Fully Alive
Chapter Ten
"Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there.
I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there.
I did not die."
Two Years Later
Vivienne watched from a desk in a small room, as Sherlock straightened his suit jacket.
"I think I'll surprise John. He'll be delighted!"
"You think so?" Mycroft smiled cynically.
"Hmm... I'll pop into Baker Street. Who knows- jump out of a cake." Sherlock said dismissively.
Vivienne frowned and piped up. She had been very quiet watching Sherlock get cleaned up. "Baker Street? John isn't at Baker Street anymore." She stood up and walked over to Sherlock and straightened his jacket a bit more.
Sherlock gave her an incredulous look.
"Why would he be? It's been two years. He's got on with his life." Mycroft added.
"What life? I've been away."
"Sherlock." Vivienne scolded.
"Sorry." Sherlock looked Vivienne in the eye. "You're hiding something from me. What is it?"
Vivienne took a deep breath and glanced at Mycroft. "Give us the room, Myc?"
Mycroft nodded and walked off the room, annoyed but with no objections.
"Myc." Sherlock said mockingly. "You sound like you've been spending time with my mother."
"Maybe I have been."
"Come again? I believe I misheard you."
"Don't be a dick. I met your parents at your funeral. After you... left... I thought they might like to know you had gotten married." Vivienne smiled and shrugged. "Which may or may not have led into them coming to Baker Street every other Saturday for dinner."
"For the past two years?" Sherlock couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"For the past two years. Mycroft comes, too, every once in a while. Once a month, at least."
"You're unbelievable." Sherlock gave Vivienne a once-over again. "That's not what you're hiding. You couldn't care less if I know that you've been dining with my parents."
"John is getting engaged. He's meet someone. ThatIpossiblyintroducedhimto." Vivienne jumbled all of the last words together on purpose.
"You did what?"
"He was sad, incredibly sad, all the time. I got a job working in the morgue with Molly."
"Finally putting that degree to good use, I see."
"It's kind of difficult to do an autopsy when you're fucking blind. But thank you for that. Anyways. She worked in pediatrics at Bart's. I thought they'd get along. Turns out I was right." Vivienne shrugged. "I was just trying to make things better for him."
"What else?"
"Kati moved into John's old room?" Vivienne was avoiding Sherlock's gaze.
"Vivienne." Sherlock's deep baritone reverberated in Vivienne's chest and she turned to give him a sheepish look.
"You're right. There is something else. I'm not sure- I mean, I don't know how important it will be to you, but you should know. There was- uh, there was a baby. I got pregnant..."
"Was." Sherlock picked up on the past tense. "You lost it."
"I didn't know I was pregnant until I woke up in the middle of the night bleeding everywhere. John helped. He took me to the ER. I had to stay a couple of days because I'd lost so much blood."
Sherlock began to get angry. "Who else knows about this? Everyone?"
"Gran and John think it was an ex in Florida, but yes. Everyone. Including your parents."
"And Mycroft?"
Vivienne nodded slowly. "He thought it would distract you. And he wasn't exactly sure where you were."
"MYCROFT!" Sherlock's voice vibrated through the room. His voice boomed as he spun around to see Mycroft walk smugly in. "Why was I not fucking told about this?"
"It wasn't life or death. I wasn't sure where you were and even if I was, it would have distracted you and you would have wanted to come home. It wasn't that important."
"Important? What do you know of importance? She is important to me. And a baby is important to her. Of course I would have wanted to come home to be at my wife's side. Or did you forget about that little detail?" Sherlock was dangerously close to Mycroft and Vivienne almost stepped forward to intervene.
"Forgive me, brother mine. I won't make that mistake again." Mycroft stepped back and Sherlock regained his composure.
"Where's John going to be tonight?" He asked, like the previous altercation hadn't happened.
"How would I know?"
"You always know."
Mycroft sighed dramatically. "He has a dinner reservation in the Marylebone Road. Nice little spot. They have a few bottles of the 2000 Saint-Emilion ... though I prefer the 2001."
"I think maybe I'll just drop by." Sherlock smiled at Vivienne.
"You know, it is a possibility that you won't be welcome." Vivienne replied.
"No, it isn't." Sherlock turned to Mycroft. "Now, where is it?"
Mycroft feigned confusion. "Where is what?"
"You know what."
Mycroft nodded at Vivienne, who walked out of the room, only to return carrying Sherlock's Belstaff. Sherlock smiled at the sight and slid his arms in the sleeves as Vivienne lifted the coat into position. He raised an eye at his wife when he noticed that she had already popped the collar for him.
"Welcome back, Mr. Holmes." Vivienne smiled at her husband.
"It's good to be back." Sherlock stated, before pulling Vivienne to him and kissing her.
Mycroft just groaned and rolled his eyes.
Xxxxx
Vivienne and Kati heard footsteps coming up the stairs and sat their wine glasses down, expecting Sherlock, but coming face to face with a rather angry John instead.
"Tell me that he's lying. Tell me that you didn't know." John half-shouted, walking into the living room of his old apartment.
Vivienne took a deep breath. "John... Let me explain..." She stood up from her spot on the couch and took a step towards John as Mary came in the door, out of breath.
"I'm sorry-" Mary panted. "I tried to stop him."
