The Final Chapter

Waiting

John is holding me again, though I don't feel much other than fear.

"You're okay Sherlock."

He starts rocking me as the shaking gets worse, trying to calm me down.

"Talk to me, tell me what's going through your head right now."

"No."

I can't form a coherent sentence, instead stuttering and whimpering before he pulls my head back to his chest.

"I'm right here Sherlock, youre okay."

"D...dont let him get the boys. Please go John."

"I'm not leaving you again, they should be sleeping by now."

"Please."

He pulls me closer to him, leaning back against the wall. My hands are hurting, so are my feet. Glass again. John notices and pulls my hands away from my body, gently opening my fists.

"You cant keep doing this. Especially not when the boys are home."

I look down and see that my palms are sliced open and bleeding, knuckles bloodied as well.

"Stay right here. Dont move. I'm going to go grab the med kit and your meds."

"Leave me alone, please go up with them."

"No. Ill check on them after I take care of your hands."

"Hurry up then."

I'm yelling at him again, trying to contain everything I'm feeling. A floarboard creaks and someone small walks into the room. Its William this time. He carefully hops over the glass and walk to my side.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Go back to bed."

My voice cracks, prompting William to sit down. He grabs my hand and holds it tightly in his small one, trying to comfort me in a small way.

"Youre getting blood all over yourself William."

"Its okay. You did it."

"I did."

"Why?"

John steps into the kitchen, stopping when he sees William.

"Because....because I was scared. And I needed to do something that I'm not allowed to, so I..."

"Its okay."

He lies against my side, smearing blood over his blanket and hands. John sits in front of us, gently taking my hands from Williams.

"This isnt as bad as it used to be, but I still need to pull glass out."

"Okay. Yeah, sure."

"William."

"Yes?"

"You need to go back to bed please."

"Please let me stay, I wont get in your way."

"Its not that, I just need to get the glass out."

John is trying to pull William away, stopping when I reach up and pull him back down.

"Let him stay. Please."

"Sherlock, your arms."

"Oh."

"You said they cant see them. Any of them. Not yet at least."

"I know."

"Let him go."

I slowly let John take William out of the room, grimacing when a shard of glass is driven further into my hand. John comes back a few minutes later, gently pulling me to my feet.

"You need to rinse the blood off in the sink."

"Yeah."

"Do you want to sleep in the room next to theirs tonight?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Lets get you cleaned up, and the floor, then we'll go to bed. Okay?"

"Yeah."

I turn the tap on, letting the cool water run over my hands and down the drain. John pulls my hands out from under the water, starting to pull the glass from my flesh. He sweeps up the mess on the floor, wiping up the blood after the glass is picked up.

"How many dishes this time?"

"Two vases."

"Okay. That's it?"

"Yeah."

I follow him upstairs, checking on the boys before going to the spare room.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Go to sleep. We're in the next room over tonight."

"Okay. Good night."

I kiss them each on the forehead, careful of my hands when they hug me. John does the same, pulling me out of the room gently.

"Come lie down."

John guides me to the bed, pulling off my blood stained shirt when he makes me sit down.

"Stay in here, ill be right back. You need new clothes."

"Okay."

He leaves, shutting the door softly behind him. I end up in the corridor, sitting against William and Hamish's door. John doesn't come back, and after about ten minutes I decide to go look for him. 

"John?"

Something moves in our room, the door slightly open.

"Sherlock?"

I run into the room, fumbing for a light switch. It dosent turn on, the power is cut. The lights down the hall flick off as well, he's here. I hear a lock click and the sound of heavy furniture being pushed along the floor.

"Go...go get them."

John is on the floor, though I cant tell what happened. I pull his cell from his pocket, using the screen glow to see what happened. He is barely awake, obviously drugged.

"I'm going to see what's going on with the boys. Stay here."

"Call...call Mycroft."

"Cant. No time. Here."

I quickly dial the number, handing the cell off to John. He mumbles something out, voice mail.

"Shit. I'm going to get the boys. Ill be right back."

John moves his hand, fingers stretching towards the dresser. His gun is in the top drawer. I quickly grab it, loading a few bullets as I walk. The door is locked, not a problem. Its the furniture I'm worried about, what is blocking the door. I can hear something from the other side, a soft, gentle voice.

"Who are you?"

"I'm your family."

"Which one?"

"Your uncle."

"Who?"

"Uncle Moriarty."

"What are you doing?"

"I came to visit your dad. Sherlock."

"He's in the next room over."

"I think there's a teensy problem, he isn't. He's right outside your door."

I hear shuffling and something being moved around, the door opens a few seconds later. Moriarty shuts it softly behind him, locking it and shoving a chair under the door knob. He grabs onto me, pushing me down the stairs. I manage to catch myself on the railing, yelling when I slip and fall the rest of the way down. Moriarty is standing above me when I open my eyes, smiling excitedly.

"Did you miss me?"