All Around Me

Chapter 2

Claire walks into Sherlock and John's apartment, as if she could see. She takes off the sunglasses John forced her to wear because of her eyes.

"Nice place." she says, walking down the hallway.

"Mrs. Hudson will be gone for a few days, taking a holiday." John says, setting down her suitcase. She turns,

"Thanks for letting me stay here, well, as long as the case goes, anyway."

John opened his mouth to say something but Sherlock cut him off,

"You can stay as long as you like, even if the case does end." She smiles lightly,

"Thank you. And where will I be staying?"

"Well, there's always the couch-" but Sherlock cuts him off again,

"You can stay in the other guest bedroom, I'm sure Mrs. Hudson wouldn't mind." She nods, walking up the steps, almost tripping slightly.

John glares at Sherlock,

"What's your bloody problem?!" he hisses. Sherlock looks at him with that guarded look, but his eyes amused,

"What? She's our guest and we must make sure she's comfortable." And before he could say another word, he walks into the living room, leaving John slightly infuriated.

*****

Sherlock walks inside, a cut down his temple,

"Okay, that did not go as planned." he says, shutting the door. Claire looks at him, just walking down the steps,

"Watch out-" but John already was storming down the hall,

"Where were you?!" John demands.

Sherlock rolls his eyes,

"I went somewhere to get more info on the case and it didn't go as I thought." Claire walks down the steps, towards him,

"What'd you do to your head?" she says, raising her hand. Her hand traveled up his jawline to the cut, he winced.

She sighs, "There's a piece of glass in there, John'll have to get it out." John sighed grumpily,

"I'm not doing anything for him right now." She looks at him, or more just faced him, her hand still on the cut, her fingers delicately on Sherlock's slightly bloody temple. Sherlock's eyes shifted from John to Claire, confused at what he was feeling.

John sighs irritabely,

"Fine, just don't look at me like that." he says, walking into the kitchen. Claire smiles triumphantly, facing Sherlock again, lowering her hand.

"You'll be fine." She walks into the living room, leaving Sherlock still feeling her fingers brush fragilely over his skin.

*

Sherlock walks into the living room, wincing, rubbing his temple. John sighs angrily,

"Stop touching it!" Sherlock rolls his eyes,

"It's not my fault!" Sherlock snaps back.  Claire turns, in front of the window, getting a little bit ticked off.

"Both of you, stop arguing!!" she shouts.

Sherlock looks at her, his mouth still hanging open.

"Thank you, Claire." John sighs in relief, sitting in the armchair, picking up the newspaper.

"Mhm." she mumbles, turning back, her hand against the window. Sherlock walks over, beside her,

"What are you doing?" he looks outside, down at the busy street below.

"Seeing what everyone's up to." she smiles. He raises an eyebrow,

"How'd you do that?" Her eyes shift up, towards the sky,

"I listen, feel. You don't always have to see through your eyes to actually, well, see."

He chuckles,

"I doubt it." She takes his wrist gingerly,

"Look for yourself." she whispers. He glances at her as she presses his hand lightly against the glass.

"Now close your eyes, and let your other senses take over." she says.

He looks outside then closes his eyes, listening, waiting.

At first, nothing. But then, he opened his mind a bit further and he suddenly heard the noise of the cars going over the rode, the people walking down the streets and talking to one another. He could feel the doors opening and closing from the other apartments, and people walking down the halls. Everything was connected.

John's voice dragged him back to reality,

"Sherlock, it's for you." he says, holding out the phone. He opens his eyes, looking back at him, then at Claire. Her hand lingered on his before she let it drop. She smiles,

"Told you." she whispers, before sitting on the couch.

He takes the phone, looking back outside, "Hello?"

"Hello, Sherlock." a cold, hard voice says on the other end. Sherlock's grip on the phone tightened,

"Moriarty." John looks at Sherlock, Claire straightens up, listening, her head tilting to the side. 

"Now, now, Holmes, you don't want your new friend to get hurt, would you?" he says tauntingly. Sherlock whirls around, a red dot hovering on Claire's head.

"Leave her out of this." he hisses. Moriarty laughs humorlessly,

"I'm afraid she and Watson are already in this game, Holmes."

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Okay, so not the most action-packed chapter, eh? I just wanted to add a little hint-hint to what's gonna happen in the future. ;]

Hoped you like! Comment if you did :D

-K