AN: I know, I know, it's a really lame title name. My brain's been fried studying for finals, and this was a nice relaxing break. Anyway, here's the sequel (it's the one I've been meaning to write with Dr. Laura Watson and Jake Holmes)… it takes place about three months after their first story, One of Those Nights. Since then, Holmes and Watson have become friends. As always, anything resembling ACD's stuff is ACD's stuff.
Ok, enough blabbing, here's the story…
The Future Past
Chapter 1
It was an atypical Friday afternoon in Los Angeles. The usual smog layer and irritating traffic jams were nowhere to be found. Instead, it was a beautiful day.
Even the way I was behaving was atypical- at least for me. Fridays were usually reminders that I led a rather routine and sometimes lonely life, unable to participate in office banter about weekend dates; this was usually enough to set me into a brooding funk that lasted most of the weekend.
But today was different. The air was crisp, and, for the first time in months, I didn't have paperwork to bring home. I was free- all weekend. Perhaps this was why I couldn't stop smiling all day and singing to myself; on top of that, I was being civil- not just polite- but nice- to everyone. Maybe there was some happiness inducing antigen in the air that had replaced the smog.
I started doodling on a post-it, trying to figure out what I was going to do with my spare afternoon. I could go shopping- I hadn't done that in ages. Or maybe curl up in my pajamas on my couch and reread the Thomas Covenant Chronicles Trilogy over again. Either way, I resolved to leave the office- lime green walls and all- early that day. It was just too beautiful to stay cooped up inside doodling on post-its.
Before I could reach for my purse and dash out unnoticed, someone walked in.
"Watson."
The commanding voice could have only belonged to one person. "Hey, Holmes, what's going on?" I smiled at the tall man with the pale complexion and disheveled light brown hair.
Holmes perched himself in his usual place- on my desk. "So, Watson, you busy tonight?"
I was curious. Holmes wanted something. We had collaborated on a few cases before, and this was how he had prefaced everything. "Why?"
He was already busy playing with the Rubik's Cube I was currently using as a paperweight. "I was wondering if you could do a favor for me."
"Depends on what it is." I grimaced, thinking of the last time he had asked me for a favor. I- we- had almost gotten killed. But it was still exciting, I had to admit to myself.
Holmes pulled out a pair of tickets out of his pocket and handed them to me. "I got these in the mail as a little thank you present from Kent Nagano for a rather trivial matter I helped him out with last month."
I examined the tickets. My hands began to shake with excitement. "These are third row orchestra tickets to opening night of Carmen!" I exclaimed. Trivial matter indeed for LA Opera's new Principal Conductor.
"It's tonight," Holmes stated.
"That's great!" I grinned as I handed him the tickets back. "You are so incredibly lucky." I had tried to get tickets a month ago to no avail. Everything that was left was way beyond my price range.
"Well?"
I was a bit confused. Why did he always assume that my brain worked as fast as his? "Well what?"
Holmes chuckled. "Are you free tonight? Or have you already made plans with Thomas Covenant?"
"Hey! You can't make fun of the books if you haven't read them! Besides…" I was about to launch into further protest when it suddenly dawned on me what he was asking. I felt a slight blush creep into my cheeks.
"So how about it? I'd hate to let these tickets go to waste seeing how it is one of your favorites."
Something didn't feel right. It seemed too planned, too un-Holmes-like. Holmes would not show up in my office just to ask me to go watch an opera hours before it started. In fact, if he really had just wanted to go to the opera, he would have waited until about half an hour before it started before dropping by my apartment and then we'd go see it. It didn't matter that I was in jeans, he would argue- as he did when we went to see La Boheme two months ago- I wasn't the one performing.
But this time, he had actually come in hours before the opera was scheduled to start. "What's the catch?"
His eyes twinkled with amusement. "Catch?" he parroted.
I rolled my eyes. "Every other event we've gone to you've come by my apartment with barely enough to drive there. What's so important about going to Carmen tonight that you've stopped by my office in the afternoon? I have more than two minutes to get ready for a change."
"I'm there to observe someone," he conceded.
So much for thinking it was just for fun. "It's a case?"
He shrugged, seemingly distracted for a moment before he turned to face me again. "I need an extra set of eyes. Well, are you in?"
He was avoiding the question and I decided not to press further. Besides, a free ticket to Carmen with Placido Domingo as Don Jose was WAY too good to pass up. I smiled. "Yeah, ok. I'm in. What time are you coming by?"
Holmes seemed relieved as he hopped off my desk. "I'll be there at 6:20. Thanks Watson."
"So is there a dress code? Or should I go in my usual attire of lab coat and scrubs?" I joked, still not completely sure why Holmes wanted me to go with him. An extra set of eyes? For what? How was I supposed to know what to look for if he wouldn't tell me?
"It's opening night, Watson! What do you think?" He strolled out the door and disappeared, not waiting to hear my answer.
I hated it when he did that.