Sorry I didn't post sooner, as I promised, but vacation took a lot out of me. Funny how vacation can make you tired. Anyways, I made up for it with a longer-than-usual chapter. Definitely longer than the last one. As always, thanks for the reviews/follows/favs. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7

They were all pretty worn out after their escapades in the land of dragons and knights. Even Sherlock was dozing on the couch. He reasoned that the combination of a late night, early morning, tantrum-throwing four-year-old, and time spent being an evil dragon was starting to take its toll.

He was nearly asleep when his text alert went off and startled him. He looked around to make sure no one else had woken up. Most specifically Addie since she needed all the sleep she could get. He panicked when he saw John's spot unoccupied when he'd been sleeping there not 15 minutes ago. The sound of the fridge being closed quelled his nerves. He looked at the text and cursed. He'd forgotten all about the meeting at St. Bart's he'd arranged with Molly to view the bodies.

John heard him curse and came to see what was wrong. "What is it?" he asked.

"I completely forgot that I told Molly I'd meet her at the morgue," Sherlock said jumping into action. "I was supposed to be there 10 minutes ago." He was now frantically gathering up the evidence he acquired as well as his coat and scarf.

John shrugged on his coat and slid on his boots as well. "Don't fret. Molly isn't going to leave. I'm sure she'll wait around a bit."

"Hmmm," was Sherlock's response as he was still distracted and getting everything ready. He was now walking towards the door and he turned back to wait for John, whom he just realized wasn't next to him.

Sherlock turned to see John gathering a sleeping Addie up in his arms, keeping the ridiculously orange blanket wrapped around her. Sherlock had nearly forgotten her and would have accidentally left her on the couch if he were by himself. He gave John a questioning look.

"You got any better ideas?" John asked. "She's asleep Sherlock, and if we're lucky, she'll be asleep for most of the time there. She'll be fine."

"I suppose you're right. I had forgotten she was here for a second. Good thing you didn't, else we'd have a bigger problem on our hands than just taking a four-year-old to a morgue," Sherlock replied.

John agreed then scooped up Addie's coat before following Sherlock out to the street to get a cab.

Given the fact that it was late evening when they got there, they snuck on by with no problems and found themselves knocking on the lab door.

Molly quickly opened the door for them and let them in. She looked confused when she saw Addie asleep in John's arms.

"Ummm…who is that? She doesn't belong to you does she?" Molly asked apprehensively.

"No she's not mine…well technically not, anyways, I mean, at the moment she belongs to me, but not most of the time," Sherlock answered her.

Molly's looked confused and she didn't seem to understand his ramblings. She looked to John for an explanation instead, hoping she'd get one that actually made sense.

"This is Addie, and she's getting rather heavy at the moment. Do you have anywhere I can set her down?" John asked.

Molly nodded and gestured over to a small armchair in the corner of the room that he never even knew was there. John set her down and went to stand by Sherlock.

Molly came out of her confused haze and looked at Addie sleeping on the couch. Everything about this was just so wrong.

"So this is Addie?" she asked. "You're 24-year-old sister? But now in the body of a child?"

"Your questions answer themselves Molly, but if you really need to hear it from me, then yes, this is Addie. She's currently 4 and we haven't the foggiest idea of how she became this way," Sherlock said.

"Right. Of course. Yeah," Molly said, her gaze back to the sleeping child on the couch. "Well then, shall we get started before she wakes up?"

John and Sherlock agreed and left to follow Molly, making sure the door to the lab was triple locked and Addie was comfortable and content.

"And then Addie asked him if he was an "insulting" detective like Sherlock. It was priceless!" John said as he walked back into the lab with Molly. Sherlock stayed behind saying he needed more time to analyze.

The first thing he noticed was a lack of a small body on the chair. He could have sworn he laid Addie there when they'd left the room. In fact, he was positive he had put her there before going into the morgue.

He was suddenly struck with an overwhelming sense of panic. Addie wasn't on the chair. She wasn't where he left her. She was gone. Just vanished and she could be anywhere. Sherlock was going to kill him when he found out he'd lost his little sister.

"Oh god! Molly! Addie's gone! She's gone! I left her sleeping here on the chair and now she's gone," John rambled and started frantically looking around for her, lifting up papers and moving microscopes as if Addie would somehow be under them.

"Addie!" he yelled as he continued his search.

What if something happened to her? He was nearly sick at the thought. She's so defenseless and vulnerable. He couldn't stand the thought of her being hurt or in danger.

"Addie!" he yelled again.

Molly was in quite a panic too, trying to come up with some suggestions of where she might be or where she could have gone off to. She was sure she had locked the door multiple times before leaving, but Addie was a Holmes and she wouldn't put it past her to pick a lock. She probably learned that before she could walk.

"We have to split up," Molly suggested, trying to think rationally. "It's the most effective method and the fastest. I'll take left wing you take right? Alright?"

John nodded his head, unable to answer her verbally, afraid he might vomit on the floor. The very real possibility of a four-year-old being lost in a ginormous hospital made his heart nearly jump out of his chest.

"Oh god! Please let her be alright!" John begged.

He and Molly were about to leave and search the surrounding areas when John heard a scuffling sound coming from the corner of the room. He stopped and his head flew in the direction of the sound.

"Addie…?" John called out hesitantly. He heard more shuffling and some sniffles. He followed the sound.

He could see a small figure crouched in the corner and he heard small sobs coming from it. He walked over with caution. When he got to the corner he saw Addie curled up and trying to melt into the wall. He approached her slowly and got down on his hands and knees to see her face.

"Addie…?" he asked again.

Addie's tear-stained face looked up to his and she whispered a small "Mr. John…?"

