Sherlock instantly set to work on the books. He cracked open box after box, shifting through them and making tall, crazy piles that fell more than once. He forgot the cup of tea John had made him in mere moments as his eyes, bright with intelligence, tirelessly scanned page after page. John tried to help Sherlock with his stacks of books, restacking them when necessary as well as checking for the words and pages that fit with the coded symbols. Felicity, on the other hand, sat quietly, entering and exiting her mental skyscraper several times as she cross-referenced the two personalities of the victims in an effort to determine what type of book they were looking for. She also studied the small glimpses of each crime scene that she'd managed to sneak before John had pulled her back. In Van Coon's flat, she'd only seen his books from far away. In the journalist's flat, the books had been stacked right on the stairs; Felicity had gotten a good look at those. Her mind spun over possibilities of where the two men would put a book so important, their tendencies, and the style of the Black Lotus for hours.
Eventually, Felicity started to drift off. She'd been running and excited all day and her body was starting to feel it. She fought the drowsiness as long as she could, but she eventually fell asleep leaning against a box of books, titles stacked around her with a book hanging limply from her hands. Her will was stronger than John's; he had fallen asleep an hour before in his chair. It took Sherlock another hour to notice that it had gone strangely quiet in the flat. "John. John." Sherlock had to shake John a few times to rouse him. His hands lingered on John's back and shoulders, unwilling to let go. His flatmate was inebriated with sleep and wouldn't remember or react to Sherlock's touch. John blinked up at him a few times, drunk with sleep deprivation.
"What's going on?" he asked in a garbled sigh, his hands spreading out weakly on the books in front of him in an attempt to keep searching. "Did you find it?"
"No, John, but I won't be making any more headway tonight and neither will you. I suggest you go to bed." Sherlock said, smiling in amusement when John just stared up at him. "You are putting in a shift at the surgery tomorrow; you need to sleep. Go to bed, John." Sherlock said, and John got up, mumbled a goodnight, and stumbled from the room. The dulled sounds of John climbing the stairs and going to bed soon died, and when they did, Sherlock stood perfectly still, listening to the silence. When there were no sounds after that, he started to weave through the books, looking for Felicity. It took a few passes, but he finally found her curled up in a small alcove made out of unopened boxes of books. More stacks of books in front of the niche nearly masked her from view; Sherlock only spotted her because of her fiery red hair. He looked at her for a moment, contentment rising into his chest to settle fondly in his heart. Felicity was like his own personal sun that he could carry with him wherever he went. Her intelligence only made her sunny demeanor all the more brightening, especially when he was in the blackest of moods. It made Sherlock inexplicably happy to see her falling asleep while working- Sherlock had done so a number of times when he was a child. Her dedication and loyalty were heart-warming.
He carefully moved stacks of books so that he could get closer. With gentleness that would stun anyone who knew the sleuth, Sherlock eased the book out of her hands and scooped her up into his arms. She stirred only a little to nestle into him more as he weaved through the books and to his own room. He held onto Felicity with one arm and pulled the covers back with the other. After removing her shoes he tucked her in the way he remembered Mummy doing to him, including the lightest of kisses to her forehead before silently closing the door and heading back to the case. Sherlock worked through the night, trying and failing to find the book he was looking for. In the end, he flopped onto the couch with a murmured swearword, closing his eyes as he retreated to his mind palace. He wasn't sure how long he stayed there, half conscious, before he managed to fall asleep as well.
John woke up early, thanks to his alarm for the surgery, and managed to sneak out of the house without waking anyone up, not even Mrs. Hudson. He left a note for Sherlock telling him to 'LOOK AFTER FELICITY', but he really needn't have bothered. He knew that despite Sherlock's demanding need to solve cases, Sherlock would do anything to keep Felicity safe. She was his heart now- and Sherlock guarded his heart viciously, and once you made it into Sherlock's heart you never left. The list of people who had made it in was so small that John could count everyone on one hand. John knew that Felicity would be fine in his care and that was the only comfort he needed before heading off to work.
