The world was black when Alice woke up. One small, fuzzy light was flickering on the corner of the room. She felt around for her glasses, finding them sitting next to her. The light turned out to be an old television set, turned on to BBC News, which was running a story about the princess' visit. The motorcade had been rerouted, but it seemed like they had made it to the hotel. The princess had given a statement afterwards. I'm the only one that's gone. They didn't want her. They want me.

Alice stood in the light of the television, looking around and taking stock of where she was. It seemed like a small basement room, with a cot and one light bulb on a string. It was turned off for now. The television was an old model, something less technologically advanced than anyone would have been used to in this day and age. Her gun was gone. Her phone had also been taken, along with all of her other weapons. And the bulletproof vest. A box of granola bars sat on top of the television, along with a takeaway cup of water. How long have I been out?

The date stamp on the news said that it was early in the morning the next day. 8:02 AM. She had been out for nearly ten hours. "Reports of the princess' motorcade veering off track have been confirmed. The only person reported missing is an MI6 agent. The organization has issued a statement saying that they are on the case and will have her back soon. Meanwhile, the princess is continuing on her diplomatic mission as scheduled."

Sherlock. Sherlock must have noticed by now that she hadn't called, that she wasn't on the mission anymore. Or Mycroft would have told him. Someone must have let him know that she was missing. But why? And who was it that would want to kidnap her and not the princess? The list was relatively small, since most people would kidnap for money.

The door creaked open, a burly man with a military gait walking in. "Holmes. Attention."

Alice reflexively turned, standing at attention. The man's face wasn't illuminated well, but she could see a large scar that spread from the corner of his eye across his forehead. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

With alarming speed, he reached out and slapped her. "You will speak when spoken to."

"Well, you've spoken to me, Sir. So now I'm-" This time, she could taste blood.

"You're being held for information. Again, you will speak when spoken to. You will sleep when we say sleep, you will eat when we allow you to eat. My advice is to make your provisions last. If you try to escape in any way, or resist at all, you will be punished. She will accept none of that. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir," she told him contemptuously. "Who is she?"

"You will ask no questions."

"That's enough," a woman's voice said, a shadowy figure descending the stairs. "Go back up. I can handle her." The man nodded, retreating upstairs. Alice got a good look at him as he left, trying to memorize every detail so they could hunt him down later. The woman who was facing her now had reddish hair, an even smile, and a face that was abnormally blank. Something looked off. Maybe it was a wig? "Hello, Alice, dear. I've been watching you."

"Who are you?"

She flinched as the woman reached out for her. "Don't worry, dear. He's all talk, I assure you. At least, he will be as long as you cooperate. But as for me, I'm your friend. I just want to talk."

"Who are you?" Alice demanded.

"You can call me Faith."

"The East Wind," Alice mumbled. "'The East Wind is coming'. That's what the message said. Eurus?"

"Very good," the woman crooned. "I knew you had to be good. If he's taken by you, you must be something special. I couldn't resist seeing it for myself."

Alice was searching for information, asking questions to fish out details about who this woman was, what she was planning, and how she knew Sherlock. "What do you mean?"

"Sherlock Holmes," the woman circled her, looking her over. "He's good, I know. But to attract his attention, I knew you must have been something. I wanted to see for myself. See how you tick. Sherlock… you just have to give him a puzzle and watch him dance. I want to see how well you stack up. And get some information from you, of course. I want you to tell me about him."

"In exchange for what?" she asked defensively. "Eurus - that's your name, isn't it - what's in it for you? Why do you want to know about him? Are you one of those rabid fans?"

"Look at me, dear. Really look. What do you think?"

"I think that's not your natural hair color, and the contacts aren't helping much. I think you're a psychopath, willing to manipulate people for your own gain. You want to study them. You don't suppress your emotions - you simply don't have many of them. I'd wager a guess that you're on a watch list, and you don't want me to know what you look like. That's what the disguise is for. You want information on Sherlock, so you're either a great criminal or someone who's obsessed with him. I'd also wager a guess that you're working with Lord Moran," Alice finished.

Eurus nodded. "Good, good. Very impressive. I can see why he likes you."

"What do I get if I help you?" Alice asked, crossing her arms. "You want my help, you want information,you want to watch me work, but what do I get?"

"I won't kill your friends," Eurus smiled like a shark circling its prey.

"Good luck with that. How do I know you could?"

"Wellll," Eurus told her matter-of-factly, "I control a team that kidnapped you from a princess' motorcade. On its way to a supposedly safe location, in the middle of London. If I can pull that off, and make sure the media doesn't focus on it too much, what makes you think I couldn't off your friends one by one?" She paused for a moment before adding, "And I can starve you. I can have them hurt you. I can have them impact something a lot more valuable to you than your own life."

Alice put a hand to her stomach, glaring at the woman. "Okay. What do you want?"

Eurus laid out a simple plan. "I am going to give you a situation. You solve it in time or something bad will happen. It's simple. There will be emotional prompts along the way. And I would much appreciate it if you could tell me what you're feeling, since it's hard for me to tell sometimes. There was this one night, before they took me away… I made my brother laugh all night. Well, not really. It turned out he was screaming. It's hard to tell the difference, sometimes. I'll have the first thing down to you in a bit." Eurus turned away, heading up the stairs. She stopped at the door, adding, "You know this is locked, right? There's no chance of getting out unless we want you to get out, dearie."

