Ch. 5

Red eyes and bad dreams

LC

As soon as the cab pulled towards the crib, I jumped out not waiting for Olive as I tried beating scarf boy to the lab. I start getting to work, ignoring scarf boy as he tried working around me. He would bump into me at times and I would shoot him a glare as I turned my attention back to the blood.

I smiled with glee, a new case and this time it involved poison. Oh how I love mysteries and murders, it was nice to take my mind off of Artimis. I hear someone clear there throat as I roll my eyes, Olive has a bad habit of clearing her throat when she wanted my attention, instead of calling my name.

"What do you want Olive?" I said with annoyance.

"Oh, no. It's Molly. I think she went off with John somewhere." Her voice was soft and somewhat shaking.

I finally look up to see Molly. Her hair was tied up, which made her face pop out. She must work at the Lab because she had a lab coat on and an Id pinned to the pocket and was holding the clip board up to her chest. She seemed on edge, she wouldn't stop swinging back and forth and it was giving me a head ache.

"So the results have come in? Let me guess, you found nothing. Obviously, but then why are you here?" I said, as her swinging made my head hurt worse.

"Um, I was wondering..." She stuttered as she fiddled with her clip board and turned to look at cheekbones.

"Would you like some coffee Sherlock?" She flashed him a smile as her cheeks turned red.

I rolled my eyes as I went back to my work. So Molly had feelings for scarf boy, by the way her face lit up like a red light. How annoying.

"Yes, black with two sugars." He said casually as he didn't take his eyes off his work.

"And you're working late tonight, more tests to run," cheekbones said before she opened the door. She stopped in her tracks and sighed.

"I can't I have a date. Sorry."

"Did you do something to your hair? It's usually parted down the middle, but I quiet like it when it's parted down the side. It brings out your face." Scarf boy looked up at her and smiles. Molly starts blushed and nods as she hurries away to get his coffee.

I suddenly felt like throwing up. Scarf boy was flirting with Mrs. Blushes to get what he wanted, how dirty. I tried ignoring the throbbing pain in the back of my head till Molly walks in with coffee and sets it down by scarf boy.

"Would you like anything to eat? Never mind, I already know the answer." She giggled to herself as she walks off.

I rolled my eyes as I take out my cell phone and shoot a message to Olive

Where are you? –LC

With John for lunch. Why? –OD

I close my eyes and shut my phone and look at Scarf boy, vigorously working on the man's blood. I run my fingers through my hair, hoping that there was another case so we could figure out this poison when suddenly Scarf boy's phone goes off.

"Sherlock," cheekbones answers calmly, even though I could tell he was excited. He nods and puts his phone away before he breaks out in a smile and gets up and puts on his coat.

"There has been another murder. A stabbing outside a local bakery, brilliant!" He proclaims as I follow him outside as he flags a cab down. He gets in then shuts the door on me and rolls down the window.

"Catch the next cab." He looks at me for a brief second then looks away as the cabbie drives off, leaving me on the road.

I shot nasty words at cheekbones as I pull out my phone and call Lestrade.

"What's the address to the new murder scene?" I ask with impatience. After he tells me, I hang up and start texting Olive while I hail a cabby and slide in.

Come at once –LC.

I send Olive the address as I lean back and close my eyes for a brief second. Suddenly I'm awoken by the cabbie who looked concerned.

"Ma'am you're here." He said softly. I flash him a smile and pay him as I slide out and hold my head. I felt dizzy and somewhat tired. And that never happens to me. I shake the feeling as I dash in the bakery and ignore Scarf boy for leaving me back at the lab. I start examining the body when I suddenly recognize Olive's voice and look up and smile at her.

"I'm glad that you got my message. I was worried you would be too busy kissing Sweaters, telling by your red cheeks, and his constant averted eye contact with you." I look back down at my work, knowing that Olive was giving me the glare of death.

"No we were not Lyra! We were just eating and talking! Now what do you want?" She sounded embarrassed and mad. I sigh as I roll my eyes, I was just stating the facts and I get in trouble. People can be so stupid some times.

"It's the same poison as the last case." Scarf boy says bluntly, trying to change the topic. I give him a glare as I kneel down towards the body and looked at her eyes and skin.

