Chapter IX – The World Keeps Spinning

xXx

"SHERLOCK!" Yelled someone from down below, waking Maria with a start.

She had a small panic attack while she rolled out of bed, throwing up the sheets all over the place as she landed on the ground. Grabbing her gun she tried to go into a crouching position, only to stumble over her sheets some more while another thump came from down below.

By now she should have been used to it; she had been living in her new flat for nearly two weeks. Though, she figured that she would never get used to the complete ridiculousness of living at Baker Street. At first Maria couldn't fathom why Mrs. Hudson could hold out that long, living with 'the Boys.' But eventually she herself had started to get used to them. John did know how to brew a good cuppa.

"Sherlock! Why are there eyeballs in my mug!" yelled John from downstairs.

"There were no bowls left," answered Sherlock as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Maria could only snicker as she untangled herself from her sheets and tried to get dressed.

'Damn git'll pay fer wakin' meh.' She thought ash she made her way to her own kitchen, throwing on a shirt as she went.

The kitchen was relatively small and was painted mainly in a light grey/blue color with black back-drops and whatnot. She had everything she needed; there was even a bit window in front of the sink, looking out into the roof next door.

Setting up the kettle, Maria reached into the old wood cabinets, searching for something. 'Where is tha' tea that I bought?'

Maria had work today, she had been called in to watch over a visiting class; she had no time to go looking for some misplaced tea.

Looking at the clock she saw that it was already eight in the morning, she had to be at work in an hour. Rushing to get dressed, she threw on some jeans, a shirt with some pattern on it and a cardigan so it looked like she actually tried to match her clothes. She wasn't particularly concerned about what she wore. She figured that as long as she didn't look like a slob when going out she would be fine. She normally worked where people wouldn't see her so what was the point in dressing up.

Mumbling, Maria made her way through the flat, picking up her portfolio and bag. She slipped on her shoes and headed out the door.

Making her way down the stairs she passed the 221b flat. The door was open slightly and she was able to see books flying through the living room, landing carelessly on the couch on the far end.

If there was one thing that Maria hated, it was the abuse of books. What have they done to anyone, they're just inanimate objects. Quickly and silently, she stepped into the flat and caught the next book to fly her way.

"Oi! Respect th'books, willin' ye? Leave'em be, wha' have they ever done t'you?" Maria said, startling John out of his seat in the kitchen. Sherlock stopped, halfway up one of his book cases with a book still in his hand. When he saw her, his eyes lit up a bit but his expression stayed blank, remaining still while he looked her over.

"Perfect! Just the person I needed. I should have texted you first. I've gotten a new case...well, it's more of a lead but I am sure that there is a connection." He said while Maria tidied up the books a bit.

"Well, then. What 'ave you got for me today Mr. Holmes." she said, nodding to John as he sat sipping his tea, seemingly recovered from the surprise.

"The body in the bell tower!" Sherlock exclaimed, jumping down to stand in the middle of the living room.

"Yesterday, late in the evening, Lestrade called and asked for help on the case. A body was found with a hemp bag sewn onto its back with wood chips stuffed into it to look like a hump. His face was mutilated and was initially killed by a bullet through his head."

"Alright... Isn't that a representation of Quasimodo from "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" by Victor Huge? Was that why you were throwing books all 'bout?"

Sherlock smirked, Maria was always quick to catch up. 'Good to have around.'

"Yep."

"But, you should 'ave made that connection... the book's a classic!" exclaimed Maria as she picked up another book. Sherlock only looked at her, uninterested with the conversation.

"Oh, he has a thing with deleting any information he doesn't need." Filled in John, seeing her confusion.

"He can do that?" she asked before turning to Sherlock. "You can do that?"

"Simple," he said distractedly, annoying Maria. 'Of course it'simple fer'im. He's bloody Sherlock 'Olmes.'

Even though Maria had tried reading into Sherlock as much as possible, he still would surprise her. Now that she thought about it, it did make sense. She had learnt that he was an expert in control. Why wouldn't he be able to control his own memory?

She was envious of him, in that aspect. She would love to delete some of the more painful memories of her child hood. She had an excellent memory, in almost every aspect. Since her childhood she had had these abilities...a huge reason as to why people considered herself a freak.

She could memorized with just a glance, had photographic memory (eidetic) and even Mnemonic memory. Still, she didn't have that type of control.

"Yeah, before I met him he had deleted the fact that the Earth orbits the sun and that there's a solar system. What did he say... his mind was like a database and it was only logical to keep things he'll need in it."

Sherlock stood up, pointing at John quickly to confirm that he was right before grabbing his equipment.

