After the flight out there and a transfer to the helicopter, Sherlock looks out the window and observes the base as they circle it and then finally land. For once he's behaving himself and is waiting until given the all clear before he starts to unbuckle himself and grabs his duffel as he gets out of the chopper, heading in the direction that his escort is leading him. When he's finally able to see and straighten up a little, he runs a hand through his hair to smooth it down, scanning the area until he sees John.
While he's still not feeling 100%, John is feeling better than when they tried to contact Sherlock originally, well enough that he can assist with the arrangements to get Sherlock there. He's also there to greet the man, in his fatigues, though his outer shirt is open over his light tan t-shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Although it's not exactly what he wants to do when he sees the detective approach, the doctor just nods stiffly. "Sherlock. Thanks for coming." He says as he offers his hand to the younger man.
Arching an eyebrow but apparently understanding the attitude, Sherlock clasps John's hand and shakes it firmly. "Of course. I could hardly pass over the opportunity to see what you write about so often." he says as he looks around. "I hear you have a mystery on your hands." He says before he looks back at John, glancing him over slowly. "Presumably you don't want to speak about it here." he notes as he glances around with keen eyes.
Nodding a little as he looks at the taller man, taking in his change of appearance and appreciating it for a moment, John smiles. "No, I'll take you to meet my commander, Major Sholto." He offers as he looks at Sherlock, then turns and starts to lead him through the camp. "You look well." he says in an attempt at being casual, "Mycroft got my message to you rather quickly, I'm a bit surprised by that."
"Yes, he was rather impressed with your resourcefulness." Sherlock says as he follows the smaller man. "You do not look well. It seems you succumbed to the flu afterall." He says in a slightly disapproving tone. "Any details you can give me?" He asks as he looks at people as they pass them, taking everything in.
John sighs a little and he nods. "How familiar are you with different poisons, Sherlock?" He asks as he glances back at the taller man, "Julia was actually the one that revealed everything, when she had a bit of a fit." He shrugs one shoulder for a moment before he turns and steps inside one of the tents, holding the flap aside for Sherlock to step inside, before he approaches the desk, standing at attention and snapping off a salute. "Major Sholto, this is the man I spoke to you about, Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock, this is Major James Sholto." He introduces, glancing sideways at Sherlock, slightly nervous for a moment.
Considering the question and trying not to get snappish because of the mention of Julia. "I'm well versed in many different types of poisons, John." He says before he ducks into the tent, and offers his hand to Sholto. "Nice to meet you, Major. I hear you have a bit of a problem. Care to fill me in?" he asks as he looks between the two for a moment, arching an eyebrow at John, a small smile tugging at his lips.
Sholto nods and shakes Sherlock's hand firmly before he says, "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Holmes. I've heard great things about your abilities, though I have to admit I expected something.. different." He says as he looks over the younger man, before he takes a deep breath. "Some of our supplies have, presumably, been poisoned. At least they've been tampered with. Mostly the juices, bottles of water, drinks mostly. Watson suggested that it was because the poison was in liquid form and less likely to be discovered in a liquid. Only a small percentage of the supplies have been tampered with, but we are no closer to discovering who it might be." He explains, clasping his hands behind his back.
Sherlock glances at John again before he nods quietly. "While John does tend to exaggerate, I have no doubt he was accurate in regard to my abilities. I can give you an example if you wish." He offers as he looks at the Major, then he frowns a little. "I'll need equipment in order to determine what kind of poison, I'll need to see some of the things that were tampered with, the ones that were not altered since you found them." He says before he glances around. "And I'll need somewhere to work where I won't be interrupted, as well as free reign of your base, to speak to whatever personnel I deem necessary." he says as he considers everything. "If you could spare John - Captain Watson that is, his assistance in guiding me around your base and the personnel therein would be invaluable to me in this situation." he explains as he looks straight at Sholto. Yeah, maybe he also wants to spend some more time with John, but he would also rather choose his guide. He hardly expect the Major to let him have free reign without some sort of bodyguard or guide.
Sholto glances between the few moments, noticing that John has not reacted to this request at all besides a brief glance in the detective's direction. "Very well. Barring anything that will need John's medical attention, this takes first priority, I need to find whoever is trying to weaken or kill my men." He says as he looks back at Sherlock. "Find them, and bring them to me."
"And if it turns out you are one of the conspirators, Major, who shall I bring it to, then?" Sherlock asks bluntly as he looks at the man, narrowing his eyes for a few moments as he looks him over and makes his deductions.
"Sherlock." John says in a warning tone as he looks over at the detective, hands balling into fists at his sides in his anxiety, before he looks back at Sholto, trying to gauge his reaction though he worries that Sherlock will have upset the man. He's only been here for a few minutes afterall.
Watching the detective for a few moments, Sholto glances at John. "It's alright, Captain. It's a good question. If you find that the evidence leads you to me, I am sure that Watson can provide you with the name of my commanding officer." He says as he watches the younger man. "I'm glad to see that you will be taking a serious and unbiased approach to this, Mr. Holmes." He says before he nods a little to John. "Top priority."
