A/N

So this takes place just before Season one Episode eight (the one that's after Thor: the Dark World) and in between Season two episode one and two of Sherlock

The night was cool and calm, the amber light of a street lamp poured into the dark living room of 221B Baker Street. A man lies, seemingly asleep on the sofa on the far side of the room, his hands balanced delicately under his pale chin.

The phone rings, a cheerful chirp that interrupts the silence. The man's eyes shoot open. He gets up, straightens his dark suit and picks up the phone.

"Hello?" he asked, his smooth voice was laced with boredom. "Mother, what is wrong? Make it quick, I'm on a case."

His expression suddenly turns from one of importance and boredom to one of worry, then fear and anger.

"Elspeth did What?!"

He ran his free hand through his curly black hair as a smaller, auburn haired man stumbled sleepily into the room, curiosity etched on his groggy face.

"That's my girl. If you really want me to, I'll stop by her hotel in a few minutes to check up on her. I'll call and let you know if she's alright. Goodbye mother." Then he hung up, threw the phone on the sofa and smiled cheerfully at the man.

"Well John, it looks like we're visiting my dear sister. Why Mycroft couldn't have handled this I don't know…" He said, grabbing a black trench coat and blue scarf from a hanger by the door.

John looked at him incredulously.

"Sherlock… it's half past two in the morning!" he said, but sounded awake and ready.

"You're right… we're going to be really late. Put some clothes on."

Jemma Simmons lay awake in her room, throwing a stress ball up and catching it. She acted like it was nothing. Like the illness and the jump hadn't affected her. But she felt different. Every time she closed her eyes she saw it; that damn helmet and the jump. Felt the whistling winds on her face and smelt the salty air.

She shuddered and sat up, reaching for her phone and staring at the unread messages from her mum, dad and Mycroft.

"You okay Jemma?" asked Skye sleepily from the bed by the window.

Jemma jumped and her head snapped towards Skye, before relaxing again.

"Yeah… fine." She muttered, getting up and wandering over to the window by Skye's bed. With some difficulty, Jemma wrenched it open and breathed in the cool London air. It smelled like rain and the smell reminded her so much of home and her childhood. In fact, that man walking towards the hotel even looked like her brother, Sherlock.

I'm getting homesick… hallucinating Sherlock. Is Mycroft going to walk out of the bathroom in a moment?

Jemma laughed softly at her thought of her oldest brother sauntering out of the bathroom in her and Skye's shared hotel room in central London, wearing nothing but a towel.

"Penny for your thoughts?" asked Skye from behind her.

Jemma turned away and locked eyes with Skye, raising her eyebrow and smirking.

"My thoughts are worth way more than a penny, Skye. Come back when you've got more." She said, as a buzzing came from the phone linked with the lobby ten storeys below them.

"Yes?" asked Jemma, with Skye watching suspiciously behind her whilst she made a cup of coffee.

"Shall I come down?" Jemma asked, and nodded for a moment, before hanging up and turning to Skye.

"Someone is downstairs who wants to see me." She said, confused.

"I'll come with you." Replied Skye, reaching for her clothes from yesterday that were hung neatly over the back of a chair.

Jemma nodded and did the same, slipping on her deep blue jeans and turquoise blouse over her vest top and shorts that she was currently wearing as pyjamas.

Skye tied her hair into a messy bun and straightened her loose purple top around her shoulders, then walked towards the door.

As it was around three in the morning, the corridor was completely deserted as Jemma went to knock on Coulson's door.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" hissed Skye, grabbing Jemma's wrist as it was about to make contact with the wooden door.

"What if he wakes up and realises we're gone?" she hissed back, wrenching her wrist out of Skye's grip and knocking three times on the door.

There was a groggy groan and a thump from inside the room, before slow footsteps made their way towards the door. It swung open, to reveal Coulson, who was wearing charcoal pyjama bottoms and a Captain America t-shirt.

He raised his eyebrows, and leaned against the doorframe at the sight of the hacker and scientist stood, fully clothed, in front of him.

"It is Three AM. What do you want?" he asked sleepily.