"Oh thank the Lord!" he said, exhaling loudly. He wasn't aware he'd been holding his breath the whole time he was looking for her.

Addie looked terrified huddled in the corner with her arms around her knees. John offered his hand and that was all the invitation she needed to throw herself at him and cling to him tightly. She was gulping in giant breaths and John could feel her shoulders shaking as he held her tightly.

"Shhhh! It's alright sweetheart. I'm here now. It's all ok," he said rubbing her back and squeezing her to him, afraid to let go in case she somehow went missing again.

"Are you alright? Are you ok? Oh god! I thought I lost you!" John said cupping the back of her head and pressing his lips to it. He worked on trying to slow his beating heart, hoping it would help the girl calm down too.

"Ok, ok. You're alright now. Shhh. Mr. John's here. You don't have to be scared anymore," he said, picking her up and carrying her to the chair.

"I…I…I woke up and…and…no one was here," she said between gulps. "I didn't see you or Sh-Sh-Sherlock and I didn't know where I w-w-was! And I saw lots of scary stuff and I was all…all…alone, so I…I hid."

She still had her arms around his middle and her head against his chest. Her shaky voice was slightly muffled by his jacket.

"Oh Addie, I'm so sorry! We never should have left you here all alone," John apologized.

"I'm sorry Mr. John!" she wailed before squeezing him again.

"Hey, hey, what are you sorry for?" he asked.

"I'm sorry you were worried and scared and I didn't answer when you called for me and I hid and I didn't stay put on the chair," she rambled on.

"No, no kiddo, you don't need to apologize. Not at all. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I shoulda come out when you were yelling but I was too scared. And Sherlock and Mycof always said if I was ever scared or in danger, I had to hide away and stay real quiet and wait for them to find me."

"They are absolutely right and you were a good girl in following their directions. You did good Addie," John said rubbing her back.

"Here, I brought you some tissues. To dry your face." A female voice said from their left.

John startled. He had forgotten Molly was even there in his panic and relief at finding Addie. He felt a bit bad about ignoring her and he took the offered tissue graciously. He helped Addie dry her face, knowing she was capable of doing it herself, but reluctant to let go of her at the moment.

Addie eyed Molly and cautiously leaned over to take another tissue from her to wipe her nose.

"Thank you," Addie whispered quietly.

"You're welcome," Molly smiled brightly at her. "My name is Molly by the way. I'm a…friend of Sherlock and John."

Addie was still a little shaken and she stared at Molly for a few more second before shyly offering her hand. "Hello Miss Molly. My name is Adelaide Holmes."

"Very nice to meet you Miss Adelaide," Molly shook her hand and gave her a warm smile.

Addie smiled back and returned the handshake. Sherlock walked in at that moment asking Molly for some coffee and dropping his papers on the lab table. He paused when he realized no one was moving to get him his coffee and they were all staring at him. He saw Molly's box of tissues in hand, saw John gripping Addie as tight as possible and noticed Addie clinging to his jacket with half her face buried in his chest. He also saw the drying tear tracks on her face.

"What's happened?" he asked suddenly, quickly striding over to them.

"It's alright Sherlock, we're all fine," John reassured him.

"No you're not. Addie's clearly upset, you look paler than a ghost, and Molly's offering you both tissues. What happened?" Sherlock asked.

"Addie woke up," John said. The look on Sherlock's face showed that he understood the implications of that statement.

John continued, "No one was here. She didn't recognize where she was."

"Damn!" Sherlock said running a hand over his face.

"I'm sorry Sherlock! But I did exactly what you and Mycof said. I hid away and I was real quiet and I waited until Mr. John found me," Addie said quietly.

Sherlock exhaled and walked over to bend down so he was eye-level with her. "Don't apologize, Addie. You did what you were supposed to do. I'm proud of you for being such a brave girl."

"But…but I wasn't brave! I was so scared!"

"It's ok to be scared sometimes. It doesn't mean you were any less brave," Sherlock said as he put his hand on her knee.

"How?" she questioned, always the curious one.

"Well, being brave doesn't mean you aren't scared. It means that, despite being scared, you were able to do what needed to be done and not let it affect you. That's what it means to be truly brave," Sherlock said.

Addie nodded her head and seemed to understand his explanation. She then let go of John and moved in to hug Sherlock.

"I was so scared Lockie! I didn't know where you were and I didn't know why I was here and I thought you left me. It was so scary!"

"Shh, calm down, love. It's all over now. You're ok," Sherlock soothed her. "And I think we all learned our lesson today. We'll never leave you alone again. Promise."

"Pinky promise?" she said shyly and offered her pinky. Sherlock smiled and hooked his pinky in hers.

Addie then turned to John and said, "Pinky promise Mr. John?" John smiled and "pinky promised" also.

"Now then, what do you say to watching Sherlock do some experiments, eh?" John said.

Addie nodded and scooted off the chair to stand next to him as he got up. Sherlock went to get his experiment set up and John set Addie on a stool near him. He moved to get his own stool but Addie wouldn't let his hand go. She looked up at him with big eyes and squeezed his hand.

"Thank you for finding me Mr. John. And for helping me when I was scared. And for staying wif me while I stopped crying," she said sincerely.

Addie then reached up to bring his face down to her level. She took his chin in her hands and gave him a kiss on his cheek. He heard a whispered and breathy "I love you Mr. John," in his ear before she let him go and turned to watch Sherlock.

John put his hands to his cheek and tried to discreetly wipe at his eyes. As he watched brother and sister interact over the evidence and Sherlock patiently show Addie all about the different parts of the microscope, he let out a barely audible, "I love you too," and sat down to observe the "Holmes duo" at work.