Okay...I'm really really sorry...I know I promised to update...I hate doing this...I know I promised to update, but life's been a living hell. *dodges rotten fruit thrown at her by a very angry crowd of people that have been waiting for so long* I'M SO SORRY!!! I'm making this chapter longer than any of the others, in recompense!

Now, back to business: I had many different options here, but I decided on this one. I do hope you enjoy it!!! I may think of an alternate ending or something!!! I hope I'll be able to finish the story in this chapter!!!

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Dedications:

Sherlock Jr.-I'm so happy you enjoy this story!!! I hope college is doing well for you! I'm so sorry I haven't been able to update, but school's murder!

poptate12-Okay, I understand if you hate me for not updating. And don't worry; the mushy stuff in front of Scotland Yarders will be revealed for its true purposes in this chapter!!! *smiles evilly*

sapphire emerald-I'm glad you liked the romance. Here's the rest!

Iara-I'm happy you enjoyed it.

Kerowyn-Hehe. Blackmail's always good. *evil grin*

lilbroomrider-Wow! I'm so glad you liked it! But there isn't so much lack anymore. Others have been writing themselves about SH22, though not all of it H/L. And thanks for understanding the stupid babysitting. I wish Mum'd stop making appointments for me!

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Disclaimer: You've already read it. So there. Just read one of my other disclaimers. Have fun finding it, too! j/k!

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The hovercar she was in was totally silent. They must still be in shock, she thought to herself. And rightfully they were, too. Seeing the two most unemotional people snog each other in front of their comrades at work is somewhat unnerving. Okay, it was so shocking, many were ready to go on respirators.

The entire ride to New Scotland Yard was made in complete silence. Understandable.

When they got to New Scotland Yard, Greyson was waiting, his boot tapping on the floor, his arms folded on his chest. Lestrade knew she was going to get it once everything was all filed away and taken care of. As long as she didn't go into Greyson's office...which meant that it would most likely happen any moment soon.

She stepped out of the car, aware of the stares she was given. What? Did I grow another head? Is there an evil twin next to me? Did I grow a beard or something? What the zed! Never knew reactions would be this bad! She made her way towards the building, keeping an eye on Moran, considering the fact no one else was, being to busy trying to sort out what happened back at 221b.

She followed Greyson into the building, followed by a very silent group of people and a woman in a slinky dress, held up by two men.

Once they were inside, Greyson ordered, "Lestrade. My office. Now. You too, Miss Moran." She knew she wasn't going to get out of this one.

Would have been more fun if it were in front of everyone, she thought to herself. Oh, well; can't have everything. She followed Greyson and Miss Moran into his office, a stupid smile on her face. Everyone that saw it was about to go nuts. They all came to the conclusion that someone had abducted the real Lestrade, and this Lestrade was a very bad imposter that just happened to have the same exact DNA structure.

**********

God, what has gotten into her? Greyson was at his wits end. Not only does a case suddenly appear, but also something else he had thought he'd never live to see. What has gotten into him, as a matter of fact? This makes no sense. Lestrade and...Holmes? No; that must have been an act. That was too disgustingly romantic to be true...wasn't it? They are just pulling my leg, aren't they? He kept thinking as he walked to his office, but the more he thought, the more his head hurt. He decided to just discuss this when they got into his office. It'd make things much easier.

**********

"I wonder how Lestrade and Greyson are doing at the moment?" mused Holmes to no one in particular.

"Hmm?" asked Watson. He still was having trouble understanding exactly what happened, even though Holmes had already explained it to him. I suppose computeroids have a harder time understanding these things. That, or Holmes wasn't telling him everything. I'd personally believe the latter. That's what Lestrade believed when she heard about the conversation, at least.

"Oh, nothing, old chap, nothing..." He sank back into his thoughts. I wonder if Greyson's going to take her into his office to discuss it or not? Most probably, he will. Oh, to take a picture of his face when Lestrade lets her thespian side out!

**********

She sat in a seat in front of Greyson's desk. Moran was sitting at a seat to the side of the desk, her head neatly bandaged now. She would be shipping out for jail soon. Just a few more formalities...

"Is that all, Miss Moran, that you would wish to tell us?" asked Greyson, rubbing his temples in his chair. He needed to relax more. He was getting gray hair at the temples.

"Yes, sir," she responded, her voice flat with defeat written all over her face.

"Good." He pressed a button, making a screen behind him appear from above, showing a picture of a Yarder.

"Yes, sir?" asked the person on the screen.

"Please come into my office and take Miss Moran. She should have a room already waiting for her." Then, the screen went blank as it raised up again with the press of a button. A few moments later, to men came to take Miss Moran away.

Before she left, she leaned over to Lestrade and hissed, "You haven't seen the last of me, you can hold me to that."

"I know," said Lestrade. "I'll be seeing you in court." And with that, Miss Moran was half carried-half dragged out of the room.

As the door closed, these words came out of Greyson's mouth: "Lestrade, would you please explain yourself?"

She gave him an oh-so-innocent look. "Why, what do you mean, Greyson?"

