Hi! I am so sorry for the long wait. I sprained my thumb and was unable to type for a really long while. I'm finally healing up now though and I tried my best to get back into the game.


Present

I wasn't sure exactly how I ended up like this. My eyes felt fairly crusty as I opened them- I brought my hand up to my face and rubbed. And oh God my head is killing me. I groan and everything hurts, I feel like I've been ripped in two, it hurts so much. I finally take in my surroundings and realize I'm in a hospital. My brain is trying to figure out multiple reasons why I would be here. And then I finally remember. Oh. Yeah- huh I got shot in the back. I look down and realize there's a pretty well to do dressing covering my back and my chest. I take in the smell of the hospital and wonder how I can actually be hurting like this. If I'm in a dream- how can I get hurt like that?

Then I notice the man in the corner of the room. John Watson, he's in a chair with his arms over his chest sleeping. Why would he be here? He's only known me for a day- and speaking of days how long have I been sleeping? How much further did they get into the case?

And most importantly...Is Soo Lin alive?

"Jo-" My voice comes out extremely croaky. I clear my throat again and say it louder, "John! John wake up!" I see John turn in his chair and his eyes snap open.

"Elise! You're okay- oh thank God." He rushes to my side and quickly put his hands on my forehead and looks at the machine that shows all my vitals, "You can't- You can't just do that okay! You could have gotten yourself killed! You stupid- stupid!" He's pacing and he looks angry at me.

"Is Soo Lin, okay? Is she alive?" I ask.

.*.*.*.*.*.

Past

It's the past. Not so long ago. I'm stuck with Soo Lin Yao in the restoration room. Gun shots are ringing out and the faint sounds of Sherlock yelling and John yelling are muffled in the other rooms.

"He'll find me." Soo Lin says. "He'll find me and kill me, you must leave before then."

"No." I brings my hand to my face and look at Soo Lin seriously, "You will not die." I notice that gun shots have stopped and I know it's going to be a short amount of time until Soo Lin's brother comes here. If I yell now I can put John in danger, I can put my self in danger and Soo Lin. I'm terrified and I have no idea what course of action is best.

Soo Lin is standing up and looking around, "You must leave, you must I can't have your death on my hands."

"I'm not leaving!" I can't leave. I can't I need to stay- I need to save a life I can't let her die.

I see a man come out of the shadows and looks at his sister with pain in his eyes. She brings her hand to touch his face and I start yelling.

"JOHN! JOHN!" John was closest to the restoration room, I needed to get him here now. "JOHN!" The siblings pay no mind to me as I scream and scream and hope that John hears me.

He brings up his gun and I don't know why I did what I did from there. I jumped straight in front of Soo Lin and end up knocking the gun in the process. I hear a sharp ping and I tumble to the ground. Then I feel sharp pain spread throughout my back and I scream- oh I scream because it hurt so much. I fall on my chest.

I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I say it over and over in my mind. Everything hurts so much and I can see blood pooling around my eyes and I see John running towards the restoration room and Sherlock come soon after. My thoughts aren't as clear after that because the pain isn't bearable.

.*.*.*.*.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" John yells to anyone, anyone at all. Soo Lin has her hands pressed up against Elise and is putting as much pressure as she can. "Sherlock! Give me your coat, we need to put more pressure on the wound." John has made it to Elise's side and is looking into her eyes, "Elise, Elise do you hear me?"

Sherlock has made it to John and he gives the goat to Soo Lin Yao who put it over the wound, "I never expected-" Soo Lin shakes her head, "I told her to leave, I never expected her to try and save me I didn't-" She looks at Sherlock and John, panicked, "Is this my fault? Will she die?"

"She won't die!" Sherlock says suddenly. "I called the Lestrade, who's contacted an ambulance, there's a hospital close to here it should arrive in two to three minutes."

"She's going to go into shock, Sherlock." John looks at Elise who's eyes are darting around, "Elise, stay with me, please."

"I- I-" Elise is stumbling on her words and she's breathing rapidly, "This can't happen. This isn't suppose- supposed to happen." She's breathing hard, "This- this isn't even real."

"Elise, don't talk. You're only causing further harm to yourself." Sherlock's voice cuts in quickly. Elise only laughs and suddenly she's silent and breathing rapidly on the ground.

"Sherlock we can't move her to get proper circulation of blood, we need to prevent hypothermia. You need to hug her."

"What?"

"Your body is warm! Keep her warm! She's losing blood, and that means she's losing heat." John points to Soo Lin, "You keep the pressure on the wound. That's our main problem right now, finding a source of bleeding." He's taking Elise's heart-rate, "And make sure she doesn't move around too much. Sherlock!"

