This is my first Sherlock fanfic. I do not own any of the characters, however Alena Van Buren is a character of my own creation.


Hours. Several hours was what it took not only for Alena Van Buren to move from her home in the United States to London but also to move into her new flat, 221C on Baker Street. She could have moved anywhere else in the States, but her heart screamed for her to get out and as far away from the awful events which occurred in her life. She had not been to London in years, here she was twenty-seven years old and the last time she could recall being there was when she was ten. Her parents had brought her there as her mother was British and wanted her daughter to experience her home country.

After moving all of her possessions into her flat, she was able to relax for a while. Thankfully her new job at the West Kensington Library would not begin for another few days, so she had time to adjust and unpack at her own pace. The one thing which did bother her a little was the fact that she knew absolutely no one there, not even her neighbors who lived in the flat next door to her. She only knew that two men were sharing it. However that was about to be remedied as her landlady, Mrs. Hudson had promised she would introduce her.

"Ah, Sherlock, John, I'm so glad you two are here. I have some wonderful news. You have a new neighbor living next door to your flat and I have brought her by to introduce her to you both."

Mrs. Hudson eagerly motioned for Alena to come inside. Nervously brushing some stray brunette bangs out of her face to join with the rest of her long hair, Alena walked forward and walked into the room. Standing at Mrs. Hudson's side, she saw two men in the room. One of them stood up from his chair when he saw her enter, the other remained fixated on his laptop, not even glancing at her.

"May I introduce Miss Alena Van Buren," Mrs. Hudson announced.

The man who had stood up walked over to her smiling. "Nice to meet you, Miss Van Buren. I'm Dr. John Watson."

Alena smiled back and shook his hand. "I'm pleased to meet you."

Noticing that his friend had still not glanced in Alena's direction, John motioned to him. "This is my friend, Sherlock Holmes."

Alena looked to him and shyly smiled when his eyes finally looked in her direction. "Nice to meet you."

His glance seemed to narrow a bit as if analyzing her. "American, Midwest if I am not mistaken."

Alena blinked at his reply, her mouth opened in shock. "H...How did you..."

"You're accent is American, but it has the sound of someone from the Midwest."

She looked in surprise to John who nodded.

"He does this."

Alena was quite impressed. "It's true. I am from the Midwest. Chicago."

That analytical look did not relent. "You just moved in, starting a new life judging by the amount of luggage and boxes which came in. You probably got a new job, but I am also guessing that you chose to leave the States due to something difficult which happened to you. Judging by the way you keep rubbing your left hand, particularly around the ring finger, you were engaged for a while but it ended suddenly and likely in a bad way."

The slight smile on her face diminished when he said that. Immediately she stopped touching her left hand. Sherlock stood up, still analyzing her.

"Now after such an occurrence, one might assume that you would have moved back in with your parents, but seeing as you are making a large jump across the Atlantic and settling down here, I'm going to guess that you either don't have a good relationship with your parents, or more likely they have died and you don't have other relatives to turn to, so you're running away. Am I right?"

Alena's eyes stared right back into his. That gaze of his burned into her fiercely, she trembled a little. What had more of an effect on her was his words. She had no idea how he knew all these things about her, and she had not been in the room for one minute. Shock and anger rushed through her bloodstream, her eyes began to brim with tears as those words tore open wounds that had been in the process of recovering.

"I..." she began, but words were failing her.

His eyes looked at her, waiting for an answer to his question, beckoning her to go on. But she couldn't.

"I...I'm sorry...please excuse me," she murmured as she turned and rushed out of that flat as fast as she could.

Alena rushed down the stairs and slammed the door behind her.

Back in the flat, John and Mrs. Hudson looked at Sherlock in disbelief. Even he was a little surprised by her reaction.

"I must have hit a nerve," he guessed.

"Oh for Heaven's sake, Sherlock! Now look what you have done," Mrs. Hudson protested. "How could you have done that to the poor dear?"

