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]

[The question is enough of a non-sequitur that it draws John momentarily from his black mood to one of confusion.]

Late 20s, I think. Why?

[John supposes he should have actually taken note of Sherlock's birthday on his hospital cuff. There had been more pressing issues.]

[gallowshumour]

Mm, that's what I thought, too.

[She shoots him a sidelong look.]

How many late 20 year olds do you know that need a babysitter?

[jumpthegun]

[He clicks his tongue.]

One, at least. He was kidnapped and nearly murdered, Molly.

[gallowshumour]

Which would have happened even if you were watching like a hawk, John, he's Sherlock. He finds ways to do things even when everyone says he shouldn't, if he thinks he should, and you can't put that on your shoulders. If something has-- if he's not okay now, that is not because you took a nap, and you know it.

[Okay, she meant to lead round to that more gently, but there we go.]

[jumpthegun]

[Really, though. When did Molly Hooper become a bloody mind-reader? John supposes he's a bit obvious in this instance, though.]

I know. I just... could've done more. Probably would've been with him, too, if I hadn't gone off on Jim and he walked out before me.

[gallowshumour]

Hindsight is always 20/20, but you're not his keeper.

[If he weren't so hurt then she might be tempted to give him a clip round the ear for being so stupid.]

Now close your eyes and sleep, there's still at least three hours to London and you need it.

[jumpthegun]

[It is, perhaps, just a little wrong that he finds Molly ordering him about like that to be attractive. Only a bit. In this context. There's nothing he can do right now and being told to be sensible, relax, and sleep is what any good friend would do. John decides not to dwell on it overly much.

He sets his phone in the cupholder between his and Molly's seats.]

Wake me up if that goes off for anything, please.

[John thinks he's a little wired to be actually sleeping, and really, this is just going to ruin him for sleeping through the night, but it's not long before he's falling into a light doze once more, leaning against the door.]

[gallowshumour]

[Molly heaves an almost silent sigh of relief when she's obeyed without any further argument, and even starts to feel quite pleased with herself as she drives on. She didn't handle that too badly. Awesome!

The traffic is a bit better heading back to the city, and it's just before midnight when they pull up outside Sherlock's flat in Shepherd's Bush. She reaches out and gently taps him on his good shoulder.]

John-- John, we're here.

[jumpthegun]

[John starts awake, hand snapping up to grab her forearm. He comes out of the haze a moment later and releases her, regretting the sharp motion.]

Sorry. What? Right.

[He blinks around and then reaches for his phone before getting out. John checks for messages as they're walking toward the flat, desperately hoping that the place will contain Sherlock and that he'll be in good health.]

[howdull]

[It doesn't look good, there are no messages on the phone and the flat looks uninhabited when they approach. The front door is open slightly and all of the lights are off.

But Sherlock is, in fact, there.

He's laid out on the floor with his eyes closed and his hands laced on his chest, deep in thought, without any seeming knowledge or care to the panic he's caused.]

[jumpthegun]

[The torch on John's keyring comes into use as they enter the dark flat. When the little beam of light falls on a leg, the doctor's heart stops. Panning up, though.]

You bastard...

[The words are muttered, and he moves to find the light switch, hoping that might work. If not, it's going to be a very dark get-together.]

[howdull]

[The light switch absolutely works, Sherlock just came in when it was still vaguely light and couldn't be bothered to get up and turn the light on when full night fell.

He opens one eye and then closes it again.]

Finally, where have you been all this time? A taxi should have got you back hours ago.

[jumpthegun]

Money, remember? Cabs like that sort of thing in advance when they're coming that far out. [He blows out a breath and pockets his keys before stepping fully inside, and motioning to Molly.] We have a guest, so behave. You can take the bed for tonight, Molly.

[Honestly, with his ribs and Sherlock nearly dying, one of them probably should, but chivalry.]

We have an appointment with Jim tomorrow--today--at 11:30. What happened to your phone?

[howdull]

[He frowns over John's shoulder at Molly, who gives him an awkward wave and perches on the end of the bed.]

Why would Molly stay here? She has a flat of her own, and there's only one bed as it is, that's highly impractical. If it's a case of money for petrol, I'll supply it.

[Molly looks a little downcast, before squaring her shoulders.]

You think that's the most important bit of that to talk about, Sherlock? John and I have been worried out of our minds about you, the least you could do is say sorry and tell us what did happen to your phone.

[Sherlock blinks, taken aback by the usually diffident Molly standing up to him.]

I turned it off and took the SIM card out, it kept beeping at inopportune moments.

[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.