"Brilliant! Great, come on John, the game is afoot!"

He threw his coat on and strode out of the flat with John right behind him.

"See you later Maria," said John quickly as he exited the flat.

"Update me when you can!" called Maria after them. Sherlock was already down stairs but she figured he had heard.

"Bell tower murder... I wonder why." She mumbled, placing back the last of Sherlock's books in their original spots before finally heading out to work.

The day seemed promising as she walked to work. It was warm but still cold enough for her to wear a scarf. She found that she rather enjoyed the path that went past Regent Park, even though it is brief. The sun shone through the trees as dappled shade protected Maria. The streets where busy compared to the ones from her old flat, though not enough so that the air was clogged with smog.

The wind was warmer and calmer and the open streets where wonderful to look at.

Finally, she made it to the library. Once she signed in she headed straight for the racks, avoiding everyone as best she could. She had discovered that living alone was very beneficial, even if she missed Victoria. She wasn't always so stressed and she could avoid contact for days on end.

Of course she still had to answer to Sherlock when he asked for help, god knows what he would do if she started to ignore him as well.

She still had to prove herself to the man. He had opened up a bit but was still very stiff around her, not telling her what he was doing, only asking her random questions.

She wanted to have friends like John and him; she was getting sick of being alone. She was in her 30's for goodness sakes!

Her mother, when she called, would always bother her about settling down with a family; her mother being the traditional sort of woman.

Even though Maria guessed that it was impossible, the idea of not being alone was appealing enough.

If only she and Sherlock could stop bickering for a moment to talk, they might find a lot in common.

'Well, I'll just have to try harder.' She thought, her self esteem slowly going down the drain. The man truly was intimidating, especially to someone like her.

Even though she still felt awkward in her own skin, a bit of the ever present hollowness had been taken away. It seemed that at least the 'rotting' sensation had stopped. She was someone very dangerous, a freak, but she still wanted to lead a normal life.

'Damn it!' she said, mussing up her hair wildly while organizing some books. 'Why am I so bloody confused all the time!'

Eventually she finished in the back and moved to tidy up after the mid day crowd. There had been a high school in so of course books where everywhere. Timothy Wu even came over to try to help, seeing her carry pile after pile of books.

"Do, uh... you need any help?"

'Bless' thought Maria.

"Suppose I could. 'Ere, these books go in section B4 under dui 4500, 2000, 4328, 4323, 3242 and 4449. Got tha'?" she said while handing him over the pile she had been carrying. The boy looked utterly confused but took the stack anyway.

As she made her way back, she got a text from Sherlock.

Why would someone hurt another after they insulted a dead relative?

-SH

Maria could only smirk at the text. She might be close to being a psychopath but she still understood human emotion. The man was brilliant but she had found out quite quickly that some human concepts were completely lost.

Sentiment. Well, extreme sentiment but still.

-MA

She wrote back quickly before taking another stack of books. After a moment of thinking, she added in another text;

Did you get slapped?

-MA

She received no reply so assumed that she was right. He could be borderline rude by just opening his mouth sometimes, even if he was just stating a fact.

Soon enough the mid-day break ended and the library started to fill up with new occupants. Once again she saw teachers, a ton of students and a few retirees.

As she glanced over everyone from her perch on the second floor she spotted someone. He was a lean and well muscled man with a great big mop of hair. Most would dismiss him or find him attractive but as Maria watched him she couldn't help but laugh behind her hand. His wrists were bruised, his leg muscles defined but almost streamline, as if he spent a lot of time off the ground. And there behind his ear was a splotch of face paint. Not only that but she could see that he wore eyeliner and groomed tediously.

'What's a circus performer doin'ere?' She thought while giggling. These types of things would always liven up her day; show her that the world actually had a sense of humor.

It was rare but on occasion, like today, the strangest people would show up in the library. Sure there where normal people with the odd professional but it always cracked her up when she found a five year old trying to read a physics encyclopedia or when she would spot a cabbie driver reading romance novels like there was no tomorrow.

'Silly people; wearing their emotions on their sleeve. They never suspect that there is someone that will notice.'

Eventually the day wore down and the evening started to set in. Maria packed up and headed home, once again cutting past Regent Park, letting the setting sun warm her face.

Compared to her old life arrangement, this new setting would be proof enough of miracles. She still kept to herself, letting most if her emotions lie beneath her mask. Even so, instead of always looking down at least now she would smile more, even laugh out in public.

Her mood had improved, she felt everything become more vibrant and even the air tasted better. It had just been two weeks since the change but she wouldn't give it up for the world.

