It was ten days before Christmas and somehow Mother had convinced him to take her Christmas shopping. That, Sherlock realized, was a huge mistake. Every store and shopping center in London was swimming with people to the point that he was distinctly uncomfortable with the size of the crowd let alone the constant bombardment of observations going on in his head.

"Sherlock, are you ok?" Rose asked, tugging on his coat sleeve. Her eighth birthday was just five days away and between the excitement of that and Christmas, she was a bundle of energy and giddiness to the point of being exhausting for those around her.

"I'm fine. Headache," he quickly answered, giving her a small smile. "Let's try to do our shopping quickly so we can leave. Stay close to me Rose, don't wander off." It would be all too easy for her to get lost in the masses of bustling people.

The little girl gave him a smile and slipped her hand in his. "Okay. I have a list of everything I want to get everyone!" She dug in her jeans pocket for a moment before pulling out a list and handing it to Sherlock. "We need to go to all the places to get those and then we'll be all done!"

Sherlock examined the list and praised Rose for her good handwriting, smiling as the little girl preened. "We'd best get on with it then. Bookstore first?"

"Please! I want to try and find Mycroft and Mummy some very nice books for Christmas. Can you help me with that? I think you know what Mycroft wants to read better than me. He likes very smart books," Rose explained, swinging their arms as they held hands.

"He does enjoy his smart books," her big brother concurred, absentmindedly swinging his arm along with hers. "Typically they're books you would find very, very boring."

"I liked the book about the musketeers," Rose contradicted, referencing the Alexandre Dumas novel. "But lots of his other books do look boring. Except the ones in the glass case in his study, those look very interesting!"

Sherlock chuckled. "They only look interesting because he won't let you touch them. If you value your life, I suggest you don't make an attempt to get your hands on them. He might love you, but I think he loves his first editions more!"

Rose gasped and looked up at him with wide, bright blue eyes. "Does he really? More than me?"

"Well, probably not," Sherlock admitted. "But let's not test the waters to find out, hm?" He gave her a wink that earned him a bright smile in response.

"Good idea. You're so smart Sherlock. I hope I'm just as smart as you when I get grown," the little girl said adoringly.

"Maybe you'll be smarter than I am. What do you think of that?" He chuckled as she continued to swing their arms.

"Inconceivable!" Rose declared.

"Someone's been watching Princess Bride again," Sherlock teased, smiling as Rose giggled. "Now, do you remember our shopping rules that we talked about this morning?"

Rose nodded. "Hold your hand because there's big crowds and if we aren't holding hands to stay close," she repeated dutifully.

"Good girl," Sherlock praised. The pair disappeared within the crowd at the bookstore, spending about forty minutes combing every topic and shelf the store had to offer. The majority of the time, they held hands but when Sherlock or Rose wanted to examine a book further they stopped in order to use both hands.

"I think this would be a good selection for Mycroft," Sherlock commented, holding the book out for Rose to take and examine… Only she didn't. Sherlock frowned and looked down to find Rose was not beside him. He quickly scanned the aisle and Rose was not anywhere in that row.

In fact, he couldn't see Rose anywhere nearby. Sherlock's heart began beating wildly as panic set in. Had she simply wandered away? Had she been abducted? How many men in this store were potential pedophiles or sadists who would welcome the opportunity to abscond with a helpless victim to the nearest dark, camera free area of the store? His mind raced with the possibilities of harm that could come to her, going into overload as he scanned and deduced every individual near him while trying to spot Rose among the large crowd.

"Rose? Rose? Rose where did you go?" he began calling out. Their shopping basket was left in the row as Sherlock moved out of it and began going frantically up and down each aisle, peering around the masses of people to look for his sister. He'd never felt so terrified in his life, or known how very much he truly loved her until this moment when he couldn't find her.

"Sir, can I help you?" A young woman asked. Her name tag indentified her as Julie, a store employee. "Have you lost someone?"

"Yes, my sister, Rose. I'm not sure if she wandered off or was taken, but I can't find her and I need to find her," Sherlock told her in a rush, feeling his chest tighten as he said the words aloud.

"Then you definitely need my help. Stay right here with me, I'm going to have the store locked down," Julie told him. She reached for a walkie talkie attached to her belt and pressed the button saying, "Code Adam, we have a Code Adam, stand by for description." **

Sherlock had no idea what a Code Adam was, but suddenly he could see store employees everywhere, as if they were coming out of the woodwork, hurrying across the store to secure any exits and prevent anyone in the store from leaving.

"Can you describe her to me?" the employee asked. "How old is she? Hair and eye color, what clothing she's wearing? I also need her name and yours."

