Chapter XVII

Weeks have passed since Shadow had awoken. During the weeks Sherlock would allow Sakura to go and visit him at the hotel. Normally when she would visit, she would normally talk to him. She would usually tell him about Sherlock and John behind their backs. Usually after the visits she would always see Dr. Midori always checking him.

There was something that was bothering the detective, it was about Midori. He didn't know what it was, but he just couldn't shake it.

As for leads on who Medusa really is, both Sherlock and N.C.I.S had no luck in finding her. They couldn't find any connections what-so-ever. They couldn't find alibi's, they couldn't even find witnesses that have seen her face. They would ask the Humming Bird or the Mocking Bird AKA, Minatsuki and Toto however there was no way to get information out of them without drawing blood.

They were at a dead end; Sherlock had to admit, she was good, however he knew she wasn't that good.

That night Sherlock looked through the criminal records that he had snuck out of Scotland Yard. He looked through each one, trying to find anything on Medusa. However he couldn't find anything on her. He threw to the folder and buried his hands in his hair. John had come into the room after hearing the noise.

"Any luck?" John asked, while picking up the folder. "No!" he immediately said, "I looked at these bloody records from top to bottom, and none of them have anything on Medusa, not even a juvie record!"

"God, so you couldn't find anything either?"

"Do I need to repeat myself? Did Gibbs manage to find anything?"

"I just off the phone with him, he couldn't find anything either."

"What about the passcode? Did Shadow say anything?"

"No, he still refuses to tell them."

Sherlock let out a groan in frustration after hearing the news. "Damn it." Sherlock said, "We're running out of time!" Sherlock said, "April 20th is tomorrow, and we're at a dead end!" "Yeah and not only that, there is a problem with Sakura's head and for all we know it can permanently damage her brain." John said as he took his seat across from him. Sherlock rubbed his head and let out another groan.

"There has to be something, that we didn't look over."

Pretty soon, the detective felt the presence of someone else in the room.

He turned to see Alice standing there at the doorway; John nearly fell out of his chair at the sight of her. "Ms. Liddell." Sherlock said, "What brings you here this evening?" "It's about Medusa." Alice had stated, "She's about to make her move." "Are you serious?" Alice nodded her head, "I don't know when, but she will." "Is there anything else you came here to tell us?"

Alice turned away from them and let out a sigh. "Well, Sakura can't see Shadow anymore." Alice said to them. John was the only one who was a bit shock. "Why can't she?" Sherlock asked.

Alice had then explained it to them.

"If Sakura were to go and see Shadow, Medusa would have an opportunity to capture her since she would most likely try to get her when she's away from you guys. There is also a possibility that she might try to capture Shadow again; if his location is discovered… Well I'd rather not let that happen."

John than protested, "But they're like brother and sister! They haven't seen each other since god know's how long! Why can't you just give her-"

"Protection?" Alice asked cutting him off the doctor, "No, it's too risky for us to do that."

"Why?"

"Because, if we ask Scotland Yard to protect her, she'll bribe officers to bring them to her, or send one of her psychos disguised as an officer to retrieve her.

Sherlock & John sat there for about a minute. "So than, in other words Sakura is under house arrest?" Sherlock asked. All Alice could do was nod her head. "I'm sorry, but there's no other way to do this." she said, "She might not like the idea of being caged again, but it's the only way we can keep her safe."

Just than Envy came inside.

"Hey Alice." He said, "Einstein just called. I think he's found the problem with her head."

"I'll be right there." She said to him, "Excuse me." With that she left the flat of 221B. Both Sherlock & John heaved a deep sigh. "Well this is just terrific." Sherlock said sarcastically, "I didn't think they would resort to house arrest."

John agreed, "Yeah, the problem is, how are we supposed to explain this to Sakura?"

"I don't think we need to." The detective said. At first the former doctor was confused until he turned around and saw Sakura standing there with a sad look in her eyes.

-New Scotland Yard Prison-

Toto whistled to himself as he threw a ball up in the air, and Minatsuki was drawing circles on the floor from where she sat. The two officers which guarded them looked at the two with disgust. "Have they said anything?" An officer asked as he came to join the other two. "No." the other replied, "These two haven't said a word." "It's bloody creepy if you ask me." The third officer said.

"Yeah, they just stared off into space and go into a world where everything is just perfect for people like them."

"They're both monsters if you ask-"

All of a sudden, the three officers just exploded and the walls were stained with blood. Minatsuki chuckled to herself as she cut the cuffs with her blood whips. She threw the necklace back at Toto as she destroyed his cuffs. "Gets them everytime." Toto said with a smile. He placed the necklace back around his neck.

Minatsuki chuckled, "Well, they don't call me the 'Hummingbird' for nothing."

Toto gave himself a large cut on his hand with his hidden blade; a scythe formed from his blood. "Well than…" Toto said, cutting the lock. "Shall we go and fetch?"

