Hey guys!

I had planned to post this on Saturday, but there was a lot of things to do, and Sunday was my birthday so I was out the whole day. I just finished this today and decided to post it.

I'd like to thank all the people who posted and sent me messages and ideas. It means so much to me. I just ask that you guys keep 'em coming.

Anywho, on to Chapter Four! Enjoy!

"Come on Lottie! You can run faster than that! Even the pup is going faster than you!" shouted Rosemary as she ran around the front yard. Rain was heavily pouring down on the young woman, yet she frolicked as if she hadn't a care in the world. Her clothes were soaked from head to toe, but the constant activity kept her body fairly warm instead of the frigid cold that it should be.

"I isn't my fault! Teddy has more legs than me!" giggled the tiny three year old. Charlotte, Rosemary's younger sister, ran away from her bigger sister and her Siberian Husky puppy who was trying to catch up to her.

"Well that's too bad because we're coming to get you!" Rose laughed as she chased her little sister around the yard, her pup right by her side. She saw her sister laugh and giggle as she ran around the corner of their large estate. Just as she was about to get to her, Rosemary halted and grabbed the puppy off the ground. She ran all the way around the opposite side of the house. She stopped and turned around the corner where she could see Charlotte peering around the corner. She set the puppy on the floor and held her finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet. She then crept up behind her sister and grabbed her waist, throwing her up in the air and catching her before she fell.

"I told you I would get you!" Rose laughed as she fell backwards on the soggy grass. Charlotte giggled as she rolled the two of them around. Teddy barked a few times before joining us and rolling around in a messy heap all over the yard.

"Rose! Charlotte!" A deep, male voice called from inside the estate.

"Yes Father?" both girls replied in unison.

"I'm glad the two of you are having fun, but do come inside. I wouldn't want the two of you getting sick from all this rain."

"Okay. We'll be in shortly," Rosemary responded, and she watched as their Father nodded before turning back inside the house.

"Aww. I want to stay out here and play," Charlotte whined.

"No, Father's right. We have to get out of these wet clothes," Rose agreed, and Charlotte only sulked more. "Come on, don't be sad Lottie. How about this? We go inside, get cleaned up, then we can make your favorite butterscotch cookies?"

"With the peanuts too!!" she piped up. Rosemary laughed and moved some of Charlotte's brown hair out of her eyes.

"Well of course! They're not the same without the peanuts! So? What do you say?"

"Let's go!" she giggled as she began making her way into their home. Rose could only laugh and shake her head. She look down at Teddy, who was looking at her, wide eyed and tongue hanging out.

"Come on Teddy. Let's get you cleaned up too," she said as she scooped up the puppy into her arms and walked towards the house. She quickly jogged up the steps of the building and walked up to the door. Her sister, who had dashed inside the house, had left the door wide open for her. She tossed Teddy on the ground, who then proceeded to shake the water out of his fur. She watched as he shook himself off for a few more seconds before running off somewhere.

"Here you are, Miss Rosemary," Annabelle, one of the maids announced from behind. Rosemary jumped a bit, but relaxed when she saw who it was. She held out a towel, which Rose gladly took.

"Thank you Anna. Did you happen to see where my sister ran off to?" she asked as she shut the front door and squeezed as much water out of her hair as she could.

"Yes, Miss Charlotte just went up to her room to strip out of those wet clothes," she replied as Rose slipped out of her heels.

"Okay. Thank you Anna. That'll be all," she said as she lifted her dripping skirt and slowly made her way into the house.

"Oh! I almost forgot. Mister Gabriel is waiting for you in your room."

"Gabriel? Did he by chance say what he was doing here?"

"I'm not sure. He just said he wanted to see you."

Rosemary let out a sigh before thanking Anna once more. She quickly made her way upstairs to her room She opened the door and, sure enough, Gabriel Van Zant was sitting ever so comfortably on her bed. His hair was slicked back and he wore a fine, but casual day suit.

"Rose, my darling! It's so good to see you again! What happened? You're soaking wet" smiled the handsome blond haired blue eyed man.

'Thank you for pointing out the obvious.'

"I was outside playing with Charlotte. Gabriel, what are you doing in my room? You should have waited for me in the parlor," she sighed.

"I could have, but then it would have taken so much longer for me to see your beautiful face," he replied, rising off the bed and gliding over towards her. He took her hand in his and placed a soft kiss to her knuckles. She had a strong urge to roll her eyes, but she stopped herself before she could insult the man.

