"Lexi!?" John called out from the bottom of the well in relief.
"Hang in there! I'm coming down," Lexi told him as she tested the anchor that the rope was attached to. "Just hold yourself up. Looks like that will hold," Lexi said as she pulled her long sleeve shirt over her head and dropped it next to the well.
"What are you doing?!" John asked, shocked as Lexi stood above him in just her bra, already stripping of her sweatpants.
"Well, I don't fancy being cold and wet in the middle of nowhere. Get over it, you're a doctor," Lexi told him with a snort before she turned on a second flashlight. "Catch this," She told John who held his hands up high and caught the torch as she dropped it down to him.
"Yeah, but…," John said as Lexi started to lower herself over the edge of the well in just her bra and underwear. John was shocked once more, seeing the many scars all over her body, starburst scars with gnarled scar tissue and pink and puff scars from knife wounds.
"But nothing," Lexi told him as she looked down, grabbing onto the rope. "Try and make some room for me down there," She added as she began climbing down to him. She swore as she lowered herself down into the cold well water. "God, it's freezing," She said, shivering slightly. As she was taller than John, she had an easy time of keeping her head above water. "I'm going to unlock the chains from around your ankles. Might take a few tries," She told him with a determined look on her face.
"Be careful of the bones," John warned her, and she nodded.
"I know. That's why I am doing this, not Sherlock. He couldn't bare it. They belonged to a young boy, Victor Trevor. He was Sherlock's best friend, Redbeard," Lexi explained to John whose eyes widened in shock.
"Christ," John said, and Lexi nodded grimly. "How is he taking it?"
"He's devastated, but he'll pull through," Lexi told him before she began fiddling with the key that Eurus had given up to her with gentle prodding. "Alright, let's give it a go," Lexi told him, taking a deep breath and then sinking down into the water.
It took a few tries since she had to come up for breath twice, but finally the padlock opened, and she managed to remove the chains that were holding John down. She came up gasping for air, her wet hair plastered to her face as John kicked his ankles free.
"Thank you," John told the detective and she smiled at him, still shivering.
"Thank me again when we are out of the well," Lexi told him before she directed John to start climbing. As soon as John made it, grunting and swearing to the top, he had Lexi just tie the rope around herself and he pulled her to the top.
"Best get you warm," He told her as she hurried to put her dry clothes on.
"I'll be fine," Lexi assured him. In the distance, police sirens reached their ears along with the sound of a helicopter's rotors. "Joanna and Mary," Lexi told John and the two ran for the house where Sherlock was waiting with Eurus.
Sherlock and Lexi assured Eurus many times that she would be safe and that no one was going to hurt her. Lexi also told her that she never was going to be alone again, Sherlock and Lexi would ensure that, and she didn't fight when she was led away from the house by two police officers, still tearful. Police cars and vans were parked all around and the helicopter's rotors came from nearby. Some distance away, Sherlock and Lexi watched Eurus go, John standing beside them, both he and Lexi wrapped in a grey blanket. Greg walked over to the three of them then.
"I just spoke to your brother," Lestrade told Sherlock as another police car pulled up to the scene.
"How is he?" Sherlock asked as the trio turned to him.
"He's a bit shaken up, that's all. She didn't hurt him; she just locked him in her old cell. Joanna is with him now, so he calmed down a bit," Lestrade assured them and Lexi sighed in relief.
"What goes around comes around," John said, and Sherlock hummed in agreement.
"Yeah. Give me a moment," Lestrade told them and he started to walk past them but turned back when Sherlock spoke quietly.
"Oh, um. Mycroft – make sure he's looked after. He's not as strong as he thinks he is," Sherlock told Lestrade and Lexi leaned her head against Sherlock's arm, tired.
"Yeah, I'll take care of it," Lestrade assured him, nodding and he turned to walk away again.
"Thanks, Greg," Sherlock told him and John, who had been huddling into his blanket, lifted his head and Greg turned back again and looked at him in surprise before walking away.
"John!" Mary called, getting out of the newly arrive police car, carrying the twins on either hip.
"Mary!" John called back in relief, the blanket falling from his shoulders as he raced over to her, checking her over for injury.
"Don't worry about me, I'm perfectly alright," Mary assured him as the two consulting detectives raced over to their children. Sherlock reached for his daughter and Lexi for her son and Mary carefully handed them over, the two detectives cuddling them close. "They've both been checked over. They're right as rain," Mary told the two detectives.
"Thank you, Mary," Sherlock said as he bounced his daughter up and down.
"What would we do without you?" Lexi asked as she breathed in the scent of her son.
"You don't have to find out," Mary told the detectives with a smile. The four of them turned to watch as Eurus was loaded into a reinforced cell inside one of the police vans. She sat on a side bench as a police officer closed the door.
"The helicopter ready?" Lestrade asked a nearby male police officer who hummed in response. "Let's move her, then," Lestrade told him and the officer nodded in the detectives' direction.
"Is that them, sir? Sherlock and Lexi Holmes?" The officer asked and Greg looked back to where Sherlock and Lexi had turned to face John and Mary, who looked round at him.
"Fan, are you?" Lestrade asked with his eyebrow slightly raised.
"Well, he's a great man, sir. And she's a great woman," The officer told Lestrade and Lestrade shook his head slightly.
"No, they're better than that," Lestrade told the officer and he looked towards Sherlock and Lexi for a moment. "They're good ones," He said and the two officers looked towards the four of them for a little longer, then turned and walked away.