When Felicity rose, she was disoriented at first. She clearly remembered falling asleep in the living room and she was now waking up in Sherlock's room. Her mind was dulled for a few moments as she fought off her lethargy and quickly realized that John or Sherlock must have carried her to bed when she fell asleep. With that kind act in her mind, she got a fresh pair of clothes and tiptoed to the bathroom, coming to the conclusion that if the flat was still quiet that John was gone and Sherlock was sleeping (he wouldn't leave her behind). She ran a bath without interruption and got ready for the day. Braiding her hair in pigtails this time, Felicity wandered into the living room and the maze of boxes. When she made it to the couch, she giggled quietly to herself. Sherlock was sleeping; his limbs sprawled everywhere in an attempt to fit onto the couch. His eyes darted slightly behind their lids- he was in an REM cycle. Deciding not to disturb him, Felicity went into the kitchen, made herself a cold breakfast, and once finished she settled back among the books to get back to work.
After another hour, Sherlock woke up slowly. He was aware that he'd fallen asleep and that he could hear pages being turned, but John was at the surgery, so…Felicity. He sat up so fast his head spun and his curls flew as he looked around. It took him seconds to find her. She was sitting on top of boxes of books, other volumes stacked around her as she studied the picture full of symbols that John had taken. Judging by her appearance, she'd already bathed and eaten all on her own, without waking up Sherlock. Irrational fear about her well-being fell away as Sherlock woke up completely. Of course Felicity was fine. "John left you a note," She said nonchalantly, not taking her eyes off the picture as she lifted a scrap of paper that read 'LOOK AFTER FELICITY'. Her statement was oddly funny to Sherlock and soon he was laughing as he let himself sprawl back out on the couch. "What's so funny?" Felicity asked, fighting down giggles herself as she watched Sherlock, a broad grin lighting up her eyes.
"You are," Sherlock rumbled, getting up and stretching languidly until his hands rested against the ceiling. Then he breezed out, still chuckling to himself. After a shower, a fresh suit and some food that was forced onto him by Felicity, Sherlock went back to studying his newest puzzle, Felicity at his side. After yet another visit to his mind palace, Sherlock suddenly had a brilliant idea. If he couldn't find the book in the two victim's possessions, he'd go right to the source. The Black Lotus had to be in town somewhere- it was only logical for them to be hiding in plain sight. But where? His mind raced through possibilities, adverts he'd seen, snippets of the news he'd heard John watching while he worked on an experiment. He narrowed the search until it was suddenly very clear where The Black Lotus were hiding.
The Yellow Dragon Circus was in town, for one night only. Their main feature included acrobats, like Zhi Zhu. It was the perfect cover for the The Black Lotus; they were hiding in plain sight. As Sherlock made his plan, he soon realized just how dangerous this trip was going to be. He and John were going to deliberately provoke an ancient Chinese crime syndicate to try to find information on one of their most secret codes. It wasn't the most dangerous thing they'd ever done, but there was enough danger to make Sherlock question bringing Felicity. John would definitely be against it, and if Felicity were to get hurt because of an error of Sherlock's, the detective would never be able to forgive himself. The real problem would be getting Felicity to stay behind. She'd been loyal and bright this whole time and was such a pleasure to have with him on cases, and Sherlock didn't want to leave her behind. In his heart, however (an odd concept for him), he knew that leaving her at 221B would best suit everyone. "We're getting nowhere with this," Sherlock snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at his friend. Felicity was now lying across two boxes on her back, flipping through a book. How she got up on those boxes was a mystery to Sherlock; the stack she was lying on was tall, about chest height to Sherlock.
"Mmm," Felicity agreed, tossing that book aside and looking up at Sherlock as he stood over her. Brown met blue, and Felicity gathered everything she needed to know from just that look. Because Sherlock was so new with the emotions he had for Felicity, he did a poor job of hiding his expressions from his previous thoughts. She frowned at him and then full out scowled as she put it together. "You're going to find The Black Lotus and leave me behind, aren't you?" She asked, and when Sherlock grimaced in agreement she sat up fast, turning to look at him. "Why?" she demanded, glaring at Sherlock.
"It's dangerous, Felicity," Sherlock said, and she snorted, eyes blazing now. She stood up on the box so that she and Sherlock were, for once, face to face.
"Don't be hypocritical. You've taken me to do dangerous things before, so why is this any different?" She challenged.
"You've been perfectly safe with us so far, Felicity." Sherlock said, slightly confused by her outburst. Felicity half snorted, half laughed angrily, putting her hands on her hips.
