Christmas 221B request: The Lying Detective
Happy Christmas to Xitheta
BBC Sherlock
Rating: PG
Prompt: Sherlock/John, last word bridge
Inspired by ACD's The Dying Detective
Sherlock frequently relied on John forgiving him, but it wasn’t working this time.
“I go away and you do this to Molly?” John said in disgust.
“It was for a case!”
“You made her think you were dying.”
“She’s simply incompetent.”
“No, she trusted you, didn’t realise you’d swapped the blood samples.”
“They showed I had a fatal disease, yet she didn’t insist on intensive care.”
“You begged to stay in 221B, so you could die in peace. Asked her to bring Culverton Smith over, so you could ask his advice.”
“And still she wasn’t suspicious. Nor was Smith, so I caught him red-handed. He was, of course, a murderer.”
“You took advantage of Molly, Sherlock.”
“What a quaint turn of phrase.” Why did it stir echoes? John was still glaring at him.
“Sometimes I think you are a sociopath.”
“You know I’m not.” Sherlock’s memory abruptly located the long-forgotten song:
Here am I with all my bridges burned
Just a babe in arms where you’re concerned
So lock the doors and call me yours
Coz you took advantage of me.
He understood that lyric now, the vulnerability love could bring. So maybe...
“If I apologise to Molly-“ he began.
“It’d be a start,” John said.
The first step to re-establishing John’s trust, Sherlock thought. Starting to build a new bridge.
Ella Fitzgerald singing "You Took Advantage of Me