"Come on, come on…" Felicity murmured into the receiver, anxiously twisting the cord around her tiny finger. She was standing on one of Mrs. Hudson's dining room chairs by the phone so that she could reach the device properly. Mrs. Hudson, thankfully, had given her some space, telling her that when Sherlock acted similarly to how she was at the present, it was best for her to leave him to it and so, therefore, she was going to give Felicity her space. The effort was appreciated- Felicity didn't want to worry her with the meaning of the threat that had been left for both victims and Soo Lin Yao. The one and the fifteen in Hang Zhou translated into DEADMAN. Mrs. Hudson was a nice lady, Felicity reasoned, and she didn't want her to have to hear about death threats in her own kitchen. Felicity sighed, listening to the phone ring in her ear over and over. Sherlock wasn't going to pick up. She started to return the phone to the receiver when-
"Yes, hello?" Sherlock finally picked up, sounding irritated.
"Sherlock!" Felicity exclaimed, bringing the phone back to her ear with enough force to make her catch her balance on the chair. She'd nearly hung up on him and her adrenaline was running high now that he'd picked up.
"Felicity? What's wrong; is everything alright?" Sherlock fired off, his tone morphing through his previous annoyance, then confusion, and then worry.
"Everything's fine- it's actually brilliant! I cracked the cipher!" Felicity said breathlessly, reaching over and picking up the photograph with the translation so she could read it off.
"What?" Sherlock's confusion and underlying tones of amazement made Felicity feel like giggling. Sherlock had agonized over the symbols and the importance of cracking the cipher ever since they'd found the original death threats. Cracking the cipher was a major breakthrough for the case, and Felicity was proud that she was the one to have done it. With the information the cipher provided, Sherlock would be able solve the case, possibly that evening yet."What does it say?" he demanded, snapping back into the game within seconds of processing her achievement.
"Nine mill, jade pin, dragon den, black tramway," Felicity rattled off. "Nine million pounds for a jade pin to be delivered to the dragon den at black Tramway." She rephrased as Sherlock was silent as he processed her words.
"Tramway…Felicity, you are incredible," Sherlock snapped to a few seconds later, sounding thrilled. "I'll go collect John and we'll put this case to rest." His voice picked up with excitement as he spoke. The fact that he didn't question Felicity in the slightest made her feel very happy. Being left behind on their mission had made Felicity doubt herself and her capabilities. If Sherlock was accepting her work unconditionally she knew deep in her heart that he was still her friend.
"Collect him?" Felicity asked, suspicion automatically springing up in her mind once the happiness faded. Sherlock scoffed.
"After the circus show they decided to 'go out to dinner'." He scorned the words and Felicity just barely muffled her giggles. She could tell that Sherlock would forever resent anyone dating John, for multiple reasons. She wanted to ask about it, but Sherlock and John were nowhere near…defined, so she wasn't going to pry until they had their facts straight. Besides, they were on the phone in the middle of a case- not exactly the most convenient time to ask about such trivial matters.
"How did the circus go, by the way? Find anything?" Felicity asked. Before Sherlock could answer, Mrs. Hudson burst into the kitchen, looking pretty angry for such a nice old lady.
"Felicity, did you paint all over the windows upstairs? They're covered in this horrid yellow paint," she accused, and Felicity stared at her, facts clicking into her brain at a frightening speed. Ignoring Sherlock for the moment as he instantly started to ask questions, she raced through all the possible outcomes of what the symbols were and why. She reached a grim conclusion.
"Was one of them a line, Mrs. Hudson? Just a straight line?" Felicity asked quickly, and the landlady nodded.
"The other one was all squiggly." Mrs. Hudson puffed, still angry about the windows. Felicity mentally ran through every word on page fifteen of London A-to-Z, and no message stood out clearer than DEADMAN. Even though she hadn't seen the graffiti upstairs, she knew exactly what message had been left in 221B.
"Felicity," Sherlock called her name in an urgent reminder that he was still there and listening on the other end of the phone, his voice breaking her out of her thoughts. Felicity looked away from Mrs. Hudson and back at the page with the symbols.
