Disadvantageous

Chapter 19

The door of the flat creaked open when Sherlock gave it a little push, having successfully picked the lock. But before he could step into the dark room, John grabbed his arm, "Sherlock, I really don't think we should be breaking in like this. Lydia's probably just sleeping."

Sherlock glared at him, "she's in danger, John. I think she'll understand why we broke in and woke her up once we tell her that someone's after her. Besides, what if that someone already found her? We won't know unless we see her."

"She's going to be pissed, though."

Sherlock shrugged, "that's nothing new for me."

With that argument over, Sherlock took out the torch from his pocket and scanned the beam over the sitting room and kitchen of Lydia's flat. Nothing seem disturbed, which was a good sign. Perhaps she had then gone straight to bed and had merely slept through his knocking. It was unlikely though, Sherlock knew she wasn't that heavy a sleeper, unless of course she had been drugged.

Travelling deeper into the flat, Sherlock discovered Willow's bed empty, immediately causing his heart to stop. Panic slowly began to set in that something must have happened. He brought his hand down to the mattress, finding it still warm. She hadn't been gone for long then. It was likely that they were still somewhere in the flat.

"John, watch the door, make sure no one leaves," Sherlock ordered in a hushed voice, turning his attention to back to the rest of the flat.

Although confused by how serious Sherlock was being despite there being no clear signs of foul play, John did as he was asked, knowing better than to argue with him. Especially not when Sherlock's daughter and the woman he loved were involved. With John heading back to the door, Sherlock went the opposite direction, going deeper down the hall to Lydia's bedroom.

He hoped that she was just in there, sleeping peacefully with Willow in her arms. But he had no such luck as he eased open the door, finding the bed completely empty. It didn't even look as though Lydia had made it to her bed after being released by the police.

As his thoughts began to race, worries and observations crashing into one another and rendering his mind useless, Sherlock fought to calm himself. There were no signs that the two had actually been taken. Perhaps they had gone out for a walk? Though of course if they had done that, they would be in even greater danger and not just from whoever was after Lydia. But maybe they had just hid when they heard him picking at the lock, assuming he was some sort of thief.

Sherlock tried to calm his breathing, focusing on one object and then moving on to the next. Sometimes the little observations helped him focus his thoughts and drift from the verge of panic. His eyes scanned Lydia's bedroom, taking in every trinket, every scent, until his eyes fell on carpet by her dressing table. Cocking his head, he noticed how the grains had been disturbed, some pushed in the wrong direction.

Getting down on his knees, Sherlock began to feel the wall behind the dressing table, looking for some sort of latch. He finally found it, giving it a tug and watching a section of the wall pop out. With a smile, Sherlock eased the door open and shined the torch inside, landing on Lydia, who had a baseball bat poised to hit him.

Sherlock immediately held his hands up and assured her, "it's just me, Lydia."

Recognising the man who had broken into her flat, Lydia slowly lowered the bat, "Sherlock, I- what are you doing here?"

"Well, that's a rather-" Sherlock cut off as he got a glimpse of Willow from behind Lydia's body. "A rather curious story. I've been so caught up in the case I'm working on that I realised I've not been able to make much time to see Willow. John and I were in the area investigating, so I hoped to pop in and see her."

Lydia knew immediately that this was some bullshit to protect Willow from hearing the truth, but she was thankful to Sherlock for it. Willow was still young, but she was extremely perceptive and Lydia didn't want to scare her more than was necessary.

"Daddy?" Willow spoke up, crawling out from behind Lydia was a large smile on her face.

"Hello, darling, I've missed you," Sherlock replied, holding out his arms to pick her up. Willow quickly picked herself up and waddled to his arms, all thoughts of sleep now gone and replaced by excitement.

Lydia crawled out of the hideaway afterwards, closing the door behind her and taking a seat on the foot of her bed as she watched Sherlock with Willow. It pained her to know that they had been separated for so long, but Sherlock's silence had made it seem that he wasn't all that interested in helping raise her. But seeing the two of them together made her wonder if that was actually the case.

"Mate, no one's coming or going, did you-" John spoke as he came into Lydia's bedroom, cutting of when He noticed Lydia on her bed. He gave a relieved smile, "oh, you've found them."

"We were playing hide and seek," Willow spoke up with a large smile.

John turned to her, "well you're very good at the game, it took forever for Sherlock and I to find you!"

"Do you want to go see Uncle John for a moment?" Sherlock asked his daughter, shifting her in his arms so that he could hand her off.

"I want you," Willow frowned, holding onto her father a bit tighter.

"I know and I'll be right back, I'm just going to help your mum make some tea ok?"

Willow finally relinquished and gave a nod, allowing Sherlock to hand her off as he gestured for Lydia to follow him out of the bedroom. It wasn't until she was sure they were out of earshot that Lydia finally asked, "alright, Sherlock, why are you really doing here? Is this about what happened at the theatre tonight?"

Sherlock gave a nod, his jaw clenched tight as he began to search through Lydia's kitchen for the tea and cups. "What happened tonight was no accident, the bucket was rigged to fall. However, the reason why I'm here is because it fell sooner that it was meant to. Jodie was never the intended target, Lydia, you were."

"I was?" Lydia repeated, her face turning pale.

Sherlock busied himself with the kettle so that he didn't have to face her, "yes, we don't know who's after you yet, but we're here to make sure that you and Willow are safe. Do you have any ideas who might be after you?"

"I mean, I've been a bit on edge since Moriarty announced his return. I assume that he still is rather angry at me for helping dismantle the Rose Foundation."

Sherlock nodded slowly, "so that's why you built that safe room?"

"Yeah, I know it's not much and apparently not all that hidden since you easily found me, but it gave me at least a small sense of security."

It hurt Sherlock to know that Lydia was living in so much fear after Moriarty's video was broadcasted. He figured she would be a bit on edge, but not enough to change the infrastructure. Now he felt guiltier of his current plan to fight Moriarty, which at the moment was to wait for him to make the first move. But Sherlock feared it would take ages, meanwhile Lydia was here worrying about if she or their daughter would be hurt by the psychopath.

"If it is any consolation, I do not think it was Moriarty behind this attack. I don't know who he's working with as I thought I dismantled his entire network, so I suppose he may have been left with amateurs. Even so, I do not think he would have ever hired anyone who would do so shoddy a job."

"So what do we do now? Willow and I shouldn't stay here, should we?"

"John and I were thinking it would be best to split the two of you up. If there is someone after you, I want to keep her as far from you as possible."

"So what are you saying, you want her to move in with you? Sherlock-" Lydia began, but was cut off by the detective.

"No, I have many a target on my back as well. Besides, if by some chance it truly is Moriarty, he's going to be after me as well. She'll stay with the Watsons tonight and we can discuss future plans tomorrow. We thought it best if you spend the night with me."

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(A/N): Oop she's in danger again! Will this at least help to bring her and Sherlock back together? I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!