"Sherlock!" Scarlett called into 221B Baker Street as soon as she entered the building, her coat covered with white particles of snow as she wiped her feet on the mat and shook her long blonde hair. Four weeks she had been with Sherlock and they had heard nothing of Moriarty anywhere.
"Just a moment!" Sherlock called from the living room, making a strangled noise as he did so, wrestling with the tall man who he had managed to just avoid a punch from as he ducked down and the masked man managed to fall straight into the armchair whilst Sherlock managed to kick him in the back, eliciting a moan from him.
"Now," Sherlock began calmly as his hand went onto the throat of the man and held him face down on the armchair, "I'd prefer it if you just went quietly because it is bad enough that she's back and is probably going to have a complete and utter fit when she sees this and then I'll be the one who has to bear the full front of her anger and I'm not particularly in the mood for that considering she is already making me go to see some film and so that would mean both of us being in a foul mood."
"I can't believe it is snowing Sherlock," Scarlett called up as she remained at the bottom of the stairs, fiddling with her umbrella as she did so and resting it near the door so she didn't traipse the snow into the flat.
"No?" Sherlock called back down to her as the tall man in the armchair managed to push Sherlock back and the detective fell onto the floor and rolled to the left to avoid being stood on.
"So I don't know if we should go to the cinema or not because the snow is coming down really thick and fast," Scarlett stood in front of the mirror which was in the corridor and she picked more bits of snow form her hair as she did so.
"Ha!" Sherlock rejoiced and automatically he stood up and the tall man began to circle him again.
"Things are definitely looking up!" Sherlock couldn't help but call out as Scarlett blinked multiple times and then heard a gasping noise coming from upstairs as Sherlock punched the man in the stomach.
"Everything alright Sherlock?" Scarlett called out and she began to move up the stairs, unbuttoning her coat as she went.
"Couldn't be better," Sherlock said and Scarlett froze when she saw Sherlock and a tall masked man fighting in the middle of the living room.
"What the hell!" Scarlett called out when she saw them and the tall man turned around to look at her whilst Sherlock took it upon himself to make his move and once again he wrapped an arm around his neck, but the taller man was much stronger and he began to drag Sherlock forward, his feet lifting from the ground.
"Scarlett...just...go and get help!" Sherlock yelled at her as his body slammed onto the floor and Scarlett moved further into the room and then into the kitchen where she noticed something. He would kill her. She knew that. But he would soon get over it. Scarlett reached for the object and instead of phoning for help she saw Sherlock on the floor and the tall mans foot on his throat whilst Sherlock gasped for air. Scarlett quickly moved back into the living room with the object in her hands, gripping tightly onto it as she stood behind the masked man and raised it into the air and then hastily hit him around the back of his head with it. The smash echoed everywhere and wooden shards and strings fell to the ground whilst the tall man toppled forwards, landing on Sherlock.
"Sherlock," Scarlett gasped as the consulting detective rolled the man from his body and Scarlett crouched down to help, rolling him to the side as Sherlock coughed loudly and sat up, leaning against the armchair with his back, his hand grasping onto his throat.
"Sherlock...are you alright?" Scarlett began to fuss as her hand rested on top of his which was on his throat and he coughed loudly, nodding as he did so.
"Yes..." he spat. "I'm fine...good..."
"What the hell is going on here?" she asked him as he began to stand up, allowing Scarlett to haul him to the feet.
"Never mind that," Sherlock replied and he looked at the broken wood pieces on the floor. "You smashed my violin!"
"Wh...Wha-...What?" Scarlett stammered as Sherlock picked up a curled up string and narrowed his eyes at her.
"You broke my violin!" he snapped. "You could have at least used something else...out of all the things in the flat you chose my violin to smash his head in with!"
"It was the first thing I saw!" Scarlett responded. "I wasn't really concerned for your violins safety when I saw you being suffocated to death."
"Well you shouldn't have done it," Sherlock huffed. "That's...I don't believe it..." Sherlock picked up another piece of the wood.
"I'll buy you another one if you're going to get so menstrual about it," Scarlett responded.
"But that was the only one I liked," Sherlock sulked.
"Uh," the man on the floor began to stir and Sherlock simply kicked him in the head again, knocking him out again.
"You are so childish," Scarlett replied. "I saved your life probably."
"And killed my violin," he muttered.
"Get your coat!" Scarlett snapped and Sherlock folded his arms and raised a brow;
"Why?"
"Because I'm not putting up with your mood swings for the next few days because I broke your violin," Scarlett said and she pulled his coat from the coat stand and handed it to Sherlock and then threw his scarf at him.
"Don't you think we should dispose of him before we go and rectify your mistake?" Sherlock questioned her and she gritted her teeth.
"Who the hell is he?" she asked and Sherlock shrugged;
"Funnily enough I didn't get chance to ask for a name when he broke in and began to throw punches at me," Sherlock said.
"You know what I mean," Scarlett replied back to him.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Sherlock admitted. "He could be one of Moriarty's men or he could be to do with my recent case."
"And you don't want to find out?" Scarlett asked and Sherlock shrugged, placing his coat and scarf on as he did so.
"Not really," he drawled. "Not when I am so traumatised over my violin."
"You are such a drama queen," Scarlett said. "So what do we do about him?"
"Leave him in the bin round the back of the building?" Sherlock asked and Scarlett's eyes went wide;
"I was thinking more along the lines of phoning the police?" she remained straight lipped.
