Dr. Capt. Julia H. Watson
By Rurple101
CHAPTER 7: 'Debate and Discussion'
After Julia had managed to grab her military gun, place it on her, then return to Baker Street, she was slightly awed by how much could change in one evening.
Stepping through the door to Baker Street, Mrs Hudson beamed at her.
"You alright, sweet?" she said, hugging her again.
Julia smiled and nodded. "I'm fine Mrs Hudson, I'm just going upstairs."
"Sherlock's still up there, he's been quiet for too long, can you check on him?" she asked.
"I'll make the appropriate diagnosis on him Mrs Hudson, yes" she said, smiling and Mrs Hudson looked slightly confused.
Chuckling to herself she hobbled up the stairs and breathed happily once she got to the door or the flat. She composed herself, and then walked inside.
Sherlock was lying along the sofa; his feet just long enough to not fall off the edge. He'd removed his jacket and she could see the faint outlines of his muscles through his white shirt. His eyes were closed, and his hands clasped together.
"What is your diagnosis, Dr Watson?" he asked, lifting one eyelid to look at her. She rolled her eyes and looked at her hand again, instinctively.
"It's Julie" she muttered and staggered towards the window, to peer out.
"Dr Julie, then" Sherlock concluded and Julia laughed, shaking her head.
"Oh god" she murmured and turned round to see him; both eyes closed and he was clenching his fists. "What are you doing Sherlock?"
He sighed slowly and lifted the shirt sleeve up to reveal "Nicotine patch."
"Why three?"
"It's a three patch problem; it helps me think. Impossible to sustain a smoking habit in London these days." He muttered. "Bad news for brain-work."
"Hmm good day for breathing" Julia said as she sat down on the chair at the desk.
"UGH!" Sherlock cried. "Breathing's boring!"
"Breathing is compulsory to living, Sherlock. Don't argue with a doctor" she said sternly. "Particularly, your doctor, now I'm your flatmate, didn't think of that before I moved in" she chuckled at Sherlock's groan.
"Well, you asked me to come…"
Sherlock remained silent, eyes tightly closed and hands tightly clasped together in a prayer motion.
"I'm assuming that it's important…" Julia continued.
Sherlock's eyes popped open as he just remembered something. "Oh yeah, can I borrow your phone?"
"My phone?" Julia looked angrily at the man lounged on the sofa. "Are you serious?"
"Cannot use mine, number's on the website, there's always a chance it could be recognized." He said simply, closing his eyes again.
"Mrs Hudson's got a phone hasn't she?" Julia asked, trying to remain calm.
Sherlock carried on in his normal and I-don't-know-others-have-feelings voice. "Yes, she does, I tried shouting, she didn't hear me."
"I was on the other side of London!" she cried.
"There was no hurry" he assured her, in what he thought was a nicer tone.
Julia took a deep breath and then withdrew her phone and shoved it towards him. He took the phone without manners and she had to girt her teeth together to remain composed.
"So was this about the case?" Julia asked smoothly.
"Her case?" Sherlock whispered, his mind clearly deeply processing something.
"Her case?" Julia repeated.
"Yes" Sherlock snapped, irritated. "Her suitcase obviously! The murder took her suitcase; first big mistake."
Julia rolled her eyes, still angry and hearing the mysterious man's warnings about Sherlock.
"Ok, so he took her case, big deal – what are you rambling on about now, Sherlock?" Julia said, getting feisty already.
"There's no other way, we're going to have to risk it" Sherlock muttered, distracted. The he said in a louder voice to Julia "On my desk, there's a number I want you to send a text." He held out her phone.
Julia squeezed her eyes shut tightly for a long moment before slowly saying, in a forcefully calm voice. "You made me come back all this way, to send a text?"
"Yes, is that a problem?"
Sherlock's tone was unfazed and slightly and truthfully confused.
Julia sighed louder this time and gazed out of the window at the street outside; it was darker now and the streetlights illuminated the street brightly.
"What's wrong?" came his sharp voice.
