Partners in Crime

Genre: Friendship

Pairings: Greg and Molly, Sherlock and Sally, background only

Main characters: Greg, OC Kieran Bailey, Rosie, and introducing Julian Bailey, six year old son of Kieran

Julian Andrew Bailey was cross. Very cross.

A girl in his class had taken the seat he wanted, and she wouldn't say why.

Even worse, she wouldn't give it back.

She was sassy and stubborn, and he didn't want to be mean just to get his chair back, especially not to a girl, because that wasn't what an honourable boy did - but she was being so unfair to him too. So he did the only thing he knew how to do – he stood his ground.

"I was here first," she retorted. "Make me move. My daddy is a soldier, and a doctor. You can't make me do anything I don't want to. I also have an uncle who is a detective and another uncle who is a policeman."

"Oh, yeah, well my daddy is a policeman too," Julian had countered. "He's a Met detective. So THERE."

Rosie Watson glared at this sassy boy.

"What kind of detective?" she asked. "My uncle is a Detective INSPECTOR."

Julian frowned. He hated it when he was bested by a GIRL, but he was a sweet boy deep down, and he couldn't bear to lie just to save face. His mummy and daddy had always taught him that he should always be honest.

"Daddy is only a Detective Sergeant," he said, casting his face downwards and sounding defeated.

"A Detective Sergeant!" Rosie declared, sounding excited, and much to little Julian's shock - impressed. "Well my Auntie is a Detective Sergeant, and she's WONDERFUL. So your daddy must be too!"

Julian perked up somewhat. "Oh, he IS wonderful. He really is. His boss is a Detective Inspector. But I can't remember his name. He's a really nice man though. He's tall and very kind, and he reminds me of a teddy bear, especially when he talks."

Somehow, the revelation that Julian Bailey's dad was a Detective Sergeant had inspired a bit more respect from Rosie Watson. At a spunky six years old, she was still of the school of thought that boys were somewhat icky, though admittedly, they were getting to be less icky all the time. Julian was different though.

"Look… you can have your seat back if you want, but only if I get to have the one right next to you," she said. She crossed her arms and levelled a look at him.

Julian smiled with bright green eyes. "Deal," he said. "Oh, my name is Julian. What's yours?"

"I'm Rosamund, but don't you dare call me that. You have to be very special to call me that. Call me Rosie instead. Good to meet you Julian, but I think I'll call you Jules, if that's okay?"

Julian held out his hand. "You can call me whatever you like, Rosie, but nobody else will be allowed to call me that. Only YOU. I think we're going to be friends, don't you?"

After the truce had been declared, they had indeed become fast friends. Nobody but Julian and Rosie realized the significance of the surprise when, one day, Julian had arrived at 221 Baker Street with his dad, DS Kieran Bailey, to talk to Greg.

"Hello, Mr. Greg," Julian had said when they arrived. Greg had crouched down to the boy's level and held out his hand.

"Good morning, little lad," had been Greg's warm reply. "So you've come with your dad today, have you?" as Julian took the offered hand and shook it solemnly.

"Yes, Mr. Greg," Julian replied politely. "Mummy is at a conference so Daddy said I could come with him as long as I behaved," he said politely. "I promise I'll be good!"

Kieran smiled as he looked on, pleased with the easy repoire his boss seemed to have with his young son.

"I know you will be, laddie. Look, my niece lives upstairs, she's about your age. Perhaps you can go play with her?" Greg and Julian both looked to Kieran for approval. With Kieran's nod of permission, Greg smiled as he went over to the open door and shouted up to Rosie to come down to 221C.

When Rosie had arrived at the door, flushed from both running and from excitement, she had stopped short with a shocked look on her face. Greg and Kieran shared an amused look as Julian returned the expression of surprise to Rosie. "You didn't tell me your daddy knew my Uncle Greg!" Rosie declared, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well, you didn't tell me your Uncle Greg was my daddy's boss," he countered.

"I think we need to talk more about this, Jules Bailey," Rosie decided. "Let's go upstairs, there aren't any fun toys down here for big kids like us. They're all baby toys."

Julian didn't need any more invitation than that. "Last one upstairs runs like a girl!" he said, as he sprinted towards the door.

"I AM a girl, you silly goose!" Rosie yelled, as she dashed after him.

"ROSAMUND, SLOW DOW…!" Greg managed, before hearing a crash out in the foyer. He winced and shook his head before smiling at the knowing look his Sergeant gave him.

"Interesting," Kieran said when the din upstairs had died down. "Julian mentioned a girl in his class. Said she was blonde and blue eyed and full of sass, but was much nicer to him after he mentioned I was a Detective Sergeant. According to him, she has an Uncle who is a Detective Inspector and an Auntie who is a Detective Sergeant. I'm guessing now that this sassy little lass my boy speaks of must be Rosie?"

"Must be," Greg said, shrugging. "Rosie has no other family with the Yard other than myself and Sally, and Julian obviously already knows her. I know Rosie's a little charmer but most boys his age don't think much of girls, so they must be friends already. She has mentioned a nice boy with green eyes. For a girl Rosie's age to call a boy 'nice' he must have made quite the impression on her. Never occurred to me she was talking about Julian though."

"You've got a lot to look forward to, Sir," Kieran said with a laugh. "Your little ones are growing so fast, before you know it they'll be deciding that girls are icky and boys are gross, then they'll be older still and deciding they were wrong after all. That's when the muck will really hit the fan. Think of Rosie as a trial run."

"She can be a trial, alright," Greg said with an amused sigh. "She's a good girl though. She has her mother's spirit and her dad's heart. And God help us all her Uncle Sherlock's sense of adventure and his insatiable curiosity."

"Well let's hope she develops your wisdom then, Sir. She sounds like a little detective in the making," Kieran observed. "Julian is a lot like Rosie then. He's so spirited. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing just yet though. Perhaps he and Rosie will be good for each other."

"Rosie sometimes can't avoid trouble, but she never has naughty intentions. They'll either keep each other out of trouble, or they'll conspire to get into it," Greg laughed heartily.

"Partners in crime… or crime solving, let's hope!" Kieran said, chuckling himself.

Upstairs, in 221B, Julian Bailey and Rosie Watson had already settled into their first hushed conspiracy, Rosie cautioning that they had to play quietly as there were a bunch of babies sleeping in the next room, and Auntie Sally and Auntie Molly would be cross with them if they woke them up.

"Do you suppose your dad will bring you along more often now though, I mean now that he knows we're friends?" Rosie whispered excitedly.

"I hope so," Julian said thoughtfully. "I think we might have LOTS of adventures together!"

Rosie giggled. She could not agree more.