For Joan

[theodorelasso]

Continued from here.

(warnings: sexytimes. also, panic attacks, brutal violence, attempted murder, discussion of suicide and actual murder... )

Comments

[formersurgeon]

She smiles a little at the mention of sounding like a podcast. It's an exciting life, and she would be happy to share more of it with him (in toned down terms). But this...this is deeply personal.

"M had apparently followed Sherlock to New York. Sherlock tracked him down." He had actually captured and tortured the man, but Joan's not going to tell him that part. Not right now. "And found out that M hadn't followed him, he had been sent. He didn't even know Sherlock was in New York. What's more, he had no idea that Sherlock and Irene had even been together. He was in prison when Irene was murdered."

Another pause to let that soak in.

"He had been hired by a man named Moriarty. And he was certain that Moriarty had framed him for Irene's murder and sent him to New York for Sherlock to catch him."

[theodorelasso]

Ted listens, trying to wrap his mind around it. He's a visual learner, so honestly he could've used a conspiracy board himself right about now, to keep track of this.

"Okay but... Hold on..." he says, thinking. He also notes that Moriarty is supposedly a man here, and assumes that's a misdirection. "So Moriarty didn't just arrange it, he-- she.. sent Sherlock a nice little packaged criminal to catch...?"

[formersurgeon]

"Pretty much, yeah. And M...his real name was Sebastian Moran...had never met Moriarty. Just received encrypted instructions via text. She would tell people she felt wouldn't respect a woman that she was a man. Or rather, she wouldn't mention gender at all and let them assume. But Moriarty sent the packaged criminal because she was fascinated by Sherlock. She wanted to toy with him, see what he would do. At that point, Sherlock went into full investigation mode to find Moriarty. He worked on it for weeks." She smiles faintly. "You should have seen the conspiracy board for that one. Full-on wall of crazy. At one point he had pinned up a picture of Napoleon, written on it that Moriarty was 'the Napoleon of crime.'"

She remembers Sherlock so intent on that wall, making connections that would then vanish into the ether, thinking he'd found answers when really they were only more questions.

"It went nowhere. Eventually he had to take it all down. And we moved on. That's when I started training to be a detective. A couple months later, we were contacted by Moran, who said Moriarty had sent another hitman to New York. That led us on a wild goose chase, trying to find the killer, then trying to find who hired him, which led us to a man who was going to give Sherlock answers before he was shot by a sniper while he was three feet away from Sherlock. Then Moran committed suicide, because Moriarty told him that either he kill himself or she would kill his sister."

[theodorelasso]

From what Ted's hearing, Moriarty sounds like a full-on supervillain. Which is pretty wild. That there are actually people like that.

He does chuckle a bit at the 'Napoleon of crime' bit.

And then he very much sobers after that. "Holy moly..." he murmurs, which is an understatement. The extortion bit is pretty awful, and Ted is definitely not going to dwell on that part. That's exactly the kind of thing he doesn't want to spend too much time considering.

"Alright, but... You said you'd caught Moriarty once, right?"

[formersurgeon]

"I did," she says. "But there's a couple more pieces you need to know. After Moran died, we were contacted my Moriarty. Or rather, someone who said they were Moriarty. He gave us a case, promising information on what happened to Irene if we solved it. We did, and Sherlock received a text with an address. It was this mansion outside the city that hadn't been lived in in years. We went inside to look around."

"And found Irene."

[theodorelasso]

"Wait, what?" he asks, which is probably exactly the reaction Joan would expect from him. "You're kidding me, right?" he asks rhetorically, because they both know she's definitely not. "Wait, wait, wait, alive or dead?" Because he thinks she's implying she was alive, but he needs to double-check that part.

[formersurgeon]

She did in fact expect that reaction. Her reaction had not been very far off.

"Alive. And traumatized. She told us she had been kidnapped and that her captor had played mind games with her, making her believe seven years had passed, when it was only 18 months. As you can imagine, Sherlock couldn't handle the investigation into what had happened to her. He didn't want to leave her side."

