John took the Semtex off but the red dot never left Sherlock's forehead. It suited him bright red against his milky white skin, it made John shudder with glee. The confusion on Sherlock's face made him giggle and he linked arms with James.

"You see Sherlock, James and I are old friends," he said with a smile. Stepping towards Sherlock, John reaches a hand out and touches the side of his face, stroking it softly.

He had always found Sherlock beautiful, even when he would watch him run about London solving crimes and when they met face to face he was even more beautiful in person. John knew immediately that Sherlock trusted him, there was no doubt about it. Sure he had no regards for safety, but he knew better than to accept someone as his flatmate just after they met. It was a wonderful thing that Sherlock trusted him, even now there was no remorse on his face or in his eyes. Sherlock Holmes still trusted the man who had betrayed him in every sense of the word, tragic. And Sherlock didn't freeze at his touch nor did he lean into it, he just let it happen and that made John smile. So he whispered;

"You still trust me." Sherlock mirrored his smile.

"Odd isn't it? You're in charge of the biggest criminal in London right now and I don't feel the need to put you behind bars." His grey eyes flashed with confusion and John chuckled, removing his hand from Sherlock's face.

"Okay Seb you can put away the gun now." The red dot vanished moments later. Some of the tension in Sherlock's shoulders released and they sagged a bit. John turned to James and smiled.

"I think we're done here James, do make sure Sebastian has put that insufferable gun away and remember what happened to Jeffery Hope when he didn't." A brief look of fear flashed in James' eyes and he nodded.

"Of course, John." At that John leaned in to brush a soft kiss on James' cheek and turned back to Sherlock. He looked a bit shocked at the display of affection but John wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of elaborating and he couldn't deduce because John had walls. Walls he'd built so people saw what he wanted them to see, take Sherlock for an example. John wanted him to see a broken ex army doctor with little money, a horrible therapist and a psychosomatic limp; not a criminal mastermind in charge of more than he'd ever know and that's exactly what he saw. The wound in his shoulder was real and from Afghanistan but the limp was fake and he didn't really have a therapist. At first he had thought the limp may have been too much, but it made him seem more mundane and interesting at the same time and he knew Sherlock liked interesting there was no doubt about that. Now all he wanted to do was go back to 221B and sleep.

"Lets go home, that is if you're not going to kill me because I'm certainly not going to kill you." Well, that wasn't quite true obviously he did want to kill Sherlock but he deserved a bit more time as a 'normal' person. As normal as it could get with Sherlock anyways. Linking arms with Sherlock now they walked out of the pool and John caught Sherlock take one last glance at James before they stepped outside.

OvO

There was no doubt that Sherlock knowing that he was the boss of the criminal empire was defiantly a security risk so he called up Seb to bring him the pills. A classified drug he had obtained during and interrogation once upon a time. It wouldn't harm Sherlock it would just erase any memories of the incident at the pool, hopefully. It could go wrong and erase them ever meeting or something similar to that but John hoped it would work as he wanted.

When Seb brought him the pills he shook one out of the bottle and crushed it to a fine powder and mixed it into his tea with the sugar. Sherlock still looked a bit high strung and his eyes were drooping a bit, John handing him tea seemed to startle him.

"I didn't ask for tea." He said simply.

John shrugged. "I know. I felt you needed some." And he leaned back into his armchair and sighed. He spotted Sherlock sniffing the tea before he took a sip. Of course he's cautious now John you're a criminal ready to poison him any second. Which was pretty true, he had many, many poisons he could use and injections up his sleeve, literally. But of course he only used them when necessary, or needed like caught Sherlock's eye as he continued to sip his tea, his blinks were starting to get slower with each sip and John smiled. Realization dawned on Sherlock's face as his cup clattered to the floor and he went unconscious. John sighed and went to clean the mess up.

OvO

The results weren't what he was expecting. Not at all. The damn pills didn't work, he still remembered everything. He'd have to call Seb or James to get this sorted out. Useless bloody pills, what use are they if the damn things don't fucking work? John was furious, he wasn't used to not getting his way. He always got his way, even if people had to die for him to get it. But the most infuriating thing about the whole thing was, that Sherlock hadn't mentioned it yet. Hell, he wouldn't have even known if it didn't work if he hadn't given him that look. The look of curiosity and caution. It had been brief but enough to know the damn pills didn't work.

"Sherlock we need to talk," he used his best doctor voice. "I wasn't trying to drug you and kill you. I just wanted you to forget this ever happened." Sherlock looked at him from his seat on the couch and scowled.

"How come I can't read you?" That was not the response he was expecting.

"What?" What the hell was he getting at? Sherlock shifted his body until he fully faced John.

"I can only see the normal stuff, John. This new revelation should have opened up brand new deductions about you. But all I get are the regular things." John basked in the frustrated look on Sherlock's face and laughed.

"Do you really expect me not to have protection? If I didn't you would have discovered me ages ago, or you're ass of a brother would have. I have walls Sherlock, that I've been building for years. I'm not tearing them down because you know what I do for a living." Sherlock seemed to take this in with a new light.

"Ah so it was a cover, this whole time you were acting. Our friendship was built on your lies then hmmm? Were you really and army doctor? Did you really get shot? Or was that a lie too, John. God, I don't even know why I trust you, even now it makes no sense." John was a bit speechless, he didn't expect that to come out of Sherlock's mouth. It was a bit out of character, like he had no idea he thought of them as friends but he did have the right to be sceptical.

"I needed something more in my life. I had already gotten my doctorate so I decided to join the army and become an army doctor. I was patching up a young man when I got shot. I was devastated but when I came back James was waiting for me with a new sniper, newly discharged from the army like I was but not for the same thing. I hired him straight away and James handed back over the throne. Then I caught wind of you and everything changed. My limp was fake but the bullet wound was real, I never had a therapist and no, I don't regret my time in the army for one second." He took a deep breath and continued. "I didn't think it then, but now I think I chose that path to, as they say, try and atone for my sins. But that's bloody rubbish because I'd never trade any of this for all the money in the world."

Sherlock looked thoughtful, he had gone into his thinking pose eyes shut and everything. The flat was silent the only noise being their shared breathing. But it was true, he'd never trade his criminal empire for any sum of money or anything else. James and Seb were the closest things he had to friends who knew and accepted who he was. Which, he figured didn't count because they worked for him but he still considered them friends and Sherlock would never be them. He would never be them because he was a totally different puzzle and a puzzle worth solving.

OvO

Sherlock stayed in that position for at least another hour and when he finally spoke it was only to say;

"Leave."