Asher arrives before Declan gets home. Sherlock and John go downstairs to greet them, and Sherlock's little cousin Gabby runs right to John. The ten-year-old smiles widely as John hugs back.

"I've missed you, John," she says to him. "I haven't seen you since Christmas."

John just laughs and pats her back.

"Where's my boy?" Asher asks after he hugs Clement in greeting.

Clement checks his watch. "He usually gets home…any minute."

Sure enough, not even three minutes later, Declan rushes through the door.

"Dad?!" he calls through, running into the kitchen where everyone is. Declan goes right to his father and hugs him. "What's going on? What are you doing here?"

Asher sighs. "Dec, we need to talk."

Clement glances at Sherlock, and it's his cue to get out of the house.

"Uh…come on, Gabby. Want to walk Mystery with John and I?"

Gabby takes John's hand. "Yes!" she cries.

Asher says goodbye to his daughter, then John and Sherlock lead her out of the house.

It's not a long walk to Lapointe's flat, and they arrive only a few minutes after Sherlock said they would. Lapointe happily opens the door and greets them, inviting them all in.

Sherlock introduces Gabby to his new friend, and Gabby instantly lets John's hand go to take Lapointe's instead.

"John," she tells him, "It's about time I move on. I'm sorry."

John bursts into laughter. "I'll manage."

Lapointe pats her hand in his. "Well, it sure is a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

She smiles up at him. "Are you American?"

"I am, miss."

"How exotic," she sighs.

They all laugh.

They leave Lapointe's flat minutes later to walk to the park a few blocks away.

"So," Sherlock says as they start walking, "Did you do anything today?"

"Well," Lapointe says, "I walked around for a while because I got hungry."

"Did you meet anyone? Talk to people?"

Lapointe smiles widely. "I met a lovely girl who told me my first name was beautiful. I may love this country after all."

John and Sherlock laugh.

"Paris is a beautiful name," Gabby says. "I love it."

Lapointe laughs. "Maybe I'll go back to Paris, then."

They tell Lapointe a little bit about each place they walk past. John tells him about all the good, cheap restaurants, and Sherlock tells him that they're all fine to eat at because of their windows and other obscure things like that.

When they finally get to the park, Gabby runs away to join a football game with many other kids. John keeps an eye on her, because Sherlock can't keep track of her, and the boys continue talking.

Sherlock's phone rings while they're watching Gabby, and when he sees that it's Olive he happily answers.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sherlock! Where are you? Taylor wants to talk to you."

Sherlock tells her they're at the park, and Olive says they'll be there in a few minutes.

When the girls arrive, they barely greet John and Sherlock because they're too busy looking at Lapointe. They fight to stand closer to him and introduce themselves first.

Taylor wins.

"Hi, I'm Taylor!"

He shakes her hand and kisses the top. "Paris," he greets.

Taylor smiles. "Paris, how…gorgeous."

Paris smiles.

"I'm Olive!" Olive shouts, getting his attention.

Paris takes Olive's hand next. "How are you?"

Olive giggles.

Sherlock loudly clears his throat and stands. He takes Olive's arm to get her attention. "Olive, I—"

"Ssshh," she replies.

Sherlock scowls and sits back down.

John pats his knee. "It's okay, babe."

Sherlock watches Olive and Taylor actively flirt with Paris and feels annoyed.

And he's confused as to what he's annoyed over. Is it because he wants Paris's attention because Paris is his friend? Does he want Olive's attention? It doesn't matter, the point is that Olive and Taylor went there to talk to him, and they're not talking to him.

"So, how do you know Sherlock?" the girls ask, starting a whole, long conversation about Paris's life. The girls are completely interested, and Sherlock just leans on John's shoulder and stops listening.

Finally, after what seems like years, Taylor talks to him.

"So, Sherlock," she says, "Your brother's boyfriend wanted you to go in to try to identify that guy you saw at that house."

"Oh," Sherlock sits up straight. "That's right, I forgot. I'll go tomorrow."

Taylor nods. "They asked me a million questions, and all I told them was what I told you about Kai. But I don't know Kai's last name or anything, so they can't, like, track him or whatever."

"Right," Sherlock says. "I'll try to remember what I can about the guy I saw at the house, but if I can't then I'm really sorry."

