"So this is our flat. You'll be living here for a little while, ok?" John led Calvin up the steps of 221b, one hand on his rucksack, the other grasping his shoulder tightly, just in case he tried to make a run for it. Again.

Calvin merely glared. Glared at the door, glared at the street, glared at John. It was all he had done after Lestrade and John cornered him between the fire exit and stationary cupboard. Well, that and bite. But he deserved time to adjust; his parents had been murdered in front of him for god's sake! It did hurt though.

Rubbing his arm absent-mindedly, John unlocked the door and ushered Calvin inside and towards the smiling old woman who inhabited the flat downstairs.

"This is Mrs Hudson, she's our housekeeper. Makes the best tea in all of England she does."

"Oh nonsense! And I'm still not your housekeeper." Shaking her head in exasperation, she smiled down at the scowling child. "So, you're Calvin then? Lovely name that, nice name for a nice boy."

But to John's horror (and slight amusement) the devious little child began another one of his elaborate fantasies.

"The dame was still yappin', but my mind had gone to the whiskey on my desk and the bullets in my .44 magnum. Her goon had taken both away, but Tracer Bullet always has a back-up. No matter how tough the case is. They wouldn't tell me a single thing, just that we had to wait till the 'big boss' got here. Well I don't know about you, but I wasn't too keen on stayin' to meet him."

As fast as he could, John shoved the kid up the stairs, hurrying up behind him to the sound of Mrs Hudson yelling:

"Did that little scamp just call me a 'dame'?!"

"Time to go kid!"

"Ow! No need to shove! I'm going, I'm going!"

The door slammed behind them with a thud.

"So that was Mrs Hudson, and here's the flat. You'll be sleeping in my ro-" John was interrupted by Calvin once again running off. Not towards the door as he had thought, but towards the mantel piece. He winced at the excited exclamation that followed.

"A skull! Cool! Look Hobbes, a real skull!" It was sweet how he kept on talking to his tiger, like it was real. Probably from the trauma of the accident or something. John hadn't realised he had spoken those words aloud until Calvin replied:

"He's not sweet, he's a ferocious man-eating tiger who could crush you with a single swipe of his paw." Waving the tiger's paw around for effect. The lecture probably would've gone on for longer had he not been distracted by a rather precarious and dangerous looking chemistry experiment on the kitchen table that Sherlock had left behind with strict instructions not to tamper with.

Desperately trying to divert Calvin from his path of destruction, John guided him away from the poisonous chemicals and back to the bedroom he would be sleeping in. Unfortunately Calvin ducked out of his grip and ran back to the table, awe struck by the bubbling liquids. Was he going to have to invest in a leash or something? But just as he was about to drag him back, the mischievous little kid said the most astonishing thing:

"Hey! Isn't that the experiment measuring the reaction of explosive polymerization in a compressed state?"

There was a lengthy pause as Calvin continued gazing at the experiment and John desperately tried to work out how on earth he could've known that. The only reason John knew it was because of Sherlock explaining in great detail why he couldn't throw it away. But somehow Calvin could immediately deduce what it was with barely a glance.

Deciding that trying to get him to sit quietly somewhere would be an impossible task, John thought that distracting him with questions would be better.

"So, you like science? That's great, I liked science when I was younger and now I'm a doctor. Was your dad a scientist? Is that how you knew all of that?" Seeing as his parent's murder didn't seem like the best subject to discuss, John felt it best to stick with this latest mystery.

"Nah, only the fun parts. Like explosions. Although once I stuck some of Susie Derkin's hair in a beaker of sulphuric acid. That was cool!" Completely missing John's look of worry and unease, he ploughed on. "And no, my dad isn't a scientist. He's got a super boring job. Nothing cool like an astronaut or a detective."

"So you think detectives are cool? Well, as it so happens, my friend Sherlock is a detective. You'll be able to meet him soon."

"A detective! Wow! Does he go out and shoot bad guys before getting cornered in dark alley way by a big mafia boss' goons?" Calvin jumped up on the sofa, miming shooting an imaginary gun at John, seeming most put out when he didn't collapse, wounded.

"Not really. He more solves cases. Although there have been a few times where we almost got killed."

Calvin's eyes lit up at the news, practically vibrating with excitement. John knew he shouldn't be encouraging the kid's belief that violence was 'cool' but so far this was the longest he had gone without making a break for it. So to give his aching legs a rest, he shared his and Sherlock's stories. Cases going wrong, capturing the bad guys, aggravating Lestrade and Mycroft, always making sure to gloss over the gory parts. This bonding carried on for a long time, longer than either party realised, until John was half way through 'The case of the green man.'

"So there we were, me and Sherlock, crouching behind this van as the smugglers were loading the goods onto the ship, when suddenly Sherlock pushes me into the view of over thirty criminals and goes-"

"You distract them while I call Lestrade. Good evening John, why have we acquired a small child? Did you doubt my return? Or has your relationship with Leila progressed faster than I had originally anticipated?"

Sherlock was home.

Yes I'm late, yes I'm a horrible person, but look! Shiny new chapter! *ducks*

Happy one year anniversary Secret Agent Codename Bob, it's been a hell of a good one.

Congrats to Myrna Maeve, who hit the nail on the head with her review. Calvin's lack of traumatisation will be explained, I promise.

Thank you for sticking with it, and hopefully I stop messing about and upload a new one :)

Bxx