Chapter Text
You pushed your sunglasses to the top of your head as you rubbed your eyes. The plane ride had really done a work on you. Picking your suitcase up, you walked along the airplane corridor, eyes searching for a blonde-haired woman. Standing on the top of your toes, you continued to scan the crowd. With no luck of seeing your friend, you fished your phone out of your purse. Scrolling down to her name, you tapped on it, sending a message.
I’ve landed. Can’t seem to find you… Standing next to a row of chairs and a pillar.
You leaned against the gray pillar, looking out at the airfield through the floor-to-ceiling window. The sky was gray and looked threatening of rain. You felt your phone buzz in your hand, looking down you swiped the message with your thumb.
We’re walking in right now. John’s fault. We see you now. – MW
Just as you were about to look up, you met the face of Mary Watson. Grinning, you walked quickly over to her and enveloped her in a hug.
“I’m so happy to see you, A- Mary!” You quickly fixed your name slip as Mary hugged you back. Laughing at your mistake, she patted your back.
“Takes a bit of getting used to. (Y/N), you look lovely.” Mary had pushed you back to get a full look of you.
You rolled your eyes, grinning. You were only wearing jeans, a sweater, and tennis shoes, after all. Your eyes landed on John next, who stood a bit away from both you and Mary.
“John! It’s so nice to finally see you in the flesh.” You laugh.
“You too, (Y/N). I’m just happy we could arrange it all.” John smiles, giving you a hug as well. “I was beginning to think that you’d never be able to.” John picked up your suitcase, and gestured that the three of you should begin to leave. “Come along, ladies. Let’s go get lunch.” The three of you left the airport and went to John and Mary’s car, taking your respective seats in the car. Driving onto the streets of London, you couldn’t help but let out a bit of a laugh.
“It’s been ages since I’ve been here. I forgot how beautiful the city was..” Everything was just as it had been the last time you were there. Granted that you had only seen the tourist attractions (that’s all the time you were given due to your assignment at the time), but the city still seemed just as beautiful.
Mary turned in her seat, looking back at you. “Maybe you should stay for longer this time. You could stay until the baby comes!” Mary smiled. “It’d be nice to have a girl to talk to.”
“Well, I can try, dear, but I can’t guarantee anything. I’d need a place to stay and a job…” You trailed off; fingers tapping your chin as you turned your attention back to the outside surroundings.
John spoke up, clearing his throat a bit, “There’s an opening up at Bart’s. And with the experience that Mary told me you have, we could always use you. Extra hands are forever welcome.”
“Oh, John, she could stay with..”
John didn’t even let her finish, “Absolutely not, Mary. He’d lose it.”
“Come on now, John, she could handle him. And he’s in need of another mate, too..” Mary trailed off, giving her husband an expectant look. Your attention had turned back to their conversation.
“I’m sorry, who is this?” You asked. Judging by John’s immediate reaction, you knew it had to be someone close to him.
“My best friend.” John stated, ignoring Mary’s gaze.
“Yes, and he’s got an open room,” Mary continued, looking back at you again, “I think you’d like him, (Y/N).” John snorted and Mary smacked his arm. “Oh, you hush.”
There was silence then for a bit. Turning down onto a road, John slowed down the car until pulling off into a parking place. After stepping out of the car and helping Mary out, you linked her arm through yours. “Mary, what’d you mean when you said that you thought I could keep up with him?”
“He’s smart, (Y/N). Very smart, and he tends to use it obnoxiously on occasion; however, once you get used to him, he’s very lovable.” Mary patted your arm, guiding you slightly to the restaurant.
“What she’s saying is that he’s an arse. And I would know that since he’s my best friend.” John interjected, and shrugged it off when Mary gave him a look. “I’m just telling her the truth.” Your pace of walk slowed as Mary’s did in front of a restaurant called Speedy’s.
You all walked into Speedy’s, ordered your food, and sat down in a booth. Mary and John sat on one side, and you on the other. You each shared in conversation about what you had been up to, and what they had been up to. You explained to Mary and John exactly why you had left the job the both of you shared before she had left. Mary and John told you what color they had decided to paint the nursery for their baby. When you pointed out that colors couldn’t possibly be the most interesting thing in their lives, they quietly told you about Magnussen, a man who had threatened the lot of them.
When they finished telling you of the threats he had against Mary, you asked a question. “Where’s this man now?”
“Dead. He was shot.” John stated, leaning back in his chair. You nodded slowly and looked over at Mary.
“Wasn’t me.” Was all she had said.
“Ah, it was your friend, wasn’t it?” John’s eyebrows rose, clearly he had not expected you to put the pieces together. Mary only smiled, nodding, and then she looked over at John.
