Author's Note: This idea has been floating around in my head for quite some time. So I thought I should finally get it out of my system and write it down. This will most likely just be a one-shot.

Other fanfiction authors have done something similar to this. But this is my spin on…well…I don't want to tell you too much or it will give it away. ;) But I will say that it's an AU of Post-Reichenbach.

On a side note, I had mentioned to a few people here that I have been working on a multi-chapter "Sherlock" story, which I have been writing for few months now. But I've learned from my past mistakes and not going to post any of it until it is finished. Once it is done, and hopefully Brit-Picked, I plan on posting a chapter or two a week. But, as I said, it's still in the works; and I'm having a bit of writer's block with the ending at the moment as I want to make sure the ending is a good one. So my apologies to those who may have been waiting for it. It may be a while longer yet before I can publish it here.

Disclaimer: I do not own "Sherlock" nor seek any financial gain from this story. This is purely written for my enjoyment and hopefully the enjoyment of my readers. All the credit for the creation of the original characters for the "Sherlock Holmes" stories goes to the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; and all the credit for the modernized, television version, "Sherlock", goes to the fabulous Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat, and Steve Thompson. "Sherlock" also belongs to BBC in the UK and aired on PBS in the US.

Also, I'm from the US and this has not been Brit-Picked, so please forgive my errors.

Updated June 4, 2015: This has now been official Brit-Picked by librarianmum (Thank you!). And YAY! I only had a couple minor errors, which are now fixed.

Sherlock: Visual Affirmation

John approached the shiny, black gravestone of his best friend, Sherlock Holmes, with a heavy heart. It had been over two years since Sherlock's death; and he had just come from having coffee with Molly Hooper, who had given him a sealed envelope that she said she found in her lab just a couple of days ago. It had apparently fallen down behind the X-ray machine that had recently been moved for cleaning purposes.

Seeing that the envelope was addressed to John, she immediately set up a meeting with him so she could give it to him. And when she gave it to him at the coffee shop, just a short time ago, John had recognized the handwriting immediately. It was Sherlock's handwriting.

"What is it you wanted to tell me, Sherlock?" John asked the gravestone as he held the still sealed envelope in his left hand. He looked down at it, and then back at the gravestone again with great sadness. "I almost don't want to open this in fear of what it will reveal about your last day on Earth." He sighed. "But on the other hand, I'm hoping it will explain to me why. Why? Why did you kill yourself, Sherlock? I still don't understand why you would do that. It doesn't make any sense to me, even now."

John paused, trying to collect his thoughts while staring at the envelope again. "Well, these were your last words to me; and how could I possibly deny you the opportunity to have the last word?" John stated with a sad chuckle as a tear slid down his cheek. He then proceeded to use the key to his current flat, which he shares with his fiancé, Mary Morstan, to open the envelope.

Inside was a letter, also in Sherlock's handwriting, and a memory stick. John glanced at the memory stick, which he now cupped in his right hand with curiosity and then proceeded to unfold the letter to read it.

Dear John,

By the time you receive this letter, I will have…left you. And for that, I am truly sorry. Please do not blame yourself. It was not your fault.

Regardless of my aversion to sentiment, I would also like to say that, despite the harsh words we exchanged before you left Bart's, you are my friend, John; and I hope that you will one day be able to forgive me for the deception I caused to get you to leave the lab. I knew if you had stayed and found out what I was planning, that you would have tried to stop me, even if it would have endangered your own life. And I just could not allow that to happen.

With that being said, enclosed with this letter is a memory stick that contains a video I recorded that will explain everything. Please view this video with Mrs. Hudson, Lestrade, and Molly as the message is also meant for them.

But I warn you…the information contained on this memory stick is strictly confidential; therefore, it is essential that you view it in a secure location on a laptop that is not connected to the Internet. Many lives could be at stake, John. I just cannot stress that enough.

I truly hope that this gives you the answers that I know you are looking for.

Thank you for everything, John. You helped me to finally realize that friends do protect friends.

