[Johnlock/Mystrade] Tears in rain

Chapter 4

June 2026  London  Sixth year of the end of the Great Purge

John never thought he would ever see Mycroft again.

But who else was there giving a speech for the Voluntary Doctors Recognition Ceremony?

He was still in his well-fitted three piece suit, lost a bit of weight, now in a great physique that make people of his age envy.

The black umbrella that was always at hand was now nowhere to be seen.

Behind him were 3 or 4 assistant-like figures, yet Anthea would never be able to stand in that position again.

The relationship with Mycroft had always been in a very strange pattern.

While he was keen to have John policing his annoying brother, in the same time he was also very unhappy with John's closeness to Greg.

Sometimes Greg would wink and tell John that he had upset the English Government because the two of them had been drinking in the pub. John always laughed and couldn't imagine what Mycroft's jealousy could have looked like.

But Mycroft cared enough about John to advise him on his studies and to apply for a scholarship to Barts Medical School for him. It's just that this concern was usually done in a rather awkward way, and both brothers were so difficult to get hold of.

John and Greg often wondered how they ended up with the two weirdest freaks in the world. Mycroft was a bit of a poseur back then, but once you cracked his shell, you could see his pure soul, as Greg put it.

But now, who Mycroft look like on the outside was how he really was, fake and poseur.

His heart, though? It's long since forgotten.

Mycroft's speech was impeccable, both in terms of the emotionally charged script and the physicality of his speech, which was well-rehearsed but natural enough to bring tears to the eyes of the doctors on stage.

But not for John.

"You have rather no empathy for my brother's speech, Doctor." said the still cheeky Holmes the younger.

John didn't look back, he just clutched his hands.

The same pair of hands that had been clutched by a dying man, a man who had made John to swear, in spite himself was near to death, that they would make it till the end.

He wanted John to do it, to guide the rest of their friend to get out alive.

John didn't think he could.

So he held John's hand tightly, as if giving John the last of his warmth and strength that he could muster.

The man struggled for two days in agony before he died, and John felt his insides being gutted.

When Sherlock left, half of John's heart was broken; when the man died, the remaining half of John's heart was shattered. There was nothing left to mend.

Whilst you, Mycroft, you didn't have any idea.

John strode out of the suffocating room, ignoring the amused glances behind him.

There was one trophy left unclaimed at the end of the ceremony and Sherlock was not surprised to see John Watson's name.