten a full dose into her.

"'S similar," She said and then shook her head. "It's similar." She said her voice a little clearer. "Doesn't seem to have gotten me fully, or it woulda hit me faster."

"I might be a bit loopy, and..." Her eyes went glassy for a moment and then she smiled up at him, leaning into him just a bit. "You have really gorgeous eyes," She said then pulled back and blinked again. "Damn, sorry." She said swaying a bit on the spot.

"Are you sure we shouldn't call someone?" He asked slightly taken back by what she'd said. She was not in her right mind, and he wasn't sure he was the right person to deal with this.

"We don't need to," She said shaking her head then she frowned. "I'll be fine in a few hours," She said trying to keep her voice clear. "But 's not your job to look after me." She swayed again and he put his arm around her waist. He led her over to his couch and she plopped down on the couch, pretty much pulling him down on top of her. She giggled again as they fell, him landing basically in her lap. She reached up and ran her hands through his hair.

"So soft," She whispered and he bolted off her lap and she giggled again. He looked around the room, desperately wishing John was here. He had no idea what to do with her in this state.

"So, questions?" She said just a little too loudly as she sat up and smiled brightly at him.

"I don't think you're in any condition to answer questions," Sherlock said then stopped. Well, that wasn't like him at all, considering someone else's state of mind before plunging forward.

"'S fine," Rose said flinging one leg over the other with a giggle. "Aliens are real," She said as though he didn't know that bit already. She looked disappointed for a moment then smiled again. "Ah! You already know that, forgot." She said then she looked at him for a moment and nodded. "Oh! I know something you don't know!" He really didn't think she should be continuing this way.

"Rose I think-

"Oh!" She said smiling brightly at him again. "You called me Rose again!" She said standing up and stepping into his space. "That mean I can call you Sherlock again?" She asked; her voice a bit lower now. She smirked and shook her head when he stepped back from her. "Shoulda figured," She mumbled wrapping her arms around her middle. "Emotionally unavailable, seems I have a type." She muttered before she looked up and into his eyes again. He wasn't sure what she meant by that. But her stare was very intense and he hand to look away and she giggled again.

"I think-

"I was gonna tell you something you don't know," She said poking him on the shoulder before she turned away from him. "I'm not from here," She said then looked over her shoulder at him. "You're just a story there." She said and that made even less sense then the rest of her babbling.

"I know you grew in Cardiff with your mum, your dad died when you were a baby." He took a deep breath as she turned to look at him, like she was searching for something. "Your adoptive mother died in an accident, then you found your birth parents."

"Wrong!" Rose said laughing when he gave her a confused look. How could that be wrong? That's what all the papers had said. "I'm not even from here!" She said again and the way she said 'here' made him pause. It was how she'd said 'here' before when talking about her training. What here could she be talking about? She didn't mean Cardiff, maybe London. Then a thought struck him that seemed so odd, she couldn't mean Earth could she? She'd said she wasn't an alien though, so what did she mean?

"Maybe you should lay down," He suggested and tried to take her arm but she shook it free and smiled.

"You trying to get me into bed Sherlock?" She said her voice going down in pitch again, this time with a small eyebrow wiggle. The tone of her voice made his stomach turn in a very different manor, one he wasn't sure he was comfortable with.

"I'm trying to keep you from saying something you don't intend to," He almost growled. He'd had about enough of this. Where the hell was John when he needed him?! She smiled at him now, and stepped into his space again. This time she laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. He could smell her shampoo, something with strawberries, and there was another scent, almost bitter. He wondered if it was from whatever the alien injected into her.

"This universe is so weird," She mumbled before she passed out. Lucky for her his reflexes were excellent and he caught her in his arms, her head lulled back and her arms hanging at her sides. His eyes shot to the door as it swung open; oh this was not going to be good.

"Sherlock, Mrs. Hudson said you were-" John stopped mid-sentence as he took in the scene before him, Sherlock, standing there with an unconscious woman in his arms. She looked like she'd been running through the rain, though she was just starting to dry and she looked as though she'd been in a fight. He looked to Sherlock's wide pleading eyes and took a deep breath. Well, diving right back in it appeared.

