The Science Of Second Chances//Book Two

Chapter 27~ The Lies We Tell

Third Person P.O.V

Four Months Later

John Watson had just done something he never thought he would do, and that was lie to Sherlock Holmes. And, amazingly, Sherlock seemed to have swallowed his lie. 

The lie John had told Sherlock was that Irene- or The Woman as Sherlock called her whenever she became a brief topic of conversation- was now living in America under a witness protection scheme. The would never see her again. The truth was slightly different. It was true that they would never see Irene Adler again, but it wasn't because she was in America.

It was because she was dead.

John couldn't bring himself to tell Sherlock the truth because both he and Mycroft agreed that it would probably break him. John still remembered what happened to Sherlock last time Irene had 'died'. This time was different though. This time it was true. Mycroft and John had agreed to lie to Sherlock to protect him.

John had just lied to Sherlock. Now it was Teddy's turn. He had mixed emotions about lying to Teddy. Lying to your partner isn't something you should do but this was necessary. Like Sherlock, this lie would protect Teddy.

When Sherlock and Teddy had returned home that night they were both unusually quiet. Ignoring John's questions Sherlock had gone into his bedroom and closed his door without a word. Teddy, looking tired and worn out, had simply curled up on John's lap, her legs hanging over the arm of his chair, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" John had murmured, realizing that this obviously had something to do with Irene.

"No... not yet," she had whispered, closing her eyes with a sigh. "Just... just stay her, please? Stay with me."

John had nodded, kissing the top of her head.

"Why would I want to be anywhere else?" he said softly. Teddy hadn't heard him though having already slipped into unconsciousness, that day's events proving too much for her to handle. 

John sighed. For a month Teddy had tried to convince herself that she couldn't care less about Irene or her fate but it just didn't work. John had caught her sifting through old photographs of the two former friends more and more often. He had to comfort her whenever she had a nightmare about her old friend and the horrible places she might be in now. John knew about how she had turned her back on Irene after finding out that the person Irene had gone to for help had been Moriarty. The anger and dejection at Irene's betrayal- though The Woman herself didn't realize how great that betrayal was to Teddy- had wounded her. Those wounds were healing though and John saw the regret in Teddy's eyes begin to show. It got even worse when she found out that it was Irene who had rung Moriarty while they were at the pool. Apparently Sherlock had received a message from someone anonymously that told him who the caller was. The knowledge that Irene had saved their lives had been on Teddy's mind constantly. Guilt was beginning to swallow Teddy Holmes whole and no matter what John said it didn't make it lessen. 

For a month Teddy had battled a whirlwind of emotions from anger to sadness to regret then finally guilt. It was when John was getting very anxious about Teddy's health that it suddenly all stopped. When he returned from a weekend away seeing his sister he saw that Teddy had changed. All those emotions John had seen in Teddy that month vanished. She wasn't back to her old self just yet but she was better than before. The nightmares had ended, the photos put away. It seemed as though she was beginning to heal.

Would John ruin that by telling her the truth two months after the healing had begun? Absolutely not.

"Hello," Teddy said, interrupting John's thoughts. "Why are you standing on the steps?"

"Oh, um, just went up to see Sherlock. Why aren't you at work?"

"I've finished, silly. What time did you think it was? It's past five."

"Oh, yeah, I guess time just flew by."

"Well, anyway, wotcha doing?"

"I had to talk to Sherlock about something," John said, taking her hand. "I need to tell you the same thing."

"What is it?" Teddy asked, a hint of concern in her voice. "I saw Mycroft downstairs. Is it urgent? Is something wrong?"

"No, no," John said quickly, looking up at Teddy. Though he was one step higher than Teddy her heels still made her stand slightly taller then John. "Nothing's wrong. No, um, Mycroft came by to tell me that..."

"That?" Teddy prompted. John swallowed.

"Um... Irene Adler... she's, um," and here comes the lie "She's in America, safe and sound."

"America?" Teddy said, crinkling her nose in a way that made John blush slightly. 

"Yep, in some kind of protection scheme. She's fine, but, um, you won't be able to see her again."

"Yeah, I know."

"You're not upset? I mean, I know you regretted what you did and you seemed like you wanted to make it up to her-"

"I know, I know," Teddy said with a small smile. "But, well, I guess things change. And anyway, I'm sure that Ree knows how I feel now. She's knows me better then I know myself sometimes. I'm sure she knows that I've forgiven her."

John smiled slightly, staring at Teddy. There was no hint of knowledge in her eyes that told him she knew. She believed him and she was okay. John kissed her, wrapping his arms around her.

"You know how much I lo- how much I care about you, right?" John said, having to stop himself from saying 'love'. Teddy tilted her head to the side, one eyebrow raised.

"You nearly said-"

"Yes, I know. Sorry, I forgot to take it slow," John replied, feeling himself go red. Teddy smiled, brushing her nose against John's.

"Maybe one day we'll be able to say that, yeah? I still... well, you know.."

"Yeah. But, Teddy, I do care about you. I really do."

"I know. And I count my blessings knowing you're here," she replied. John pulled away as Teddy walked past him.

"Once you give those folders to Mycroft you should chuck on a movie downstairs. That one that has hills being alive with music or something," Teddy said, pausing outside the living room.

"You like that movie?"

"Yeah. Come on, please?"

"It's a long one," John told her.

"Then you better pull out the big jar of Nutella, then," Teddy said with a grin before walking into the living room. John smiled, making his way downstairs. Teddy was happy which meant so was he.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"They don't suspect a thing," Teddy murmured, standing behind Sherlock. He looked down at Irene's camera phone which lay in his hand before staring out the window.

"What thing?" Sherlock said with a sideways grin. Behind him Teddy chuckled.

"What thing indeed?"

Author note: And we have one chapter left!!