The Dragon's Companion

Disclaimer:

I do not own BBC Sherlock.

Note:

Basically there are people who are creatures. They can look human but can make certain animal features of theirs appear/disappear at will to blend in with ordinary humans. There's prejudice between humans and creatures so they generally hide what they are.

Summary:

S3, It's quite difficult to make friends with a dragon. Even more difficult to make friends with one like Sherlock. John refuses to help Sherlock but luckily he still has someone he can lean on. Not that he needs it. Eventually Johnlock

Chapter 1

Sherlock was happy to finally be back in London. Finally home after two long years. The first thing he wanted to do was see John but he'd taken one look at Meliora and determined he needed to get her settled in first. Together they sneaked into 221 B Baker Street which Sherlock was relieved to note wasn't covered in a layer of dust. He nudged the wolf into his room where she kicked off her shoes and collapsed on his bed. He crouched down beside her so her sleepy eyes could meet his without moving. "I'm going to get John," he explained, his voice low due to the obvious headache she had.

Her hand reached out and grasped his suit. "Safe?" She murmured, worried.

The dragon realized long ago he'd gone soft. The process had started with John and continued with this young wolf he'd met. Unlike him though, she'd always been running. He knew she'd never truly experienced feeling any real level of safety until he had earned her trust and loyalty. The woman had not slept or relaxed when Mycroft had brought them back as she didn't trust anyone other than him and considering her overprotective behavior of him Sherlock had to wonder if she had ever been taken care of by anyone. "It's safe here," he reassured her. "You can rest now."

"John protect you?"

He couldn't stop the small smile from forming. If it had been anyone else he would've snapped at them that he didn't need protecting. But she needed to know he was protected because she was unaware of the dangers of her new environment. He could understand that. It was more than enough that she seemed to trust John to protect him. Perhaps telling her about John during their time on the run had went a long way to helping her trust John. "John will protect me." He leaned forward so his forehead touched hers for a moment.

Meliora closed her eyes, finally allowing herself to relax.

When Sherlock pulled away, she was asleep.

Meliora jumped out of bed at the sound of a scream coming from downstairs, automatically moving quickly but quietly out of Sherlock's room and to the door. She cracked it open. Her nose picked up a scent that made her tense even more. Why had Sherlock been bleeding?

As things were settled between Mrs Hudson and Sherlock, the dragon made his way up the stairs and was unsurprised when the wolf was standing there, growling lowly and threateningly.

Her wolf ears were pinned back in anger. How dare someone hurt one of her pack! How dare they! "Who?"

Sherlock went over and sat down in his chair. At least, being a creature, he healed faster. But despite having mostly healed Meliora still knew he'd been hurt. Unfortunately the woman had a lot of practice with sniffing out his injuries. "It's fine," he told her dismissively. Obviously he'd miscalculated on how best to approach John. The man was not happy with him. He couldn't tell Meliora it'd been John. The woman wouldn't think anything of hunting him down and possibly killing him. She was fiercely protective and also rather wound up from the lack of sleep. Not that this was unusual for wolves but wolves tended to only accept other wolves into their pack. It was one of the reasons he'd been amazed when she'd declared that they were a pack. Not an easy feat for someone not a wolf. For a dragon to be part of one was unheard of.

Her emerald eyes looked him over, her stance still stiff but her anger faded. "You took care of it?"

"It won't happen again," he replied because it wouldn't. The fact was he had automatically lowered his defenses around John and hadn't wanted to hurt the man. John was only human. If the man tried to attack him again he would stop him before it became a fight and he accidentally injured him.

She relaxed though she was still growling slightly.

"You should go back to sleep."

The black-haired wolf tilted her head, growl disappearing completely.

He knew what she wanted and easily gave it. At this point he had to admit it would probably feel odd not to.

If Sherlock had any doubt about his brother being in the building, which he didn't, it would've became obvious when his wolf companion began staring at the door with narrowed eyes. It was an improvement from the growling and usual readiness she took to attack at any given moment. He really had gone soft. Caring may not be an advantage but it certainly had benefits.

Mary storming into the room would have been a bad idea had she not been shouting about something happening to John.

Sherlock knew it was only because of this that the black-haired woman hadn't tried to intimidate Mary, opting to simply glare to ensure Mary knew she was unwelcome. Reading the skip code, he knew he would have to act quickly. He mumbled the destination under his breath, knowing Meliora would hear it and his request to save John.

She took off running while Sherlock and Mary stood in the middle of the road. It went unsaid that Mary didn't know what Sherlock was and even if she did she wouldn't agree to stay behind. So while Sherlock searched for another mode of transportation she ran, glad that she had an eidetic memory and had glanced at all those city maps earlier while Sherlock was trying to figure out how a man had disappeared off the subway. Otherwise finding her way would be impossible.

They arrived at about the same time. Sherlock had the speed advantage with the motorcycle but Meliora hadn't needed to stay on streets and such. She could jump a wall when she needed to in order to cut time on her journey. She was slightly panting and tired so when she saw the dragon arrive much closer to the destination, she allowed herself to stop for a moment. Perhaps she should've forgone stealth for this but it'd simply been habit. Her eyes scanned the crowd of people around the bonfire. Something wasn't right. She moved closer but did her best to stay out of sight. Her eyes caught a guy with a video camera casually pointed in Sherlock's direction as the dragon pulled, who she assumed was John, out of the fire. Was that man recording or was it simply shock at the events transpiring that kept him from completely lowering it?

Meliora didn't get back to the flat until the next morning. She was in a bad mood, only briefly glaring at the old people on the couch for a moment before she casually collapsed sideways in what she could only guess was John's chair. Normally she wouldn't turn her back on anyone but Sherlock was very relaxed and she really needed a nap.

"Is this the woman Mycroft told us about?" Mrs Holmes questioned her son since it was clear the woman had fallen asleep. "The one who helped you while you were away?"

"Yes, this is Meliora. She's claimed me as part of her pack." At his parent's inquisitive gazes, he added, "She was a lone wolf. I'm all she has."

His mother's gaze turned soft, "Well she's perfectly welcomed into our family. She's clearly proven herself to you. That's more than enough for us."

Sherlock snorted. "She won't trust you just because you're my parents; she barely tolerates Mycroft's presence."

"I think her reaction has more to do with you than him. I heard she never slept around him but she doesn't seem to mind sleeping with us here," she pointed out with a smile.

He glanced over at the sleeping wolf. That was most likely true. Hadn't Meliora shown an in-ordinary amount of trust in John? She hadn't even met the man but she'd heard about him. The sound of footsteps on the stairs alerted him to the fact John was here.

"Oh, you have clients. I'll just come back later," John was about to turn around to leave.

"No no no. Stay," Sherlock insisted as he ushered his parents out the door rather quickly. His attempt to close the door failed, stopped by his mother's foot.

"Do try and visit us while we're here Sherlock. We don't see you very often. You can bring her with you."

"I doubt she'd want to," Sherlock grumbled.

"Promise me you'll at least try?"

He begrudgingly promised and was pleased that after a kiss to the forehead his mother allowed him to close the door completely. But as he spun around to face John he realized he had a new problem.

Meliora had woken up. And she was less than pleased to see John.

Well what do you think so far? Do you like Meliora?