Alice sat on the cot, taking stock of what was happening. There are at least three of them, plus Eurus. They've been brainwashed, reprogrammed to listen to her every command. But she can't have been in hiding her entire life. She must have been held somewhere. Sherrinford? Maybe she was Mycroft's Mysterious Patient One. Yes, that made sense. But first, you have to get out. Make a weapon. Play into their hands, make sure they think you're obeying. Get word to the outside. Survival strategies flashed into her mind, Alice looking around the room. The cot or the television could be taken apart easily and fashioned into a weapon. Dealing with the guards would be a different story.

Sherlock was just waking up after a nap that had turned into real sleep. He checked his phone, seeing nine missed calls from Mycroft, but none from Alice. That was odd, she had said she would call every night. A cough came from the corner, Sherlock taking a second for his eyes to adjust to the light as the figure stood up. Mycroft had been waiting for him, looking grim. "I have bad news. Last night, Alice's motorcade was carjacked. They drugged everyone and left the cars in the middle of London. She was the only one taken."

Sherlock blinked, his heart beating in his throat. "Alice?"

Mycroft nodded. "There's been no communication, no ransom, no notes. Nothing. We've had phone and radio silence on the matter. They thought I should be the one to tell you."

"Right." Sherlock stood, grabbing his coat and a cold cup of tea that he had left out from the night before. "Take me to where they took her."

"You don't want a shower? Or at least time to brush your teeth and comb your hair?"

"No. Let's go."

"Sherlock," Mycroft warned. His brother sighed dramatically before disappearing into his bedroom for a moment.

When he returned, he gestured dramatically, saying, "I even put on fresh clothes. Are you proud, big brother?"

"Ring John Watson," Mycroft instructed as they got into a cab. He tossed Sherlock his phone, which he hadn't noticed was stolen.

Sherlock obeyed, having no idea what else to do. He relayed the story on to John, telling him everything. John promised to meet them at the scene. He was waiting when they jumped out of the cab, cups of coffee in hand. "I'm so sorry, Sherlock." He handed over a cup, saying, "Black, two sugars. They have no idea what happened?"

"They were drugged," Mycroft explained as Sherlock began ferreting around in the bushes. "The driver and one of the other bodyguards were in on the plan. When the princess and the other bodyguard - the one that wasn't in on it - came to, the others were gone. All we can put together is that they want Alice for some reason. I have everyone on the case, but no one's found anything."

Sherlock jumped back out of the bushes, announcing, "They pulled off of the main road as everyone was drugged. I expect you'll find the hypodermic needles in the car if you haven't already. They were over here for just long enough… another car pulled up and they piled in, went back on the main road, and drove off. It's the same model as a classic cab, meaning it could've been any one of them or a car just like it. The tire treads are the same over there." He pointed, directing their attention to the dirt on the side of the road. "See? Now, why would they take her? High-level government employee who's close to other government officials, knows state secrets, can hack into MI5 and MI6 databases, and knows me rather well… any guesses?"

John shook his head, saying, "Sherlock, it could be anyone from Moriarty's network to a rogue terror cell that's looking for information and knows that she's the one to get it from."

Sherlock addressed his brother. "Have you looked at the CCTV footage?"

"CCTV?" John asked, taking a sip of his coffee as he looked the area over. "The cameras wouldn't be facing an off-roads area like this."

Mycroft thought differently. "They were, since they were on the princess' route. But they went black all over the area at the same time as the car veered off of its route. Whoever did this knows about the system and how to get into it."

"What are we supposed to do then?" John wanted to know. "My friend's been kidnapped. God, his wife's been kidnapped! We were told we have to sit around and wait for Moriarty's network to make a move, and look what's happened! We need to take a more active approach to this, Mycroft!"

Mycroft simply shook his head, pulling John aside as Sherlock went back to the bushes, looking to see if he could come up with any theories. "Watch out for him," Mycroft instructed, lowering his voice as he glanced back towards his brother. "Make sure he doesn't go back to using again, will you? I have a rather delicate matter of national security to deal with." John nodded, even though he was still boiling with rage.

That night, Alice was sitting on her cot, watching the news. She hadn't made a full plan yet, but she knew that she was going to have to play along with Eurus if she ever wanted a chance to get out. If she got bored, Eurus would probably have her killed. The reporter was talking about sports, but they soon switched to a missing persons case. "The woman disappeared in Greater London, on her way home from Buckingham. Exact details cannot be released, since she was on a government assignment with MI6, but official reports say that they are looking for a woman of average height with red hair, glasses-" The screen went fuzzy, a tape of Moriarty coming on screen.

"Hello there," he smiled, the lighting turning red. "I hope you're feeling well. I'm quite sure Sherlock is not."

Alice bit her lip, staring at the screen, unblinking. Eurus' image appeared, replacing the demented smile of Moriarty. "Hello, Alice, dear. Here's your first case. You'll solve it quickly if you want something more to eat than granola bars that taste rather like cardboard. A man was found dead with a cassette tape in his left hand, and a gun in the other. When the police played the tapes, they heard him give a speech, followed by a gunshot. But they knew it was a murder right off. How?"

"Who rewound the tape?" Alice asked immediately.

The image of Eurus nodded. "Very good. I'll have one of the boys bring you something from a takeaway place. Maybe some chips, hmm? Save them, though, because I have no idea when I'll feel like feeding you again."

The television screen went back to the news, Alice finally letting go of the breath that she had been holding. They knew she was gone. It would only be a matter of time. She turned to look as the door creaked open, someone tossing in a bag of chips before shutting and locking it. Alice gave it a moment before getting up to grab the bag, knowing that she was being watched. As she ate, she thought of Baker Street, of the nursery that they had just finished decorating, of Sherlock, who was probably frantic by now. John had better be taking care of him. If he ever needed John Watson, it's now. Sherlock, you'd better not do anything stupid.