"You okay?" John asked the two detectives quietly, Lexi frowning deeply.
"We said we'd bring her home. We can't, can we?" Sherlock answered him quietly and thoughtfully.
"Well, you gave her what she was looking for: context," John told the two detectives and Lexi looked up at her husband.
"Is that good?" Sherlock asked John, confused.
"It's not good, it's not bad. It's ..." John said, and he looked away and screwed up his face, searching for the right words, then turned back to his friends. "It is what it is," John finished, and Lexi shook her head.
"Well, I for one am not going to let her live the rest of her life locked up in some cell with no privacy and no human contact. No matter what Eurus has done, she is still human," Lexi told them, and Sherlock looked at his wife fondly.
"Let's go home," Sherlock told her, and Lexi smiled back at her.
"Home," She agreed and the four of them headed over to a police car to bump a ride off of them.
Sherlock and Lexi returned to London and sadly, their flat was much more destroyed then they could ever imagine. They were surprised when Mycroft invited them to stay with him and Joanna, rather than try to find new lodging as their flat at Baker Street was restored. It was tense, the two brothers fighting much to their wives' dismay. News of Caradoc reached them the day after their return to London. Eurus had apparently grown tired of him and she had shot him through the head and left his body in a cell in Sherrinford.
Lexi was unsure how she felt about the news. On one hand, she never would have to worry about him coming after her again and on the other hand, she knew that this would be difficult. Being the better person, Lexi and Sherlock traveled to Ireland so that Lexi could break the news to Breccan MacKenna in person. They took the twins with them, Sherlock wanting to take them where their mum was born and also because Lexi wanted them to meet their two uncles, Thomas and Darrin.
Though Lexi had not seen Thomas, her adopted brother, since she had last been in Ireland before her and Sherlock's Fall, she often spoke to them on the phone. Thomas had offered up the house he had inherited from Alistair and Lexi was more than happy to stay with them. When they finally arrived, Lexi sighed happy, making Sherlock smile at his wife. He knocked on the door and within a few seconds, a bright and cheerful Darrin answered the door.
"Lexi, Sherlock, come in, come in," Darrin told them, ushering them both into the house. "These must be your wee ones," He said as he smiled at the twins who each were in a carrier attached to Lexi and Sherlock's fronts.
"This is Hamish," Lexi said, as she pulled Hamish free of the carrier.
"And Hanna," Sherlock added, doing the same as Thomas joined them in the entrance.
"There you are," Thomas said, hugging his sister and kissing her cheek before giving Sherlock a sidelong hug as well. "We're so glad you came out to see us," He added as Lexi grinned, not able to stop herself.
"Well, we had to introduce Hamish and Hanna to their uncles," Lexi told them as she and Sherlock took off their coats, Darrin whisking them away.
"They have plenty of them to be sure. How's John?" Darrin asked when he returned.
"Married now actually," Sherlock told him as they were led into the sitting room, Thomas taking their bags and putting them near the stairs.
"Oh aye?" Thomas asked and Lexi nodded.
"And he has a daughter, Rosie," She told her brother and he smiled back at her as they sat down, Darrin running off to the kitchen to make them tea as they settled down, taking off the baby carriers and laying them to the side.
"How did he take everything with you and Sherlock faking your deaths?' Thomas asked and Sherlock and Lexi grimaced.
"Not well, understandably," Sherlock answered him and Lexi hummed in agreement.
"We worked it out in the end though," Lexi added as Darrin came back with the tea set and began serving. "Where's Bayard?" Lexi asked, looking around for the hound and Thomas looked at her sympathetically.
"He died back a month ago. I never got to tell you because you were too busy to call. He lived a good old life though," Thomas informed her, and Lexi pushed back tears, after all Thomas was right, Bayard had lived a good long life. The conversation took a different turn after that and Thomas and Darrin looked at one another and then back to the detectives.
"Darrin and I wanted to share something with you both actually," Thomas began, and he chuckled when Lexi and Sherlock raised a brow at the same time, their expressions identical. "You should see yourselves sometimes, bit scary how alike you are," He said before Darrin pipped up.
"As you know, Thomas and I got married back when you two were supposedly dead. We decided it's been long enough so we're adopting," Darrin explained to the two detectives and Lexi pointed at her brother, gleeful.
"I knew it!" She exclaimed happily.
"Was it my left thumb?" Thomas asked her with a chuckle and Lexi shook her head.
"No, it was how you looked at Hamish and Hanna. Sherlock makes the same face, contentment," Lexi told her brother and Sherlock smiled at his wife fondly.
"Congratulations. Everyone should experience parenthood at one time or another," Sherlock told the two men as he bounced his bounced his daughter a little as she gurgled happily. The twins were now six months old and the most precious things to Sherlock beside his wife and his friendship with john.
"Aye, parenthood seems to suit you both," Darrin told them standing and walking over to Lexi to give her a hug and kiss on her cheek. "We'd like you to be godparents. We're just waiting for the rest of the adoption to go through," He added, and Lexi nodded eagerly.
"We'd be honored," She told her brother in law and Sherlock added, "I'll talk with my brother, surely he and Joanna can help move the process along."
"Could you?" Thomas asked surprised. "I know you said he and Joanie were the British Government, but we thought you were only joking.
"I wish we were somedays," Lexi told her brother with a shake of her head. "I'll text Joanna in a little bit, I know she'll do it and happily," She continued and then the four of them sat and caught up with each other for a bit. Later that night as Lexi started heading up for bed, Sherlock already upstairs and checking on the twins, Thomas stopped her.
