Interlude: Red
"You are not going to school dressed like that" Sherlock stated in shock as Jocelyn was hurriedly pulling together her school bag
"What?" she muttered distractedly as she continued to rummage down the side of the sofa for her favourite pen
"Go and get changed" he ordered implacably
"What?" she repeated, as she finally found the recalcitrant pen and tugged it out of the cushions depths
"Go and get changed" he ordered again, his voice becoming louder with irritation. No one ignored Sherlock Holmes.
"Yuck Sherlock that's a finger, you left a stinky dead finger in the sofa" she cried out in disgust contorting herself into strange shapes as she hopped hastily way from the piece of furniture as well as trying to drop her pen into her bag without falling on her backside to the floor.
John popped his head curiously out of the kitchen and took in the scene. He almost inhaled his toast in shock and after a severe bout of coughing, he cleared his throat enough to splutter and repeated Sherlock's original statement
"You are not going to school dressed like that"
"Dad, Sherlock left a rotting finger in the sofa" Joss complained loudly at the same time so missed what he said.
It distracted him for a few seconds and he glared at Sherlock who raised an eyebrow, frowned at his stupidity and jerked his head back towards the girl, filling her schoolbag.
John gave Sherlock a "we haven't finished this" look and then winced at the sight of his daughter and repeated his earlier statement firmly
"You are not going to school dressed like that"
"What?" Jocelyn's dismissive reply caused John to tighten his lips and Sherlock to narrow his eyes dangerously as both men studied the oblivious teenage girl.
"Jocelyn" her father tried another tack and asked with ominous calm "Why aren't you wearing school uniform?"
"Because it's wear your own clothes day", she sighed with exasperation "You pay a fee for charity and get to wear your own clothes …. For the day" she responded sarcastically
"I did tell you last week, but you don't listen to me do you?" and impatiently rolled her eyes at the pair of them
"I am going to be late" she complained as she stuffed yet more items into her bag, still not giving them her full attention.
Sherlock wondered idly why Jocelyn's school bag was always so full, was it some sort of survival instinct, being prepared for everything including a nuclear war.
The only thing she didn't seem to have in it was the kitchen sink but he was pretty sure it included handy wipes so she didn't need the sink. The next time he didn't have a case, he would devote some time to the mystery of the schoolbag and catalogue the contents over a period of time to see if it changed.
"Jocelyn Jayne Morstan, you are not going to school dressed like that" her father bellowed at her.
She came to a full stop, spun round and put her finger to her lips
"Dad, indoor voice!" she scolded him, "Why do you two always have to shout like you're on a parade ground in the morning?" She complained with irritation. "It hurts my head"
The two men looked at her as if she had gone insane. What on earth was an indoor voice, thought Sherlock in confusion. She frowned back at them.
It took a few seconds but they could see the actual point when the words her father had shouted, penetrated her consciousness, her eyes widened to stare at him in astonishment. Her eyes flickered from one face to another, then looked down at herself in confusion and looked back at the pair of scowling men in front of her.
"Why, what's the matter with it, it's clean and ironed and..."
The two men spoke at the same time
"It's too short and too red."
Sherlock stated factually "You can see your legs, way too much of your legs"
John complained "There are no sleeves, it has straps, your arms are bare and it shows too much of your… neck and … the rest of you!"
Jocelyn blinked at them with her mouth agape
"It's a dress so my legs aren't covered, it's not a pair of trousers, and it's short because I am a short person."
she stressed carefully, her eyes flickering between the pair of them as if they had suddenly metamorphosed into the parental equivalent of the "nutter on the bus", unstable and unpredictable.
"It's a short dress with straps, because it's a summer dress but I do have a cardigan to go with it. I have to wear this summer dress because the colour theme for the clothes today is red and my summer dress is the only item of red clothing that I own, therefore I am wearing my short summer red dress with tights and a cardigan. Ok?"
She spoke to them as if they were rather dim children and smiled with blatant false sweetness.
Sherlock and her father both shook their heads at the same time
"No" Sherlock said simply
"No, no way" was John's response.
Jocelyn stared at them both in consternation, then her chin came up and she scowled angrily
"Well I am not going to school then because I am not going to be the only loser wearing school uniform today"
"I didn't say you had to wear school uniform, you can wear something else" her father said with exaggerated and fading patience.
"Again, you are not listening to me" She protested sarcastically "I have to wear red, no red no school" as she flung her bag to the ground and began to stomp off back to her room.
Now John was getting really angry, "Don't you dare leave this room young lady",
She spun round and glared unrepentantly at him.
"Well if I can't leave the room, I can't go to school anyway can I?" she retorted snarkily.
Sherlock stared at her in disbelief "What did you just say you impertinent brat?" he thundered.
