Ficlet: An Isolated Apology
May. 23rd, 2011 06:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rusty_armourTitle: An Isolated Apology
Author: Rusty Armour
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: Lestrade, Sherlock, John
Category: General
Rating: PG-13 (for language mostly)
Word Count: 1,007
Spoilers: Sherlock in general, I suppose.
Notes: This was written as a fill for the following prompt at
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ariadnes_string's RUNNING HOT: A Multi-Fandom Fever Fic Comment fic meme, which I discovered through fengirl88's LJ. This hasn't been beta'd or britpicked. I wrote it quickly and I know it's rough, sketchy, and probably terrible. Hell, I doubt it would have even been written at all if I wasn't lazing around my apartment this Victoria Day. Disclaimer: With great power comes great responsibility. Thankfully, I have neither. Sherlock and its characters are owned by other people, though I feel fortunate to have been allowed to play in this wonderful sandbox.
A revised version of this fic can now be found here on LJ and here on A03.
"God, this is so bloody typical of you, Sherlock!" John shouted. "Even after everything that's happened, you still don't believe you've done anything wrong!"
Sherlock rolled his eyes. "I got a result, didn't I? I solved the case."
"And exposed us to a dangerous pathogen in the process!"
Sherlock sighed. "I'd hardly call it dangerous, John. Besides, we've been in here for nearly six hours and none of us are exhibiting any symptoms."
"Yet," John said. "None of us are exhibiting any symptoms yet."
"Well, surely if it hasn't happened yet--"
"For the love of Christ, will you please shut up!"
Sherlock and John turned towards Lestrade in surprise. He hadn't spoken for so long that they'd almost forgotten about him.
Lestrade shifted against the pillows he had propped up against the headboard, wiping another bead of sweat off his brow. "Look, it's stifling enough in here without the two of you adding more hot air, okay?" Lestrade closed his eyes, hoping that would be the end of the discussion, even if it were just for five minutes. He heard a creak from one of the beds and assumed that Sherlock had resumed his restless pacing. Then he flinched and his eyes flew open when he felt a cool palm on his forehead.
"You have a fever," John said.
"What? No. Seriously? Shit." Lestrade groaned and sank further into his pillows. It looked like their 48-hour period of isolation had just been extended. Perfect. Bloody perfect.
The next few hours passed in something of a blur. Medical personnel wearing respirators, gowns and gloves had descended on Lestrade, but there was little they could do other than administer a dose of paracetamol. Unfortunately, the paracetamol seemed to have no effect on Lestrade as his temperature rose higher and higher. He was occasionally aware of cold compresses being applied to his forehead and chest, and a voice that sounded like John's speaking softly to him, but little else.
Lestrade wasn't sure how much time had passed when he opened bleary eyes to find Sherlock standing over him. He blinked, wondering how she’d managed to transform herself.
"Who were you speaking to just now?" Sherlock asked. "You were muttering, so it was hard to understand you."
"Sherlock!" Now John had shoved his way into Lestrade's field of vision, pushing Sherlock away with more strength than Lestrade would have given him credit for. "Sorry about that. Sherlock's an idiot, but I suppose you knew that. If you hadn't suspected it before, you must be painfully aware of it after today." John lifted Lestrade's wrist, taking his pulse.
Lestrade gazed up at John curiously, wondering who he might really be or who he would end up being next. "It was my gran -- before she turned into Sherlock. She said if I was very good, she'd take me to the Grand Pier."
John smiled and set Lestrade's arm back on the bed. "Well, that's lovely. I'm sure you'll have a super time."
Sherlock snorted. "His gran's been dead for years."
John's smile grew a bit strained. "That doesn't matter, Sherlock." He patted Lestrade's hand. "You just close your eyes and try to get some rest, okay?"
"Promise not to turn into Sherlock?" Lestrade asked.
John's lips twitched. "I promise."
When Lestrade next woke, he was initially relieved not to be burning up anymore. However, the relief was short-lived when the delicious coolness became uncomfortably cold -- so cold that his teeth began chattering. Lestrade wrapped his arms around his torso and tried to stop shivering. He wasn't in that state for long before he felt the blankets on the bed being pulled over him. He reached up to tug the blankets tighter around him, but, after a few minutes, he was still shivering just as hard. Then, the mattress dipped, and someone climbed into the bed beside him. Before Lestrade could protest, there was a wall of heat against his back, and arms were wrapping themselves around him.
"J-John?"
"No, not John." The voice was deeper and infuriatingly smug. Must be Sherlock, then.