"Oh, so our stint in the Museum with Soo Lin was just a bit of fun, was it?" she demanded, and Sherlock felt a flash of guilt. If not for Soo Lin's quick thinking in hiding Felicity, his own personal sun would be dead as well. It was an egregious error he'd made, and he wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.
"We have never purposefully walked you into a dangerous situation, Felicity, and I don't plan on doing so in the future." Sherlock promised, and Felicity scowled at him.
"You knew that Soo Lin Yao had a death threat on her head and you knew that the chances of her living past that night were slim to none and yet you still brought me along. Stop lying, Sherlock; it doesn't suit you." She said bitterly.
"It's different, Felicity. This is different. John and I are going to deliberately attack the Tong, and that is not place for a child." Sherlock argued, slightly exasperated now. He thought he saw a brief second of hurt on Felicity's face, but it quickly vanished to be replaced with hate.
"John won't go with you. He won't want to and he won't go." She said stubbornly, almost viciously. It was a different tack for her- and the sureness and the pleasure in her voice made Sherlock pause. This kind of hate was so unlike Felicity that he knew something was wrong. She was not the type of child to throw a fit when things didn't go her way, so why was she doing it now?
"What do you mean?" Sherlock inquired, and Felicity laughed darkly.
"He has a date, Sherlock." Her tone was slow and clear, as if that fact was blatantly obvious and Sherlock was an idiot for missing it. Frowning, Sherlock ran that idea through his head. John hadn't made any plans, he was sure of it.
"No he doesn't," Sherlock disagreed after a second, and Felicity smirked.
"Trust me, he will." She said in almost a sing-song voice, but her eyes still remained dark. When Sherlock just stared at her, she huffed. "Don't play stupid, Sherlock. Any idiot would have noticed that John's closet door is still open and it's frightfully obvious that his best jumper, trousers and shoes are gone. He wouldn't wear such nice clothes to the surgery, so he's doing it for a reason; he wants to impress someone working there, he wants to look nice when he asks her for a date. He will come home with a date, without a doubt." Felicity finished fiercely.
"I've wrangled him out of dates before, it's pitiful how easy it is." Sherlock snapped back, full of the same childlike anger that he hadn't noticed something that really was obvious. He'd walked past John's room four times already this morning and hadn't noticed it. He shouldn't have continued the argument, but he just couldn't stop himself.
"Do you honestly think that he likes that, Sherlock? He has a life outside of this, you know. One day he'll get fed up with your selfishness and leave." She hurled the word at Sherlock and he stared at her for a few moments, hiding his shock that she would ever say something like that. Her attacks were so out of character that Sherlock knew they had to do with sentiment. Only emotions could make normally good people act like this. After looking at Felicity's face for a moment, everything clicked for Sherlock. Usually Felicity was incredibly bright and she often times understood when something was for her own good. He'd never seen her lose her temper like this, and he could only think of one reason as to why she was so angry.
"Felicity," Sherlock said gently, "this is not because I think you are incapable."
"What?" Felicity asked, completely derailed, the anger falling right off her face.
"Felicity, how could you think for one second that I thought you were as dull and stupid as the rest of the population?" Sherlock asked incredulously. "You've been an excellent friend and colleague and if this wasn't so dangerous I wouldn't exclude you for the world. I just want to keep you safe."
The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Felicity looked away and cleared her throat. "Thank you, Sherlock." She said, for once sounding her age. "My comments were stupid and inappropriate, and I'm sorry." She added, looking back up at him, all traces of anything but Felicity gone from her gaze. Sherlock felt himself smile.
"They weren't stupid, Felicity, they were shockingly accurate and to the point. No one has spoken to me that way before and it caught me by surprise. I shouldn't have egged on the argument the way I did." Sherlock admitted, and Felicity hugged him, sighing into his silk shirt as Sherlock kissed her hair.
"I was irrationally terrified that my first friend was going to break our friendship." Felicity said quietly, and Sherlock swallowed. Emotions. He wasn't very good at them and had no idea how to field them when they were coming from someone else; usually that was Felicity's area. Luckily, he didn't have to deal with too many emotions because Felicity pulled away, giving him a warm grin. "But everything's alright, I overreacted, and now we can move on with the case, yes?" She pushed, and Sherlock felt himself returning the grin. "So, I'm assuming you know where The Black Lotus are hiding?" She asked cheerfully as Sherlock crossed the room to retrieve his Blackberry.