"He won't talk to them or give them any information."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because I do?" Sherlock responded rhetorically to her. "You grab the arms and I'll grab the legs."
...
"Sherlock," John stood in the doorway when he heard the front door slam and he saw Sherlock and Scarlett walk back into the building, shaking snow from their hair and off their coats whilst John stood at the top of the steps with his arms folded. Scarlett clutched onto the white bag in her hands as she shifted around and took off her wellies from her feet, her hand resting onto Sherlock' shoulder as she did so.
"I don't know why you needed to wear them...it isn't even that bad," Sherlock informed her.
"Because I can't wear my heels when it is this slippery and flats would have meant my trousers trailed on the floor," she informed him and he rolled his eyes as she let go of him and the two of them began to run up the steps where John was stood.
"What is this?" he asked, motioning into the living room where books were scattered and pieces of wood was about.
"Ah," Sherlock replied. "We had a little misunderstanding with a man who broke in."
"What?" John asked and Scarlett placed the large white bag onto the coffee table. Of course, Sherlock had to choose to most expensive violin to replace his old one which meant it cost Scarlett nearly all her weekly pay packet.
"Someone broke in to the flat," Sherlock responded. "Not sure why...guessing he didn't come back though so he must have ran off somewhere."
"You don't know why?" John replied.
"Do you not understand sentences I say John?" Sherlock asked. "A man broke into the flat, began to try and beat me up and then when Scarlett walks in she decides to hit him around the head with my violin," he narrowed his eyes at the young woman who simply just folded her arms and narrowed her eyes back at him and John simply chuckled and then coughed to hide it.
"You...you broke his violin?" he checked, knowing how Sherlock would have reacted to that.
"Yes," Scarlett said, turning on her heel and moving into the kitchen. "In the process of saving his life."
"I would have managed and you could have used something other than my violin."
"You're insufferable," Scarlett muttered.
"And you're reckless," Sherlock replied.
"That's hypocritical!" she snapped at him.
"Would you two be quiet?" John raised his voice. "You're like an old married couple."
"He started it!" Scarlett snapped.
"No!" Sherlock responded. "She did by breaking my violin!"
"Well maybe if you didn't almost get trampled to death then I wouldn't have had to use your violin," Scarlett responded, slamming glasses onto the worktop counter as she began to set the table for dinner.
"So it is my fault for being beaten?" Sherlock responded. "I'd hardly say that is fair!"
"If you weren't beaten then you'd still have your bloody violin!"
"Still your fault," Sherlock muttered as he heard pots slamming.
"Your fault!" Scarlett replied.
"Yours!" Sherlock snapped.
"Children!" John yelled at both of them as he stood in the doorway of the kitchen and living room, looking back to Sherlock and Scarlett. "Bickering isn't going to help."
"I don't see his problem," Scarlett responded, pouring beans into a pan and then placing them on the hob on the highest heat.
"Your broke my violin!" He spat as if it were obvious.
"I bought you a new one," Scarlett counteracted.
"I give up," John said. "It's like living with two year olds."
"It's still not the right one," Sherlock huffed again, taking his coat and scarf off as Scarlett placed toast into the toaster.
"Well it wouldn't be," Scarlett replied. "Because you're so nitpicky."
"I'm not nitpicky," Sherlock replied, folding his arms over his chest as Scarlett stirred the beans.
"Are" she replied.
"I just like things how they are," Sherlock sighed. "And now you've disrupted the flow."
"You're impossible," she murmured.
"And you're carless," Sherlock said back to her.
"You're just being an arse," Scarlett smirked sarcastically at him and he placed a hand on his chest in mock pain;
"I'm hurt," he mocked and she rolled her eyes, plating up the simple tea as she did so.
"Whatever," she responded and Sherlock walked over to the counter to collect his plate, wrinkling his nose as he did so.
"You've burnt the toast," he informed her and she caught his looking at it and she took the plate from his hands, simply raising the plate and dropping it into the empty sink as John took his tea without complaining.
"What did you do that for?" Sherlock asked her, looking at the mess in the sink and then into her eyes;
"Either like it or lump it considering you do no cooking round here."
"I would have lumped it," Sherlock told her and she narrowed her eyes and took her own plate;
"Where are you going?" he asked as she walked down the hallway.
"To eat my dinner in peace!" she yelled back.
"And what am I supposed to do?" he called.
"Learn how to open a can and make your own dinner!" And she slammed the door. Sherlock scowled at the cupboards for a moment and then with a stomp of his foot he moved into the living room and sat opposite John who was sniggering in the armchair as he ate his dinner.
"So," John began, "good night?"
"Don't even think of being sarcastic John," Sherlock replied and John simply couldn't help but grin;
"There's another can of beans in the cupboard if you can use the tin opener," he chuckled and Sherlock narrowed his eyes at John.
"And the kitchen is through there Sherlock," he continued to joke as his finger outstretched and pointed at the kitchen which was unfamiliar territory with Sherlock when it came to cooking.
"Oh ha ha," Sherlock said with a roll of his eyes and he curled up into the chair, pressing his cheek into the material. "I've had a sudden loss of appetite anyway."
"Of course you have," John responded with a smirk.
...
Thank you to everyone for the kind reviews last night! They were really, really nice and I am glad you are all enjoying the story and thinking I have kept Sherlock in character as that is one of my main things I wanted to do! More to come soon so please stick with me and please leave me a review!