Andrea slept for quite a while and after some time Watson decided to leave her side. Softly he put a blanket over her and tiptoed out of the room. When he was just about to go to his room he noticed Sherlock coming back from wherever he had been.

"How is she?", Sherlock asked without lowering his voice.

"Well. Broken!", John Watson snapped, angry with his friend. "How could you do that? And why?"

"She's going to be fine", Sherlock ensured and moved past Watson. "Now, please give me a moment with her"

Watson didn't react.

"Alone" Sherlock enhanced and very slowly Watson backed off. For a split second he hesitated about whether he could leave Andrea alone with Sherlock, but then he shrugged his concerns off. It was his friend, Sherlock Holmes and not a psychopath. Whatever he did, he probably had a reason for it.

Sherlock noticed that Andrea was awake but pretending to still be asleep, she flinched when she had heard Sherlock wanting to be alone with her, that gave it away.

"You can open your eyes Andrea", Sherlock said. "I'm not falling for the old 'oh I'm still asleep' trick"

Reluctantly Andrea opened her eyes and sat up, brushing the blanket off.

"Are you going to tell me how ordinary I am? Again? Or do you have some other insults ready?"

Sherlock sat down opposite of her.

"I didn't mean to insult you" he said in his calm voice. "Being mediocre is no insult, Andrea. Otherwise the whole world would feel insulted, wouldn't it?"

Andrea didn't reply, she knew that if she did her voice would start to shake and she didn't want that.

"We can't all be better", Sherlock continued. "Of course, everybody wants to beat the odds, everybody wants to be the one with more skills than the others, everybody wants to be a genius"

Andrea remained silent and Sherlock didn't seem to mind, he was mid-lecture.

"If everybody started being a genius, then we'd be average at being a genius, wouldn't we?", for the first time in his speech he stopped and looked at her.

"I am not 'everybody'" she finally said, in a voice that felt too thin for her. She didn't like the feeling of weakness that overcame her, being close to Sherlock.

"Now, you are right about that", he nodded, looking pleased with himself. "But you can't be me either. Please promise me you are not trying to be me!"

"Why?", Andrea asked, regaining her confidence. "Because nobody can be like you?"

Sherlock hesitated a little. "Yes", he then said. With a short move he put his hands on her cheeks. "And also because it would be a waste on the person you are". With that he very softly stroke her cheeks and then let go of her head entirely, standing up and leaving.

A bit dazzled Andrea remained on the couch.

Finally she got up and paid her thanks to the landlady for offering her stay. "But darling, why are you leaving already?", she asked, sounding disappointed. "I just made tea!"

"Okay", Andrea smiled. "I think I can manage to stay a little longer, just to have a cup of tea"

Outside, in front of door 221B, Baker Street Watson and Sherlock were on the phone with a very hysteric girl, getting themselves into a brand new case, a case of fame and revenge.

They noticed Andrea, when she left after her cup of tea, but since they were in their head already miles away they didn't seem to notice how she kept lurking around to listen to their conversation, as they were waiting for a cab.

"Who is this girl, Emily?", John asked "Is she something famous?"

"Well, you are the soap opera guy, how should I know?" Sherlock replied. "I just know she's some sort of newcomer, movie director"

The cab finally arrived and they got in, naming the address.

Andrea was still standing on Baker street, watching the black cab vanish into the foggy London street life. She felt sick. More than sick, she felt dead. In her right hand she could feel the cold metal of the key she had nicked.

"I don't care If you want my help" she whispered to herself. "I will be there anyway" The cold was starting to get to her bones, she shivered a little.

" I just hope I will be the detective and not the victim " – she didn't say that out loud, the thought was hammering in her mind already. In one way or the other she was going to be involved, she knew that. But which part would she have to take?