Chapter 10

With the help of Jo-Ann's comfort and care, Sherlock made a quick recovery from his fever. Days passed normally for the rest of the chilling November month, and before anyone knew it, it was only a week before Christmas. Jo-Ann called off from the clinic for the Saturday before the grand holiday and went shopping for all her friends. Luckily, Sherlock was busy as St. Barts, examining some poor corpse's stomach lining. This gave the doctor an excuse to go shopping for him as well. Jo-Ann was not a wealthy woman of course, but the clinic and telling Mycroft how Sherlock was doing allowed her to save up for Christmas. She stopped at many stores throughout London, taking advantage of the sleek black car and shofar that Mycroft suggest she use. For the older Holmes brother, she bought a sleek, yet protective phone case that would fit his mobile. Jo-Ann knew that if he even so much as got a scratch on his phone that he could have a replacement immediately, but the case looked cool anyway.

For Mrs. Hudson, she bought a dark green blouse and supportive, yet fashionable, shoes that she found at a good price. The gift for Greg Lestrade was fairly easy… a mug that read "#1 BOSS" and a wheel for his office chair that he hadn't been able to find. The doctor bought Molly, the pathologist who clearly had a crush on Sherlock, a brown teddy bear with a realistic-shaped heart patch and a miniature stethoscope. Jo-Ann and Molly had grown closer over time, allowing Jo-Ann to find out that Molly likes cute things. She smiled down at the Teddy bear and placed it in one of the many shopping bags she carried. The doctor also got a gift card to the favorite store of her current boyfriend. She had been dating more over the past month and a half… perhaps to get the thoughts away from Sherlock…

Jo-Ann stopped in her tracks on the busy London sidewalk… she had forgotten one gift…

Sherlock's gift.

She had never really thought about what kind of a gift to get for him… they celebrated his birthday once, but he refused to let anyone get him gifts. But this was different… it was Christmas! She couldn't possibly not get him something… but what could he want? He already has clothes… and although he would deny it, his blue scarf and black coat were his favorite and couldn't be replaced. He had a watch, he had a magnify glass, he had all the violin accessories he needed… Sherlock wasn't the kind to have excess or pointless possessions.

"Except that skull…" Jo-Ann giggled at her thought. She held her chin in deep thought as she walked down the block, to the car waiting for her at the corner. She reached the car and handed the polite shofar her new shopping bags. But before climbing into sleek black Sudan, something across the street caught her eye…

A bookstore.

"Maybe there was something in there that Sherlock would like…" Jo-Ann thought. It was a long shot but it was still worth a try. She told the driver to wait for her there and that she would be back in a few minutes. She ran across the street before any cars could honk at her, and gracefully stepped onto the curb. Her cheeks reddened, however, when two men a few yards away wolf-whistled.

"Yeeeahhh work that honey!" one of them called out. She did look more feminine than usual, wearing a light blue dress that framed her waist and cut off low enough to cover the tops of her high black leather boots. She hugged her puffy white coat a little tighter and entered the bookstore. It was a small, independently owned bookstore, with shelves lining every wall and large baskets of more books in-between. It was well lit, not only by the many lights in the ceiling, but also by the large Christmas tree in the front window.

"Welcome young lady, can I help you?" an old voice piped up. Jo-Ann spun around to look at the long checkout counter and the old man standing behind it. He had short grey hair and a fluffy beard to match. His round reading glasses covered his green eyes that were surrounded by little wrinkles. His smile creased his cheeks, and gave off a very friendly atmosphere. Jo-Ann smiled back at him and answered his question.

"Yes, um… I'm not sure how to ask this… but what gift do you get for a man who has everything?" She giggled awkwardly and the old man chuckled back.

"Well that's quite the predicament… Is he a busy man?" the man asked.

"Yes quite… although when he is not busy, he crawls up the walls." She joked, although it was nearly true. "He is a very interesting man though… we're always out on an adventure of some kind…" she smiled sentimentally. This was the first Christmas they had ever spent together, and she wanted it to be perfect. The old man smiled at her and removed his glasses.

