Chapter 3: Deadlines and Commitments

If you should fall upon hard times, if you should lose your way. There is a place, here in this house that you can stay. I'll catch you, darling. I'll be waiting; I am on your side. –The Killers

Waking up, I felt a huge sigh of relief. What I had seen in my head was just a nightmare. For the first time, I touched the mad circular shades of purple on my leg.

"No more angry fists on you." My head motherly whispered

As I sit up, I realize Sherlock is still lying by my side. He sleeps like he's following some spiritual mantra. Sending out his good vibes or genius vibes into the universe.

My eyes dance around Sherlock. He's much taller than me, but then again, when you're 5'2 like I am- everyone looks down at you. Yet, he's not as tall as I pictured

him. Whenever Mycroft was in a foul mood, he'd mention Sherlock. I always figured he'd be as tall as Mycroft. Slightly off assumption of mine. Seeing his skin tone made

me smile a bit. It had been a while since I met someone equally pale as me. Sherlock was a slim man but based on what I saw from earlier- he was fit. His chest wasn't

just a pile of flesh, it was rather nicely defined. Not too muscular, not to school boyish. "Sexy " I thought...well at least to me. My eyes traced his long neck and then

moved to his lips. They were pale pink and plump-He had some seriously bold lips. His nose was slightly pointed at the end, but not big or small, just right. Before I

could get to his eyes I was stopped by his incredibly sharp cheekbones. They demanded attention. Admiring them, I moved on to his eyes. Just as I was starting to

take in how dark his lashes were, Sherlock's left eye opened and he said, "Stop staring at me."

I smiled and replied, "but you're enjoying it."

As soon as the words slip out my mouth, my eyes widen and I feel my cheeks turn about 50 shades of pink.

Sherlock's eyes open and instead of aggression, there's actually a playful glow to them.

Oh shit, just as Sherlock purses his lips to say something, John peaks his head into the door. Upon confirming that I'm awake, he frowns and then smiles before being shoved in by Mycroft.

Sherlock still stares at me as he says,"Mrs. Watson, I do not relish on having attention. I don't like being the center of attention at events and I certainly don't find it one bit amusing."

John and Mycroft exchange a look. Even with eyes closed, Sherlock can tell that John and Mycroft are confused.

To enlighten them both he accusingly claims, "John, upon catching your sister creepily stare at me for a good 6 minutes, I told her to stop and she then stupidly accused that I enjoyed it."

John looked at me and said, "Zelig, don't lower your standards."

Sherlock immediately sat up and glared at John.

At this, John added, "If you didn't like it, you could have stopped her right away- not 6 minutes later. Leave my sister alone."

Mycroft looked amused.

"Mrs.?" I ask him questioningly

"Your ring." He instantly replied

Mycroft giggled and I swear that John's face when from rage, to confusion, to sorrow, to every emotion possible.

I stare at my dainty ring and begin to laugh.

"It was a gift from Mycroft." I tease

John's eyes widen and his legs wobble as if he's about to collapse.

Sherlock looks appalled and then says "Did you marry, are you and Mycroft mar...oh I'm going to throw up."

Both Sherlock and Watson childishly hold a hand to their mouths as if they were really going to explode vile all over this room.

John takes one more look at my ring and then notices a ring on Mycroft too. He's clearly had enough as he launches himself at Mycroft.

Down goes my Queen. "You bastard!" John growls as he finds his way on top of Mycroft and wraps his hands around his neck. "First you take my sister away and then you marry her? Without my consent or an invitation? Hm!"

I look at John in surprise and then turn to find Sherlock laughing. OMG he's actually laughing! Sherlock is a man of emotion- he can laugh! Sherlock's piercing eyes turn to me and still, he maniacally laughs. He looks like a little kid jumping up and down his bed. I can practically see him squeal, "Go John!"

We both stop laughing when we hear Mycroft silence down.