Sincerely,

Sherlock Holmes

John was dumbstruck. "Sherlock truly did care." He thought to himself as his tear-filled gaze now fell onto the memory stick in his right hand.

After taking a moment of reflection, John then pocketed the memory stick in his front trouser pocket and re-folded the letter, returning it to its envelope. He looked down at the gravestone again fondly. "I hope this gives me the answers I seek too, Sherlock."

John then stood ramrod straight, pulling himself together, before turning and walking away. He pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket of his jacket and started to dial the first of the three people he needed to contact, determined to fulfill Sherlock's final wish of having them view the video message together.

ooOoo

A few hours later, at Molly's suggestion, they all met in the lab at St. Barts. It seemed a fitting place, considering it was the place where Sherlock had spent his last few hours alive.

As instructed in Sherlock's letter, John had brought his laptop along and double checked to make sure it was not inadvertently connected to the wireless network in the hospital before proceeding to insert the memory stick into the USB drive. He then continued to open the video file from the memory stick as Greg, Mrs. Hudson, and Molly all gathered around behind John.

A paused still photograph of Sherlock sitting in the lab could be seen by the group as Mrs. Hudson started to cry. "Oh the poor boy. I miss him so much." She exclaimed as John put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her.

"I know, Mrs. Hudson. We all do." John stated in a comforting manner.

"Are you sure we should be watching this here, John?" Greg Lestrade asked as he glanced around the room. "Do you think it's secure? I mean…Moriarty himself posed as a member of the IT staff here."

"It's secure." Molly tried to assure them. "Um…Sherlock's brother, Mycroft, made sure of it."

John looked at her abruptly. "Mycroft?! He knows about this?!"

Molly gulped. "Y-Yes. He knows about the video and that we are viewing it here. He made sure the lab was checked for bugs and hidden cameras."

"How…" John started with annoyance but then stopped himself, putting up his left hand to stop Molly from replying. "No. Never mind. I don't want to know. The nosey git." He then returned his attention back to his laptop as everyone gathered around it again, their backs to the door. But then John hesitated, almost dreading what they were about to see and hear.

"John." Greg finally spoke up as John continued to stare at the screen, his finger hovering over the Enter key. "Are you ok?"

"Better get this over with, yeah?" John stated more than asked as he glanced at everyone in the room, almost asking for their permission. They nodded in return and then he pressed the button to play the video.

Sherlock's still photo suddenly became animated. He looked troubled but determined as he sighed, looking into the camera with what could only be described as regret.

"Hello, John, Mrs. Hudson, Lestrade, and Molly." Sherlock began in that deep baritone they all remembered. "It's strange talking to you like this, knowing that when you finally view this video that to you I will already be dead." He paused as it appeared that he was trying to collect his thoughts. "I promised you an explanation in my letter as to why this happened and will try to explain it as simply as possible. And I don't mean for that to sound like an insult to your intelligence…but as you know, anything that comes out of my mouth usually comes across like that anyway, so I'm sure you are already used to it. So nothing new there." He sadly smiled briefly before continuing. Those watching the video also couldn't help but chuckle, teary-eyed, at that fact.

"I just want to start out by saying that I am truly sorry for putting you all through the pain and misery you've had to endure because of the game I was playing with Moriarty. As you know, understanding human emotions isn't really my area. But, John, you have helped me to understand them much more in the 18 months since we've been flatmates than all my years before that. I know I have always proclaimed myself to be a 'high-functioning sociopath'; but as I'm sure you have already deduced, that is an exaggeration of the truth. I do have feelings…I just choose to suppress them in an effort to divorce myself from the effect of them clouding my deductive reasoning. My actions and my deductions must come from logic in order to be accurate." He paused. "So the act of killing myself was based on that logic and not on the emotion that most all suicides result from."

At this point, everyone gasped as John paused the video, trying to keep his emotions in check as the others gazed at him with concern.

"You ok, mate?" Greg asked with a shaky, sad voice as John put both hands on the counter. He closed his eyes and bent his head down as he tried to take deep breaths.

"Just give me a minute." John said abruptly but without ire in his voice.

