Omega Refuge

Chapter 3 - Loss

BBC Sherlock fanfiction, no copyright infringement intended.

Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson

Warnings: Slash, Omegaverse, Angst

John felt dizzy and sick as consciousness slowly came to him. He also felt cold, and realised he was on a hard floor. He opened his eyes to see bright overhead spotlights blurring his vision further. He tried to sit up, trying to remember what happened, where he was, how he got here. He just remembered being in Ms. Collins' office, and Sherlock...Sherlock! He tried to sit up and get a better bearing of where he was. He was in a cell, like you'd keep an animal. Through the bars he could see a further row of cells, with a few omegas in various stages of pregnancy. They all looked worn out and broken, barely able to lift their heads up.

So it was a breeding ring, and now John was in the middle of it. His hand fumbled behind him to the small of his back where his Browning had been...and it was gone.

"Where are we?" he called out, his voice groggy with the sedative still.

None of the other omegas looked at him, they just kept their heads down.

"Please, has there been anyone else here? Tall man with dark..."

But a young omega girl with greasy brown hair sitting in a cell opposite snapped at him, "Shut up, you'll get us in trouble!"

John slammed the bar near him in frustration, before crawling over to the door and testing the lock. It wouldn't budge. He slid back down to the floor, exhausted already. Succumbing to the sedative again, he closed his eyes trying to figure out what to do.

It could have been two, or even three hours later, when some noise from the far end of the room caught his attention and John pushed himself up on his hands to see what was happening. The main door unlocked, and two armed men came in dragging one unconscious, dark-haired detective. He was now sans his pregnancy disguise, which had obviously been discovered after closer inspection.

John restrained himself from shouting out Sherlock's name, and watched helplessly as the alpha was thrown into the cell next to him. He watched the guards carefully, as they locked the cell and excited the holding room.

As soon as the door swung closed John scrambled over to the side Sherlock was on. "Sherlock!" he said in a loud whisper. The detective lay still eyelids flickering, obviously fighting the effects of the sedative and a beating. His lip was cut and cheek swollen, but John needed the other man awake now. "Sherlock!" he said more loudly, and seeing a cup of water in his cell picked it up to throw it through the bars onto the other man.

Sherlock spluttered as he was splashed with the cold water, rolling onto his side gasping. "Wake up!" John tried again.

Blinking water away, Sherlock's eyes focused on John from the floor. "John?"

"You need to wake up now! What happened to you? Do you remember anything?"

Sherlock's brow wrinkled as he struggled to think. "They were less than pleased I am not a fertile omega." He tried to sit up, still a bit woozy and clutching his head. "I believe we are in a basement complex of some sort." Sherlock focused his eyes again on John. "Are you and the baby ok?"

"We're fine, for now. But I really need you to focus on thinking of a way out of here." John reached his hand through the bars, so he could give the other man's hand a squeeze. "Look around you, this is a breeding ring. I really doubt they have much need for an alpha so I don't know how long they're going to keep you here." Or alive for that matter.

Sherlock's fingers momentarily curled against John's, before nodding, "agreed." He let go to check the lock of the cell, tugging on it unsuccessfully. "If I had something, I could pick the lock..."

However, the detective was interrupted by the double doors swinging open again. In came the two guards, followed by Ms. Collins talking on a mobile phone.

The eyes of all the other omegas in the room followed the small group apprehensively but they strode past to stand in front of John's cell.

"Yes," Ms. Collins said to the person on the phone. "I'll deal with it." She hung up the phone and slipped it into her jacket pocket, before regarding John and Sherlock like a stern headmistress.

"So we have an alpha," she glared at Sherlock. "Alphas are not allowed in my refuge, Mr. Holmes."

"I am investigating independently. John has nothing to do with this," Sherlock told her.

"How am I supposed to believe that, what with you two always conspiring and when he comes to a meeting with this?" The older woman reached into her blazer pocket to withdraw John's Sig and waved it around for emphasis. "This is also not allowed in my refuge, Dr. Watson."

Anger bubbled up in John, "Refuge? Baby farm more like."

Ms. Collins' brow furrowed. "Do not use such ugly words John. I provide a service, helping those who so desperately want to love and care for beautiful babies. But your presence has put us in a difficult situation. We would prefer to wait for things to happen naturally but I'm afraid we need to take the risk and get that baby out of you now."

