Hey everyone. Here's chapter 15. Not sure if anyone is still reading this, but I enjoy posting it and I like to beleive that at least someone is enjoying it. Here's Chapter 15. It's a major emotional scene between Sherlock and Addie. Well, Addie's emotional but Sherlock eventually comes around. If you enjoyed it, please feel free to drop me a review. They're good for the writer's soul ;)

Chapter 15

Addie's window was open and her curtains were fluttering in the breeze.

"Shit!" Sherlock said as he ran back to the living room to his laptop.

"Mycroft installed GPS on her phone since she has a tendency to run off," Sherlock said as he typed furiously.

He stopped typing and was watching the circular loading icon with impatience. The words "not found" popped up and he let out a frustrated scream.

"Maybe it's turned off?" John suggested.

"No, if she'd turned it off it would still be able to locate her. Mycroft is nothing if not thorough. This kind of GPS has to be manually shut down," Sherlock said, trying the number again.

"You think she disabled it?" John asked.

"I think that's exactly what she did."

Suddenly Sherlock's phone rang and he scrambled to answer it. "Addie?"

It was Mycroft. Sherlock's hopeful face turned weary. "Do you know where she is? You have to have some people trailing her or something, or surely you saw what happened."

"I wasn't aware anything did happen. Anthea informed me you and John were frantic because Addie's missing," Mycroft said.

"She's disabled the GPS," Sherlock said, frustrated.

"Did you expect anything less?" Mycroft chuckled.

"No, but how the hell are we supposed to find her now?"

"I've got people working on it. They should be able to pull something up soon. Now, tell me what happened," Mycroft said.

"I would have thought you already knew. John said the whole of London could hear us," Sherlock said glaring at John.

John rolled his eyes.

"I don't watch your every waking moment Sherlock, despite what you believe," Mycroft answered.

"Wow, that's shocking. You actually have other things to do besides being a pain in the ass?" Sherlock snapped.

"Yes. But unfortunately, you don't dear brother. Perhaps I should talk to John if you insist on being so difficult?"

"No, don't ask John. He'd get it wrong," Sherlock said. John looked offended and opened his mouth to reply.

"Fine, I'll tell you. You never pass up an opportunity to berate me, so why deny you the pleasure now?" Sherlock said.

"Sherlock…" Mycroft said in a warning tone.

"Addie and I had a…disagreement. Lestrade came over on a fake "drugs bust" and unfortunately this sparked a discussion about my past habits. Addie wasn't pleased to say the least. She called me a junkie freak, I called her a pathetic coward," Sherlock said matter-of-factly. "And I also might have let it slip that mother is dead…" Sherlock said quietly.

Mycroft said nothing, just heaved a heavy sigh. Lord, save him from stubborn and hot-tempered younger siblings.

Sherlock spoke up, "Go on then."

"What?" Mycroft asked.

"Go on and tell me off. 'Sherlock, you know better than this.' 'You're the older brother, show some restraint.' 'She's more sensitive, be gentle with her,'" Sherlock mocked in Mycroft's voice.

"Seems as if you've done a fine job of that by yourself, Sherlock," Mycroft answered. "I'm not going to 'tell you off'. You both were wrong and you both deserve to be berated, but that can wait. For now, let's find our sister, hmm."

Sherlock nodded, forgetting he's on the phone and Mycroft can't see him. He cleared his throat. "Yeah. Alright."

John looked at him expectantly as he hung up. "Well, what did he say? Has he any idea where she is?

"No. But he's got 'people' working on it. Whatever that means," Sherlock answered.

John ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "It's alright, we'll find her. Just stay calm," he said comfortingly.

"I am. I'm fine," Sherlock said unconvincingly.

"Sherlock…"

"Mycroft's sending a car. We're going out to look for her. John, you'll…will you…"

"Stay here in case she comes back?" John asked. "Of course."

There was a honk. Sherlock gave him a grateful look before racing down the stairs to get in Mycroft's car.

John slumped down on the sofa and prayed Addie would turn up soon and that she'd be alright.

Sherlock and Mycroft didn't speak for a while. Both lost in their own thoughts, looking out opposite windows.

"Any idea where she'd go?" Mycroft asked.

"Not really. Back to her old flat maybe?"

"Possible. It's rented out to someone else though."

"She has a…"special friend" she's made at the Yard. She might have gone to him for comfort," Sherlock said.

"I'll look into it."

"She can't be at the Yard though, Lestrade would have called."

"Right."

"Oh hell, she was upset. She could be halfway to Switzerland by now!"

"Sherlock."

"Nice place to get away, Switzerland. Quiet, little to no conflict, beautiful scenery-"

"Sherlock…"

"Great place to relax. Unless of course you're plotting revenge on your brother, but either way it's a nice place to be. It's-"

"Sherlock!" Mycroft yelled.

"What?"

Mycroft held up his phone. "I've got a location."

Sherlock sat up straighter and got closer to the phone to see for himself. He grabbed it from his brother.

The text simply said: cemetery.

Sherlock sighed and sat back in the seat. Mycroft took back his phone.

"I should have known." Sherlock said putting his head in his hands. "I don't know if I can do this My." He said, using his childhood nickname for his older brother.

"Don't doubt yourself. You don't need to put on a performance, just be her big brother. That's what she needs most," Mycroft said, putting his hand on Sherlock's knee.

