Chapter Twelve
Abbott was very sure he was asleep, and the the disturbing noise was not from his head, but rather from an external source, and he hated it, he tried to reach for it, and made contact with his wife's hand, who handed it over to him, he looked at the screen for the caller Id, "Urghh Jane" he muttered, and answered the call, "Jane can't it wait till tomorrow ?" He asked before Jane could even speak, "Hello to you too sir" Jane replied, "Get to the point Jane or I'll shoot you", "Ok, RedJohn is still alive" Abbott was sure he heard wrongly, but he decided his sleep was more important, "And you know this how?" he asked, "He just contacted me", "Jane lets talk about this in the morning please, 6.30 am, no longer 6 am, you have you to thank for that." And he was asleep before the information could sink in.
Watson felt around the bed, and it was empty, "Mary, are you there?" He whispered, he got up immediately realising he was sleep talking, "Sorry Sherlock I..." He began to say when he realised Sherlock was gone, "Sherlock!" he exclaimed as he got up and walked into the alley, he got into the elevator and headed for the ground floor, 4 am was way too early for anyone to be in the bar, but he thought that was the best shot he had at finding Sherlock, else he had already gone to work. The 'ting' sound made by the elevator as it hit the ground floor brought Watson back to reality, he walked out of the elevator into the reception area and smiled lightly at the receptionist, and rushed ahead into the bar. Sherlock was sitting in the bar, gathered around by a small group which seemed to be amused at him, and he kept speaking, making fun and laughter at the expense of a thick, muscular guy, who paid attention to Sherlock with malice in his eyes, Watson walked up to him quickly, "What are you doing Sherlock?" He whispered emphatically to him, "Having fun" Sherlock replied, "Isn't that right guys?" He asked the group, "Yea!" They all replied, "This guy is a blast" a certain blond guy remarked, "shut up" Watson said, dragging Sherlock to the Elevator. "Sherlock what are you doing?" Watson asked as soon as they were alone, "You going to get drunk and we've to be at work early tomorrow, we've work to do", "No we don't, well not all of you"Sherlock commented standing upright, "Did you get the message I left you?" "What message?" Watson asked, "I left my phone by your side, it contained information on my whereabouts" Sherlock said calmly, "No I didn't, I was too busy worrying about you", "There was no need for that Watson, that phone would have been much useful to you had I gone missing" Sherlock said and walked into the elevator, Watson following quickly, Watson pressed the button for the 6th floor, and they began their ascent in relative silence. Jane was sitting staring into open space, Lisbon sat beside him, "Jane you cannot let him get to you", "I am fine" Jane said, "yea you are" Lisbon said, "You can't fool me Jane, I know you", "I can't let him take you again Lisbon" Jane said quietly, "Do you think we should contact Sherlock?" Jane asked, "I heard he hates to be awoken from his sleep, he has a bad temper" Lisbon advised, " And since we are working early we should let him sleep", "Hmm, sounds like a plan then!" Jane said and laid down, kissing Lisbon on her hand.