"Yes; they are disguised as The Yellow Dragon Circus. Here for one night only, if you can imagine that. Now, you were saying something about John going on a date?" Sherlock prompted, and a slightly evil grin formed on Felicity's face as she put together what Sherlock was doing. The detective reserved three tickets for the night over the phone and then returned to staring at their pictures of cipher while Felicity continued to aimlessly pick up and stack books. Sherlock popped down to Mrs. Hudson's just to ask if she'd watch Felicity for the night and got an ecstatic 'yes'. When John finally got home from the surgery around 4pm, Sherlock pounced. "John, there's something I want to go see. Tonight." He announced as soon as John stepped into the flat.
"What? Sherlock, no, I can't. I've got a date tonight." John protested, and Felicity grinned behind her book when John proved her point. She was also trying to hide her amusement at how he was walking right into a trap and didn't even realize it.
"Why take her out to something as boring as the cinema, John? This will be much more interesting." Sherlock said, presenting John with a flyer for The Yellow Dragon Circus. John looked it over, humming appreciatively.
"One night only? They must be one heck of an act," John commented, and Felicity very nearly snorted behind her book at John's sarcastic tone. "Sherlock, this is about the Tong and The Black Lotus, isn't it?" He demanded, and Sherlock shrugged.
"It might be. I'm following a lead and I need your assistance. If you bring your date along with you we both get what we want now don't we?" He said smoothly, and John sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Oh, alright, fine. As long as Felicity stays here." John said, and Felicity scowled behind her book, wishing desperately that she was older so that she could always follow her two friends.
"I'll be staying with Mrs. Hudson this evening," she said coolly, turning a page in the novel. It was dreadfully boring, being one of Van Coon's books, but she'd already gone through most of Lukis', save for the boxes at the bottom of the pile that she couldn't dig out on her own.
"Oh, Felicity, don't be too upset. I know you want to come with, but it's not safe. I would hate myself if anything bad happened to you," John told Felicity, crossing over to her and putting an arm around her shoulders. Felicity looked up at him and smiled, but her disappointment was still obvious, even if she was being a good sport about the whole thing.
"It's ok, John. Mrs. Hudson and I will have a great time and you'll be out on your date." Felicity replied, closing her book. "I'm going down to see Mrs. Hudson now. Before you leave could you unstack those boxes over there? I haven't been able to get through the ones at the bottom." Felicity asked briskly, sliding off the boxes she was currently sitting on and straightening her shirt. Before either man could say another word, Felicity walked out of the flat, her tiny feet making barely any noise on the steps as she descended.
"She's really put out, isn't she?" John asked after a moment, and Sherlock grimaced to confirm it as he turned back to the symbols.
"She thought that we didn't want her to come along because we thought she would be incompetent. For a little girl with very few friends she was terrified that she would lose us. That must never happen, John." Sherlock explained, tone getting fiercer as he spoke.
"God, no, of course not! How could she think, her of all people, that she wouldn't be smart enough?" John asked in disbelief, turning to look at the stairs. He was half in the mind of following her just to tell her how wrong she was, but something told him that Sherlock had sorted it out; he would know just what to say.
"Hello, dear! Come on in! I take it Sherlock and John are out, then?" Mrs. Hudson's voice filtered up the stairs as she answered the door.
"Not yet, but they'll be leaving shortly," Felicity said, and Mrs. Hudson ushered her into her flat, the door closing behind them. John and Sherlock stood in silence for a moment. Moments later, there was a knock at the door. Knowing that it was Sarah, John instantly turned to go let her in. Sherlock spent a moment more staring at the pictures of symbols, his mind thinking about something else entirely. He felt momentarily guilty leaving Felicity, even though he knew it was the right thing to do. He didn't want to let her out of his sight, but he knew that he could trust Mrs. Hudson. It was logic over sentiment, and Sherlock, as usual, let logic win. He un-stacked the boxes as Felicity had requested and then got his coat, brushing past Sarah and John as they started to come up. Above all of his worries about Felicity, he was slightly irritated and even a little bit jealous that John had a date. Sherlock felt as if he was the only one who could see how incompatible all of John's bimbo dates were with his flatmate. He wanted John to have better than that- he knew that something much better was right in front of John's face, and yet the doctor couldn't see it yet.