"But it's different. Her eyes are redder and the skin is grey. The poison worked must have worked faster meaning a bigger dose was given. The murderer is still experimenting with the poison, so this won't be the last case." I smile, trying to get back at cheekbones. That means I could distract myself from Artimis, which made Olive very happy.

I glanced back at Olive and noticed she was rubbing her temples and squinting at the light. Another headache…? She did look paler than normal. Maybe she was getting sick? I realized I was staring at her when I found her staring back at me with an eyebrow raised with confusion. I shrugged and went back to the body and sighed as I got back up and slipped my gloves off and started walking out.

"Call me when another murder happens, because there will be another one. Come along Olive, you should rest your head. I need you as sharp as a tack, I would be lost without my writer."

I tighten my scarf around my neck as I raise my hand and a cab pulls up. I slide in as Olive follows shortly and sighs heavily. I start rubbing my wrists without thinking till Olive finally spoke.

"You should stop rubbing your scars, he wants you to remember him. And I do need to lay down, my head has been spinning for some time." She rubs her temples again.

The cab finally pulls up to the hotel as Olive slowly gets out of the cab, I roll my eyes as I slip a hand under her arm and help her into the hotel. I noticed she didn't say anything with me helping her as we entered the elevator. Her skin was a bit grey and her eyes were starting to get redder. I bite my lip as I open the door to the room and help her to the bed and open the covers for her as she slips in them.

"Get some sleep, I will go back to the lab and do more tests. Text me when you wake up." By the time I finished Olive was fast asleep. I ran my fingers through my hair as I sit down and watch her. She was fidgeting more than ever and her brow was creased like she was worried.

I close my eyes and bring my finger tips to my mouth as I slowly start to realize that Olive has the symptoms of being poisoned by the same poison from the cases. But I couldn't be for sure till it really started getting in her system, but if I was too late she could kill others and herself. I chuckled at myself as I got up and grabbed a room key and walked out the door.

"I would never let anything happen to her. I will figure this out before it gets to serious." I whispered to myself as I entered the elevator and head to the lab.

OD

John took me up to the cafeteria. The food looked decent enough. He walked beside me as I got my food. I also made a quick cub of instant tea. It couldn't hurt with my headaches and all. After I picked out what I wanted, John directed me to a small table. As we walked over, a man walked past us and bumped into John's shoulder. John didn't budge very much but the man who had bumped him stumbled and spilt the stack of papers he had secured in his arms all over the floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry sir." The man said crouching down and started picking up the scattered paper work. He was wearing scrubs so he must have been a nurse that worked here.

"No no, don't worry about it. Let me help you out with that." John told him joining him with assembling the paper. I set my food down on a table beside me and knelt down to help them.

"Th-thank ya so much. So busy of late. More people comin' in than normal. The flu seems to be goin' 'round." The nurse sputtered about, fumbling to retrieve the paper.

The papers were almost all picked up when John and I both reached for the same piece on the floor. Our hand's bumped and I could immediately feel my cheeks reddening. What the crap face? I barely even touched him! God my face was stupid sometimes. Our eyes met for half a second before I quickly retracted my hand and mumbled a barely audible 'sorry'.

"Thanks kindly for helpin' me out," the nurse said slowly standing back up straight seeing as all the papers were assembled. John and I quickly stood up too and handed the nurse all of the paper.

"Not a problem," John told the nurse, giving him a slight smile. The nurse gave a thankful smile in return and strode off.

John and I then proceeded to sit down at a table. We were quiet at first, when I first started eating. The foot felt good on my stomach. I heat from the tea was soothing and the sweetness of it tasted nice.

"So, how are you and Lyra holding up?" John asks me, finally breaking the silence. I take another sip my hot tea before answering.