The car pulled up to the cemetery and slowed to a stop. Sherlock looked desperately at Mycroft.

"You're not going to come? You're better at this stuff than I am," Sherlock said, begging his brother to help him out.

"No, Sherlock," Mycroft said gently. "This is between you two. I can't interfere. It would be unfair. I'll be waiting in the car for you both when you're finished."

Sherlock sighed and nodded. He stepped out of the car, and straightened himself. He could see her across the way, facing their mother's grave. She was hugging her knees to her chest and resting her head on them.

He steeled himself for whatever may come from this little reunion. As he drew closer he realized she was talking out loud. He stood behind a tree and listened closely.

"…and I couldn't tell you. I swear! I made a promise and there was no getting out of it. If there was a way mummy, I would have…" he voice broke off a she choked back a sob. "But what good does it do now? You're gone and I never got to say goodbye. I never got to tell you how much…how much I love you. And you died thinking I didn't care. But mummy…I did care. I cared more than anyone can understand. That's why I never came back. I cared too much. I…I'm…I'm sorry mum. I'm so s-s-sorry!" Addie sobbed into her knees.

Sherlock watched her pour out her heart to their mother's grave and his chest clenched. He finally stepped out from behind the tree and carefully made his way to her.

"That didn't take long. I assume Mycroft had a hand in this too," she spoke up, her voice shaky.

Sherlock didn't answer. He just stood there awkwardly, not knowing quite what to do.

"Just go away Sherlock. I'll be home later. I promise I won't be a coward and slip off again," she sniffed.

Sherlock flinched at her words and felt the heavy guilt settle in his stomach again.

"Addie, I…"

"You don't need to apologize, Sherlock. You were just telling the truth. There's no fault in that," Addie said looking at the ground.

Sherlock approached her and brought his hand to rest on her head. It was a little awkward, but, curled up in a ball and sitting on the ground, Addie was too far down for him to reach her shoulder.

Addie stiffened but she didn't shake his hand off. "How'd it happen? How did she…" she couldn't bring herself to say any more.

"Pneumonia. Usually it's not fatal, but mum had been in a bad way for a while. Her immunities were down and she couldn't fight it," he answered.

Addie curled farther into herself and Sherlock was forced to remove his hand. "I should have been there. I should have told her I loved her. Maybe she wouldn't have died thinking I never cared."

Sherlock was still unsure of himself and his ability to comfort her, thinking he might be in over his head a bit.

Despite his doubts, he lowered himself to crouch down beside her. "Addie, I was wrong when I told you that. Mum knew. She knew how you felt. She never resented you and she never doubted you loved her," he said, finally able to bring his hand to her shoulder and squeeze it comfortingly. "So don't you ever think she died without knowing; don't ever think that."

Addie looked up at him, her blue eyes puffy and red. Sherlock gave her a sincere smile of reassurance and Addie's face crumbled as she launched herself at him. He let out a little grunt of surprise as he struggled to stay upright. He ended up sitting on the hard ground next to the grave with Addie clinging to him and clenching his coat in her hands.

She was crying loudly now, no longer trying to be quiet and appear strong. She was muttering things he couldn't quite make out. He thought he heard an "I'm sorry," and maybe a "forgive me," but he couldn't be sure.

Sherlock sat there stunned a bit at her burst of affection. In the five years she'd been gone he'd forgotten how to really comfort her. He'd been so worried about doing it right and looking confident. He wanted to comfort her the way most people comforted one another, but in that moment, with her wrapped around his waist, he realized that wasn't what she needed. Mycroft was right; sod him. Addie didn't care if he was doing it the right way or not. She just needed him. She just needed her big brother to make her feel better in only the way he can. If that meant awkward hugs and hesitant words, then so be it.

He allowed his defenses and his façade to slip and he focused on the most important thing at the moment; making his baby sister feel better. He cradled her in his arms and drew her closer to him.

"Shhhh, it's alright Addie. It's ok. I'm here," he said as he ran his fingers through her hair. "We'll get through this. You'll be alright."

"I w-w-want mum-m-my!" she cried. "I don't care if I sound childish! I want mummy!"

Sherlock sniffed to hold in his own emotions. "I know, love, I know," he whispered, rubbing her back and giving her a kiss on her head.

Slowly Addie began to calm down. Her sobs quieted, reduced to sniffles and hiccups. She loosed her grip on Sherlock and brought her head to rest on his shoulder.

"I wanna go home now. Can we go home, Sherlock?" she asked in in a hoarse voice.

"Of course, come on then," he said pulling her to her feet. He brought his arm to rest around her shoulders as he guided her to the car.

The car ride was silent with Addie curled up on Sherlock's lap, but her right hand firmly holding Mycroft's. She didn't sleep or close her eyes. She simply stared ahead and took comfort in being with her brothers.

She knew this wouldn't be the first shock she'd get now that she was back. Addie guaranteed herself that there would be many more harsh realities to come. Maybe Sherlock was partly right when he said she had skipped out on it and hid away because she was afraid. She had been afraid and she let that fear rule her. Now she knew why. The real world was confusing, terrifying, and frustrating, and she knew she'd need her brothers more than ever. All she had to do was let them be there for her, to let those who care for her in. John was right. She needed people more than she thought she needed them. She couldn't do it on her own, and she didn't want to.