Author's Note: You guys don't care that it's so short right? As long as I don't take too long to update? :)) I had a difficult time figuring out why Sherlock would be so opposed to John tagging along and I settled on this one. I hope it's still in character.

He knows he shouldn't have, knows he should have hung up as soon as he had heard John's voice, but he couldn't make himself do it. Sherlock thinks he has some kind of involuntary reaction to John's voice. When he hears it, he feels… and there's no other word for it… safe. Sherlock knows enough about Psychology to know of Pavlovian conditioning. He looks back on the time he spent with John and knows precisely how the idea was reinforced every single time John had saved his life. John is a fixed point. John is safety. Hearing his voice is like breathing a lungful of air after almost drowning, a painful relief.

"John."

"I am going to kill you. I am going to bloody well kill you. Beat the shite out of you, definitely. I knew you couldn't be dead. I just knew it. You're just a bit beyond human, aren't you?"

"It seems you've fooled Mycroft. I should probably congratulate you."

"Well, you don't hang around Sherlock Holmes without picking up a few things, I suppose. And your brother has always underestimated me."

"I think it's just that he wanted you to find out."

"Hey, barely a minute after I found out you're alive and you're already insulting me."

"Problem?"

Sherlock hears John laugh and it makes him smile. He hates to think about the pain his stunt had caused his friend and he hopes this will go towards remedying it. He fears it may never be enough.

"So what are you up to? Are you going to explain to me what the hell that was all about? You jumping off the roof and me having to watch you." John asks finally, a little breathless from the laughter. Sherlock can also detect a tinge of anger there.

"All you need to know is that I did it for you, Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson. You're in danger. All of you are if they find out I'm alive. I need to find the rest of Moriarty's men before I come back."

"Then I'm coming with you."

Sherlock sighs audibly. There it is; Sherlock's fears come to light. There is absolutely no way he was allowing John to come along. Not for this one. John is too… good for this.

"No, you're not. Don't look for me."

"Sherlock, I can help. I'm a sol-"

"Yes, I know, you're a soldier. You've killed people. But John, that was war. And all the other times, you were saving my life. This won't be like that. There is no grey area. This is murder. This is me hunting those men down, torturing them even, maybe killing them. I don't want you to be part of this."

"Bad luck, mate. I'm helping you whether you like it or not. And please don't bring my morality into this. I know right from wrong. It's you that I'm worried about. Frankly, it's all the more reason I should go with you. There are lines you shouldn't ever cross."

"It's too dangerous," Sherlock says desperately, but as soon as the words come out of his mouth, he knows it was the wrong thing to say.

"Now that's practically an invitation."

"John. Listen. To. Me." Sherlock says, exasperation evident in his tone. He needs John to understand.

"No, you listen. You can't do this on your own. It's too big, even for you. What if you get hurt? What if you're lying in a ditch somewhere bleeding out? What if you're trapped? What if you're surrounded? What if you're hopped up on drugs?"

Sherlock scoffs as if John were suggesting the impossible. "I am clean. And I'll be careful."

"Ha! You are the most reckless person on the planet. Which is why I've had to save you so many times."

"God, John. I've solved cases before you came along, you know. I'm not completely useless without you."

"You're better off with me. We're better off together and Mycroft would agree."

Sherlock can hear Mycroft's faint "Yes, I would" over the phone and he grits his teeth. The git. He shouldn't be encouraging John.

"You need help for this one. Let me help you."

"It seems like I have no choice then."

"Good. Now tell me-"

"Goodbye, John."

Sherlock hangs up and leaves the phone behind. No John. No Mycroft. He's going to have to do this completely alone.