"Sir, apparently there's someone in the lobby to see me, so I thought I'd let you know where I'm going… you know… in case there's an emergency." She spluttered, suddenly feeling guilty at having woken up her superior officer.

Coulson looked taken aback, but pointed, confused, at Skye.

"What's she doing then?" he asked.

"Coming with me... She insisted." Muttered Jemma, looking at the ground.

"Fine. Give me two minutes." Snapped Coulson, making a move to go back inside his room.

"What?" asked the Brit, her eyes squinting in confusion.

"Neither of you are trained properly in combat and it could be dangerous. Why else would they be here at three in the goddamn morning?" spelled out Coulson, looking at the two like it was obvious.

Coulson then stepped away from the door, and, true to his word, he reappeared two minutes later, dressed in his trademark crisp suit.

The three made their way to the lift at the end of the corridor and slipped inside.

As soon as she could hear the music playing, Jemma groaned.

I came in like a wrecking ball!

I never hit so hard in love!

All I wanted was to break your walls

All you ever did was wreck me

Yeah you wrecked me

"Oh hell yeah this is my jam!" yelled Skye, singing along very loudly in Coulson's ear, earning her a death glare from both Coulson and Jemma.

By the time they were at the bottom, Skye was trying to make Jemma dance with her, much to her chagrin. The doors slid open and the lobby unfurled in front of them. Stood by the desk, looking very annoyed, was a man in a long black trench coat with black curly hair, accompanied by a shorter man with auburn hair and a brown jacket.

Jemma's breath caught in her throat as she recognised the fist man. Her eyes widened and she stopped moving. Coulson and Skye walked ahead, and turned when they realised she wasn't with them.

"Jemma? What's wrong?" asked Coulson, worried.

"Elspeth?" called the man in the trench coat, striding towards her, followed by the shorter man.

"Sherlock." Jemma breathed, closing the distance between them and throwing her arms around him. Their hug only lasted a few moments, because Sherlock wriggled out of her clutch and glared at her jokingly.

"Sorry… I'm confused. Who the hell is Elspeth?" questioned Skye, looking accusingly at Sherlock, then John, then back to Sherlock, as Coulson chuckled lightly.

"Elspeth is me… Elspeth Jemma Elizabeth Holmes." Admitted Jemma, her face flushing slightly.

"What?" asked Skye, her voice unnaturally high.

"I go by Jemma Simmons because Simmons is the maiden name of my mother and, obviously, my first middle name is Jemma. It was easier than going by my actual name when inside S.H.I.E.L.D… my parents are very skilled mathematicians that are very well known inside the intelligence world, especially inside S.H.I.E.L.D, so going by a different name was just easier. Only Fitz and, by the look on his face I assume, Coulson knew about my real identity." Explained Jemma, folding her arms awkwardly.

"Shall we take this back to your room?" called Coulson from where he was leaning against the wall by the lift.

Jemma nodded, and gestured for the detective and the doctor to follow.

The lift music was even worse than before.

You know you love me

I know you care

Just shout whenever

And I'll be there

You are my love, you are my heart

And we will never, ever, ever be apart.

"Oh God no." moaned Coulson, as Skye beamed and started a small dance where she stood.

"What is she doing?" asked John, looking apprehensively at Skye.

"She's a very… special… human being." Replied Jemma, eyeing Skye suspiciously.

"You can say that again." Muttered Coulson, locking eyes with Jemma for a moment and smirking.

"No, she's just feeling awkward. You can see by…" started Sherlock.

"Sherlock, no." interrupted both Jemma and John, who looked at each other for a second with a look that said 'he does this to you too?'

The lift stopped and opened at the tenth floor, and as the doors slid open, Coulson caught sight of May, Fitz and Ward banging on his door, shouting "Open up!"

"May?" called Coulson down the hall as he walked out of the lift.

May's gaze landed on him and she glared, striding towards him, which would have looked more intimidating if not for the pink pyjama bottoms and short-sleeved blue t-shirt with a grey elephant on it.

"Where the hell have you been? And who are they?" she asked, gesturing towards Sherlock and John.

"This is Sherlock Holmes and John Watson." Cut in Jemma from behind Coulson.

