Hello dear readers! I intended to write this this weekend but since it's finals my urge for procrastination pushed me to finish this earlier than I had expected :p
I hope you will enjoy it. It's a bit darker than all the previous chapters. Plus, Johncroft goes forward so yay to that!
They ran in the darkness. The sound of their footfall and panting were the only noise they heard as they made their way down into the school basement.
John's running was stopped abruptly when he slammed into Sherlock.
"Ow! Sherlock why did you stop?"
"We're close. We must be quiet now. Follow me."
They creeped down a corridor. John held on to the back of Sherlock's coat so as to not lose him.
'Christ it's dark in here. I can't even make out Sherlock's outline now. How does he know where to go?'
They walked forward, then turned to the right, and to the right again. After a while John realized it was getting lighter and as they turned left at a corner they saw an open door from which a dim white light was visible.
That's when John noticed the sound of heavy panting. Sherlock stiffened under his hand when a sudden mad giggle erupted.
For a second John thought they had been discovered then the giggling subsided and the erratic breathing continued.
John and Sherlock waited in silence but nothing happened. There was a brief sound of ruffling, then the sound of a container being popped open.
The giggling erupted again and there was a dull rattling.
Suddenly, Sherlock wrenched himself out of John's grasp and threw himself in the doorway.
"Who is this?" he commanded, whipping out a flashlight.
The beam of light blinded the culprit who raised his arms to protect his face. John was still out of view from the door so he didn't manage to see him. But he didn't have to.
"Bryan," Sherlock just stated.
Surprised, John tried to silently creep closer while still keep hidden from view behind Sherlock.
Bryan was sitting cross-legged on the floor. He was still wearing his skeleton costume but the sleeves had been pulled up and his forearms were covered in bleeding scratch marks. In front of him a whole collection of small bottles containing different pills were scattered on the floor where his own flashlight lay.
When he saw who was in front of him Bryan glared.
"Sherlock," he hissed hatefully.
He started to nervously scratch his forearms and John had to stop himself from wincing as the already open wounds started to bleed anew.
He started rocking back and forth while scratching himself, he stared at the floor with an unhinged look that sent a shiver of fear through John's spine.
"It's all your fault. All your fault... You and John... If you hadn't reported me that first time... I was on probation… Then tonight.."
He gasped for air, then started panting. For a few seconds he just rocked, and scratched, and panted, and then he said in a fast clipped voice.
"And tonight… they get angry at me again. And… And… And fucking Hudson says I'm expelled," he spat out.
The rocking and the scratching accelerated.
"Where did you get all these drugs?" asked Sherlock, not caring for a second about Bryan's story.
Bryan laughed. It came out breathy and short, like gasps.
"There no way I'm telling you that."
He laughed again then looked at Sherlock with wild eyes. He paused then spoke rapidly but surely.
"HE is kind to me. He doesn't treat me like filth the way all the others do now. He listens. When I said I needed a little something to get over the pain of being expelled he brought me all this. Said I should take my revenge. On everyone. Ruin their stupid party. He's so smart. He even knew you would come sniffing around."
Bryan got up slowly. He took a few steps closer to Sherlock. He smirked at Sherlock who just gazed coldly back.
"That's why he gave me this."
In a surprisingly quick movement he flicked a switchblade knife out of his pocket.
Sherlock was too stunned to move.
"Sherlock!" John screamed as he pulled him out of the way.
Bryan stumbled after his missed swipe and glared at John.
"Oh, so you brought John. The dog," he sneared, raising his weapon menacingly.
John was suddenly reminded of a talk his sensei had given him during his first martial arts classes. The sensei was speaking about defending yourselves against someone that attacked you with a tanto, type of knife.
He had said: "In all honesty children, you are learning these techniques today, but if ever someone threatens you with a knife in real life just run. Because either the person knows how to actually use it and you are in trouble, or they don't know how to use it properly and are scared or crazy, in which case, even if you had the level of training to block attacks, the attacker's erratic behaviour will just make things all the more dangerous. So please don't be stupid. Just…
Run!" yelled John, and he and Sherlock ran for their lives.
Never had John felt so much fear. His heart was thumping so hard he could feel the beat in his ears. The adrenaline was coursing in high levels through his veins and he thought he could feel his eyes becoming watery, though if it was due to the fear or the speed he didn't know.
"Wait up!" he shouted to Sherlock but the tall boy was outrunning him. Very quickly John found himself in the middle of the race. He couldn't see Sherlock but he could hear him running in front, as well as Bryan running at the back. After a while of running through unknown corridors John realized two things. One was that he had no idea where he was since the school was huge. Secondly he couldn't hear either Sherlock or Bryan.
He stopped and had to catch his breath against a wall. Once his breathing wasn't wheezing anymore he cocked his head, trying to hear any sign of the other two boys.
Nothing.
He had to find Sherlock but he was afraid of running into Bryan again. He couldn't believe Sherlock could just have left him like that. His heart still pounding, John tried to find a solution. Whether he just headed towards the exit or searched for Sherlock he couldn't stay here.
He tiptoed as silently as he could down a few different corridors.
Why did they all look the same? John was seriously regretting not having explored more of the school since he came here.