"Shit, John get off!" I say panicking

"I'm going to make sure you're a rich widow!" He rages

"Off John!" I plead

I turn to Sherlock who immediately shakes his head. He can't be serious.

"He's your brother!" I exclaim

Sherlock shrugs and continues to enjoy the scene. This must be like paradise for him.

As I clench my hand into a fist, Sherlock breaks its hold and bewilderingly stares at me,

"He was a soldier! Show him a little more respect!" He hisses

"He was a doctor." I reply

"At war!" John hisses

"He had his bad days!" Sherlock adds

I think about kicking him off but instead Sherlock sighs and says, "John, get off my brother."

John doesn't stop. He's still choking him. I look at Mycroft; his face is really taking a light shade of an eggplant now.

Sherlock smiles and then leans down to whisper into my ear. "Don't make me take back what I said earlier."

I recall Sherlock's compliment and blurt out, "John it's all a joke, we're not actually married!"

John, with his hands still around Mycroft's neck looks at me. Upon confirming that I was in fact telling the truth, and having Sherlock's nod of approval, he releases his

almost death grip on Mycroft.

Mycroft breathes in heavily. He touches his now red and purple neck. Mycroft backs away and straightens his jacket. Part of me wants to reach out and help Mycroft. I

mean, he did drive me insane and pushed me to drink heavily in order to forget his complaints and ridiculous expectations, but he also paid for my-everything. Then

again, he also gave up on me rather easily. Bravery takes over me, and I look at Mycroft and say,

"You kinda deserve that."

He instantly replies, "I kind of do."

I shrug and he says, "Almost dying makes me want to live more humbly."

I stare at Mycroft and we both drown the room in a fit of giggles. Not even death could make Mycroft a humble man. He was all about the arts and luxurious things

about life.

I stare at John who is STILL looking at me. Upon realizing that he's thinking I might have been lying I laugh more and out of breathe I say,"OMG, you didn't seriously

think that Mycroft and I were married, did you?"

Staring at the answer in John's eyes, I laugh even louder.

"You and I married?" Mycroft shudders

"I'd be a rich widow in a few days." I laugh

Thankfully Mycroft still possesses a good humor as he says, "OH you couldn't hurt a butterfly."

"Of course not! They're beautiful creatures. What have butterflies done to me?"

Mycroft nods and that's my cue to stop being cutesy.

Nodding back I muster a serious face and in a confident tone add, "I only hurt people when they threaten to cause harm to the ones I love. It's a short list, but my

word is my bond."

Mycroft smiles approvingly.

As Sherlock plops back into bed, John walks over to my side and pulls me in for a hug. Before breaking apart, he very softly whispers, "I'm sorry."

John pulls me away and grabs me by the shoulders. I give him a coy smile.

"I suppose you know everything now?" I ask John

"Not entirely." He responds

I take in a deep breath as I prepare myself to give John a rundown of my crazy life, but instead, Sherlock saves me.

He gives John a rundown of my life. From moving to Ireland for school, to being employed by Mycroft, to meeting Moriarty, to thinking I could fix him to everything that

led to this moment.

When Sherlock finished, John cocked his head and said,

"Okay, I can understand you helping Moriarty, but how did you put up with him? Why? He asked as stared at Mycroft.

I shrugged and said, "He paid for my school, my rent, my food."

"Oh come on Jane, working for me is fun." Mycroft moaned

Sherlock scoffed at that and I couldn't help but to secretly agree.

"Sometimes." I said

"Most of the time." He added

John looked appalled and said, "Well. This has been quite a day."

I looked over at Sherlock who know lay flat with his eyes shut. A feeling of jealousy panged over me. I wished that could be me lying so peacefully and relaxed. But no,

instead I still felt like I owed a million and one apologies to John. I felt like Mycroft was going to drop the assignment on me at any time now, and I felt angry at myself.

I felt sad and in pain. I looked at my bruised leg again and had a chill run up my spine. I thought of what the rest of my body might look like. I closed my eyes and John

said,

"Are you hungry?"