Fitz appeared from behind May and waved at Sherlock and John, who waved back in friendly greeting; they had met several times in the past when Jemma had visited home.

"Shall we take this into our room?" asked Skye, pushing through, winking at Ward and Fitz and unlocking the door to their room, holding the door open for everyone to file through.

When she finally got in, Jemma was sat cross-legged on her bed, Sherlock and John had taken the armchairs next to the second window, Ward and Fitz were leaning against the sink and May and Coulson were stood next to each other by the door to the bathroom. Skye walked past them and sat on her bed tentatively.

"El, I'm confused, who are these people?" asked Sherlock, frowning slightly.

"This is my S.H.I.E.L.D team, Sherlock. This is Skye, Coulson, May and Ward. You know Fitz. Everyone, this is my brother Sherlock and his friend John." Introduced Jemma. "Why are you here?" she continued at Sherlock.

"Mother is worried about you… something about a jump out of an aeroplane and an alien virus?" answered Sherlock, brows raised and arms folded.

"Who's El?" asked Ward before Jemma could answer. She groaned and put her head in her hands.

"El is me. My real name's Elspeth." She admitted to the specialist, staring pointedly out of the window and allowing her messy brown hair to fall and block her pale face from view.

"You're joking?" asked Ward, trying to hold back a giggle.

"No." Snapped Jemma, glaring at him.

"You can tell mum I'm fine. Just a little shaken up is all." Said Jemma, in reply to Sherlock's question.

"A little? Jemma, you haven't slept a wink all night, and I know you're having nightmares from the jump." Snapped Skye back, holding an infuriated eye contact with Jemma for longer than any of the team or John felt was possible, before Sherlock spoke.

"How long ago did this happen?" he asked Coulson, almost threateningly.

"About a week ago." Coulson replied instantaneously. "We're here because S.H.I.E.L.D wants us to investigate the events that happened in Greenwich yesterday afternoon."

Sherlock nodded thoughtfully, but John looked confused.

"Sorry, what is S.H.I.E.L.D?" he asked, looking around at the assembled agents.

"I'm afraid I…" Coulson started, but Sherlock cut him off.

"It stands for the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. It's an 'advanced' spy agency operating all over the globe." Explained Sherlock.

"Well I was about to say that's classified. Thanks." Coulson intervened, looking annoyed.

Sherlock shrugged but exchanged a cheeky grin with his sister.

"Oh right… didn't you have something to do with that alien invasion last year?" asked John, racking his brains for a mention of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the news.

"You could say that…" muttered Coulson, subconsciously rubbing his scar that ran across his chest over the top of his shirt.

John just nodded, then turned back to the rest of the group.

"So you're all going to look at the site of the alien ship tomorrow?" he asked, and was met with numerous nods of heads, and an "unfortunately" from Skye.

"Do you need any help?" cut in Sherlock, finally looking away from Jemma to stare at the rest of the team.

"I appreciate the offer but-" Coulson started, but was cut off by Jemma.

"That's a wonderful idea. John is a doctor, so he can help us assess the situation, and Sherlock is just Sherlock, so he could help as well." This statement earned her several glares, but Coulson yawned and nodded, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Fine… but they're your responsibility. Be ready for seven am. Now can I please go back to bed?" he asked, getting drowsier with every word.

"Fine. See you then." Snapped Sherlock, retreating back inside his cold shell once more.

"See you in a bit, El." Said John, getting up and following Sherlock out Jemma's room.

The rest of the team frowned, but all trooped out as well, leaving Skye and Jemma to go back to sleep.

Skye turned, wide awake, towards Jemma.

"So should I start calling You Elspeth?" she joked, lying back on her bed and pulling the sheets over herself so only her eyes and forehead were visible.

"If you even dare, I swear to God you'll wish you stayed in your damn van." Warned Jemma with faux seriousness.

Skye just laughed and Jemma turned off the lights and slipped into her own bed, putting her stress ball on her bedside table.

For the first night in a week, Jemma slept without falling in her dreams.

She loved Sherrinford and Mycroft, but Sherlock was always her favourite. He always worked miracles on her, no matter how lost she felt.