All the King's Horses
Greg leaped into his car, Sally hard on his heels. His heart thudded as loudly in his chest as it had been thudding for the past two minutes. And, as usual, all it took was a text from Sherlock.
Met the bomber. The pool where Carl died. Bring assistance.
-SH
Sherlock never asked for backup unless Alice was involved, which made Greg's blood pressure still higher. Why had he not taken a desk job, again?
"Someone's got to take that kid away from him. That's child endangerment, plain and simple, Greg."
Greg didn't answer. He knew Sherlock (dare he say it) liked having Alice around, and she enjoyed her life at 221B, but his job was to do what was best for her.
The two Yarders hopped out of the squad car and ran into the building. What they found was not what Greg had prepared himself for.
"Lestrade," Sherlock greeted him calmly.
He'd been expecting a killer, or at the very least a small fire. The lack of both made him let go of a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. For one heart-stopping moment, Greg thought Sherlock had been the bomber all along. This idea was squashed by the image of Alice, wrapped in Sherlock's coat, her face buried in his chest.
"Sherlock. What's happened?" he asked.
"Hi, Mr. Greg," Alice said softly, the most subdued he'd ever seen her.
"Jim Moriarty," said Sherlock.
"What?"
"Jim Moriarty happened. He's your bomber. Kidnapped Alice and John. Oh, and the Bruce-Partington plans are in the deep end.
If Greg had thought he was confused before, it had nothing on right now.
"Forget I said anything," Sherlock continued. "Alice, go and see John, all right?"
The little girl ran off to John, who led her off to the far end of the pool with a worried glance in Sherlock's direction.
"You need to take Alice away."
Greg dutifully ignored Sally's unsaid 'I told you so.'
"Why?"
Sherlock shot a meaningful look at Sally. Greg hurriedly waved her away. Oh, he was never going to hear the end of this, was he?
"Moriarty said he would...burn the heart out of me."
Something lodged itself in Greg's stomach.
"Burn the-Sherlock, you don't think he means-"
Just one look at the other man's face when he looked over at Alice told him all that he needed to know. Most people thought Sherlock Holmes didn't have a heart, but Greg knew better. It just rested with the two people who'd nearly been killed tonight.
"I want her under police protection, Lestrade. She wasn't targeted tonight because she was there like all the other hostages. She was targeted because of her relation to me and I can't have that."
"You want her safe."
"I can't have distractions. Not when the game is this good."
Greg winced at the word 'good', but this was Sherlock he was talking to. It was the very last word any sane person would use when the only two people he cared about in the world were kidnapped by a madman.
"What about John?"
"What about him?"
"Don't you want him protected , too?"
Sherlock laughed, but any humor in it was gone. Greg shifted his weight from side to side.
"John? He'd kill me."
He nodded approvingly at his flat-mate, who, Alice trailing along behind him, made his way back over.
"You've decided, then?"
"Yes. Alice, go with Lestrade."
Alice crossed her arms with some difficulty due to the overly long sleeves she was wearing.
"Why?"
"So Moriarty doesn't find you again," Sherlock said bluntly.
Alice tugged off the overcoat and handed it back to him, face surprisingly grim for a kid her age. Greg smiled as gently as he could given the situation. With an uncharacteristic show of tenderness, Sherlock wrapped his scarf around her neck. Alice grinned, though it was a little watery.
"I can come back when you've caught him, right? You're not just sending me away."
"Of course not," John said.
He scooped her up and planted a quick kiss on her forehead. She ducked into his neck, eyes squeezed tightly shut, but John set her back on the ground anyway.
"I'm gonna beat you at Operation when I get back," Alice informed Sherlock, her tongue poking mischievously between her teeth.
"You can try," he said.
The moment Alice turned away from him, the smile dropped from his face, replaced by a quietly pensive expression.
~o0o~
Alice was so silent for the entire ride back to the Yard that Sally had to point it out to him when she fell asleep, exhausted by the day's (and night's) escapades.
"He's more human than you think, Sally," he said, his eyes fixed out the windshield.
"With his kid, yeah, but that's the exception, not the rule," Sally replied. "He's dangerous to have around, Greg, and you know it. Tonight only proved it."
Greg looked back at Alice to make sure she was still out.
"It's just-Greg, you saw what happened tonight. There's this mysterious bomber who just happens to send him a message. Why not you? Why not anyone else on the force?"
"He's the best we've got," Greg felt required to say.
"Yeah, and he's not even on police payroll and yet the phone shows up at the Yard, anyway?" Sally asked. "No one knows we hire him. And then, he calls us telling us there's a bomber, and when we get there, he's gone."
Greg worked his jaw. He could see exactly what sally was implying, but he refused to believe that of Sherlock.
"What are you suggesting?"
"Don't play stupid with me, Greg. I know you don't wanna believe it, but-"
"I don't want to believe it because it's not true."
She slumped back in her seat, breathing a deep sigh. Neither detective looked at each other for a minute.
"Fine. All I'm saying is that it's good we got her out of there. She might be the Freak's daughter, but she doesn't have to end up like him and going somewhere normal will help with that."
They pulled into the Yard. Greg got out of the car and opened the back. Alice was still fast asleep. Heaving a sigh, Greg unbuckled her and tugged her out of the back. Holding Alice to his chest and ignoring the flash of Sally's camera phone and her good-natured teasing, he carried her into the office.
