Chapter 2

Sherlock stares at her, completely taken aback with no idea how to reply. Lestrade grins knowingly. Was he expecting this? John just smiles.

"Wow." He lets slip. Sherlock gives him a sharp look. She tosses her hair back, waiting for him to say something. When he doesn't, John speaks again.

"Hello, my name is John Watson." He extends a hand.

She smiles back and shakes it. "Hello Dr. Watson, I'm Saira Hanes. You know, my best friend is also a doctor I should have you two meet." John nods. He would love to meet her if her friend is anything like the surprising young woman sitting in front of him.

"Please, sit." She gestures toward the empty chair beside her. "There's no sense in parting ways for dinner anymore since we've now been properly introduced." She looks at Sherlock. "You can sit too if you'd like. You don't mind, do you sir?" She asks Lestrade.

"No, not at all. And please, call me Greg."

She shakes her head. "I can't do that, sir. If you're going to hire me we should keep it as proper as possible. Propriety is important."

Sherlock scoffed but she didn't seem to hear. John shot him a look that clearly said 'Not tonight. Behave yourself even if just for one night' at which Sherlock promptly rolled his eyes.

"DI Lestrade's been telling me about you two." She says brightly. "The cases you've helped solve and the criminals you've put down. Very exciting stories."

"Why would he be telling you about us?" Sherlock asks.

"Why don't we order dinner first?" She replies without looking at him. "I think I'll have the chicken. What do you think?" She asks John. He can practically feel himself going red.

"Um well I always get the shrimp alfredo pasta. It's very good."

She nods looking at her menu, "Yes, alright I'll have that."

Sherlock watches her. Why bring up something as trivial as dinner when there were obviously more important matter to discuss. He glances at Lestrade but he hasn't taken his eyes off her. What the hell was going on? Why was this girl here? And what did she mean she might be hired? She's far too young to be a detective inspector.

Sherlock orders nothing and just listens to the others making useless conversation. There's white wine poured and anecdotes told all around. She does like to entertain, he notes. She has proper posture, and holds herself so well she seems like she was trained. She leans her head back when she laughs, almost as if to taste it before she lets it out. Her eyes practically twinkle when John or Lestrade tell one of their stories or recount a past case fondly. Was she truly interested? Or was she just trying to save face? She drinks more water than wine, something neither Lestrade nor John bother to do. She dabs her mouth with her napkin with every bite, but uses such strong lipstick the napkin remains unsmudged and her lips are still very coral by the end of the evening.

John is absolutely giddy. Sherlock rolls his eyes. Oh great. Another conquest in the works. He knew exactly how this would end. He'd ask her out and she'd accept. Then after a few dates John has to skip because of work with Sherlock she'd break up with him and John would blame it on Sherlock. It wasn't his fault none of his girlfriends appreciated the dangerous work they did. She doesn't acknowledge him for almost the entire evening. She's waiting for him to say something first.

"You know, you are the first person to not think Sherlock and I were together." John says and Sherlock pauses his thoughts for a moment to listen.

"Well of course you aren't!" She laughed. "I highly doubt Sherlock would ever choose to be in a relationship-especially with a man."

"And how would you know?" Sherlock snapped.

"I don't know, I notice." She replies without looking at him.

Both John's and Lestrade's forks stop midbite, hovering in front of their chins. That remark was a very 'Sherlock' thing to say. John could almost swear he'd said it himself at some point but he couldn't remember when. Sherlock's eyes widen slightly but she's toobusy taking another sip of her drink to notice. He looks at John who has a look of sheer bewilderment on his face. He shakes his head and shrugs.

"Problem?" Sherlock asks.

"Hmm?" She replies.

"Do you have a problem with me?"

"Oh, no dear. I've no problem with you at all. I'm just trying to make sure I draw the lines between us as clear as possible."

"Why?"

"Well because Mr. Lestrade and I were going to ask you if you would work together…with me."

Pause.

"Work with you? And why would you want to work with me? I don't even get paid for this." He was confused but was determined not to reveal it.

"Sherlock," Lestrade starts. "Mrs. Hanes asked me to give her chance. She wants to be a detective. She really wants to work her way up and she's been having no luck in America."

"But why were you ever in America?" Sherlock asks. "You've no American accent. You were clearly born and raised here."

She nods. "It's been a while. I went to Uni in America. And I really liked it there. I met my best friend there. After I graduated, I couldn't move back and leave everything and her behind. Jo is really important to me. She even came here with me. But lately, it's been very frustrating there. I don't have a very good job. Just part time night shifts. I don't know what I'm doing wrong or what is holding me back. I've tried my best but obviously it hasn't been enough. I told my grandmother this and luckily, since she loves me so, she said she'd try to help me out. So she asked Lestrade to give me a chance. That's all I'm asking for, is a chance to prove myself. Prove what I can do. I need a better future. And I was hoping you'd help me make it." She looked at him. And for the first time that night, her eyes were kind to him. All evening they were passive toward him but now, she sincerely looked like he was her last hope.

"She's already done a splendid job, Sherlock." Lestrade says. "I took her on her first case today. Took ten minutes to find the murder weapon and only five to locate his tracks. It took less than an hour to solve it." The fact that her work was just as impressive as Sherlock's goes unsaid.

