Contact High → Sherlock Holmes (BBC) [on hold]

{ thirty }

Sherlock, John, and Carmen all walked into Doctor Stapleton's lab. She glanced up at them, her gaze hardening as they saw her. She had a fluffy white bunny in front of her and a needle in hand. She put the offending instrument down, "Oh, back again? What's on your mind this time?"

Sherlock, his stance wide, raised an eyebrow, "Murder, Doctor Stapleton. Refined, cold-blooded murder." He turned on his heel and flicked the light switch to the lab off. The lights died, but the lab wasn't dark by any means. The rabbit in front of Doctor Stapleton glowed a noxious green. Carmen frowned at it in disbelief. In fact, now that she looked around, Carmen realized all the bunnies in the room were glowing. There had to be at least a dozen in the cages lining the walls, all glowing the same bright green.

The lights flicked back on, bathing the room in the clinical white glow so particular to labs. Sherlock turned back to Doctor Stapleton, "Will you tell little Kirsty what happened to Bluebell, or shall I?"

Doctor Stapleton leaned forward on the table in front of her. Her palms lied flat on the cold steel table as she sighed, contemplating her options. "Okay. What do you want?" she conceded. Sherlock took a step forward, a grin tugging at the edges of his lips, "Can I borrow your microscope?"

A while later, Sherlock stared into the microscope. It had been a bit since Carmen had been witness to his lab-side. It wasn't one she missed much. He stared in the distance for hours, his hands steepled under his chin and his mind whirring at speeds she couldn't even dream of. Let alone when he tried to explain some experiment he did... Carmen rolled her eyes. She had never been good at science, anyways.

The one plus to it all was that she got to study him as he worked. It was a pleasure she didn't get much; the ability to study his strong features without worrying about him catching her. He stared into the microscope, the light reflecting back into his clear, bright blue eyes. The way they changed always fascinated her, and today they reminded her of the bright blue of the sky after a hard storm. He sighed and pulled away from the microscope, running a hand through his hair restlessly.

He glanced over at his notes, which had elements and chemical names scribbled seemingly at random. Sherlock sighed and looked back into the microscope. Carmen rested her chin in her hand, balancing her time in-between staring into space and studying Sherlock's face. John was sitting close-by, looking like he was about to nod off at any moment. The last few hours had been more than enough for Carmen to wish for a nice, warm bed.

Doctor Stapleton watched Sherlock passively before turning her gaze to Carmen, "You sure you're alright? You look very peaky." Carmen gave her a stiff nod. Sherlock turned his gaze from the microscope and looked at Carmen, studying her color and the nervous way she brushed her hair behind her ear every two seconds. She was still on edge from the 'hound' attack.

"Oh, I'm alright, I guess," Carmen muttered.

Doctor Stapleton nodded and turned away, not wanting to push her. Sherlock turned back to his work, focusing on the task at hand. With some rest and some water, Carmen would be just fine. Doctor Stapleton shifted on her feet as she tried to find another topic to discuss. "It was the GFP gene from a jellyfish, in case you were wondering," Doctor Stapleton said in a rush.

"What?" Carmen asked tiredly, rubbing her eyes. She really wasn't interested, but Doctor Stapleton's face made it seem as if she didn't get to talk about her experiments much. Thinking about it, it was the same expression Sherlock wore when he completed a particularly hard experiment. It seemed all scientists shared at least one trait; the need to show off.

Doctor Stapleton was desperate for a captive audience, so Carmen played along. "In the rabbits?" Carmen asked. Doctor Stapleton nodded, "Aequorea victoria, if you really wanted to know."