Author's note- Guys... I cannot possibly convey just how happy I am. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. 88 reviews, over 16,000 views and so much support its unreal! I'm just a 16 year old girl trying to balance my GCSE's over my fandom life, so to have people say such nice words about this story honestly keeps me going. I'm glad you like the character development. And I assure you all that there are many, many chapters to come! Thanks for sticking by me and I apologise for the length of this author's note.

I did however want to say that if I hadn't made it clear, this takes place before The Reichenbach Fall and just slightly after The Hounds of Baskerville. I will be writing in The Reichenbach Fall as a whole load of chapters, I promise I will stay as true to the show as I can, but I will be changing things and playing with the episode to suit my story and fit my characters in.

Thank you and keep reviewing!

Disclaimer- Nothing is mine. But chapter 30 now though, can we just, wow.

Chapter 30

The next few days passed peacefully. Lucy hadn't run off anymore, but had still cut every day, sometimes more than once. It was obvious she was getting worse. Sherlock always knew when she had self harmed; it was usually during the day as he had taken to sleeping in her room each night- which seemed to calm her. He told John when she had as well, and although initially John was upset at how regular it was, he was in a way glad that they could keep up to date with how often it was occurring so that maybe they could aim to reduce it. Sherlock had been a nightmare during the day when he wasn't doing anything- he had no new interesting cases, as whenever Lestrade brought a case round, the consulting detective usually solved it within ten minutes, with fifteen minutes at the most. On one particularly rare, sunny day, the three of them decided to go to the park that Sherlock had taken Lucy to. It was quiet again, but it was a welcome break from the vibrant, bustling city.

The day after Lucy had run off, Sherlock had phoned Mycroft to demand a decent counsellor that wouldn't be too idiotic. The elder Holmes' had immediately agreed and set about getting an appointment for the troubled teenager with his personal counsellor- who was supposedly very good; Sherlock had snorted at this but he was honestly glad that Lucy would be able to get help.

Lucy, however, was terrified at the thought of actually seeing a counsellor. Having to spill all of her deepest, darkest secrets to a complete stranger wasn't a particularly appealing thought. But... she wanted to get better. She wanted to be able to wear short sleeves again. And as she sat in the waiting room in the building where her new counsellor's office was situated, she found herself struggling to control her breathing. Panicking slightly, she scratched at her arms in an attempt to control the emotions. Both Sherlock and John had gone with her and would wait for the whole hour while she was there. It was the first appointment, so it was more of an initial assessment and chat about what the problems were, so Sherlock and John would go in with her for the first ten maybe fifteen minutes.

"Lucy Patterson?" A friendly female voice said as she walked out of her office. Lucy, Sherlock and John all looked up at her. "Hi, I'm Lisa; would you all like to come through?" She said as she looked at them all with a smile of her lips. They all stood up and followed her into her office.

"Sherlock Holmes," The great consulting detective said with a sceptical look on his face, holding out a hand which Lisa shook.

"John Watson," The doctor also shook her hand with a kinder look on his face than Sherlock.

"And you must be Lucy," Lisa said as she also shook Lucy's hand. It was too formal for the teenager's liking, but she guessed that the counsellor was just trying to be polite. "Sit down, please."

"What I want to do is get some information on what's been going on these past few months and the problems that have come with it if that is okay?" Lisa said to Lucy, "I'll just take a few notes for my use. Whatever we say in here is completely confidential. I don't share any information you tell me with anyone else. I may take a few notes just to help me work out what may be best to do and for me to refer to. I will only share information if I am concerned that you are of a great danger to yourself. Mr Mycroft Holmes has asked for me to come immediately to either Sherlock or John or himself with these concerns towards your safety though okay?"

"That's fine," Lucy nodded, "What would you consider a danger?"

"Well, if you confide in me that you have- for example- a bottle of pills that you will overdose on and we don't manage to solve anything or if I'm still worried, then I will be medically obliged to tell your family." Lisa explained, "Anything relating to your immediate safety is a danger. Self harm isn't though many think it is."

"Right... thanks." The teenager sighed.

"So Lucy, what has been going on these past few months?" The counsellor asked, and although Lucy didn't trust her, she thought it was best to be truthful. Lucy took in a deep breath; Sherlock (who was sitting next to her) took her hand in his in hopes of comforting her slightly. She took his hand and squeezed it tightly. John was concerned as he looked at Sherlock's face, the consulting detective clearly wasn't keen on Lisa- but he was never keen on professionals such as counsellors and psychiatrists. The ex army doctor gave him a warning look in case Sherlock decided it was a good idea to voice Lisa's life story; but Sherlock already had a pep talk from him before they left. John made it very clear that Sherlock was not to say anything, and that it wasn't all about him and this time they were here for Lucy so he told Sherlock that he better not say anything that may be regarded as rude and... well he basically told Sherlock to not be his usual self.