"What?" Sherlock is currently trying his best to cover Elise with his body.

"Is there an exit wound?"

"No. The bullet ricocheted off the metal table, there wasn't enough force for it to exit."

"Good, that means this is the optimal position for her to be in."

By then there's little talking. Elise is passed out and the ambulance finally comes, John is rushing to the paramedics and talking quickly about her condition.

"She's going through hypovolemic shock, she needs to be treated immediately. She might need dopamine to increase blood pressure- but the immediate course of action is to just give her more blood. I don't know her blood type, so give her O negative. We did everything we could, and tried to stop the source of the bleeding, but it seems like the bullet must have lodged some place. Hypothermia is not our main issue, but I've accounted to that as well." He continues to rattle off spews of medical information. They manage to take her out of the building and bring her to the ambulance. John gets into the ambulance with her and leaves Sherlock with Soo Lin Yao.

The police are rushing onto the scene as well, along with Lestrade who's quickly heading towards Sherlock.

"What's happened Sherlock? You told me someone was shot? Who?" Lestrade looks fairly panicky and he looks around quickly, "Where's John?"

"It wasn't John." Sherlock says, "It's Elise." He looks fairly emotionless, his face is stoic and he's looking at his hands and observing the blood. Soo Lin Yao has already been torn away from the him and is being interviewed by other detectives.

"Elise?" Lestrade looks at Sherlock, who's eyes look like they're about to glaze over, "Sherlock?" Sherlock's not responding, "Sherlock!"

"What?" Sherlock looks up, the blood on his hands is starting to crust into his fingertips.

Lestrade grips Sherlock's arm and silently leads him to a chair, he snaps near Sherlock's eyes and looks at the blue marvels intently, "Who is Elise, Sherlock? What did she mean to you? How bad is it?"

Sherlock sits up and starts speaking, "Elise is my cousin. She means little to me- as I've hardly known her a day, very intelligent girl. A genius like me. Her wound is serious, she was bleeding profusely by the time she went with John into the ambulance. The bullet ricocheted off a metal table inside and managed to hit her in the back, I haven't gotten any information from Soo Lin Yao yet, but deductions prove that Elise must have jumped in front of the bullet. There's a high risk of her dying on the way to the hospital. Stupid, stupid girl."

Lestrade nods, "So...who shot her? Can you give me her full name? Address?" Lestrade is looking concerned. Even though Sherlock said that he cared little for his cousin, it definitely seems like having her bleed out in front of him has left a lasting impression.

"Zhi Zhu. The spider- her information means nothing she's an adult." Sherlock waves his hand off into the distance and quickly stands up, "Where's Soo Lin Yao?"

"What?"

"Soo Lin Yao! The women who just nearly got shot! The one that let Elise jump in front of a bullet and most probably got her killed." Sherlock was pacing around, "Where is she? She was about to give me the solution to the cypher! What did your stupid policemen do with her?"

"Sherlock, calm down, I'll find her." Lestrade puts up his hand in Sherlock's direction and heads into a crowd of cops.

.*.*.*.*.

"What's her name?" The paramedics are pressing on Elise's back as they race to the hospital.

"Elise. Her name's Elise." John manages to mumble it out and he can't help but feel the fear rising up in his stomach. He's seen these kinds of things before as an army doctor...The chances of survival are slim at best. They can't do anything now- not in an ambulance- the only way to save her is to find the source of the bleeding and stop it.

"Blood type?" They need to ask these questions. Of course they could give her the universal donor but if you do know the blood type it's better.

"I don't know." John puts his hand on his head and looks down at the floor.

"Does she have any emergency contacts?"

"I-" He hesitates. Should he say he didn't know? Because he didn't. The only way they would let him stay in the hospital is if- "I am."

The medic gave a disbelieving look but nodded anyway.

The rest of it went along quickly. By the time they got to the hospital John was ultimately terrified. Elise had gone in to V-Fib because of the loss of blood and when he started heading into the operating room he was stopped.

He was now sitting alone in a cold waiting room. Not once in his life had he ever thought he hated hospitals, because he didn't. He hated medical tents and dust and lack of supplies...Hospitals were safe. Hospitals let him know that everyone had all they need- everything was sterile and clean. Now however he couldn't help but glance at the doctors and wonder if they really knew what they were doing. Or if the man doing the surgery was properly sterile- or if any of it was safe.

He phone started buzzing in his pocket, and he was about to go get it before he glanced at the blood on his shirt, Elise's blood, he thinks. He shakes himself out of it and opens his phone with glancing at the caller ID.

