Honestly I want to tell you I've read through this chapter a dozen times to get rid of errors, or just simply make it better but I'm bored of The Blind Banker and I think this is why I've lacked updating in so long...I'm going to push through and hopefully when we get to the Great Game my enthusiasm will have returned since that is one of my favourite episodes.

"Emily" She faintly heard the voice beside her whisper. Although it wasn't really a whisper. And whoever it was, wasn't really beside her. It sounded as if it was a shout, coming from a great distance. It reminded her of the time she had run off with excitement at the fair. She had been only four at the time and had spent the day with her brother and Jim. They had treated her to candy floss, ice cream the fizzy drink her mother had never allowed her to have at home. Her oversized t shirt, fresh that morning, had ended up covered with stains from her treats and a few splotches of mud here and there from having fallen over in her haste to see everything.

"Emily." She had run as fast as her little legs could take her, dodged through the crowds of people, only stopping to pet a dog that was the same height as her. She had run so far that she had reached the end of the fair. The land beyond was dull and boring, no rides to enjoy, no games to play. There were no people either. She had turned to ask the boys where the rest of the fair had gone, surely it was bigger than that? But they were not there.

"Emily?" She looked to her left. Then looked to her right. She did not like that they were not right next to her, or even in sight. Suddenly the music, the people, the bright lights had become too much. Instead of wandering back into the crowds, she obeyed the one rule Seb had given her that day. 'If you can't find us at any time...Stay where you are. Don't talk to anyone, don't go off with anyone. Stay near the bright lights and don't move. We will find you.'

"Emily?" She had sat down on the grass, in between an empty crisp packet and long forgotten ice cream cone someone had dropped hours before. She sat and waited. Many people had looked at her as they had passed. Some had even stopped to ask if she was alright. She had nodded to them and told them she wasn't allowed to talk to strangers before looking away to the ground, hoping her brother and his friend would find her soon.

"Emily!" It had started to go dark and she had been feeling lonely for a little while when a paw rested on her knee. The dog she had met earlier was standing in front of her looking at her with it's head tilted. The owner, who had been taken aback by such a young girl being by herself at a fair had been dragged over by the dog. He had asked if she was alright, was she lost. She gave the same answer. 'I'm not allowed to talk to strangers' with a nod before looking down at the ground.

"Emily!" This time however the man did not move away. He moved forward towards her, and crouched down before her. He lifted her chin up with a gentle finger, before offering her the lead of the dog. "My Sebastian doesn't always take kindly to children. Or anyone for that matter. But every once in a while he finds someone he likes."

"His name is Sebastian?" She had asked. It was only now, upon hearing that name, did she want to cry. Her brother had not found her as he had promised he would. Maybe she could go and live with this gentle stranger and his dog who still rested his paw on her knee and looked at her, his head still tilted, as if she was the best thing in the world.

"It is indeed." He smiled tenderly at her response.

"That's my brothers name. But I don't want him to be my brother anymore. He promised if I got lost, he'd come and find me and he hasn't. He'll go home without me and my Mum will be happy."

His eyebrows had creased in confusion at her babbling. But she had started to stroke the dog's paw, so he gave her a moment, his hand still reaching to her for her to take the lead.

"Sweetheart, how about you look after my Sebastian and I'll try finding your Sebastian? How does that sound?"

"He'll have gone home." She whispered as the first tear finally fell down her cheek. The dog whined and lay down before her, his chin taking the place of his paw.

"I doubt it. Now, you hold on to my dog, and I promise I'll be back with your brother before you know it." He gave her no time to argue. He placed the handle of the lead next to her and backed away slowly. His dog didn't even look around to see where he had gone, just continued to watch the girl before him.

"Emily!" It hadn't taken her long to start stroking the dog again. It had started with the top of his head, travelling down to his ears before he turned over onto his back. Emily had never owned a dog before but she supposed he had wanted her to scratch his belly. It did not take long for her to do so. His tongue fell from his mouth and if she stopped for even a second he would tilt his head towards her as if to ask why she had stopped.

"Emily!" She could hear her name being called again. But she paid no mind to it as the dog sat up now and began licking her face until she giggled. She giggled so hard the tears turned from sad to happy.

"Emily!" The voice was louder now. But she couldn't look to see who was calling her. Her eyes were shut tightly as she didn't really like the idea of him licking her eyeballs.

"Emily!" She recognised the voice. Only now it wasn't just a whisper. It was a shout, a frightened shout that made Sebastian stop licking her face, made Emily stop giggling and wipe away the drool with her hand.

"Gran?" She shouted back. The dog beside her began to bark as if he was calling to her Grandmother too. "Gran?" She called again, as did the dog.

