"Can somebody please get a doctor?" Alek says to the nearest boffin. "You'd think in a room of boffins one of them would be medically inclined," he then mutters to Deryn.
Amidst her pain, she spares a smile – although maybe it's a grimace. She reaches down to roll up the leg of her pant to reveal her knee, bee-creature and all.
"How bad is it?"
"I'll be okay once someone gets a look at it."
She still has these bursts of pain sometimes, especially after doing something more strenuous for the Society. It's up to Alek to find a doctor to tend her, incapacitated as she is.
Luckily, there seems to be one nearby. "All right, all right, I'm here!" a man exclaims from the doorway of the room, rushing over to Deryn's bedside. "Your knee, is it? That is a mighty creature."
Another man has stepped into the doorway, with bedraggled dark hair and an ugly brown boffin hat. His clothes are mismatched and scraggly, but he doesn't seem to mind. Alek stands, examining this new arrival with the doctor.
The doctor turns to look back at the man in the doorway, "It's a Darwinist contraption. Holmes, can you give me a hand?"
'Holmes' hesitates, eyes passing over Alek and then examining the creature on Deryn's knee. His eyes land on it for a few seconds, then glance up at Deryn's face, and then back to the doctor.
"Good afternoon, sir," Alek says, extending a hand. "I'm-"
"The former prince Aleksander, aren't you?" Holmes interrupts. He ignores the outstretched hand until it falls. "And Miss Deryn Sharp. Watson, let me have a try."
Holmes passes Alek's dropped jaw expression to kneel by Deryn. He braces his left hand against the side of her injured knee, then smashes into the other side with the palm of his right hand. A satisfying crack is heard, Deryn barks once in pain, and then she exhales softly.
"That feels much better."
"Thought it might," Holmes says, standing. "I am Sherlock Holmes. If I may introduce my assistant-"
"Partner," the doctor corrects.
"Yes, my partner. Dr. Watson. He is a Clanker, you see. That bee-creature of yours is completely lost on him."
"But how did you come to learn our names?" asks Alek.
Dr. Watson scoffs. "With Holmes? It's elementary, really."
Sherlock Holmes raises an eyebrow. "Indeed you use my own phrase to patronize me, Watson. It was, however, easy enough. That beast on your leg, there, is a rare healing creature found only in certain regions of Mexico. The only British airship to be in Mexico in the past year was-"
"The Leviathan," Alek finishes.
"Indeed. I can therefore assume you, at least, were an airman on the Leviathan. That or, like Aleksander here, you were simply a passenger. I recognize your face from the newsreels-"
"The brave airman tests his wings," sighs Deryn.
"Yes, and the only two airmen on the Leviathan of your age were a Dylan Sharp and a... well, actually I don't know his first name, but a Newkirk. Neither, of course, are a girl."
"But how did you know that I-"
"Holmes sees everything," says Dr. Watson.
"I can assume you were masquerading as a boy to get into the air military. Dylan Sharp was in the papers rather often during the early stages of the war, especially in Istanbul if I recall. There was one article that mentioned a near relative, a cousin named Deryn Sharp, who flew in hot air balloons with her late father... It seemed obvious enough that you would simply change your name in order to continue with your love of flying."
Alek and Deryn both stare at him.
"I am correct, then, in my assumptions?"
"And my name? Is there a long, complicated story following that one too?"
"My dear boy, everyone knows the face of the Prince of Austria-Hungary. Those ears are positively... unique."
Deryn giggles. "And you knew all this in a matter of seconds, from a beastie on my knee?"
"Yes."
"You work for the Zoological Society?"
"Why else would I be here, in headquarters? Oh, and do excuse the haphazard disguise, I normally have a better fashion sense than this," Holmes adds, gesturing to the suit and hat. "Watson, I do believe we have other patients to which we must attend."
"You're quite right, Holmes," Watson says with a smile. He stands, offering a hand to Alek. "I do love to see the great mind in action. I hope we meet again, Prince Aleksander."
"I prefer Mr. Ferdinand."
Holmes, from the doorway, turns once more to the couple. "And Miss Sharp, judging by the way this prince looks at you, I believe you plan to become Miss Ferdinand soon. Do invite us to the nuptials, will you?"
With that, the great Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are gone.
"How did he know we were..."
"I bet it's some sodding long story," Deryn says. "But we don't have any plans for-"
"Maybe he sees the future too," Alek responds with a wink.
"Maybe he does. That is one odd mind right there. A good thing he's working on our side, don't you think?"
"My destiny might be a lot more complicated were Sherlock Holmes a Clanker."