"As good as expected. Well, at least for me. Can't speak for Lyra. She can keep all cool and collected even in the most of stressful of times. Though, I know her better than that to know when she is deeply troubled. She has always been very focused on all of her cases, but not quite as tense as she is now, despite her trying to hide it. When she isn't so uptight she can actually be quite funny when she wants to be. A very dry sense of humor granted, but a sense of humor all the same. This might sound awful, but I'm glad this new case came up and Sherlock is standing to have her around. The distraction is helping her ease up a bit, I can tell. Artimis is very clever and careful not to be found unless he wants to be. Sadly, I think she is going to be stuck until he makes his next move. Obviously he has something in store for her. I just wish I knew what. I want to be able to protect her this time…" I say, drifting off at the end. I wasn't looking John in the eye anymore. Now I was looking down at my cup of tea clasped in between my hands. I really was worried Lyra was going to be taken out from under me again, and I don't know if I would be able to find her this time. Artimis knew her now. Knew me now. He would be more prepared this time. More cunning. I could start to feel my throat closing up with the warning of tears that were threatening to escape me.

"Olivia, are you all right?" John asks moving his hand to rest on top of one of mine. The small gesture surprised me, but soothed me just a little. John really was very kind.

"Thank you…" I choke out in almost a whisper. I noticed John hadn't removed his hand yet.

"For what?" John asks, looking more than a little confused about my direction change in conversation. I hesitated a moment before answering.

"For being so kind to me, even though you hardly know me. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Especially in the circumstances." I say still too afraid to look him in the eye. I was already red in the cheeks, but I didn't want to totally lose my composure. I really did hate myself sometimes.

"I haven't done much really. Just trying to help someone who looked so under stress as you were." John says, now the one avoiding eye contact and rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. I work up my courage and grab his hand that was still resting on my hand and look him straight in the eyes. I wanted to make sure he knew I was completely serious. God knows Lyra is a handful on top of Artimis showing up. Having someone friendly around had made a world of difference.

"I mean it John…thank you." I say. Once I said his name he directed his eyes at me again. We just stared at each other for a few moments before I realized I was starting to lean towards. My heart was starting to beat at an alarming rate. John's face was an inch away when a familiar binging noise came from my pocket. I froze where I was and retracted my face back while digging for my phone in my pocket with my now shaking hand. I didn't dare look a John from the fear on dying from embarrassment.

I opened up the message on my phone, which was from Lyra…of course. I was going to kill her.

Come at once –LC

Underneath the message was an attached address of the location.

"Ummm, it seems there has been another murder. Lyra and Sherlock are already on their way there. Says come at once" I say, but it comes out more of a shaky whisper. I only managed to glance at him. He must think I'm so stupid for acting like a teenage girl. John cleared his throat before speaking.

"Oh, ummm ok. Are you all done?" John asks me, not looking me in the eye either. I'm glad he didn't though, less embarrassing that way.

"Yea." I say picking up my only half eaten food. I lost my appetite.

To say the ride to our destination was awkward would be an understatement. John and I sat almost as far away from each other in the cab as possible the whole way. I couldn't believe I had almost kissed him. How stupid was I? I had only known him for two days and on top of that I wasn't staying here very long. Before I know it, I will be back in my apartment in New York, forgetting all about my experience in London… Why did that thought seem to hurt so much? I rubbed my temples with my hands. All this thinking was bringing my headache back. I chanced a quick look at John, which I quickly regretted because was decided to do the same at the exact same time. We both quickly looked away again. God, I hope this awkwardness didn't last between us. Lyra was definitely going to hear it from me later.

When we arrived at the crime scene, John and I made our way over to Lestrade who was out in front of a bakery looking slightly irritated. Yep, Lyra and Sherlock were definitely here. As we walked over John and I still stayed fairly close to each other, despite the awkward atmosphere.

"Thank goodness you two are here. Detective Carter and Sherlock are insufferable when it's just the two of them." Lestrade says pointing back behind him where I assumed Lyra and Sherlock were, though I couldn't be positive because there were a lot of people in the way of my view.

All three of us started walking over to them when Lestrade started to speak again.

"This time it was a stabbing. Only two victims if you count the stabber. Both female and in their late twenties. We think they were friends. It looks like one of them had stabbed the other with a pocket knife that was in their purse. Pretty gruesome. Sherlock was telling me that the poison not only makes you have uncontrollable fear, but hostility as well. Says that if one of the girls were afraid they wouldn't be the type to stand and fight, but to run. That wasn't the case, since the girl started maliciously stabbing her friend." He said filling in John and I on the case.