"Yes… Let's…" Minatsuki replied. They opened the door, walked over the corpses and blood and made their escape.

-Abandon Factory, Downtown London-

Alice and Envy entered the lab where the boy named Jeremy stayed (Most of the time). "What took you so long?" Jeremy asked the both of them. "Blame it on the rush hour." Envy said to him. "What did you find Jeremy?" Alice had asked.

Jeremy had then explained.

"Well I managed to get back into the Baskerville network, and I had to say, the hunch that we had before was right on the money. The scientists were performing an experiment on Sakura since she and Shadow were sold into Baskerville. I managed to find what they did to her head but…"

His words started to trail off. "However?" Alice said. Jeremy took a deep breath before continuing, "Well the thing is, what they put inside her brain is only a prototype, so I'm not sure how long she has."

"Show us what they were working on." Alice said. "Alright, but it's not gonna be pretty." Jeremy replied. With that he brought up the project. Both Envy and Alice's eyes widened in horror from what they read.

"Oh my god…" Was the only thing Alice could say.

-221B Baker Street-

After Sherlock and John found Sakura listening on the conversation, both explained it to her so that she could understand the situation. Soon after they finished, Sakura had a sad look on her face. "So then… I can't see him anymore?" she asked the detective. "For the time being, you can't." Sherlock had replied, "I know you haven't seen him for a long time but it's only temporary, you'll see him again before-"

"He wanted to tell me something." Sakura said cutting him off.

"What?"

"Yesterday, he tried to tell me something important, I think."

"Why couldn't he tell you yesterday?"

"Well, Midori was there and she asked me to leave. Shadow told me to go back to him… Well today."

"Well, I'm sorry, but you can't see him for now."

Sakura was about to say something to him, but instead she turned away and asked, "Can I be alone for a bit?" "Of course." Sherlock said. With that he got up and exited the room.

He rejoined John in the living room, who was now looking on his computer to find anything on Medusa. He took a sit across from the former doctor. "How did she take it?" John asked the detective, "Surprisingly enough, she took it well." Sherlock replied, looking through the records again.

"Well, I'm glad she understands."

"Right, I can only imagine how Shadow will take it though."

"He probably won't take it well."

"Did you manage to find anything on Medusa?"

"No, there's nothing on her except their blogs about her all over the internet."

"Blogs? She has blogs?"

"Yeah, she's pretty popular, but everyone is treating her like she's a legend."

"So in other words, no ones she exists?"

"From what the blogs say about her, I would say no, they don't know."

Sherlock had again let out another groan. "Damn it!" he said, "There has gotta be something! There has to be something we missed!" "Maybe Medusa is one of the perfect criminals." John said.

"No she couldn't be one of them. Even perfect criminals have their flaws."

"Except for Moriarty."

"Well, he's different."

"But Sherlock, you never maybe she could be one of them."

"That is highly unlikely. There has to be something! Something we missed! Something that we didn't bother to loo-"

The detective words started to trail off. His eyes widened in realization.

"Oh." Was the only word he could say, "OH!" "Sherlock what is it?" The doctor asked.

"Oh, that's what we missed! She thinks she is so clever but she isn't! Oh, she thought she could hide it, but she is so wrong!"

Suddenly, Sherlock's phone let out a ringtone. He went over to his phone and saw that the number was blocked. He unlocked his phone and read the message.

The birds have escaped their cage. Protect her at all costs.

-Hell Butterfly

Sherlock stood there in silence after reading the message sent by, "Hell Butterfly". John had soon broken the silence, "What's wrong?" "It's Minatsuki & Toto." the detective said, "They both escaped." John's eyes had widened at the news. "Your… Your kidding right?" John asked. Sherlock shook his head, and showed his friend the message.

"Oh my god…" John had said, "What do we do?" "We need to tell Gibbs what has happened, and protect Sakura." Sherlock replied.

"Well that should be easy to-"

Soon they both realized something. "It's quiet." John said, "Too quiet." John said, "Too quiet." Sherlock added. They both darted towards Sherlock's room. They opened the door to a window opened, and the breeze came in. The two dogs gave out a worried whimper.

"She's gone!" John exclaimed. Sherlock walked over to the bed and saw her phone just sitting there. "Her phone's here." He said picking it up.

"Damn it! Minatsuki and Toto are looking for her, so where would she go?!"

John said.

Sherlock thought about it, where she had might be. Until he had soon realized…

"Yesterday, he tried to tell me something important…"

He had soon realized where she was. "The hotel!" he cried out, "She's going back to the hotel!" "The hotel!? Why?!" John exclaimed. "Yesterday, Shadow needed to tell her something but he never got the chance to!" The detective replied, "They were both interrupted by Midori, that's why he couldn't tell her!"

"But why would Midori do that!?"

"I have a pretty good idea why. Come on John, we have to go after!"

"Right!"

With that, they both ran out of the flat.

