Thea arrived to St. Bart's, trying to ask around for Sherlock Holmes. Apparently no one was going to give her the time of day when it came to Sherlock Holmes. Thea was growing tired of the people at Bart's that were refusing to talk to her. She wandered around until she accidentally bumped into a woman, slipping a coffee over their feet.
"Lord, I'm sorry!" Thea quickly apologized.
"N-no, it's…it's okay." Thea gave the woman an apologetic smile, the woman smiled back before turning to get another coffee.
"Hey, excuse me." Thea called after her. The woman turned. "I'm Detective Inspector Thea Karr-Michael, I'm looking for Sherlock Holmes." Thea stated. The woman's eyes widened.
"Has he…done something?"
Thea's eyes narrowed, tilting her head in confusion. "Uh, not that I know of. Look, I'm just looking for him – my boss said I could find him here." Thea explained.
"Oh. So he didn't do anything?"
"No." She shook her head.
"Let me just make this coffee and I'll bring you right up to him." The woman said. Thea followed her. "I'm Molly, by the way. Molly Hooper." Molly gave a smile. Thea leaned against the wall, watching Molly make a black coffee with two sugars. People watching was one of Thea's pass times as a kid, it came in handy as she got older.
"Do you work for New Scotland Yard?"
"Yeah." Thea was short with her answers, not in the mood to really talk to anyone. Now with her new pending job. It was pointless when she already knew that if she didn't take the job as babysitter to Sherlock Holmes, she wouldn't be able to handle a desk job. Thea glanced around the room, arms crossing against her chest.
"O...oh…"
"And before you ask, yes, I'm new to the job." Thea commented. Molly nodded her head at Thea. "So it seems to me that Sherlock really isn't well liked around here." Thea stated.
Molly looked at Thea, trying not to say anything bad about Sherlock. "His…unique."
"You don't say,"
"He…uh," Molly put two sugars into the coffee. "He doesn't like many people." Molly added.
"Oh."
"And he rubs people the wrong way." Thea nodded her head slowly, following Molly Hooper out of the lounge. "You must work for Detective Lestrade."
"Sure do."
"He's nice."
Thea took in a breath. "Yep."
"He sent you, didn't he?" Thea looked at Molly, not answering the question. "Detective Lestrade sent you here for a reason. And it has to deal with Sherlock. I would consider, uh, consider Sherlock a friend of mine and it worries me that you are here." Molly stated, wiping away the lipstick from her lips.
"Why are you taking off your lipstick? It's a pretty color on you." Thea stated.
"Sherlock didn't like it."
"Did he say that?"
Molly didn't respond as she pushed open the door to the lab, walking in with Thea right behind her. "Ah, Molly, coffee." Thea stopped dead in her tracks. When Lestrade gave a brief description of Sherlock to her, she didn't expect him to look anything like her imaginary thoughts. "Thank you."
Thea glanced around to the two other men in the lab – one with a cane and one that on the larger side. Sherlock took the mug from Molly, looking her over. "What happened to the lipstick?"
"It wasn't working for me."
"Really?" Molly almost seemed hopeful. "I thought it was a big improvement. Your mouth's too small now." Sherlock stated. Thea's eyes widened, jaw clenching. Molly stared at him as he took a sip of the coffee, not liking the taste.
"…Okay…" Molly turned away from Sherlock, heading towards the door.
"How do you feel about the violin?"
"Pardon me?" Thea asked.
"Not you, Detective Karr-Michael."
"How do you know me?" Thea asked. "Never mind that. How do you feel about the violin?" Sherlock asked, turning his attention to the man with the cane.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I play the violin when I'm thinking. Sometimes I don't talk for days on end." Sherlock looked at man with a cane. "Would that bother you? Potential flatmates should know the worst of each other." Sherlock stated. Thea felt extremely awkward in the middle of this conversation.
"Oh, you-you told him about me?"
"Not a word."
"Then who said anything about flatmates?"
Sherlock walked over to his coat, picking it up. "I did. Told Mike this morning that I must be difficult man to find a flatmate for. Now, here he is just after lunch with an old friend, clearly just home from military service in Afghanistan. Wasn't that difficult of a leap." Sherlock explained.
"How did you know about Afghanistan?"
Sherlock completely ignored the question, wrapping the blue scarf around his neck. "Got my eye on a nice little place in central London. Together we ought to be able to afford it." Sherlock walked towards the man with the cane. "We'll meet there tomorrow evening, seven o'clock. Sorry, gotta dash. I think I left my riding crop in the mortuary." Sherlock explained.
"Is that it?"
Sherlock turned back to the man, "Is that what?"
"We've only just met and we're gonna go and look at a flat?"
