Retrospect

Genre: Drama, Angst, Family; FUTURE FIC

Pairings: Ensemble pairings

Main characters: Scott and ensemble

Greg stopped himself in his tracks, some distance away from Molly. It had been two weeks, yet he still knew where to find her. He took deep, bracing breaths, trying to control his own emotions and reactions, even now still raw. When, finally, he felt he'd regained his composure, he quietly advanced towards his wife.

"Molly," he whispered, hoarsely. But Molly didn't seem to hear him, at first, or even notice his presence.

Instead, she stared off into the cemetery, her face awash in utter heartbreak. She brought her hand up to her mouth, stifling sobs, and not for the first time that week - or the one leading to it either, for that matter.

"Molly, Love," Greg repeated, as he reached his arms around her. Finally, she noticed him, and collapsed backwards into his embrace.

"I have no idea what to say or do, Gregory," she choked out. "Oh, our beautiful, beautiful boy. I can't bear to see him like this…" she said, allowing herself to dissolve for a few moments.

"Johnnie is his own person, he's somewhere in the middle of being both of ours. Greer is my girl. Scott though… he's always seemed more drawn to you than his siblings have. Molly," Greg breathed, feeling his own composure cracking, "go to him. Just go, Love."

Molly averted her gaze back into the cemetery, letting it rest upon her son. Scott kneeled at the side of a grave, the dirt not yet settled, though it was showing signs of time already passing, sun and breeze converting the loose damp soil into softly forming clumps of dried earth. Limply, his hand rested on the loose gritty mound.

Greg pressed a kiss to his wife's hair, then cleared his throat. His voice still hoarse, he urged her forward. "Go on now, Love. Our boy needs his mum."

TWO WEEKS PRIOR…

"Johnnie?" Josie asked gently, as she approached her husband in their bedroom. "Darling why are you here?"

John William Lestrade sucked in a breath, as though only just noticing he wasn't alone in the room.

"Dressing, of course. What else would I be doing, Joey?" Johnnie seemed oddly distant, unnaturally controlled.

"Well, that's a loaded question…" Josie replied, as she approached him. Wordlessly, she reached her hands up to his face, thumbs stroking his cheekbones, brushing away tears that were suddenly streaming down his face.

"You know I'll be fine, myself and Aiden. It's not us who need you today, love," she said softly. "It's your other half. It's Scott you should be with. Without you, he's lost. He's… incomplete."

John let out a humourless choked laugh. "ME! I don't complete him, Joey! SHE did. Megan. MEGAN completed him. Just as you complete me... Our dear, sweet Megan completed my brother..."

"Perhaps," Josie conceded, as she wordlessly guided him towards their bed. Without explanation, she urged him to sit next to her on the edge. "But you and Scott share a connection. I remember how overjoyed… how ECSTATIC he was, when you and I got married. It were as though HE were marrying me too. And now he's lost Meg, and… it's as though YOU'VE lost her too. You and your brother share more than just DNA, darling. You are of the same mind, the same heart, the same SOUL. You ALWAYS have been."

Johnnie said nothing as he lowered his face into his hands, his composure crumbling. "My heart is broken, and it shouldn't be, Josephine," he sobbed. "I have EVERYTHING!" he spat. "I have you and our son… Scott has just lost…"

"And you feel it. I say it again darling. With me and our baby is not where you need to be. Yes, you have me. Mum and Dad have each other. Greer has Sam... but that one person who would have been there for Scott on this bleak and sorrowful day of all days is the very reason we're all having to gather in the first place. He feels utterly alone, even surrounded by people who love him dearly he feels utterly, completely alone. Go to Scott, love. Now. Please. Today of ALL days he needs his brother by his side."

Johnnie took a deep breath, and cleared his throat. Finally lifting his gaze, he met his wife's eyes, and nodded.

THREE WEEKS PRIOR…

"How is he?" Alex asked, quietly, as she stood next to John.

Dr. John Watson shrugged his shoulders. "His injuries are minor. He's being kept for observation overnight, then he's to be released in the morning."

"Darling, that's not what I asked," Alex said, as she heaved a sigh. It was an exhausted breath, an overwhelmed breath. A heartbroken breath. John recognized it. They were breaths he himself was taking only a few minutes prior to his wife's arrival to his side.

"It is what it is," John said, his voice breaking at the familiar words, spoken to Sherlock so many years ago. "And what it is, is shit."

"Yes," Alex said, her own eyes welling up with tears that had built up all day, since the whole nightmare for their extended family had begun several hours ago.

Later on, neither Watson could say exactly who fell apart first in the arms of the other. All they knew, at that point, was the grief.

THREE WEEKS, 1 HOUR PRIOR

"Old Plod?" a familiar voice summoned from her doorway. "Sally darling. There's been an accident."

"What sort of accident," Sally asked, as she broke her focus from her work. "Accidents aren't our division, Git. We're CID."

"No, they're not," Sherlock admitted softly, as he stepped all the way into her office. "And of course you are... but the people involved ARE your division, Sally."

Sally caught her breath, her heart suddenly leaping into her throat, choking her and making her want to vomit suddenly. "Sherlock... what's going on?"

