Over 200 reviews? wow. Thank you so much! Unfortunately this might be the last chapter for quite a while. But in the meantime I would recommend reading some other fics. I'll write some suggestions at the bottom of the page because I feel bad for abandoning you…


Relatives

Life at home was so boring.

None of the staff liked him nor were any of them new. He couldn't bear the awkward afternoon tea with his mother. He hated meal times, for he was rarely hungry and they were also often spent with his mother.

The worst thing though, was that none of his science equipment had been returned.

All he did was stay in his room all day until he was forced into doing something. He wouldn't risk going downstairs and facing his mother.

He had taken all of Mycroft's old workbooks from his time at Marina and completed them. He had changed the time on all the clocks around the building and set their alarms to go off at a certain time, much to the annoyance of everyone in the household. He had found his old rubix cube he was given for Christmas 7 years ago and completed it within 30 seconds, 24 times. He experimented how long it would take for some of his brother's possessions to hit the ground from the top floor (it varied from 1.36 - 4.09 seconds, depending on the mass, shape and size of the object). He had named each part of the skull he possessed. He also named all the bones in his hand. He attempted to make a parachute out of all the hideous clothes his mother wanted him to wear, only to find it didn't work too well and he twisted his ankle on landing. He annoyed a spider in his shower by randomly spraying water on it. He worked out the exact force required for a ball to bounce on his floor, on his wall and back into his hand again without much effort.

He had only been back 2 days.

It was unbearable.

Bored. Bored. Bored.

He sat up from his bed and looked outside.

He missed his science equipment dearly. It was the only thing that kept him sane while here.

Bloody Mycroft.

Science equipment.

Of course! Why hadn't he thought of it before?

Sherlock leapt off of his bed and out the door. He ran down the corridor and down the stairs, bumping into several members of staff along the way. He paused to hear where his mother was. Study. He was safe. He continued running out to the garden.

The warm summer's air hit him as soon as he opened the door and sprinted outside. He brushed his curls out of his face and smiled as he stopped outside the abandoned building.

He pushed the ivy out the way and pulled the door open wide enough for him to fit through.

It was brighter than last time. The sun was shining outside and the glass vials and other equipment reflected the light around the room.

He looked at the equipment before him. It was outdated yet it was useful and built to last.

Everything, however, was caked in dust and cobwebs. After being deserted for 30 years, Sherlock couldn't deny it needed to be cleaned. Normally he would just get a member of staff to clean it for him but they cannot know of his activities here. They would tell his mother instantly. He would have to do it himself.

But he didn't really know how.

At home, the staff cleaned after him. At school, James would normally clear away things that got in his way and there was a cleaner every fortnight. He only knew how to clean up dangerous chemicals. He had deleted trivial things such as dusting years ago.

He had seen others do it though. Normally they had a duster or some polish and a cloth. He could do that. He didn't want to do it but he needed to so he could get enjoyment out of the room. It would also need sweeping. The floor was incredibly dirty.

He made a temporary list of things he believed he would need to clean up the room and departed for the house once more.


A couple of hours later, the room was almost spotless. Sherlock smiled at his efforts before slumping down into an old chair sitting in the corner. He was very surprised to find there were no traces of rat or mouse infestations and so was glad he did not have to acquire rat poison.

He noticed the sun was getting lower in the sky so he judged the time to be mid evening. He did not want to leave his new lab but he knew he must to avoid suspicion. He wasn't too fazed by having to leave though. He had the whole summer ahead of him to use it.

He snuck back into the house and put away the cleaning products unnoticed. He glanced at his watch to see that he had 15 minutes before dinner.

He quickly changed his clothes and did his hair to look more clean and normal. He slipped on his grey jumper and walked towards the dining room.

"Ah brother, there you are."

Sherlock turned on his heel. "And I thought I got rid of you." Sherlock replied in a sullen tone.

"Yet you thought wrong." Mycroft said as he took his slow steps towards his younger brother. "I am here for a family visit."

"You saw mummy and I the other day." Sherlock snapped.

"Indeed I did, but I am not here to visit you and mummy."

"Then who?"

"Mummy informed me that Uncle Jeremy and family will be visiting tomorrow for afternoon tea, so I decided to pop along and see them." he finished with a smile.

Sherlock groaned. Uncle Jeremy Holmes. He was his father's very successful younger brother. The man himself was tolerable for he had an interest in Sherlock's behaviour and found him quite unique, but his two daughters were yet another addition to Sherlock's list of enemies. Verity and Emilia Holmes. Verity was 4 months younger than himself and Emilia was just over 2 years younger than him. They were two of the most stuck up, annoying children he had ever met.

He had been fortunate enough not to have seen the family for over 5 years, yet he believed they would have hardly changed, apart from age of course.

