Disadvantageous

Chapter 5

Lydia's heart stopped upon reading the message, leaping up from her spot on the sofa. Thankfully it was Tuesday, which meant there was no show that night, allowing Lydia to respond to her friend's call. Well, she didn't suppose Mary was quite her friend, not really. But the fiancée of a friend was close enough.

"Liddy, what's wrong?" Liam asked as he watched his fiancée scramble to get her coat on.

Suddenly remembering Liam still existed, she threw together a quite explanation, "John's in trouble, I've got to go. Just keep an eye on Willow for me, ok? I'll be back soon."

However this did nothing to calm Liam's worries, instead exacerbating them. "Wait, Lydia, maybe you should st-" Liam cut off as she darted out the door, sighing and then calling out after her, "at least be safe!"

Lydia caught the first cab she saw, bribing the driver to go as fast as he could through the streets of London, abandoning the cab the second that she saw Baker Street approaching, electing to sprint the rest of the way.

She burst through the front door, scaring Mrs. Hudson, who had been standing right next to it and causing the old woman's hand to fly to her heart. Lydia ignored the movements of the landlady, her eyes befalling Sherlock at the top of the stairs.

"Is John ok?" She demanded, watching as he took in a message on Mary's mobile. The look in his gaze informed her that he was still working through it and, if the situation wasn't so dire, Lydia feared she would have found herself admiring the way he looked when making deductions.

Sherlock suddenly dropped the chips in his hand, running down the stairs as Mary asked where they were going. As the trio hurried out of the flat, Sherlock explained, "Saint James the Less, it's a church. Twenty minutes by car. Mary, did you drive here?"

"Yes," Mary managed to get out as she tried to keep up with Sherlock's deductions.

The detective paced back and forth in the street, muttering, "it's too slow, it's too slow."

Not used to seeing Sherlock so frantic, Lydia grew quite nervous for John's chances of survival. She silently slipped her arm into the crook of Mary's, hoping to comfort her as Sherlock attempted to figure out how to save her fiancé.

"Sherlock what are we waiting for?" Mary demanded as she instinctively clutched to Lydia's arm.

"This."

Sherlock stepped out in front of a motorcycle driving down the street, raising his hand to get it to stop. Watching the vehicle approach Sherlock at full speed caused Lydia to stop breathing for a moment, but she didn't even have time to call out for him to get out of the way.

Thankfully, the driver had quick enough reflexes, bringing the motorcycle to a stop right before it would have made contact with Sherlock. He quickly convinced the driver to let him borrow the motorcycle as well as the two helmets the driver and passenger were wearing, tossing them to Lydia and Mary.

"But what about you?" Lydia asked as Mary secured hers on.

"We don't have time to argue, Lia, just put it on," Sherlock demanded as he mounted the motorcycle.

Still worried for his own safety, Lydia obliged and slipped on the motorcycle behind him, wrapping by her arm around his waist as Mary then did with her. Sherlock immediately took off, weaving through the streets as quickly as he could, squinting as the wind hit his unprotected face.

Mary shouted from the back, asking, "What does it mean, what are they going to do to him?"

"I don't know," Sherlock grimaced, hating having to admit that he had no idea the danger that his best friend was in. All he knew is he had to get to the church as quickly as possible if he had any hope to get John Watson back alive.

"What do you mean you don't know, you know everything!" Lydia exclaimed, refusing to believe that the one time Sherlock didn't have all of the answers was the time that it mattered most.

"That's really not helping, darling!" He shot back immediately, the words leaving his mouth before he had a chance to stop them. He was thankful for the situation, it allowed him to not be aware of Lydia's no doubt aversive reaction to hearing the old term of endearment fall from his lips.

But Lydia wasn't angry, but rather shocked, staring blankly at the back of his head, still holding onto him tightly so she wouldn't fall off.

To both of their relief, Mary quickly changed subject as she got a message on her phone. "8 minutes!"

Sherlock scanned the area, calculating a shorter route and guiding the bike down some steps, not caring how off-road he went if that meant he could save his friend. He needed more time, they wouldn't get there before whatever planned would happen.

As they approached the church, Mary asked again, "What does it mean?"

The church finally came into view, Sherlock'a gaze befalling the flames of a bonfire. Realisation passed through him and he muttered, "oh my god."

Lydia's grip tightened around Sherlock as she made the same connection he did, John's name falling from her lips as she stared blankly at the flames. The three of them quickly jumped off of the motorcycle as Sherlock slowed it to a stop, being the first to charge into the crowd.

"Stand back!" He ordered as he fought his way through. Those gathered merely stared helpless at the fire, shock keeping them frozen in place and creating unfortunate impediments for Sherlock, Lydia, and Mary. Sherlock continuously cried out for people to move, shoving them aside as he sprinted towards the flames.

Lydia and Mary were hot on his tails, pushing around the stunned bystanders even more. But part of Lydia felt that they deserved it after they had set fire to the logs which entrapped an innocent man, however unintentional that had been.

"John!" Lydia heard Mary shout out, but the brunette was far too focused on watching Sherlock sprint towards a burning pyre. She called out his name, cursing him for his willingness to risk his life. In hopes to get John out before the fire was able to consume her two boys, Lydia rushed to Sherlock's aid, helping him drag John's body out from beneath the wood.

Mary immediately rushed to her fiancé's side, crying tears of relief as she caressed his ash covered face. Meanwhile, Sherlock was scanning the area, searching blindly for the person responsible, brought out of his thoughts only when Lydia slapped him.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking, Sherlock?" She seethed, trying to keep her voice down so that the crowd around them wouldn't hear. "You can't just run into fire like that, you're a father now, you're life isn't your own!"

"So you think I should've just let John die?"

"Of course not, I just wanted you to consider the potential consequences of your actions! You can't just going running towards danger all of the time like you're so prone to do!"

Sherlock's eyes narrowed, "and yet when you got the text from Mary that John was in trouble, you came running anyway. And as I ran to get John out of the fire, you were right behind me."

"Only because I wanted to try to lessen the chance of you or John getting killed," she shot back, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Are they always like this?" Mary asked John, both of whom were watching their argument with great interest now that John had recovered from his coughing fit.

John nodded his head, "pretty much, yeah. This but with a bit more snogging."

A light blush crept upon Lydia's cheeks at his comment and she quickly dropped her gaze from Sherlock's. Sherlock, of course, noticed her strong reaction to John's words and wondered what caused it. Was it embarrassment? Something else? He feared he would never fully understand emotions, especially not Lydia's.

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(A/N): Now that Lydia and Sherlock are no longer together, Sherlock's cases aren't going to be integral to the story, but they'll crop up here and there (mostly not fully explained so I hope you all vaguely remember seasons 3 and 4)! And I hope you enjoyed this chapter!