A/N: Was sad I couldn't get this up for mother's day with mummy Sherlock and all ;), but here it is today instead. Enjoy!

"I know when the robbers are going to strike," Sherlock said into the phone, keeping his voice low as he glanced towards Alex, now awake and eating breakfast while watching some television.

"How the bloody hell can you know that?" Lestrade demanded.

"Moriarty is playing a game, Lestrade. A game has rules."

"A game has rules like blowing up a bloody boathouse and leaving dead bodies at a graveyard?"

"The dead bodies were only on the anniversary of John and Mary's death. The explosion was only in the location of his kidnap and torture. There are clearly rules, and that applies to the bank robbings too."

"So? What are the bloody rules and how did you figure out when it will be?"

"They started out seeming random, in fact I had to search a bit to make sure I caught all of the ones that Moriarty was behind…there were a few not listed in his file. But he clearly has staged all of these so I calculated the dates between them to look for a pattern. He's been increasing the time between them, but it's on a formula. So he started out with 14 days, then 21, then 77, then don't you see?"

"No," Lestrade said.

"Why do I put up with you pointless people," Sherlock sighed. "It's a sequence, Lestrade, do keep up. Every time is 13 days plus the cubed product of whatever attempt this is. Hence 13 plus 1 cubed, 14, 13 plus 2 cubed is 21, do you see? And so on and so forth. This will be the sixth and so it will be 229 days apart from the last date, and yes I expect soon he'll quit this and start a new pattern since they are growing too far apart for the attack to seem entirely logical, or perhaps he'll begin a second one alongside this one. Now, the time is also on a schedule. Each attack alternates between a 6 hour difference and a 1 hour difference. Last time was a 1 hour difference, so this will be a 6. Meaning the bank robbers will strike at eight AM tomorrow before the bank has even opened."

"I'm not sure if I should think that's brilliant or madness," Lestrade muttered. "How the hell did you figure all that out?"

"Numbers aren't altogether difficult to figure out, Lestrade. And besides, he continues to make a point with them."

"So?"

"So, Alex was born on the thirteenth of March… so 13 cubed… I was born on the sixth of January…so 6 and 1 alternating"

"Cor, that's good. What a creep. But wouldn't the first attack have happened before John and Mary's deaths? So why use Alex's birthday and all?"

Sherlock thought back to the night Moriarty had broken in, the words he'd said.

Don't you think there was a reason I let the little kitten live? Thought you'd need a replacement since you lost old Johnny boy. Who better than his little brat. Hmm? One you can even train yourself…mold to your liking.

So, he'd planned for Sherlock to have Alex before killing John and Mary then. Probably had known about the Watson's wishes before they died. Clever.

"Regardless, the point is we're going to catch them in the act tomorrow morning. We'll be ready for them."

"Which bank?" Lestrade asked.

"I've narrowed it down to three," Sherlock said. "We can have men on all of them and I'll come with you to the one I have the biggest hunch on."

"Well, if you say so. I'd love to catch those bastards, that's for sure. But he's not going to be there is he?"

"No," Sherlock said. "I would imagine he won't be. He's sitting back and letting others do his work. If I can dismantle some of his network though, I'll take away some of his power. It's a place to start."

"Yeah, sure. Well, I'll swing by and pick you up early tomorrow. Six alright?"

"Yes, sounds good."

"And you have a plan for the tyke? You aren't bringing him along."

"No," Sherlock said. "I have a sitter for him. He'll be fine."

"Great. See you first thing tomorrow then."

Sherlock answered in the affirmative before hanging up. He sighed and started thinking of all he'd have to do before then.

"Hoohoo."

He looked up to see Mrs. Hudson in the doorway.

"Sherlock, why's Alex not ready for school? And what's he watching?"

"Hmm?" he looked up to see Alex still in his chair dressed in pajamas watching what looked like some sort of bloody murder, then looked at the clock. It was five minutes till nine.

"Alex, go put your clothes on and grab your things, now!" Sherlock snapped, rising to his feet. He snatched up the remote and clicked off the television, not particularly seeing a problem in Alex watching the show, but more in realizing they had only a few minutes to get to school.

