Frantic pounding sounded on the front door early the next morning, and Mrs. Hudson's voice carried faintly up the stairs. I ignored the noise. She was probably talking to Holmes, and he could update me on whatever it was later. We had stayed up far too late talking, and I had nowhere I needed to be today. I wanted to sleep in.

"Doctor?"

The quiet word nearly startled me awake, and my bleary vision slowly focused on where Mrs. Hudson stood in the doorway.

"Hmm?" I managed, still mostly asleep.

"There's a man asking for you. He is frantic about his daughter and nearly raced upstairs himself before I stopped him."

Of course there was, because patients only knocked early on mornings I wanted to sleep.

Something in the back of my mind disputed the complaint, but I still resisted the urge to grumble as I pulled myself upright.

"Down in a momen'," I finally muttered, trying to wake up, and she went back downstairs as I pushed away the covers.

Medical emergencies could not wait for my fatigue, and despite my irritation, it was not many minutes later that I slowly descended the stairs. A hunched man waited in the entry. He was older than me by many years, I noticed, with salt and pepper hair and deep lines around his eyes, and he wore a formerly fine suit that had seen quite a bit of wear. Slightly taller than me, he seemed somewhat self-conscious of his height, if the way he kept slouching was any indication, and he appeared to have forgotten to shave this morning.

"Hello," I said three steps from the landing. The visitor spun from where he had been peering at the maps in the umbrella holder, immediately focusing on where I navigated the last few steps.

"Doktor," he said in a thick accent. "Please, mine daughter fell and will not to vake up. Her face hot."

"How did she fall?"

I focused intently on his words as I reached for my coat, struggling to understand through the thick accent and broken English. His daughter had been playing with her friends when she had fallen off a low wall. Her arm had started swelling that night, but he could find no sign of injury. He had come for "the dokter of the compassion" when the girl started babbling in her sleep and refused to wake up.

"Hurry, Doktor. Please," he finished, glancing between me and the door. "Had to leave son alone. He young."

"I am coming," I assured him, fighting with my coat when one sleeve caught on another hook. "How old are—"

The sleeve dropped free, and I turned to face him completely, glancing up to make eye contact. My words died in my mouth when steel grey eyes stared at me from an unfamiliar face.

In all my travels, I had never met another man with eyes like Holmes'. Not even Mycroft's were exactly the same, and those deep, grey eyes had become my most reliable way of seeing through his disguises. He might change everything else about himself, but he could not change his eye color, and with that piece of information, the slouch became necessary to hide the height that was so familiar to me, the salt and pepper hair became a skillful application of dye, and the suit became the one that had been destroyed in a case several months ago. Holmes had very nearly fooled me on his first try, helped in no small part by my lack of sleep.

"Vat is it?" he asked when I stopped moving. "Mine daughter is sick. Please, Doktor!"

"Holmes."

He stared at me for a moment before he sighed, and the affected personality fell away. In an instant, the German immigrant worried about his daughter became my friend in makeup and a ragged outfit. I could not kill my tired grin.

"Where were you planning to lead me?" I asked as I hung my coat back on the rack.

He glared at my amusement. "As far as we could get in four and a half minutes," was his reply, and my grin became a true laugh. "How did you know?" he continued, his irritation leaking into the words as I led the way up the stairs. "You have not seen that disguise before."

I would not reveal my only way of checking him, and my smile never wavered as I shook my head. "You are the master of deduction. Figure it out."

A faint growl carried from behind me, but he made no other answer as I got comfortable in my chair. Mrs. Hudson would bring up breakfast shortly, and my own plan would have a greater chance of success if I waited a while—and if I caught a short nap.

Don't forget to review! Hope you enjoyed Holmes' first attempt :D

Thanks to YoughaltheJust, Shey72, MCH1987, Dr. who, and mrspencil for your reviews last chapter.