Disclaimer: BBC's Sherlock belongs to various persons and corporations that are not in any way associated with me. This piece of fanfiction is written by 5 students who just wish to pass an assignment they were given. I claim no ownership of the show or Sherlock. No profit is made from this material, now or in the future.

Chapter 5

I do not know how Sherlock managed to have me discharged from the hospital, but he did. I was about to ask him how, but I quickly decided against it after seeing the disgruntled look on the nurse's face. I signed the papers quickly and decided to keep my curiosity at bay after mumbling a quick, "Thank you for your care."

Sherlock was already waiting outside the hospital for me, and by the look on his face, he was in deep thought.

I walked up next to him and asked, "So, what do we do now?"

Sherlock slowly came back to reality and gave me a slow look. "We? You're going back to the hotel to rest. I'm going to Hamnparken to look for clues and will meet you at the hotel in a few hours." He glanced at his watch and continued, "Perfect, we shall meet just in time for dinner as well." His tone did not leave any room for arguments, and I felt the last shred of my patience disappear.

"Sherlock, I've been robbed, threatened, and knocked out since coming here. Not to mention the fact that you just had me discharged from the hospital, the least you can do is tell me what you're planning!" I snapped at him. I hated being kept in the dark and he knew it. Sherlock looked at me and I could see the concern in his eyes.

"Do you trust me, John?" It was not a common occurrence to see Sherlock so… open, and it made me stop my tirade. I sighed, "Yes, Sherlock, I trust you. You know that." He'd proven that to me a long time ago, and I had never come to regret it.

Sherlock continued, "Then trust me to help you with this."

I sighed again, this time in defeat. "All right, but you better be at the hotel in time for dinner, or I'm eating without you."

He smiled at me and shot me a look of gratitude. "Thank you, John."

I felt a bit awkward. "Yes, well, let's get a move on then. Before it gets too dark for you to see anything at Hamnparken."

We each grabbed a cab and parted ways. As I sat in the back seat of the cab, which smelled of cologne and cigarettes, I felt myself being torn between two conflicting emotions. A part of me was relieved that Sherlock was there to help me find the ring, and another part was worried I had dragged him into something dangerous. I paused at that thought and had to let out a chuckle. For once, I was the one dragging Sherlock into a case and not the other way around. Perhaps being so long in his presence had begun rubbing off on me. I let out another chuckle at that. Or perhaps I had been hit in the head too hard.

Time had crawled by slowly. I had spent the past few hours in the hotel room sleeping, eating a small meal, and flipping through TV channels without watching anything. The clock was approaching 6pm and Sherlock was still nowhere to be seen. I figured I would just meet him downstairs. After a quick shower, and a change of clothes, I was standing in the hotel's dining area perusing the buffet. My stomach rumbled, and I decided to start without Sherlock, hoping he would show up before I was done eating. Thankfully most people here seemed to eat at a later time, so I was able to find a table close to the window and enjoy my meal in peace. As I was about to take my first bite of the food, I heard a chair being pulled out and looked up to see Sherlock's eager face. Before I had a chance to say anything, he excitedly declared, "I know who stole your ring."

I put down my utensils, my food forgotten, and gave him my full attention. After a few seconds ticked by, I prompted him, "Well? Who was it?"

"I can't tell you yet."

My face fell. "Sherlock…" I warningly told him.

He interrupted me before I could continue. "Just listen. In order for my plan to work, you need to remain clueless."

I gave him my most deadpan look. "You want me to remain clueless regarding someone who is potentially trying to kill me?"

"That's just it, John, I do not believe this person is trying to kill you. Merely ruin your life."

John scoffed. "Oh, if that's all they mean to do, then, by all means, let's not stand in their way."

"No need for sarcasm, John. I know exactly what we need to do." Sherlock leaned back in the chair, but not before stealing some food off my plate.

"And what is it exactly that we need to do?" I shot the plate towards him, knowing he would just keep stealing food off my plate. The man might be a genius who solved crimes faster than anyone I had ever met, but he was still too lazy to grab his own plate of food.

"Well, it's like this John, all you have to do is present your lecture. You let me handle the rest." He smiled at me in that annoyingly arrogant way of his.

The following morning I was pacing a hole in the small office I had been provided with next to the conference room, where I would be holding my second lecture. Sherlock had explained to me his plan last night, and while I had been completely on board with it then, I was beginning to think I had made a grievous error in trusting his judgment regarding this plan. If you could even call it that. "Madness! Absolute bloody madness!" I cried.

"Calm down, John. I know this will work." Sherlock was unfazed, sitting calmly in his chair with his chin resting on top of his hands. "There's no need to panic," he continued in the same calm voice.

