The Science of Starting Again//Book Five

Chapter 16~ A New Enemy

Teddy's P.O.V

After changing and saying goodbye to Greg I went back upstairs, feeling better than before. I had gotten rid of the catnip (much to Dmitri's distress) and had talked to Greg while he got ready for work, venting about Sherlock and anything else that was pissing me off. Because of that, I felt like I was ready to go back upstairs and apologize for chucking a book at Sherlock's head. As I made my way upstairs, though, I was greeted with an all too familiar sight.

"Good morning, Thee!"

"Hey, Janine," I replied. The woman was all dressed up ready for work, a pleasant smile on her face. "Did- Did you stay the night?"

"Yeah, although your brother did ditch me when I was asleep," she said, rolling her eyes. "Doesn't matter, though. I know how he is."

"Ha, yeah, he's... He's something, my brother," I answered, putting what I hope was a convincing smile on my face. She suddenly gasped, an idea obviously popping into her head. 

"I saw John upstairs before, told him that he and Mary should come over for dinner at mine one night, like a double-date thing. You and Greg should come too! There'll be more than enough room for the six of us, and that way I can hear more about you two. I mean, seriously, partners in solving crime?! It's too cute, Thee," she grinned, giving me a little tap on the shoulder. I laughed, unable to hide the slight blush that appeared on my cheeks.

"Uh, well, yeah sure! Of course, just give us the date and we can totally do that," I said with a smile. "You have a good day today, Janine."

"You too, Thee!"

As Janine went down and I went up, I found myself thinking about that little situation. I had only become aware of Sherlock and Janine's relationship around two weeks ago. I had caught them in the living room watching a movie together, curled up in Sherlock's armchair. At first I had laughed, thinking it was a joke. But when Sherlock had explained that they actually were together I found myself beginning to frown at the whole thing. I did like Janine, though. I thought she was funny and smart and gutsy. She reminded me of myself a little bit, I think, before Sherlock and I had left. She had, on occasion, even accompanied Molly and I whenever we went shopping or out for a bite to eat since she had started dating Sherlock. However, I didn't like her relationship with my brother. I never told her that, though, although I had told Sherlock once or twice. The reason I didn't like it was mostly because I was certain that it wasn't real, that Sherlock was just trying to get over the fact that John was with Mary and he was alone. Plus, Sherlock was already occupied with another woman who lived in France, one that had more history with Sherlock than Janine did. Although it wasn't official, I struggled to believe that Sherlock could fall in love with someone in one month- even share a bed with her- when it had taken over a decade for him to kiss Cosette. Even then he never admitted his true feelings for her. Altogether, I knew that these two just weren't right for each other. So the fact that they were still together kinda bugged me.

When I entered the living room Sherlock was seated at his laptop, John looking quite dazzled by- most likely- Sherlock's sudden romance. I took a seat opposite Sherlock at the table, unable to keep the slightly amused smile off my face when I looked at John.

"I'm not exaggerating when I say that he knows the critical pressure point on every person of note or influence in the whole of the Western world and probably beyond. He is the Napoleon of blackmail," Sherlock was saying, either oblivious to or ignoring my appearance. "and he has created an unassailable architecture of forbidden knowledge. Its name is Appledore."

He turned the laptop around so that both John and I could get a look at it. On the screen was a picture of Appledore, a large building that looked like it had cost millions to build, along with its apparent blueprint. Sherlock met my eyes and quickly said one word.