"Oh, Sherlock. Does he have his lunch?"

"I forgot to make one," the detective admitted.

"I'll go pack something quickly. You gather up his books and anything else he needs," Mrs. Hudson said, flapping her hands. "I'll be back in a moment, dear."

Thankfully, Alex was not a slow dresser and was down in only a moment's time, ready although a bit rumpled. Sherlock quickly smoothed the boy out as best he could, particularly the very wild hair the boy had apparently forgotten to comb. They would need to take him in for a haircut soon.

"Ready?" Sherlock asked, slinging the boy's bag over his shoulder.

"We running for it?" Alex asked, clearly excited by the prospect. The school was only a few blocks away.

"Yes."

"The game is on," Alex said with a grin, making a mad dash for the door. Sherlock smiled and rushed after him, nearly missing Mrs. Hudson sticking a bag out her door.

"His lunch, dear. Don't forget his lunch."

He grabbed for it shouting a thank you behind him, even as he continued to hustle out the door, following in Alex's trail. The boy was running fast, all those football practices paying off. Sherlock found himself wondering if Moriarty would have stood a chance if not for his car. The boy's athletic abilities were proving themselves, but even so Sherlock's long legs didn't make it too hard to keep up.

The school appeared a few blocks away. The two kept going, having to stop only at busy intersections, but even those they sometimes went through without too much hesitation, a few cars honking as they darted into the crosswalk without paying too much attention. Sherlock found the run reminiscent of one or two of his chases with John.

"Come on, almost there," Alex panted over his shoulder before pushing into a full sprint towards the school. A bell rang and Sherlock sighed, aware they'd already missed the start of class. Even so, they were only a minute or two late.

They careened through the door, running into the main office. Sherlock chuckled as Alex shot him a smile, even though he was aware they hadn't quite made it in time.

"Mr. Holmes," the secretary sighed from her desk. "Late again?"

"Sorry, my fault," Sherlock said. "Though congratulations on losing five pounds. Oh and that new haircut clearly suits you. Of course, your new choice in makeup also just makes you look all the more lovely, those eyes just seem to…pop."

She rolled said eyes and grabbed for a form. "Here, sign. If Alex is late three more times this term he'll be suspended. I would recommend avoiding that."

"Hmm, yes we'll try to avoid that," Sherlock muttered, glancing at Alex who was barely restraining a giggle. "Won't we, brat?"

"Hey!" Alex protested. "Not my fault you can't keep track of time. Alright, can I go to class now?"

"Yes," the secretary sighed. "And if you're finished with your pathetic flattery Mr. Holmes you may leave."

"Hmm…touchy after that fight with your brother, aren't you," he muttered, before quickly heading to the door. Alex was waiting for him in the hall.

"We can't be late anymore," Alex pointed out.

"Yes, I know. We'll try harder," Sherlock promised. He crouched down and sure enough Alex threw his arms around him in a quick hug. "Have to try to be normal I suppose."

"But normal is so booooriiiiiiing," Alex sing-songed, and then froze.

"What did you say?" Sherlock asked, cocking his head as he stared at the boy.

"Um…"

"Don't you ever say that again," Sherlock snapped. "Do you understand me? I don't ever want to hear words he said in your mouth ever again."

"Sorry," Alex whispered, brow wrinkling. "I'm sorry, Sherlock. I'll do better."

"Good," Sherlock murmured, still feeling shocked by the Moriarty impression that had happened in front of him. "Have fun at school."

"I'll see you later, Sherlock." Alex walked back down the hall.

"Catch you later," Sherlock promised, even as his mind kept reeling. Well, no matter. He had more important things to think about. Like beginning to ready himself for tomorrow.

At 5:45 in the morning there was a knock on the door. Sherlock opened it to find Molly standing there, cup of coffee in hand and a smile already on her face.

"Good morning," he said, attempting to be cordial even as he realized there were no signs of a new boyfriend on her…and she'd worn more makeup than normal all things considered. Well, it was a good thing he was leaving soon.

"Um yes," Molly said. "It is, isn't it? So, Alex is still asleep right?"

