Author Notes: This story has two chapters. Hopefully I will be able to post the second one next week. It's only a short story for now but I am already working on a longer one, so stay tuned.^^
Let me know how you liked it. =)
The Request
"You need to go to prison."
John's head jerked up at the statement and he stared in utter disbelief at Sherlock. His friend who had managed to squeeze all of his overly long limbs into the small space of his armchair and looked like he had just commented on the weather. Though Sherlock never commented on the weather - not if it wasn't case related at least.
"Excuse me," John tried even as his heart pounded madly away in its ribcage. He must have misheard. Sherlock - his best friend - wouldn't suggest that John confessed to one of the countless crimes he had committed in the name of justice and - more often than not - to save his friend's sorry arse. A very attractive arse, mind but this wasn't the point here. No, the point was...
"You need to go to prison," Sherlock repeated himself, a trace of annoyance evident in his voice now. "It's the best solution, really."
"The best... Okay, Sherlock, listen." John leaned forward in his armchair and leveled his deadliest glare at his friend. "I don't know what's gotten into you all of a sudden. Frankly I don't care if you have a moral crisis or if it's some sort of social experiment but I am certainly not going to prison. Neither for saving your life nor that of a client of yours. You never stroke me as the type to feel guilty over something that happened years ago. I know that murder doesn't become time-barred, but..."
"Oh please, John don't be dull." Sherlock had the nerve to role his eyes at him.
John hovered between punching his friend in the face and throwing an ashtray at him. He would have gone for the punching him in the end - the feeling of bare knuckles hitting soft skin was much more satisfying - if Sherlock hadn't hurried to explain himself.
"I don't want you to go to prison for a crime that you have committed but I need you put away in a high security level prison for a couple of weeks - a month maximum."
John blinked, processed the information and then shook his head. "That makes even less sense. Why would you want..."
"For a case. Obviously." Sherlock huffed out an annoyed breath like John was an especially stupid student. "We went over it just minutes ago."
"No, we didn't." John closed the book that still lay on the armrest of his chair and placed it on the table between them. He had the distinct feeling that he wouldn't get around to reading another page today. "You have probably gone over your brilliant plan in this huge Mind Palace of yours but I have no clue as to what you are talking about. We have been over this, Sherlock." Despite the situation an amused smile played around the corner of John's lips. "I can't remember the details of a conversation that has only taken place in your head."
"How inconvenient." If the topic had been anything else John would have laughed at Sherlock's pout - and dreamed about kissing it away later on. As it was he mentally laid out his arguments against going to prison when Sherlock took a deep breath to start his explanation.
"As has been brought to my attention recently a new criminal operation has risen to power in London. So far no one has managed to track down their leaders or figure out how they are organized."
"Moriarty," John blurted out before he mentally slapped himself for this stupid lapse in logic. The criminal mastermind was dead and Sherlock had made sure that no member of his network walked free. John pushed aside the pain and grief this reminder brought with it. They had moved past all the pain and grief. There was no need for dwelling on it when he had forgiven Sherlock for faking his death long ago. Instead John concentrated on the explanation of his friend. God forbid if he missed the part, where he agreed to go to prison for a case.
Sherlock left John's interjection uncommented as he laid down more facts about the case. "I will spare you all the details I have figured out for now - you will be briefed before you are picked up - and cut right to the heart of the matter. I have found out that the organization operates from within Her Majesty's Prison Wakefield but I still have no clue as to how they exchange information and orders. Actually it shouldn't be possible and yet... it is. Therefore..."
"You want me to infiltrate the HM Prison Wakefield, the largest high security prison in the whole of western Europe which is filled to the brink with the scum of this planet?!" It didn't sound better when John spoke it out loud.
Sherlock for his part though didn't even bat an eyelid at his exclamation. "I'm almost certain that the men we are looking for have neither molested children nor raped and tortured countless women. In fact I believe that they are in this prison of their own free will. It's the perfect place to lead a criminal organization from if you have figured out how to get your information in and out. No one will look for a criminal mastermind in prison."
"No one but you," John murmured to himself and earned a beaming smile from Sherlock.
"Exactly! So, now that you see how important this operation is let's get down to business and..."
"No! Stop!" John couldn't stop the panic that crept into his voice as Sherlock jumped to his feet and grabbed his phone. His friend had too good connections to the government - aka Mycroft - for John to let this exclamation go. If he didn't put his foot down now he would probably wake up in a cell next to a serial rapist. "I'm not going! Not even if the peace of the world depended on it," John added harshly, when Sherlock opened his mouth to protest. "I will not be imprisoned with murderers, rapists and child molesters on the off chance to dismantle a criminal organization."