He gasped out in relief when he found a bright exit sign. He approached it but then hovered in front of it, not knowing if he should go look for Sherlock or not.
'He's probably also found an emergency exit. He's probably fine. Who knows, maybe he's already out of the building?'
John winced. What should he do? Finally his guilt got the better of him and he turned around to go search for Sherlock.
That was what saved his life. He turned just in time to see Bryan creeping up behind him, knife raised. John had the time to grab Bryan's wrist, deviating the blow, but the impact knocked them over. They struggled on floor. Each one trying to dominate the other.
John headbutted Bryan and crawled out of his grasp, but Bryan grabbed his left ankle and yanked him back down, stabbing him in the leg with the other hand. John cried out and crumpled. Bryan slammed down on him and managed to grab both of his hands. John tried to fight him off but the junkee's grip was of steel. He managed to block one of John's arms between them and pinned the other down with his free hand.
John froze as he felt the cold blade of the knife on his throat.
Understanding he had won, Bryan laughed out loud. The chuckles were cold and slightly unhinged.
"What happened to me was your fault," he spat out.
"And now," he sneared in John's ear, "Now you will pay."
'Well, shit' thought John as the knife pressed deep again his throat. He closed his eyes and despaired at the thought of his mother having to deal whith his death just after his father's.
Then he heared a dull thud and Bryan screamed. John opened his eyes to see a furious looking Mycroft bashing Bryan's head over and over with his dark wooden walking stick.
Bryan had dropped the knife and was trying to protect himself but to no avail as Mycroft mercilessly battered him.
"Mycroft, while I absolutely understand your intent, you may want to avoid having to justify a murder. It would look very bad on your resume," Sherlock's cool voice resounded in the dark hallway.
At that Mycroft stopped, leaving a whimpering Bryan crouched on the floor.
"Quite right." He then turned to Sherlock with blazing eyes. "Though I somehow feel you deserve the same treatment after leaving John on his own with this… lunatic."
"I told you already Mycroft! I didn't realize he wasn't keeping the pace, otherwise I would have slowed down."
"Oh really? You managed to run all the way out of the building without realizing he wasn't behind anymore? I think you're just a self-centred little br-"
John whimpered as he tried to sit up. Immediately the Holmes brothers were at his side.
"John are you alright?" asked Sherlock. And for once John saw genuine worry shine in his friends eyes.
"Of course he's not alright Sherlock! Look at him, he's in shock!"
That was when John realized that he was hyperventilating, and he felt his eyes brim with uncontrolled tears.
"Oh for goodness sake! Help me get him up," ordered Mycroft as he wound one of John's arms around his shoulder.
Sherlock did the same and together they dragged John away.
Half an hour later, John was recovering on a seat in the Detectives club room. Sherlock had called the police and an ambulance, and was currently in Mrs Hudson's office, explaining the situation to her and Lestrade.
Mycroft had taken upon himself to be John's nurse, providing him with water and pain-killers, and was currently inspecting his calf wound.
"Hold still."
Mycroft sat on his knees in front of John and then slowly rolled up the hem of his jeans. John saw him wince when the gash was revealed.
"Is it that bad?"
"I don't know. I am no doctor, but it looks pretty deep. I guess the only thing I can do is cover it until the medics arrive."
He went to retrieve a medical kit from the closet and returned with antiseptic, a compress and some sticking plasters.
"Now this might hurt," he announced as he made to pad John's wound with antiseptic.
John nearly kicked him in the face out of pain, but he managed to stay still, not wanting to lose face in front of Mycroft.
As Mycroft bandaged his calf, John burst into chuckles.
"What's wrong?" asked a befuddled Mycroft.
"Oh it's nothing… I just… I've just realized we are still in our Halloween costumes. The Gentleman and The Jedi. It's a bit ridiculous really."
He grinned at Mycroft and to his surprise Mycroft grinned back.
Then Mycroft looked thoughtful and stood up. He bore into John's eyes.
'He looks so serious. What just happened?' thought John.
Mycroft slowly reached out and distractedly caressed the thin scratch line the knife had given him on his neck.
"I noticed, you know?" Mycroft said eventually.
"Noticed what?"
"The way you were acting tonight…"
John gulped.
"What do you mean?"
"Your pupils were dilated every single time I was near."
"What do you mean," repeated John, "I'm not on drugs or anything if that's what you're thinking."
Mycroft frowned and stared at him, trying to figure out if he was playing dumb.
He then sighed and stepped back.
"I'll quickly go see if the authorities or the ambulance have arrived yet. Will you be alright if I leave you on your own for ten minutes?"
"I think so."
"Good."
With that, he stepped out the door.
John released a sigh and groaned. Of course he understood what Mycroft meant. He was always interested in any biological fact. Dilated pupils could be due to bad lighting but also sexual arousal… He couldn't deny that Mycroft had stirred something in him tonight but there was no way John would have admitted it to him. He was Sherlock's brother for god's sake! Not to mention that he was with Sarah and had never had any feelings that went beyond the friendly for a boy before.
He slumped further down in his chair, smiling at the memory of the first genuine grin he had seen on Mycroft Holmes' face.
So everyone? What did you think? Please review!
Hopefully the next chapter will be up this weekend.