Taylor pats his shoulder. "And thanks for everything you did this weekend. Sorry I impeded on your holiday."

"No, don't worry about it. I'm happy to help."

Now, Paris starts to ask questions about Sherlock's crime solving business. Happy to have his attention again, Sherlock tells Paris all about every case they've gotten.

Clement calls Sherlock around dinner time to tell him to return home. Sherlock says he's with Olive, Taylor, and Paris, so Clement says to invite everyone over for pizza while Clement takes Asher to the airport. Everyone agrees to go over, which actually makes Sherlock happy.

Declan is nowhere to be found when they get home. Clement says he locked himself in his bedroom and is upset that he can't go to New York, and to leave Declan alone until he comes out on his own. This makes Gabby sad, of course, because she wants to see her big brother.

But the friends have fun anyway. Sherlock shows Paris around his house and tries to show off as much as possible. He plays a few songs on the piano, and Paris tells Sherlock that he plays the violin.

"You do?" Sherlock asks. "That's incredible."

"It's not that hard. I can teach you!"

Sherlock smiles widely and agrees.

The friends leave after dinner, including John. The girls offer to walk Paris home, so John is the last one out.

"I'll see you tomorrow? Dinner at my house?" John asks.

"Uhm…" Sherlock says, "I said I'd hang out with Olive."

"She's probably going to want to see your new friend again."

Sherlock rolls his eyes.

John laughs. "Don't be so jealous."

Sherlock just frowns.

John kisses him. "I missed you. I'm so glad you're back."

"Me too."

John kisses him again, then he tells Sherlock he loves him and leaves.

Sherlock sets Gabby up in Mycroft's bedroom. Her suitcase is already there, so he doesn't have to do much for her.

"Do you need anything?" Sherlock asks her.

"I just…I want to see Declan."

Sherlock frowns. "Let me…let me go talk to him, okay?"

Gabby nods and sits on the bed.

Sherlock goes down the hall to Declan's room and lightly knocks on the door. "Dec, I'm coming in."

He enters without Declan replying, and he finds Declan just laying on his bed.

"Hey, you awake?"

Declan turns over to look at Sherlock. His eyes are red and he's clearly been crying.

"Uhm…I'm sorry, it's just…Gabby wants to see you."

Declan sits up. He wipes his eyes and straightens his disheveled clothes. "Send her in."

Sherlock licks his lips in thought. He doesn't know what to say, but he wants to help Declan if he can. "Are you…I mean…how do you…you know…feel?"

Declan shrugs. "Not great."

"I'm sure Brook's fine."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Sherlock frowns deeper. "I'm sorry, it's just…it wasn't my job to."

"You should have."

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever," Declan dryly says. "Send Gabby in, please."

Sherlock just nods and leaves.

After Gabby goes in to see Declan, Sherlock decides to get ready for bed early. Declan's made him feel bad, and he doesn't like that.

Before he gets in the shower, Sherlock sits on his bed and thinks about Brook. Of course, he's very glad that Brook isn't dead, and he hopes Brook doesn't end up with any problems because of this.

Sherlock thinks about how much he admired Brook when he was a kid. Brook used to run around with them and play all the time; Sherlock loved when they'd all go to their grandparents' house for holidays or just to visit.

One particular Easter when he was eight, Sherlock remembers, the entire family went to the grandparents' house. The house was on large acreage of land, covered in trees and water and places to extend a child's imagination.

This year, John got to go with them, and Sherlock and Declan let him in on the pirate secrets of the family. Sherlock was captain because he's a few weeks older than Declan, and Declan got to be first mate. Mycroft refused to play this time, but Brook played like he always did.

The ship was a large tree-house deep in the woods that Asher and Clement had built many years ago for their much younger brother, Fletcher. The boys were up there playing, and Brook was on the ground pretending to be a crocodile, just like in Peter Pan.

Sherlock's cousin Nora came to them wanting to play, too.

"Away, wench!" Sherlock had yelled, not meaning any harm but also not wanting Nora to play with them.

Brook stood up straight and yelled up to him. "Hey! Don't call her that! She can play if she wants!"

