soera: (Default)
soera ([personal profile] soera) wrote2011-08-11 02:17 pm

Fanfic - With Affection Thereafter [Sherlock BBC: John, Sherlock, Moriarty]

Title: With Affection Thereafter
Rating(s): PG-13
Pairing(s)/Character(s): John, Sherlock, Moriarty
Warning(s): (spoilers in warnings; highlight to read or skip this warning) Murder; character death.
Summary: The bomb explodes. John reacts.
Author's Notes: Set immediately after TGG. Title and all dialogue in the fic taken from the Lasagna Oath – the modernised rewriting of the Hippocratic Oath, by Dr Louis Lasagna.
Dipping my toes into the Sherlock fandom. I'm writing a longer piece that may or may not ever see the light of day, but in the meantime, have this ficlet.
Edit: This fic has now become the first of a 'verse I'm calling the Affection-verse. Not S2-compliant, obviously.


With Affection Thereafter

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help. – Hippocratic Oath, Dr Louis Lasagna



The bomb goes off, and three bodies hit the water.

It’s not entirely planned. The impact shoves them all in the direction of their movement at that point. Sherlock had turned to the side; John had been angled forward from a crouch; Moriarty had started to his left. The blast hurries them along, pushes them forward. Sherlock’s back snaps sharply and he hits the water face-first. John plunges into the water after him.

When he hits the water, this is what he thinks of: ears, brain, abdomen, lungs. Apnea, bradycardia, hypotension. Butterflies, ghostly pale on translucent grey. Haemorrhages, tissue shearing, pulmonary contusions. Overpressure, reflections, blunt trauma.

This is the next thing he thinks of: Sherlock.

The water is still shuddering as he kicks forward frantically. Can’t surface yet, he thinks, still a chance of fire and falling debris, and the snipers, what happened to the snipers? Sherlock caught the blast in the back, possible complications? Spinal trauma, god, no. Apnea might help, keep water out of his lungs. But too long and that will kill him and why isn’t he moving?

A thumb-drive tumbles sadly through the water in front of him. John grits his teeth, grabs for the back of Sherlock’s jacket, then immediately lets go. No, not this, not like this. Possible spinal injury? How to best minimise further damage, how should he –

He needs air. Sherlock’s floating near the top of the pool, so it’s hardly any distance at all to cover. John breaks the surface and takes a quick look around. He’s no deductive wizard, but he knows how to take in the important things at a glance. Parts of the building have collapsed but the ceiling is not about to fall in on them, there’s enough smoke filling the place to make it impossible for the snipers to pick them out (if they’re still alive), and Sherlock is still in the water.

There’s a way of doing this properly, John knows, but he can’t remember it and anyway he’s liable to cause more damage if he does it wrongly. He settles for being inordinately careful as he rolls Sherlock around, bringing his nose and mouth out of the water. Sherlock isn’t breathing, but John refuses to think about that for now. A slow crawl forward takes them both to the side of the pool, where he’s faced with yet another problem. From his current position, he can’t push Sherlock out with possibly causing further trauma. He needs to lever him out from the opposite direction. Sherlock’s body bobs limply in the water as John clambers out, then reaches down to gently, carefully, pull Sherlock out and onto the side of the pool.

There are fragments of rubble around them. John has been hit by at least a few pieces of shrapnel, but he can’t spare the time to worry about that. He unbuttons Sherlock’s jacket, then his shirt, then stops.

Moriarty is clinging to the side of the pool.

He isn’t seeing much of anything, John can tell. Blood is streaming down the side of his head; must have been hit by shrapnel. Or possibly the edge of the pool, as he went in – John replays the last minute in his head and reconfirms the fact that Moriarty had to have entered at a thoroughly awkward angle. He’d probably bounced off the edge before hitting the water. Concussion? Likely. It’s hard to be sure, but John thinks the water’s a little red around Moriarty. He’s probably got more open wounds than just the head trauma. Primary blast injuries – probably much the same as Sherlock’s likely to be suffering.

John looks down. Sherlock’s heartbeat throbs in his wrist, slow but steady against John’s fingers. John can’t quite remember when he’d started checking for a pulse.

Sherlock’s still not breathing, though. John uses his free hand to open Sherlock’s mouth and check for obstructions. Nothing. John leans down, seals his mouth over Sherlock’s, and breathes.

Again. And again. And again, until Sherlock takes in a shallow, pained breath.

John gets up on unsteady legs and moves over to Moriarty. Moriarty is breathing, he realises resentfully, still breathing though clearly in dire need of medical assistance. He might survive if he gets it.

Moriarty doesn’t look up. An explosion, John thinks, can render even great minds human. He glances back at Sherlock, then kneels down in front of Moriarty.

“If it is given to me to save a life, all thanks,” John says. He can’t hear his voice, and for the first time he realises that there’s a loud buzzing in his ears that’s drowning out everything else. Tinnitus, possible perforation of the eardrums, doesn’t matter. John reaches for Moriarty’s shoulder, and the man finally, finally looks up.

“But it may also be within my power to take a life,” John says, and pushes down. Moriarty loses his grip on the side of the pool, and sinks below the water. John leans forward, keeping up the pressure as Moriarty flails weakly.

“This awesome responsibility,” John says, “must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty.”

