The Soldier, The Messiah & the Pariah

Chapter 5

Later, John had a plate of food in front of him and was eating, Lex slowly ate a salad and Sherlock's attention was fixed out of the window while he was quietly drumming his fingers on the table.

"People don't have arch-enemies," John said out of the blew and it took a moment, but Sherlock finally looked around.

"I'm sorry?"

"In real life. There are no arch enemies in real life. Doesn't happen. Don't you agree, Lex?"

"Well..."

"Doesn't it? Sounds a bit dull" he answered and looked out the window again.

"So who did I meet?"

"What do real people have, then, in their 'real lives'?"

"Friends; people they know; people they like; people they don't like ... Girlfriends, boyfriends ..."

"Yes, well, as I was saying – dull"

"You don't have a girlfriend, then?"

"Girlfriend? No, not really my area."

"Oh, right. Do you have a boyfriend?" Sherlock looked around at him sharply. "Which is fine, by the way"

"I know it's fine," he said as Lex almost choked on her salad and gulped down water while holding her laughter.

John smiled to indicate that he wasn't signifying anything negative by what he said. "So you've got a boyfriend then?"

"No"

"You sound surprised John" Lex pointed out.

"Not really *smiles* Right. Okay. You're unattached. Like me... what about you Lex?"

"Me? *John nods* no to both. Not really interested in such things at the moment"

"So you are also unattached... great... good"

A few moments of awkward silence between them. Both John and Lex had finished eating and the latter was looking out of the window with Sherlock.

"Guys look. Across the street. Taxi" John twisted in his seat to look out of the window where a taxi had parked at the side of the road with its back end towards the restaurant. "...Stopped. Nobody getting in, and nobody getting out"

In the rear seat of the taxi, the male passenger was looking through the side windows as if was trying to see somebody particular.

"Why a taxi? Oh, that's clever. Is it clever? Why is it clever?" Sherlock asked himself.

"That's him?"

"Don't stare" he told them.

John and Lex immediately turned their attention to the front, but the latter kept an eye on the taxi with the tip of her eye.

"You're staring"

"We can't all stare"

Getting to his feet, Sherlock grabbed his coat and scarf and headed for the door. John picked up his own jacket and followed along with Lex, him completely forgetting to take his walking cane with him.

Outside the door, Sherlock shrugged himself into his coat while keeping his eyes fixed on the taxi. The passenger continued to look around him, then turned and looked out the back window. His gaze fell on the restaurant and he looked at it for a few moments while Sherlock stared back at him, then the man turned towards the front of the vehicle and the taxi began to pull away from.

Sherlock immediately headed towards it without bothering to check the road that he's running into and was almost run over by a car coming from his left. The driver slammed on the brakes and stopped the car but Sherlock, always keen to take the quickest route, allowed his forward impetus to carry him onto the top of the bonnet. He then rolled over the bonnet landed on his feet on the other side and then ran after the taxi. As the driver of the car angrily sounded his horn, John pus one hand on the bonnet and vaulted over the front of the car, apologizing to the driver as he went.