Disclaimer: See prologue chapter.
Background: See prologue chapter.
A/N: See prologue chapter. Also remember this is a story and anything that seems like it may be fact, I'm probably just making up. I am not a cop so I have no idea how things actually work in this type of situation, my only guide being the television...
Beta: Lady of the Shards
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Chapter 6
Mycroft's Office
"Oh my God, Sherlock. What the –" said Lestrade glaring at Sherlock as that was all he could do without choking.
It was decided, thought Mycroft as he watched Lestrade choke slightly on the biscuit that was just shoved in his mouth. He was going to kill his brother and have his best people hide the body.
"Sherlock," said John with a sigh as he passed Lestrade a cup of tea to help him as he chewed on the biscuit in his dry mouth as he still choked somewhat on it.
"John," said Sherlock simply as if he didn't know what John was trying to imply.
John rubbed his head. He forgot how Sherlock could be about his brother. He would never make that mistake again, though, this incident finally beating the lesson in.
He wasn't the only one rubbing his head though. Mycroft was rubbing his head with one hand while clenching his pen rather tightly with the other and Greg was drinking another cup of tea to keep trying to clear his throat of crumbs. The only person who was unaffected was Harry, who was still sleeping on the couch, totally unaware of what was going on. John wished he could be sleeping right now.
Mycroft stopped rubbing his head, stood up and walked around from behind his desk, causing everyone but Lestrade, who was still choking on his biscuit slightly, to follow him with their eyes.
"Right, this is what we are going to do now," Mycroft said sounding and looking professional all of a sudden and John could finally see how he could be the British Government and not just a concerned big brother. He certainly did carry himself differently, probably exactly like he did when he pulled rank, which always felt good but John rarely did it, pulling rank for amusement was a big no in John's book. Mycroft was probably feeling like a smug bastard right now and judging by Sherlock's look, he definitely knew what his brother was doing and how he was feeling for sure while John, himself, was only making guesses.
"Stand up, John," said Mycroft looking at him as he stood slightly behind Sherlock.
John suddenly felt like a deer that was caught in the headlights of an oncoming car that was going sixty miles an hour and had no way of stopping in time before it hit him. Why did he have to stand up? He was the only one here, along with Lestrade, who wasn't acting childish and Harry had the excuse of actually being a child to act like one. Mycroft and Sherlock had no such excuse.
"Sometime this century would be nice if you please, Doctor Watson," said Mycroft still looking at him intensely.
Mycroft is just as cranky as Sherlock when one doesn't respond to them right way thought John as he cautiously stood up as everyone awake watched him. It was rather unnerving.
Once he was standing up fully, Mycroft said, "Excellent. Now, sit in my seat behind my desk."
"I'm sorry, what?" questioned John, looking confused and he wasn't the only one. Lestrade was looking confused as well though Sherlock was looking slightly put out. If John moved, he wouldn't be able to interrupt him when he wanted to, probably just what Mycroft wanted, the smug idiot. No matter, Sherlock was clever. He would find a way around this slight obstacle of inconvenience. It will take more than a desk to stop him.
"It's simple, John," said Mycroft and John wished Mycroft would pick either his name or his title and stick to it when addressing him for consistency's sake if nothing else, "if you sit in my seat and I sit in yours," Mycroft looked like the idea itself was rather unappealing never mind the action itself, "then Sherlock will not be able to interrupt you like he did the poor Detective Inspector and you can finish telling me what happened in the bank."
"What makes you think I'll finish telling you what happened in the bank?" asked John as he cautiously and gingerly sat down in Mycroft's chair. It was one of the most comfortable chairs he has ever sat in his entire life. He leaned back and his back cracked. Wonderful.
"No you can't take my chair with you," said Mycroft, before the thought could enter John's mind, an amused look on his own face at John's face, who didn't bother to look sheepish. The chair was amazing. "And in answer to your question, my brother," a look directed at Sherlock who just looked back at Mycroft, "won't continue and cannot be trusted to continue without taking excessive breaks to 'clear his throat of phlegm' and the poor Detective Inspector looks like he is going to be having quite the sore throat for a while, so that leaves you to finish the tale and in a place that is away from where my brother cannot interrupt you."
"Ye of little faith brother," said Sherlock before John could answer.
Mycroft just gave his brother a look, something he was doing a lot of today, and then he looked at John, not giving him a chance to respond, and said, "Whenever you are ready."
Mycroft then sat gingerly in the seat that John had vacated, as if it may actually bite him if he actually followed through with his ridiculous notion, in front of his own desk with his notepad and pen as John, now that he was comfortable in Mycroft's chair, looked at everyone who was looking at him expectantly, though John thought Sherlock looked thoughtful and devious, like he did when he was bored. John was going to keep a careful eye on him while he was telling the third part of the story. He didn't think a desk would stop Sherlock. He would probably just be more creative about how he went about interrupting.
"Okay," said John and he sat up in Mycroft's chair, maybe he would get Sherlock to help him borrow, without the intent of returning, the chair, "Well, there was the sound of…"
Nineteen hours, fifty minutes before in the bank...
There was the sound of two gunshots, two thuds, panicked screams and when John looked up from his protective position of Ms. Moore to take stock of the situation, what he saw shocked him.
There was a bullet frozen just inches in front of him and when he looked around the vault he saw that there was another bullet frozen just inches in front of Lestrade and that Sherlock was wiping something from his suit jacket that looked suspiciously like water. It also looked like Harry was muttering something but John wasn't close enough to hear what exactly and Sherlock's body was blocking Harry from further examination from anyone. Did that mean Sherlock stepped in front of Harry?
On John's further exam of the vault, the two thuds were made when Mrs. Dursley had passed out behind her husband and brought down her son with her, who started the panicked screaming with several others joining in.
John looked over at the hostage-takers and would-be murderers and saw that the leader had hung up the phone after the gunshots and was looking at the bullets that were still hanging midair. Even though his face was covered, there was no doubt that his head tilt meant that he was confused as to what had just happened. John could only hold his breath and hope he didn't try again. For some reason, he didn't think he would be lucky a second time.
John watched as the leader turned to one of his colleagues and said, "You brought a water pistol with you?"
"No," said the man, and John realized this was the one that was watching them earlier, "I fired earlier. You heard me and where would I stick an extra gun?"
The leader didn't acknowledge anything that the man had just said. He just took the gun from the man and examined it, ejected the magazine and pulled back the slide. It was real as the remaining bullets were proof enough. So why had it fired water? And what made the bullets freeze? Maybe his employer would know? But first…
The leader walked up to the bullet that was in front of John, plucked it from midair, looked at it, dropped it on the ground where it fell with a thud, looked at John and said, "Did you do that?"
John shook his head, in too much shock to do much else. He had never seen anything like this, not even in Afghanistan.
The leader looked at him before moving over to Lestrade without another word and plucking the bullet from midair, looking at it before dropping it as well.
The leader looked up at Lestrade and said, "Did you do that?"