"Wh-what are you d-doing?" Lestrade tried to struggle out of Sherlock's embrace, but the arms wouldn't budge.
"You haven't stopped shivering, even with the blankets," Sherlock said. "I'm trying to keep you warm."
"Wh-why? Am I dis-disturbing you?" Lestrade tried to raise his head to look around. "Where's J-John? Is he s-sick too?"
Sherlock sighed. "No, he's asleep. Apparently, he can't go more than a couple of days without sleep before crashing. It's terribly inconvenient."
Lestrade fought a wave of panic and failed. "D-days? We've been h-here that long?"
"No, it's only been about fourteen hours," Sherlock said. "Up until forty minutes ago, John had been awake since we first began pursuing the case."
Lestrade quickly did the sum in his head. "But th-that was almost three d-days ago."
"Oh. Yes, I suppose it was." Sherlock pulled Lestrade closer. "Your teeth are still chattering. You should concentrate on conserving body heat and be quiet, Lestrade."
Lestrade ignored Sherlock's advice. "Why are you doing this? It c-can't be guilt."
"As I've already told John, I don't see why I should feel guilty for my actions," Sherlock said. "I solved the case: that's what's important."
"Hmm. Okay. Whatever you say, Sherlock." Now that Lestrade was feeling warmer, he was finding it much easier to fall asleep. He was just starting to drift off when he heard Sherlock speak again.
"Of course, I do regret what happened to you. I should have realized that a man your age might have a more fragile constitution."
Lestrade allowed that comment to hang in the air for a moment, before jabbing Sherlock viciously in the ribs with his elbow.
"Fuck!" Sherlock cried.
Lestrade glanced over his shoulder at Sherlock. "Would you like to try that again?"
"I'm sorry I exposed you to a pathogen that made you ill," Sherlock grumbled.
Lestrade smiled and closed his eyes again. "I forgive you."
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no subject
Date: 2011-05-23 11:03 pm (UTC)very pleased you filled this!
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Date: 2011-05-23 11:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 12:21 am (UTC)Thank you!
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Date: 2011-05-24 01:12 am (UTC)Yes, I feel kinda bad about putting Lestrade through that, but he just suffers so well. *g*
but I'm glad he got a better apology out of Sherlock. *grins*
I didn't even realize that was going to happen until Sherlock shot off his mouth about Lestrade's age and constitution. At that point, I could see no other course but for Lestrade to elbow Sherlock in the ribs. Of course, I'm sure Lestrade only did it because he wants Sherlock to be a good man. *g*
very pleased you filled this!
I'm still finding it hard to believe that I did fill it. I've never written comment fic before and it's pretty rare for me to answer challenges or prompts. I guess I was just in the mood for it. Anywaaaaay, I'm glad you're pleased with the fill. :-)
no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 01:34 am (UTC)Oh, thank you,
John is such a fantastic bedside presence, while Sherlock... is not.
I'm glad this also came across. I knew that John would have a wonderful bedside manner, but I wasn't sure how far Sherlock might go in the opposite direction. *g* I found myself taking a leaf from thirdbird's The Adventure of the Dying Detective Inspector (http://thirdbird.dreamwidth.org/284618.html) where Sherlock seems to find Lestrade's high fever and delirium absolutely fascinating. *g* Of course, once John falls asleep and is no longer at Sherlock's bedside, I'd like to think that Sherlock would step in to help Lestrade, even if some of his methods are a little unorthodox. ;-)
LOL! I felt real satisfaction when Lestrade got Sherlock in the ribs. :)
Oh, good! I'm glad you found it satisfying. I wasn't sure what the reaction might be. ;-)
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Date: 2011-05-24 01:49 am (UTC)I'm so happy you like this,
The three of them in isolation, griping at each other!
I can see them being civilized for the first hour or so -- maybe -- but I'm sure at least one of them would start to lose it after that. And as Sherlock was responsible for landing them in an isolation room in the first place, I thought it would only be natural for John and Lestrade to be pissed. *g*
And poor Lestrade--though at least he ended up with some rare Sherlock cuddles!
I just couldn't resist making Lestrade the woobie, especially if it meant rare Sherlock cuddles. ;-) I'm a sucker for any story in which Sherlock ends up looking after Lestrade. I may have been pushing it with the cuddles, but how else was Sherlock going to stop Lestrade from shivering? *g*
And that was a very satisfying jab in the ribs!
As I told
Thank you!