"Not that I'm not pleased that you four are here, but why exactly did you come here?" Thomas asked his sister quietly and Lexi sighed.
"I wondered when you were going to ask that," Lexi said, and they went to sit in the darkened sitting room. "You remember Caradoc, right? The brother I told you about," Lexi asked, and Thomas answered in the affirmative. "Well, around the time when I met Mycroft, Caradoc had been released from the hospital he was he. He convinced the staff he no longer was a danger to society, but he still was. He tried to come after me again. He never got close to me," Lexi explained, her last words coming out quickly to assure her brother he hadn't hurt her.
"And?" Thomas prompted and Lexi sighed again.
"Mycroft found him and locked him up in a desolate, island fortress called Sherrinford, the same place he had his sister locked up."
"Sherlock has a sister?" Thomas asked Lexi in shock.
"Yes, her name is Eurus. She's mentally unstable. She's done some really bad things and now I am trying to right some wrongs done to her over the last several years. Anyway, Eurus found a way to get out and she took Caradoc with her. He tried to kill me…again. It was when I went into labor, it had been building all night, but John's wife Mary was in danger. I took a bullet meant for her and I ended up giving birth to the twins in an aquarium. I was rushed into surgery while Sherlock took care of the twins and when I was wheeled into a room, Caradoc came in, disguised as a doctor, and tried to suffocate me again. See…apparently he knew I wasn't his sister all along and he hated that fact," Lexi explained, and Thomas frowned in confusion.
"Not his sister?" He asked and Lexi smiled at her brother.
"I didn't even know it either, not until after Alistair died. Sherlock put the pieces together faster than I did," Lexi said, and Thomas looked back at her wide eyed as he finally understood.
"You're his daughter," He whispered, and Lexi nodded in confirmation.
"Apparently he followed my mother to Ireland because he loved her so much. My mother realized that Breecan was abusive after they married so she sought out Alistair. Apparently Breccan and Caradoc always knew the truth. The only thing I don't get is why Alistair didn't just claim me and take me away from all that," Lexi said with a frown as she realized that that question had been on her mind for a long time.
"I think he would have been scared that you would hate him. He loved you so much. He probably thought it was enough to take you away from there when he could, what with Deccan MacKenna looking out for you too," Thomas told her, putting a hand on her arm. "He loved you Lexi, don't ever doubt that."
"I don't. I only wish I would have known he was my father when he was still alive. I thought that last time I saw him that he wanted to say something to me a few times but was holding back," Lexi told Thomas before she leaned into his side and let him hold her. "Sherlock's sister, Eurus, killed Caradoc when she decided to play a game with us. A lot of bad things happened. I thought it was the right thing to do to tell Caradoc in person and make peace with him," Lexi explained, and Thomas nodded.
"You're a good person Lexi, don't ever deny that. Most people would have just written him off," Thomas told her, and she nodded slightly.
"Sherlock agreed to let me go alone. He doesn't scare me anymore. I've done so much more than he could ever dream of," Lexi told her brother as she pulled away from him and then rubbed her eyes.
"Go get some sleep," Thomas told her, and she nodded before smirking.
"As much sleep as two babies allow," She laughed, and Thomas groaned at that.
The next day, Lexi borrowed a car from her brother and headed down the road a little way before she made it to the ancestral home of the MacKenna's. She wasn't sure how Breccan would respond to the news that his only son was dead, but she hoped that he would at least let her talk. She pulled the car up the gravel path and parked the car in the little roundabout. She steeled herself as she got out of the car and walked up to the front door and knocked. She waited a good few minutes before the door was opened by none other than Dougal, her father's butler.
"Mrs. Holmes!" Dougal said in delight as he opened the door wider. "Not that I'm not pleased to see you, lass, but what on earth are you doing here. I would have thought you never would be back after the last time you were here," Dougal told her, and Lexi nodded in agreement.
"I have need to see Lord MacKenna, Dougal. It's rather important," Lexi told him and Dougal looked surprised and a little worried.
"He's in one of his moods today. I think it best if you come back on a different day," He told her, starting to close the door.
"No, I will speak to him today. Dougal, nothing he could ever say or do would frighten me now," Lexi assured the old man who nodded before opening the door and ushering her inside. He took her coat from her and then she followed him to her father's study.
Brecann MacKenna sat behind his desk, a paper opened in front of him and a glass of brandy sitting on the desk in front of him. He whipped the paper down as Dougal opened the door, scowling and he sneered when Lexi walked inside the room. Lexi remained blank faced, glad in some way that she had chosen to wear a nice pencil skirt and blouse rather than her usual jeans and one of Sherlock's shirts. The heels that gave her height meant that Breecan couldn't glare down at her as he usually did when they stood next to one another.
"You," Breccan spat. "What do you want? Has your little act of playing detective gone exactly the way I said it would? Well you won't be getting any money out of me, you worthless waste of space," Breccan angrily told her and Lexi raised an eyebrow at him, unamused.
"Are you done?" Lexi asked and Breccan's face took on the shade of a ripe tomato. "You are going to sit there and hear what I have to say, and you will not interrupt me," Lexi told him firmly as she stepped towards his desk, standing a few paces away from it. "I know I am not your daughter. I know you know this two. Newsflash, whatever my mother did wasn't my fault. I had no part in it, but you on the other hand, what you did in response was your fault. You were an abusive asshole and you were the waste of space. You raised your son to be the same way and look how he turned out, a psychopath. Now, I've come here to talk, civilly. Do you think you can manage that?" Lexi asked her right hip slightly shifted to the side and Breccan seemed to be fighting with himself internally as he seethed at her words before he finally pulled himself up in his chair and offered for Lexi to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Thank you."
