When they arrived at the bank, Felicity walked in with John and Sherlock instead of running ahead like she wanted too. She hadn't been outside of Sussex very much so London was extremely fascinating to her; the people, the transportation, the general city had her enthralled. Plus, she was working on a case with the brilliant man that had just become her new best friend: Sherlock Holmes. He listened, he wasn't boring, and he was the first person she'd met who was more intelligent than she was. John was right behind Sherlock on her short list of friends. He was also an excellent listener. John was a bit less exciting than Sherlock, but he reminded her a lot of her own father. He was exceedingly kind and his personality seemed to shine at her like no other adult's had before.

As they walked into the bank, Felicity noted the ticker tapes showing how stocks were doing, trading times, who was in to trade from what part of the world. The bank was one of the biggest buildings she had ever been in, so there was a lot to take in. It was all very busy yet she missed nothing. Sherlock walked right up to the counter and announced his name. After the secretary put in the notice to Sebastian, she noticed the little girl standing innocently by Sherlock's leg- making it to barely his thigh. "Well, hello there! Who might you be?" She asked curiously. A child that small and innocent looked so out of place with a man as intimidating as the one in front of her that the secretary didn't know what to make of it.

"I'm Felicity Muller, nice to meet you." Felicity said, slipping on her acting shoes as John had suggested. She let her tone be more childish as she stood on her tippy-toes to thrust her hand in the secretary's direction. The woman shook her hand, smiling warmly as other clients at the bank openly stared at the little girl and the two men with her. Before the secretary could comment on how 'cute' Felicity was, another receptionist took them into the interior of the bank to wait in a room outside of a high-end office. Felicity instantly charmed Sebastian's personal secretary (a rather nice woman named Amanda) and chatted with her about the most ridiculous things until Sebastian was ready for them.

"Sherlock, good to see you again." Sebastian said, his demeanor coming off a bit slimy as he shook Sherlock's hand.

"Sebastian this is my friend, John Watson." Sherlock introduced John first and the two men shook hands. "And this is my niece, Felicity." Sherlock said, gesturing down lower to Felicity. Felicity gave Sebastian her best little girl smile, grinning hugely at him. Sebastian blinked at her, his fake attitude sliding right off.

"Hi!" Felicity piped up, and he chuckled, looking at Sherlock in confusion and disbelief.

"I didn't know you had a niece." Sebastian said, looking back down at Felicity as if he had never seen anything like her. "Hello there," he said to her, suddenly awkward. He had been prepared to deal with the 'freaky' nature Sherlock Holmes and had received such a warm welcome from his niece that he was thrown for a loop. "Why don't you all come in and sit down- I can get another chair for Felicity." After a moment of rearranging and getting a leg up to her chair, Felicity, Sherlock and John were situated in front of Sebastian's desk. "Is it alright if we discuss things now?" Sebastian asked, awkwardly trying to insinuate that it wasn't proper to speak of crimes in front of a little girl.

"It is perfectly acceptable." Sherlock said coolly, giving Sebastian an intimidating stare. Felicity gave Sebastian a reassuring smile next to him, her tiny feet dangling far above the floor. The effect was odd, but it worked. Something about that sweet, young face looking at Sebastian melted his heart.

"We've had a break in. Nothing was taken, but the burglar left a message in one of our offices. If you can find out how he got in and what the message means, we'll pay you six figures." Sebastian summed it up quickly, swallowing the jabs he wanted to shoot at Sherlock for acts done long ago. Their rivalry and Sebastian's need for revenge seemed very…childish now.

"I don't need a monetary incentive, Sebastian. Show me the office," Sherlock commanded, standing up. He was in his deducing mode now- everything else was secondary.

"Yes, of course." Sebastian said, and led the way out. John helped Felicity down from her seat and the two of them followed. Sebastian led them into another high end office and gestured to the paint on the wall before leading them over to a computer to show them how it took the burglar only sixty seconds to make it in and out. Sherlock took pictures of the strange symbols, went out onto the balcony, darted around the office like a maniac, and asked only two more questions before saying they could leave. Felicity charmed all of the staff on the way out, making their leave quick and painless. Once the three of them had made it out of the bank and were in the back of a taxi, Sherlock spoke.

"What did you see, Felicity?" He asked, and Felicity looked up at him shyly. She hadn't been expecting that at all; no one had ever valued her opinion and openly asked for it before.