John shook his head, horror running through him like ice water. "No. It's too early."

"Whose fault is that? We'll do our best to look after her. You're too old to be kept for breeding anyway," Ms. Collins said coldly.

The bars in Sherlock's cage rattled as he threw himself against them. "Please," the alpha pleaded. "Don't do this."

Ms. Collins cooed, "oh isn't that sweet? those alpha hormones are getting him all worked up. Too bad more alphas don't hang around long enough to let their paternal instincts kick in. Take him," she told the guards.

"Sherlock!" John shouted, and the alpha reached through to hold his hands desperately. He was frightened what was going to happen to his baby, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"John!" Sherlock squeezed tightly onto his hands as the two guards took him by the arms and pulled him towards the cage door, until their hands finally lost grip.

John struggled and fought against them, refusing to be dragged towards the main doors. Ms. Collins followed behind them, hands laced behind her back. "John," she said calmly, "That baby is coming out, one way or another."

John could hear the entire cages rattling, as Sherlock threw himself into the bars in vain and he was dragged through the doors.

oOo

Sherlock had spent the past hour going over every inch of his cell, running his fingers over ever crack and crevice, trying to find some weak spot. Every possible fissure and join of the iron bars scraped and pulled looking for any give or weak point. But his entrapment was frustratingly simple and solid. There was nothing he could find to exploit. Eventually frustration had gotten the better of him, and he had attempted to shoulder the door hoping the old lock would give, but it held firm. He had been wearing his pyjamas and dressing gown when he'd gone to meet Ms. Collins; he really had nothing on his person to help his situation.

One last shove into the lock of the door and he slid down, shoulder bruised and throbbing. All he could think about was John, and how he'd failed to protect him through his own self-assured arrogance. He hadn't imagined his association with the omega would be quite so disastrous, thinking John would be passed over as an unknowing victim of this scheme.

His emotions were getting the better of him, which was not like him at all. Maybe John was right and the pheromones were affecting him. Either way he'd let a great injustice unwittingly unfold. He hadn't wanted John involved, but he had wanted John to bear witness to his great detective skills, be impressed and then what?

Now John was...he couldn't think about that, and he let his head bang against the bars, causing the whole cage to rattle.

"Is he your mate?" a mousy voice asked.

Sherlock blinked heavily, trying to clear his swimming vision and peered through the bars to the cages opposite. A girl, thin and worn with a bulging belly, maybe 8 months pregnant, watched him with tired brown eyes.

"No," Sherlock replied truthfully.

She shuffled up to the bars closest to him, they were maybe two meters away. "You act like he is your mate. Is it your baby?"

Sherlock shook his head, "I met him six weeks ago. Do you know where they've taken him?"

She rolled her shoulders forward in a shrug. "There's a delivery room upstairs they take you when you have your baby, probably there. This is my 3rd."

"What's your name?" Sherlock asked.

"Molly. Molly Hopper," the girl explained biting her lip.

"Ah...yes." Sherlock closed his eyes momentarily, recalling the details. "You've been missing for two years."

The girl looked surprised. "You know me?"

"I was investigating this ring. I noted you as a suspicious disappearance. Rumours have it that you had emigrated to Canada to start a new life." So many parts of this mystery coming together now, only too late.

"You're looking for us?" Molly asked, and the eyes of all the other omegas in the holding cages were on him now too.

"I was...but things did not go so smoothly," Sherlock said in defeat.

The girl bit her lip again in a nervous gesture. "You said something about picking the lock?"

"I don't have anything to pick the lock," the alpha explained.

"Will a hair pin do?"

Sherlock sat up straighter, resting his face against the bars. "Yes."

Molly ran her fingers through her unwashed hair. "Here," she said, throwing it across the gap between them. The almost invisible piece of metal sailed through the air and the bars, tumbling onto the floor beside them.

Sherlock scrabbled for it, and prised open the thin metal with his fingers to bend it into a suitable implement. The lock, while old and solid, was of a simple design. It took him 20 minutes to feel along for all the tumblers and painstakingly pressed them home. With the last tumbler in place, he twisted the other end into the lock and, with as much force as he could put into the wire, the lock clicked open.

The girl opposite him gasped, "Oh you done it!"