John watched as a curious look crossed over Lestrade's face but it was gone the next second, and John had to wonder now if he was hallucinating, before Lestrade said, "No." He shook his head as well.
The leader, again, didn't say anything, just left the vault with his comrades, shutting the vault door behind them.
There was a moment of silence in which no one said anything but Lestrade shot Harry a strange look. John couldn't decipher it so after a moment he asked Ms. Moore if she was hurt and she said no. John looked around quickly at everyone to ascertain if anyone had been hurt. It didn't appear so. They were all just in slight shock for the moment except for Mrs. Dursley, who was still out cold, but John didn't think Mr. Dursley would let him touch her, even if to exam her to make sure she was all right.
Then after a minute more of silence, Mrs. Dursley woke up and asked her husband what happened.
"It was the Freak!" said Mr. Dursley pointing at Harry who was still hidden slightly behind Sherlock. "It's all his fault!"
Harry moved a little further behind Sherlock at that pronouncement as if he knew what was to come after that pronouncement.
"What did you do you now, boy?" asked Mrs. Dursley, sounding angry.
Harry moved even further behind Sherlock though closer to the wall away from everyone even Sherlock though Sherlock moved his body, probably again, to block Harry from everyone's view.
John moved closer to Sherlock now as did Lestrade.
"Now hold on," said John.
"You don't know what he's like normally. He does this all the time," said Mr. Dursley and he started to advance towards the three of them in front of Harry.
"He had nothing to do with it," said Lestrade but John and Sherlock could tell there was something in Lestrade's voice that said maybe he didn't believe that one hundred percent but he wasn't worried about it quite as much as Mr. and Mrs. Dursley appeared to be. If anything, he sounded grateful.
"He did!" said Mrs. Dursley and she held tight to her son who looked terrified.
"What makes you think he had something to do with it?" asked Sherlock, standing in front of Harry with an arm behind him on Harry's shoulder to stop him from moving further away from him and in Sherlock's own method of comfort, John realized.
But Mr. Dursley wasn't listening to any of them nor any of the protests coming from any of the other people in the bank with him and he continued to advance towards where all three of them stood in front of Harry.
Sherlock stood in front of them all and said, "If you think I'm going to let you touch the boy in my presence, you are sadly mistaken. He did not have anything to do with what just happened, of that I am sure. Now go back to your wife. You gave up your rights to speak to Harry when you gave him to us to look after."
Lestrade was nodding his agreement to what Sherlock had said and John figured he might as well as stand there and look intimating as Captain Watson, not Doctor Watson, to get him to back off even if John didn't think Sherlock sounded all that sure about Harry not having anything to do with what just happened.
Mr. Dursley, finally, ended up giving the three of them a scathing look before he went back over to his wife muttering about freaks in cloaks coming to investigate, whatever that meant, though Lestrade just snorted.
After Mr. Dursley went back over to his wife and everyone slowly went back to their own thoughts and business, Sherlock, Lestrade and John all turned towards Harry who looked at them nervously, gulping rather noticeably and tugging on his shirt with one hand.
Before any of them could say anything, though, Harry said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it! I just didn't want the first people who were nice to me to die!"
Choosing to ignore the second part of the unnecessary apology until he can properly think it through, preferably with some shooting involved and, glancing at Lestrade's and Sherlock's faces, he knew he would have some company when he did so, John was confused. Harry thought he stopped the two bullets and turned the other into water before it ever left the chamber of the gun though when he glanced over to Lestrade again he was mouthing to himself something about strong accidental something, John couldn't make out the last word. John looked over at Sherlock and realized that he was still looking at Harry.
"What makes you think that what happened to the bullets was your fault?" asked Sherlock to Harry.
Harry shrugged his little shoulder, Sherlock's hand still on it, and said, "I'm a freak. It's always my fault."
He sounded miserable at that and John could only imagine how many times he was told that, and that made him angry.
Before John or Lestrade could correct what Harry had said, Sherlock said, rather forcefully, "No. Harry you are not a freak if, and I'm stressing the if as we do not know for certain you did anything, you can do something that someone else cannot."
John and Lestrade exchanged a look. Perhaps everyone calling him a freak did affect him more than he let on. They had always suspected, especially Lestrade since Sherlock's deductions about Lestrade's team were always vicious once they all heard that hateful word used in regard to Sherlock and John and Lestrade both could only do so much to make them back off.
Harry looked at Sherlock for a long time before he looked at John and Lestrade, who both nodded at him at what Sherlock had said before he nodded his head at what Sherlock had said to him.
"Okay," he said, though John couldn't tell if Harry actually believed what Sherlock had told him or not, but if John knew Sherlock, he would make Harry believe it, just like he made John truly realize his limp was psychosomatic.
Mycroft's Office
"Sherlock, stop throwing biscuits at me," John said calmly as he was hit in the face again and there was a snapping noise heard throughout the room.
Everyone turned to look, slightly incredulously - Lestrade and John, as they thought he had more patience - or gleefully - Sherlock - at Mycroft who calmly threw away the two pieces of his pen and turned to John, wiping his hand of ink on a wet napkin he had pulled from his suit jacket, and said, "Could you please hand me another pen from the top left hand drawer, Doctor Watson?"
John tried it and said, "It's locked."
"My apologies. Try the third drawer from the bottom on the right-hand side," said Mycroft, throwing away the wet napkin now that his hand was cleaned.
John tried it, it opened but since Mycroft was watching him rather closely, he just took out a pen and passed it to Mycroft before shutting the desk drawer.
"Thank you, John," said Mycroft.
John nodded his head.
"Please continue on with the tale," said Mycroft and he moved the plate of biscuits out of reach from his brother, something he should have done after he shoved one down Detective Inspector Lestrade's throat.
Sherlock rolled his eyes at that move and said, "Dull." Though he leaned back in his chair to ponder his next move to get John to stop telling the story before it reached its conclusion.
Nineteen hours before in the bank...
"Yes, sir," said the leader of the bank robbery to his boss into the Bluetooth that was in his ear. "The bullets froze midair and one was turned into water before it even left the gun."
"You don't say," said the other voice, sounding somewhat gleeful.
The leader of the bank robbery knew it was a rhetorical question so he didn't say anything, just waited for his boss to continue.
"Tell me, Freddie, did you see any sticks when you had your men fire their guns?" asked his boss.
"No," said Freddie, confused. What did sticks have to do with anything?
"Hmm… There are children there right? Two of them if I can recall correctly from when you did attendance," said his boss, sounding thoughtful.
"Yes, sir," said Freddie.
"What was the surname?" asked his boss.
Freddie thought for a moment before he said, "I think it was Dursley, sir."
"Of both children?" asked his boss.
Freddie hesitated. It sounded like his boss already knew the answer. "I'm not sure, sir."
"Hmm… Tell me, who were your men aiming at when they fired their guns?" asked his boss, and he didn't sound gleeful anymore. He sounded like he was collecting data to conduct business.