"Nothing, I'm sure," she said quietly. If she was honest with herself, she'd been slightly intimidated by how Sherlock Holmes changed when he was on a case; it was almost unnatural. He had a power that stunned Felicity, and she knew instantly that she was way over her head. In her mind, she was nowhere near the equal of Mr. Holmes.

"Oh, come off it," John snorted. "I saw how interested you were. You must know something," he continued, and Felicity flushed slightly at his comment. John's words carried weight though, and struck a chord within her. If John, a man who lived with Sherlock could handle him, she could put forth her best effort, at least. Besides, these two men were her friends. They wouldn't judge her for being herself.

"Well, I know you're looking for someone from China." She started, glancing up at the sleuth. Sherlock smiled encouragingly; he was extremely happy that she had come to the same conclusion that he did. It made him wonder if she'd come by that the same way he had; by discovering where the message could be seen and then finding the office of Van Coon, the trader from Hong Kong. However, what Felicity said next was not what he expected. "The symbols in the office were Hang Zhou." She said shyly, as if she expected him to already know that.

"What?" Sherlock asked, for once completely derailed. He never thought that he'd stoop to such a pedestrian level and use such awful grammar, but her words were so surprising that it took him a minute to process them. The symbols were completely foreign to him- how did Felicity know what they were? "Hang Zhou?" Sherlock repeated, feeling a thrum of excitement start in him when a case got particularly interesting. Felicity looked at him in confusion, missing the complete look of bewilderment on John's face.

"Yes, the number system." She elaborated, and that's when it hit Sherlock. When he'd first met her she'd been punched because of a recitation, one that she'd started even in front of Sherlock. "I'm reciting numbers in ancient languages up to 1,000." Felicity had told him. Of course she would recognize something she had memorized.

"Your recitation," Sherlock said out loud, putting the pieces together. "A recitation, John, is when memorized pieces of data are repeated orally for a multitude of reasons. You've often heard me reciting the periodic table by atomic number and mass- Felicity was last studying numbers in ancient languages." Sherlock filled in John, his excitement starting to cloud his tone. "You know the code." He said to Felicity, absolutely thrilled. It had occurred to him that it was a bit convenient that Felicity had been reciting that topic and was in London during a case that involved said topic, but he immediately dispelled the idea that she was involved- the break in happened last night, when Felicity was still in Sussex. "What numbers were in the bank?" Sherlock asked, reaching for his phone to recall the pictures. He needn't have bothered.

"One and fifteen. The slash is a one, the squiggle was fifteen." She answered instantly.

"Does Hang Zhou only represent numbers?" Sherlock asked, and Felicity nodded. "Those numbers must have meant something then. Considering they were visible only from the office of Van Coon," he flashed the name tag he'd taken off the door, "we are now en route to find who the message was for."

"If we find who it was meant for, he can tell us what it means. Brilliant," John caught up, beaming at his two companions. It was one thing seeing Sherlock's intellect on display 24/7, but seeing it from a child was a new experience. It also helped that she completely surprised Sherlock by knowing something he didn't. It was a once in a lifetime incident and John had been there to see it. "And may I say, Felicity, that you are quite the charmer," he added, and Felicity giggled, a new flush racing up her cheeks.

They spent the rest of the taxi ride discussing Hang Zhou. Felicity was more than happy to oblige every question and request from both Sherlock and John. She filled them in on how the system was founded, how old it was, what the numbers were used for, and how the numbers existed today. By the time they arrived at Van Coon's apartment, both men were significantly more informed when it came to the Chinese number system. John paid the driver and then they were standing in front of the apartment building, Sherlock ringing Van Coon excessively. "He's not home then," John said after the tenth ring. "Should we just take a kip here until he gets back?"

"No," Sherlock said, examining the paneling that held the names of every flat in the building. "The flat above just moved in," he noted, tone thoughtful as he threw together a plan. "John, you're my life partner. Felicity, you are our daughter and you just hurt your foot. We are getting into that flat." Sherlock muttered darkly, and buzzed the flat above.

"Hello?" A woman's voice came through the speaker.

"Oww! Oww Daddy. It hurts." Felicity whimpered, grinning at John at the same time, who was still blinking at his 'role' in Sherlock's scheme.

"Hi, hello! My daughter just hurt her foot. I was wondering if you could buzz us up so that we could take a look at it?" Sherlock said brightly into the speaker. There was a pause as Felicity sniffed convincingly.

