Disclaimer: Sherlock belongs to its rightful owners. Seriously. This is a fanfiction.
'The Irregular'
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Chapter 1: Prelude to Pink
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Juno Marvel would have yelled in joy as her 8:00 pm alarm rang is she weren't in the library right now. It was Wednesday; her shift was done, and not to mention, tomorrow was her off-day. Besides, it's been three full weeks since she last received a text message from 'he-who-should-not-be-mentioned-cause-calling-his-name-would-make-him-appear-like Beetlejuice.'
But five minutes later, as she was getting her coat, her phone vibrated. She felt her stomach dropped. None of her co-workers would have texted her, since most of them were still at the library.
She dreaded fishing her phone from her pockets.
Brixton, Lauriston Gardens.
Look for a Dr John Watson.
Take him back to 221 b Baker St.
Come immediately.
SH
Juno groaned as she read his text. Just when she thought she could get a month off in assisting him, here was a text message. Sherlock Holmes was in great timing, because her shift as an assistant librarian at the Westminster Reference Library just ended. Well, timing, or that he knows of her schedule. Though Juno thought it was more of the latter.
"I should not have thought of him," She muttered. "I jinxed it!"
You're lucky my shift just ended.
I'll be there in 20.
Tops.
-Juno
She typed in her response as she walked down the steps. Then her phone vibrated a couple of seconds later, saying:
Fifteen.
SH
All she could do was glare at her phone before mounting her on her bike.
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Fifteen minutes later, Juno arrived at her deemed destination on her bike, having seen the all-too familiar scene where a police car's strobe lights were flashing red and blue lights.
"Hey Sally." The library assistant greeted as she stepped down from her bike. "I haven't seen you in a while."
"It was nice while it lasted." Sally Donovan joked. "If you're here for the frea- -for him, he just took off. You know how he is."
Juno nodded. "Right. Oh, is a… John Watson, here? My instruction was to pick him up."
"Oh, so that's his name then. Yeah, still inside though. Your master left him."
"Ha, Master, wow, Sally. You just thought of that?" the younger girl deadpanned, as Donovan rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, there he is now." The female police officer gestured towards a man with a limp, walking towards them.
"Cool, thanks." She said as she drew up the police tape. "Err… Dr John Watson?" she called.
The man looked up at her. "John, please. How may I help you?"
"Contrary to that, I'm here to help you. Sherlock ordered me to escort you to Baker Street." She gave him a wry smile.
"Sherlock… ordered you?" John Watson repeated. "Why?"
"Long story short, I owe him so I let him boss me around sometimes… err, most of the time." She shrugged. "Oh. Oh shit! Where are my manners? Name's Juno, by the way. Juno Marvel." She said, extending her hand. His grip was firm as he shook her hand; meanwhile, the expression on the doctor's face is quite what she was expecting. 'Juno Marvel'. People often think that she's using a pseudonym.
"Juno? Like… the goddess?"
She nodded, smile growing bigger. Normally, people thought her name came from the city in Alaska, or asked her if that really was her name…oh the many times she scoffed at them. He doubted her, for sure, but he chose not to comment on her name, and for that, she's thankful. She's starting to see why Sherlock doesn't complain about this new flatmate of his.
"Yeah." Juno said. "Dad went into this phrase when he was obsessed with mythology and the shizz, so he named me after Jupiter's wife… I mean, he's one hell of a man-whore, but at the end of each escapade, he always goes home to Juno. She's like, proud and beautiful, but she's a bitch. I mean, look at what she did to Hercules, right?" She held up the police tape for him.
John Watson laughed. It was genuine, warm, even she felt him getting more at ease with her. Juno found herself chuckling as well.
"She has every right, don't you think? Jupiter isn't the most loyal of husbands." John added with a small grin.
"Yeah, but if I were her, I would have chopped her husband's happy pole when the bastard's asleep. Anyway, I'd offer you a ride on my bike, but… whaddaya know, it's a bleeding bike! Let's get a cab, shall we?" She said, holding the handlebars of her bike.
"Sure." The Army Doctor agreed.
"Dr Watson," Sergeant Donovan called. "Bit of advice, try and stay away from that person."
Juno scoffed at her. "Excuse me? I can hear you!"
The sergeant rolled her eyes at the younger girl. "Not you Marvel. I'm talking about Sherlock."
"What—what about him?" Watson asked.
"You know why he's here?" The sergeant said. "He's not paid or anything. He likes it. He gets off on it. The weirder the crime, the more he gets off. And you know what-,"
"Don't listen to her, John." Juno interrupted. Both the Doctor and the Sergeant turned to her. "Look, I know Sherlock's a pompous arse, but if it wasn't for him… if it wasn't for him I won't be here." She finished, voice full of conviction.
"One day showing up won't be enough. One day we'll be standing 'round a body, and he'll be the one that put it there." Sally Donovan continued, as if she wasn't interrupted for a bit.
"That person must have deserved it then." The younger girl spat, glaring at Donovan, who glared back before being called by Anderson to go back inside the building. Juno then turned to John, smiling at him and said, "Come on, Dr Watson, we'll take a cab on the main road." She waited until he was beside her before heading towards the main road.
"You know where we are?" John asked.
"Yeah, but you want to ask me something else, right? Like, what happened to me, and why do I owe Sherlock, but you don't want to be marked as prying."
"How did you… he taught you?"
"He's a pompous, arrogant arse. Why would he teach others his skill? I was merely told to observe, analyse… be all science-y and shizz."
"Right. So what happened?"
"Ran away from home. I was fifteen then. I became an urchin. Pick-pocketed the wrong person, namely…"
"Sherlock?" John added.
"Yep. I kinda helped him with one of his first cases. He helped me get a normal life back, well, as normal as knowing Sherlock allows. Five years later… voila! Juno Marvel, assistant librarian extraordinaire!" she said loudly, as a talk show host would introduce its guest.
John gave a small chuckle at that. "Why did you run away?"
"I'll tell you that some other day, I—," Juno was about to add something, but she was interrupted by the sudden ringing of a public phone. Both of them froze midstep. The girl furrowed her eyebrows. "That's the third public phone we've passed that suddenly rang. I reckon you're meant to get that, Johnny-boy." She muttered.
He looked at her, clearly confused. "How did you-?"
"I had a hunch…" She interrupted, eyes darting from left to right, searching for something. "Go on, John, answer the phone. I'll be here." The doctor reluctantly entered the phone booth, picking up the receiver, his trained eyes still watching her. John mentally kicked himself, he should have known better than leave his gun.
A knowing smirk graced Juno's lips as she sighted what she was looking for; security cameras, on which she waved at. "Mycroft." She muttered to no one in particular. She turned her attention to John, who appeared to have seen the security cameras as well.
A few seconds later, a sleek, black car pulled up, stopping just in front of the phone box. A blonde man in a grey suit got out, holding the door out for someone. Nobody got out nor got inside.
John got out of the booth looking slightly exasperated. "You have an idea who we're about to meet?"
Juno shrugged. "You know me."
"But you're not going to tell me who that person is?"
"You know me." The girl said pointedly. She stifled a giggle as John let out a heavy sigh. Juno straightened up, touching the army doctor's arm. "Look, John, don't… don't worry, okay? I've met him before, and I can assure you he won't try to kill us."
"He won't try to kill us?" John said slowly.
"Nah. Look at those CCTV cameras, if he wanted us dead, he would have done so already." Juno replied. "Now come, Doctor Watson, the British Government is waiting for us!" The girl said brightly, before asking the man in the suit to put her bike on the trunk of the car.
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