They were running, hand in hand. Eiric was smiling, before they fell. They kept falling and falling, down the rabbit hole. Sherlock desperately tried to cling to his friend. He had promised Aaron he would keep her safe.

Sherlock sat up slowly. He hadn't had that dream since he was a child. Well, it wasn't so much a dream as a dramatization of a past event. They had run, hand in hand, and they had fallen, just not so slowly. They had only met once, when they were seven. They had gone out to play, adn she had been leading him along the edge of a ravine, running. The grass was still slick with dew, and they had slipped, tumbling down to the bottom. She hit her head just the wrong way and... She slept for two months, and by then, Sherlock had gone home to his family.

Both the Holmes and Reilly families were wealthy and the two families had been allied since medieval times, sometimes marrying into each other to strengthen the bond. These marriages were almost always arranged and one had been arranged between himself and Eiric. Yes, it was old fashioned, but, it was also an excuse for Sherlock to refuse romantic relationships. He wasn't what you'd call an extrovert, rather extremely introverted, but excitable. This made dating a bit difficult for him, espescially since he couldn't ever seem to tell when enough was enough. So, he had the excuse of a fiance when he needed it, and he wasn't lying. Eiric was a nice girl as well, smart, patient, and kind, as he remembered her.

Eventually marrying her wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience, but there was one major problem. She had no memory of him or his family. The fall had wiped him from her memory and she only had vague memories of some family that was somehow tied to hers but they didn't see them often. Both Sherlock's father and Eiric's father decided it was best for Eiric to grow up away from the Holmes family. Sherlock himself had no clue as to why. Eiric had been his first real friend, he hadn't gotten on well with other children of his age at his school, but the little red-headed girl showed the uptight boy how to have fun in the two weeks he had stayed with them, but after her fall, he drew farther into himself.


Eiric woke up the next morning completely naked with her pillow tear-soaked and her scalp sore. She could see tens of her red hairs laying in a pile on the nightstand before she rolled over in her blue sheets, curling and uncurling her toes. She heaved a sigh before getting up, taking a shower, and looking for some clothes in the boxes lying about the room.

While all of her other things were here a day or so in advance, Eiric had to bring in her clothes the day she arrived at Baker Street. Eventually, she found a halfway decent outfit consisting of a pair of skinny jeans, a denim button down, a cream sweater and matching hat, and her favorite pair of leather boots along with the matching jacket. She still had her ivy ear cuff on, as always, so she just slapped on a ring and cameo necklace, and she was ready for her errands.

As she headed out the door to her flat, she grabbed her messenger bag from the bean bag chair that sat in the corner of her front room. As she passed the flat on the second floor landing, Eiric heard a loud bang before the door burst open and the man from last night stumbled out the door in front of her.

"Ah, hello,Sherlock, isn't it?" Eiric said awkwardly. The man did a double take.

"Yes, and you are Miss Reilly. Where are you going? You're too dressed up to be running to the market. Early morning date? Doesn't really seem to be your 'style'," Sherlock snapped He had no idea why he felt so offended that she seemed to be going on a date, she didn't even know she was engaged to him.

"No, um, I mean, dating has never really been my style. No that makes me sound like slag. Um, Brian, the guy that I was with when I got the scar, he was my first and hopefully last boyfriend. Anyway, I'm actually going to a work thing and then the library, and after that, I don't know. I'll just see where the day takes me." she sighed the last part. Sherlock's face scrunched. How could she not have a plan past getting a library card. And why would she need a library card, she had at least four floor to ceiling bookshelves in her apartment filled with books of all varieties, though there was one shelf that seemed dedicated to literature that had been translated into film. That only made sense, seeing as she was an actress though, to study literature for possible future roles in remakes.

"Alright. Good day," Sherlock said shortly, deciding to keep his thoughts to himself as he made to step back into the flat.

"Hey, um actually, I don't know the city all that well, and I was wondering if you or your flatmate, yes, I know you have a flatmate, Mrs. Hudson told me about him, know where to find Wanda's Cafe?" Eiric asked, resting a hand on his forearm. This gesture sent a strange thrill through Sherlock that he had only felt two times before and read about in poorly written erotica he had stumbled upon before realizing his mistake in choosing that particular book. He had had that urge under control for 17 years. Fourteen had been a hard age for him.

"Sherlock can take you there," John's voice sounded. He had been there the whole time and had shoved Sherlock out the door after he had filled him in on everything, including the engagement, and now John was intrigued to see how Sherlock would act around someone he knew he would one day be sharing a bed with. Well, maybe not a bed, but at least a bank account. In fact, John had shoved him out to get him upstairs and apologizing to Eiric. Sherlock shot John a look. He wanted nothing to do with this woman right now, especially after how she had kicked him out of her apartment last night. But, he had to keep a good relationship with her. Mycroft would kill him if he screwed this up.

"Lovely. Just let me get my coat," Sherlock gave Eiric a small lip twitch that could count as a smile.

"Shall we, then," Eiric suggested as he returned. Sherlock gave a small nod in response and the two headed down the stairs and out the front door. John leaned against the door frame to his flat, grinning. He was totally going to take advantage of this secret engagement thing and get Sherlock to treat Eiric nicely. She seemed to be a nice girl, and he wanted his best friend to be happy, even if Sherlock didn't know how to be just yet.