John has been through the war, through death and destruction. Now, with Sherlock and Mary, he is fighting a different war...one even more dangerous. But this war he is willing to win.
The scenes that nobody saw from His Last Vow (I understand why they didn't film them, but I still wanted them to happen somewhere). This includes HLV spoilers (duh), and it's kind of a canon rewrite I guess (even though most, if not all, of the actions and words that happen during Mary's convo with Sherlock have been taken directly from a transcript of the episode). This is really just me adding onto it, not rewriting it.
Well, enjoy! This is kind of my story to celebrate that we only have one month to go until Season 4 airs on January 1st, 2017 (EXACTLY 31 DAYS I CANT WAITTTT)
Secrets In The Dark: John's Version of His Last Vow
John was sitting in his chair, staring at the bottle of perfume on the table, when he received the text.
The text wasn't a message, but an address. It was quickly followed by a picture that made John's next breath stick in his throat. The photo was of the front of a large building, but it was the face projected on the wall that truly scared him.
Mary.
He looked to see the sender, and stared at the name for an eternity.
Sherlock Holmes.
Rising up from the chair, heart pounding, John rushed out the door.
Sherlock waited for John outside the building, shrouded in darkness. When he saw his friend approaching, he stepped out of the darkness, causing John to jump in surprise.
"So? What's this about, then? Besides you almost dying and escaping the hospital with a severe bullet wound, which I'm going to choose to ignore for now." John waved his phone in front of Sherlock's face. "Is Mary alright?"
"She's fine." Sherlock answered curtly. Without another word, he spun around and walked towards the dark building. John ran after him, confused.
It turned out that the building wasn't really a building after all; simply a facade, hiding the trains that long ago replaced its interior. Sherlock led John into a corridor and turned to face him.
"John," he said, almost hesitantly. "If there was something you didn't know about somebody you loved, something big...would you want to know it?"
"What are you talking about?" John stared at Sherlock. "Are you hiding something from me?"
"In a way, yes. But the secret is not mine to keep. She wanted me to keep it, threatened me to keep me quiet. However, I cannot help thinking that this is something that you must know."
"But who…" He thought back to the text from Sherlock. "Mary? But what could she possibly hide from me?" This earned him a pitying look from Sherlock.
"More than you might think." John moved his mouth, trying to think of what to say. Finally, he looked stoically up at Sherlock.
"Tell me." Sherlock shook his head with a grim smile.
"Oh, no. I'm not going to do that. She is."
John sat in the chair, staring at the entryway through which his wife would soon enter. He swallowed, mouth dry.
Does he really want to know Mary's secret? Of course. Why else would he be sitting in this chair? And yet, the thought of discovering the secret without it being told to him directly makes him squirm.
She threatened Sherlock to make sure I wouldn't find out. What kind of secret requires that much protection?
His thoughts were interrupted as Mary entered the room. He held his phone up to his ear and listened.
(A/N: Bold italics is Sherlock talking during the phone convo that John is eavesdropping on between Mary and Sherlock, in case that wasn't clear)
Quite a gambler, that woman.
Mary entered the corridor, staring directly at John.
"What do you want, Sherlock?" She spoke quietly, carefully.
Mary Morstan was stillborn in October 1972. Her gravestone is in Chiswick Cemetery where – five years ago – you acquired her name and date of birth and thereafter her identity.
John was shocked. How could she possibly hide something like that? It can't possibly be true.
.
That's why you don't have 'friends' from before that date.
John's mind flashed back to Baker Street, before the wedding.
Need to work on your half of the church, Mary. Looking a bit thin.
Ah, orphan's lot. Friends – that's all I have.
He looked back at Mary as she walked slowly towards him.
It's an old enough technique, known to the kinds of people who can recognise a skip-code on sight ...
Didn't Sherlock say that Mary got a skip-code text when I almost got killed in that bloody bonfire? Slowly but surely, he was starting to realize just how big this secret was.
...have extraordinarily retentive memories ...
She does have a good memory... but that doesn't mean anything...right?
Sherlock suddenly spoke through the phone to John directly.
The wedding, John. The murderer's room.
Yes, that's right...she remembered which room he was in… John's heart grew cold as he looked up at Mary.
"You were very slow." Mary said coldly.
How good a shot are you?
John gulped as Mary pulled out a gun and held it comfortably by her side. How can this be possible? She knows how to fire a gun? Why did she never say anything?
"How badly do you want to find out?" Is she going to shoot me? The face of his wife was stoic as her fingers twitched on the trigger.
If I die here, my body will be found in a building with your face projected on the front of it. Even Scotland Yard could get somewhere with that.
John had to stifle a laugh as he tried to remain serious, despite Sherlock's remarks.
I want to know how good you are. Go on. Show me. The doctor's wife must be a little bit bored by now.
John watched as Mary took out a fifty-pence coin and tossed it into the air. He jumped at the shot. Sherlock appeared behind Mary, and she turned to look at him.
"May I see?" Sherlock asked. Mary glanced back at John, trying to cover up her surprise.
"It's a dummy. I suppose it was a fairly obvious trick."
