There were a lot of things you could say about Mrs Hudson.

There were a lot less you could never say without facing death or bodily harm.

Mrs Hudson was a wonderful woman. She would sometimes go off on long tangents, letting you know all these bizarre facts about her. Danielle still had trouble believing the story about Mrs Hudson's cat being evidence in her husband's arrest. It was something about it's fur having drugs on it.

Mrs Hudson had a husband. He was in jail in Florida, for a drug ring. Mrs Hudson was alright with it, having apparently asked a strange man for help with it. She came back from the States emotional hurt, but not letting the incidents get her down. Danielle always saw the woman smiling, the picture of a loving grand mother (though the woman had no children of her own)

The favor to the strange man was supposedly being repaid, as that young man was set to move in by next month (which was really in a week, but Danielle liked the way 'next month' sounded)

Danielle had frequent talks with Mrs Hudson. She was so nice to Danielle, helping her out after she'd moved in. Danielle had needed Mrs Hudson's guiding hand.

She checked herself one more time. She quite liked her hair, long locks of strawberry blonde. She let them hang loose past her shoulders. It was a cold winter's day so she wore a pair of long jeans with a thin pale blue belt, and a long sleeve purple/white floral patterned shirt. She had some blue grey sandals too, that she thought went good with her sapphire blue eyes. She hated heels, as she always fell on her face when wearing them. Besides, at 5'7 she saw there was no real need for the death traps.

Satisfied with her appearance, Danielle began the short walk next door.

She was momentarily surprised to see a moving truck outside the flats. Had she forgotten the date again? A quick glance at her phone told her that, yes, she had forgotten the date that the mystery man was moving in. He was moving in next month, but he was moving his belongings in on the twenty-ninth. Today.

Danielle slapped her hand against her face. "Stupid! This happens every time. Every time!"

The young woman quickly turned back into her flats. She had something planned for the new neighbor. Where did she put it? It was somewhere she knew she could find it.

The fridge!

The strawberry blonde rushed to the fridge, finding a box of pre-made biscuits for the oven. As she set it to preheat, she silently scolding herself for forgetting things again. Her mother had always said she needed to get over that.

==NKMHLY==

Some twenty minutes later, Danielle was walking out of her flat with a plate of small biscuits for the new neighbor.

She played it cool, putting on an easy smile to hopefully trick people into thinking she had planned this. Danielle could still feel her cheeks going pink, betraying her pseudo confidence.

Danielle balanced the plate in one hand, trying to use her spare key to Mrs Hudson's. It was only after she pulled her out her keychain (which only had five keys and cute Pop vinyls of Harry Potter and Ariel) that Danielle thought about why Mrs Hudson would lock her door when the new tenant was moving in.

She gently pushed open the door. She had been over enough for Mrs Hudson to say that 221 was open to her.

Mrs Hudson was immediately seen. She was in her flat, having a cuppa.

"Hello Mrs Hudson!" Danielle cheered, balancing the heavy plate of biscuits.

"Oh, Danielle!" Mrs Hudson chirped in delight.

The two had quick embrace, careful of the glass plate in Danielle's hands. When the hug ended, the older woman saw how bright pink Danielle's cheeks were. It was easy to tell with her pale skin.

"I don't know why you forget your coat." Mrs Hudson scolded matronly. "This cold is making my hip go all batty."

Danielle let out a small giggle. "Sorry, I'm a snowman. Well, snow woman, really, which just sounds weird. Snow lady maybe?" She shrugged, keeping a steady hold of the welcoming gift. She looked at the friendly woman with a meaningful expression. "This answer has eluded me for twenty years."

"I thought you were twenty-seven?" Mrs Hudson asked.

"Yes, but I started this when I was seven." Danielle replied simply. "Ah, those were simple times."

This was another reason she liked Mrs Hudson. The older woman never thought less of Danielle for her odd quirks. Mrs Hudson always looked at her in understanding, sometimes even laughed with her. Danielle had appreciated it. She never had much of that.

"Never got his name, I remembered that much. All the people I talked to think he's some mystery man!" Danielle admitted.

She was telling the truth, or at least a half. Danielle did not like using the rumor mill for one short simple reason: it meant being friendly with the neighbors. Danielle already knew the others of Baker Street had a low opinion of her. If not for her age, then her eccentric personality. Call her anti-social, she didn't care. She just hated putting up with all their small talk rubbish.

