"No, Sherlock, no," Mycroft ground out. "This is the very last time you damage the dining room or work with potentially unstable or dangerous things with Rose in the same room as you."

"But I'm okay," Rose pointed out with a smile.

Mycroft glanced over at the little girl who was practically attached to Sherlock's leg, why he didn't even care to know. "I am not in need of your assistance, Rose. Please be quiet." The sad puppy face she gave him in response did not deter him in the slightest. "There is no need for you to conduct experiments with fire in the dining room, Sherlock, let alone do such a thing while Rose is with you."

"I was helping," Rose pointed out earnestly. "I was the assistant scientist."

"That doesn't make me less angry at Sherlock, Rose. It only makes me angrier with him because he shouldn't have allowed you anywhere near any type of flammables at all," Mycroft replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Is there a reason why you are here right now, Rose?"

The little girl nodded and held onto Sherlock even tighter. "Yes, because you're being very mean and I don't want you to be mean to Sherlock. We were just playing."

Sherlock closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Rose was definitely not being helpful just then. "Rose, why don't you find Mummy and read to her? I'm sure she'd love it if you did that. I'll play with you again later."

Rose looked up at him, frowning a bit. "You come get me if he's mean and I'll kick him, ok?" She then turned to look at her other brother. "Don't be mean or I'll come kick you."

"If you do, I'll spank you," Mycroft retorted. "And don't use that tone with me either. Now go find Mother before I decide you need a spanking as well."

"Okay, you win," Rose huffed. She carefully kept herself out of Mycroft's reach just in case he changed his mind before scampering away.

"As well?" Sherlock asked as soon as she was out of hearing range.

"You cannot possibly think I'm going to let that go," Mycroft commented, an eyebrow raised. "At times you're very slow, Sherlock." His tone was deliberately mocking. "I don't care about the damage to the dining room, as I'm well used to it. You've been damaging things since the moment you were born, though Mother is a bit upset about the curtains.

"No, what I'm concerned about, brother mine, is your utter lack of judgment. How dare you involve Rose in any experiment that involves flammable liquids and the real potential of creating a fire? No, no, don't say a word," Mycroft interrupted, holding up a hand to silence his brother. "I don't want to hear even a word of 'It was under control' or 'It wasn't really that bad' or any other pathetic excuse you have to offer me. My study Sherlock. Now."

Five minutes later, after a blistering but brief scolding on being a responsible big brother, Sherlock was bent over Mycroft's desk, trousers and pants around his knees. The pink flush of his face was the only outward sign of his discomfort. Sherlock never liked to give Mycroft the satisfaction of actually getting a reaction from him. His jaw was set in determination and the nearly seventeen-year-old braced himself for the coming spanking. Sherlock inwardly groaned when he saw his older brother extract a heavy wooden paddle from the drawer of his desk.

A moment later, pain blossomed as the paddle struck his left check. Sherlock closed his eyes tightly as Mycroft smacked the paddle down in the exact same place before moving to the right cheek, repeating the double smack. Then the paddle fell across the middle of his bottom three times before beginning the pattern again.

"You're a boring and predictable spanker Mycroft," Sherlock grumbled as he struggled to keep from moving. That paddle stung and burned and his bum was on fire by the time the pattern started over and if Sherlock wasn't going to wiggle in response to the pain, he was at least going to get in a dig or two against Mycroft.

Mycroft, however, was not in the mood for Sherlock's impudence and landed several harsh blows on his younger brother's upper thighs. The paddle drew an unexpected squeak from the teen that was followed by grunting against the pain until Mycroft returned the paddle to his brother's bum. "I don't enjoy doing this Sherlock-"

"Liar," Sherlock growled, gripping the desk even tighter. He began blinking back the tears gathering in his eyes in response to the continued smack smack smack of the paddle.

"You're getting to be rather old for this sort of thing, don't you think?" Mycroft continued on, as if he hadn't heard Sherlock's accusation. "It's high time you grow up a bit and begin taking your responsibilities a little more seriously. But, until you manage to do that, putting Rose in danger will earn you a spanking every single time." The last three swats were particularly hard, drawing a sharp intake of breath from Sherlock that caused Mycroft to pause. His brother's behind was a vivid scarlet, undoubtedly very sore, and he decided that was plenty.

