A/N: Sorry I took so long to post this chapter… I wasn't so sure I was going to continue this story, but it seems like some other people liked it, so thanks for inspiring me to post more! :) I promise I'll keep up with this story and update soon!

This chapter is dedicated to artemis262, brunette-in-black, and AnimeOtakuBara. Thanks for favorite-ing/reviewing guys!

"Alright, now which one do you think is Merlock?"

Jackie stood with her arms folded across her chest and stone-cold glare upon face in the middle of the parlor at Brunswick Manor. The only things that were more annoying than the ugly floral patterned carpet, grey walls, and depressing music were the two men standing on either side of her.

"I still am feeling that it isn't Merlock," the one on her left, called Carl, said for only the fiftieth time that day.

Jackie rolled her eyes. She hoped they had more room for another deceased Holmes at this place, because she was going to die of boredom at any second now.

The man on her right rolled his eyes as well. His name was Harland Ludwig, and he was the tall, stony-faced, and seemingly evil owner of Ludwig Orphanage on Juniper Bloom Avenue in London, England. He was not a particularly friendly human being, but today he happened to be in an extremely bad mood because things just weren't going his way.

The plan had been relatively simple: go to Mycroft's funeral; find Mr. Holmes, his younger brother, after the service; explain to him the unfortunate situation of his thirteen-year-old niece whom he had never met nor even heard about; then ship the girl off with him. Of course, there were just a few glitches along the way.

Because of some miscommunications and a lack of knowledge of funeral vocabulary – both the fault of Ludwig's oversized assistant Carl – the duo had missed the wake, the funeral service, and the burial. And now they were stuck at some stuffy old mansion for some sort of "party" celebrating Mycroft's life.

"Maybe he looks like her," Carl said, motioning to Jackie, who was still standing unhappily between them.

"Hm," was all Harland said, as he was still scanning the room for the man they were looking for.

"Maybe you could ask someone who he is," Jackie suggested, not bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice. "That would certainly make sense, as everyone here would know him!"

"I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut," the orphanage owner scolded, but he had to admit to himself that it was a good idea. He left the other two for a moment and approached a woman in a large hat who was pouring herself a glass of punch.

"Pardon me, madam," he said politely, hiding his normal coldness and forcing himself to smile, "but would you be able to point me in the direction of the younger brother of dear Mycroft, God rest his soul?"

The woman stared at him for just a moment, then turned and pointed a black gloved finger towards a tall man standing in the corner of the room. "You must mean Sherlock," she said. "He's that one, over there. Tall, blondish, blue eyes… with the shorter man standing beside him."

Ludwig grinned.

"Thank you, thank you."

He quickly turned and motioned to Carl, who immediately grabbed Jackie's arm and dragged her along with him over to where Ludwig was standing.

"He's that tall fellow, over there," Harland Ludwig muttered. "All we have to do is dump the girl in his hands and get out of here. Then our job is done."

"Perfect."

"Oh, and by the way," Ludwig added, "it's Sherlock. His name is Sherlock."

Carl squinted at his boss. "What kind of name is that?"

Ludwig shrugged. "Their parents seemed to have had a habit of giving their children strange names."

"Like Jacqueline?" Jackie said coldly.

"That's a perfectly normal name," Harland Ludwig replied testily as he looked around the room.

"No, it's a terrible name. And since no one had an ounce of creativity, they just decided to name me after my mother."

"Stop complaining," Ludwig said, grabbing her wrist and then turning to Carl. "Let's get this over with."

Jackie Holmes rarely got scared. She was the kind of girl who was tough, adventurous, and not about to be pushed around by anybody. But at this moment, she was more or less scared out of her mind.

Although her whole body was screaming at her to just run away, she silently allowed Harland Ludwig to drag her across the floor. She could see her uncle standing there in the corner, watching a group of people across the room with icy blue eyes, and talking in a low voice to the shorter man standing beside him.

"Please let Peter be right," she whispered. "Please let him like me…"

"Mr. Holmes!" Ludwig suddenly exclaimed in a loud voice, pushing Jackie in front of him. "How are you?"

Sherlock Holmes turned towards them as they approached.

"Quite alright, and you?"

"Never better!" Ludwig cried. The older man standing beside Holmes squinted at the orphanage owner. Obviously this strange man had no idea how to act after a beloved family member had died.

"My name is Harland Ludwig," he began, reaching out to shake the detective's hand. "And this is my friend and business partner, Carl Barclay."

