Chapter 3 – A Day Spent Elsewhere

In the beginning Sherlock and John rarely had a reason to consult a calendar or even mention the date on a daily basis. Since they had been taking clients from outside the Yard investigations and since John's blog had started getting thousands of hits everyday, they had needed to set up appointments to better manage their time. So a schedule and datebook were a necessary evil.

On Tuesday, March 26th the two of them had scheduled three appointments between nine and eleven o'clock in the morning. It wasn't unusual or exceptional in any way. In fact, the time and number of appointments was rather limited compared to Saturdays. Saturdays usually consisted of many quick appointments over the course of several hours. It had become the worst day of the week in John's opinion. Many cases ended up being too boring for Sherlock to consider, but the people were often distressed or upset by his flippant attitude. John was either emotionally or physically exhausted till the end of Saturdays. At first he was sure Sherlock would have a blatant disregard for the appointments and the schedule. Fortunately, for John, if it was written down in the book, Sherlock remembered to stay home until the appointments were over. He might ignore the people or work on experiments while John talked to them, but he always hung around the flat to give a final yes or no for every case.

So when John woke up and couldn't find Sherlock anywhere in the flat or get him on his mobile, he was very concerned. By the time he gave up searching on his own, the first person arrived to ask for Sherlock's assistance. John begged an apology, and he called the other two people as well, citing a family emergency, and rescheduled the appointments.

John had begun to pace a hole in the carpet by the time Sherlock showed up at the flat again around three o'clock. He was even considering calling Mycroft.

"Where have you been?" John almost shouted. Sherlock was obviously startled by John's actions. He looked at John with an irritated expression

"Working," Sherlock waved John off like he was swatting at flies.

"Sherlock, people come here to present you with cases. Cases they think are important and that need solved. They get very upset with me when I call them and cancel appointments. We also depend on these to eat so I would appreciate it if you could show up for them," John was almost shouting, but not quite. Sherlock looked back at him and cocked his head.

"I apologize. I forgot to look at the datebook and I had something important to do. I didn't realize it would interfere."

"You just went out and about in London all day without checking your phone or needing me to look up some random information?" John raised his eyebrows. Sherlock checked his mobile every fifteen seconds when they were out and about in London or called him at random times when he had to check information he couldn't puzzle out on his own. Sherlock pulled the phone out now and raised his eyebrows at John. He seemed surprised he had fifteen missed calls.

"Yes."

"Is everything alright Sherlock?"

"Why wouldn't it be all right?" Sherlock scowled and studied him for a moment. "You are concerned."

"This is the first time since I've known you that you have acted this absentminded and evasive at the same time while we aren't on a case." John told him. His flatmate rolled his eyes and impatiently explained

"You don't need to worry. If you must know, I went to visit my father's grave." John sat in stunned silence. When John continued to stare, Sherlock added. "He died twenty-eight years ago today."

"Oh."

"Yes." Sherlock shifted from one foot to the other.

"So you just went to the grave on your own?" John asked still incredulous.

"Does that surprise you?"

"No...yes...it seems….."John trailed off into silence. He wondered if he should even say it.

"What?" Sherlock's deep voice broke the quiet after a few moments.

"Well, it's awful sentimental for you Sherlock. You don't believe in an afterlife….you once told children people are burned when they died. You don't seem like type to visit graves. That seem more like something I would do…"John trailed off again. Sherlock moved over to the window and looked out onto the street as he spoke.

"My father was someone who understood me from a very young age and never feared my strange questions or my curiosity about things other children shied away from. He indulged my interests because he realized I was not going to learn anything that didn't capture my attention. He was very important to me. I still miss his presence and his patience."

John was silent for a few moments as he stared at the floor. He had never heard Sherlock speak with such admiration or kindness in his voice. It might have been the first time in their friendship that Sherlock had not used sarcasm or wit in his description of another person. He obviously loved his father very much even though he wasn't sure how to say it. John looked up at Sherlock's back.

"You've never mentioned how important he was to you."

"I never felt the need to. We rarely talk about our families." John nodded. It was true. John's sister was a sore subject and Sherlock glared fiercely whenever Mycroft was mentioned.

"What happened to him?" Sherlock turned back to John as he explained.

"I have no idea. I was too young. Natural causes probably or from smoking heavily. He smoked cigars almost constantly. I don't know of any serious health problems that run in my family. I just remembered he died and everyone dressed in black for ages. Things changed after he died…" Sherlock shrugged and went into the kitchen to look into the microscope.

John quickly checked his math. Twenty eight years ago Sherlock was eight. In fact, he was almost nine. He should remember the death of his father or remember what his family told him about it. John could remember several deaths in his family when he was that young and most of them had been distant family members. It was strange that Sherlock had completely forgotten what had caused his father's demise especially if they two of them were as close as he made it seem. John recalled the conversation he had with Mycroft two months ago. Eight? How was this connected to Sherlock's change from pirate to scientist? Was it connected at all? He started to ask Sherlock another question, but his flatmate had already disappeared. John sighed. He certainly wasn't going to find out tonight.

A/n: Input is always appreciated.