"Well an interesting pass-time for busy people is to write in a journal. It helps keep track of 'adventures' and can be passed down to tell future generations of their lives." He led her to one of the many shelves in the store, this one held twelve or thirteen different style journals. Jo-Ann hadn't considered this gift idea before… after all, she had her blog and Sherlock had his 'mind palace' to keep track of cases and such… but a journal could be different… not that he would write down any 'feelings' of course, but he had fantastic handwriting. And if Sherlock ever had a family, he could pass it on to his grandchildren to tell about their adventures… The old man helped Jo-Ann decide on a brown leather journal with a black suede string to tie it closed. The doctor gave the old man a friendly 'goodbye and merry Christmas' and took her leave.

Walking out the door and almost into the street, Jo-Ann noticed the two men from earlier… except they were both on the ground, bleeding from the noses and holding their stomachs. Normally, she would have checked on them to make sure they were okay, but these two were… how do you say it?... A-Holes.

"Hmmmmm…. They're fine." Jo-Ann decided in her mind, and walked over to the car waiting for her.

Christmas Eve came upon 221B Baker Street, and guests started arriving for the party that Jo-Ann invited everyone to against Sherlock's preferences. Lestrade was the first to arrive, greeting Mrs. Hudson and Jo-Ann with warm hugs and giving Sherlock a polite handshake. Sherlock played "we wish you a merry Christmas" on his violin for his friends and finished with an elegant note. The three friends cheered applause and shared Champagne together. Jo-Ann's boyfriend arrived shortly after. She smiled brightly and ran over to him with open arms. He returned her hug and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas dear." He beamed down at her. He was the same age as Jo-Ann, which meant around 33. He had medium brown hair, and brown eyes to match. Sherlock rolled his eyes at his presence, feeling a bit sick at the way he greeted his doctor. Jo-Ann had a number of boyfriends since the incident with Ms. Adler, and each one only irritated him more than the last. The boyfriend carried in some treats he brought, and arranged them on a plate in the kitchen.

"Oh Sherlock your song was wonderful! I wish you could have worn the antlers while you played it though." Mrs. Hudson giggled.

"Some things are best kept to the imagination Mrs. Hudson." Sherlock replied jokingly. He wore his usual black suit, with a dark purple dress shirt underneath

"That would have been a sight." Jo-Ann joked as well. She wore a tight, long-sleeved, red cocktail dress that cut off at the knees… A red pair of strappy high-heels to match. Her hair was down for a change, curving under at the ends that brushed her shoulders. Sherlock laughed a bit, but stopped when Jo-Ann's boyfriend came over and offered him a small pastry. Now was a good time for the detective to let off some steam.

"Uh, no thank you Samuel." Sherlock told him. Samuel was Jo-Ann's first boyfriend since she and Sherlock met. The man looked slightly offended when Jo-Ann piped up.

"Oh no, no ,no, he isn't good with names!" she exclaimed, rushing over to the two.

"No, no, no I can get this one." Said Sherlock. He knew this boyfriend's name, however, but he wanted to poke a bit of fun at the man. "No, Samuel was the doctor… then there was the one with the spots, then the one with the nose, and then who was after the boring teacher?"

Jo-Ann pinched her nose in embarrassment as her boyfriend crossed his arms.

"Nobody." The boyfriend answered Sherlock's question.

"Bennett!" Sherlock exclaimed happily, pointing his violin bow at the man named Bennett. "Ah, process of elimination." He finished. Jo-Ann tugged on Bennett's arm and led him away from the happy detective. The detective's happiness lowered a few notches though, when he saw Molly Hooper walk through the door.

"Oh dear God…" he muttered. She wore her hair parted off to the side and a puffy plaid coat, with two large bags carrying presents in her hands.

"Hello everyone! Sorry I'm late!" she giggled nervously. "It-it said on the door to just come on up." Everyone greeted her happily as Jo-Ann took her bags and coat from her. Surprisingly enough, she looked gorgeous in her slim black dress that revealed her shoulders. Sherlock took notice of Lestrade's jaw hanging down in shock.

"We're having Christmas drinkies then?" she said cheerfully. Oh how her cheerfulness irritated Sherlock sometimes. Lestrade asked Molly her drink preference and went to fetch it for her.

Jo-Ann smiled happily, giving Bennett the gift card she bought for him. He accepted it gratefully and gave her a hug around the neck. She laughed and pulled away, but noticed that she was now wearing a beautiful necklace.

