TITLE: Promises to Keep

TAKEN BY: TheRoadGoesEverOn

UNIVERSE: BBC Sherlock

MOVIE/SEASON: Sherlock Series 1-4

OC: Melanie Holmes

FACECLAIM: Katie McGrath

QUOTE/DESCRIPTION:

❝ I know you have a heart, Sherlock. I know that deep down, you care. You care a great deal more than you think. You're a good man; people just don't know it. ❞

❝ Stop trying to paint me as some type of hero, Melanie. If you know so much about me, then you'll know that I'm not a hero. I don't need to care. That's what you're for. You care so I don't have to. ❞

SUMMARY:

"Look after your sister," his parents told him. "Life will try to tear you apart. Make sure that doesn't happen. Stay in touch. Make sure she knows you're watching out for her."

Sherlock Holmes has never been a sentimental man, nor has he been one to be tied down by rules. After all, he's the one breaking the law on a daily basis to deliver justice to the criminals of London. However, he knows there is one rule he mustn't break, one promise he must always keep. 

"Keep an eye on your brother," her parents told her. "There's not telling what sort of trouble he'll get himself into with that brain of his. Stay in touch. Make sure he knows you'll be there for him." 

Melanie Holmes has never been a risk-taker, nor has she been much of a thrill-seeker. That part of her past is behind her. Now content to stay in her comfort zone of everyday life running her chiropractic business, she has no need for adventure or anything of the sort. However, she knows there is one rule she must follow, one promise that comes with more risk than she cares to have. 

Over the years, the two siblings have drifted apart, the promises they'd made to their parents pushed to the side to be replaced by their duties to work and life. But soon, to the surprise of Sherlock and the annoyance of Melanie, she is pulled into her brother's hectic and dangerous life through a series of strange events, all because she almost spilled her morning coffee on an ex-army doctor looking for a flatmate. 

A/N:

Hey-oo, it's your girl, writing a plot for a show she hasn't even seen. Oof, I've fallen hard back into the Sherlock Holmes fandom for the time being. We'll see how long that lasts. This is my first plot for one of the many version of Sherlock Holmes, and mostly likely the first and last plot for Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes. 

QUOTES:

"Your life is so boring."

"Well, I'm sorry if you feel that way, Sherlock, but not everyone wants to spend their days looking at dead bodies for a living!"

- Sherlock and Melanie

"We all have different sensations we long to feel. Sherlock's is the thrill of the chase. He craves  it, and when he cannot get it, he uses more...desperate measures to achieve the same effect. Do you want to know what feeling drives you, dear sister?"

"Do enlighten me, Mycroft."

"Rage."

- Mycroft and Melanie

"This rage you keep bottled up inside you is going to get you killed one day, Melanie, and when that day comes, I won't be there to protect you. You'll die alone, scared, begging for someone to save you, but no one will come. No one will be at your side, not me, not John, not anyone. And it will be my fault that you died, because I wasn't able to stop it from consuming you. That's how I'm afraid I'll lose you."

- Sherlock to Melanie

NOTES:

⚙ Melanie runs a chiropractic business in London. During her breaks or in the afternoons, she teaches her receptionist Emma Sharp (portrayed by Daisy Ridley) in the ways of deduction and observation, just so her talents don't go to waste. She also uses her deduction and observation skills along with her memory of the human skeleton to analyze patients.

⚙ Melanie meets John while she getting her morning coffee at a coffee shop. She bumps into him as she's leaving and she almost spills her coffee on him. After apologizing to each other, they have a small conversation before Melanie leaves for work, finding common ground in their medical professions. This would be a good beginning to the first chapter.

⚙ Include Melanie's normal day at work in the first chapter as a introduction to her character and what she does for a living.

⚙ Melanie is closer to Sherlock than to Mycroft, as she is two years younger than him. She is also good friends with Greg and Mrs. Hudson.

⚙ Unlike Sherlock, who shoots the wall when he's bored, Melanie shoots the wall whenever she's angry or frustrated (the latter is usually caused by Mycroft). She keeps a gun in her chiropractic office for this purpose and as a way of defense in case she is ever targeted by one of her brother's many enemies. Sherlock can tell how angry or frustrated she was on a certain day by the number of bullet holes on the walls of her office. 

⚙ Before he falls off of St. Bart's, Sherlock calls Melanie and apologizes for distancing himself from her in the past and for treating her poorly. John can hear their conversation, and she can hear theirs, as Sherlock synced their phones together without them noticing so he could talk to them both.

⚙ Melanie is not aware that Sherlock's death was faked and therefore is very grieved by his "death". During this time, she and John often get together to talk, and they grow closer during the two years of Sherlock's hiatus.

⚙ Sherlock is the one who taught Melanie how to deduce and observe, and occasionally she has a breakdown due to sensory overload. He also taught her hand-to-hand combat skills and how to use a gun. She can't stand raised voices or arguments of the violent sort. 

⚙ Melanie often visits Baker Street whenever she feels like venting about her day to Sherlock and John and will sometimes bring her gun along so she can shoot at the wall.

⚙ Melanie is one of the targets Moriarty mentions to Sherlock while on top of St. Bart's. She is also held hostage during their first full confrontation and is traumatized by the event.

⚙ Melanie has a deep suspicion/dislike of Irene.

⚙ Melanie comes home to her flat to find her door unlocked. Thinking someone has broken in, she readies her gun and enters her house to find Sherlock sitting in her living room. When she sees him, she faints due to shock and surprise. She awakens on the couch with Sherlock leaning over her and calling her name. Instinctively, she punches him in the nose and grabs her gun, demanding to know who he is. Even though Melanie denies it for some time, Sherlock eventually manages to convince her that it's truly him. He goes to hug her when she breaks down crying. 

⚙ Melanie is a mixture of both John and Sherlock. She has John's heart and loyalty and Sherlock's brains. She is friendly and kind, but can be stand-offish, cold, and show no mercy all the same. Melanie hates it when innocents are threatened/in the line of fire, and because of this, (amongst other reasons), she has moments where she can feel nothing but pure rage. This side of her scares even Sherlock and Mycroft.

⚙ She sometimes watches Rosie when John is away.

To ensure you have read the rules, comment and submit the password if you want this plot.

BONUS:

So, um, I got a little carried away with the idea of this plot and made some gifs for these two. The small graphic designer part of me is very happy with how these turned out.