"You are unreasonable, John." With a huff and an annoyed pout on his lips - which would have been adorable otherwise - Sherlock fell back into his armchair. "The men we are looking for are neither of these things. Admittedly they have probably killed and planned the murder of numerous people but..."
"You are telling me that it would be easy for me to do this job because our men aren't rapists?!"
Either Sherlock had lost his mind or he had put more than his usual amount of nicotine patches on his arm. There was no other explanation for his satisfied nod. Well there was but... No, John didn't want to believe that this was part of his friend's plan. That he would willingly endanger John in this manner just to... No, certainly even Sherlock had his limits as to what he would risk to solve a case. He wouldn't put John in harms way - not like this at least - not after everything they had been through and...
"Shall I just share the shower with them every day and keep count of the men who don't rape me?!" He needed to understand. If this was part of Sherlock's plan because of John's history then it would be wise to part ways with his best friend. It didn't matter that cutting Sherlock out of his life would hurt like hell but John wasn't willing to live with someone who would use this part of him as a trump card.
"And you call me a drama queen."
If Sherlock sighed once more like he was a put out teacher then John would happily split his lips. To hell with the wisdom behind The Woman's words.
"You are a competent fighter and even if one or two men try something, I'm certain that you can hold your own. As soon as word gets around that you are a tough one - better break a few bones - then they will leave you alone. It's not like in this American movies you love to watch. They won't all line up to..."
"Yes, they will." John's voice dripped with bitterness as he met Sherlock's confused gaze with a sardonic smirk. "I believe you that you can't imagine how bad it would get." Because John had realized a long time ago that Sherlock was more than a little naive when it came to anything sexual. Besides, John had learned how to recognize when his friend was honestly confused which he was right now. "But what do you think a bunch of hundreds of men - cooped up for years or even for life - will do to a trans man that has never had bottom surgery?!"
"I... They... what?"
John almost laughed at Sherlock's perplexed look... almost. Honestly had his friend forgotten to take into consideration that these men - these monsters - wouldn't see John as one of them. That they wouldn't recognize him as a man but see him as a woman? Even worse that they would believe him to be a piece of meat with three holes for their cocks to use. A shudder ran through his body at the thought. John had to suppress the urge to retch as he imagined how they would come onto him - calling him bitch, freak and whore - while they touched him and...
"I didn't know." Sherlock's voice cut through the imaginary pictures that swirled through his head and he gaped at his friend in disbelief. "You didn't know that such scum wouldn't consider me a man or..."
"I didn't know that," Sherlock gestured helplessly in John's direction. "I never noticed."
"You... you never noticed that I'm transgender?" It sounded ridiculous when spoken out loud but before John could laugh at the absurdity of it his friend nodded.
"No, it never occurred to me." Sherlock's face was pinched as the words were forced out of his mouth.
"But I thought... your deductions... right from the start." Obviously now it was John's turn to stutter but he had more than enough reason for it. After all it didn't happen every day that some fundamental truth you had always considered unshakable was suddenly torn apart. Like how John had believed that Sherlock had always known about John's gender identity and accepted it... accepted him. It had never been true. Sherlock hadn't known and therefore... John had just come out to him in an unspeakable clumsy way.
All the color drained from his face as he recalled how he had revealed the state of his genitals to his best friend. Of course at this point he had still believed that Sherlock had already deduced every last one of his secrets. Now though the experience ranked embarrassing than the one time his Grandma had caught him training to pee against a tree while standing up.
"Sherlock," John began unsure how they were supposed to proceed from here but his friend held up his hand and got up from his armchair to slump down on the couch in his preferred position. "I need to think about this, John. Do you understand?"
Yes, he did. Everyone of his friends and family members - to whom he had come out - had needed to think about it before they had either accepted or rejected him. John understood that some people needed time to wrap their heads around what being transgender meant but... Somehow he had hoped that Sherlock would be different. A large part of him had believed that his friend would merely nod at John in acceptance and then they could move on with their lives at 221b. Still, if Sherlock needed some time to process the news then John would give it to him. Nevermind that cold dread settled in his chest at the possibility of losing his best friend forever once Sherlock re-emerged from the depths of his Mind Palace.
OOO
"I'm sorry."
John snapped out of his thoughts at Sherlock's voice. He had gone over every possible scenario as to how his friend would react to revelation after Sherlock had got some time to deal with it. As it was, an apology from Sherlock hadn't featured in any of these scenarios. John turned slowly to meet Sherlock's gaze. Blue eyes were filled with guilt and regret as they met his and John swallowed hard as he tried - and failed - to find an explanation for this look that didn't mean the end of their friendship.