"Just met a friend of yours" she said slowly, "only I reckon he isn't the enemy you two make each other as."
"Why? Is this my arch-enemy?"
Julia laughed. "I cannot believe I figured that out so quickly!"
Sherlock sat bolt upright on the sofa and gave her the most worried look she'd ever seen him do.
"Did he offer you money to spy on me? Because if he did, he's the most dangerous man, yet not my concern right now…"
She smiled widely and shook her head. "He…well...Is he really all that dangerous?"
Sherlock cleared his throat, deciding to distract Julia from her madness, but secretly pleased if she'd worked out she'd discovered that she'd met his older brother.
"What have I got myself into?" she muttered as she grabbed the phone from him and went to the desk, seeing a pink label of a suitcase. In her old army habit, she read the full piece of paper.
"Jennifer Wilson…" That name rang a bell.
"That's the dead woman-"
Sherlock was even more impatient now as he resumed his causal pose. "It doesn't matter, just enter the number."
Julia shook her head again and typed the number in quickly.
"Are you doing it?" Sherlock demanded.
"Yep-" she said, on the fourth number.
"Have you done it?"
"Yeah, hang on!" Julia snapped. "You're so bossy!"
"Is that an issue, Julie?" Sherlock asked, innocently.
Julia looked at him sharply as she would her commanding general and mock saluted him with her finger touching the corner of her eye (not a proper salute). "No sir!"
Sherlock smirked at her. They had a staring contest for ten seconds before Sherlock continued in an equally ordering tone. "These words precisely. 'What happened at Lauristion Gardens? I must have blacked out. 22 Northumberland Street, please come."
Sherlock energetically jumped up, over the coffee table and strode into the adjoining kitchen. "Just hurry up, type it and then send it!"
"Yes Sherlock, No Sherlock, Three bags of wool Sherlock" she muttered distractedly as she texted. She heard and sensed Sherlock remerging around and grabbing the seat from the desk beside her. She sent the text and then turned at the sound of a zipper.
Sherlock had balanced on the chair, a bright vibrant pink suitcase.
"Please tell me that isn't her case Sherlock" she moaned.
"Yes it is" Sherlock said, riffling through it quickly.
He sighed and then put his hands together.
The silence thickened and stretched on while Julia looked at him, worryingly.
"Oh, should I mention, I didn't kill her" he said sarcastically.
"Never said you did!" Julia said, holding her hands up in surrender.
"Why not? Given the text I just had you send is a perfectly logical assumption?" His eyes zeroed in on hers and he attempted to read her thoughts.
Another silence followed this.
"Do people often think you're the murderer?" Julia said, slowly, sitting down opposite him and dropping the cane at once.
"Now and again…yes" Sherlock admitted before looking through the bag again.
He went to open her toilet bag. Julia slapped his hand away. "Sherlock!"
"What?" he yelped, looking up at her and nursing his hand to his chest.
She scoffed and then stared at him. Sargent Donovan's words rang through her head, but she trusted Sherlock.
"You can't go through a woman's suitcase! And why on earth would a woman, leave her mobile in her toiletry bag? It would get wet! And water, damages phones!""
Sherlock opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.
Speechless, at bloody last, she should get some champagne.
Instead, Julia smiled at him before taking the small bag and opened it herself. He looked about to protest but she just gave him a look to say 'I'm a woman myself'.
Her bag contained the essentials and she took them out as she named them out loud.
"Shampoo…Conditioner…Body Wash…Razor…Hair Straighteners…and a Roll-On" she said. Then she caught sight of his face. "What's up?"
Sherlock had his gaze locked on the razor.
"What are you gaping at?"
Sherlock looked calculating. "Why does she have a razor? Why would a woman have a-?"
Julia burst out laughing, clutching her sides and her eyes watered. The look of befuddlement on his face was too priceless.
"Oh dear, Sherlock" she said after minute's laughter. "You are priceless, woman shave as well! It isn't just a men's product."
"Yeah well, somebody said that we go round the Sun, doesn't mean I have to believe it." Sherlock muttered, putting his hands together.
