Sequel to my story: If You Love Them... Save Them
As always I have no rights to these characters, shows etc. I just like to play with them.
After the Dust as Settled
Lestrade had always had a sixth sense when it comes to cases. The worse the feeling on his neck, the more gruesome the case. It's a kind of indication as to when to call Sherlock for help, though he usually waits until the buzzing get into his skull. The tell is never wrong.
When he answers the phone on his (rare) day off and his arm shakes, he knows then and there that this case was going to be horrific. He's already out the door and in the car when he texts Sherlock to meet him there.
Greg regrets the decision when he when he sees her. He knows Molly would never have wanted any of them to find her body.
Donovan releases Lestrade from the case and he's grateful. It's not like he could have worked on it anyway and he trusts DonAovan above all others to handle it.
Mycroft is waiting for him as he leaves the scene and Greg has never been more thankful for the nosy bastard's involvement with his department. He doesn't remember the journey to Baker Street. However he does know that Mycroft had already intercepted his text to his brother and Greg tries not to think about the legal implications of that.
Sherlock and John are yelling when the duo enter 221b and Mary can be heard attempting to mediate the two of them. It seems that they haven't heard yet and Lestrade isn't sure whether he is grateful or not. Mrs Hudson rushes to warn them of the "little tiff upstairs" but when she sees the expression on the Detective Inspector's face she stops flustering. When they ask her to follow them up, she rushes off to make the tea.
It never gets drunk.
In the time leading up to Molly's funeral, Lestrade tries to feed everyone with any information he can from Donovan from the investigation. The case seems simple enough, Molly and Moriarty in a room, shots are fired and both are dead. When Greg tells her to dig deeper, as nothing about it makes sense to him, the truth about a third person in room get Scotland Yard buzzing. When it seems that he is getting too close, Donovan reminds him of his position. She remarkably polite to everyone, it becomes clear why when they discover that Sherlock has left her (and her people) alone throughout.
Sherlock surprises all of them by distancing himself from the incident altogether. He leaves the room when they discuss it or plays the violin badly when they talk about the funeral arrangements. They all thought he would be biting at the chew to solve his friend's murder. When Mary attempts to talk to him about it, he grabs his coat and rushes off. There's concern that he might relapse but no-one mentions it. John visits Mycroft and asks for help. Not two days later and The Holmes' arrive and set up shop in the spare room. Mr Holmes takes Sherlock out for a walk.
They don't come back for two days.
The day before the funeral, when John is attempting to pace a hole in the carpet and Lestrade is close to throttling him, Mummy Holmes asks him about Molly. She frowns at the Christmas mishap several years before and laughs when John tells her about the slapping incident. He tells her of her unrelenting patience with her son and the questionable methods in which Sherlock got his body parts.
It's later in the day when she tells them about Redbeard. John fights tears when she tells him of Sherlock's three day disappearance after his beloved dog's death and the how he would never respond to William after they buried him. Bootstrap Bill's pirate days were over and the young boy started to become the man he is today.
Lestrade laughs for the first time since Molly's death when Sherlock's full name is revealed and John can't help but join in.#
It's a stifling hot day when they attend the funeral.
They hold it outside in the church grounds, among the tombstones and trees. It's too quiet. All that can be heard is the speaker and few occasional sniffles from the congregation. The sun is blazing and the lack of breeze makes the whole thing more uncomfortable than it usually is. Lestrade wonders for a moment if it's Molly's revenge for failing her so spectacularly.
He feels like he is suffocating in his suit and not for the first time that morning, he questions if it is the heat or grief for his friend. He only recognises a few of the people around him and barring the Watson's and Mrs Hudson, he really couldn't tell you who they were.
When he spies Sherlock standing at the back of the crowd, he watches him throughout the rest of the ceremony. The younger man wears his mask of indifference and Greg wonders if he is really there at all or if he has retreated into his mind palace. He berates himself when he remembers Mrs Holmes' words only the day before. Sherlock Holmes is human and feels grief like the rest of them, he just conceals it so much better than everyone else.
When the service is over and a cool breeze drifts through the church yard, giving a brief respite from the sun, Lestrade sees the cracks the man has tried so hard to hide.
Greg tells the others he'll look over their friend when it's clear Sherlock isn't leaving any time soon. They don't move for a long time.
When the case is over and the files stored away, Lestrade is made aware of The Woman's involvement. He doesn't tell Sherlock or John but visits Mycroft instead. After all, she was supposed to be dead.
He's not in the least surprised when her body turns up in the morgue a week later.
It takes far longer than Greg would have liked to not see Molly's face in every female victim he sees after his return to work. He's a police officer. This is his job and it's not the first time he's lost a friend in a violent way. Donovan suggests that he take a holiday and when a case comes though with a girl with striking disturbing resemblance to Molly, he debates changing departments.
He feels better when John drunkly admits feeling the same one night in the pub. He's struggling with cases in general and he's joining Sherlock less and less.
When he asks after Sherlock, the Doctor confesses that Sherlock attempted to delete Molly from his mind palace. Blind anger floods Lestrade like a tidal wave. He guesses that his face expressed what he was feeling because the doctor instantly informs him that when Sherlock failed, he flew into a panic and admitted to John and Mary what he had done. Greg wants to punch their emotionally challenged friend in the face but the look on the other man's face stops him. He knows Sherlock is suffering. The Detective hasn't been the same since he took him home from the cemetery.
They continue drinking until Mary turns up and throws them both into a taxi.
Years later Sherlock will talk to Lestrade and tell him of his grief for his friend and his anger at his inability to save her from his own demons. He will admit to loving Molly in the only way he knew how and his despair when Moriarty punished her for trusting him. He tells the Detective Inspector of how he underestimated the mousy Pathologist and she never let him live it down. He speak of how Molly Hooper carried his heart because she knew he couldn't. When he stops talking the man looks drained and distraught. Greg gives the younger man the hug he wanted to give him so many years ago.
The day Molly Hooper showed the world that Sherlock Holmes was human.
The End