Soooo chapter 69 - wuuuuuuhhh :D I'm sorry it's so short, but it was how the chapter was supposed to end, so...
We're close to the end, friends! I'll try to update soon - and as YuNeLenna already suspected, there's still stuff to come :)
The door is right behind him, and slams shut when he's through, leaving Sherlock and Kiara alone in silence.
The wind is cold and the little drops of rain are painful on his skin, but John can't forget what just happened. The incredulousnessof Sherlock being alive is still flitting through him, he's not completely sure it happened. The adrenaline coursing through his body makes him more alert, pushes him higher. The instant reaction when Moriarty's daughter entered the room still haunts him.
He is angry. He is furious. But in that moment, only seconds after realising Sherlock had lied to him, had betrayed him, he slipped back into protecting the man.
How could that be his first thought, how could he slip back into it so easily?
She helped me do it. Sherlock's words still vibrate in his skull, and even though he is still angry, and even though he hates the words he hears, he can't help but wish he'll keep hearing them.
When he gets aware of his surroundings again the rain has stopped. He can also hear footsteps behind him, footsteps, he now realises, which have been there the whole time even though the streets are completely empty otherwise.
"You can come out, Sherlock. I know it's you." He'd follow John anyway and that way John's soldier senses wouldn't keep telling him to be more alert than usual.
"Not quite, Dr Watson, but I hope you don't mind if I join you anyway." The girl calls out, and John has to bring himself to think of her as Kiara.
He doesn't turn around, just waits until she has caught up with him.
"Did Sherlock send you?" He asks, fighting to keep the distrust out of his voice.
Shaking her head, she adjusts the collar of her coat.
"I haven't told him where I was going, but without doubt he knows. I wanted to talk to you." Turning his head, the doctor looks at her, surprised.
"Talk to me?"
"You were Sherlock's friend before I was, and you are his best friend. Still, I love him as much as you do. He is my friend, he has saved my life many times, but I know that if he had to choose between us two he'd choose you. And I forgive him for that." Kiara is still not looking at him, only slows down a little when she notices John stopped walking, taken aback.
"I -" He isn't sure what to say, but Kiara simply interrupts him and continues.
"Father had three assassins that day on the rooftop, focusing on you, DI Lestrade and Mrs Hudson. You would have all been shot if Sherlock hadn't jumped. He didn't tell you where he was going because he was scared Moran would find out and kill you all. He watched you through the surveillance in your flat whenever he could. And when you were kidnapped, he nearly sacrificed everything, nearly got us all killed, only to save you. You don't just mean something. You mean everything to him." There's a quiet anger in her voice, and when she finally does look at John he can see a fire blazing in her eyes: A deep love, ready to protect everyone she cares about.
It takes a minute to take it in, then he realises something.
"It was you, wasn't it? Who rescued me that day?" He says quietly, his head still spinning from what he just heard.
"And on the day of Sherlock's rehabilitation, that was me as well." He has to think for a moment until he remembers: She had stood there, on the pavement, and he had nearly run her over. Shy, nervous, though now he realises why. She had told him she believed in Sherlock, and he had been annoyed by it.
When he looks up again, she has turned away again, and ready to walk again.
"The thing I'm trying to say is – I understand you are angry, but don't be too hard on him. He hates himself more for it than you ever can." With that she starts walking away, towards the main street, in the opposite direction they had gone together, towards Baker Street. He watches her go, her red curls bouncing on her dark coat, and shakes his head slightly. What must Sherlock and Kiara have gone through to make her so protective of him?
A black car he recognizes as Mycroft's stops next to Kiara and she gets in, turning around and nodding at John as good-bye.
No car comes up to him, and he is happy about it. Right now he needs time to think about what she said, and the twenty minutes he'll need back to Baker Street seem calming and safe now.
For a moment he thinks about whether Sherlock is still there, waiting for him. But even if he isn't, he will be soon.