Relaxing a little, John sighs and then nods a little. "Sir." He says before he turns to Sherlock. "I'll show you to a place where you can work, I took the liberty of working it up a bit, got what I think you'll need." he says before he walks to hold the tent flap open for Sherlock again.
With a small nod to Sholto, Sherlock turns to follow John, ducking out of the tent and looking around, squinting a bit at the bright sunshine, glancing up at the sky for a moment. "I'm sure that you missed a few things." he says before he follows the doctor toward the tent that is on the outskirts a little. Once they're inside that tent, he relaxes a little, taking a deep breath. "So that is your commander, Major Sholto. You've never mentioned him before." He says almost accusingly as he goes over to the desk and looks at the microscope provided there, along with the slides, glancing around before he opens a cooler and nods as he sees the juice inside, sitting down and pushes his sleeves up to make use of his equipment to start taking samples from various bottles, dumping out a few others to examine the bottles themselves.
Standing just inside the tent and admiring the way the younger man immediately gets to work, John smiles a little. "I never thought to mention him, honestly. He's my commanding officer, there's not really much to say about him. Though he is a good man, I can't imagine him condoning any of this." He points out as he motions around for a few moments.
"Perhaps not, but have you isolated or questioned this Julia woman? Presumably she brought you one of these tainted bottles and that is how you found this out. Quite by accident, which means that she may have a greater plan, or she may have been trying to poison you, John." Sherlock says with perhaps a hint of jealously as he glances sideways at John again without moving his head as he puts one of his new samples under the microscope and adjusts some of the knobs.
Rolling his eyes for a moment at the detective's obvious jealousy and fixation on Julia, John shakes his head and chuckles. "If she was just trying to poison me, there wouldn't be side a wide range of things poisoned." He points out as he watches Sherlock. "It would have been just my bottle." Then he holds up his hands in defense as he can see Sherlock forming an argument already. "Now, I'm not saying she's not involved, I'm just saying that there is bound to be more to it than merely targeting me." he says in a firm tone, looking around for a few moments and trying not to stare at the detective. He can't help himself though, especially in the different clothes which somehow make him seem even more appealing and sexy. Or perhaps it has been his own revelations in recent months, combined with not having seen him for a while. It could be either, but whatever the reason, eh can't take his eyes off the younger man as he watches him work, finally taking a few steps closer, drawn in like a moth to a flame.
Lifting his head from the microscope to look at John and object to what seems to be the doctor's defense of this Julia woman, Sherlock closes his mouth again when he goes on, considering it for a few moments. "Excellent deduction, John. Quite right." He says with a nod of his head, not wanting to admit that he had let his jealousy get the better of him for a few moments. He is more than aware of the doctor's eyes on him, but he makes no move to say or do anything about it. In his own way, he missed John as well, even if he might not be as expressive of it, and he does find this case very interesting, so it's sort of the best of both worlds. An excellent case and being able to be in John's presence. "It could be that it was no one on this base. How easy would it be for someone to sneak onto the base, and get into your stores like this? Taking into account that tampering with this many bottles would take some time."
"Not that easy, there are always sentries on the perimeter, not to mention electronic fences and surveillance." John says as he thinks about it. "Plus we're fairly far from any sort of civilization, we would see anyone approaching before they got close. I think it would have had to be someone on the base. Which is a bit disconcerting. Who would want to do this?" He asks as he looks around for a moment, then sighs as he moves to stand behind and a few paces to the side of the detective, crossing his arms over his chest.
"That is what I am here to find out, John." Sherlock reassures, lifting his head to look over at the soldier. "You're different here than you were in London." He explains, motioning to him vaguely. "More disciplined obviously. Your mind seems clearer, you're more confident and direct." he says as he tries to define the differences between the soldier, the man, and the doctor. "This is excellent, John. A case like this could be quite difficult, we have almost no evidence so far." He says in a pleased tone with a small smile. "Once we find out what kind of poison this is we will have a much clearer picture of what the saboteur was trying to accomplish." He says confidently as he turns back to the microscope, hesitating before he removes the scarf from around his neck and places it to the side, scratching his head a little. "I hate sand." he mutters to himself.
Smiling a little and nodding quietly, John watches Sherlock with amusement. "Now you know why I keep my hair short, besides it being regulation. Most of the women on base keep their hair short as well, because the sand gets everywhere. You can't avoid it, it comes up with the wind." He says with amusement, not being able to help himself as he steps over and buries his fingers in Sherlock's hair, pulling it a little to the side under the pretense to see if there's really any sand in it or not, his hand sliding out slowly. "A bit of a wash will take this out, must have gotten it while you were walking away from the chopper." he says as he considers it, then smiles a little again, sliding his hand down to rest on the back of Sherlock's neck for a moment. "It's good to see you again, Sherlock." he says softly with a small smile before he drops his hand away and takes a step back from the detective.
For a moment Sherlock closes his eyes as he enjoys the touch, always surprised when he feels that sort of reaction, not having ever really enjoyed anyone's touch in a very long time. He doesn't move his head away from the microscope though, trying to hide his reaction from John, not wanting to push the older man or make things uncomfortable here for him. "And you as well, John. You should probably sit down, seeing as you're still recovering from the flu, or perhaps from this poison, depending on what it was, though I think it more likely that they used the flu as a cover for their poisoning." Sherlock says thoughtfully as he adjusts some knobs and then puts the slide aside and picks up another one with a different sample, going through the same process.
