trashchildren | For Joan

Ted wraps his arms loosely around her, getting comfortable and resting his head against hers.

He's mentally practicing his explanation in his head, trying to make the blow as soft as possible while also not leaving any room for doubt.

He doesn't quite doze off, especially now he's had coffee, but he does get a comfortable sleepiness, listening to her breathe.

Joan drifts off easily, her body weary and recovering from oxygen deprivation brought about by the cyanide.

Sherlock keeps watch over them both. They've both endured such trauma, both physical and emotional, and Sherlock loves Watson and has come to care quite a bit for Ted as well. He's a cynic when it comes to questions of love, but even if he doesn't believe in romance, he believes in Watson and Ted.

Sherlock notices a twitch in Joan hand as she sleeps. It might be nothing, but he makes a mental note of it.

Ted stirs when his phone buzzes, and it's a text from Beard asking if he should pick him up. Ted texts back one-handed, and then carefully extricates himself, trying not to wake her too much, though it's rare for him to be able to slip away entirely unnoticed.

His movement wakes her, and she gives him a faint smile as she readjusts in bed.

"Say hi to everybody for me?" she murmurs.

"If you need any information to answer questions, I am at your disposal," Sherlock tells him.

"I will," he promises Joan, giving her a quick kiss.

"Thanks, Sherlock," he answers with a grateful smile. He doesn't really want to get into the nitty gritty, but if they have any questions about what happens next or that stuff, he might reach out.

"Alright, you two look after each other," he says, as he puts on his shoes and grabs his crutches. "I'll be back later." He gives Joan's hand a quick final squeeze with a quiet 'love you' before he leaves to go meet Beard.

"Love you too," she answers before letting her hand settle back on the bed, taking a breath as she watches him leave, closing the door behind him.

Sherlock watches as well. "You all right, Watson?" he asks her.

She nods, smiling faintly. "Yeah. He'll be back."

There are few things that could stop Ted from coming back to Joan, and the one person who's been trying to do that is currently in jail. After this entire ordeal, Ted feels a little skittish about being alone, especially in public, even if he knows there's nothing to fear now.

Thankfully Beard is there in a flash, and Ted gets in the cab with him, heading towards the club.

At Ted's request Beard has gathered Higgins, Nate, and Keeley (and, of course, Roy) in the coach's office to talk about what happened. They're waiting for Ted, talking amongst themselves, sharing gossip and rumor and theories and fears.

Rebecca, on the other hand, is currently pacing in her office, a cocktail in hand, nervously awaiting Ted's arrival. She knows that Rupert was arrested and is currently being held without bail. The reporters were not kind to her as she left the gala, and there were more outside the club when she arrived. She had to wait in her car for security to clear them.

She's conflicted. She hates Rupert and think he's a slimy snake, but they've been saying attempted murder. Of who? And how are Ted and Joan connected to it?

Ted promises he'll come down to the office afterwards, and sets off to Rebecca's office on his crutches. There's a knot in his stomach about what he's about to do.

When he knocks on the door and heads inside, it's with a lot less enthusiasm than normal. And of course in sweats and a hoodie still.

"Afternoon, boss," he greets, and he gives her a smile, even if it's an anxious one.

"Ted." She looks at him uncertainly, with a number of thoughts on how to proceed spinning in her head. Ask how he's doing? Ask how Joan is doing? Ask what the fuck happened last night and why the fuck was Rupert arrested and also just a general what the fuck?

In the end alcohol wins out.

"Cocktail?" she says, turning and heading to the sidebar like she's drowning and its a life preserver.

Ted pauses and considers. "I shouldn't," he decides. "I'll take some water if you've got the non-bubbly kind."

Between the healing and the pain meds he's on, he really should limit his alcohol usage. Last night was sort of a special case of anxiety that needed soothing.

"Joan sends her love," he says as he sits down on the couch. "She's doing much better. Still some ways to go, but she'll be alright."

"I'm glad to hear that," she says as she pours him a glass of still water. She's taken to keeping a pitcher of it around just for Ted.

"What was it?" she asks as she comes over to the couch. "Low blood sugar? Allergic reaction?" She hands him his water then sits down.

"Hoo boy," Ted answers quietly, accepting the water and taking a drink, then setting it on the floor.

"Alright, Rebecca, I'm gonna tell you something right now, and it's going to sound absolutely cuckoo-bananas, but I promise you, every word is true," he says, making sure to preface this properly. "She poisoned. Intentionally so. That is, the intention was for me to be poisoned."

Rebecca blinks, her expression confused and horrified. "Poisoned? How did that happen? Was it someone on the cooking staff? Odd that they would have only poisoned one plate but..."

Then she puts two and two together and her eyes widen.

Rupert.

"No," she says. "No no no."

Ah, yup, she got it. She's sharp, of course she did. Given Rupert was arrested at the exact same time, if you know what he was arrested for, it's pretty obvious.

"Now, Rebecca, I want you to take a breath for me, okay?" preemptively trying to nip this in the bud before she goes off.

She takes a breath, and then another, shaking her head.

"There must have been some sort of mistake," she insists. "Rupert is a terrible man, a cruel man, but he hasn't killed anyone!"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure he has," Ted answers softly, and it's obvious this pains him greatly to tell her. "Not personally, but... Before he met you, there's evidence that he... paid people."

She stares at him for a long moment. She would think this was a joke, but Ted doesn't joke like this. That pain he's showing is real. And Ted isn't a fool, so if he thinks this is true...

"Paid people," she repeats, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ted nods softly, not taking his eyes off her.

"Not while he was married to you," he adds, because he wants to reassure her that... Well, that she was never unwittingly party to anything like that. It's awful enough knowing the man she loved was - is capable of that.

He could add more details, but he's not going to unless she asks. He wants to burden her with as little as possible, honestly. Or at least give her some time to process.

Part of her wants to ask him for those details, who and when and why and how. But a larger part of her doesn't want to know, at least not right now. Right now what matters is what he did at the gala.

But it wasn't just the gala, was it?

"My god," she whispers under her breath as things begin to fall into place. "Are you saying he paid someone to kidnap you?"

Ted nods sadly. Well, near enough. Technically he paid someone to get someone else to kidnap him. (He worries that that distinction might get him off on that part, which is why it was important to get him at the gala.)

"I've known for almost a week now. We were expecting him to try something last night, that's why the cops were already there. And I'm real sorry that I couldn't tell you, and ruined your night."

"Oh my god," Rebecca says, standing up, her hand over her mouth. She paces back and forth. "So he paid someone to poison your food?" she says, her voice strained as she's keeping her emotions buttoned down. "And they got mixed up and poor Joan wound up being the one who was poisoned?"

"Um... No, Joan had a hunch and switched the plates without me knowing," he admits quietly.

He still feels guilty about it. But perhaps it's better - it was a choice she made, knowing the risks. He still doesn't agree with the choice itself, but at least she wasn't forced into harm's way.

Rebecca turns, her mouth open at that. "Oh." She shakes her head, thinking about it, and decides that, no, that isn't actually that surprising. "Of course she did," she says. "You didn't see her when she was trying to find you. She charged through Scotland Yard like a fucking herd of elephants to get them to help, then told off the SWAT team until they let her go into that man's house with them. She would do anything to keep you safe."

Ted smiles emotionally, eyes shining. It doesn't surprise him either, but it's still touching to hear. "Yeah, I think she would," he agrees. He just wishes dearly that it wasn't necessary, and that it hadn't put her in this position. If she's going to be going around risking her life, he'd like it to be because she chooses to as her job, something she could walk away from, not because he's being a damsel in distress.

"But, I am safe now, so at least there's that," he adds.

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