Sherlock and Declan scowled and disagreed, but Brook helped Nora up the ladder anyway.

John helped Nora up the rest of the way, then he stayed by Nora to have their own private conversations and secrets. This annoyed Sherlock, of course, because he didn't want anyone else to have John's attention but himself. He decided he was going to scout the ground below, so he climbed down the tree as quickly as he could.

Unfortunately, his foot missed a step and he fell four feet to the ground.

Brook rushed to him. "Sherlock, buddy, you alright?"

Sherlock clenched his eyes shut and covered his face. Brook helped him up and made sure Sherlock wasn't seriously injured.

"What hurts?" Brook had asked.

Sherlock shrugged, but that little movement sent tremors of pain down his spine. His body shook with impending tears, but none fell. Sherlock finally opened his eyes and glanced up, seeing John looking concerned down at him. Brook followed Sherlock's gaze, then grasped his shoulders.

"You don't want to cry in front of John?" Brook asked.

Sherlock nodded.

"Why not?"

"Because..." Sherlock sniffled. "He'll think I'm a cry baby."

"John won't think that," Brook said.

"How do you know?"

"Because John thinks you're too bloody cool to be a cry baby."

"How do you know?" Sherlock asked again.

"Because he talks to you like you are," Brook explained. "Do you really think John would care this much about pirates if he didn't think you're cool as hell?"

Sherlock laughed. "Cool as hell?"

Brook smiled. "Don't you think John is cool as hell?"

"Hell isn't supposed to be cool Brook," Sherlock argued.

Brook laughed. "Well, when you're older you can think John is hot as hell, okay? For now, I know you want to look cool by not crying, but you just fell out of a bloody tree. You can cry if you want to."

Sherlock sniffled again.

Brook patted his pockets as if looking for something. "I forgot, I brought you a gift."

"A gift?"

Brook finally located what he needed, then pulled the black object out of his pocket. It was a pirate eye patch, and he stretched it over Sherlock's head to place over one eye.

"Better?"

Sherlock nodded. "Thank you, Brook."

Brook took Sherlock in a tight hug and kissed his head. "I love you," Brook said to Sherlock.

"I love you too," Sherlock had said.

Sherlock's up in his bedroom working on homework when Clement gets home. There's a light knock on his door before Clement enters, and Sherlock sets his pen down to give his dad his attention.

"How is everyone?" Clement asks.

Sherlock shrugs. "Gabby is…I don't know, she's fine, I guess. Declan is mad at me."

"He's not," Clement says, sitting on the edge of Sherlock's bed. "He's mad at Brook. He's just…he's finding a way to let it out."

Sherlock nods in understanding.

"He'll come around."

"I hope so."

Clement clearly decides to change the subject. "Myc says you bought a new suit for prom?"

"I did," Sherlock says, standing to get the suit from his closet. He gives it to his dad and Clement examines it.

"Are you excited?"

Sherlock shrugs. "I guess."

"It'll be fun."

"Was your prom fun?" Sherlock asks.

"Yes. It was a blast."

"Who did you go with?"

"With Mum," Clement says. "I was dating her best friend, but she couldn't go, so I took Mum."

"Wow. Is that when you started to date?"

"Around then, yeah. I broke up with my girlfriend first, then I started going out with Mum."

Sherlock look at his dad. Clement looks sad.

"Do you miss her, Dad?"

Clement nods. "Every day."

"Do you miss Mycroft?"

"Yes," Clement says. "More than I miss Mum."

"Are you going to let him come home?"

"I don't know. It depends."

"On?"

"On whether or not your uncle wants Brook to keep his job. If he doesn't, Myc will be promoted to take Brook's job."

Sherlock frowns.

"It's good for Myc, son."

"He hates it, Dad. Let him come home."

Clement stands. "We'll see, son."

Sherlock nods in understanding.

Clement places a hand on Sherlock's shoulder and comfortingly squeezes. "Go to bed, love."

"I am."

Clement leans down and kisses Sherlock's head. "I missed you so much," he whispers.

"I missed you too, Dad."

Clement ruffles Sherlock hair and weakly smiles before he leaves the room for Sherlock to go to bed.

After exchanging a few quick texts with John, Sherlock falls into a very uneasy sleep.