Sherlock sat up straight and said, "It's about time you asked."

John stared at him and said, "I wasn't asking you."

All John got back was in response was an, "oh". Sherlock had sprung out of bed and was now out the door.

"John, I don't feel like going out. Do you mind bringing me something?" I asked

"We can do take out." He eagerly said

I smiled and John took that as a cue to go downstairs for the phone. As John left, Mycroft took two steps forward to be closer and said, "I will give you a break from

the proj-

I held my hand up to silence him and said, "I made a commitment to it, and I have a deadline. It'll be done by tonight."

Mycroft nodded and as he stepped out of the room he turned his face so I'd see his profile and said,

"I'm glad you're not dead."

Mycroft vanished downstairs and I whispered, "I'm quite glad myself."

Finding it too quiet in this room, I closed Sherlock's bedroom door behind me and slowly make my way down. As I entered the living room, I saw everyone doing their

duties. Sherlock bickered with Mycroft, and John and Mary sat in a couch together talking about something. Being extra quiet, I was able to slip past them and head

into the kitchen. Once in the tiny but neat kitchen I'm greeted by the lady from earlier today, she takes me in and says, "I never knew John would have such a pretty

sister, but then again he's kind of pretty too." She says

I give her a warm smile and say, "My name is Zelig." She smiles back at me and says, "I'm Mrs. Hudson, the landlady."

"Would you like a cup of tea dear?" she asks

I shake my head politely and she says, "You don't look too well. Whoever did this to you, I hope you got him good. You look like you could handle business."

I break into a huge smile and say, "Mrs. Hudson, I practically set him on fire."

"Oh!" she adds in excitement.

She continues to look at my ripped leggings.

"You don't look too comfortable in that dress dear, come here, and follow me." She says as she takes me by the hand.

For once, I'm relieved that somebody didn't yank my wrist. Her hand is warm, and I feel safe. Mrs. Hudson reminds me of the mother I wish I had.

We end up entering a different flat-221C. As I enter, it's pretty much the same as John and Sherlock's, except tidier and more sophisticated. My eyes skim around the

beige walls and interesting French furniture. She leads me to the top of the stairs and then down a hallway. She opens the door to what I suppose is her bedroom.

She pats me on the shoulder and says, "Sit here darling, while I fetch you something more comfortable to wear." I sit down in her very cute circular canopy bed. I sink

in and I swear it's one of the softest beds I've ever sat on. After a few minutes, Mrs. Hudson comes out with a pile of clothes.

"Mrs. Hudson!" I say helping her.

She takes some of the silk pieces and says, "I was once young, and my husband once lavished me in gifts. I had a love for anything that would bear some skin with

lace or silk." She says

I grab a thin strapped dainty lace dress and admire it.

"This is all very 20's looking." I say amazed

"I loved that kind of flapper girl wear." She relishes

Mrs. Hudson fishes out a beautiful emerald satin romper with thin lace straps. She holds it up to me and says, "Wear this!"

I blush looking at it and say, "It looks like lingerie."

"It is!" she beams

"It's a bit short." I say

"Zelig, you are young. Show off your legs while you can." She says

I laugh that and say, "Fine. I'll wear it for you Mrs. Hudson."

Happy, Mrs. Hudson reaches for another article and says, you can wear this over it."

I take the beautiful black lace kimono and say, "Know this and that romper is more like it!"

As I take the clothes to get up, Mrs. Hudson says, "Don't you want to shower?"

I realize that I probably look like shit and say, "Yes, I'll do that over at the boys-

"Oh nonsense!" she says

"Shower here. I have shampoo, conditioner, lotion, good soaps. Treat yourself to whatever you find."

She looks at me so sweetly that all I say is, "Thank you so much Mrs. Hudson, you're the best."

Mrs. Hudson gives me a smile and says, "I know." Before leading me to her bathroom and closing the door behind me.

Realizing there's no towel, I step out and Mrs. Hudson is already holding a towel and bathrobe for me.

