Unfinished Business


Sherlock Holmes; emotionally handicapped, current pain in my ass, constant meddler of my mind and the only person that had been able to rip my heart out, twice, and still manage to be the only one that I would give myself over to completely. It wasn't as hard as the first time, since I knew that I would be the one returning to him, but it still hurt. Would it be like that each time we separated? A note and some sort of memento? Did he do it for my sake or his? I squeezed my eyes shut, letting out an aggravated puff of air.

What did you expect Samantha? Breakfast in bed and a happily ever after? My mind chided.

"Fairy tales don't exist."

I heard the muffled whistle of the teapot, followed by a soft knock on the door.

"Sam?" Hannah's voice called. "I'm coming in Sam." She placed the mug down on the end stand and sat at the foot of the bed. "We'll have to get you some clothes. There is this great dress maker not to far from Baker Street."

"No, no lung crushing corsets and dresses for me thanks. If I'm going to be there for a while I'm going to be comfortable." I grumbled into my fluffy pink pig.

"But Sammy, most women-"

I sat up and locked my gray eyes onto her bright ones, my hair falling into my face.

"You of all people should know Hannah; I'm not like most girls."

She smiled softly, reaching out and twirling a strand of my cherry red hair around her finger.

"You should probably do something about this too," she chuckled, tugging gently on the lock of hair in her hold.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "The things I do so your happy ass can get married."

"Oh please Sam, you know you're going so you can be with him. The wedding is just a bonus," she winked, strolling over to my closest and dragging out my suitcase. "So I have a few of those vacuum sealed bag things, they come in handy for water travel, not a drop get's in. Grab what you need, strip that color out of your hair, and I'll be back tomorrow afternoon expecting you ready to go."

"Mmmm," I sighed, falling back onto the bed.

"Cheer up Sam, and don't be mad at him. It'll have been almost three months by the time we get there, he gets so…mopey without you."

She may have had a point, but I was still annoyed.

Turns out my natural hair color is more of a dark chocolate brown, with a hint of red that still showed through.

"Hmm, not to bad I suppose," I said to my dark haired reflection. I packed up the essentials, which consisted of my pig, Oreo's for my lonely sleuth, his pipe, and a few pieces of comfort clothing, that I would probably not be wearing very often. I sealed the bag and buckled everything up inside my small case.

It was time I went down and paid my little shop a goodbye.

"Samantha!" Stephen jumped over the counter and pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Hey now! Not so hard."

"Oh sorry. You all right? Hannah told me about your…injuries," Stephen said, eying the bandage sticking out from the sleeve of my T-shirt.

"Of course she did," I chuckled making my way behind the counter. With a sad smile I set my hands on my hips I glanced around at the ovens that had been my life for the past few years. The countless burns and broken coffee cups had become a part of my daily routine; and now I was just leaving it all behind.

"You'll be back Sam," Stephen said, resting a hand over my shoulder, attempting to comfort me.

"Eventually," I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck.

I spent the rest of the day enjoying the last few hours I would spend baking for the Nations oldest city. As usual, business was slow, not that I minded, the sweet smell of baked goods was enough for me. Just me, the radio, and racks full of hot pans in my little back room, bopping along to the music beats, only managing to burn myself once or twice.

"Hey Sam?" Stephen stuck his head between the double swing doors.

"Hi!" I grinned, poking my head around a rolling track full of banana nut muffins.

"Um…there a cop here, he is asking for you," Stephen grimaced, running his hand through his hair.

"A city cop? Did you cause some trouble while I was gone?" I chuckled, pulling out a tray of cookies.

"He's from Atlanta…and there is some suit with him."

The pan fell from my hands, sending cookies in every direction.

"Why are they here Sam?"

"I have no idea."

"Samantha Parker?" the sandy haired stout cop asked as I emerged from behind the counter.

"Yes, that's me."

"My name is Randy Travers, this here is Matthew Landis," he said motioning to the lanky man dressed in a suit and tie standing behind him. "Can we speak with you for a few moments?"

I nodded, locked the shop door and clicked off the open sign.

"You're going to have to leave sir," Travers said, looking at Stephen.

"This is Stephen, my brother, he can stay," I said quietly pulling out a chair.

Travers looked at his suited companion, who only nodded.

"All right then," he said, taking the seat across from me. "Ms. Parker I was a long time friend of your fathers, he asked me if anything should happen to him that I make this appearance personally, Mr. Landis is here for legal reasons."

"Our father has been dead for almost ten years," Stephen cut in.

"You're father Mr. Parker, died two days ago." Travers replied.

"No, you're wrong. Tell him Sam."

"He's telling the truth Stephen, I'll explain later," I said flatly.

"Explain now Samantha!" He shouted, hard eyes bearing into mine.

"Later Stephen, let them finish what they need to do." I laid a hand across Stephen's back.

"Well Ms. Parker, Phillip wanted to make sure you and your brother we're taken care of. So after his personal debts were taken care of, that leaves the two of you with a total of 346,000 dollars. Oh and the deed to a house located on A1A. I am aware you already have the key."

"What!" My eyebrows nearly shot off my forehead. "How did you know I have the key?"

"Forget the damn house Sam, that's almost half a million dollars!" Stephen exclaimed.

"Shut up Stephen!"

"You're father knew that your mother wanted to keep it in the family, he even stayed there every few months to keep everything in shape." Travers continued on calmly. "He knew that your mother would leave you a key behind somehow, Mr. Landis here also represented your mother before she passed, he contacted me after you retrieved the lock box in Atlanta."

