My Clever Girl

The Hounds of Baskerville (Part 4)

"Are you alright? John?" I asked in fake worry and walked in, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Jesus Christ! It was the hound!" He said and hurried out of the cage as I followed him to see him hugging Iris tightly. "Sherlock, it was here, I swear it, Sherlock, it must, it must...Did-did you see it? You must have!" He said and started panicking as I didn't expect him to be this scared being a military man. Now I do see something in common between him and Iris. "It's alright, it's okay now." I said softly as Iris stood next to me. "No, it's not! It's not okay! I saw it, I was wrong!" He shouted as Iris gently grabbed my arm. I figured she's never heard her brother yell before. "Hm, well, let's not jump to conclusions." I said as I looked around. "What?" He asked as he tilted his head, panting a bit. "What did you see?" I asked as Iris slowly let go of my arm.

"I told you, I saw the hound." He said as he was trying to gather himself. "Huge, red eyes? Glowing?" I asked as he nodded. "No." I said and shook my head with a smile. "What?" He asked as Iris held her hands together. "I made up the bit about glowing. You saw what you expected to see because I told you. You have been drugged. We have all been drugged besides Iris who's smart enough to carry her own water." I said as Iris shrugged and pulled out a small water bottle from her trench coat pocket. "Drugged?" John asked as Iris looked at him. "Can you walk?" I asked him as he looked at his legs. "Of course I can walk." He said like it was the most ridiculous question he's ever heard. "Come on, then. It's time to lay this ghost." I said and started walking out with them following. "Are you alright?" I softly asked Iris as she looked at me with a slight smile and a nod.

"Now you see why I didn't let you be the test subject." I said with a smile as she gently bumped me and gave a bigger smile. I scanned the keycard to a door and walked in to see Stapleton working on Bluebell. "Oh back again? What's on your mind this time?" She asked as she stopped what she was doing. "Murder, Dr. Stapleton. Refined, cold-blooded murder. I said and turned off the lights to show that the rabbit glowed green before turning on the lights again. "Will you tell little Kirsty what happened to Bluebell, or shall I?" I asked and put my hands behind my back. "Okay. What do you want?" She asked as Iris smiled. "Can I borrow your microscope?" I asked. She let me borrow it as we went to another room. I took off my coat and tossed it over Iris' head, causing her to giggle and take it off, laying it gently down before taking hers off and laying it on mine.

I started working on the sugar for a while, trying to see what they put in it as John was thinking about what happened earlier. "Are you sure you're okay? You look very peaky." Stapleton said as she looked at John. "No, I'm alright." He said as Iris leaned on the desk, watching me as she yawned a bit. "It was the GFP gene from a jellyfish, in case you're interested." She said as I tried to focus. "What?" John asked as he still seemed out of it. "In the rabbits." She said and gestured to the room. "Oh, right, yeah." He said as he didn't really seem interested. "Aequorea victoria, if you really want to know." She said as I looked at Iris made a face and a sign saying Stapleton was crazy as I chuckled softly. "Why?" John asked. "Why not?" Stapleton asked with a smile. "We don't ask questions like that here. It isn't done. It was a mix-up, anyway. My daughter ended up with one of the lab specimens, so poor Bluebell had to go." She said as Iris made her hand like a puppet as Stapleton talked, causing me to let out a slight chuckle again.

"Knock it off. I'm trying to work." I whispered, being playfully stern while still chuckling a bit. She giggled and walked over to John. "Your compassion is overwhelming." John said as he took a sip of his plain black coffee. "I know. I hate myself sometimes." She said as Iris gave John a sideways hug as he wrapped his arm around her. "So, come on, then, you can trust me, I'm a doctor, what else have you got hidden away up here?" He asked as he gently petted Iris' hair as it seemed that her long soft chestnut hair calms everyone down after a fright. "Listen, if you can imagine it, someone is probably doing it somewhere. Of course they are." She said as John looked over with a smile. "Cloning?" He asked as Iris walked back over with a chair. "Yes, of course. Dolly the Sheep, remember?" Stapleton asked as Iris looked at me. "Still nothing?" She asked softly as I shook my head. "Human cloning?" John asked as Iris laid her head on our coats.