Before I saw her, Lyra started to walk towards us.

"I'm glad that you got my message. I was worried you would be too busy kissing Sweaters, telling by your red cheeks, and his constant averted eye contact with you." Lyra says to me nonchalantly hardly even looking at me. My eyes go wipe for a moment and cheeks turn a bright red. Or at least more red then they apparently already were. My shock only lasts a moment before I get fiercely irritated.

"No we were not Lyra! We were just eating and talking! Now what do you want?" I say quickly trying to change the subject. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Lestrade looking between me and John with a surprised and confused look. Oh my god, Lyra you little stupid twat!

"It's the same poison as the last case." Sherlock says in a stern tone. Lyra gave him a resentful look before kneeling down by one of the bodies and examining her face.

"But it's different. Her eyes are redder and the skin is grey. The poison worked must have worked faster meaning a bigger dose was given. The murderer is still experimenting with the poison, so this won't be the last case." Lyra says out loud giving Sherlock a smug smile. It's always a competition with her.

Just then, I wave of pain surged through my head. The lights in the room suddenly looked much too bright. I squinted my eyes slightly to try and shield my eyes from the light that seemed to be attacking my corneas. I rub my temples with my hands again, trying to ease the pressure I felt in my brain. I could see Lyra look at me with a calculating stare out of the corner of me eye. I quickly lower my hands from my head and try to look cheerful. I didn't want her to worry about me. She had enough on her plate as it was. I knew I couldn't hide it from her entirely, but I could at least try to hide some of my extreme discomfort.

I just stood around for several minutes while Lyra finished what she was doing. Sherlock was now talking to John, obviously trying to pretend Lyra wasn't there. Lyra then stood up and spoke.

"Call me when another murder happens. Because there will be another one. Come along Olive, you should rest your head. I need you as sharp as a tack, I would be lost without my writer." Lyra says taking off her gloves. I should have known she could see through my masked composure. Well, it was worth a shot anyways. We started to leave and as we were walking out of the crime scene, I looked back at John. He was looking at me too with a worried expression. I gave him a slight smile. I didn't want the awkwardness to last between us. He was too mice to talk to.

Lyra hailed a cab and we got in, sitting side by side. Like always, the ride was pretty quiet. I noticed Lyra was rubbing her wrists again. Normally she was good about not doing that, but sometimes she would rub them without realizing it.

"You should stop rubbing your scars, he wants you to remember him. And I do need to lay down, my head has been spinning for some time." I tell her honestly rubbing my temples again. She already knew I wasn't feeling myself so might as well not try to hide it.

When we arrived at the hotel, Lyra slipped her arm under mine to help me walk up to our room. I had gotten so much worse in the short time it took to get here. Maybe I really was getting sick. Even my eyes were starting it itch. When we got to our room, Lyra helped me to my bed and lifted the covers for me. As soon as my head hit the pillow I started to drift off.

"Get some sleep, I will go back to the lab and do more tests. Text me..." As Lyra was talking her voice was starting to drift from my comprehension as sleep started to take hold.

The sun was high in the sky, crushing us with its scorching rays. By this point, my whole body was covered in dirt that clung to my throat and nostrils. The gun fire was coming from all around me. My hands were clutched to my gun and ready to aim and shoot at a seconds notice. Maybe even half a second if I was focused enough.

Half of my regiment was already gone. We hadn't expected things to turn out how they were. It had been a quiet day. Nothing out of the ordinary. How had they snuck up on us so easily? The answer is irrelevant. They were here now, and dwelling on their passing wasn't going to bring them back. Especially with the ones of us that remained. I needed to focus on keeping them alive.