"That's very sweet, but I'm not exactly proper at the moment, and I need to get cleaned up. I'll come and see you after I'm done," Rose said, grabbing his arm and directing him towards the door.

"Well, I won't be here much longer. My Father's the one who's here on business. He's been discussing things with your Stepbrother for about an hour. He just told he that he's almost finished so I'll probably be gone before you get a chance to clean up."

"Then… just stop by some other time."

"Why, I'll be here tomorrow. I'll be heading out of town in a couple of days, and I'll need to spend as much time with you as I can," he smiled.

"Alright. Well, I'll see you later," Rose said.

"Hopefully sooner than later, my dear," he said, grabbing her hands and placing his lips on each. He then released her and made his way out of her bedroom. He looked back and gave one final wave before disappearing behind the door.

Rosemary sighed and rubbed her temples. It was only when she heard a soft knock on her door did she look up. She shouted a 'come in' and watched as her sister came in, wearing only a towel on her body.

"Why you waiting for Rosie? Let's go take bath!" she exclaimed, which instantly made Rosemary's face light up. She called her over with her hand, and she hoisted her up in he arms when she finally got to her.

"You're the best sister in the whole wide entire world. Did you know that?" she whispered as she rubbed their noses together. She smiled even more as Charlotte erupted in a fit of giggles.

"Come on. Let's go."

I opened my eyes, but had to squint because of the faint sunlight that was coming through the windows. I slowly got up off the bed and pulled the curtains closed. I then walked over to the chimney that was in the corner of my room and threw a few pieces of log into the already burning fire. As I walked back to my bed, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and tried to recall whatever I could about my dream.

'Alright then, let's see… I have a younger sister, a puppy, an alive and well father, and an annoyingly flirtatious suitor. And I live in a large estate… filled with maids. Huh. Who would've thought?'

I opened my eyes and saw a small piece of paper in front of my door. I walked over and picked it up, opening it to read its contents.

Dinner's behind the door. Hope you like fish.

-Mrs. Hudson.

I smiled as I unlocked the door and slowly opened it. Sure enough, there was a silver covered tray in front of my door. I quickly picked it up and shut the door back. The bottom of the dish was still warm, so it probably wasn't sitting outside for too long. I placed it on the coffee table that sat in the middle of the room, and I lifted the lid off. There was grilled pink salmon, some string beans and a small baked potato.

'I'll have to remember to thank her later.'

I brought the plate over to my bed and silently began eating. My eyes wandered over the room, impressed with my work. Earlier on, I was only concerned over having a place to sleep. But with the amount of time I had, I was able to completely redecorate my room. The entire place had been dusted and mopped, the dark curtains were replaced with a lighter, thinner material, and the dingy bed sheets were exchanged with a new, fresh bedspread. All of the clutter and junk was removed and the room was now more spacious and neat.

I'm still amazed that I had two days of free time to myself.

Yes. I have been holed up in my bedroom for two days, save for the times when I had to use the bathroom or bathe. I've been able to occupy myself with cleaning, organizing, drawing and reading. I also spent a lot of the time during and between these activities to try and gather any information I could and, in a sense, I was quite successful.

I was able to remember that my birth Mother passed away shortly after I was born, and my Father remarried when I was ten years old. She had already had a son, so I also had a stepbrother. The dream also help shed some light on my life. Since the dream appeared to be a memory, and a recent one at that, I was able to deduce that my Father and Stepmother had a child together, and she was the one I was playing with in my dream, Charlotte. My Father is also the owner of the large estate. I am not at the moment aware of his position in society, but I can only assume that he has a very high title. There were some other faces, all of which I could not place a name under, but overtime I recalled someone new, I could tell that they had some sort of business with my Father.

While all of this newfound information made me very happy, it did not shed any light on my current situation. I'm still unaware of who it was that tried to kill me, or why. However, I wasn't completely discouraged. I figured that if I could remember other little tidbits about my life, then something so important as that information would come to me in no time.

I looked up when I heard something rap on the door. I walked over and quickly opened it, unsurprised to see Watson standing there, walking stick in hand. He came by the first morning after the argument between Holmes and myself, and I had told him from then that I didn't plan to come out until Holmes apologized. He didn't condone my planned actions, but he went with it nonetheless. He even came up with an idea to prepare me in case Holmes were to come and apologize. Whenever he came to visit, he would knock on my door six times with his walking stick. The sound of an object hitting a door sounds relatively different than when a hand is hitting it. That's how I was able to tell who it was.

