For the first time in a almost a month, Dr. John Watson was having a nice, clam, peaceful moment. He wasn't sitting around being depressed, he was talking (More like listening) to someone on the phone telling him how sorry they were, or worrying about anything at mattered in this or his world.
What he was doing was sitting in his chair, sipping a nice cup of hot tea, simply enjoying the moment, however long it would last.
It had been nearly a month since Sherlock's suicide- sorry, no murder. After Sherlock jumped they found his phone and Moriarty's body on the rooftop of St. Bart's. That was all the proof John needed to be sure that Sherlock didn't commit suicide. For the first week John was depressed, he didn't talk to anyone, he did eat, but only small portions. While he did have a few nightmares, they went away after they found the Moriarty's body, which to John was motivation and hope that maybe Sherlock, somehow, had a plan.
He only started talking to people once again at Sherlock's funeral. There wasn't a large amount of people there, but more came than he had originally expected. Apparently, some of the officers down at The Scotland Yard still respected Sherlock for the many lives he saved.
During the second week things got a little better. John was still very down, but he wasn't as depressed. He started working at the clinic again, but only for a few hours. Mrs. Hudson would help clean the house once a week, (usually it was when John was at work) and every so often she would invite John over for dinner. Although he didn't really want to be around people, he knew it would be good for him so he tried to make the best of all their little meals together. Lestrade had started going to a pub with John on the weekends. They would talk about anything and everything. Although Lestrade normally tried to avoid talking about Sherlock, he did get John to open up a bit about him (after his 5th beer).
Molly would sometimes pop by a give a quick 'Hello!' and a 'How are things going?' John would give a sigh, of course Molly knew how things were going, but somehow John felt that somehow that her popping by was more of a comfort her.
Anderson and Donavon hadn't spoken a word to John since Sherlock 'suicide'. Well, that's not entirely true, they did speak, ONCE.
Lestrade and John were sitting in a cab on their way to their normal pub when Lestrade got call. John told him it was fine and they could stop by the crime scene, Lestrade could take a quick look about, then they would go to the pub. John stood off to the side, as Lestrade was looking over the body John noticed something the others missed. When he pointed it out Anderson said something, John couldn't even remember what, but Anderson said something completely out of line about Sherlock. And if it hadn't been for Lestrade stepping in Anderson wold have gone home with a broken nose. That was the day when Donavon learned how loyal John really was, and made sure never to say anything negative about Sherlock, in or out of John's presence. (There was always the chance he might find out and get her back later).
On the third week, John was starting to move on. He started working more hours at the clinic, only visited Sherlock's once that week, and that was when he went with Mrs. Hudson because she was doing some shopping and she saw a bunch of dark blue flowers that reminder her of Sherlock and wanted to put some on his grave. He began to get more sleep and ate more, he also noticed he wasn't having nightmares as much.
It was finally the fourth week, and almost an exact month since Sherlock jumped.
As John was just about finished with his tea his cell phone began to ring. As he pulled it out he looked at the caller ID, it was Greg Lestrade.
"Hello,"
"Hey John...ummm...How ya' doin'?"
John sat confused, normally Lestrade would get right to the point, the fact that he was stalling meant something was wrong.
"I'm doing good, fine. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, not exactly, do you think you could come down to the Yard. I think you should know about this."
"Alright, be there in 10 minutes or less." And with that john hung up, well there went his small moment of peace. He got up, put his mug in the sink, found his shoes and coat and left to call a cab.
During the cab ride so many different things went through his head. What was Lestrade on about? Was he on a case and hit a dead end and was desperate for help? Maybe it had to do with Harry? (Let's get say Harry has been in trouble with the police about her drinking habits a bit more than a few times). Or what if...what if it had to do with Sherlock? No John, don't get your hopes up, if it did have anything to do with Sherlock it would be they finally found some evidence that cleared his name.
John shook his head as the cab pulled up to the Yard. He paid the driver and went off in a hurry to find Lestrade.
Inside the Yard, John knew his way around almost as good as he knew his way around 221B. He tried not to make eye contact with anyone, but it was hard when he knew almost everyone was starting at him. When the door to Lestrade's office finally came into view, John speed up a little now speed walking.
*Bump*
Looking up he saw he had ran into Anderson Great!
"Watch where you're going will ya!" Anderson said as he pushed John off of him. John rolled his eyes and was about to make a snotty remark when he heard Donavon call him.
"Dr. Watson, Lestrade is waiting for you."
John shook his jacket and turned back to going to Lestrade's office. 'Is everything alright?" John asked Sally as he past her in the doorway.
Although John and Sally weren't exactly on good terms, they at least could speak to each other with getting into a fight. (Unlike Anderson who felt had to make a remark about anything that had to do with either John or Sherlock).
"Is something wrong Inspector?" John said entering Lestrade's office. "Oh boy is it, before I begin you might want to have a seat." Lestrade gestured with his hand to a empty seat in front of his desk. John sat down obeying Lestrade and sat in the slanted chair.
"Look, I didn't want to get you involved, but it has to do with Sherlock, so I felt you had a right to know."
John wanted to widen his eyes and drop his jaw and go completely crazy. But he had to remain calm and cool, it involved Sherlock, he never said it was Sherlock exactly.
Lestrade pointed to a what looked like an ordinary Tv screen with a remote and a video started to play.
The video had a picture of a flame with the letter 'F' on it the whole time. A voice began to speak, but it was high pitched and sounded much like a chipmunk so no one knew exactly who it was.
"Hello," said the voice kind enough.
"Many of you down at Scotland Yard know me as 'The White Flame'. It has been quite awhile since my last call on the Yard, so I'd thought I'd pop by and say hi. I especially wanted to come 'round when I heard about that nasty business with Mr. Sherlock Holmes 'Fake suicide'. The voice chuckled, and not one that sounded very friendly. "Did you seriously think you could fool me! Sherlock Holmes! The World's only Consulting Detective! Committing suicide! That would make for a pretty title in the newspapers, but you can't fool me that easily!"
John's face darken, how dare he talk about Sherlock that way! John would like to throw his fist at this 'White Flame' for even thinking that he was some genius. It was obvious, this 'White Flame' thought he knew everything and was willing to show it off. John had to be honest, it was rather annoying. It was one thing if you were an actual, real, proper genius. But this man certainly was not.
"You will find my first victim very soon I am sure," The voice continued, "But I should warn you, if you want to catch me, you will need Mr. Sherlock Holmes's help. Tell Mr. Holmes he can either come out and find me, or people will suffer the consequences, his choice."
And with that the video ended, no one spoke for a couple of minutes, until Lestrade broke the silence. "Look, if you don't want to get involved, I understand. But I though, you should st least know about this. But if you do choose not to get involved, I trust you not to say a word about-"
"I'm in," was all John said in reply.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm not just going to stand here and let some self-centered git harm people. When and where do you start?"
"Well," said Lestrade sitting forwards, "In the video he said something about his 'first victim'. My guess is we start there. Donavon! Get some men together and have start searching and investigating any new murders or John or Jane Does that come in. You know 'The White Flames' trade mark, so you know what to look for. Got it?"
And with a final 'Yes Sir," Donavon left the room to get some men together.
"There's not much you can do right now John, just keep an eye out for anything strange. We'll call if we find anything."
John nodded and with a small "Ok, thank you." He left and made his way back to Baker Street.