"The copper and the two flatmates," said Freddie.
There was silence on the other end for the moment and it was a tense silence. Freddie felt like he could cut it with a knife.
"Let me get this straight," said his boss and he said this softly, dangerously. "Your men fired bullets at Detective Inspector Lestrade, Doctor John Watson and SHERLOCK HOLMES!" He shouted the last name in anger.
"Yes –" said Freddie and that is as far as he got before he was cut off.
"What was my parting statement to you, Freddie dear," said his boss. He sounded sweet now. Freddie thought that was a danger sign.
Freddie thought for a moment before he said, "Not to harm Sherlock Holmes or Doctor Watson."
"Or the Detective Inspector!" yelled his boss. "I need all three of them alive! And here your men are shooting at them!" His boss continued to yell threats about how he was lucky they weren't actually hurt or all of them would be shoes or worse and the threats went on. Then there was a pause in his yelling.
"But they may not have done it purposely, sir," said Freddie.
"You just said that is who they were aiming at," said his boss dangerously.
"Yes, but the three of them were each protecting someone," said Freddie quickly before his boss could cut him off.
"Protecting someone?" echoed his boss back to him after a moment of very, very tense silence. "Even Sherlock Holmes?"
"Yes," said Freddie, sounding slightly relieved. "He was protecting one of the children."
"Oh, so you and your men are children killers then?" asked his boss.
Freddie didn't know what to say, especially since he knew what his boss actually does and he is far from innocent when it comes to these sorts of things.
"Describe the child to me," said his boss after a moment, apparently having given up for the moment of getting an answer.
Freddie describes the young boy as best as he could. It was hard since he overlooked the boy as unimportant.
"Tell me. Was there also a lightening bolt scar on his forehead?" asked his boss and he sounded positively gleeful, as if all his dreams had come true at once.
Five minutes later, Freddie was relieved to finally be off the phone with his boss, even though he left him floundering at first. The man was scary as were his mood swings. He hoped he didn't make any major mistakes. He glanced up at the windows in the bank. He heard things about his boss's sniper, even if there was little visibility through them because of the blinds, he could apparently make the shot. Freddie was glad the windows were very high up though he wondered if that made much difference to the sniper. Angrily he thought whoever heard of needing sunlight in a bank when you weren't in it that long? Though he could have thought for sure the blinds were closed earlier…
In the vault...
"What do you think they are doing out there now?" asked Mr. Knight from his spot against the vault wall.
Sherlock let out a sigh but before he or anyone else could say anything, Harry, surprisingly, let out a giggle and said, "No one thinks, right?"
Sherlock, who was sitting right next to him, said, "Correct Harry. No one thinks."
"Okay, genius," and it wasn't said with praise from Mr. Davis, "what are they doing?"
Sherlock, ignoring how Mr. Davis said 'genius,' said, after letting out a sigh, "Isn't it obvious?"
"No," said everyone, excluding, John, Harry and Lestrade, in a varying degree of tones, some annoyed, some neutral, some like they were going to murder Sherlock (i.e. – the Dursleys).
"Yes," said Harry, nodding his head at Sherlock who sent a brief smile in his direction.
"Frea-" started Mr. Dursley but Sherlock cut him off.
"I do not want to hear that word uttered again, Mr. Dursley," said Sherlock with a scowl directed at him. "Harry has done nothing wrong. He only used his brain which is more than what can be said for everyone else here."
As Mr. Dursley responded back, John and Lestrade couldn't help but stare at Sherlock after they let out a sigh at being insulted. They couldn't remember when Sherlock grew attached, for lack of a better phrase, that quickly to someone.
In fact, Lestrade remembers the last person Sherlock became quickly attached to was John himself. John and Lestrade wondered if Sherlock knew he was becoming attached and starting to care.
They both mentally shook their head and turned back to the conversation, even though it was obvious now that they both missed some points in the conversation as Mr. Dursley was now extremely red in the face, Sherlock looked slightly fascinated as if he wanted to see just how red he could make Mr. Dursley and Harry was sitting rather close to Sherlock.
John, knowing he is one of the few who can derail Sherlock when he is starting an experiment, said to Sherlock, "Sherlock, just explain how it is obvious what the hostage-takers are doing now." John couldn't help the slight exasperation that slipped onto his face. The concrete in the floor wasn't good for his aches, psychosomatic or not. He was going to be stiff when this was all over and they were only a few hours into.
Sherlock looked over at John, eyes assessing his well-being, though he would never admit it out loud to anyone, let alone John, as he knew how John's wounds acted up on concrete floors, before he decided not to argue and said, "He went to call his boss to find out if he saw anything like this before and to see if his boss can help and to make sure that if they fire their guns again, they'll work."
"How can you possibly know that?" asked Ms. Moore. She sounded curious.
"It is the only reason why someone like him, someone who is already proven to be quick to shoot and to show his power, would leave all the hostages alive after saying to the person on the other end of the phone that he was going to kill three of us," responded Sherlock.
Everyone pondered that for a moment before Lestrade asked, "Do you think they will be back to kill the three?"
John thought he needed to know so that he could try to protect them, no matter how fruitless it may seem to be.
Sherlock was silent for a moment as everyone watched him, waiting for his answer as his hand rubbed at his stomach, his eyes slid silently towards Harry, before he said, "No." He looked back at John then Lestrade and said, again, "No, I don't think so."
Regardless of the fact that Sherlock just repeated himself, something that he hated, the tone of Sherlock's voice alerted John that he may not be telling the complete truth. Maybe he did listen to Mr. Knight when he said not to be so unreassuring in front of children. Though John was curious about why Sherlock kept rubbing his stomach. Was he getting sick?
Everyone was silent as they pondered what Sherlock had said, some reading between the lines of what he said, others believing what he said, the idiots.
Before they knew it another hour had passed and still no one had said a word after Sherlock had finished speaking, not even Sherlock and they were all sitting around in the vault.
Suddenly the other child, and John wasn't sure if his name was said or if he just didn't hear it spoken, said, "I'm hungry and I'm missing my favorite television show!" That sounded like a whine actually.
John leaned his head against the wall, he was sitting between Sherlock and Lestrade, and he hoped the child didn't do that long.
"Mummy? Did you hear me? I'm hungry and I'm missing my favorite television show! I want to watch it! Make them let me watch it and feed me!"
John lifted his head up and looked at Lestrade who looked at John incredulous before he stared incredulously at the child. The child couldn't honestly expect to eat something and watch telly in the middle of a hostage situation, could he?
"Darling, be quiet now," said Mrs. Dursley while Mr. Dursley didn't bother to acknowledge anything his son said.
John looked at Sherlock who didn't bother to look at him as he was engrossed thinking, going by his hand movements, he was probably back in his mind palace. John looked over at Harry who just looked like he couldn't believe his cousin.
"No Mummy! It's four in the afternoon and my favorite show is on and it's time for my snack before supper!" said the child.
