(Follow up to "First Case" and loosely based on this tumblr prompt: Izzy's first case...She seems to have learned a lot from her godfather.)


"Sherlock."

"Hmm?"

"You took my daughter on a case."

"It was barely a…"

"I don't care what it bloody was!" John roared into the phone. "You know the deal, and you broke it. You know what that means."

Silence on the other end of the phone for a long moment, then a quiet, tentative, "No babysitting for a month?"

"Two months," John corrected him grimly. "Mary says she'll be fully potty trained by then, Mrs. Hudson agrees, so after that maybe…just maybe…you'll be trusted with her again."

"Well, it doesn't seem fair to punish Molly for my mistake," Sherlock said cajolingly, but John was having none of it.

"Don't you dare try and use your girlfriend to work your way around this, William Sherlock Scott Holmes," John declared, and by the use of his full name Sherlock knew he wasn't going to win this one. Sometimes he regretted sharing it with John; he should have left it at Molly and his brother and parents being the only holders of that secret. "And don't think Mary and I won't see right through it if you send her round to offer to watch Izzy for a few hours, either. God," he muttered with a huff, "it's bad enough Izzy's already trying your methods…"

"She is?" Sherlock's ears perked up at that statement, and he completely ignored the irritation in John's voice as he asked eagerly, "What? What's she trying? She's a natural at this, John, I told you she would be. People don't look twice a man carrying a baby; who would be daft enough to follow someone under those circumstances? And Izzy, oh you should have seen her, John! Smiling and giggling and generally charming anyone we met…"

He fell silent as soon as he realized his mistake. "Uh, that is, what I meant to say was, that the next time, when you go along with us — every other time in future, that is, since I clearly will never take her along on a case without you even if it's only a one…"

"Yeah," came John's exasperated voice from the other side of the line. "You got that right, mate." But Sherlock heard the affection as well as the less pleasant emotions and knew that his two months was more likely to be a month…possibly even less if Molly could talk Mary round.

Izzy, he knew, would be on his side. Unca Lock would be left in charge of her again soon enough, and both of them would continue to learn from one another. The sooner, he concluded, the better.

He smiled and hung up the phone, not noticing that John was still talking as he did so. "Molly!" he called out, looking vaguely around the empty living room. "Fancy a trip to John and Mary's for a visit?"