Her chin came up and the fulminating glare she was directing at her father, was turned on Sherlock
"You actually get paid as a Consulting Detective do you or are you getting deaf in your old age?" she spat right back at him.
The looks on the faces of the two men would have made a grown man tremble, but the teenage girl was almost vibrating with rage and was beyond caring.
"What's it got to do with you anyway, you're not my father" she challenged bitterly.
There was a flash of something in Sherlock's icy eyes that only John recognised as hurt, but she just saw the indifferent mask he normally presented to the world.
John had had enough.
"No but I am" he ground out angrily and quick as a flash she turned on him too,
"And don't I just know how happy that makes you" she accused, words spilling out of some deep well of resentment that surprised her, but she couldn't seem to stop.
Her father scowled, refusing to respond to that volatile statement but said dangerously through gritted teeth.
"Jocelyn, I think it would be very wise of you to apologise right now for your behaviour".
"You always know when an adult threatens you that they've lost the argument" she challenged unrepentantly and filled with angry bravado.
For a few seconds Sherlock felt unwilling sympathy for her as he knew that feeling very well. He was always being threatened when he won the argument, but she hadn't won this one, so he couldn't see what she was complaining about!
The angry stand off between the three of them was interrupted by the calm voice of Mrs Hudson
"Oh dear, whatever is the matter. All this shouting before breakfast can't be good for the digestion"
"I'm sorry we disturbed you Mrs H" John answered stiffly without removing his eyes from the glowering face of his daughter.
"Jocelyn is being a complete brat Mrs Hudson" Sherlock growled with irritation.
Outraged Jocelyn said "They are both being totally unreasonable and horrible Mrs Hudson, they are just mean" and her lip trembled when she looked at the elderly woman's sympathetic face. No she wasn't going to cry, she won't give them the satisfaction
"John just tell me what this is about" Mrs Hudson asked calmly.
So John told her, and they are all a little disconcerted when she laughed lightly and said
"It's a very pretty dress Joss dear, but if your Dad and Sherlock don't want you to wear it today, well that's easy enough to resolve"
Sherlock snorted with disbelief, and Mrs Hudson scolded him with a chuckle
"Really Sherlock, couldn't you figure it out, she just needs to wear something else red."
Before her father or Sherlock could respond, Jocelyn muttered subdued,
"Dad did say that Mrs Hudson, but I don't have anything else in red"
Mrs Hudson just tutted and said to the two men, "Well why can't one of you lend her something red to wear"
"She's not wearing my clothes" Sherlock reacted with instant irritation, "besides which I do not wear the colour red" he sniffed disdainfully.
Mrs Hudson raised her eyebrows at him but turned to John enquiringly, who answered thoughtfully
"Don't think I have anything red Mrs H, maybe couple of jumpers with red stripes and a pair of red boxers"
Sherlock snorts again, but John ignores him and the disbelieving look on Joss's face.
Sherlock stares straight at Jocelyn and grins evilly as he asks innocently
"What about you dear Mrs Hudson, have you got anything Jocelyn can wear?"
"Well I'm sure I must have, I did like a bit of red in my younger days" Mrs Hudson said cheerfully "Come down stairs when you are ready Joss and we'll find something"
The three of them watched her go down the stairs and heard her opening and closing her door.
Jocelyn looked stricken; she opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again in disbelief. Sherlock's evil grin got wider and he gloated
"That solves your little problem doesn't Jocelyn darling"
She flinched away from him and directed an appalled look at her father which nearly made him smile; this was the perfect punishment for her disgraceful behaviour.
She swallowed and seemed to struggle to find words.
"You are going to make me wear Mrs Hudson's clothes, an old lady's clothes to school" she whispered in disbelief,
"Well you were so adamant, no red no school, it's the perfect solution isn't it" her father answered cheerfully. Sherlock sniggered with unfeigned enjoyment.
She glared at him and he grinned with malicious triumph right back at her.
"You are both horrible and I hate you" they could see that she was near to tears.
"I don't think we are particularly fond of you at the moment" was her father's unconcerned response.
"Come along dear" called Mrs Hudson from the lower floor.
Jocelyn refused to look at either of the smirking men as she headed to the stairs.
"Jocelyn" her father warned "if you are rude to Mrs Hudson, believe me when I tell you that you will regret it."
"I wouldn't be rude to Mrs Hudson" she looked back at him mortified.
"Your behaviour this morning has been disgraceful but you will not inflict it on Mrs Hudson, do I make myself clear?"
She nodded, subdued and made her way slowly down the stairs, feeling two pairs of eyes watching her every move.
She walked into Mrs Hudson's living room and smiled uncomfortably at the older woman, who winked conspiratorially back at her.
