Nothing was coming up from the police reports on the bodies, there was nothing. Utterly nothing.
What clue could be there?
John was frustrated and wanted to scream, that much was obvious.
Mycroft clicked it together and sent him a text stating 'It's a specific brand of card, only sold in one shop, Pine Stationary. -MH'
The doctor looked at the text and his eyes lit up in obvious relief.
It went away after two seconds when another text showed up.
Big Brother wants to play? Didn't I say only you? Well, I'll make an exception this one time, but no more, Johnny boy! Hope you can get to the shop soon or well... I'll just let you think of the possibilities!
-Jim
John's eyes widened and he pulled up a map on his phone, then the doctor began to run.
"Doctor Watson!" Some of the officers from Scotland Yard yelled.
"Donovan, Anderson, stay with him!" Lestrade commanded. The two nodded and did just that, barely managing to keep up with the doctor. He did have more experience running towards scenes after all.
The three made it there in a little under fifteen minutes, all panting heavily. The windows of the shop were smashed in and what looked like odd numbers were there, coating the shop, written all over the walls.
John raised an eyebrow, staring at the numbers. Anderson and Donovan had begun to document but John's eyes widened.
"ICD codes," he murmured, looking at them.
"What?" Donovan asked.
"They're how we diagnosis diseases," John answered. "We use numbers, they're called ICD codes. But there are way too many here. What..." He looked frustrated and wanted to hit something. "I'm bloody useless..."
"Calm down," the female officer said, while Anderson called for backup.
"Backup's on the way," Anderson muttered.
"I shouldn't have backup," John said quietly. "He forbade help."
"I don't think he considers us help," Donovan said, looking irritated.
John took out the greeting card and glared at the taunt once more.
"What does he mean, Doctor Watson?" Anderson asked. "Any ideas?"
"I think the first bit is just a taunt," John said, looking over it. "The bit about being a toy, he called me Sherlock's 'pet.'" The word was spat out distastefully. "The part about being a quack, that's probably due to my deployment being overridden."
"The freak must have been pissed at that," Donovan said, smirking.
John looked irritated, "I must admit, I didn't think he was that selfish. He always insults me but won't let me go. I thought we were friends but it must be hard for his bloody intellect to have common sense sometimes." The doctor calmed himself, "The game, that's obvious enough, he played one with Sherlock. I don't know why he targeted me."
"What did he say at the pool?" Anderson inquired.
The doctor grew quiet, looking into the shop, but the backup had arrived.
The mess of officers and explanations grew but only Mycroft, watching intently through cameras and phones, noticed when Doctor John Watson quietly slipped away and called a cab. Only Mycroft was able to hear him calling his sister's phone.
"John?" a voice slurred. "Wha... wha ya' wan'?"
John sighed in relief, "Harry, go to a friend's house, all right? I need to borrow your flat."
"Wha? I don' wanna..."
A cold, harsh tone that Mycroft had never expected from the doctor, "Harriet."
Mycroft flickered to watch Harriet Watson's reaction and noticed she seemed as if someone had just thrown a bucket of cold water on her. She shuddered at the tone of her brother's voice, "I-I'm sorry John," she managed. "I'll pack and be gone by tomorrow-"
"No. You'll leave now. Explain it's an emergency. I'm on my way now. Be gone by then." He hesitated and said, "Is my old trunk there?"
"Y-Yes, I didn't move it."
"Excellent," John said briskly.
"Is... Is everything all right, John?" Harry asked, her voice timid and quiet.
"Why?"
"Your friend, he's outside, your weird-"
Cursing. "I can't see Sherlock right now, you... Harry, get out of there, do you hear me? Get out of there and don't touch anything!"
Mycroft watched as Harriet Watson ran from the building but it exploded.
John stared at the mobile phone for a second before screaming, "Harry? HARRY!"
"Mate, you might-" the cabbie began, as they reached the site, but John didn't falter, he simply got out the cab and ran towards the commotion.
"John-!"
"Shut up Sherlock," John snapped, moving through the rubble. "Just shut up!"
Mycroft sent his people to the scene, going himself as well.
"What are you doing here?" Sherlock demanded. "You actually managed to leave your office? I'm impressed."
"Harry," John whispered as the brothers argued. Both stopped when they saw him tenderly pulling her from the rubble. "Oh God, Harry..."
She was alive, but unconscious, hardly so. Mycroft dismissed it. She probably had had worse from her drinking binges.
The doctor stayed with her until they brought her to an ambulance, but a text to his phone got his attention.
Nice friends you have, this one is good at finding flatmates isn't he? -Jim
Sherlock and Mycroft had both read the message and John jumped away from them. "Stop it!" He snapped, angry. "I have to do this alone!"
"John, you don't have a chance alone," Sherlock said, matter-of-factly.
I thought I said alone, Johnny boy. So sad, too bad! -Jim
The sound of an explosion from the direction the ambulance had left made them stare, Sherlock ready to run for another clue and Mycroft watching John Watson carefully.
The doctor was furious and sad and just a myriad of emotions. "You Holmes folks," he said quietly, making Sherlock turn, curious. John was staring hard at both Sherlock and at Mycroft, "You have a tendency to destroy what you want to preserve."
"Doctor-" Mycroft began, concerned.
"Don't," John said softly, holding up his hand. "Just don't. If my sister didn't make it..." He let his voice trail off and looked at the two of them. The look was a threatening one, the look of a man near the edge of losing control, and he walked off towards where the explosion had happened.
"That was foolish, Sherlock," Mycroft said. "I told you what would happen if you came."
His brother waved his hand, "Moriarty's expecting me to help. He just was seeing if John would listen or not." With that he walked off.
Mycroft stared after them for a few seconds. He had predicted before that John Watson could be the making of his brother... or the undoing of him. John Watson could make Sherlock a good man.
But he had never stopped to think of what could happen to John Watson. He wondered now if that should have been his concern now.
What would happen if John Watson was lost? With all that he had seen, what did it take to turn a good man into a lost one?
He wouldn't let that happen. Sherlock had finally opened up to someone. Mycroft would do anything to ensure nothing happened to hurt his brother. He had enough concerns trying to keep Sherlock safe due to his detective career. And he would do anything in his power to protect his brother and those he learned to care about.