The Aftermath

The police arrested the remaining criminals while Sherlock ran to John who had let his head fall down on the floor in exhaustion.

"John...John are you going to be aright?" he asked kneeling next to his friend and let out a flattered quick breath when he saw John opening his eyes.

"Mhhh" he grumbled and attempted to sit up, hissing in pain.

"Wait John, I´ve got an ambulance waiting outside. I call them to bring the stretcher" Lestrade said taking out his phone. John lay down again, happy that he would not have to drag himself out of the building.

"How bad is it?" Sherlock asked looking at John´s chest which was still going up and down uneven and then directing his focus on the shin which was covered in blood by now.

John looked up and moved specific body parts flinching at some points.

"At least two broken ribs, bruises over my whole side, possibly a concussion and my shoulder will kill me over the next month." He closed his eyes and tried to move his leg relieved when he found it not broken.

"The leg is going to be fine but I will limb for some time." Sherlock was glad that it was nothing serious and could not keep himself from saying

"Good thing that we have a crook in Baker Street though." John smiled and Sherlock replied with a grin. He kept his position next to John and didn´t leave his side until they got to the ambulance outside. Without loosing sight of John whose wounds were treated in the ambulance – John´s diagnosis from before turned out as right – he went over to Lestrade. He had some things to discuss.

"How did you know?" he asked and Lestrade turned in confusion.

"How did I know what?" he asked.

"The snipers. You knew that you had to take out the snipers to control the situation. John only had seconds to contact you so how did you know? You obviously were aware of the smallest details Furthermore you knew were to find us in the moment you got the message. It took you exactly..." he looked on his watch "...12 minutes and 32 seconds to come here but considering the location of this place and the amount of time that is needed to track a phone you actually should have needed at least two and a half minutes more. By then John would be dead by now." Sherlock rumbled all of this in high speed without taking a single breath. Lestrade took a concerned look at John and then looked Sherlock in the eyes.

"I think we all have the tendency to underestimate John Watson. I also think that you should talk to him about what just happened. You have to hear it from him. I will have to interrogate him later but I am sure that he will not be accused for anything that happened. After all he was defending himself and I think that at some point in the neat future a special unknown man from the military will appear to announce that none of this happened at all." Sherlock was annoyed that Lestrade didn´t want to answer his question but was interrupted by a caravan of black SUVs that surrounded the area. After a short conversation with the nameless man the police was leaving the scene. Sherlock and John, who had refused to go to the hospital, were interrogated and then instructed to never mention the events to anyone. One of the SUVs brought them back to Baker Street.

Sherlock opened the door and stabilised John while they entered the house. He was going to be fine but he was too unsteady on his feet to walk alone. Mrs. had heard the door and came into the floor.

"Oh God, what happened to you two?" she said looking at John and hold her hand above her mouth when she saw John´s leg.

"It´s alright Mrs. Hudson, I´m going to be fine?" John gently said and steadied himself a little bit.

"Mrs. Hudson would you mind to get some aspirin from your stock? I am afraid that we don´t have any in 221B after my last experiment" Sherlock said while helping John upstairs; with some effort. John growled but after the figured out the best way they ended up in their living room. Sherlock guided John to his chair and then sat down on the sofa opposite to John. He did not say a word and simply looked John in the face while Mrs. Hudson appeared and gave John the pill and some water.

"Ok, you´ve got questions" John stated after Mrs. Hudson had left.

"Yes...who was the man with the scar? He was obviously someone from your past who was pissed off by something you did. It probably has something to do with the captivity in Afghanistan that you were not allowed to tell me about but since I appear to also be not allowed to talk about certain actions of this night I believe that that has changed" Sherlock said without any move.

"Yes, you are quite right. I think that you deserve to know the circumstances that let to these actions and I am willing to tell you." John said down more comfortable and went on.

"The man was a previous member of my team in the special forces going by the name Edward Roberts. After a view months of our cooperation our missions started to fail with increasing frequency we started suspecting that one of our own had changed sides...and we were proven right. One day we had the mission to charge the base of a group of rebels but we were running directly into a trap. Six of us died and the remaining four were held captives. Including me. It turned out that only five men had died and that the sixth was the mole...Edward Roberts. We were tortured...not for any reason...just for...fun ." John´s focus deviated, not seeing Sherlock anymore. Sherlock noticed that John was looking at something far away when he continued.

"Roberts knew how to use fear and hope. I was the doctor and therefore I was useful for them. They hurt my friends and then left me with them to fix it. He knew that it would restore hope in us that at some point someone could come and save us. It made it more entertaining for them. From time to time I was forced to patch up some of the rebels, too. On these occasions I was able to map the ruin we were in and I also picked up some items that were really helpful for us in the end. I was able to steel a field telephone but it had no service where we were. I stole a coin from an injured rebel, too. Then I made a plan. The other three were wounded but able to flee if they had a chance to escape the cell. The next time I was taken to operate on one of their own I planted the coin in the lock of the door and left with the men. My friends were then able to open the door and escaped. Before anyone noticed their escape they were far enough away." Sherlock hadn´t interrupted John in his storytelling and had focused on every word he said.

"You risked your life to save your friends. That sounds like the John Watson I know. What happened then?" he asked.

"I know that you already figured it out" John simply answered and looked at Sherlock.

"Roberts found out about your plan far too late and was furious. He attacked you and you defended yourself by slicing his face with the operating instruments that you had used before. Obviously your friends had been able to get a connection with the phone you stole and had send help otherwise you would never have left Afghanistan alive. Everyone who had been available was sent to your location and before Roberts could do anything he and his men were surrounded by soldiers. Then he shot you in the shoulder. He did not want to kill you, he wanted to hurt you and then have fun with you later because he was a psychopath. It would have been to easy just to kill you... You were sent home and he was imprisoned somewhere and then got out at some point. The government covered all of this up in order to keep their weaknesses private. And you were not able to tell anyone about your experiences and a part of you always feared that Roberts could come back." Sherlock felt sorry for John but was also fascinated by his bravery and courage.

"Yes, until now. And it feels extremely odd...but in a good way."John admitted.

"It is actually nice to have someone who knows the truth." He smiled at Sherlock and his friend smiled back at him.

"There is one question I have left" Sherlock asked and John tilted his head in question.

"What exactly did you text Lestrade? He knew exactly what was going on and you had only seconds to explain the situation." John smiled, took his phone out of his pocket and threw it over to Sherlock who caught it on reflex. While John stood up and limped to the kitchen to make tee Sherlock unlocked his phone – the password is far too obvious – and opened the text message John had sent.

KNPed, WWst 12, TGG

Sherlock was confused and wondered how Lestrade could know what that mend.

"You don´t understand it, right?" John´s voice came out of the kitchen.

"It says ´kidnapped, Wormwood Street 12`. Obviously you remembered the turns the car made when you were brought to me and therefore knew where you were – something you learned from me by the way – but what does TGG mean?" Sherlock asked confused.

"You really should read my blog. Almost everyone in the police station knows it. Lestrade and I have talked about the fact that some people like to shorten the titles lately...The Blind Banker is TBB, The Sign of Three is TST and The Great Game is..."

"TGG. Brilliant! You told Lestrade about the snipers by reminding him about the quite similar situation at the pool." John came back and brought the tea. Together they sat in their living room and enjoyed the pleasures of a good tea. I should read the blog some time. Sherlock noted for himself.