"It's the same threat as before, Sherlock, painted on our windows. It translates to 'DEADMAN'," Felicity told him, sudden fear striking her heart. She knew that Sherlock would be fine- he was aware of the threat. John, however, was not, and Sherlock wasn't with him. John was completely clueless to the danger; he was on a date. "Sherlock are you sure that John is ok? Really positive?" She asked, the fear creeping up before she could stop it. Sherlock never should have left John alone, and Felicity realized that letting John go on a date on a case while provoking criminals wasn't the best idea. It kept him separate from them and out of the loop, and Felicity didn't like that at all.
"I'm on it Felicity." Sherlock promised suddenly, and then he hung up. Felicity lowered the phone, stared at it, and then slowly hung it back up, a bad feeling stirring in her stomach. John was possibly in danger and she was stuck in 221B, unable to help in the way she wanted to. After a brief moment to think, she decided that she had to do something, even if it was just sending the police to the secret hideout of The Black Lotus. Felicity picked the phone back up and did the one thing she'd promised Sherlock and John she'd do if there was trouble; she dialed 999. Felicity directed the police to the tunnel at Tramway before turning to face Mrs. Hudson.
"Is everything alright, dear?" Mrs. Hudson asked as Felicity climbed down from her chair. Felicity paced around the kitchen, trying to think of the probability of The Black Lotus going after John. Sherlock was the detective, not John, so why go for the army doctor? It didn't make sense- and that gave Felicity hope. Maybe she was overreacting and John was having a perfectly normal date with his girlfriend. "Felicity, you're in a right state, aren't you. Come here," Mrs. Hudson offered, and Felicity joined her in the living room again, snuggling back under her arm. "Now tell me what this is all about." She insisted, and Felicity buried her face into her dress.
"It's about the case. I broke a code, a really important code. The people who use the code are angry at Sherlock for trying to get them in trouble so they spray-painted the windows upstairs as a threat." Felicity explained. "I'm worried, Mrs. Hudson. I want to be with them but I know I can't and since I don't know what's going on I'm worried." She summed up frantically, and Mrs. Hudson tisked, pressing a kiss to Felicity's hair. She'd taken care of plenty of children in her lifetime, but never one as intelligent and perceptive as Felicity. Above all that was her sweetness, and Mrs. Hudson found herself wondering if this is what Sherlock was like when he was growing up.
"You just stay right here with me. Sherlock will get it all sorted, you just wait and see." Mrs. Hudson said comfortingly, rubbing Felicity's back. They didn't turn the telly on again. The two of them sat there in silence, Mrs. Hudson thinking about Felicity and Sherlock and Felicity fretting about her two best friends. Everyone who had received the DEADMAN threat so far had been killed, and Felicity wouldn't know what to do with herself if Sherlock and John were to die. Felicity waited impatiently for a whole hour. The waiting was awful. A million different scenarios ran through Felicity's mind; torture, murder, kidnapping, hostages, fights…she tried to get the more rational part of her realize that she was overreacting, but emotion trumped logic. It was getting late, but she insisted to Mrs. Hudson that she wasn't going to bed until she knew that her two friends were safe. Finally, around eleven o' clock, the front door to 221B opened. In seconds Felicity had shot off the couch and to the door of Mrs. Hudson's flat. She had to jump a bit to get the handle, but then she'd pulled the heavy door open.
Standing in the entryway, talking quietly, were Sherlock and John. Both looked a little ruffled, like they'd been fighting, but they were both home safe, alive, and perfectly ok. The sight of them made Felicity's knees nearly go weak in relief. She darted forward and hugged Sherlock's legs as tightly as she was capable of, nearly knocking him over. "Oh, Felicity, there you are. Excellent work on the cipher." Sherlock complimented, sounding much brighter than he had previously.
"Don't you do that ever again." Felicity huffed, punching him in the thigh as high as she could reach. "I was worried and I didn't know if you were ok so don't do that!" She repeated, glaring up at Sherlock. "And you," she continued, darting around Sherlock to go to John, "if you ever- John, your head!" Felicity gasped, her intelligent eyes finding a cut wound on John's temple, her hands flying to her mouth.