"What do you want?" Breecan demanded as Lexi sat down and looked demurely back at him.
"I wanted to come here and tell you in person that your son is dead," Lexi told Breecan her face showing her sympathy.
"You're lying," Breccan said in barely a whisper.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not. There was an incident at the mental facility he was being held in. One of the patients got loose and killed him," Lexi explained to the man calmly and he inhaled loudly.
"I want her to pay for this," Breccan told her, fuming.
"She's already locked up and I refuse to do any more to her. Eurus has had a difficult life and Caradoc was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I saw him you know; I was there. Eurus was um…she had taken over the facility. She can just talk to someone and reprogram them, change who they are. She got the governor and the guards on her side. She almost killed me, my husband, my brother in law and our best friend along with my children. Caradoc was helping her, and the collaboration only went so far. He was…unhinged. All her cared about was killing me and killing anyone who got in his way or that he didn't like. If you don't believe me, I can procure the footage of the incident for you," Lexi told Breecan who shook his head.
"How did he die?" He asked and Lexi stared at him for a moment before answering.
"A bullet to the head. It was quick. He died instantly. I performed the autopsy myself. His body is in a morgue in London at the moment. I have some papers for you to sign so that you can claim his body, and have it brought back to Ireland," Lexi said as she went to rifle through her shoulder bag.
"Keep them. Do whatever you like with his body, turn it to ash. I won't have my family name stained by the likes of him," Breccan told her harshly and Lexi nodded. It was at that moment that the door of the study was pushed in and a little boy, no more than three came running in, followed by a woman, possibly in her thirties. She was blonde, tall, and wore a white dress which clung to her figure. Lexi saw it immediately in the boy, he had the same features as Breccan and the woman was certainly his type.
"No, daddy is busy right now. You know better than to interrupt him while he is working," The woman scolded as she caught the toddler, picking him up as she looked at Breccan, "I'm sorry, I'll watch him better, I promise," She told him before her eyes caught on Lexi. "Oh, I didn't know we had company," She said in surprise and Lexi smiled as she stood from her chair.
"That's alright. I was just leaving actually," Lexi informed her as she gathered herself and the woman looked at her, frowning for a moment before recognition caught in her eyes. "You're Lexi, aren't you. Lexi Holmes?" She asked before she grinned. "I've read all of Dr. Watson's stories. I tell them to Fergus every night. He adores them," She gushed, and she talked lowly to her son. "Look, it's Lexi," She told the boy who clapped his hands as he noticed her.
"Hello there," Lexi said as she waved at the little boy.
"Hat?" He asked with a frown and Lexi nodded.
"I know, no hat," Lexi said before she reached into her bag and pulled it out, securing it on her head.
"Are you here alone? Are you on a case?" The other woman asked, looking between Breccan who was silent and Lexi.
"Not exactly. Lord MacKenna and I are old acquaintances. I was in the area and thought I would drop by," Lexi explained, and the woman looked at her wide eyed.
"Is Sherlock with you? And Doctor Watson?" She asked excitedly and Lexi smiled back at her.
"Sherlock is here, yes, visiting with my brother at the moment. The twins were cranky, so they stayed behind," Lexi told her, and the woman nodded understandingly.
"Do you really bring them to crime scenes?" She asked and Lexi chuckled at that.
"Occasionally when our many babysitters are too busy. In fact, I should go save my husband. Sherlock is amazing with them, but mummy is still their favorite," Lexi told her, and the woman nodded once more.
"It was wonderful meeting you. Shall I walk you out?" She asked and Breccan cleared his throat, rising from his chair.
"No, I will," Breccan told her and she nodded, holding Fergus' hand in hers and waving at Lexi goodbye. Lexi and Breccan walked wordlessly out of the study and too the front door until Brecaan spoke unexpectedly.
"You've done well for yourself, haven't you?" He asked quietly and Lexi stared at him in surprise.
"I guess I have. I'm married, have two beautiful kids and many friends and I do a job I love," Lexi told him and Breccan nodded.
"Dangerous though, no? I saw the news after all, your death," Breccan said and Lexi nodded a bit.
"It has its risks, but Sherlock, John, and I work well together. We always have," Lexi said and Breccan looked thoughtful.
"Seeing you, with Fergus, I realized that despite everything, you grew into a very intelligent young woman and you have succeeded in everything you set your mind to. I once thought you would amount to nothing more than a drug addict, living on the streets," Breccan began and Lexi stared at him utterly shocked. "I was horrible towards you. Partially because of your mother and partially because you were everything I wanted in my own son," Breccan told her and Lexi nodded in understanding.
"I know now I have you to thank for my life. If you hadn't saved me and brought me back, none of this would have been possible," Lexi told him and Breccan scoffed at that.
"I did nothing more than clean up after my son's mistakes once more. I thought if I gave him the best schooling and toughed him up that he would finally change, but it seems that even until the end he was insane. What legacy is that for the MacKenna name? A psychopath for a son and a bastard daughter?" Breccan asked Lexi who put a hand on his shoulder which he looked down at but didn't shove away.
