Lestrade arrived on scene and didn't miss the blood on the stairs as he walked up.
"Blood on the stairs, Anderson." He said, as he continued walking.
"On it." Anderson called back.
On Lestrade's tail, and climbing the stairs right after him, was Sally.
They made it through the front door, and Lestrade called into the building.
"Sherlock!"
"In the kitchen, Lestrade." Sherlock answered.
Lestrade rounded the corner and saw Sherlock kneeling on the floor, examining a foot print, made visible by blood. Either John, or the attacker/attackers must have stepped in it.
Lestrade looked around, taking in the scene.
"Are you alright?" Lestrade asked.
"I'm fine." Sherlock said. "They were gone by the time we got here."
"You know that's not what I meant- wait- we?"
"Jayden, my brother." Sherlock pointed to the figure in the corner of the kitchen who was leaning against one of the few walls that was untouched.
Lestrade's eyes widened.
"Don't worry, I'm adopted." Jayden said. "You won't have another super genius to deal with."
"Can we get back to the point now?" Sherlock said, as he pulled out his pocket magnifier to examine a piece of soil more closely. "John's missing, if I remember correctly."
There was an unmistakable note of irritation in his voice.
"Right, sorry." Lestrade said.
Lestrade glanced around the crime scene, before realizing he had no where to start.
"Do you have any leads?" Lestrade asked.
"Not yet." Sherlock said, glancing up at Lestrade. "And don't look so surprised. I've only been here a few minutes longer than you. Give me a second."
Sherlock scanned the scene, stopping here and there to look closer.
Gather evidence, and create a hypothesis ...
Sherlock paused.
What's next?
Oh, yes, mentally test hypothesis.
Sherlock's mind gave him rapid fire deductions based on what he was seeing, hearing, feeling, and smelling. He watched the moments in which John had been kidnapped so vividly, it was as if he were there. He followed John and his kidnappers throughout the flat, watching the placement of every finger, foot, and hand. He watched every bit of evidence there was come into existence.
I can see his face. Sherlock realized. I can see his face as this happened...
Sherlock studied John's face, and found the look alarmed him.
John didn't look scared, but he never did. His face was always neutral in danger.
No, it wasn't facial expression that bothered him.
It was the look in his eyes.
Most people call eyes 'The Window to the Soul' and Sherlock never found any reason to dispute that, despite lack of physical evidence.
When Sherlock looked into John's eyes, he saw fear. He saw worry, he saw anger, and excitement. Sherlock almost smiled at that last one.
You always are one for danger. Sherlock thought fondly. Probably why we get along so well. Danger follows me like a magnet.
Sherlock continued following the happenings until he got to the stairway again. He watched John get dragged down it, only semi-conscious, yet still trying to fight.
The kidnappers slammed John's head against the door, and John stopped struggling, the blow having rid him of consciousness. The kidnappers just watched as he slid down the door, then picked him up off the ground, and carried him out the door and into the waiting car...
Blood. Blood everywhere, on the walls, on the floor, on the counters... Jayden thought.
John fought them hard, some of it's probably one of the kidnappers's blood.
Jayden walked down the stairs, only to notice that Lestrade was speaking to Sherlock in hushed tones. Jayden quietly made his way back up, and sat a top the stairs, listening.
I shouldn't be eavesdropping. He thought. But I really want to. But I shouldn't. But I really want to.
Jayden fought with himself in his mind, but ultimately, his wants won out.
Lestrade watched Sherlock closely. He seemed to be doing alright with all of this, but you could never tell with him. Sherlock just sort of kept everything buried inside.
"Sherlock, listen, if this is to close to you..." Lestrade said quietly, debating his next words. "We can handle it, you don't have to do this."
"I have to help, Greg." Sherlock answered, letting only a trace of emotion into his voice. Only those who had known him for years could recognize it.
"I know." Lestrade said. "Just don't do anything stupid. You find something, you tell me. Don't go off on your own. If you go against that, I'm taking you off the case. The last thing we need is to have to look for you too."
"I know." Sherlock's eyes traveled to the floor, unfocusing as he focused back in his thoughts.
