Hello. I am very sorry for the long wait with this chapter. I was pretty much drowning in school work and got about 6 hours of sleep a night.
Thank god for coffee, huh?
Anyways, I finally wrote this chapter, and have already started writing the next one.
Also, I want to warn you about some OOCness. I know I always say that, but I am quite worried. I have been reading a lot of Doctor who fanfics today (Rose Tyler/Ten) and am really worried that I got Irene wrong and wrote Rose instead. I hope it won't be too noticeable.
Anyways, enjoy!
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Sherlock and Irene sat down, Irene somewhat gingerly. Sherlock's arm was not around her, and he showed no signs of affection. If Sally hadn't seen the hug, she would have only assumed that Sherlock and Irene were friends, but not in any way romantically involved.
And yet they had to be romantically involved. Sherlock would never hug someone unless he completely cared for them. Sally had never even seen Sherlock hug John.
And there was something about the way the two of them sat, not touching, yet still close together and the energy between them. Sally wouldn't necessarily call it sexual tension, but there was definitely some sort of spark.
Lestrade cleared his throat then, taking out his notes and looking very slightly uncomfortable. There was something simply so strange about knowing that the victim they were interrogating was the only woman Sherlock had feelings for. He almost felt as if he were intruding. Or maybe it was just Sherlock's and Irene's skill to successfully blank everyone out.
It was a rather unusual situation though, this interrogation. A small part of Lestrade's mind reminded him that there was no such thing as an ordinary interrogation, but somehow this one still stood out. Maybe it was because he had gotten so used to working with Sherlock and having him present as the one mind that would always stay completely objective. But that had changed now. Now the interrogation and case involved him and his…well, his girlfriend. Of sorts, anyway.
Irene and Sherlock gazed at him, waiting for the promised questions. Lestrade cleared his throat again and looked at Irene. "Could you just briefly take us through the things that happened?" He said carefully, feeling Sherlock's sharp gaze on him.
Irene nodded. "I was just walking down the street near my house" she said. Her voice was fairly confident and not shaken, as if she was completely determined to detach herself from the situation.
"It was fairly deserted in the area, and there was no one to see anything. They grabbed me and forced me into the van and used chloroform on me right away, so I couldn't yell or cry out." She shivered slightly.
Lestrade nodded, glancing over his notes. He had taken notes of everything that Sherlock had told him, but he wanted to make sure that what Sherlock had said complied with Irene's version. He doubted that either of them would lie to cover up something, but the process was still necessary, especially since he needed to submit the report at Scotland Yard.
"Do you have any ideas why they took you?" he asked. Sherlock stiffened very slightly, but his face remained neutral.
Irene shrugged, knowing that she would need to be as truthful as possible without giving too much away. Lestrade had already gotten her real name from John, which put her in danger, plus he read John's blog so he could connect her to her previous life at any moment, if he was observant. That situation hadn't arisen yet however, and Irene knew that she could rely on Mycroft to clean up any messes, so currently she would have to skirt around the subject a bit.
"I'm guessing that Moriarty arranged it" she said carefully. "He wanted to get to Sherlock, and the most satisfying way to do that was through me."
Lestrade seemed fairly satisfied with that answer, because it was the same answer Sherlock had given hm. "Did you recognise any of your kidnappers?" he enquired and Irene shook her head.
"No" she said, now looking down. Her kidnapping from the streets was something she could talk about and detach herself from, but what had happened after, while she had been locked up in the cellar was something she didn't like mentioning. She desperately hoped Lestrade wouldn't ask her about it in detail, because she really didn't want to discuss it in front of everyone. Even Sherlock didn't really know the full details, although he knew more than anybody else.
"They were all strangers" she supplied. I didn't get to see their faces well when they took me, because of the drugs, but after, in the cellar…" she winced very slightly, and Sherlock's hand curled into a fist. Lestrade saw this as a sign to move on.
"And you are completely sure that it was Moriarty that arranged the kidnapping?" Lestrade said. That was one point he needed to be certain on. Sherlock was already very convinced, the major clues were there, and his brother seemed to believe him. But it was still a question that needed to be asked.
Irene nodded. "I'm certain" she said and shivered again. "There are plenty of organisations with the strength to kidnap me" she continued, "But Moriarty deliberately transported me illegally from New Zealand to London and made sure to dump me in an alley way in a place where he was certain that Sherlock would walk past and find me."
She paused to take a breath. "Sherlock has told me about him" she said after a while. "I did some research on him, and I recognised him. He introduced himself as well."