"She's nearly eight, but quite small for her age. Shoulder length dark curly hair, blue eyes, she's wearing jeans and a gray long-sleeved jumper with daisies on it. Her name is Rose, I'm Sherlock, last name Holmes."

Julie relayed the description to the other employees and within a minute an announcement was made over the loudspeaker alerting customers that there was a missing child and her description.

The child in question looked up from her book with a frown when she heard her name on the loud speaker. She was Rose Holmes!

"Is that you?" one of the other children she was with asked, having noticed Rose's surprised look. "You're not missing, you're right here."

"I think I've been gone longer than I thought," Rose admitted. Sherlock must be looking for her. If only she hadn't got so involved in discussing this new book series with some other children!

Just then a store employee bustled over to their small group. "Are you Rose Holmes?" the young man asked kindly. "Your brother is looking for you. Let's go meet him at the service counter, alright? I'm Kevin," the employee added. "Let me tell everyone I found you." Via walkie talkie, Kevin alerted the other employees that the missing child had been found and was on her way to the service counter to meet her family.

Rose quietly followed Kevin to the front of the store where Sherlock was waiting for her. His face was pale and lined with worry and when Sherlock saw her, he went running towards her. He dropped to his knees in front of her and wrapped his arms tightly around her, almost crushing her to his chest. For the first time in what felt like hours, he was able to breathe, relief washing over him.

As store employees returned to their posts and patrons were allowed to come and go once again, Sherlock just held Rose in his arms, periodically pressing kisses on top of her head. "I was so scared Rose," he whispered in her ear. "So scared that I'd lost you or something bad had happened to you."

"I'm sorry," Rose whispered. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, trying her best to make him feel better. "I'm okay Sherlock, promise. I didn't mean to be gone so long."

"No, it's—You what?!" Sherlock exclaimed as her words fully registered. He removed her arms from around his neck and put her at arms length. "You didn't mean to be gone so long? You deliberately walked away from me all on your own?" Considering that she'd been found unharmed, Sherlock had assumed she'd lost sight of him in the crowd, which wouldn't really have been her fault.

Rose looked down at her sneakers, her face growing red. "Um… well… maybe?"

Sherlock tipped her chin up so he could look her in the eye. "I think you'd better explain yourself Rosenwyn."

The little girl gulped and began shuffling her feet. "Well, you were looking at that book and I saw a display that was cool so I went to go look at it and it was for a book series that's brand new. It sounds so good Sherlock! Then there were other kids that came and we grabbed some books and went to sit down in the chairs in the children's section and we were reading together. Then I heard my name being called and I didn't know I'd been gone so long. I was only going to be gone five minutes, I swear. Then I was going to come right back before you even missed me."

His jaw dropped. "Five minutes? You were only going to be gone five minutes?" Sherlock almost couldn't believe what she'd said, but he could tell she was being truthful. Standing up, he turned her to the side and swatted her bum hard three times before turning her to face him once again. He paused for a few seconds, rather surprised he'd done that. Seeing the shocked look on Rose's face, Sherlock wasn't certain which of them was more surprised by the impromptu swatting. Well, it was best to start as one meant to go on and this was definitely something he could just let go without consequences.

"You were not supposed to be gone for any minutes!" Sherlock shouted. "I thought you were a big enough girl to stay by my side even when I didn't hold your hand! Didn't we talk about that before we came today? Do you have any idea how afraid for you I was? What could have happened to you?" It was obvious that none of these issues had been duly considered before she decided to just walk away without saying a word to him.

"We are done shopping, absolutely done for today. We'll order gifts online, but for now, we're going home and you are in very serious trouble Rosenwyn," Sherlock stated. Mycroft was going to have an absolute fit when he heard about this and Sherlock knew his little sister was going to be in serious trouble with their big brother. At least he wouldn't have to deal with it though! He took her hand, holding onto it firmly.

"Don't you dare let go of my hand until I tell you, do you understand?" Sherlock tugged on her hand and was about to try and make his way through the crowd when something Rose said made him stop in his tracks.

"Yes, sir," Rose had said quietly before beginning to bite on her lower lip.

Sherlock took a deep breath and squeezed her hand a bit. "Don't do that," he told her in a gentle tone.

"Don't do what?" the little girl asked, wondering what she'd managed to do in the past minute. She didn't bother to look up at him, even though she could feel him looking at her.

