Thank you for joining me again for the next instalment of this story, but before we get to that, there are a few things that needs to be clarified.

A bit of a backstory needs to be presented here, since it seems to have become important to this story. Particularly, the part about the who, what and where pertaining to the girl, Watson's character at this stage as well as that of Holmes.

I received a review for this story after chapter 3 and I believe that, in a way, this review is justified:

{So, we have Misogynist!Holmes, Random!Mutant!Sue, and Stupid!Watson.
Holmes is not misogynistic. He simply does not respect people who don't earn his respect, and most women don't get the chance to do this. Holmes has shown downright paternal concern for several of the young female clients he has had over the years (ie, the Adventure of the Speckled Band). Would he do this if he thought that they were...let's see..."worthless offshoots of the human species?"
Watson is not stupid. He may look so, beside Holmes' brilliance, but he's not stupid. He's a doctor, for Chrissakes. And while I do respect that you showed him using his skills, he shows no medical curiosity towards the bullet wound. Please let him do that.
I have to go to class, but I shall continue this later.}

It seems that the reviewer (and a number of nameless e-mailers) was lured into this story by my summary and the choice of genre's, but was put off by the story since a few things were not apparent immediately. Therefore, the name of the story has been changed and an actual plot has been devised. Therein will be a complete breakdown of the characters as they will appear in this story, as well as their motivations and outlook on life. There will also be a preview for chapter 4 at the end, so anyone who wants to skip this, is quite welcome.

The next is my representation of the characters - that means as I believe them to be. This has already been mentioned in the Disclaimer, was missed by a few people. I apologise if it isn't as you believe it to be (and I will apologise for this a number of times more), but this is still my story. If you do not agree with me and these explanations are not to your liking, then please leave.

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Holmes is a very difficult character to understand and predict and so far in this story, he has not been painted in a very good light, but there is a reason for it. I believe that Holmes is a very intelligent man, with leanings into the more modern outlook that women are equal to men.

Unfortunately, this is tempered by the fact that not many women can be seen as equals (meaning women strong in character, outspoken and independent) in the 1880's to 1900's due to their upbringing to be dependent on men, that men are smarter and stronger than them. Also, they must show respect and be subservient to them. Now, this is a problem, since woman were taught this from early childhood and only those that are exceptionally strong in will and character are willing to break this unwritten rule. Not many women were willing to risk their reputation to act in this manner. Many found less obstructive ways to show their independence, but they were few and far between.

Holmes' outlook and actions are also spoiled a bit by this same upbringing he received. He was taught that women weren't as capable as men and that anyone that showed that they believed different were running the risk of becoming an outcast. This would have affected his practice a great deal - what man in their right mind would run the risk of their inner secrets and indiscretions coming to light during the course of an investigation in the presence of one that they could consider, in the ways of social interactions, to be a failure of a man.

Now, all these things contributed to the appearance that Holmes is a misogynist (dislikes women a great deal). Of course this is not true. Few men are in his league and only the women that are strong in character (the 'modern' women) can be included in his mental catalogue of those worthy of his undivided attention. Since they are so few and far between it can sometimes seem as if he doesn't care much for them. The others he feels pity for, since they can't escape the cage that society put them in.

Unfortunately, all of the above had to be summarised in less that ten words, and was therefore not very well explained, as was noted. Therefore, an apology for the misrepresentation and offence is given.

The issue of chapter 1 and his words to Watson should be addressed here. He was angry as he talked about the woman wrongfully imprisoned. In his eyes, it was her own fault she landed there, caused by her fear. She suspected who the murderer was, but because of her fear and subsequent weakness (in the eyes of Holmes), she didn't tell anyone. Her husband tried to get her to talk, but she was too afraid. Therefore, she deserved to be in jail because she acted as any woman was taught to act - weak and not able to think for themselves - and not as he had hoped she would act. This was not completely explained in the text and any confusion and offence caused, I apologise.