"Emily!" There, suddenly, was her Gran, pushing her way through what was left of the crowd. An upset looking human Sebastian being dragged along behind her. They were both being led by the stranger. "Oh Emily!" Her Gran had dropped her brothers wrist from her grip and ran towards the young girl. Scooping her up in her arms when she had reached her. "Oh Emily, we were so worried."

And just like that, the afternoon had been forgotten in Emily's mind. "But I've had the best day Gran. I've eaten chocolate ice cream, and candy floss and more ice cream, and made friends with Sebastian." At the mention of his name, the dog started to wag his tail. The young girl wiggled free from the embrace of her Grandmother and began to pet her new friend again.

"Emily!" She had had such an exciting time that she had fallen asleep not long after. She had, according to her brother, been carried home by the gentleman that had found her, been fussed over non stop by their Grandmother, and had found such a good friend in the dog that he had not left her side until the following morning long before Emily had awoken.

"Emily!" For the next year and a half, the gentleman who had found her invited her over for dinner every now and then and even allowed her to accompany him on walks with his dog who Emily had fallen for. But everyone suspected the dog had fallen for her too, so no one had raised any suspicions whenever she told her brother she was going to visit the better Sebastian.

"Emily!" The following Christmas, her favourite dog in the whole world had been hit by a car. It hadn't been painful for him, they had told her, he passed straight away from the impact. But Emily had spent a whole month upset, still got upset sometimes when she thought about him. There were no more walks for her with the Gentleman, no dog to lick her face and knock her over in the process. But she still sent and received a Christmas card and an email every now and then from the Gentleman.

"Emily!" There it was again. That faint shout in the distance. Or was it really a whisper now? She could no longer tell her head felt so fuzzy.

She could have sworn at that moment, she felt a paw on her knee.

"Emily!" The voice was right next to her ear now, forcing her to open her eyes as slowly as possible. She could feel a faint throbbing in her head and something warm on the side of her forehead. Gently, she turned her head to her left. Beside her was Sarah, her mouth gagged and her hands bound together, looking at her with terrified eyes. She turned to her right to find John in the same situation only he was talking to someone. Neither of them were close enough to have spoken in her ear.

She glanced around at their surroundings. A dark tunnel lit only by fire burning in a dustbin. Wonderful.

She focused in on what was being said. It was only as she laid eyes on the woman in front of John did she recognise the woman from the theatre. Or was it? She had been wearing so much face paint then and that head dress on top of her - was she wearing sunglasses?

"It tells you that they're not really trying." She finished holding a gun, it's barrel pointed at John. As John breathed heavily Emily could not help herself.

"Why are you wearing sunglasses?" It seemed as if every head in the room snapped towards her at her words. Which had to make her question; why wasn't she gagged like Sarah? And if she moved carefully she could feel the rope tying her to the chair was somewhat lose.

"I beg your pardon Miss Cooper?" Oh how lovely, their kidnappers knew her name.

"Why are you wearing sunglasses? It's not the Bahamas down here you know." The woman's mouth turned into a thin line as she attempted not to speak whatever was on her mind. Instead she turned her focus back to John , the gun still pointed at him.

It was only now that Emily realised Sherlock was not with them. Where the hell was he and why hadn't he saved them yet?

"Do I have what?" John all but snapped at the woman gaining Emily's attention again.

"The treasure." She replied cooly.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"We don't know about your bloody treasure!" Emily was practically shouting now. "John, he said that at the door. Something about treasure, anyone would think they're pirates!"

"We don't know what you're talking about." John added and looked at Emily. An almost pleading look upon his features for her to stay quiet.

"I would prefer to make certain." The woman turned to her men. Apparently this was a que for one of them to reveal the crossbow from the circus. "Everything in the West has its price; and the price for one of their lives..." Emily met the gaze of the woman standing in front of her as she continued. "Information."

The two men approached the girls and lifted them in their chairs. Sarah began to cry out through her gag, but as Emily was bought closer to the crossbow she remained silent. Somehow she would make sure it was her that got hit by the arrow and not Sarah.

Positioned before the crossbow, Emily began to wiggle her feet around, desperately trying to do the same to her wrists.

"I need a volunteer from the audience!" The woman turned and walked towards them slowly. "Ah, not one but two volunteers? Thank you ladies. Yes, you'll both do very nicely." As if she was back in the theatre, she took a knife out and stabbed the sand bag.

Beside her Sarah was becoming more frantic. And Emily had to admit her heart rate was rising.

"Ladies an gentlemen. From the distant moonlit shores of NW1, we present for your pleasure Sherlock Holmes' pretty companions in a death-defying act."