I was laying down in a half blown building. I looked down at the open cross road in front of me. To my left, I could see a group of my regiment. They was about five of them, all huddled together taking cover from the bullets that were still raining down on them. The position I was in didn't allow me with a view of the enemy. They had the concealment of the buildings adjacent from me. If I was lucky, one would pop their head out far enough for me to shoot, but not enough for it to really make much of a difference. I look into the scope of my rifle to do another head count of the men in my regiment still trapped together. From what I gathered, everyone else who had survived the attack was farther back. The boys and I weren't so lucky. They got trapped in the line of fire, and I'll be damned if I leave them now. And I couldn't. Not with one curtain man still down there. I would die before I left him behind. As I look down my scope I look at him for a moment. I can tell it's him, because he was the only one not wearing head gear. It must have fallen off in the chaos. He never did strap it on properly. Dumbass. After this is over, I am going to punch him square in the jaw. Stupidity gets you killed. His face was covered in dirt and even from here I could see his wild blue eyes, that were turned hard as stone. He seemed to be shouting order's to the others, though I had no idea what.

Before I spend too much time checking on them, I revert my attention back to the building adjacent to me. I watch every opening like a hawk. Waiting. Just then, I see a shoulder come into view. I take a shot, and it hits right where I aim it. It's not much, but at least it's one more not able to shoot.

After I moment I faintly hear a shuffle of feet, coming up the stairs to my floor. They were too close so I abandon my rifle and hide behind a wall and pull out my small pistol. When they see my abandoned gun, they start sharply speaking in Arab. From the returned reply and foot falls, I know there are only two. I slowly go down into a crouch and try and stay as concealed as possible. One of them walk past me a few steps before I shoot at him, straight in the head. He falls down, dead instantly. The other had already started to come into view, but was already starting to point his machine gun at me. I quickly push the flipped table I was hiding behind at him, making him miss me by a few inches. Shots range out as they were fired out of his gun, hitting the wall and ceiling as he fell down. I lunged forward to get a shot on him, but as my gun came down to aim at him, he kicked my arms up which flinged my gun out of my hands. Not wanting him to take another shot at me, I tackle him where he still lay on the ground from his fall. We wrestle with his machine gun until I manage to throw it away from us. I take a few punches to the face before I manage to pull out my knife. Once it gets free, I stab him in the chest and twist the hilt. He dies within moments.

As soon as the fight is done I scurry back over to my abandoned rifle. The sight I see makes my blood run cold. Not one person from my stranded regiment was moving. I stand up, taking my rifle with me and hoist it on my back. I walk quickly out of the room, but before I do, I take two grenades that the dead men I just fought, one being a flash grenade, and pick up the machine gun. Once I reach ground level of the building I was in, I quickly sprint across the way to a building over. As I run out I'm not shot at, so they must not have noticed me yet. I crouch along, the side of the building getting as close to where my men were without being seem by the enemy. I take a deep breath and think for a moment before deciding what to do. Where my men lay was no more than 50 feet away. I could sprint it in a few seconds. I glance down at one of the grenades I had picked up and make my decision.

I take the pin out of the flash grenade I had picked up and through it across the way at where the enemy was hiding. As soon as it leaves my hand, I sprint towards my destination. I must have had amazing lucky, because the few shots that rained down in my directed, all missed me. Once I reached cover, I immediately started to try and spot him from the bodies that lay motionless. I find him in seconds and crawl to his side.

"Bobby…" I manage to spit out reaching my hand to the side of his neck to see if he still had a pulse. I could faintly feel it, but it was weak.

"Bobby…? Bobby!" I say again, sounding more than a little pleading. He took in a sharp breath with a pained face before pealing his eye lids open. His eyes look about, not quite focused before landing on me and recognition sets in.

"L-Liv'? Wh-what are you doing here? You should be back with the others…" Bobby rasps out looking at me with wide eyes.

"Don't be stupid Bobby, I couldn't just leave you here. I wont." I say looking at him with soft eyes and a slight smile, though there was no happiness behind them.

"Liv' no. You can still make it out alive. You have a chance. I don't." He said straining his arm up to touch the side the side of my face.

"Don't. Don't say that. I'm going to protect you. I promised I would protect you…" I say trailing off because the tears were choking my words off.

"Liv' please. You have always been there for me. It's my turn. Do this…for me." He says piercing my very soul with his kind eyes. He then started to reach into his shirt from the collar. He grasps the dog tags that hang from the chain clasped around his neck and gives a sharp tug.

"Bobby… what?" I say as he places them into my hand. He then takes hold of the other grenade I still had and grasps his gun that was still nestled at his side.