"Yes. He'll likely be up by eight at the latest. There's some food in the kitchen—well actually there might not be. Depends if Mrs. Hudson restocked or not. If not then she should have some in her own kitchen and you only need to go bother her. Her sister was visiting or something today, but otherwise it shouldn't be a lot of trouble to drop by and grab a bite to eat. Anyhow, that's probably everything you need to know."

"Just call you with any questions, right? I've done this loads of times growing up, babysitting and all…earning a little extra cash. I mean, I'm sure we'll be fine," Molly said with a nervous smile.

"Yes," Sherlock said, grabbing his coat and swinging it on. "Well, I'll be back in a bit. I'll call you if I'm delayed, but I would expect by early afternoon."

"Good luck to you, Sherlock."

He shrugged and headed to the door, going downstairs to find Lestrade already waiting.

"Ready to go?"

Sherlock nodded and slid into the passenger's seat. Lestrade steered his way through the city to the bank in question, where the two men soon found themselves waiting out front, several other police in waiting as Lestrade readied himself to make the call.

"You really think it's this one?" Lestrade asked.

"Based on their previous choices, yes," Sherlock said.

"Well, I hope so. Hope I get to arrest the bastards myself too, considering last big bank robbery bust we made I didn't get to make that since I had a text from a certain someone begging for help with a best man speech."

"Mmm, yes well that was more important anyways."

"Sure," Lestrade grunted.

They sat in silence for a while, Lestrade occasionally interrupting to mention a cold case he'd love Sherlock to look at. Often the consulting detective could give a response before he'd heard all the details. Some of them seemed almost obvious. Still, there were no signs of movement around the bank other than occasional passerby. At long last something broke their silence.

"Boss." Donovan's voice came from the intercom.

Lestrade picked up his and spoke into it. "What is it?"

"We got signs of some men going round back."

"Well, looks like you were right, let's go check it out."

The two men moved from the car, walking back towards the other side of the building where they found Donovan waiting to the side, peeking out behind a corner.

"It's got to be them. They've got masks and something that appears to be disabling the cameras, just like at the other sights," the woman said.

"Good," Lestrade said. "Just wait till they get the door open and I'm making the arrests."

Sherlock hung back and let them do their work. He was pleased, of course, that the clues had led him to the right conclusion, that he had stopped the robbery from happening and dismantled this little part of Moriarty's crime network. But he couldn't help but feel it had been just a little too easy. Not to mention…too laid out.

This was what Moriarty had said on the rooftop. That's your weakness – you always want everything to be clever.

It was true, but Moriarty knew that weakness and he knew how to play it. Sherlock needed to proceed with caution. He needed to make sure this wasn't some trap. More likely he felt it was a distraction, keep Sherlock out chasing random crimes while Moriarty had more time to plan and create whatever tangled web he was weaving.

There was a shout and then the police were running towards the criminals. Sherlock held back, glad there didn't seem to be any immediate danger as the robbers surrendered without a fight. Lestrade looked quite pleased with himself as he put the cuffs on one of the men before shoving him to several others to take to the car.

"You going to help interrogate?" Lestrade asked when he was finished.

"I think that might be best," Sherlock agreed.

It was a long and tedious process. Sherlock asked all of the men questions, and had few answers by the end. What he could deduce was fairly meaningless to knowing what Moriarty was up to, but he was determined to stitch together the little clues into something meaningful. He'd have to spend more time thinking about it. The main thing he had gathered was that the men had been consulted by Moriarty, that he had given them the patterns to follow and paid them to use them. That he had made suggestions about a wireless device to disable security features that had worked. Nothing as complicated as what he'd suggested that would open all doors, but something to mess up cameras and all of that nonsense.

By late evening Sherlock knew he needed to be heading back. Molly was probably ready for a break. She'd been kind giving up her day off for him, he supposed.

His mind wandered as he took a cab back, he kept thinking on Moriarty and his web and his potential set up with all the cleverness he'd put in. Something bad was coming.

Mrs. Hudson stopped him on the way up.

"How were they?"

"Oh fine, dear. Molly stopped by about some food for lunch. Said you only had a dissection in the fridge and some chemicals in the pantry. Really dear, if that social worker stops by again you'll be in trouble."