"You have a new chance. Maybe it wasn't the right time to have a family for you. You have another son now, and a wife. Don't make the same mistakes as before. Be open with them and honest and try not to let your anger get the better of you. Children grow up to be amazing people when they are shown love. Lead by example and Fergus will grow up to be an exemplary young man. And, should his mind ever turn to politics, the government, or crime solving, give me a call. I'm sure I could work something out," Lexi told Breccan who sighed a she removed her hand from his shoulder. Lexi moved to put her coat back on but then Breccan stopped her.
"I have several boxes of your old stuff. Would you like them?" Breccan asked and Lexi smiled at him.
"That would be wonderful, thank you," Lexi answered him and Breccan brought down all four boxes and helped Lexi load them into the boot of her car. As they finished, Breccan offered his hand to Lexi and they shook hands.
"I'll keep in mid what you said," Breccan told her and Lexi smiled back at him before she got in her car and drove away, happy that she finally made peace with the man.
Several days after the detectives returned from Ireland, Mrs. And Mr. Holmes were in Mycroft's office at the Diogenes club, meeting with their eldest son and his wife. Mycroft sat behind his desk and his father was sitting on a chair on the other side while Mrs. Holmes stood at the other end of the desk staring in shock at her oldest son. Joanna was pacing about the room, bouncing Armillia in her arms as she watched the proceedings. Lexi and Sherlock stood at the far end of the room leaning against the closed office door each holding one of their twins.
"Alive?! For all these years?" Mrs. Holmes exclaimed, shocked. "How is that even possible?!" She asked Mycroft in disbelief.
"What Uncle Rudy began ..." Mycroft said, hesitating slightly, his eyes lowered "... I thought it best to continue."
"I'm not asking how you did it, idiot boy, I'm asking how could you?" His mother asked him angrily.
"I was trying to be kind," Mycroft answered his mother and he raised his eyes to hers at the end of his sentence.
"Kind?!" Mrs. Holmes gasped in a pained breath. "Kind?" She repeated, becoming tearful as she continued. "You told us that our daughter was dead."
"Better that than tell you what she had become,"' Mycroft shot back, and his mother stared at him wide-eyed. "I'm sorry," Mycroft added, and his father stood up and leaned his hands on the table.
"Whatever she became, whatever she is now, Mycroft ...," His father began before sighing. "... she remains our daughter."
"And my sister," Mycroft told him simply.
"Then you should have done better," Mrs. Holmes told him, and Joanna decided to interject.
"I think my husband did the best that he could. Was it right? Not by any means, but the fact remains that no one could handle Eurus," Joanna said, and Mrs. Holmes started at her. "He did his best, mum," She added, walking over to stand beside her husband.
"Then he's very limited," Mrs. Holmes told her, and Sherlock interjected then.
"He did his best. We cannot begin to ask ourselves what we would have done differently if it was our decision," Sherlock told his mother quietly and Mycroft looked towards his brother, unable to meet his parents' eyes.
"Sherlock is right. Mycroft's decision, while not the best one, was not originally made by him, but Uncle Rudy. He just decided to continue with what was working at the time. We can all agree that it no loner works," Lexi told them, and Mrs. Holmes sighed as she watched her daughter in law before turning back to her eldest son.
"Where is she?" Mrs. Holmes demanded.
"Back in Sherrinford; secure, this time," Mycroft answered her, and he looked at his father. "People have died," Mycroft told them quietly. "Without doubt she will kill again if she has the opportunity. There's no possibility she'll ever be able to leave," Mycroft finished, his parents staring at him.
"However, I have been working with Eurus. I ensured that she wouldn't be treated the same way again. In fact, Joanna and I have been working with Sherrinford to make that possible. Renovations for one," Lexi added and Mrs. And Mr. Holmes looked between their daughter in laws. Mr. Holmes straightened up a little, but now he leaned down again and spoke firmly.
"When can we see her?" He asked his eldest son and Mycroft looked at him.
"There's no point," Mycroft informed his father.
"How dare you say that?" His mother asked him, upset.
"She won't talk. She won't communicate with anyone in any way," Mycroft told his parents, closing his eyes and speaking more firmly. "She has passed beyond our view," Mycroft added, and Sherlock gazed down at the floor in front of him as he held his daughter which was always a comfort to him. "There are no words that can reach her now," Mycroft told his mother who turned to look at Sherlock.
"Sherlock," She said, and Sherlock raised his head to look at his mother. "Well?" She asked, shrugging questioning at him. "You were always the grown-up," She continued, and Mycroft raised his head a little and looked towards his brother. "What do we do now? Lexi?" Mrs. Holmes asked the two detectives and Sherlock turned his head to look at his wife, looking thoughtful. Sherlock raised an eyebrow at his wife, and she frowned before nodding slightly.
"Perhaps…," Sherlock said as they turned back to the others who watched them expectantly.
The next day, Sherlock and Lexi got on a helicopter which headed for Sherrinford. They took the time to relax, just sitting with one another, wrapped up together. The helicopter landed on the beach and the two detectives got out, both carrying a holdall, and they walked away across the beach. At Sherrinford, they got out the lift on the upper level of the Control Room and trotted down the stairs.
Sherlock swiped a card through a card reader and the door in front of them opened and they walked through it. The two detectives walked along the long corridor towards the Secure Unit, and they stopped at the end of the corridor and the lights on the scanner above their heads begin to oscillate back and forth. They entered another lift and when the lift doors at the front of Eurus' cell slides open, they walked out. Sherlock and Lexi shared a look and then they stepped a few paces forward, looking at his Eurus who was inside the glass-walled cell.
