A black taxi cab just pulls up on a kerb outside the residence of 221B Baker Street as one John Watson hobbled towards the front door giving it a knock. Both that of Sherlock and Cora Holmes quickly piling out of the taxi after paying their driver before swiftly greeting John, who turned back towards them, walking over.
"Ah, Mr & Miss Holmes," he greeted kindly.
"Sherlock and Cora please," Sherlock implied as both equally took turns to shake hands with him.
"Well, this is a prime spot. Must be expensive, " John indicated quickly surveying his surroundings.
"Oh, Mrs Hudson, the landlady, she's giving us a special deal. Owes me a favour. A few years back, her husband got himself sentenced to death in Florida. We were able to help out," Sherlock informed John.
"Sorry, you stopped her husband being executed?" the older man called into question with a perplexed expression.
"No need to be so concerned Mr Watson, we both ensured it," the female Holmes and her brother reassured John with a relatively innocent smile just as the front door opened and out popped Mrs Hudson, her arms outstretched. Cora was smiling at the elderly landlady before being happily embraced in her arms, followed by Sherlock.
They both now stepped back, and Sherlock introduced John to her, "Mrs Hudson, Doctor John Watson."
"Hello. Come in," Mrs Hudson ushered for all three of them to enter the property and escorted them upstairs, Cora being more the more considerate one waited for John on the first-floor landing as the man hobbled up with his cane, her brother too overcome with excitement to get up to the flat had already opened the front door ahead of them.
Once finally upstairs, John offered the younger woman a grateful smile, being a gentleman he gestured with his free hand for Cora and Mrs Hudson to enter before him into the flats living room. Inside the room boxes of Sherlocks and his sister's possessions littered about the room from having moved it from their old flat this morning.
John nodded in approval as his eyes wandered about the room, "Well, this could be very nice. Very nice indeed."
"Yes. Yes, I think so, " Sherlock looked about the flat proudly before glancing in his sister's direction, "My thoughts precisely. What do you think, dear sister?"
"Oh, yes, I think it's marvellous."
"So we went straight ahead and moved in," Sherlock entailed at that exact moment he and John had decided to speak simultaneously at once.
"Soon as we get all this rubbish cleaned out," Cora now glimpsed at her brother, just as an awkward silence filled the air between all three of them.
"Well, obviously I can, um, straighten things up a bit, can't we Cora?" Sherlock walked further into the room and began to clean things up a little half-heartedly, Cora going to another side of the living room began to do the same as her brother tossed some files into a box, and unopened envelopes over to the fireplace, stabbing through them with a penknife into the mantle.
"Is that a skull?" something took John's interest and lifted his cane to point at it.
"A friend of my brothers apparently," Cora scoffed, before glancing up over at Sherlock with an annoyed glare, as she now took her coat and scarf, "Which I told him to get rid of."
He poked his tongue out at her now taking off his coat and scarf just as Mrs Hudson entered the room. Picking up a cup and saucer as she directed her gaze and question to John, "What do you think, then, Doctor Watson? There's a bedroom upstairs next door to Cora's and Sherlock down here if you need three bedrooms, of course."
"Of course we'll be needing three," Doctor Watson simply states in response.
"Oh, don't worry; there's all sorts round here," Mrs Hudson offered with an air of confidence to only then immediately drop her voice into that of a whisper near the end of her sentence, "Mrs Turner next door's got married ones.
It made John glance across the room at Sherlock and then Cora who he kept his eyes on a couple of seconds longer, which Cora and Sherlock are utterly oblivious to what is happening around them. At that moment, Mrs Hudson now entered the kitchen complaining, making John frown at each of the twins, "Oh...you two the mess you've made."
The elderly landlady begins dithering about in the kitchen. She starts tidying up their mess, as Cora glanced up at John and kindly smiled gesturing towards the two armchairs, "Take a seat John, please," with that John hobbled towards the red armchair, fluffed the pillow and dropped down heavily with a sigh of relief as the younger sat in the more modern looking black one opposite him whilst Sherlock continued to clean up.
"I looked you up on the internet last night," John now mentions, the twins now gauging him with a look of curiosity.
"Anything interesting?" Cora implored with curiosity, bending down to unzip her black leather ankle boots.
"Found your website, The Science of Deduction," John replied, making Cora cringe with embarrassment as she pulled off a boot about the so-called website her and Sherlock had created just out of pure and utter boredom. Thankfully John hadn't seen how embarrassed she was about it from taking off her other boot and tucked her legs underneath her resting her arm on the right side of the chair head resting in her right palm.