"I'm well aware that there is no point in trying to stop your experiments," Mycroft commented as he put the paddle back into his desk drawer. "So I won't even bother. Rather, we shall compromise."

Sherlock, red-faced and verging on tears, righted his clothing and desperately fought the urge to rub his sore, red bottom. "What did you have in mind?"

"Father's study has been empty for quite some time now and I don't see why you cannot set up your more dangerous experiments in that room. It has a lock on the door that will enable you to keep Rose out and therefore away from harm," Mycroft pointed out. "I don't want her anywhere near your more dangerous experiments Sherlock and Mother and I would both prefer that you not damage the house any further. Anything not potentially dangerous, you'll still be welcome to do in the dining room with Rose as your very eager little assistant. But consider yourself warned, Sherlock. Put her in danger again, accidentally or not, and that paddling will feel like a tickle."

The very next day Sherlock set up his more 'delicate' experiments in a vacant room upstairs, with Mycroft's blessing. Rose, however, had not been pleased with this development and the five (and a half!) year old had made her displeasure abundantly known.

"BUT I WANT TO HELP SHERLOCK IN HIS NEW ROOM!" Rose shrieked at Mycroft, stomping several times to emphasize her unhappiness. "I am very helpful and I am very, very big now! It's not fair My, it's not!"

Knowing Rose was a mere minute away from getting her bottom smacked for the rather epic tantrum she was in the midst of throwing, Sherlock quickly intervened between his little sister and his scowling older brother. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he turned the little girl around to face him. As soon as Rose looked at her big brother, she burst into tears and held her arms out to him and was immediately gathered up in a hug.

"I just wanna help because it's so much fun," Rose explained through her sobs before burying her face in Sherlock's shoulder. The brothers exchanged looked over the top of her head and Mycroft retreated back downstairs, allowing Sherlock to cuddle and soothe the upset little girl.

"I know Rosie, I know," Sherlock murmured, swaying a bit with her in his arms. "And you're a very wonderful help! I love having you as my helper, and we can still work together, I promise. But sometimes bad things happen when I experiment, don't they?"

Though she didn't look up from his shoulder, he could feel her nodding and rested his cheek on top of her silky curls. "Mycroft and I don't want you to get hurt Rosie, because we love you very much and we would cry so much if you got hurt," Sherlock explained, his tone gentle and soothing. "You can still help me with plenty of experiments. I wouldn't ever stop doing experiments with you, because you're a wonderful helper. It's more fun if I have you to help me. But we don't want you to get hurt, so when it might be dangerous, I'll work in my new room so that I can keep you safe. That makes sense, doesn't it?"

Rose lifted her head from his shoulder, raising her tear-stained face to his. "Promise? Promise we can still do experiments together and you still want to play with me and everything?"

Sherlock kissed her nose. "Promise. But you'll have to be very good and not try to come into my new room if I'm working in there, alright? Can you promise be good and not go in there, so that you stay safe?" And so that his bottom would be safe, Sherlock couldn't help but silently add.

"Promise," Rose assured him.

Rose's promise turned out to be difficult to keep. Each day when Sherlock disappeared into his experiment room, she wanted very desperately to go in there too. It still wasn't fair and Rose knew Sherlock would keep her safe, even if meanie Mycroft didn't know it or believe it. Sure, Sherlock still did some experiments in the dining room with her, but all the cool stuff was in the room she couldn't go in and Rose knew it! Not only did she know it, but it was driving the five and a half year old crazy.

For the first week, Rose was very good. She didn't try to follow Sherlock, she didn't whine or cry or strop about it, just watched him go in there with as dramatic a sigh as she could muster. Rose wanted to be good for Sherlock, she really, really did. Rose knew that promises were very important and she didn't want to disappoint her big brother. But it was so very hard!

By the second week Rose was waging a campaign of sad puppy faces against Sherlock's resolve in keeping her from the experiment room. Despite his best efforts, Sherlock was in fact affected by her adorable yet sad looks. Though his resolve waivered on the inside, he was very resolute on the outside.

"You have to stop looking at me like that Rose. It's not going to make me change my mind," he said gently one afternoon as he picked her up for a cuddle.

