This one-shot takes place within my established Holmes family AU that starts with 'A Small Price to Pay for Her', goes through 'The Beginnings of Us' and up to my current WIP 'Origins'. Though it's within that universe, I tried my best to write this piece as casual reader friendly as possible, so please enjoy!

Brave

"For the last time, Sherlock, the answer is no." Linda looked up from where she was cleaning the countertop to her son, who was giving her a horrible scowl that made his eyebrows look as though they were merging together. "I'm telling you," she continued with a point. "It's going to be too scary for you."

"For God's sake, Sherlock, will you just drop this already?" Mycroft looked up from his homework, feeling utterly exasperated and quite frankly, annoyed. Sherlock had been hounding their mother for weeks about watching Dracula on Hallowe'en, but she was holding fast to her position that the film was just not suited for eight-year-olds and promptly decided when the issue first came up that Sherlock needed to be in bed and asleep before the rest of the family could watch it without fear of him sneaking a peek.

"I. Want. To. Watch. It," Sherlock repeated to his mother, who promptly turned around to ignore him. As Mycroft opened his mouth to try and at least get his little brother to back off a bit, Chris walked into the kitchen happily humming.

"Daddy, tell Mummy that I can watch Dracula," Sherlock said, his voice sounding dangerously close to a whine. Linda turned around and looked to her husband, who was looking rather thoughtful as his gaze moved between her and Sherlock.

"You know, I think it'll be all right for him to see it," Chris finally said with a shrug.

"You think so?" Linda crossed her arms. "So you don't have any concerns about him having nightmares?"

"Sherlock is a very clever boy." Chris reached and pet Sherlock's hair with a chuckle. "He knows vampires don't exist, right, son?"

Sherlock nodded so eagerly that Mycroft was sure his head was about to fly off and roll across the floor. "Dad, he's too young," he said, ignoring the sharp look that was shot in his direction. "He's going to have nightmares."

"My point exactly," Linda agreed.

"Oh, come now, you're both overreacting. It's just a film - good, clean and classic fun. I say that he can watch it, but of course, the final word is up to you, love."

Linda frowned, her eyes sliding to Sherlock whose blue eyes that so matched hers were wide open, the light catching them so that his expression looked even more adorable than it already was. "All right," she finally said after a few tense seconds. "You can watch it with us."

"Yes!" Sherlock hopped down from the chair and practically skipped to where Mycroft was sitting, blowing a raspberry at him before running off and up the stairs. With a tired -and irritated- sigh, Mycroft got up and followed his brother. Something told him that his parents had made a huge mistake and that they were going to regret their decision, but then again, they weren't exactly the brightest people when it came to parenting, so he supposed that surprise was the last reaction he should've had. Hopefully, it would all go well, Sherlock could say that he saw the famous film, and they could all move on with their lives.

And moreso, he hoped that the night would pass without Sherlock's ever-so active imagination running away with him.

Later that night, in the darkness of his bedroom, Sherlock clung to Redbeard who slept beside him, the hairs on the back of his neck seeming to twitch with paranoia at the space behind him. The house creaking and settling only serve to further fray his nerves and after the umpteenth jump, he closed his eyes and tried to will himself to sleep. But each time that he shut his eyes, the reel of his mind played a slow motion scene of a bat gracefully flapping its wings and his eyes would fly back open.

Ignoring the pounding of his heart, he turned to lie on his back and looked toward the corner of the bedroom, his throat closing up and trapping whatever noise that was about to escape. He could've sworn that something was there…that someone was there. Was that a faint glow of eyes? Or a wink of a rather sharp tooth? That had to be the whoosh of a cape-

Stop being so stupid, Sherlock. It was just a film-

The shadow began to gracefully sway, its presence suddenly growing in the small space that it occupied. Before Sherlock could think twice, he bolted out of his bed, ignoring the noise of surprise that came from a startled Redbeard, and with expertly calculated hops around the different items on his floor, he took off as fast as his legs could carry him down the end of the hall. He threw open the door to his parent's bedroom and practically sailed onto the bed, landing roughly on a lump of bodies that were cuddling together.

"What in the world-" he heard his mother say as a snort of surprise came from Daddy. Another lump landed on the bed and Redbeard started to bark as loud as he could through whines and whimpers.

"Dracula's in my bedroom!"

The sudden announcement made the lamp by the bedside flood the room with a soft glow of light and Mummy sat up, her wild blonde curls sticking up in all different directions and eyes dull and red from exhaustion.

"Redbeard, hush," she snapped. Immediately, the dog quieted down and crawled toward her, placing his head in her lap as if to communicate his sincerest apologies. "Dear," she continued, petting Redbeard's head tentatively. "I thought we agreed that you know that Dracula isn't real-"

"He's in there, I saw him," Sherlock said as he crawled in between his parents, slinking under the duvet to be enveloped in their joint comforting scent and body heat. "He's in the corner of my bedroom waiting for me to come back in there so that he could come and suck every drop of blood from my body!"

"What's this about Dracula?" Mycroft's voice came from in the hall and into the bedroom, groggy and heavy with sleep.

"You!" Sherlock poked his head from under the covers and pointed a finger in his puzzled older brother's direction. "You did this! You told him to come and bite me in my sleep as payback for pestering Mummy!"

"I did what?" Mycroft asked with a bewildered look.

"Sherlock-"

The little boy bolted back under the covers. "Well, he's not getting my blood! He can have the lot of you before I'll let him have me!" A heavy pause passed in which Mummy and Daddy exchanged fierce, soft words.

