Hello! I watched a Scandal in Belgravia again today, and whenever I do that, I feel compelled o write lots and lots of Irene/Sherlock fanfiction.

Anyways, this is something a little new. I've been looking for some sort of hurt/comfort fics with Sherlock and Irene, but i couldn't find any, so I wrote my own. Basically, I wanted to show how concerned Sherlock is for Irene, and that the two of them can't always be brave, controlled and emotionally detached.

There is an established Irene and Sherlock relationship here, but no one (except Sherlock obviously) knows that Irene is still alive.

Enjoy xx

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A knife slashed through the air.

A fist connected with a face.

A needle with lethal drugs pricked the skin.

A woman cried out slightly, before there was a sickening crunch, and all went black.

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They found her, simply lying in the street. She was in an abandoned alley way, and barely anyone noticed her. Her black hair largely covered her face, her clothes were dirty, there was mud on her shoes and several cuts and bruises covering her body. A small trail of blood dotted the wall, and it was clear to the policemen that the woman had been attacked, hit, shoved against the wall, and had then been left in the narrow street to die.

Lestrade was one of the first on the scene. It wasn't necessarily his division, but he had been passing by, and had immediately called his department to assist him. They were currently on their way.

Lestrade has attempted to administer first aid, but so far the woman had shown no sign of consciousness. She was badly injured, and probably had a heavy concussion. Her clothes were torn and dirty, but they were all on however, so the DI doubted that this was a rape victim. He guessed it was more likely to be robbery, because the woman had no personal possessions on her or near her. No mobile phone, no wallet and no identification. From the clothes Lestrade supposed she might be homeless, but somehow, although she was severely injured and not in a good way, there was something about her that suggested that she had previously moved in higher circles.

Until the ambulance arrived, all the inspector could do was hold her hand and keep talking to her, in the hope that she would regain consciousness. It always saddened him to see people lie helpless and ignored like this, as victims of crimes.

Lestrade flipped open his phone, impatiently checking to see if Donovan had called him to account for the time it was taking her to get here. There was nothing.

He sighed, and was about to continue talking to the woman when he heard a very familiar voice.

" -I don't care if you think it's kinder; you cannot just tell the waitress that her brother is having an affair with her own boyfriend! "

It was John. And judging from the context of what he was saying, Sherlock was probably with him. Sure enough, Lestrade could hear Sherlock's irritated voice.

"I was trying to save her time! Now she can move on with her life!"

The DI was certain that John was currently rolling his eyes. "Hell" he said, exasperated. "Sherlock, tell me, have you ever heard of tact?"

"Sherlock!" Lestrade called, when the two of them finally came into view. They both turned around, squinting in the darkness.

"I found a body, not dead but conscious" Lestrade continued, as the pair came into view. "She's been beaten and possibly drugged; I'm waiting for an ambulance. It might be one of the homeless people always roaming about here."

Sherlock was in front of John and had a closer view. His eyes widened slightly, and a small gasp left his mouth. Lestrade's head shot up at the sign of emotion coming from Sherlock.

John immediately made to rush over to the body, wanting, as a doctor, to help, but Sherlock beat him to it. Before John had even managed to take a step, Sherlock was already at her side, holding her hand, having pushed Lestrade away.

"Sherlock?" Lestrade began in question, staring at the detective. He was sitting on his knees, firmly grasping the woman's hand, and gently brushing the hair out of her face. He looked shocked, and … dare Lestrade say it… scared? He was murmuring to her gently, his voice too quiet for Lestrade or John to identify what he was saying, but there was emotion in his tone. The DI briefly considered taking out his phone to film the scene, but dismissed the thought, knowing that the woman's life was at stake.

John stood gaping at the woman for a few seconds. Sherlock had brushed the hair out of her face, which made her facial features strikingly clear to him, even with the numerous wounds covering the skin.

"John!" Sherlock said loudly, needing the doctor's help now. John took a precious second to collect himself, and immediately knelt down next to Sherlock.

"I think she has concussion" he said quietly. "She looks starved and dehydrated…she's probably been kept somewhere for at least a few days." He cleared his throat, wondering whether he should make his statements gentler, for Sherlock's sake. He cleared his throat, deciding that it was better to get it over with. "She's been abused" he said quietly, "and very possibly injected with some sort of drug." He gently eased back the sleeve of her shirt to look at her arm, and could see the tiny puncture marks. He nodded in confirmation.

Sherlock barely moved from his spot on the ground, but continued talking to Irene in a calm voice. He was pleased that his voice was still level, because he was scared and furious on the inside. Irene looked horrible, and he agreed with John's suspicion that she had been imprisoned somewhere for at least a few days. He couldn't believe that anyone would do this, and rage and protectiveness bubbled inside him like molten lava, threatening to spill over.

"Who is she?" Lestrade asked John quietly as the two of them watched Sherlock. John sighed.

"Irene Adler" he replied, hoping that Sherlock wouldn't be mad at him for divulging her real name. "I thought she was dead" he added, sighing. Sherlock had apparently managed to fool him again, because although he had been surprised and shocked to see her here, he didn't stare and marvel at her apparent survival.

"Is she friends with him?" Lestrade said, trying to sound indirect and unconcerned, as if the piece of information wasn't very important. In reality though, he desperately wanted to know. He could see clearly that Sherlock very much cared for this woman; he had never seen so much emotion in his eyes. Neither had he ever seen Sherlock so open with his emotions, letting the vulnerability seep through.

John snorted slightly. "In a way, I suppose." He said, knowing that he should probably sound more concerned or sympathetic, but the absurdity of the situation and the fact that he had allowed himself to be tricked again crashed down on him. He wasn't sure how far Sherlock and Irene's relationship had progressed. It had been about a year since he had been informed by Mycroft that she was apparently dead, and a lot could happen in such a space of time.

He could hear the blare of sirens slowly getting closer and closer, until the bright lights almost blinded him.

"Ambulance is here" he said, almost grateful for the interruption, because it looked like Lestrade might want more information, and he wasn't currently sure just how much he could disclose.

"I'm going with her" Sherlock said suddenly from behind them, and both Lestrade and John jumped slightly. They hadn't realised that Sherlock had left Irene's side. Lestrade raised his eyebrows.

"Do you…want us to come as well?" John asked, feeling slightly uncertain. He suspected that there was a reason that Sherlock had kept him in the dark about this (possibly because he didn't want to get laughed at, or because Irene's life depended on it, both those reasons were very possible.)

Sherlock shrugged and walked over to the ambulance. He didn't care if John came or not, his thoughts were currently on his unconscious and abused lover.

John sighed, sounding slightly annoyed. "And we were only going out for dinner" he said, and went to hail a taxi, followed by Lestrade.

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Hope that wasn't too angsty. The next chapter is already partially written, but there are some difficult bits. Bear with me please.

Please tell me what you thought of this. I've never read or written a Irene/Sherlock hurt comfort fic before, so some constructive criticism and feedback would be very much appreciated.

Laura