"Please!"

The woman came closer to Sarah and took something from her pocket. Emily couldn't make out what it was from her seat, but she suspected she was going to have one as well.

"You've seen the act before." She stepped closer to Emily reaching into her pocket and placing a black origami lotus flower on her lap. Gently, she ran a finger down Emily's cheek. "How dull for you, we noticed you yawn. You know how it ends. Perhaps you always did."

"I'm not Sherlock Holmes!" John shouted frantically.

Their kidnapper stood up straight and turned to face the Doctor. "I don't believe you."

"You should, you know." At the sound of the Consulting Detectives voice Emily felt herself breath a sigh of relief. Help was here and John and Sarah would be out of there soon. She could feel the rope around her ankles loosening. Despite how much it was hurting her, she continued to wiggle. "Sherlock Holmes is nothing at all like him." The rope was getting looser with every second. But that didn't stop the sand escaping the bag. "How would you describe me, John? Resourceful? Dynamic? Enigmatic?"

"Late?" John muttered tetchily.

"How about you Emily? Handsome? Charming?"

"Bit of a wanker."

"Ignore her, she's got concussion. That's a semi-automatic. If you fire it, the bullet will travel at over a thousand metres per second."

"Well?"

"Well..." There was the sound of someone being whacked and a grunt. Oh how Emily wished she could see what was happening. She was getting a little sweaty now and promised herself if she did make it out alive she would have the most wonderful bubble bath when she returned home. Perhaps eat some Wotsits while she soaked and relaxed.

"...The radius curvature of these walls is nearly four metres. If you miss, the bullet will ricochet. Could hit anyone. Might even bounce off the tunnel and hit you." His tone was almost teasing.

At the sound of something crashing to the floor, Emily jumped and paused in her actions. If the sudden darkness was anything to go by, Sherlock had kicked over one of the dustbins. But that didn't stop her from seeing Sherlock bending down beside her and helping untie the ropes.

"Emily, how do you get yourself into such situations?" He mumbled to her, out of breath and sounding concerned.

"No idea. Help Sarah first."

"When I've untied you, you can help Sarah. Perhaps when this is over -" But whatever he had been about to say was cut short when her flatmate disappeared from sight. His grunts made her think he was being strangled, or perhaps he'd just left her to it altogether. She sighed to herself when she realised he had not even finished freeing her. And why had he been untying her ankles and not her wrists?

"Bloody men." She whispered to herself and started wiggling her ankles again. Finding she was a tad more free than before. "Sarah stop looking at the crossbow." But she could not draw the attention of the other woman away from the weapon. It was only now that she looked at the object herself did she realise what was really happening with it. A third thug, who also wore sunglasses, was stood behind the crossbow, rhythmically moving it from side to side. Not even their kidnapper knew which girl the arrow would hit, it was a game of chance.

As John edged closer still stuck to the chair, Emily wiggled faster, she was almost there. She chanced a glance at the sandbag. It was almost empty.

Just as Sarah began to lose hope from her expression, Emily's foot became free. With all her remaining strength she kicked Sarah's chair from her awkward angle and pushed the female Doctor to the floor. The thug behind the crossbow stopped, the arrow pointed at Emily. She thought she could make out a nasty grin on his face, but she closed her eyes and thought of her Gran. If she was going to die tonight she wouldn't think anything negative. I'll get to see Gran again, finally. Emily thought to herself. And Sebastian. She had forgotten about the feeling of a paw on her knee but now she thought about it there had been no explanation for that. Must be the concussion. What if Timothy Pecker is waiting for me too? She shook her head. No bad thoughts. Not now.

Something whizzed past her head, loud enough to make her gasp, but still she did not open her eyes. She pictured her Gran, Sebastian the dog, the gentleman, her Sebastian, her Jim. All of the people who made her smile as a child.

"Emily." She smiled now upon thinking about the fair again and how much fun it had been and how her Gran had informed her she was never going to one again. But Seb had snuck her out three years later, just to take her and see her smile.

"Emily." The voice was back again. But now, it really was right beside her. She could feel the breath on her cheek as the speaker inhaled and exhaled deeply. "It's alright now. You can open your eyes. It's over." She recognised the deep voice of the Detective and once more slowly opened her eyes. He had freed her and was kneeling next to her, studying her face closely for what reason she was unsure. Without thinking she moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Inhaling his scent as he cautiously wrapped his around her waist and helped her stand.

She pulled back to face him as they began to move to the exit. John helping Sarah just ahead of them.

"Why were they wearing sunglasses in a darkened tunnel?" She questioned.

His only response was a smile. Only Emily would ask that question at a time like this.

FB