That's why she wanted to see the new neighbor first. So that maybe (just maybe) someone else would treat her as Mrs Hudson did.

"I haven't told you? Oh silly me. It's Sherlock Holmes." The older woman sighed, shaking her head. "He's a bit odd, though. Reminds me a bit of you, when he's a bit excited. He's moving all his things in today."

"That makes him odd?"

"No, not at all. Sherlock's a blessing. It's just." Mrs Hudson shuddered. "I saw dead frogs in a jar."

Danielle had to admit, that was a bit peculiar. Not enough for her to be concerned. Her younger brother, Felix, had collected frogs until he was thirteen. Yeah, he didn't keep them, after they died, but he was always sad when one died.

"Does he collect them?" She found herself asking. "They could be old pets."

"No, says it's his experiments." Mrs Hudson answered, taking a biscuit. "Says he's something called a consulting detective. That's Sherlock all around. I told you that he had Frank arrested."

The older landlady was smiling now, as she snacked on the biscuit.

"Yes." Danielle glanced at the stairs. "So...is it alright if I take these up?"

"Oh yes Danielle! And don't mind him if he sends you back. He gets prickly with people he doesn't like." Mrs Hudson encouraged. "You'd be his first visitor!"

Danielle was oddly pleased with that.

==NKMHLY==

"Hello?" Danielle called out. "Mrs Hudson said it was alright to come up."

She walked into to one of the oddest flats ever. Sherlock had only moved in today, but the things were scattered about in a way that implied it'd been loved in for months. There wasn't dust on anything, and the furniture all seemed mostly new.

Yet as she looked, Danielle could see a sort of order to it. The desk had space enough for a laptop, though already it was surrounded by various journals and encyclopedias. Someone liked to research with books, in case the internet was less than helpful.

The bookshelves had been a little random, but he had subconsciously put things by order of importance. A lot of them were worn, Danielle knew those creases in books. Sherlock preferred science to pretty much anything really.

She was thankful to her cooling biscuits, or else she'd smell the dead frogs in what Danielle thought was pickle juice.

"Yes? What do you want?" A man suddenly asked from the kitchen. Danielle flinched at the surprise. She turned round to see a man standing there. He had an annoyed expression on his face, probably because Danielle had just walked right into his flat.

He had short black hair, done in a million little curls. His eyes were a bright entrancing blue, that made Danielle think this Sherlock bloke was looking right into her soul (and not liking what he saw). His skin was pale, even more so with his dark Belstaff coat, black suit, and white button up. She thought his chin was a bit pointy, going well with his sharp cheekbones. He was a few inches taller than her. The strawberry blonde would've thought he was a vampire.

"Sorry. I'm Danielle Nolan, from 223. Came by with a welcoming present." Danielle admitted. She held up the plate of biscuits. The way Sherlock stared at the plate made Danielle think of a lord being unsatisfied by his serfs pitiful sacrifice. "Welcome to Baker Street." 'Baker Street! Cause I got biscuits, which I had to BAKE. Get it?! Nice job, Danielle Nolan, you're a genius.'

Sherlock didn't get the joke. Or maybe he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of a horrible joke. Danielle was holding back laughter anyway. She put the plate down on a nearby table. She had been holding her keychain, so she stuffed it back into her jean pocket.

"Neighbors don't really know much about each other, not at first anyway." Danielle caught sight of the skull on the mantlepiece. How had Mrs Hudson missed that? "Really hope that wasn't your flatmate."

What happened next still surprised Danielle whenever she looked back. The light blue eyes scanned her once, even the plate. He had apparently had enough of her. Sherlock Holmes was going to use the science of deduction to cast the strawberry blonde away.

"You have two pets; a cat and a dog. It's black cat that prefers to be held, and you do so despite her claws. The dog, puppy more likely, is a yellow labrador and a gift from your estranged sister. She wants you to start dating, but you stubbornly refuse. But you can't completely ignore them, you were raised family before all else. You dislike your mother, close relationship with your father. Your mother didn't approve. She doesn't favor you. Could be for anything, really, but most likely because you're much too absent minded to hold a steady job for long. Being a landlady was your mother's idea, not your's. You're the eldest of, probably four children. You're still working this job, probably to spite your mother. You'd go to your father for help, but he's been dead four-no five-years."

