The two stood in front of the Headmaster's office, one was slightly nervous, the other was even more so.

Peter hadn't seen her uncle since he picked her up a few days ago, and he felt like he hadn't given a very good first impression, especially being associated with Arthur and Raz.

Artemis was nervous because it wasn't time for her to leave yet; she wondered if something had happened.

Peter opened the door and both adults looked at them. Will in the corner, since Alex had said he didn't need assistance in class.

"Hello…" Peter smiled nervously and looked at the Headmaster. "Um…Artemis didn't know the way so I showed her, could I get a note for class?" he asked. "To explain why I was late."

"Yes, of course." He nodded and took out a notepad and scribbled on it before tearing it out and handing it to the small boy.

"Thanks." He mumbled, avoiding Sherlock's stare. "Bye, Artemis." He waved and she smiled.

He nodded and walked out stiffly.

Artemis turned her quizzical gaze to Sherlock.

As if knowing what she wanted, Sherlock began explaining. "I can't pick you up later." He said. "So, you'll have to stay with me today."

She nodded.

"Good, we leaving then." He gave the Headmaster a glance of acknowledgement.

"Good day, Mr. Holmes." The man said with a sigh as the two left.

"His brother will be pissed." Will laughed.

"Indeed, but we'll simply say the younger Mr. Holmes forced us, right?" he looked towards Will.

"Alright." He nodded. "I wonder what he couldn't get out of that he had to take Artemis out early."

"That, William, is none of our business."

Will looked at him, then out the window where he saw Sherlock and Artemis walking silently to the cab.


"Mycroft would kill me if he knew I was taking you to a crime scene." Sherlock said as he got comfortable in the back of the taxi. He told the address to the driver and they were off.

"You should change; you don't want to dirty your uniform, here." He handed her a bag, it had her clothes from Mycroft's house. Sherlock instructed the driver to pull over at the next gas station. They got out and she rushed to the girl's bathroom, hurriedly took off her red, plaid jumper and white, button up collared shirt, and slipped on the soft gray shirt with the puffed up, short sleeves and the faded skinny jeans. She also put on a pair of black Converse.

Sherlock was waiting outside for her as they got into the cab again, they started driving and Artemis watched the buildings pass by, soon they were thinned down to a few trees, then vast fields and a few houses scattered. She frowned at the unfamiliarity. She didn't like not knowing where she was going.

As if he could sense her unease, Sherlock began explaining. "The man you met at my flat, he gave me a case yesterday, and a second body has turned up."

She turned to him so their eyes met.

"You wouldn't mind seeing a dead body, right?" he shrugged casually, earning a wary glance from the cab driver.

She shook her head.

"Good, no mental scars there then…" he noted.

She raised an eyebrow.

"You had only recently entered Roseway when Mycroft adopted you, that means there is a three year gap in our knowledge." He explained.

She swallowed nervously; she didn't want them to know…she didn't think Mycroft would want her if he knew.

"Naturally, that would make me curious, but Mycroft doesn't seem to care for some reason." Sherlock sighed.

The car suddenly stopped, lurching forwards.

"Ah, we're here, keep the meter running." Sherlock told the driver and got out, not waiting for her.

She scrambled out and saw a bunch of people in weird suits walking around, the house looked abandoned and the people looked at her weird, like they hadn't expected a kid to be there.

"Sherlock…" A man came up…he looked familiar…Lestroode? Lestroodle? She silently snickered to herself. "What's she doing here?" he asked with a frown directed at Artemis.

"Is it 'take your niece to work' day?" a man asked with a smirk.

Sherlock gave a glare at the man, then to Lespoode. "You told him." He said, more of a statement then a question.

"Yeah well…" he looked uncomfortable. "It's sort of funny, isn't it?" He gestured to Artemis. "Mycroft adopts a little girl…it's unexpected, you know?"

"Yeah, unexpected…" Sherlock glared at him with something akin to offense.

Artemis frowned slightly as the men moved on, why did Sherlock looked offended? Because Mycroft adopted her? No, it almost seemed like he was offended for her. Maybe because she couldn't voice her opinions, so if someone accidently hurt her by blurting out something stupid, she wouldn't be able to defend herself…was Sherlock, just now, a kind-of-good uncle? That would surprise her, considering he didn't seem to like her all that much.

"Artemis," Sherlock snapped on some rubber gloves. "Come along."

"No, Sherlock." Lestradoodle said. "You can't have a kid in there." He shook his head.

"Why not?" Sherlock frowned in confusion. "I want to see how clever she is."

"Because…" He looked disgusted. "Well, it's not just against the rules, it's also just wrong."

"Keep your morals to yourself at the moment." He said and swiftly turned back to her. "I asked you before if you'd mind seeing a dead body, now I ask you…do you want to?" he raised an eyebrow.

