(A/N) What's this another update you cry? Yes! It's Doctor Who day! DOOOOO WEEEEEEE OOOOOOO! And now that I'm slightly done finishing fangirling a few words of wisdom "Bingle bongle dingle dangle, yickedy doo, yickedy da, ping pong, lippy-tappy-too-ta!" Haha *claps hands together like 11 and points at you" See what I did there?

Ugh, I just love you all so much. I just want to bundle you all into a great hug and smother you with my love. Thank you sweeties for the reviews. Seriously, I teared up , more than slightly. Before we get to the chapter I will detain you for a slight moment. Unless you decide to just scroll down. You could do that. Honestly you could, but what is the point? I'm sure you can tell I am half asleep right now because I sound more mental than normal so why listen to my ravings? Because maybe there is some secret message hidden in all of this. There isn't* But how to stop you from scrolling on to the chapter so you can listen to the information I have to give you. *Eyes widen* Idea!

I am a servant of the Secret Fire,wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass!The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun! YOU SHALL NOT PASS! *slams staff on ground*

Alright, enough dramatics on my two hours of sleep. Alright. Firstly for those of you asking if there is going to be some Sherlock's POV which tells you all what he is thinking in that brain of his, yes and no. Yes to the first but only in the occasion that I only tell you a slight bit of what he is thinking in the next chapter on Tuesday which is a completely original chapter. I think you all should like that. My reasoning is I want you to be just as confused about how they are feeling about each other as Sherlock and Lexi are. You have questions and so do they. All will be revealed and questions shall be answered in the Great Game which starts next Saturday.

Order in the court! Second matter of business. Owl, I didn't forget, please find below enclosed in your Hogwarts letter the teaser of a future story Amortentia and Prior Incantantium. Yes, I will be writing a Harry Potter fanfic in the future. I also have plans to work a bit on a Hobbit/ LOtR fanfic at some point possibly. Difference with these is it's all original work on my end and updates might have to be less frequent because of school. My studies have to come first and I'm sure you all can understand that. That, and I am currently writing two novels so any extra time I write these pieces. Don't tell my professors that when I get bored in their classes I act like I'm taking notes while I'm actually writing my fanfics. *ruffles through papers* Hmm let's see, nope that's it.

So, onto the chapter Allons-y. Whovians, get ready and take a "Deep Breath!" I'm so witty this morning. Lots of love sweeties. And look, chapter 42 and Doctor Who. 42 is the answer to everything in the Universe and was a name of a Doctor Who episode I confess is not my favourite. I like Weeping Angels more. And hey, Thoroughly Misguided, I don't have to blink so often now because the still dilated and numb eyes so send me some weeping angels. I could take them. Alright, YOU SHALL PASS onto the chapter!


Chapter Forty- Two- Security Threat

Lexi's POV

The next morning the three of us got up and got ready to go and meet Gregson down at the Yard. Sherlock had called Gregson early that morning and had asked him to brining in the jurors from the original case. After listening to Sherlock, Gregson agreed that it was a good lead and now that it was proven that the stone we found was a diamond, Gregson was more willing to listen to Sherlock. I was happy that they were working together. Granted, Sherlock treated him the same as Lestrade, but it was nice that I didn't have to act as a moderator between the two of them. I dressed in a pair of jeans and a light pink lace shirt. I managed to find my black Oxford heels that had made their way to the back of wardrobe and I pulled them on before meeting the boys out in the living room. John handed me a cup of tea and a plate of toast with jam. I grinned at him as I brought it over to the couch and sat down as Sherlock was currently taking up residence in his chair. Once breakfast was over, Sherlock jumped out of his chair and helped me into my coat as he hurried us out of the flat. One cab ride later and we found ourselves standing with Gregson in front of a conference room at the Yard, the jurors waiting for us inside.

"Okay, ten jurors, two alternates. The only surviving juror we couldn't find is Alex Wilson. That's the engineer. You think he has something to do with this, right? So, assuming you're right about what happened, he's probably in the wind. Seems like he could be our guy," Gregson said as the four of us looked at the jurors who were talking amongst themselves.

"Maybe, but I believe our killer is standing in that room," Sherlock told him before he caught my eye and nodded his head at one of the men inside, something not missed by Gregson.

"That man is named Jeremy Lopez. Even from here, you can see his face is injured. You think Justin Guthrie did that to him?" Gregson asked us and I shrugged, looking back at him.

"Should be easy enough to find out," I told him before stepping inside the room, the boys following me inside. We had already agreed upon me talking to the jurors instead of Sherlock or John as Sherlock had said that statistically women came across as more friendly and he also didn't want to talk to them. I had rolled my eyes at him but agreed. "Ladies and gentlemen, um, so I'd like to start by thanking you all for fulfilling your civic duty," I said, adding the um in there to seem more human. I winked at Sherlock and he raised his eyebrow at me and I smirked back at him. "The justice system called and you all answered. Unfortunately, it seems that four of your number have become criminals themselves, and one of those four is now a murderer. Shocking, I know. But we have obtained a sample of the murderer's blood. Now it's a simple case of comparing your DNA to that sample, and we'll have our killer," I told them all before Gregson motioned for his forensics' tech to come in.

