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]

[John has to fight hard not to slap a hand to his forehead. He halfway slips back into his own ]

Think you might want to rest a bit, Moll... Molly Hooper. Ms. Hooper. [He clears his throat and licks his lips from behind the mask.] We'll take your full statement once we've got you set up with a bed somewhere and see your arm's taken care of.

[gallowshumour]

[That was a terrible cover for his slip, and the paramedic slides a look his direction that says he's noticed something is amiss, though he doesn't mention it for now.]

The officer is right, you need to get some rest. You're lucky to have not got more hurt, so just take it easy and we'll take care of you now. Officer? If you go to the third floor reception, they'll be able to tell you what room Ms. Hooper will be taken to after any X-Rays and surgery is complete.

[The ambulance is already pulling into the docking bay of the hospital, fast around traffic with the siren going. Doors opening and Molly's gurney being wheeled off.]

own accent*

[jumpthegun]

Thanks, mate. Sir. [Paramedic. John's just going to shut up and carefully exit the ambulance. He supposes he's fairly safe here, in terms of people recognizing him, so he pulls the mask off, even though he leaves the forensics gear on as he heads in and up to the reception.

He texts Sherlock as he goes and waits in line.]

TO: SHERLOCK
FROM: JOHN

M at H now. XRs, getting R#.

[He hopes it's clear enough to Sherlock and cryptic enough to anyone who might be intercepting their messages. At reception he greets the woman there with his most charming smile.]

Hullo, Detective Johnson, New Scotland Yard. There's a woman who was just brought in through the emergency room with a broken arm. Not sure if she's been processed, yet. She'll turn up as Molly Hooper. Hoping to get her room number.

Re: own accent*

[gallowshumour]

[The nurse behind the reception counter smiles back. She knows it's probably just manners, but she's not going to sniff at a handsome smile from a police officer. What girl doesn't love a man in uniform, after all?]

Right, I'll just check that for you.

[As she taps away at the keyboard, a text comes in on John's phone.]

FROM: SHERLOCK
TO: JOHN

Noted. Lestrade arrived and I am currently hiding from him in a body bag, those fools never think to check the obvious places. Estimated time to arrival at the hospital at an hour.

SH.

[The nurse refreshes her system a couple of times and then makes a small 'ah' noise as she finds the right file.]

Ms. Hooper is being taken in to surgery now to reset the bones on her arm, she'll be in ward 6, room C when she comes out. You're welcome to wait in there, or you can head to the cafeteria and give me your mobile number, and I can call you when she's out?

[jumpthegun]

Is that your way of asking for my mobile number?

[John grins and winks at her.]

I'll head on over to the ward. Might see you on the way out, though. Thanks.

[Might as well curry favor while he can. He might be beating a hasty retreat if and when Lestrade catches wind of them. He technically has his meeting with Jim, still. If that's even on anymore. A part of him absolutely wants to rub it in the bastard's face (and Caroline's for that matter) that their plan didn't work. They were out-smarted by someone they underestimated. Just like Caroline had underestimated Jake and his ability to remain relatively conscious while bleeding out on a rather insane vehicle escape from an active shooter with military training.

John finds the appointed ward and sends the information off to Sherlock. He can't imagine Sherlock will actually get to the hospital before Lestrade and his team realize there's something amiss with "Johnson."

Now it's the waiting game. Although...]

FROM: JOHN WATSON
TO: JIM MORIARTY

Are we still on for that meeting at your office? Or are your hands tied up with other things?

[He shouldn't antagonize, but he can rationalize it as pumping the man for more information. And seeing if he's still free or if he's been taken into custody.]

[gallowshumour]

[The ward has six beds in it, but only one of the other beds has anyone in it. A middle aged woman with a cast on one leg, who's fast asleep and snoring quite loudly. Other than that, there's just John and the quiet hum of hospital machinery in the background.

He gets a message back almost at once.]

FROM: JIM MORIARTY
TO: JOHN WATSON

This is an automated message. I'm sorry, but I'm unavailable right now, someone will be in touch soon to organise a rescheduled appointment.

[It doesn't take too long after that before Molly is being brought in, a cast on her arm and slightly dopey from the medication. But she still zeroes in on John and gives him a relieved smile when she sees him. Before her face falls just a bit and she looks around the room.]

Where's Sherlock?

[jumpthegun]

[There's a vicious sort of satisfaction in seeing that message. John tries not to think about how happy he is to make someone else's life difficult for a change.

He smiles when he sees Molly, and that expression on flickers for a moment at her question. Well, at least they know she's herself after all of that.]

He'll be along in about forty-five minutes. He's still back at the crime scene, trying to avoid Lestrade. What happened when you went to that house, Molls? The last text message I got said you were moving closer.

[gallowshumour]

I did something stupid.

[Her face falls, perhaps more penitent than he should be because of the medication lowering his inhibitions.]

I peeped through the window and I saw guns, I thought if I took pictures then we could take them to the police. But I forgot to take the flash off my phone, so they all saw me. Guess I'm not a good detective after all.