"Are you sure?" Rose asked. "Because I could try to look sadder or cuter, and maybe it would work Sherlock," the little girl pointed out hopefully.

Sherlock kissed her cheeks. "I don't think you could possibly manage to look cuter than you are already or sadder than you've looked about the experiment room," he whispered in her ear. "But we'll both get into trouble if I let you in there, Rose. It's safer for you not to be in there and you know how Mycroft gets about safety."

"Yes. Ouch," Rose whimpered, recalling her first spanking from Mycroft. It had happened just a month prior and safety had been the paramount issue at hand in what had since been referred to as 'The Balcony Incident.'

He chuckled and gave her a smile. "Quite right. Ouch. I don't want you to get in trouble again and I know you don't want a smacked bottom again, do you?"

Rose shook her head, sending her curls bouncing from the movement. "No, no!"

"So you'll be good and stay out of that room, no matter what, right?" Sherlock clarified. "And be safe?"

"Okay, I will be safe. But I don't have to like it," Rose decided with a pout.

"That's true, you don't have to like it," he agreed, chuckling a bit.

"Oh Rose, do give Sherlock a break from all your ridiculous pouting," Mycroft grumbled as he spotted them cuddling and whispering in the hallway.

"Jealous, Mycroft? That I get all the cuddles?" Sherlock challenged.

"Hardly," the eldest Holmes replied with a scowl.

"My gets cuddles too, Sherlock," Rose admitted. When Sherlock leaned down to whisper in her ear, she giggled and nodded. When he set her down on the floor, Rose ran towards Mycroft and attached herself to his leg. She proceeded to look up at him with the biggest grin, her eyes bright with merriment.

"Really, must we do this?" Mycroft grumbled, even as he picked her up and snuggled her close. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"Dunno. I'm hungry, can we eat? I want to eat ice cream."

"You always want to eat ice cream. It's not its own food group Rose, and your persistence in trying to make it one won't materialize," Mycroft warned as they headed downstairs.

"Um… Does that mean yes or no?" Rose asked, sounding confused. "I'm going to say it's a yes, ok? Yay! Ice cream time!"

Mycroft rolled his eyes. "I'm getting you ice cream for the sole reason that I want you to shut up already." He winked, alerting Rose to the fact that he was teasing. Mycroft even smiled when Rose began giggling crazily.

As any child faced with a shiny object or a forbidden place or activity was want to do, Rose's curiosity and determination were certain to compel her to find a way into Sherlock's special room. One day, the opportunity to gain entry to the room came upon her completely unexpected.

Sitting in her playroom, rocking a dolly to sleep in her rocking chair, she could see the door of the experiment room from inside the playroom. She watched with great interest as Sherlock quickly exited the room in question and headed into the bathroom, not stopping to lock the door behind him as he normally did. That meant the door, while closed, was not locked.

Without even a second of hesitation, Rose dropped her dolly on the floor and ran to the forbidden room, carefully turning the knob and letting herself in. Her eyes lit up at as saw the different chemicals and items that were bubbling and doing very interesting things. Shutting the door behind her, she approached the table and climbed into Sherlock's chair to peer at the items.

"I can show Sherlock I'm a big girl and know exactly what I'm doing all the time," Rose murmured, reaching out for a vial of liquid. Her mind quickly labeled each of the liquids on the table, or so she thought, and Rose decided to add the contents of the vial in her hand to one that was already bubbling, thinking it would turn a pretty color and create bubbles that she could play with. They had done that experiment once and it had been so much fun!

After dumping all of the liquid from the vial into the bubbling mixture, Rose watched in horror as it began bubbling in what could only be described as very, very bad way. She might have mentally labeled all the elements wrong, but Rose was definitely smart enough to know when to get out of harm's way! Rose leaped off the chair and ran out into the hallway just as Sherlock emerged from the bathroom. Before he could say a word the mixture exploded with enough force to rattle everything in that part of the house. One of the windows shattered, part of the table was sizzling under the dripping mix, and there was a massive black mark on the ceiling, from which little bits of plaster were falling onto the table.

