AN: Poll update: Thank you to everyone who voted for Sherlock's 'retirement' profession, as it were. The results were very very close, but I did get a very interesting result. Stay tuned for upcoming chapters in order to see what was decided.

And thank you to everyone who reviewed just to review, and of course everyone who story alerted and favorited. I love you all.

Disclaimer: no matter how much I wish and dream SH and friends are still not mine...

SH/JW

'What do you mean gone.'

Sally looked up from the paperwork that the posh gentleman standing before her had interrupted her from working on. 'Gone. Not there. Departed. Possibly missing. Run away. Bolted. Bailed. Fled.' She was quite to let a little touch of glee enter her voice as she ran through her list of thesaurus words. If this was the man who was the reason that Sherlock was leaving London with John Watson, then he deserved whatever he got and whatever she was capable of dealing him. There was a reason that she was their secret keeper, to borrow a phrase from Harry Potter, after all. Just because she didn't like the Freak, didn't mean that she didn't respect what he could do, or Doctor Watson. John's a good man, as far as she is concerned and if Sherlock can take care of him and fix him up after his being kidnapped for six months, then she supposes that there must be something good in Sherlock after all. John was too good for the Freak, but then maybe he saw some redeeming quality in the Freak that she hadn't. 'To be perfectly honest, I just think he's absconded.' She nearly laughed and had to bite her lip to stop it when Mycroft Holmes looked at her in horror at the idea of his little brother running away from anything.

'Absconded?'

For a supposed genius, he sure was thick, she thought with an internal grin. 'Yeah, DI Lestrade was getting ready to pull him in on another ASBO when he got back from his holiday. Not gonna happen now of course, with him being gone and all. Plus I've heard that the magistrate was threatening Sherlock with a treatment centre if he gets another one.'

The nose of the green eyed man standing before her crinkled as his eyebrows drew together. 'Treatment centre?'

'Drug treatment.' She had to fight off another laugh as his face drained of colour as he sat heavily in the chair next to her desk. 'But don't worry. I'm sure he's fine.' And amazingly she actually meant that, but of course if he worried, so much the better. The man deserved whatever they dished out to him, for not helping to find John Watson.

With a quiet voice he asked, 'How could this have happened?'

'Usual way I suppose. He got bored. Happens to all the smart ones.' She leaned forward over her desk and whispered as if imparting a great secret. 'Personally I'm happy he's getting busted for drugs and not murder. It's better for everyone if he's bored and getting hauled in for that than the alternative. I wouldn't want to have to pull him in for leaving us a body, rather than figuring out how the body got to be a body.'

'I see.'

Sally almost crowed in delight when the elder Holmes brother stood on shaky legs and absently nodded in her direction, before he half-stumbled away. After she was sure that he was gone, she picked up her mobile from her desk and dialed Lestrade's temporary number. After it picked up she spoke the needed code. 'The money problem has been taken care of and pick up is going ahead as scheduled.' She paused to listen to her superior officer's reply, before laughing. 'I'll tell more when I see you. It was priceless.' She nearly laughed again at his disbelieving snort. 'Talk to you later then.'

She smirked as she hung up and put the phone back down. She was looking forward to watching the elder Holmes dance to her tune.

SH/JW

AN2: I hope you all enjoyed this little taste of Mycroft's reaction. And just because I'm feeling happy and generous tonight I'm giving all of you a little preview of the next two chapters.

Part 14:

'... So to start off with the first rule is always obedience. ...'

'So if I were to tell you that you are to sleep in your assigned room, you would have to?'
John nodded. 'Yes. However that leads into one of the other rules that I am currently trained to follow, readiness. I am to always be at hand so that if you need me I am available.'
'What does that mean, exactly?' John could tell he was absorbing it all, as his fingers were now steepled under his chin, his book forgotten on his lap.
'I am to stay within easy reach at all times. ...'

Sherlock leaned forward and dropped his eyes to the floor. 'So if I were to ask you to kneel at my feet for the rest of the night…'
He nodded as he set his book aside and did just that, 'I would obey. If I did not I would expect you to punish me for disobedience.'

Part 15:

He supposed that maybe, just maybe, John might be right and Mycroft wrong. Maybe sometimes caring was okay. It was what had driven him to search so hard for John over the last six months. It was what had driven him to accept help from Greg the day after the kidnapping while he was still fighting off the effects of the sedative that Irene Adler had dosed him with.

Adler had come to him as he had lain there in his bed and had spoken to him, words that even now he had trouble remembering clearly. But aside from a few words, it was mostly just the impression of her visit that remained. But, she hadn't returned the most important thing… John.
'Hush now. Don't worry. I'll take good care of him. It's okay. I'm only returning your coat.'

SH/JW