Part 6

Baker Street

12.15pm

As a DI, Lestrade had grown used to hiding his emotions whilst dealing with serious, sickening cases. He always put on a brave face, and by this, it helped the other yarders and the victims' relatives to put up with the situation.

But now, he was struggling.

Now... things were falling out of hand.

He was sat in his car, engine off, outside of 221 Baker Street, trying to pull himself together. Never had he dealt with something so close to home, never with someone he knew. And here he was, thinking; he had promised John that he would be there with him, helping him through this... this nightmare... But how could he? How could he comfort John, when he himself was affected by it too?

He couldn't bring in another DI, they wouldn't understand how serious the situation is, and with Sherlock being the one missing, they probably wouldn't even bother looking at the file...

"Dammit, Lestrade!" He shouted, slamming his hands onto the steering wheel, "Stop this! You are a DI. A police officer. You've dealt with this for years..." he paused, sighing, "John is in there, and he needs you more than he needs anything else... so come on. Pull yourself together!"

Smiling grimly, he climbed out of the car.

Once reaching the open door of 221b, Lestrade paused. A strong smell of alcohol and sick wafted through the air, and he knew that he should've checked upon John before he had posted on his blog. He must have really suffered from his disappearance, he thought as he stepped into the room. Minding the smashed bottles that were scattered across the floor, Lestrade made his way towards the man asleep on the sofa, and sat himself beside his feet.

"John," he whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder, "it's me, Lestrade..."

John's eyes flickered open, "Lestrade, oh thank... god..."

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel crap, dizzy..." John paused, shivering, "Humiliated... Ashamed..."

"Ashamed..?" He watched as John's focus wavered towards the laptop, "Something on your laptop?"

"Get rid of it... please..." Lestrade grabbed the laptop and placed it on his lap, opening the drive.

"Is this the video?" he asked as took out the disc, examining it.

"Yes! Just destroy it!"

"Evidence, John..." John began to pale, what was on that video? "I have to watch it..."

"N-n-no... Don't... Lestrade..."

"John, witholding evidence is not a good idea... I understand that the contents of this video has affected you greatly, but I need to keep it as evidence."

"Lestrade, the video... Don't let others - watch..." Don't let others watch? Oh no...

"Is it really bad?" A nod. "They didn't... oh, John... Come here."

Sitting himself up, John sat beside the DI, rubbing his eyes. Lestrade watched as John tried to compose himself, and not let the flow of tears leak through. Placing his arm around the smaller man, he attempted to comfort him.

"Don't worry, John. We will find him," Lestrade tightened his grip, "trust me, we will... But we need to be strong, and not let," he gestured towards the mess in front of him, "ourselves feel as if they're alone, and take certain measures to feel happier, normal, again."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know why I-"

"-Don't apologise. Look, John, I will always be there, whenever you need me. But now, I need to run this," he waved the disc about, "through with forensics... Store it as evidence, and then I'll come straight back."

"F-fine... I'll stay..."

"Ok, see you later.."

In his office at Scotland Yard, Lestrade sat himself in his chair, and placed the disc into the PC. A player popped up on the screen, and began to play.

Four hours later, the DI climbed slowly up the stairs to 221b, thoughts beginning to process through his head. He knew who was the cause of it, Moriarty... Moran's jealousy of his affection towards Sherlock caused him to act out of hand, and... and - rape him.

He stood beside the sofa, and watched as John turned towards him from the kitchen, startled by his unannounced presence. John grimaced and sat down, closing his eyes.

"John," Lestrade inhaled, "I'm sorry..."