Blogger is just another word for
Summary: a self-indulgent piece of fluff: John Watson gets headhunted, in the metaphorical sense of the word.
It had been three years since the last time Mycroft Holmes had seen his brother, but he wasn't at all surprised when Sherlock stormed into his office and demanded, "Where's John?!"
"So good to see you, Sherlock. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yes, yes, I'm sure you pined for my presence. Now, Where. Is. John. Watson?"
"I don't know."
"I don't believe you."
Mycroft wished he were lying. Unfortunately, in this case, he was unhappily aware that the good doctor had managed to slip Mycroft's surveillance team, possibly without even realizing it. The only up-side to the whole affair was being able to rub Sherlock's nose in the loss.
He was able to pull up the pertinent audio file on his phone without ever looking away from Sherlock. He'd kept it on his phone for more than a year, waiting for this occasion. It gave him hope as Sherlock traipsed around the world.
The audio started with Dr. Watson asking, "Who are you?"
"My name is Joe. A friend of mine, a friend of yours, asked me to stop by and make an offer."
"Sherlock?" John sounded so hopeful. Mycroft hoped it cut Sherlock.
"He says you knew him as Pierce Matthews. I don't think he ever went by the name Sherlock."
"Pierce? ... I haven't thought of him in ages. What's he up to?"
"Apparently reading the news, because he's heard that you're at loose ends and have experience keeping a journal on a companion's activities. And he's having rather fraught negotiations with an organization on who gets to keep a journal on his activities."
"I'm not..." John clearly hadn't been sure how to continue that sentence. He trailed off.
"Well, none of us are, either. I'm not, he's not, and you're not, and they only wish they were. But that said, he offered a compromise: I make you an offer, if you say "yes", they pay you to keep track of Pierce and Pierce goes about his life being the insane shapechanger that he is, so who knows where you'll wind up. But you're expected to be armed at all times."
"This doesn't sound like Pierce at all."
"Hmph. I expect not. It also doesn't sound like Adam, or Doc, or any of a number of other names that only pop up years apart from each other. And we really want someone on him for some of those years inbetween."
"... We?"
"Okay, yes, I used to be with them. But I'm not anymore. I'm retired."
"What happens if I say 'no'?"
"Nothing much. I take off and the negotiations either get progressively more complex or stop abruptly as Pierce takes off for parts unknown."
"And if I say, 'yes'?"
"Then I ask you how long does it take to pack a duffle of anything you need for a trip, and you and Pierce take off for parts unknown, except that you stay in email contact and parts unknown become known on at least a semi-regular basis."
"And if I say 'yes' and then change my mind?"
"Then god knows that none of us will be surprised. Although if you give up, you'll be expected to make your own way home."
"Ha!"
"So...?"
"So, give me half an hour."
The audio file ended.
Mycroft narrated the rest, "Half an hour later, they walked out the door. Dr. John Watson and Mr. Joseph Dawson traveled together to France. That was the last anyone has seen John Watson. Much like Pierce Matthews, who traveled to Indonesia two decades ago and just never returned. No missing persons requests ever went out for him either. All his affairs were perfectly in order."
"And Dawson?"
"A week after that recording, Joseph Dawson flew to Seacouver alone."
"He wouldn't have left me. John would not have left me willingly."
"He didn't. You saw to that when you left him. You left him and he apparently decided it was time to move on. If you want your blogger back, you're going to have to find him yourself."