[A/N: I apologize in advance, I've been having horrible writers block on all of my stories which is why it's taking me so long to write up a chapter even. I hope you guys can enjoy this chapter, I'm not the biggest fan of it honestly. But, as always, reviews and helpful criticism are always wanted to help me better the story. Please enjoy!]

When I awoke it was dark and I was slumped on the couch where I must have fallen asleep. Sherlock was nowhere to be found and the television was the only thing that was glowing with its static screen. It was dead quiet in the house and I rubbed my blurry eyes as I stood up and stretched. Where was everyone? I padded out of the living room and decided to check the kitchen, that was normally where everyone would be. It was pitch black and still quiet in even the kitchen. I grimaced and went to flip on the light switch to get myself a cup of tea. Blood. There was blood everywhere. I let out a small gasp as I took in the scene before me. Slumped in the seats at the dining table were Sasha, Aiden and Sherlock, all void of life as they stared at nothing. I felt as if I was going to vomit as I stumbled over to them and checked their pulses. That's when I noticed I had been drenched from head to toe in blood. I let out a small sob as I stumbled back and fell onto the floor. Small shrill cries snapped me out of my own shock and I looked up stiffly. Emerson was balling in the arms of a man I hadn't seen in nearly a year. James was cradling Emerson with affection in his eyes before he glanced down at me. A massive cat ate the canary grin appeared on his face.

"Did you miss me my dove? I'm so proud of what you've done here." James Moriarty purred out. I had killed them?

My eyes shot open, my heart felt as if it was attempting to leap out of my chest. The television was playing some crap show and Sherlock was grumbling about it quietly as he ran his fingers through my hair. I shifted so I was sitting up which drew my fiancé's attention to me.

"Alyson- are you alright?" Sherlock asked me when he saw the expression on my face. I rubbed my hands over my face and crawled into his lap, causing him to stiffen before relaxing and looping his arms around my body.

"I had a horrible nightmare," I muttered out as I buried my head into the crook of his neck. "Please just hold me and tell me it's all alright.." I could feel a large hand begin to rub against my back before lips pressed to the top of my head. I knew he would want an explanation, I just wasn't ready.

"It was Moriarty again, wasn't it?" He inquired after a few minutes of silent soothing. I nodded and didn't move any more than that. "He's not here Alyce. I promise everything's alright." I began to trace my fingers along his chest and let out a small huff of air.

"I know, it's irrational.. But, I'm terrified.. this wasn't a normal nightmare Sher… I-I killed you all… you, Sasha, Aiden… a-and Emerson was in that bastards arms and congratulating me… it was horrible.." I whispered against his skin, pain laced in my voice. I could never murder those that I love, but it felt so real. A small squeaky cry from the nursery brought me out of my thoughts and I stood up shakily to go take care of the sweet baby boy who most likely needed a diaper change and a new bottle. I padded off to the kitchen quietly and ran the filtered tap to heat it up and began preparing the drink. Emerson's cries stopped and my heart lept into my throat. After that nightmare panic was all I could feel. I quickly finished the bottle and rushed over to the open nursery room and froze in shock at the sight before me. Sherlock was holding Emerson who had began tugging on his dress shirt. The consulting detective's face was priceless; adoration, confusion, nervousness were all bundled together as he quietly spoke to the baby.

"You aren't that bad, just need some attention.. Alyce will be here soon with your drink so you can go back to sleep," he murmured out to the little boy. I bit my lip and walked in, pressing one of my hands against his back to signal I was there. Sherlock stiffened briefly and glanced back at me. I took Emerson from his arms and put the bottle in his mouth while sitting in a rocking chair that was set up in the room.

"You would make a charming father," I said quietly while cradling the darling baby in my arms and only watching him as he began to fall back to sleep while drinking the warmed up milk. I glanced up to see Sherlock staring at me with a blank expression, completely shocked by what I had said. I grinned. "Hellooooo? Did I break you?" Still nothing. Once the bottle had been finished off and Emerson was all tuckered out again I sat him back in his crib carefully and then went over to my still frozen fiancé, waving a hand in his face.

