Chapter 6
Thank you all for your reviews they really do mean so much to me! Please keep them coming I love to know that you are reading this and what you think. I am sorry that this chapter is a little shorter but the next one will be longer this just seemed the logical place to end the chapter.
Disclaimer
All I own is the DVDS, a calender (that I am so impressed with!) and BBC companion book to the series but sadly Sherlock and John still don't actually belong to me.
"No! It is a stupid idea and will do nothing. I'm not doing it!" Sherlock said staring at John in total disgust.
"Sherlock can you just trust me on this?" John said wearily.
"No, i'm not doing it! It wont make any difference other than making me look like a complete idiot!" Sherlock snapped.
"Stop being so..." he paused just stopping himself from saying 'bloody' after Sherlock's comments on how often he used the word.
"Bloody, I believe the word you were going to use was bloody," Sherlock said mildly.
"Can we stop arguing about this and can you just trust me on this then we can get back to work that is what you want isn't it," John reasoned.
"Yes but I don't see why this is needed," Sherlock complained.
"It is to get people back on your side, to get the cases in. It doesn't need to be for a long time. It will take just two seconds," John said.
"You know how much I hate that hat," Sherlock grumbled.
"I know but it's only for a few minutes just pop the hat on at the end of the interview and it will help get them back on your side. I have a feeling we will need all the help we can get given the way you are with the public," he said.
"I'll do it but on one condition," Sherlock said grudgingly.
"What?" John asked warily. He was surprised Sherlock had agreed he had thought he would have refused for hours maybe even days he thought it would be the need to work again that would eventually weaken his stubbornness,
"Give me one," he said simply.
"No! You have been doing really well," John said firmly.
"If you really expect me to do this then I need one. Yet again your lack of observation skills have let you down. I haven't been doing well. I have started smoking again and right now it really isn't my biggest problem. So for the last time, give me one!" Sherlock said with an edge to his voice.
"What, you're smoking again since when?" John asked shocked.
"From when I realised what Moriarty was planning. Out of everything you have found out, this is what surprises you most?" Sherlock asked in slight amusement.
"If you are smoking again then why are you asking me for a cigarette? Don't you have a pack on you? Not like the great Sherlock Holmes not to be prepared," he pointed out with a smirk.
"Oh shut up, I do have my own but I've run out and can't remember where my emergency supply is so can you get me them please," he said evenly.
John regarded Sherlock a moment before nodding and getting up to get get him his cigarettes. He felt having Sherlock in nicotine withdrawal was not something they needed at the moment. "Here," he said passing Sherlock the packet.
"Thank you," he said taking a cigarette out and lighting it inhaling the smoke deep into his lungs. "You really shouldn't have given me the cigarettes, you should have been encouraging me to quit, really and you call yourself a doctor," Sherlock teased.
"Shut up," John said laughing a bit.
Sherlock looked at John ignoring his expression as he used his discarded breakfast plate as a makeshift ashtray. "So this hat, is it really necessary? There must be some other way we can impress the public seeing as it is so important to you?" Sherlock asked.
"No, so can we just get on so we can get this over with?" John asked standing.
"Fine," Sherlock uttered pulling his jacket on pulling the collar up ignoring John's eye rolling.
"Come on get out, don't start this now," John said as Sherlock was sitting in the back of the taxi refusing to get out repeatedly telling John how stupid this whole thing was. "Sherlock get out the taxi now, come on this is the only way we can get back to work," he tried to reason with him. He had a feeling this wasn't going to be as easy as he'd tried to reassure himself it would be. Sherlock sighed dramatically before getting out and striding ahead leaving John to pay. John shook his head as he paid and hurried to catch up with Sherlock as they headed towards the arranged spot they had agreed to meet the press. He did not think it would be wise to leave Sherlock unsupervised.
