Let The Shadows Win

Remnants Of The Madness

John POV: News traveled fast, fast enough for John to receive phone calls from some worried participants of his teenaged years. For starters, Dr. Thompson had called. She was the town's therapist, and so naturally she would know all of the psychiatric news. Sherlock had possibly even been lined up to see her once in a while, as an extra precaution against his fragile mental state. She had been the poor soul who had to listen to John's whining after the incident, in fact she had mentored him all through his college years as well as he tried to separate himself from the addiction that had been feeling on his heart and soul for the entire time he had known Sherlock. That boy had been like a drug, and the withdrawal that came with John's separation had almost been unbearable. It was Dr. Thompson who had made it possible, she had taught him how to move on with his life, how to forget about his love and start on a new path to a healthier, less obsessive way of living. She knew everything about what had happened, he had admitted to her his involvement in the schemes of killing and burning Mycroft (which he had denied in court so as to avoid prison time) and even his initial willingness to let Sherlock kill him when he was pinned down under the blade of his knife. These are all things that were exclusively known by Doctor Thompson, or at least the she was the only one who knew besides the two participants of such a whirlwind. It was nice that she had called, yet John had told her repeatedly that he didn't need the extra help at the moment. He was feeling good, he was going to avoid Sherlock, or at least that was what she was told and that was what she ultimately had to believe. Even if she knew it was a lie, which she undoubtedly did, she couldn't say a word against it purely because she needed permission to mingle into John's life and brain. She couldn't just show up and begin counseling just because she felt like she needed to, instead she needed to be granted permission. And yet John would give her none, simply because he didn't want to be counseled through this. He knew that if Sherlock was going to be released into the world then it was on him to cope appropriately. He knew the techniques, and he knew what to do if he was feeling as if he was falling back into the pit he had just barely crawled out of the last time. He wanted to handle this himself, because for all he knew, Sherlock was staying for good now. The second person to give him a call was Greg Lestrade, his loyal best friend of who knows how many years. Greg still lived in town with his wife, Molly Hooper. She had attended the same college as them all, and even though she was from out of town she had no problems settling down with Greg, just a couple of streets away from the Watson residence. They had no children, however they did have a very rambunctious Beagle they had named Donut, which was a very appropriate name considering Greg's new profession as a police officer. Greg was always concerned about John, especially when Sherlock was involved. For some reason he thought it was his sole duty to protect John from Sherlock's wrath, which was exactly the issue the first time. It had been Greg who had the initial worries about Sherlock; long before John had even known of Sherlock's past and future of murderous tendencies. Greg had then investigated into Sherlock's past, his involvement in Victor, and tried to pry John away from him when he thought things were getting a bit out of hand. It was Greg's quick thinking and summoning of the authorities that had saved John in the end. Who knows what might've happened if John had fallen out of the Holmes household, bleeding and in shock, and not have been met by the police force and an ambulance? Greg had been the one to summon them, that fateful day when Sherlock had tried to immortalize John as a mere vision in his head. He was claiming to just be checking in, almost as if he was waiting for John to mention Sherlock's release and not the other way around. Maybe Greg hoped that John hadn't heard, and that he wouldn't be informed enough to be there in merely three days to greet Sherlock at the doors of the penitentiary. Yet John said nothing, and he knew that Greg wouldn't want to be the one responsible for sending John back down the path that led almost exclusively to Sherlock. And so he too was quiet, bidding John a good day and hanging up the phone quietly. Mary had finally been informed enough to know that Sherlock Holmes was being released, and although John had told her that he had been friends with Sherlock before his arrest, he did not go into any more detail than that. He didn't want Mary to suddenly see him as a freak, for as much as he knew that she loved him he also knew that there were limits of tolerance to every woman. Surely his past would prove too much for anyone to handle, surely it was too much to ever be looked upon the same way again? Yes, that was why he told himself he didn't admit to the full story, for that was the most honorable way to justify it. In all reality, he didn't want Mary to know he ever loved Sherlock because he was almost embarrassed. He didn't want her to know that he had a past history of romance with boys, especially when such romance had gotten him into such trouble. He didn't want her to know so that she wouldn't get jealous, and even more so that she wouldn't suspect a thing. It wasn't like John planned on loving Sherlock again, however his heart still had the same tendencies, and his soul still had the same mate. Maybe he did love Mary now, yet if Sherlock reappeared as a changed and healthy man, well what was he to do if he wanted him again? An affair would be messy, especially if Mary knew there was a past between them, and so he would keep quiet and wait to see what had become of Sherlock Holmes. That was of course, if he ever was going to see him again. John didn't want to rush in too quickly, for he knew the consequences of doing so very well may be dire. He didn't want to be the one to track down Sherlock, for not only would that seem sort of creepy, but he was also afraid of what might happen. Sherlock would undoubtedly be insulted by John's lack of contact, if not angry. Would he escape only to kill again, would he escape only to come back to finish the job he had started? John almost expected a call from either the prison or the police, at least warning him that the boy who had tried to kill him was returning. It seemed like something the police would handle, with their witness protection program and whatnot. Yet no call came from the authorities, and it seemed as though no one who actually had the obligation to help John out seemed to care enough to do so. Maybe they assumed that since Sherlock was now classified as sane that he didn't need anyone to watch over him, however John knew that Sherlock was conniving enough to get what he wanted without actually providing the results. He knew that there was a very good chance that Sherlock may not be entirely sane. Of course in all of the years John knew him, he never was exactly sane either. Yet he had been manageable, at least before Mycroft had been killed. John would appreciate it if Sherlock returned to him in the same mental state as the funny pale kid he had first met, yet he also knew that same kid had already killed, and had the potential to kill again. He had to keep that in mind when he accidentally considered Sherlock as an innocent.