Hello again! Here goes the "dump" chapter where I put the little neat ideas of kid!lock I couldn't place in previous chapters. And some of John/Victoria dynamics (friendship only, I'm a believer of JohnxMary romance... most of the time).

Hey, thank you for reading, by the way! I thought no one would bother after a month-long gap, but it's really heart-warming to see all those mysterious readers on the traffic graph :)

There will be a final chapter tomorrow (or on Tuesday. Soon).

Reviews are always welcome... and enjoy! :)

Chapter 22. Hospital visits

Three days had passed since the ambush. Victoria was staying at the hospital with Eric Mercier. The boy wouldn't speak to anyone but her. Mycroft was unreachable, but John was sure that the omnipresent man was continuously informed of their slightest movements. One of positive downfalls of the adventure was that Sherlock stopped to rummage the flat in a desperate search for cigarettes for quite a while. He had a lot to think about. Unexpectedly, the Great Consulting Detective refused to visit his sister. And even if he pretended that hospital visits were just too boring, Watson strongly suspected him of being afraid of the new situation which required him to socialize and to act as an adult, or at least as an older brother.

Nevertheless, John visited Victoria twice. He was concerned as a doctor and as a friend. As he noticed previously, she had cracked ribs, lots of bruises and a mild dehydration. Nothing serious, she assured him. He wondered if she'd come living in London, now that her memory returned. She said that the question must be discussed with her foster parents and her colleagues in French police force. There was a whole life to be revisited. But her desire to be near Sherlock was apparent.

"How is Sherlock?" was the first thing she asked every time John popped up for a visit.

"Good. At least I think so. He's not talking much. Composing music. Sometimes it's sad, nostalgic, and then it becomes happy and joyful."

She chuckled. "He must have a lot to ponder."

"Erm… You're not angry with him? I mean, he's not visiting you at all…"

"Oh God, no, of course not! I can easily imagine what he's thinking about. Visiting is clearly too much for his pride."

John observed her for an umpteenth time. She looked a lot like Sherlock, with those bright silver eyes, high cheekbones and a straight nose; however she gave a different feeling. Highly intelligent, yes, but never arrogant. Childish sometimes, but not exasperating. Victoria must have read his thoughts on his face (apparently all three of Holmes siblings took an interest in deciphering John's feelings at moment notice)and grinned impishly.

"I'm not a genius like my brothers, you know." Seeing him scoffing and smiling skeptically, she added: "At deducing things, I mean. I may be above average, but far behind Sherlock and Mycroft. But I'm the best among Holmes siblings at getting to people's heart. Even tried myself in hypnotism when I was younger... Well, the point is, I'd never be mad at Sherlock because I know his reasons for staying at home."

Grateful that she shared a piece of her thoughts with him, John managed to say only an awfully common "That's good" and to grin like an idiot. But she understood, like Sherlock would have understood in the same situation, and replied with a warm smile.

For his second visit, apparently in a talkative mood, Victoria was determined to share funny stories she suddenly remembered about her brothers. Always eager to hear about Sherlock's mysterious childhood and to acquire an eventual lever against the petulant detective to use during his tantrums, John had been a good audience.

One of the anecdotes clung to him for a long time. "I would always nurse him whenever he caught a cold, and he would blush and talk harsh, but didn't allow me to leave his side. But you should have seen how panicked and upset he was the day I broke in fever. He made me tea, and followed me everywhere with a blanket. That was so cute!" John had a really hard time imagining Sherlock being panicked and cute. He even got caught while thinking about it by the pouting detective and was forced to sign up an officially looking sheet of paper which stipulated he would never share any of this knowledge to Scotland Yard representatives, after having been pestered for almost a two hours with something along the lines of "uninteresting information anyway" and "reputation to maintain". The blogger just chuckled at the sight of his flatmate hiding the document, face flushed with embarassment. Although he had no intention to break his word, Sherlock forgot about his source. The Holmes girl probably would never miss the opportunity to brag about her actually cute and cool older brothers.

A/N I do realize that Sherlock making John sign an affidavit is a bit unrealistic, but it's was so hilarious to imagine the scene. Yeah, my mind wanders in strange places, sorry ^^