"What?" Sherlock snapped out, finally breaking his stunned silence. I chuckled and grabbed his arm, dragging him out of the nursery and into the kitchen. I turned on the kettle and began making tea for the both of us.

"You sure do know how to reassure a girl that you want to settle down," I said sarcastically while leaning on the counter. "I make one dad comment and you broke."

"I did not break. I was simply brought into my mind palace to ignore your girly speech about reproduction," he shot back while glaring at me.

"You keep saying sexy things like that and I'm going to jump your bones Mr. Holmes," I quipped with a wink before turning away to take care of the whistling kettle.

"Unless you plan on removing my flesh and taking me apart, you cannot 'jump my bones'." Sherlock stated with air quotes at my sexual remark. I laughed and rolled my eyes.

"It's a slang term for sex sweetheart. Not literally jumping your bones. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that big and somewhat innocent brain of yours." I dunked tea bags into the scalding hot water of two mugs and pulled out the container of sugar. The curly haired man began sputtering at my explanation, unsure of how to react now that he knew I was teasing him. Once the tea had sat long enough I pulled the bags out and tossed them, then put two spoonfuls of sugar in both mugs and stirred them. I walked back over to the counter and handed him a mug. "If you don't want kids, that's fine Sherlock," I said quietly and suddenly. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the love of my life stiffen as he glanced down at his mug to avoid eye contact. I shrugged, knowing I wouldn't get anywhere else with this conversation and took a sip of my tea when I heard the front door open. Sasha and Aiden were laughing happily as they stumbled inside. I couldn't help smiling as they waltzed into the kitchen, both with wide grins on their faces.

"Thank you soooo much for giving us time to go out and for spoiling us Allie!" Sasha slurred out while drunkenly running over to give me a massive hug. I chuckled and wrapped my arms around the sweet blitzed woman.

"Well that was part of my anniversary gift to you guys. The second part should be in the mail within the week."

"Now that you two are back, let's go Alyce." Sherlock grumbled out while standing up. I glanced over to my future husband and rolled my eyes. The man was so damn impatient, but I didn't help with my father comments earlier. I quickly said my good-byes and took off after Holmes who had already strode off to the car to wait for me.

"Sonofabitchthishurtslikeamotherfucker!" I hissed out while gripping my hands into tight fists. The buzzing of the tattoo gun was calming, but going over and over raw skin that had been pierced with the same needle for hours now was not pleasing to say the least.

"Oh don't be a wimp Alyson," Jeremy, my tattoo artist grunted out as he carefully went over the stencil of elegant writing that was the end of my tattoo. I could feel my flesh burning from the constant work that had been going on. I had managed to get Sherlock to entertain himself while I went to my appointment and as of right now I was wishing I was with my lover. The buzzing stopped and I could feel paper towel with cool liquid drenched on it come into contact with my warm skin. It felt so good and I closed my eyes while letting out a small groan in satisfaction. "Okay princess, go take a look at your new piece."

On my right calf I had gotten a massive piece of art. It was an angel with hands in a prayer position in black, grey and white with an elegant script below it saying "In the end, my weaknesses only make me stronger."

"It's beautiful J!" I squealed out as I continued to appreciate the new piece on my skin. I gimped back over to the chair I had been laying on and allowed Jeremy to put tattoo cream and bandage over it. While he was finishing up I pulled the money I had for him out of my wallet and limped over to the register to pay him. Tattoos weren't cheap, luckily I was close to J and he always gave me a deal. I gave him the large wad of cash which had a good tip in it and grinned as he glanced up at me from over the counter. The young man was in his mid-thirties, brown hair with hazel eyes. He was like a brother to me when I was younger and we met when I got my first tattoo for my parents from him. We even went out to a pub on more than one occasion together.

"You spoil me little lady," Jeremy muttered out while pocketing his tip and placing the rest in the till. "Food and drinks, money and all I had to do was give you a tattoo. Your man is one lucky guy to have a woman like you."

"I like to think he is as well," I shot back with a grin. J chuckled and rolled his eyes at me before I took off from the shop and jumped into the driver's seat of our rental car. I quickly drove off to the hotel we were staying at, not even bothering to check my mobile because I knew Sherlock had probably been whining to me about being bored and I really didn't want to know what kind of trouble he got himself into while I had been gone, after all, I was bound to see it in just a minute.

