Promises Series

Promise of Home - Fix You

The title of this chapter is "Fix You" by Coldplay.

Sherlock nodded. He glanced at Julia, then at John, and decided it might be best if he just kept his eyes on his hands.

"Mary and I were never... intimate. She put you through unspeakable pain. I would never even think of it. You both have to know that," he said. "I would never- she was your wife, John. It never would've crossed my mind."

"I know," Julia whispered.

John swallowed and nodded.

"I'd never even had a full conversation with her before that," Sherlock added. "She broke in, picked the locks most likely. She tried to convince me to partner with her, to leave for God-knows-where with her. She wanted to kill you both, but obviously I couldn't let her do that. I said so, and she took it to mean that if you two were safe, I would agree to stay with her. It was all very twisted."

"She kissed you, then," Julia mumbled.

Sherlock grimaced. "Yes, she did. She was romantically obsessed with Jim Moriarty and became convinced I was somehow a better version of him. She had a gun digging into my stomach. I was not a willing participant."

"Mary... Mary was an assassin, then," John said. "She worked for Moriarty."

"Yes."

"She killed my dad," Julia said. "And she left me with Moran. She wasn't the Mary you knew. She changed."

"I believe she had multiple personality disorder," Sherlock said. "When she was with you, John, she was relatively sane. However, yesterday, she was out of her mind."

"So, when she threatened me in the bathroom, that wasn't my mother," Julia mumbled. "So she could've cared about me. She could've loved me. Really loved me."

"Theoretically, yes."

Julia smiled.

"Wait, she threatened you in the bathroom?" John asked, his brow furrowed. "When was this?"

"The first time you two visited, I nearly got sick," Julia explained. "She came to check on me in the bathroom. She said if I told anyone about her, she'd have to kill them. And Sherlock. But she wouldn't kill me because she would be doing me a favor."

John cocked his head. "Doing you a favor?"

"Seriously?"

"Enlighten me," John snapped. Sherlock glared at him.

"'You're suicidal half the time anyway,'" Julia replied. "That's what she said. That was her reasoning. I would be more miserable alive with you dead than I would be at the idea of dying."

Sherlock closed his eyes. "We can all be relieved she's no longer a threat, then."

"Relieved," John scoffed.

"Yes, John. I am extremely relieved she's no longer around to threaten the life of my...?"

Don't say it, Sherlock.

"I thought I was your niece," Julia answered.

It doesn't matter how much you want to.

"Flatmate, perhaps," he substituted.

"Roomie," she laughed.

Don't say 'daughter.'

"Friend?" he inquired.

"Bestie," Julia giggled.

He chuckled. "Of course, yes. That's the one."

"For life!" Julia exclaimed. "We'd better work on our secret handshake."