"Hello?" His voice sounded oddly disconnected from his body.

"John, Soo Lin Yao is dead."

.*.*.*.*.

Present

John is silent. I don't like the look on his face.

"Is she okay?" I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. "Please tell me she's okay- I need to-" My voice cracks, "I need to know I saved her. I need to know I changed fate."

"She's- She's in a protective program in the United States."

And then it hits me. A wave of dread comes over me- I look at him and I know he's lying. I've seen it before and I remember the words he said to Sherlock when he thought Adler died. A protective program. That's- That's absolute crap.

"I know."

"What?" John's voice is small now.

My voice is devolving into something mean, "I can tell. When. You're. LYING!" I crack at the end and break down, "What's the point of it John?" I look at him and he's staring at me with a painful look, "What's the point of me being here if I can't save anybody? If I can't make a difference then why have I been thrown here? I don't want to live in constant fear that I won't be able to stop the death."

"How did you know I was lying?" He's calm.

"Your tells are obvious." I feel quiet now, like I've been hollowed out, "How far are you in the case? How long have I been here?"

"It's been a little over a day. We've found out that the cypher is based off a book and Sherlock is looking at tons of books now."

"London A to Z, NINE MILL FOR JADE PIN DRAGON DEN BLACK TRAMWAY."

"What?"

"That's the cipher, I had a pretty long time to think while I was here sleeping."

"Are you telling me-" he took a surprised pause and ran his hand through his hair, "Wait- are you telling me...You figured out the cipher...While fucking sleeping?"

Well that shocked me. Hearing John Watson curse so suddenly.

I look at him seriously, "Yeah- yes I did."

"Well- I have to call Sherlock then. Wow- wow that's...that's astounding." He smiled and went outside to use his phone.

I feel a pang of guilt. It's only because they need the information. That's it- I have to tell them what I know because I need to save people. I can't let any other people die...that's it. I can't tell them it's foreknowledge because then they won't believe me. I constantly reassure myself as I see John rattling on the phone. God, did this make me feel horribly ego-centric.

John walks into the room and stands next to my hospital bed, he has a content look on his face, "Well, you should just rest up...Me and Sherlock are going to go ahead and deal with the case. You are truly remarkable Elise, truly." He puts out his hand and brushes a strand of hair from my face. He then walks out of the room and rushed down the hallway.

"I'm sorry." I say quietly.

.*.*.*.*.

Past

"John, Soo Lin Yao is dead."

Sherlock told it to John with a cold finality. He heard slight breathing on the other side but no response.

"John?"

"So she'll die for nothing."

Sherlock didn't know how to respond. Truth? Lies?

"That's of no importance now. I need to find out the cipher on my own. The stupid Scotland Yard didn't do their job and managed to lose sight of Soo Lin. She then managed to-"

"I don't care Sherlock." The line went dead.

Sherlock glanced at his phone. Emotions. They'd known her for less then a day- why would John feel any sympathy? There was nothing they could have done to save her. And although the statistics were rather low there still was a slim chance she would survive. Isn't that what hope is? The detective continued to consider logic and push down whatever few emotions he felt, but he couldn't help the twisted knot in his stomach.

He was currently in St. Barts looking at dirt specimens, and any sort of evidence that could possibly lead him to an answer. He examined Soo Lin's body after she had been shot by her brother when the Yard lost track of her. He had all the information he needed so far. All he needed to figure out was the cipher- that damn cipher. He slammed his hand on a metal table and heard a little gasp. He looked up and saw Molly, dismissed her, and looked down again at specimens.

"I heard one of your friends got shot." Her voice was small and concerned.

"She wasn't a friend. I hardly knew her."

"Oh." Molly wrung her hands, "A she."

As much as he acted like he didn't understand Molly, Sherlock knew she had a sort of crush on him. And he knew what she was implying now.

"Molly- she was a fourteen-year old girl. Unless I've suddenly become interested in relationships- much less become a pedophile. Then I don't believe the fact she was female matters much."

Molly squinted, "No- no that's not what I-" she brushed her hair back, "Sorry." She started to walk away but stopped mid-step, "Wait. Why did you have a teenage girl with you on a case?" She shook her head, "Nevermind- sorry. It's none of my busine-"

"She was my cousin and was in my care."

"Oh. If- if you need anything...If you need any help, or have to talk to anyone- I'm always here." She walked out of the room and Sherlock sighed in a curiously human way.

Emotions.


I know this is a fairly short chapter for the long wait, but I figured it's better then nothing. So sorry again! Tell me what you think!