For John Watson

[howdull]

[Sherlock is still finding pieces of the melted laptop in the carpet.

It had actually been quite an ingenious booby trap to be devised by a fourteen year old boy with only household chemicals to work with but, as Sherlock surmised, rather overkill to keep his mother from finding his extensive porn collection. Not one of their more illustrious cases, but it had been quite entertaining to watch both the boy and mother's faces as he revealed that he did know the how and why. He lost interest after the mother started shouting and John started shouting and the whole thing turned tedious.

He rather thinks John won't actually be doing a full write-up of this one on his blog.

It's been two days since their last case and he's beginning to get more than a little antsy. Lestrade has sent him nothing, just a boring hit and run that he refused to even leave the flat for, and nobody interesting has appeared through the blog. Said blog he is currently scrolling through on John's laptop, having borrowed it again.

He did ask, it's not his fault John hadn't been in the room at the time.]

Bored, John.

[He doesn't even know if his flatmate is even in, but that's hardly a necessity for him to actually speak to John. Frustrated, he throws the laptop across the room to hit the wall, where it summarily breaks. Which is where he can be found whenever John appears, sulking amidst pieces of laptop, both from the melted one of their last case and John's poor broken one.]

Comments

[jumpthegun]

[There's a girl. John nods approvingly to Molly.]

She's staying because Jim is just as much a danger to her as he is to you. You heard how he talked to her this morning. [Yesterday morning, but close enough.] She has some equipment she said might be helpful, too. And you're already on the floor, so clearly you're comfortable there.

[John kneels down and, without preamble, proceeds to check Sherlock's pockets for his phone and SIM card so that he can wed the two together again.]

What did you even find out following after his car? Anything?

[howdull]

[Sherlock doesn't react at all, allowing John to rummage in his pockets if he wants. He'll find the phone and SIM in his left front trouser pocket. The fact that he drops the subject of Molly should be enough to give his implicit understanding and permission for her to stay. He doesn't, after all, want her to get hurt.]

A few things.

[He doesn't sound as though any of them are particularly interesting, they're all just pieces of an overall puzzle.]

He knows Mycroft, or has at least met with him before. I saw the house where Caroline Matthews is staying. And he's left handed. That's about it before Lestrade showed up and forcefully demanded to take over, so I'm sure any further clues have been completely missed.

[jumpthegun]

Wait, you know where Caroline is? [John's eyes widen.] Did you tell Lestrade? Are they staking it out to bring her in? I can ID her. Getting that-- If we can get her, then we have have her talk to the general investigating my case. We can get that sorted out as soon as she confesses.

[howdull]

Of course I didn't tell Lestrade, he would have done exactly what you suggested and bring her in. No, this is bigger than her now, I don't want to risk scaring off Moriarty.

[Leaving the smaller fish to catch the bigger fish, at least for now.]

I'm certain that he's got a much larger hand in this than we might previously have thought.

[jumpthegun]

[Irritation builds, spiking up higher than it really should for Sherlock just being Sherlock.]

Scaring him off might stop him trying to murder the people around me. The people around us. Did you think of that? Caroline can point to him as an accomplice, and they can bring him in, as well.

[howdull]

Don't be stupid, John. As soon as she's arrested, he'll distance himself completely. If he can successfully pose as a lawyer in a military base, he'll have a number of aliases and alibis to keep him free of police custody.

[He knows it's a risk that Caroline might go after someone else, but he's confident in his ability to stop that.]

Forget her, she's secondary now.

[jumpthegun]

She murdered my sister!

[It comes out much louder than intended.]

That homophobic-! [John manages to clamp down, but the rage is still there, just silent.]

[howdull]

[He finally sits up, paling slightly as he does so, and frowns slightly up at John.]

Secondary, but not forgotten, perhaps I used the wrong words. We will bring her to justice, but Moriarty could be a lead to something much bigger with many more lives at stake.

[jumpthegun]

[John doesn't want to be logical and coldly calculated about this. He just wants that woman locked up and the charges against him dropped. Jim is a bastard and they can find another way to pin him. He impersonated a lawyer to get into a confidential meeting on a military base. The General would be able to confirm his identity as easily as John or Molly. It might be something small, but that could be used, even if conspiracy to commit murder charges don't hold up.

All of that runs through John's head, but he can't articulate it at the moment, too frustrated and angry in a way he knows he shouldn't be to put it in a way that won't have Sherlock immediately dismissing it. After staring at Sherlock for several seconds, he turns on his heel and heads back to the door.]

Going out. Back in a few minutes. Stay here, Molly.

[This isn't exactly the best neighborhood to take a stroll in at this time of night and John's still tired, still worried about Sherlock, especially after that blanch. He can't express himself right now, though, and he's just going to yell at Sherlock if he can't unwind. A little fresh air to clear his thoughts and it should be fine with Molly there.

Molly, for her part speaks up once John's slammed the door closed. She's feeling a little bolder lately, and maybe a touch protective after the last few days.]

