Alex stood on the pavement just outside of Sherlock's flat, the smell of bacon coming from Speedy's, a frown on her face as she watched John drive off in his small blue ford. He claimed to be in a rush but Alex wasn't stupid. Something had happened. Something that made John not want to see Sherlock.

Humming a nameless tune, Alex turned on her heel and rang the doorbell. Sherlock was expecting her so she didn't ring it more than once.

Sherlock had just finished off cleaning up after an experiment when the doorbell rang. He had been investigating how different salts reacted when set alight... well more like how different salts put on skin would react when set alight...

But 2 hours previously had come up, complaining that the flat smelt like burnt flesh, causing him to give the flat a deep clean, firstly opening all the windows to get the smell out and then getting every possible disinfectant out to clean the flat.

Sherlock spent the whole time wishing that he was preparing the flat for both John and Alex to stay over, not just Alex.

Sherlock greeted Alex at the door, taking her full sports bag off of her immediately, closing the door behind them before going up the stairs without a word being spoken between the two of them.

Alex followed with a slight smile. Time to put her and Nathan's plan into action. She would tell Sherlock about the Bachelor Auction today. Even if something did happen, she was determined to get her parents back together. It would make everything perfect again. She just knew that they loved one another.

Sherlock led Alex up to her newly painted and newly furnished room – he was still sad that most of it was done by his own hands due to the fact that he'd caused John to run off. Sherlock, once he had reflected on what occurred, deciding it was only fair to give John some time. He had only just left a relationship and he wasn't in the best emotional state, which had been made even more evident when he had come close to tears in front of Sherlock.

Sherlock bit his lower lip and reminded himself that today was about Alex. No wallowing in his thoughts about John. He had to focus.

Right. Focus. Alex's room.

It looked completely brand new and Sherlock was excited for her to see it as he had spent so much time trying to get it perfect for her (although deep down he was trying to forget that it used to be John's.)

Alex entered the room behind Sherlock, her mind thinking of reasons why John had sped off. All thoughts halted when she saw the transformation the room had gone under. It looked totally different to the small, dark, lonely room that it looked like previously

Her heart squeezed and she gasped. Sherlock did all this for her?!

Before she could stop herself, she had both arms wrapped around Sherlock's stick thin waist and her face buried in his chest, breathing in his alpha scent that had clung to his clothing.

"Uhm...You like it?" Sherlock smiled a small smile, wrapping one arm around her whilst the other hesitated in mid air as he was unsure of what he could do but he quickly made up his mind, bring his hand down ontop of her head, stroking her unruly curls.

Alex nodded eagerly. "I love it. Thank you so, so much... Dadlock" She said, the nickname her and Nathan came up with in a quieter voice, a bit worried he'd think it was too weird.

Sherlock looked at Alex confused, trying to understand what Alex meant. Once he understood he started to laugh, resting his forehead against the top of Alex's head. "Have you told your father about your little nickname. He would find it hilarious."

Alex smiled up at her father and shook her head. "It slipped my mind until now. Nathan helped me come up with it." She told him before frowning as she remembered what Nathan had said about Sherlock and their awful argument.

"You're frowning. Why are you frowning?" Sherlock asked, worried, squeezing her close to him. "And don't tell me its nothing. I can tell that its important to you otherwise it wouldn't be pestering you when clearly this was a fond memory."

"Nathan... Well, we had an argument. About when I went 'missing'. About you" Alex explained, rolling her eyes and trying to make it seem like nothing. She didn't want Sherlock to dislike Nathan the same way she didn't want Nathan to dislike Sherlock. If she couldn't have both, she'd have at least one.

Sherlock paused for a moment, awkwardly as he had no idea what to do. His daughter was clearly upset yet he had no idea what to do. He tried to think of what John would do... He always knew what to do in emotional situations such as the one unfolding infront of him. An idea came into his head and he played along with it.

"Come on. Tell your father what's bothering you." Sherlock mocked, leading her over to the bed and sitting down. "I may not be as good at listening like your father but I'm a better judge of character. I may be quite abrupt but I am always right... well 98% of the time."

