A Step Forward (a Sherlock fanfiction)

Chapter 2

40 Years Later

It was cold- so cold. Sherlock's mind drifted out of time and space as he lay there. The last ting he could remember was John shaking his shoulder... Wait a moment...

"Wake up, frozen boy!" A rough shake brought him to his senses. He found himself staring at a woman, maybe 46, scowling at him. "It took me a minute of my precious time to wake you up."

"Well then..." Sherlock rubbed his head groggily, his eyes adjusting to the dimness of the room. The woman continued the roam around, tapping codes into the dimly lit tubes around the room. "Who are you?"

She paused. "Just call me... Rogue. Come on, we've run out of time. The King will find us soon." She made her way towards the door.

"Wait- we don't have a King." Sherlock followed the woman, who was picking up the pace.

"Now we do. You wouldn't know that, though." Rogue turned back to look at him. "Sorry, but you've been frozen for forty years."

Sherlock stumbled over the words, still groggy. "Forty- years?"

Rogue placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

Names whizzed through Sherlock's head. John. Mrs. Hudson. Mycroft. Where were they now?

"Hurry up, slowpoke. We've gotta get back to base." Rogue whispered, quickly walking off. Sherlock followed warily.

What if they're- dead?

Rogue's POV:

Forty years she had waited. Forty years. She never believed he would return. But somehow, it would make sense that he would be here. Jim's arch-nemesis- of course he'd want to keep him as a trophy. But she debated about how his skills would've changed- did they dull while he was frozen? She had to ensure that they hadn't or their cause would be doomed.