Ready or not, Here He comes

Two years had passed. I was still living at home, but I made frequent visits to London. That was the upside of having a brother who was the British Government. I got the train rides to and from London for almost free. I got free housing whenever I came thanks to Andi's parents. Andi had told me that her parents always looked forward to me coming over.

Mycroft always knew when I was coming to town and was always there at the train station to greet me. I looked forward to seeing him, but I'd never tell him that. He'd probably take it all to his head.

So, when I came in this time. I was surprised to find my brother absent and John Watson in his place. When he saw me, he smiled and started over to me. Technically, I had only met him face-to-face twice before, but every time I had come to London in the past, I had made sure I had passed his house at least once. A few times, I had followed him, just to assure myself he was ok. Mycroft kept me updated on him, but I wanted to see for myself.

"Hi Quinn." He said when he reached me.

"Doctor Watson." I replied.

"John, please. I think I've told you that before." He said.

"Where's Mycroft?" I asked.

"Always wanting to get straight to the point. Just like..." He trailed off. Just like Sherlock. We were silent.

"He didn't tell me. He called me and said he had business to attend to and couldn't meet you here and asked me to do it for you."

"Business..." I muttered.

"Which could mean anything." He said, taking the words right out if my mouth. I wondered if the "business" had something to do with Sherlock.

"Who knows with him." John laughed and nodded in agreement. We waited in silence for my cases to be unloaded. I only had a small one with a week or so worth of clothing. Once I spotted it, I left John to retrieve it and went back to him.

"Shall we?" He asked. He offered his arm with a warm smile. I knew from that moment on he'd be there for me, just like Sherlock would have been and may still be. I accepted it and we walked from the train station.

I squinted in the sunlight when we walked out. John released my arm and took a few steps away, probably looking for the car. A sleek black Jaguar pulled up to the kerb. The driver jumped out and took my case from me. He popped the trunk and slid the case in and slammed it shut. He then ran around to the driver side of the car and opened the door. This was definitely Mycroft's doing. I looked in and paused. Another person sat on the other side of the car. She had short blond hair and grey eyes. She reminded me of the lady that had been in the car that picked me up after Sherlock faked his death. She was on her phone and didn't look up when I slipped in and buckled myself before John did the same. The car pulled from the kerb and we rode in silence for a while. The woman put her phone away and did her best, in the cramped space, to turn and look at me.

"You're Quinn Holmes." She said with a warm smile. "Nice to finally meet you. I'm Mary Morstan. I'm John's girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you Mary." I replied. Mycroft had showed me pictures of her. Well... I forced him to show me. He let it slip that John had a girlfriend around Christmas when Mum made him come up for the holiday.

"I've seen pictures of Sherlock. You look a lot like him." I smiled, feeling touched that she said that.

"Thanks." I replied. We rode the rest of the way in silence. We finally pulled up to 187 North Gower Street. Andi's mom and dad's house. I had stayed here everytime I had come to London. They said I was always welcome, but I had overheard Mum and Mycroft talking about paying the Tyler's for the time I stayed with them. He said they never accepted it. He secretly wired it to their bank accounts all the same.