"Okay, you can start," Gregson told her and she nodded before she started walking around the room, passing around swabs and tubes to put them in. I nodded once before continuing.

"Please, bear in mind, we cannot force you to give samples. But you've already demonstrated your civic-mindedness by serving as jurors, and I'm sure that the innocent amongst you will relish the chance to help catch a murderer. If, however, you recently did murder Justin Guthrie, you certainly should not offer a sample. That would be after all very stupid," I told them all as Lopez hesitated to give a sample. I raised an eyebrow and nodded my head in that direction after catching Sherlock's eye.

"Everything all right, Mr. Lopez?" Sherlock asked our prime suspect, raising an eyebrow at him. Gregson gave me a pointed look as John crossed his arms in front of him.

"Fine, fine," Lopez told us before he swabbed the inside of his mouth and stuck his swab into his tube before handing it back.

"All right, everyone, you can go now. Thank you very much for your time," Gregson told all of the jurors and the nodded awkwardly before they filed out of the room with the forensics tech leaving the four of us alone. "We'll, uh, keep some people on Lopez and Amelie Widomski, make sure they don't try to flee. Maybe he gave us that sample because he knew if he didn't, we'd know it was him," Gregson said as Sherlock and I both gave him a pointed look, raising our eyebrows and rolling our eyes in unison. Gregson scoffed before he continued. "I know. He seemed pretty confident. Why would a killer just hand off his DNA like that?"

"I don't believe he would," I told Gregson and Sherlock nodded in agreement.

"Unless of course he is an imbecile as most people are," Sherlock quipped and John gave him a look that said, 'Behave.' I shook my head fondly at the consulting detective as Sargent Bell knocked on the door before stepping inside.

"Gregson, we just heard from an officer in Bristol. Guy saw our BOLO on Alex Wilson. This cop swears he saw Wilson couple days ago. Gave us an address," Bell told him and Gregson nodded as Sherlock and I shared a look.

"We need to find him. We may have been wrong about Jeremy Lopez, and I doubt Amelie Widomski could throw a man out of a window, so if Lopez is not our man, then Alex Wilson must be," I told Gregson and I looked back at my boys. "Ready?" I asked them and they both nodded at me with grins on their faces. We headed out of the Yard together side by side, Sherlock and my coats billowing behind us. It would appear that we were finally getting somewhere. I grinned at Sherlock as I got into the cab before him and he grinned down at me and a look passed between us that made me think, maybe he felt the same way.

I let Sherlock and John head off to Bristol with Gregson and Sargent Bell by themselves as I decided to get some much needed shopping done. We were almost out of tea and the flat was a mess. I didn't want Mrs. Hudson to come back and find we had let everything go by the way side in her absence. Sherlock was hesitant to go without me but I assured him that he was fine on his own. It had been sweet to see Sherlock reluctant to leave me on my own. John and Sherlock both made me promise to be careful at which time I told them that the worst that could happen to me was a muscle strain from luging groceries upstairs. I wasn't worried about sending them off together. The time just the two of them would be good for them. I couldn't always be the moderator and I needed time by myself too. As much as I loved the boys, I needed some girl time. Since I had a few hours before they would be back I decided to make it an impromptu girl's day. The first thing on the agenda was to call Molly. At least I could make up for our last girl's day now that I was feeling better.

"Hey Molls," I said with a smile as soon as the pathologist answered the phone. Stealing Molly away would be extremely easy, but stealing my other go to girl away would mean a lot of begging. Maybe if I caught Mycroft in a good mood he would relent and let Anthea have some time off. Then again I had my ways of getting him to agree to things.

"Hi Lexi! What can I do for you? Does Sherlock need more fingers?" Molly asked me in rapid succession and I laughed as I shook my head, though she couldn't see me. I looked around in my closet until I found a beautiful spring dress that I hardly got wear when I was on a case.

"No actually Sherlock is out on a case and I left John with him. So would I be able to steal you away for some girl's time?" I asked Molly Hopefully as I chose my black booties to go with the blue turtle necked, short puff sleeved dress.

"I actually just finished up for the day! Do you want me to come by your flat first?" Molly asked me and I shook my head grimacing. Not with the amount of dirty dishes lying about and Sherlock's experiments which had left an odd smell in the kitchen.

"Um, the flat is sort of a biohazard right now, but I will come pick you up outside of Bart's in fifteen if that suits you," I told Molly as I one handedly shrugged out of my clothes and looked up, blowing the hair out of my face which had remained extra curly from the night before.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Molly said with a laugh. "I don't know how you can live with Sherlock and John. They're nice…not that… not that I'm saying you wouldn't be able to live with them. Oh that came out wrong," Molly stuttered and I laughed, I loved Molly, awkwardness and all. Molly was the sweetest and most innocent girl I had ever met and I enjoyed spending time with her.

"No, I get it and it's difficult, very difficult," I told Molly and she laughed with me. "Alright, I should getting moving if I'm going to meet you. See you in fifteen," I told her before I hung up. I quickly pulled on my dress before dialling the second number I needed.

"Lexi," I heard Anthea answer and I grinned. She always knew when it was me calling. "Mycroft is in a meeting right now, but I can give him a message for you," Anthea told me as I hopped around my room pulling my shoes on.

