If I hold out my hand
Would I change where you're standing now?
Just come back to me
It took them 30 minutes to reach the bottom, 10 more to arrive at the plunge pool. They were ordered to touch nothing. Didn't matter, no one could have survived.
He was so pale, his lips blue, his skin matching the snow it rested upon. Blood covered white beneath black locks. A stream of blood trailed from his nose and down his chin. His eyes were mercifully closed. He was on his side, arms close to his chest, his hands grey and curled. One leg was tucked beneath him, the other obviously broken. His face was marred with bruises. It was too painful to look at him but he had no choice. He made a promise to protect him.
Mycroft walked slowly towards his sibling, everyone parted to give him room and privacy, no one had wanted to touch the young man until the older brother did first. He wrapped the coat around his brother's cold still form and sat down in the snow. He must have fallen into the water below and been washed onto the shore of the plunge pool. Mycroft could see the still body of Moriarty to his side and felt his hatred bubble. But it dissipated when his eyes fell back on to his little brother's peaceful face.
Leave all you've found
That's keeping your heart on the ground
Just come back to me
He pulled his brother's head into his lap, ignoring the cold that slipped throw his now wet trousers thanks to the snow. He stroked the dark locks and allowed himself to cry. Just a few tears though. It would do his brother no good to break down completely. No matter how much he wished he could. He had to save face, he had to be brave. For all those at home who had no knowledge of the events that had just happened. And perhaps they never will.
Calling out your name
Wishing you could do the same
Just come back to me
Whatever it takes
I will wait until my dying day
Just come back to me
This wasn't supposed to happen. Things weren't supposed to end this way. They were supposed to destroy the last of Moriarty's web and then the spider himself. And then, when he was ready, Sherlock was supposed to reunite with his friends, his family. There would be pain and tears but he hoped there would have been happiness, relief.
John was supposed to fix Sherlock. They were supposed to go back, eventually because Mycroft was realistic, to being best friends. Back to adventures, back to crime solving, back to the way life was supposed to be. Sherlock happy, Moriarty dead, the world turning.
Instead it had stopped. Mycroft was angry and upset, but confused as well, with guilt eating into his mind, heart and soul. He had caused this. He was late. He was too fucking late. If he had just been a little quicker, a little healthier, if he had just paid more attention to his brother in the last few days, he would have been able to save him.
If I hold out my hand
Would it change where you're standing now?
Just come back to me
Oh Sherlock, stupid boy but dearest brother, why didn't you wait? Surely you knew I'd come after you..why didn't you wait? I know it wasn't your fault, perhaps it was even my call that unsettled you and allowed him to take hold and pulled you over. Were you alive when you hit the bottom? Did you hit your head on the way down? Did the waves in the pool gentle rock you off to sleep? I need to know if it was peaceful or painful. Please, can't you just tell me? Can't you just come back to me?
"S-Sherlock. Please. Sherlock p-please don't do this to me. Not again. I..I can't" The barrier broke and the tears came flooding out. Sherlock, Sherlock please. Please be ok, please be alive. I can't. I can't handle this a third time. I don't know what to do. What do I do Sherlock?
"Forgive me S-Sherlock, I was too late. And now I've lost everything."
I was too late and you paid the ultimate price.
Forgive me.
If I hold out my hand
Would it change where you're standing now?
Just come back to me
A/N: Song is shortened slightly. I will post an author's note soon because I want to thank you all for supporting this story.