She understands that feeling now, and is grateful anew that Sherlock dove into the investigation of Ted's kidnapping while Joan stayed by Ted's side.

"So I did the investigation. Irene was an artist, and her captors had supplied her with canvases and paints. One of the paints, a certain shade of blue, was rare. I was able to trace it to a particular art store, and they were able to tell me who bought it. Unfortunately, the suspect found out that we were at his house, and ran."

She pauses, takes a breath.

"Meanwhile, Sherlock was getting ready to leave the country with Irene, to go someplace where they would both be safe. While she was getting ready to go, Sherlock noticed that she had recently had a mole removed from her shoulder."

She pauses to let him absorb that for a moment.

"He knew that if she had truly been held captive," she continues softly, "they wouldn't have taken her to a doctor, much less a surgeon."

[theodorelasso]

Again: Ted can't imagine going through this. Or... now he thinks he can imagine maybe a sliver of what Irene went through. And he hadn't even gotten that much of the mind games treatment. Turner had tried, but honestly he hadn't been very good at it. If it hadn't been for the abuse, he doubts it would've made much of an impact on Ted.

He listens intently to the story - he almost has to remind himself that it's not just a story. As she pauses, he frowns. When she continues, he sits up, following the train of thought.

"Wait... So... Wait..." he says, eyes darting around as he tries to connect the dots. Obviously she's saying she was never held captive.

But then that would mean... she was willingly faking it? She faked her own death too?

"Wait, so either Moriarty helped her, or...?"

[formersurgeon]

"She was Moriarty," she says softly.

She gives Ted a moment to wrap his brain around that.

[theodorelasso]

Ted breathes out a soft 'whoa'... He tries to process that, tries to recontextualize everything she said so far around it. He thoughtfully flops back against the chair.

Then immediately lets out an "ow" as his body complains.

[formersurgeon]

It feels good to tell Ted this story. It's really important for his understanding of who Moriarty is, to Sherlock, to Joan, and in general. And that sound of wonder is exactly the reaction she expects.

Then she hears that pained noise and frowns.

"You okay?"

[theodorelasso]

"Yeah, I just leaned back too fast," he explains, mildly annoyed. It's frustrating, having to be constantly careful about how he moves. It's not something he's particularly good at keeping in mind.

"Hey, have I eve mentioned your life is absolutely bananas?" he says conversationally. Because that's sort of the impression he's left with here. That, and just... getting a deeper understanding of Sherlock, and what him and Joan have been through together.

[formersurgeon]

She laughs softly.

"Not in so many words, no. But you're definitely not wrong." Her tone becomes more serious, perhaps with a touch of worry. "That's not going to change," she says quietly. "Are you okay with that?"

With everything that's happened and everything he's learned...well, she wouldn't blame him if he decided it's all too much for him.

[theodorelasso]

"Yeah, well, my life is pretty bananas too, just in a very different way," he points out. They don't live boring lives, that's for sure.

But it's a serious question, so it deserves a serious answer too. "I mean, it's a lot to adjust to, but I think I'm okay with it, yeah." He thinks it will get easier over time - as long as he isn't kidnapped again, obviously. "Predictability isn't necessarily that high on my list of needs."

[formersurgeon]

"I'm glad," she says softly. "Because...I want to be with you for the long term."

It's a raw and vulnerable thing to say, especially when they're an ocean apart. And in such sharp contrast to the public knowledge of their relationship, or lack thereof. But she feels the need to say it.

[theodorelasso]

"Yeah. Me too," he agrees, mirroring her softness. Honestly, if he didn't, he wouldn't be doing all this. If he didn't think there's a chance they can be happy together for maybe even the rest of their lives, then maybe he wouldn't think all this was worth it. But he does.

He lets that sit there for a moment. But before they get to that point, there's the pressing matter of the case Joan is working on. That's how they actually get to that point.

