trashchildren | For Joan

He just holds onto her for a moment, closing his eyes. Trying to soften some of the pain.

He opens his eyes and looks over at Sherlock, seeing him staring off. Ted pulls one arm away from Joan, and reaches over to put his hand on Sherlock's. And ready to pull back if he doesn't like it, but still. He wants to show Sherlock that he wishes he could take away his pain as well.

Sherlock looks down to stare at Ted's hand covering his own. He doesn't move to take his hand, but he also doesn't pull away.

"I had been very angry with my brother," he says softly, his voice raw. "I heard that Le Milieu had been destroyed some time ago, which removed the circumstance that would keep him in hiding. But I didn't reach out to him. A couple months ago a good friend helped me to see that I needed to forgive Mycroft, that I was foolish to waste the time I could be having with my brother." He shakes his head a little. "But the time was already up," he almost whispers. "He had died ten months previously."

It breaks Ted's heart, listening to Sherlock talking about this. Both for the content of his words, and the sound of his voice. His heart aches for them both.

"I'm sorry," Ted says softly, and gives Sherlock's hand a gentle squeeze. He wishes there was more to say or do, but there really isn't.

Joan shifts in Ted's embrace so she can reach out to put her hand on Sherlock's other hand. Sherlock glances at her hand then up at her, his expression sorrowful.

He looks back down at her hand, then glances at Ted's hand.

He turns both of his hands over and curls his fingers around their hands.

Ted smiles sadly, but also touched and grateful for this connection. He can tell it's pretty special and unusual for Sherlock to display that kind of affection - or accepting that kind of comfort. And Ted's grateful that Sherlock will let him in enough to let him give that kind of comfort. Suddenly he doesn't wish there was more to say, because this alone seems more meaningful than words.

This is very unusual for Sherlock, and after a moment of holding their hands he takes a breath and lets go, withdrawing a little to re-establish his personal space.

Joan takes back her hand and leans into Ted.

Ted mirrors Joan, glad at least it's easy enough to tell when Sherlock's had enough.

He gives Joan a soft smile and a squeeze. It's awful, hearing about their hardships, but at the same time it's good to feel like he's able to give some comfort, and to let them talk about it.

She squeezes him back, grateful for his concern, for his kindness. She's also grateful for the connection he's forged with Sherlock. Her partner is typically slow to make friends, and even slower to allow himself to be vulnerable around them. This is, in fact, the first time Sherlock has held her hand, and she's closer to him than anyone.

"I love you," she murmurs to Ted. And then: "Thank you."

"You too," he answers just as quietly. He doesn't know exactly what she's thanking him for - being concerned and comforting, probably. Or perhaps for actually being someone who can connect with Sherlock. She's more or less thanked him for that before.

He leans his head against hers, stroking her arm a bit as he holds her. The mood has taken a bit more somber turn, but also a more intimate one.

Joan closes her eyes, relaxing against him. She's beginning to tire. It's been an active day already, and while her energy and strength have improved greatly, she's still not at 100%.

Sherlock remains fairly close to them, now idly people watching, the distress having passed.

Ted sits there holding her, snacking on apple slices and people-watching as well for a while. "You want to head back?" he asks softly, after Joan doesn't seem to perk up again.

They should probably get home before the task of getting there becomes exhausting.

She's been drifting a little, so his voice draws her back to full consciousness. "That's probably a good idea," she says, pushing herself up to sitting then stretching her arms up, yawning. "We'll have to do this again, though," she says halfway through the yawn, and lowers her arms, giving Ted a smile.

Sherlock begins packing up and collecting trash.

"Definitely," he agrees, returning the smile, and then giving her a kiss for good measure, before he starts helping Sherlock to pack up, as much as he can without walking around.

Once they've gathered everything besides the blanket, he holds his hands out to help Joan up and back into the wheerchair.

Joan smiles at the kiss, and does what she can to help with the packing, passing leftover food and trash over from her side of the blanket.

She takes Ted's hands as they're offered, and with his help gets to her feet. She wobbles a bit, gripping his arms, but manages to stay up.

It doesn't surprise him that she wobbles a bit when she's tired, and he's still very careful and attentive to make sure he can catch her if she does buckle. At least here she would fall on the blanket and the soft ground though. He can't wait for picking her up for nothing but fun reasons though. (Judging by their improvement rate, she'll get better before his leg does though, even if he only had a mild fracture.)

He helps her into the chair and makes sure she's seated, then goes to grab his crutches, watching as Sherlock folds up the blanket and gets them ready to leave.

She's looking forward to that too, to a time when they're both better and he can lift her up and twirl her around just got the sheer joy of it.

Sherlock rolls up the blanket and slips it into the basket, then sets it carefully in Watson's lap.

"Shall we?" he says as he goes behind the chair, ready to wheel Watson back to 221A.

"Onwards," Ted affirms with a smile, setting off, but making sure to enjoy the sun and the fresh air while he can. Turns out when you're used to being outside pretty much every single day, being stuck in the house isn't great.

And after the time in Turner's basement, followed by a hospital stay, followed by injury recovery, followed by hiding underground, followed by another hospital stay, and then looking after Joan... No wonder he's stressed and anxious. Even with the emotional conversation (and the discussion of guns), he still feels a lot better now than he did this morning.

It's definitely so nice being outside, and Joan can tell that Ted has benefitted from it greatly. She hopes they can both start getting back to some semblance of normalcy soon, which would include doing things outside of their safe haven. She wants him to be able to get back to his team. She knows he misses them.

Ted definitely does miss them. And while he can't run around the field, he's getting well enough that he could return to his job just fine. As long as he was sure that Joan would be okay without him.

They make it back to the apartment, and this time Sherlock can just carry Joan all the way inside, then come back for the wheelchair, rather than have her get back into it for that short distance. It would be a bit harder for Ted to pull the wheelchair up the stairs after all. But soon enough they're all inside.

Sherlock takes Joan into the bedroom and sets her up in bed. When Ted comes in she's sitting up and leaning back against a couple pillows. She smiles at Ted as he comes in.

"That was fun," she says, referring to the picnic.

"It was real good, yeah," Ted agrees happily, taking off his sweater and going to climb into bed with her. "How are you feeling? Tired?"

"A little, yeah." She's not tired enough to collapse right then and there, but it's a good thing they came home before she hit that stage.

"You know," she says. "Tomorrow morning you guys won't have to watch me while I sleep anymore. I'm getting stronger. It might take another week to get to 100%, but I'll be able to take care of myself before then."

"Yeah, and then we can finally all three have naps at the same time, just all of us in a pile like preschool," he says with a grin. He's joking, but it will be good to not have to coordinate for someone to be awake at all times.

Now there's a mental image. Joan can totally see it, the three of them napping in the bed together, Joan in the middle and Ted and Sherlock on either side, Sherlock lying stiffly in contrast to Ted draped over Joan.

"I was thinking about what we do when we're both better. I've really liked sharing this place with you. I'm wondering if maybe we can keep doing it."

Ted sobers a little, the smile still there but softening into less playful, more earnest.

"Yeah," he agrees. "I mean, I like living with you.." There's things to consider, but he'd definitely like to keep sharing a space with her.

They've sort of stumbled into it through circumstance rather than deliberate planning, but even so. And Joan stayed over at his place a lot before now, but it does mean she's far away from Sherlock. And Ted has rather enjoyed being close to Sherlock too. Yet up here, they're far away from Richmond.

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