"You know exactly what I mean!" You could tell his anger was getting the better of him. He was about to burst from annoyance and impatience.

"I'm very sorry if you were disturbed about the blood on the floor of Holmes' apartment, but I couldn't help that. Nobody was really hurt...well, at least nobody lost any blood...it'll get cleaned up eventually..."

"That's not what I'm talking about!"

Whoa. Someone's about to blow his stack. "I'm telling you, Greyson, I don't know what you're talking about! What did I do this time? What did I do wrong?"

Suddenly, he got this strange look on his face. It was either chagrin or a mix between disbelief and wonder. She really didn't know which it was. Maybe it was both. His face began to turn red, then he said, "Lestrade, you and Holmes aren't...you aren't...I mean, it never crossed my mind, but...are you...I mean, are you and Holmes...well...you understand, don't you? I mean...I had never imagined...but then again, anything with the both of you is hard to imagine beforehand, but...you understand, right?..."

She was having a hard time trying not to snicker. A very hard time. I wonder what he's referring to? Hmm...getting married, perhaps? Or something a little bit different...? She decided to play along.

The look of realization dawned on her face, maybe a little bit too brightly. "Ohh! You're talking about Holmes and me?" He nodded his head. "Well, there's really nothing to tell. You saw yourself. We decided we had been holding it in for way too long. It was time to let at least our coworkers know. It would have come out eventually.

"I am glad, though, that you asked first. I had been planning on telling you before, but I had never gotten the chance to, with work and all," she continued. "I mean, it would only be right to tell my commander-in-chief about it first, but it seemed to take too long to get it out, I suppose." She shrugged, smiling lightly. "You understand, of course."

"How long?"

"A year, at most." He just stared at her. She thought his eyes would fall out. She stifled a giggle as best she could. It wasn't working very well, though.

"Lestrade, are you feeling all right?" He sounded very concerned.

Oh, no; not a father figure type! "I'm fine," she said, trying to regroup. "Just fine. May I leave now?" She got this dreamy look in her eyes. Greyson got the hint.

"Of course, Lestrade, of course." And she ran out.

Greyson shook his head. "Never would have imagined it. A mutual relationship, yes. A quiet love, maybe. But such a showy affair of love? Unbelievable!" He shook his head again. He rubbed his forehead. "So be it; so be it." He sat down in his chair and thought.

**********

Waiting for her outside, half of the Yard was outside Greyson's doors, waiting to ask a few questions. Okay, maybe more than a few.

"Lestrade, congratulations? By the way, what exactly is going on?" "Beth, I can't believe it! You and Sherlock...!" "When are you moving into his apartment?" "Will you have a wedding or just go to the magistrate?" "Did he give you a ring? Why aren't you wearing it?" "You are still going to stay at the Yard, aren't you?" "Oi, I never thought it would happen!" "You owe me ten credits, Charlie! Hahahaha! I knew they'd hit it off eventually!"

She felt like yelling at them all; they were giving her a headache. And she wasn't exactly pleased that people had been making bets about whether she and Holmes were going to 'hit it off'. Instead, though, she smiled sweetly and said, "Thanks, everyone, for your concern." She looked pointedly at Bill, who had made that bet with Charlie. "Yes, we're engaged. Yes, we are going to have a traditional wedding. Yes, but I'm not showing you the ring yet. I'm not moving into his apartment until we get married, and I will still be working at the Yard." With that, she parted the stunned mass of people like the Red Sea and walked out of the building. Immediately after she left, the buzz of idle chatter and gossiping began in the mouths of many and fell on the ears of very few.

**********

Well, that went well, thought Lestrade to herself as she drove her hovercar to Baker Street. I hope Holmes doesn't mind that I mentioned all this. I wonder what his reaction will be? Hmm...I'll find out soon, won't I? She stopped her train of thought for a few moments to curse at a driver that stopped abruptly in front of her, almost making her crash into him. She resumed her thinking again. I wonder if Holmes would ever say these things to me without the acting? What a ridiculous thought! If we ever got married, which I highly doubt, we would get married at the magistrate and have no ring. If we did have a ring, it'd be a simple silver or gold slim band, of course. I wouldn't have it any other way, anyway... She drifted off. What the zed am I thinking? This is Holmes, not Rhett Butler! I shouldn't have gone delving into those ancient movies that were still on those things...what are they called...DVD's?

By this time, she had gotten to Holmes' apartment at 221b. She got out of her hovercar and walked up the stairs to Holmes' apartment. But, just when she got to the last step, there was Holmes, waiting for her. They just kind of looked at each other for a while, then, he made the first move. Or words, really.

"How did they take it?"

"Exactly as I had hoped."

"What did you tell them?"

"We're to be married with a traditional wedding. The ring you gave me was not to be shown until the wedding. I'm not moving in until after the wedding, also. And I'll still be working at the Yard after marriage, of course."

"Yes, of course; we had to have at least one ring of truth to the story." He smiled.

Zed he looks so zedded good when he smiles like that! "Holmes, when we were in that room together alone, did you...really mean it?"

