RDJ Sherlock Holmes: A Dark Unkindness

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Sherlock was a mix of emotions upon hearing the girl was Irene's daughter. There was a slight sense of regret, he never knew Irene had a child. There was a slight sense of annoyance, how had he not figured it out before? It was, quite literally, staring him in the face the whole time.

Nonetheless he decided to focus on the girl in front of him instead of his emotions, for now while she wasn't running from him. 

"Your mother... Irene.. She was an incredible woman." He half-whispered, remembering Irene with a sense of nostalgia and slight grief at the loss.

"So you did know her?" She asked, her eyes still on him even if his eyes had flicked down briefly when the truth had been told.

"We had a... We had a unique relationship... And here I am now, with her daughter." Sherlock answered with a small nod, deciding to spare the details.

"How did you know who I was?" He added, backtracking to earlier in the conversation.

"Like you kept track of my mother, my mother kept track of you... You're also not hard to spot considering you're London's most famous detective." Irene's daughter replied, kneeling and putting the suitcase down on the roof so she could open a secret compartment located under her possessions inside. She pulled out a paper file, standing up before offering it to him.

Sherlock sifted through the file and found several newspaper clippings from different presses about his cases, reports of his closed cases and articles about the aftermath. There were even some photographs not taken from the paper, his face fully visible unlike the press pictures.

"Your mother kept a file on me?" Sherlock asked in a slightly surpised way, looking at the contents of the file as he spoke.

"Whenever she got the paper and found your name on the front page she added to it," Irene's daughter answered, looking at him before down to the file in his hands.

There was a beat of silence as Sherlock's eyes remained down, once again a mix of emotions as he thought about Irene.

"You truly are your mother's daughter, you just like her." He remarked, handing the file back as he met her eyes again. 

"Thank you.. Really, I mean it." She answered with a small smile, her first one since he and Watson spotted her on the street.

"May I ask why you ran when you recognized me?" Sherlock asked, changing the topic off Irene as the girl's eyes were enough of a reminder.

"You're a detective who has close connections with the police, legally speaking you could arrest me for pickpocketing." Irene's daughter answered as she put the file back into the suitcase's secret compartment, closing the suitcase afterwards and picking it back up before standing back up once more.

"As yes, the incompetent police force of London." Sherlock mused, smirking to himself a bit before returning to his usual facial expression.

"Worry not, I won't turn you over to Lestrade of any other police members. A girl like you has much more potential than going through punishment for pickpocketing." He added, getting a confused, curious and intruigued look from the girl.

"Potential?" She asked, prompting him to go on which was exactly what he wanted.

"Potential. You're quick and agile, I can tell you're intelligent by the look in your eye.. I can sense that you've had experience in fighting to some degree as well. Not to mention you can pick a pocket, you would make a great apprentice or perhaps protege." Sherlock replied, resting his hands together as he watched her intrigue and confusion grow.

"I'd be willing to take you on as an apprentice, if you want of course." He finished, putting his offer forwards.

Irene's daughter was silent for a moment, thinking his words over and questioning if he was serious.

"That's... That's very generous and kind of you.. And if you're willing to offer me an apprenticeship then I guess I'd be a fool to turn you down." She remarked, a bit of caution in her tone but putting true trust in the detective.

Sherlock smiled, offering the girl a handshake as she put her baton back on her belt.

"In that case it's settled, you're my apprentice... Although I should learn your name." He said, a hint of humor in his eyes.

"Lillian but you can call me Lily, pleasure to meet you." Irene's daughter replied, returning the gesture with her free hand.

"The pleasure is mine. Now, shall we head back down? Watson's likely waiting for us," Sherlock answered only for the doctor to appear, crawling out of the roof hatch before standing up straight.

"This is a very tall and busy building you two are standing on," He huffed, resting his hands on his sides as he looked at Sherlock and Lily.

"Impeccable timing, Watson. Meet Lily, my new apprentice." Sherlock replied, gesturing to Lily.

"Pleasure to meet you formally Dr. Watson," Lily spoke as looked to the doctor and made her way over to him, offering Watson a handshake like she did with the detective.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Lily," He answered, returning the gesture before going back to resting his hands on his sides, "Now can we go back to 221B? I'm in need of some tea after trying to get up here."

"I'm sure Nanny has already brewed us a pot, better not let it cool off too much." Sherlock chuckled, holding the roof hatch for Watson and Lily before following them down.

Upon arriving home Watson only managed to get his hat off before Mrs Hudson was seen, letting out an audible gasp after seeing Lily.

"Good God! You're in need of a bath, come come." The landlady said, taking Lily by the wrist, although the girl tried to politely protest, and disappearing with her into the bathroom.

"Well, that's one way to greet the new apprentice." Watson remarked, hanging up his coat as he looked in the direction of where the two women had gone.

"Ever the worrier, I'm positive she'll scrub the girl down until she's squeaky clean." Sherlock said, an amused chuckle escaping his lip as he looked from the hall to Watson.

"I'll hang my coat upstairs and we'll have some tea?" He added, getting a nod from the doctor as he hung up his scarf.

"My thoughts exactly."

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26/5/2024

Word count: 1040

A/N: This chapter is shorter and the next will be shorter than the first one, I'm not so focused on length and instead ending chapters where it makes sense/where there's a timeskip.

- Sun <3