-Meanwhile-

Sakura got off the bus and looked around the street she was on. She took out a map and looked for the hotel where Shadow had stayed. "Ah, there it is." She thought to herself. She placed the map back in her skirt pocket and walked in the direction where the hotel was.

She soon had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She shot her head in all sorts of directions, wondering who was there. She began to hear laughter just right behind her. She soon felt someone, breathing close to her ear.

"Hello, Princess Bitch~"

She turned and let out a shriek after seeing who was.

-At that moment-

Shadow had suddenly felt an uneasy feeling which caused him to sit upright, and startle his friend Andrew.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Andrew asked. Shadow had then got out of the bed, and grabbed his sword, put on his shirt and hoodie. "Whoa, Shadow what's your deal!?" Andrew exclaimed, "You're still injured you kn-"

"It's Sakura!" he said cutting him off, "She's in trouble! I have to go to her now!"

And just like that he ran out of the room, and straight out of the hotel, ignoring the yells from N.C.I.S and Andrew.

Sakura ran for her life, trying to get as far from the deadmen as possible. As the deadmen chased her, they everything that was in their way; laughing while they did it. "We can play tag all day your highness!" Minatsuki cried out, "But we all know who's going to end up winning!" Toto added.

The child felt her body slowly lose energy from exhaustion, but she knew she couldn't let them catch her. She turned the corner only to hit someone and fall backwards. She looked up to see a light blue hedgehog who had a scar across his chest; he wore a black vest ripped design brown pants and black sneakers.

"You're going to have to come with us Ms. Kinomoto." The hedgehog calmly stated. Sakura started to back up from the hedgehog.

"If you are to resist I should have no choice but to do things the difficult way."

Sakura immediately got up and started to run again.

"After her!" she heard the hedgehog cry out, "What the fuck do you think we're doing!" Toto & Minatsuki shouted as they regained their pursuit.

Sakura ran to the main road which had a steep hill. She didn't know what to do until she heard-

"SAKURA! DOWN HERE!"

She looked to see Sherlock & John at the bottom of the hill.

"SHERLOCK!" she shouted as she began to run down towards them. As she ran down the hill, she felt something around her ankle, which caused her to fall forward.

"HAVE A NICE FALL, PRINCESS BITCH!"

Just like that, Sakura fell hard to the floor, and continued to roll down the hill while crying out in agony.

"SAKURA!" John & Sherlock both shouted as they had no choice but to watch her tumble.

Suddenly they saw Shadow (Who wore his hood) jump right into the street. He grabbed Sakura, pulled out his sword and just shoved it into the street and managed to stop her from tumbling. Both Sherlock and John were shocked to see him there.

"What in the hell is he doing here!?" Sherlock mumbled as he started to run up the hill to them; John ran after up the hill after him.

Shadow took Sakura down halfway down the hill were it was flat. Shadow looked over her injuries. She was covered in her own blood from head to toe. There were cuts and bruises all over her body and her nose had most of her blood. From the looks of it some of her bones were broken.

"Sakura! Sakura, say something please!" Shadow said securing her in his arms. He saw her open her blood red eyes. "Sha...Dow…?" she said with her raspy voice. "Sakura stay with me alright!" Shadow said to her, "Don't shut those eyes again!"

He soon saw Sherlock and John who had ran up the hill to where they were. "JOHN!" Shadow said, gently putting her on the ground, "Thank god you're here! Please, you have to help her!" John ran over to her and looked over her wounds.

"Damn!" John said, "I can't do this without the proper equipment!"

"Well we have to help her somehow!" Shadow cried out.

"In any case we have to get her out of here!" Sherlock said as he saw the light blue hedgehog, and the two birds approaching them. Shadow picked up Sakura and carried her in his arms. As they were about to run, there that had suddenly stood in was the witch Medusa.

"Hello there you three." She said to them, "I'm sorry but I'll take the girl now."

"Tell us what you're planning on doing with her!" Sherlock said

"I'm afraid that's none of your concern." She replied, "Now my dear Shadow hand over the girl now."

Shadow placed Sakura down against the wall. "Over my… Dead… Body!" Shadow yelled out as he charged at Medusa with his sword. Medusa dodged him and within her hand she materialized a sword. She made her move towards Shadow. She swung her sword towards Shadow, and he swung his; they had both clashed letting sparks drop to the ground.

The swords continued to clash until Medusa managed to disarm & tripped him and he fell flat on his back. Medusa was about to stab him right in the arm, when he kicked her right in the face, knocking off her hood in the process. Shadow had froze when he saw a familiar face.

"You… Your…" Shadow said with his words trailing off.

"Vector plate."

All of a sudden Shadow went flying back right into John, and they both fell flat on their backs.

"Shadow! John!" Sherlock shouted.

"We're okay!" John said.

Sherlock turned to Medusa, to see the very face that Shadow had saw.

"It's just as I thought…" Sherlock said.

"Your Medusa… Doctor Midori."

-End of Chapter Seventeen-