"I think, Mycroft...that you should stop being so hard on Elizabeth."

"Oh?" Mycroft quirked his eyebrow at hearing his brother's statement.

The government official leaned back in his chair, in his office. Sherlock stood in front of his desk, hands behind his back, head held high as though he were addressing a colonel. It was only two days after their conversation in 221B and Sherlock was determined to get Mycroft to lay off of Elizabeth. The look Mycroft have him, spurred him on to elaborate what he meant.

"Elizabeth is on our side. She's done good work. She's helped with cases. She risked her own life to help save me from  Scarlett. Therefore, I think she has proved more than trustworthy and should be given the right to roam freely without John and myself by her side. I also...think you shouldn't exploit her skills."

"We've already exploited her skills, Sherlock. Particularly yourself."

"No, I mean you, Mycroft. Elizabeth's said and we've heard it with our own ears that you are planning on using her abilities for...operations of sorts. I think it's in all of our best interests that we don't choose to put her through something such as that to make her lose trust in us. To gain trust, we have to give trust."

"Sherlock."

"Yes, Mycroft?"

"Tell me something." He leaned forwards, resting his arms on the desk, "What do you see in Elizabeth?"

"A good woman with a strong moral compass, an incredible skillset and a...rough past. Why?"

"Hm. Yes. Now you see, that's where we differ. For I see a self-centred kleptomaniac who likes to side with the person who has the best offer and isn't afraid of lying through her teeth."

"Why?"

"Why? She attempted to steal government secrets simply for a more than decent payday, she stole three, nay not one, but three crystal ashtrays from Buckingham Palace - "

"Actually, Mycroft, I took one of those ashtrays."

"Sherlock."

"I just thought you might want the whole truth before you continue."

"And she still hasn't brought you to Moriarty yet, despite being self-proclaimed 'family' with him. Wouldn't you expect her to have some idea of the kinds of places he would go if they were as close as she says?"

"She's a good person - "

"A leopard cannot change its spots, Brother Mine. You'll only get hurt if you invest this much hope in her. So stop."

"What do you mean?"

"I can tell you are fond of her, Sherlock."

"Pft." He shook his head, indenial, and then realised that actually his brother was right for once.

"If your feelings will persist in being unable to open your eyes to the truth then might I suggest we organise a different housing arrangement for Miss Parrish?"

"No." The detective said a little too quickly, "Elizabeth is one of us now. She stays with us."

"She's sleeping on your sofa - "

"We have an arrangement. We alternate between the sofa and the bed."

Mycroft let out an exasperated sigh. He didn't realise how attached Sherlock would get to her. And that worried him. His gut told him bad things would happen and he was only trying to look out for his younger brother.

"Sherlock, I'm just trying to prevent you from getting - hurt."

"Since when did you care if I get hurt or not?"

"I've always cared and you know it."

Silence fell across their conversation.

Sherlock didn't quite get his attachment to Elizabeth himself but it felt wrong to send her away. It felt wrong to just send her on unknown operations. He had the ultimate desire to want to keep her safe. But why? He couldn't place the reason.

"I'm still going to require her skills."

"Mycroft."

"No, Sherlock. You forget that she is under my custody specifically. She only stays with you because I thought you and John could also benefit from her information." He removed a file from the pile of papers and other things amongst his desk and placed it in front of him, "Now, if you don't mind, Sherlock, I have important work to get on with. Goodbye, Brother Mine."

Tongue-in-cheek, Sherlock left his brother alone in his office. At least he could tell Elizabeth he had tried. But who knew when and for what Mycroft would pluck her out of 221B for.

*******

John and Elizabeth were doing the weekly shopping. Having just walked out of their local supermarket with several bags of food, drinks and whatever else have you, they journeyed down the pavement, back to 221B. It would take longer to get there by taxi given how packed the streets were at this time of day.

"Elizabeth, can I ask you something?"

This was the second time John had asked that exact question and again it filled her with anxiety. Would he ask about Irene and the shoes again? There was only one way to find out.

"What do you think about Sherlock?"

Thank God it wasn't what she thought he was going to ask. But equally it still threw her off and she looked at the doctor with a small thoughtful frown.

