Devils in the Details

Chapter Ten // Wrongs of Recognition

WITHIN 221B BAKER STREET

The aftershocks of being shot weren't ones that faded away quickly. A steady supply of morphine needed to remain within 221B, much to John's displeasure. In his opinion, the last thing Sherlock needed was more opiates. At the same time, he wasn't going to stop his flatmate from getting the necessary medicine for his wound.

But, of course, Will ended up feeling the effects of it all just the same. Too much had been happening on Baker Street, preventing him from doing what he had to do. So much of his time was being wasted by everything going on in Sherlock's personal life.

He hadn't even known that Sherlock had been shot until John had called to tell him several days later. He certainly felt bad - Sherlock, at the end of the day, was a good person and didn't deserve to be brought so close to death.

But now that he was out of the hospital and back on his feet, Sherlock needed to get himself back on the case. Certainly Will would be involved when it all came together. At least, he was hoping for that much.

"Go head off to the crime scene," Sherlock demanded, looking across the room where John and Will were in the middle of a conversation. He didn't mind if he was interrupting anything - in his mind, nothing could be more important than the case.

But he still felt surprised when he found the other two staring back at him with a blank look in their eyes.

"Off. The crime scene is waiting."

"It's a crime scene, why aren't you coming?" John asked, taking a step towards him.

"Why do you think I'm not coming?" Sherlock replied, raising his brows. "It's because I've been shot and am still attempting to heal. I can't be overexerting myself. Surely you know this, you're a doctor."

"We've already seen you going around like nothing's wrong," Will replied, shaking his head. "I don't see why this should be any different-"

"Here is why it is different. I need to investigate the body myself. It's already been removed and brought to the morgue. You are the only two I trust to properly investigate the crime scene. Now go."

"You trust me to properly investigate the crime scene," Will said dryly.

"Yes, I do. Perhaps you should head off there before I decide to change my mind on that matter."

Will took in a deep breath as if to reply, but John cut in to the conversation before anything could heat up. He had been in this situation with the two men plenty of times, and as he was friends with both of them he didn't want to see them get into a fight.

"Come on," John said. "Sherlock's right. The police are probably already at the crime scene, and apparently they're going to contaminate it or something silly like that. There's no use putting it off."

Will, deciding that he'd rather submit to John's ideas rather than Sherlock, gave a quick nod and ended up following the army doctor out the door. He was far from comfortable with the entire situation, but at least he was able to do as he chose rather than being forced around. At least, that's how he rationalised it in his mind.

No one gave Sherlock another look before they went ahead - they didn't want to provoke him into saying anything more about how they needed to go to the crime scene. He wouldn't have given them the time of day, anyways - he was far too busy inside of his own mind.

Sherlock worked better on his own when he convinced himself to be in these sorts of moods. Sometimes he needed others in order to support him, but there were always those times where it was necessary to have complete silence and empty space around him. There were hardly any possibilities for distractions, things to take him out of his mind.