After my 'resurrection', Sherlock went back to Baker Street and I watched TV for a while. I got up early the next day.
I got ready and ate breakfast before heading out to work. The cab arrived at the building. I paid him, got out then rushed inside: eager to get started.
"Mary." I smiled, making my way over to the woman who was waiting behind the reception.
"Sophie! Hi." She beamed. I noticed how beautiful her smile was, it was so big and would make her face light up. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be. Bit nervous though." I admitted.
"Aw, you'll be fine!" She got up and led me through to the room. After showing me how to work the computer system and intercom thing for the third time, she left.
A notification came up on the computer, it told me who my first patient was..: Mrs Turnberry - Throat Infection.
The day went on slowly. Mary would come in every 30 minutes or so to check up on me. She was lovely.
I looked to the clock. 18:17.
Only just over 10 minutes left, thank goodness.
Mary came in. "Hi Sophie."
"Hi."
"You haven't got any more patients so you can go if you like." She smiled. "If anyone else comes in I'll just get John to do it."
I chuckled. "Thank you, Mary."
"No bother."
I smiled at her as I put on my coat and scarf.
"Do you want to come for dinner with John and I sometime? I'm going to ask Sherlock too - see how he reacts." She giggled.
"I'd love to!" I said.
I laughed at the thought of Sherlock eating dinner at a table with people, wine and conversation. It seemed against his nature. "Good luck with asking Sherlock. I just spent three whole days with him. He didn't eat dinner once."
"Three days? I'd be pulling my hair out!" She joked. "I don't want to be nosy but, why?"
"He wanted me to pretend to be dead so he could observe Greg's reaction."
"Greg?"
"Lestrade."
"Oh. Why would he be important to Sherlock?"
"I'm Greg's - kind of - stepdaughter."
"Wow. I didn't know."
"Yeah. He basically brought me up."
Mary nodded in understanding. "I'll invite him along too, then." She smiled. "Well, I'd best let you be off."
"See you, Mary." I said before picking up my bag and leaving.
I decided walk back to the house.
As I was half way through my journey, I got a text.
Come to Baker Street if convenient.
SH
I furrowed my eyebrows. SH? Was that Sherlock Holmes? How did he get my phone number? I guess it didn't really surprise me, since his brother worked for the government, and this is Sherlock we're talking about.
It's not convenient.
ST
I was nearly back home.
Come anyway.
SH
I sighed. I did want to go there but I couldn't be bothered.
Just home from work. Not coming.
ST
I went in, using the spare set of keys Greg had given me.
Could be dangerous.
SH
I shut the door and went to get changed into comfy clothes.
Tired. Maybe tomorrow.
ST
There was some dirty dishes I noticed downstairs, so I went to clean them.
No. You have to come now. I'm going to meet Percy - the fiance.
SH
I dried my hands on a towel and went to find something quick to eat.
I can't. Go yourself.
ST
I grabbed an apple and ate it.
I need a female opinion on him.
SH
I text back:
Ask someone else.
ST
But you already know the case.
SH
But I'm busy.
ST
No you're not.
SH
Yes I am.
ST
I can see you, you aren't.
SH
What the hell? How can you see me?
ST
I've installed cameras around the flat. Don't worry, they're just in the main rooms.
SH
You can't do that! People are allowed to have privacy.
ST
I went on the hunt for the cameras. I checked everywhere.
You won't find them, I'm an expert at covering up tracks.
SH
Tell me, Sherlock! I'll come if you let me take them down.
ST
I kept looking.
Good. Under the third book from the left - he never reads it. In the lamp - it is on timer to come on, he doesn't do it. Fruitbowl - he doesn't usually go near it. Under the radiator - that one has been broken for months.
SH
Thank you, you creep.
ST
I found them all and crushed them with my shoes.
Keep your end of the deal. Hurry up.
SH
Fine. I was going to trick you and stay, but I think I want to.
ST
I know.
SH
I'm calling a cab, I'll be there in 15 minutes.
ST
I've already called one for you, it's outside.