The difference was striking to her old cell, however. Inside was a larger bed, covered in pillows and blankets which looked like they had been burrowed in. There was a dresser, filled with new clothes and a chair. There was also a small tv and a bookshelf which was stuffed with books. The walls were no longer grey but had a soft yellow wallpaper on them and there were pictures all over the walls of the Holmes family and maps along with a poster of the human anatomy.
There was also a dressing screen, and, on the ceiling, there was a bracket for a long curtain which hung a foot from the glass which could be drawn across the room to offer privacy. The cameras had also been removed from her room and only captured the area where Lexi and Sherlock stood now. This was Lexi's concessions for having Eurus back in Sherrinford. A room which was more like a bedroom, something to provide her with contact with the outside world and to keep her entertained, and human contact.
Eurus was allowed one hour a day in a new specially designed greenhouse room within Sherrinford where she was allowed to garden, and she also was allowed to spend time to visit one on one with Lexi when she visited with no glass between them. The barriers were being brought down. Despite these new changes, Eurus refused to talk to anyone.
She was turned away from them and she didn't react to the sound of their footsteps. Sherlock and Lexi bent down and put their holdalls on the floor. Behind them the lift door closed and the green lights in the room turned white. Sitting on her new chair at the side of the room, she still didn't react. Sherlock and Lexi unzipped their bag and then they stood up, Sherlock holding his violin and bow and Lexi holding her own viola. Sherlock plucked at the strings and Eurus blinked. Once he was sure that his violin was tuned properly, he lifted his bow to his shoulder, Lexi doing the same and waiting. He played a simple tune and stopped at the end of the first phrase and lifted his bow a little, looking towards Eurus, but she didn't respond or move in any way.
"Play you," Lexi told Sherlock quietly and Sherlock nodded before they both readied themselves and continued playing the melody. After a while, Eurus stood up and turned to face them. Sherlock and Lexi stopped playing, and the three of them looked at each other for a long while.
Day after day, Sherlock and Lexi returned to Sherrinford to play to Eurus again, Eurus always standing silently, watching them both with a trace of interest on her face until one day, Eurus picked up her own violin and bow and walked towards the glass wall. Sherlock and Lexi stopped in mid-phrase and Eurus put the violin to her chin. Sherlock and Lexi watched her, and she began to play the same piece from the beginning. The sound from her violin was richer than Sherlock's as Lexi had given her, her Strad back. She played the first phrase with more flair than her brother, running the notes together differently at one point. Sherlock blinked rapidly as she ended the phrase and stopped, lowering her bow. The he lifted his own bow and played the phrase again, still using his own interpretation of the notes.
In the cell, Eurus closed her eyes and began to play the tune again, but this time Sherlock joined in with a counterpart and Lexi grinned before she added a third harmony to the song. They stood on either side of the glass, harmonizing with each other and the Holmes siblings faced each other through the glass, playing together beautifully. Without stopping, Sherlock raised his eyes to his sister's, and she looked back at him, her eyes flickering to Lexi, her first friend in many years. For the first time, there was emotion in Eurus' eyes as she gazed at her brother and her friend. She smiled just a little and they continued their harmony.
Lexi grinned before she decided to challenge them both and her tune resolved into her song, "Pursuit" which she had composed long ago, a song which always made her think of Sherlock and their lives as consulting detectives. Sherlock and Eurus caught onto the tune easily and they smiled at each other. Mrs. And Mrs. Holmes along with Joanna and Mycroft were sitting on chairs to one side of Sherlock and Lexi. With her eyes lowered while she listened to her children play, Mrs. Holmes reached across to take Mycroft's hand. He looked down at their hands and then turned to look at her and for once, the family was together. Their trio became more complicated and intricate, Eurus adding her own flare to Lexi's composition.
During this time, Sherlock and Lexi retuned to the burnt out flat together. At first, seeing their home in such a state had stuck them to their core. They had just stood together with the twins, staring at the ruin of all their possessions and then Sherlock and Lexi looked at one another with determination.
"Time to get to work," Sherlock said, and Lexi nodded before they handed over the twins to Mrs. Hudson and got to work.
Sherlock, in shirt and trousers, walked across the floor, stepping over the ruined books and debris of his home while Lexi, wearing sweatpants and one of Sherlock's shirts was shifting through the debris, searching around for belongings. Sherlock picked up a random item from the floor, then walked across to where the skull which was usually on the wall between the windows was lying on the burnt rug.
John turned around from where he was standing near the fireplace and he held up what he had just found, the earphones which usually adorned the skull's head. Sherlock lifted the skull so that John could put the earphones back onto it and then he looped the cable over the top. Sherlock turned away with it and looked for somewhere to put it. Still holding the skull and headphones, Sherlock lifted his overturned chair with the other hand and set it upright.
Sherlock picked up one of the dining chairs and sets it on its feet as Lexi started bagging the trash and items too far gone to salvage, clearing away some of the debris. John was over near the right-hand window, pulling down the ruined drapes as they cleaned.
A workman was sweeping up while another one stuffed rubbish into a black plastic bag, taking over Lexi's job. Standing in front of the fireplace, John looked around the room and tiredly rubbed the back of his neck, despairing of ever getting the place back to normal. Oblivious to what's going on around him, Sherlock was sitting in his chair texting, holding Lexi who was on his lap, cuddled up to him her eyes closed as she rested.