"Felicity, it's ok," John laughed weakly, but Felicity shook her head fiercely at him, her worry increasing exponentially even though he was back home safe. The idea of anyone hurting John made her anxious and furious at the same time.
"Come down here," she ordered, and John acquiesced, crouching down to her level. Felicity inspected the wound, biting her lip as she saw how deep it got over his temple. It had to have hurt quite a bit to receive.
"Felicity, it's alright. The case is solved; it's all over." John told her, and Felicity sighed, hugging him tight. "Well, it's over thanks to you. You broke the cipher just in time- without you, I'd probably be dead right now." John added as an afterthought.
"WHAT?" Felicity demanded, pulling away to look at him clearly.
"It's true. If I didn't know to go to Black Tramway, I wouldn't have reached John in time." Sherlock agreed, and Felicity turned to look at him, half horrified and half surprised. "Why don't we go upstairs and we'll tell you all about it, hmm?" Sherlock suggested, seeing how upset Felicity was, and she nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Mrs. Hudson," Sherlock added as she appeared in the doorway. The older woman nodded, giving John a brief wave before turning back into her flat and closing the door.
"Thanks for everything, Mrs. Hudson!" Felicity called quickly before she urged Sherlock and John up the stairs, getting surprised with a piggy-back-ride from John. Felicity clung to his back, surreptitiously burying her face into the wool of his jumper; it was comforting. Her paranoia was slowly ebbing away to be replaced with possessiveness. Felicity wanted these two men to herself, forever.
"Right, tea first, questions second. Would you like a cup?" John asked Felicity as he set her right on the kitchen table.
"Yes, please," she and Sherlock answered at the same time, and Sherlock hid his smile by turning to hang up his coat at the door. John rolled his eyes at Sherlock's usual laziness, getting the kettle and going through the comfortingly monotonous motions of preparing tea. Once his coat was hung up, Sherlock came and sat at the kitchen table. When the tea was ready, John sat across from him, leaving Felicity to sit on the table off to their left, forming a perfect little triangle.
"Alright, Felicity, fire away," John chuckled, seeing how Felicity only ran a finger anxiously around and around the lip of her mug instead of drinking the tea inside. With that permission, Felicity started right away.
"What happened at The Yellow Dragon Circus?" She asked, her eyes flashing up to look at Sherlock and John. Sherlock started chuckling, so Felicity sent him a fierce glare. To her, it wasn't funny.
"John and Sarah got to watch the majority of the performance in peace. I did some investigating backstage and eventually ran into trouble. It was just an altercation," he said dismissively. Sherlock didn't want to hide things from Felicity (she'd find out eventually), but at the same time he didn't want her to worry.
"Your last 'altercation' was anything but nominal, Sherlock." Felicity caught on right away, leaning forward slightly as if to inspect and deduce the answers she wanted right from Sherlock's appearance. The fact that she alluded to Sherlock being very nearly strangled in Soo Lin Yao's flat made John wince. If Felicity hadn't been there, he probably wouldn't have realized that his best friend was dying five feet away. The only reason he realized that Sherlock was in trouble at the circus was because the fight spilled out right in front of him. John made a mental note; keep a closer eye on Sherlock.
"When the fight spilled out onto the stage I helped out a bit. So did Sarah, to be honest with you. We all got out unscathed." John promised Felicity, and she scowled, taking a sip of tea. John may not have been hit in the face at the circus, but Felicity could tell that he'd most likely been kicked in the ribs, judging by how he stood with his shoulders slouched slightly forward and he sat carefully so as to not disturb the inflamed area. Felicity let that point go, however- there was nothing she could do about any injuries her two friends had sustained.