"You- you knew." John didn't even take notice that his girlfriend had arrived. "You knew and you lied to me."
"It's really not that simple. It wasn't my intention to lie."
"Did you know at the funeral?"
Vivienne nodded. "Yes." She bit the corner of her lip. "I knew at the funeral because I helped him."
"Un-fucking-believable! You know, I bet you weren't even in Florida. You were with him, weren't you?"
Vivienne let the guilty look that crossed her face speak for itself.
"Oh, fuck me. Was it him that called you that day? Convinced you to leave?"
"John!" Mary scolded. "Let her speak. She wants to explain herself."
Vivienne ran her hands through her hair. "It wasn't him that called. It was Mycroft. I didn't know that I was going to see Sherlock until I got to the hotel room and he was there. He confessed that he'd been lying. We- you know, we made up. I still don't understand why he asked for my help with the suicide."
"I thought... I thought that after he died, you'd be the one to understand what I was going through. But no. You knew he was alive." John rubbed his eyes. "You both betrayed me. I can't-" John couldn't finish his sentence.
"We got married, John."
"Pardon?" John gave Vivienne a confused look, like he had misheard her.
"We got married. Day after the funeral."
"You got married... to Sherlock Holmes." John repeated slowly.
"I can't tell you why, John, but everything Sherlock did, he did for you. For all of us. You can believe me or not, but it's true."
If he wasn't going to let me know, at least you could have. I expect him to lie, not you."
"I kind of did tell you. The day of the funeral?"
John thought back.
" 'You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.'" Vivienne quoted. "Sherlock died a hero. Maybe not in the eyes of everyone, but in the eyes of the ones that mattered. We never believed the lies, not for a second. And he knew that. As hard as he tried to convince you, you knew better. But he's not gone. Not really." She cleared her throat. "A wise man once said 'the ones who love us never truly leave us' and I choose to believe that."
" 'He's not gone. Not really.' That's- that's what you said." John shut his eyes and let out a deep breath. "I- I have to go. Mary?" John turned to walk out without another word.
Mary reached forward and took Vivienne's hand. "I'll talk to him. Congratulations, by the way."
"Thank you." Vivienne gave a small smile and Mary followed John out the door.
"Well, that was interesting." Kati picked up her wine glass and took a drink.
"If he came here after seeing Sherlock, then Sherlock must not be far behind."
Just a few minutes later, Sherlock entered Baker Street still nursing a split lip.
Vivienne jumped up and ran to him. "Oh, my god. What happened?"
"John wasn't too happy with me. What are you doing in my flat?"
"I live here now. It's bigger than mine. When Kati decided to stay, I moved up here and she moved into mine. And after John moved out, she moved up to his room."
"You... moved in? Did you-?"
"Don't worry." Vivienne interrupted, lifting a tissue to Sherlock's lip. "I didn't mess with anything of yours. Most of my stuff is still downstairs, with the exception of some clothes, hygiene products, and of course, my skull. Doesn't she look nice on the mantle with yours?"
Sherlock turned his head to see the two skulls on the mantle sitting side by side. "Oh. That does actually look... nice."
"You do realize that married people live together, right? Or did you expect me to still live downstairs?"
"No- no, I thought you might, um, you know... Uh, what's your skull's name again?"
"Martha."
"Her and Billy make a good pair."
Kati picked up her wine glass and chuckled. "You two are weird as fuck. I'm going to bed."
Vivienne and Sherlock both said goodnight and turned back to look at each other.
"You're avoiding the question." Vivienne raised an eyebrow.
"I- I expected us to live together. I just didn't think it would be before I came home."
"You're cute when you're nervous." Vivienne pulled the tissue away from Sherlock's lip and gave it a once-over. "Go to the bathroom and take your shirt off. I'll get my first aid kit."
"What for? I'm fine." Sherlock winced as he took his jacket off and hung it up on his coat rack.
"Yes, because fine people wince taking off clothing. Bathroom. Strip. Now." Vivienne began to walk towards Sherlock's bedroom. "Now, Sherlock!"
Sherlock mumbled something semi-unintelligible as he stomped towards the bathroom.
"What was that?" Vivienne poked her head out of the bedroom.
"Good thing you aren't blind anymore. If you were, you would have heard me."
"You're right. I would have. Now, I'm giving you an opportunity to say something different. Something not rude and under your breath." Vivienne winked.
"I love you?" Sherlock gave a cheesy smile to his wife.
"That's better." Vivienne exited the bedroom with a rather large first aid kit. "Bathroom." She gave Sherlock a little nudge on the back to get him moving. "And for the record, I'll only be a nag when you provoke me."
Sherlock groaned as he entered the bathroom with Vivienne close at his heels.
"I love you, too." Vivienne placed a kiss on Sherlock's cheek as he sat down on the closed toilet seat.
"You could have just said you heard me." Sherlock complained as he began unbuttoning his shirt.
"I could have, but where's the fun in that?" Vivienne grinned.
Xxxxx
A/N: Voila. I managed to get out another chapter somehow. These bouts of writer's block are going to kill me. I had to look up the transcript for The Empty Hearse. I gave a couple of Mycroft's lines to Viv & I also cut out Anthea and gave one of her lines to Viv, plus added extra to the scene. I think it worked out okay. Review, follow, favorite?