Now John was confused. Don't most people eat supper at around five o'clock? He was pretty sure it was the recommended time to eat if you were going to be on a schedule and not live with a hectic schedule like his.
"Shh, Dudley. You'll get your snack when we get home. I'm sorry but you can't watch your show right now," said Mrs. Dursley, trying to soothe her child while Mr. Dursley glared at everyone who was staring at his family incredulously. They had no right to judge his family. The nerve of them.
John saw great, big crocodile tears start to fall down the child's, Dudley's, face at that. If John had to guess going by everything that Harry wasn't saying and the way he was acting, Dudley was never denied anything in his life. This must be a crushing blow to the little boy and everyone was going to have to suffer his crying.
"Oh do make your boy be quiet," said Sherlock after a few minutes, coming out of his mind palace, rather abruptly.
"Why I never –" said Mrs. Dursley while Mr. Dursley went red in the face again. John decided that must be his default setting when angry.
"He is going to attract the attention of the hostage-takers. If you want them to come in here then, by all means, let him continue to cry and draw their attention right to him," said Sherlock.
What Sherlock said didn't seem to help stop Dudley crying at all though it was the first thing that Sherlock said that Mr. and Mrs. Dursley listened to without complaint.
"Dudley Vernon Dursley, you stop right now. Do you want to make those men come back in?" asked Mrs. Dursley shrilly as she gripped her son tight and held him to her close.
There was a moment where it didn't seem like he was going to stop, but finally, Dudley stopped crying, although John and probably everyone else in the vault could tell it was fake, except his own parents.
There was a moment of silence before there was the sound of chuckling coming from the student, James Morgan.
"What's so funny?" asked Mr. Dursley, slightly stand-offish.
"Mate, you named your kid after DVDs. His initials are DVD," said James Morgan and he continued to laugh.
Now John could see the humor in that. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley seemed like straight-laced people and they probably didn't even realize what they did, which made it even funnier. He grinned but he was old enough not to laugh.
Until he looked at Sherlock and saw he was fighting a grin. They caught each other's eye and they both burst out laughing which caused a domino effect in almost everyone in the vault excluding very obviously Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, who scowled as that was a good, strong name, and Dudley who looked shocked at the laughter, not quite understanding. Even Harry let out a few chuckles though he was laughing because everyone except the Dursleys were.
James Morgan looked at Mr. Dursley and saw his red face and said, still chuckling slightly, "Don't be like that, mate. I think it's cool."
Everyone let their chuckles slowly taper off after that comment but it felt nice to have a semi-lighthearted moment in the very tense situation especially since they weren't making fun of anyone, just the circumstances since picking on children was wrong, especially by adults. John was a firm believer of that. If anything, they were making fun of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley for picking the name to begin with, not Dudley.
As soon as the last person finished laughing it was as though it was a cue for the hostage-takers to come back into the vault causing the lighthearted moment to vanish just as soon as it arrived.
The leader looked at everyone while his men stood slightly spread out in the vault with their guns pointed in no particular direction. Everyone tensed though Sherlock just watched them appearing as relaxed and unfazed as before they walked in.
After a moment of tense silence, in which the leader was glad that he could make some people as tense as his boss made him, the leader said, "What is all the commotion going on in here?"
No one wanted to answer him. John looked at Sherlock again and was surprised, though not if he thought about it, to see a small smirk starting on his face as he watched the leader.
"Someone had better answer me," said the leader after another minute.
Mr. Hunt decided to answer, "It was nothing. The children are hungry."
John could understand why he grouped the kids together. Harry looks like he could definitely stand to eat more food than what he is getting.
"That explains the wailing I heard. What about the laughter?" said the leader.
Sherlock rolled his eyes, John closed his in anticipation, and said, "Obviously, someone said something funny."
The leader's hand clenched but that was all he did before he took out the phone and spoke into it.
"Yeah, I'm going to need some food while I'm waiting for my way outta here. It better be safe. We're not gonna be the only ones eating it," said the leader to the hostage negotiator.
That was the last everyone in the vault heard before the vault door was shut and they were left alone.
"What had you so pleased when the hostage-takers walked in?" asked Lestrade almost as soon as the hostage-takers left them alone again but quietly so no one overheard. People tended to panic when Sherlock answered anything.
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Sherlock, quiet as well.
John just looked at him, Harry shook his head and Lestrade said, "No."
Sherlock let out a long suffering sigh as if he did not know why he kept himself surrounded by idiots though he patted Harry's arm as if to let him know it was okay, that he would learn and not all hope was lost for him, before he said, "Obviously his phone call did not go well with his boss."
"How do you know that?" asked John, curiously while Lestrade raised an eyebrow and Harry looked like he was very interested in what he was saying.
"When they came in, the leader, he shot the three of us a look as if he were blaming us for something. The leader practically said if there was any commotion regardless of who was the cause he would shoot either you, John, or you, Lestrade. Either his boss does not want any of us hurt, specifically, or he does not want any killings at all. Plus did you notice they did not point their guns at anyone when they came in? That was the first time they did not," said Sherlock very quickly.
John and Lestrade thought about what Sherlock said in silence for a moment while Harry looked at Sherlock in awe.
After a moment, John said, "You know who the leader's boss is, don't you?"
"An inkling. Nothing more," responded Sherlock.
"Who?" asked Lestrade.
Sherlock didn't bother to respond and Lestrade let out a sigh.
Everyone fell silent after that and John saw that Harry wanted to ask how Sherlock did what he did but wasn't going to. John looked at Sherlock as well and could tell at once why Harry wasn't asking. Sherlock's eyes were closed and he was in what John dubbed his 'thinking' pose.
John felt like he needed to explain to Harry. He didn't want the boy to stop asking questions or be afraid to ask questions.
"You can ask him when he's finished, Harry. I'm sure he won't mind explaining it to you," said John with a small smile.
Harry looked at John and gave him a smile and Sherlock let out a noise that was in agreement as he was apparently listening to everything still going on around him even if he was thinking inward. Of course, he would know what they were talking about and Harry's grin grew bigger. Harry obviously had grown an attachment to Sherlock in a very short amount of time as well. John thought it was remarkable.
They all lapsed into a comfortable silence after that and before they knew it another hour had passed and John couldn't help but wonder if hostage situations were always so boring and then he wondered if Sherlock was rubbing off on him. That thought sounded awfully like him.
But then they spent most of their time so far in the vault and not being threatened, which was good except for that minor hiccup with the bullets being shot at them, but John lived for the rush of the adrenaline. He loved it in these situations even though he would never admit it and he couldn't help but find himself bored with the proceedings slightly. After all, this was his first honest to goodness bank hold up and he felt like he was missing all the action by being shoved in a vault. He mentally shook his head at that thought. He really was channeling Sherlock.
At that thought, the vault opened again and the hostage-takers walked back in. Everyone turned to look at them.