Mrs. Hudson put her right hand on his back and started rubbing it in a comforting manner. "I know it's hard to listen to, dear. But Sherlock wanted us to hear this. We should continue listening to it...for him."

With his eyes still closed and his head down, John nodded his head in agreement. He then opened his eyes and stood up straight again as he reach over to his laptop to start the video again. The stilled picture of Sherlock came to life again.

"Therefore, please do not blame yourselves nor Mycroft as it was all part of an elaborate and purely logical plan to force Moriarty to show his hand." Sherlock paused as he looked straight into the camera. "Mycroft and I had anticipated this as a possible ending when we started." Sherlock stopped again looking down and then back up at the camera.

"But here we come to the part that I hope you all can truly forgive me for." Sherlock began. He took a deep breath and then let it out again. "It was a trick, a magic trick."

John, recognizing the phrase, looked at the screen with a start.

"John, I know you are watching this and remembering those words being spoken to you as we spoke on the phone…before my…fall." Hope started to fill John's heart as Sherlock paused again. "I know you took it to mean that I was trying to convince you that I was a fake and a fraud. But that was only for the benefit of any of Moriarty's people who may have been listening in on our conversation." He paused once more. "My hope was that you would understand the clue I was trying to give you…that what I was about to do was the trick, not that I was a fraud."

Everyone in the room gasped.

"I did not commit suicide…at least not in the traditional sense of the word. I did not jump to my death as I led all of you to believe. It was actually a ruse to fool the snipers who had rifles pointed at the three people I care about most…you, John; Mrs. Hudson; and Lestrade." He paused. "I was given a choice on the roof that day. It was my life in exchange for the lives of you three. At first, I thought that I could somehow coerce Moriarty to give me the code to call off the snipers; but then he did something that I never could have anticipated…he shot and killed himself right in front of me, eliminating that as a possibility." They all gasped. "So I had to go through with it. I had to jump." Sherlock stopped for a moment with a look of complete sincerity and sadness in his bright blue eyes. "What other choice could I have possibly made?"

Mrs. Hudson was weeping now with tears of joy. "He sacrificed himself for us." She stated as this fact was also starting to sink into everyone else's psyche.

"Friends protect friends." John muttered under his breath, remembering the last sentence in the letter.

"But what about Molly, you ask?" Sherlock continued. "Why did I ask that she be present at the viewing of this video if she was not threatened? Well…it's because Moriarty made a mistake. Molly did matter to me." Molly was blushing and smiling at his compliment. "I trust her and it was through her help that I was able to survive my encounter with Moriarty and record this video explanation for all of you. Therefore, please do not be angry at her for her deception. She did it because she cares for all of us and understood the danger you would all have been in if she had revealed the truth to you."

Greg smiled at Molly and wrapped his arm around her, giving her a one armed hug to assure her that he appreciated what she did for them all.

"Yeah…but where are you now, Sherlock?" John asked, still staring at the screen.

"I'm sure you are all now wondering where I have been during my absence." They all smiled knowingly, as video Sherlock continued. "Well, believe it or not, I've been working for Mycroft, or more accurately for MI6, hunting down and dismantling Moriarty's network. This took me all over Eastern Europe and Asia."

"I don't believe it! Anderson was right!" Greg interjected, causing everyone to look at him with surprise and confusion. "I'll explain later." Greg told them as he waved them off and pointed back to the screen.

"I had to remain dead to all of you until this mission was complete because I couldn't take the chance that any of Moriarty's people were still watching you, waiting for any sign that perhaps I did, indeed, fake my death and was still alive. Otherwise, all that I sacrificed to save your lives would have been in vain. Your lives were still in danger as long as those who were loyal to Moriarty and knew of his final game were…free."

"Yes, but where are you now, Sherlock?! Are you still alive?!" John shouted at the screen.

"Now I'm sure you're all wondering if I am even still alive." He smiled warmly but in his usual arrogant way. "I am. The date is now November the 3rd, 2013, as I am recording this video. And if all has gone according to plan, I should now be standing right behind you."