"Oh, I guess we're leaving, then." John said, shooting Sherlock a look as John and Sarah were forced to come back the way they'd come before. John hesitated just a bit before shutting the door to 221B, glancing at Mrs. Hudson's door briefly before following Sarah and Sherlock out.
OoOoOoO
"So, what would you like to do, dear? I won't pretend that I'm as interesting as Sherlock and John are, but I'll do my best." Mrs. Hudson said, and Felicity felt some of her depressed, bad mood fall away. Mrs. Hudson was so sweet and kind that she reminded her of the fuzzy memories she had of her Mum. Felicity knew that she could still have fun with Mrs. Hudson; Felicity may have been barred from doing experiments, running around London or solving crimes, but she was still in good company.
"I'll do anything you like, Mrs. Hudson." Felicity said brightly, and Mrs. Hudson suddenly smiled.
"I've been meaning to make cookies for the past few days…maybe you could help me with that, hmm?" She asked, and Felicity followed her into the kitchen, standing on a chair so that she could be above the counter too. Mrs. Hudson prattled about, getting ingredients and setting them on the counter, along with the recipe. "So, dear, tell me about your brother. You said that he left you in Sherlock's care for the week?" Mrs. Hudson started the conversation once they had everything they needed.
"Yes. My brother's name is Charley. He's twenty and he's away on army business for the week. He's the nicest, best person I've ever known and I love him." Felicity summed up, and Mrs. Hudson sighed happily.
"He sounds like a nice lad. Are you parents off on a trip then, if you were your brother's responsibility?" Mrs. Hudson asked as they measured butter, sugar and vanilla into a large bowl.
"No. My parents died when I was five." Felicity said matter-of-factly as she added the two teaspoons of vanilla necessary to fulfill the requirement of the recipe. Mrs. Hudson tisked.
"Oh, dearest," Mrs. Hudson said sympathetically, dropping a kiss on top of Felicity's head. "I'm so sorry for you."
"I don't remember them that much, so it's ok. Charley is all the family I need." Felicity said blithely, stirring in the eggs as Mrs. Hudson cracked them into the bowl one at a time. Speaking of her parents never bothered her anymore- there was barely anything to remember and without that kind of connection Felicity couldn't feel anything for them. They were dead and she wasn't. Charley had taken their deaths much harder, especially because he'd had them for his whole childhood. Their death had made him much more attached to Felicity, and vice versa. They were they only family they had left- they needed each other desperately.
"That's the spirit, dear. If you've got someone special that's all you need." Mrs. Hudson said warmly, measuring in the flour.
"Sherlock and John are my friends too. My first two friends; they're just as special as Charley. So are you, Mrs. Hudson." Felicity admitted to the baking ingredients, and Mrs. Hudson tisked happily, planting another kiss into Felicity's hair. The two of them chatted amiably for the rest of the process, during the rolling of the cookies, the baking, and, of course, the eating of the cookies. Once everything was safely packed away, Felicity suggested that they watch some telly, having noticed that Mrs. Hudson had been leaning off of her bad hip as much as possible.
They sat on her couch, Felicity curled up under her arm as they turned on one of Mrs. Hudson's favorite game-shows. As the show droned on, Felicity wandered into her mind-skyscraper, feeling safe and secure under Mrs. Hudson's gentle arm. She wandered over bits and pieces of the case for a while, and reviewed the brief glimpses she'd gotten of each victim's flat. "Oh, now, this man, he really knows his stuff," Mrs. Hudson said, breaking her out of her thoughts. The landlady was pointing at the TV, a smile on her face. "He knows women a-to-z he does. He knows just what they want." Mrs. Hudson said appreciatively, passing a smile down to Felicity, frowning when Felicity stared at her with wide eyes as a fact slammed into her brain.
A-to-Z
Where had Felicity seen that before? She'd seen it before, she was sure of it, but where? She sat up slowly, raising her fingertips to her temples, brow furrowed in concentration. For the moment, she ignored Mrs. Hudson's worry and confusion- she didn't have time for it. She knew that somehow, A-to-Z was relevant to the case, very relevant. A few seconds later, Felicity remembered.