Technically, she's right about the first part, John thought wryly. Mary kicked the coin over to Sherlock, who picked it up and peered through the hole in it. Jesus. I can't even shoot that well.
"And yet, over a distance of six feet, you failed to make a kill shot." Sherlock was paler than usual, and John hoped he wouldn't collapse. "Enough to hospitalise me; not enough to kill me. That wasn't a miss. That was surgery." Mary looked down, and John continued to stare at Sherlock, who added, "I'll take the case."
"What case?"
"Yours." He cocked his head and stared at her with his penetrating gaze. "Why didn't you come to me in the first place?"
"Because John can't ever know that I lied to him. It would break him and I would lose him forever – and, Sherlock, I will never let that happen." John's heart stopped as he gazed at his wife. It's not true, he wanted to say. Keeping the secret was worse than telling me...
"Please…" Mary pleaded softly, as Sherlock slowly backed down the hall. "...Understand. There is nothing in this world that I would not do to stop that happening."
"Sorry." Sherlock turned away and reached for the fuse box. "Not that obvious a trick."
Mary's face filled with terror as Sherlock turned the light on and John stood up, placing his phone in his pocket. His face was still, hiding his inner turmoil. He glanced at Sherlock, who looked almost sad, but his focus at the moment was Mary.
"Now talk, and sort it out. Do it quickly." And with that, Sherlock left Mary and John alone in the corridor.
Mary's mouth opened, but no words came out. All she could say was his name.
"John," she whispered. John shifted his position and stared at Mary.
"So it's true, then." He spoke quietly, with a note of defeat to his tone. "It's all true."
"Yes, but...John, I...I never wanted you to find out. I thought...we had such a good future ahead of us, and-"
"A future?" John snapped, causing Mary to flinch. "A future where I knew nothing, nothing about you. Where I was oblivious to the fact that you can shoot a bloody gun, and damn near killed a man with it! How could you expect to be happy with me? How could you never tell me?" His hot anger cooled as he stared at Mary, transforming into a cold block in his stomach. He shook his head. "How, Mary? How could you ever hide something like this from me?"
Mary blinked back tears as she stared back at him.
"I'm sorry," she choked. "I'm so, so sorry John. I just- I couldn't-" her voice cracked and she looked away.
John fought the urge to console her, and took a step forward instead. "Mary. I know why you kept it a secret. But I didn't find out by accident. Sherlock gave me the option for me to hear your story, your real story. I could've left, taken him back to the flat, avoided the meeting entirely. I chose to hear your secret. And since I chose this, it is my responsibility to bear it with you and deal with it." He swallowed, glancing up to the cement ceiling, and looked back at her.
She opened her mouth again, but John stopped her. "No. I don't...I don't want you to say anything. I'm going to leave now, and I'm...I'm going to go back to Baker Street. I don't want you to follow me, I don't want you to contact me. I will contact you, when- and if- I choose to. Is that understood?"
A tear fell down Mary's face as she nodded slowly and solemnly. John hesitated before brushing past her and leaving the building. Mary did not turn to face him as he left, and John did not look back at her.
Mary closed her eyes, and sighed. There was no turning back now. The story had been revealed, and now she was alone. Now she must repair the damage- and that's if John even wanted her at all anymore. And why would he?
Mary sniffed, brushing her tears away angrily. She straightened, readjusting the bag on her shoulder, and strolled out of the building.
~Epilogue-thingy to get to exactly 2000 words~
Vows have been tested tonight. John's vows to Mary, and hers to him, spoken at the wedding that joined them together. But most importantly, Sherlock's vow to both members of the couple...whatever it takes, whatever happens, from now on I swear I will always be there, always, for all three of you. Sherlock Holmes's choice was to protect John, to be there for him, by spilling Mary's secret. Only time will tell whether the damage will truly fix itself.
John has been through the war, through death and destruction. Now, with Sherlock and Mary, he is fighting a different war...one even more dangerous. But this war he is willing to win.
Vows have been tested, but Sherlock's vow, His Last Vow, will stand no matter what. And in exactly one month, we will get the chance to see it in action again. Sherlock will see you on January 1st, 2017.
~~End in wavy things to make it look final and cool~~
Another A/N: This story would have been a lot harder to write without the help of Ariane DeVere (aka Callie Sullivan)'s transcript of His Last Vow. Credit goes to her for writing an extremely accurate summary of the dialog and actions of the episode. She asked (politely) for credit, so here you go.
Hope you enjoyed this! I wanted to write in the missing scene with John and Mary as soon as I watched the episode, and finally that has been accomplished. I did not beta read/edit this, as it mostly followed the original story (but in John's POV), so hopefully it's alright. I suck at writing in past tense, so I wrote it in present and went back later to change it to past, so hopefully nothing got messed up there.
I guess I should mention here that I am in the process of writing a Sherlock/Mortal Instruments crossover fic (10k words so far), so look out for that! I plan to finish it before I post anything, so hopefully that works out.
Alright, see ya! Feel free to comment whatever, if you like :)
~Divergent. Lunar. Shadowhunter.