"What's this?" Jo-Ann asked happily, gazing down at the new necklace. It was an Amethyst gemstone, surrounded in a silver ring and thin chain.

"Merry Christmas." He said sweetly. Jo-Ann gave him another hug, and slowly pulled away.

"Was that gift card to the bookstore you went to last Saturday?"

Jo-Ann whipped around to see Sherlock standing directly behind her.

"N…No it was to a hardware store—how did you know about the bookstore?" the doctor asked, afraid Sherlock already knew about the present. The detective looked down and played with his violin stings.

"I finished early at St. Barts that day and I like to follow you in my free time." He answered shamelessly. However Jo-Ann already knew he liked to follow her but she was still scared that he saw the gift.

"Did you see what I bought?" she gulped. Sherlock cleared his throat and tried not to look at her.

"No… I was too busy giving a couple of assholes a beat down." He looked at her and smiled. Realization hit the doctor as to why those jerks were on the sidewalk with bloody noses.

"… That was you?" she smiled uncontrollably. The detective only smiled at her mischievously and walked away. He raised his violin bow to the elegant strings, about to play another melody, when the laptop on the desk lit up with an e-mail alert. Sherlock set down his prized instrument and sat down at the desk. The e-mail was addressed to Sherlock, but the sender was unexpectedly Mycroft. Sherlock reluctantly opened the e-mail, hoping that it was short or involved a case of some kind.

My Christmas, Brother.

Below was a link to a YouTube page that had Sherlock's name in it. The detective clicked on it, also turning down the volume so it wouldn't disturb the party guests. When the video started playing, he froze on the spot.

"…Jo-Ann?..." He mumbled quietly. "…Jo-Ann?..." He called a little louder. Luckily, the doctor was nearby, and heard his call. She set down her drink and walked over to the desk, placing one hand on the desktop and the other on the back of Sherlock's chair.

"What is it Sher…lock…" she asked, but trailed off at the sight of the video currently playing.

There was Sherlock, being rolled out of an ambulance, singing very loud and off-key.

"Oh OH OH IT'S MAGIC! YOU KnnOOOWWww! NEVER BELIEVE IT'S NOT SOOOOO OHHH IT'S MAGIC! YOU *cough* KNNOOOWWWwww!"

In the video, the camera followed Sherlock on a stretcher, and then turned to Jo-Ann in the mist of noise. She batted at the camera, mouthing 'stop' but smiling a bit with bright red cheeks.

"Magic huh Ms. Watson?" Lestrade's voice called from behind the camera, proving he was the one filming. Her face grew redder as she swatted at Lestrade, making the next ten seconds of film a struggle over the camera phone.

The video ended, leaving Sherlock and Jo-Ann stare at the computer screen, thanking the Lord that the volume was low enough for no one else to hear. The two, with jaws dropped, looked at the view counter for the video…..

57,463,981 views.

Jo-Ann felt her ears heat up as she felt a strange impulse to restrain Sherlock from strangling Lestrade. She glanced down at her flatmate, whose eyes were filled with anger.

"…Jo-Ann?..." he mumbled, still staring at the screen.

"Y-yes Sherlock?" Jo-Ann replied, fighting the impulse to retreat.

"… Do you think Lestrade will miss his legs if I tore them off?..."

Jo-Ann patted Sherlock's shoulder, clicking "dislike" on the video, and excused herself from the party to go up to her bedroom.

"How's the hip?" Molly asked Mrs. Hudson nervously. She glanced over to Sherlock, wanting him to say something about her dress after all this time.

"Oh it's atrocious, but thanks for asking." Mrs. Hudson replied sweetly.

"I've seen much worse… but then again I do post mortems." Molly joked, but then realized what she said. "Oh God sorry!" she panicked. Everyone laughed a bit and continued to chat.

Upstairs, Jo-Ann fumbled a wrapped box around in her fingers. It was the journal that she got for Sherlock wrapped in dark purple paper with a white ribbon tied around it. She already gave everyone their presents… except Sherlock. To be honest, she was nervous. She had never given a present to Sherlock before… how would he react? He could tell how much it cost and where she got it in a heartbeat… would he call it useless? Would he even open it? No one else gave any presents to him so far… so was there some reason she shouldn't give it to him?

"No." she shook her head. "Everything is going to be just fine." She convinced herself. Jo-Ann gripped onto the box and made her way downstairs.