"What happened after?" She pushed, sitting as if she were about to slip into her mind-skyscraper; back straight, legs folded neatly. Sherlock scoffed again, and John glared at him. Sherlock had been very touchy about John going out on a date rather than helping him solve the case and it was still an unresolved issue. John had a feeling as to why he thought Sherlock was acting the way he was, but he wasn't sure if it was wishful thinking or a dead on assumption. He wanted it to be true, but…
"I took Sarah out to eat; I figured that she'd had quite enough of Sherlock and violence for the evening." John explained, shooting Sherlock a look. "Sherlock was going to go back to the museum to try and look around in Soo Lin's possessions for a clue when you called him. By that time, Sarah and I were done eating and about to head back to Baker Street when we got pulled into an alley and I got clobbered." John gestured to his wound exasperatedly. He was still upset that he let himself get abducted that easily. He'd been in the military for god' sake, and now all it took was one hit and he was out like a light. It irritated him.
"Following your lead, Felicity, I went to black Tramway and rescued John. The police you called showed up just in time to arrest the criminals responsible." Sherlock finished. For a moment, Felicity just stared at Sherlock and John, brow furrowed slightly as she made her own opinions and deductions. "I really must reiterate, Felicity, that your work with the cipher was excellent. May I see it?" Sherlock asked, and Felicity blinked, coming out of her thoughts.
"Oh, of course," she said to herself, pulling the folded up image out of her pocket and spreading it flat on the table between Sherlock and John. After receiving some help scrambling down off the table, she returned with London A-to-Z. John picked her back up and set her in her previous spot as Sherlock scrutinized the photograph, humming appreciatively. Felicity silently handed the guidebook to Sherlock when he raised a hand, asking for it.
"How did you figure which book to use?" John asked, watching Sherlock pour over her translation with a slight grin. In an instant, Mrs. Hudson's crap telly comment popped up in Felicity's head, making her snort and then giggle uncontrollably in response to John's question. By the time she surfaced, both men looked considerably alarmed at her reaction.
"Mrs. Hudson," she gasped finally, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "It was Mrs. Hudson. We were watching telly and she said something about a man knowing women 'a-to-z' and then I remembered seeing a book in both flats with that title. All I had to do was come up to your flat and go through the books to prove it."
"But you didn't get to go into either flat; I didn't let you." John said, considerably confused. He'd kept Felicity in his sight at all times so that she wouldn't see any bodies. How could she have remembered seeing books in the victim's flats if she'd never been there?
"I didn't go in, that's true, but I got brief glimpses. At Van Coon's flat, I got a good look around Sherlock's legs and I got to see all of the books stacked on the stairs in Lukis' flat. Once I had some context, it wasn't hard to remember." Felicity shrugged, and Sherlock beamed at her, pleased that her mental capabilities had expanded exponentially since she'd come to stay with him. She'd learned how to ask the right questions, she understood what questions to ask, and she'd displayed her incredible brilliance by cracking the cipher. He had an unexpected urge to hug her as John stared at her in disbelief.
"That…is extraordinary." He said slowly, a grin stretching over his face. "Really, it was reallyvery brilliant." He added, and Felicity actually blushed, her face starting to glow the same shade as her hair.
"Thank you, John." She said, hastily hiding her face behind her mug as she took a sip of tea.
"What did I tell you, John? An excellent colleague and observer." Sherlock threw in, squashing his urge to hug her. He was Sherlock Holmes. He didn't hug people, not even John. He'd have to consider making an exception for Felicity, however. Sherlock had never felt an urge like that before; he didn't know how to react. Until he could further study the idea, he'd have to repress it. Felicity spluttered on her tea, eyes suddenly lighting up. John whumped her on the back a few times when she exploded into a fit of coughing.
"That reminds me! I know where the jade pin is!" Felicity cried, setting down her tea mug once her airway cleared.
"Oh, the jade pin? That jade pin?" John asked, pointing to Felicity's tiny letters 'JADE PIN' that were written over Hang Zhou symbols on the picture between them. Felicity nodded furiously.
"Hmmm," Sherlock mused, pressing his hands together so that he could think. He hadn't deduced the pin's location yet, and was finding it extremely interesting that Felicity had. "Have I seen it before?" he asked Felicity, and she cocked her head as she thought about his question.
"It depends, I guess. You were in the same room as the pin, but I think you were focused on something else. John may have been more interested." Felicity giggled as John sent her a look that said, 'Oh god, not you too,' while Sherlock's eyes narrowed. He'd instantly understood that Felicity was referring to John's obvious interest in women, but he was still trying to piece together all moments where he was with a woman and John over the past few days. It didn't help that his mind was disagreeing with his current deduction on John's romantic interests; John may look at women often, but the looks that really meant something were usually aimed at-
Then, it was suddenly obvious.