He said this all so fast Danielle wondered if it was all in one breath. He hadn't glanced away but for a few times, though the strawberry blonde felt she never had anything but his full attention.

Danielle stared at him. "Wow..." She blinked in surprise. She knew she should be insulted by what he was saying (especially that absent minded comment) "Mrs Hudson can't have told you all that."

"She didn't. I observed it." The man stated, in a voice Danielle would call flippant.

She smiled, almost nervously. "Ah. Yes. Obviously."

The consulting detective intrigued her. Few people spoke of her quirks like this, in a way that was just stating facts rather than accusations. At the same time, Danielle felt Sherlock was perfectly in the right to say what he had. She had been rather rude, just walking into his new flat without his permission. She went to grab a biscuit, anything to help her think straight again.

"Can everyone observe things, or is that just...your thing?" She asked.

Sherlock thought she was a bit strange now. He did this to his old landlord before driving off. The old man had run off screaming at his old tenant. He had known she wasn't a client, none of them knew his new address yet. She had brought treats, which was a waste because Sherlock knew he'd never eat them. So Sherlock ranted off facts to get the stranger to leave. By now, the odd Miss Nolan should have slapped him silly. Why had this woman done nothing? She was only intrigued by it, and him by association.

"Very few people have the mental capacity." Sherlock replied slowly, carefully. "I doubt you could." He blatantly insulted. He did not want this insane landlady in here.

She didn't seem phased. Was she always this maddening? "I can't do that, no. Even if I could, I doubt I'd ever be as good at it as you are."

She laughed. Sherlock had insulted her, and she laughed! While not the first, it was the first time it wasn't done maliciously.

"You're laughing." Sherlock stated, starting to be intrigued. Most of the people that didn't hate him had forced adjustment, like Lestrade's rubbish police team.

"Why not? You're saying that stuff about me. If you can't laugh at yourself, then why laugh at all?" Danielle admitted, still smiling innocently. "Besides, I was rude. I should've asked before letting myself in. Mrs Hudson said it was fine, but I still should've asked you. It is your flat now."

Hold on. Why the bloody hell was she apologizing for what he said? Sherlock, for all his reasonings, couldn't tell if Miss Nolan was truly polite or stupid. When he said rude things, everyone rolled their eyes and groaned, before telling him to pull back.

"You were wrong about my mum, though." Miss Nolan decided to add. "She helped get me this job, I'll give ya that, but because I told her I wanted it."

She liked the idea of being a landlady for a long time. She'd chose who could stay at her flats. It saved on funds to not take a bus or cab to work every day. Sure, Danielle didn't like the rumors or the small talk, but it was all worth it to have a place she could call home. That she got to choose who was inside her home.

Sherlock Holmes maintained a cool face as he stared at her. This woman wasn't making sense. Why would she want to be a landlady at twenty-seven? Usually landladies were seen as old, or overly stern. Mrs Hudson was a welcome difference. Danielle Nolan was a mystery now.

"I should go. I came to introduce myself and give you the biscuits." Danielle explained, smiling wider than she had when she walked in. Mrs Hudson would give her the plate when Sherlock was done with it. "So I won't take up anymore of your time."

Sherlock stared at her as she walked off. He was happy to see her off, yet at the same time a part of him acknowledged that she was the first person to come into any of his flats without running away scared or furious with him. Seems he was making improvements.

"Good luck finding a flatmate, by the way!" She added as an afterthought.

"How did you know I'm even looking?" Sherlock asked. He himself didn't want one, only needing one for rent. The consulting detective knew he was an abrasive human (which he only said for lack of better option). Whatever unlucky soul that became his flatmate would need to have the patience of a saint. He'd told Mike that much this morning.

"You added the skull." Was Miss Nolan's last reply.

==NKMHLY==

AN: Happy New Year! I am LOVING all the people who are reading this story. Thank you all SO MUCH! It's this kind of encouragement that keeps me writing. Also, special thanks to

Also, to those who watched The Six Thatchers, HOLY FUCKING SHIT. That just became my favorite and most hated episode ever. Damn you Moffat!

Thanks to ShortyMcAwkward, i-ship-it-97, BlueJae3, ChibiSpyStuff, for favoriting

Thanks to legolulu7, enp, LoverGirl007, youcantrushscience, BlueJae3, SilencEloquent GiraffesEatCookies, for following