This was very not good. It was about to get even more not good.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Mycroft thundered as he took the stairs two at a time. His face went from angry to one full of murderous intent upon seeing Sherlock and Rose in the hallway with the door of the experiment room wide open. "Someone start explaining this immediately," he growled, peeking in the room to survey the extent of the damage. It was definitely damaged, but repairable. That did not, however, exempt the person responsible for it from punishment.

Sherlock and Rose exchanged a look, both silent as Mycroft looked into the room before turning on them. It didn't escape Mycroft's notice that Rose looked downright petrified, which to his mind meant she was likely the culprit responsible for the mess.

"Did you go in Sherlock's room, Rosenwyn? Were you in there playing with things and cause all that damage?" he demanded, standing over the little girl with his arms crossed.

Rose stared at him like a deer in headlights, the color draining from her face. Mycroft was very, very angry.

"ANSWER ME!" Mycroft shouted at her.

"No! No I didn't!" Rose blurted out in response to the shouting. Her eyes were wide and full of panic and her response was followed by a little whimper. While she could shriek and scream with the best of them, being shouted at by adults had always frightened her a bit. Mycroft, however, took no notice of the look of sheer panic on her face.

Sherlock, on the other hand, most definitely did notice. Within the space of a few seconds, a decision was made. "It was my fault," he interjected, causing Mycroft to stop glaring at the littlest Holmes and turn his wrath on him instead.

"And how did it happen exactly? I'm particularly interested in the part where the door is unlocked and our sister is here in the bloody hallway next to the door!" Mycroft thundered.

"Spilled something on myself, went to wash up, forgot to close and lock the door. Things happened while I was washing," Sherlock retorted at lightning speed.

"And Rose?"

"Frightened by the noise, came looking for me."

Mycroft scrutinized his brother carefully, looking for a sign that Sherlock was lying. Generally he was quite good at determining whether or not Sherlock was being truthful. When he could find no obvious indication of deception, he nodded curtly. "Then I think you know where we're headed next, brother mine. Rose, go play in the sitting room, I'm not certain it's safe to be up here just now. Sherlock will sort it out in a bit, won't you, Sherlock?"

"Yes, I will," Sherlock answered, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach. Mycroft was going to have his head on a platter and there wasn't a thing he could do about it and the lack of options was far more nerve wracking than he let on. The only alternative was to admit he'd lied and let Rose take the blame and while his sister had done exactly what she'd promised not to, Sherlock was not going to turn her over to Mycroft to be shouted at and spanked.

The little girl watched in horror as Sherlock and Mycroft descended the stairs, with her hot on their heels, and went straight into My's study.

Mycroft shut the door of the study behind them and crossed the room to his desk. "I don't think we need to spend time with a lecture, do you? We both know why we're here, don't we?"

Sherlock swallowed hard and nodded, determined to be brave for Rose's sake. His bravado nearly faltered however, when Mycroft removed a strap from the drawer of his desk. "Mycroft!"

"I don't want to hear it. I warned you last time that the consequences would be greater if it happened again. Even if Rose wasn't in the room with you, she could have been, because you didn't lock the door behind you. That's carelessness Sherlock, and I won't tolerate it. Period. You know what to do," Mycroft said, giving his brother a look.

Taking a deep breath, Sherlock pushed his trousers and pants to his knees and bent over the desk, trying to brace himself as he always did. He'd never been strapped before and he didn't want to be, but this was what a big brother would do right? Rose was just little and curious, she never meant to cause trouble, and he didn't want her to get a spanking.

Unaware of the thoughts swirling in his brother's head, Mycroft took a deep breath of his own and then brought the strap down with a resounding smack across Sherlock's bottom. The sound of it in the room was loud and even disconcerted him for a moment, but Mycroft was determined to teach Sherlock a lesson. Since he hadn't bothered to learn last time, Mycroft had to be tougher on him this time. Eventually, Sherlock would understand, learn, and not repeat; or so Mycroft hoped at any rate.

The strap fell again and again, snapping across his cheeks, causing Sherlock to suck in his breath as lines of fire spread across his bum. It was more and more difficult to keep still and by the eighth smack, he was squirming and groaning under his breath. Four more and he was nearly in tears, stomping his feet to try and relieve some of the sting. By eighteen, Sherlock was outright sobbing and holding on to the desk for everything he was worth.