She blinked. Was she horrible for actually being curious? No, that seemed normal for a seven year old to be curious, not to mention the fact that she's read so many mystery books that she actually wanted to see a mystery up close. Is it wrong like Lestaple said? Would Mycroft mind? Yeah, he probably would…

She looked up suddenly and nodded.

Sherlock smirked, as if knowing what she had been thinking. Yes, Mycroft would definitely mind, but hey, he wasn't there, was he?

She trotted after him, Lespoodle shaking his head. She wasn't going to get his name right until she heard someone say it…

"Victim's late thirties, Betty Gilmore, going by her ID." Les-Miserables said.

Sherlock scanned the body, pulling out a magnifier.

"She's been here for at least a day…" Artemis drowned out his voice and focused on the small, red piece of paper hidden just at her height.

She slowly walked to it, neither Sherlock, nor Lestupid noticed.

She looked back to them for a second before reaching into the small crevice in the wall and pulling it out, using her sleeve so she would leave fingerprints. She looked up to the two men and watched Sherlock circle the body, she had to get his attention, but she wasn't sure how. He seemed too entranced.

So she went over to Lestopple and tugged at his jacket, when he looked down at her, he saw her holding up the paper.

"Where did you find this?" he asked with a frown, picking it up with his gloved hand. "Sherlock," he called, causing Sherlock to break away from the body and look to them both. "Look…" he seemed to be reading something.

"A note?" Sherlock gave a barely concealed smile at the turn of events. "Oh, Lestrade, it's Christmas!" he laughed.

"How so?" Lestrade… so that was his name.

"The killer left a note," he turned to Artemis. "Where did you find it?" he asked the same question Lestrade had asked.

She pointed to the small crevice and watched as Sherlock made his way to it.

"Why put it somewhere so low?" he asked no one in particular. "If he wanted us to find it, he could have put it next to the body, no he put it where we wouldn't see it unless we were on the ground." Then he frowned as he knelt down to look in the crevice. "Why?"

"I don't think it's for us…" Lestrade said.

Sherlock suddenly got up and walked over to him.

"Look," Lestrade held out the paper. "That doesn't seem like something a killer would leave for the police."

"'To my darling, I hope you have fun, you liked this kind of thing, didn't you? With all my love, Smith'." Sherlock read it aloud.

"We have a name then?" Lestrade said with a slightly hopeful smile.

"Yes, go find every 'Smith' you can in London, I'm sure it's not a very popular name." Sherlock rolled his eyes. "No one who was clever enough to leave no trace of themselves on the body would also be stupid enough to leave their real name."

"Then why bother with the note at all?" Lestrade asked, a little peeved at Sherlock.

"Well it's for someone, obviously. Someone who the killer knew would read it." Sherlock put two fingers to his temples, trying to concentrate on all the possibilities. "Think, who could it be?" he mumbled. "It's addressed to a woman…"

"Why do you think that?" Lestrade asked.

"'To my Darling' it says, a man usually says that to a lover, right?" Sherlock turned swiftly around.

"You're certain a man did it?" Lestrade pulled out a notepad.

"The angle of the blow to her head, it was made by someone taller, balance of probability."

"It could be a woman wearing heels." Lestrade suggested.

"You said she's only been here for a day or so, it rained quite recently, the mud outside would have been even worse when Ms. Gilmore here was murdered, who in their right mind would wear high-heels?" he looked at Lestrade like he was stupid.

"Alright then," Lestrade sighed. "So we're looking for a man associated with a woman that would be here, any chance we could narrow it down a bit?"

"Someone that would be in this room, and maybe at one point on the ground inspecting the body, then she'd see the note." They both seemed to ponder it for a second.

Artemis watched them as they began to list off different things; she looked to the note that was now in an evidence bag, had they noticed yet? She stared at it, contemplating telling them…but Sherlock interrupted her thoughts.

"Artemis, let's go, you'll be spending the rest of the day at my place." He said.

"You've got all you needed?" Lestrade asked.

"Yes, I'll contact you later." Sherlock walked swiftly out of the old house with the young girl at his side. He hesitated a bit as they neared the taxi. "What…what would you like to do?" he asked and looked in her direction, but not at her.

She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him like he had just grown two heads.

"Mycroft informed me that you might not enjoy the things I do." He explained.


"I have to pick her up again?" Sherlock whined as he set down the violin. "What was the point of getting a child if you won't even spend time with it?"

Mycroft sighed and glanced around the room, it was a mess, as usual. "Sherlock, Artemis is a 'her' not an 'it'." he explained. "And I need you to pick her up today, spend some time with her, do things she wants to do…and keep a close eye on her."

This caught Sherlock's attention. "Why am I supposed to keep a close eye on her?" he asked.

Mycroft looked down, worry creasing his forehead. "It's none of your concern, but you'll pick her up, right?" he looked back to his younger brother.

Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure…but don't expect me to entertain her."

