Before "dying" in London in 2012, Sherlock only visited America twice. Two weeks living with his grandmother was enough family time for him. It was even less entertaining than living with Mycroft, if possible, except she seemed to keep forgetting which relative he was. Fourteen days in he told her he was offered temporary work for a while, and he bought a plan ticket to America with an emergency card Mycroft gave him.

Over eight hours later, a connecting flight from Atlanta pointed him toward Jacksonville. He stayed quiet the entire trip, and his eyes remained glued to the window as the Florida landscape slowly came into view.

"Landing is the worst part."

His eyes snapped to the voice next to him. He nearly forgot about the woman sitting next to him. She was older, perhaps in her late fifties although aging was not doing her any favors. Her hair, pulled back into a tight bun, was already greying. Deep wrinkles crisscrossed her face, and her hands trembled around her glass of Scotch. A romance novel lay forgotten in her lap.

"It's not bad," he mumbled, feeling obligated to reply.

A smile crossed her face.

"A fellow Londoner!" She exclaimed. "Oh that's exciting. What brings you to Jacksonville?"

Sherlock blinked, uncertain of what to say. He spent the trip deciding what he would say to this extended family he never met before- family who very possibly had no idea who he was. It was hard enough figuring out how to explain his intentions to them, let alone a stranger.

"I'm here for a trial," the woman continued when he stayed silent. "They think my husband murdered this poor girl."

His eyes went wide. He didn't know what was more shocking, the sudden confession or the thought this seemingly innocent, sweet, woman was caught up with the likes of a murder suspect.

"I'm sorry," he offered.

Her smile turned sad, and she shook her head.

"Oh, no worries my dear," she replied. "My name's Hudson, by the way."

She offered him a frail hand, and he shook it.

"Sherlock," he greeted. She grinned at the odd name, but he was relieved when she didn't ask about it. "Is your husband an American, Mrs. Hudson?"

Her eyebrows furrowed a bit before she admitted:

"He's Scottish, but he visits America quite frequently," she said. "He's younger than me, just by three years, but that seems to make all the difference in the world to him. We married late in life, just twelve years ago. He's spent most of that time working abroad as a salesman. They say he had an affair with one of his clients in Jacksonville and strangled the poor girl in the morning. When I say girl, I should really say woman. She was about fifty, after all."

"That's awful," he whispered.

He squirmed a bit in his seat. At the very mention of strangle a memory flashed back to him that sent his hand flying to his neck, just to make sure he was okay.

"The cheating doesn't bother me so much as the murder," she admitted. Her voice fell, trembling a bit. "He was never very excited about our marriage, not after the second year or so. But how anyone could have it in them to do something so horrible…I just can't stand to think I'm married to the bastard."

His eyes widened, stunned at hearing a woman of her age swear.

"I just hope they find him guilty," she said.

She fell silent then and her eyes wondered away. He stared at her, unsure if he should be saying something else, but when she stayed quiet he found himself missing her company. There was something about her that was comforting, like he could trust her even though she was a complete stranger.

"I'm here to visit family," he admitted. "I found out my mother was born in Jacksonville, and she still has family here. I thought I would visit…but it's probably a stupid idea."

Mrs. Hudson turned to him and smiled again.

"Who are we if we don't know where we came from?" Mrs. Hudson said. "I think that's really sweet of you."

A grim smile formed at the corners of his lips. He wasn't sure what it was about this woman that made him want to confess everything. Maybe it was the idea of making her feel better about her situation, but something about her made him trust her completely. Then again, outside of university he hardly had conversations with strangers so perhaps he was being too trusting.

"I'll make you a deal," Mrs. Hudson said suddenly. "My own kids aren't supportive enough of me to come here with me to give my testimony, but I can't do this alone. If you come with me to the trial, I'll help you with your estranged family."

He studied her for a moment, too stunned to say anything. He was certain she was simply a lonely woman who, as she said, had very few people to support and trust. But while he felt sorry for her and enjoyed talking to her, he knew the risks of becoming too close to someone. Eventually she would realize the kind person he was, the kind of family he came from, and realize he wasn't too different than what she was trying to run from.

But as the plane came closer to landing his heart pounded faster, reminding him how intimidating visiting a new country was. He had no plan past exiting the airport, and he wasn't too confident this trip wouldn't end with him wondering around Florida lost and broke.

"Would they let me in the courtroom?" He asked.

She sighed.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "You seem nice, Sherlock, and frankly I haven't met many nice people lately. Will you at least let me buy you some lunch?"

At the mention of food his stomach grumbled. He spent nearly all the credit on the plane ticket, leaving just enough for a hotel room. She would probably forget her offer of helping him with his family by the next morning, but how much would food hurt?

He finally drew in a deep breath and nodded:

"Okay."

Author's Note: I originally intended to keep this strictly about Sherlock and Mycroft, but since I'm telling the story of how Sherlock became Sherlock I couldn't resist introducing Mrs. Hudson. Also, I am so, SO incredibly sorry for the impromptu hiatus. I was extremely ill throughout most of March and eventually ended up in the hospital. I was hardly able to write at all and fell behind on all of my stories. But if people are still interested I'm happy to bring this story back to life!