"You're only human," Lestrade said. "And I will be making sure you remember that this time."
There was a short pause in conversation, and Sherlock began to
"Anderson's here?" Sherlock asked.
"Yeah, he's upstairs, why?" Lestrade asked.
"I need him to start taking down finger prints." Sherlock said. "I know where they're at. There's also a small rip of fabric from one of the kidnappers' coat caught on the mantel."
When Mrs. Hudson got back from her knitting club Sherlock sent Jayden down to watch the telly in her flat since there wasn't much he could help with. Most of the Yard had left, only Anderson and Lestrade still present. Legally, Lestrade was required to watch as Sherlock and Anderson bagged evidence. Anderson seemed to be relatively agreeable at the moment.
"This doesn't make any sense" Anderson muttered. "Even if they were amateurs, this is still a ridiculous amount of evidence to leave behind. It's almost as if they wanted to be caught."
Sherlock, who was beside him currently, shook his head.
"No, they did this purposely. They made sure to leave conflicting evidence to confuse us and get us off course." Sherlock said. "That's why we have to get every bit of it. It won't be easy to determine what was left purposely, and what was an accident."
"Could take ages..." Anderson commented.
"And that's exactly what we don't have." Sherlock answered. Sherlock pointed over to another section of the room. "There's finger prints on that chair, be sure you get them."
They worked for hours, going over, and bagging anything they possibly could.
Lestrade looked over at Sherlock, who was staring intently at a finger print he had just dusted.
They had gone over every inch of the flat 3 times now, and Lestrade was fairly sure that there was nothing more to be bagged. Still, Sherlock and Anderson worked to find anything they had missed.
After another hour Lestrade looked down to his watch to check the time. It was 1 in the morning.
Lestrade walked over to where Sherlock was admiring the finger print, and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly.
"I think we've got enough for now." Lestrade said. "It's been a long day, you should get some rest."
"I'm fine." Sherlock said. "Besides, there's bound to be more somewhere." Sherlock brushed Lestrade's hand off of him.
"He's right, Sherlock." Anderson said. "We've run over the place several times already; we've gotten pretty much all we can get."
Sherlock stood up and looked around.
"It's one in the morning, and I'm going to guess you didn't sleep last night." Lestrade said. "You're bound to be exhausted. You'll be able to think better once you've gotten some rest."
Sherlock thought about it a moment, and couldn't deny that Lestrade was probably correct. Sherlock could almost feel his brain slowing down the more weary he got.
Sherlock hesitated, but nodded.
"Come on, you and Jayden can kip at my house for the night." Lestrade said, pulling his keys out of his pocket.
Sherlock turn to him, looking confused.
"Why?" He asked.
"Well, you can't sleep here, can you?" Lestrade said. "Mrs. Hudson only has one couch, and I don't imagine you'd like to stay with Mycroft."
After a moment, the logic of the words seemed to reach Sherlock's mind.
I must be more tired than I thought. My mind seems so... slow. Like I'm walking through water.
Sherlock nodded in agreement.
"Jayden's down stairs, probably still watching the telly." Sherlock said. "I'm going to get him. We'll be out in a moment."
Lestrade nodded, and watched as Sherlock walked out the door of his flat and went down the stairs to get Jayden.
"You too Anderson." Lestrade said. "Go home, get some sleep. We'll need you again in the morning."
"Figured you would." Anderson said.
"Make sure to keep him in the loop." Lestrade said. "Don't hold anything back from him."
"But protocol says-"
"Have you ever known protocol to apply to Sherlock Holmes?"
"I guess not, point taken."
Lestrade collected his stuff then went down and sat in his car, waiting for Sherlock and Jayden to come out.
When they did, Lestrade started chuckling immediately. Sherlock walked out of the door, almost carrying Jayden, who was half asleep. Sherlock stuck Jayden in the back seat, then went around to the passenger seat and got in.
"Asleep, was he?" Lestrade asked.
"Obviously." Sherlock said. "It'd take a blow horn to wake him up before he wants to."
A/N: So here is the next chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews please!