The leader was looking at each of them as if he was assessing them all for something. Finally, he obviously found what he was looking for because he started to head in the direction of where Sherlock, John, Harry and Lestrade were sitting and right up to Harry, picking him up without a pause in his movement. That action in turned caused Sherlock, John and Lestrade to stand up and the rest of the hostage-takers to point their guns at the three of them.
The leader didn't spare them a glance. He just continued to stare at Harry, who was extremely tense in the man's arms. After a moment, the leader balanced Harry with one hand and using the other moved Harry's bangs off his forehead as if he were looking for something hidden beneath them.
The leader stared at Harry's forehead for a moment and John saw Sherlock's eye narrow out of the corner of his eye. There was obviously something on Harry's forehead that had a significance that none of them noticed and John saw Sherlock mouth, "there's always something." So obviously Sherlock didn't see what was on his forehead either. Harry's bangs must have been hiding them which was surprising considering how messy his hair is.
The leader then looked at the three of them and said, "Oh stop with the looks. I'm not hurting the brat. Which leads me to question, why is he even over here to begin with when he came with that family?" The leader pointed over to the Dursley family.
There was silence at that question and no one seemed to want to answer it.
After a moment of silence, the leader said, "You know what, it doesn't matter anyways as long as someone is keeping him out of trouble."
John noticed the leader's eyes go to Sherlock at that statement.
"I need volunteers to go get the food and I'm going to pick them now," said the leader, still holding onto Harry, who's forehead was now visible and everyone could see a lighting bolt scar, though the leader had set Harry down onto the floor, holding on to him with his left hand with his gun in his right. He looked at everyone standing in the vault.
"Are you going to let the boy go?" asked Sherlock and John could tell he was resisting putting his hand on his stomach. John wasn't sure what he was more concerned with now at the moment, the fact that someone had a gun close to little Harry's head or the fact that Sherlock was choosing a very inconvenient time to fall ill. He should just go with both and save himself the trouble.
Surprisingly the leader answered him and said, "No. I need to make sure whoever I take listens. Everyone listens when a child is suddenly in danger."
He continued to scan the room until he pointed at Ms. Moore and said, "You." One of his fellow hostage-takers grabbed her arm. The leader then pointed at John and said, "And you." Another of the hostage-takers grabbed John's arm and brought him over to the vault door to stand by Ms. Moore.
"We'll be back in with the food," said the leader and he walked out the vault with Harry walking quickly to keep up with him though John could see Harry glancing over his shoulder to look at where Sherlock and Lestrade were standing and John, himself, looked at them before he was pulled out of the vault and it was closed shut.
John really wanted to double check the look on Sherlock's face though. John could have thought Sherlock looked concerned and Lestrade had a hand on his shoulder as if he were holding Sherlock back.
The man holding his arm, unless it was a very unfortunate woman and damn was Sherlock rubbing off him, led him away from the vault and stood him in front of the teller counter beside Ms. Moore, Harry, his scar still visible, still in the leader's arm. John had to wonder what this had to do with them getting the food.
"Before we get the food, I've negotiated a trade for it. One hostage for the food and drinks. Out of the hostages that I have out of the vault, which one should I trade for the food? Answer one at a time now starting with you, Army Doctor," said the leader looking at him.
John, almost without thinking about it, said, "Harry." He nodded at the boy in his arm.
The leader didn't say anything, just turned to Ms. Moore, who said, "Harry," also nodding at the boy in his arm.
The leader looked at them, before looking at the boy in his arm, before nodding and saying, "That settles it then. Ms. Moore, after you get the food from the coppers that bring it in, I've watched enough telly to know it won't actually be the delivery guys, you are free to leave with them."
"Now wait a moment," started John and Ms. Moore, together.
"No," said the leader. "I took your opinions into consideration before I made my decision and I've decided Ms. Moore will leave. Children are better hostages, anyway. No one wants to hurt them."
John and Ms. Moore were silent before there was a sudden knocking sound on the door.
"Let's move," said the leader and he pulled Harry towards the door as two others pulled John and Ms. Moore towards the door and the last one covered them.
"Army Doctor," said the leader and John looked over at him when they stopped by the door. "Open the door and let them in."
The man who was pulling him, led John to the door and with his gun in his back, John opened the door to let in the two delivery people who happened to be Sergeant Donovan, and John had to wonder when she got back from the crime scene she was at, and another that John had seen at crime scenes but didn't know on any name basis.
Once they were in the bank fully, John was told to shut the door which he did and he was pulled back further with everyone else.
The leader with his gun pointed at Harry then looked at Sergeant Donovan, who appeared to be in charge of the two who stepped in the bank, and said, "Take the food over to the teller counter and set it down."
Sergeant Donovan nodded once along with her associate without looking at John, the least he needed was for these men to think he had police connections, and they walked over to the teller counter and set down the pizza boxes that they were carrying and what looked like a couple of bags full of cans of fizzy drinks.
Once they were done with that, Sergeant Donovan and her associate turned to look at the leader who was watching them carefully and said, "You can take Ms. Moore with you on your way out."
Sergeant Donovan frowned slightly and said, "Why don't you let the child go?"
The leader brought up his gun to point in the direction of Sergeant Donovan and said, "Because I've decided to let Ms. Moore go. Now you two better leave and take Ms. Moore before we can add two more hostages to the rest of them."
"Army Doctor," John tensed at that, "You can let them out and remember you three, he will have a gun to his back and I will have a gun to the child. Ms. Moore, you are free to go."
"Wait," said Sergeant Donovan, and the leader sighed but it didn't seem as if Sergeant Donovan was going to give in and leave. She just crossed her arms and waited for the leader to acknowledge her.
"What?" said the leader, sounding annoyed.
"Does anyone need medical attention? There were the gunshots after all and I was told to ask," said Sergeant Donovan.
"No," said the leader. "Now leave." He nodded to his accomplice who gave Ms. Moore a slight shove in the direction of Sergeant Donovan and her associate and they all started to head towards the door out of the bank. Once they were all out the door, John shut it and locked it when directed.
He was then pulled back towards the others, back to the teller counter, where the food was.
The leader then addressed both John and Harry, who the leader finally let go and was now standing next to John, and said, "I want you both to take all but two boxes of pizzas and two twelve packs of fizzy drinks into the vault with you. You, Army Doctor, can take the pizzas, and you, kid, can take the fizzy drinks."
John looked at Harry, then all the fizzy drinks and said, "There is no way he's going to be able to carry all those by himself. He's five." John was being generous. He did not know how old Harry was for sure as Harry didn't say and Sherlock didn't deduce out loud for everyone.
The leader looked at the both of them for a moment before he said, "Then you can carry what he can't along with the pizza."
"Fine," said John simply.
"I wasn't asking," said the leader, "I was telling or else what the boy takes in is all everyone gets to drinks. How pleased do you think everyone would be then if they only had to split just one of the bags that have the cans of fizzy drinks?"
John didn't answer and it didn't sound like the leader wanted one anyways.
