Falling Into Place
I woke up to the heavy rain beading against my window. I fumbled to find the light switch on my lamp, and I rubbed sleep out of my eyes. I glanced at my clock, which read 1:37 am. I wasn't used to the time change yet. I slowly got out of bed, and walked over to my kitchen. I found a cup, and made myself some tea before I sat down on my sofa, and listened to the rain. As I relaxed, I heard a noise from upstairs, and then a gunshot sounded from somewhere outside. I put down my cup and quickly ran to the door. I went into the hallway and collided with John.
"Oh, sorry!" I said, as he collected himself.
"It's no problem. What are you doing up?" He asked.
"Jet lag. And also, I heard a gunshot."
"Yea, I heard it too. I was just about to check it out. Stay here." He said, and he slowly went out the front door. I paced in front of the stairs until John came back inside. His face was grim when he entered.
"What is it?" I asked. "Is someone hurt?"
"Uh, no. Someone is dead. I called the police, but I think Sherlock should come see. I'll go get him." He said. I began walking towards the front door to look, but John called from the stairs. "I don't suggest you look, miss. It's quite gruesome." He gave me a small smile, and made his way to the door. Not a moment later, the tall, dark haired man came running down the stairs. Brushing right passed me, he flung the front door open, and disappeared into the rain. John came up next me as he put a coat on.
"You'll get used to him eventually. He likes to be dramatic." He said. I started to laugh, but I immediately stopped when Sherlock came back inside.
"John? Are you coming? I want to have a good look before Anderson gets here." He said quickly. He ducked back outside as John made his way to the door.
"Oh, how rude of me. I never got your name miss." John said, and he turned around to face me again. "What is your name?"
"My name is Emily Minnick." I said shyly. John took my hand and brought it to his lips.
"It's a pleasure to meet you miss Emily." He smiled, and went for the door. I went back inside my room, and heard police sirens later on. I tried to relax, but so much had happened. I hoped that the death was just a fluke. My aunt wouldn't be too happy about me living in a bad area, and I was starting to get nervous about it.
There was a knock on my door an hour later, and I pulled it open to find John.
"Hello Emily." He said warmly. "I just wanted to make sure you were ok with all that happened this morning. I know it's a scary situation, but im here to tell you that you'll be safe here. There's nothing to worry about. This is the first time something has happened this close to our home, and the police are already onto the culprit."
"Oh that's great. And thank you for checking on me. I am a little scared, but it makes me feel better that this is usually a quiet area. I'll get used to it." I said. "What happened to the person that was shot?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer. John looked at me for a moment before answering.
"Well, he was shot in the heart, and letters were carved on his body. No one could make out what they said in the rain, so the body was taken to the hospital to investigate. But they'll figure it out, they have Sherlock." He said as he leaned against the doorframe.
"Oh! So is Sherlock a detective or something?" I asked, finally figuring it out. John smiled at me.
"Yes, yes he is. And a very good one."
"And what do you do?"
"I used to be a doctor during the war, so Sherlock and I kind of work as a team to solve crimes, and figure out how a person died."
"That's amazing!" I exclaimed. "Can you tell me about one of your cases?"
"I can tell you about all of them. Would you like to have tea upstairs? I have a variety of flavors."
"Absolutely! " I said. He smiled and led me up to his apartment. He opened the door, but quickly shut it, and turned to me.
"Please excuse the mess. I try to keep it clean, but Sherlock can get unorganized when he's working on a case."
I nodded and he proceeded to open the door. It led straight to the living room, which had a chair, a sofa, a small TV, and a yellow smiley on the wall. John went into the kitchen, and cleared off the table, which had microscopes, and mysterious jars on top. When he was done, he pulled out a chair for me to sit at.
"So, Emily. What type of tea would you like?" John asked as he set down a tea cup and saucer for me.
"Do you have Peppermint Tea?"
"Hmm, let me check."
He began rummaging through the tea shelf and found one lying in the back.
"Here we go! You're in luck. Looks like it's the last one."
