Jogging past a saddened man sitting on the passing bench it took Emma a few seconds to recognise the face. Retracing her steps back she had a last contemplation on what she was about to do before stepping over to the man.
"excuse me? Sorry but um, you're John Watson yes?"
The man hesitated slightly before answering "ur, yes why?" he seemed confused, Emma didn't blame him.
"this is going to sound really weird Doctor Watson but would you care to join me for a walk?"
suddenly Johns face hardened. "are you from the paper? Because I've had enough of you lot trying to make me sell my story, you should know by now that I won't give it!" he questioned anger now lining his voice.
"what? No" Emma assured him "I promise I'm not looking to write a story"
"then why do you want me to walk with you?"
"because I know exactly how you feel"
John was hesitant to talk to the young woman, he had heard enough stories from people about how they had lost their cousin ten years ago and how you have to strive on because blah blah blah, to him it was bullshit. Life without Sherlock was hard and John could barely call it a life, but something about how the girl spoke made him accept.
"why did you get involved in the army?" Emma asked once John had gotten up from the bench and begun to walk alongside her.
"pardon?" John replied, clearly disorientated by the query.
"well, you could have been just a normal doctor but you decided to go to the army, why?"
"W-Well, my family have always been involved in the army, it was sort of a given that I would be going down that path too but I wanted to be a doctor, it was easy enough to do both."
Emma had a look of interest on her face and nodded at his answer. John stopped in place.
"why did you ask me that? You said you know how I am feeling. I thought you were going to start telling me how to cope and then you go and ask me about my career, why?"
Emma smiled at john before continuing down the path, he followed. "I thought it was a better conversation starter than 'how are you coping after the death of your best and closest friend?' but now that it's been brought up I guess-... How are you?"
John almost laughed before sobering "I'm alive aren't I? but everything reminds me of him and every night I see it and it kills me. Repeatedly seeing him jump, seeing his face all bloody and- and- and White" blinking tears back John looks up trying not to cry in such a public place in front of a girl he barely knew.
Emma looking knowingly at John before producing a tissue from her jacket pocket. Taking it, John muttered thanks.
Emma took a breath. "I promise you John that I was telling the truth before, I know exactly how you feel and I know you won't believe me just because I've said it. I also know that you will have had many people tell you about the time their aunt died of a stroke when they were ten, or how twenty years ago a classmate of theirs got cancer and died a week later. Because it's not like that….That's not the way he died."
"so how do I feel then?"
"well sad obviously. But under that there are so many other emotions that sometimes you forget even to cry. Because you're confused. You don't know why they did it, what brought them to do it, whether you could have done anything to stop him. There is anger, because they were selfish, thought the only person it would affect would be themselves. They didn't stop to contemplate how the living would cope with them not being there" John couldn't help but notice that Emma's eyes were watery and her words became more forced with effort.
He looked back at the girl with a sense of pity; she looked to be only nineteen or twenty and here she was being able to perfectly explain how he was feeling about Sherlock's suicide. How did she know? Did she know Sherlock or was this from a past experience? Although feeling a little awkward John found that he had to ask.
"Do-Did you know Sherlock? Or..."
Emma half heartfelt smiled and slowed her pace.
"Yes. I knew him, he was a great man John and I miss him dearly, but he is not who I mourn most. And yet my grief has only lived minutes longer than yours."
John seemed a little surprised "wow... So you're really going through the same thing as me, same stage, same... Type of death?"
"hmm? Oh, yeah. Suicide..."Emma trailed off thinking of how much she should tell the man. 'why not?' she said to herself, they were both hopeless wreaks anyway.
"John I haven't really introduced myself"- She extended her hand towards him " My name is Emma, Emma Moriarty"
Johns eyes widened realising what she meant about there being only mere minutes difference in how long they have both have had to deal with the grief.
"so Jim was your..."
"brother" Emma finished.
"Oh, I can see the resemblance and the way you speak I thought you reminded me of someone."
"Yeah, it's the voice that normally gives it away."
"In my family it was always our posture" they both began to lightly laugh before they heard john's name being called:
"John! John! Over here!"