Alex sighed as she sat down. "To put it simply, he's an idiot. He got mad that I did what I did to meet you. He said that you've been here for five minutes and that he's been here my whole life.... It was like he thought you're the bad guy. As if you're going to hurt me or something"

Sherlock sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I think a lot of people think the same way that your friend Nathan does. I know your uncle, Mycroft does and probably Lestrade as well, otherwise they wouldn't have helped your father in the first place. But you shouldn't fall out with Nathan just because of how he feels. He cares for you, a lot, just like Mycroft and Lestrade do. Even though I believe they are idiots for thinking that I could hurt you in anyway, does not mean that you have to hate them because they are trying to protect you and make sure that you never suffer at my hand."

Alex frowned a little before she moved closer, hugging his side. Uncle Mycroft wasn't like that, not around her anyway. He, if anything, spoke fondly of Sherlock and encouraged her to get John to let her meet Sherlock. Although, he never actually did anything to help.

"I don't think Uncle My thinks that. I bet he's just glad that I'm happy. I haven't actually seen him for a while now, though. He told me that you two don't get along very well..." She trailed off. From what she's heard, this wasn't a relationship she could fix no matter how much she wanted to. She wished that everyone could like each other so that they could be one big happy family. But life was cruel.

Sherlock chuckled. They never got on well, especially where Sherlock's love life was concerned. If Mycroft wasn't able to find happiness, then he didn't want anyone close to him to be happy, therefore causing him to control people so that no one was happy. It also didn't help that he was a controlling bastard.

"I think you should see him soon. Definatly in my presence." Sherlock would love to see how Mycroft really was around his daughter. Deep down inside he believed that Mycroft would be the perfect uncle to Alex; spoiling her rotten yet not getting in the way all the time. But he also knew that Mycroft would never be happy for him- would never be happy that he had someone special in his life now because that would make Sherlock too happy for Mycroft's liking.

Alex frowned up at Sherlock. "Don't argue with Uncle My. He may not get along with you but he does care about you. He's a bit... power mad, there's no doubt about that but he still cares. About us both" She smiled. "Maybe you can come with me next time he makes me lunch. He likes making lunch for me and he's a better cook than Dad"

"Mhmmm... The reason why he's a better cook then your father is because he has an obsession with food. When he was about 15 he spent most of his time in the kitchen perfecting his Battenberg recipe just so he could scoff it when no one else was watching."

Alex giggled. "If he wasn't too busy running the country, he'd make a good chef."

Sherlock smiled at her and got up off the bed, thinking about all the memories that he had: Mycroft cooking for him when their parents were away or were ill and when he stayed around Mycroft's many a time such as when he was coming down from a terrible high or after his fake suicide. "Yes he would. He makes the most excellent lasagna. It was the only thing I ate for 2 weeks after your father left me and I only ate it because I couldn't resist the smell of it. I think that shows what an amazing chef he could be. People would flood in off the streets just because it would smell so amazing."

Alex's smile widened as she watched Sherlock. "Yeah. His food is especially good when you aren't feeling like yourself. After a loss, not that I lose a lot in rounders, he'll always cook me lunch. He's a great uncle."

"Good. You deserve a good uncle." Sherlock smiled, standing up. "I'm just going to go to the loo. Get settled in. Put your toothbrush and toothpaste in the bathroom. Put some of your books and dvds on the shelves."

Alex nodded, starting to put her numerous belongings away on the shelves that Sherlock had put up. She managed to fill one of the shelves with a few of her sports trophies, mainly from rounders and another one with a small collection of her DVD's ranging from rock bands such as Muse to RnB albums such as Kesha and Beyonce.

Half way through her putting her books on the bookcase the phone began to ring out.

She hesitated before heading into the living room, not entirely sure if she should pick up the phone. Sherlock hadn't mentioned anything about her not picking up the phone so she supposed that she could...There was still no sign of Sherlock. Biting her lip, Alex picked up the phone.

"Hello? Er...... Dad is on the loo"

"Hello, erhmm... Is this the right number." The caller pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at at the screen. "I'm sure this is the right number. Richard. Richard. Did I do it right? Is this William's number?"

"Who's William? Sorry, I think you have the wrong number. Sherlock Holmes lives here" Alex replied with a small frown.

"Yes William is Sherlock. William Sherlock Scott Holmes. I'm Patricia Holmes, his mother. Who are you?"

Alex froze for a second. His mother? That's means...