"Hi. May I come in?"

"Yes, of course," I said, stepping aside and allowing him to enter. I closed the door and watched as his eyes wandered around the room. I walked back in and sat back down on my bed.

"I see you've had a lot of time on your hands," he smiled.

"I have. I cleaned out the entire room and replaced practically everything. Now it actually looks like there's some life in here. Have a seat," I said, gesturing to the chair that was next to the desk on the right side of my bed. He thanked me before he sat down.

"How have you been? Have you been able to remember anything significant about yourself?"

"I have, actually. Nothing regarding my attackers, but sufficient information about my family and where I live. I figured that in time, everything else will come back to me."

"That makes sense," he nodded.

" I have even come up with the diagnosis."

"Diagnosis? To what exactly?" he asked confused.

"To why I couldn't remember anything before."

"Please enlighten me with this apparent disease," he smirked, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

"It's called Holmes Syndrome."

"Oh God…" he sighed, rubbing his temple.

"It's true! The day I isolate myself from that man, and some of my memories finally return? I'm not sure that that's just a coincidence."

"I'm sure it is," he sighed.

"I don't think so. He stressed me out everyday since I woke up here, and when I finally relax is the time I remember something," I reasoned. "How is that case coming, by the way? The robbery at the Armouries?"

"Not exactly sure. Holmes said that he was onto something when I talked to him this morning. I haven't had time to go see him yet… I should probably go and check up on him," he said, placing his hat and walking stick on my table as he rose from his chair.

"Alright then."

"Just… could you two try to make up? You both are acting quite immature about this. If you ask me, you're both blowing this whole thing way out of proportion."

"He insulted me on more than one occasion! I did nothing wrong to that man. I'll admit, it was rude and immature of me to send you both out looking for me that night, and I'm sorry for that. And I'll tell him that, once he apologizes," I stated, crossing my arms.

"Fine. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Take your time," I said as he walked out of the room. I finished eating the rest of my meal as I waited for him to return.

I hade to admit, I was surprised that Holmes did not come to check up on me yet. Not that I expected him to care. I just though he would have been in here at least once by now to tell me how much of a nuisance I am to him and Watson. How he couldn't wait to find my assailant so that he could be done with me. How he loathed me. How he's sorry that he was walking in Croydon that day and that he had to find me. How he-

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the six knocks on my door. 'Watson,' I thought as I got up and pulled the door open.

"…"

You know, I find it extremely amazing how someone can go from being so content and pleasant one second to so annoyed and frustrated the next.

'Well… isn't this a pleasant surprise.'

"Hello, Miss McClaire," Holmes spoke first.

I stared at him for a moment, unsure of what his intentions were. "Hello," I replied slowly.

"May I come in? If you're not busy, of course."

For some reason, I couldn't find my voice to speak to him. I wasn't scared or nervous, so I didn't understand what was wrong with me. I didn't want to keep him waiting outside, so I stepped aside and allowed him to enter my room. He walked in slowly, and I closed the door behind me. It was then that I realized that he had knocked on the door six times, the same amount of times I had instructed Watson to knock whenever he came to see me.

'That sneaky devil. He set this up.'

I let out a small sigh and walked back into my room. "You can have a seat if you like," I said, gesturing towards the chair that Watson was previously occupying. He nodded and took the seat. I sat on my bed, facing him.

"I see you've… had time to renovate your room."

"Yes, I have."

He nodded, and continued looking around the room. I looked down at my hands, unsure how to approach the situation. If there was a word greater than awkward, that was where we were.

"So… Watson tells me that you've been able to… uncover some of your memories?"

"Yes, that's right. Most of them are just little fragments about myself. I haven't been able to remember anything about the day I was attacked," I replied, narrowing my eyes a bit.

"Yes, I see," he muttered. I ran my hand through my hair as he cleared his throat.

"I hope you found your… dinner to your liking," he said as he gestured to my empty plate, and at that point, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I covered my mouth and let out a chuckle, watching as he raised an eyebrow.

"May I ask what you find so funny?"

"You're not serious? Are you really going to sit there and pretend we're best friends? I'm not an idiot. This isn't a social visit. So can you stop beating around the bush and say what you came in here to say, please? The sooner you get it out in the open, the sooner we can get on with our lives."

"Very well," he said, clearing his throat and adjusting himself on the chair. "I came in here to tell you that I think that you are acting quite childish."

"Childish? This coming from the man who hid in his room for two days, avoiding his problems."

