SH - One-Shot: Society's Rules
Title: Society's Rules
Author: Jaelijn
Disclaimer: Sherlock is the property of the BBC and Messrs Moffat and Gatiss, and based on the characters of ACD. No copyright infringement intended.
Rating: PG
Warnings: possibly triggering topic
Prompt: cages
Characters: Sherlock, John, Mycroft, Lestrade
Summary: Four people reflecting on the demands of society - and why they still accept them.
Author's Note: BBC!Sherlock fic, but could be read as classic!Holmes, as well. Written forhc_bingo . I interpreted cages as the confinements society places upon us all, but which we all accept, because in the end, it is what keeps our world going (that's the comfort part ;)).
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Sometimes, Sherlock thought that if he could set the rules of society, the world would be a better place. Sometimes, he thought that maybe not. As much as he hated to have to bow to etiquette and the corset of everyday business - why should anyone have to bother with rent, and shopping, and money, really - he still knew that it was what kept the society of the people around him running. They would be lost without those rules. And as much as he wanted to, he couldn't place himself above those rules, above those basic, moral rules that made living together possible. If anyone had caused him to realise that, it was John.
Sometimes, John thought that if he could set the rules of society, the world would be a better place. Sometimes, he thought that if all people were more like the ones he knew and liked, there would be less death and destruction - but then again, he had been a fighter, and he knew that there were things for which it was worth fighting, if only for justice. Since he had met Sherlock, he had learned that there was a way to fight injustice that did not necessarily involve killing, but it was still around them. He had looked into the darkest pits of humanity since he accompanied Sherlock on his cases, but he wouldn't have missed it for the world, even though that battlefield still terrified him. Maybe, if there was one person in the world who had the power and the mind to put an end to crime, it was Mycroft.
Sometimes, Mycroft thought that if he could set the rules of society, the world would be a better place. Sometimes, he remembered that, in theory, he had that power. His 'minor position in the British government' had given him access to all it took to change society in its core, maybe make life a little easier for him, or his brother. Sherlock was in constant quarrel with the society as it was, and Mycroft knew he could have caused changes to make it easier for him to integrate - but then again, they both were geniuses, and maybe it was right that they had to bow to rules they had not set for themselves. Sometimes, he feared that if he, or Sherlock, should take it upon themselves to set moral rules, it would cause them to lose control, and become the worst criminals of all. He was sure that if there was anyone who would tell him that, it was D.I. Lestrade.
Sometimes, Lestrade thought that if he could set the rules of society, the world would be a better place. Sometimes, but that was fanciful dreaming. He knew that the moral and legal structure of this society was good at its heart, not perfect, but the best there was, and he knew that even though it was usual for men to get annoyed at the rules, especially people like Sherlock Holmes, but Lestrade knew that in their core, they all appreciated the rules - why, if not that, had Sherlock become a detective - and that those rules were what they all needed. Because Lestrade had seen what became of men who tried to live outside of those rules. He had arrested a great deal of them.
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