Everyone gasped and then quickly spun around to see a very much alive Sherlock Holmes wearing his signature attire, Belstaff coat and all, standing right behind them and leaning up against the counter with his arms crossed. He was smiling at them with his bright blue eyes sparkling with mischief, "Surprise!"

"SHERLOCK!" John, Mrs. Hudson, and Greg all exclaimed at once with joy as they all rushed over to him, taking turns pulling him into bone crushing embraces.

Molly and Sherlock just exchanged a knowing smile over Greg's shoulder as Greg, the last of the three to hug him, released him and backed away.

Mrs. Hudson then smacked Sherlock in the arm. "You are never do that to us again, Sherlock. Do you hear me? You are like a son to me. Do you have any idea how much you really hurt us all?"

"I have an idea." Sherlock replied with a now guilty expression on his face. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Hudson, all of you. It won't happen again." Sherlock tried to assure them with all seriousness.

"Yeah, well, it better not." John warned him as he glared at him with suspicion. "Or next time I'll kill you myself."

"I'm not hearing this." Greg interjected with a smirk as he plugged his ears with his fingers.

"You don't mean that, John?" Sherlock asked with an almost horrified expression on his face.

"Oh, don't pretend you don't know what I mean." John replied as the glare became a smile and he chuckled.

Sherlock then smiled back at John with a twinkle in his eye, giving John all the answer he needed. "So." Sherlock began as he clapped his hands together, effectively changing the subject. "Hungry?"

"Seriously?!" John exclaimed with amusement. "You just came back from the dead, and you're asking us if we're hungry. You?"

Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Well, technically, I am in between cases so…"

"All right, all right. I get the point, Sherlock." John replied with a smirk. "So what will it be? Take-away or dine-in?"

"Dine-in…at Angelo's." Sherlock supplied.

"Ok." Molly answered with a shy smile.

"Sounds good to me." Greg stated.

"Me too." John added.

"Anything to get you to eat, you clot." Mrs. Hudson replied as she smacked him in the arm again. "Look at you…you're all skin and bones. I'll have to bake you those scones you love so much when we get back to Baker Street. That will fatten you up." She informed him as she wrapped her arm around his too thin waist and patted his stomach with her other hand."

Sherlock put his arm around his landlady, hugging her with genuine affection as he kissed the top of her head. "Very well, if you insist."

"I do." Mrs. Hudson replied with a bright smile.

"Do these scones also include tea?" Sherlock asked in his playful manner.

Mrs. Hudson smiled up at him. "Of course, it does, Sherlock. We can't eat scones without tea."

"Good. Good." Sherlock responded. "So Angelo's then?"

"Yeah…" John responded. "Although, shouldn't we call ahead, Sherlock, so you don't give Angelo a heart attack when you walk through the door? He'll think you're a vampire or it's the night of the living dead." John suggested with a chuckle.

"That might be a good idea." Greg agreed.

Sherlock sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Really, John, you take the fun out of everything. I'm sure it will be a pleasant surprise for him, and he'll be delighted to see me." John just glared at him with his arms crossed as Sherlock observed him, knowing that look. "A bit not good?"

John shook his head. "Yes, Sherlock. A bit not good."

"Well, I can't call him. It will be the same as me walking into Angelo's unannounced." Sherlock pointed out as John continued to glare at him.

John sighed. "I'll call him." He offered as he took his mobile phone from his pocket and started dialing as they all started towards the door. "But you're buying, Sherlock. You at least owe us that much."

"Absolutely…since I'm sure it will be on the house, as always." Sherlock announced happily.

John shook his head and laughed just as Angelo picked up the phone. "Hey, Angelo. It's John Watson. Yeah…well…good, good. Um. You're never going to believe what's happened." He paused. "Sherlock is alive." John cringed as he pulled his mobile phone away from his ear. They could all hear Angelo's gravely voiced curses followed by a loud crashing noise, which could only be pots and pans falling to the floor, emanating from John's phone.

"I guess that means he's delighted you're back." Greg stated sarcastically as he looked at Sherlock with amusement.

Sherlock rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance. "It's so good to finally be back in London." He thought to himself with a smirk.