Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
ii
"John?"
John was half asleep, paper-back book slipping out of his hands, when Detective Inspector Lestrade stepped onto the bus. It was empty but for them, an old man sleeping up front and a loud bunch of kids going on holiday upstairs. Despite the muffled racket, the gentle rocking of the bus had lulled John into a stupor. One which Lestrade- of course- had to be the one to break. John's heart sank at the sight of him.
"Greg, hello," he said, dazedly sitting up properly and shuffling over to the window seat, allowing space for the inspector to sit next to him.
Lestrade had that look on his face, the horrific one that John had thought he'd escaped long ago. Half-curious, half-concerned- like a doctor staring at a fascinating patient who he thought couldn't see him looking. John could see him looking quite clearly, as it happened, and it was the kind of look one grows accustomed to but not used to.
"Where're you going?" Lestrade asked, sitting down and shrugging off his coat.
"Brecon Beacons," he replied shortly. "The Dinosaur Park specifically."
"Is it because-"
"Of the murder," John finished. "Yeah. You're not... going there too, are you?"
"I am," Lestrade said.
"But I-" checked, was the ending to that sentence. I checked to be certain that it wasn't your case and you wouldn't be there. John doesn't say that though and luckily Greg doesn't seem to notice his pause.
"They allocated me to it in exchange for a pay rise. It's a particularly tricky one apparently and they thought I might be able to offer some advice, given-" he struggled for a way to word it what he was trying to say "-the company I used to keep."
"I thought I might be able to help too," John said. "As a doctor, obviously, but also because of the- the company I used to keep."
"Still shadowing cases then?" Lestrade asked.
"Always," John smiled. Not at Greg, but out the window.
"Can't believe I got moved to this one," Lestrade muttered. "All the way out in fucking Wales. I always thought maybe they had- what're those blokes from the Doctor Who spin off? Torchwood. I always imagined they'd be on this."
"Not gay enough for them," John commented and the two of them laughed.
"We don't speak much any more, John," Lestrade said.
Never had a sentence so screamed YOUR BEST FRIEND IS DEAD. Everything spoke a little of those words, but this more than anything. If there had been any constant other than Mrs Hudson in John's friendship with Sherlock, it must have been Lestrade. Always there to give them a particularly juicy case or drop by to tell them about the latest baffling murders.
"He would have loved this one," Greg said. John couldn't bring himself to reply.
The rest of the journey was spent in a silence full of attempts to speak.