A/N - Dramaaaaaa as always be you're probably used to it by now 💅

The picture is of a Sahara Desert Kingdom market, again similar to what I imagine Yahnaba's market to look like, only with taller buildings surrounding it and having it be a larger market 😊

Also enjoy learning Arabic because I certainly am 🤣

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Dishes clashed against each other as Elizabeth promptly placed them in the small bowl of lukewarm water on the table. She rolled up the baggy sleeves of her sapphire zina dress, before plunging her hands into the liquid. Grabbing a rough sponge, she began to scrub the the food and stains off the crockery. Elizabeth was no stranger to hard work but equally she often wondered why she chose to do this when she had enough money to buy some fancy mansion, kitted out with staff aplenty.

But then she did know why: Elizabeth simply liked the quiet and the comfiness of a smaller atmosphere. There was less drama, less fuss and now a certain special person that she lived for.

"Boo!"

Elizabeth gasped and brought her sopping wet hand to her chest, sharply inhaling as she felt the liquid soak through her clothing, pausing as she looked at the young teen girl who had suddenly popped up from the other end of the table, "Hanna, I swear - "

But the young girl laughed at her carer's reaction, holding her stomach as she chuckled deeply, sweetly, her eyes scrunched up at the sides and tears of laughter spilling from her tightly shut eyes, "Your face!"

"Ooh, you little - come here!"

Elizabeth darted after the girl, who squealed excitably as she chased her around their quaint and often dusty home, wet sponge in hand as she tried to spray the girl with water too. Having cornered her, the young teen playfully pleaded for Elizabeth to reconsider.

"Come on now, Eliza - Liza - I know you
are a good person!"

"A good person just getting her own back!" The ex-thief announced as she drew the sponge above the girl's head and squeezed the water out of it.

The girl gasped as the water made contact with her head, soaking her raven-black hair and clothed shoulders. It was almost satisfying to watch the bright green of her zina dress darken to a more forest-y green after contact with the water. Elizabeth chuckled at the shocked, soaked sight of her as she headed back to her washing up. Shaking her head, she plunged the sponge back into the water, grabbing the plate she had only just started cleaning prior to her fright.

"You should see your face." Elizabeth commented with a snicker as Hanna headed for the small pile of towels.

"Ha-ha..." Came her sarcastic response as she wandered back over to the table where Elizabeth (or at least Eliza as she knew her) stood, "Are we heading to the market today?"

"Yes, after I'm done here and after you have had a go at the work I made for you last night."

"You are starting our lessons again?"

"Yes." Elizabeth smiled, pleased to see she was excited, "Your English is getting better - you're a quick learner."

"Baba - my father - he was half-English. He spoke little of it but taught me what he knew before he..."

The girl trailed off, her brows crunching up in the middle as her gaze fell to the floor. She never liked to think about what had happened.

Elizabeth paused her washing up, "I'm sorry, Hanna."

"I do not know where Mama is...but I am glad you found me."

"I'm glad I found you too." She paused, then dried her arm on the towel beside the bowl of water and opened her arm out to her, "Come here."

Hanna didn't refuse the hug having missed out on many from her parents for heartbreaking reasons. The ex-thief rested her chin against the girl's hair, also appreciating the needed embrace before kissing her upon her forehead and letting her go. She still rested her hand on Hanna's cheek, silently thanking whatever force had sent the girl her way.

"I think your mum and dad would be very proud of you now." She said as she tucked a piece of Hanna's hair behind her ear.

"You think so?"

"Well, you're learning more English and we're planning to head to Dubai after this, where it's safer, where I can get you into a school or at least get you a more qualified tutor. You're working on creating the best life possible for yourself - I know they'd be delighted with that."

Hanna smiled softly, "What does 'they'd' mean?"

"They would'. It's - it is - a contracted word which is actually what your little lesson is on today." Elizabeth spun the girl around and pointed to the tatty, makeshift work book that the ex-thief had made from scraps of paper and two pieces of cardboard, "Go on, go have a go at it now while I finish up here."

Hanna nodded, eager to start learning again.

* * * * * *

The ball of light hung heavy in the vast blue expanse above them. You could hear the rising heat crackling and radiating off almost every surface. People seemed to cover every free space possible at the market, meaning there wasn't actually much space at all. One was absorbed by the vast amount of lively bodies in the area.

Elizabeth rested her hand upon Hanna's shoulder sk she could not only direct her on where to go but also so she wouldn't lose her. This, she thought, was the only downside of coming to the market - it was a claustrophobic experience and even that was an understatement.