Mrs. Hudson came through the door and looked across the room at the mess. While the workmen tidied up and John stood at the fireplace, Sherlock typed onto his phone "You know where to find me." and added underneath "SH".
Later, John was standing in his own living room sorting through his mail when a thought occurred to him. He picked up his phone and dialed a number and held the phone to his ear, waiting. Sherlock answered it quickly and John stumbled over his words slightly.
"Uh, yeah, I-I think you two had better get round here," John told the two detectives who agreed to come over with the twins as John requested before he called the unused number in his phone, Mycroft.
At John's home, the two detectives arrived with their twins, shocked to see Mycroft and Joanna there with Armillia. With only a little persuading, Sherlock sat down beside Lexi on the couch, all of the babies being put down on a blanket on the floor for some tummy time together. Mary smiled at them all before she began to speak.
"I'm sure you are wondering why John called you all?" Mary began and they all nodded. "John and I, well we realize that everything that just happened was trying on all of you. John and I want you to stay here with us until the flat is livable again," Mary told them, directing the last of her words to Sherlock and Lexi.
"Mary…," Lexi began, but John cut her off.
"We have the room and you are more than welcome. It's closer to the flat than Mycroft's house as well," John pointed out to the detectives who had been staying with Mycroft and Joanna since they returned to London.
"We'd love to stay with you," Lexi told them both with a smile and Mary nodded.
"I also… I want to say something to you, to all three of you," Mary said, directing her words to the detectives and her army doctor. "I know who the three of you are. Junkies who solves crimes to get high … and the doctor who never came home from the war," Mary said, looking at them each in turn.
"Well, you listen to me: who you really are, it doesn't matter. It's all about the legend, the stories, the adventures. There is a last refuge for the desperate, the unloved, the persecuted. There is a final court of appeal for everyone. When life gets too strange, too impossible ... too frightening, there is always one last hope. When all else fails there are two men and a woman sitting arguing in a scruffy flat ...like they've always been there... and they always will. The best and wisest men I have ever known and the most badass and intelligent woman I have ever had the privilege of being friends with," Mary told them and Lexi smiled at Mary before they both turned to look at John and Sherlock.
"Our Baker Street boys," Lexi said as she looked at her husband and her army doctor. "Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson."
"Can't forget Lexi Holmes then," John said, smiling back at Lexi. "Our Baker Street girl."
Weeks later, in 221B, most of the burnt debris had been removed and workmen were now redecorating. Sherlock and Lexi decided to restore the flat exactly as it was, and the wallpaper on the fireplace wall was the same as it was before. Sherlock, wearing his camel dressing gown, was standing facing the fireplace while Lexi was sitting in his chair wearing Sherlock's blue dressing gown. At the sofa wall, John sprayed a circle of yellow paint onto the identical wallpaper from before and then added two dots inside near the top of the circle. Adding the smiley face.
He looked across expectantly towards Sherlock and Lexi who had gotten up from her seat and then walked out of the way. Sherlock and Lexi raised their pistols and Sherlock spun the chamber on his and then flicked it into place before they took aim towards the spray-painted face and he fired twice, Leix adding three more bullet holes into the wall. They smiled at each other and then they lifted the muzzle and blew across the top.
Sherlock, now wearing his blue dressing gown as Lexi wore the camel colored one, stabbed his knife down into an open letter on the mantelpiece as John stood beside him holding the piece of paper in position. They turned as Mrs. Hudson walked into the room and looked at them in exasperation. The room was now fully restored to its former glory and all the familiar items had either been repaired or replaced with identical copies.
"Now it's home," Lexi said, and Mrs. Hudson looked flustered before she headed back downstairs
The weeks passed and Sherlock and Lexi were back to taking cases, not letting anything stop them. Sherlock, in his camel dressing gown, walked around behind the client chair. Sitting in the chair was an old-fashioned ventriloquist's dummy dressed in a black and red jacket with a white shirt and black bowtie. Its operator was crouching behind the chair, his black-sleeved arm poking round from the back of the chair and disappearing into the dummy's back.
John walked through the living room door wearing his jacket and carrying his briefcase and he frowned briefly at the scene as he went across the room, nodding to Lexi who was sitting in his chair. She stood and moved to Sherlock's chair and John came and sat down in his chair and he looked up at a blackboard that was set up on an easel in front of the fireplace and frowned at the 'dancing men' figures chalked on it.
Another day, Sherlock was sitting in his chair wearing his suit jacket, Lexi on his lap, wearing black slacks and a red flannel shirt. Sherlock frowned across the room and then got up, allowing Lexi to sit back on his chair and Sherlock walked over and stood at the feet of a man lying on his back in the middle of the floor in front of the door. The man was dressed in a Viking costume. His eyes were closed and John, wearing a brown cardigan, was on his knees beside the man, patting his face with one hand and peeling one eyelid open with his other thumb.
Later, Mrs Hudson came into the living room door holding a can of air freshener. Pulling a face, she sprayed the can into the air and then turned to spray another blast towards John's chair. Sitting in his chair and looking down in disgust at something grubby and possibly vomit-soaked in his hands, John, still in his brown cardigan, raised his head as Sherlock picked up Rosie and straightened up. She now had a full head of hair and was dressed in a pink top with denim short-legged dungarees over the top. Her mouth was grubby, having just thrown up on her father.
Tucking his goddaughter closely into his body with one hand while she made a valiant attempt to stick her finger up her nose, Sherlock smiled and pointed across the room with the other.