"Are you psychic Mrs. Hudson?" I ask her playfully

"I wish." She replies as she hands me the towel and bathrobe.

As I'm about to close the door again Mrs. Hudson calls out, "Zelig, I left a box of undergarments you can use in the bed. Don't worry dear, they are clean and I haven't

used them in decades."

As I click the door locked and walk into the bathroom, I find it weird to be wearing underwear someone other than me once used, but also find it better than still

wearing my filthy clothes. I strip my black skater dress off, I peel my leggings off. Once I'm naked, I look down on my unbandage leg and see a trail of faint bruises.

Thankful that there are no mirrors in this bathroom I shake my head and decide that I don't want to look at myself today.

I turn the shower on and just enjoy the water cleansing my skin. Mrs. Hudson was right- she had everything in here. From endless bottles of shampoos and

conditioners to various options of body soaps. I frown at myself for even thinking about showering at the boy's flat. They probably didn't even own conditioner. As I get

the last bit of soap and conditioner off, I reach for the towel and dry myself. I then step out and bring the bottle of lotion with me. As I rub the lotion into my legs I

close my eyes. I don't want to look. I continue to spread lotion on my body with my eyes closed. Once the lotion is dry I move towards the box in Mrs. Hudson bed and

feel my mouth drop as I see my options. I wasn't expecting anything really, but I certainly wasn't expecting this. I pick at a few lacy thongs that really just look like

dental floss and shrug in horror. This is so skanky. After a few horrendous underwear options I stumble upon a skimpy but decent pair of black lace underwear. At least

they covered a good portion of my butt and didn't poke into my butt cheeks. Finding a bra wasn't too hard, but instead I chose a black lacy bralette. As I slipped into

my undergarments and clothing, I finally felt clean again. A faint knock came from the door and Mrs. Hudson stepped in.

"You look beautiful!" she said

I smiled and said, "Thank you Mrs. Hudson, this really means a lot to me."

"Hairbrush?" she offered

I took the hair brush and brushed my new red hair. I'd braid it but something about all these layers told me if would be hard to do. Once I handed the hairbrush back

to Mrs. Hudson she oddly adjusted my dress from the straps to be a bit lower so the top lacy bit of my bralette would peak out.

"Mrs. Hudson, what are you doing?" I asked her as she fumbled with the straps and my bralette

"Just adding a touch of sexy." She innocent said

"Sexy?" I added confused

"Yes, Sherlock's being eyeing you since the minute you arrived. He likes you." She added excitedly

I felt my mouth drop and I said, "Mrs. Hudson, I think you got it all wrong-

"Nonsense child. I see the way he looks at you." She says

"He's just curious." I add

Mrs. Hudson gives me a playful smile and says, "Curious or not, I am also helping you style this. Back in my day, we wore it like this." Mrs. Hudson finished fumbling and

I looked at her work.

Indeed it looked better like this. I smile in defeat and she says, "Alright, let's get you back in there so you can eat."

"Oh, my clothes!" I say

"I'll take care of that." She says taking my hand and leading me out.

Back in flat 221B, John's at the door paying while Mary is now talking to Mycroft and Sherlock is staring at-me.

Instantly Mycroft and Mary trace Sherlock's stare and their eyes widen. Feeling uncomfortable I rush to John to help him with the food and as I appear at the door, the

delivery guy whistles and John frowns and then looks at me. His eyes also widen, but thankfully instead of asking me what I'm wearing, he looks at the delivery boy

and says, "You've never seen a girl you animal?" John shuts the door but I can still hear the boy's response of, "Not like that one."

Feeling my cheeks boil, I follow John into the kitchen. John then looks at me and Mrs. Hudson appears saying, "Doesn't she look pretty John?"

Mary slips into the kitchen and says, "She looks like a 20's flapper girl, very uhm scandalous."

John frowns at Mary and adds, "I think you look very pretty." "Thank you Mrs. Hudson for lending my sister some clean clothes."

