Bayley had been right when he said it would be harder to convince my dad to go talk to Sherlock. But with the combined help of Mary and Bayley along with me, he reluctantly agreed. We didn't make arrangements for them to officially sit down, we decided to take a trip to Baker Street.

Dad was the most reluctant to stand before the famous 221B door. Mary and I stood in front of the men, and when Mrs. Hudson opened the door, she looked more than pleased to see us. We handed her Rosie and asked if Sherlock was around. Judging by the very loud violin music we could all clearly hear, he was around.

I took lead up the stairs, with the rest trailing behind me. Mary picked up the rear, just in case either of the men decided to get second thoughts and try to run off. The second I made it to the top step, the violin notes stopped.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important," I stated casually as I went through the one door into the main living room. Sherlock had his back to me, facing one of the windows, violin resting against him. "But then again, anything would seem important to you."

"You clearly don't know me as well as you believe if that's what you think of me. Who else have you brought with you?"

"I think you know." I motioned for the rest of the group to file in. Sherlock's head turned a fraction as the rest went inside. The tension blanketed over the apartment. "The wedding is still going to happen. I know a lot of things were discovered, but it's in the past. I don't want you to stay away, Sherlock, contrary to what they think." I glared at the men, who avoided my eyes. "Mary and I would be glad to leave the three of you alone, but given what I heard Bayley did to you, I can't take that chance."

"You're not a licensed therapist."

"This isn't a session," I said coldly. "This is about taking the steps to forgiveness. So, don't be an ass about this, and try to act civil."

"I always act civil."

I heard Dad scoff under his breath, and I saw Mary slap his arm and give him a pointed look. I looked at the three men expectantly. "Well, go on." I waved at them wildly to start talking. "Nothing gets done if I'm the one talking."

"There's nothing to say," Dad finally spoke. "He used you, Rachel. He broke your heart."

"He didn't," I lied. I had been sore about the breakup and finding out that I had been used as a test subject. It got worse when I found Sherlock used what he learned from our time together on Janine for the Magnussen case. "He didn't break my heart."

"He used you for a case! He manipulated you!"

"Don't say that about him," I got defensive. "Sherlock Holmes is many things, but he's not manipulative."

"I'm also standing right here," Sherlock chimed in, in a clipped tone. By this time, he'd put the violin down and watched us all with pointed, blue-gray eyes. "If you're going to argue about me, at least include me in the argument."

"I've had to put up with your antics for years now," Dad addressed his best friend, "and there were plenty of times where you could have crossed the line. But what you did to Rachel...and then the fact that you two kept it a secret..." He rubbed his face.

"It's a mess," I said sincerely. "Nobody's denying it."

"A mess is an understatement," Bayley grumbled. "It was a freaking disaster. You kept this from all of us, and of all people to hear it from, we had to hear it from Moriarty. Do you know how much that hurt to hear from his mouth? I was waiting for him to say you two were sleeping together next."

My mouth dropped. Okay, we're just letting our anger out. "I would never sleep with that dead son of a bitch! Only insane women would even consider it."

Apparently my answer took Bayley aback. "I wasn't meaning Moriarty."

I winced. A swing and a miss for me. He'd meant Sherlock.

I looked at Mary tiredly. "Want to voice your anger too?"

"Oh, no. Someone has to moderate this," she gestured to the argument. "Unlike your fiancé and your father, I've forgiven you for what happened, Rachel."

"Look, I don't know what else you want me to say," I said, exasperated to Dad and Bayley. "I can't take back what I did, and neither can he. I know saying 'I'm sorry' can't fix things, but you have to know I genuinely mean it. I don't want this to ruin your friendship with Sherlock," I glared at Dad, "and I don't want this to ruin my friendship that I have with him. I know you've forgiven him in the past."

"But those aren't the same situations, Rachel," Dad commented crossly. "He hurt my daughter."

"Yes, thank you for establishing the already known." I crossed my arms. I looked between the three men. "Don't keep dragging me into this, you guys need to duke this out before the wedding. I don't want any fights to break out or murders to happen." I eyed Sherlock for the last bit of the sentence. He just rolled his eyes at me.

"He already knows where I stand," Bayley said gruffly. "But I'll happily remind him again of my position."

"No more punching people."

"You know," Mary interjected quietly, "perhaps you and I should leave, Rachel. Pressing them to talk it out isn't giving results. Let's go visit Mrs. Hudson. We'll be able to hear them if things go bad from downstairs."

I looked at Mary. "Fine." I looked at all three of the men. "I need something to change, no matter how small, okay?"

I followed Mary downstairs to visit Mrs. Hudson, who was currently feeding Rosie. She fed us, too, despite our refusals. She asked me about wedding plans. That was a little bit tough to get through.

"Where are the boys?" she asked after a time.

I pointed upwards. "I boxed them in and I'm trying to make them play nice."

"Do you really think that will work?"

"Considering I made a deal with Dad and Bayley, I'd hope that it works." Mary squeezed my shoulder. Mrs. Hudson looked at me questioningly but she didn't press the subject. My head tilted a little at watching my half-sister. I envied her. She didn't have a care in the world right now.

At times, the commotion upstairs got almost unbearable, but then it would settle down. I was surprised to not hear gunshots or things being broken—which was something I was most grateful for.

But when I heard a loud thump from upstairs, I jumped out of the chair I sat in and bolted up the stairs. I crashed into the room to find Bayley wrestling Dad to the ground while Sherlock was nursing a punch to the face. I sighed loudly.

"I thought you already went through the physical phase?" I groaned irritably.

"How is it alright for you to punch him, but when I do, I get restrained?" Dad protested loudly to Bayley.

"I know when to stop, you look like you don't, John," Bayley told me firmly. I moved in towards Bayley when Dad knocked his elbow into Bayley's face. Dad didn't go for Sherlock again, he sat on the ground, panting.

"I believe all emotions are out on the table now," Sherlock grunted.

"Like you would know what emotions are," Dad spat venomously. "You didn't care when you put Rachel through that hell."

"In all fairness, she wasn't going through hell."

I swore if looks could kill, Dad could obliterate anyone within a ten block radius. "You tricked her. You made her believe..." He was quivering in anger. "You deceived her, Sherlock. To help you on a case."

"And look how well it turned out! Magnussen is gone and no longer a threat!"

"That's not the bloody point!" Dad thundered. His panting was more aggressive now. "You hurt her. You made her hold on to this guilt that I bet only she carried. She kept it to herself all this time...If you hadn't mucked up her life like that, this wouldn't be happening!"

"Go right ahead, John," Sherlock snapped. "Go ahead and blame me for everything that's happened to you and your family." His tone grew softer. "I deserve it. I've put her, you, and your family through it from the moment you spoke to me. It was never intentional, what I did to her." His eyes looked to me, a softness in them. "Please don't make me do a sap speech, Rachel."

"I'm tempted," I said a bit crossly, sighing deeply. "But you can save it. Besides, it's not my forgiveness that you need."

"If we stay here much longer, John might kill him," Bayley murmured to me.

"And you won't? I call that progress."