"I did," Sherlock said, pushing the door open carefully, as if any squeak would alert their captors. He stood up carefully, bones aching as he was finally able to stand to his full height. He went to the bars of Molly's cell, bending down to look into her hopeful face. "Thank you Molly Hooper. I will be back for you all, but I need to go find John."

She pulled herself up onto her knees to look imploringly into Sherlock's face. "Please," she pleaded. "Please come back."

"I will," he told her again, swallowing hard before leaving the holding room to go find John.

oOo

The lower levels of the complex were pretty deserted. He crept around the corners and came to a monitoring room, with banks of TV screens hooked up to cameras covering the holding rooms and corridors. There were two holding rooms with maybe 20 omegas being held in cages. He saw why when he looked at one monitor and the fuzzy grey images of the upper floor. A few guards hung around the entrances. There were a few people dressed in white coats attending to someone on a gurney. His stomach clenched in both hope and fear that it was John, but it was difficult to make out.

There was a mobile phone on the side and Sherlock picked it up, dialling 999. His eyes scanned all the monitors, estimating how many people were there, as he tried to tell the woman on the end of the line everything he knew. Where was he? He scrabbled around papers and memos looking for clues for the location of the storage warehouse, which he decided was likely on an abandoned farm. He hung up, eyes still on the monitor. He could just wait for the police to arrive, but he couldn't leave John there.

Sherlock spied some medical scrubs and changed into them, covering his hair with a cap and his face with a surgical mask. Sherlock had always believed the best disguises were those that hid you in plain sight. With 20 people coming and going from a larger network, he'd take the chance that someone unknown wouldn't be immediately suspicious.

The detective back-tracked around the corridors, until he was able to find a stairway

Through a process of elimination and deduction, Sherlock worked his way around the corridors with the air of someone who belonged and had purpose, even passing a few people who never gave him a second glance. Finally, he came to a set of doors with windows and he peered through. Excellent, there was now only one medical personnel.

Bold as brass he pushed through and shouted: "Quickly, Collins says there's a problem!"

The woman in the surgical scrubs jumped at Sherlock's entrance. "But hasn't she gone to make the drop off?"

Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Didn't you hear? there has been a problem and she's back! Go now, I'm to deal with the omega."

The woman looked hesitant but nodded and left the medical bay, leaving Sherlock with the figure on the gurney. He confirmed it was John, and rushed over to check. "John," He said in a whisper, checking for the obvious. The omega's eyes were closed and he looked worn out and tired, and his stomach now reasonably flat. No baby. His wrists were restrained to the bed in leather cuffs used in hospitals, and an IV line was taped to his forearm and lead to an empty IV bag that read OXYTOCIN. "John." He swallowed, concerned about the lack of movement from the other man and put his hand up to his cheek.

John jerked awake, pulling on the restraints and looked up at Sherlock with a look of rage and loathing.

"It's me, John," Sherlock whispered pulling off his mask to show his face. "Are you ok?"

"They took her," John's voice struggled not to crack and he pulled on the cuffs again. He'd obviously done that a lot over the past few hours, his wrists were red and sore where the leather had cut into his skin.

Sherlock wished he had more information to give John but at the moment they needed to focus on getting out. "We'll find her," he told John, and released the restraints. "Can you walk?"

John tried to sit up. "I guess so." But Sherlock didn't like the way he looked. "I need to find her," he muttered, but he looked tired and disorientated.

"We will," Sherlock tried to reassure him, as he found some surgical gowns to wrap around John's shoulders. He didn't know what to do with John, he wasn't sure how far they could run like this, and only hoped the police would arrive soon. He just needed to get John somewhere safer. Helping the omega off the gurney and out of the medical bay, Sherlock went back to a supply room and cleared a space behind some boxes. "John, we'll wait here."

John looked reluctant, but he didn't have any choice but to crumple down there. "I didn't hear her cry when they took her," he told the detective, covering his face.

Sherlock squeezed his body next to John's in the small space and held him to his chest. He hadn't seen any trace of her on the monitors, and he suspected that Collins had already taken John's baby to be passed onto the adoptive parents. "I'm sorry," he apologised, for getting John involved and for being too late. "We'll find her." He tried to reassure John, while he couldn't ignore the sense of loss and failure growing within him. He couldn't imagine how John felt.