While they were waiting for Sebastian, Sherlock had been staring out of a window, utterly bored. John had been pretending to read a magazine, but he'd really been watching Van Coon's personal secretary, Amanda, while she talked animatedly with Felicity. In the brief glances he'd stole at John and the woman, he could remember seeing an ornamental pin in her hair with a jade tip…
"Oh," Sherlock let out slowly as he realized it. "Of course." He glanced at Felicity, once again extremely proud of her observant nature. It would have taken him a few hours in his mind palace to come to the same conclusion that she had in mere moments. Felicity was well on her way to becoming a detective, ad that made Sherlock very happy indeed.
"Well? Would you two like to let the mere mortals know?" John teased, and Sherlock gestured to Felicity, giving her the right to reveal the pin's new owner.
"Amanda has it! The secretary at the bank who I was talking to while we were waiting to see Sebastian! She was wearing the pin in her hair; Van Coon was the thief- he stole the pin and gave it to Amanda as a present!" Felicity revealed, and John chuckled into his tea.
"The two of you are so bright it's blinding," he joked, standing up and collecting their used tea mugs, still chuckling. "I take it we'll be visiting the bank tomorrow to let her know?"
"An excellent suggestion, John; that will wrap the case up, I should think." Sherlock said, stretching languidly. He couldn't deny that he was starting to feel his tiredness. Two fights and running around London did happen to slow him down, despite the stereotype that he was unstoppable. John seemed to pick up on those vibes.
"Now, to bed; it is past midnight and you need to sleep. We all do," John insisted, giving Felicity a lift down from the tabletop. As he watched her go to put her pajamas on, John found it odd that she'd only been with them for three days. Felicity could have always lived at Baker Street- she slipped into a niche with the doctor and the detective as if it was made for her. Felicity appeared less than a minute later in her pajamas, her flowing red hair free from their pigtails. When her hair was down it was obvious why she braided it- the flowing locks were rebellious and untamable otherwise.
"Aren't you going to treat your wound?" Felicity asked, pointing up at John's temple. John raised a hand to it in a customary reaction, having forgotten all about his throbbing headache during their previous conversation. Now that she'd mentioned it, the cut started to pulsate with pain once more.
"Oh, yes, of course," John said, and they walked down to the bathroom together. "You'd think that as a doctor I could take care of myself," John joked, and Felicity flashed him a grin as they ducked through the doorway.
Turns out, Sherlock was already there, brushing his teeth.
In the end, the three of them somehow fit in the bathroom. John sat on the edge of the bathtub to clean himself up and Sherlock and Felicity shared the sink as they brushed their teeth. Felicity had her step stool, of course, which clogged up a bit of space, but it felt homey with all three of them sharing the bathroom at once. Felicity seemed to enjoy it immensely, so both men were more than willing to oblige. During that process, however, more of Sherlock's tiredness started to show, despite his best efforts to keep up his tireless image. His usually impeccable posture was slumping slightly, and he had to clench his jaw to keep back yawns. Felicity finished brushing first and after pushing her step-stool back out of the way, she left the bathroom.
"Oi, where are you going?" John called when Felicity turned right to go back to the living room instead of left to go to Sherlock's room.
"Sherlock's tired- I'll take the couch," Felicity called, and Sherlock nearly dropped his toothbrush. He'd forgotten how observant Felicity was. John fought down a grin as Sherlock sent him a glare that dared John to say anything to support Felicity's claim. John leapt on any possible chance to get Sherlock to sleep and Sherlock didn't need him ganging up on him with Felicity.
