Chapter Two:

When Rosie was five, she learned how to hold and shoot a gun.

One of the criminals had thought it a good idea to kidnap her as collateral while he arranged to get out of the country. This was almost a fatal mistake. Beyond anything else in his miserable life, this was his biggest, most disastrous mistake.

He was detected within an hour and when the police found him he was quickly rushed to the emergency room. Many of the doctors and detectives described it as one of the most gruesome things they'd ever seen. Yet, no one was ever charged for the assault, though the man himself often tried to press charges. No lawyer, policeman, or doctor would even meet with him, and when he tried to access his paperwork himself, somehow all trace of it had disappeared. However, he only understood the true depths of his mistake when one day in prison he was visited (his only visitor, ever) by a man calling himself Uncle Mycroft.

As for the family in 221B, justice was not enough to satisfy the fear. That night of her being kidnapped, Rosie sat at the door listening to the two men she loved most in the world fight harder than she'd ever heard before. They'd put her to bed together, speaking calming words and telling her favorite stories, and Sherlock- Daddy- had even played his most calming violin sonata from downstairs for a full half hour after she was supposed to be asleep, but she'd gotten up just as soon as she heard them start talking.

"No, Sherlock. NO. She's not SAFE here! How can we- How can she- How can I- I-"

"Breathe John. John, breathe."

Rosie got scared as the silence seemed to grow louder and louder; she leaned closer to the door and still almost missed it when Dad- John- started talking again, well, whispering really.

"Sherlock, I can't lose her. Not after… I just can't lose her. Not to this. Not to… us. If she's going to be unsafe, even if I love it, I can't stay here. We can't stay here."

She could hear, almost see, Daddy sigh.

"I can't lose her either, John. And I certainly can't lose you both. You are… my… my family. We must do what it takes to protect her…. Mycroft has a few estates in the country that we could use-"

Rosie almost gasped audibly. Leave London!?

Dad seemed to have the same reaction.

"Wait, you're saying we should move? All of us? Not just-"

"Of course John, keep up. Goodness, I can't wait until Rosie is fully mentally functioning. It'll be so good to have someone smart to talk to."

Silence for a beat.

"Ah, so she's listening then?"

"Quite so."

Before she could register what she'd just heard and scramble away, the door swung wide and she was swooped up in Daddy's arms, crushed between him and Dad.

Even though she'd just been found out, she felt much safer here between the men who loved her best in the world.

She had an opinion on all this and she was upset about being seen, but right then she was a little girl who had had a monumentally bad day. She threw her arms around her Daddy's neck and nestled into the space between his arm and torso, hiding her face and drinking his smell in.

This effectively silenced the reproach he'd been about to give her, and John watched as Sherlock's face unfolded with wonder at her unadulterated love and affection, even after 4 years of helping raise her. Sherlock stood there for a moment in awe, but a five year old was heavy even for his wiry strength and he quickly walked back to his chair, falling into it in until she was curled in his lap and he quietly held her close to him until she meekly uncurled and could be seen by both of them.

John was not jealous; he received just as many hugs as Sherlock did, and he knew that, after today, Sherlock needed the love as much as she did. But John was worried about her, and it showed. Before he could say anything, she launched into her own speech.

"I don't want to leave. I love it here. Besides, research shows that changing school districts at such a critcal [critical in non-five year old speech] time could be damaging to my social growth-"

John cut her off with an amused but concerned air, reaching out to hold her feet and tickle them a bit, almost making her giggle as she tried to stay stern and serious.

"Rosie, it's not just about where we want to live. It's about safety. Sherlock and I will always try to make sure you are safe, and today you really really weren't. We're not okay with that."

She sat straight up in consternation at this, instead of snuggling into Sherlock as she had been and exclaimed;

"Well, that doesn't mean there aren't ways I can be safer here! Bad guys can find us anywhere! I know Daddy's karate [her term for Sherlock's self-defense methods he'd been teaching her as soon as she could do more than wave around] but if I could shoot a gun like Dad, or if Uncle Mycroft was allowed to have cameras, or if we had bodyguards, plus I could, like, swallow a tracker or something, and I could get a great big dog named Rufus and we'd train him to eat bad guy's faces…."

They listened to her ideas patiently and started to see that there were parts of some that might not be entirely without merit. Later that night, after they were sure she was actually asleep, they sat and compared notes. Sherlock was actually the one to give credence to the gun idea. John did not respond to this idea enthusiastically.

"What!? We can't give a gun to a five year old! Are you insane!? What am I saying, of course you are, you great bloody-"

Sherlock cut him off curtly. "Of course I'm not suggesting we just give her a gun, John. I'm a sociopath, not a psychopath. I'm proposing we teach her how to use one. If she's in a bad situation and sees one, I'd want her to know how to use it and not hurt herself."

"Sherlock, the whole idea is that she not get into those situations in the first place!"

"Yes, of course John, which is why, per her suggestion, Uncle Mycroft will be allowed cameras." He said serenely, while his friend responded to this with bewilderment.

"But Sherlock, you hate him and all his goons watching us!"

"Viscerally, yes." Sherlock responded calmly.

"But then why….?"

"Because I…. Because you and she must be safe and despite his many failings, Mycroft is remarkably gifted at keeping people and countries relatively safe. Except for me, but I am, as always, an exception."

"Sherlock, I…."

But Sherlock waved off his friend's concern and sent a quick text to his brother, followed by an almost immediate response.

"Mycroft says a team will be here tomorrow at 8 and, like the prick he is, thought it necessary to mention that we should have let him do this years ago. The team is a pretense only, really. I'm sure he has many cameras here already; I haven't swept the apartment for bugs in days at least."

"Tosser." John responded amicably, smirking.

Sherlock smirked back.

"Quite."

They sat in their chairs, smiling at each other for few quiet moments, silently acknowledging that they were no longer fighting.

"And the dog?" John asked.

"Ah. Not a terrible idea, for crime solving, companionship, and whatnot, but taking care of another living being… Plus, now that I know that I've never actually had a dog… Maybe when we're older and Rosie's outgrown us?"

"Well, at least not right now, huh?"

"Exactly."

John smiled at him knowingly,

"Sounds good to me."

So, later that week, they took Rosie to a shooting range arranged by Mycroft (John's idea- Sherlock thought the wallpaper target practice enough) and despite the strange looks from the various agents, taught their five year old charge to hold and shoot a gun.

Unsurprisingly, she was really quite good at it.

Author's Note: Sherlock is Daddy and John is Dad. Sherlock hates that he has the "sillier" name, but also secretly loves it. How they got these names will be covered in later chapters. Also, in the last chapter I used the term "Little Watson" when Sherlock was addressing Rosie- this was not my idea- I got it from a different author's story whose name escapes me now, but I just wanted to give credit. I loved the phrase, so I stole it, but as soon as I find the story again, I'll ask permission. Just wanted to give you all a heads up. I'm not as clever as I look ;)