Chapter 4

Sherlock directed the cabbie to return him to 221B Baker Street, however before they reached their destination, Sherlock received a phone call from a number that he did not recognize. He allowed the call to go to voicemail, however when the number called again he answered. "Hello?" He said into the phone.

"Hi Daddy." He heard his daughter's voice on the other end. She sounded upset, and possibly scared.

"What's wrong Alex? Are you hurt?" He asked, a million possibilities running through his mind.

"No. I'm okay. I just, uh…" She paused and sighed. "I had to call you to let you know that I uh… well. I." She sighed again. "I got in trouble… and… they want you to come here I guess."

Sherlock sighed. " I'm on my way." He said. He hung up the phone and instructed the cabbie to take him to Primrose Hill instead.

Alex slunk down in the hard plastic chair which sat in the front office, dreading the coming conversation. She really had tried to be good. Honestly. She liked this school. It was different from every other school that she had ever been to. She sighed and looked at the clock above the desk. 10 minutes had already passed since she had been forced to call her dad. That was new as well. No school in New York had made her call mummy. She squirmed on her chair as she waited, receiving a glance from the busy Mrs. Peterson. Alex closed her eyes and thought back to the incident which had brought her to this place.

Alex was sitting outside on the grass with her new friend Jayden and her cousin Emma. They had been talking and laughing, having a grand time when Ryan Connell and his friend Caleb showed up. Ryan kicked over the pile of leaves which Emma had been stacking and then laughed.

"Oh no. Poor little girls, I broke their toys." He said in a mocking voice. Caleb snickered. "I don't understand why we have to share a school with girls." Ryan said, disgust in his voice. "My dad says that girls belong in the kitchen and at home. Not in school. Girls are dumb." With that Ryan and Caleb turned away laughing, Alex however would not take it. She jumped up and yelled at Ryan.

"Oh yeah?" She yelled. "Girl's aren't dumb! We are much smarter than you! You're the dumb one!"

Ryan turned around, glaring at Alex. "Leave it to New York to talk back. You need to learn your place, girl." He said, obviously repeating words which he had heard before.

Alex stormed up to him, glaring at him with hatred in her eyes. "I need to learn my place? I think that you need to. I would expect this from some backwoods redneck in the States, but not from someone here. We have a queen for crying out loud! You need to learn how to respect others!"

Ryan walked up to Alex, face to face with her. "No girl is going to talk to me that way." He said, seething with anger.

"I just did." Alex told him.

Ryan reached out and gave Alex a little push. "Well you won't do it anymore."

And that was when she lost it. Her hand made itself into a fist and she swung it around, making contact with Ryan's nose. It had bled a lot, and she somewhat felt bad… but only somewhat. The school nurse had said that it wasn't broken, but Ryan sure thought that it was.

Alex was torn from her thoughts as her father walked in the in school building. Sherlock glanced at her deflated form and walked up to the front desk, speaking quietly with Mrs. Peterson. He was quickly ushered back to the principal's office, Alex trailing behind.

Father and daughter sat down in the chairs opposite the desk as Mr. Abernathy turned around in his swivel chair.

"So, Miss Holmes. Would you care to explain to your father what happened, or should I?" Mr. Abernathy asked, watching Alex's face. Alex sighed and bit her lip, but remained silent. Sherlock sat quietly, examining his young charge. His eyes ran over Alex's right hand and noticed that her knuckles were swollen and that there was a small drop of blood. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, steepling his hands.

"You punched someone?" He asked quietly, trying to decide if he was to be proud or worried. Alex stiffened next to him and looked into her lap.

"Did she tell you on the phone then?" Mr. Abernathy asked.

Sherlock stared at the principal as if he had grown an extra head. "No. I can tell when my own daughter has been in a fight. And I can tell that the other child deserved it." He said briefly. Mr. Abernathy stared incredulously at Sherlock.

"Well I completely disagree." Mr. Abernathy said indignantly. "Here at Primrose Hill we have a strict no-violence policy. And this is considered to be a red card offense. Due to this Miss Holmes must have a fixed term exclusion. We have decided upon a three day exclusion for this offense. She may return to school on Monday." He said with dismissal evident in his voice. Sherlock stood up and walked out, Alex quickly following.

As they climbed in the cab outside the school, Sherlock received a text.

Secretary found dead in car. Strangled. Had been headed to Sussex for some reason.- L

Sherlock quickly texted back and instructed the cabbie to take them to the crime scene. He wondered absentmindedly what he was supposed to do with Alex. He couldn't leave her with Mary and John, they were both at work. Molly was busy with the dead CEO and sending her to Mycroft would be just plain miserable for all parties involved. He sighed and then remembered her hand. No doubt there would be an ambulance there. He'd just leave her with them.

He sighed and sat back, thinking of how he was to respond to what had just happened in the school. He supposed that as a parent now he needed to say something about the incidence. He turned to look at his young charge.

"I was really rather hoping that your first time getting suspended would be for something more clever. Your mum told me all kinds of stories, frogs in the microwave, experiments gone wrong, the slide and the Crisco… And yet the first time you get in trouble here, it's with your fists. And obviously you need to be taught how to throw a better punch." Sherlock said offhandedly to his young daughter.

Alex just stared, open mouthed at her father who sat next to her in the cab, the streets of London passing by.

"And he did deserve it. Ryan I believe the nurse called him? He was the child blubbering away in the other room, crying like a baby about his precious nose, which most definitely was not broken. The child obviously suffers from nose bleeds. You probably hurt your own hand more than you hurt his nose." Sherlock barked out a laugh as the cabbie pulled off of the road where four police cars and an ambulance blocked off the side.

Sherlock handed a note to the cabbie and opened the door, instructing for Alex to follow him. He walked over to the police line, held it up and crossed under it, holding it for Alex to follow. He then walked over to the ambulance and spoke quickly to the EMT's. "She punched a boy at school, did more damage to herself than to the boy though. Look it over would you?" He instructed and then marched off to where the Navy blue Sedan sat with all 4 doors open in the field to the left of the road.