|| Be Her Guard || Sherlock Holmes x Reader

|♢| Chapter 22 |♢| Misstep

The sirens on top of police cars illuminate nearly the entire street in blue, something that must drive the neighbors mad given the late time of night, or rather, early time of morning since the clock has only just hit the second hour of a new day.

While most investigators on scene are sluggish and even a bit annoyed that they had to switch sleep with work, Sherlock's unbothered by such a trade. Unlike John who follows his every step while glaring daggers at the back of his head and not bothering to suppress his yawns, Sherlock can function with little to no sleep, at least, he stubbornly insists that he can. Besides, he's been getting far more sleep as of lately thanks to you keeping him in check, so one night without it won't kill him (just John apparently).

It's been well over a week since Lestrade has called the detective for any help by which time Sherlock had become desperate for something to cure his boredom. The only thing that would've made this trip better is if you would've tagged along instead of John who has a tendency to complain this early, but of course, when Lestrade had called Baker Street, you were still fast asleep. Not having the will to disturb your peaceful slumber, Sherlock opted to drag the poor doctor along in your place. Lucky him.

While the detective would rather you be at his side always, this desire makes him look forward to returning home, a foreign wish compared to his usual need to sniff around crime scenes all day long. Chances are, you're still fast sleep and will be until your typical time of waking up which is anywhere around eight to ten, giving him plenty of time to curl up next to you and get a few hours in himself; if he can get this case solved quickly of course, which shouldn't be an issue.

A white sheet with an obvious body under it lies to the right on the sidewalk. Sherlock immediately makes his way over to it, not hesitating to pull the sheet back so that he can get a good look at what he's dealing with.

The victim is a middle-aged man who lies on his back mostly on the sidewalk with only about a third of his body on the road. His beard is nicely trimmed while his hair is the opposite, being an uncombed mess. His clothing is nothing too expensive or poor, yet it's littered with smudges of dirt and small tears. A large stain covers part of his lower shirt and, upon closer inspection, Sherlock can clearly smell it's beer; a cheap brand as well.

A sizable wound covers the side of the man's head, soaking his hair and dripping the side of his face is blood. Blood also pools under his right side from a deep stab wound he had received at some point. Judging on the dryness of the head wound's blood compared to the blood seeping out of his side, it's safe to say the former wound occurred first.

After lifting the shirt up, Sherlock finds several dark bruises spread around the man's abdomen. Said bruises match a men's size eleven boot which can be concluded by noticing that they're near perfect prints of a boot or, at the very least, a very visible heel in some spots. A boot, not a shoe, because the thickness of the sole's pattern is used on nonslip boots not to mention the heaviness of a boot allows for easier bruising compared to simple tennis or dress shoes.

Following the blue and purple marks downwards, Sherlock also takes note of the man's wrists which are red with irritation as if something had been tightly wrapped around them. A wire to be exact as the marks are far to skinny and straight to be made from a rope.

John yawns from where he stands off to the side, fighting himself not to start leaning against the stone wall or else he might actually drift back to sleep again. He hopes you never doubt how important you are to Sherlock since he allowed you to stay home sleeping in a warm bed instead of being forced to stand at a freezing crime scene hours before the sun will rise.

Then again, perhaps he shouldn't get too jealous since, anymore, Sherlock tends to bother you during the rare occasions that he seeks out any attention from another human being. While John may have been rudely awoken at one forty in the morning, chances are, you'll be dealing with the detective's childish habits for the rest of the day (to hell with it, he's still going complain regardless).