DISCLAIMER: I still own none of this
As Julian looked out the window of the taxi, his annoyance slowly disappeared as he watched the streets fly by. It was a completely different experience to looking out the window of a starship or a shuttle; he could see the colours and lights of a London evening streaking past, unlike the monotonous blur of warp travel. Eventually the streaks slowed into people and shop fronts as the taxi came to a stop behind a long cue of cars.
'It'll be a bit of a wait, mate' warned the driver.
'How far is it from here to the fish & chip shop? I can walk.' The driver pulled over and let Julian get out, giving him directions as he counted out the money. Julian thanked him and walked off down the road. It was gradually getting darker and he looked around as more and more lights came on. It was unlike the Promenade on DS9 or any other station he had been to with advertising everywhere, plastered on walls, cars and in shop fronts. He kept walking the way the driver had told him but he started to notice there were less and less people as he walked along. In fact there were very few shops. He stopped and looked back the way he had come, wondering if he'd made a wrong turn somewhere. He turned back and walked towards what looked like the high street he'd just come from but when he got there it was a completely different street. Julian was pretty sure he was lost now.
Ok, no problem, he thought, I'll just get takeaway somewhere else and get in a taxi. Looking up and down the street, he could see a few takeaways, none of which looked particularly trustworthy. As he started walking up the street, however, he saw a sign on the corner with 'FISH N CHIPS' emblazoned on it above an arrow pointing left. Thinking that must be better than any of the high street shops, he turned and walked in the direction the sign pointed. It took him pretty much back the way he had come but at least he knew there was a shop there. The air was colder now and his breath came out in clouds. Julian shivered and pulled Sherlock's coat tighter around him. It had started to rain a little. As he kept walking, he noticed a woman and a man coming down the alley towards him. Julian started to move so the side to let them pass when he heard a noise behind him. He stopped and looked around, nearly jumping when he saw someone else standing only a couple of metres behind him and another two people walking up to them. Their features were obscured in the darkness and they were dressed all in black with a hood over their eyes. Julian was about to say something when he felt the man who had been at the other end of the alley bump into him.
'Hey!' he protested but was cut off as suddenly there was a hand across his mouth and another holding his hands behind his back. Julian struggled and tried to pull free but more hands grabbed on to him and pulled him against the wall, snapping his head painfully back against it. He pulled again and heard the coat tear as he freed his hand. Suddenly there was a flash of metal and his cheek stung as the knife slashed across it. He gave a muffled yelp and stopped struggling, giving his attackers time to get their grip again. The woman he had seen kept the knife up to his face.
'Sherlock, we're trying to help you, stop it. You'll be better off with us.' The woman hissed. Julian looked up into the face of the woman who had spoken and suddenly saw his shock mirrored in her face as she saw that he wasn't Sherlock. She groaned and smacked the hilt of the knife across Julian's face. The people holding him loosened their grip slightly, confused, and the hand was taken away from his mouth. Julian was too busy trying to stop his head spinning to make a noise.
'It's not Sherlock, it's just his coat!'
'How did he get it?'
'He must be one of the others.'
'What should we do?'
'Contact her and see how it's progressed. They'll be there in a couple of hours once they find out, maybe we can beat them there. Don't do anything with him – we can leave him here.' The woman put her knife away.
'Sorry, honey' she purred to Julian before bringing her fist back and punching him square between the eyes. His head snapped back and his eyes unfocused for a moment, before everything went black.
Xxx