Thank you very much for the reviews! I was very happy with the response that I received to the first chapter, and I had no idea that so many of you were looking for a fic like this. I hope I can live up to your expectations.

I am so sorry the update took so long, I was away skiing in Switzerland the whole week and I had no proper internet access there.

Enjoy!

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Sherlock was (unsurprisingly) already sitting by Irene's side. Irene was still unconscious, and was strapped up to an IV, but some colour had returned to her cheeks, and her breathing was now deep and steady instead of shallow.

"How is he?" John asked, as he came up to Sherlock. The detective's face was blank and expressionless as always, but John could see the relief in his eyes.

"She'll live" Sherlock answered in a low tone, and John heard the anger behind it. "But she's been drugged, abused and probably locked up in a cellar without proper food or water."

John nodded, not knowing quite what to say. Instead he grabbed a chair and joined him at Irene's bedside.

"How is she alive?" he asked after a while. "Mycroft assured me she was dead."

Sherlock snorted slightly, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "I expect he did." Sherlock murmured.

"No seriously Sherlock." John countered. "He told me she was beheaded in a prison cell in Karachi. And he specifically told me that his search had been very thorough."

Sherlock sighed. "Mycroft told you the truth. Or at least what he believed to be the truth." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, never dropping Irene's hand. "I went to Karachi and made sure she survived. But I couldn't tell anyone, because people would be on the lookout for her, so I made her a new identity. We never told anyone."

John raised his eyebrows. So the feelings Sherlock had for her went beyond fascination and intrigue then.

"I don't even know why she's in London" Sherlock said after a while. "I told her never to come here, that the risk was too great and yet…"

Sherlock took a deep breath.

"Anyway, the Doctor's say that she might wake up in a few hours. I suppose all we can do until then is wait."

John nodded, and the two of them sat there in silence, both lost in their own thoughts.

Sherlock was wondering who had done this, and was going through several possible scenarios in his head which mostly included him throttling the person responsible. John was marvelling at the way Sherlock seemed to care. He wasn't attempting to conceal the emotion he felt for Irene at all, for god's sake, he was holding her hand as if she was his life line.

Or possibly vice versa.

At that moment Lestrade entered. Compared to the still and almost mournful silence in the hospital, his footsteps sounded loud and disruptive. Sherlock all but glared at him for disrupting the silence.

"Is she okay?" Lestrade said carefully ash he walked over to the detective, who suddenly seemed like a stranger to him. He had thought that he had known the man, at least to a good extent, and yet the detective always managed to do something that completely surprised and astounded the DI. Sherlock having found himself…a girlfriend, or probably something close to that anyway was something that would have made Lestrade burst out laughing any day. And yet now it was no longer a crazy idea, but fierce reality.

He wondered how he could have missed the signs. To be fair, Sherlock barely ever let anyone see his emotions, especially ones that made him vulnerable and …well, normal.

But now that he realised it was there, he couldn't understand how he could have not seen the new gentleness in his eyes, and not have noticed that he had become just that much gentler.

John seemed pretty miffed too though, so Lestrade suspected that he hadn't had any idea about this either. Lestrade almost had to laugh. Typical Sherlock. He may have finally given into his feelings for someone (the fact that the cold and at times inhuman detective had actually developed feelings for someone already astounded him) but he would never run to tell others about it. And yet, Sherlock could have easily denied the fact that he cared for the woman lying in the bed in front of him, or pretended that his feelings for her weren't strong, and yet he was doing neither. His face was as cold as usual, and yet he was holding her hand, and staring at her with such intensity…

"She's going to be alright". John's soft voice managed to break through Lestrade's thoughts. Physically at least."

Lestrade shuddered at John's implications, knowing that it would be heard to mentally recover from an attack as traumatising as this. He suspected that the woman was probably incredibly brave and clever for Sherlock to even look at her; much less care for her, but even the strongest and bravest of minds would have problems dealing with something similar to what she had been through.

He sighed and looked at Sherlock to see how he was taking all this. Other than the expression in his eyes, his face betrayed no emotion, and he sat in his usual cold silence. There was nothing new about that, Lestrade doubted that Sherlock had even heard him and John speak. His attention was focused solely on the woman before him.

Lestrade looked at John discretely and motioned for him to come and follow him. John stood up and tip-toed out of the room.

"How is he taking it?" Lestrade asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

John shrugged. "As he takes everything" he answered. "But he is concerned about her." He grimaced slightly. "I really wouldn't want to be the person who did this to her, because Sherlock is furious."

