Over My Shoulder
A/N: This started out as a song fic to Over My Shoulder by Mika. As per usual with my writing process, it took the reins as soon as I had them on the horses (to continue a metaphor, rather horribly), and turned out to be, well, a not-a-song fic. I had to write a short story for my English class and my teacher was nice enough to let me make it a fan fic, so here we are. Post-Reichenbach in which Sherlock hires Mary Morstan to watch over John and take care of him.
From behind the tree where he was hiding, Sherlock could hear John's gasping breaths as he fought away tears, standing at the grave of his best friend. It was hard, seeing him suffer like this, but there was nothing he could do without putting John's life in danger. Caring is not an advantage, Mycroft had said, and it certainly hadn't been so far. He needed focus to take down Moriarty's web, not lingering worries about how well John was moving on.
Mrs. Hudson hadn't been much comfort, though it wasn't for lack of trying. All the tea and biscuits and crap telly in the world wouldn't be enough. Molly could only do so much without it appearing suspicious; though Sherlock had needed her at the end, the three of them had never really been so close that she could spend very much time with John without it seeming odd or insincere. Mycroft wouldn't know how to effectively comfort someone if he read every book there was on the subject, and he couldn't be bothered to do that much research on something he considered useless anyway. Lestrade was the last obvious option, but without Sherlock there was really no need for John to ever see him, and after losing the best consultant they had, Scotland Yard was likely to be quite a bit busier than they were used to. And anyway, out of all of them the only one Sherlock could actually keep in contact with was Molly.
Useless, the detective thought. How did normal people deal with things like this? He needed someone who knew John well enough to know how to take care of him; that in itself was a short list without having everyone on it unfit for the job in one way or another. The ideal choice, of course, would be Sherlock himself, but obviously that couldn't work. Maybe someone else who still believed in him? A short list, again, and with little variance from the first one.
Maybe he could make someone, so to speak...introduce someone into John's life who could help him move on. No glaring contradictions rose up from this possibility; it could work if John didn't push them away. He'd have to find someone first, and convince them to help him, but he could do that. The only thing John had ever seemed to need other than Sherlock was a girlfriend, and without Sherlock and the dangers of being friends with him it was possible John could actually keep one around. There would be no risk of a date turning into being kidnapped by smugglers, now.
Pulling out his phone, new and barely used, Sherlock paused. She would have to be kind and caring, nurturing...someone who had experience taking care of people. A nurse, or someone else in the medical field would be ideal, but Sherlock needed her to be new to John, not someone who would've known him when he was following the detective around. Not someone from John's old life. That effectively eliminated everyone from the surgery. On second thought, anyone in the medical field would see him not just as someone in need of comfort, but as a patient. That wouldn't do. Other people with experience in providing comfort...teachers, social workers, veteranarians. A veteranarian would know how to deal with someone's grief at the moment of death, but not in the aftermath, and vets still fell under the medical profession. Social workers were a strong choice, but they typically had very strong and unwavering senses of ethics. It was unlikely Sherlock would be able to find one who would keep up the facade for as long as he would need to finish unraveling Moriarty's network. A teacher, then? No reasons against it.
Need a female teacher, preferably Year 2 - Year 5, in late 30s, must be nurturing but not opposed to lying, he typed out on the stiff keys. Selecting his group of homeless network operatives, he sent the message and turned with a swish of his coat to leave the cemetery. He may not be able to fix this himself, but he would find someone who could and work through them. In the meantime, he had a lead for the first person he'd be taking out of Moriarty's web.
A/N: So, I wrote it to stand alone as a one-shot, but if you guys like it and want me to continue, I can. Only one catch: I'll need to take it down while I work on it, and it will probably stay down until I'm completely done with it. Also, if you read my author's note up on top, I'm taking title suggestions, since this is no longer a song fic. So review and let me know! :)