Moriarty’s movements are growing weaker. John waits patiently, counting the seconds in his head. The transition from unconscious to dead comes at three hundred and forty-two. John pulls Moriarty up to check, then rolls him back into the water. Then he goes back to Sherlock. Sherlock, who’s now breathing on his own but still unconscious. John sits down next to him and strokes wet, black hair away from his face.

“Above all,” John tells Sherlock quietly, “I must not play at God.”


~fin
snakeling: Statue of the Minoan Snake Goddess (Default)

[personal profile] snakeling 2011-08-12 06:16 am (UTC)(link)
Wow. Just, wow.

[identity profile] soera.livejournal.com 2011-08-27 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
I'll take that as a good response. Thanks for commenting! =D

[identity profile] buckbeakbabie.livejournal.com 2011-08-20 06:35 pm (UTC)(link)
OH MY GOD.

This is so wonderful. I'm speechless, it's just so fantastic. John Watson, you amazing man, you. This feels so perfectly him, so calm as he's killing Moriarty, and oh...

Yes, 'wow' is all I have too, really.

[identity profile] soera.livejournal.com 2011-08-27 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much for reviewing! Glad you liked this =D

[identity profile] cen-sceal.livejournal.com 2011-08-20 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
that is possibly the best version of Watson I've read in a long time. brilliant fic.

[identity profile] soera.livejournal.com 2011-08-27 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! =D

[identity profile] uwsannajane.livejournal.com 2011-08-20 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooh, excellent! And creepy as hell.

[identity profile] soera.livejournal.com 2011-08-27 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
That second line's exactly the response I was hoping for. *laughs* Thank you!

[identity profile] pony-rocks.livejournal.com 2011-08-20 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Wonderful!

[identity profile] soera.livejournal.com 2011-08-27 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! =D

[identity profile] zephyr-macabee.livejournal.com 2011-08-20 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh my! Excellent!

[identity profile] deltachild.livejournal.com 2011-08-21 09:51 am (UTC)(link)
Absolutely amazing. Wonderful use of the oath as dialogue. John reeling through medical conditions is eerily similar to how many portray Sherlock whipping through a deduction.

Really great.

[identity profile] soera.livejournal.com 2011-08-27 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
I... actually hadn't made that connection to how John goes through the diagnoses, and how Sherlock makes his deductions! Thanks for pointing it out to me; it's always lovely when readers point out aspects of my own stories I hadn't noticed. =D Glad you liked this, and thank you for reviewing!

[identity profile] blaidd-drwg.livejournal.com 2011-08-21 12:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Terrific story!

[identity profile] soera.livejournal.com 2011-08-27 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you!
innie_darling: (wonko the sane)

[personal profile] innie_darling 2011-08-23 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
Fantastic.

[identity profile] soera.livejournal.com 2011-08-27 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! =D
shiverelectric: dance to the music (dance!haruko)

[personal profile] shiverelectric 2011-08-25 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
John's dialogue, perfectly spot-on. And wow, so incredible in his resolve to put an end to the madman (mens) game.

[identity profile] soera.livejournal.com 2011-08-27 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
Plural, indeed. Glad you liked this; thank you for reviewing!

[identity profile] kaiserkuchen.livejournal.com 2011-08-25 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow. The best kind of creepy and John is amazing in this.

[identity profile] soera.livejournal.com 2011-08-27 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
It was definitely fun writing this version of John. Glad you liked it, and thank you for reviewing!

[identity profile] twistoftate.livejournal.com 2011-08-25 10:33 pm (UTC)(link)
You wrote Sherlock fic!!!! And what a great fic it is. Very powerful, and I think very true to John's character. He doesn't take life and death lightly, but at heart he is a pragmatic man and will do what needs to be done. *hugs you* Great job, bb! Thanks for sharing :)

[identity profile] soera.livejournal.com 2011-08-27 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
I did! My best friend finally got me to watch the series, and I liked it far more than I expected to - so naturally I had to start writing fic. =D

I think that's absolutely true about John - he'll always prefer to save lives, wherever possible... but he's also got a soldier's mindset about things, and there's this part of him that's willing to make the decision to kill one person in order to preserve more lives. I'm so glad that's come across clearly, and that the fic worked for you.

I'll hopefully be posting more soon (at least another ficlet or two), so maybe I'll see you around. As always, thank you very much for the comment! =D

[identity profile] yarp-narp.livejournal.com 2011-08-26 03:10 pm (UTC)(link)
This was absolutely chilling. Patiently awaiting possibility of longer piece.

[identity profile] soera.livejournal.com 2011-08-27 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you very much! Don't know if that longer piece will ever materialise, but I do think I might post another ficlet or two soon. Hopefully, you'll like them too! =D

[identity profile] talimenios79.livejournal.com 2011-08-29 11:30 am (UTC)(link)
Wow, this was amazing.

[identity profile] liz-mo.livejournal.com 2011-09-01 11:37 am (UTC)(link)
Oh my. Did not expect that. *breathes out sharply*
Well written.

[identity profile] roadnotes.livejournal.com 2011-10-03 10:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Amazing.

[identity profile] rubysp720.livejournal.com 2012-02-14 12:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Beautiful and chilling. Bravo

(Anonymous) 2012-02-19 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I love you.

[personal profile] jo02 2012-03-04 04:22 am (UTC)(link)

I loved this.