"It started with my parent's supposed 'death' several months ago. I ended up living on the street... and started cutting to deal with it all. I barely ate. I stopped going to school several weeks before. But it was all rather uneventful until I got attacked by a stranger; I had to go to the doctor's as my stomach had been badly slashed. That's where I met John. He took me back to his as he didn't want me on the street. And I kind of became a permanent fixture at Baker Street with Sherlock and John. The cutting was just getting worse though. And then- because Sherlock's a detective- I got caught up in one of the cases. I was kidnapped, attacked, fed lies and saw shocking truths about my parents. I almost committed suicide when it all came to a head. I found out my parents were alive and that they didn't give a shit about me," a tear started to trail down Lucy's young face, "they got put in prison. But then the criminal that started it all kind of kidnapped me again and I had to fake my suicide in front of them to stop being killed." Lucy rushed to summarise it, not wanting to linger on the pain of it all too long. Another tear fell and she cursed herself for being so pathetic. "I'd prefer to not talk about it at the moment." She added, as Sherlock ran his thumb over her hand in soothing circles.

"Okay Lucy, thank you." Lisa murmured, and Lucy was surprised at her professionalism, but was extremely grateful for it. "Mr Holmes and Doctor Watson, I understand you were the ones that wanted Lucy to get help. What is it you're concerned about?"

"We're concerned about how bad the self harm has got," John said before Sherlock had a chance to open his mouth, "We know it's getting worse and it's becoming more and more frequent. We're concerned with Lucy's eating habits- because although she struggled on her own- I want her to be able to eat better." He paused, thinking. John felt bad about saying his concerns in front of Lucy, but she shot him a smile- saying that it was all fine.

"We're concerned with some suicidal thoughts as well," Sherlock finally got to speak, "Although not an immediate danger, we are worried that thoughts of suicide will perhaps return if she doesn't get... help." He said the word with distaste. "Although how you are to solve any of the problems will be an absolute..."

"Sherlock..." John warned sternly.

"Fine. But how is she to help with Lucy's eating if she can't control Mycroft's daily binges of food?" Sherlock quipped. Lucy laughed, but John rolled his eyes instead.

"It's okay John, I've heard a lot about Sherlock Holmes," Lisa said with a twinkle in her eye, somehow understanding the humour behind what the consulting detective had said. Sherlock looked surprised, but pleased nonetheless that she heard a lot about him. Lisa turned to Lucy, "What is it that you personally would like to get out of these sessions if you wish to carry on seeing me?"

"Well..." Lucy sighed, thinking, "I do really want to try and stop cutting, but I don't know if I can..."

"We can work on that if you like."

"And I want to be able to move on from everything that's happened with my parents and all that happened these past weeks." Lucy admitted.

"Okay, brilliant." Lisa smiled. "Sherlock and John you can wait outside now, we will be about twenty minutes maybe." The two stood up. Sherlock shot Lucy a reassuring glance as they left.

There was a brief silence.

"Do you have any questions that you wish to ask?"

"How often do I see you?"

"At the moment, Mycroft request a starting point of two sessions a week whatever two days you want."

"How is Tuesday and Saturday?" Lucy suggested.

"Sounds good." Lisa jotted the dates down. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know..." Lucy was nervous again.

"Well why don't we talk about the cutting?"

"Okay..."

"Why do you do it?"

"Because it helps. It numbs the emotions when there's too much; and when I'm numb it helps me feel something. It gives me relief, a distraction."

"Why don't you want to do it anymore?" She asked kindly.

"Because... I can't carry on like this for the rest of my life. I don't want to have to keep covering up my skin. In a way I want to stop, but I also don't because it's one of the few things that keeps me going."

"What triggers it the most?"

"Everything about my parents." Lucy sniffed, feeling the tears coming back, "Knowing that they never gave a damn about me. They were happy to see me kill myself if it meant that they could go up in the world with their criminal activities." And... boom, the tears fell much to the teenager's dismay and embarrassment. "They never loved me. All they said to me was a lie and when I thought they died- at least I thought they loved me. Now they are actually alive and I know they hate me- and it's so much worse than before." She sighed, feeling all the emotions coming out, "And I'm scared that one day I may do something that would cause Sherlock and John to hate me, and I don't know what I'd do without them. I'm scared because I keep hurting and worrying them with me running away and cutting and everything. I can't deal with all of the emotions. I can't!" She furiously brushed away the tears and almost hated Lisa for being so damn professional. There was another silence while Lucy gathered herself. "Can I go?" She whispered, glancing at the clock.

"Of course." Lisa said, understanding. "Just a quick question... how much do you trust me on a scale of one to ten?"

"Two."

"Okay," she smiled, "I'll see you at our next appointment."