“She could absolutely keep up with him.”
You really had listened intently to the entire lunch conversation, but your mind was stuck on the idea of this friend. If he was such an intellect, it’d be nice to have some sort of challenge on your brain. It had been ages since there was any need to challenge you, and the thought of a challenge seemed very exciting.
“I want to meet him.” You stated and John sighed, balling up his napkin and throwing it onto his plate.
“Of course you do. Look what you’ve done, Mary.” He picked up the table’s trash, taking it up to the can.
“That’s exactly what I wanted to do.” Mary called after him, grinning. She turned to you, “Alright, time to prove a point to John. All else that we’re going to tell you about his friend is his name. It’s Sherlock. Sherlock Holmes.” You nodded and stood up as Mary did. “He lives right next door, so we’ll pop over there right now.”
“Excellent.” You smiled. John sighed, frowning at the pair of you before leading you all next door with 221B in golden letters on it. John opened the door, and gestured for you and Mary to walk through it.
An older woman walked out from a room beside the stairs that took up most of the opening room. “Oh, hello John! Hello Mary! It’s wonderful to see you again. He’s upstairs, I believe. Haven’t heard a thing from him all day.”
“Alright, Mrs. Hudson, thank you.” John smiled warmly at the woman, leading the way up the stairs. You followed him first, and then Mary followed him. The door at the top of the stairs was wide open, and the three of you walked right into the flat.
The living room appeared to be most certainly lived in. There were papers thrown everywhere. Two chairs were sat across from each other in front of the fireplace, two desks and two chairs were against the far wall, and a man occupied a couch in the far right against the wall. At first glance, the man appeared to be asleep, but upon further inspection, you could see that he wasn’t asleep at all. His eyes were moving wild about even though his eyelids were closed.
“Sherlock.” John called out, kicking the couch with his foot. The man, Sherlock, didn’t even budge. John sighed, “He’s in his ‘mind palace,’ and he does this. Every time. Sherlock!” John called out again, kicking the couch harder.
“What, John?” Sherlock bolted straight up, eyes focusing on John. “I’m very busy right n- Oh, hello Mary. Lovely to see you.” Sherlock nodded at her. “Now, what is going on, John?” He seemed to not even notice your presence, which caused you to let out a bit of a laugh. Then his eyes trailed over to you, and he grinned. “Did you get me a case?”
“No, Sherlock. This is (Y/N), Mary’s friend. Potential roommate for you.” John introduced.
Sherlock didn’t give you another glance; he stood up, pressing his robe around him tighter, “Not interested. Thank you for the inquiry though, Mary.” John gave Mary a look as if it was an I-Told-You-So.
“You’re Sherlock Holmes. You’re smart, and you know it. The only people that you really believe in are yourself and the two people standing in front of you.” Sherlock had turned back to look at you, eyes narrowed, Mary was smirking, and John had a dumbfounded look on his face. You continued on, “And really, you don’t even believe in Mary that much. This is mostly because Mary had lied to John, but also because she had shot you. Now let’s go back to your brain. Judging by your ‘mind palace,’ you have a job that requires you to remember a lot. I’d say that you were a doctor of some kind, but why would you be that when you have your own personal one as a best friend? You’re not. You’re a detective, and you’re on a case right now. By the lack of sleep shown under your eyes and the drained color of your face, I’d say that you’re having a bit of trouble figuring it out. You don’t sleep, you don’t eat, and you don’t drink because it’d take your attention away from the case that your.. What is it? Brother?” You sat down on the black chair’s arm, looking at Sherlock. He merely pursed his lips, causing you to smile. “Ah, it’s your big brother. Interesting. He gave you a case, and you can’t have him bothering you about it again. You really can’t have him bothering you about it because then you would become even more stressed which could lead you to falling back on the nicotine patches you use. But you can’t fall back on them because you’re out of them, and you can’t leave the flat to buy more because that’d mean that your attention would be away from the case.” You finished your sentence and then looked at Mary, smiling. “That felt great.”
“That would have been a fairly decent deduction if it wasn’t filled with the information that John and Mary had told you about me.” Sherlock spoke first, still sitting on the couch.
“Sherlock, we didn’t tell her any of that.” John let out a breath and a bit of a laugh.
Sherlock waved John off, “Of course you did. No one could be that clever to figure it all out, except me.”
“That’s the great thing about this though, Sherlock. She is that clever.” Mary smiled at you, taking a seat next to Sherlock. Sherlock’s eyes trailed over to you again. He stared at you and you matched his gaze. His eyes began to shift across your body then, and you moved, falling back into the chair, thus breaking his concentration. He looked back up at your face.
You smirked, deciding to flirt a bit, “Deduce me out loud, Mr. Holmes.”