They turned to see Detective Inspector LeStrade walking over to them
"Greg! Um, Hi, nice see you. How are you doing?"
The smile left gregs face "not too bad I guess. Defiantly not as easy to solve cases nowadays."
John nodded in somber agreement.
"I was just going to go get a coffee, care to join me?" LeStrade then noticed Emma "unless, you're already doing something..." he said a little questioningly.
John looked at Emma who just nodded in reply, not knowing exactly what that meant John replied unsure…
"what? No we're not doing anything, sounds great"
LeStrade again looks at Emma before it clicks with John but Emma is already beginning to Introduce herself
"Hi" she says shaking the inspector detective's hand "I'm Emma Mo-
"My niece!" John cuts in "she's studying at university here in London so she's staying with me till he can find her own place. Nice to have her round good for coping..."
"oh, nice to meet you Emma."
"yep, do you want to tell Greg what your studying?" john pushes as they continue their walk to the nearby cafe.
"Forensics actually," Emma replies confidently. "I'm into my third year"
By the time they get to the cafe, Greg and Emma have struck up a conversation about fingerprint capturing techniques and how the technology is changing.
"see, back when I was studying we had little to no chance of being able to-" LeStrades phone begins to ring before he apologises and answers it.
As he walks away from the table john questions Emma. "were you actually going to tell him that your last name is Moriarty? And why did you have to say forensics?"
"well for one thing, I was going to say Moriard and two, I said I was studying forensics because it's the truth."
"so, wait, you are studying forensics at University?"
"yes, I'm Jim Moriarty's sister, what did you think I would study, teaching?"
"well, no I just"
At this moment LeStrade walks back to the table somewhat embarrassed "hey, look I'm sorry and understand if you can't but I've got to go to a crime scene now where there are some injured people and we can't get a ambulance to them, would you mind coming and taking a look at them?"
"um, I - what about Emma?" John asks obviously hesitant about taking her to a crime scene.
"are you kidding me? She's studying forensics! Think it about time she got some work experience!" LeStrade replied winking at Emma.
"sounds good to me, right John?" Emma asked seeming happy to work on a case. John nodded in agreement before they left the cafe to hail a taxi.
As they arrived at the crime scene John immediately felt a pang of sadness but decided that he had to do this for himself, how was he to ever overcome his grief if he was continuously running from everything that reminded him?
As he walked over to the injured he was surprised to see that Greg pulled Emma along with him but let it pass. She was in good hands.
As he checked on the injured he thought about how his life had a habit of making thinks happen in very short amounts of time and how after knowing her for less than a day John was worried/ happy for Emma to be on this crime scene.
No one had briefed him on what had happened, all he had to go on was where they were and what injuries the people had: cuts, bruises and two gun shots. someone probably stole something by the look of the manor they were stationed in front of.
As he looked at the manor he noticed two people enter and then he realised that it was Emma and another officer. Concern and worry flooded him. Most likely her first ever work experience and they're sending her in to search the home. Turning back to his patients John realised that he missed the work nearly as much as he missed Sherlock.
Suddenly he heard a scream and the sound of a gun being fired.
Immediately he began to run to the door but was stopped by LeStrade "you have to wait a minute, I know it seems right to run in and check on them but it can do more bad than good okay?" John nodded, annoyed that he didn't remember that basic part of military training. Once they had decided it was safe to enter, the sight they found was not good. Emma lay on the ground blood soaking through her shirt but John could tell straight away it wasn't a gunshot wound that injury was from a knife. The victim of the gunshot was found on the other side of the room, later to be found as the thief and attempted killer he was not the man who had cut Emma but no one knew that yet.
As John approached the injured girl he could tell things were not great. Already unconscious and losing alot of blood he would have to work fast. His adrenaline began to pump and he was thrown back into the days of working as an army doctor in Afghanistan.
As the ambulance finally arrived and the fight was over to let John travel with her back, He was feeling the best he had felt in months but because he felt so good he was also guilty because Emma Moriarty was lying unconscious in front of him with a big cut in her torso all because she had decided to comfort him.
