Unfixed

THIRTY ONE

"Hell and Back"

As it turned out: Sherlock was right. In fact, later that night Culverton Smith attempted to murder him. Genesis felt she owed him an apology for thinking so little of him. Then again, he was high.

When he was finally released Mycroft and John had agreed he needed to be watched, especially since his flat had been contaminated with all sorts of drugs when Mycroft went to see what was going through his brother's head. In order to straighten him out, John, Molly, Genesis, Greg, Mrs Hudson and even David agreed to keep an eye on him.

Genesis was sat in John's old tartan backed armchair across from her old best friend. She eyed him over her mug of tea and he mirrored her actions. Neither of them knew exactly what to say because the last they met Sherlock was high and before that... well... it was a month after he'd killed her dad. A few moments passed and no words were said.

All Genesis could think of was the morning she had dragged him out of the street and he'd said he missed her. She couldn't get the words out of her head.

"Did you miss me?" Sherlock's eyebrows furrow. He looks as though he was pondering the question before smiling slightly.

"That question has been tossed around an awful lot lately." She narrows her eyes at him causing the light laugh on his lips to drop. Pursing his lips he looks down at his mug and nods sadly. "Yes. Yes, I did." Genesis simply nods, hiding her smile behind the mug of tea in her hands.

They finish their drinks in silence, the entire time Sherlock had been debating how to correctly phrase his next sentence.

"I'm sorry... about your dad." Genesis doesn't look up from her empty mug. Her lips pursed and eyes solemn, she mutters her response quietly under her breath.

"I'm sorry about Mary." Sherlock furrows his eyebrows, at a loss for words for a few seconds.

"But you didn't kill Mary."

"Didn't I?" When she looked up her eyes were glistening with a sheen of tears. Pushing herself to her feet, she paces around the room. "She told me she knew she was going to die. She asked me to burn the CDs..." She points the envelope with 'MISS ME?' written across the front. "That CD. She trusted me not to tell anyone and I didn't! I didn't, Sherlock. I let her die-" Sherlock stood up and had wrapped his arms around her.

His arms wrapped straight around her shoulders, he held her close, his cheek rested atop her head.

"You didn't kill Mary." He whispered, his voice tight.

"She should have stayed with Rosie." He chuckles lightly.

"That wouldn't have been like her." Genesis pulls out of his hug, wiping away the tears that refused to fall.

"You're right." She watches as he composes himself. "It is what it is, right?" He nods. They stand in silence for a while, unsure what to do or say. "So..." Genesis rocks slightly on the balls of her feet, "are you just handing out hugs now?" He looks down at the floor bashfully before lifting his head to look at her once again.

"John, I presume, told you?"

He was shocked, to say the least, to find a genuine smile on her face. One he hadn't seen in a long time. Reaching out, she playfully punches his arm.

"Happy birthday, Sher."