"I, uh, I'm Alex. I'm..I'm your granddaughter"

"What?! You must be confused. William doesn't have a daughter. He doesn't even have a mate.... how can that even be possible?" Patricia asked, very confused as to what she was hearing. It must be the wrong number... He husband came over to her and took the phone out of her hand, putting it on loudspeaker so they could both hear what was happening.

Alex was suddenly very nervous. This was her grandmother. She didn't know what to do. Just explain, she told herself.

"John Watson is my other dad. He left before Dadl- Sherlock found out that I existed. So, um, yeah. He has a daughter. Me. Alex Watson"

Someone took a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone. "John... john had a daughter... with Sherlock." Mrs. Holmes stated slowly, taking in the new information. It was almost impossible to believe. No one had mentioned a child being born to the pair. They didn't even know that John was pregnant when he left. "Is William there? I... I just feel that we should talk to him first.... It's a lot to take in and I think he needs to explain why he hasn't told us anything, why he hasn't spoken to us in weeks when it is obvious a lot of important things were happening in his life."

"Of course, he's just in the bathroom. I, uh..." Alex pulled away from the phone and covered it to call out. "Dadlock?! The phone!"

"Who is it?" Sherlock called out. "If it's Lestrade tell him that I'm not taking any case that is lower than a 7 and even then he will have to email the details."

"It's... It's your mother."

"Oh Damn it." He groaned loudly, standing still on the spot as he closed his eyes and took a long intake of breath, letting it out loudly and with an annoyed expression on his face "You picked up... So I cant just hang up.... But, I could tell her that I am on an important case. Although, she would shout and by shout, I mean wail...." Sherlock walked out of the bathroom and grabbed the phone out of Alex's hand, not really meaning to be so harsh but he was just annoyed that his mother had to get in the way of such a wonderful day. "Hello Mummy, so wonderful to hear from you."

Alex shifted awkwardly for a moment before she went back up to her room to finish putting her books away.

"Don't you 'Hello, Mummy' me! I want an explanation, young man, right now!"

"Mummy, it's a long story. It will take me all day to explain and right now I am busy. Very busy. So if you could call up another time, that would be excellent so goodb-"

"I want to meet her. Get done whatever you need to do and then take a trip up here for the weekend. Bring John and A..Alex?" Mrs Holmes said, knowing her son well enough by now to know that, when he said he didn't want to talk, he really meant it and he wouldn't get any information out of him while he was in such a bad mood. She had to just wait it out, wait for him to come to her instead.

"Urhhh... ok... ok I will try but if John says no then I cant force him to. Things between us are a bit.... tricky at the moment and I don't want to make things worst so there will be rules. No fusing. No awkward questions. No questions about how Alex was conceived. Nothing that will make Alex or John get annoyed at me." Sherlock stated, clearly and formerly, making it clear exactly what would happened if, if they came and saw them.

"Okay, dear. As long as I get to meet them." She replied, content with his short yet bossy reply. "We can talk more another time. For now, we'll just meet. Have a good week, darling"

"Ok mummy. You too." Sherlock disconnected the phone, sighing a sigh of relief as he walked up the stairs to Alex's room. He entered Alex's room and smiled at her. "My mother wants to meet you. Next weekend."

Alex smiled and sat back on her heels, on her bed. "That sounds great. Is it a family trip? Like, me, you and John?"

"Yes it is. I'm sure my parents will have some questions to ask your dad."

Alex snorted, looking forward to that happening. "He deserves to be questioned. He clearly had no real reason to leave. He's lucky that you even forgave him, really"

"Alex..." Sherlock warned, closing his eyes for a short period of time before opening them again and blinking them a few times in quick succession. "I don't know why your father did it. Maybe he thought that he was protecting you from a life of being passed from one person to the next whilst we go out and chase criminals. Maybe he was worried that said criminals would come after you if we managed to get them arrested for a long time. There are about 100 reasons which I can think of as to why your dad left me but I don't know which specific reason it is so until I find out the truth, not these lies that he has been telling me, then try not to judge him."

"He stole me from you for twelve years" Alex stated, meeting Sherlock's eyes, honesty pouring out of them. "If you didn't still love him, you'd be much angrier. You love him and that's why you forgave him so easily."

She slumped against the wall and sighed, rubbing her eyes. Great, now she's arguing with Sherlock too. If it's not John, it's Nathan and if not either of them it seems it's Sherlock. It's like she's a magnet for arguments.