"Sherlock, please." Mycroft grumbled. "She won't like watching you study or doing an experiment, she doesn't like watching at all!" he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Just…take her to the park, maybe eat out with her."

"Eat out?" Sherlock exclaimed. "How long do you plan on having her here?"

"Honestly?" he looked to him with serious eyes. "I'd like to keep her here indefinitely, but that's not an option."

"You're damn right it's not an option." Sherlock scoffed. "Mycroft, I don't know the girl."

"Then get to know her, she'll be around for a long time." Mycroft said. "She's your niece, Sherlock, be an uncle."

"I don't know how…" he groaned and threw himself onto the couch, running both hands through his hair.

"I know this is sudden," Mycroft tried to sympathize. "But it's not for long, just until I get all this sorted out."

"Get what sorted out, Mycroft; I don't like being kept in the dark, especially when I'm being pulled into the middle of it."

"It doesn't concern you, just…please." He ground out. "Sherlock, please keep her close."

Sherlock eyed him. "You're growing quite attached to her, aren't you?" he smirked. "She's not just an heir anymore, is she?"

Mycroft glared at him. "You'll take care of her then?" he asked, ignoring Sherlock's question.

"Yes, I will." Sherlock sighed and got up, opening the door, allowing Mycroft to leave. "Now go, I have things to take care of."

Mycroft nodded and started to leave, but when Sherlock closed the door, he wedged his foot in the doorway. "And, one more thing, Sherlock," he said. "Don't get high in front of her, alright?"

Sherlock glared at Mycroft, but realized that he wouldn't move his foot unless Sherlock gave him a definite answer.

"I will not 'get high' in front of her." He said with gritted teeth.

Mycroft gave a smug grin and removed his foot. "Goodbye, brother mine."

Sherlock slammed the door and huffed in irritation. He wasn't the one that chose to adopt a little girl. Stupid Mycroft.


"So…the park?" Sherlock asked awkwardly as they neared London again.

Artemis looked at him and slowly nodded, she hadn't gone to the park yet, maybe it would be fun.

"Mycroft had told me about a park near your school, he wants you to go to that one." He gave the directions to the cab driver and glanced at her, was she entertained? It was hard to tell with her, her face was almost always blank…why was that?

He had heard that most kids were very responsive, why was Artemis only ever smiling when something really good happened?

He watched as a rather large, expensive looking park came into view, it was in a rich neighborhood so of course it would be very high-quality.

They exited the cab and Artemis-for once-waited while Sherlock paid the man. She looked around, there were some kids in her school's uniform playing, and some were in casual clothes but she still recognized them. She guessed the school had already let out. She glanced back to Sherlock and gestured for her to run on and play.

She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the joyful but earsplitting screams of the children, the inevitable bump that would knock her down, caused by a kid running without looking where they were going.

She walked into the area, going past the low fence. She wondered if anyone would recognize her after today's debacle with Lily, she honestly wished she could blend into the blue slide that was next to her.

As the thought of becoming a chameleon passed through her mind, she didn't notice the presence of the three boys crouched down underneath the slide, carefully watching her feet with fearful eyes.

One boy's stomach gurgled and the other's head whipped toward him, he quickly put a finger to his lips and shushed him.

They watched as the unfamiliar feet shuffled nervously a bit. They assumed it was a girl, and because of that, the red-headed boy smirked evilly and reached his hand out, the boy with dirty-blonde hair shook his head at him, telling him not to do it with his eyes.

The red-head ignored his friend and suddenly grabbed the ankles.

Artemis gasped and fell to the ground with a thud, she heard some snickering, but ignored it as she quickly checked to make sure her legs weren't showing. The feeling of someone grabbing them made her want to cry, but she didn't.

She looked up to see the attacker, only to find three familiar boys hiding beneath the slide, one boy had his knees tucked into his chest, he was glaring daggers at the red-haired boy, sitting casually beside them was a boy with brown hair snickering along.

The red-haired boy still had his hand outstretched; Artemis stared at him as he glanced over at her to see who he had tripped.

Arthur…

They made eye contact, blue eyes meeting hazel. His smile slowly fell away as they stared at each other, obviously seeing the hurt in her face. Something in him felt guilty, he swallowed it down and ignored the fluctuating pitter-patter of his heart.

Peter looked up and saw the two looking at each other; it was an odd feeling erupting in his chest, constricting and painful, he didn't like it.

"A-Artie?" Arthur blinked, a frown growing on his face.


Ahem...so remember when I said I had, well, found a solution to my "updating on Sundays" thing?

Well, that didn't work out...because I forgot...because I'm forgetful.

Anywho, at least I didn't update on Monday again, right? Hehe...yeah.

Geez, this heat is killing me...

On to special thanks: AnnaRooma and pumukle91, thank you so much for your supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus reviews!

Thank you, and goodbye.