"And you saw him often?" Lestrade said. "He realised that in this case the context of 'you saw him often' pretty much meant 'how often did he assault you and hurt you?' but he was determined to make this process as easy as possible, for Sherlock and Irene's sake.
Irene nodded. "Yes. He was there a lot."
Lestrade nodded, and wrote something down. He was very glad that Irene was being so open about this. Sherlock had said she was the strongest woman he knew, which was very high praise coming from him, but Lestrade had been worried that this would be an extremely delicate subject and that Irene would have a lot of trouble talking about it. He could sense that she didn't want to talk about it, but that wasn't stopping her now.
She shivered again, and it finally got Sherlock's attention. He had assumed Irene was shivering from the fact that she had to recount her experience, but now he realised that she was probably cold.
"Are you cold?" he asked her quietly, and she nodded, but dismissed it immediately.
"It's nothing" she said, but her case was proven false when another shiver betrayed her.
Sherlock frowned and glared at Sally for a moment, as if he blamed her for the fact that Irene hadn't been given a blanket or a jumper.
He shrugged off his coat and handed it to her, which made Sally stare openly. This was Sherlock's beloved coat, and yet here he was, acting the gentlemen. It almost shocked her.
Irene accepted the coat with a smile, and Sherlock chuckled slightly when he saw her in it.
Lestrade looked up surprised. He knew that this situation wasn't just tough on Irene, but on Sherlock too, and the fact that he was laughing slightly surprised him. Irene wasn't sure what Sherlock found funny either, and raised her eyebrows.
"I'm just remembering the first time you wore that coat" he said quietly, but Sally and Lestrade were still able to hear. Their interest peaked, but neither Sherlock nor Irene cared to elaborate any further, although Irene laughed slightly as well.
Lestrade cleared his throat and started asking more questions, mostly about the time Irene had spent in the cellar. Irene took her time answering these questions, but she replied to Lestrade's enquiries all the same.
The questions' were slowly talking their toll on Sherlock though. He never asked anything, nor did he elaborate on anything Irene said, and Sally realised with something akin to wonder that he wasn't there to question Irene, but as moral support. Who would have thought that?
It was clear that the process was hard for Irene, but the same went for Sherlock. His eyes flashed with fury, and his hand curled and uncurled. His posture was rigid, his breathing was rather harsh and he unconsciously shifted closer to Irene during the interrogation.
After about half an hour of talking, Lestrade realised that the couple needed a break. Irene and Sherlock were getting more uncomfortable and edgier by the second.
He stood up and flexed his fingers. "I think we should take a small break." He said, and asked Sally to go with him, deciding that the two needed some time alone. Sally got up from her seat almost unwillingly, wanting to watch how Sherlock behaved, but knew she had no choice but to leave.
Lestrade and Sally walked away from the lounge and to the canteen, both asking for a coffee. Sally took that opportunity to turn on Lestrade.
"Why wasn't I told about this?" she demanded, her hands on her hips.
Lestrade raised his eyebrows, wondering what Sally was talking about.
"Oh" he said suddenly, as he realised that Irene was talking about Sherlock and Irene being a couple instead of the actual kidnapping.
"I didn't think it entirely necessary." He said simply shrugging, and checking to see if his espresso had been prepared yet.
Sally raised her eyebrows dubiously. Not necessary?
Lestrade sighed when he saw her expression. "Look" he said. "You only met Irene today, and I charged you with her for less than an hour. It didn't seem so significant at the time. Plus, I was short on time."
Sally sighed, and accepted this answer. She knew there was probably another reason - most likely the one that if she had known she would have stared at Irene and questioned her like crazy, not to mention that she would have formed (a possibly negative) opinion about her immediately.
She accepted the latte the cafeteria lady was holding out to her, and walked back to the interrogation room with Lestrade.
Sally couldn't really determine how she felt about Sherlock right now.
In her mind, he would always be the freak. He would always annoy her and irritate her and even frighten her with his apparent glee at the prospect of investigating a murder. But she realised now that there was a side to him which she had barely known as well. Besides being a cold and detached detective, he was also a man capable of feelings and affection.
He would always be the freak to her, but he had become just that little bit more human.
She smiled to herself slightly. Who would have thought that Sherlock would get a girlfriend?
She turned the corner, and was suddenly startled by the sight of Sherlock and Irene kissing. She froze in shock, and she was certain that Lestrade did too. He recovered first though, and led her away from the scene, deciding to give the two a little more privacy.
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Hope you enjoyed. I am on holidays right now, and catching up on all sleep that I lost studying, but there should hopefully be another chapter up soon.
Please review! Thanks xxx