In Van Coon's flat, in a stack of books by the TV was the guidebook London A-to-Z. Lukis had the same book in a pile on the stairs going up to the second story of his flat. She'd seen only sparse glances of each book, but she was positive that she'd seen them before, in each victim's flat. It was the only book that had been in both locations, meaning that it was the book they had been searching for to solve the cipher. "Oh," Felicity exhaled, incredulous that she hadn't noticed it before.
"Felicity, are you alright?" Mrs. Hudson asked, and Felicity suddenly grinned at her as joy swept through her. She was going to crack the cipher for Sherlock!
"I'm better than alright and you, Mrs. Hudson, are a genius!" Felicity crowed, giving her a brief but tight hug before dashing off the couch and through Mrs. Hudson's flat. Ignoring Mrs. Hudson's protests, Felicity shot upstairs and flicked on the light, surveying the boxes of books. Someone had unburied the last few boxes for her, leaving them in their own pile (Felicity had insisted on going through every box and had made very specific piles that were not to be disturbed). She launched to work immediately, popping the boxes open and digging until she emerged with London A-to-Z. By that time, Mrs. Hudson had followed her. "This book, Mrs. Hudson! A-to-Z! This is the book we've been looking for the whole time!" Felicity explained hastily, climbing a stack of boxes to get the picture with the symbols off the wall.
"Goodness gracious, child, be careful!" Mrs. Hudson fretted as Felicity copied the same climbing technique to fetch a pen off of Sherlock's desk. "Can I help you with anything?" she asked anxiously when Felicity didn't respond.
"I think I'm fine. Thanks though!" Felicity piped up from behind the quickly rustling pages. "No, wait!" She cried out as a new idea slammed into her head, making Mrs. Hudson pause by the door. "Do you have a mobile phone? I have to text Sherlock and let him know." She explained hastily, and Mrs. Hudson shook her head.
"Sorry, dear, but I stick with the landline. I can't figure those fancy contraptions out," Mrs. Hudson said, and Felicity's face fell back as she thought furiously.
"He won't pick up a call, not even from you—he never takes calls unless he thinks it's for a new case- dammit—" She went back to the book, ignoring Mrs. Hudson's tisk at her language. Felicity each took pair of numbers as a word, flipping madly through the book in an effort to translate the Hang Zhou into readable English. It took her maybe five minutes before she'd gotten it.
NINE MILL FOR JADE PIN
DRAGON DEN BLACK TRAMWAY
Felicity took one look at what she'd done and nearly cried out in triumph. By breaking the cipher she'd managed to identify what had been stolen as well as where The Black Lotus was hiding. She looked over the words once, twice, three times, added facts about the pin streaming into her head before she hurried back down to Mrs. Hudson's flat and asked if she could use the landline. Felicity had to try to contact Sherlock- this was too important to wait. She dialed the number and waited impatiently as it started to ring…
OoOoOoO
A/N: Hello! So, did you like Felicity and Mrs. Hudson baking cookies? I can totally see Mrs. Hudson treating her like her grandchild and I had a 'bawww' moment so I had to write it. As my beta pointed out, I probably should have said 'biscuits' if I wanted to be more British but I'm an ignorant American who likes cookies. Also, I'm sorry for changing the plot AGAIN. I know that it you were probably expecting Felicity to go with them to the circus but for god's sake Sherlock isn't that stupid; he wouldn't do that to his 'personal sun'. I think. Was it okay that Felicity solved the cipher? I know I hate it when OC's are suddenly, magically geniuses who just manage to solve the crime and all that bullshit. I figured that since Felicity's pretty damn smart she would figure it out. And yes, even cute little geniuses like Felicity second guess themselves. We all do- I was trying to make her human?! Idek
Your reviews literally made me cry. Seriously. The amount of thought you guys put into reading this and critiquing it is too much. Your all like little Sherlock's with your little magnifying glasses, finding something and pointing to it while yelling, "IT'S A JUICY PLOT NUGGET QUICKLY JAWN!" I love it and I can't thank you enough for it.
My beta, louisuperwholocked is fucking awesome, in case you forgot. That's ok. I'll remind you again at the next chapter...which will include moar protective slightly slashy Johnlocky-ness! WE ARE FAMILLYYYY