"Let's go," said the leader.
John waited until the leader had one of his men take out their stuff first before he gave Harry the lighter bag of fizzy drinks which Harry took with a slight amount of difficulty. John then put his arm in the hole of the bag of the second bag and then picked up the boxes with a slight amount of difficulty with balancing everything.
"Move," said the leader gesturing for John and Harry to start walking back to the vault which they did though carefully in John's case so he didn't drop anything.
The leader opened the vault, let them walk in and shut it without going in with them, leaving it to John to explain.
When John looked up, he saw that Sherlock was in the same position as he was when they left and now that he knew that it was only the two of them, he was making his way over to them, shaking Lestrade's hand off his shoulder.
"Are you all right?" he asked them both.
"Yeah, I'm fine," said John as he debated about where to put the pizza boxes, anywhere on the floor or in the middle of the floor specifically.
"Harry? Are you all right?" Sherlock asked Harry after he didn't get an answer and he must have been worried because he asked again.
John looked at Harry and saw that Harry nodded his head.
"That's good," said Sherlock nodding his head. "Good," he repeated himself and John knew he only did that when he was worked up about something.
"Where's Ms. Moore?" asked Mr. Hunt, worried about his employee.
John decided to set the pizza and the drinks in the middle of the vault as it was easier for everyone to get to, before he answered, "They decided to let her go." He set them down before taking the drinks carefully from Harry. He decided not to say anything about how tightly Harry was holding the bag which went to show how scared he had been. John thought he was holding up very well for the situation he was in. Very well indeed.
"What? Why not someone else? Why her?" asked Mrs. Dursley as Mr. Hunt nodded relieved.
John ignored her and continued explaining, "We tried to get the leader to release Harry but he said no."
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley snorted and John could have sworn he heard something being said but he wasn't sure what though judging by Sherlock's expression it probably wasn't anything good or polite.
Sherlock looked at John and said, "Sergeant Donovan and someone you didn't know delivered the food."
Lestrade looked at John at that.
"How did you know?" asked John, nodding his head.
"You have the same expression on your face that you usually do when you have to deal with her when she is being stubborn," said Sherlock.
"She's supposed to be working on another case," said Lestrade, somewhat needlessly.
"When they realized you were a hostage as well they probably called her in. They probably aren't happy to have confirmation that John was in the bank because that means I'm in the bank as well," said Sherlock.
"Why?" asked Harry, sounding innocently curious.
Sherlock opened his mouth to give a scathing remark as usual but John cut him off by saying, "They're just jealous that Sherlock is smarter than them mostly. Right Lestrade?"
"Right," said Lestrade, nodding his head, and it was mostly true, though another part of it, okay a big part of it was Sherlock's attitude towards them but Harry didn't need to know it right now.
Harry looked at them all suspiciously for a moment but then he nodded his head at what he was told.
"Let's get some pizza and something to drink," said John. "Too bad we couldn't get any tea. I could use a cuppa."
"We're in the middle of a hostage situation," said Lestrade as he took a piece of pizza and a can of fizzy drink, "And you act like you could drink a cup of tea like you're at home."
"We've been stuck in a vault for most of the time. It's mostly boring with a few hiccups," said John with a shrug as he took some pizza and a can of fizzy drink after some of the other hostages.
"You've been around Sherlock too long," said Lestrade shaking his head fondly at them.
Sherlock let out an indignant huff at that, John invaded Afghanistan after all, but he helped Harry, seemingly without thinking about it, taking out two pieces of pizza to put on his plate, apparently he thought Harry needed to eat, and then he held Harry's drink for him along with one for himself.
John looked at Sherlock very pointedly though and Sherlock rearranged the drinks so he could pick up a plate with a piece of pizza on it so he could eat as well.
The four of them then moved over to the corner that they claimed as their own and sat down and ate.
As everyone sat down and ate, Mr. Davis said, "Do you think we should try to do something? To fight them so we can leave? There are more of us."
Sherlock snorted and said, "Idiot."
Mr. Davis let out a what he thought was a sneer but was actually a grimace and said, "And why not?"
"For one, they showed good faith, if you were, by releasing one hostage already," said Lestrade, though John didn't really see what that had to do with anything but he had a point, "Plus the cops really do not like it when civilians try to make themselves heroes in these types of situations. You always end up getting hurt."
"Then why don't you do it?" asked Mr. Dursley, somewhat nastily to Lestrade and John had to wonder if the man was always unpleasant or only to those who showed his nephew kindness.
"For another, as it was already pointed out to you, the vault only opens from the outside. You can't open it from the inside, though I'm sure after all this over, Mycroft will fix that for this bank and probably all others. Which reminds me, John. You should tell Mr. Hunt that you will no longer be a customer here after we get out of here," said Sherlock.
Mr. Hunt spluttered while John just nodded his head resignedly. He knew that there was no way he could argue with Sherlock on this as Sherlock could make his life hell at the flat. He shuddered to think about the random spare parts he could possibly find if he didn't agree.
Mr. Hunt, angrily, said, "You can't decide that for him!"
Lestrade snorted and John couldn't help but chuckle along with him. The poor, naive man. Sherlock stared at him like he was Anderson and he said something extremely stupid.
"Anyways," said Mr. Davis, "Is there any other reasons why we shouldn't just rush them when they open the vault the next time?"
"How about the fact that they have guns?" said John mildly.
"Or the fact that there are children?" said Lestrade.
"It's a stupid plan," said Sherlock. "Mycroft will sort this out within the next," Sherlock checked his watch, "fifteen hours, if not sooner. He just has to make some phone calls and mobilize whoever. Your colleagues are somewhat inept for this, Detective Inspector."
Lestrade just sighed but he didn't argue, knowing what the older Holmes could do.
"Who is this Mycroft? And what can he do?" asked Mr. Jackson.
Sherlock just grimaced slightly but didn't say anything.
John, knowing that their relationship should probably stay secret and what Mycroft's job is as well, said, "Someone who can help and who," he pretended to search for a word for a moment, "worries constantly about his arch enemy."
"Very funny, John," said Sherlock, drily, while Lestrade grinned and Harry watched them closely as he ate his pizza, but still keeping an eye on his relatives in case they told him not to eat.
Everyone in the bank looked confused at the inside joke they were sharing.
"So your answer, Mr. Davis and everyone else, is no. We shouldn't do anything. That would just be stupid. We should just hope that Scotland Yard can stall them long enough and not make any mistakes until, for lack of a better phrase of words, Special Forces can get here," said Sherlock.
Mr. Davis just grunted and finished up his pizza in silence as did everyone else.
When he was finished, John looked at Sherlock and said, "You have another reason too don't you? You don't like relying on Mycroft for anything more than you have to."
Sherlock looked at John and said, "You must be getting better at observing."
John snorted and said, "No, just knowing you a little bit better. So what is it?"
