4: Chat

Just in case it was driving you mad the reference from the last chapter was about the TV show Psych :)

Shmuuyaassyyy - Truce? Weeeeeell… That's okay if you didn't get it :) It's from a TV show that's not quite as popular. You can have a cookie anyway. (::) It's chocolate chip :)

Noodle Fanatic - I'm sorry, it was just too perfect ;P Thanks! Dairy? But…I'm lactose-intolerant! (Note, I wrote that response before I started watching HIMYM :)

Disclaimer: See ch. 1

Warnings: Harsh Sherlock deductions (Again, nothing new to the Sherlock fandom)

Parker heard a knock at the door and looked up from the newspaper she was reading. It was an article on the Scotland Yard kidnappings. "Come in!" she called out. John opened the door. Parker grinned. "Hi, John. What is it?"

He shrugged. "I just wanted to know if…we could…you know…wait, where's Shanna?"

Parker sighed. "No clue. And to be honest, as long as she doesn't end up in the papers or at Scotland Yard, I don't really care." John chuckled. "So what were you saying?"

"Hm? Oh…I just wanted to know if we could…well…I guess just talk. After all, new neighbours, right?" Parker smiled.

"Yeah. Um, right now would be okay if that's good with you. I mean…yeah…If you need–"

"No, no, that's fine. Now's…fine." Parker stood up. "Right…well…uh…I'll put on the kettle if you'd like a cuppa."

"No, that's okay, you can come up to my flat. I mean our flat. I mean–" stuttered John. Parker laughed. "No, no, I understand. Sure, why not." John led her up the stairs to 221B. He opened the door and Sherlock looked up from his place on the sofa. Before Sherlock could let anything rude leave his mouth, John interrupted. "Would you like some tea?" he asked.

Parker nodded. "Yes, thank you." John gestured for her to take a seat. "So is solving crimes all you do?" Parker asked.

John shook his head as he put the pot on the stove. "No, I work at a surgery too. Still a doctor." He looked over his shoulder. "Do you have a second job other then running around and jumping onto crime scenes with Shanna?"

"Yep. I'm an author for children's stories. I use to work at a day care before I met Shanna. I've thought about picking it up again, but my life is just too busy nowadays." Parker shrugged. John brought Parker a cup and she accepted it with a 'thanks'.

John looked over to the couch. "You want some, Sherlock?" His flatmate didn't answer. "Alright then…" John sat down in the chair opposite of Parker. "So how'd you meet Shanna?"

Parker took a sip of her tea and held it in her hands. "Well, I actually met her when I was in primary school still. We were good friends for about a year until I moved to Scotland. I moved back to England once I finished up in uni. I met her again. Took me a long time to realise who she was and not just because she looked different. Her personality completely flopped around. She was always the optimistic ball of joy in school. Suddenly she was a girl interested in murder scenes and complicated crimes. I don't know what happened and I've never asked. I guess I've never realised how rude she's actually become because she's my friend. I'm a bit biast at times." She took another small sip of her tea.

Sherlock stood from the couch. "Clearly," he said.

"Sherlock," warned John. "We already got off on a bad note with Shanna, we don't need to do the same here with Parker."

Parker gave John an understanding look. "It's okay. I'm use to it."

"Sherlock, I would appreciate it if you would kindly join the conversation. Without insults or deductions."

"No, no," said Parker. "That's okay. I get deduced a lot." She turned to Sherlock. "How good are you with a person you barely know?" Parker straightened in her seat. "Deduce me."

"Um, I don't think–"

"John."

"That's not exactly–"

"She insists." Sherlock smugly turned to Parker. He sat down in a chair near her and looked quickly over her. "You weren't use to seeing horrid things when you first started solving crimes with Iterro," Sherlock said, rapid fire, "so you had an embarrassingly weak stomach on your first cases. You still aren't comfortable with it, seeing how pale you went when you looked upon George Corlettee's bloodied body. It wasn't that bad on the gore scale, yet you looked sick. There's an 'M' on the necklace, but why? Your name is Parker. Or is it? The 'M' doesn't represent your middle name or last name, so Parker must be your nickname. You've used it a lot seeing you introduced yourself by it, but why? Your real name is either too common or too masculine. Too common is more likely. There aren't too many unisex names that start with 'M' but there are plenty of common ones. Mary, Martha, Marie, Megan. Anything like that. You don't feel comfortable about your shape and appearance, so you wear baggy clothes absentmindedly. Not on purpose, it's just something you've been doing for a while now. And…oh…you were engaged, weren't you?" Parker absentmindedly rubbed her left hand ring finger. "Never actually married though. Why did you call off the wedding? Too scared? Loved another man? And now here you are, over ten years later, living with your friend and solving crimes that you can barely handle both physically and mentally."

The silence was so tense and thick you could seemingly cut it with a knife. Parker's jaw was tight and her knuckles white from gripping her cup on tea, but other than that her expression was blank. Now, Parker is usually an easy going person, but sometimes things just slip or snap. John's eyes flickered between Sherlock and Parker, fearfully waiting for a response. Too soon for any reaction, Parker splashed the tea into Sherlock's face. He didn't say a word, but blinked several times. Parker glared at the consulting detective before putting the now empty cup down on the table. "You're all right. Except for one thing. I wasn't scared. I didn't love another man. I didn't leave him…He died." Parker stood abruptly and stormed out of the room. She hurried down the steps and into 221C.

Along the way, Parker passed Mrs. Hudson. Mrs. Hudson got to the top of the stairs and looked back down, seeing Parker disappear around a corner. "Sherlock, is everything alright here? I just passed poor Parker, and she looked pretty put down and angry. You didn't happen to have something to do with it?"

"Please refrain from using alliterations," Sherlock said, putting his hands in the prayer position in front of his mouth.

"Yes," answered John with a sigh. "Yes, he did have something to do with it."

"I merely stated the facts."

"About a marriage that never happened?"

"She wanted me to!"

"You didn't know what happened. You got it wrong and you insulted her!" He threw up his arms in desperation. "You know what? Fine. Go wipe that tea off your head. I'm going to go check on her." John walked passed Mrs. Hudson, out the door, and down the staircase.

Thank you once more for spending time to read my story! I was thinking the Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr. when I wrote this chapter :) Please review! :)