"When I say, you are going to run like hell, you understand... Promise me." He say pressing his forehead to mine. I give out a loud sob, and nod my head slowly, filled with sorrow. I didn't want to leave him. God knows I will regret it forever, but I knew in my heart there was no way he would survive. You could see the large amount of blood he has lost just by looking at his uniform.

"I love you Liv'" Bobby says with a whole bottle of emotions in his shaking voice.

"I love you too." I sob out and kiss the top of his head, before he struggles to a half standing position. He looks at me one last time before pulling the pin and throwing it.

"Run!" he yells out, but not even looking at me because he jumped out from the cover and starts shooting wildly. I want to stay so badly. Ever fiber in my being wanted to reach out to him and pull him back. But I wouldn't. I made him a promise, and I always kept my promises. So, despite the tear on my heart I could feel every step I took away from him, I kept running. I could hear shouting and gun fire ring out all over the place. As I kept running a gripped my hand that had Bobby's tags in it, in a tight fist. I'm so sorry Bobby. So sorry.

My body jolted up into a sitting position as my heart beat erratically. My whole body was in a cold sweat and I could feel tears pouring out my eyes. For several moments I didn't move or make a sound. I just sat in my bed in the dead quiet hotel room before lapsing into uncontrollable sobs. My whole body was shaking and my face was buried in my hands. I draw my knee's up to my chest so I can hide my face in my lap. I haven't had that dream for nearly six years now. I had buried those memories deep within me and now they were crawling their way back out again. My hand moved to my neck where Bobby's tags hung. I clutched them tightly in my hands.

"I'm sorry Bobby. So, so sorry." I quietly chant in a whisper. I sit there until I run out of tears. I don't know how long I have been here.

Once I trust myself to stay composed, I get up and go to the bathroom to take a shower. The hot water feels soothing as it warms my skin. My face feels all puffy from crying and I grimace. I hate crying. It's so stupid. I stay in the shower for a while longer before getting out. I swear, showers are magic. They always seem to relax me to the bone, even if it's only for a short amount of time. I wrap a towel around me and go out into the main room to get dressed. I have my bra and bottoms on when I hear my phone give out a ping. I go pick it up and open the message.

Found something. It's urgent. Come to Bart's Hospital. –LC

I start to put my phone down when it bings again. I let out a heavy sigh and open the new message.

By the way, I sent Sweaters to come and get you. –LC

As I read the text I could feel my heart beat quicken. Why was Lyra so insistent on embarrassing me today!? I throw my phone on my bed aggressively and start to dig through my suitcase trying to find a shirt. As I'm rummaging through my bag, the door opens up and John walks in. Oh god!

I freeze where I stand just staring at him. I can't make myself move. Not to even cover myself. Just standing here…in my underwear. Dear God… My face had turned beet red the moment the door opened. But now that I was looking at John, I could see he was just a red. We were both frozen where we were, just staring at each other until reality hit John and he quickly turned his back to me.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry. I just, I just thought- Lyra gave me the room key and- I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking." John rushed out facing the opposite direction from me.

"No! It's fine, you-you didn't know, it's ok!" I sputter out throwing on whatever my hand hit first in my suitcase, which happened to be a floral patterned dress. Despite the enormous amount of embarrassment I was feeling, I had a smile on my face. Him getting all flustered was a good thing right?

"It's alright now. You can turn around." I tell him running my fingers through my hair to try and tame the tangles quickly.

"Again, I am sorry." John says rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. I could still see the pink in the tip of his ears. To be completely honest, it was a tad bit endearing.

"Don't even think on it. Like I said, it's alright." I say, not being able to keep the slight smile that was creeping its way onto my lips. What was wrong with me? …Smiling in a situation like this? Normally I would be completely horrified, but instead I found the whole situation kind of cute in a cliché kind of way. It was like something you would read in a cheesy chick flick…not that I watch a lot of chick flicks or anything…

I guess the little smile I let slip eased John a bit because he returned a bashful one back at me.

"Right. So umm, do you want me to wait out in the cab while you get all set to go?" john asks me, eyeing my still wet hair.