I sputtered, "No need to panic?! Are you out of your mind? I can't believe I agreed to one of your crazy plans, yet again!" I kept ranting, feeling the dread building in my gut.

"John." Sherlock's sharp voice broke through my panicked mind.

I shot a look at him but quickly shut my mouth after seeing his determined face. Sherlock had never let me down, and he was not going to now either.

I felt embarrassed. "Sherlock, I-"

"It is quite alright, John, I know how much this ring means to you, and how much it will mean to Mary." He shot me a soft smile before continuing, "Before we leave, I promise that we will have the ring back in your possession, and the culprit will be caught."

My embarrassment was slow to die, and I knew my face still bore the proof of my mortification. These few days had taken its toll on me, Sherlock knew it, yet he remained by my side. Ever the faithful friend. I thought to myself. He also understood why I was not my usual level headed self. This ring meant everything to me, and all I longed for was to see Mary's delighted face after proposing to her. A small smile made its way to my lips at that thought.

"I see you're feeling much more like your usual self." Sherlock's voice brought me back to reality.

I looked up at him and cleared my throat, "Yes, sorry about that."

"No need to apologise. Now, let's set the second part of the trap. You remember what you need to do?" He asked me for the umpteenth time.

"Er… Act clueless?" Was my brilliant reply.

"Marvellous. You have the act down perfectly." He shot me a cheeky grin. I simply shot him a mock glare and tried to hold back my own smile. The man's poor humour had rubbed off on me. He continued, "I'm going to get some fresh air and will meet you inside the conference room." He glanced down at his watch. "You're up just now." A quick glance at the clock on the wall confirmed I had about ten minutes left, and I quickly gathered my things.

"Of all the times to get some fresh air, now's the time you decide is the best?" I grumbled under my breath.

"Now, now John. If you keep talking like that the audience will miss out hearing your wonderful lecture." He swept past me and walked out the door, but not before I heard him say to himself, "This is going to be fun."

The lecture had gone well, and I was rewarded with applause from the audience. I kept an eye out for Sherlock amongst the throng of people, but I couldn't spot him in the dimly lit room. I was interrupted in my search by James slowly making his way towards me with one of the guests guiding him by his side. I politely excused myself from my current company, whom I had barely exchanged any words with, and made my way towards him.

"Lieutenant James, what a pleasant surprise to see you again. We didn't get a chance to exchange more than a few words. Please, would you mind sitting down at my table and exchanging some stories with me?" The young man at his side guided James closer to the stage, where I had laid claim to a small table and four chairs.

"I would be delighted, Captain Watson. Thank you, young man, I can manage from here." James sat down carefully, and the young man returned to his table.

"Where are my manners? Is there anything I can get you?" I asked him quickly.

He looked up at me and thought for a second, "A coffee would be nice, thank you."

"Of course, I'll be right back." I got up and walked towards one of the tables I had spotted earlier and saw an arrangement of drinks, but nothing that looked like coffee. Oddly surprising, considering coffee seemed to be the preferred drink amongst Swedes. Suddenly, the lights turned on and the pleasant buzz of chatter instantly ceased. The sound of the microphone being turned on made everyone's gaze turn towards the stage. Towards Sherlock. "Oh dear lord, please know what the hell you're doing." I sent up another small prayer before focusing my attention on Sherlock, who was now very loudly clearing his throat into the microphone. No doubt thinking one of the few hundred people here wasn't paying attention to him.

"May I have your attention please?" Sherlock smiled at the crowd, and I let out a deep sigh. "You've already got our attention," I muttered quietly. I gave him a look to signal he should get a move on. Sherlock being Sherlock; he completely ignored me.

"I deeply apologise for having to cut this very pleasant evening short, but there's something I need to do for a dear friend of mine." He paused and looked straight at me. "John, you mind giving us all a small wave?" Oh, I was going to murder him. I slowly put up my hand and gave a small, hesitant wave. I ignored the people now openly staring at me. Sherlock did too and continued, "You see, my dear friend has been through quite a lot these past few days, and something very precious was stolen from his hotel room." People were murmuring amongst themselves, their curiosity piqued. "A ring which he bought for his dear beloved, Mary, back home in London." I could hear a few women awing at that.

"Oh, but it doesn't stop there, my dear guests, you see the thief wasn't merely out for this piece of jewellery, oh no, they were out for blood. Poor John tried to track down the thief after being led on a wild goose chase around the city, only to be attacked and end up in the hospital for his brave efforts." Sherlock kept looking around the room as he spoke as if he were searching for something. Or someone. Yet his gaze never lingered for more than a few seconds on his spectators.