"Come and have a look at these darling girl" and as she flung open the wardrobe door in her bedroom, Jocelyn gasped in delight and then began to laugh.
"They think.." she spluttered with giggles,
"What? That it will be a punishment to wear an old lady's clothes"
Mrs Hudson chuckled wickedly.
"I told you I liked to wear red in my younger days, now let's try a few things on."
Joss made her choice and then went slowly back up stairs, her head bent and shoulders drooping. This wasn't going to be pleasant. Sherlock was at the desk, working on her father's laptop and her father was by the window, staring out while he sipped his tea,
They both ignored her as she entered the living room. She cleared her throat uncertainly. She shot a quick glance at them but they still refused to give her any attention. She knew what they were waiting for.
"Dad, I am very sorry for my behaviour, please may I wear my school uniform" she quietly asked his shoes.
"You heard what I said earlier Jocelyn, I am very disappointed in you, and you owe Sherlock an apology, please have the courtesy to look him in the face when you do so"
She raised her head, there was a flush on her pale cheeks, and she looked from her father's grimly impassive face to Sherlock's mockingly expectant one.
"I'm sorry" She forced out but that wasn't enough for him, he definitely wanted his pound of flesh.
He tilted his head." What for Jocelyn?"
She winced but refused to drop her head again. She had her father's courage.
"For my behaviour Sherlock, I was mean, and rude and unkind and unreasonable and horrid, and I hope you can forgive me"
Her father had the sneaking suspicion that each and every word was her definition of how she saw their behaviour rather than hers, but there was nothing in her apologetic tone to challenge. Sherlock didn't suspect, he knew and it amused him.
She turned back to her father and tried one last time
"So you are okay with me wearing Mrs Hudson's clothes to School then; you aren't going to change your mind Dad?" She asked quietly, her eyes wide as they stared into his. He just raised one eyebrow at her, his face unrelenting.
"Ok that's a no then" she ducked her head as she spoke in a low voice with a slight uncertain stutter "I'll just go and get changed and go to school"
That afternoon, as the taxi pulled up outside 221b, Sherlock was sulking, "For God's sake John, she's a big girl and we're not normally in the flat waiting for her when she comes home from School"
Sherlock knew that John was probably feeling guilty about Jocelyn's punishment, but he wasn't, she had been a complete brat, he refused to acknowledge that there may have been provocation, and that first dress she had worn had been totally inappropriate, his Joss.. er John's daughter was way too young to attract the kind of attention she would have received in that dress. He'd have had to follow her around all day making sure she was safe. So making Jocelyn wear Mrs Hudson's clothes actually served his purposes two fold, a punishment and a deterrent to that kind of attention
"Sherlock we need to mend fences. After this morning, she will have had a tough day at school, so we are going to be home for her, and we are going to sit down to eat like a proper family. Are we clear?" John barked with irritation
But he had lost Sherlock's attention, John turned to see what had taken it. At the corner of Baker Street, there was a couple of kids, the lad wearing what seemed to be a red rugby shirt and was talking quite intensely to the shorter young girl walking besides him. Under the black swing coat, she was wearing a deep ruby red vintage 1950's rockabilly swing style silky red dress with a big red bow on her tiny waist, accessorised with matching kitten heel shoes and a deep red bow in her blonde upswept hair..
"Damn it, I should have let you follow her round all day instead" John complained bitterly. The unexpected comment caused Sherlock looked at him in surprise,
"You knew?"
"Please, that's what I was going to do, but you are better at it than me." John grinned simply.
They looked at each other and turned as one to head off towards the two young people.
Jocelyn had seen them coming and grinned at the dark haired lad,
"I don't think you will be allowed in for tea",
He looked at the pair of determined men bearing down on them and quickly handed over her school bag, "
See you tomorrow Morstan, got to get home"
he muttered and beat a hasty retreat before her father and Sherlock got to them.
Jocelyn started to walk towards them and the flat.
She beamed at them both before they could speak, and gave a little twirl
"What do you think? Isn't it gorgeous? That was such a great idea Sherlock, wearing Mrs Hudson's clothes, all the girls were so jealous. It really made an impression"
She sneaked a little look behind her at the lad who was disappearing down the street, and then blinked innocently up at their glowering faces.
"But you told me I had to wear it Daddy" she smiled with sweet charm, "I did ask you this morning, twice".
Her father narrowed his eyes at her in warning, and as Sherlock opened his mouth to let rip, she suddenly reached out and took each man's hand, all mischief gone from her face.
"I really am sorry about this morning" she said earnestly. "Please don't be cross anymore"
The seconds passed until her father cleared his throat, and said huskily, almost unwillingly
"You look like your mother in that dress"
Jocelyn's face lit up with pleasure, and she dropped both hands to hug him, he held on to her tightly and rubbed his chin against the top of her head.