"Problem?"
The man smiled in disbelief, not completely understanding how Sherlock Holmes would just offer being this man's flatmate. "We don't know a thing about each other, I don't know where we're meeting, I don't even know your name." The man said.
Sherlock looked at the man for a moment. "I know you're an Army doctor and you've been invalided home from Afghanistan. I know you've got a brother who's worried about you but you won't go to him for help because you don't approve of him – probably because he's an alcoholic, more likely because he recently walked out on his wife. And I know what your therapist thinks your limp's psychosomatic – quite correctly, I'm afraid." Sherlock rattled off.
Thea was impressed.
Sherlock looked smug for a moment. "That's enough to be going on with, don't you think?" Sherlock walked towards the door, passing Thea on the way. "The name's Sherlock Holmes and the address is 221B Baker Street." Sherlock winked in the man's direction. "Afternoon. Detective Karr-Michael, follow me if you must." Thea excused herself, following Sherlock Holmes quickly.
"You could slow down, you know." Thea stated, basically jogging after Sherlock. "I may be in very comfortable heels, Mr. Holmes, it doesn't mean I want to run in them." Thea added. Sherlock didn't even slow down. "Or just ignore me."
"Sorry, did you say something?"
"Nope, nothing at all."
Sherlock stopped, turning towards her. Thea stared at him, placing her hands into the pockets of the jacket. "Lestrade sent you."
"Yes he did."
"I'm assuming he got my message."
"Yes. And so did I – how on earth did you get my number?" Thea asked. "Not important." Sherlock shrugged off. Thea took a deep breath, trying to fight the urge to physically harm Sherlock Holmes.
"Mr. Holmes,"
"Sherlock, please."
"Fine, Sherlock. Detective Lestrade-"
"Shut up."
"Excuse me?"
"I said, shut up." Thea's jaw clench again. She could hear the imaginary words of 'punch him in the face' echoing in her head. Sherlock quickly looked her over, using his deduction skills on her. "I know for a fact that there's an extra flat, 221C. You can take that one." Sherlock stated.
"What?"
"The state of your clothes, they have been shoved continuously into a suitcase for the last few months – meaning you've been living at a hotel since arriving to England. And the state of your jeans, looks like you haven't been able to wash them for at least two weeks – probably for the best, prolong the color and wear." Thea's mouth dropped to the ground, listening to his deduction.
"How?"
"You, Thea Karr-Michael, really don't care what people think about you. Clearly by the way you dress and the price tag – you prefer to splurge on something nice rather than repairing old things daily, honestly, I don't see the point." Thea couldn't believe what she was hearing. What the hell was going on right now? She was supposed to talk to Sherlock and tell him she was going to be working with him; instead she was forgetting why she was there.
"Wha-what?" She self-consciously touched her feather earrings that she got a gift – she knew the price and knew they would be well loved.
"Obviously, the lotus necklace is meaningful to you, doubtful that it's purity. I would have to say; it's for a good heart and open soul. But also quite doubtful you wear it for religious beliefs." Thea wrapped her fingers around her gold lotus necklace, trying to fight the feelings that were going to topple over any moment now. "Now for the ring, it's on the fourth finger on the left hand, meaning it's vena amoris or 'vein of love' – pointless – but the Opal stone is curious." Thea glanced down to the ring on her finger.
"No engagement ring and I highly doubt someone would be so stupid not to give you a diamond, so not a wedding band. The Opal suggest that it's probably someone's birthstone – but who was born in October that you care about?" Before Thea could respond – giving a lie, Sherlock interrupted her, "You only just moved to England, you left your family in New York." Thea's eyes widened.
"How the hell did you know that?!" She gasped.
"It's quite obvious."
Thea didn't understand.
"Now back to the ring-"
"Sherlock!" He looked at her. "Lestrade sent me here for a reason." Thea said.
"I know."
"You-you know?"
"I'm not stupid, detective. You've passed, by the way." Sherlock said, walking away from Thea.
"Passed what?" She called after him. Sherlock didn't stop, but his voice echoed.
"See you later, Thea."
Thea stood there, watching him leave. How the hell did he do that.
"And his name is Dr. John Watson." Thea jumped at the voice of Sherlock when he turned the corner. "You'll need to know that name." Thea rubbed her temple, a headache was forming.
"What the hell just happened?"
© Molly Edwards, SalemMystery 2015 ©
New chapter! :D I've been in a Thea kick for the last couple of days! Just did a rewatch of season three - urg, I hate waiting for season four. It's taking too long, but at least there's a Christmas special (with an unknown date) coming out hopefully sometimes this year.
I have changed a few (and by a way, I basically mean everything) about Thea. So, enjoy!