I am so sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, there is no excuse. I am still writing this, For Science, A Tiny Problem, and Mind Server. Also I will not write anything in any of those that will spoil series 3, my stories really have very little to do with the episodes anyway...

I'm also sorry about this chapter...

Chapter 13

Sherlock shakily got to his feet, his shoulder throbbing from where he fell. His eyes darted to the hard metal door hoping for an escape route, but it had already been sealed. He wondered if the kidnappers had previous experience with runaways.

The taller of the two men grabbed Cora, who put up much less of a fight then he had. Perhaps she was use to the harsh treatment by now, or she was too weak from lack of sleep and food. Eventually she went limp in his hands after struggling, the fight dying out in her over the past few days.

"Get the door Frank." He struggled to carry the girl, her limp weight being more then he expected.

Despite the pain in Sherlock's shoulder he was willing to bolt for it the second the door was open, but once he did he realized the two men didn't bother trying to stop him. It was nothing like the room he had spent the night in, cold damp metal that was beginning to rust, this was one was bright and colorful. Animals and clowns were painted on the walls over vertical blue and yellow stripes. Massive wooden sets laid piled against the walls depicting a variety of scenes. Sherlock wandered up to them, confused why they were taking Cora in here. The metal doors from the previous room remained open now and Sherlock spotted a second set on the opposite wall, locked like the first set had been yesterday, but know he wasn't sure if the doors led to freedom or just another prison.

A bright flash from behind him caught Sherlock off guard. He spun around to find there was various camera equipment set up, accounting for the far better lighting. He finally realized what this room was for. The man that had been carrying Cora had set her down, fumbling through a suitcase filled with frilled little girl clothes and tossing a few pieces at her as he demanded she dressed. The other man tested the flash of the camera a few more times until he forcefully grabbed Cora as she was still changing and propped her on top of a table at the camera's height.

Sherlock ran up to the camera man trying to kick him as hard as he could, that was obviously doing little to no damage. The man merely kicked him aside, starting his set of photographs.

Cora was silent, freshly changed into over revealing clothes that emphasized her age. The other man continued shouting at her to show more skin, trying to coach her into a photographed strip show. Sherlock was furious, he tried climbing up the leg of the table if only to stop and protect her. Finally the man coaching the girl had enough, pushing Sherlock against the wall as he held him by the collar of his shirt.

"You wanna protect her? You have balls kid, I'll give you that, but boss man doesn't seem to mind much what we do with you, so you better watch yourself or you're going to be the one we take pictures of, and trust me, this is the tame stuff you're seeing. We could double our profits with you."

Sherlock spat in his eye with a sneer.

"You little shit!" He grabbed Sherlock by the neck, thrusting him hard onto the table beside Cora who let out a quick scream and scrambled to get out of the way, the camera still flashing pictures. "Think you're real funny don't ya?" His hands were enormous next to Sherlock's body. "Well have had enough you" He began ripping at Sherlock's clothes as he tried kicking away.

The man at the camera stopped momentarily, "We could switch to the boy for a while, that girl has no fight left anyway."

Sherlock was writhing too much for his attacker to get a proper hold on him.

"Stay still or I swear to god I will break both your legs and force you to."

Sherlock froze, his body going limp as tears pricked the sides of his eyes.

"There's a good boy."

Lestrade didn't normally make a habit of going into work early but John had been insistent.

"Kidnappings aren't really our division just so you know John, but I'm going to do my best to find him as soon as possible." Greg pushed the boy foreword with his hand on the back of his shoulders, he didn't particularly want to explain why he was bringing a 6 year old to work with him.

"I know, we'll find him."

Greg had almost made it to his office to hide John away with him when a familiar voice caught him.

"Sir, we have a homicide on 14th streets-" Donovan cut off as Lestrade turned around, revealing his tiny companion. "And who's this now?" her voice changed to a more child friendly one as she kneeled down to eye level with John, not recognizing him in the slightest.

"I'm- uh, watching him for the day." Lestrade managed to get out, his hand tightening on John's shoulder to tell him to play along.

"You couldn't find a sitter?" Donovan couldn't believe Lestrade really thought it would be safe to bring a child to work.

"It was a last minute thing… but he's very well behaved, I can assure you of that."

"Well you'll have to find someone to watch him here, you can take a kid to a crime scene."

John rolled his eyes.

"I really can't leave him here by himself, he's uh… " Lestrade struggled to find some excuse to bring him, even if it meant leaving him in the squad car, he wasn't about to loose John as well Sherlock. He took Sally's arm and led her a few feet away from John to continue the act, "He's been through a lot of trauma and slips into episodes." It wasn't too far off from the truth in some respects.

Donovan sighed, "alright, we'll find someone to watch him in the car."