The sound of sobs, something he hadn't heard from Sherlock in a while, caused Mycroft to immediately stop. That had been plenty, clearly, and while he hadn't hurt his brother- something he would never do- he knew Sherlock's bum was hot, sore and probably felt like it was on fire. There was no need to continue; the lesson had obviously been well learnt. "Alright, we're done," Mycroft said, hoping to be heard over Sherlock's tears. "We're done and you took that very well Sherlock."

Almost without realizing he was doing so, Mycroft reached out and began to rub Sherlock's back, trying to soothe him the way he had when Sherlock was little. "I forgive you Sherlock. It's alright, we're all done." He was almost surprised to find how much it bothered him to hear Sherlock crying this way, and did his best to comfort his well-spanked brother in a way he hadn't done in a very long time.

Rose had been waiting in the sitting room on pins and needles, looking in the direction of her oldest brother's study. They were taking forever which only made her feel worse that she'd gotten Sherlock in trouble. When he finally emerged, tears on his face and gingerly rubbing his backside, she felt like the worst sister in the whole wide world. Part of Rose wanted to run over and hug him while another part of her didn't, fearing he wouldn't like her anymore now that she'd got him in so much trouble.

Silently she watched him make his way back upstairs, rubbing his bum the whole way, her stomach churning from all the guilt she felt. When he disappeared from her sight, Rose curled up on the couch and cried into a pillow, which was precisely where Mycroft found her an hour later when he emerged from his study.

"Rose? What's the matter?" Mycroft asked, sitting down beside her. "Why are you crying?"

"All my fault, My! I did it! It's all my fault!" the tiny girl sobbed out before crawling onto his lap and pressing her face against his chest.

Dread settled heavily in Mycroft's stomach. Had he really just punished Sherlock for nothing? That had been a quite a strapping, even for an almost seventeen-year-old, in direct proportion to the transgression… or rather the transgression Sherlock had let him believe had been committed.

Mycroft's arms automatically went around her and one hand began rubbing her back in a soothing manner. "What did you do, Rose? What's your fault?" he asked, trying to get to the truth of the matter. He hoped against hope that she would confess something unrelated to the experiment room fiasco.

"I went in there My," the little girl sobbed. "I went in there and put the liquid in the bubbly stuff and then it blew up!"

Damn, Mycroft thought. "Rose, you must calm down. We need to discuss this. Take some deep breaths and try to stop crying." He waited (mostly) patiently while the five year old got her tears under control. "Why did you do that Rose? Did you forget the rules?"

She shook her head, looking quite miserable. "No. I wanted to help and show you I could but it didn't go right at all."

"That's the understatement of the year," he grumbled. "So not only did you break the rule about going in that room, you played with substances you weren't familiar with and did not have any supervision. Those are all very important rules, aren't they?"

Another nod as Rose wiped her wet face with the sleeve of her shirt. "I'm sorry," she whimpered.

Mycroft ignored the apology for the moment and continued on with reviewing the rules. "You also lied to me, didn't you? And that's very naughty. You know we don't tell lies, Rosenwyn. Why did you do it?"

"You were so very angry and shouting and I didn't want to be in trouble," Rose explained, pressing her face against his chest once more.

"Because you lied, Sherlock took all the blame and got a very big spanking," Mycroft told her. "That's really not acceptable Rose. I'm very, very disappointed in your choices today, young lady. Now raise your head up and look at me." He waited a moment and wasn't entirely surprised when she didn't do as he asked.

"Rosenwyn, look at me, right now," Mycroft ordered sternly. His tone succeeded in convincing Rose she best do as she told and her sad little face looked up at him.

"You're in a lot of trouble Rose. You broke many, many important rules today. Do you know what's going to happen now?"

Rose sniffled and then made a little whiny noise but otherwise didn't respond.

"Go find Sherlock and tell him to spank you," Mycroft said firmly, setting Rose down on her feet. "Go on. Go find him and tell him that."

"But I don't wanna have a spanking!" Rose exclaimed, sounding about as distressed as she could possibly be.