"What are you sorry for?"
Somehow John still managed to force the question out although he already feared to know the answer to it. It was extremely likely that Sherlock was apologizing because he couldn't imagine to be friends with him any longer. He wouldn't be the first to turn his back on John after he had come out to them. In fact Harry and he had been estranged long before his sister had started to call a bottle her best friend. She had never accepted that John was her brother - although she had pretended fairly well when Clara had been around. If it hadn't been for their shared genetics John doubted that they would have stayed in contact after she had moved away from home. Maybe she had only treated him with such disdain because while their parents had accepted that John was transgender they had given her a hard time for being a lesbian..To this day John hadn't understood how his father could have bought him his first binder but had forbidden Harry from spending time with her girlfriend. It was strange how the mind of people worked. Taking into consideration how unique Sherlock's brain was it shouldn't come as a surprise to John that his friend reacted differently than he had anticipated.
"I'm sorry that I pushed you to a point at which you were forced to come out to me although you clearly didn't want me to know."
John was wholly unprepared for both the words and the hurt that resonated in Sherlock's voice. Therefore it took him three attempts of opening and closing his mouth before anything came out of it. "Why wouldn't I want you to know?"
Sherlock sighed in exasperation. "Because you didn't tell me before."
The Obviously went without saying and John was at a loss of words. The events of the day seemed to have robbed him of the ability to form coherent sentences.
"You don't trust me and I can't even blame you after everything that I put you through. It's fine," Sherlock added in a resigned voice. "I can try to delete this knowledge about you if it makes you feel better."
"No!" In an instant John was out of his armchair and had crossed the distance to the couch. He crouched in front of it to be level with Sherlock's pained gaze. "I don't want you to delete anything."
"But why?"
Sherlock was rarely out of his depths but the pleading look in his eyes made it clear that he needed John to explain himself. As brilliant as Sherlock was emotions still tended to stump him and it was John's job to interpret them for him in such situations. Especially now that John was partly responsible for the confusion.
"Because I trust you." It was that simple. John had always trusted Sherlock otherwise none of their crazy adventures would have taken place. John didn't dress up like a ninja for just everyone. He had his pride too.
Obviously though it was a too simple statement as Sherlock still looked lost.. "But you didn't tell me."
"No." John sighed quietly. "I didn't tell you because I believed that you already know."
"I got that but... how does this translate to you trusting me?"
A small smile curved up John's lips as he took Sherlock's hand in his without even second-guessing himself. This question was easy to answer. "I never reminded you not to tell anyone or not to treat me like a woman, did I?"
Annoyance flickered for a brief moment over his friend's features. "Of course not. Otherwise you wouldn't have taken me by surprise today."
"That's because I always trusted you, Sherlock." A low chuckle fell from John's lips. "I trusted you to understand who I am and to treat me with respect. I was sure that you would never out me to anyone without my permission. I never doubted that you saw me as the man that I am."
John didn't get a chance to hold his breath at this part when Sherlock jumped right in. "And I will never see you as anything but a man."
John beamed. He couldn't help himself, the biggest and brightest smile took over his whole face as he looked into Sherlock's honest eyes and saw an answering smile spread over his friend's features.
It was the perfect moment. The moment that was included in most Hollywood movies. The moment after a big revelation when the two heroes had overcome all obstacles and they were finally free to confess their love to each other by sharing an unrealistic perfect kiss. And because it was just this moment and John felt himself lean towards Sherlock, Lestrade's footsteps sounded on the stairs and the brilliant detective jumped from the couch like someone had pressed a secret button. It was by pure luck that he didn't break John's nose with his elbow in the process as he hurried in the direction of his bedroom to get properly dressed.
John shook his head, an amused smile on his lips - some things would never change - and got to his feet to great the Detective Inspector when Sherlock's voice echoed through the flat.
"You don't need to go to prison by the way, Mycroft will handle it and I won't forget anything from today."
John laughed to himself as Lestrade looked at him with confused expression on his face. Leave it to Sherlock to pack a whole lot of information and meaning into two short sentences. Some things truly would never change, while others... might.
John certainly understood Sherlock's last statement as a promise although he would undoubtedly have to wait until the conclusion of the next case before anything would happen. But John could wait as long as he knew that the ultimate outcome would be a positive one. And of that he was certain.
John gestured for the DI to sit and wait - until Sherlock reappeared - to tell them of their newest case.