"I knew something was wrong the minute I spoke to John on the phone, and I rushed here to find out what was wrong. After getting the whole story from John I am certain that the thief is in this very room." Sherlock paused for dramatic effect. "You see, the thief couldn't help but show up tonight. To gloat, to feel as if he'd finally conquered an old enemy. That enemy being you, John." I could hear the shocked gasps from the audience. Sherlock didn't pay them any heed and simply went on, "You see, John wasn't the first option for this seminar. There was another person who had been promised that, but was later replaced." I opened my mouth in surprise. This was the first time I had heard of this, but that couldn't have been the only reason someone went to such lengths to make my life hell.

"Oh, but there's more."

You could always trust Sherlock for the theatrics. He had the whole room captivated, and he knew it.

"The thief made sure all the evidence was gone so they wouldn't be caught. They bribed the security guard at the hotel to delete all the footage of them entering the room. The attack on John happened when he had his back turned and not a single soul was around." He focused his gaze upon someone and exclaimed, "It was the act of a coward!"

I tried to see who he was looking at, but I was too far away to get a good look. Whoever it was, they kept silent. I made my way through the crowd and towards the person Sherlock was glaring daggers at.

"There was one thing this coward didn't count on, though." I made it through the crowd and spotted the target of Sherlock's infamous, cold stare.

"Me." Sherlock smiled coldly.

He was looking right at Lieutenant James.

I froze. It couldn't be. I started shaking my head in denial. Sherlock had to be wrong.

But Sherlock is never wrong, another part of me argued.

"Lieutenant James Hughes." More shocked gasps filled the room, and the people closest to the table quickly backed away. I made my way slowly towards him. James was glaring back at Sherlock and paid me no heed.

"James, please tell me there's no truth to this," I pleaded quietly. James simply turned that glare at me and sneered, "And what if there is?"

My face immediately hardened. There was no doubt about it now, I knew a guilty man when I saw one. I began putting the pieces together, but before I could voice my thoughts; I was interrupted by Sherlock calling two police officers. When had he called them?

"Arrest him, please. I have gathered all the evidence you need now. You've already been provided with the tobacco samples I gathered at Hamnparken; you'll find they're a perfect match to the one he smokes. Ah, and the scratch on the wall will match the scratch mark on his cane." His gaze hardened, "And you'll find the blood on it matching John Watson's."

The police officers put the cuffs on James while I stood and watched silently. "Oh, and before I forget. Would one of you mind searching his pockets for the ring?" The officers obliged and within seconds one of the officers had the ring in his hand, still in its box.

Sherlock scoffed, "Of course, you just had to take something as a prize, didn't you?" James let out a string of curses, "He deserved it! After everything he did!"

I walked up to him and asked, "What exactly did I do to deserve this?" My voice was calm, even.

He spat at me, "You don't even fucking remember!" I kept staring at him until he finally answered, "It's your fault I can't walk without my cane! It's your fault I could never progress within the army. I was discharged and couldn't do anything to provide for my family. They all left me! This opportunity was all I had left, and you took that from me too! Well, now I finally had a chance to take something from you, it's just a shame it wasn't that pretty lady you have waiting back home, Mary, was it?" He chuckled darkly at me. I felt my blood boil and prepared myself to punch him. Before I had a chance, I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder and a familiar voice telling me, "He's not worth it, John," Sherlock said quietly. I turned to look at him and unfurled my fists. I turned back to James. "No, he's really not." James lunged at me while screaming obscenities. The two police officers held him back and began leading him out of the room. The crowd parted to let them through and I could hear James' screams slowly fade away. It was finally over.

"I told you I'd get your ring back, didn't I?" The ring suddenly appeared in front of my face. "Isn't this supposed to be evidence?" I didn't think I'd be in for any more surprises, but I was wrong.

He smirked at me, "Well, I can be very convincing when I want to be." I stared blankly at him. "All right, all right. A man can't even have any secrets anymore," he muttered before answering, "I offered my services to the police of Malmö in order to speed things up a bit." It seemed I could be more surprised.

"You offered your services?"

"Yes, yes, just don't let it become a habit to lose expensive jewellery."

I smiled at him. There was no way I could ever express my gratitude for what he had done tonight. I knew Sherlock became awkward around people showing him any gratitude, so I decided to keep it simple.

"Sherlock?"

"Yes, John?"

"Thank you."

"You're quite welcome."

We were suddenly interrupted by the whole room erupting into applause, and I couldn't help but laugh at Sherlock's attempt to evade the entire crowd after having had their attention on him just a few minutes ago. This man was a walking contradiction at times, but the one thing I could always trust him to do was to have my back.

A/N: Thank you for reading!