A/N: Disclaimer: The characters of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John Watson, Mycroft Holmes, Inspector Lestrade, Mrs Hudson and James Moriarty are the intellectual property of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and I hold no claim upon them.

The ringing of the telephone broke Sherlock's intense concentration, he was moments away from identifying a particular chemical which would secure a conviction on a case that he was currently working on.

"What?" He asked gruffly, grabbing the phone and thrusting it at his ear; he did not appreciate being interrupted.

"Mr. Holmes?" A woman's voice asked down the receiver.

"Yes?" Sherlock continued impatiently, his hand dangling precariously over a test tube, frozen in the moment before auctioning the experiment.

"This is Miss. Henderson, from the office at Hampden Gurney." Sherlock began to pay a little bit more attention once the name of Innes' school was mentioned. "Innes isn't feeling very well; could you possibly come and collect him?" The hand that had been holding the fabric to be tested in the experiment had dropped down onto the bench as his concentration slipped from his work to the conversation about Innes.

"How is he not feeling well?" Sherlock inquired, beginning to cover up the chemicals he had been using and carefully replacing the evidence still to be tested back into their sterile holders.

"He's been complaining of feeling sick, the school nurse checked him over and she said he is a bit pale and shivery." Miss. Henderson explained. "It could be the beginning of a cold or something, we just think it'd be best for Innes to come, s he's not feeling well enough to sit in class."

"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can." Sherlock told her, "Thanks." Sherlock surveyed his work bench, it wasn't in the tidiest of states; he knew he had to tidy it up at some point today before John arrived home from his work conference. He had intended to tidy up while Innes was still at school, but he would have to work around him now. He glanced at his watch, it was only twenty past eleven – he would probably have enough time to finish his work and tidy up before John got home. Sherlock grabbed his set of car keys and headed to pick Innes up.

As he was driving he felt one of those uncommon pangs that occasionally gripped him; what if Innes wasn't well because of something Sherlock had done while John was away at his conference? What if it was his fault and John would get annoyed and upset with him for not looking after Innes well enough? Sherlock shook his head slightly, attempting to dispel this kind of thought – John loved him, and he knew that they both made mistakes… but Sherlock had helped Innes with his homework, made his packed lunches for school and his dinner for when he arrived home, made sure he was in bed at a reasonable time and had even remembered to wash his school uniform this time! It couldn't be something that he had done – the school receptionist was probably right, perhaps Innes was getting a cold. John would likely check Innes when he got home: Innes' health had always been one of John's priorities. Not that he had actually been unwell a lot of the time, or practically any of the time – Sherlock could count on one hand the number of times that Innes had been to the doctors in the entirety of his life. Perhaps this worry of John's had stemmed from Innes' birth…

Innes' birth had heralded an entirely new period in John and Sherlock's lives. It had been much more profound on John, but Sherlock would have been lying if he didn't acknowledge the change it had on his life also. Although Innes knew both Sherlock and John as his parents, John was actually his uncle. John's sister, Harriet, had been Innes' mother, but due to complications that had arisen during her pregnancy; Innes had been born thirteen weeks early, so premature that they had been terrified he wouldn't survive… Sherlock could remember how tiny Innes had been – almost small enough to fit inside one of his palms, but he had been quite the fighter! Harry had not been so lucky, shortly after Innes was born, she had crashed with internal bleeding – and the doctors had been unable to save her. It had hit John hard – the loss of his sister and the sudden responsibility of having to care for a premature new born. Considering the pressure and grief that John had been under, Sherlock could not help but feel proud of him for the way he had handled everything. John had made sure that he was alright, so that he could give Innes the care that he actually deserved. Only recently had John begun to open up about Harry, Sherlock suspected that it was for Innes' benefit, but also that it had been too painful for John before – he had blamed himself for so much. Perhaps it was this history, along with John's nature as a doctor, that kept John on edge when it came to Innes' health… They had been incredibly fortunate, however, they had had seven years with Innes barely getting a cold!

Sherlock drew up to the outside of Innes' school, parking in the smallest parking bay he had seen in his life (whoever designed it must have been deluded about the actual size of a car!). He had never agreed with John about this school; John had been adamant that he didn't want Innes to go to a private school, whereas Sherlock was sure that it would be just what Innes needed as support. Innes was incredibly capable and intelligent – maybe the influence of having two professional working parents who were conscious about cultivating his mind, or perhaps it was the luck of the genes. Sherlock felt that Innes should be being challenged more – that his current school were more concerned about the welfare of the entire class than the education of the individual students. Apparently that's what education was like now. Sherlock and John had quarrelled fiercely when Innes was at the age to start school because Sherlock felt that private education would support Innes best, but John – having been a product of state education himself –knew that it was possible to do well in a state school as well as private. John had been coming round to Sherlock's point of view, especially as Sherlock's mother had announced that she had set up a fund for Innes so that he could have a "decent" secondary education – which, of course, meant private. Innes was intelligent, and curious – far too curious for normal teachers to be able to explain in depth what he wanted to know…

"Hello?" Sherlock called through a small glass hatch at the entrance to the school's reception. A very young girl, no older than sixteen, came rushing through to the hatch and slid across the glass. "I'm here to collect Innes Watson, I received phone call from Miss. Henderson saying he's not feeling well. "

"Oh!" Her eyes widened as the tips of her fingers played absent-mindedly with her chocolate coloured hair. "I'll get Miss. Henderson for you." She scuttled off through the small entrance room into what must have been the main office inside the school. "Miss. Henderson, there's a guy here to pick up Innes."

"What do you mean, 'a guy'?" Sherlock could hear Miss. Henderson asking the girl. "It'll be Mr. Holmes, buzz him through." The girl, obviously on work experience of some sort Sherlock noted, reappeared back through, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Just come through." She was pressing the buzzer which unlatched the door.

"Thanks." He pulled open the door into the main reception area where Miss. Henderson was waiting.

"Sorry about that, Jenny's not quite used to working in an office." She apologised.

"Work experience?" Sherlock questioned, glancing around to see where Innes would be waiting.

"Yes." She answered, unsurprised that Sherlock could tell; he could sense some frustration in her tone, probably from being saddled with the young girl who would more have liked to be in a classroom helping teach than be in an office helping with the photocopying.

"I couldn't get a hold of Mr. Watson." Miss. Henderson continued, as the young girl poked her head around the door.

"Yes, he's at a conference in Germany at the moment." Sherlock clarified.

"Ah, alright. I've just got a form for you to sign just so we know that Innes has been collected by someone." She produced a form with a pen for Sherlock to sign. "I'll just go and get him; he's sitting in the nurse's bay." Miss. Henderson went off to bring Innes round, and the work experience girl just stood there, gawking awkwardly at Sherlock as he signed the pick up form. He bit his tongue to prevent him from saying something he would most likely regret; luckily, before his self-restraint broke Miss. Henderson reappeared with Innes shuffling along beside her. Innes was pale, paler than normal anyway – his sandy coloured hair appearing darker against his skin.

"Father." He mumbled, moving to stand over next to Sherlock; who put a protective hand on Innes' shoulder.

"We'll need a note of absence for this afternoon." Miss. Henderson told Sherlock, who nodded and replied:

"That's fine."

A/N: This is the first chapter in a continuing story, but I'd absolutely love to hear what you think of it so far! :)