"Actually I was calling for you. Do you think you can sneak away for a few hours?" I asked Anthea and she chuckled.

"I already did. My sources told me that the boys were out so I assumed you would want a girl's day. I am pulling up to Baker Street now," Anthea told me smugly and I rolled my eyes. Trust Mycroft's sources to let her know what I was up too.

"I'll be down in a second," I told Anthea as I threw my wallet into my messenger bag and slung it over my shoulder after I managed to pull my coat on. I hung up and threw my mobile in my bag before I slung my scarf around my neck and made my way out of our flat with a grin on my face. I could clean up later. It was at least a two hour ride to Bristol and they would probably spend a half hour to an hour there before they came back. Therefore I was free until later in the afternoon.

Anthea opened the door to the black car as soon as I turned around from locking the house up and shoving my keys back in my bag. I slid into the back where Anthea was on her phone. She looked up at me as Allen pulled away onto the street and held a finger up to me before finishing her missive. She lowered her phone and grinned at me before giving me a one armed hug. Anthea, or Charlotte as her real name was, had been Mycroft's PA for the last seven years and before that. They worked perfectly together. From what I knew Anthea's family was a friend of the Holmes family and when Anthea needed a job, Mycroft had begrudgingly given her the role of his PA. She had soon proven she was more competent than any other PA he had had before. The government practically ran because of Mycroft. Mycroft was the face everyone saw, but Anthea kept the government running by bringing Mycroft tea and cake and doing all the paperwork. I didn't know how they did it but Mycroft and her got along most of the time. As much as I even loved Mycroft he pissed me off a lot. I knew Anthea gave it right back to him.

"So we are picking up a Ms. Molly Hooper at St. Bart's and then I got us reservations for lunch, on Mycroft of course," Anthea told me and I laughed. "And I got someone to come in and clean up the biohazard was it, while we are out."

"You are a saint. I don't know what I would do without you," I told Anthea as she grinned and shrugged her shoulders.

"Like the British Government you would crumble. Am I good or am I good?" She asked me and I nodded with a laugh.

"Your good," I assured her and she nodded with a grin.

"Oh yeah I am. I figured you deserved a little treat. The Holmes' boys cause more messes than they clean them," Anthea said with a sigh and I nodded in agreement.

"You're telling me. At least you don't live with Mycroft," I told her and she nodded at me, giving me a pitying look.

"True," She said as we pulled up outside of Bart's where Molly was waiting out front. I opened the door as soon as we stopped and popped my head out of the car.

"Car for Molly Hooper," I told the surprised pathologist with a grin as she took in the car. "Get in here," I told her as I ducked back inside the car and slid over making room for her. She joined us inside and shut the door before Allen pulled out into traffic again. "Molly meet Anthea, Sherlock's brother's PA. Anthea meet Molly, our pathologist," I introduced the girls and Anthea and Molly reached across me to shake hands.

"It's nice to meet you," Molly said with a nervous grin before she hugged me. "Are you feeling better?" She asked me and I nodded, patting her arm. She was always worried about everyone else.

"Much, thanks. Which calls for a girl's day out. Anthea got us reservations for lunch and then I am thinking shopping," I told the girls as Allen looked back at us in the 'What have I gotten myself into?' sort of way.

"That's sounds great! I haven't gotten to go shopping in forever," Molly gushed as Anthea nodded in agreement.

"I hear you. All I ever seem to do is work," Anthea groaned before she looked at me. "And I don't think you've had a day off from cases in a while," She pointed out and come to think about it she was right. I shrugged at her and grinned fondly as I remembered the look Sherlock got on his face while at a crime scene or thinking.

"Eh, I don't mind, I actually enjoy it," I told them the girls as they both looked at me with raised eyebrows. Okay, maybe introducing Anthea to Molly wasn't a good idea. "Okay yeah, we run around a lot and hardly sleep, but I need cases as much as Sherlock does," I told them, shaking my head.

"How is Sherlock?" Molly asked me, biting her lip and I knew she was trying to be subtle about it, but she really wanted to know.

"Happy as cucumber. John and him went off to Bristol to follow a lead that came in this morning which makes for one happy consulting detective. Part of me not wanting to go with them is because I didn't want to sit in a car with them for that long. I kind of wish I knew how it was going," I told Molly with a grin. I could just imagine Sherlock complaining because of the long ride and John about ready to murder him as he complained he was bored every two minutes or that everyone was idiots and not going quickly enough for his liking.

"I'll see if I can find any footage later," Anthea told me evilly as we arrived at the restaurant for lunch. Molly shook her head at the both of us, but even sweet, innocent little Molly couldn't help but grin.