"Right then, what do we want to eat tonight? Are you cooking or am I?"

"Me, I will."

"Ooh alright then, eager beaver."

"Eager beaver?"

"Sorry, it's um - "

"Do not be sorry." Hanna said with a smile, "I like learning your...weird sayings."

Elizabeth scoffed, "It's an idiom - an overused metaphor - and it just means that...you are really...keen to do an activity and will work hard on it."

"Oh, I see. So you would not be an eager beaver because you do not like shopping or cooking?"

Elizabeth chuckled, "You would be absolutely correct."

The two strolled over to one of the stalls selling some crops like sheaths of corn and wheat.

"So what're you making?"

"What about the pork and rice?"

"Sounds good. What do we need for that?"

"Rice..."

"Yes, and...?" Elizabeth looked to the shopkeeper and then back at Hanna as she remembered her Arabic still wasn't too clear.

Without any verbal instruction, the teen understood and requested their order in the language Elizabeth so struggled to speak. The girl smiled at her and she reciprocated the action as she took the bag of rice and moved them along. She was glad to have Hanna with her otherwise her shopping experiences could have been a lot more painful.

* * * * * *

Sometime later, as the girls were nearing the end of their grocery shopping, they heard a yell from a nearby stall.

"Alssariq! 'Awqafuh! Alssariq!"

There were gasps and yells that began to near the two young women. A man in white, adorned with a satchel, shoved his way through the crowd, inevitably elbowing Hanna out of the way to which Elizabeth reacted instantly, grabbing her young friend to hold her steady.

"You okay?"

"Naeam, I'm fine - "

"Good," Elizabeth transferred their bag of food to Hanna's hands, "Stay here!" And off Elizabeth went, determined to dart after the thief.

"Eliza!"

It was a laughable moment really and Elizabeth found that she didn't really know why she had made the decision to go after this man, this thief. What a hypocrite, she thought. But maybe she was trying to make up for all those times before? Perhaps it was her understanding of the hardships these people faced that set her against food thieves? Maybe she was trying to set a good example and was overly aware of her criminal past and feared that if she wasn't actively good, the underlying criminal in her would unknowingly influence Hanna? And Hanna deserved better. She didn't deserve to be orphaned and she most certainly didn't deserve to be led onto a negative path in life.

Chasing the man into an alley, the second she was close enough, she leapt forwards, like a lioness preying upon a gazelle, binding her arms around the man's waist and brought him down to the floor, glimpsing his satchel slide across the light stone, away from his grasp.

He fought beneath her, frantically trying to reach his bag and she struggled to keep him still.

"'Abaq hadiana!" Hanna pleaded with the offender as she moved to pick up the satchel with the snapped strap.

Elizabeth would have been upset with Hanna for following, but after what followed, she was simply glad there was someone else with her.

They grunted, he shifted, she tried to weigh him down more, grasping at his arms to try and keep him still. A gruff, bitter yell tore through his lips as he refrained from keeping still.

"'Iihday - calm down!" Hanna shouted at him again, distressed as she continued to watch the struggle.

As he rolled beneath her so he could lie on his back, she kept her balance albeit almost falling off of him. Trying to grab his arms, she missed his left arm as he swung out at her, catching her near her eye. The sudden impact caused Elizabeth to yelp and bring a hand to her eye, but in a split second, she knew it would be dangerous to leave him unpinned for long and so, clenching her jaw to cope with the throbbing pain coming from the side of her eye, Elizabeth snatched both of his arms, intensely focusing on weighing him down.

"Stop struggling!" She hissed, more so because of the pain, "We just want what you stole!"

Still, the persistent thief scuffled and tussled with her, noticeably becoming more and more infuriated the longer she held him down. Could she help him if he didn't talk? No. All this man had to do was use his words but apparently he was intent on keeping silent. Vexed with the lack of communication and the constant squirming, she released one of his arms and delivered a sharp blow to his jaw in the hopes of incapacitating him.

This, however, only seemed to piss him off more so for the man bellowed beneath her like a cornered, injured bear as he threw her off him. Her shoulder collided with the dusty ground as she landed beside him with an 'oomph'. If it weren't for those few seconds in a daze, she would have latched onto the thief again but he was already up. Thankfully for her though, her ward was here.

"Hanna - !"

She didn't need to say anymore for the young teen had already been two steps ahead, bolting towards the thief, only to roughly shove him to the ground again. The girl threw in a hefty kick into the mix, just to make sure he was down for a little while longer than a second.

