An alternate version of John'sreaction when Sherlock comes back alive.
John saw Sherlock free falling to his death, his heart raced wildly to watch his best friend fall to his death. He couldn't remove his eyes from the falling Sherlock, even though he knew he would be having nightmares about the fall later.
The moment he fell down, John rushed towards Sherlock, even though he was in pain from he cyclist hitting him head on. He rushed forward, pushing everyone out of the way to check upon Sherlock, even though he knew none can survive the fall. There is some hope right?
Slightly shivering, he brought his hands to the wrist of his friend to check the pulse, only to find none. To say that John was devastated would be a bloody understatement.
He stayed through the funeral, silently watching as his colleague, flat mate, best friend's grave was lowered down, refusing to shed tears, refusing to believe that his brother had died or even tried to commit suicide.
He had learnt to trust his gut a long time ago and now when his gut said that Sherlock is alive then he is alive right? He turned to the grave after everyone had left and finally let the tears he had been hiding fall.
"Sherlock. My annoying, irritating, 'emotionless' friend" he said, quoting the emotionless part. "You are the most brilliant, amazing and cleverest person I've ever met. I know that too have performed many miracles but do one more for me please. Don't stay dead. Please" John said, sobbing slightly and left the grave after composing himself.
Sherlock was hearing all this from an distance of course. It had pained him slightly to cause all this pain to his loved ones but he couldn't see them dead because of something he had done. This was a better way to eradicate the organisation before it causes more harm.
John moved out of 221B Baker Street, the wound too fresh for him and staying there only reopened the wounds. Every single thing in that room reminded him of Sherlock, his antics, his adamant nature... everything.
John visited the grave everyday, act as if he was talking to Sherlock normally until the fact that he is reminded that Sherlock was dead, bringing out a load of fresh tears again.
It had pained Sherlock to see John in that state, he knew the others weren't coping that well but Jones were as devastated as John at the moment. Sherlock always wanted to run upto his partner and hug him, comfort him but held back every time, reminding himself of his mission.
For two years this went on. Every morning John visited the grave before heading to get a small breakfast, head to work come back to the grave, eat dinner, sleep. A monotonous routine that John almost hated. He missed the adventurous times with Sherlock a lot. He was itching for action, very badly.
On the second year anniversary of Sherlock's death, the morning started just the same. Visiting the grave before heading to the small cafe to grab some tea and a sandwich before work.
He opened up the paper that was in his hand and started reading it, when a man suddenly walked in and asked John whether he could give him any company. The only acknowledgement showed was the slight nod that John gave as he glanced up at the man before going back to the paper.
"So..." the man said, trying to start a conversation. "Nice to be back isn't it Sherlock? I've been waiting for you to come out of hiding for this long you know. It's not nice to leave everyone behind without a single note you know." John stated calmly, closing the paper and stared at the man in front of him.
Sherlock was surprised. He had never expected John to look through that disguise but who was he kidding? It is John the were talking about. He had obviously recognised something.
"Can we go to my apartment to talk then? Or 221B? Whatever suits you. I know you still haven't come out and want to keep it a secret for as long as possible. May I also call Lestrade if you don't mind? He has certainly gone mad without his detective" John said and stood up, followed by Sherlock, who was gaping like a fish.
"Well?" John asked. "Our flat. Call Greg too. He deserves to know and I would rather finish it in one go." Sherlock said and sighed as he followed John out, wondering why John was so calm about it and had not hit him like he had expected.
"Are you not angry with me?" Sherlock asked, confused at the way John was reacting. "Yes. I am still angry with you genius but we don't want to attract the public right now do we?" John asked as he went out to call a taxi.
While waiting for the cab to come, he quickly texted Greg to come to 221B immediately as there was an emergency that required his immediate attention. He then called up to the hospital to inform the, that he won't be coming today.
"Let's give Mrs. Hudson a heart attack shall we?" John asked as he boarded the cab. "That one is pretty inevitable John" Sherlock replied and headed homewards.
After paying the cabbie, John opened the door of their flat and was immediately greeted by Mrs. Hudson at the door. "Having guests over Mrs. Hudson. Greg as usual is coming over to discuss a few things. You may also come over as it concerns you too" John said and went upstairs, Sherlock following him.
"Who is that young lad John?" she asked, pointing at Sherlock. "You will come to know soon Mrs. Hudson. Just bring up some tea and coffee for the four of us please" John said and went upstairs, not be for hearing her usual dialogue of "I'm not your house keeper John" in the background.
"That certainly was fun wasn't it?" John asked as he entered the living room. "I guess it will be more fun from now on" Sherlock said as he hung up the coat, revealing himself in a tight shirt and some jeans.