Sherlock, his life is falling apart and you almost died. If there's a way to fix it, you need to tell the police.

[howdull]

[Sherlock genuinely doesn't understand John's irritation in this matter, it's not like he's said they should allow Caroline to go forever. She'll still face justice for what she did to John's sister, but surely he could see that allowing her a few days more freedom for the sake of catching someone potentially much more dangerous was the right course of action?

He huffs and pushes up to his feet, swaying very slightly, and turns to look properly at Molly. Sometimes he can't help but be surprised when she speaks, very few people are unpredictable to him, but she is some of the time. Perhaps it's why she's become vaguely important to him.]

I will, but at the right time.

[Why is he explaining this again?]

The risk is worth it, James Moriarty is more dangerous than we could imagine, I'm sure of it. We have to catch him.

[jumpthegun]

Why? Why isn't there another way to catch him? He's jumping at shadows, Sherlock, he hasn't even had a chance to visit his sister's graveside. You just barged in on the funeral- [Molly cuts off, realizing she's going too far. Who had turned up at that funeral with Jim in tow?

The guilt is gnawing at her, as well. The person most responsible for all this is probably her, bringing Jim into their lives.

She chews her lip before continuing more meekly.]

Neither of you are going to get a good night's rest this way. He's talking about alphabets. E is for Eye? He said something about that on the way back.

[howdull]

[For Eye? That seems an unusual choice, unless John believes that Caroline intends to blind him in order to take away his ability to both be a doctor and to shoot a gun, two things which he knows John believes give him intrinsic worth.]

I will make certain that Caroline doesn't commit any more crimes in the meantime, but this is our best chance to learn more about Moriarty and bring him down. A few more days of restlessness is a small price to pay.

[Why is he the only one that sees this?]

[jumpthegun]

[Molly's not so sure.]

How are you going to make certain? You couldn't stop her kidnapping you.

[And now he's even weaker, nearly dead yesterday, might suffer seizures for the rest of his life.]

[howdull]

[His lips turn down slightly at being reminded of that particular failure.]

You or John must tail her at all times, preferably you as I work better with John. Actually, if you could head out now then that might alleviate John's concerns when he returns.

[jumpthegun]

[She's being asked to help with a case! Molly's more than a little excited by the prospect, especially if it will ensure that no one else dies. But there's a small problem here.]

Um... what about sleeping?

[howdull]

Must you sleep?

[What is it with normal people and things like sleep and food, can't anyone prioritise except him?]

[jumpthegun]

[Molly ducks her head, looking and feeling ashamed. But she can't just tell him no, she'll forego all sleep. She's not John. She knows she can't run herself into the ground or she won't be any use to anyone.]

Do you have, um... is there anyone else? Maybe we could do shifts!

[howdull]

I suppose so.

[He could send one or two of his homeless network along to tail Moriarty for a while, they won't do anything stupid like run to the police and a few owe him quite large failures.]

You can go now, I'll call you in four hours to find out where you are and send a replacement.

[jumpthegun]

[Molly checks her watch and bites her lip. She'd prefer to wait until John is back to say goodbye.]

Where am I going?

[She hasn't exactly been given an address for Caroline. Unless she's meant to go stakeout Jim's place?]

WHOOPS I meant Caroline and not Moriarty, gdi self

[howdull]

15 Aberavon Road.

[He doesn't bother to give more explanation than that, she can find it using her phone as a sat-nav, or take a cab if she doesn't want to drive.]

...well? What are you waiting for? Now, Molly.

[jumpthegun]

O-okay! [She all but jumps up. What is it about Sherlock that makes her like this? But she's very much hoping this will help John, too... even if it means losing some sleep.

Molly heads for the door.

It's ten minutes later that John returns, feeling more level.]

Where's Molly?

[If Sherlock just kicked her out, John might need to go for another walk...]

[howdull]

[When John returns, it'll be to the unusual sight of Sherlock scarfing down food. There are already four Mars Bar wrappers next to him, and he's in the middle of pushing the fifth into his mouth. He chews and swallows before answering.]

She's gone to stake out Caroline, so you can relax now that she's being watched and is unable to cause any more death or destruction.

[See, John? He has this all under control.]

[jumpthegun]

You sent Molly Hooper to stake out a psychopath who shot some random kid in the stomach just for giving me a ride?

[And all right, that's food, but that's not real food.]

She's a pathologist, Sherlock, not a bloody detective!

[John pulls out his phone, ready to text Molly and call her back where it's safe.]

[howdull]

She's perfectly capable of sitting in her car and watching a house, probably even of driving said car to follow Caroline if she leaves. Don't be so dramatic, I didn't ask her to break in and arrest the woman single-handed.

[He glances around, but finding no more Mars Bars, he starts on a small bag of skittles instead. He won't stop John from calling or texting Molly if he wants to, though he doesn't think it will do any good.]

[jumpthegun]

And if Caroline decides she's going to sneak around and jump the untrained, unarmed woman in the car?

Bloody hell, would you just order real food and stop eating junk?