""Yes sir" me." Sherlock had heard her say that before to Mycroft, not on a regular basis, but always when she knew she'd been particularly naughty and Mycroft was especially angry. "You don't have to do that, Rose. In fact, I'd prefer you didn't." That wasn't the way he wanted Rose to see him or color their relationship. Mycroft was Mycroft and a 'yes, sir' could go a long way when one was in trouble with the eldest Holmes, but Sherlock didn't want to demand that from her.

It was a good indication, however, that she was upset he'd shouted at her and Sherlock immediately felt bad for losing his temper with her."Come here," he murmured, picking Rose up. She may have been nearly eight but she was the size of a six year old on the smaller end of the average six year old's height scale, a good six inches shorter than most her age. This made it very easy to carry her around, which Sherlock admittedly liked to do, particularly when Rose was upset as she was just then. A part of him hoped she'd always stay on the smaller side so he could always carry her around

"I didn't mean to scare you," Rose said sincerely as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I just didn't really think about it very well. Lack of forethought," she murmured. "I saw and I went."

Sherlock kissed her cheek. "I know Rosie. I'm sorry I lost my temper and shouted at you. Forgive me?"

Rose nodded, giving him a little smile. "Of course! And you forgive me too, right?"

"I do. You're still going to be in trouble though when we get home," he warned.

"Do we have to tell Mycroft?" She gave him a spectacular pout, hoping to dissuade him. When that had little effect, she tried sad puppy eyes.

"Please don't give me that look," Sherlock asked quietly. "Yes, we do have to tell Mycroft, so he can be the mean brother and handle it."

The little girl sighed dramatically. "I suppose. Can we bake biscuits later? Please? And will you help me buy presents online and get them shipped very speedily so they come in time for Christmas?"

"Yes to both," he easily agreed. "Those are precisely the duties of the fun brother." Sherlock winked at Rose and smiled when she giggled.

"I don't think My is home," Rose commented when they arrived at the Holmes residence.

Sherlock suspected she was right about Mycroft, considering there was no sign of his car and the house felt silent and empty. This was an unfortunate turn of events, meaning that he would have to be the mean brother and deal with Rose's wandering off at the bookstore, rather than turn her over to Mycroft and just cuddle her later, commiserating about how mean and nasty their big brother was. How very like Mycroft to be so conveniently missing. Yes, he'd have to handle it all on his own, because there was no way in the world he was letting Rose get away with her wandering off like that. She was too old to purposely do that and he'd have to make that point clear to her.

Rose stood there by his side watching him, Sherlock's clear indecision making her feel anxious. Things were very cut and dry with Mycroft when she got in trouble. In fact, her eldest brother practically had a pattern and the consistency of it was, to a certain extent, reassuring.

Having, finally decided on a plan of action, Sherlock took her hand and sat down on the couch, standing Rose in front of him. "What you did today was unacceptable Rose and we need to have a discussion about," he began, looking directly in her eyes.

Her eyes widened. "You mean we're just going to talk? You're the coolest brother ever!" Rose decided, throwing her arms around him.

Sherlock gently pried her hands off of him and held her at arm's length once more. "No. Well, yes," he amended. "We're going to discuss things verbally and then I'm going to spank you, which, I suppose, is another form of discussion, just not a verbal one."

The little girl in front of him instantly looked deflated. "Then I'm sorry to say you're no longer the coolest brother that ever lived in the world," Rose said softly.

"I understand," Sherlock said quietly. Even if he wasn't the coolest brother he was still the fun brother; most of the time anyway. "What I don't understand is what you did today at the bookstore. You clearly didn't forget the rules," he pointed out, recalling her explanation at the bookstore. "Why didn't you just tell me that you wanted to look at something? That would be a much better choice than deliberately wandering away."

"I didn't think about it like that," Rose admitted, struggling to keep her head up to look at him. "About it not being safe, or that you'd be scared. You were looking at something and I didn't want to interrupt you, so I thought I'd just be really quick."

"But that wasn't the rules we agreed on when we left this morning was it?" Sherlock asked, his tone uncompromising but gentle. When she shook her head no, he continued. "That wasn't very safe, either, was it? Someone could have taken you Rose; kidnapped you. Or you might've got lost or even hurt, because the store was very crowded today. Did you think about those things?"

Rose began sniffling, her lower lip wobbling, indicating there would be tears sooner rather than later. Slowly she shook her head, acknowledging she hadn't thought about potential dangers at all. Instead, she'd been much too wrapped up in taking a look at the new book series to worry about anything else.