This was a lot of fun to write, so thank you for the prompt and for creating this wonderful meme (http://ariadnes-string.livejournal.com/81197.html) in the first place! :-)
no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 03:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 03:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 08:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 05:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 09:13 pm (UTC)The elbow jab actually took me by surprise, but, yes, it seems like a very effective way of getting Sherlock to apologize. *g*
That really did make me giggle. You've caught their characters so well.
Oh, good! I was hoping this might make someone giggle! :-) I'm glad the characters seemed right to you. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do them justice in these three short scenes (and rather unusual circumstances), so it's great that they came across okay.
It really made me smile. Lovely :) xoxoxo
I'm so happy you enjoyed this,
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Date: 2011-05-24 10:05 pm (UTC)Oh, thank you,
John is so on target. I really did like the "just humor him" attitude he's got--very physician (or nurse)-like.
I'm very glad to know that John is on target. I'm not always sure if I'm getting his voice right, though having him bicker with Sherlock seems to help. *g* I figure John has probably seen just about everything by now and has learned to think quickly on his feet, even when the patient isn't making any sense. Ah, the patient thinks he was just speaking to his dead grandmother and has apparently gone back in time some forty years. That's fine. It's just the fever talking. Let him think that if it helps. ;-)
Any chance for Lestrade to elbow Sherlock into submission is just pure joy for me. Thanks for that.
I think it's pretty funny that people like the elbow jab. I honestly hadn't realized it was coming until Sherlock made that crack. *g*
And the end with Sherlock attempting comfort and apology in his very awkward way--oh, I adored it! So happy you filled this!!!!!
Thank you so much once again! I'm thrilled that you enjoyed this! :-D I was afraid the attempted comfort and apology might not ring true, but I think Sherlock must care about Lestrade on some level after all these years and wouldn't be able to watch him suffer if he could somehow stop it. And he obviously knew (unconsciously at least) that an apology of some kind was in order.
(You may return to your important fictional project--but must come out of retirement at least once a month for stuff like this!) *gg*
Oh, man. I hope I haven't been sounding too pretentious. I just feel like a hypocrite sometimes saying that I've retired and then going off to write another fic. *g* I also figure that I won't be able to wriggle out of doing the research I need to do if I keep telling myself (and others) that I'm focused and committed to it. Despite how it must seem, I really am excited about my original fiction project. I've actually completed a fair amount of research lately, so I've found it easier to get a feel of where this could go and how it could be executed. The more I research, the more details I can fill in terms of plot and character.
As I'm obviously finding it impossible to give up fic altogether, you probably will see something else from me at some point, even if it's just a ficlet. :-)
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Date: 2011-05-25 02:07 am (UTC)As for the britpicking - I definitely don't think you needed any of that. I read somewhere that you don't need to actually be 100 % accurate (historically, linguistically, or anything) just enough to convince your readers, and in this case, I didn't notice any mistakes anyway. Not that I'm an expert. Just my amateur opinion.
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Date: 2011-05-25 03:31 pm (UTC)Oh, thank you,
Things really suck right now, so I badly needed to laugh a little.
I'm very sorry to hear that. I'm glad this ficlet was able to give you a bit of a laugh. :-) Hope things are better soon.
I read somewhere that you don't need to actually be 100 % accurate (historically, linguistically, or anything) just enough to convince your readers, and in this case, I didn't notice any mistakes anyway. Not that I'm an expert. Just my amateur opinion.
I'd really like to believe this. I mean, I know it's true for a lot of readers, but I've also encountered readers who complain if there are any mistakes. I was actually strong-armed into taking on a britpicker for a story and fandom I won't mention because I knew she would keep nitpicking every part I posted unless I agreed to let her britpick them. With this experience (and my most recent britpick), I've reached a point where I don't want to write for British fandoms anymore, which is actually a good thing as it means I will focus on my original fiction project. Of course, I'm saying this after posting this comment fic, but I figure I can sort of get away with being unbeta'd and unbritpicked in a situation like this. At least, that's what I told myself when I decided to tackle this prompt. *g*
Thanks again for reading and commenting,
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Date: 2011-05-25 04:46 pm (UTC)I can easily imagine Sherlock doing this and of course Lestrade's reaction. It's great to see Sherlock get what he deserves once in a while.
I'm glad that you found it easy to imagine both Sherlock's actions and Lestrade's reaction. I was afraid that maybe I hadn't done their characters justice considering how quickly I wrote this and how short it is. And I don't know if it's because I'm a Lestrade fan, but it was a lot of fun to see Sherlock get what he deserves. *g*
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Date: 2011-05-26 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-26 04:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 12:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 03:28 pm (UTC)Why, thank you,
Great beginning with John & Sherlock bickering and then Lestrade losing his temper, I loved the way it surprised me.
