The Baker's Detective

| The Favor and the Coronet |

Lily, upon returning home from 221B, starts to skip down the stairs, planning on going to her office to get some work done on her book — she wants to solidify the concept so she can email it to her publisher — but she hardly gets halfway down the steps before there's a knock on her door.

She thinks it must be Sherlock, and she turns right back around to open the door. But, to her surprise, she finds the other Holmes brother standing there. A smile makes its way onto her face, but it's confused. "Oh, hello... Mr. Holmes. Can I do something for you?"

He smiles thinly, and Lily thinks it's much like Sherlock's thin smile, but with a bit less feeling behind it. He's asking a favor, surely. "Actually, Miss Marlow, I believe you can."

Lily knows hardly anything about this man, aside from his being Sherlock's brother and his tendency to communicate with said brother in a strange way. That, and he's very prim and proper seeming. And he carries an umbrella, almost like a cane. The nature of this favor could be unsavorable, to be sure, but Sherlock certainly doesn't seem to hate him. He likely trusts him, and so she probably can, too. "What do you need to me do?"

His smile widens slightly at that. "Look after Sherlock."

At that, her brows furrow. "Look after him? What do you mean?"

"Keep him out of trouble."

"Well, I don't see how anybody could do that."

He chuckles. "Not that kind of trouble. He will do what he does, and he does do it well — though I warn you not to tell him I said that." Lily nods, and he continues. "He has John to take care of his life when he decides to throw it in the balance on a case. Take care of the rest of him. I think you'll be in a position to soon, if you aren't already."

Lily, for a moment, tries to figure out exactly what he means, and decides that it must be friendship he's talking about. She hasn't seen that Sherlock has many friends so far, besides Mrs. Hudson, John, and Lestrade and whoever gives him body parts from St. Barts, but she never thought about it much until now. She'd like to think they're already friends, all things considered, but maybe Sherlock doesn't think so — yet, according to his brother. So even if he doesn't now, he probably will in the future. And when (well, if) he does, Lily will be sure to "take care of him." Look after him. More than she already has, since she thinks it's not enough. She would've even if Mycroft hadn't said a thing to her. She takes care of all her friends in whatever way they need, until they don't want it — or, her anymore.

Finally, she smiles at Mycroft. "I'll do whatever I can for him. Promise."

But Mycroft doesn't seem quite satisfied with this. "But you must remember that he... well, he isn't like other people."

"All people are different from each other, aren't they? We have to understand each other. And I understand him now enough to know that I need to understand better."

Mycroft smiles. "I'm sure you will in time. You're already getting through to him, I believe."

He leaves with a polite goodbye, and Lily is left with an odd but not unpleasant feeling, and a resolution to do whatever she can for Sherlock Holmes.

,,,O,,,          ,,,O,,,          ,,,O,,,
{_;_;_;_}  {_;_;_;_}  {_;_;_;_}
\_|_|_/     \_|_|_/     \_|_|_/

The next day, after breakfast, Lily decides to go out and water the plants in the garden before Sherlock comes down to get her; she doesn't know when he'll be here anyway. She puts on some comfy clothes and pushes her frizzy hair back with a cloth headband, then begins to head out.

When she's halfway up the stairs, there's a knock.

Lily, for the first time, isn't actually happy to see Sherlock at her door. If only he had come twenty minutes later, maybe even ten. But he's smiling that thin, kind smile, in greeting. "Are you coming?"