Sherlock

Hours. She was away for hours! Told him that she had an appointment and that he would be bored if he had gone. He was bored at the hotel! He was pacing around outside and chain smoking while waiting for her to get back the first hour. After that boredom became too much and he decided to go out and sightsee in Colorado Springs. There was a small stretch of little shops that were crowded with tourists, many people were smoking marijuana out in the open and he couldn't help sneer in disgust at the smell. That was when he saw someone out of the corner of his eye, someone who shouldn't have been there. He could feel the blood draining from his face before he whipped around to get a better look. Only there was now no one there between the corner of two shops that wedged into a small alleyway. He quickly strode over to the alley and saw yet again that no one was there. He let out a deep breath that he hadn't even known he had been holding in before walking back the way he had came. He shook his head, the feeling of unease tugging in his chest at who he had thought he had seen. Now, maybe he could find something more interesting to do…

Absolutely nothing. Everyone was too high to even care if anything was going on around them and eventually he trudged back to the hotel to wait for the tiny musician whom hadn't even texted him since she had left. That same sense of unease tugged at him as he went up to their room only to see that the door was left ajar. Panic set in instantly as he shoved the door open to see Alyce standing in the middle of a demolished room, her grey eyes wide and mouth parted slightly.

"What the bloody hell happened Sherlock?!" She screeched out as she whipped around. He took a look around, taking in everything that had been ransacked.

"Apparently we had a break in," he stated matter-of-fact-like which only made the small brunette roll her eyes.

"Well it's good to know you're not the reason our entire room is a mess. Where were you?" She inquired, calming down as she walked up to him and began to play with his curls while on tiptoe. She was so beautiful, even with the rage burning in her eyes.

"I got bored," he muttered back while trailing his fingers along her curves. He didn't want to scare her with the thought of who he may have seen while he was out and about. She gave a small shrug and waltzed off to call the hotel front desk to let them know that someone had broke into their room, then began looking around.

"There's nothing missing as far as I can see…." Alyce grunted out while starting to tidy up.

"Let the hotel take care of it. I do believe we need to head back home. Lestrade called and has a case for us once we arrive." He eyed her backside as she bent over to throw clothing that was strewn about into one of the plethora of suitcases that she had brought with her while grumbling about the room being an absolute wreck. "So you got a tattoo. That's what took you ages today." He stated when he noticed the bandage on her leg.

"Yep. And we got our room destroyed.. Any other obvious things to point out?" She bit back.

"You're mad."

"Of course I'm mad! Someone broke in here and destroyed this room! Sweet baby Jesus who wouldn't be upset?!" She cried out while running her fingers through her dark brown hair in stress. Alyce trudged over to the bed and fell down onto it face first with a loud groan into the comforter.

"Nothing can be solved with your anger," he said carefully as he sat on the edge of the bed beside her. He began to run his fingers along her back. "As you said, it seems nothing is gone, I will look to be sure. Go smoke a cigarette and calm down."

"Sher…" she mumbled out with her face still smothered in the blankets. "That's not my biggest concern. Why? Who? I mean, this could be bad if no one stole something. Our stuff is replaceable, but if they were doing something else, then we have a problem on our hands and I would rather we figure it out sooner than later."

"That's my girl," he murmured while pressing his lips to her temple. She finally rolled over and tugged his head back down to graze her plump mouth over his, at first to calm herself down, then it became hungrier to the point where he had to pull away with them both panting. "Go smoke a cigarette, we can't be intimate when the hotel manager will most likely be here within the next fifteen minutes. I'm going to look over the room." He ran his fingers through her hair and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips before getting up and pulling her with him. She gave him a sweet smile before trudging off to the patio to have a smoke. His small smile fell as he looked around their room. He had a feeling that she was right, what was going on here may have been something small and not even worthwhile, but it was going to escalate to something dangerous in the near future and he had a feeling he knew who was going to be the head of this issue. Things would never be normal for long between the two of them. The consulting detective and his assassin were going to be having their next adventure soon enough.