"Client?" He asked as he walked quickly over to the poor girl that Sherlock was currently laying down on the couch.

"No," He growled, why couldn't he have arrived 5 minutes ago. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I only got back this morning Sherlock, I texted you when we landed." He said knowing his friend hadn't paid any attention to the text. "So, what happened?" Oh what to tell him, Sherlock though looking up at him. He didn't want to break Rose's trust, but John was a doctor, it was probably ok to tell him some of it.

"She's been drugged," He finally bit out, glaring at John. His friend's eyes widened in concern but Sherlock shook his head. "She's fine, she knows what it was, and said she'd be fine, it's something that acts very similar to heavy drinking."

"Have you called an ambulance?" John asked checking her pulse and her eyes. She did seem to have just passed out. Everything was working fine.

"She said not to," He said and John looked at him confused. "It's... classified." He told him, which seemed like a good word to cover this. "She works for Torchwood." John nodded his head. He'd heard some out there rumors about Torchwood, aliens and space travel, a cover for something John was sure.

"I see," He said and Sherlock shook his head.

"No you don't," He said, slightly thrilled to throw Johns words back at him.

"No, I really don't," John said shaking his head. "You should put her in your room, let her sleep it off. If you're sure she knew what it was there's nothing to be done but let it leave her system."

"She has a wound on her back," Sherlock said rolling her towards the back of the couch a bit.

"I'll get my kit," John said standing and walking towards the kitchen. "Jesus Sherlock, what did you do to the kitchen?!"

"It's an experiment!" He shouted back. He listened as John searched through the drawers looking for his medical kit. He came back in a moment later and Sherlock rolled Rose onto her front, making sure her face was turned towards them. While John got to work on bandaging her back he thought over their conversation. What the hell had she meant by 'here?' She had put a great emphasize on it, both times she'd said it. And what the hell had she meant by 'this universe was weird'? Almost as if she had an idea what any other universe might be like.

"So, who is she?" John asked breaking him from his thoughts. He looked up at him blankly for a moment and John rolled his eyes. "You said she wasn't a client? Who is she?"

"Someone I was helping with a case," He said quickly. He had technically helped her on a case. "I met her briefly at that dinner party Mycroft made me go to last week." He said as though John would know what he was talking about.

"You went to a dinner party?" John asked, momentarily distracted. That seemed so unlikely he was having trouble picturing it. "Voluntarily?"

"He had information I needed, he wouldn't give it to me if I didn't go," Sherlock told him with a deep frown. "Rose was there." Sherlock said nodding down at Rose.

"Rose," John said her name as he looked back at the unconscious women. John had a feeling something else was going on, something Sherlock was leaving out.

"Sherlock," Rose mumbled and he knelt down next to her, swiping her hair back out of her face gently. John watched with avid curiosity as Sherlock put his hand on her forehead, seeming to check her for a fever then took her pulse again.

Sherlock himself was slightly surprised by his actions. Something about this woman made him want to take care of her. Though he'd been frustrated he'd never once called for Mrs. Hudson, which surprised him. He looked down at her after checking her pulse and stared for a moment. He wasn't sure how he felt about the emotion she seemed to invoke in him so he pushed it to the back of his mind for now.

"It's ok Rose," he said and her eyes opened for a moment. John could see that her eyes were glassy and slightly bloodshot. She looked drunk.

"I like it when you say my firs' name," She mumbled and John was surprised to see the slight blush on Sherlock's cheeks. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seem Sherlock blush.

"Go to sleep Rose," Sherlock told her softly. "You're safe here," He murmured and John was shocked at the care he seemed to be taking with her.

"Feel safe with you," She mumbled and John felt as though Sherlock had forgotten he was there. "Been a long time," She said before she looked up at John and smiled. "Hello," She told him before her eyes fluttered shut again. Sherlock looked up at him as though he was surprised to see him there. John watched Sherlock's light blush deepen and wondered what the hell had been going on since he'd left.