Hello again. Here is some of the Irene/Sherlock interaction you all wanted. I personally think that it is rather OOC, and I apologise. Also, be warned: this chapter is very short! I am in the middle of studying, but in the end I just had to finish this. What can I say? I am addicted xx
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She blinked. She could barely see. But slowly, the face she currently wanted to see the most swam into view.
Blue grey eyes, cheekbones, a mass of curly black hair.
Sherlock.
She blinked again, needing to ascertain that it was Sherlock there, and not just her imagination. She tried to move and groaned in pain.
"Shhh" a deep soothing voice said and Irene allowed herself to relax. This voice was familiar and comforting. "Don't try to move, just stay still."
"Sherlock" she whispered, her voice dry and cracked, raspy from lack of use as well as lack of water.
"I'm here" he confirmed, and she felt his large warm hand wrap around her small cold one. One finger went to her face, tracing her cheek softly.
"What have you managed to get yourself into this time?" he said, his voice being a perfect mix of playful exasperation and concern.
She took a long deep breath and closed her eyes, but immediately opened them when she saw her captor's face behind the lids.
She shuddered slightly, and decided not to reply to Sherlock's questions. Her mind still felt fuzzy, probably a side effect from some sort of sleep inducing drug, or possibly morphine. Then again, her mind had been addled by drugs for some time now.
But she also didn't feel ready. She didn't ever want to talk about what she had just gone through, she just wanted to go on and pretend that nothing had happened.
It did no good to dwell in the past. Or at least, that was what she told herself.
Sherlock didn't seem surprised by her silence; he simply studied her face intently. Maybe he was memorising her, though in his case it was probably more a case of analysing, and trying to read what had happened to her from her face.
He didn't seem to find any proper clues in her expression though, and drew back was a sigh of annoyance. He could read everyone, but never her.
The thought irritated him to no end.
Irene looked at him too, trying to memorise his face. She had spent so long thinking she would never ever see it again.
And so the two of them just sat there in silence. There were things that needed to be said and discussed, but Irene wasn't ready for it, and in truth, neither was Sherlock. He may have given into his feelings for Irene, allowed himself to love someone, but discussing situations like this one, where sentiment was involved, was still something he wasn't used to. The reactions he would have when Irene told him what had happened to her were not reactions he could really control, and it was better for him to calm down now and simply focus on the fact that Irene was safe.
Irene broke the silence after a while. "How long have I been unconscious?" she asked carefully, making sure to keep her voice as light as possible. She didn't want to betray how much it shook. Her fear and anxiety was still something that she wanted very much to hide from the world.
Sherlock noticed what she was doing, but didn't comment, understanding her reasons. He would have done the same, being in her position.
"You've been in the hospital for about 8 hours now" he said, keeping his voice mostly detached. He avoided mentioning finding her in an alley way, and that he wasn't sure how long she had been there. Irene was very grateful for that.
She nodded, and sank back onto the bed, closing her eyes. Sherlock knew by her breathing pattern that she was still awake.
He stared at her, wondering how he could possibly formulate his question without making her uncomfortable. He had next to no experience with these things, and although Irene understood him better than anyone, her traumatic experience might have made her a little more sensitive.
He took a deep breath, about to ask a question that both of them currently wanted to avoid, but for different reasons.
Irene heard Sherlock's intake of breath, and knew what was about to come. Her muscles tensed slightly, and before he even said the first word, she opened her own mouth.
"No" she said, and opened her eyes, turning her head to look at him.
"Not yet".
He nodded understandingly. "You know…that we will eventually need to talk about this?" he asked, frowning sightly, hoping his choice of words was appropriate.
She nodded, of course she knew, but she wanted so desperately to avoid it. She didn't want to speak of those experiences; she wanted to put them behind her.
"You're safe for now" Sherlock said, deciding that he could at least provide that assurance. "Lestrade found you, and he wants to and will launch an investigation, but not until morning. Unfortunately, John let your real name slip, but I've cleared it with Mycroft. He's also put your room under high surveillance. "
Irene nodded, inwardly emitting a huge sigh of relief. She knew she was safe, Sherlock was here, the sole person she truly trusted, and she knew that he would have taken precautions. But to know that his brother (who wielded a lot of control) was also making sure that she remained safe was something that made her sure that her kidnappers would not get her.
She wondered how Sherlock had managed to convince his brother to help her, and almost smirked as she imagined the scenario.
"Irene" Sherlock said again, and the way he spoke sounded a little more forced.
"I and Mycroft needed to discuss whether or not to make you new identification." He cleared his throat, doing his best to be gentle, for probably the first time in his life.
"I know you don't want to talk about this yet, but in order to keep you as safe as possible in the long-term, I have to know whether you were kidnapped when you had ID on you or not. We may have to give you a new alias."
Irene closed her eyes again. "They took me I while I was still in New Zealand. I may have had some identification, but I am sure they probably searched the house thoroughly."
Sherlock nodded. That was all he needed to know.
"Okay" was all he said. "You can sleep now, if you wish. We can talk more the next time you wake up."
Irene's eyes stayed closed.
"Talking about it will help" Sherlock added after a while. He didn't want to force her, but she had to know that it was necessary that she speak to him about her experience, and that she would be required to speak to policemen.
"You should be aware that Lestrade wishes to interrogate you, because the case has now been assigned to him. Or rather, he has decided to make it his case. He wants to start the investigation in the morning."
Irene still kept her eyes closed. She was going to be interrogated so soon?
Although the option didn't appeal to her either, she had to admit that she would much rather talk to Sherlock than to a team of police officers.
But she had a few more hours. She decided to take Sherlock's advice and sleep.
She struggled to make her breathing even, so that she would be able to fool Sherlock. He stayed silent, although his eyes were fixed only on her, pointedly ignoring everything else in the room.
"Irene?" he said quietly after a while, and she felt his hand gently wrap around hers once again. The touch calmed her, but Sherlock withdrew his hand almost immediately.
Ahh. He was taking her pulse, testing whether or not she was awake. She wasn't sure if she had managed to fool him.
But she suddenly felt his breath ghost over her cheek, so she knew she hadn't.
"You don't have to act brave for me" he whispered gently, and withdrew. He thought about gently brushing her cheek with his lips, but decided against the action. It was probably better to wait a bit with physical contact.
And so he sat back in his chair, and simply watched Irene lie there, until her breathing pattern (which had been a little exaggerated before) finally told him that she was finally asleep.
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I hope you enjoyed that, and that I was at least somehow able to meet your expectations. Please tell me what you think!
Laura xx