"Then you should have made better choices today, Rosenwyn. You chose to be very naughty and there are consequences when you're naughty. Now do as you're told and find Sherlock. As in right now, Rose." Mycroft steeled his resolve as her little face crumpled up and she started to cry once more. "Do I need to count? One…" As soon as the word left his mouth, Rose ran off to find Sherlock.

Sherlock was upstairs attempting to clean up his experiment room when a tearful Rose appeared in the doorway. "Rosie, what's the matter?" he asked, crossing the room to pick her up. "Are you crying because I got in trouble? That's no reason to cry at all." Taking the blame had all been in the line of duty as her big brother.

Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled close. "I'm sorry you got a very big spanking," she whispered. "I told My that it was all my fault. I shoulda told him before you got in trouble."

"Don't worry about it," Sherlock assured her, rubbing her back. "Did you really tell Mycroft that it was your fault?" He couldn't help but be impressed when she nodded. "That was very, very brave of you sweetheart," he whispered in her ear. "I'm very proud of you for telling the truth." And he was, too, even if it was too late to save his arse.

"Not brave," Rose countered.

Sherlock kissed the top of her head. "Yes it was brave and you won't convince me otherwise. What did our bellowing brother say?"

"That I had to tell you to spank me," she told him in a tiny voice before burying her face against his shoulder.

Her big brother stopped the gentle swaying he'd been doing to soothe her and stood perfectly still. Spank her? Him? Was Mycroft out of his mind?! That was not part of his job, he was the fun brother! Sherlock Holmes was not going to spank his baby sister.

"No."

Mycroft had anticipated this very reaction and thus calmly looked up from his laptop and raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Yes."

"I don't do that," Sherlock said vehemently. "I'm the fun brother, you're the mean one and I'm not going to do it."

"So what then will she learn from this if you don't?" Mycroft countered. "That it's acceptable to lie? That it's perfectly fine to play with substances without supervision or even knowing if they are safe to mix or not? That it's proper to let someone else take the blame because you don't want to be in trouble? Those aren't good lessons to learn, Sherlock."

Damn it, he hated when Mycroft was right. Absolutely hated it. "No, I suppose we can't let her take that away from today's disaster," Sherlock grumbled. "But why do I have to do it? And why does it have to be done at all? Isn't there something else? She's so… little, Mycroft."

"I'm well aware of the fact that she's little and rather adorable," Mycroft responded. "We've had this conversation before Sherlock, after the balcony incident and nothing has changed in that regard. She might be young, but she could have been a very dead five and a half year old. We cannot let allow her to do whatever comes into her ridiculous little mind. Isn't it better to make an impression now then let her end up killing herself?"

Sherlock scowled darkly at his older brother, arms crossed over his chest. It was difficult to argue with that logic, admittedly, but he didn't have to like it either.

"Rose needs to understand that there are boundaries and not everything that pops into her mind is a good idea. She's going to end up hurting herself if she doesn't learn to respect rules and consequences. Rose could have been very severely injured today and she doesn't understand that," Mycroft explained. "It's our job to make her understand."

Sherlock huffed, still looking very displeased. "But why do I have to do it? Why can't you do it?"

"Because you are the aggrieved party, not me," Mycroft pointed out. "She went in your room, ruined your experiment, let you take the blame for her actions. It only makes sense if it comes from you. Besides, the older she gets the more you'll need to step into this sort of role with Rose. Might as well start now, brother mine."

The eldest Holmes received a scowl for his efforts. "I don't know how to do it," Sherlock mumbled.

"We really have to go through all your pathetic objections and dismiss each one, Sherlock?" Mycroft asked, letting out a sigh. "I don't believe for a second that you don't know how to give a spanking. You've certainly had enough of them throughout your life to have the general concept firmly implanted in that sharp mind of yours. Next excuse."

Sherlock continued to scowl at his brother. "What if she cries?"

"Of course she'd going to cry," Mycroft said with a sigh. "But crying from a spanking isn't any different from any other form of crying. Comfort her the same way you always do and she'll be just fine."

"What if I hurt her?"

"That isn't even remotely in the realm of things that I am concerned about," Mycroft admitted. "Knowing you, you'll probably give her soft little pats and skip the tears all together. Which you had better not do, Sherlock. We get one opportunity to instill this particular lesson; do try not to be a bleeding heart about it. Next."

