Awake at 1 am, 3 am and 5 am
(Part 5 of Little Sherlock)
1 a.m.
John woke up to a crying William. He didn't know how long the small boy had been crying and it did not look like he would get any information out of him before the child had calmed down.
"William come here. Tell me what happened." Pulled in John's tight hug William started to sob loudly and between the sobs and the crying he tried to tell John what was wrong. The only thing John could get was that something was wrong with Mr. Bee because the word bee was uttered more than once.
"What is with Mr. Bee? Did he have a nightmare?" Speaking of the toy John tried to locate it so William could cuddle up with it but he couldn't find it.
"NO. He ran away." Okay that was new. "He left me alone like everyone else." More tears. "He disappeared and didn't even say good bye." William buried his face in John's chest again. The toy was missing.
"Are you sure he isn't here somewhere. Maybe he wanted to play hide and seek? Or he was scared and is under the blanket."
"No he is not. I looked under the blanket already. He left me." The desperate child started to talk himself into something bad that John didn't want him to think about it. If William hadn't hidden the toy, there was only one place left where he could be.
"I think he went for an adventure under the bed. Chasing all the bad monsters away for us so that we can sleep in peace." William looked up at him. His puffy red eyes getting a little bit of hope back. "Would you like me to get Mr. Bee back into the bed so he can rest from his nightly adventure?" William nodded and John climbed out of the bed and walked around to William's side and there it was the stuffed bee. It must have fallen and rolled under the bed while William was sleeping. The child hadn't left the bed so he couldn't see it from up there.
"Mr. Bee you need to tell William when you hunt monsters under the bed and you look as if you have not been really successful. Didn't I tell you already that there are no monsters under our bed?" John picked up the toy and placed it in William's hands.
"Mr. Bee you can't run away like that, you are my only friend." A still crying William mess started to nod off as he cuddled with Mr. Bee into John's arms. Less than a minute later he was asleep again, still with tears in his eyes. Poor little Sherlock must have been very lonely as a child.
3 a.m.
"…ohn. John. Wake up John." He opened his eyes to find William looking at him intensely. The light from outside was enough to see each other.
"What is it William? Can't you sleep anymore?" John suppressed a yawn, he was tired and William had just pulled him out of the deepest part of his sleep.
"I'm thirsty John but the glass on the nightstand is empty and I don't want to go downstairs alone. Mr. Bee would have stayed to protect you but now that you are awake you could take us both into the kitchen to get the water." The innocent smile on William's face let John melt. If it had been adult Sherlock then he would have had everything planned to the last second and detail to get John awake and do whatever the mad man needed in that exact moment or was too lazy to do himself. But William was a sweet little child that was a bit afraid of the world and didn't want anyone to feel alone. He would have left Mr. Bee here with John so that if John had woken up he wouldn't have been lonely.
"Okay you little sleep eating monster let's get some water for you." While talking, John attacked William and tickled him until the child couldn't say anything but 'stop' between laughing-fits. John lifted William and carried him and Mr. Bee (never without the yellow-black toy) downstairs. They got a glass of water and when they were upstairs again John sent the child to the toilet to prevent another accident.
Thirst stilled, they could settle into the still warm bed and go back to sleep.
5 a.m.
For the third time that night John was woken up, this time it wasn't a crying William or William calling his name, no it was a scream, a panicked scream that hit him deep in his soul. "William." John called his little friend and shook his shoulder to get the child out of the nightmare he was clearly having. "William wake up. It's just a dream."
William woke up and stayed silent for a long time, long enough to worry John even more. "Are you alright William?" The child looked at him; there were no tears, no crying, just sadness.
"John why does everyone leave me sooner or later? Why doesn't anybody stay with me?" John closed his arms around his little frightened charge and held him tight.
"I will never leave you. I promise. I will always stay by your side. No one can ever take you away from me. And you have Uncle Mycroft who loves you too and would never let you be unprotected. And don't forget all your new friends: Mrs. Hudson, Greg and Molly. Sometimes people have to live at different places and can't see each other that often but if you really are friends, if you feel love for them and they love you back, you will never forget them and never be lonely." The small shaking figure in his arms calmed down and as John looked down at William he watched his eyes close and the boy's hand lose the tight hold on John's pajama top.
Cuddling the boy closer John stayed awake for the rest of the night. In a few hours they would get up and have a lovely day. Maybe they could go to the park or explore the city a bit. The zoo could be something nice too. He would do everything for this child and the same counted for Sherlock. John realized now that the adult version of his friend showed some of the signs too. The fear of losing someone, of John leaving him. And he was also often testing it. Maybe to prove to himself that everyone did leave at some point or to make sure he could give John his friendship because John would always stay.
And that was the truth: John would stay.