You can't just leave it there before the whole Appledore-debacle... *sigh - like it so far, though.

I never quite thought of this before, but the moment Mary *didn't* kill Magnussen, he had plenty of reason to organize her death, because now CAM knew that she was not intimidated by him and could and almost did kill him. But Mary couldn't kill him with John in the same office suite. So what to do? I'm not sure why John would think she might have wanted to incapacitate Sherlock. Neither Sherlock nor Mary ever said that. Rather, Sherlock said he thought Mary was hoping CAM would keep his silence and would instead attempt to use the fact of her and the involvement of John and Sherlock as more pressure points. In fact, when you consider it, Mary had to *count* on Magnussen wanting her alive more than he wanted to protect himself from her. And why would he need her alive or want to pressure her at all? He didn't seem to be asking for blackmail money. So what did he want? The chain of pressure points up to Mycroft. So fascinating.

Great story, and very well written. :-) Your characterisation is excellent, and the gaps you're filling in are intriguing. I'd love to see this continue past the end of the series. Looking forward to updates.

Awesome story. The interactions are really believable, but I think my favorite part is your interpretation of the Holmes family. It makes a lot of sense-the idyllic situation of their parents vs. the dangerous, lonely lifestyles of Mycroft and Sherlock kind of make you wonder if everything is as it seems. Mrs. Holmes just 'pretending' everything is fine...yes, I can see that.
Are you planning to add more? I'd be interested in your interpretation of events post-Magnussen-shooting.

Guess if you're ending here, it's an okay place, since we all know what happened the next day. Very good read. I love your interpretations of the character's thoughts and motivations.

The only place I strongly differ is that I think Mary likely shot Sherlock for the very reason he says in the show - she knew that if she shot Magnussen, then Sherlock and John would be implicated by their presence. But not killing Magnussen, she couldn't just assume Magnussen wouldn't turn them all over to the police. In shooting Sherlock (the "surgery" she attempted) she had to make it appear to Magnussen that she was trying to kill Sherlock. No hit in the arm or leg would have looked like an attempted kill shot. She had to give Magnussen a reason to think he had more that he could use against her and therefore lie to the police, not implicate John to the police, and instead use her shooting Sherlock to try to blackmail her more ("has is his M.O." according to Sherlock). So in the end, the person she was protecting was John, from the moment she asked Sherlock if John was downstairs. Yes, she later asked Sherlock to not tell John, but that's not why she initially shot Sherlock, at least, not according the show.

I love Moffat's comment in a Vulture interview, that if Sherlock and John hadn't gone to the office that night, Mary would have killed Magnussen, no one would have known she did it, and she'd have never told John or Sherlock, but would always be secretly protecting them.

Good story and look at the missing scenes. I like your take on Sherlock and John during this time, as well as Sherlock's parents. I tend to think Mycroft knew a lot more about what really went on with Mary, but that's just my opinion.

Loved it! ! Hope there is more! !

Well, I must stay that Sherlock was pretty thoughtful during this chapter... and I can't wait to see John and Mary's confrontation, if you write it!

Great chapter, as usual! Loved how you had Sherlock and his mom thinking similar thoughts, there's some beautiful irony in it.

Oooh, Loved IT! Please update soon!

Amazing how you understand the characters!

So nice to see Mummy Holmes' perspective here. This is rare in FF-nice idea, nicely done!

I really adore your insight into the characters, in this chapter especially about the Holmes family. It does explain why Sherlock behaves so hostile at times, and why he won't let his parents too near, and it goes deeper than the usual "they had his dog put down" stuff.
As always, your chapter title is great too- the eve before the shooting, but also Eve as in symbol for female, I supppose, relating to Mrs Holmes. Very well done once again, looking forward to the next part!

Really enjoying this so far, and you are doing extremely well at your writing! Keep it up!

Poor John, it's easily conceivable how he's struggling. Sherlock's a good friend, I'm glad they're having some quiet time together to sort it out.
Yes, please: set Molly and Lestrade up together, I'd love to see that (though I do realise it's not the point of this story, but maybe that's going to be a new one?)!
Still want to marry you...