Mycroft was a little surprised to see his younger brother shuffling his feet a bit, which oddly enough reminded him of Rose when she was being scolded. It was almost sweet, the way the two siblings were so much alike. On the other hand, it was infinitely frightening as well, because god help him if Rose took after Sherlock as she continued to get older. "Spit it out Sherlock. I'm certain you have a very nervous little girl waiting for you upstairs," he prodded.

"What if she doesn't like me anymore?"

For some reason the half-whispered question was not one that Mycroft had expected. He should have, considering Sherlock's close relationship with Rose and his unending comments about being the 'fun' brother. "Of course she'll still like you Sherlock, and still love you," he replied, not unkindly. "She'll cry, you'll comfort her, and everyone will still love everyone when it's done. She still likes me, and I've been swatting her here and there for a couple years and dealt with the balcony incident."

"Well if she still loves you then of course she'll love me," Sherlock decided. "After all, you're rather awful."

Mycroft rolled his eyes. "Go sort out our sister and try not to make a mess of it. And Sherlock?" He waited until he had his younger brother's attention once more. "I'll make certain to investigate better next time, rather than… well…" Apologizing was so awful; pedestrian even.

"Rather than spank first, ask questions later?" Sherlock offered. He smirked when Mycroft's face reddened a bit. "How about next time you make a better effort to control your natural proclivity to bellow? Don't bellow so much around the baby, Mycroft, it upsets her. She might have been truthful had you not been such an ogre."

Rose was right where Sherlock had left her, sitting on her bed where he'd sent her to think while he'd gone to attempt to sway Mycroft. He crossed the little girl's room and picked her up from the bed, then sat and put her in his lap. "Good girl," he praised. "You can listen so well, I know you can. Have you been thinking, like I asked?" He smiled when she nodded and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Tell me what you were thinking about."

"That I'm sorry; very, very sorry," Rose murmured, nestling against his chest.

Sherlock smiled and began running his fingers through her hair. "That is the perfect place to start thinking! Can you tell me what you're sorry for?"

Rose was silent for thirty seconds or so, while one hand began to play with the buttons on his button-up, a by now well-established part of the scolding or talking process with both her brothers. "I made lots of bad choices, and I got you in very big trouble."

"Mmhm, that's right," Sherlock agreed. "Can you tell me what those choices were?"

"All of them?" Rose squeaked, looking up at him anxiously.

"Yes, all of them, but I won't shout at you. We're going to talk nicely and calmly about it," Sherlock assured her.

She seemed satisfied with that answer and nodded, turning her attention back to the buttons. "I went in your experiment room, even though I'm not allowed. I played with your things and made the house get broken 'cause I shouldn't have mixed those liquids. I thought they were okay together, but they weren't," Rose admitted quietly. "Then I lied to My because I didn't want to get in trouble, and he was shouting at me."

Her big brother nodded, continuing to run his fingers through her curly hair. "We made those rules, Mycroft and I, to keep you safe. You could have been very hurt today Rose, maybe even been in hospital. We don't want that for you," Sherlock explained quietly. "We want you to be safe at all times. Also, we don't want you to tell lies, because we want to be able to trust you when you say things. Things will always be easier if you just tell the truth and you won't be in nearly as much trouble if you're honest."

"But what if Mycroft's yelling?" Rose asked before pressing her face against his chest.

"Then come tell me," Sherlock automatically responded. "And you don't think Mycroft is going to hurt you, do you?" He didn't think so, but he wanted to make sure.

"No! No, 'course not," she automatically replied.

He nodded and kissed the top of head. He'd just assumed it was because Mycroft was so tall and loud that it made her feel very small, which wasn't particularly hard to do, considering she was so small to begin with. "If you don't want to tell Mycroft something, you come tell me. Always be honest with me Rose. I can't keep you safe and happy if you aren't honest. Promise you won't lie to me anymore."

She looked up at him with that sweet little face and nodded. "Promise."

Damn Mycroft, Sherlock thought to himself. How was he supposed to spank her, when she was so sweet? This was going to kill him, he was sure of it. Sherlock closed his eyes for a moment, reminding himself of the post-disaster state of the experiment room and the potential for Rose to have seriously hurt himself. It gave him the determination he needed to see this through.