"Yeah I know I still love him. That's not the problem. I can admit to myself, and everyone around me that I still love him but that doesn't change anything. He's the one who can change things. He has to trust in me so he can tell me why he left me all those years ago and then we can all move on." Sherlock walked over to her and leaned against the wall. "Its ok to be angry with the situation. You just have to accept that there is nothing for you to do to make this better. You have to understand that you will probably be coming round to my flat every weekend in order to see me because your dad doesn't trust me. And you have to see that deep down you love your dad otherwise you would be telling him this and not me."

Alex looked down at her lap for a moment. Her heart was beating loudly, her throat dry and closing up. She hated this; hated that she couldn't help but get upset. She wanted to be able to distance herself.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore" Alex mumbled the words. "He's just an idiot for not seeing how much easier it would be if he let you love him, cus I know he loves you too. That's all I have to say"

"Well we will just have to see how everything works out." Sherlock stated, smiling a small smile before standing up straight and started to go downstairs. "I've ordered a curry. It will be here in about 10 minutes. Come down when you are ready."

Alex doesn't reply and as soon as Sherlock's gone, she wipes her eyes, despite the fact no tears actually left her eyes. She just felt stupid for suddenly getting upset. It made her feel like an attention seeking little kid when she got upset in front of people. She preferred to let herself be upset once out of the way of people. Alex definitely didn't want Sherlock to think that she was a crybaby. Uncle My said that Sherlock was like him in some ways and that included the way neither of them focused on emotions. She knew that what he said wasn't completely the case. Sherlock fell in love, after all, and Mycroft worried and cared for his family. So she knew that Sherlock wouldn't be disappointed she had emotions or anything silly like that but that didn't mean she wanted to come across as weak. Even at just twelve years old, she should be able to contain herself.

Alex cleared her throat and climbed off the bed. She looked her face in the mirror )which luckily didn't look life she had been crying) before she headed down to the living room.

She suddenly remembered the Bachelor Auction and ran back upstairs to grab the pamphlet that she'd stolen from John's office and shoved in her bag.

Alex smirked to herself, silently praising Nathan for helping her (she'd talk to him soon, she decided) and then went down stairs again and met Sherlock in the living room.

"What curry did you order?" Alex asked, putting down the pamphlet right in front of Sherlock and not even being subtle about it.

"I bought 2 curries: a chicken tikka masala and a vindaloo. I wasn't sure what you liked so I thought I would get a mild and a hot curry so you can decide which you like. Or we could just share. I got some onion bhagis, samosas and a naan as well." Sherlock said as he took the food out of the bag and got the plates out of the cupboard. He placed everything on the table and finally got some cups out. "I have lemonade, water or squash?"

"Lemonade, please. Also, I know I won't eat the vindaloo. I'll just have some of the Chicken Tikka." She smiled at him, helping herself to the found by dishing some of the rice and curry on to her plate. She split all the sides equally between them while Sherlock went to get their drinks.

"I thought so." Sherlock smiled at Alex, pouring the lemonade into Alex's cup and filling his cup with water. Finally he grabbed the cutlery and handed them to Alex.

"Thanks" Alex smiled as she took her drinks and cutlery.

Soon, she dug in, not having even realized just how hungry she was until that moment. She pointed to the Bachelor Auction pamphlet when Sherlock sat down. "Make sure you look through that. I hear it's got a really dishy picture of dad inside. I thought may it'd be something you'd like to go to. I bet dad hasn't even told you about all the work he does at the Omega clinic"

Sherlock scoffed when he heard the word "dishy" and "John" in the same sentence coming out of his daughter's mouth. "No, no he hasn't told me about his work at the omega clinic." Sherlock put a piece of chicken in his mouth and place the fork down again, flicking through the leaflet. "Seems like a good idea, would make a lot of money."

"They do all sorts of charity work. Dad leads most of it. Him and some lady Omega, I forget her name even though Dad mentions her all the time." Alex smiled.

"Well, your father has always been interested in omega care." Sherlock stated, continuing to eat and read the leaflet.

"Are you going to come? As well as the auction there's going to be stalls and a small fair type thing with tug of war etcetera" Alex waved a hand as she vaguely explained. It probably said all this is the leaflet. "Nathan and I usually step up a stall together. Not sure if that's happening this time, considering everything"

"I'll come if you set up a stall with Nathan so, go talk to him. I'm not coming to see a stupid bachelor sale and tug of war even if those things manage to make lots of money for the clinic."

