[Johnlock/Mystrade] Tears in rain

Chapter 16

August 2027 London Seventh year of the end of the Great Purge

John loaded the last of the boxes onto the lorry, it would be will be shipped to India first.

He accepted Sarah's request to spend two years volunteering in India.

John's dream has always been to volunteer, but his state of health has prevented him from doing so. After a few years of recuperation and rest, he at last received the qualification certificate.

As for India, it was mostly Greg's impact.

John hadn't told anyone, not even Sally, about Greg's last days.

His cold had turned into a severe case of pneumonia as Greg's temperature rose to a frighteningly high level.

Mike was jumping up and down in angst, stealing every antimicrobial he could, but clearly it wasn't enough.

Greg needed something more specialised.

Mike and John knew that of course, they were both doctors.

Greg's health had been devastated a long time ago, and a little bit of bacteria left him gasping for breath with painstaking difficulty, his lungs sounded like a broken bellows.

He did his best to keep himself awake and even tried to get up and walk a few steps.

Mike's ventured off to the infirmary to steal some pills, and John doesn't have the heart to stop him. "

"John, you had your honeymoon in Paris, do you know where I had mine?"Greg asked with a smile, as if he hadn't been suffering from a dreaded fever.

"I heard it was India, why had you pick somewhere so far away." John replied absentmindedly, he was busy dabbing cold water over Greg's face and arms, hoping to cool him down.

"Because the minute before we left for our honeymoon, Myc got the call and we both had to board a plane to India in a hurry." Greg grunted, the smile on his face twisted in pain. " Then he was stuck in the hotel for a conference and I wandered around on my renting a motorbike. The driver took me through the streets, eating street food, racing with cars and drinking that funny tasting coffee."

"I had so much fun I fell completely in love with the country. It was almost midnight when I remembered to go back to the hotel. The minute I stepped through the door Myc grabbed me in a hug, he thought I'd been terrorised and kidnapped!!!" Greg bursts out laughing which starting a startling coughing fit.

"Shhh, You can't be too excited, the two brothers have always been dramatic, didn't you know that?" John chided gently, keeping his hands moving.

"Oh, after realizing that I was just having fun, Myc lectured me and told me to wait for him at the hotel the next day, but I went out again and hung out until the afternoon. Myc had six days of meetings and I had six days of fun. He was so pissed off he didn't even want to talk to me on the way back, ....and he warned me that I wasn't allowed to walk in to the door smelling like curry," Greg chuckles.

John looked at Greg's cheery face, his heart ached again.

Greg looked into the distance with tenderness, as if looking into that familiar face.

"Greg," John choked , trying his best to push down the lump in his throat.

"John," Greg whispered softly, "don't worry about me. We're all going to be okay, I know it."

John didn't know where Greg's confidence was coming from, he turned his face away to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall "John, remember to be grateful for what life gives you, that one's more important." Greg said slowly, with some weariness, he closed his eyes. "Go on, go check on Mike, he's not back yet and I'm getting a little worried."

He opened his eyes again and glanced at John, "Go ahead, don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

And he did indeed stayed, two days later, Greg stopped breathing in John's arms.

John felt so broken and old as he exited the prison and gazed up at the long lost blue sky and white clouds. Until he discovered Sally, who had survived, the reunion was a huge surprise, a joy that can only be felt when one is living.

And it's then that John feels, for the first time, that Greg was right.

Sally wanted to go along, but Andy was too young, John promised to take Sally and Andy to India as soon as he was settled.

He spent half a day walking around the city where he had spent almost half of his life, the emergency centre he worked, the bistro he passed, the newsagent where he bought his morning papers and the restaurant where he ordered take-away .

Finally, he went to the college campus where he met the detective.

He sat on corridor, watching as students walked pass in twos and threes, so bright and young they were, it almost made John jealous.

Library, John was surprised the librarian teacher still remembered him , she tremble as she took John's hand, grinning, "It's you, violent Teddy."

John could not contain his smile, yes, "The freak and the violent Teddy", how famous that was.

He went to the dormitory where he stayed back then, and now he doesn't know whose figure is behind the door.

Finally, he came to the detective's dormitory, which had been converted into a utility room. John pushed the door and found it unlocked, so he went in. There are not many things inside, the old bed, sofa and other things had probably moved to other dormitories already. The hole in the wall that the detective had shot with his gun was still there, he caressed, thinking back as he did it.

It was in this very room that John had first had sex with the detective, how long ago had that been already.

"Sherlock," finally can John utter his name. The name of the man he'd deeply loved, now nostalgia is what only had remained.

Those who he had loved, those who he had hate, those who he had cried over, had all become the past. And he could finally wave them goodbye.

Before John left, Sherlock approached him with a sincere plea, asking if John would give him a chance if he remembered.

"I won't wait." replied John

Waiting was unnecessary, he held no regrets.

He would be fine, both in the present and in the days to come.

Perhaps one day he would cross paths with a soul that would capture his heart again, maybe not.

The future, ever mysterious, beckoned with its endless possibilities. Yet John had learned not to ponder its intricacies.

John carried no regrets within him. He had loved deeply, and he had truly lived.

He has no regret.

If one day,

we shall be lost admits the busting crowd,

I implore you, before the inevitable separation ensues,

love with an unwavering will.

-end-