"No," Sherlock called firmly, stowing his toothbrush hastily and ducking out of the bathroom as well to find Felicity. She was already curled up comfortably on the couch, looking up at Sherlock innocently as he stopped in front of the couch, his height towering over her. "Felicity, you are a guest here. You are not sleeping on the couch." He told her, and she raised an eyebrow as a challenge before snuggling down further, clearly having none of it. If she were John, Sherlock probably would have shouted at her, insulted her, or sat on her- but Felicity wasn't John. Felicity was his sun- and she brought out his human side. Without further ado, Sherlock effortlessly scooped her up under his arm. "We can share, can't we?" he mused to the flat as Felicity erupted into giggles, her hair flying every which way. Ignoring John's outright stare of amusement and amazement from the bathroom doorway, Sherlock carried Felicity to his room and plopped her on the bed. "May we share?" Sherlock asked the ball of fiery hair as Felicity snuggled under his comforter. He didn't want to put himself upon her- he'd never shared a bed with anyone before and Sherlock wasn't sure on how to ask in a socially acceptable sense. Thankfully, Felicity was more than accommodating.
"Oh, yes please," she agreed, the sound muffled under the blankets. Sherlock went to the bathroom to fetch and change into his pajamas before going back to his room, bidding a triumphant John goodnight on the way. Sherlock's feet padded silently over his creaky wooden floors as he made his way to bed. On the right side there was a small little ball that was Felicity. The usual awkwardness that Sherlock would have felt in just about any social situation that would have involved sharing a sleeping space automatically vanished as Felicity burrowed back up to the top. A wavy mess of red hair appeared first and then two warm brown eyes popped up over the edge of the duvet to watch him. Needing no further encouragement than that, Sherlock slid into bed, looking down in surprise when Felicity curled into his side just like that.
"You don't seem tired," Sherlock noted, the odd, pleasant feeling of contentment building inside him at Felicity's presence at his side. He couldn't see her under the blankets, but the idea that she was there was more than enough.
"I'm not." Felicity told him quietly. There was a long pause as the two of them listened to John settle into bed upstairs. "I do this with Charley all the time," Felicity said suddenly, and Sherlock looked down at the small bump next to his hip. "He remembers the car accident that killed my parents vividly, but I remember nothing. Sometimes he has nightmares and so we sleep together."
"You were in the car," Sherlock said, and it wasn't a question. Felicity curled into a tighter ball at his side in reaction to his statement, telling Sherlock that he was right.
"Yes. " Felicity confirmed. There was another hefty pause before she continued. "It was a head-on-collision. My parents were seated in the front; Charley and I were in the back. Charley walked away with a dislocated shoulder but I had a concussion. I don't remember the accident at all." She sounded slightly confused, slightly frustrated as she spoke, and Sherlock felt a spike of protectiveness. The fact that Felicity didn't remember her parent's death must have put an incredible strain on Charley. The one person he had left in the world didn't remember the previous danger in her past. On top of that, it must have been awfully frustrating for Felicity to try and comfort her brother over and event she didn't remember occurring. Their situation was an odd one.
"You take good care of your brother," Sherlock said finally, and Felicity laughed quietly.
"You remind me of him sometimes," Felicity yawned, resting her head on Sherlock's stomach.
"Do I?" Sherlock repeated, and Felicity just nodded.
"You're just as important," she murmured after a moment, her body relaxing further and further towards sleep. Her comment left Sherlock speechless for a long time, a lump growing in his throat. No one had ever trusted him like that, no one had ever become friends with him so quickly and simply, and no one had ever held him in such high esteem as to equate him with a family member. By the time Sherlock had his voice back, Felicity was fast asleep, leaving Sherlock to his thoughts.
OoOoOoO
After his third straight day of army business, Charley was more than ready to go home. He was exhausted, irritated, and tired of being ordered around by higher officers. He longed for snuggling on the couch with his sister, drinking tea and laughing. He even missed, dare he admit it, his long shifts as a bartender and a deli worker. Charley owed the army quite a bit, but at the same time he resented it. His life was busy enough- he hardly got to see his sister- and then the army had to go and take away more of his time. As her only guardian, Charley worried about Felicity constantly. She was different, to say the least, and Felicity often times ran into trouble simply for being herself. It angered Charley that people would hate his sister for being natural, but he couldn't fight all her battles.