"Now... before anyone comes in and spoils my plans on revealing you, please hide in some other room and wait up until Greg says 'Who is the informant or something like that alright?" John said as he pushed Sherlock towards his old room and shut it close, just in time for Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade to knock the door.
"The door's open" John called out. 'This is certainly going to be fun' he thought as the duo entered the room. "What is the emergency John? We had decided to meet up in the evening right? For the usual thing we do" Greg said as he sat down on a chair.
"Well Greg... it was certainly and emergency. I got news that our dear little Locky boy is still alive and pretending to be dead. I don't know how but I know that the informant is saying the truth. Says that he spotted Sherlock." John said.
"What! Who is this 'informant' may I ask?" Greg asked. "Well... that would be me detective inspector. Had a good night Greg? Oh hi to you Mrs. Hudson" Sherlock said as he came out of the room. "And what do you mean suspected Johnny boy?" he said as he sat down.
The two just stared at Sherlock, gaping like fishes before Greg shot out of the chair and punched Sherlock on the nose before giving him a bone crushing hug. "London missed a good detective. Good to have you back" he said and settled down, leaving Sherlock to tend to his bleeding nose.
Mrs. Hudson was more than happy to have him back and started crying while hugging Sherlock. "Missed you a lot in this gap Sherlock. Don't ever do it again." she said, only for John to punch Sherlock in the gut and slapped his head before hugging him.
"What was that for!" Sherlock exclaimed as he rubbed his head. "Well... that was not coming sooner after you had brought down Moriarty's organisation and pretending to be dead. I am still mad at you for leaving me to figure out that you had faked it and not informing me about it." John huffed.
"You knew all this while that I had staged my death!" Sherlock spluttered out. He hadn't expected anyone to figure it out. It was staged perfectly for anyone to guess it. Greg and Mrs. Hudson just stared at him and said "Never thought to tell it to us?" they asked.
"Well... I was waiting as to when Locky boy will come out and he took too long for that. As for your question Sherlock, it was pretty obvious. I am a soldier and a doctor and so I can obviously detect a few things you know. Why did you fake it though... I think I have a rough guess but please tell." John said, raising an eyebrow.
"Shit! Totally forgot that point right! As to why I faked it... he had the three of you on gun point and would've shot you if I hadn't done that?" Sherlock said. "Anyways... how did you figure it out?" he asked.
"Lets see now... you had no reason to kill yourself you know. I had been informed by my dear old fellow comrades who were undercover to expose Moriarty you know. They were the ones who had been stationed to kill Mrs. Hudson and Greg" John said, leaving the others spluttering.
"About my killer though, I had noticed him locking the gun and would've escaped if he had shot me. I was discreetly keeping an eye on him and noticed that he had been told to stand down even before he had jumped which meant that his old boss had died. So your death was pretty futile except for that fact of exposing the organisation." John finished, leaving the others gaping.
"You discovered all this all that while ago and still didn't tell us?" Greg asked slightly glaring at John. "There was no need for it to be brought up Greg" John said, shrugging. "And how did you know I faked my death?" Sherlock asked, slightly intrigued.
"That was pretty simple. Two cyclists who were just standing aside only riding it, timing it to hit me when I was coming to see you is one thing. People who were standing around, just watching you fall without doing anything is another thing. You had very faint pulse like something was blocking it on purpose and I could see you were breathing normally and not gasping for the pulse you were having." John said, shrugging, leaving everyone's jaws dropped to the ground again.
"That was... mind blowing John. Never expected you to deduce that easily" Sherlock said in awe. "Well not my fault that you forgot I was in the army and always keeps an eye in my surroundings. Your note too left me one clue. Remember you said that this was all a magic trick? You indirectly left the message that it was an illusion you were doing. Not very had to detect it" John said.
"That was certainly interesting. I am mad that you hadn't told me anything about your suspicions before and you for not telling or even leaving me a message about what you were going to do" Mrs. Hudson said, glaring at the duo.
Just then a phone pinged, signalling the arrival of a message. Greg took out his phone and stood up. "Sorry to cut short this reunion people but seems like we have a case worthy for Sherlock. Want to come back to the world of cases or planning on taking some more time?" Greg asked.
"Ah! What is more interesting than revealing you are alive by solving cases? Come on John. The game is on" Sherlock said as he took up his coat, followed by John and waved a bye to Mrs. Hudson before leaving.
The next day's headline was something we could expect "The Return of the Holmes and Watson Duo"
A/N: As mentioned before, this is an alternate version of John's reaction to Sherlock's return. I felt that John's role as an army man was slightly underplayed so I decided to do this fic. Hope you all liked it! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated!
Thank you for reading!
Rasi10 signing off :)
Published on 18 May 2018