"See you," Lucy got up and showed herself out. She gritted her teeth. She thought counselling was supposed to help? Just saying all of that had made her feel so much worse. A tear trickled down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away. Lucy couldn't risk John or Sherlock seeing her crying immediately after or Sherlock would be bound to go storming back in with his coat collar turned up, mentally preparing himself to point out all of Lisa's faults in the loudest voice possible.

Once she came out and walked slowly back into the reception, her two friends jumped to their feet.

"How did it go?" John asked at the same time Sherlock said:

"Do I need to kill her?" Sherlock had been joking- Lucy could tell that from his twinkling blue green eyes. But there was a warning in his voice in case he did need to do something. John shot him an incredulous look, his mouth hanging open.

"Shut up." The usually mild mannered doctor said with a smile on his lips.

"I could make her disappear if necessary." Sherlock mumbled quietly as he fixed his blue scarf around his neck. But John was looking at the teenager, expecting an answer.

"It was fine." Lucy muttered in a small voice. Sherlock narrowed his eyes. He could see that something had happened and that she had been crying- her red rimmed eyes were proof of that. Although he was doubtful that it was Lisa's fault due to the fact that Lucy didn't seem annoyed or angry; she just seemed... sad. Sherlock was about to question further, but he saw John shake his head in a 'she clearly doesn't want to talk about it now' way. So he knew it was best to leave it. If John could tell when to not question, he should trust that as the last thing either of them wanted to do was make her feel worse.

The teenager didn't say a word as Sherlock and John walked outside with her. Breaking the tense silence, Sherlock said that he needed to see Lestrade about a possible case, so he hailed a cab to take them to Scotland Yard. They walked in and headed towards the DI's office, Lucy kept her head down as she was very aware of her red eyes that was a tell tale sign of her upset.

"Have a nice night with Anderson?" Sherlock yelled across the busy room of police officers to Donovan.

"You're a freak." She yelled back.

"At least I didn't give Anderson a..."

"That's enough Sherlock," John quickly interrupted, knowing the information he was about to reveal in a busy room.

"Piss off freak, as if you'd even know about that." Donovan retaliated- she also guessed what he almost said.

Sherlock smirked triumphantly as he opened the door to Lestrade's office without bothering to knock, and Lucy closed the door behind them.

"Thanks for knocking." The DI muttered sarcastically. He proceeded to give Sherlock a set of five old cases that hadn't been cracked. The consulting detective wasn't pleased that they were cold cases, but considering he had no new cases, he reluctantly accepted them.

But Lucy wasn't paying attention. Another tear fell down her cheek. She was so frustrated and angry at herself for continuing to cry, but she couldn't help it. It shouldn't affect her this much. All she did was recount what had happened recently and talk about her parents... but it hurt so much. It stabbed at her heart. Knowing she was never loved by her family was the worst thing, and she was actually scared that Sherlock and John may not like her as much as they say. How could she trust people who say they care if they would just happily drop her for their own benefit?

Keeping her head down, she brushed at her face to keep the tears from falling. Sherlock spotted what she was doing, but really didn't know what to say or do. John hadn't noticed and Lestrade was giving her concerned and worried glances. There was a moments silence once Sherlock had finished what he wanted with Greg.

"Can I speak with Greg alone please?" Lucy said softly and quietly, her voice broken sounding. Sherlock and John looked at her with surprised expressions- but nonetheless, upon seeing Greg Lestrade smile and nod, they left the room.

As soon as they had left, the DI had stood up and came around the other side of his desk; he pulled up a chair next to Lucy and sat back down.

"What happened?" He asked, frowning. Even Lestrade wasn't stupid enough to miss how upset she was. Lucy tried to speak but just felt more tears start to flow, her voice choked. "Come here." Greg murmured as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her in for a hug. She leaned into his warm chest. Actually, she surprised herself wanting to speak to Lestrade, but she felt like she could trust him. He wasn't a counsellor, he said he would be there for her, and she could talk to him about things she may be scared to tell John or Sherlock. She cried into him while he held her, thankfully he said nothing and that was gratefully welcomed.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"No need to apologise." He said as she pulled back.

"It's just..." she took a deep breath; "I had my first counselling session today and it just... made me feel so much worse about everything." She ran a hand through her hair, looking at his eyes, "And I had to talk about my parents and how they trigger the self harm. And... it just made me worry."

"Worry about what?" He queried.

"Well they lied to me; they never loved me and were delighted to be rid of me. And I'm scared... terrified that Sherlock and John will end up hating me. They say they care and that they like me, but I'm scared it will happen again. I'm scared I may push them too far and they will end up hating me. And I don't want that! I don't know what I'd do without either of them." Lucy kept wiping the tears away. Greg considered what she had said.