Exhausted, Charley entered the lobby of his hotel with the sole interest of going up to his room and sleeping for a full ten hours. He never made it. "Sir? Mr. Muller? You have an important phone call on hold." The receptionist was calling him, extending the receiver his way. Fighting back paranoia, Charley accepted the phone with a quick thank you.
"Hello?" He asked, trying to keep the worry and suspicion out of his voice. Why would anyone need to call him while he was on army business? His mind automatically flashed to Felicity- hurt, beat up again at school and his pulse raced.
"Charley? This is Principal Unden." The voice on the other end was so painfully professional that Charley wanted to scream, his worst fears bubbling up inside him before they could be squashed back down.
"Is something wrong?" Charley cut right to the chase. There was a pause, and Mrs. Unden sighed, sounding half amused and half annoyed.
"I'm afraid that Felicity has caused a bit of trouble, Charley. She's missed school for the past three days. When I contacted your neighbor, Ms. Millan, to enquire about her whereabouts, she said that Felicity was on a school trip."
"She is on a school trip. I got a letter and everything." Charley interrupted, confused. He had the letter in his case upstairs; Charley liked to keep track of Felicity wherever she went.
"Well, that's the problem, Charley. There is no school trip. Felicity invented this trip somehow, and she's missing." Mrs. Unden admitted, and cold stole into Charley's heart so quickly that he nearly dropped the phone. Panic made him blind until he realized that Felicity organized the fake trip to run away somewhere- it wasn't like she'd been kidnapped. Felicity was obviously smart and devious when she wanted to be; she was probably safe and sound, having her own fun and adventures while everyone else was none the wiser. If he could find her, he knew that everything would be alright. "Charley? Are you still there?" Mrs. Unden's voice snapped him back into reality.
"Yeah, I'm here." Charley said, just fighting down the urge to swear violently. He'd begged Felicity a million times not to do stupid things, and she never ever listened, did she?
"Do you want me to contact the police? I refrained from calling right away because, well, Felicity is a special case, isn't she?" Mrs. Unden laughed shakily, and Charley passed a hand over his face, very grateful that Mrs. Unden understood that this really wasn't an emergency- not yet.
"No, I can handle this. Thank you so much for everything." Charley said hastily, and after a few goodbyes, Charley passed the phone back to the receptionist and booked it up to his room, trying to think. He paced the small room a few times, wondering where Felicity could have gone. What could have been so important to her that she would leave home?
Charley tripped over his case as he suddenly realized it. Chastising himself for being so stupid, Charley picked himself up off the floor and started to throw his belongings into the case he'd tripped over as one name ran through his mind.
Sherlock Holmes.
Felicity loved that man like she loved Charley, and if she possibly had a whole week to spend with him she'd do anything to get to London. Swearing to himself, Charley called his superior officer to explain the emergency, grabbed a cup of coffee, and then got on the first bus possible that was heading to London.
OoOoOoO
A/N: Dun dun duuunn! Did you really think that I'd let Felicity just hang out with them forever? That would be really cool, but not very realistic. So, now Charley is freaking out. You know, I never had an older brother, and I kind of wish I did. ANYWAY, I know I promised you Johnlock for this chapter and...I substituted Moffat-esque hints of Johnlock instead of actually doing Johnlock. That is MY bad; I mixed up chapters in my head, and I'm sorry. I hope the fluff made up for it.
I've thought a lot about what 'Johnlock' entails and I'm here to tell you now that there will never be graphic, written out sex scenes. I may have to increase my rating to 'T' for later stuff (not necessarily Johnlock, mind you) and I don't want to push it higher. This story was originally about how a LITTLE GIRL changed Sherlock and John's lives and I don't want to stray from that. Sherlock and John will get together, no worries, but I won't be writing anything remotely graphic.
Also, your reviews literally make me squeal and flail and get weird looks all the time. I love hearing from you! I'm very determined to give you lots of updates before I go to college (I MOVE IN Sep. 1st and MY CLASSES start Sep.4th just fyi) because I'm terrified that I'll get really busy and won't have time to update and, therefore, here from all you lovely people.
Finally, lots of love and hugs to my beta, louisuperwholocked on Tumblr! You're a babe, dearest. :)