"I'll restock later this week," Sherlock promised. "No other problems?"

"None that I saw," Mrs. Hudson said. "But you can ask Molly when you get up."

Sherlock nodded before heading to the stairs, leaving Mrs. Hudson to go back to her television. He took them two at a time, soon arriving back in his old familiar flat. He noticed immediately that Molly had apparently decided to do a little cleaning. But at the moment, the main thing he was focused on were the two people seated at the table…well two people and four stuffed animals, all with teacups set out in front of them.

Alex spun around and saw him.

"Sherlock!"

He jumped out of his seat and bounded back towards his guardian. Sherlock took a moment to study his charge, startled to find that Alex had makeup on. Smeared messily over his eyes was some bright blue eyeshadow and rouged lipstick that had obviously been smudged off on his teacup.

"We were having a tea party," Alex said. "But I told Molly that only girls have tea parties so I'd have to be a girl. So she made me all pretty."

He twirled in his makeshift dress, one of Sherlock's shirts that Molly had belted at the waist. The boy looked utterly ridiculous.

"I'm Alexandra, and you are?" the boy said with a giggle and a messy curtsy.

"Interesting choice of activity," Sherlock said, looking back at Molly who turned a bit pink.

"Well, I told Molly I was supposed to be a girl anyways," Alex said. "But that the doctors got mixed up when they looked at me and so when I was born I was a surprise."

"Yes you were," Sherlock agreed, recalling John telling him they were having a girl and the surprise for the parents when Alex turned out to be a boy instead.

"Sherlock," Alex said, cocking his head, "where do babies come from anyways? Like I now I was in my mum's tummy when they messed up…but how'd I get there?"

Sherlock opened his mouth only to get a look from Molly.

"Oh, um…we can talk about that later. Why don't you go change back into your clothes while Molly and I clean up and have a chat."

"Ok," Alex agreed, running up to his room. Once his footsteps had quieted upstairs, Sherlock turned towards the pathologist.

"You can't tell him," Molly said. "He's too young, Sherlock. He wouldn't understand."

"So what, I tell him nonsense about storks bringing him?"

"Just don't ruin his innocence just yet, Sherlock. Most children need to wait to hear that sort of thing…he's just not mature enough yet," Molly said.

"Hmm," Sherlock said not sure if he believed her. He was fairly sure he'd learned about intercourse when he was younger than Alex was, and he'd been just fine. Even so, the boy probably would forget by the time he came downstairs. "So…a tea party."

"Oh, I was just listing things to do," Molly stammered. "I used to do these with my cousin all the time when she was little. And I told Alex we didn't have to, but he insisted he could pretend to be a girl and it would be fun. Most of the rest of the day we did some science things with my microscope and a few crafts…and he watched some telly while I…well…"

"Cleaned," Sherlock said. "Very kind of you."

"You're welcome. Thought I could help out a little. You do really good work with him, but I umm… know it has to be hard being a single parent and all…"

"You're thinking of your own father," Sherlock said.

Molly swallowed and looked away, tears showing in the corners of her eyes. "He tried really hard, he really did. But it was hard. It always was. I tried helping out when I could after mum died…but it always was a challenge. I mean…you're…all things considered you're really doing well…"

"Molly, it's fine," Sherlock said. "Thank you for your hard work today. I appreciate it."

"Of course," Molly said.

They'd gathered the last of the tea cups and plates, putting them in the sink.

"Want me to wash these?" Molly asked. "I mean I'd really love to if that's alright. I want to help out if I can…not that you can't do it…but if you would like the help…I'd just—"

"I'll do it," Sherlock said. "Well, in a week…or a year…or well…it doesn't really matter. More likely Mrs. Hudson will wash them."

"Oh, let me do them!"

"You've done more than enough, Molly. Thank you," Sherlock said.

"Well, you're welcome. Call me some other time if you'd like me to babysit. It's kind of nice being around kids…always thought I'd have them by now you know," Molly said, suddenly frowning and giving a little sigh.