"Then I think it's time for your spanking," Sherlock said quietly, trying to keep his voice even. After pressing a kiss to the top of her head, he carefully maneuvered her so she was face down over his lap in the traditional spanking position. He was struck hard by just how small she looked over his knees, such a tiny thing. He hadn't even swatted her yet and already Sherlock felt like a brute.

Then Rose started to sniffle, more out of unhappiness at where she presently found herself than anything else, he knew, but that didn't make it any easier for her reluctant big brother. "You must always, always be safe and follow the rules that keep you safe. You must also always tell me the truth," Sherlock lectured in a gentle tone. He carefully tugged her shorts down to her knees and cringed as she actually started to cry.

Leaving her pants in place, he rested his hand on her bum and was utterly dismayed to see that it pretty much covered her entire bottom. Sherlock took a deep breath to steady himself, already feelings the twinges of regret. "Every time you lie Rosenwyn, you'll get a spanking. Especially when you lie to me. I won't tolerate that. Do you understand?" The words jumped out of his mouth almost of their own accord, taking Sherlock a bit by surprise, but he definitely meant them.

"Yes! I'm sorry!" Rose told him through her tears. Her tiny hands held on to the leg of his trousers as she waited anxiously over his knee.

Sherlock raised his hand and brought it down with a sharp smack across the seat of her pants. The heartfelt "Owww!" That accompanied it nearly killed him, he was sure of it. Still, he couldn't stop now, not if this was going to be meaningful. Damn Mycroft, he thought once more before giving her another two swats. She cried out again and started wriggling, but Sherlock had a good hold on her to make certain she didn't fall off. Ten ought to do it, he thought to himself. That meant seven more. Could they both make it?

Deciding not to prolong the agony of this for either of them, Sherlock landed the other seven swats in quick succession, his hand even catching the tender junction where her bottom met her thigh. Her bum was pink and undoubtedly sore, but still firmly attached and she'd live to misbehave another day, Sherlock though when the final swat landed.

Immediately Sherlock scooped his sobbing sister up in his arms, letting her shorts fall away onto the floor as he cradled her against his chest. His mind raced to find the right words to comfort her and immediately summoned memories of his mother's words post-spanking when he'd been the one getting a smacked bottom. "Shhh, it's alright now," Sherlock soothed, beginning to rock Rose in his arms. "All done now and you're forgiven. Such a brave little girl you are. I'm so proud of you for being so brave for your spanking. I love you very, very much, Rose. You can cry as much as you need to, it's alright."

Sherlock rocked her and soothed her for what felt like ages, her tiny hands clasping on to his shirt as he did so. Finally her tears slowed down and he moved her away from him just a bit and began brushing her tears away. "You alright?" he asked gently. "Will you live to misbehave another day?" Relief flooded through him when Rose gave him a tiny smile.

"Yes," she whispered. "I'm sorry Sherlock, I'm very sorry." Rose rubbed her face against his chest and she smiled a bit more as he immediately cuddled her close again.

"I know you are and it's all forgiven, I promise. You're a very good girl, a very brave girl. I love you very much," Sherlock whispered in her ear. He couldn't help but notice how tired she looked, no doubt from all the anxiety and crying the afternoon had seen. "Sleepy?"

Rose nodded and nestled closer.

"Should we get you tucked into bed for a bit of rest?" he suggested, resting his cheek against her curly hair.

"Don't go!" Rose whimpered. "Don't go Sherlock."

A smile settled on his face and this time he didn't damn Mycroft for being right; Rose still loved him after all. "Of course not," Sherlock promised. He stood up with her in his arms and pulled back the covers of her bed before sitting down and lying back against the mountain of pillows and stuffed animals. Keeping her cuddled against his chest, he covered them back up, making sure Rose was snuggly tucked in.

"I love you," Sherlock repeated, whispering once more into her ear.

"Love you too," Rose replied as she closed her eyes.

An hour later, Mycroft made his way upstairs to check on his siblings. The sight that greeted him caused a smile to spread across his face as he looked at brother and sister, snuggled up together and fast asleep. "See Sherlock," he whispered. "She still loves you." It was possible there was hope yet for Sherlock as a co-parent of their rambunctious and ever curious little sister!