Now then, let's get to Watson's character. He is, of course, a doctor, one that has seen quite a bit of action in the Afghan war. He is intelligent and insightful in the ways of people, but not as much as Holmes, who had spend his whole life refining his already great talent. Therefore, it would seem as if Watson is a bit slow sometimes, but only as much as you or I would be in the detective's presence. Who can say that they would be able to keep up with his thinking process without a few pointers (as Watson was prone for asking). The bullet issue will be addressed as time goes by, please be patient.

Watson is the narrator in the books, and thus not always in possession of all the facts. He helps along the plot and points out a few things here and there, but not really a contributor of the solution of the mysteries. The hero, and sometimes fallen hero (he uses cocaine) is Holmes. The doctor is helpful and brings humour to the stories, but he does not really, truly know Holmes as well as he would think, especially not in the first few novels (note - in the stories they became very good friends). Later, he would understand Holmes and his motivations very well as demonstrated in chapter 1. Unfortunately, here it was also not explained very well - he knew that Holmes didn't mean what he said about woman (he had seen his interactions with women over the years) and he knew that it was only directed at that particular weak specimen. This was not completely explained in the text and any confusion and offence caused, I apologise, again.

These are the two characters as I see them and how they will appear in this story and in others that they might feature in.

The girl featuring in this story is a bit of a sticking point to many, although I do not quite see how this is possible. The genre states 'supernatural' and the summary states 'not quite human', but of course it could just be that I cannot see something that is so obvious to others. Therefore the genre's have been changes to Sci-fi/Supernatural. I hope that people will no longer be confused.

This character is an expansion of one I created in a novel years ago. She is part of a race that had evolved from humans (everyone run away now). They became aware of other planes of existence and had, over many years, developed a way to travel to them. There the natives are studied in the hope that the disaster that occurred in their Earth's past could be understood. There are many Watchers and all of them travel to other planes that are, actually, also the past of their Earth.

Right, everyone totally confused by this, let's try again:

Earth suffers a disaster

People evolve

People forget reason for disaster

Discover other planes of existence

Find ways to travel to them

Discover that many of them are also of Earth

Study them to determine a possible reason for the disaster

They do not travel in time (this is a 'Timeline' scenario).

She travels to the plane with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but lands on a ship/in a military facility/on an island, with soldiers (haven't decided yet), where she is captured. Escaping the soldiers, she was critically injured and loses the ability to access her memory. Completely clueless, she wanders into London (somehow). There she finds someone that reminds her of family/friend/lover (haven't decided yet) in Holmes and follows him. Then she was captured in chapter 2.

The rest of the story will comprise her returning memories, their reactions and plans for getting her home again.

Is there actually anyone left reading this? Anyway, that was a basic summary of the plot and characters featuring in this story. Thank you to the reviewers that have helped me and motivated the formation of an actual plot by showing a continued interest.

And here is what everyone has been waiting for: a preview of chapter 4. (It's a bit short, but it is, after all, a preview).

Chapter 4:

The girl stood swaying in the doorway, looking at the food on the table. The drug Watson gave her so that she would sleep through the day and not bother Mrs. Hudson was working it's way out of her system, but one of it's side-effects were that it lowered the user's inhibitions. Slowly she made her way to the table and took a piece of bread that Holmes gave her and sat on the couch facing them.

"Look, Holmes", whispered Watson, 'the wound is healed completely."

The sleeping clothes they borrowed from Mrs. Hudson were too big for the girl and one shoulder slipped off as she sat down. Holmes found himself staring at her as she ate - the movement of her fingers were eerie to watch.

"I wasn't able to get time to study the blood sample I took from her", Watson continued, "but I will do so as soon as possible. What do you think of the material ..."

Holmes stared as the girl's attention was diverted from her bread to the broken watch on one of the small tables. It was Watson's and it came to be that way when the would-be murderer attacked him in his bid to escape. She poked the pieces with a delicate finger and then started to tinker with it, taking a bite of bread every now and then. After a few moments Watson realised that Holmes wasn't listening to him anymore and noticed the object of his attention.

Those fingers were surprisingly strong they realised as she broke a piece of metal that was once part of the clasp. A few minutes later she stood up and gave the watch to Holmes. She took another piece of bread and settled on the couch again.

The watch was working again.

TBC