On the other hand, Sherlock was quite proud of the website as he beamed with joy about it, "What did you think?"
John looked to Cora for a moment whilst Sherlock's back was turned to them. And mouthed to her with a frown, "He's kidding, right?"
And she shook her head in response, "Sadly, no," not having noticed Sherlock had seen their interaction through the living room window feeling a little hurt by it.
John quickly recovers the awkward silence by asking more questions about the website, "You said you could identify a software designer by his tie and an airline pilot by his left thumb."
"Yes; and my sister and I can read your military career in your face and your leg, and your brother's drinking habits in your mobile phone," Sherlock offered in response.
"How?" Making John more confused than ever as Sherlock turned away with a smile.
Mrs Hudson entered back into the living room a newspaper in her grasp, "What about these suicides then, Sherlock? I thought that'd be right up your street—three the same."
"Four," the twins corrected her in unison, as Sherlock wandered over to living room window pulling the net curtain back to see flashing blue lights of a police car pulling up outside making Cora quickly get to her feet and join him by the window.
"There's been a fourth. And there's something different this time," the female Holmes muttered under her breath.
"A fourth?" the landlady frowned at them, just as one DI Greg Lestrade comes charging into the flat like you do making Cora wonder if Mrs Hudson had locked the front door properly.
Sherlock and Cora now turned to face him as the male Holmes now asked, "Where?"
"Brixton, Lauriston Gardens."
"So what's new about this one?" Cora asked, walking across the room and sitting back down to start putting on her boots, "You wouldn't have come to get us if there wasn't something different."
"You know how they never leave notes?" Greg offered to them, making Cora pause just as she put her other boot on peering up at him curiously and her insides started to bubble with joy.
"Yes," both the twins now responded.
"This one did. Will you come?" the DI pleaded with them.
"Who's on forensics?" Sherlock now inquired, but Cora understood of her brother's struggles when it came to working with other people, but she outright refused to call herself his assistant.
"It's Anderson."
Cora saw her brother scowl, but he doesn't say any, so she spoke for the both of them instead, "You know well enough he doesn't like working with us."
"Well, he won't be your assistant. I don't understand why you can't be his assistant instead," Greg indicated to the brunette.
"My sister and I may have near-identical minds, well nearly, because hers is...shall we say more of a caring nature. So I need an assistant."
"Will, you both come?" Lestrade inquiries once again his tone becoming impatient.
"Not in a police car. I'll be right behind," Sherlock simply replied.
"Thank you, " Greg sighed, looking at John and Mrs Hudson for a moment, before hurrying off down the stairs. Sherlock and Cora waited a few moments more until the front door shut downstairs the excitement almost reaching its peak.
Sherlock joyously leapt into the air whilst clenching his fists, went to hug his sister lifting her off the ground as a surprised noise escaped her twirled them around and placed her back down, "Brilliant Yes!" he and Cora went to grab their coats and scarfs both putting them on while heading towards the kitchen, "Four serial suicides, and now a note! Oh, it's Christmas! Mrs Hudson, We'll be late. Might need some food."
"I'm your landlady, dear, not your housekeeper."
"Something cold will do. John, have a cup of tea, make yourself at home. Don't wait up!" Cora insisted whilst charging out the door with her brother.
But almost halfway down the stairs, they paused, and Sherlock uttered, "John."
"Not a bad idea," Cora nodded in agreement, running back up to the flat with her brother, not needing him to explain.
"You're an doctor," Sherlock implied as the twins both stood the living room doorway, John glancing up at them from the newspaper in his hands, "In fact you're an Army doctor."
"Yes," John nodded carefully getting to his feet as the twins entered back in the room again.
"Any good?" Cora now inquired, a subtle smirk on her blood-red lips.
"Very good."
"Seen a lot of injuries, then; violent deaths," Sherlock went on to ask as he and Cora took a step closer to him.
"Mmm, yes."
"Bit of trouble too, I bet."
"Of course, yes," John uttered silently, "Enough for a lifetime. Far too much."
Cora's smirk becomes a more knowing one as her crystal blue eyes gazed back into John's deeper blue ones and asked, "Fancy seeing some more?"
"Oh God, yes," John agreed enthusiastically, just as Sherlock turned on his heels and charged out the door and down the steps.
John being the gentleman that he is let's Cora go before him out the door, which she thought was rather lovely of him and thought maybe there was hope for the former army doctor after all.