Maria had asked Victoria why she felt so much better, why the world seemed to slowly regain its color. She could only come up with two conclusions; either she truly had just needed some sort of change or she had fallen in love and all of this was just a side effect. Maria could only laugh at the thought as she walked down the street.

'Me, in love? It would be more likely that Odin had shaved 'is beard! Love is just... chemicals. Yeah, chemicals.' She said while she finally reached Baker Street.

She had never experience anything even close to love, she didn't expect to anytime soon. Maria guessed that she was just asexual but without ever meeting anyone that brought out any emotions she couldn't be sure. Her mother and Victoria still held out hope, even if Maria wouldn't talk about it.

'But isn't that what asexual basically means, feeling nothing?' the little voice in her head asked. 'Yes and no. I can't tell because I can't feel anythin' anyway...'she answered back.

Maria giggled at her thoughts while she passed by the 221b flat; they were starting to border on delusional.

"You seem rather chipper" said a voice from the door. Maria looked up to see Sherlock at the door, dressed and ready to go out to town. Maria jumped back a bit in surprise. She had been deep in thought, having a conversation with herself. Maria blushed a bit while looking up at him, a bit embarrassed for some reason.

"W-Well, it's a nice day outside and I've just finished work. Why wouldn't I be?" she responded before she got too flustered and did something stupid. She didn't want to humiliate herself in front of the man, especially since she wasn't used to interaction.

"I suppose so." He said calmly, staring down at the young woman.

"So, how was the domestic case?"

"Oh, that was simple. Not worth my time."

"Always happy to be of service, Mr. Holmes." said Maria, trying to be a bit cheeky. "So, how is the bell tower murder going?"

"Fine. I'm going out now so I can meet up with Lestrade. Now, if you'll excuse me." Sherlock said before making his way down stairs. Maria said good-bye and told him to contact her if he needed any help before making her way up to her own flat.

"Why would I need your help?" He called back, pissing Maria off a bit. For all the great he did, he was an arrogant sod.

"No reason, Mr. Holmes." she said bitterly. She had helped him enough since meeting him and yet he hadn't ever said a simple 'thank you.'

Downstairs, Sherlock smirked, he would never admit it but since meeting the woman two weeks ago, she was staring to prove to be a very loyal consultant. He knew that he was being insensitive but he couldn't really help if people took him too personally.

He didn't know about Maria's abilities, not yet anyway. He still saw her as just someone that spent too much time reading.

One way or another she was starting to prove to be an asset, if not even a friend.

-x-

The next few days slipped by without anything really happening. Maria would get home, wash up, and then go furniture shopping or try to fix up her flat a bit more.

By the end of the week her flat was fully unpacked and organized. She had bought a lot of new books since most of the previous volumes had burned in the fire.

She had put in wall to wall book cases in the living room and in her own bedroom, placing a few nick-nacks and medical equipment here and there on the shelves.

She had a lot of things in storage since entering the army. Afterwards she had moved around so much she found it too time consuming to repack everything. Now that she was hopefully settling down she could bring out some of the things she had collected over the years.

John and Mrs. Hudson had helped her move in. They had quickly found out that Maria's version of 'decorating' was to put up a couple of couches and but covers for a bed. Mrs. Hudson had been horrified to find out that nothing more would be done with flat, stating that it had so much more potential.

She had set everything up, helping her place the odd chair and organize the few pictured and posters Maria had gotten from storage. They had painted the bedroom a sort of cloudy blue with dark brown detail.

It was all very posh for Maria, she had never needed to decorate a home before, but with their help they were done soon enough.

Of course Sherlock had been aloof as possible, deciding to run around London catching criminals. Truthfully, Maria couldn't argue at all. She thought that he barely considered her as a colleague, let alone a friend. She didn't expect him to involve himself in her life at all, which was perfectly fine for her.

'Aye, ye think that my dear...' said the little voice in her head. 'Shut yer gob, I dunno what I feel these days. Everythin's so new teh'me.'

At the moment she found herself reading on the couch in her living room. She had recently come back from work and felt like relaxing a bit; she had nothing better to do anyway.

She was having a nice moment when suddenly her door was thrown open. Sherlock stood in the doorway, holding open the door.

"John! John?" He yelled before seeing Maria sitting there on the couch, crouching defensively with a book out in front of her, ready to use as a weapon.

"Maria, is John in here? I need him." he asked.

"No, he's out with Mary. Didn't he tell you earlier?" she asked while lowering the book. Sherlock just waved off the idea. 'He must have been thinking then.'