Elizabeth managed to get herself back up and onto her feet, albeit slowly, and stumbled over to Hanna and their apprehended thief, lightly removing her veil and ready to ask Hanna how the side of her eye socket looked when the girl beat her to a question.

"Did I do good?"

Elizabeth groaned as her fingers brushed area near her temple, processing Hanna's question, "You did great, Hanna. Have you still got the bag?"

"Yes." She held up the satchel and their bag of food.

"Right," Elizabeth nodded, glancing down at the thief, "Let's get him back to..."

But as she had glanced down, her eyes fell upon his face, now unveiled and for a moment, she tried to dismiss the fact that he looked so familiar. But the thief wasn't just familiar, he was once what she considered home - and a home she had long given up and left behind for it had been burned as promised by Jim. He was dead. And yet the longer she stared at his face, at his own shocked expression, the more her stomach churned with a somewhat relieved but very anxious sickness.

"Eliza? What's wrong?" She heard Hanna ask but she hadn't the words to reply with.

The man croaked out a name she hadn't been called in months, just as astounded as she, "Elizabeth?"

Hanna looked between the two, but frowned profusely at the thief, "You are confused. Her name is Eliza." Yet when she looked back at who she knew to be Eliza and saw that her carer looked like she had seen a ghost, she questioned further, "Unless...you two know each other?" The girl paused, "What - what is happening?"

"You're dead." Was all Elizabeth could whisper with a shake of her head, as she watched him sit up.

"So are you."

The teenager looked between the two again, utterly bewildered by their statements, "Are you both okay? I think you are both very alive - "

"He jumped off a building." Elizabeth elaborated.

"She died from sepsis in hospital." He explained, "Molly saw your corpse."

"Wait. Who is Molly?"

"A pathologist." They both replied.

"Meaning?"

"She carries out post-mortems - an examination of the corpse to determine the time and cause of their death." The thief said.

"Oh...she can't have been a very good one then..." Hanna said, thoroughly flummoxed by the situation.

"How are you here? How? You jumped off of a building, Sherlock...you shouldn't be alive."

"And neither should - "

"Waqf!" They heard a man yell towards the opening of alley and when the threw of them looked, they saw a group of the Siasan soldiers, their guns readied.

Elizabeth instinctively took Hanna's free hand in hers and kept the girl behind her but Sherlock stood quickly, a little shakily, standing in front of both young women.

"Salim, It's okay! I know them. Tell your men to stand down."

"'Alghaa halat al'iistedad," Instructed the young soldier before he approached the three of them, "Mr Ashby, are you okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, Salim. Did you get the man in purple?"

"Yes. But he won't speak. Only to be expected but I'm sure our men can...prompt him."

"That won't be necessary. I have the message he was trying to pass on." Sherlock looked over his shoulder at Elizabeth and the girl she was with, "Anna, was it?"

"Hanna." The teenager corrected.

"Hanna, can I please have my bag back?"

The girl looked at Elizabeth, waiting for her carer's approval even if she did trust him. Her nod was all Hanna needed to be certain she could trust this man too and so handed over the satchel.

Sherlock snatched it with no thanks muttered, much to Hanna's offense. His hand bobbed for the sole apple in his bag and swiftly pulled it out, presenting the softening bottom of it to them all. Delicately, he plucked out the note and a small object from the hole that had been made in the apple to hide it but just before he could even open the sticky paper and investigate the object, there were shouts from their soldiers and the sound of heavy footsteps heard behind their small gathering in the middle of the alley.

At the exit of the alley, more men, dressed in black robes and veils, and holding rifles were advancing on them.

"Taslim muharik al'aqras walmulahaza!" Yelled one of the men, "Qad nadeak taeish."

"What's he saying?" Sherlock asked Salim who raised his hand, signalling to his soldiers to be ready and as the sound of clicks from cocking guns were heard, he translated, "They want the note and the drive back. If we give it, they might let us live."

"Then that's exactly what we're not going to do."

"Eliza," Hanna tugged on her carer's sleeves, a glistening anxiety in her dark eyes, "I am scared. Those men - they are part of the group that - my father - "

"Hey, hey, Hanna, it's going to be okay." Elizabeth spoke calmly, backing herself and her girl away again, back behind Salim and Sherlock, looking at the detective and spoke to him with a rising urgency in her voice, "You might have nothing to lose but there is a child here, give them what they want."

"If we do that, we are enabling them to hurt more. This information might stop them for good."

"You can never stop a terror group for good."

Sherlock knew to some degree that Elizabeth was right. But she was also wrong. This information mattered. It clearly mattered and it would certainly be a blow to the group should they have it. But his eyes fell upon the girl that he saw Elizabeth was highly protective over. He wondered how long they had been together for, he wondered if she viewed her more as the sister she never had or if it was that coveted motherhood creeping in that caused her to take care of Hanna.

