Morning had just dawned when John woke up. He rolled out of bed and headed for the kitchen to make himself a huge cup of tea. To his surprise, he found Sherlock already up, despite having arrived home late last night, well after John had gone to bed.

'Morning Sherlock. Did you sleep at all?'

'No. I had some things to prepare, and then I was thinking. The futility of hiding the body in the closet is still annoying me. Nevertheless, I should be able to wrap up this case today.'

'That's impressive. Do you still think Anderson is innocent?' There was a knock on the door before Sherlock could answer. John opened it to find Lestrade standing on the front porch, looking as confused as John felt.

'Morning John, do you have any idea why Sherlock might have asked me to come here at such an ungodly hour? I'm hoping it means that he has figured everything out.' Sherlock heard this, and yelled back down the stairs.

'You hope wrong Lestrade. I have merely figured most things out. You are here this morning to watch me prove my theory.'

Lestrade looked pleased about this. He always liked it when a case was cleared up quickly. Unfortunately for him, Sherlock was the only person who was capable of finishing a case so quickly, and he only accepted the most interesting of them.

'Tea, Lestrade?' asked John. 'I was just making a cup for myself.' Lestrade nodded appreciatively.

'You know how much I love your tea, John. A cup would be lovely.' John bustled back to the kitchen to get the pot boiling, when he heard a strange sound coming from Sherlock's bedroom. It was like a tapping sound, but more hollow than normal. John ignored it. He was used to strange sounds coming from Sherlock's room, and assumed it was just a final experiment of his that would prove his theory.

Then John heard an inarticulate yell. Still holding the tea, he rushed into Sherlock's bedroom, and to his horror, he saw a small man trying desperately to strangle Sherlock! John acted upon his first instinct, and threw the tea all over the attacker. This gave Sherlock enough time to take a breath, before the strangling resumed again.

Lestrade then rushed into the room, drawing his gun as he went.

'Let go or I will shoot!' he yelled forcefully. The attacker just grinned, and tightened his grip. He hauled a weakening Sherlock into a different position, until he was completely hidden by him.

'Would you shoot me through your friend?' the man sneered from behind Sherlock. Lestrade faltered. John knew that he wouldn't dare fire unless he had a clear shot. But time was running for Sherlock. John had to take some action quickly. All his tea had been used up, so there was only one thing for it.

He lunged at Sherlock and his weight pulled him to the floor. This left the attacker on top and at his mercy. John punched him hard, but that only caused him to flinch and tighten his grip even more. John kept trying, punching, kicking, all with a strength that would normally knock a man unconscious, but to no avail. Sherlock started turning blue, as the fingers stayed around his neck.

'John. Move away.' Lestrade's calm voice broke through John's panic and stopped his futile and irrational behaviour. He looked up, and saw that Lestrade's gun had a clear shot of the attacker. Only John himself was blocking it. John quickly moved to the attackers head, and held him still. Lestrade took a step forward, aimed, and fired.

The fingers instantly left Sherlock's neck, and clutched the bullet hole on his leg. John rushed to Sherlock's side. He was winded, had bad bruising around his neck, but he was alive. John gave Sherlock a drink of cold water, then lay him down and placed some ice on his neck, while Lestrade restrained the attacker who was bleeding heavily.

'Right,' he said, 'I'm taking this one to the station, but we should probably get him patched up as well. Do you know if this is a random attack Sherlock? Or is it related to the case?'

'I'm sure Sherlock will tell you everything tomorrow. Right now he needs to stay silent so that his neck and vocal chords can heal. We will come down to the station at 9am. You can question that man if you like, but I think Sherlock should be able to clear all of it up for you' replied John.

The police car arrived, and Lestrade bustled the attacker into it. This left John and Sherlock alone in the flat, waiting for an ambulance.

'I'm fine John. I don't need to go to hospital' Sherlock rasped. John refused with the ease of a doctor who had had plenty of practice.

'Listen to yourself. You're so hoarse, you can barely speak. Now stay quiet, and you will be fine tomorrow. Then you can explain everything you know about Anderson, Rob Martin and that guy who just strangled you, who I'm assuming is the murderer.' Sherlock nodded, and was silent a moment, before saying slowly, 'Thank you for saving my life John. I'm sorry about your tea.'

John looked at Sherlock in bewilderment, before chuckling.

'You're most welcome. And honestly, the tea is the least of my worries. C'mon, the ambulance is here. Time to go.'