"If I'm not mistaken, you've been in your room for the same amount of time, avoiding the same problems," he stated calmly.

"I'm not avoiding anything. I have no problems at all. I just didn't want to see your face for the time being, and that seemed to work in my favor… until now."

"You know, that offer still stands."

"What offer?"

"Apologize. Start anew. Turn over a new leaf, as they say," he replied, pulling his pipe from his pocket.

"Are you mental? Are you… seriously mental?" I asked.

"Well, seeing as how I can produce clear and sensible thoughts and I can speak comprehendible words, then I can safely say that I am not at all mental," he replied nonchalantly, pulling a small bag filled with tobacco and stuffing some of it in his pipe.

"Why did you come here? Clearly you have no intention to apologize to me, and we're clearly not making any progress, so…" I stopped when I saw that he was paying me no mind, and instead focusing on his pipe. I reached over and snatched it from his hands, and before he could grab it back, I dropped it in the front of my shirt. Despite the fact that I was steaming at that point, I took great pleasure in seeing his frustration.

"Well, it seems like I have your attention now," I stated, determination in my voice.

"Give me my pipe."

"Not until you apologize," I said, crossing my arms.

"Give me my pipe."

"Apologize."

"Oh my goodness… I never would have thought that I would have met such an insane, insufferable woman in all my life," he sighed, standing from his chair.

"Oh really? Well you're a pompous, cynical jackass whom I hate and loathe. I mean you have no manners whatsoever. I'm not even sure you are aware of the definition! And then telling the Inspector that croc about us working together. Why did you even tell Lestrade that I'm your assistant, or partner or whatever, when you clearly do not even know the meaning of the word either?"

"What I told Lestrade was merely a precaution. Another risk I had to take in order to keep you safe. And for your information, I am well aware of the meaning of both of those words. I think that it's you who have a problem understanding it, Rosemary," he stated.

"Well, you want to know what irks me, Sherlock? The fact that you're acting like you're the only one working on this so called 'team.' Do you know how much it kills me to know that someone wants me dead, and I can't to a thing about it? I wish that I could go out and find the person and have them apprehended, but, unlike you, I can compromise. I have already done so." By now, I was standing, my breathing erratic. I found it extremely amazing how this man could get me so worked up just by opening his mouth.

"How so?"

"I'm still here, aren't I? I came very close to leaving two nights ago, but I listened to what you said, and I didn't go against your wishes. I know that you mean well, which is why I haven't left. Trust me, if I wanted to leave, I could have."

"Well, you are very ambitious, I'll give you that, but I doubt you would have been able to leave without my knowing."

"There you go with the insults again…" I sighed, walking over to the window. I looked out at the sun that was setting in the distance, casting a reddish violet hue over the horizon. 'I can't believe I'm going to do this…'

"Look, I need your help to find my attackers, and you… kind of need my help in the robbery case. So…" I turned around to face him, "I …apologize. I apologize for making you and Watson go out and look for me, I apologize for being difficult, and whatever else I forgot to mention. I'm sorry," I said.

'God, that was harder than I thought it would be.'

He cleared his throat before he spoke. "I…. I suppose…. I'm sorry as well."

"For?" I pressed.

"For making you upset."

"Um, I'm pretty sure that will not suffice at all. Try 'for being a arrogant, rude, disrespectful, pompous arse.' How about that? Do you think that sums it up or shall I continue?"

"I thought this was my apology," he frowned, and I shrugged. "I apologize for the way I have treated you. Are you satisfied?"

"Very."

"What did you mean when you said that I might need your help in the case?" he asked immediately, getting right down to business.

"Oh… well, back at the Armouries, I found something that might be useful to the case. There was a broken walking stick on the stairwell. It was very intricate and detailed. Um, just one moment…"

I walked over to my coat that was sitting on the chair and pushed my hands down into the inside pockets. However, I couldn't find the metal lump that I was searching for.

"Um… one minute," I said, now looking over the area where the coat was.

"Don't worry. I already saw it."

I stopped when he said that, and I slowly turned around to face him. "Excuse me?"

"The broken piece of walking stick that you were referring to. I already saw it."

"How did you see it? I didn't show it to anyone, not even Watson."

"While that may be true, you weren't very good at concealing said item," he said, then he pulled open my door and walked out into the hall. It took me a second to comprehend what had just happened, and I hurriedly rushed out of my room and headed towards his room. I walked in and saw him standing by his window and Watson sitting in one of his chairs.