"Why?"

"Just curious is all. Sherlock's like marmite, you either love him or you hate him." He chuckled.

Of course, John's ulterior motive was to find out if all the little looks Sherlock and Elizabeth had shared were the signs of a closeness brewing between them. Here he was, trying to play a little match-maker. What had the world come to?

"Well. I don't hate him. He did stop me from bleeding out, remember. He also didn't let me fall out of Mycroft's window. And pushed me out of the way of a bullet. Is currently trying to fight my corner to see if Mycroft will ease up on me. He can be a bit of a prick sometimes but who isn't? He's kind to me even when I don't deserve it..."

Elizabeth had stopped talking for in the distance, she saw several woman running through the hustle and bustle. An officer was chasing after them. John saw too. One of them looked like Abigail. Another, the woman he had run into.

"They - they look like the women from a month or two ago. The other thieves."

They watched them turn into alley. And in a split second decision, Elizabeth decided what she was going to do.

"Don't tell Mycroft."

"What? Elizabeth!"

The chase was on.

She had ditched the shopping bags and sprinted after the women. Why was she doing this? She wanted to help. And maybe if she could just get one of them, then maybe that would prove her loyalty to them. Maybe, if this went to plan, Mycroft could see that she was dedicating herself to their cause.

She planned to tell Jim that she wanted nothing more to do with him on the Sunday coming up. Elizabeth was terrified to but she had decided that that was her choice. That's what she would stand by.

Having turned into the alley, she saw the last woman climb up the fire escape and bolted to the ladder before they brought it back up.

"Forget her, get up here and run!" One of the women yelled down to the last as they all raced up the stairs to the roof.

Elizabeth climbed as fast as she possibly could and once up, she climbed the stairs two by two, zooming after the five. All the while she did this, she could help but think why? Why was she doing this? Why didn't she just stay with John?

But she knew the answer. She just wanted to prove herself. She wanted their trust definitively. But if she never caught them then that would essentially fail the very thing that she was trying to achieve. So she had to trust in herself that she could at least do something to help them with this case.

On the roof, she watched ahead of her one - then two, three, four of the girls leapt across from this roof to another. The fifth woman who Elizabeth was closer to kept running. The others appeared to wait for their last member but could tell she wouldn't make it as they already began to leave.

Pushing herself to her very limits, Elizabeth ran, her lungs practically crying for more air as she worked to gain on the woman. Reaching out her arm, she managed to grab the neck of her denim jacket, causing her body to jolt back, stumble, then fall. Both were on the ground now, wrestling with each other to somehow gain dominance over the other.

"Stop fighting!" Elizabeth yelped, attempt to get on top of her to hold her down.

Of course, she wouldn't let up though and ended up viciously scratching Elizabeth's cheek. She yelped at the stinging sensation on her face as she grabbed her opponents arms, forcing them down to the concrete floor.

"I'm going to let that one slide but do it again and you'll lose an eye." The thief growled.

The woman remained silent. Both panted, their chests rising high and quickly as they absorbed their air again.

The officer and John finally made it up to the roof shortly after, accompanied by a pair of handcuffs specially chosen for the one Elizabeth had caught. John dealt the police officer.

"Can you tell DCI Lestrade that she's a suspect in one of Sherlock Holmes's cases, please? Thanks."

Once that was sorted with the officer, John headed over to Elizabeth, who easy stood near the edge of the roof, looking out at London. She wouldn't lie about being chuffed with herself. She had done something useful for Sherlock - and John, of course. A sense of accomplishment rushed over her.

"Are you okay? I wasn't expecting you to go after them like that."

"Yeah. I'm fine. Actually, great really." She chuckled, "I think I'm still high in the adrenaline of the moment." Elizabeth nodded with a grin, looking over at John.

It was then that John saw the two scratches on her face, "Jesus, that looks bad."

"It's fine, really, John, I'm good."

"No, Elizabeth, I need to check it out when we get back to Baker Street."

"Right, yeah, back to Baker Street." She began walking back to the fire escape until a question popped into her head, "Uh, John, where did you leave the shopping?"

"The middle of the pavement. Where else?"