"You can stay if you want. I'll just be a minute." I say grabbing some things from my bag and heading for the bathroom. Before I go in, I turn back to John.

"Make yourself comfortable," I say gesturing to the chair, which I then realized was littered with Lyra's handcuffs. Why did she bring so many? "You can just push Lyra's handcuffs off." I add before closing the door to the bathroom. Once inside I run my brush through my hair and give it a good shake. I then put on my light purple tights and put on my cream colored stiletto's. I look at my make-up for a moment before deciding against it. It would take too long, and John was waiting. I took a deep breath before ascending from the bathroom.

"All ready." I say to John, who was now sitting in the chair, fiddling around with one of Lyra's handcuffs.

"Alright." John says as he stands up and walks to the door.

Like he had said, a cab was waiting for us outside. We got in and I was happy when it didn't feel awkward like it had earlier in the day. I didn't like feeling uncomfortable about him. Good company was so hard to come by. Or at least that's what I told myself. It was a few minutes until either of us talked.

"So umm, how are you doing? Lyra had told Sherlock and I that she took you back to the hotel because you weren't feeling too well." John says glancing at me but not quite making eye contact.

"I was feeling a little under the weather earlier but I feel much better now." I tell him, not completely honest. It was true that I was feeling better than before, but the haunting feeling I had from my dream still lingered. I would never tell him that though.

"Good, good…" John says nodding his head absently. From the way he was fidgeting and how he spoke I could tell he wanted to say something else, but just wasn't saying it. Jeez, I'm starting to think like Lyra.

"John, is there something you want to say…?" I ask John in a sweet voice so I don't sound rude. He looks at me apprehensively, probably debating whether to say it or not. After another moment he takes a deep breath and starts to speak.

"It's just umm, back the hotel when I saw you-umm you know. I saw a bullet hole wound in your side. I don't mean to pry or anything, but did that happen while you were in service?" John asks me. I freeze up for a second. I didn't even think that he would have seen that. I didn't like people knowing about it. I guess I'm just ashamed of it in a way. It was a constant reminder that Lyra was always in danger. The first year I had to deal with it was the worst. It healed up just fine, but every time I remembered it was their or bumped it with my arm, I would panic and call Lyra to make sure she was okay. Although I knew Lyra found it astoundingly annoying, she would always answer and reassure me that she was fine. I let out a deep breath before answering, not looking at him and instead looks at my hand that were lying in my lap.

"No." I say, not elaborating at all. I could hear John take a sharp intake of breath. I guess he wasn't expecting that as the answer…

"You-you mean you got that after you came back?" John asks me, and sounds perplexed. I didn't know what expression was on his face because I still hadn't looked up. I don't want to speak so I just nod my head slightly.

"How?" John says, letting it out as almost a whisper. I debate whether or not to tell him for a moment before deciding to tell him. If I didn't tell him, he would probably mention it to Sherlock, and Sherlock would no doubt tell him. Stupid Sherlock, being all smart and crud… I slowly raise my head and looked at him.

"Remember when I told you that Artimis left a mark on me…well, it wasn't exactly figurative." I tell him, stilling giving eye contact but absently playing with my hands. I could see his eyes widen after I said this.

"He did that to you?" John says more then asks. He reaches over takes his hand in mine. I take comfort in the gesture. I could just see all of his thoughts wildly flying in his head, from the expression he had on his face.

"Don't worry though. I got him too. Maybe not as good, but I'm sure he has a scar to remember me by." I say in a joking tone trying to lighten the mood. I think it had the opposite effect though, because his face looked distraught.

"We will find Artimis Olivia. He won't be able to hurt you or Lyra ever again once we do." John says in a voice hard as stone. His eyes had adorned a piercing quality that was both intense and soft simultaneously. I give him a genuine smile. It amazed me how much he cared. Even without knowing me for over two days, he already is so comforting to me. I didn't know why, but there was just something about him that I have never seen in anyone else before. Something special.

For the rest of the ride we sat in a comfortable silence. Are hands were still holding the others' and neither of us made a move separate them. Despite myself I had a content smile plastered on my face that I couldn't seem to wipe off. My nightmare that had shrouded my mind was now being pushed back to the recesses of my mind where it belonged.