Sherlock felt paralysed and useless as he held John as he heard sirens and a commotion in the corridors.

oOo

The police arrival had been rather anti climatic. Everyone had been caught off guard when the squad cars shown up. They had surrendered quickly, not even time to draw their weapons let alone a shoot-out with hostage negotiations. John barely registered any of it; he felt physically and emotionally wrecked along with the lingering effects of another sedative. All he could think about was his baby, he'd not had a chance to glimpse her before they whisked her away. The sense of loss was indescribable. It felt like a part of him had been ripped out. All he wanted was to hold his baby and protect her from these people. That was what he was supposed to do.

Then Sherlock came, and John just allowed him to hide him away and hold him in his arms. He wanted to do more, he wanted to start tearing the place up to find her.

But the police burst in and Sherlock stood, hands up, explaining he was the detective who had called them. John stayed on the floor resting his head on Sherlock's knees, barely able to lift his head up.

The ambulance crew arrived. He felt Sherlock helping him up and he leaned into the familiar warm body. There was a bit of a heated discussion about John being taken to hospital and Sherlock helping the police. An orange blanket was thrown around John and he crawled up onto the stretcher to let sleep take him again.

oOo

The police were morons, that was clear to Sherlock. He repeated Lestrade's name over and over but the local constabulary regarded him with suspicion, an alpha somehow caught in the middle of a breeding ring. It was taking too long. he had to go to John. Something back in his mind was noisy and insistent that he go find him and do whatever he could to make it better. Finally Lestrade did arrive, with a change of clothes and an explanation that he did know Sherlock and they did work together.

It was maybe two hours before he was able to leave the crime scene and get a taxi to the local hospital. It didn't take long to track down John, who was in a private room. The detective swallowed when he finally saw the omega curled up on his side and looking so small.

"John," He said in a soft voice, going to his side and running his hand along his arm. The contact gave him a feeling akin to relief and he bent down to look into the other man's face when his eyes opened.

"Did you find her?" John asked.

The detective had to shake his head. Seeing the pain in John's face, and knowing he could do nothing to relieve it, caused his own gut to clench.

John took in a shuddering breath. Fresh tears started to roll down his face and drip onto the already wet pillow. "I don't know if she's alive," he admitted to Sherlock. "She's early; there could be complications but they just took her away from me..."

Sherlock was at a loss for words or ways to comfort John. He'd failed him in so many ways. "I'll find her John," he promised. "We will find her and make sure she's safe."

The doctor wiped his eyes in frustration, as if annoyed at himself for letting emotion get to him. "I didn't know it was going to feel this bad, when she was taken away."

Sherlock had to admit the same; he never thought he'd feel John's pain so much. "It wasn't meant to be like this. You'll get her back," he tried to reassure John. Drawing himself up more solidly he asked, "what's her name?"

John looked at him confused. "What?"

"You want to find her and make sure no harm ever comes to her again, don't you?" Sherlock would not let any harm come to either of them. "I won't let you give her up for adoption now, anyway, under any misplaced sense of duty. Money, lodgings, I'll give you whatever will enable you to look after her. I guess you were right about those hormones." He wasn't just talking about John, he could feel it himself; the loss and the failure to protect them gnawed at somewhere deep inside he never knew he had. It made no logical sense. They were not even bonded and he had no genetic connection to John's child. However, there was nothing he wanted to see more than John holding his daughter. "So you should pick a name for her."

"I never even thought about a name," John looked away with a frown. "I thought it'd make me too attached and I had no right to choose one."

"You have every right to, you are going to be her father." That was that. Sherlock's hand came to cup John's face to make the omega look up him. "Choose a name for your daughter so we know who we're looking for."

John's azure eyes focused on Sherlock again, and they were caught like that for a moment as the doctor took a deep tired breath. "Lily. My mother's name."

"Lily Watson. Good." Sherlock nodded.

"Do you really think we can find her?"

Sherlock's fingers twisted into the thin fabric of the hospital gown at the collar. "I am the world's only consulting detective. I give you my word that we will find her."

John nodded, and some of his strength seemed to come back. "Ok, we will find her." He regained some of that soldier's hardness, and when he looked back up at Sherlock there was a cold determination. "We will find her and then I will kill those responsible for taking her."

Sherlock nodded in agreement.