"Of course! Come on up!" The woman said, and the door clicked open.

"Also, can I use your balcony?" Sherlock asked, dropping his bright tone as John and Felicity walked inside. Neither of them waited for Sherlock, knowing full well that he was up to something suspicious.

"Want a lift?" John asked, spreading his arms open. Felicity beamed at him and let herself be scooped up. She draped her head on John's shoulder and practiced some convincing sniffles as Sherlock joined them in the elevator. He looked at his blogger and Felicity, amused at how quickly the absorbed themselves into his game. When the elevator dinged, a woman was waiting. She was young- maybe around thirty. She had a first aid kit in hand. Once they got past the annoying introductions (Felicity really was handy when it came to distracting people), she let Sherlock out onto the balcony. While Felicity faked pain at John rotating her foot in various directions, Felicity kept one eye on the balcony and had to fight down a smile when Sherlock vaulted off of it to land in Van Coon's. John finished up very quickly with the woman, saying that he'd just carry Felicity home and gave her a big thanks for all her help. Felicity could tell that John liked this woman very much, but because Sherlock had introduced him as his 'life-partner', flirting would be out of the question. It made her fight down giggles until she and John were standing in front of Van Coon's flat, waiting for Sherlock to open the door.

"Sherlock, come on, open up in there." John said after knocking for the fifth time. Almost immediately after, the door swung open, revealing Sherlock. His face was alight with excitement.

"Van Coon is dead," he said, beaming as if he were a child at Christmas. "Those symbols in his office were a threat, a message. This was murder."

"He's in his flat?" John asked, looking shocked. "Ok, right, we'll wait right out here while you call the police." he said firmly, putting a hand on Felicity shoulder when she leaned forward, peeking past the space between Sherlock's leg and the door.

"Why can't I see?" Felicity asked with true innocence, looking up at John with big brown eyes. He had to remind himself that she was still a child, a child that was very good at acting. Despite his initial suspicion, he could tell that Felicity truly didn't understand why John was hesitant to let her see. It was an odd perk he was used to dealing with when he worked with Sherlock. Geniuses like them didn't seem to understand some basic common sense, and that was something John would never quite grasp. He'd thought that with great intelligence came with common knowledge and sense, but now he believed the exact opposite; that the smarter you were the more clueless you were to social norms.

"Because it's a dead body, Felicity, and you are seven. I can't let you see something like that, even if you are a lot more mature than your age." John replied, and Felicity frowned, thinking about his answer. "Would Charley want you to see something like this?" John asked, and Felicity sighed, giving in.

"Oh, alright. You'll have to explain it all to me later." She told Sherlock, sitting against the wall by the door, smoothing her school uniform as she did so. Sherlock instantly went back into the flat, digging out his cell phone on the way. John sat next to Felicity, stretching his leg out with a sigh. John waited outside with her even when the cops arrived. He didn't once leave her by herself- and for that, Felicity was grateful. She had been struck by a nagging suspicion that John didn't want her to go into the flat because he didn't want her with them, but that ridiculous notion as quickly squashed. When Sherlock finally left Van Coon's flat, the three of them went back to 221B. The entire ride back Felicity pestered Sherlock with questions about the scene, the flat, the state of the body, evidence around the body, etc. Usually, when John did this, Sherlock demanded silence so that he could think, or go to his mind palace. This time, he answered every question and even asked questions back to Felicity. John could see the change in his expressions when Felicity answered the questions and asked ones that he wouldn't have begun to deem relevant- and yet Sherlock seemed to perk up more and more.

Maybe it was because Sherlock was such a child himself, or maybe it was because he actually cared about this little girl. Either way, John had a feeling that it was going to be one wild week with the two of them together on a case.

OoOoOoO

A/N: Eeep it's so short; sorry! The next few chapters will be much longer. Is it really unbelievable that Felicity knew what the symbols were? I mentioned in the first chapter that she was reciting ancient numbers (I was trying to give sneaky foreshadowing hints like Moffat, but maybe I failed in that regard), but if it seemed really sudden that Felicity knew what they were, I'm sorry. There is more case-fic goodness to come, though, so stay tuned!

Hugs and butterfly kisses to louisuperwholocked on Tumblr for being a beta-goddess. :D

(P.S. If you want a look into my crazy head, my Tumblr URL is bitchinblackframedglasses.)

Thank you all for your reviews- they mean the world to me.