"Yes, I was in rather bad shape when this whole thing began." John says but he seems content with Sherlock's lack of response, enjoying just being able to touch the detective, however briefly. Looking around for a moment, he finds a chair and pulls it over in order to sit down, sighing a little in relief. "I am a bit tired." he admits, rubbing his forehead for a moment, before he looks over at Sherlock. "So, you're the genius, how long do you think this will take?" he asks curiously as he looks at Sherlock. "Not just finding out the poison, I mean the whole thing?" he asks as he leans back in his chair a little, stretching out his legs in front of him.
Sherlock hmms a little as he looks into the microscope, lifting his head finally to look over at John as he considers the questions. "A week, at the outside." He decides before he adds, "Unless this person is particularly clever, but it would take me about that long to question every person on this base, I would imagine. Perhaps two weeks, if it's particularly difficult to pin down some of the people for questioning." he says before he looks over at John. "I certainly hope that I haven't been mistaken, and that you are not behind this, John." He says with slightly narrowed eyes at the soldier.
Shocked at first, John finally laughs as he looks over at Sherlock, expression surprised but amused. "Yeah, right. You know me, Sherlock, I'm definitely not clever enough to set this up just to bring you here. I could have thought of something much simpler if I wanted to see you again, getting myself shot somehow and sent home, that would do it." he says as he looks at Sherlock with a little smile. "That would be more my style, I'm sure you have to admit. Is there any statistical proof to the saying that poison is a woman's weapon?" He asks as he watches the detective.
With a little smile, partially relieved and partially amused, Sherlock shakes his head. "Yes, that would be the sort of foolish thing you would do, John." He muses with a small shake of his head. "Thank you, that is all I needed to know about your possible involvement." he says dryly before he turns back to his microscope and looks at the slide curiously. "Statistically speaking, women do tend to go for a subtler approach when they are considering murder, just like they tend not to shoot themselves in the head or face." He says casually, before he lifts his head. "How many women are on this base, John?" He asks as he goes through some quick calculations and statistics in his head.
"Probably about a dozen." John says as he thinks about it. "Not that many, considering there's about a hundred and fifty of us altogether." He says as he looks over at Sherlock for a few moments. "We can't discriminate, though, just because it's poison. Though if we did, it would make our suspect pool a great deal smaller." He says before he sighs a little and scrubs a hand over his face, closing his eyes and tilting his head back for a moment.
"Indeed. Get some rest, John. You've kindly provided me with a cot in here, you had better make use of it, I need you to be sharp and on top of your game for this." Sherlock says in a caring, but firm voice, switching out his slides. "Can you hand me one of those bottles of water first? Assuming that they have been cleared as not poisoned." He adds, motioning to a small clustering of bottles set apart from everything else, on the other side of the room in fact.
"Aren't I supposed to be the doctor here?" John asks in amusement before he pushes himself to his feet with a grunt. "Maybe just for a few moments." he decides, walking over and grabbing two of the bottles before he holds one out to Sherlock across the desk.
Reaching out, Sherlock takes the bottle from John, their fingers brushing in the process, something that is quite deliberate on Sherlock's part, although it won't seem like it. "You may be a doctor, John, but you are not the only one with medical knowledge. You do not have to have a degree in order to know a thing or two about human anatomy." He reminds the doctor in a flat tone that seems to have the subtext of 'idiot' behind it.
Not being able to help himself, John smiles a little as he opens his bottle of water, the amusement reflected in his eyes as well. "I suppose not." he says after he takes a drink of water, then he goes over to the cot and sits down. "Wake me in an hour or so, would you?" He asks before he lays down on his back on the cot, the bottle on the ground beside him before he folds his hands over his stomach and closes his eyes with a small sigh.
"I'll wake you if I discover anything of interest." Sherlock says in a distracted tone, opening his water and taking a long drink before he puts it aside in a safe distance from everything else. Once John closes his eyes, the detective looks over at him for a few moments, admiring him with a small smile before he runs both hands through his hair and sits forward to look through the microscope again.
What both of them fail to observe is the biggest weakness of tents such as these. And that is the ease with which someone can eavesdrop. The figure stands in the shadows listening to the conversations and the interplay between the two, the tone of the voices, the obvious affection between the two, that borders on something a little more than friendly. With a twisted, almost cruel, mocking smile, the figure steps back further into the shadows. "I see, a weakness." They mutter before turning and heading back into camp to resume their duties. The shadowed figure has to keep up appearances so no one will suspect them, afterall.
This may be my favorite plot twist, because it puts Sherlock into John's world for once. It takes Sherlock out of his element, though he isn't REALLY out of his element, since it's still a case. Just a different location. Still, these two will have to be careful how they act around eachother with so many prying eyes, especially since John is such a private person. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews, I love to see them come through on my email, and I love knowing you guys like this so much. It's amazing. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Reviews/Comments welcome!