The girls and I enjoyed a lovely lunch together and we talked about work over wine. Dinking at lunch time was a good way to start an afternoon. After lunch the girl's and I went shopping. Shopping was something that could take ages with us. We tried on clothes, complained about how they looked, and then we ended up buying them anyway. While Anthea and Molly were in one shoe store I had slipped into the hair salon next door. I had all my hair cut up an inch so that the bit of my hair that had been cut by our assassin friend blended into the rest of my hair again. I wouldn't let them cut any more than that. As it was I felt slightly sad seeing the copper locks on the floor. I ended up buying a pair of boots that were better for running about London and a few jumpers since winter was slowly coming. It was heading into summer and soon it would be fall and while we had a slight heat spell come through in the last few days or so, the weather was growing steadily colder again. It was always technically chilly in London, unless you were used to the cold. I couldn't help myself from buying a light blue and navy striped jumper for John. I also picked up some more music sheets for Sherlock and some brand new test tubes. We dropped Molly back at her flat first and then Anthea had Allen drive her back to the office, leaving me with the car so I could make a quick run to Tesco's. When I finally got inside the flat and got all the food put away I was finally able to appreciate the fact that the flat was clean.

The dishes were clean and put away, the kitchen had been cleaned, up and the living room didn't look like a crime scene any more. I sighed and smiled as I looked around the place which had even been dusted before I unpacked everything I bought. I left Sherlock's new test tubes with his chemistry equipment and his music sheets on his music stand. I left John's new jumper on his bed and just as I was putting my new clothes away my phone rang. It was the lab with the DNA results from Guthrie's flat. The results were not what I was expecting. I checked my phone to see if I had missed any calls or texts from Sherlock or John and I hadn't which could either mean that everything was going good or one of them had killed the other. I curled up in Sherlock's chair with a book and waited for the boys to come home. The sound of the door banging open downstairs alerted me to the boys return and I marked my page in my book as they stomped up the stairs. Two sets of footsteps, I thought with a grin, apparently they had gotten along well enough without me. Sherlock and John walked into the living room and started pulling of their jackets as I stood and moved towards the kitchen to make them tea.

"Oh, good, you're back," I said as Sherlock and John both fell into their chairs and Sherlock adopted his prayer pose. John looked round at me tiredly and waved slightly as I started pulling mugs down from the cupboard as I waited for the kettle to boil. "How did it go?" I asked them as I turned back to find Sherlock staring at me.

"The flat's been cleaned," Sherlock said as he looked around. "And your hair is an inch shorter than before and you are wearing a dress," Sherlock commented as I popped the tea bags into the mugs. I looked back at him and grinned as John also took a look round the flat.

"Ten out of ten for observation," I told him as I added the hot water to our mugs. "I met Molly and Anthea for lunch and did a bit of shopping," I told them as I fixed their tea. Sherlock and John shared a look and I saw John smirk slightly as I brought them their tea before sitting on the edge of Sherlock's chair. "So, what did you find out?" I asked them again now that the obvious had been stated.

"Alex Wilson has been dead for the last few days. He wasn't the one to kill Guthrie," Sherlock told me before he took a sip of his tea. He looked down at his mug before seeming to sigh slightly and relax into his chair. It was as much as Sherlock ever relaxed.

"Well, we got the preliminary DNA results back from Justin Guthrie's apartment. The DNA does not match Jeremy Lopez's nor does it match Alex Wilson's. It belongs to an Army chaplain by the name of Audrey Higuerra," I told John and Sherlock and Sherlock's head immediately snapped up to me.

"What's her connection to the jury?" Sherlock asked me and I shrugged before I took a sip of my tea.

"That's just the thing, as far as we know right now, she doesn't have one," I told him and he frowned at me. I had done some digging after getting the results back, apparently Higuerra didn't have a connection to the jury right now which meant that we were at a standstill again in the case. My phone trilled and I got up to retrieve it, reading the text I was sent. John and Sherlock both watched me with interest as I looked up at them from my phone. "That was Gregson. They're heading over to Higuerra's flat now to pick her up. He texted me the address if we want to come along," I told them and Sherlock immediately sprang to his feet.

"Come along John," Sherlock said as he started to pull his jacket back on after setting his tea down on the coffee table. The game is on!" Sherlock continued as I set my tea down and let him bundle me into my coat. John sighed heavily before he heaved himself out of his chair, setting his tea down like we had and pulling on his coat.

The three of us headed out of the flat and I shook my head behind the boys. It would appear that every calm moment couldn't last long. We were back to running around to solve this case. Other might not be able to handle it but the three of us loved the thrill of it. I knew that no matter how tired John seemed he loved doing this too. The cabbie couldn't move fast enough as we rode across the city. We meet Gregson and his team down the rode a ways from Higuerra's flat were everyone was talking and making sure they were on the same page. John, Sherlock, and I stood a little ways apart from them. Sherlock had his hand on the small of my back and I couldn't help the grin that made its way onto my face. I knew with the revelation about my feelings for Sherlock that things could be difficult. Sherlock was married to his work, he had said it himself at the same time he said that dating, "wasn't his area." I wasn't stupid. I knew Sherlock wasn't magically going to change or fall in love with me. I didn't believe in fairy tales any more, but I had noticed that we had grown closer. I wasn't going to read into it. Right now I was happy to just be friends with him. If that was all I could ever be to him that would suffice.

"Seems rather noble, this Audrey Higuerra, doesn't she?" Sherlock asked us before continuing without giving us time to respond. "Very noble indeed. I don't like her," Sherlock said and I snorted, looking up at him and rolling my eyes at him fondly.

"Is that because she's a chaplain or because she has a "Habitat For Humanity" sticker in her window?" John asked Sherlock sarcastically, pointing up to the second floor where her flat was where there was in fact a "Habitat For Humanity" sticker in her window.