Making sure that Lestrade and Harry were engaged in a conversation so they could not overhear the conversation as Lestrade didn't know about Sherlock's fan yet, Sherlock said, "I've already concluded that the person acting like the leader here isn't the actual leader. Maybe if it drags out long enough, the actual leader will show themselves."
"You want to know if it's your fan? The one that goes by Moriarty?" asked John. Sherlock had explained the bare minimum to him over Chinese that night.
Sherlock nodded once and John sighed.
"What?" asked Sherlock.
"Isn't there another way you could go about finding out who he is?"
Sherlock scoffed and said, "Think, John. This Moriarty person or group of people were smart enough to contract a cabbie to kill for them to get my attention for themselves. It is going to be difficult to contact them on my own."
John looked mildly alarmed and said, "You want to contact them?"
Sherlock just looked at him but before he could answer, Lestrade said, "What're you two talking about over there?"
"The weather inside the vault," said Sherlock drily.
"You could always tell me to mind my own business," said Lestrade with a scowl directed at Sherlock.
"Hmm, dull," responded Sherlock.
Lestrade shook his head while Harry chuckled, finding their interactions amusing.
Sherlock asked Harry if he wanted to learn how to make a mind palace some more and Harry eagerly nodded his head. He obviously didn't want to be plagued by those nightmares anymore and John looked Lestrade and could tell that he was planning on looking up how Harry's parents died.
While Sherlock was instructing Harry, John and Lestrade spent the next hour talking about the game that was on in the pub the other night. They didn't set out to meet each other there that night, it was a lucky happenstance. One that they planned to repeat next week - case and murder permitting - as they enjoyed themselves.
After that peaceful hour passed, however, it was interrupted by the Dursley's child saying, rather loudly to his mother, "Mummy, I have to go to the bathroom."
John glanced over and saw all the fizzy drink cans that were around the boy. He probably shouldn't have drank that many and his parents shouldn't have let him when they were trapped in a vault but who was John to criticize a parent?
"Shh, Duddy, you have to hold it for right now," said Mrs. Dursley, trying to be quiet. She obviously didn't want to attract the attention of the hostage-takers again, especially so soon.
"No! I have to go," said Dudley and to the misfortune of everyone in the vault, he started to cry again, though thankfully, it wasn't the loud sobs from before. He had obviously learned a little from what happened before but not much as he still decided to cry.
For the next half hour, Mrs. Dursley tried to calm down her son along with Mr. Dursley and everyone else pretended that they couldn't hear them and continued with what they were doing before they were interrupted.
However, after Sherlock had his concentration broken for a third time after a particularly loud wail, his patience waned and he had to say something though he wasn't the only one wincing anymore.
"Mrs. Dursley," started Sherlock, sounding very pleasant, he normally was very patient with children but this whole family put his teeth on edge, "You need to calm him down."
"What the bloody hell do you think we are trying to do? If he could go to the bathroom, it wouldn't be a problem," said Mr. Dursley.
John could tell that Sherlock was refraining from sighing. Sherlock wasn't even talking to him.
"He is not the only one who has to go," said Sherlock.
Everyone looked at him.
Sherlock really did sigh this time before he said, "There are quite a few of you shifting in your seats. It could be from sitting on the ground but judging by your movements, how often you are moving, how long we've been in here so far, the fact that we've just had more drinks added to our systems, it's obvious that almost everyone in here has to go."
"Dudley is just a child," said Mr. Dursley, daring Sherlock to say anything.
"Harry is younger than your child and has to go as well but you don't hear him saying anything nor crying as much as your son," said Sherlock with narrowed eyes.
"And he won't if he knows what's good for him," mumbled Mr. Dursley.
"Vernon," muttered Mrs. Dursley, obviously tired of her husband trying to pick a fight with everyone and slightly frazzled by her son's crying at this point.
Mr. Dursley let out a noise and crossed his arms across his chest but he didn't say anything more.
"You still have to make him be quiet," said Sherlock.
"Wait a second," said James. "The last time he cried they fed us, maybe if he cried louder, they'll let us out to go to the bathroom."
"Or maybe they'll shoot us all," deadpanned Sherlock.
"They didn't manage it the first time they tried," said Mr. Hunt trying to make an argument. "I think we should risk."
"They weren't shooting at you either, were they?" said Sherlock.
"No," added Lestrade and he sounded panicky.
"Why?" asked Mr. Wall, crossing his arms over his chest.
"We shouldn't antagonize them," said John, trying to calm down all the emotions that were starting to run high.
"No one put the three of you in charge of us," said Mr. Davis.
"You do seem to be winding everyone up," put in Mr. Knight, who had been relatively quiet, up until that point.
And then suddenly everyone was arguing with everyone else, which coincidentally made Dudley be quite, with insults being thrown around, voices overlapping. The only ones that were silent were Harry and Dudley and they were watching everyone with wide eyes, for once, in agreement with each other on what was going on.
After ten minutes of arguments, the sound of the vault opening, shut everyone up and they turned, as they all had stood up when they were arguing, to look at the vault.
"What the bloody hell is going on in here?" asked the leader angrily.
Everyone was silent for an awkward minute.
"I want an answer right now," said the leader. He pointed his gun at John but addressed Sherlock and said, "You, Mr. Holmes, tell me what happened."
Sherlock sniffed like he was extremely put out, and John noticed that he was standing in front of Harry, and he wondered if Sherlock was aware of doing it or if was subconscious as he keeps doing it.
However, Sherlock said, "We had a slight disagreement on how to get your attention so that we could use the restrooms."
The leader paused for a moment, slightly thrown, as if that situation hadn't occurred to him before he said, "Who has to go?" He was still addressing Sherlock.
"Everyone," said Sherlock, succinctly and straight to the point.
The leader moved the gun over to Mr. Hunt, who backed away slightly from it, and said, "How many loos are there in the bank?"
"J-Just two," said Mr. Hunt with a slight stutter. The gun was making him nervous especially after the leader's associates fired theirs in the vault already.
The leader nodded and said, "Fine. Will go in twos, starting with the two youngest."
"No," said Mrs. Dursley at once.
There was silence before the leader turned towards Mrs. Dursley and said, "No?"
"No. Dudley isn't going by himself with you," said Mrs. Dursley, holding onto her son tight.
John couldn't help but frown slightly in her direction as she didn't even give a thought to her nephew when he was pulled out of the vault at gunpoint.
"Can he use the loo by himself?" asked the leader.
Mrs. Dursley nodded her head once.
"Then you don't get a choice," said the leader and he nodded to two of his accomplices who walked up to both Dudley and Harry and picked them both up, Dudley with slight difficulty due to his size. This time, John felt Sherlock tense up and move his arm over his stomach slightly which caused John to pause for a minute. Maybe, Sherlock wasn't sick. Maybe he was worried?
"We'll be back when they are finished," said the leader and they left, shutting the vault.
"Are you okay?" asked John to Sherlock.
"I am not the one who is with the trigger happy hostage-takers, John, as I told Lestrade when you were gone. So the answer to your question is, I am fine," replied Sherlock.