"Oh any day!" she adds

I smile and still notice both the Holmes brothers still staring at me. As I look behind Sherlock, I find a third person eating me alive. She's got very pale skin and super

dark hair. She wears a tight trench coat, heels, and red lipstick. John notices their stares and says,

"Oh would you all stop acting like school boys?" Mycroft looks away towards the unfamiliar woman, but Sherlock's sight is still glued to me.

"I should go change." I whisper to John

"Nonsense, you're allowed to wear shorts." It's not like you're naked." He replies

I hug John and say, "I love that you fight for feminism."

John smiles and says, "Okay, if you want to eat grab your plate."

I happily take a plate and start dumping a bit of everything. It had been two years since I had good Chinese food like this. Ignoring everyone, I continue eating until

Sherlock appears in the kitchen. He takes a look at the boxes and grabs a bit of everything too. When he reaches the table, he sits opposite of me so I face him. Next

thing I know, the woman sits down next to Sherlock and I feel the tension in the air. The woman smiles at me as I nibble my egg roll and she then extends her hand

and says, "The things I could do to you."

I choke on my eggroll and say, "Who are you?"

"Glad you asked, I'm Irene Adler." She says

I shake her hand and look down at my plate.

"She's a dominatrix." Sherlock adds

I shut my eyes and then turn to look at John who's in the sofa with Mary. Mycroft walks into the kitchen and places a sleek black leather messenger bag on the table.

He looks at me and says,

"Everything you need is in there."

As Mycroft heads out, I ask him, "Where are you going?"

"Home." He says

He nods at me and I stare at the bag. Deciding it's probably a computer and a cellphone to finish my work for later, I leave it there unopened. By now Sherlock and

Irene are looking at me and I'm feeling so small. They're both such beautiful creatures. Both with pale skin, dark hair, and piercing blue eyes. I finish eating the rest of

my food quickly. As I'm about to dispose of my plate and walk on over to John, Irene grabs my wrists and says, "What happened to your legs?"

I look at my legs. The romper is a good 4 inches above my knees, exposing half of my bruised thighs. Basically there is light and dark bruises scattered all over. My skin

is a galaxy filled with black meteors and shooting stars.

"A little experiment." I dryly say taking the messenger bag

Sherlock looks up at me squinting and with that I leave. John notices me and says, "You can sleep in my bed."

"Where are you sleeping?" I ask John

"At our house." Mary replies

Right, of course they had a house together. I sigh and John walks up to give me another hug. Once again grabbing me by the shoulders he kindly says, "If you need

anything, just give me a call, ok?"

"I need your number." I weakly add

Mary gets up to search her purse for a pen and John says, "Its ok Mary, she's got a sharp memory."

At this, Sherlock perks up. John recites me the digits and then I hug him once more.

"I'm going to bed." I say

He kisses my forehead and we say our good nights.

Once I'm in John's room, I notice the difference. John's room has dark navy blue walls and a black iron framed bed. The closet outlining is black and the walls are bare,

except for a bulletin board filled with newspaper articles of him and Sherlock. I plop to his bed with my messenger bag and decide to get to work before I fall asleep.

Three hours later, I find myself squinting at the laptop's bright screen. I glance at the clock in the corner:

2:29 AM

I yawn and go through my work once more. Seeing it's all up to date, I hit send and shut my laptop down. Feeling thirsty, I walk downstairs to get a glass of water. As

I drink my water I feel so tired I start going up stairs with my eyes closed. Halfway through, I slip but someone catches me. The fastness of the movement scared me

so much I start shaking. Sherlock pulls me into his chest and places his hand on my shoulder as he whispers into my ear, "I've got you, I've got you, I've got you."

I look up at his eyes and all he says is, "Don't be scared." Sherlock helps me up and into my bed. He lays the blanket over me and says,

"Why are you still shaking, are you scared of me?"

"I'm scared of falling again." I say

"I'll catch you." He whispers as he caresses his back hand on my cheek until I fall asleep.