"I don't like her because she doesn't fit. It was a beautiful theory, not a hair out of place," Sherlock told John and he made a face as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. "The first robbery, the team of jurors-turned-criminals who turned on each other like a pack of rabid dogs. But this Audrey Higuerra- she doesn't have any connection to these people. She doesn't fit anywhere," Sherlock growled and I patted him on the arm comfortingly.

"Well, we found her blood in Justin Guthrie's apartment. And someone once said once you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, is the truth," John said smugly and I shook my head at him as Sherlock huffed impatiently.

"Sounds like a windbag," Sherlock snapped and John and I both hid our smiles and our laughter with coughing. Unfortunately my coughing actually turned into a coughing fit. John patted me on the back until the coughing subsided and I looked up at him in thanks as I sniffled slightly. We headed over to Gregson and were told to stay in the back as the team knocked on the door. The landlady, who reminded me of Mrs. Hudson, let us in and stood back, tittering as the men thundered up the stairs and banged on the door of Higuerra's flat. When we got no answer her landlady gave us the spare key to the flat and let us inside before Gregson had one of the team go downstairs to her flat and ask her a few questions about Higuerra.

Looking around her flat there was nothing to suggest that she was a cold blooded killer. Sherlock seemed to realize the same thing I did. "I don't see anything here that supports the idea that she was a murderer. Quite the opposite. If I could attribute three miracles to her, I would nominate her for sainthood," Sherlock said with a disgusted face. I looked back at him and shook my head.

"Everyone has their own reasons to be nominated. Looks like she's got the caring for the sick part down though. She nursed her sister through cancer. Be careful, you might qualify," I told Sherlock with a laugh when he shot a glare my way as I referenced the fact that he had been making me tea while I was sick.

"So, not only is Audrey Higuerra not to be found in her own home, she's not even in the country. We just found her calendar. Turns out, she was deployed to Kabul a couple weeks ago," Gregson said as he walked back into the living room where Sherlock and I were looking through her books and various papers.

"That can't be. We just found a fresh blood sample, hers, in Justin Guthrie's apartment yesterday," John said as he looked up at Gregson in surprise as he put down the stack of mail he was looking through. Curiouser and curiouser. This case got more and more interesting as it progressed.

"We're waiting on the Army to confirm that she's posted overseas, but, I mean, look around. Does it look like anyone's been here recently?" Gregson asked us as John suddenly frowned. I had seen that face before and it was one I encouraged. It was the sort of face I got when I was on to something.

"Can I take back everything I said about eliminating the impossible?" John asked Sherlock and I as he strode across the living room and suddenly picked up something off the table, holding it up. It was a green ribbon that I recognized was given to bone marrow donors.

"What are you thinking John?" I asked the army doctor as Sherlock and I shared a look before eying him curiously.

"Audrey Higuerra's sister died of leukaemia. And then once she was gone, Audrey did everything she could to help people with the same disease. I used to see these all the time. They give them to bone marrow donors," John said, holding up the ribbon. I grinned at him for his brilliance.

"I think you may be right about this John. In fact I am certain you are," I told John who grinned at me proudly. I turned to Gregson who was staring at us in confusion. "Do you still have a police detail following Jeremy Lopez?" I asked him and he looked at me for a long moment before shaking his head.

"We called it off when the DNA results came back," He told me and I looked at Sherlock quickly. He had been right. It was Lopez only it didn't look like it at first. Lopez was smart though, I'll give him that, but in the end no one could really hide from us.

"You need to find him, bring him in immediately," Sherlock told Gregson who nodded before he yelled at his men to go and find Lopez and bring him into the Yard.

"Very good work John," I told the army doctor with a grin. John beamed at the praise which I knew he needed. I knew the meeting with his Mum and Harry, while it went better than he expected it too, had still been difficult for him.

The next hour passed very quickly. Sherlock, John, and I followed Gregson in a cab back to the Yard. I got a text from Mycroft which basically told me to stop stealing Anthea when she was supposed to be working. Gregson called me next and passed on the information that one of the dispatchers already found Lopez and was bringing him in. The four of us arrived at the Yard and we waited until Lopez was brought in. During that time Sherlock and I shared our deductions with Gregson to fill him in and John and I explained what we knew. It looked like this case would be wrapped up tonight which would mean we would have some time to rest before our next case which I was thankful for. I had noticed that Sherlock's eyes looked a little read and his voice was slightly more gravelly than normal but he looked alright. I passed it off as just being because of the weather change. That or he was allergic to something that was blooming. Once we were ready the four of us filed into the room where Lopez was waiting for us.

"I don't know why I'm back here. I already gave you people my DNA," Lopez said huffily as I stood next to Sherlock with my arms crossed. John standing next to me in his military stance. The boys were just being protective of me since we didn't know how this would play out as Lopez had already pushed Gunthrie out of a window. He didn't seem like a violent man, but then again we had more than a few surprises with this case already.

"Yeah, we had a little problem with that," Gregson told him, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Something went wrong with one of the swabs. If it's not too much trouble, we'd like to get a blood sample. It's a cleaner read," Gregson told him and Lopez looked back at us in exasperation.