"First of all, eventually talking about the things that hurt you will make you feel better. It becomes easier to talk about; it becomes less painful with time. You have to keep trying. And for what it's worth, I don't think it's possible for Sherlock or John to hate you. You could never push them that far. They care. Maybe you should tell them that, tell them you're scared that one day it may happen. I know whatever I say will probably not help or change anything, but you need to be honest with them. Keep going to the counselling sessions as they will help in time, but it takes a lot of effort- especially on your part. It won't be easy, I won't lie, but I know you want help deep down." Greg looked at her, worried he'd said the wrong thing.

"Thank you Greg," Lucy whispered, the tears having stopped while he talked. "I feel really bad for making you talk to me, you shouldn't have to feel obliged to or anything..."

"I don't feel obliged at all. In fact, I'm glad you trust me." He said with a grin.

"I'll try and talk to them today... maybe." Lucy mused as they both stood up. Despite the short chat, the troubled teenager felt a lot better. "Thank you." She said gratefully as she hugged him.

"Anytime. I meant what I said last night." He flashed a smile as he showed her out of the office.

She smiled at the DI in amusement when they saw what was going on outside. Lucy and Lestrade strolled over to where Sherlock was having another one sided deduction conversation against Donovan- who was joined by Anderson this time.

"Your wife is cheating on you Anderson, much like you're cheating on her." The consulting detective said loudly. "You're both as bad and stupid as each other."

"She's not cheating!" Anderson said exasperated.

"Of course she is! Why else would she go away for days or even weeks at a time with such short notice? From what I overhead you telling Donovan, she is constantly on her phone- what does that tell you? She isn't texting you so considering she is on the phone excessively, she must be chatting to someone she really likes. Coupled with going away for long times to the same place to visit an 'old friend' makes it blatantly obvious that she's cheating. Mind you, it's probably because she knows about you and Sergeant Donovan..."

"Just stop it, stop being so pathetic." Anderson growled, unsure what else to say.

"He's just a freak, don't bother wasting your breath," Sally muttered.

"At least I don't cheat on people." Sherlock Holmes countered, frustrated with the idiots.

"At least I have someone to cheat on!" Anderson suddenly yelled. Sherlock wasn't too sure what to say to that.

"Don't bother," John warned Sherlock. Greg Lestrade was leaning against the wall, Sherlock was just being his usual self and despite his officer's nasty comments, it hadn't escalated too much yet.

"Oh don't bother backing him up John. He is a pathetic, psychopathic freak who is incapable of human emotions." Sally told him, her voice dripping with spite. But Lucy had had enough.

"He's more of a decent human than you two will even be. Maybe it's jealousy, and that's why you always call him names. A bit adolescent don't you think? To bully in the workplace. He's just stating the obvious to you and surely its better that you know your wife is cheating Anderson than to be oblivious to it for the rest of your 'marriage.'" Lucy said annoyed; she was fed up with the way Sherlock got treated. Glancing at Lestrade, he smirked, proud of the teenager.

"Go cut yourself." Donovan snapped. It was in the heat of the moment, and maybe Lucy had been too harsh- that was going too far. Sally's eyes widened as soon as the words came out of her mouth. The teenager wondered how long it would take before something like that was said, and she was surprisingly unfazed. Pissed off? Yes. But terribly upset? No. Donovan's opinion wasn't important.

But Sherlock wasn't happy at all. As soon as the words were spoken he lurched forwards threateningly, John had to hold him back as they really didn't need a fight. Considering he was smaller, John was rather strong (however, the ex army doctor looked like he would love to rip her guts out.) Lestrade had started forward and placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder in case she either went to attack Donovan or if she needed comfort. By this point, Donovan had started backing off.

"How dare you even think of saying something like that!" Sherlock shouted, "How dare you say it when you know everything she has been through! You're pathetic. You're a disgrace. You are an obnoxious imbecile!" Over all the years of knowing Sherlock, no-one had seen him that angry.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it..." Sally said.

"It's not me you should be apologising to." Sherlock growled.

"Save your breath," Lucy said emotionlessly before Sally had a chance to apologise. "You wouldn't have said it if you didn't have meaning behind it."

"Sherlock, calm down," Lestrade instructed, his face trying to remain professional although he looked rather annoyed. Sherlock stood, and John placed a warning hand on his arm just in case. Lestrade continued: "Quite frankly, I am appalled at you unprofessionalism. That is completely unacceptable- especially in the workplace. You know what happened to her, so I'm shocked that you would even think about that. I'm disappointed. I don't want to see your face around here for a week, so you better sort out your attitude or there'll be more severe consequences. Anderson, you're on a warning." Greg glared at the two, and they seemed to accept their fate- knowing better than to argue as they nodded once before walking off.

Author's note: I'm sorry for how this chapter turned out. But I think the counselling bit needed to be done. It isn't just a filler; I need these chapters to establish more about the characters before I start the next big thing! Thank you for reading!