The doctor hid the secret gift on the mantel when Sherlock began to talk to Molly.

"I see you've got a new boyfriend Molly, and you're serious about him…"

"ohhhh this isn't good." Jo-Ann thought.

"Sorry what?" Molly asked nervously.

"In fact you're seeing him tonight and giving him a gift, too." Sherlock continued, getting up from the desk and walking over to the pathologist.

"Take a day off…" Jo-Ann mumbled, sitting next to Bennett.

"Shut it and have a drink." Lestrade said, trying to hand Sherlock a glass of champagne.

"Oh come on… surely you've all seeing the present at the top of her bag. Perfectly wrapped with a bow while the others are slapdash at best." Sherlock began his deduction. "So something special then…" Molly glanced nervously at the bag, forming the beginning of multiple sentences. Sherlock ignored her and grabbed the perfectly-wrapped present out of the bag. "The shade of red echoes the shade of her lipstick. A rather unconscious association, one that she is deliberately trying to encourage. Either way, Miss Hooper has lovvve on her mind." Sherlock said playfully. Molly looked around the room for any escape from the subject, but couldn't find one fast enough. "The fact that she is serious about him is clear from the fact she is giving him a gift at all. That all suggests long-term hopes, however forlorn." Molly's face took on a look of slight heartbreak although, for once, Sherlock didn't notice. "The fact that she is seeing him tonight is evident from her make-up and what she is wearing." Sherlock kept rambling on as he flipped open the small card taped on the present. "Or else she is trying to compensate for the size of her mouth and breasts-…" his deduction stopped however, when he glanced down at the card that read:

"Dearest Sherlock, Love Molly xoxo"

He gulped as sudden realization fell upon the detective when he read those words. She was serious about him… in love… and he just unknowingly shot her down.

Sherlock glanced around the room, looking at all the disappointed faces… then landing on Molly.

Her eyes weld up with tears, and her cheeks flushed a red that nearly matched her lipstick… completely heartbroken. A long silence ensued… until it was broken but the nearly crying girl.

"You always say such horrible things…" she choked out, trying to laugh instead of cry. "Every time… Always… Always…"

Sherlock found himself at a loss for words… he stepped in place a bit and tried to think of something he could say. Swallowing his pride, he tried to speak.

"I am sorry…" he said quietly, "forgive me."

Molly stared at him intently, looking more angry then sad. Jo-Ann looked at Sherlock, and tilted her head to the pathologist, signaling for him to say more. Sherlock gulped again, wanting to make amends with the woman that helped him so much over the years. He inched closer to her, causing slight surprise.

"Merry Christmas, Molly Hooper."

Sherlock then leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Molly stood there for a moment, trying to think of how to react. She opened her mouth to say something…

"Ahh!~"

"Oh! That wasn't me!" Molly defended herself while everyone looked around.

"It was me." Sherlock admitted.

"My God! Really?!" Lestrade questioned in disbelief.

"My phone." Sherlock corrected. Jo-Ann shook her head and withheld a chuckle. But when she thought about it, she had counted how many times she heard that noise come from Sherlock's phone.

"Fifffty seven?" She wondered out loud.

"Sorry what?" Sherlock asked, reading the text that he just received.

"Mantelpiece." It read.

"Fifty seven of those texts, the ones I've heard." Jo-Ann continued.

"You've been counting." The detective teased, walking over to the mantelpiece. The doctor felt slight panic, and quickly stood in his way. The other party guests noticed the tension and made conversation amongst themselves.

"What are you doing?" Sherlock eyed his doctor curiously… she looked flustered.

"I-I… You can't come over here." Was all she managed to say. Her cheeks burned as she played with her fingernails… hoping that Sherlock was stupid enough to just listen… he wasn't.

"Why? What are you hiding?" he questioned. Jo-Ann glanced around the room, relived to see that no one was looking at them. She quickly grabbed her hidden present and held it behind her back, taking a hold of Sherlock's hand.

"Come with me." She ordered.

She could feel the guest's eyes on her as she dragged a very confused Sherlock out of the door. They ran down the stairs to the front door of the building, but stopped at the bottom of the staircase.

"We leaving?" Sherlock asked, not really arguing with the woman. Jo-Ann managed to keep the gift hidden so far… but now she was going to give it to him.