"I've already been very helpful. Generous, even. But, honestly, I don't like needles. I don't see why I should," Lopez told us and Sherlock's face lit up in a grin that did not bode well for the person it was directed towards.

"Ah there they are," Sherlock said as he gestured to Lopez, ignoring him while he made the show of talking to me. "The evasions and rhetorical curlicues of a man with something to hide," Sherlock continued as Lopez looked up at Sherlock and frowned.

"I don't have anything to hide," Lopez said as Sherlock raised an eyebrow at me, my cue to pick up. Gregson had surprisingly agreed with Sherlock when Sherlock told him he wanted me to talk to Lopez. I didn't have anything against it. I sighed and nodded slightly at Sherlock before looking back at Lopez.

"You had leukaemia; is that correct, Jeremy?" I asked Lopez and he looked up at me in surprise as it was the first time I spoke directly to him. I stared at him, making eye contact and he looked away from me. It was a fact that people couldn't look you in the eyes if they were lying.

"Yeah. Five years ago. I'm better now," Lopez said with a grin as he knocked on the table. Superstitions. Sherlock rolled his eyes and I told him to behave with my eyes.

"Good, that's good to hear," I told Lopez with a smile before my smile faded. "And you're better because of a bone marrow transplant, right?" I continued and Lopez nodded. "Did you know that one of the side effects of a bone marrow transplant is that your body begins to manufacture cells that bear the DNA of your donor?" I asked Lopez raising one eyebrow. It was very fascinating and John and I had both talked from the medical standpoint to explain it to Sherlock and Gregson. "And bone marrow manufactures blood. So you know that every recipient of a transplant walks around with the DNA of their donor coursing through their veins. But the DNA in your skin, your hair, your saliva, that's all your own. The blood that we found at Justin Guthrie's apartment, it bears the DNA of Audrey Higuerra, but it came from your body. You knew that you could give us a saliva sample, because the DNA wouldn't match the blood that we found at the crime scene," I finished with a smug smile as Sherlock looked down at me with a smirk.

"I cannot believe that you are dragging my illness into this," Lopez said, glaring at me. John shifted next to me drawing attention to himself and pulling it away from me. I looked at John and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me and huffed slightly.

"You stole £40 million, and then you murdered two people," John accused him, looking away from me and Lopez shook his head in exasperation before he stood up from his seat. There came the second mechanism, the storming out and trying to draw attention away from the accusation.

"I'm leaving. Don't call me. Don't expect me to cooperate," Lopez told us as he moved towards the door which was when Gregson stepped forward. He really couldn't think he would get away that easily. Obviously he had never heard of Sherlock or me before.

"Oh, we don't need your cooperation," Gregson told Lopez and Lopez looked back at him as Gregson opened the file he had on the table and pushed it towards Lopez.

"What's that?" Lopez asked us as he walked back over to the table so he could look at what Gregson had pushed towards him.

"Court order. Compels you to give us a blood sample," Gregson told Lopez before he looked at me and nodded with a slight smile. This wasn't the first time we had done the same thing to a suspect together. See, when you made it seem like they had a choice you often got to see how defensive they got about it. Someone who was truly innocent would want to prove he was innocent in any way possible. The guilty often were the first to make excuses.

"We seem to have neglected to mention that we had that when we first came in," Sherlock said and I looked up at him with a grin. Lopez threw us a look and I nodded at Sherlock.

"Yeah, I think we did," I told Sherlock and he smirked at me as John hid his own smile.

"Well, we just didn't want to deny ourselves the pleasure of watching you squirm," Sherlock told Lopez who glared at the both of us. "You give us enough to arrest Amelie Widomski for her part in the robbery, and who knows? Maybe a parole board will see you before you're dead," Sherlock offered him.

We wrapped up the case with Gregson. After proving that Lopez wasn't going to get out of this, he started talking, a lot. Gregson thanked us for our help, not only for solving a murder, but also the case of Le Chevalier and figuring out who the thieves were in the case of the Leviathan. John, Sherlock, and I had done what we always do after a case after that, we went to Angelo's. We laughed over food, Sherlock finally eating as I drank my Sangria. John got the best news of the night however. He got a call from his mother during dinner and his mother had apologized to him. She told him how she never really understood what he did, but I had made her realize just how important his job actually was. I grinned back at my boys meeting Sherlock's eye as he laughed over something I had just said and we held each other's gaze for a few seconds. Maybe, I thought. Maybe we could be something one day. I wasn't saying now, I wasn't saying definitely, but maybe one day we could be more than just friends.

"You were the one who figured out Audrey Higuerra was a bone marrow donor," I told John as I drank my Sangria, pointing at him as we talked over the remnants of dinner. John chuckled at me and shrugged.

"There was no genius who independently cracked The Leviathan. It was a question of copying the original team," Sherlock remarked as he sat back in his chair and John snorted at him as he looked between the both of us.

"So that means you still might be the smartest people in the world," John told us, raising his wine glass before he took a sip. The three of us had drank a little bit more than normal. I don't care what people say, wine can really knock you on your ass. Sherlock had drank less than the both of us, but even he had a slight rosy tint to his normally pale cheeks.

