athena ➢ sherlock's daughter

Chapter 4

Mycroft's Struggle for Composure, Schooling, and Her First Crime Scene

After Athena regained her composure, she set the glass of water on the bedside table. "And you must be the oldest."

Mycroft's creepy smile faltered a bit- much to Athena's pleasure- before he straightened his back and turned to a hysteric Mr. Holmes. "Her first lesson will be manners."

Raising an eyebrow, Athena looked Mycroft in the eye. "Lesson, Mr. Holmes?"

Startled, Mycroft looked between the two other Holmes and Mr. Watson. "Did they not tell you? You will be homeschooling until you graduate- not with me, of course, I'm far too busy. But I will help out when I can."

Athena sent Sherlock a dead look and clenched her fist. "I don't remember agreeing to this, actually. Any further explanations?"

He frowned ever so slightly and blanked his face completely. "Homeschooling seemed the best option."

Athena raked her good hand through her hair. "The best option for what?" she snapped. "Isolating me from my friends?"

Sherlock scowled but didn't rebuke her like his brain told him to- she'd been through a lot in the past couple of days, after all. It was most likely stress that was causing her obvious irritability- the tenseness in her shoulders and the lack of control over her words proved that fairly obviously. She really needed to rest for a moment. "If you want to go to the local public school, then I guess-"

Mycroft cut him off tersely. "She will not be going to public school! That's a waste of her talents!"

Athena noticed as Mr. Holmes struggled to get ahold of his calm yet obviously annoyed façade. His eyes revealed everything, really. "The last time I checked," he mused, "she was my child, not yours. Therefore, I decide where she goes to school."

Athena's eyes bugged. "And while you are my father, I am my own person- and I have a place where I have friends. Friend. Whatever. The point is, I went to Avalon High, and I want to go back when the summer holidays are over."

Mycroft looked at her, astonished. "Avalon High is hardly up to par with your knowledge-"

"You just met me! You don't know what I do or don't know!" she shot back.

Seething, Mycroft took a deep breath. "I suppose you're right," he said. He pulled his suit jacket closer to his body and said, "If my brother fails to meet your needs, please feel free to contact me. I'm just a phone call away."

And with that, Mycroft Holmes left the hospital room- which allowed Athena to relax and lay back onto her pile of pillows.

Later that afternoon, Athena was admitted from the hospital and was sitting in 221B while Mr. Holmes and Mr. Watson argued over where she would be sleep.

Sighing, she leaned back into the couch and ran her hand lazily across the soft fabric. Come to think of it, the couch was quite comfortable...

"Um... Excuse me, Mr. Holmes, Mr. Watson?"

Their quiet bickering ceased at the timid sound of the young girl. "Yes?" Mr. Watson said kindly.

"If it's too much trouble to decide, I will gladly take the couch. Honestly, I don't mind at all."

Mr. Watson looked at her strangely. Surely she didn't mean it... "Nonsense. A teenage girl should have her own bedroom."

She bit back a comment on how her bedroom was a walk-in closet upstairs when she lived with the Perishes and sunk back into the couch. Truly getting through to them would be difficult. "What about your spare room?"