Chapter 3
Through the Looking Glass
Romania
3 months after the fall
Sherlock
Sherlock stalked his mark. He had been working to take apart Moriarty's web. The progress was extremely slow and Sherlock had no accurate estimate regarding the amount of time that it would take him to complete the task. He was still haunted by the horrified look on John's face as he had fallen. He felt his stomach tighten at the thought of causing his friend so much grief, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it. Moriarty had forced his hand. He had threatened those dearest to him and Sherlock couldn't allow John to be hurt. He thought about John a lot since that day. He worried about his friend. He had very limited to contact with Mycroft and what few inquires that he made regarding John were left unanswered. Unfortunately, Sherlock was hardly in the position to do anything about at this point being so deep undercover. Mark his words though; he would make sure that Mycroft paid for his silence regarding John.
He caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of river, and after only three months undercover he could barely recognize himself. He looked emaciated and dirty. He hadn't looked this bad since he was a fully blown drug addict in the peak of using. Sherlock sneered at his appearance. It didn't matter what he looked like, so long as he could complete his mission and make his way back to John, nothing else mattered. He cared nothing about himself. All that mattered was that John was safe. He had done it all for John and Sherlock was not about to let one thread of Moriarty's web escape him and leave John opened to attack. He had been used as a pawn in order to get to Sherlock at the pool then again on the rooftop of St. Bart's and Sherlock intended to be certain that was never allowed to happen again. Sherlock felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. There was only one person with access to this encrypted line. Sherlock was sorely tempted to ignore his brother after his refusal to give him any information regarding John.
Status?
Sherlock ignored the text and ducked behind a skip to avoid detection from the mark.
Report!
Sherlock smiled. Mycroft was already getting testy. The fat git was nothing if not predictable. It was time to dangle a carrot. Quid pro quo.
John?
Sherlock waited his eyes never leaving the mark as he waited for the tell tale vibration of a text. He glanced down in shock when a reply finally came.
Reenlisted.
Impossible, John was given a medical discharge. He was shot and injured with a diagnosis of PTSD, as well as a limp and intermittent hand tremor in his dominant hand. Sherlock felt his rage at Mycroft build as he deduced that the only way in which reenlistment would be possible was if Mycroft had used his considerable influence to either alter John's records or make them disappear completely. He gripped the phone tightly as the thought of John being injured or worse killed in action ran through his mind. His chest tightened making it hard to breathe. He had agreed to this mission to protect John and now his sacrifice may be for not. Sherlock looked up and cursed viciously under his breath as he realized that he had lost sight of the subject. The mark had disappeared and as a result Sherlock had just lost two days worth of work. Bloody Mycroft!
Why?
The question encompassed not only the notion of why Mycroft had allowed it to happen, but also why John had accepted the offer in the first place and went through with the reenlistment. Sherlock forced himself to breathe deeply as his heart raced in a panic. He was trapped and unable to help John until he completed the mission to take down every operative and contact in Moriarty's web. He looked down at his phone in disbelief as Mycroft's reply came through.
I did it to save him, brother mine. He did not take your death well. He was suicidal. I offered him a distraction from his grief and he accepted it. I have no doubt that he would be dead now if I had not given him that option.
Sherlock wanted to scream. For as much as he wanted to believe that Mycroft was lying, he couldn't. He had seen first hand the horror in John's eyes as he had been forced to watch Sherlock's fall. He had heard it in his voice as John had begged Sherlock not to jump. His fault; this was all his fault. In trying to save John from Moriarty, Sherlock may have sentenced him to death in the military. He felt helplessness overtake him and it was a feeling that he loathed. Sherlock took another deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He needed to finish this mission before John was harmed. Sherlock closed his eyes and drifted off to his mind palace to rethink his strategy.