"What is he talking about Sam?" Stephen asked, leaning into my side.

"Later," I said through gritted teeth.

"If you would Ms. Parker," Landis spoke up, placing a stack of papers on the table. "I'll need you to sign a few things, and then we will be on our way."

I sifted through the pile, signing, initialing, scribbling down bank account numbers, until my little fingers were sore.

"Thank you for your time Ms. Parker," Landis said, securing his briefcase and walking briskly out the door.

"I'm sorry about your father, he talked about you kids all the time," Travers said sadly, shaking both of our hands before he too left my shop.

"Out with it Samantha, tell me what the hell happened in Atlanta." Stephen berated me the moment they were gone.

"Sit back down…and get comfy."

I rambled on about the burn marks, my father's brother Patrick, dad's FBI involvement, Rivera, Frank, my capture and narrow escape, dad dying in front of me…again, and the box that mom left behind. Stephen sat wide eyed, mouth gaping, interrupting me every so often to go more into detail.

"He was alive, all that time he was alive." Stephen blinked as I came to a stop.

"Mmmhmm."

"And you were right. Mom was murdered," he said softly. "I'm sorry Sam, sorry I never believed you."

"What's done is done Stephen. Besides," I said cheerfully, brushing the flour from my jeans. "Now I can buy out the shop and the apartment, and you yours, and I won't have to worry about going bankrupt while I'm living it up in Victorian London." I patted his shoulders. "Be good to my little bakery Stephen."

"I'll miss you Sam," he said sadly.

"I know." I gave him a gentle hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving my hard work behind.

Hannah brought me a survival suit to slip on under my clothes.

"The water will be absolutely freezing, lucky for us John and I set up a small buoy where we should surface, there should be a self inflating raft attached to the bottom to get us to shore."

"And how exactly did you get your hands on this stuff," I asked, squeezing into my suit.

"I do have other friends Sam," Hannah chuckled. "We better get going."

Freezing was an understatement. It felt as if there were hundreds of daggers sticking into my chest, despite the survival suit, as the water of the Thames surrounded me. By the time I reached the surface Hannah already had the raft inflated and was climbing in. Luckily enough it was dark, not too many people to wonder where the strange boat floating in the water had come from. She reached out and helped pull me in, quickly snapping open her case, unsealing her bags, and pulling out some dry thick blankets.

"Thanks," I said through chattering teeth as she tossed one to me.

"Help me paddle okay?" she shivered.

We dragged the boat onshore and pulled the plug, stuffing it inside her now empty case.

"All you brought was blankets?" I asked.

"Yea," she breathed. "Everything else I need is already here. Come on, John has a patient that lives near here, he has a buggy and all, he'll give us a ride."

It was late when we arrived at Baker Street, almost midnight, the streets quiet with an occasional drunken straggler stumbling down the alleyways.

"Mrs. Hudson is most likely asleep," Hannah whispered as she slid the door open into the main room. Quietly we went up the stairs, pausing as we reached the top.

"Well," Hannah sighed. "Here we are. I'll see you in the morning okay?" she smiled, disappearing into the door across the hall.

I leaned my head back against the door and sighed. I did not have any idea where to start, hell, I didn't know if I should even knock or just barge on in and give him a piece of my mind for just vanishing. My body went stiff as I heard a rattle from the other side of the door, quickly turning around just in time for it to slowly open, reveling that familiar disheveled oddity of a man. His chocolate eyes full of surprise and his mouth slightly open.

"Samantha? I-"

My hand met his rugged cheek before he could finish. I took a few steps forward, pushing into his tattered robe. "Don't you ever leave like that again! How could you possibly think that was better?" I shot out at him, pushing him back into his room, shutting the door with my foot as I went.

"Is that too much to ask of you Holmes, to actually say goodbye? Yes I would have been upset, but you just left…you left and I…you just…you," I closed my eyes and brushed away the tears that were starting to build at the corners.

"Are you quite done darling?" Sherlock asked, narrowing his eyes.

I nodded, not being able to find anymore words to say.

"Good."

Quickly he closed the gap between us, his lips crashing down onto mine as he rested his hands on my hips. Slipping my hands under the back of his shirt, I let my hands wander over the warmth of his skin.

"Welcome home Samantha," he whispered as his scruff tickled my neck.

"This isn't my home Sherlock, this isn't even my time."

"Home my dear, is wherever you are with me, whether it be here or there, or anywhere else for that matter," he smiled, tucking my damp hair behind my ear. "Come now, I was almost asleep when I heard that noisy girl come up the stairs." Taking my hand he guided me through the maze of books and random furniture scattered about in the lamplight.

"You got a bed?" I laughed, eyeing the mattress tucked away in the corner.

"Yes….well…it is more comfortable after all," he chuckled. "Now let's get you dry and off to bed."

Gingerly he helped me out of the survival suit that was under my clothes, his fingers lightly dragging across my skin. "I'll have Watson look you over in the morning; your ribs will still need tending to." He pulled off his shirt and slipped it over my head, before tugging me down onto the mattress.

"I'm glad you're here Samantha," he whispered, placing a kiss into my hair as I curled into his side, welcoming the warmth of his arms around me.

"It seems Mr. Holmes," I paused, tilting my head up and placing a chaste kiss to his lips. "That I lack the ability to stay away from you."

A/N: Horray It's finally Here! Updated may be far and few between, this wasn't going to get done for a while, but it kept floating to the surface of my head, distracting me from other projects. Hope you all enjoyed, I did. It had been to long living with out my favorite duo!

Much Love

-Shelly