A/N Just a quick note, this is really the turning point of the story and it's just a quick interlude to explain what will be coming in the next half and a small part of what has been happening behind the scenes as it were while Sherlock has been so enraptured with John. Enjoy. The next chapter will be all yours on monday.
Interlude.
Mutany.
It would have been ridiculous to say the sky was darker at night now, that storms seemed to pass over head and danger thrummed along with the electric static in the air. At least that is what the captain would say. The crew however...First Mate Greg Lestrade turned with a heavy sigh to the others sitting around, talking, whispering. you didn't need to hear them to know what the whispers were about. The captain and the creature.
For him the title of first mate was more of a default, it gave him more responsibility. By which he meant he ran the ship while the Captain rushed off in a flourish and forgot about everyone but himself. Until now. But he was by no way Sherlock Holmes' first anything and as for a mate? He snorted and shook his head. Greg cursed himself for ever letting them bring the damned thing on board. Thinking at first it had been a shark or an over large fish but God not that, not something that shouldn't even exist.
So it had begun from that moment and Greg had hoped to God it would be another one of the Captain's phases, something he could just show a brief passing intrest in and then kill or throw back into the ocean. Days had past now and no matter what Holmes said about him, he was not an idiot. As if they hadn't noticed the change in him. Regular visits down to the ballask tank, paying even less attention the crew and their needs than ususal. If Sherlock wasn't careful he was going to lose it all. And people were looking to Greg to start the mutany.
In any other circumstances even the thought would have been laughable. The Captain knew what you were thinking before it even crossed your mind but now - well, food supplies were running low and although Sherlock Holmes may not have gotten into piracy for wealth and adventure most of his crew had and they were growing restless. It was quickly turning into an irreversable situation and the control was quickly slipping through the Captain's fingers. If he did not make a move soon somebody else would and at least he had half a brain to make it work.
Greg had quickly dismissed talking as an option. Holmes spent most his time in the tank now and he'd be damned if he was just going to stroll into the pool with the beast that now resided there. Did he believe the myths and legends? Christ even he didn't know but he did know this - creature this - thing, should not exist and the sooner it was off the ship the better, the happier the crew would be and if that meant sending Sherlock over board with it then so be it.
With his decision made Greg stood up, walking past the others to the top of the deck and standing over them. With the small flick of a wrist, the gesture of one single hand they crowded around. It proved how long it had been coming, the way each one listened carefully. None of the others had liked Holmes from the beginning and now Greg had handed them the perfect plan of action. A weight rested uncomfortably on his chest, a deep seated unease that he couldn't quite shift but whatever happened now by the time the sun went down tomorrow evening the Captain and the creature would be released to the ocean and may it have mercy on them - for all of their sakes.