Sherlock peeked into each door they passed, making sure nobody was about to jump out at them. He was, however, curious about the few rooms he saw that had young women in them. None of them noticed him, as far as he knew, but it made him suspicious about what they were really dealing with.

John noticed them as well and kept his eyes open as he looked around, trying to figure out what exactly was going on here. When he heard two people moving towards them, he ducked into an empty room with Sherlock.

"...heard the next sale is in a few days," one man was saying as they moved down the hallway. "Probably more Chinese showing up." He snorted his disgust.

Sherlock was quiet as he listened. Sales? From their tone, he thought it had something to do with the girls in the rooms. He was briefly annoyed; human trafficking, while an interesting case, was not what he thought this kidnapping was about.

John waited until they'd gone to look at Sherlock. He was pretty sure what was going on now.

"We need to get everyone out of here," he said quietly.

Sherlock nodded.

"Alert Lestrade to the situation," he said. "I will try to find the girls." Because no matter what else was happening, Elena and Abigail came first.

John nodded and handed over a spare gun to Sherlock. "In case you need it," he said quietly. Or in case they got split up. Because John wanted to find Abigail and make sure she was okay.

Sherlock scoffed a bit, but accepted the gun. He doubted he would use it, but he knew it would give John some piece of mind. With that, he went to look for Elena.

John followed him for the moment, after shooting off a text to Lestrade informing him of the recent update. Lestrade texted back that they'd arrive in five minutes.

"Five minutes," he told Sherlock quietly. They could stay out of trouble for five minutes. Probably.

Sherlock barely even nodded to show he'd heard; he was more focused on trying to deduce where the girls had been taken. He followed a trail of scuff marks on the floor, clearly fresh and made by a woman's shoe. That seemed to be the most likely lead.

John checked rooms once in a while, though he knew Sherlock was going to find them. But sooner would be better.

Sherlock furtively looked for them, not relaxing when he heard the police sirens outside. If anything, hearing Lestrade arrive made him more tense. Criminals always became desperate when they were about to be caught.

Indeed, it didn't take long for the criminals to start showing up in force, all of them armed. The first two tripped over Sherlock and John, and John swore as he pulled Sherlock around a corner, turning off the safety on his gun.

Sherlock brought up his gun as well, although John was really the better shot of the two.

"Lestrade needs to bloody well hurry up," he muttered.

John nodded his agreement, peeking around the corner to fire off a quick shot. One of the criminals fell with a yell, and John ducked back so as not to be shot himself.

Sherlock let John take care of them, instead looking for an alternate route out. He trusted that John could handle a few criminals for a couple of minutes or so.

John managed to get both of them down, and he could hear more sirens on the way. Lestrade could deal with the rest of the criminals.

"Which way?" he asked Sherlock.

Sherlock just gestured for John to follow; he had a good idea of where the girls were by now. They could worry about escape afterwards.

John hurried after Sherlock, keeping an eye out for other people as they went. So far, no one else. Which would be more worrying if he didn't know that they were all likely occupied with the police.

Sherlock bypassed four more doors until he found the one he was looking for.

"Here," he said. He tested the handle quickly, and then opened the door.

Elena looked up at him and stood quickly, her hands shaking just a little. She had a bruise at one temple, and her lip was split, but other than that she seemed fine.

John immediately focused on Abby instead, his worry easing just a little when he saw her.

Sherlock looked Elena over quickly. She was standing and steady, her pupils were even, her split lip wasn't bleeding. She would be fine.

"Come on," he said. "Lestrade should have everything under control by now."

"John!" Abby said, standing up. One of her cheeks was bruised, and she had a bit of a shiner forming, but she wasn't hurt otherwise.

"If he doesn't, I'm filing a report," Elena muttered, making her way over to Sherlock a little more carefully than normally.

"Are you alright?" John asked, frowning a little at the bruise he could see. It kind of made him want to shoot another person or two.

Sherlock noted the slight limp as she walked. After a moment, he held a hand out to her.

"Come on," he said. He didn't outright offer assistance, at least not verbally, but he hoped she would understand that he was still offering.

"I'm okay," Abby said. "So is Elena. Nothing that won't heal soon."

Elena surveyed him for a moment before she nodded, taking his hand. She could accept a bit of help this time. Just this once, though.

John nodded and hugged her carefully, just holding her for several moments before he pulled back a bit.

"Come on, Lestrade should be out front, and we can get you two home again."

Abby clung to John for a few moments, trembling a bit. She reluctantly let to of him and nodded when he spoke, although she kept hold of his hand.

Sherlock just helped Elena out of the room, heading out towards the police out front.