"So... I dunno, one thing that strikes me about all this is that... You know, Turner wasn't very competent," he points out. "If he was supposed to kill me, then he made a lot of stupid mistakes. The van, the phone... And if he wasn't supposed to, then he cut it pretty close."

Ted is aware there's a lot of luck involved in him surviving. Some of those kicks could've easily led to some pretty severe internal bleeding. The hit on the head could've killed him just in itself.

[formersurgeon]

Her heart warms at that, knowing that they're both thinking long term with each other. She wishes dearly that she could be with him right now and hold him as they murmur these things to each other, but they'll have to wait.

"Mmm," she says, considering that. "Not everyone Moriarty has employed in the past have been entirely competent. But you're right, usually they are a little more refined than this. She tends to use scalpels, not sledgehammers, and Chapman is definitely a sledgehammer." She frowns. "The question is how do we make sure it's not her? And how do we find out who it was?" She presses her hand to her eyes again and sighs. "If Chapman was talking it would be easier, but Sherlock says he refuses to say anything."

[theodorelasso]

Ted purses his lips a little. "Yeah, he wasn't the most chatty with me either," he answers, considering. "Do you think they'd let me talk to him?"

It sounds like an impulsive question, but it's actually something that's been on his mind a lot. He'd like answers too. And... he'd like to see Turner as a person, not just remember him as this phantom in the dark. For his own mental well-being too, not just his safety.

[formersurgeon]

She takes her hand from her eyes and frowns, thinking about that.

"I mean...Sherlock won't like it. He can be very protective of victims. But if he thinks Chapman might talk to you..."

Sherlock might just go for it.

"Are you sure you want to? After the things he did to you...seeing him and talking to him might re-traumatize you."

[theodorelasso]

Ted's considered that too. He decides to just share his thought process. She has more experience with stuff like this.

"I mean... I thought about it," he answers. "But I'm gonna see him again for the trial, right? And..." He pauses a bit, taking a breath, trying to figure out how to put it into words.

"He wasn't what was scary about all of it. It was being alone, being in the dark, hurting. Not knowing what was going on, or if anything was coming for me," he explains, tearing up a little even as he describes it. "He was just... someone who was angry. It was his control that was scary, and he won't have that anymore."

It's probably still gonna be upsetting. But he'll be safe. And he thinks his desire to confront him and to understand outweighs the need to avoid being upset.

[formersurgeon]

She can hear the tears in his voice, and she dearly wishes that she was there to hold him, to let him hold onto her, secure in the knowledge that he is safe and so very loved.

"That makes sense," she says, understanding the importance of the power dynamic. "He'll probably be handcuffed to the table. And Sherlock will probably be watching from another room." She's still worried about him, but she gets why he might want to do this.

"You'll want to talk to Sherlock. He can set it up. You can tell him I agree that it could be helpful, if you like."

[theodorelasso]

"Thanks," he answers softly. He would've preferred to have her there too, of course. But he knows she'll be with him in spirit, so to speak.

He sniffs softly, and decides it's probably best to talk about something else.

"So you're gonna take a break to watch the game tomorrow, right?"

[formersurgeon]

That sniff makes her heart ache. She's glad when he changes the subject; it's probably good for both of them.

"I wouldn't miss it," she says, smiling. "I'm hoping they show you in the owner's box on TV. I miss your face."

[theodorelasso]

"Yeah, well, I'm the hot gossip right now, so probably," Ted answers, smiling a bit even just from her smile. "My face is about the same, but slowly getting less blue again. Right now it looks like some kids had fun face-painting me, without worrying much about color choice or aesthetics," he says, chuckling softly.

[formersurgeon]

She laughs softly with him. "It will be nice to see how much you've healed, but I'd love to see your face regardless."

She knows there will be a lot of attention on him. And she knows Ted is generally used to attention, seeing as he's in front of cameras all the time as the Richmond coach. Still, she imagines having this sort of attention is different, and probably something he would rather avoid. The fans haven't exactly been kind to him in the past, and if they're unkind now it could hurt.

"I'd ask you to say hello to Rebecca and Keeley, but..."