John boiled water, and poured my cup. He sat down next to me and began telling me some of the cases he and Sherlock worked on. He left out the bloody parts for my sake, but I pressed him until he let out more detail. As he talked, I began to become more interested in the detective work they did, and I asked the question that was nagging at the back of my mind.
"So John, do you think I could intern for you?" I asked, once he was done with the last case he told me about. John looked at me and let out a sigh.
"Emily, I would love to have you intern for Sherlock and I, but I just think it's too dangerous. You could get hurt, or even killed. Sherlock and I put our lives on the line all the time, and I don't want you to have to take that risk."
"Well, what if I worked from here? I could take cases, and tell you and Sherlock about them. Or I could contact media. I wouldn't be putting myself in danger." I said, hoping he'd give in.
"Emily, anyone who's connected to Sherlock, or myself, is in danger. People have ways of finding out what they want to know. They could track you down easily."
"Please John, I promise I'll make myself useful." I pleaded. John let out another sigh as he considered. Finally he nodded.
"I'll tell you what, I'll let you intern for me as my personal assistant. You'll take my personal phone calls, help with paper work, and watch the apartment while Sherlock and I are out. But you will not come with us to investigate."
"Yes! Thank you so much! I owe you." I said, as I jumped out of my chair and gave him a hug. I quickly pulled away, and blushed. "Sorry." I blurted. John laughed, and stood up. He walked into the other room, and came back with a phone, and a stack of papers.
"Alright Miss Emily. This is Sherlock's old phone. It has my phone number in it, and the numbers of a few police officers. If there's ever a problem, don't hesitate to call them." He handed me the phone, and then pulled the papers in front of me. " Now for your first job. These need to be sorted by time and date. It shouldn't take you too long. Take your time." He said as he handed me a stapler, and a file folder. I got to work immediately while John told me about more cases.
About and hour into my new intern job, the front door of the apartment flew open. Sherlock came walking in, and went to the kitchen. He began taking jars out of the fridge, and placing them on the table. He pushed my papers off to the side, and placed a microscope in front of me. I looked at him with astonishment. He acted as though I wasn't there. I shot a glance at John, and he cleared his throat.
"Sherlock." He said, "This is my new intern, Miss Emily. She's also Mrs. Hudson's new tenant. She'll be spending some time with us while she's here." John said, as he moved out of Sherlock's way.
"John, where'd you put the test tube I had on the third shelf?" Sherlock asked as he went through the fridge. John sighed.
"Sherlock, my new intern-"
"Not now John, this case is almost done. I've just got to find that test- Oh! Found it!" Sherlock exclaimed as he put it under the microscope. "Yes, yes! I was right. Ms. Turner walked out the back door before she came back through the house. Which is why there's traces of her flowers on her slippers. She then disposed of Rory's body, and made it look like Rory's ex did it. John, text Lestrade and tell him the case is sol-" Sherlock abruptly stopped, and turned to me. "Who are you exactly?" He asked as I rearranged my papers.
"My name is Emily M-"
"Minnick. Yes, I know. But what are you doing here?"
"Well, I'm –"
"Yes, yes, interning for John. But why?" Sherlock strode over to John, and looked at him. "Why?" he asked again.
"She was looking for an Internship, and she's interested in what we do, so I figured I would let her intern for me. She's a very nice girl, Sherlock." John said, as he shot me an apologetic look. John shifted uncomfortably as Sherlock looked over me.
"Fine." He said finally. "She can stay." He took his phone, and walked into a room off to the side. I let out a sigh of relief when he left.
"Well, I'm glad he likes me." I said sarcastically as I picked up my new phone, and gathered my papers. John went in front of me and stopped me.
"Listen, he'll warm up to you. It's hard to get used to him. Don't take what he says to heart, and If he ever says anything to upset you, tell him. He doesn't know when he offends people."
"Alright, thanks for the warning. And thank you for everything John. I appreciate what you've done for me. I'll have these papers done soon."
"Anytime Miss Emily. I'll come by later for the papers." He smiled at me as he held open the door. He waited until I opened my door before he shut his own. I closed my door behind me, and smiled. Everything was going perfect. I began working on the papers again, not wanting to disappoint my new boss.