"Of course I did. I do not lie about these things to someone like you." To her surprise, and, admittedly true, her delight, he took her hand and, being the 'gentleman' he was, he kissed it. Tenderly. Caressingly. (A/N: Sorry. Getting carried away...shouldn't have just watched The Count of Monte Cristo.)

She was about to blush when he let go. The blush receded back into herself. "I wish you had waited on one detail though; you haven't your ring yet."

She looked at him, confused. This surely was not going to be that elaborate, was it? She knew Holmes liked to give everyone a good pull at the leg, but not so much as to yank it from underneath them so they go falling off a cliff...did he? "Holmes?" she asked.

"Would you rather me go on one knee? I will, if you want to. I thought you knew I'd been serious before, but obviously, it has not dawned onto you quite yet..."

She decided to shut him up like any other girl would to a guy. The man shutteth up.

When they both regained their breaths, he asked, "Is that a yes?" She gave him a good whap to the head. He ducked. "Well?"

She sighed, exasperated by his boyish behavior. "Yes!" He smiled insanely. She was now having second thoughts about this. Obviously, even Sherlock Holmes did not grow up from boyhood.

"Good! Then I can give you this!" He joyously took out a little box from his pocket and opened it for Lestrade.

She was speechless. She hadn't expected anything like this. It was beautifully crafted, encrusted with dustings of diamonds, not huge, yet not specks of dust. The band was elegant with its slight curve to it, the platinum shining with the diamonds. They glittered brighter than all the stars in the universe, but not as much as Lestrade's and Holmes' eyes. When she regained her voice, she said, "Holmes...it's beautiful..."

"It was my mother's," he said, a sad smile coming to his lips. "It was the one thing she ever enjoyed of my father's. You mustn't have noticed it when I was brought back to life. I had it with me the whole time." His smile changed from one of sadness to one of elation. "When do you want to have the wedding?" he asked, eagerly, like a little child at Christmas.

Yep. Still a child. Always will be, I suppose. I'll just have to get over it or change it. "I was thinking a magistrate."

His face relaxed. "Good; I don't like the thought of extremely large crowds and every newspaper in town announcing our marriage. But when, Lestrade?"

A pause. "How about tomorrow?"

"Can you wait that long?"

Another pause. "...No. Can we go now?"

"Of course, but we need someone to witness it. Could Watson do it?"

She looked at the door, thoughtful. "I'm not sure; he's a computeroid...he can come along with us, though. We'll just have to get at the Irregulars, won't we?" She smiled widely.

He smiled, too. Just the thought of their reactions was priceless. "Yes, this will be interesting. We had better go and call them up on the holophone." And so, they walked into the apartment, holding each others' hands as they closed the door behind them.

**********

He paced his office, wondering what was taking so long. He was getting extremely impatient. Where are they? he thought furiously to himself. They are taking too long on this assignment. Unless they are taking another donut break...and if they are...

He had no need to worry, though, for a few moments later, two men appeared.

"Took you long enough," he said, coldly, giving both of the men death glares. "What is going on with...those two? What has happened?"

"We found at the Yard that they are...well...uhh...they're uh...you see, sir, they're uh..." The first man hesitated too long.

"Spit it out already!"

"Sir, they are to be wed."

Stunned silence. Then, he blew. "WHAT?! They are to what?!"

"B-be married, s-sir, with a t-traditional wedding, s-sometime l-la-later this y-year," said the other man, stuttering in fear.

"Traditional?"

"Yes, sir."

More stunned silence. Then, "I see. And Miss Moran?"

"Arrested, sir."

He was about to blow his top, though he didn't look it. His silent anger was ten times worse than his outraged anger he showed. "I see. And you don't know when they are to be wed?"

"N-no, sir. No idea. Nobody knows."

The man paced the room, thinking. Then, he paused, an evil smile creeping onto his face. "Perfect, simply perfect," he murmured to himself contentedly. He turned to the two spies. "Whatever you do, do not lose sight of them. I want someone following them at all times. Both of them. With this going around, we have some time. If it's only by the end of the year, I can still stop it. There is time left. He will not have her! If I cannot be happy, neither can he!" He slammed his fists on his desk, almost breaking it in half. He looked at the two men who still stared at him, dumbfounded. "Well, go!" They scuttled out of the office, not wanting to feel their boss's wrath again. They got enough of that the last time they had a donut break while dogging the steps of these two before.

Alone once more, he paced his room, this time humming a very complicated tune from Bach, a malicious smile playing evilly on his lips.

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Well, what do you think? Who is this man? How will the Irregulars react to this? Will the next chapter come before the next year? Why is Holmes so OOC? Why is Lestrade OOC too? Some answers will come in the next chapter!!!

Well, looks like there's gonna be another chapter, huh? Guess that whole "try-to-make-this-one-the-last-one" thing didn't work. Oh well. *sighs, though is secretly happy*

*smiles contentedly* Well, now that's done, I can work on some other things, like my homework! Grr...homework=evil!

Gotta go! Please review!!! I'd like to have at least three new reviews before I get the next chapter up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!