A Beautiful Mind

Summary: Amnesia is always romanticized in Hollywood, but there's nothing romantic about losing your memory after a traumatic brain injury. Sherlock Holmes can't remember much from the last decade, but he's willing to spend the rest of his life committing the people he once knew into his memory.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sherlock.

All Chapter Titles have been inspired by the film score from A Beautiful Mind.

Chapter One: Playing a Game of "Go"!

It really wasn't a surprise that it was raining in London, and yet Sherlock observed people running about as if they had never witnessed the phenomenon before. He sighed and opened his umbrella before finishing his short walk to New Scotland Yard, three cups of coffee in a small carrier.

He had been bored for three days.

John Watson took his small (but growing) family to visit his parents for a week, right at the height of a crime dry spell. After harassing Molly for body parts, Lestrade for cases and Mrs. Hudson in general, Lestrade finally snapped and said he could "shadow" him for the day if he brought coffee for himself and Sally Donovan.

Sherlock wasted no time in getting dressed that morning, stopping at Molly's flat to enthusiastically make her breakfast (eggs and toast) and escort her to work like he normally did if they didn't spend the night together. On his way from St. Bart's and to the Yard, he stopped and purchased three coffees; one for himself, Lestrade, and Sally Donovan, all made the way they preferred.

It was a small peace offering for his apparently abhorrent behavior over the last week.

At least that's what Molly told him to say if Lestrade and Donovan were surprised that he actually purchased quality coffee for them.

"Thanks for the coffee. I have some cold cases you can look through while I finish up this paperwork, and then we're going to drive up to a crime scene. Nothing fancy, just a robbery." Lestrade pushed Sherlock towards his desk chair. "Computer's all yours for the cold cases. Just don't do anything…illegal." He settled in a chair across from Sherlock and sipped at his coffee as he filled out paperwork.

With a sigh, Sherlock sat down and pulled the evidence box on the desk into his lap. This particular box held the evidence of a triple homicide from a few years earlier. There were six other boxes of evidence that Lestrade pulled out of the archives for Sherlock, which meant Sherlock would be busy for at least a few hours.

The two men worked silently for nearly two hours, the only interruption being from Sherlock, when he left his office to speak to Donovan about the case; it was one of the first ones she ever worked.

By the time he solved the triple homicide with limited evidence and research on the computer, Lestrade was ready to leave for the robbery case. As they were walking to Lestrade's car, he filled Sherlock in on the robbery and he was certain that if they had crime scene photos, Sherlock would have been able to solve the case without leaving his office.

Sherlock plopped into the passenger's seat of Lestrade's car and put on his seatbelt. He tossed his umbrella to the floor of the car, and then rested his head in his hands.

"Tired?"

"Bored."

"Of course. Well, after this, wanna get lunch? My treat, if you're on your best behavior."

Sherlock rolled his eyes. "I'm not a child; you don't have to bribe me to behave."

"Oh, I beg to differ," Lestrade said, laughing. Sherlock just rolled his eyes again.

The two rode in the car in silence for a bit, Sherlock just staring out the window, trying to deduce London's citizens as they dashed about in the rain. The only reason Sherlock chose to speak after a while was when he got a text message from Donovan, who opted out of going to the crime scene with them, instead working on the mountains of paperwork on her desk. "Sally said you forgot your mobile on her desk. And Molly texted with results from the blood sample from yesterday."

"Great," Lestrade said. "Text Molly and tell her that we're going to swing by Bart's on our way back from the scene."

Sherlock quickly began sending texts, first to Sally and then he was composing his next text to Molly when Lestrade slammed on his brakes, causing Sherlock to drop his phone and strain against his seatbelt. "Bloody idiots! It's raining, not the end of the world!" He blared on his horn for a moment before taking a deep breath and driving again.

"Calm down, Geoff," Sherlock said, smirking and he unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned down grab his phone from between his knees.

Lestrade glared at Sherlock for a moment before exhaling loudly and tightening his grip on the wheel; Sherlock was being annoying on purpose. "Well, more people die in accidents from idiot drivers than anything else! If every other bastard driving on the road weren't driving like idiots, I wouldn't be so angry, Sher—"

He didn't finish his sentence, because right at that moment, a car speeding behind them slammed into the back of Lestrade's car.

Sherlock didn't have on his seatbelt.

Lestrade watched horrified, as if in slow motion, as Sherlock was launched from his seat and went through the windshield.

And then Lestrade's airbags went off, and he lost consciousness.

A/N: The idea for this story is based off of the following prompt: Sherlock showing up every week with flowers and gifts for Molly and flirting shyly and it takes him a month to ask her out and Molly smiles and says yes because she remembers that it's their 3rd anniversary even if his brain doesn't let him remember. Thanks to holnnes and theheartofadetective on Tumblr for providing such a wonderful prompt! :)