"Oh, there's Mummy!" He exclaimed as Lexi walked into the living room with Mary, both holding shopping bags. Mary dropped her bags near the couch and walked over to Rosie cooing. She took her daughter from Sherlock and smiled in delight as she held her and kissed her cheek. She and John walked into the other room to clean the vomit off of the two of them as Lexi greeted her husband.
"How are the twins?" Lexi asked as she walked over to her husband and hugged him, giving him a kiss when he bent down to her.
"Perfectly fine. John and I can watch them alone while you two go out," Sherlock answered her, and Lexi chuckled.
"I know that, I just worry," Lexi told him before she pulled away from Sherlock and knelt down on the floor where both of the twins were crawling around on a blanket.
"Ma," Hanna said, crawling over to her mother.
"Did she just talk?" John asked in shock as they came back into the room, both he and Rosie clean.
"She said Ma," Lexi told him with a smile.
"Da," Hamish said then and Sherlock looked down at his son in surprise before kneeling down as his son crawled over to him.
"Ma!" Rosie cried then and Mary looked down in shock.
"Leading by example," Sherlock said quietly with a grin on his face.
"Da!" Hanna answered before the twins and Rosie began a game of "Ma, Da" It wasn't until the three of them began talking faster that Lexi frowned, realizing something.
"Sherlock listen to them," Lexi said, and Sherlock frowned at her.
"I am," He told his wife, not sure what she was getting at.
"What does Ma, Da sound like if you say it really quickly?" Lexi asked and Mary, John, and Sherlock frowned as they thought about it, John coming to the realization first.
"Ma, da. Murder," John said, and the twins clapped their hands as Rosie gurgled happily. "My daughter's first words…," John said, looking between the two detectives. "Murder," He finished unamused.
"Don't start going on about bad influences, John. Your child is only being practical," Sherlock told his friend as he stood before walking over to his chair and sitting down once more.
"Besides," Lexi added as she picked up Hanna, "They're the next generation of Holmes and Watsons."
"They won't be solving murders," John told the detectives firmly.
"Not until their five," Sherlock told his best friend with a grin.
"Twenty," John shot back, and Mary laughed.
"Seven," Sherlock quipped, and Lexi looked at her boys fondly.
"Sixteen and not a year sooner. At least let them be kids first," John conceded, and Sherlock nodded.
"There will be plenty of time for that, John," Sherlock told the army doctor and Lexi grinned suddenly as she saw an opportunity.
"Sherlock," She said softly, and Sherlock raised an eyebrow at her. "I was waiting until the right moment," She added handing Hanna over to Mary as she dashed out of the room, leaving the three of them with confused faces. She came up the stairs a few minute later, waiting on the landing just out of sight. "Okay, Sherlock, close your eyes," Lexi ordered, and he closed them, indulging her for a moment. "Are his eyes closed John?" Lexi asked and John grinned slightly at her antics.
"Yeah, they're closed," John confirmed, and Lexi poke her head around the door.
"Really closed? No peeking?" She asked and John stared at her and shook his head in exasperation.
"Hang on," Mary told her, putting Hanna back down next to her brother before she walked over behind Sherlock's chair and put her hands over his eyes to make sure. "Alright," Mary told her, realizing what she was doing now, as she was in on what Lexi was doing.
Lexi walked around the corner then, holding a puppy, and Irish setter puppy who was no older than six months and already well behaved. He had a red bandana tied around his neck and Lexi walked over to her husband and put the puppy directly on his lap. Sherlock's hands shot out and grabbed the moving thing on his lap, thinking it was one of his children, but when his hands touched fur, he opened his eyes just as Mary moved her hands away. Sherlock saw right away it was an Irish setter and he looked up at his wife in awe.
"Redbeard," He breathed out in nearly a whisper and Lexi nodded as she knelt down in front of Sherlock's chair as he picked up the puppy and brought him up towards his face, the puppy eagerly licking his face and Sherlock laughed.
"I know it hasn't been easy what with everything that happened, and you learnt and having the flat destroyed. I know a dog can't fix that, but I wanted you to have him," Lexi told her husband and Sherlock pulled her to her feet so he could stand with the puppy in his arms and kiss her.
"This is…thank you," Sherlock told her as he pulled away from the kiss. The newly named Redbeard yipped at them and everyone laughed at that and Sherlock rubbed the puppy behind his ears. "Maybe we can train him to detect cadavers," Sherlock said suddenly, and John groaned behind him.
"Really? Your wife gets you a dog and your first thought is how you can train him to come with you to crime scenes?" John asked in exasperation.
"Yes," Sherlock and Lexi said at the same time before grinning at one another.
"Two detectives, two kids and a dog. Makes a good team. Add in an army doctor, and AGRA agent and the British Government and London won't know what hit it," Lexi remarked, and Sherlock nodded before he looked at the reader, confused.
"You're still here?" He asked with a slightly raised eyebrow. "It's over. The story that is."
"Not yet, Shezza," Lexi said, and she smiled at the reader. "But this is the end of the story I'm afraid. All these years, you've joined us on our adventures, and we've loved having you here with us, sharing in our triumphs and our failures. Now comes the next greatest adventure we could ever have," Lexi said as she looked at her boys.
"And which one is that?" John asked, slightly confused.
"Living," Lexi said simply and then, the Baker Street gang looked to the reader and took a bow, their faces filled with gratitude.
