Within ten minutes, John and Sherlock had joined the girls outside the charred skeleton of Lilly and Tom's house. A fire brigade was just finishing up extinguishing the smouldering remains. The group of adults leant against the front wall.
"Any sign of anyone inside?" John asked.
"Yeah, two bodies found upstairs. Not Lilly and Tom though, we could tell from the teeth. Probably two John Doe's they've stolen." Keri frowned.
"It's like they set fire to their house deliberately… but who would do that?" Rhiannon chirped.
"Lilly and Tom, obviously. The fire started in the kitchen, the oven specifically." Sherlock sighed, swinging over the wall and striding into the wreckage, much to the dismay of the fire- and policemen at the scene.
"Look, the wreckage is worst around this part," he indicated to the oven, "And it obviously spread through the house from here. I wouldn't be surprised if-" He kicked the blistered oven door open, revealing a small petrol can. He smiled. "Fire started deliberately, but in such a way that it isn't immediately obvious to idiots. I give them credit, they do know what they're doing."
"That's all well and good, but we're still no closer to knowing why they torched their house in the first place, let alone where they are now!" Megan responded.
"They torched it to get money, duh. That's why everyone torches things. I saw it on TV." Keri shrugged.
"Wrong."
All heads turned to face Sherlock.
"Excuse me?" Keri answered, hands on her hips. It was a well known fact that you don't try and argue with her.
"I said you're wrong."
"And in what way am I wrong?" said Keri through gritted teeth.
"From what you've said, they are master conmen. They wouldn't need more money. Seeing as Lilly is pregnant, torching their house is a bit too dangerous for the health of the baby. This must have been a last resort, there it no other legitimate reason they would go to such extreme lengths to hide themselves. I'd say Tom got on the wrong side of someone. Probably your old friend Swift." Sherlock finished. He looked at Keri and cocked his head to the side, daring her to disagree. Keri crossed her arms tightly and sat on the wall in a huff.
"So where are they now?" Rhiannon asked.
"Probably a long way from here."
At that moment a figure appeared at the end of the street. They were walking awkwardly, as if carrying a heavy load. They seemed vastly overweight, but as their face became clearer it was obvious who was advancing towards them…
"Lilly?" Rhiannon asked incredulously.
"Hey, guys. One question – what happened to my house?!" Lilly replied, pushing her brown hair behind her shoulder.
"What, you mean you didn't do this?"
"Pfft, no. Why would I want to torch my own house? I'm like a planet right now if you hadn't realised!"
Megan, Sherlock, Keri, John and Rhiannon all shared a look. A look that proved they were all thinking the same thing.
"Lilly… where's Tom?"
"You're asking me like I know the answer. To be honest I have no idea, he went out to work a job a few nights ago and never returned."
"I think you'd better come back with us." Megan walked to stand closer to her friend.
"Wait… you can't mean you're coming back to ours!" Sherlock asked incredulously.
"Of course that's what I mean. Problem?"
"You can't just bring people into our house, you've only just left!"
"Charming. And why not, you do it all the time! John doesn't mind, do you John?" Sherlock glared at his flatmate.
"Don't you even think about it."
"Sherlock, she's pregnant and homeless, we can't leave her out here!" John pleaded.
"No."
"Just ignore him, I'll just go and get a taxi." John said softly, turning to face Lilly.
"Cheers!" Lilly smiled. Sherlock stood scowling.
Back at 221b, the girls had taken over the sofa. At least that was what Sherlock said when he complained to John about it. In reality, Lilly took up at least half of it and Keri sat in the corner with her leg elevated (her ankle gave way on the way back). Megan and Rhiannon stood around the room, knowing full well that if they sat in Sherlock's chair they would be thrown out before they could count to ten. Once everyone was comfortable, and Sherlock had finally decided to enter the room, scowling, they started to relate what had happened to Lilly. She seemed entirely unfazed by the whole affair. The whole group were shocked.
"Are you not worried at all?" Rhiannon asked empathetically.
"Nah. It's not the first house that's been torched, and Tom goes away all the time. He'll be back by Friday, just you wait and see."
"But Lil, you're going to have a baby any day now! Where are you going to live?"
"Erm, your place?"
"We don't have 'a place', we were just going to chill here for a bit."
"You are not-" Sherlock interjected.
"We are." Keri responded, sinking back into the sofa. Sherlock glared at her.
"Anyway," Megan continued, "You can't stay here. You need a room for the baby, and a cot, and clothes, and nappies, and…and…"
"You get the picture." Keri finished. The girls and John looked at eachother worriedly. Sherlock was disinterested and Lilly remained unfeasibly calm. Suddenly John sprang up.
"I'll be back in ten minutes."
Nine minutes later John returned.
"So Lilly is staying in Mrs Hudson's spare room, then." Sherlock said without looking at his flatmate.
"Yes, she has no use for it herself so Lilly- wait, how did you know?" Sherlock opened his mouth to explain. "You know what; I don't even want to know." John finished. He turned to look at Lilly, who was now sprawled across nearly the whole sofa, squashing Keri into the corner. "Mrs Hudson is a close friend of ours, so don't cause her any trouble. Please." John said. "She said she's sure she could gather some baby clothes from her the people at book club, too."
"Great!" Lilly grinned, clambering to her feet. "Although, Tom will have found me by Friday. I guarantee it."
The week passed slowly. The girls inhabited various rooms within the flats at 221 Baker Street. Sherlock spent increasing amounts of time in his room with no-one but his violin for company. John made regular trips to Scotland Yard to check everything was okay, seeing as Sherlock spent days sulking. Tuesday rolled smoothly into Wednesday, Wednesday crawled into Thursday. By the time Thursday staggered into Friday, everyone was on edge. The whole group sat in the living room of 221b, watching the clock tick slowly.
"I thought you said he'd be here by now." Sherlock mumbled.
"Well, I thought he would be." Lilly shrugged, spooning ice cream into her mouth. Sherlock rolled his eyes.
"Does he even know you're here?" John questioned.
"Yeah, I text him on Tuesday night."
The clock ticked on. 11:34 pm.
"So, if he doesn't turn up Lilly can stay for another week, yeah?" Keri broke the silence. Sherlock opened his mouth to respond.
"Sounds good to me!" Lilly grinned. She'd made Rhiannon go to the shops to buy her more ice cream.
11:42 pm.
Lilly's phone rang.
"Oh, that'll be him!" She chirped. "I would go out of the room to talk, but, y'know…" She gestured to her protruding stomach.
"Oh you can't be serious."
"Yup, off you trot, Sherlock. And the rest of you."
Grumbling, the whole party bar Lilly vacated their seats and plodded into the hallway. John physically had to drag Sherlock. As soon as they were out, Megan and Keri pressed their ears to the door.
"What is she saying?" Rhiannon whispered loudly.
"A whole lotta nothing." Megan responded. Eventually they heard a "Yeah. Uh huh. Bye." and figured it was safe to return to the room.
"Was it Tom?" Keri asked instantly.
"Nope."
"Oh."
11:58 pm.
The doorbell rang. Every single person jumped up. John was selected to open the door seeing as he was the one that lived there. They heard the familiar click of the latch opening and John saying "Hi, you must be-"
The lights cut out.
"Rhiannon, you there dude?" Megan said, walking with her arms outstretched. Rhiannon responded with a whimper. Although no-one could see it in the black, Megan, Keri and Lilly all rolled their eyes. Almost simultaneously, everyone received a blow to the temple, knocking them out.
When they awoke, they weren't in 221b. They probably weren't even in London. But what they were, was completely and totally alone.