The ex-thief was irritated with herself - why couldn't she just take Hanna and go? That tightening grip on her arm told her that her girl wouldn't be leaving without her, that she refused to be left alone again and that made her the priority but...if she could...she still wanted Sherlock to actually still be alive. Old feelings. Stupid old feelings.

"'Uetik khams thawani. Khamsa..."

"Eliza, he is counting down, we have to go." Hanna said fearfully, still grasping Elizabeth's arm tightly, "Please, let us go."

"Hand it over." She started backing away from him more, back towards the country's soldiers who she knew would protect them as they ran, "Live."

"Arbe! La 'aetaqid 'anani lan 'afeal dhalik min juthatik."

Salim hissed, "He isn't afraid to get it from our dead bodies." He stepped forward, hoping to bring some peace to the situation, "'Akhi, min fadlika, laysat hunak hajat lileunf."

"Thlath." He paused again, "'Aetaha 'iilayna baed dhalik."

Sherlock looked between the insurgents, Salim, Elizabeth and Hanna, and the soldiers before resting his gaze on the ground for a moment.

Shaking her head, she decided it was futile trying to persuade him, "I'm sorry, Sherlock, but I can't stay."

"Athnan!"

It was hearing his name on her lips that drew him to Elizabeth and just as she was about to turn away, he grabbed her free hand, almost smashing the drive and note into the centre of her palm. For a split second, she considered protesting, but the sly move he had made now meant that she couldn't be obvious about her resentment towards him now for endangering them both.

"I'll find you."

Yanking her arm away from him with a curse upon her lips, Elizabeth turned, ushering Hanna towards and past the soldiers, hurrying back out into the busy market place.

"Shaebi, kuna jahizan."

Their opposition readied their guns again, training them on Salim, his soldiers and Sherlock.

"Mr Ashby, you might want to leave." Salim spoke to him quickly, then addressing their enemy again, "'Akhi, fakar fi hadha."

"Tuetina ma nurid wanahn sawf nadeak tadhhabu. Turid alsalami, alsabi?" The leader of this small group chuckled, pointing his gun directly at Salim now, "Thama, astamae 'iilaa taelimatina."

"Alrajali, almaehad!" Salim barked to his fellow soldiers who promptly advanced to the place where he and Sherlock stood, "Where is the drive?"

"La tajealuni 'aqul dhalik."

At hearing this from the leader of the small group of insurgents, a bead of sweat tumbled down Salim's brow and he gulped.

"It's safe. It's with the women."

"Yes." Salim breathed a laugh, "Safe with them. But not for us." The young soldier looked to his lieutenant, "I'm giving you command of the troop, Lieutenant Kader."

"Naema, alearif." The lieutenant paused, mentally counting the number of hostiles in front of them, "Aistiedad 'anfusikum."

The leader of the group raised his hand and uttered the final number of his countdown, "Wahid. Alfursat al'akhiratu - taslim almudhakirat walqiada."

"Get ready to run, Ashby," Salim said as he stood there defiantly for a moment, still ready to bolt, "La!"

The man chuckled and just as he was about to drop his hand to signal fire, Salim pivoted, pushing Sherlock to move away and out of the alley:

"Go! Run!"

"'Atlaq!" The lieutenant roared as they darted out of the alley.

The sound of gunshots echoed from the alley and out into the market.

* * * * * *

The two girls raced through the market, not entirely sure where to go but Hanna had the idea of home while Elizabeth was already plotting their escape to the exquisite Dubai like they had spoken about before. Of course, home would be necessary first as her passport and some spare cash were stored there. She would also have to figure out how to organise Hanna's passport on such short notice. Maybe she could just use the money to get someone to smuggle them to Dubai - a crime, she knew, but one had to make some allowances.

Elizabeth's mental planning was going well until they heard the gunshots and she, as well as the rest of the crowd, stopped and looked around, eyes wide with worry. Please be alive, she thought. As the shots continued, the people at the market began to move in a whirlwind of panic. There was a scream as a ricocheted bullet had hit a civilian close to the alley and after that ensued anarchy.

There was a tug on Elizabeth's free hand and she looked over her shoulder at Hanna, still anxious to leave.

"We need to go back home. Now."

