The Third Holmes - A Sherlock Fanfic

The Morning

John was restless that night. Partly because the couch was uncomfortable, and partly because he couldn’t get Avery out of his mind. Manipulative? How so? What was she going to do? Nothing? Why were her brothers so protective of her? He could put it down to family ties, but he’s seen how they treated each other. Besides, he had a sister, and though he loved her, he wouldn’t fight over her like that just so that they’d stay in the same house. And if he wouldn’t cause such a fuss, there should be no way that Sherlock and Mycroft would. Hmm, so maybe it’s from their past. Some huge event – maybe that’s what tore Mycroft and Sherlock apart. John fell asleep trying to figure out what could possibly have happened.
He woke up to the smell of fresh eggs and bacon.  He stood up groggily.
“Sherlock?” he asked, as he peeked in the kitchen. No, wait, Sherlock didn’t cook.
Avery smiled at him. “Nope. Eggs and Bacon?”
“Ah, yeah, sure.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Um, where’s Sherlock?”
She shrugged. “Haven’t seen him. But I did go shopping, so he might have got up then.” She held up the pan. “No eggs.” She frowned. “You know there’s a severed head in the fridge.”
John gave a laugh. “Yeah I noticed. It’s ah, one of Sherlock’s ‘experiments.’”
Avery sighed. “I remember. Just be strict with him. I told him that I wasn’t going to let him put dead body parts with food.” She shuddered. “Yuck.”
“And you’re a Holmes?” he asked suspiciously.
She smiled. “Do you think Mycroft puts dead things in his fridge? No,” she said before he could answer. “That’s a trait unique to Sherlock.”
She turned off the stove and dumped the eggs and bacon onto a plate. “If you want toast, you can make it yourself,” she informed him as she retrieved some new eggs and bacon to cook for herself.
“Thanks,” he said, still a little bit out of it. “So, um…” he began as placed the bread in the toaster. “How did you sleep?” Inwardly he cursed himself. That was stupid.
She gave him a kind smile, however, and shrugged once more. “Still not on ‘London Time’.” She admitted. “You?”
“Ah, yeah, good.”
“You’re a bad liar, John Watson.”
He blushed. “I’m not lying.”
“And I’m as naïve as I am pretty,” she retorted.
He laughed at that. “You must be pretty naïve then.”
“Are you flirting with me, Watson?” she asked sassily. “I must warn you that I have two brothers and they won’t think twice about coming after you.”
He smiled. “My mistake.” She laughed and got out another plate, as John’s toast popped up.
“Can you put some toast in for me?” she asked as she turned off the stove again.
“Sure.” He said as he complied. After they were done, they both had breakfast together. After that, Avery did the dishes, and John went to have a shower and get dressed. Sherlock still hadn’t appeared.
“This is ridiculous,” John said. “He’s normally up by now.”
Avery shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“What? You came from Australia and he hasn’t even bothered to get up!”
“Or he’s out. You could just see if his coat’s still there.”
“Where?”
“Wherever he keeps it.”
“Ah. That’s in his room.”
“Oh. Then it’d probably be easier waiting.”
“Or waking him up.”
“Good luck.” She said.
“Wait! Why do I have to do it?”
“It was your suggestion,” she pointed out. “And you live here. And you’re a guy. It’d be weird if I went to check on him. He might think I’m coddling him. Or he could be out,” she said once again.
John sighed. “Fine.”
He made his way to Sherlock’s room and knocked on the door. After receiving no response, he opened the door. Just as Avery had suspected, Sherlock was gone.