Sherlock sat back down at his laptop. "I merely put the truth in the open, apparently that is a difficult subject for her."

John shook his head. "And that is how you introduce yourself to someone?"

"Pretty much how it was when you and I met," he pointed out.

"Well, yes, but apparently her story contains more recent pain than mine did. Honestly, Sherlock you should apologize."

Sherlock's eyes did not divert from the screen. "Another time, I'm working. Besides, I hardly believe she would want to hear anything from me right now."


In her flat, Alena lay on her couch surrounded by the numerous boxes which had yet to be unpacked. She cried as memories of what occurred the month before flooded back to her mind. She had been doing well to keep them hidden away and from tormenting her mind and the shattered remains of her broken heart, but Sherlock's words had awoken all of that from their graves and now they were free to haunt her until she could battle them back to where they had laid in rest. How could he have known all of those things and why did he have to present them that way? Was he trying to hurt her somehow?

Several minutes later, the tears had stopped. Alena sat up and wiped the tears from her face, deciding that she should occupy her thoughts with unpacking and not dwelling on the things which Sherlock had said. Alena began moving her furniture into place before making her bed and focusing on at least unpacking her clothes. She wanted to make some sense of her new home before bed. At least there were a few more hours before nightfall, she knew she could get a lot done. One thing she didn't have was anything food wise, but at that time she really didn't feel like eating. The previous events of the day had diminished her appetite. Then again, the memories didn't help either.

Hours later, she had achieved her goal and had then moved into the living room to unpack her other possessions. She was working on her books when there was a knock on her door. Alena glanced at the door, concerned that it might be Sherlock. Hesitantly she approached the door.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"It's Mrs. Hudson, deary," she heard.

Alena sighed in relief and opened the door to see Mrs. Hudson standing there. "Good evening."

"I just came by to check on you and see how you were doing."

Alena let her in. "That's very kind of you. Shall I make some tea? That's pretty much all I have right now."

Mrs. Hudson smiled. "That would be nice, thank you."

Alena went into her kitchen and began preparing the tea. Mrs. Hudson stood in the doorframe.

"How are you carrying on?" she asked.

Alena nodded. "I'm doing okay."

"That's good. I was a little worried about you after what happened earlier."

Alena shrugged. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Really."

Once the tea was ready, Alena took the tray and brought it to the dining table where she and Mrs. Hudson sat down.

"I do apologize for Sherlock's behavior. He's always like that, unfortunately. He can be a very nice man though."

Alena poured the tea and handed a cup to Mrs. Hudson. "He is...observant."

Mrs. Hudson smiled. "He's a detective of some sort. He does this all the time, even more strange things from time to time."

With a sigh, Alena sipped her tea. "Well, I'm sure that I will not be seeing him all the time. I have a full time job waiting for me in a few days and that will be taking up more of my time than anything."

A smile crossed her neighbor's face. "Oh yes, you mentioned you would be working at the library. Sounds like a wonderful job."

"Back at home I was able to be one of the senior librarians before I moved. Apparently this library liked my resume and gave me a job right away. I am looking forward to it."

"I'm glad to see you're excited about it."

She nodded. "Yes. That is the one thing I am really happy about. I will say another thing, I am so glad to have such a kind landlady. I may not have such a normal neighbor, but at least I have one nice person I now know."

That put a bigger smile on Mrs. Hudson's face. "How sweet you are, Alena. I'm sure that in time you'll find more friends. You're a wonderful young lady."

Alena smiled. "Thank you. It does seem that Dr. Watson is a nice man, maybe I can find a friend in him."

"Oh yes," she agreed. "He is a very nice man. You should get along with him very well."

At least there was one comforting thought. Alena needed all of the good news she could get. Her first day in her flat was not the best way to begin her new life, but she hoped it could only get better from there.


What will happen when she meets Sherlock again? How will she adjust to her new life? Please comment!