"I would never suggest that," I told John and he raised an eyebrow at me as I grinned back at him and Sherlock.

"Really?" John scoffed at me. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard you say anything remotely modest," John told me and I stuck my tongue out at him. Yeah sure, I wasn't always modest, but when you were right most of the time it was hard to be.

"It's not modesty," I told John as I picked up my Sangria. "There's just no reliable way to test the hypothesis," I finished and both of the boys laughed as I drank the rest of my wine.

"Back to the flat?" John asked me as Angelo came back with Sherlock's card. As much as Angelo told us that the food was on the house, Sherlock had insisted that Angelo let him pay for dinner.

"Not quiet. Can we make one stop?" I asked the boys and Sherlock raised an eyebrow at me curiously as John nodded. We got a cab after leaving Angelo's and I had it bring us over to the Svalbard Diamond Exchange, answering Sherlock's earlier curiosity. Thankful Greenstick was still in and I managed to get him to let us see the vault. I assured him that it would only take a few minutes.

I pulled my tools out of my case bag and knelt in front of the vault as John and Sherlock stood behind me with Green Stick. I didn't have to do this, but I felt the need to. I used the algorithm to attack the random number generator and within a few minutes the vault flashed green which proved that it worked. Of course, the vault couldn't open without the key, but I really didn't need it to open to prove I had done it. I stood up and wiped my hands together as Green Stick spluttered behind me. I turned around to find John and Sherlock looking at me with raised eyebrows.

"Still got it," I told them as I walked past them and patted Green Stick on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll contact Casterly Rock Security. I'm sure they'll be by in a few days to improve the safe for you," I told him before I looked back at my boys. "Coming?" I asked them and they both nodded before following me outside. When we were in another cab heading back to Baker Street John finally asked me the question he seemed to have been waiting to ask me.

"Did you really need to do that?" John asked me as I snuggled into Sherlock's side, the detective looking down at me with interest. I was reluctant to move much as I was comfortable.

"Not exactly, but I do like proving a theory. Besides now I can make recommendations to Casterly Rock Security on how they can improve the Leviathan. I am nothing if not helpful," I told John with a shrug as I blinked back at him lazily.

"I can see why Mycroft classified you as a threat," John chuckled and Sherlock joined in, the sound rumbling low in his chest.

"I'm a girl of many talents, what can I say," I told John, giggling. "That and my friends are not always that law conscious," I told him as we got back to Baker Street. We made it up to the flat and Sherlock helped me out of my coat and hung it up behind the door with his and John's. I walked over to the telly and turned it on, flipping on the news. "John," I called and he looked up as I pointed to the telly where the news story was now airing, just on time.

"The police are puzzled by the sudden and unexplained return of Vincent Van Gogh's masterpiece, Pietà. It was delivered by courier to the head of the British Museum and will be sent on to the Van Gogh Museum to join his other masterpieces. Scotland Yard is speculating that the thief must have been suffering from a guilty conscience, but the exact motive for the return remains a mystery," The reporter on the news said as I turned to the boys who both looked up where the Pieta used to be hanging.

"I returned it today while I was out with the girls," I told the both of them as I sank into Sherlock's chair. "Of course the police will never figure out that the courier was me. The Pieta will be going back to where it belongs," I told John and he shook his head at me before heading upstairs to change.

Sherlock fell down onto the couch after taking his suit jacket off and he curled up into a ball and sat that way. I smiled at him fondly as John came back down stairs, holding up the jumper I had gotten him. "Did you get this for me?" John asked me and I laughed at that.

"Unless you see Sherlock buying something like that yes. Gives me another jumper I could steal at some point," I told John and he shook his head at me in exasperation before heading back up stairs.

I curled up with my book and John came back down to join us, sitting in his chair on his laptop. He was the first to go to bed, leaving Sherlock and I alone together. I looked up when I heard a sound coming from the couch and I frowned as I heard it again. It sounded like sniffling. I closed my book and got up, crossing over the living room. "Sherlock?" I asked the consulting detective who only curled up tighter on himself. "Love?" I tried again as I moved over to the couch and put my hand on Sherlock's shoulder. He curled in on himself tighter still and I sat on the arm of the couch. "Sherlock sweetie," I said and Sherlock finally turned over. His eyes were red as was his nose and I realized that the sniffling sound was coming from him. "Aww honey, why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well?" I asked him as I raised my hand to his forehead. He was slightly warm. Sherlock rolled his eyes at me, obviously feeling too unwell for his usually quips. That was when Sherlock coughed and it wouldn't be the first one that night. Mrs. Hudson walked up to the flat late that night to find Sherlock and Lexi fast asleep on the couch, the detectives head in Lexi's lap, both with sleepy smiles on their faces. Even if they couldn't see it, everyone else could.


Amortentia and Prior Incantantium Teaser:

A faint pop broke the silence that had fallen over the quiet lane as a woman, well I, appeared at the end of it out of thin air. To anyone that wasn't a witch or a wizard this might appear very odd. Of course, Muggles weren't supposed to even know about magic so we didn't tend to apparate anywhere where a Muggle could see us in the first place. I walked up the quiet lane that lead out of the small village of Hogsmead and up towards the old castle. It had been a little while since I had been back to the castle. I never actually went to Hogwarts myself, at least not technically, it was out for debate but that was a very long story and one I didn't often like to look back on. I sighed to myself as I wrapped my bottle green cloak closer around myself, the hood of my cloak falling back slightly over my deep blood red hair. When I reached the gates of the castle I slipped my wand out of the inside of my coat and held it up to the gates, giving my wand a little flourish. The gates vibrated for a second as they tested my magical signature before they swung open for me.