SH
Just then, I heard a taxi beep it's horn.
You're unbelievable.
ST
I got in and was at Baker Street in 5 minutes. I put my hand up to knock on the door but it flew open. I was greeted by a tall Sherlock who pushed me back out to the street.
"We're going to meet Percy."
I nodded before being pulled into another cab.
"We need to find out what snakes he has, and whether they're poisonous."
"Right."
"If they are, we can take them to the lab and get them checked. If they match the one in Julia Stoner's bloodstream - BAM we've got our killer."
"But we won't have got our killer...it's a snake, we can't arrest it."
"It'll be put down."
"It was hardly the snake's fault! You should rehome it to more responsible owners."
He made a noise of frustration. "It killed a woman, and we've caught it. It won't be able to kill again... I think that's what people call a result."
I sighed. "Please. If it's the snake, then don't hurt it, it's only an animal."
He looked at me. "Tell that to Lestrade, he is in charge of that...stuff." He waved his hand about in an expressive manner.
The cab was silent, with only the driver's radio occasionally buzzing.
"Why am I here?" I asked Sherlock.
He looked at me, confused. "Because you wanted to be.."
"Yeah but you wouldn't normally let anyone come with you."
"Lucky you're not anyone." He smirked.
"No.. but really. Am I the replacement for John?"
He stared at me and shook his head. "No, you're not."
I nodded. "Good."
We looked out of our windows.
"Do you want to move in to 221B?"
"I thought we just established that I'm not John."
"No, not as John. I just thought...because you didn't have anywhere to stay-. It doesn't matter - I was trying to be friendly. Never doing that again."
I looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, I'll move in. As long as your weird brother doesn't break in at two in the morning."
He smiled a little. "I'll warn him not to."
"Great. Then it's sorted." I picked up his hand and shook it firmly.
•
We were at Percy's house. It was a small building next to a busy road.
A man with a beard and confused expression opened the door for us.
I smiled at the man. "Are you Percy Armitage?" I asked.
"Yes."
"DI Lestrade and Sergeant Donovan. Scotland Yard. We need to talk with you for a moment." Sherlock announced - doing the voice thing again.
"Oh, right. I was told I didn't need to talk to anymore police. I've already told you everything I know."
"Yeah, but the thing is: we're the best. Can we come in?" I asked, grinning, and Sherlock smirked.
He nodded slowly before showing us in.
"Do you keep snakes, Mr Armitage?" Sherlock asked, observing everything. I felt quite stupid to be honest, I looked around and saw a normal room - while he saw the real details.
"Yes. Julia hated them. She'd never go near them." He smiled a little at the thought of his fiance but quickly came back to the reality of the situation. "Long pieces of worthless flesh, she'd call them." He chuckled slightly. "I got her to hold Athena once, she nearly threw her at the wall."
"Athena?" Sherlock asked, still wandering about the man's house.
"Greek Goddess of Wisdom." I stated.
"I don't know why I named her that. I think it was something to do with strength, wisdom and courage, so I just thought it would fit."
"Can we see Athena?" I asked.
"Yeah." He said eagerly and walked out of the room to get her.
"Found anything?" I asked Sherlock.
"He isn't the killer."
"Oh. Okay. That was quick."
"We need to check the snakes."
Just as he said that Percy came back with Athena.
"Here she is."
I took a step back when he brought her forward. I kept my eyes fixed on it. Sherlock stared at me, I could see the smirk growing on his lips.
"It's fine, she won't bite." Percy said, edging closer.
"I-I'm good, thanks." I muttered, backing against the wall. He walked closer again. "Come on, she's harmless." He said. It was now metres away from my face. My breathing became fast and my chest was inflating and deflating quickly.
"Stop it now, you see she doesn't like it." Sherlock interupted boredly.
"I was only showing her it." He huffed.
Sherlock ignored him. "I need to take samples of each of your snake's poison." He replied, heading upstairs to where they were.
Sherlock came back 20 minutes later with a bag full of little bottles of liquid. He took one from Athena then said, "Thank you, Percy. That's all we'll be needing today. Come on, Sophie."