Sherlock had stopped and was now glancing around the flat. He hadn't seen it finished yet.

'She takes her books very seriously, doesn't she? Oh, and look at those medical charts." he thought while he scanned the room. What interested him was that there were no pictures, nothing from her childhood. There were things from all over the world, probably from places she had visited, but there wasn't anything from Scotland. Nothing.

"Wha' d'y want?" Maria asked, relaxing herself and standing up fully.

"Hmm, that's inconvienient-" he said distractedly. He suddenly moved in to the fireplace and picked up an old decorated skull. Intricate patterns were carved all over it while overlaying patterns were painted on top.

Sherlock picked and pointed at it questioningly; surprised that Maria would have something of that value. It looked well worn, unlike everything else in her flat, so he guessed that she had saved it from her old flat.

A small smile crossed her face, remembering that Sherlock had his own skull down stairs.

"An old gift from a visit to Mexico a few years back," she explained.

"Mmm, well. It's a nice specimen. Wonderful artistry."

"Well, I'd hope so. It's my most prized possession."

"Really?"

"Yea, is it tha' hard to believe?"

"You don't seem like the person appreciate these artifacts."

"Shut it, I've read up on them well enough. It has some good memories behind it."

"Hmph, sentimentality is useless."

"It is not. I-I'd rather have something like this to remind me of the better days then the bad." She said more quietly, remembering the trips, all the good memories she had gained. Sherlock eyed her silently, it was sometimes hard to remember that someone so secluded like her had once traveled the world.

After a moment of silence Sherlock suddenly looked at her, a mischievous look in his eyes.

'He has an idea, oh no 'es got an idea.'

"Are you hungry? Of course you are, you've been working all day and haven't gotten a good meal since Wednesday. That isn't very healthy, is it?" he said, forgetting the previous argument.

Maria looked at him before snorting at the irony. Apparently Sherlock wouldn't eat at all while on a case, sometimes starving himself for days on end. He wouldn't sleep either; she had seen the light from down stairs on at ungodly hours, suspecting it was Sherlock.

John was forever concerned that one day he would just faint while running after a murderer or while being held at gunpoint.

Maria looked him over, from what she could tell he wouldn't be doing that any time soon. His whole body language was buzzing with energy, like it normally was when he was on a case. Still, her medical side told her to watch out for him, what he was doing was pretty dangerous, even if it was helpful.

"Dinner?" he asked suddenly.

"What about it?" Maria asked slowly, not really understanding the question.

"I am asking you to dinner. Will you go or not?" Sherlock explained simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Maria stepped back a bit, surprised at the request. She knew Sherlock well enough to know that he didn't just ask someone to dinner, there was a motive behind it. 'What's he up to... Oh th'case! He was lookin' fer John fer a reason."

"Sherlock, is this for the bell tower murder case? Why can't you just go by yourself?"

He smirked as he saw her figure it out. She was a brilliant woman, one of the brighter ones he had ever met, even if she was a social hermit.

"Well, yes. I need someone with me, I'm going undercover and I would look suspicious at a high-class restaurant by myself."

"I-I don't know. I'm not used to going out like that. I'd probably just be a burden."

"Come on now, you'll be fine. You've, uh... you've been a gr-great... ur... help till now. Good work..." He said, not used to encouraging people. Maria softened a bit and blushed. She wasn't as useless as she thought she was.

"Fine, 'ow can I pass up a good meal."

Sherlock smiled, excited to get down to business.

"You've got twenty minutes. Wear a dress." And with that he turned and swiftly left the flat, making his way back to his own so he could prepare.

Maria glanced at the clock, thought about if she even had a dress, and then proceeded to clamour around the flat, trying to look presentable.

xXx

Author's note: Awkward chapter was awkward. I'm sorry, that was just odd for me to write. I think it came out okay but I can never get the hang of these transition chapters.

It's also hard to explain Maria's emotions right now. Before she was just depressed and cold, now she's starting to slowly thaw. She's feeling happier and a bit more secure. Still, she doubts herself and has all these new and mixed emotions she hasn't really ever dealt with. She still can't really come out of her shell so she's also holding back. Arghhh. I'll get it.

Sherlock was also odd to write... I hope he didn't sound too funny. I don't really know how he would slowly start to get to know someone, or even start to like them.

Please review so I can find out how I did. Criticism is great.

Cheers,

Elleari.

(Oh, and yeah, Maria's getting fancy next chapter. I'm going to have fun with that.)

(And I still haven't figured out the bat names, it didn't really pop up. I'll get it in soon enough though.)