Sherlock stood outside the building lighting another cigarette John watched him noticing his hands were shaking slightly. "Don't even ask John," Sherlock said feeling his eyes on him as he finished the cigarette crushing the butt with his heel.
"Okay sorry, lets go," John said as they walked into the building to meet with the press.
They sat infront of the press waiting for their questions after Sherlock and John made their speeches John only had to give Sherlock a few sharp kicks under the table to keep him on script.
"Now for any questions," John said nervously, this was the bit he was dreading he knew what Sherlock was like when he got started.
"Why should we trust you again? How do we know this isn't just another lie?" a reporter asked as a few flashes went off round them as they took pictures.
"Because of what I just said. Weren't you even..." he began.
"Sherlock!" John muttered in his ear.
"I mean, I have shown that I am innocent and I am now ready to prove that by returning to work," he said somewhat grudgingly.
"Was all of this just a big publicity stunt?" a young reporter asked.
"No," Sherlock stated. John exhaled slightly in relief thinking he was going to stop there. "Do you really think I care enough about..."
"Sherlock!" John hissed again kicking him sharply under the table to get him to shut up. "I mean no it wasn't. Moriarty was a smart man but i'm smarter. I did what I needed to do," he answered.
"What can we expect now?" a reporter asked.
"Just that we are back..." Sherlock said getting ready to stand before John nudged him. "I'm back and you know how to get in touch if you need my services and apparently there is a blog too," Sherlock said his hands shaking slightly as he put the deer stalker hat on. He really hated this bloody stupid hat!
"Yes my blog, Doctor John Watson," John interjected hoping the press didn't pick up on the tone Sherlock used when referring to his blog.
The press went wild as he put the hat on. Sherlock and John were blinded by the continuous flash of cameras, each paper wanting their picture of the return of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson and of course the infamous hat!
"That wasn't so bad was it?" John asked as the last of the press left.
Sherlock was quiet almost seeming not to hear him. "Sherlock?" John asked looking at him. "Sherlock, are you alright?" he asked noting the slight vacant look in his eyes and how shaky he looked. "Sherlock, what's wrong? Talk to me. Sherlock can you hear me?" John asked in his 'doctor voice' that usually deeply infuriated Sherlock but at the moment he seemed not to notice or even hear.
"Let's...go," he got out at last his voice sounded detached..distant, something was definitely wrong. Once he was able to think as a doctor and not as his concerned friend it was obvious what was going on. The flashes from the cameras were triggering a fit. He hoped he might be able to bring Sherlock back round but as they were altering his medication the condition wasn't as well controlled as it normally was. Why hadn't he thought about the flashes from the cameras, he was meant to be a doctor! He knew even if Sherlock had considered it, which with his brilliant mind he knew he must of he was too stubborn to say anything.
Sherlock couldn't focus everything felt so strange so distant...and the smell...the smell was back...why couldn't he get his mind to focus...He felt wrong, everything felt so wrong! His breathing became harsh and uneven as these thoughts invaded his clouded mind.
"Sherlock, can you look at me? Sherlock can you hear me?" he asked in a forced calm tone as he moved towards his friend to loosen his shirt collar but Sherlock fought against him mumbling incoherently. It was worrying to see Sherlock of all people like this, so out of control. As a doctor he knew this was a normal symptom of an oncoming seizure but his mind as a friend was battling with his logical side to panic. Sherlock needed him so he had to stay focused and help Sherlock first as a doctor, then as a friend.
He pulled his jacket off laying it on the floor and threw Sherlock's coat onto the floor as well with the hope that he could make the ground a little softer and less dangerous. "It's alright Sherlock, it's fine, everything's fine," he tried to sooth as he tried to help Sherlock onto the pile of coats. He hated how helpless he felt but there was nothing he could do but stay by his side through this.
He kept trying to talk to Sherlock to try and bring him round but deep down he knew it was too late for that. He moved quickly to catch his friend and lay him on the coats as his form suddenly went rigid and he began fitting violently.