"You have to think of those things Rose. It's very important. Not to mention how scared I was when I couldn't find you! I thought maybe you were taken, or lost or hurt or maybe you were scared because we'd been separated and you couldn't find me. I was very worried Rosenwyn and that's not okay." Sherlock wasn't immune to her sad eyes, sniffles and wobbly little lip, as much as he wished he could be just then. He knew this was a completely appropriate response to her choices at the bookstore, but that didn't mean it was easy to steel his resolve and spank her, despite how sad she looked. This just wasn't something he could let go, no matter how much he'd like to.

"Do you understand everything I've said? Why you're getting spanked?" Sherlock asked, wanting to be sure. He was relieved when she nodded in the affirmative and he nodded as well. "Right then. Jeans down and then over my lap, Rose."

Her hands went to the button on the front of her jeans before she paused and looked up at him. "Do we have to?" Rose asked in a tiny little voice.

Sherlock knew it was her final effort to get a reprieve; if she was really going to fight him about it, she'd already have done so. He took a deep breath to steel his nerves and nodded curtly. "We do. Safety is non-negotiable," he told her, echoing a phrase their mother had used more times than he could count. He had no doubt that Mother would be rather amused when she heard about this later. The son she'd often thought had very little regard for his own life at all, was now using on the Rose the same catch phrase she'd used on him.

Convinced that she would get no reprieve, Rose unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans before pushing them down to her thighs and leaning over Sherlock's lap. She made a little whining noise when Sherlock pulled her jeans down even further and then puller her pants down as well.

One arm wrapped around her waist to keep her close, Sherlock raised his right hand and brought it down with a sharp smack across the center of her bottom. He cringed when Rose yelped, then forced himself not to think about it as he found his rhythm. Right cheek, then left, back and forth his hand consistently found its small target over his lap, much to Rose's growing distress.

"Ow! Ow, too hard!" the little girl cried out after the first several swats. "Sherlock! Owww!" Had Rose had any thoughts of staying still or quiet for her spanking, they would've been out the window within the first dozen smacks. Sherlock spanked at a steady pace, his hand stinging her tender cheeks and making them feel hotter than Rose was comfortable with. Though he didn't spank her all that often, Rose knew he could do a very good job of it if he wanted to and today, he clearly wanted to.

Sherlock watched the color rise on Rose's bottom, first a light pink then slightly duskier pink and still he wasn't finished. "You cannot wander away on your own Rose, it isn't safe," he stated, landing a few hearty swats to her sit spots. He winced in sympathy as she yelped and threw her hand back.

"Nonononono! Oww-wuh!" Rose pleaded. "No more, I'll be good, I'll be good!"

"I know," Sherlock assured her as he took her hand and held it against her side. "I know you will be, but we're not finished just yet." Mother always spanked until she knew her child had learned a good lesson, as if somehow there was a magic threshold to reach and once it was, the spanker would know to stop. Sherlock knew that there was no magic threshold, but instinctively he'd know when it was the right time to stop and that time was not just yet.

Raising his hand just a bit higher he swatted the crest of her right cheek and made his way down to her cheek to the tender sit spot and oh-so-sensitive upper thigh. Once he reached the upper thigh he applied a few hearty swats there before working his way back up. Sherlock found he needed to hold on to Rose tighter as she began squirming, twisting, kicking and doing just about anything she could think of to move her bottom out of the line of fire. As he finished her right cheek and moved to the left to follow the same pattern, he heard Rose begin to cry softly.

"Sorry, sorry Sherlock, sorry!" Rose pleaded, throwing a vast amount of energy into wriggling that proved wholly ineffective. His hand fell just where he wanted it to each time, much to her growing displease. Her bum was burning up and so very sore and he just kept going!

Once the left cheek was finished up Sherlock knew they were close to being done and was quite relieved, though definitely not as relieved as Rose would be when the spanking ended. His hand went back and forth, peppering her sit spots and upper thighs until Sherlock heard a cry that fractured into a genuine sob. As soon as he heard it, the spanking stopped. "All done Rose, it's all done," Sherlock assured her while gently rubbing circles on her back. "All over now and you were very brave. You're a very good girl," he praised. His words did little to soothe her, it seemed, but Sherlock kept up a litany of comforting phrases just the same.

Unbeknownst to either of his siblings, Mycroft had arrived home just a few moments prior. Upon entering the house he'd immediately heard the sounds of a spanking and looked into the sitting room to see Sherlock disciplining their sister. He was quite effective, the oldest Holmes had to admit, and Mycroft was more than a little surprised that Sherlock had taken Rose in hand on his own, rather than wait for him to come home. Sherlock had a bad habit of passing anything and everything of an unpleasant nature his way, in order to remain the 'fun' brother.