Not sure what to say to that, Sherlock opted for staying quiet, which thankfully was helped by Alex appearing downstairs. He still had makeup smeared on his face, but he was back in a t-shirt and jeans.

"Are you leaving?" he asked Molly.

"Yes," she said with a smile. "But I'll come back sometime."

"Alright," Alex said. "Thanks Molly." He ran over to give her a quick squeeze.

"Well catch you two later then. Good evening."

She headed out and Sherlock turned to the boy.

"We're cleaning you up, come on."

He hoisted Alex up sending the child into a fit of giggles. He couldn't contain a smile himself as he carried Alex to the bathroom, setting him on the edge of the tub and then finding a flannel to start wiping the makeup off.

"Sherlock, do you think my mum and dad were disappointed they didn't have a girl?" Alex asked, cocking his head.

"Why would you think something ridiculous like that?" Sherlock said with a frown. "Of course not. Other than having to change your name last minute and having to deal with a number of pink gifts for you from friends who'd bought things ahead of time."

Alex smiled. "And they got to name me after you thanks to being a boy."

"Hmm…yes….Alexander Sherlock Watson… Though I kept telling your father Sherlock was a perfectly good name for a girl," Sherlock said with a small smile. He made a particularly hard scrub at one of Alex's eyes, causing most of the makeup to come off.

"What, Sherly?" Alex giggled. "Ew. That's a terrible name for a girl."

"Hmm, your father and mother both agreed."

Alex paused and thought for a minute as Sherlock managed to remove most of the lipstick. "Sherlock, what would you name a kid if you had one?"

"I'd never really thought about it," Sherlock said. "I never thought I would have children."

"Do you like having me?" Alex asked.

"I…I have come to find it an acceptable arrangement," Sherlock admitted. "And it was what your father wanted after all."

Alex sat still as he finished cleaning him up.

"Why on earth did you agree to this?" Sherlock muttered as he leaned over to wash off the flannel, watching as the mix of colors ran down the drain.

"Because Molly is sad and lonely and I knew it would make her happy," Alex said. "She kept talking about how it's just her and her cat Toby at home. She said she might get another one. I wanted to make her smile. She looked sad a lot."

"That was…kind of you."

"Yep." Alex cocked his head. "Sherlock, do you like Molly?"

"I find her a good friend and a very talented pathologist who proves herself quite useful to me. You remember she helped me with faking my death," Sherlock said.

"Yeah, that was pretty brilliant."

"So yes, I like Molly."

"But do you like like her," Alex said, eyes sparkling.

Sherlock paused, brow crinkling, glancing at Alex with confusion. "I don't understand the implications of adding a second like. Are you implying I really enjoy her? Because if so, I'd say I don't really know that I'd make any kind of—"

"No!" Alex interrupted. "Do you like her…like how my friend Davey like likes Becky and he kissed her a few weeks ago."

"Oh, you're implying am I romantically or sexually attracted to her?" Sherlock asked.

Alex gave him a look of confusion and Sherlock recalled Molly's advice about protecting Alex's innocence.

"I'm not really…interested in any sort of romantic relationship…especially with Miss Hooper."

Alex pouted. "But—"

"But nothing," Sherlock said. He scooped Alex up again. "Come on, let's go get you some supper. Unless you're too full from all those biscuits."

"No!" Alex said. "Never too full for supper!"

"I predict a growth spurt in the next week," Sherlock said with a smile. "With all this eating you've been doing."

"Sherlock."

He paused and set Alex down again. The boy looked up at him, brow creased.

"Yes?"

"Molly needs to find somebody. Even if it's not you. We should set her up on a date or something."

"Setting up dates—not really my area. But we'll see," Sherlock said. "Now, let's go see what Mrs. Hudson has to eat and I'll tell you all about today's arrest of the bank robbers."

"Yay!" Alex said with a laugh.

Sherlock smiled at his charge as they walked towards the stairs.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Thank you Icecat62 for the review, as well as my two other regular reviewers :) You guys are awesome. Love the feedback and hope to continue getting it!

Brits, I don't know if you use the like like phrasing as kids. So here comes my apology for any American errors in word choice or cultural portrayals. Feel free to tell me, though kindness is the key in any good criticism.