"No use sulking Sherlock. They shall arrive at 2 o'clock and you will be there to greet them. Mummy expects you to wear your best suit-"

"And what if I don't?"

"Then you can greet them in your underwear."

Sherlock glared at him.

"And try to be nice, Sherlock. They are our family."

"I'll just be myself."

"Sherlock." Mycroft warned as his mother walked out of the main room to head to the dining room herself.

"Be sure to wear your best tie, brother dear." Sherlock said clearly. "Oh! How about that one mummy gave you last Christmas? You know, the pink one with the white terriers on it."

"Oh Mycroft, do." their mother piped up. "It looked so nice on you. I insist you wear it."

"Yes Mycroft, mummy insists." Sherlock said with an amused grin.

Mycroft gave his little brother a quick look of pure hatred before turning to his mother and giving her a fake smile. "Of course."

"Lovely." she said and walked ahead of them into the dining room.

"I'll wear a suit if you wear that tie." Sherlock stated simply.

"Fine." Mycroft said through gritted teeth.


Sherlock walked down the stairs at 2 o'clock, as agreed and failed to hide the smirk at his brother's tie.

"I thought you said you would wear a suit." Mycroft quietly said in an agitated tone.

"I am wearing a suit. I'm wearing a blouse, some black suit trousers, and a black suit jacket." Sherlock replied.

"Yet you are not wearing a tie to complete the look."

"I hate ties."

Mycroft rolled his eyes and waited by his mother's side as their butler opened the door. Sherlock thrust his hands in his pocket and couldn't prevent the agitated frown forming on his face.

"Julie, how are you?" Jeremy asked as he took her hand and kissed it delicately.

"I am glad to see you all." Julie Holmes replied before turning to his wife. "Sharon, I do hope you are well."

"Indeed I am." she said as they kissed each other's cheeks.

"And girls, you are growing up so fast. You will soon be very fine young women." she said finally. Sherlock grimaced slightly. God he hated them.

"Thank you Aunt Julie." Verity said on behalf of her sister and herself.

"Mycroft." Jeremy said warmly as he shook the young man's hand. He smiled at the British government with admiration.

"Uncle Jeremy. It's good to see you." Mycroft replied with the same warmth.

"As it is to see you." Jeremy turned and looked at his younger nephew. "Sherlock." he said bluntly, minus the friendliness he gave towards Mycroft, but he still tried to keep the warmth. He knew his uncle was not too fond of him, but he still treated him how a family member should, which was very rare.

"Uncle." Sherlock said as they shook hands.

"It's good to see you're back on the mend."

"I was never broken." he said simply.

"Sherlock stay with your cousins while we catch up." his mother said.

The man smiled sadly as he walked through to the main living area with his wife and Mycroft behind Mrs Holmes.

"It's a shame my brother isn't here."

"I'm afraid he's away on a business trip-" was all Sherlock heard his uncle and mother say before they closed the door, leaving him alone with his two least favourite cousins.

"Did you see Mycroft's tie?" Emilia giggled.

"I know! I never thought I'd see Mycroft wear pink..."

"That would be my handiwork thank you very much." Sherlock said in a monotonous tone, hands still in pockets, fingering the cigarette and lighter hidden in them. He was gasping for one.

"So, Sherlock." said Verity in a bored tone. "I have not had the pleasure of seeing you since you were 9-"

"Stop it." Sherlock snapped.

"Stop what?" she crossed her arms.

"I know you don't talk like that. It's far too formal for a teenager to speak like that."

"You can talk." spoke up Emilia, her blonde curls bobbing around. She mimicked his voice poorly, "Far too formal."

Verity giggled. "She's right you know. Posh boy."

"I am not posh." Sherlock said simply.

"No, you're right. Posh boys don't do drugs."

"And good 'daddy's little girls' don't have secret boyfriends."

"How did you know about that?" she shouted in a whisper.

"Your necklace."

"Her necklace?" Emilia asked, not believing a word he was saying.

"Yes, her necklace. It just screams romantic attachment. It's not as expensive as the rest of your possessions and clothing which have been bought by 'daddy' so it's clearly not from him. In the shape of a heart, so love. It also lies near your breasts so whoever gave it to you clearly likes to look at them for their own pleasure."

Slap.

"What was that for?" Sherlock frowned. He didn't flinch to the blow to his face, just blinked.

"For saying my boyfriend is only dating me for my tits!" she said and slapped him again, slightly harder that time but it didn't affect Sherlock one bit.

"You're such a waste of space you drug taking idiot!" said Emilia angrily, defending her sister to the death.

"Shut up Emilia. You probably can't even remember me properly. The last time you saw me, you were 7. Oh yeah, and get better insults. I've heard much worse."

That was Emilia's chance to slap him. Not in the face though, she was too short, so she hit him in the arm.