I walked through the gates, grateful that I didn't have to send ahead for someone to collect me. It would have been slightly…uncomfortable since I only knew one person in the castle. I didn't want to explain who I was at the current moment. Once inside the gates of the castle they closed behind me and I started the long walk across the grounds up to the castle. I looked across to the Black Lake and saw the tentacles of the giant squid I had been reminded about. When I made it to the doors of the castle I raised my wand again and after a second the doors opened for me like before. I stowed my wand into my robes again and walked into the Entrance Hall. My boots clicked across the marble floors as I made my way over to the doors of the Great Hall through which I could hear the sounds of clinking dinnerware and the slightly muffled sound of people talking. I stood in front of the doors and took a deep breath. Through those doors was an entirely different life than I was used to. There was no going back and no running once I walked through them. This was when I needed to prove to myself and others that I could do this, that I wasn't some fragile child despite my young age. I knew that the other Professors might look down upon me but I had to hold fierce and strengthen my resolve. I nodded once to myself before I held my hands to both of the doors and pushed them open.

I walked right into the hall, a very dramatic entrance unfortunately and suddenly the roar of people talking turned into a deafening hush. The silence was more frightening than the stream of voices. I brought my hands to the sides of my cloak and gripped the edges of it. I kept my eyes level and swept my gaze over the Great Hall, taking in the faces of the younger and older students who were all staring back at me. My heart twinged slightly as I caught sight of several red headed boys at the table sporting red and gold as its colours. My eyes finally fell on a young boy with messy black hair and familiar green eyes. He wore glasses and even from my current distance I could see the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He stared back at me curiously for a moment before I pulled my eyes away from him and looked up at the long table where the Professors sat. I met the old blue eyes of a man I certainly knew and I could see the twinkle in them as his gaze fell upon me. I smiled at him and started walking down the path amongst the two middle tables. As I walked, the hood of my cloak fell back, revealing the rest of my face. Dumbledore, the headmaster of the school, rose from his chair as I walked towards the staff table.

I felt eyes on me, a certain type of gaze and I slid my eyes over slightly to meet a pair of coal black eyes. They belonged to a man who looked equally as dark. He had a rather large hook nose and wore robes of black. His hair fell to his shoulders and possessed a slightly shiny quality. He was sneering, or at least I perceived it as sneering, at me. I quirked my eyebrow slightly at him before I looked back at Dumbledore, ignoring the man for the present. I smiled at the older man again as I walked around the staff table, sweeping past the man who seemed rather unpleasant if his countenance was anything to go by. Dumbledore enveloped me in a hug and I kissed his old weathered cheek, the old man smiling at me with an almost bashful expression upon his serene face.

"My dear, I had begun to think you had lost your way," Dumbledore told me and I laughed brightly at that, the sound like bells.

"I remember my way well enough as you should rightly know. I apologize. My meeting didn't go as I had planned," I told Dumbledore and he sighed heavily at that. We both had been hoping for a rather different outcome.

"Alas," Dumbledore told me and I nodded at him before he gesture to the chair just beside him which was seated right next to the man in black. "But you made it in time for some treacle my dear," Dumbledore told me and I grinned at him before I reached up and undid the silver fastenings of my coat. I took it off and folded it over the top of my chair, revealing a dress made of various shades of green, light and dark, with a black corset bodice and laced up sleeves.

"Oh do just get on with it," I told Dumbledore as I sat down, ignoring the man next to me as Dumbledore chuckled lightly. I sighed and looked out amongst the sea of students who were watching me closely with much interest as some of them mutter amongst themselves.

"Students," Dumbledore called as he turned to the hall. "And Professors," He added as he threw a look down both ends of the staff table. "I would like to introduce one of the newest members of the Hogwarts staff," Dumbledore continued and stole a look out of the corner of my eye to find the dark one as I had begun to call him in my mind, looking me over critically. If anything I sat just a little straighter in my seat. "She would prefer to be known only by her first name. I wish you all to welcome Professor Amaryllis," Dumbledore said and I tried to hide my grimace as the entire hall started clapping for me. I hate formalities and well, introductions. I was quiet and preferred to keep to myself. "Settle down," Dumbledore said after a moment. "Professor Amaryllis will be providing help to the other professors of Hogwarts so expect to see her amongst your classes," Dumbledore said before he gestured to the tables as they filled with a large amount of deserts. "And now, dessert!" Dumbledore said as he sat down again and I reached for my goblet as it filled with a deep red wine.

"I really wish you hadn't had to do that," I told Dumbledore quietly and he patted my hand in comfort.

"Alas my dear. Sometimes we must do what seems to be frightening at first in order to prevail," Dumbledore told me.


Oh, it's far longer than that but, all you get for now. *grins* Hope you liked just that little taste of it.