Chapter Seven: Observe

Zoey didn't question Sherlock as he finished his statement. She didn't ask who it was either. Instead, she reached out and put a hand on his cheek, stroking his cheek and moving down to his neck before she grabbed him by the throat. He gasped in surprise and pulled her hand off of his neck, only to have her use her other hand and try and choke him with that as well.

I was surprised that her injured hand still had so much stamina and that her non-dominant hand had almost equal grip.

"How long have you bloody known?" Zoey growled as she continued to try and grab Sherlock's throat which was red from her first attack. "How long have you known who tried to kill my sister?"

Sherlock held both of her wrists, putting just enough pressure on the bandaged one to keep her from fighting too strongly. I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back as Sherlock coughed and cleared his throat.

"Zoey," Sherlock's voice was slightly distorted from Zoey's grip but he merely swallowed and looked at her. "I knew the moment Danni was attacked."

I felt Zoey jerk forward, attempting yet again to murder the frustrating man before her. "I'll kill you! If she dies, I swear I will hang you with your own scarf and they will never find the body!"

I held on tighter as she squirmed and tried to grab hold of him. "Zoey, calm down. Zoey!"

"He knew! He bloody knew and now she's…" she curled over and let out a sob. It was in anger, frustration, but also in pain. She was scared. Scared to lose her little sister. She felt so helpless, being held in my arms as she cried, unable to do anything to save Danni on her own. But Sherlock was there, almost teasing her with her sister's salvation. He knew the means and probably the cure, yet he had yet to do anything about it. "She's dying…"

Sherlock took a step forward and grabbed her cheeks, cradling them as he tipped her face to look at him. "There she is. There's our Zoey. Now listen carefully. She is dying, yes. But I know how to save her. She's already helped us greatly by ending up in the condition she's in."

"She's in a coma!"

"Yes, but she's not running around screaming. Something poisoned her. It got into her blood. When you're unconscious your heart beats slower than when you're awake. By going into shock and, as a result, a coma, she has managed to slow that process and buy us time."

"If you know who did it, then why haven't you stopped them?" She snapped.

"I need proof. I also need your help. As I have stated before…" He sighed and released her, pushing his hair back as the lift doors opened. Lily was waiting expectantly.

"Oh good! She's not in tears which means that Danni is alright!" She hugged Sherlock, who froze and then tackled Zoey. "I called Jack for you. I figured it was a definite need to know situation."

"Thanks, yeah." Zoey smiled slightly and looked at her phone as she pulled it from her pocket. "I think I'll call and just give Jack the run down in person. Otherwise I'll never hear the end of it." As she started dialing and wandered over to the hospital exit to talk outside I saw Sherlock watch her, with a puzzled look on his face. I could tell he was wondering the same thing I intended to ask Lily.

" Who is Jack?"

"Hm? Oh, Jack is one of Zoey's closest friends. They've been together for, like, ever. Ever since they were in diapers or when their moms were pregnant. Something crazy like that. But they're more than friends, almost. It's like, fate looked down on them and said: those two will be together forever."

"There's no such thing as fate." Sherlock grumbled as he saw Zoey hang up and he followed her out.

Zoey took her keys from Lily and opened her car only to have Sherlock snatch the keys from her. "Hey! You ass!" She tried to get them back but he was holding them well over her head. I was beginning to wonder if all of her hostility didn't stem from a Napoleonic complex.

"If I remember correctly, you are forbidden to drive for several more weeks. You already have stressed your injury more than what it should be and will only hinder proper healing." He smirked slightly and kept his arm raised and the keys far from her reach.

"You think I can't get them?" Zoey huffed as she put her hands on her hips.

"Given your stature in comparison to that of myself, I would say the chances are highly unlikely…" he watched as she climbed onto the hood of her car and stood up, grabbing his hand. "That's real mature, Zoey."

"So is keeping them from me like a teasing five year old." She said back, giving him the smile of that of a snide teenager after a conversation with their parent.

I've heard that opposites attract when it comes to love, which these two were even if neither would admit it… While at their cores, Sherlock and Zoey are indeed different... but their stubbornness is EXACTLY the same.

"Children," I cleared my throat and pried their hands apart, taking the keys from them. "There are more important things to be concerned about. Such as the young girl in a coma, or worrying about-"

"Kayden!" A woman's voice called out suddenly as the young boy ran out in front of an approaching car in the parking lot in order to reach us. The boy didn't stop until he had a tight grip on Sherlock's leg. "You could have been killed!"

"Highly unlikely in this case." Sherlock said as he picked up the boy who grinned.

"It was coming right at him." Zoey protested.

"But it was going slow enough that the driver could stop in time when he saw me." Kayden said quietly making Sherlock ruffle his hair.

"He's right. He has physics on his side in this argument." Sherlock said, looking at Zoey who glared.

"Physics and a child's safety should not have to be argued about in the same conversation." Zoey replied as she took her brother from Sherlock, wincing slightly as she did so. I reached over then and took the boy from both of them.

"Why does Zoey have a weird line on her hand?" Kayden whispered to me as he pointed to Zoey's finger. Her ring finger to be precise where there was a faint mark from where her "disguise" had been.

Sherlock looked at the child and tilted his head ever so slightly, examining the boy's face. "Jayden…"

"Kayden." Zoey corrected.

"Right, Kayden, I have a question for you. You saw your sister, Danni, right?"

Kayden's mother was beside us by now and gave Sherlock a look as the boy was once more handed off. "I really don't think that's something for a little boy to talk about after what he saw…"

"I saw her." The child said quietly.

"Tell me, was there anything on her legs?" Zoey gave Sherlock the same look I probably was. It seemed like such a strange question.

"I doubt he was looking at her legs, Sherlock." I said.

"Come now, John, let me be entertained for once." Sherlock snapped back like an argumentative child. "Did you, Kayden?"

He nodded. "Not on her legs… but on her foot."

"Foot?" His mother asked, looking at her son, confused.

"She had an owie right here." He pointed to his own ankle and looked up at Sherlock. "It was weird. I've never gotten an owie there before…"

"That's because it's a difficult area to inflict such an injury to." Sherlock mused as he took Zoey's keys from me when he saw Lily running out of the hospital to catch up with us. "Come now, John, Zoey. We have a case to solve."

"That's the police's job." Zoey grumbled as I opened the door for her.

"Then text your father. He's most likely a key to this problem and should be involved if he isn't already. After all, his daughter is now a victim."

"Why did you ask Kayden those questions?" Zoey asked as she buckled herself up and Lily hopped in beside her before we headed back to the college. "Victoria would have been more appropriate to ask than him. He's only four."

"Your step-mom, while in age she's the most logical choice, in observation she was not." When none of us responded he sighed deeply and continued. "Kayden didn't have the normal child response to his sister's condition. His brother looked concerned, scared, sad.. While he merely watched what was going on. I noticed that he didn't look concerned but he was also taking everything in." He turned and looked at Zoey, locking eyes with her. "Your brother doesn't only see, he observes. He's clever. Oh, so very clever…" He smirked and looked ahead as he drove us. "He's a lot like me at that age… only more…"

"Human?" Lily offered, earning herself a well deserved cold glance from Zoey.

"Sociable and tolerable?" Zoey asked, a slight smirk making its way onto her face with an air of friendly teasing in her voice.

"I was going to say 'adaptive'… He handled that situation far better than I would have. He observed and managed not to arouse attention or cause trouble as I had a tendency of doing…"

"What do you mean 'had'?" Zoey asked as she looked out her window and rubbed her ring finger absentmindedly.