Katie Holmes

Epilogue

Epilogue

Kaitlyn sat fully recovered in the red armchair, with her father who was finally ready to approach the topic of what had happened the night that he had found her and John.

"He told me he would hurt William; the walls were soundproof. Once I knew you were out there, I figured he wouldn't get the chance, and I goofed. Then he had that sniper on you and I would've pulled the trigger, but it vanished. Completely gone. I never saw it again."

"Strange indeed." Sherlock closed his eyes. "I don't know anyone who would qualify as a sniper, especially not for Moriarty. It wasn't personal when they backed off."

"But he would never have ordered them down."

"Exactly. Which leaves us wondering, why did they leave?"

"Maybe they saw the police cars."

"Concealed by the dark."

William knocked once and opened the door. Kaitlyn smiled, getting up and allowing him to sit before her. He had become a constant visitor to 221B, and almost always helped out on cases. Since Kaitlyn had only recently recovered, she had often stayed at Baker Street and let him walk the crime scenes with an online face-chat up.

In a way, he was her John, only closer.

Danika was still there, and had moved into Sherlock's room after the allotted time had passed. Though their relationship wasn't close, Kaitlyn was pleased to say she didn't hate her mother; Danika took her to work sometimes and taught her about forensic anthropology. It replaced the experiments she had done with her dad, which sometimes put him in a mood when she would rather be at the mortuary than at home with him. But she was with him on cases, so he got over it.

Kaitlyn looked at William. "What do you think about the sniper leaving?"

"I think someone likes him and wasn't willing to shoot him. Whoever it was, they're probably long gone, waiting out the storm as Moriarty's network dies out. They wouldn't want to be called out and killed before then."

"How long before they come back to London then?" Kaitlyn asked her dad.

"Two years at least, if they're ordinary like most of his minions."

Danika walked out of the bathroom, where she had been getting ready for work. "Katie, want to-oh, hello, William. Don't suppose you'd want to come to the mortuary?"

"Ah, not really." Danika chuckled and he smiled back. Their relationship was a cool friendship, like most kids had with their friends' parents. But it was unusually strained for the Holmes' and Watson's, who were closer knit than anyone usually cared to be.

"Alright. I'll be off. Sherlock, you said you'd pick up the groceries. The list is in your coat pocket, where you usually keep your gun. I'll be back by seven."

"Groceries, yes. Preoccupy part of my mind so I can think better. Good idea. Coming, Katie?"

"Don't think so. I'll stay here with Will, and I'll text you if we leave."

He nodded and breezed out beside Danika. Everything was back to normal. Or better than, actually. Kaitlyn watched her parents kiss with a smile and turned to the violin.