Julia's mouth popped open with an audible pop.
"You don't know about the Solar System?"
"Why should that matt-" Sherlock started to say but Julia scoffed again.
"Why have you got the case?" she interrupted him, deciding that this case was more important at the moment. "How and where did you find it?"
"By looking" he stated simply. "The killer must have driven her to Laurestion Gardens - and he could only keep her case by accident if it was in a car – Nobody can be seen with case without drawing attention, especially a man, which is statistically more likely.
"So obviously he felt more compelled to be rid of it."
Julia (or rather, her other senses, that weren't focussed on his speaking) were drawing the attention of how his voice got deeper and lower the more concentrated he was and the easier something was to recite to her. His hands were clasped together (yet again) and his muscles in his shoulders and arms were leaner than when he wore a smart jacket over the shirt.
"It wouldn't have taken him more than five minutes to realise his mistake. I checked every backstreet wide enough to reverse a car five minutes from Lauristan Gardens without being disturbed by depositing a bulky object, took me less than an hour to find the right skip."
"So, you got all that, because you knew the case would be pink?" Julia said, studying the suitcase and then understanding how Sherlock must have made that link. "Like you said early on, that she colour coordinated her make-up, as well as her shoes and clothes. I'm a woman for crying out loud – why didn't I think of that?"
"Because you're an idiot" Sherlock stated quickly which made her look at him, wondering why he'd say that.
"No, don't be like that, practically everyone is" he assured her, waving a hand vaguely at her.
He was trying not to offend her; she must be a good assistant.
"Now you understand her phone is missing, where do you think it is?"
"I don't know" Julia said sarcastically. "Maybe it was in the bushes, how on earth would I know?" she said, furrowing her brow.
"You're a woman; you might be able to understand her pattern!" Sherlock said desperately.
"I'm flattered" she said blankly, rubbing her fingers over her lips. "When I had a phone on me all the time, I didn't really keep it in a handbag, I always-" she found her phone from her left hand jeans pocket. "-put it here, mainly because I could tell when somebody texted me. She comes across as a discreet woman, yet she has no pockets, and she still had no handbag on her. She must have constantly been on it – being a woman who wore a skirt, and judging by her overnight clothes, more skirts -, it must be important, her pride and joy if she gave no space for it to be out her grasp…" Julia trailed on, thinking.
Silence.
She turned to him "Sorry, I do end up going off on a tangent, just shut me up, I waffle…"
"No" Sherlock said, quietly and searching her features again. Julia felt irritated with his scanning method. "It's just, you're a lot more-"
He was cut off by her phone ringing.
Julia looked at her phone, then to the case, and then to the label with the phone number on it, and then back to the phone, quickly summing the situation up.
"Did I just text a murderer?" she gasped; horror-struck that a person who killed innocent people was on the other end of the line.
"Well the murderer has the phone, more than likely. Most people if they found a phone would leave it…"Sherlock said thinking. "But the murderer…would panic!"
"What does this mean?" she asked, struggling to get up. Sherlock was already donned in his jacket, scarf and coat. He hoisted her up and gave the cane back to her as he said.
"We've got to go!"
"Should we call the police?" Julia asked, steadying herself and her phone rang off.
"Four people are dead, there's no time to call the police." He said smartly, sliding his gloves on.
"Then why are you talking to me!" she exclaimed, flattered and confused at once.
"Mrs Hudson took my skull" Sherlock said quietly but it wasn't full-hearted.
"So I'm filling in for a skull?" she asked.
"Relax" he said, and somehow she did. His voice was oddly soothing for her. "You're doing fine."
Julia sighed, trying to ignore Donovan's words.
"Is Donovan right?" she asked. "My senses are telling me that she's a nasty cow but do you really get high on this?"
Sherlock huffed a laugh. "Remember Julie, that I said 'dangerous' and here you are!"
Julia rolled her eyes and cursed "Dammit!"
"Come on" he said and helped her down the stairs quickly, thinking it was better to assist her and avoid injury on the way down.
