Disclaimer: I don't own any of these delightful characters.

A/N Just trying something out. Not sure where it is going to go. Hope you enjoy as always

Sherlock Holmes was asleep and this made John Watson very happy. In fact the only thing that would have made John happier was if Sherlock had made it to his own bed first instead of collapsing on the sofa.

Sherlock needed to sleep. John had become increasing concerned about the consulting detective's welfare during their last case and even though that was now over, John had only succeeded in getting Sherlock to eat since.

Eating and sleeping; normal activities that most people did with very little fuss. People actually found these activities desirable sometimes. Not that Sherlock would ever understand. No, Sherlock needed to be practically forced to do either. John found that he could take care of the eating side of things but it was damned near impossible to get Sherlock to sleep. Unless he used drugs but John didn't even like to put 'Sherlock' and 'drugs' in the same sentence.

Instead John just had to wait (too long) for the moment when Sherlock's mind finally lost the battle against his exhausted body, before he could breathe a sigh of relief that the detective was getting some rest.

However with Sherlock asleep on the sofa and not in his room, John was essentially forced out of the flat- there was no way he wanted to accidently wake the man after all.

It was for this reason that John found himself knocking on Mrs. Hudson's door. Sarah was away visiting her parents and the idea of visiting Harry went as quickly as it came; he really didn't want to deal with her issues right now.

The door opened.

'Hello, Sherlock's asleep so I...Mrs Hudson?' John looked at the usually strong and cheerful lady and was alarmed to see that she was crying.

'Oh John, I've done something really silly.' Mrs Hudson gestured for John to enter her flat with tissue filled hands.

'What's happened? Are you alright?' John asked with concern.

'I should never have...Oh sorry, John. Sit down. I'll make us some tea.' Mrs Hudson suddenly seemed to want to put a brave face on but before she could leave to the kitchen John called her back;

'Mrs Hudson, what's wrong?'

The lady's shoulders seemed to drop as she turned around slowly to face him.

'I think...I think, I've been conned.'

...

John was angry. Very angry.

'John? John, why are you pacing?'

John stopped moving and sighed. Sherlock. He had completely forgotten about the sleeping detective on the sofa. The one who he had been determined not to wake.

'You're angry, why?'

John sat down in his chair heavily. Sherlock was right but John was angry for two reasons now. The second reason being the fact that he had woken up his friend. He watched as Sherlock slowly moved into a sitting position; he looked groggy and pale.

'Sorry.' John offered quietly.

'You're sorry for being angry?'

'No, I'm sorry for waking you.'

'Don't be. You should have woken me earlier. Sleeping's boring. Why are you angry?'

John could have laughed. He was angry for three reasons now. The first being Mrs. Hudson's problem, the second being at himself for waking Sherlock and the third was Sherlock's attitude. He couldn't do anything about the second reason and the third would involve getting into an argument that he wasn't in the mood for but the first reason, well, he did actually need Sherlock's help with that.

'Mrs Hudson has been conned.'

'Conned?'

'Hmmm...by a 'building company'. They got her to pay upfront for some work and...'

'They took the money and disappeared.' Sherlock finished.

'Yeah. Bastards.' John spat out the last word.

There was silence for a few seconds.

'Tell me everything.' Sherlock stated firmly.

John started at the beginning. He told Sherlock how Mrs Hudson had decided that she wanted to sort out the problems in 221c in the hope of finally finding a tenant. She had had a few different builders around for a quote and had picked based on the price, like most people would. The particular company she had picked, 'Smith and Son,' she had found through a card left in the sandwich shop window. They had come, brought some tools, asked for the money and because they had brought their tools, Mrs Hudson naturally assumed that they would return. They didn't. As Sherlock said, they took the money and disappeared. Mrs Hudson realised she had been conned when she called their number to find it had been disconnected.

'Has she informed the police?' Sherlock asked as John finished explaining.

'Yes but...' John began but Sherlock interrupted;

'They'll not be able to handle this properly.'

John glanced at Sherlock in confusion, 'I'm sorry, what?'

'The police are idiots when dealing with con artists. They are too slow. Make it more fun. Don't hit them where it hurts.'

'I'm not following...'

'If we are going to help get Mrs Hudson's money back then we don't need the police.'

'You're suggesting we take the case ourselves?'

'Urgh. No. Dull.'

'Dull?' John rolled his eyes in annoyance. Still, at least Sherlock was taking the matter seriously enough to do something.

Sherlock ignored him. 'The best way to catch a con artist is to use another con artist.'

'And let me guess, you just happen to know one?'

'Know of one, yes. Get your coat, John. We need to find Michael Stone.'

...