Sherlock took a deep breath, letting it out in a rush. "There was a two vehicle accident. The vehicle at fault suffered a fatality, as near as I know, it was a 41 year old accountant. The other vehicle wasn't in the wrong. An off-duty paramedic and his female companion…"

Sally's eyes grew wide as she sat down heavily.

"Oh God, Sherlock. Scott or Johnnie?".

"Whatever I say is going to break your heart…" her husband warned.

Sally took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

"Megan, darling. Scott is in the operating theatre to repair minor injuries, but I'm afraid Meg... her injuries were too severe. The impact was on the passenger side and the air bag failed to deploy..." he trailed off.

Sally had no idea what was going on as she tried desperately to absorb what she was being told, but she knew enough to ask, "Greg and Molly?"

"They're at the hospital waiting for us. John and Alex are already there of course." Sherlock took a deep breath. "Thank God Johnnie was off-duty as well, he may have inadvertently taken the call. Oh, how desperately I miss Mrs. Hudson at times like these," he said sadly."

Sally nodded at this, then rose to her feet. Sherlock retrieved her coat, holding it up for her to slip into. "Julian is waiting downstairs to take us to the hospital, darling," he said softly, as he took her arm to lead her out.

FOUR MONTHS PRIOR…

"I'm not sure I've ever seen Scott so happy," Greer said to Sam, as they settled into The Nook. "I was beginning to think he'd never settle down like John has. I was beginning to think my brother was to be a confirmed bachelor!"

Sam laughed at this, as Josie appeared at the tail end of her shift, delivering a scotch, neat – in his wife's honour – to Sam, and a club soda with lime to the expectant Greer.

"I should be jealous, darling," she said, as she scootched closer to Sam, "but I'm not. Oh, there's something to be said for plain old soda and lime," she declared, sipping delicately, but with a happy expression.

"Other than it makes you belch," Sam said lightly, with a teasing gleam. "And in enough quantity, fart like one of Rosie and Dad's beloved horses..."

"I'm pregnant with your child, Samuel. If I want to belch, and fart for that matter, I'll bloody well belch AND fart. It's the least of what I'm going through for YOUR baby," Greer stated, teasingly.

"She's right, you know," Josie said, as she slid into the booth, having just returned after a momentary absence, just long enough to drop off her tray, abandon her apron, and clock out for the day. Now officially off-shift, Josie appeared with an identical drink to Greer's.

"There's many a trial a woman will endure towards motherhood, so she's a perfect right to put her husband through something else of a trial as well. Anyway I developed a taste for soda and lime myself when I was pregnant with Aiden," she said, settling down next to Greer.

"So The Brothers Grin are to join us soon then?" Sam asked, as he stared off towards the door. "I've gathered they were both on shift tonight, and this mysterious lady that Scott has been hinting at for nearly two weeks is to join us?"

"I believe so, yes," Greer said, as she brought her fist up to her chest, with a small burp. "Oh, this pregnancy brain, I swear I'd forget my own name if it weren't for my bloody warrant card…"

However, Greer found herself, to her delight, relieved of the responsibility of remembering names.

"Brother, Sisters," Scott said proudly, as he approached with a young lady on his arm, "This is Megan Jenkins. I've held off introducing her until we saw where if anywhere this was leading… but I think now," he said softly, shifting his gaze towards the softly smiling, nearly bashful looking young woman on his arm, "I'm safe to introduce her."

Next to him, Megan smiled warmly, before she turned her beaming smile back up towards him.

SIX MONTHS PRIOR…

"I think she fancies you," Johnnie said with a wink, as he gestured with his chin, and a mischievous grin.

"What, who? Meg? I'm not even close to HER league, brother," Scott said with a laugh. "She could date anyone she wanted, in fact she probably already IS," he finished, with a determined look of 'and that's that' to his twin.

"Gregory Scott," John said, with a frustrated sigh. "You're a Lestrade. In case you've missed it, we look exactly like DAD did at our age. You've seen pictures of dad back then, yeah? Now I count myself blessed to have Josie but really, brother… you're a right bloody good catch. Just… saying…"

"You're insane, John William," Scott said, even as he gazed thoughtfully towards the stunning petite dispatcher.

"You REALLY think?" Scott finally asked, shifting his gaze back towards his twin brother.

"YEAH, I really think," John replied, with a burst of laughter. "You only live once, brother. You've been something of a roving gypsy boy, seeming to be wandering about looking for your soulmate. Who knows… maybe she's her? Never know until you try."

Scott paused at this, digesting the advice.

Never know until you try.

"Alright, then," he said, glancing back towards her. "Here goes nothing."

John stood back and leaned against the wall, watching from a distance as his brother approached the young lady in question.

"Hey," Scott said. "Can't say I know your face, but your voice is quite familiar, and quite… well… comforting. Many's the call I've heard it."

"Scott Lestrade, is it?" Megan replied, smiling softly. "I know yours as well. You sound a lot like your brother, but I can tell you apart. I'm Megan," she said, holding out her hand.

Scott took it, with a subtle bow and a smile that made his brown eyes shine. "Yeah, it's Scott. Say, Megan… would you care to have a drink with me sometime?"