Still unaware of Mycroft's presence, Sherlock pulled Rose's pants back up and helped her onto her feet, intending to help with her jeans as well. Suddenly, Rose pulled out of his grip and tripped right out of her jeans as she ran across the room…

…and right into Mycroft's arms. The two brothers shared a rather alarmed look as Mycroft picked up his sobbing sister and hugged her tightly. Rose never ran to him. If anything, she was more likely to run away from him and seek extra sympathy from Sherlock when she felt Mycroft had been particularly 'mean.'

Shrugging a bit at Sherlock, the eldest Holmes went far enough into the sitting room to pick up Rose's discarded jeans before carrying her into his study. "Good heavens, it can't possibly be as bad as all that poppet," Mycroft murmured in a gentle tone. He crossed the room and sat down in his desk chair, carefully settling Rose in his lap while he continued to hold her tight. The little girl immediately responded by pressing her face against his chest while one fist scrunched up his waistcoat.

"I have no idea what you did poppet, but I do know that Sherlock wouldn't spank you without cause," Mycroft pointed out as he began rubbing her back. "Sherlock loves you very much, I know he does, and you know that too. I know it hurts right now, but you'll be alright. Sherlock loves you and I love you too. Cry it all out now," he soothed. "I'm sure you were a very good, brave girl for Sherlock and that makes me very proud."

Mycroft kept up a steady rhythm of comforting back rubbing and soothing words until finally Rose managed to calm down, only to fall asleep in his arms. That was very typical of his poppet: get a spanking, have an epic cry over it until she was exhausted, and then promptly fall asleep. When he was certain she would stay sleeping, Mycroft carried her upstairs into her room and tucked her into bed.

To say Sherlock had been stunned that Rose ran to Mycroft rather than have a cuddle with him would be an understatement. He tried not to take her actions too seriously, or too personally, but it stung nonetheless. Never before had she turned down any sort of affection from him, not even the times he'd spanked her before today. Had he been too hard on her? Spanked too hard, or too much? Was it because he shouted at her? Sherlock knew he shouldn't have shouted at her and he was forever telling Mycroft off for doing that exact thing.

"Don't take it personally Sherlock," Mycroft commented when he joined his brother in the sitting room after tucking Rose into bed. "I think she was far more upset at how stern you were with her than actually upset with you."

"I'm surprised you're not gloating," Sherlock grumbled. "Oh look, Rose likes me best now, ha ha to you Sherlock."

"Unlike you, brother mine, I'm far less concerned about this little popularity contest you seem to believe we're involved in. But for what it's worth, I recommend you not let this bother you, because what happens in a moment of tearful upset is not indicative of her overall opinion of you," Mycroft advised.

A few hours later there was a loud insistent knocking on Sherlock's bedroom door. Well, no, not knocking. It sounded as if someone was kicking his door. Setting aside his violin he got up to answer the continued kick-knocks and was completely unsurprised to find Rose on the other side of the door.

"Is there a reason you're kicking my door?" he asked, chuckling as she blushed.

"Yes, as you can see, my hands are very full," Rose explained, indicating the tray she was holding. "It's for you."

"For me?" Sherlock echoed. He took the tray from her and set it on the desk in his room.

Rose nodded. "I made you ice cream to say sorry," she said softly.

"You made me ice cream from scratch?" Sherlock asked, lifting the lid on the tray.

"No, I scooped it out of the carton. But I did all the scooping and put on all the toppings and brought it up."

Sherlock smiled. "I see there's two bowls here. Are you going to join me?"

"Yes please!" Grabbing her own bowl from the tray, Rose helped herself to his bed. She lounged back against the pillows and began eating her treat, flashing her brother a smile when he did the same.

"I'm sorry I was naughty and scared you Sherlock," she said quietly. Rose watched him earnestly, hoping he would say he forgave her..

She wasn't disappointed as Sherlock immediately responded with, "I know, and I forgive you." He leaned over and kissed her cheek, more than a little relieved that they were back to normal, despite her preference for Mycroft just hours ago.

"Ew, sticky, ew!" Rose squealed, squirming away from him.

"Ew? Ew? I'm mortally wounded! I shall avenge myself!" Sherlock quickly grabbed their bowls and putting them on the nightstand by the bed. He then playfully tackled Rose, giving her sticky kisses on her cheeks and intermittent tummy tickles that had her shouting and squealing with laughter.

Downstairs in the library, Mycroft could hear their laughter, and Rose's delighted squeals and feigned calls for rescue and smiled.

** NOTE: Code Adam isn't randomly chosen, I was at a Barnes and Noble one time and this happened, the code name, locking down the store, employees coming out of every place looking for a missing little boy! It was quite a sight!