Leading John through the alleys, Sherlock shows that he knows the area much better than he was letting on earlier. Though he was not exaggerating about the rather large thugs who seem to have pretty much every exit road covered. "Well, it seems that we're going to have to fight our way out of this afterall." The detective says in a somewhat disappointed tone, before he looks over at the doctor expectantly.
"I suppose you expect me to get us out of this, then?" John asks as he looks at the detective, then out of the alley where one of the thugs is talking on his cell phone. "Right, then. Have a cigarette on you?" he asks as he looks at the detective expectantly.
With a slightly guilty expression, Sherlock pulls out his half pack of cigarettes out of the inside pocket of his jacket and hands it over to John, "My last pack, by the way." he feels the need to justify their presence in his jacket, looking at the pack longingly for a few moments.
John snorts a little but he takes it and tucks it into his pocket. "Don't worry, with any luck I'll get it back to you. If only to keep you from buying another full pack." he says as he looks at the taller man before he steps out of the alley, grateful that the thug's back is to him at first. "Oi, mate, got a light?" he asks, having pulled a cigarette out and is holding it in his fingers as he approaches the bigger man.
Surprised that anyone got past him, the thug hangs up the phone and turns to look at the smaller, compact man, frowning a little. "No, I ain't got no light. Bugger off." He growls out at John, putting one hand around his opposite fist in front of him, a nonverbal threat as to what might happen of the blond decides to stick around for longer than he is welcome. Which pretty much translates to 'now'.
"Now, that's not very hospitable." John says casually with a smile. "All I'm looking for is a light, I'm gasping." he says as he holds up the cigarette again, moving a step closer as he glances the thug over and briefly takes in some information which he feels that he will need in a few moments.
"Wot, you deaf? I said bugger off!" The thug says a little more forcefully, taking a step forward and shoving John back a bit by the shoulder. And since he outweighs John and is taller than the other man, he pretty much thinks that he has the upper hand.
And that is why he is doing grunt work and not somewhere that requires a little more intelligence. As he gets pushed back, John steps back with one foot, just swiveling a little rather than stumbling. "Oh, you shouldn't have done that mate, should learn a few manners." he says and when the thug goes to push him again he grabs the man's hand, pressing into one of the pressure points as he twists it up and behind the man's back a second before he kicks out the back of the man's knees. "Should have just given me the light." He says before he uses the butt of the gun to knock the man out before he can open his mouth and say anything stupid. He doesn't, however, feel any need to be gentle about it as he lets the man drop to the ground.
"Very impressive, John. Good to see the army has done something for you." Sherlock says in his usual dismissive manner, but the look on his face is a little more smug and a little more proud than what his words portray. Glancing around for a moment, he looks over at John. "I suggest we leave before his companions realize he's unconscious." he says before starting to lead the way out of the area and back toward one of the main roads.
"Once again, you prove your brilliance, Sherlock." John says with some sarcasm in his tone, rolling his eyes but he follows after the long-legged detective quickly, glancing around. "I can't believe you called me here to get you out of this bloody mess." Slowly, he shakes his head as he stuffs his hands into the pockets of his jacket, looking down for a moment in exasperation before he looks up again.
"Mmm. And yet you came." Sherlock points out as he glances at the other man, finally getting to a main road, he pauses, rubbing his hands together. "Hungry?" he asks as he looks over at his companion.
A split second goes by as John briefly marvels at the mercurial nature of Sherlock and how quickly he can dismiss the danger he was just in, before he smiles a little and nods. "Starving." he replies quickly, quickly following the brunette as he strides down the street rather than catching a cab.
Rather pleased with himself and the results of what he considers to be a small little experiment woven in with his investigation of the case, Sherlock glances over at John with a small smile. "I know a good Chinese place not far from here. I can always tell a good Chinese place by the bottom two-thirds of the door handle." He says confidently, making a small motion with his hand to indicate what presumably would be a door handle if they were standing at a door.
"No you can't." John denies, shaking his head for a few moments. "But really, what was that stunt about? Is that how you get your kicks?" He asks with more of a concerned tone in his voice, continuing to walk.
"I do hate repeating myself, John. I told you, I was investigating. Perhaps I could have escaped on my own, but it gave me the opportunity to perform a small experiment regarding you, Dr. Watson." he explains casually, not seeing anything wrong with this, still sounding and feeling rather pleased.
This is anything but pleasing to the shorter man though, and he frowns up at Sherlock. "Sherlock." He says to get the attention of the detective. "You performed an experiment. On me." He states as a way of clarification.
Not understanding the anger he gets from his companion, Sherlock stops to watch him, frowning as he glances him over and tries to figure it out. "Not good?" he asks in a slightly confused tone.
Sighing a little since he knows that Sherlock genuinely does not understand the answer to that, John drops his head for a few moments, rubbing a hand over his forehead and pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment before he looks up at Sherlock. "A bit not good, yeah." he confirms with a soft smile to try and take some of the sting out of his previous tone.
Although he doesn't quite understand why, Sherlock nods a little. "I see. The Chinese place is just up here." he clarifies as he tries to figure out why it is not good.
"Sherlock, you can't perform experiments on people without their knowledge, especially when they're your friends. It is a cruel thing to do, and it will make people mistrust you and everything you say. If they don't know if you're going to perform some experiment on you they can't trust you. Do you understand?" John asks as he watches Sherlock, trying to make him understand and make sure he doesn't do it again.
"I understand, John." Sherlock reassures, and it's an honest reassurance. He does understand a little more the way John explains it, and he just nods quietly to himself as he absorbs the information and files it away for further examination the next time he visits his Mind Palace. It will definitely be added to the room he has created for one Captain John Watson, M.D.
Little moment of BAMF John because really, if you can have BAMF John, you should, I believe. :) Sorry for the slight delay on this chapter, and the short little scene, but I think I'm getting a cold. Fuzzy head. But I got to sneak in another line, and I love that part of this is incident was all a small experiment to Sherlock. :) Hope you all enjoy it!
Reviews/Comments welcome!