"You're worried about Harry," said John simply.
"And yet I have no idea why as I've barely known him a few hours," said Sherlock.
"You've made a connection to him. It happens," said Lestrade simply though it looked as if he may have some more information on it though he did not look inclined to share yet.
Sherlock didn't bother to acknowledge what Lestrade said past a slight inclination of his head and the three of them waited in silence while Mrs. Dursley watched the door, talking her husband's ear off about how they took her baby from her and how they might be hurting him.
Five minutes later the vault opened and Dudley and Harry walked in, having obviously been put down at some point. Dudley walked straight into his mother's arms while Harry returned to stand beside Sherlock, John and Lestrade. Sherlock immediately put his hand on his shoulder as if to comfort him, the move seemingly unconscious on his part, and he felt Harry shaking slightly from nerves. Sherlock squeezed once in comfort.
"Mr. Hunt, Mr. Knight, you are up next," said the leader and his two accomplices pointed their guns at them.
Mr. Hunt and Mr. Knight walked out of the vault, but this time, the leader left his other accomplice at the door to watch the rest of them so he didn't have to keep on opening and closing the vault door.
Five minutes later, just the leader and his accomplices came back.
"Where are Mr. Hunt and Mr. Knight?" asked Mr. Jackson, sounding worried that something happened to them.
The leader looked at him and said, "They have been released in good faith. Though if Scotland Yard doesn't hold their end of the deal…" He trailed off on purpose and everyone understood the implications, except perhaps the two children though judging by their pale faces they understood it just fine.
"Mr. Dursley, Mr. Morgan, you are up next," said the leader and his accomplices, again, pointed their guns at them as they walked out of the vault, the other accomplice standing in front of the vault door watching everyone else.
Then five minutes later they were back and then Mr. Davis and Mrs. Dursley went. Five minutes later they came back and Mr. Jackson and John went (Sherlock was tense the whole time John was gone). Five minutes later they came back and Mr. Wall and Lestrade went (Sherlock, again, was tense the whole time Lestrade was gone, much to his own surprise).
At last five minutes passed and then, "Mr. Holmes, you are the last one. Let's go," said the leader and Sherlock walked out of the vault, his trip to the restroom, uneventful.
Once he returned to the vault, the leader said, "That is the only time you get to go for the evening. So I wouldn't drink any more drinks the rest of the night," he looked over at the Dursleys, "this vault is going to stay shut now until morning unless Scotland Yard decides not to follow through with their promises. Try to behave and not make me come back in here. You won't like or enjoy the consequences otherwise."
The leader and his accomplices left the vault and shut it behind them, leaving everyone in silence for a few minutes.
Then Harry asked, "Sherlock?"
"Hmm?" was the reply as Sherlock turned to look at Harry.
"Can we do more learning for the mind palace?"
Sherlock thought for a moment before he said, "You can't do too much in one day, Harry. Especially for a beginner. You will tire yourself out."
Harry nodded his head and they sunk back into a silence again for a couple of more minutes before Harry needed to ask another question, this time to all three of them.
"Do you think I stopped the bullets earlier?" Harry tried to look at all three of them at once to gauge their response.
"I thought we discussed this earlier?" asked John, sounding slightly confused.
Lestrade didn't say anything he was watching Sherlock and John for their reactions.
"What brought this on?" asked Sherlock, not sure if he was supposed to offer comfort or something else. He was with John on this one. He thought they covered this already.
Harry shrugged and said, "Dudley said something when we went to the bathroom."
"What did he say?" asked Lestrade.
Harry shrugged again and didn't say anything.
Sherlock, John and Lestrade all exchanged a look before John said, "Harry, if you did do something, we are grateful as we would be a lot more hurt if you hadn't and this situation would be going differently for sure."
"It definitely would be," said Sherlock and Lestrade nodded his head in agreement.
Harry looked at them relieved and they spent the next couple of hours talking about lighthearted things and Sherlock mapped out Harry's learning for making his own mind palace, though he would have to call it something else as apparently only Sherlock's brain could be called mind palace. It didn't even seem to enter Sherlock's mind that Harry was going to have to go back with the Dursleys so he would not be able to learn the rest of it. It seemed to John and Lestrade like Sherlock had already claimed guardianship of Harry.
Finally at ten o'clock at night, according to John's wristwatch, Harry fell into an uneasy sleep next to Sherlock, with his head against the wall of the vault.
Sherlock, John and Lestrade looked at Harry for a moment before Lestrade said, "You should move him into a more comfortable position. That's probably not very comfortable for him."
"What would be more comfortable for him?" asked Sherlock, raising an eyebrow at him.
Lestrade raised an eyebrow and said, "Laying him flat for one and probably letting him use something for a pillow."
"Hmm," said Sherlock and he looked at Harry before he looked at John and Lestrade for a few minutes before he said, "Take off your jacket Lestrade."
"Why?" asked Lestrade though he was already taking off his jacket.
"You said Harry needs a pillow and you are the only one of the three of us that has something to spare for him as you have your suit jacket on underneath," responded Sherlock.
Lestrade passed his jacket over to Sherlock, who rolled it up, slid Harry forward a bit, tucked the jacket into his own side before laying Harry flat with his head on the jacket.
After a moment of silence, Sherlock asked, "So this murder scene you wanted me to look at earlier today, you said it was probably related to others you were working on?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah. I didn't get a chance to look at the scene myself before I came and got you so we will probably have to look photos when we get out of here," responded Lestrade with a yawn.
"Hopefully Anderson didn't ruin anything," said Sherlock and John shook his head at that comment.
Lestrade sighed as if he heard this too often for his liking and said, "Anderson knows how to do his job, Sherlock."
"That remains to be seen," said Sherlock.
As that conversation was carrying on after Harry fell asleep, the others started dropping off and when Lestrade, himself, fell asleep after they had finished their conversation, at ten forty-five only John and Sherlock were left awake. They both sat in a comfortable silence and they could almost pretend they were back at their flat after a busy day at solving a case, if they weren't both sitting in a vault that was.
"Go to sleep, John," said Sherlock and John could tell when Sherlock was making a retreat into his mind palace to think, especially since that is the only escape that Sherlock had in the vault.
John only shook his head and tried to get into a more comfortable position and finally, at midnight, according to his watch, he fell asleep with his head laying on the back of the vault. He really hoped this was resolved soon and that was his last thought before he fell asleep.
Five hours later and he abruptly awoke at five o'clock in the morning according to his watch and looking around, only Sherlock was awake, the same as when he went to sleep.
A/N2: So this chapter was initially going to be longer, yes longer, as I was going to finish the bank scene entirely this chapter, I was already up to about 13,000 but as you can see I decided to split the chapter... It was getting just a little too long for me, so the next chapter will tie up everything in the bank and then we will find out what happens next! :) The next chapter is already half way done, by the way so you won't have to wait too long before you find out how everything in the bank was resolved.