Chapter 7 - Scotland Yard
All across London and indeed the UK people were beginning to wake up to the newspapers on their doorstep, the news of Sherlock's return was beginning to break as John and Sherlock moved to the living room and turned on the television. They sat flicking through various news channels catching the odd mention of the ex-consulting detective's return from beyond the grave. As with the various newspaper articles the actual facts were scant but the televised reports covered all the important details; that the genius was not dead, he was in fact not a fraud and he had proved this by outing Richard Brook as a character rather than an actor hired to play a master criminal.
It was mid-morning when the landline of Baker Street rung, John out of instinct answered it despite the fact his partner was nearer.
"Hello"
"Yeah, hello John this is Lestrade"
"Um, Hi"
"Can I speak to him?"
"Sure"
"It's Lestrade, he says he wants to speak to you"
Sherlock thought back to when he was standing on the roof of St Barts, how Lestrade was one of the three people in the world Moriarty used to convince him to jump off the roof. The man on the other end of the phone, although not in a thousand years would Sherlock ever admit it to anyone, was one of the three most important people in the world to him and one of the three people he would ever consider committing suicide to save. He had been waiting for this call for months, although he was not expecting to be welcomed back with open arms as a consulting detective he hoped he could at least be given something to occupy his time, maybe an armed robbery or something small to start him off.
"Yes Lestrade" the words stuck in his throat a little
"Can you make it to the office at 2 o'clock today?"
"Where else does a formerly dead ex-consulting detective have to be on a Wednesday afternoon?"
"See you then" and with that the line went dead
John stared at Sherlock for a few seconds, seemingly expecting his partner to give him the details without needing to be asked. Eventually he had to give up
"What did he want?"
"Who?"
"Lestrade"
"Of course, sorry I was trying to figure out what he wants myself...it's hard when you can only hear his voice"
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, he wants us to go to his office at two...but I don't know why, He doesn't want our help on a case but he's not angry either"
"So he's not angry that you didn't try and contact him before all this hit the media?"
"No, it's something different"
"Shall we wait until two?"
"I hate waiting but I don't think I can get anything more from just his voice on the other end of a phone"
"Do you want me to cancel the dinner reservation?"
"No, I don't think he needs us tonight"
With that John headed to the kitchen to prepare them both a light lunch of tea and sandwiches, it was not long until they would have to think about getting ready and heading over to Scotland Yard, Sherlock hated being late anywhere, especially when going somewhere he was really desperate to go to he could become like a petulant child if John took even a few seconds "too long" to put on his shoes or brush his hair.
After they had finished eating the pair put on their shoes and jacket before heading towards the door, it didn't take them too long to flag down a cab and within a short drive across central London they were at Scotland Yard. Both men were nervous as they made their way through the building towards Lestrade's office, they were allowed some reprieve in the fact they were not kept waiting long. John showed slightly more outward signs of nervousness, but was still relatively well contained while Sherlock remained completely stoic as they entered Lestrade's office and took their chairs across from him, feeling slightly like naughty school children who had been sent to the headmasters office to be punished.
"So, you're alive then?" Lestrade began
"It would appear so, yes"
"How?"
"It's a long story that I don't need to bore you with"
"Fine, are you fit to work cases again?"
Taking all his effort not to leap straight out of his seat with excitement Sherlock replied with a simple "Yes"
"We don't need you right now, but we could probably use your help in the future"
"There must be something more, you wouldn't have asked me here just to say you would consider having me on cases in the future"
"I would and I have, I wanted to see you myself and let the team see you"
"Even Anderson?"
"Even Anderson"
I was with barely disguised disgust that Sherlock left Lestrade's office to say hello to the rest of his former (or was that now current?) team. It seemed as though Lestrade had planned this well, considering the short notice he'd had about it and the fact he'd even got Molly in. Sherlock shook Donavan's hand and moved on as quickly as he could, he barely paused for a sarcastic comment in Anderson's direction before moving on to Molly. Sherlock made a show of acting happy to see her and even gave her a quick hug before looking pleadingly in Lestrade's direction.
"Okay, Sherlock you can go"
"Do you not even have an armed robbery or something for me to work on?"
"Come on Sherlock you know that's not our division"
Sherlock sighed and walked out followed closely by John, both were relieved Sherlock had been allowed to consult again. They talked of little else on the way back to the apartment they shared together on Baker Street. They had a while to kill before their date later that evening so they decided to pass the time by putting on the television quietly in the background and sitting around talking to each other over it. Before long talk wandered to their date this evening, it was officially their first proper date and both men were looking forward to it to say the least.
The last few days had been hectic and it would be lovely for the pair to have some alone time to really just sit and enjoy each other's company and the fact they were finally a couple. Sherlock could see the excitement in John's face, the way he held himself, the smile on his face and the way he talked. It was absolutely endearing and Sherlock leaned over to press a gentle kiss to his partners lips. John responded and before long they were lying on top of each other on the sofa kissing passionately, their hands exploring their partners chests while their tongues explored each other's mouths. They were totally lost in the sensation of each other when Mrs Hudson chose that exact moment to come through the door, she stood in silence for a few seconds before simply clapping a little and beaming "See, I told you boy's you would only need the one room"
A/N - Eugh I really hate this chapter but I needed to have Sherlock back at Scotland Yard to keep things moving on
As ever read, review, sign up for updates and share the link - I'll send you a million hypothetical pizzas. ~LoonyforLupin
