Carry on Consulting TARDIS

The Mysterious Phone Calls

"John! I can't find my microscope!"

"IT'S ON THE TABLE!" the army doctor had grown tired of Sherlock's antics. Ever since he moved back into 221b, Sherlock had been more excitable than ever. Why that was, he had no clue. And he certainly didn't want him accidentally hitting Violet. The infant was only 3 months old, without her mother, and being raised by a sociopath and a veteran.

"I don't want that one, I WANT THE ONE FROM SAINT BART'S!" Sherlock whined, sounding a lot like a five year old wanting the red cup and not the blue cup. He'd be dealing with two of them soon enough. He looked over at his child and sighed, then the weight of the sentence smacked John in the face.

"Why do you have one of Bart's microscopes?" he sighed again, this time in ex. It's a wonder how Sherlock had managed to not get arrested on a weekly-scratch that-daily basis. Sherlock answered with a dismissive wave of the hand.

"The equipment at the hospital is better." John rolled his eyes at the sudden declination in the argument.

"Mrs. Hudson probably found it and phoned Molly."

"What? Why?"

"BECAUSE IT'S ILLEGAL, SHERLOCK!" John shouted. He got up and grabbed his coat. He was sick of this and felt the need for some fresh air. Or, as fresh as London can offer.

"Watch Violet, I'm going out." He was about to walk out the door when Sherlock grabbed his arm.

"Let go of my arm Sherlock,"

"Where are you going?" Sherlock asked, with pleading eyes. He had been

extremely attached to John lately. John figured he just didn't want to take responsibility for the small child that was babbling in her pen. She was giggling each time the bee toy Sherlock gave her vibrated against her cheek, making a droning buzz.

"Look, I'm just taking a walk around the block, I'll be back in a mo," Sherlock dropped his head and looked up through his mass of dark curls. He had a sort of kicked puppy look on his face. John found it, well, cute. He couldn't resist the urge to move his hand into Sherlock's hair and ruffle it a bit. He turned and walked down the stairs. Only when he had left did he realize what he had just done. He stopped dead and just whispered, "Maybe it won't just be a walk around the block."

...............................

'What the bloody hell was that.' Sherlock thought. There was no way that John knew what he was doing just then. He didn't love Sherlock. 'Or at least, not like that.' Sherlock had to admit that John had been a bit closer to Sherlock since Mary died, but that was to be expected. The loss of someone he loved made John softer, and he had gone thru it more than once. Maybe that's why he did that. It couldn't be that John was, well, finally falling in love with Sherlock. Sherlock would not let that thought linger any longer, the hope would just worsen the fall.

He sat in his chair, staring over at John's chair across the rug, thinking about what had just happened. The last time John had done anything like that was when John had touched his leg when they were both drunk-as-hell on stag night. John was straight, an ex-army doctor, and a widower. Why would he-

Sherlock's train of thought was derailed by the sound of his phone ringing. He quickly bounded over to the mobile, "gracefully" slipping on Violet's blanket. It was the third time this week he's done that, and it was only Monday morning.

"Lestrade?"

"Sherlock, how are we today?" It was not Lestrade calling.

"Who is this?"

"That's for you to find out, Mr. Holmes." The man on the other end chuckled darkly. Sherlock could tell from his voice that he was not from London. Maybe Scotland. "I need you to do something. There have been strange energy readings and large amounts are coming from the London area. This has happened many times before, but never in this quantity, I need you to figure out what it is."

"Why would I help someone I haven't met." He hissed into the reciever at the man who sounded to much like Moriarty for his liking. Then, he could almost hear the other man smile.

"Because you're interested." The line went dead. Sherlock looked at the caller ID.

"666" Sherlock, confused considered his options. One, he could completely ignore the call. Anyone that could manage to change the caller ID that drastically though would be clever. Not to mention that he had given him a case that apparently has not been solved for years. Those are always fun.

Sherlock sighed. The man, whomever he was, was right. Sherlock was certainly intrigued. He didn't even have to consider another option. He was taking the case. He looked over at the young girl playing with her stuffed animal. He needed to go and look into this, maybe get Mycroft to help out. Then, due to the lack of attention, Violet burst into tears. Sherlock watched her stop and look around, seeming to check if anyone was listening, before starting back up again. He went over to her and chuckling picked her up cradling her in his arms. Mrs. Hudson was out with Mrs. Turner, so she couldn't watch the child. Molly was out on a date, so she couldn't help either. Maybe he could call Lestrade.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Lestrade."

"Sherlock? What's wrong?" Sherlock heard a stifled chuckle coming from the other end of the line. Lestrade and whomever he was with must have been out somewhere sitting across from each other. So dinner then. A date maybe. Sherlock groaned.

"Never mind, I can tell you are busy."

"What do you mean busy?" Now Lestrade was laughing as well. The date must be going well then.

"I can tell you are on a date, Gavin-"

"Greg" "Gregory" the pair said.

"Greg. Have a nice evening." He hung up. Then attempted to call Mycroft. This time no one answered. Sherlock sighed and turned to the child in his arms.

"Would you like to go on an adventure with me Violet?" Sherlock asked in his normal tone. He could barely tolerate Mrs. Hudson's baby talk, let alone doing it himself. The young girl babbled a response. As he texted John he smiled, "Very well. The game is on!"

*Test received*

*Violet and I are off to a crime

scene. It isn't murder, so she

should be fine. Continue your

walk, we should be back by 8

in the evening. Yes I will feed

her.

-SH*