Sherlock leans closer to her, "What do you need?"

Her eyes brighten, "Oh I just need a chance. Just let me work with you on a few cases. I'll show you what I can do, I promise. I'll do all the work if need be. I can always have Jo help me. All you have to do is supervise if you'd like. And I won't be any trouble. I promise –"

He holds up a hand to stop her. "That won't be necessary. I'll always be there to supervise. As long as you don't get in my way, we'll be fine. I investigate, you watch from afar. You'll offer input when asked, understood?"

She nods. "Yes, yes of course. I won't let you regret it, Mr. Holmes, I promise."

"Don't make promises. And please, call me Sherlock."

She smiles at him. It's a warm smile, and Sherlock wasn't used to being on the receiving end of them. He did like her however. Her strong demeanor and need to keeping everything as business reminded him of someone. He manages to upturn one corner of his mouth. It was a sincere smile. And he pours himself some wine and raises his glass to her.

"To new learning."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~At the girls' flat~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jo hears the jingle of keys at the door before Saira enters the flat. She's curled up on an armchair reading a medical journal when her friend came in. She can see by the look of utter happiness on her face just how the evening went but she asks anyway.

"So how'd it go?"

"It was wonderful!" She exclaims. "DI Lestrade brought me on a case. On my first day! He let me take rein of the case for a while and we found the suspect. He was hiding in the backseat of a car about a mile away from the crime scene. He was so surprised and pleased and it was wonderful!"

She takes off her shoes and plops down beside Jo. She bites her lip and continues, "I know I wasn't prepared for it today, but I met him."

Jo's eyes widen. "What? You did? When?"

"Lestrade and I were having a business dinner after the case. We wanted to celebrate, you know. Well, I did. It was mostly me who wanted to celebrate but anyhow- He showed up. He showed up with his friend before we could even order."

"How was he?"

Saira groans. "He's just as bad as grandmother said. He really does have no filter." She sighs. "He didn't even properly introduce himself. He just told my life story before even saying so much as a hello. He's …eccentric. I don't understand him much, but I know how he thinks. He thinks like me." She smiles.

"You ought to meet his friend. Dr. John Watson. He's a handsome fellow. Maybe you'd get along."

"Me?" Jo asks. "He wouldn't be interested in me."

"Nonsense, if I find you interesting, then he will most definitely find you interesting. Look who he has as a best friend. I got very nervous though. When he walked up to us, I couldn't find what to say. And then his lack of manners thoroughly inspired me."

Jo groaned. "Oh god, what did you tell him?" It wouldn't be the first time Saira messed up a meeting because she was rude. She lacked a filter sometimes too.

"I called him a jerk."

"What? But why would you do that? He'll never want to work with you now!"

"Oh but he did. He already said yes. I'm so happy right now! This will be the start! This is it Jo! We'll finally be able to make our presence known. We'll have proper careers now!"

"Alright alright, calm down. You don't want to go spoiling this by speaking out of turn." But Jo can't help but smile also. Here she is, in London with her best friend. She'd left her empty life behind and was going to start a new one with her. They're finally exiting the poor college student phase, even if it is a couple years too late. They have a beautiful flat. A good promise for jobs. Saira is finally home after so long and they are happy. They are actually truly happy for the first time in a long while. She may be American and might never have stepped foot here in London, but she felt completely at home. She mentally thanks Mrs. Hanes for all that she's doing. God knows they'd still be sitting back in their pitiful apartment in America had she not been told their situation. She hugged her best friend before announcing she needed to sleep. They both did. They had a long past couple of nights. And tomorrow is a big day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Baker Street~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John and Sherlock walked back to their flat in silence. Well, the word 'walked' here actually means John stumbled around and had to grab hold of Sherlock's arm multiple times to steady himself so they could even make it back in the first place. Had he really drunk all that wine? He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember anything at the moment. Why had he drunk so much? He wasn't a drinker. On occasion he'd have a beer or a glass of wine but Jesus, he really crossed the line this time.

"I'm never drinking again." He hiccups.

"You're lucky I'm here to help." Sherlock snaps.

"Hehehe I guess I am!"

"Why you decided to drink so much tonight I'll never know. That was a horrible first impression John."

John looks at him confused. "Her? That was a bad first impression for her? What the hell do you care what her first impression was? You never care what anyone thinks about you. You weren't the one who was drunk."

"Nonsense. She is a lady, John. You could have behaved yourself."

John laughs. "A lady? Just because she was wearing a cardigan? Sherlock. Schoolteachers wear cardigans." He sniggered. "And they're usually the kinkiest of the lot!" He roared with laughter in between hiccups.

"Shut up, John." Sherlock lets him go at the top of the stairs and John sways back so far he nearly topples downstairs again.

"Hey! A little help'd be nice!"

"Help yourself."

"What's gotten in to you? Are you annoyed because you have to help her now? You could've said yes if you didn't want to that bad. Instead of bringing her hopes up."

Sherlock ignores him and picks up his violin by the window. He continues to play deftly through the night, not really knowing what he was playing. At times it was Bach, then Tchaikovsky, then Monet, then he'd go on for a full hour just playing something of his own invention. His parts were the fastest and happiest.

.

A/N: Reviews or feedback would be lovely!