"Ah Sherlock, good to see you here on time."
Sherlock gave no response; instead, he placed himself onto the seat in front of Doctor Smith's desk.
"Can you close the door, please?" Doctor Smith, exasperated, asked Sherlock while pulling a file out of a desk drawer.
A tall man, donning a black suit, appeared at the doorway, with an umbrella hanging from the crook of his arm. He was regal, graceful and confident. His stare was enough for anyone to bow down. He walked into the room, and closed the door. He flashed a smile to the Doctor sitting behind the desk. "No need."
Doctor Smith rose from his seat and extended a hand politely. "Good afternoon Mr Holmes. Good to see you. Coffee, perhaps? Or some tea?"
Mr Mycroft Holmes leaned slightly forward and shook Doctor Smith's hand. "Just dropping by, Doctor, so, no thank you."
Mycroft stood behind his younger brother. He pulled Sherlock up from the turned-up collar. "Doctor Smith, shouldn't we be going to see the orphan?"
Doctor Smith checked his silver Rolex, "Yes, yes, we should. The social workers said that they would bring him at 2."
The two older men stood up, both dragging the younger man behind them, and walked towards the lobby.
When they walked out, a young woman was holding hands with a young boy, about 4 years old. Mycroft pulled Sherlock's ear to his mouth and hissed: "Present yourself, brother. Don't make our family lose face."
Sherlock pulled away in disgust. How could his brother be so shallow? His eyes barely glances a second at the young social worker, but he looked long and hard and at the child. The eyes, they were brown eyes. Those were eyes that had seen an unspeakable event. They were eyes that were full of question marks. The kid intrigued Sherlock.
It was an eternity until Sherlock could tear his eyes away from, and when he did, he stood behind his doctor and his brother and try to look bored.
Doctor Smith stood beside Mycroft, and shook the social worker's hand.
"Doctor Smith, I'm Sherlock Holmes' doctor.
The social worker smiled and introduced herself as Debbie, and introduced the kid as John.
Debbie reached out politely at Mycroft's extended hand. "Mr Holmes, pleasure to meet you."
Mycroft smiled warmly at her, "And you, Miss Debbie."
Debbie turned to shake Sherlock's hand, but a quick turn of Sherlock's unsmiling face discouraged her.
Doctor Smith quickly cleared his throat, "Well, we should really move on to the formalities. Sherlock, you will be taking John to the aquarium. Technically, you are in full charge of John, but Debbie and I will be following you, just in case."
Sherlock continued to look bored, his hands burrowed into his trench coat pocket. Gently, Debbie handed John's hand to Sherlock. A flash of fear and confusion passed by Sherlock's eyes, but was quickly replaced again by the usual dull glow. He remained standing. Mycroft nudged his little brother. He hissed into Sherlock's ear: "Sherlock, brother, do this for Mummy. Believe it or not, she actually cares about you. This will help you."
Sherlock snorted. He could tell that the trio wasn't going to give up on this plan. He swirled around and walked out into the cold air. He could hear the little kid trying to catch up with his big strides. He could also catch Doctor Smith following a few paces behind.
They were serious.
Sherlock smiled.
The game is on.