"Sherlock," Daddy said gently as he lifted the covers. "Come, let's go downstairs." Sherlock burrowed deeper. "I'll make you some hot chocolate." Daddy obviously didn't understand the severity of the situation. Sneaking past Dracula was not worth a cup of hot chocolate; if anything, the warm cocoa would only make their blood taste sweeter to the monster. However, it didn't sound too bad at that moment, and he found himself actually entertaining and weighing the risks and rewards.

"Will you put marshmallows in it?" Sherlock asked after a few seconds.

"Extra marshmallows." Daddy got out of bed and waited for Sherlock to crawl out from beneath the covers and join him.

"I'm going back to bed," Mycroft muttered, turning around to leave the room. Mummy looked to Redbeard, who was staring up at her with a look that almost begged her to let him stay.

"You know you're not allowed up here. Go with your master." Slowly, he got up and jumped off the bed to stand by Sherlock's side. With an 'hmph', she tucked the covers around herself. "Don't stay up too late, now, boys," she said with a slight smile. As they left the room, the lamp shut off and they all trailed down the stairs. Sherlock took to the sofa and let Daddy tuck a quilt around him before going into the kitchen to make the hot chocolate.

After a few minutes, Daddy walked back into the sitting room with a steaming mug in his hands. "Here we are -extra marshmallows, just how you like it." He took a seat next to Sherlock, who sipped on his drink, Redbeard snoring softly at their feet. The cocoa worked to soothe Sherlock's nerves and when his mug was empty, he scooted into Daddy's side and felt immediate comfort from the strong arm that wrapped around his shoulders.

"All better now?"

Sherlock nodded as he bundled more into the quilt, a light sense of shame settling on him as he reflected back on his behavior. What a way to show off, he thought to himself bitterly. And just when he was hell bent on showing his git of an older brother that he wasn't some weakling, some little peon that was meant to be pushed around by his fat thumb, fate had to be cruel and cause him to act like some sort of baby.

"You know, Sherlock, it's okay that you got scared by the film," Daddy said.

"No it's not," Sherlock grumbled. "Why didn't Mycroft get scared?" he asked after a few seconds.

"I can't really give you a reason for that, son, but I can tell you that sometimes, you don't know what really frightens you until you experience it firsthand. And that's just what happened to you."

He snuggled deeper into the quilt. "That's not fair."

"Unfortunately, fear is quite unfair," Daddy replied with a soft laugh.

"He's not scared of anything."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. There was a time in his life where he was quite sure that the Bogeyman was frequenting his closet on a nightly basis."

Sherlock looked up at his father. "The Bogeyman? What kind of idiot believes in that?"

Daddy smiled. "At any rate, let's not make this about Mike." Too late, Sherlock thought to himself with glee as he filed the information away for later blackmail. "What matters here is that you understand that fear is a normal, human experience. Everyone's afraid of something, Sherlock, even Mike, whether you know it or not." Sherlock took a moment to take that in.

"Really?"

"Really." A pause.

"Well, I know that you're not afraid of anything. You're the bravest daddy I know."

Daddy chuckled and hugged Sherlock tight. "That's nice of you to say, son."

"It's true."

"Well, I try. I'd do anything for my geniuses." He patted Sherlock's back. "It's late, we should get you back to bed." Against his will, Sherlock slightly stiffened. "Come on, we'll be brave together," he said as he picked Sherlock up and carried him up the stairs.

He knew that it was stupid to ask but the question was out of his mouth before he could stop it.

"What if you were wrong and he's still in there?" Daddy and Sherlock stood outside the bedroom, the little boy slowly moving to hide behind his father's leg. He could swear that a glowing pair of eyes were watching them, waiting patiently and bidding its time for them to just waltz in without a care in the world.

"I'll go in first," Daddy suggested. "Check 'round and make sure the coast is clear, eh?" Before Sherlock could say anything, Daddy was striding into the bedroom and throwing on the light. "All right, Dracula, if you're in here, come out!" He waited for a few seconds and then checked the closet, also taking a short peek under Sherlock's desk.

"No Dracula here," he said with a confident smile. Sherlock looked toward the corner where he saw the shadow and almost smacked himself on the forehead. It was just the coatrack that hung his different jumpers and his main coat that scared him. The vent that was over the rack blew gently on one coat in particular and it billowed and swayed, its movements almost ghost-like.

Obvious.

"Now, how about...we finish this last chapter while I'm here?" Daddy picked up The Hobbit from where it lay on the desk and Sherlock almost tripped over himself scrambling into bed to be tucked in. Redbeard quickly hopped up beside his master, and though Sherlock tried his best to stay awake, the deep rumbling of his father's voice lulled him to close his eyes and he felt himself drift away into a dreamland- and thankfully, it was free of bats and vampires.

NOTE: This is for the trope "Holiday" for the Let's Write Sherlock Trope Bingo Challenge.

Yes, this is technically a Halloween fic...that's getting released super early! Not only is the deadline for the challenge Saturday, but I'm doing something new for Halloween, so for those of you that follow me, be on the lookout for a brand new fic in a fandom that I've never done before!

And with this fic, I can officially say 'BINGO'! Wow, what an experience this has been for me! If you would like to read the other challenge fics that I've done, I have a complete list of them in my profile.

Please don't forget to review, my dears! See you all later!

GeorgyannWayson