Greg was already at the pub when John arrived, waiting by the bar and chatting with the bartender. John made his presence known by slapping a hand on Greg's shoulder and ordering the both of them a pint.

"Hoping to go home with her?" John asked with a smile on his lips.

Greg laughed, "no, just having a friendly chat, is that allowed?"

"Of course," John paid for the beers, "So, uh, you and Molly?"

"Me and Molly," Greg nodded, "Nothing's official yet, but we could be considered together."

John grinned, "that's brilliant,"

"It is; she's gorgeous."

"You've outdone yourself," John chuckled.

"I have," Greg laughed, "How are things between you and Sherlock? I imagine he's a right sod sometimes."

John smiled, "he can be, but he's a loveable sod. We're seeing his mum tomorrow."

"Whoa, his mum?" Greg looked genuinely shocked, "he hates his mum."

"Yeah, it was hinted to me when he tried to persuade me into not going."

"Well I suppose it's good, might bring you two closer together."

John hummed and looked down for a moment, "That's kind of what I wanted to speak to you about."

"What, his mum?" Greg raised an eyebrow.

John looked back up at Greg, "what?- No," He looked around, "let's grab a table."

John sat at the table with Greg opposite, "right okay," he thought through the explanation, debating whether he should tell Lestrade without Sherlock's permission. It wasn't too late to back down, to walk away and-

No, I need to do this.

Greg was sipping his beer when John finally spoke up, "Joel, Sherlock's ex-partner, hit him."

That sounded so-

"'Hit him'?" The glass was paused mid air in Greg's hand as he stared at John with a questionable gaze, "what do you mean 'hit him'?"

John chewed on his lip, knowing this was definitely a mistake. "Yes, hit him- Abused him."

Greg was quiet; he placed the pint onto the table and looked at it for a moment. "When you say 'abused him', do you mean-"

"I mean he knocked him about on various occasions and Sherlock actually ended up in hospital, how else do you think Sherlock and I met?"

"Joel put him in the hospital?" Greg's vision snapped to John's.

"Yes- well, no, not exactly, Sher-" A frustrated sigh, "It's a long story."

"We've got the evening."

"And frankly I don't think it's a good idea for it to come from my mouth."

Greg shifted in his seat, "John," his voice was low compared to the chatter around the room, "this is serious."

"I know, that's why I told you." John ran a hand through his hair, "I was hoping you could help."

"Help in what way?"

"Help put Joel away, you know, lock him up."

"It's not that easy. Sherlock would need to come forward, give evidence and a statement, then there would have to be the court case if Joel denies the whole thing."

"But he might not," John said quickly, "there's a chance that a scary detective inspector from Scotland Yard could perhaps make him admit to it."

Greg thought deeply, "look, I know how hard this must be for you, but I can't do anything if Sherlock doesn't step forward."

"And if he did?"

"Our options would still be limited." Greg sighed to himself, "I'm sorry."

"Joel has caused that man so much pain, physical and emotional. I just wanted to help as much as I could without making Sherlock have to relive it all."

Greg shook his head but then paused, "If you have evidence, and if you come forward as his doctor, and only his doctor, then I could maybe, and I mean maybe, convince one of my colleagues to take on your case."

John felt that little glimmer of hope spark up again and he sat up straight, "really? My God, thank you, Greg, just...Thank you."

"I can't make any promises yet, and it will tough, but I will try my hardest." Greg looked down, "I just can't believe I didn't see it, you know? He looked...fine, he was always fine."

"Even when he was laying in a hospital bed, he said he was fine." John said rubbing the back of his neck. "You ever meet Joel?"

Greg looked back up and paused in thought, "a few times, he seemed all right."

"But...?"

"But I never did really trust him." Greg admitted, "I thought he was just a dodgy bloke, like with drugs, I never expected...well, that. And all that time Sherlock was suffering, I was more concerned about my own bloody job."

"Greg, you couldn't have known if he didn't say anything. He's good at hiding things." John comforted, seeing the guilt drop onto Lestrade's face.

"You're right but I still feel balls deep in guilt." Greg chuckled with no humour.

A silence followed after, just the two of them looking around the pub and sipping their beers, which had gone warm from the lack of attention.

"I take it he doesn't know you're here." Greg spoke up.

"No, he's asleep." John replied then gasped in realization, looking down at his watch quickly. God, he'd been there longer than he hoped. "Shit, he's probably awake by now."

"Best get back to him then," Greg winked and John felt a smile tug at his lips as he stood up, chucking back his beer.

"Thank you again,"

"Not a problem," Greg smiled, "I'll text you in the week about it. And hope tomorrow goes smoothly."

John patted him on the shoulder and said his goodbyes, dashing out of the pub. Even if he had an alibi, he knew Sherlock would most likely see through it.

Thankfully, Sherlock was still asleep when John arrived back to the flat and there were no signs that he had been awake. John sighed in relief and slouched onto the sofa, running a hand through his hair. Thank God for Greg helping.

He just hoped this would run as smoothly as he hoped.

I'm back!

Sorry for that extremely long hiatus, I just needed some space and time to clear my head or else this chapter would have been a complete mess.

My brother studies law and I had to ask him about abusive relationships and clarify everything I'd read up on the internet, so it was quite difficult really, but I'm getting there!

For those who asked if the hiatus was anything to do with the nasty reviews I got, it wasn't. I had quite a tough year and one month, something rather huge happened and I just dropped to rock bottom. I'm all right now, but I wasn't, and little things got to me.

But the main thing is, I'm perfectly fine now, and I'm ready to update everything!