Sherlock knew it was harsh to say that to Alex but he didn't want her to know the truth. He specifically didn't want to go and watch John sell himself to some jumped up alpha who would take advantage of him, just because he had bought him in a sale. Sherlock didn't want to witness him being sold because then he would be forced to admit that John wasn't his Omega, never was.

"I'll set up a stall with him if you place at least one bid on Dad" Alex replied, narrowing her eyes at Sherlock.

"You want me to place a bit on your father?!" Sherlock looked at her dumbfound. "Why?"

"Because the two of you are in love" Alex said simply, grinning.

"So, because I love your father, I have to compete with aggressive Alphas and Betas that are so desperate that they have to buy Omegas, to buy him for a night? I don't know if this is how you young people do this but in the olden days we used to prove our worth by taking someone out on a date by asking them, not by forcing them." Sherlock grinned evilly knowing that he has outwitted Alex and her master plan.

"You're buying a night with him. You're proving you want a date with him by giving money to something he works hard for." Alex answered, not giving up that easily.

"I have to prove myself by showing him that I have a lot of money because that means I can support you both? He knows that already. He used to lean on me when it came to money, but now, now he has worked so hard to get more money to support the both of you. He doesn't need me anymore. He also knows that I want a date with him. He knows that I love him. That's why we are not talking at the moment. He doesn't need me to prove to him that I want to date him and he doesn't need my money, so what's the point in trying if I already know its not going to fail?"

"So you're just going to give up and let another Alpha or Beta try and steal his heart." Alex snorted, rolling her eyes. "Yep. I can totally see how giving up is going to prove to him that you really want to try. You love him so much you're going to let another Alpha date him. Smooth. Great approach. Well done"

"He left me over 10 years ago, suddenly.  We were in love. There is nothing I can do to make him be with me because he is the most annoying, stuck up man I have ever known." Sherlock raised his eyebrows at her.

Alex shrugged, nonchalant. "Fine. Give up. It's your choice."

She wasn't sure if she was getting anywhere but she didn't want to make Sherlock feel he was doing it for her. She wanted him to do it because he wanted to try. Alex didn't see how Sherlock could just give up.

Sherlock dropped his cutlery and leaned forward, staring into Alex's eyes intensely. "You're saying it in that tone. The tone that John uses when he wants me to do something and he knows that by using that tone he can get me to do it." Then Sherlock leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest.

"I'm not using any tone, Dadlock. I'm just saying. If you want to give up, go ahead" Alex blinked innocently at him. She doesn't know if what's she's going is working but she won't give up.

"You are just as stubborn as your father."

"How am I being stubborn? I'm telling you to give up if that's what you want to do" Alex tilted her head slightly, smiling a little.

Sherlock laughed and shook his head at his daughter. "Ok... OK. I will do it and I will pend as much money as it takes but you have to agree that if this fails, you wont mention it again. You will let us all move on."

Alex smirked at him, a typical I-win look on her face. She doesn't say a word as she gets some chicken on her fork and puts it in her mouth, happily chewing.

"Don't look at me like that." Sherlock warned, putting on a fake sad face. "You made me do this."

Alex shrugged. "Oh, well"

She really wanted to laugh at how she got her own way but she didn't. Alex couldn't bring herself to feel bad, though, because she was getting Sherlock and her dad to go on a date. She couldn't see Sherlock stop bidding after a single bid. He wanted John for himself, Alex was sure.

"Do you fancy ice cream? I'm sure Mrs Hudson has some in her freezer?" Sherlock said, trying to distract himself from the fact that he said yes. He said yes to bidding for John and he knew that he couldn't get out of it; Alex would bug him for the rest of his life if he didn't bid for John and he, himself would be annoyed with himself too.

"Ice cream sounds good" Alex nodded. "Although I'm no where near finished this yet. I'm a slow eater - sorry" She gave her dad a sheepish smile, shoving the spoon in her mouth again, chewing on the piece of chicken as she grinned at her father because this was perfect. She had imagined for years how she would spend the time with her alpha time and this was more than she had ever imagined. It was amazing.

"Ok. I'll go get the ice cream while you finish your dinner off."