_*_*_Sherlock_*_*_
What a game! Not only have I averted a crippling catastrophe but I got forgiveness from John!
Sherlock was grinning from ear to ear and was glad no one was around to see.
He and John had gone out like old times to solve a case, to solve the case and well the evening had turned very dramatic. Sherlock always found himself very clever but this evening had to be a milestone.
John and Sherlock had found that the man had disappeared to a forgotten station that had never opened before being shut down. So they followed the trail and found that the train the man had been on left the station with seven carriages but arrived at the next station with only six. So between the two stations the man's carriage had been disconnected and left. It didn't take long to find the carriage but next mission was to find the bomb.
Another twist came to light when the whole carriage turned out to be the bomb and it was parked right under parliament. With less than two minutes Sherlock had to disarm a bomb which turned out to be one of the only things he didn't know how to do.
In the intense seconds of realization John began to panic and Sherlock could see he understood that they were going to die in the next few minutes as well as a few dozen other people. Sherlock being Sherlock wasn't about to give up so easily and searched the bomb for a means to stop it.
Luckily there was an off switch but John didn't need to know that just yet so Sherlock let him believe for the next few moments that they were truly going to die. Sherlock was even kind enough to throw in his own theatrics a few fake tears, some weepy apology, blah, blah, blah. John soaked it right up and told Sherlock he had forgiven him.
It was Sherlock's laughing that made John look at the bomb's clock to see that it was no longer counting down "Are you kidding me?! Seriously!" he shouted Sherlock's chuckles making red blotches appear in his face, "You knew how to shut it off?" John asked.
Sherlock's laughter died "No, but the bad guys were nice enough to install an off switch on the side," he replied gesturing to the small switch.
John blew out the breath he had been holding, "You giant prat! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" he snapped though he was secretly glad to see Sherlock was having a little fun even if the timing was a little inappropriate.
Forgiveness
Sherlock couldn't have been more pleased with the evenings end. "Mrs. Hudson!" he called flopping down on the sofa.
Minutes passed before the older women appeared huffing from her haste up the stairs "Sherlock dear, what is it?" she panted placing a hand on her bothersome hip.
"Could you get me some tea? I've had an exciting night and a cup of tea will calm me." He said.
She smiled "Well alright dear but I'm your landlady not your housekeeper," she said with a fond smile, "Where you out with John?" she asked moving off for the kitchen.
Sherlock sat up "Indeed I was. We had the most exciting adventure with bombs and life threatening moments," just speaking of it sent shiver through his spine.
"Oh my, that sounds terrifying!" Mrs. Hudson called from the kitchen followed by the rattle of china.
Sherlock jumped to his feet "That's the adventure Mrs. Hudson! The thrill of the chase and near death moments! It's invigorating!" he cried standing on the sofa. Suddenly from downstairs he heard the front door crash open and hurried steps running up the stairs. Seconds passed and the door burst open allowing Mary to enter, John's Mary.
"Sherlock something is wrong," she spoke quickly showing Sherlock a text she had received from John but wasn't from John. It took seconds for Sherlock to work out the encrypted message.
"We have to go now," he said rushed for the door Mary close at his heels.
"We need a cab." She suggested surprisingly calm for a woman caught up in a life-threatening situation.
Sherlock shook his head "Too slow," he said looking around the street, "We need that." He pointed to oncoming scooter. Stepping into the street Sherlock stood his ground arm outstretched.
Mary stood by watching the scene go down chew on her nails nervous. The scooter moved closer and closer until at the last second finally hit the brakes coming to a flying halt inches from Sherlock's hand.
Somehow minutes later Sherlock had convinced the owner of the scooter to abandon it and Mary and Sherlock were speeding almost skillfully through traffic. Mary got another text though this one spoke of John's on coming doom plainly.
"We have to hurry," she called over the wind into Sherlock's ear. Sherlock barely heard her, his heart rate had accelerated and he could think only of getting to John before it was too late. His mind was busy calculating routs that could get them there faster.
The minutes were racing by and Sherlock felt the air in his lungs tightening. More texts came and Sherlock could sense Mary's hysteria with each one though she remained rather expressionless.
The park that the texts were leading them to came into view and Sherlock's fear leapt seeing flames coming to life in a wood pile. As they drew closer screams of horror issued from a few in the crowd near the bonfire. Barely stopping Sherlock jumped from the scooter racing towards the flames.
"John!" Sherlock screamed grabbing the nearest piece of wood pulling from the pile revealing more wood underneath.
"Sherlock!" a muffled voice cried from the wood.
"John hold on I'm coming!" Sherlock yelled pulling more wood with Mary's help.
Finally they moved the right piece and John's soot covered face stared out at them. The pile now was mostly consumed in flames and the smoke around was thick. Sherlock and Mary grabbed various handfuls of John and pulled, dragging him from the inferno. They kept pulling for several feet to get away from the heat.
Sherlock collapsed by John hugging his friend Mary fell on him as well sobbing quietly. "You're out now," Sherlock was repeating under his breath stroking John's charred hair.
Sherlock was calm enough to release John just to get a good look at him. John's clothes were burnt in spots but there didn't seem to be any permanent damage.
"Are you hurt?" Sherlock asked gripping John's shoulder.
The man coughed lightly before answering "A little smoked but I'll be fine," he answered with a laugh.
Sherlock chuckled as Mary slapped John's arm "Stop that! You could have died!" she snapped hugging him tightly.