Sherlock looked down to where she had hit him and smiled. "That's where I injected the heroin." he stated simply.

The pair gave him a look of disgust.

"You are sick." Verity said while shaking her head.

"I hear that is common slang for 'cool' so I'll take that as a compliment." Sherlock said as he span on his heel and began walking away from the pair.

"You can't just leave us alone! We're guests! You're supposed to entertain us!" Emilia shouted angrily after him.

"Then by all means follow. You can be my lab rats." Sherlock said over his shoulder.

Thankfully they didn't follow.


"So Sherlock," his uncle said. "I hear you have already taken most of your GCSEs?"

"Yes, I plan on taking them all to a level." he replied after finishing his mouthful of food.

"Good, very good. You will have a fantastic CV, I must say."

"So I have been told. But they will not be necessary."

"Oh?"

Opposite him, Mycroft gave Sherlock a warning look. If he were speaking, he would probably be saying something along the lines of 'shut up Sherlock. Don't upset mummy.'

Sherlock ignored him. "I'm going to be a consulting detective."

Jeremy Holmes furrowed his brows. "I am not aware of that occupation. Anyway your mother said you were interested in politics."

"Well then mummy is wrong." she said bluntly. "And of course you're not aware of its existence, I invented the job."

"Sherlock." Mycroft warned. Sherlock glanced to his right to see his mother sitting at the head of the table giving him the same look as Mycroft.

"And what does this job entail?" Jeremy asked, unfazed by his first comment. He was genuinely interested in what the boy had to say.

"Well," Sherlock finished off another bite of his dinner. "Whenever the police cannot complete their jobs, they can come and ask me to solve it for them. I could also be a private detective on the side but most of their cases are boring. 'who kidnapped my cat?' 'who broke my car windscreen?'. Dull." Sherlock took another mouthful of the barely tolerable pike of food in front of him. He saw Verity and Emilia glare at him from the corner of his eye.

"What kind of crimes would you be interested in?" Sharon spoke up.

"Interesting ones. Clever ones. Mainly murders. Nothing beats a clever, violent, serial killer." Sherlock said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He continued eating while everyone looked at him in shock, apart from Mycroft who just shook his head disapprovingly.

"I would like you not to press the matter of Sherlock's current ambition." his mother spoke up. "Do remember he did want to be a pirate. This is just a phase. We cannot take him seriously. I'm sure it's just the drugs talking. I hear they still affect you long after they have been taken."

"Yes for a few hours, not months. Honestly mummy, I thought you were supposed to be clever." Sherlock snapped.

"Sherlock!" shouted Mycroft. "Just because father isn't here, doesn't mean you can run wild!" he added in more of a hushed tone.

"Yes but if father was here I'd be running around the streets of London escaping him. Again." Sherlock stopped eating, he formed his fingers into a steeple and sat back in his chair, daring his brother to continue the conversation in front of their uncle.

"Sherlock I think it would be best if you go to your room." Mycroft said calmly.

"Finally!" Sherlock almost shouted and stood abruptly. "Goodbye uncle, aunt, dear cousins." he turned on his heel and walked out the room, smirking at the stunned silence he left behind due to his behaviour.

He climbed the stairs and entered his room. Even though he had been bored here for the last 3 days, he would rather be alone in his room than downstairs with his family.

Alone was good.

Alone was best.

Alone was all he had.


I don't know what you're all into but I like these stories :)

Fic Recommendations:

Myopia – StoneWingedAngel - Sally Donovan wakes trapped inside a small room, alone apart from the person she least wants to see – Sherlock Holmes. Whoever's put her there certainly has something in store for both of them - the question is whether they can pull together and get out alive. Established Sherlock/John throughout.

Of time lords, detectives and philosopher stones – 13tash07 - POTTERWHOLOCK AU! Sherlock Holmes is about to start his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, alongside Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. But what is going on at the school, and who is John Smith? Based on Book 1 of HP, with Sherlock's Sherlock Holmes and a strange young version of the tenth Doctor...

Parents – neverintendedtoexsist - John and Sherlock have been married for 2 years, and this is a series of Drabbles on their life as parents. Lots of fluff!

The Box – kate221B - A teenage Sherlock wakes up in a hospital room with no memory of how he got there. Is it a conspiracy, or is he really ill?

The plan – eohippus - The game the consultig criminal has played with the consulting detective has ended. Sherlock goes into hiding to complete his mission, untangling the plan of Moriarty s financial network, meeting new foes, Mycroft being his only confidant. Post-RB / REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS!

The Movement of Bees (sequel to 'the plan') – eohippus - Sherlock returns, broken. His brother has lost all faith in him, as has John. How will they bring down Moran with even more difficulties waiting in the background? Post-RB, post-Hiatus.

So yeah. Those are just some of the brilliant fics on here. Enjoy :)