A/N: Thank you to Phish Tacko for beta'ing this!

Ch. 12

Away at University/Little Shop of Horrors

Sherlock sat home, drinking a glass of wine and staring down at his hand. He was holding a picture of Marie at her sixth birthday party. It was one of many that Mycroft had dropped off earlier. He'd found copies of them and thought that perhaps Sherlock might like them.

Marie had looked so adorable, dressed in her little princess Belle outfit. In this particular photo, she was standing between Sherlock and Mycroft, a huge grin on her face. It hurt Sherlock to an extent; the photo had been taken twelve years prior, but he could fully imagine the party as if it had occurred yesterday.

She was in her second year of university now. Sherlock couldn't be more proud of her – majoring in Forensic Psychology with first class marks in all subjects – but he missed her.

Sure, she was still living in London and she stopped in on weekends sometimes, but the house didn't feel the same without her in it. It was empty.

Knowing that nothing besides seeing his little girl would make him feel better, Sherlock resolved to surprise her. She had mentioned that she was involved in theater, and that the university would soon put on a play. He fully intended to be there for opening night.

00

Sherlock ended up taking Mrs. Hudson as his "date" to the play. It was Little Shop of Horrors, and Marie would play Ronnette, a member of the Greek chorus.

She wouldn't be expecting him. He'd told her that he would go see the weekend production of it, and that he would bring Mycroft along too. It wasn't exactly a lie – he planned to see that show as well – he would just see this one first.

"How do I look?" Sherlock asked before he and Mrs. Hudson stepped into the university theater. He had worn his good suit, something that Mrs. Hudson thought was a bit much, but she didn't feel like arguing.

"Dashing," She told him. "A bit overdressed, but you always look handsome." She brushed a lock of his hair – now tinged with gray – from his face.

"Thank you." He replied. He held out his arm. Mrs. Hudson slipped hers around it and into the theater they went.

00

Marie's roommate, Dana, had been the one to encourage her to try theater.

"You need a break from studying all the time. And you'd get top marks anyway, so why not have some fun?" Dana had asked. She was a member herself, and had been given the part of Audrey.

Marie and Dana thankfully got along very well. They had met in class during Marie's first semester, had hit it off, and had been roommates ever since. Dana was double majoring in organic chemistry and biology, and like Marie, she had top marks. Marie found it nice to have a friend who was as intelligent as she was.

"It might be scary!" Marie had protested. She could imagine herself getting up on stage, having memorized her lines, and totally freezing up.

"No way! There's a lot of rehearsal. By the time we go live, you'll be completely prepared!"

So, Marie had decided to give it a try. She was glad that her role wasn't too prominent. Yes, she appeared in several scenes, but she only had one speaking part. The rest was singing.

The cast had just finished singing "Downtown" when Marie noticed them. Her father, dressed in his best suit, of all things, was sitting in the front row, grinning. Mrs. Hudson sat next to him. Marie's eyes widened. She hadn't expected her father to be there! Not yet, at least. She would've liked to have done a few shows before him seeing her perform!

'Stay calm!' She told herself. 'Focus'.

She pushed down any stage fright she might have and went on with the show. Seeing David Kay play Seymour helped things; she'd had a crush on him for months. He was, to her, wonderfully dorky, funny, witty and all around awesome. Even with the massive, nerdy glasses that he had to wear for his part as Seymour, he looked handsome.

The play continued without a hitch. The crowd gasped as Orin Scrivello, DDS, was chopped up by Seymour, and when Audrey 2 ate Mushnik. At the end, there were a lot of 'awws' and applause. When the entire cast came out, they received a standing ovation. Sherlock seemed to be doing his best to clap the loudest of everyone there.

00

After the show ended, much of the cast went off to party, but Marie stayed around for her dad. As soon as she was out of costume, she ran over to him.

"Daddy!" She said, giving him a hug.

Sherlock was knocked back a bit, but caught his balance.

"Marie! What a lovely performance!"

Marie smiled and moved to hug Mrs. Hudson.

"Lovely indeed," Mrs. Hudson echoed. "Though a bit bloody."

"Well, it is a dark comedy…" Marie explained.

"I know, I know. You did a good job. I didn't know you could sing!"

"Marie can do many things," Sherlock said, beaming. All of the emptiness he'd felt earlier had been replaced by joy. Joy, and a bit of fear. "So, what do you say we grab a bite to eat? It would be nice to catch up. I'd like to know about that David boy, too."

Marie couldn't help but blush.

"The guy who played Seymour? What about him?"

Sherlock smirked.

"Let's just go to dinner. Then we can talk."

00

Marie wasn't entirely surprised that her father had figured out that she had a crush on David. He made a living reading people and their actions. Still, it was somewhat awkward explaining how she'd met him, how long she had liked him and whether or not they'd gone out already.

In the end, Sherlock had just made her promise to be safe, and not to get herself into any trouble.

Marie went back to her dorm that night happy, thinking of how well the play had gone off, of seeing her father and of David.

Sherlock went back home and, tired as he was, ran a background check on David Kay.