The fat man nearly knocked Jackie over as he shook Sherlock's hand. Jackie couldn't help but shoot him an icy cold glare.

"Well, you obviously know me, London's great detective," Holmes said with a wry smile. "I'm Sherlock Holmes. This here is my good friend Dr. John Watson."

"Very nice to meet all of you," Watson said with a smile. "And may I ask who the girl is?"

Sherlock Holmes stared down at Jackie, his blue eyes piercing hers. Jackie tried to offer some sort of smile, but she felt completely frozen. She was getting the strange feeling that even though she knew nothing about this man, just from one glance he already knew practically everything about her.

"Oh, of course," Ludwig said, looking down at her with annoyance. "This is Jacqueline…"

"Jackie," the girl corrected him automatically.

"Jackie," he repeated coldly. "Your…"

"Brother's daughter," Holmes interrupted, his eyes not leaving Jackie's. "Mycroft's daughter."

Sherlock Holmes obviously did not seem the least bit surprised, but his friend John Watson nearly tumbled backwards in shock.

"Holmes," he breathed. "I… I had no idea Mycroft had a daughter…"

"Nor did I," Sherlock said. "But apparently he does."

"How… how did… you…" Ludwig stuttered, looking back and forth between Sherlock and his niece.

"He's only the greatest detective in all of England," Jackie said very matter-of-factly. "Obviously he would be able to note the resemblance. The eyes, I've been told, are a dead giveaway."

Sherlock cracked a half-smile. "She's smart, this one is."

"Oh! Oh yes, very smart," Carl said quickly. "And friendly. And polite. She is also…"

"Not now," hissed Ludwig. "Mr. Holmes, we must admit that a slight problem has arisen after the death of your dear brother. Jacqueline…"

"Jackie."

"…Jackie has lived in our orphanage for her whole life now, with the necessary funds from her father. In his will, which our lawyers have gotten the chance to peruse, it states that you, his brother, should become the guardian of his child, and her existence now lies on you."

"We are very sorry," said Carl with soft, honest eyes. Harland gave him a hard nudge in the ribs.

Sherlock's eyebrows rose as he looked between the two men. "So I suppose now I must…"

"Well, you do have a few options," Ludwig interrupted. He pulled a pamphlet out of his pocket and handed it to the detective, who immediately began looking over it. "You could, of course, keep her in the orphanage, provided you pay the annual tuition."

"Send her back to the orphanage!" exclaimed Watson. He turned to Holmes. "Surely you would never do that to a poor child! Look at her, she looks half starved!"

Jackie truly was trying her best to put on a very pitiful looking face, and it wasn't very hard to do seeing as she actually was a very pitiful looking young girl.

"Let me talk to Mary, maybe we could take her in!" Watson continued. "Please, Holmes, I implore you, do not send her back to that miserable place. I have many patients from the orphanages of London; they are underfed and overworked, and their state of living is absolutely atrocious."

"I beg your pardon," Ludwig said, looking very taken aback. "As you can see in these pictures here, our orphanage is very well-taken care of, and the children are very nicely treated. They are fed three meals a day, go to school and do a very small amount of manual work, and are undoubtedly some of the happiest children in London."

Sherlock glanced over the pamphlet just in time to see Jackie roll her eyes at the man's statements. He cracked another small grin.

"Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Ludwig," he began, giving him back the paper. "But I am not so sure that I see fit to send my niece to your orphanage again. Thank you very much for your time, though. It was very nice meeting you."

Harland and Carl both stood there completely shocked, their mouths hanging open. Jackie's expression looked like it was stuck between surprise and a very "I told you so" type of look.

"Very well," Ludwig said stiffly, shoving the pamphlet back into his coat pocket. "If you change your mind – and I can almost guarantee you will once you get to know her – you can always send her back."

"Thank you, sir," Holmes said. "Have a nice day."

Ludwig nodded and turned on his heel, grabbing the still shocked Carl Barclay and half dragging him out of the room.

Sherlock, Watson, and Jackie Holmes stood in a very awkward silence for a few seconds. Jackie couldn't bring herself to look up at the two men, and instead continued to stare down at the ugly floral carpet. She could tell both the doctor and the detective were watching her intently.

"So," Holmes said with a wry half-smile. "Isn't this a very interesting situation?"

Jackie couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Very interesting indeed."

A/N: hope you enjoyed this :) please review!!