The Doctor's Daughter | Wholock {1}

Chapter 24: Papa Lestrade

"Sherlock, this is a terrible idea," Kimmy said, tugging at the hem of her skirt. Why did I let him talk me into wearing this? She absolutely hated skirts.

"Relax," Sherlock replied. "This will work." Kimmy almost smiled as he spoke. His reassurance made her think of the Doctor. Twenty-four hours, she thought. If Sherlock and I can't find them, the Doctor and Mary will be dead in twenty-four hours. Heck, I'll be dead.

The lift stopped and Kimmy started to step off, rolling her eyes when Sherlock said, "Give me five minutes before you come upstairs."

"You've said that five times," she commented, fighting a smile. "I might not be a genius, but I'm not a complete idiot." Sherlock looked like he was going to make a smart reply, but the door closed in his face, cutting him off. Shaking her head, Kimmy walked over to the stairwell, absentmindedly running her thumb over the bowtie still wrapped around her wrist. Sherlock had tried to convince her to take it off because it didn't match the rest of her clothes, but she had refused.

I never should have asked the Doctor to stay behind, she thought. I should have let him come with me and Sherlock. If I had, then he wouldn't be stuck with that monster.

Don't blame yourself, Kim, she could practically hear the Doctor saying. You didn't make me do anything. I chose to stay behind.

After standing in the stairwell for a few minutes, Kimmy walked up a few flights to Lestrade's floor. When she stepped into the hallway, she saw Sherlock walking onto the lift. The dark-haired detective nodded slightly, but Kimmy couldn't tell if he was nodding at her or in response to something Lestrade had said. She waited until the doors to the lift closed before she walked across the room to Lestrade's office-it was different than the one she had visited when she was younger, so Sherlock had explained to her where the office was ahead of time.

Nobody paid her any attention as she walked into the office, pulling the door closed behind her. Thankfully, the blinds covering the windows were already closed. Kimmy tossed the folder of blank papers onto a chair near the door, looking around the room. Kimmy glanced around the office before walking over to a shelf, looking in between books and folders for the package Moriarty had hidden. She tried to look for breaks in the thin layer of dust covering the shelf, but there were too many to be of any use to her. She smiled when she saw a picture of a much-younger Lestrade, who only had a few strands of silver in his hair. He didn't look anything like the grandfatherly figure she'd grown up knowing. Papa Lestrade, she used to call him; to be honest, she didn't know why she stopped.

After searching the shelf for a few moments, Kimmy turned away in frustration. She walked over to the desk, quickly opening drawers and searching through them. She found the usual office supplies-pens, notepads, staples-but no package. She was just about to move on when she came to a locked drawer. None of the others had been locked, so she was automatically suspicious. There were a few paperclips sitting on top of the desk, so Kimmy quickly unfolded two of them. Thankyou, Mycroft, she thought, remembering that day when he had taught her how to pick locks. That was the first and the last time John asked Mycroft to babysit her.

It took a few minutes, but Kimmy eventually managed to get the drawer unlocked. Tucking the now-useless paperclips into her pocket-she didn't think leaving them lying around would be a god idea-she opened the drawer and found a dark brown package with the familiar message scrawled across the front: the Consulting Detective and the Doctor's Daughter. It was more of a large envelope than a package, so she picked up the folder she's carried in earlier and took out the papers inside, replacing them with the package. She placed the small stack of blank papers on top of another stack, hoping Lestrade wouldn't notice the addition, before standing up and smoothing her skirt again. Holding the folder so the package was invisible, she walked out of the office and into the hallway. Again, nobody even looked at her.

These people are supposed to solve crimes for a living? she thought as she walked to the stairwell. No wonder they need Sherlock so much.

While she was walking down the stairs, she pulled her phone out of her waistband and quickly text Sherlock.

Found the package. Meet you outside

Sherlock's reply came shortly afterward, just as she exited the stairwell.

Good. Be there as soon as I can.

-SH

Kimmy couldn't help but roll her eyes. Why he ended all of his texts with his initials, she never understood. She almost text him that, but decided against it. Instead, she tucked the phone back into her waistband and sat down on a nearby bench, hoping he wouldn't be long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for taking forever to update. I have no excuse other than my own laziness.

Over 900 reads! You are all amazing!