Fight for Me

Chapter 68

When the two returned to 221B, John was just getting off of his shift at the clinic. He found the two huddled around Sherlock's laptop, not missing how Sherlock's hand rested on Lydia's back. His lips twitched upwards at the sight and he captured the moment on camera so that he could send it to Lestrade. Perhaps it would take some intervention on his part, but John was positive that he would win the bet he had going on with the Detective Inspector.

"What are you two up to?" He finally announced his presence as he dropped his bag next to his chair.

Lydia, who had been far to engrossed in the case, or rather Sherlock, jumped at the sound of his voice and placed a hand over her racing heart. "Christ, John, you scared me. Did you just get back?"

"No, he's been standing in the doorway for the past minute, staring at the two of us. I believe he may have also taken a picture in hopes of using it as some kind of proof for his bet with Lestrade," Sherlock answered for John, Lydia quite surprised with the nonchalant attitude with which he spoke about John wanting to prove their relationship. He had gotten quite cross with Lestrade earlier, she was rather surprised that that tone was now completely gone.

John frowned at Sherlock's statement and inquired, "how'd you know about my bet with Greg?"

"Oh, it's painfully obvious, John," Sherlock rolled his eyes, although both he and Lydia knew that Sherlock hadn't actually deduced it. "You may as well save yourself the money and pull out of the bet. Now, if you will excuse us, we are in the midst of solving a murder."

"You two have a case? When did you possibly have the time to go to a crime scene with Lydia's audition? By the way, how did that go?"

Lydia shuffled uncomfortably as she struggled to find the right words, "well, I suppose it as well as I should have expected considering it was my first one in quite a while. I doubt I'll be getting called back, I can assure you of that."

"Sorry to hear that."

"Yes, now can you cut the small talk? I do need to think," Sherlock barked from his spot, his fingers on his temples as he stared at the crime scene photos.

Moving her body so that her actions were concealed from John, Lydia began to run her fingers throw Sherlock's curls, knowing how much he enjoyed the feeling. Not that he would ever admit to liking it, but she noticed how his body would relax under her touch.

They remained like that for about half an hour, John settling into his chair reviewing the victim's background and glancing up at Sherlock and Lydia as they browsed the rest of the information related to the case.

He was the first one to speak up, causing Lydia to jump slightly, having nearly forgotten that he, too, was in the room. She had to admit, her thoughts had gotten a bit sidetracked as she peered over Sherlock's shoulder, his smell overwhelming her senses.

"Hold up, the victim worked at Goldward Financial Services?" John asked, causing Sherlock to frown.

"Yes, and?"

"They just had a security malfunction that allowed five million pounds to go missing. Surely you heard about it, Sherlock."

He shook his head, "if I ever knew about it, I must have deleted it. A bit of rich people's money going missing isn't anything to concern myself with."

"Wait, now I'm remembering this, this happened about a week ago, yes?" Lydia joined the conversation, finally remember the story from one of the newspapers she had skimmed over the past week, her mind too clouded with anxiety for her audition to really process much. "Wait, Sherlock, how was this not something to concern yourself with, it's a bloody crime. That's literally what you do."