They did but Sherlock didn't know where they lived and she didn't know where he set up shop either. Opening her hand to look at the now crumpled note and drive, she wondered how she would get it to him. There was only one conclusion her mind could come to but it was unfortunately one viewed by the other man in white who had been the original intended recipient of the information. Seeing the note and a glimpse of the drive as he ran past them felt like a golden sign to him - the best luck that could ever strike him - and if she was handing it over to the girl then it would be ridiculously easy to get it back.

"Hanna, I need you to go home. Straight home, stop for no one." She said, pocketing the drive and note again as they stood amidst a swarm of people.

"What about you - "

"I need to find Sherlock. And when I do, I'll bring him back to our home."

Hanna grabbed her arm again before she left, "Do not leave me."

"Hanna, I promise you, I promise you," Elizabeth squeezed the young girl's shoulders reassuringly, "I'll come back. I'll be okay. But I need you to get home now, okay?"

Hanna nodded quickly, covering her face with her veil once again before sprinting away from her carer, truly fearful that she would be left on her own again.

Elizabeth, affixing her veil to her face again, looked back through the swiftly shifting crowd as people ran away from the blood curdling gunshots they heard, even if they were beginning to eerily die down. Peering across and through the crowd, she searched and scanned for the hint of the white veil that Sherlock had been wearing. After she spotted one, she roughly made her way through the melee of people towards them, being shoved and pushed so much so that she thought she was in a pinball machine.

When she reached him, she reached out her hand and grabbed his shoulder, "Sherlock?"

The man turned; it wasn't the detective she was looking for.

* * * * * *

Within the scattering crowd, Salim and Sherlock lingered.

"Your men," Sherlock panted through his veil, "I hope they're okay."

"I do too, Mr Ashby. I would have stayed but my primary instruction is looking after you." Salim answered honestly, "We need to find those girls. You said you knew them?"

"The woman. I know her. Her young friend, not so much."

"Do you know where they reside?"

"Uh...no, not really." Sherlock grimaced.

Salim looked at the detective, despair gleaming in his eyes, "You gave information about our enemy to two women and you don't know where they live?"

"It will work out, Salim. We just need to find a quieter space - "

"Sherlock!"

The detective turned to see Elizabeth join them, breathing heavily. She paused, removing her veil briefly and resting her hands on her knees.

"You need to wear...something more distinctive...if I'm to find you...in a crowd...again..."

"I told you to go."

"You don't know...where I live...you idiot." She glared at him.

Sherlock knew she wasn't wrong and truly was glad she had loitered. But he did wonder about where Hanna had gone.

"Have you got the info?"

"Yes." She breathed, standing up straight again.

"And Hanna?" Sherlock enquired.

"I told her to go home and that we would meet her there. Follow me.

Elizabeth started rushing off, the two men sharing a look before rapidly following after her, breaking the normal flow of the rabble to go for another smaller exit from the market.

* * * * * *

As Elizabeth broke free from the market centre, she stopped, checking to see if Hanna had lingered. She was only relieved when she couldn't see the teenager and her apple green zina dress around and even more so relieved when she didn't see any of the terrorists either. Spinning around to face Sherlock and Salim, she was about to explain where to go from the market when she heard a terrified cry that made all her muscles seize up and caused her eyes to bulge with the sickening realisation.

"Eliza! Liza - eawun!"

Whipping around in search of Hanna, she spotted a vehicle further down the crowded road. No one helped. All were too afraid of the consequences of saving someone from the insurgents. Everyone but Elizabeth.

"Hanna!" Elizabeth's scream was primal, protective and filled with a terror that only parents could have recognised.

She tore off down the road, not caring who she pushed or shoved out of the way - she just needed to get to Hanna. Watching as her girl was dragged, kicking and sobbing, into the back of the army green pick-up truck, she felt helpless tears prick at her eyes. Any body watching her wild attempt would have viewed her as an animal as she raced towards them with a speed matching that of a cheetah.

"Liza!" The young girl bawled again before her mouth was stuffed with a gag.

There was another shout in Arabic - one that meant she heard the taunting thrum of the engine.

"No! Hanna!"

A thick cloud of dust was kicked up by the tires as the vehicle sped away, cutting what little crowd there was in front of it in half as people leapt and rushed out of its way. For a moment, Elizabeth tried to keep up with the vehicle but to no avail. It was impossible to reach her girl and as her sprint slowed, a choking sob of her own broke through her lips.

Sherlock had followed sharply behind Elizabeth and when he slowed behind her, Salim on his tail, and heard her rasping sob, he felt he was the one to blame. Edging forwards, unsure if he still had the right to console her or not, he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

She didn't react to it; simply stared ahead, distraught with her loss.

Softly, Sherlock said, "We'll get her back."