"So, is everything settled now?" he asked.

"How did you get the stick if it was in my room? My door was locked at all times. What did you do, come in thorough my window?"

"I guess that's a no," Watson sighed.

"That would have been a bit more difficult, but I would have been successful all the same. The last night we… spoke, I noticed something bulging out of the inside pocket of your coat. I decided to investigate and see what it was. It was rather easy to do while you were occupying the bathroom last night," he explained.

"You do know that's an invasion of privacy, don't you?"

"Not when it's beneficial to the case," he stated.

"How so?" Watson finally asked.

"I checked the stick and found the initials E.D. on the base, just under the design of the eagle. I recognized the metal that the design was made out of as titanium, and after doing a bit of research, I was able to discover where the stick was designed. It was made at Johnson and Smith, a shop in the heart of Mayfair. It only took a few hours for me to travel to the shop and get the address and the name of the owner. It belongs to a Edgar Daniels, a Lord that resides in Beddington."

"Beddington? That's a pretty far distance from Mayfair," Watson stated.

"My thoughts exactly. I would say that a little investigating is in order, Wouldn't you Watson?"

"Indeed."

"You know, you could have asked me instead of going into my room."

"Well, the last time I checked, you are occupying one of Watson's previous room, so it is not your room. It is being loaned to you. Besides, if I asked, you wouldn't have given it to me."

"That's right, because you wouldn't have apologized."

"Oh well. I think we have already crossed that bridge, so there's no need to dwell on it anymore. Agreed?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me and holding out a hand for me to shake. I eyed it cautiously, watching him with scrutinizing eyes. After a moment, I held out my own hand and gave his a firm shake.

"Wonderful. Now, on to the task at hand. My sources have told me that Daniels is currently out of Beddington and is taking care of business in Dagenham. I say that we travel to Beddington tonight and search his house. The sooner we get there, the more information we can find on him."

"Wait. I thought that you said that he was a Lord."

"Yes, that's correct."

"Well, wouldn't there be a bunch of guards watching his house? How will you get around them?"

"I'm sure that won't be too hard to accomplish," he replied.

"And, if there are a lot of guards around, then we'll know for sure that he's hiding something. I mean, why have a bunch of guards watching over an empty house?" Watson pointed out.

"Precisely," Holmes agreed.

"Well, when are you guys planning to leave?" I asked.

"We," Holmes began, gesturing to all three of us, "will be leaving shortly after midnight. It'll take about an hour to get to Beddington."

"Wait. I'm going as well?"

"Of course. I mean we are partners after all," he smirked.

"What do you want in return?" I asked.

"Why do you think I want something? I am simply giving you what you want. The ability to travel outside. I mean there's no point in keeping you trapped in this house, now is there?"

"Traveling by myself is what I want, not you traveling with me," I pointed out.

"Yes, that is true, but we must learn to walk before we run. You'll be able to go out alone soon enough. Once I'm positive that you won't come back injured or, this being the worst case scenario, not come back at all."

I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh. "Fine."

"Good. Now, I would advise you to go and get some rest. We'll be departing in the next couple of hours, and you'll need all the rest that you can get. I'm not entirely sure how long we'll be gone."

"Alright," I said, turning around and walking out of his room.

"Uh, just one moment!" he shouted. I turned around and watched as he walked up to me, holding out his hand when he was close enough.

"My pipe."

"Ah, yes. I almost forgot." I reached in the front of my shirt, but stopped myself before I could pull it out. "No, I don't think I want to give it back just yet,' I said, removing my hands form my shirt and placing them in my pockets.

His face got serious, and he blinked once before speaking. "And why is that?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure if you deserve it back yet. I think I should contemplate this for a while." I turned back around and continued walking to my room. I stooped halfway there and spun back around to face him, and sure enough, he was still there.

"Besides, the night is still young, no? Let's see where it goes," I stated, then continued back to my room, a triumphant smirk on my lips.

I was certain that this was going to be a long night.

AN: Okay, I am aware that people sent me ideas, and I will use them in the future. The only reason why I didn't use them was because I had already started this chapter right after my last post, so everything for this chapter was pretty much already set in stone. I will, however, blend those ideas within the story, so don't get discouraged it you don't see them immediately.

Thank you again for everyone who reviewed and favorited the story. It really means a lot. Oh, and if you guys find anything wrong, meaning if Holmes or Watson don't seem in character or if there's even something wrong with the language or anything, feel free to tell me.

I thing that's it. Until next time!

PoisonLipz