John stood up, Hanna's hand slide from his bicep to his hand as she stood up from the arm of the chair where she'd been seated. Molly and Lestrade, who'd been in a similar position on the other chair, shifted uncomfortably. Molly's eyes wondered around the room, looking everywhere but Sherlock. Lestrade watched John carefully, prepared to jump on the man at a moment's notice. Mrs. Hudson's eyes were locked on Sherlock, her hand placed above her heart and her mouth opened as if to speak but no words came out.
Sherlock stood perfectly still as John and Hanna approached. He raised an eyebrow at their interlocked fingers before raising his eyes to meet John's cold gaze. "John," Hanna whispered beside him. "Who is it?"
"It's-" his voice broke. He shook his head and looked down at his feet for a moment before his eyes reconnected with the icy blue-green ones in front of him. "Sherlock" the moment the word left his lips Mrs. Hudson gave out a strangled sob and Molly moved to supporter the elder into the empty chair.
"Sherlock" Mrs. Hudson asked threw her tears. "Why? Why did you lie to us?"
"Because-" he started but was cut off by John's fist connecting with his cheek. Lestrade was up and out of his chair, reaching for John but Hanna blocked him.
"That's it" John said turning to Lestrade. "I'm done, if anyone needs me I'll be in my room"
"John-" Sherlock started.
"Not now" John said with a deadly tone. "Come back tomorrow and I may not kill you"
Sherlock watched John leave the room and sighed before standing back up and straighten his coat. Molly looked between him and the others before grabbing her coat and walking out the door with him. Lestrade helped Mrs. Hudson down to her room and Hanna started to clean up. Lestrade came back up to tell Hanna he was leaving and she told him to lock the door on his way out. She did the dishes and put away the leftover, they would make a good lunch for her and Sherlock in the future.
There was a creak on the kitchen floor and she froze. "Hello?" she whispered. "Are you there?"
"I'm here" John whispered as he sat down at the kitchen table.
"John" she breathed a sigh of relief. "You scared me" she closed the frigid and walked over to sit next to him.
"I'm sorry" he said, his voice soft, carrying an almost lifeless tone to it.
"John" she felt along the table for his hands that she grasped tightly. "Are you ok?"
His body shook as he let out a ragged breath, "no." she stood up and walked behind his chair. Wrapping her arms around him she hugged him tightly from behind. They stayed like that for the rest of the night.
In the morning John rolled out of bed and reached for his phone. He had a message from Molly telling him not to come into work today, she could handle it herself. He heard the cupboards shut and could smell something cooking. Hanna was at it again.
Walking into the kitchen he saw her standing over the stove top with a frying pan. "What's for breakfast?" he asked walking into the living room.
"Sausage and Toast" she said flipping one patty over, making it sizzle. "How are you today?"
"I won't kill him if that's what you mean" he replied bitterly at his rubbed his eyes with his fingers.
"That's good" she said, and he could hear the relief in her voice. "Lestrade may be useless but if Sherlock suddenly disappeared he would notice"
John didn't hear her, he was locked inside his head thinking about the night before. "He sent me a bloody message!" he shouted suddenly, standing up and pacing about the room.
"What?" Hanna asked pulling to the pan off the burner and setting it aside before moving to stand in the door frame.
"He sent me a text" John said, calmer this time. "Saying 'I'm alive'"
"When?" she asked.
"You know!" he growled. "You're the one who told me to look at the message"
"The night we met" she nodded. "You ran out of the house, where did you go?"
"Sherlock's grave" he said running his hands over his face. "He said he was alive but-" he stopped.
"You'd given a whole year of hope to the idea that he was alive" she said sitting in her chair. "Confronted with the idea that he actually was-"
"I couldn't believe it" he said. "I went to his grave to remind myself that I-I- I watched him fall, I saw him die!"
"John" she said softly. "There is someone in the hall" he spun around to see Sherlock standing in the door way looking at him warily. The two men stood there watching each other until Hanna broke the stair off by going into the kitchen and grabbing three plates from the cupboard. Slowly the two men entered the kitchen and sat down on either side of the table. Hanna placed the plates with one sausage patty and two pieces of buttered toast on each of them.
"Ok" she said sitting in the last chair at the head of the table. "Now, let's eat and talk calmly about this-"
"How could you do that to us?" John demanded, cutting her off. "Mrs. Hudson, Mycroft, Lestrade, me- we were your friends Sherlock…and you lied to us!"
"I did it to protect you" Sherlock said. "Moriarty had snipers set to kill, you, Lestrade, and Mrs. Hudson unless I jumped"
"So why not tell us you were faking it?" he asked. "Why wait a whole bloody year-"
"Moriarty's people would have killed you if they thought for a moment I wasn't dead" he said simply. "I had to find each and every one of them and make sure they were put behind bars just to be safe."
"And?"
"And I found them all" Sherlock said. "And they are all put away as of four months ago"
"four-"
"I didn't approach you for those four months because I'd heard whispers" Sherlock said looking down at the sausage patty on his plate. "Whispers, that there was a student of Moriarty who was still on the loose. I just confirmed his death certificate two days ago"
"Sherlock-"
"I am sorry for any pain I've caused you John" he said. "But it couldn't be avoided. They needed to think I was dead, and your performance was key; without it the whole thing would have fallen apart" it was quiet again until Hanna took a bite of her toast and their gazes' shifted to her. John sighed looking down at his plate and beginning to eat as well but Sherlock continued to stare at the blind girl beside him.
"John" he said still looking at her. "Who is this?"
John looked up and rolled his eyes. "Sherlock this is Hanna, my new flat mate."
"New… flat… mate?" Sherlock asked slowly.
"Yes" John said picking up his fork and starting in on the sausage. "Come on Sherlock, I needed a flat mate. I can't afford this place on my own"
"I was informed that you'd had a series of flat mates but none of them worked out" Sherlock said still looking at her as she finished her toast.
"Because none of them were you" John said looking up at the other man.
"She's not me either."
"I like to think of her as the kinder, blind, woman version of you" John said. Nodding towards Sherlock's plate he added, "And she's a great cook, eat." Sherlock hesitated a moment before picking up his knife and fork to cut off a small bite of sausage.
Hanna stood up as he ate it, going to the cupboard and pulling out three glasses. She went to the fridge and grabbed the orange juice to fill them before putting the juice away. She sat back down with the glasses in hand; she pushed them towards the two men. John said thank you in a small voice while Sherlock continued to pick at his food.
"Is it not good?" Hanna asked him suddenly.
"Of course it's good" John said. "He's just being a bratty child, think nothing of it"
"Sherlock?" she asked in a small voice. "Is it ok?"
"Yes" he said standing up. "I am just preoccupied with the living arrangements" John's head snapped up.
"Living arrangements?" he asked threw narrow eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Well it's going to be a little cramped but I think we can manage" Sherlock said turning towards then. "Now Hanna, you lived on your own."
"Yes" she said, not bothering to ask how he knew that.
"You owned a couch."
"Yes."
"Bring it here tonight."
"but-"
"No buts" Sherlock stopped her. "It's the only way this will work." Then he turned around and walked into the hall.
"What will work? Sherlock!" John shouted after him but it was too late, Sherlock Holmes had left the building and he let out a huff of frustration.
"Do you think we should have mentioned my cats were coming today?" Hanna asked tilting her head to the side and John groaned.