I figured that John and Sherlock couldn't be stuck in an isolation room without bickering -- and that Lestrade would have to lose his temper whether he was sick or not. *g* I'm happy the beginning came as a surprise. I was afraid the opposite might be true. ;-)
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Date: 2011-05-31 11:40 am (UTC)Love Lestrade just popping up out of the background during the argument. Too funny! As was poor Lestrade not wanting John to turn into Sherlock. Great line! I don't blame him as clearly Sherlock is not someone who would be soothing when one was under the weather! I'm glad he made himself useful at the end.
Yes, John, you should work on that inability to go more then three days without sleep! Hee!
I really like the dialogue in this story particularly the concluding paragraph:
Lestrade allowed that comment to hang in the air for a moment, before jabbing Sherlock viciously in the ribs with his elbow.
"Fuck!" Sherlock cried.
Lestrade glanced over his shoulder at Sherlock. "Would you like to try that again?"
"I'm sorry I exposed you to a pathogen that made you ill," Sherlock grumbled.
Their individual voices came through really strongly. Plus it's funny as hell. Poor Sherlock! Both his boyfriends are mad at him. He's a lucky fellow that neither hold a grudge.
Ha, great title! I just got it.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-31 10:55 pm (UTC)*Bows head in shame* I know. I swore I wasn't going to and then I made the mistake of reading that prompt and I just couldn't resist trying to fill it. *g* I didn't mean to leave you out of the loop. I just felt silly telling you about it when it's this short rough piece I wrote one afternoon. I did plan to tell you about the ficlet once I had revised it. Actually, I'm planning to post it on AO3, so I figured you would receive notification when the time came. ;-)
Love Lestrade just popping up out of the background during the argument. Too funny!
First of all, I'm so glad you found it funny. And, second of all, it's really helpful to know that Lestrade popping up out of the background worked for you because I was debating whether I should leave the opening that way. I know another reader also liked Pop Up!Lestrade, so I'll keep the opening as it is. :-)
As was poor Lestrade not wanting John to turn into Sherlock. Great line! I don't blame him as clearly Sherlock is not someone who would be soothing when one was under the weather!
I wasn't sure if anyone would find that funny, so I'm very happy that gave you a laugh! :-) Yes, I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been for a delirious Lestrade to think that his gran had turned into Sherlock. And, as John is the more soothing of the two, I would think Lestrade would prefer it if he didn't transform into Sherlock as well. *g*
I'm glad he made himself useful at the end.
I think seeing Sherlock help and/or comfort Lestrade is one of my kinks. I just had to throw in the cuddling. Well, that and it was mentioned in the original prompt. Yeah, that's right. It's the prompt's fault, not mine. *g*
I really like the dialogue in this story particularly the concluding paragraph...
Oh, thank you! I think the pacing could have been better (and that's something I'll work on), but I'm glad you still found the dialogue enjoyable. It was a lot of fun to write. :-)
Their individual voices came through really strongly. Plus it's funny as hell.
I'm relieved you could hear their individual voices considering that this was a rush job. I can actually hear them quite clearly in my head when I write them, especially if they're in a scene together. Oh, and I'm delighted that you found that final exchange funny as well. :-)
Poor Sherlock! Both his boyfriends are mad at him. He's a lucky fellow that neither hold a grudge.
I think John and Lestrade must have the patience of saints considering how well they're able to tolerate Sherlock. I read this great Mystrade story in which Lestrade realizes that he possesses this ability to get on with the kind of people (e.g. Sherlock and Anderson) that everyone else can't stand. *g*
Ha, great title! I just got it.
I have to confess that it almost wasn't the title. I didn't even realize there would be an apology till part way through the story. I guess the title popped into my head because the story deals with the three of them being in isolation and there's an apology involved. I figured it would just make people roll their eyes, so, once again, thanks for sharing another aspect of the story that you liked. :-)
Awww!
Date: 2011-06-11 02:38 am (UTC)Re: Awww!
Date: 2011-06-11 03:33 am (UTC)I almost wish you had waited a day or two because I'm planning to post a revised version of this story some time this weekend. However, I'll be posting it on
Re: Awww!
Date: 2011-06-11 01:08 pm (UTC)Re: Awww!
Date: 2011-06-11 05:08 pm (UTC)