It was an hour or so before Sherlock said anything about it. They were all lounging in the living room, Violet and Gregory focused on making that smile return to Halley's face, John watching with a pleased expression. Sherlock sat silently on the side, Mycroft busy doing what he needed. When the Elder Holmes returned with papers in hand, he cleared his throat, pointing a look at Sherlock while also attracting everyone else's attention.
"Mycroft?" Halley questioned, glancing between the two brothers as she paused in sipping her glass of water.
"Halley, Sherlock has an interesting arrangement in mind." Mycroft sighed, handing Sherlock the papers with an exasperated air.
Sherlock grinned for a short moment before he stood, ignoring John's questioning glance.
"With your parents gone, you cannot stay at your previous home for obvious reasons. With no one else willing to take you in, I've taken it upon myself to put you in the care of myself and John at 221B." Sherlock smiled very faintly throughout this, feeling oh so confident about this.
John, however, sat in surprise,"Sherlock? Are you serious about this? We don't...How could we possibly…"
Sherlock promptly waved him off,"No, no, John it's fine, don't worry about it. I have everything figured out."
"Yeah, yeah, of course you do. You're Sherlock Holmes. But did you consider what Halley might think?" John countered, peering up at him suspiciously.
"She'd love it, of course." Sherlock huffed,"Why wouldn't she?"
"I'm right here, Sherlock." Came Halley's quiet, tired voice from the couch.
Now Halley was standing, her arms crossed, her brow pulled together in a frown as she looked up at Sherlock.
"Why haven't you just asked me yet? I don't want to be thrown about like some silly barbie doll." She sighed, shifting her weight a bit,"The car did that enough already."
Before John's eyes, Sherlock seemed to deflate, even if just a fraction. His eyes were stuck on her now, curiously, and he too shifted. Halley shook her head.
"No, don't you look at me like that. You know this wouldn't have been brought up had you just sucked it up and asked me." She seemed to chide him as she stepped around the table to his side, but looking at Mycroft and John,"I don't have much of a choice where I go, do I?"
Mycroft shook his head solemnly,"I'm afraid not,"
Halley pursed her lips to a tight line before pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes, taking a deep breath. Sherlock made no attempt to reassure her physically. After a moment, Halley dropped her arms to the sides once more, seemingly calmed again,
"Halley, love, I'm sure Myc could find a nice home if you don't want to stay with Sherlock." Gregory pointed out, sharing a look with Mycroft.
"I don't want to end up in one of those. The high ratings are for how well they hide their slip-ups." She huffed, reminding John once more of how similar she and Sherlock were.
Halley once again cast a glance back at Sherlock, who in turn raised his chin a fraction in acknowledgement. She seemed to think for a moment, and she shared looks with John and Mycroft before settling on John. To John's surprise, she smiled slightly, even if sadly, as she crossed her arms once more.
"I suppose I haven't another choice, do I?" She said in a lighter tone, but it only seemed to dampen the already upsetting atmosphere.
Sherlock tapped her shoulder with the edge of the paper, giving them up when she took them to read them over. After a beat, she smiled again, gazing at the papers in her hand.
"I guess I'll be having two dads then, huh?" She commented innocently, sitting down on the floor with her back pressed against the couch.
While Sherlock arched an eyebrow at the statement, John stammered to try and correct her,"No, no, Sherlock is your caretaker. You're just stuck with me- We aren't anything but flatmates."
"Really?" Came her reply, her head turned to John, but her eyes flickered to Sherlock.
It seemed the two had a Holmes moment when they shared a look, making Halley roll her eyes before looking back to the papers.
"Fine fine; one dad, one tag along." She sighed, then added for her ears alone,"For now."