We ran out and caught a cab.
It stopped at a large building that said St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Sherlock ran inside and I followed closely behind. We went up some stairs and into a lab - where a woman was sitting, studying a test tube.
"Hello, Molly." Sherlock said.
"Sherlock." She smiled. "What is it you're doing this time?" She got up, abandoning her experiment and walked round to him.
"I need to find what poisons are in these." He held the bag up to her face before turning around abruptly and collecting a microscope.
He walked round the long table thing and sat on a stool.
"I-, um, I wanted to ask you if you'd, well, like to have coffee?" She stuttered nervously.
"Black, two sugars." He ordered, paying no attention to her.
"Oh- okay." She pulled a fake smile before moving to the door, until she saw me. "Who are you?"
"Sophie Taylor." I answered.
"No, but- what are you doing here? How did you get in?" She said, getting agitated.
"She's with me." Sherlock stated.
"Oh, okay." She said sadly, then walked out.
I stepped towards Sherlock to watch what he was doing. "Likes you." I stated with my hands behind my back.
"I know."
"Of course you know, you're Sherlock Holmes!" I whispered to myself sarcastically.
He grunted at me.
"She was asking you out."
"I know."
I rolled my eyes. "You could have handled it better."
"She does it all the time."
I nodded. "You didn't have to be so harsh, though."
He didn't answer that.
About ten minutes later, she came back in. "Ah, Molly. Coffee." He smiled a large but fake grin.
She handed him the cup and walked to the side of the room, next to her equipment. "So, are you his girlfriend then?" She asked.
I looked at her with shock. "No, definitely not." I shook my head.
"Oh."
Sherlock was looking a bit annoyed that I answered so quickly.
"I mean, there's nothing wrong with him but, uh, I don't think-"
Molly was listening patiently.
"Probably stop talking now." He snapped.
"Don't give me orders, detective."
He smirked slightly.
Molly looked at her feet in order to avoid watching me. I put my hands in my pockets and shuffled on the spot. It was all very awkward.
"I would appreciate if you both would like each other." Sherlock blurted out. "It would make the atmosphere much more comfortable."
I walked halfway over to Molly and held my hand out to her. "Nice to finally meet you, Molly. I've heard so much about you, Sherlock talks about you all the time."
She gave me a small smile and shook it. "All good I hope." She giggled sweetly.
"Of course." I smiled widely.
"Great, now can I get on with this?" He said sarcastically, continuing anyway.
The machine beeped about 12 times during our visit. I got a shock and jumped each time. Molly walked in and out of the room a few times - the handshake hadn't helped break the tension much at all.
"Yes!" Sherlock suddenly shouted as a machine spat out some paper.
"What happened?"
"The results." He grinned, staring down at the piece of paper.
I walked over and tried to read it over his shoulder - which was unnaturally large, compared to me.
He scowled.
"What? What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's not his snakes. None of them."
We went back to Baker Street so he could think 'in peace'. I was sat on the couch with a cup of tea I made for myself. I placed it on the table and sat back.
Sherlock was concentrating in his chair. Out of the blue, he got up and stomped over towards me, instead of speaking like I predicted, he picked up my cup and finished it. Once he placed it back down and stormed off I looked over at it and realised there was nothing left.
"Oh, great. Thank you Sherlock." I said sarcastically, getting up and making another.
"Um...no problem..?"
He looked genuinely confused at what I had said.
"Sarcasm."
"Ah, right." He nodded.
"So, it's not the snakes, and it's not the fiance - what next?" I asked.
"Uh, we- we need to, um-"
"You don't know." I smiled, pleased by the fact he's human after all.
"Yes, okay, that's right." He said boredly, trying to hide his annoyance.
"Sherlock Holmes - human being." I announced, chuckling at his displeasure.
He tutted. "Dull."
"Yeah whatever." I grinned.
He walked over to the mirror and made eye contact with me through it. "We need to visit Doctor Roylott."
•••