Sherlock fumed as he leaned against the wall in the cleared out cafeteria a couple of floors up from Lestrade's office. He tugged at the cuffs on his new suit. John had dragged him to the policeman's dance. Watson had his girlfriend,Sherlock was the wall flower.

Holmes had the sneaking suspicion that,since the Moriarty thing,his colleague had wanted him to be around people,but it didn't work. It never worked. 15 people,men and women,police persons and their dates,had either asked hm to dance or tried to hit on him. The problem was,right at the moment,he was bored out of his mind,and none of them...none of them were interesting.He started to scan the room in a desperate search for someone who was,when his gaze stopped on a pair of heels.

There were scars,mostly faded,that came from a blade,but she didn't get them from a razor. She had the remnants of a scraped knee,almost healed,just under the gauze-ee,layered hem of a black strapless corset dress. Just-past-shoulder length brown hair,with topaz highlights,hid some of the scars on her upper back.

Now,she...she was interesting.

A tango started,and the group of guys around her all asked her to dance,just like they had done every other dance. She had started to answer,when another,new voice chimed in.

"May I have this dance?"

She turned,and looked over Sherlock with big blue-green-gray eyes.A small smile formed.

"Yes,I think so."Her accent was American,and she reached out and took his hand.

They walked onto the dance floor and started to dance(think the tango at the end of Easy Virtue).The only others on the floor were the undercover agents from even further up the building. As they danced,Sherlock started to talk. In Portuguese.

"Qual é o seu nome, ou você mesmo falar essa língua?"The girl have a half smile.

"Irene. Você?"

"Sherlock."She looked up at him,their faces only inches apart.

"Huh. Você parece ser uma espécie de lenda em torno destas peças. Um herói anônimo, pelo que ouvi."

As they danced,they gradually brought the attention of everybody that Holmes worked with or knew.

Could it be that Sherlock Holmes was having a non-work related social interaction with a girl?

The music ended,and the pair only started to move apart when the applause started. She looked about to say something when a voice echoed across the room.

"YOU!"

Irene sighed and reached down pulling off her shoes. She handed them to Sherlock,which distracted him slightly from a department head bearing down on them,though he had to fight his way through the crowd.

"What is this,Cinderella?"She snickered as she pulled a safety clip out of her top and clipped it on a previously hidden loop on her dress.

"Have fun at the ball,Prince Charming. See you later."She got on the tips of her toes and gave him a peck on the cheek before tearing towards the emergency exit.

The words "Stop her!"was hardly out of the head's mouth,and Sherlock Holmes had got a hold of himself,running after her. He was followed by the entire police force.

They were greeted by the sight of a rapidly disappearing rope. He looked over the railing to see her land,wearing untied black-and-white Converse and unclipped. She looked up and gave a half wave before she tore off.

Before anyone else made a move,Sherlock was zooming down the stairs.

Watson leaned over the railing.

"Sherlock,what the hell are you doing?"

The words "Catching her!" echoed up the stairwell as Holmes disappeared.