"Thanks Dad" she whispered
"How sweet" Sherlock mocked as he started to head back to the flat, John and Jocelyn looked at him and then looked at each other. They practically had to run because of his long strides as they followed him into the flat, and she caught up with him as he was taking his coat off, and his arms were trapped, she latched on to him like a limpet, buried her nose in his chest and hung on for dear life.
He looked down at her with irritated confusion, and then looked up at John's smirking face, who shrugged at him as if to say your problem mate.
"Jocelyn" he tried to shrug her off, "Not letting go until we are friends again" she muttered into his chest.
"When were we ever friends?" he asked confusedly and then became uncomfortable as he saw the expression on John's face, but it was Jocelyn's reaction which really surprised him, she laughed, he could feel her giggles through his chest.
"Why are you laughing?"
"What are we then?" she ignored his question and asked her own, still giggling.
It threw him off balance; he wasn't sure how to answer. What is she to him? What is he to her?
The questions raced around his mind and needed to be considered carefully. He needed to think about this. He had been ignoring the question he knew that, letting other issues take precedent but now she has asked he is going to have to consider it.
John's face is getting darker as the seconds tick by without him answering.
Oddly Jocelyn looked up at him with something approaching compassion,
"Can we at least stop being cross with each other?" she asked him gently as if she understood that her previous question had disturbed him.
He considered her request and nodded, he has much to think about, and he doesn't have the energy to waste on anger any more. Besides which he has a sneaky admiration for how she turned the tables on the pair of them.
He decided to distract John and answer her last question at the same time
"I'm not cross anymore Jocelyn" he paused and she smiled at him as she steps away from the hug. He felt an odd sense of loss which he dismissed impatiently
"I'm just curious, who was the young man in the red Rugby shirt?"
He noticed with satisfaction that John's attention was now firmly fixed on his daughter.
She risked a quick look at her father and then back at Sherlock, and shook her head in unwilling admiration at his manipulation. He grinned at her and she grinned back at him, enjoying the challenge, two could play that game. Sherlock was such fun sometimes and he didn't even know it.
"It's the Welsh national rugby shirt, his mum's Welsh would you believe, " she commented inconsequently "Better get changed out of this and take it back to Mrs Hudson"
"No, no darling, sit down and tell us all about your new little friend" her father smiled showing too much teeth and Sherlock smirked at the success of his distraction. Besides which he also wanted to know who the lad was.
Jocelyn grinned wickedly, as she made her voice husky with admiration.
"He's not little at all Dad"
The looks on their faces were priceless but she wasn't going to laugh, because she decided to really grind their noses in it.
She tilted her head and asked her father curiously
"I'm only grounded for another week right? Then I can go out with my….friends?"
Her eyes stayed wide with innocence as comprehension hit them both at the same time. She was anticipating the growls of disapproval trying to keep her face straight.
And then the tension was broken by all three mobile phones beeping at exactly the same time.
The text message on John's mobile phone read
Really John, you sent her to school dressed like that?
MH
The text message on Sherlock's phone read
Really little brother, Mrs Hudson's clothes a deterrent?
MH
The text message on Jocelyn's phone read
Jocelyn, do you think young Mr Hunter will have an aversion to big black cars?
Uncle Mycroft
"Don't you dare Uncle Mycroft", "How the hell does your brother do that?" "Mind your own damned business Mycroft"
Mycroft Holmes laughed when he heard their instant loud vocal responses. He'd had a particularly irritating and wasteful day containing the damage caused by an idiotic MEP who had been indiscrete and he needed some amusement, his family were just so delightfully easy to tease.
He leant back and switched off the live surveillance feed. He would however do a little research on Jocelyn's new friend.
AN:
I am working on the next chapters of Show No Mercy and A Good Man, but the little minx nagged at me. So here's another interlude, sorry, that's if you can call something with 3.7k words an interlude, but it doesn't really advance the plot and yes there is a plot. Other than a few little strands which will be picked up and elaborated upon. Oh who cares just enjoy, and please review. I had a vision of Jocelyn wearing something that the two men would have a conniption fit over and it carried on from there. I can also see Mrs H as a rather fashionable young lady in her day…
Disclaimers as per the other chapters.
Thanks for your reviews guys, I think I have made Mycroft a bit softer with Jocelyn, a) because he likes to annoy Sherlock and Jocelyn calling him Uncle is going to push all SH's buttons b) because I think he might actually like her, even if she ruined a pair of his super expensive shoes.
Please review, reviewing is the new sexy and I know you are all sexy therefore you have to review! Hugs.