athena ➢ sherlock's daughter

Chapter 12

Athena Starts Her Period

Athena woke up three days before her next court date and immediately felt a shooting pain in her stomach.

"Ah fuck!" she shouted, forgetting her manners momentarily.

In the living room, Sherlock blinked, shocked at his daughter's language. Then he immediately shot up from his chair and rushed to her bedroom, grabbing a cane on the way. "What's going on?"

Athena saw him and giggled. His hair was a bit disheveled and his eyes were wild with concern and worry, and he was holding a weapon.

"Sherlock, you own a gun."

He blushed the tiniest bit and set the cane down. He looked around for any apparent danger then deemed the room safe. Straightening his demeanor the slightest bit, he glanced down at his daughter and said, "Mind your language."

She nodded, smiling at him, and grabbed her glasses off her nightstand. "Everything's fine. Would you mind fetching John?"

Sherlock was a bit hurt that she didn't want him to help with whatever problem it was, but nodded anyways. He walked a bit sulkily to John's room and knocked on the door.

John opened it a moment later and said, "What is i- Sherlock are you alright?"

John had noticed that his friend looked a bit sullen, which was odd because he had only seen him excited or emotionless.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine. But Athena needs to speak to you- she's in her bedroom. She used some foul language a few moments ago, assured me it's fine, then asked me to fetch you."

John furrowed his eyebrows but nodded and walked to her room. He knocked on the door frame and walked in. "What's up?

"Could you go to the store and get some  sanitary pads?"

John didn't even flinch. So that's why she wouldn't talk to Sherlock. Lucky for him, John was about to play the middle man. "I was just about to head out to work. You'll have to ask Sherlock."

The look in her eyes faltered, but she smiled. "Okay..."

John smiled and headed out the door, entering a cafe down the block. Looked like he had the day to kill, since Athena didn't know he didn't have a job.

Back at 221B, Athena was fighting with herself. She could always go to Mrs. Hudson, who would obviously understand. She couldn't just stay stuck in this bed all day. But at the same time, she didn't want to bother the poor woman.

She sighed, knowing what she had to do. "Sherlock?" she said with a slightly raised voice.

He came into the room a moment or two later looking blank. "Yes?"

Her cheeks heated to a light shade of pink. "Could you please run to the store and get some sanitary pads?"

Sherlock cleared his throat after a moment of silence and looked at his daughter casually (or so he hoped- in reality, Athena and he made awkward eye contact). "Of course. I'll be back as soon as possible. Is this your fir-"

"Yeah, it is. But I already read about everything, so...um..." She trailed off awkwardly, the brightness in her cheeks growing.

Sherlock nodded. "Excellent. Just give Mrs. Hudson your sheets, I'm sure she'll be glad to help with this."

With that, he headed out of the flat with an unspoken "I love you" left on the tip of his tongue.

∞

Paparazzi had followed Sherlock to the drug store. At first he was embarrassed out of his mind, trying his best to conceal the small box of sanitary pads the best he could. However, as he headed through the aisles, he brushed his embarrassment aside as he remembered how much his daughter needed him.

Humming to himself with a smile on his face, he grabbed a couple chocolate bars and some pain killers for good measure. He could imagine the stories on the internet that would come about by dawn, but it didn't matter. Athena needed him.

∞

Later that day, when Athena had taken care of everything that she needed to, she was lying in the living room on her couch, watching her father pace around the room. Her stomach and head hurt, but she declined the pain killers because she did a study on what they did to the body and didn't want to take the risk.

She was in so much pain at this point that she couldn't even deduce what Sherlock had figured out so far, so she curled herself into a ball and tried to sleep.

Upon noticing Athena and deducting what was happening, Sherlock placed a blanket over her and sat beside her, rubbing her back. Out of natural inclination, she repositioned herself so that she was lying on his lap.  "I know it sucks," he whispered. "But I'm right here. I'll take care of you, sweetheart. I love you."

He stayed beside her, rubbing her back and watching her sleep until he began to drift off.

And that was quite a sight for John to stumble upon.  Especially since Sherlock never sleeps during a case. However, despite his initial surprise, he  smiled contentedly and began to make dinner for the two people who were quickly becoming his family.