[jumpthegun]

Mistakes happen, Molly. [His tone is gentle.] Sherlock makes them, too, y'know? Nearly got himself strangled a couple of times with some acrobat that was part of a drug cartel out of China. Mistakes don't mean you're a bad detective, just that you're human.

[He reaches out to squeeze the hand for her unbroken arm.]

You avoided being blown up by a bomb. If that's not quick thinking, I dunno what is. Did Jim say anything to you when they took you? Or Caroline? Did you see her? She's missing a finger on her right hand.

[gallowshumour]

Yeah, I saw her. She doesn't seem like she's stable, she was arguing with Jim about going off script to what she wanted to do. I didn't see how it turned out, I got hit on the back of the head by someone and woke up in the crematorium.

[All of this and barely anything useful to show for it. She gratefully squeezes his fingers right back.]

I feel so stupid.

[jumpthegun]

[Caroline Matthews is the definition of unstable.]

Of course he's going off script. [That's mostly muttered to himself. Jim is interested in Sherlock, not John. That much is clear. But if there's dissension within the ranks, maybe that will hinder anything else Caroline tries to do.]

Don't. It is what it is, right? I've been kidnapped before, too, y'know? That Chinese gang. We were stupid, having you go off on that stakeout alone. Why don't you just rest now, Molls? Sherlock might be here when you wake up. And you might remember a bit more, yeah?

[gallowshumour]

[It's actually really comforting to have him here calling her Molls, making her feel as if maybe she didn't cock up quite as badly as she thinks she did. She reaches out with her unbroken arm to take his hand without thinking, giving it a squeeze.]

You're a good friend, John.

[She's glad they got to know each other better, even if it was because of all of this horribleness.]

You should sleep too, your back must still be painful.

[jumpthegun]

[He's not going to be sleeping, but he'll lie for her this once to put her mind at ease.]

And you're a very brave and clever one. I'll see if I can't kip on one of the empty beds in here, or find a better chair out in the hall. I really wish they could've blown up the flat later, rather than at the beginning of all this. Bloody inconvenient.

[howdull]

[She doesn't mean to, but Molly drifts off in the middle of his reassurances, the medication and the leftovers from surgery making her too drowsy to do anything else. She has a vague notion that it's sweet of John to lie to her, but it's here and gone in a few moments.

Sherlock arrives only an hour later, sweeping in the door with a dramatic swish of his long coat. There's a pinched worry around his eyes that he can't quite hide, even though he sounds as put together as ever.]

Did she see anything useful while she was taken?

[jumpthegun]

[John's spent the time just hunched over in his chair, eyeing Molly's vitals and remaining close to her, looking for any other clues on her that might be helpful. He has one hand over top of hers when Sherlock walks in, but quickly pulls it away. He stands with a wince and moves over to the other man so he can speak low and avoid waking the woman up.]

Trouble in paradise. She heard Jim and Caroline arguing about him going off script.

[howdull]

Really? That's interesting, and could be possibly used to our advantage, especially for the brief period that Moriarty remains in custody.

[Driving a wedge between them and separating off Caroline can at least take one stream of their joint problems away.]

What exactly was said?

[jumpthegun]

Um... [He looks over at Molly's prone, sleeping form.]

She couldn't hear that well and with the medicine kicking in, I... didn't ask her for all the details.

[howdull]

[Really?! His expression falls into something disappointed, but he just shrugs.]

I suppose it's unfair to expect you to be capable of doing my job.

[jumpthegun]

[For just a moment, John feels a part of himself cringe in shame. What was he doing? The case was important and he should have interrogated Molly more. But she's just been through so much. Is it really fair to throw everything at her? Everything and more.]

She's just been through a traumatic experience. She needed rest and I thought you'd want the information direct.

[howdull]

Studies show that sleep can degrade the memory of immediate details, it would have been better to question her before her operation if possible.

[He really is disappointed, John's been getting better at learning how to deduce and ask questions, but this is a big backslide. Perhaps it's because of his exhaustion and the pain he's still in?]

I doubt she'll be awake for a while yet, it might be for the best to check in yourself and get sorted. You're obviously not functioning at your best.

[jumpthegun]

[John bristles almost immediately, his embarrassment falling away for irritation.]

I'm not checking myself in. What the hell was the point of avoiding the police if I do that?

[He's still pretty sure that Lestrade's going to cuff him to a hospital bed if he actually gets hold of him.]

[howdull]

Lestrade would have had you arrested, the doctors will only want to treat you. You're becoming less useful the longer you remain untreated.

[Harsh, but he's not even thinking about how blunt his words are.]

[jumpthegun]

I'm not checking in. Drop it. Unless you'd like to check yourself in for your sudden and unpredictable seizures.

[howdull]

They're not affecting my ability to tackle this case at my full capability.

[Whereas John, on the other hand, is obviously growing less useful by the day.]

[jumpthegun]

I made one mistake because I care, not because I'm in pain, Sherlock. Drop it. Now.