Lestrade nodded. Sherlock seemed to love this woman, so naturally her attack would trigger feelings of rage and protectiveness inside him. Lestrade himself was furious about the woman's condition as well, but as a policeman, he knew there were other methods of punishing the criminal. Not that he would necessarily mind if Sherlock went and killed the person who had done something like this, but his career and the law made him step in.

"I get that he is angry" he said carefully. He cleared his throat. "But this woman has been attacked, and it's now a criminal case. Which means there is going to be a full police investigation."

John looked suddenly worried.

Irene was supposed to be dead. Sherlock had said that he had made her new ID, but if she had come to London then she had most likely taken it with her, and there was no identification found on her body. They could prove that she existed, at least under her fake alias, but he had already told Lestrade her real name. And Irene was (or had been) something very close to a criminal, who was wanted in many countries. Everyone thought she was dead, and so the interest should have faded, but if this full police investigation revealed her to be alive…

John groaned inwardly. This was not good.

"And we'll need to interrogate her, obviously" Lestrade continued, when John remained silent. "I'll send an officer around when she gets better. Or at least when she's conscious." He looked at John, who barely seemed to be listening.

"Do you think Sherlock will be okay with that? I mean, he's been working with us for years, so he knows the procedure."

At this John finally looked up. "Maybe you should talk it over with him before you do anything" he said, and desperately hoped Lestrade would do so. He wasn't sure how much the DI put his career before friendship or alliance. Perhaps he would make it public that this was Irene Adler, and therefore ruin the whole life Sherlock had created for her. As a member of the police force, that was the duty that came with his job.

But Lestrade had known Sherlock for over 6 years now, and surely that had to count for something? Irene might have been a criminal, but as far as everyone was concerned, she was dead. And besides, John doubted that Irene had engaged in similar activities she had previously.

So if she now had a new identity and was no longer doing criminal things that might threaten an entire country, then surely Lestrade could turn a blind eye?

John desperately hoped so.

Lestrade nodded and went back over to Sherlock and began speaking to him in a low voice. John watched him carefully, looking for any signs of anxiety or worry in his friend's face, but Sherlock remained expressionless.

Lestrade left after a while, nodding to John. John walked over to Sherlock. He had dropped Irene's hand now, but was watching over her like a hawk.

"So?" John asked when Sherlock said nothing. Sherlock looked at him and raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

"Well what do you think about this 'full police investigation' that Lestrade wants to do? Doesn't that worry you at all?"

Sherlock shook his head. "She's safe for now. She hasn't been recognised, and I hope it will remain that way until morning."

John gulped slightly. "I told Lestrade her real name" he said, knowing now that that had been a mistake. He hoped Sherlock wouldn't get too furious.

But Sherlock merely nodded. "I know" he said simply, not looking at all concerned at the particular fact.

"You're not mad?" John asked, almost disbelievingly. He had expected Sherlock to be very angry, and then go on and on about how stupid normal people could be and how they never bothered to think.

But Sherlock just shrugged. "Lestrade promised that the investigation won't start until she wakes up. He's not coming back today, so I have time until morning."

"But he could just research her."

This didn't seem to concern Sherlock much either. "All traces of her have been wiped from the internet."

"But he's a policeman! He has access to all the other official records that can't be wiped. Like the CIA, for instance. Or the British government."

"She is in no danger" Sherlock's voice said, and there was a steel edge to it, which effectively ended the discussion. John briefly wondered whether Sherlock was telling him or reassuring himself of the matter.

He yawned slightly, because Sherlock didn't feel inclined to speak, and besides, John was tired. It was just after midnight now, and he had work tomorrow.

"You should go home". Sherlock's tone was suddenly much softer.

"Are you sure?" John asked. "I can stay with you, if you want?"

But Sherlock shook his head. "She might not wake up for another few hours, and even that's just an estimated guess. It might take longer. You need your sleep, you have work tomorrow. You wouldn't want Sarah to have to cover for you again."

John nodded and got up, but suddenly turned around sharply.

"Hang on. That was ages ago. How do you know about that?"

Sherlock simply smirked slightly, and after a while John left, because it was clear that he wasn't going to be able to get and answer out of Sherlock tonight.

He wasn't even sure he wanted to know.

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Hope you enjoyed that. :)

Like I already mentioned, I am completely new at writing Sherlock and Irene hurt/comfort fics, so any feedback would be very much appreciated! Please guys, if you have any opinions, please tell me in a review or PM me! And if you don't have something nice to say then please tell me what you think anyways. Even negative feedback is appreciated, because I can improve my writing that way.

Laura