Two months after he was released from the hospital, Sherlock Holmes was once again taking cases and dashing about London in a furious flurry of black Belstaff. Natasha was a blur of red and black beside him, quietly asking questions between deductions and over puddles of blood. They were nothing if not practical and they did still have a fast approaching wedding to plan.
Sherlock's second case took him to look at a body at St. Bart's. Lestrade called while Sherlock and Natasha were in the middle of deciding color schemes and table accommodations for their guests, so they took their decision-making to Bart's morgue without hesitation.
Natasha was clad in dark clothes and boots, underneath a bright red coat. Sherlock inspected the corpse Molly Hooper had laid out for him on the table.
"I'm torn between just navy blue or just red," she informed him while eyeing the guest list in her hand with a keen eye. "It can't be both."
"Red works with black better." Sherlock said, a forceps and probe in hand as he carefully inspected the corpse's neck beneath the long hair. He sniffed once, narrowing his eyes at the bruises on the dark skin. "Navy blue would require a white or silver to pair with it instead. I'd prefer red and black, but I can see it going either way. Red is your signature, so it would depend how much you wanted to play with that."
Natasha's lips lifted at the corner but she kept her eyes on the list. "You know me too well," she breathed. "Let's go with red and black, but keep the black to a minimum. Roses for my bouquet and for the centerpieces on the guests tables?"
"Roses are good, yes. I've got the florist picked out, all we need to discuss is the specific order." Sherlock straightened up and moved to the corpse's feet next, giving them the same careful examination. "Single roses with glass and a cream colored candle came up as a simple but elegant option. Should there be anything else?"
"No, I like that," she decided as she moved towards the head of the corpse to give him space. "What about the table cloths? I've seen people sometimes do two for each table; a long one that reaches the floor and a short one. So..." She lowered the list to look at him. "What about black for the long one and red for the short one?"
"Perfect." Sherlock agreed, sniffing again and then huffing out his nose. "John will have a red tie with his black tux then. Was Pepper going to be in red or black? I think I'd prefer black, less obvious."
"Black for Pepper and then my dress will be cream instead of white," she replied while sneaking her own peek at the corpse. "Guest list and seating chart now," she announced once she'd straightened to resume studying the list. "Sam is sitting at the same table with Molly, that's non-negotiable. I'll find someone else for Greg."
Sherlock tilted his head as he found something. "Hmmm splinters….Does Molly know you're attempting to set her up with an Avenger?"
"I'm sure she'll figure it out at the wedding if she hasn't already," she assured him, scribbling a note beside Molly's name. "I can't handle seeing her with another idiot anyway. You and I both know she deserves better." She paused. "Does anyone we know have kids besides the Bartons and the Watsons?"
Sherlock paused and straightened up to whip out his phone, speaking while he typed. "No, none that would be invited anyways. Were we doing the ring bean and flower child whatever it's called thing?"
"Ring bearer and flower girl?" Natasha scribbled one more note on the list and walked over to tuck it in Sherlock's coat pocket. "I don't know. Should we? I've always gotten the impression kids hate getting dressed up and performing for adults." She capped the pen she'd been using and tucked it into the same pocket as the list. "We could always ask them directly."
"Yeah…that's what I thought too. Josi might agree, she does enjoy dress-up." Sherlock said distractedly as he pressed send on the text and lowered the phone. "Case solved, almost. They'll need to test the wood in the splinters to the wood at the brother-in-law's house to be certain. Our work is done. Anyways, next?"
Natasha grabbed his scarf and pulled him down for a kiss. "We've got the color scheme down and the guest list looks good to me," she recapped when she broke away. "We can hammer out the details of the seating chart after we send out the invitations and people start R.S.V.P's. Right now all that's left is telling your parents."
"Less than a month away now." Sherlock said, winking at her as he stood up straight again. "Probably would be a good time to tell them. Fancy a drive to the country tonight? After stealing a car from Mycroft, of course."
"Sounds like fun," she agreed, smiling as she slid her hand into his. "It's been awhile since I've stolen a car."
"Me too." Sherlock said, squeezing her hand as they breezed out of the morgue. A quick thank you to Molly Hooper and they left St. Bart's one case solved to complete the next mission.
A/N: Thank you so so much for those who've reviewed! You get all the cookies. As well as thank you to those who are following or have favorited our novel. We appreciate you too. Keep having fun. -G&A
