For Joan

[theodorelasso]

Continued from here.

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

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[formersurgeon]

Joan's heart sinks a little at that. It might not be her fault that Ted is going through this right now (and she knows that he would be emphatic on that point) but her life has spy movie aspects that aren't going to change.

She leans forward and kisses him gently.

"When this is all over, we can be a romcom for a while," she promises.

[theodorelasso]

And as long as Ted doesn't have to be directly part of the spy movie aspects, he's fine with that. He's just not very suited for doing it himself.

Ted smiles a little as he kisses her back. "I look forward to it," he answers. Not just for his sake, but for hers as well. She might be just fine dealing with this on her own, but he can tell it's taking a toll on her, worrying about his safety, and feeling guilty for the hardship, even if it's not her fault.

"And thank you, Sherlock, I really appreciate all this," he adds to Sherlock.

[formersurgeon]

"You may thank me by remaining alive and well," Sherlock says. He glances at Joan. "Both of you."

"We will," Joan assures him quietly, knowing that Sherlock is worried about her.

[theodorelasso]

"It's at the top of my priority list," Ted promises with apparent cheerfulness, though it's not hard to tell from the circumstances that his cheer is most definitely a conscious choice as opposed to a natural feeling right now.

[formersurgeon]

Sherlock nods grimly at them both. "On your way, then."

The route that Joan leads them on is complicated. They take one cab across the city, cross a few streets then hail another one, taking that one to the northern outskirts, then walking another couple blocks before hopping a third cab down to the docks. Joan takes them through an alleyway to a basement door. They go through the basement and out the other side into another alley. Down that alley is another basement door that she enters. This one she locks behind them. There's a short hallway that leads to another door, which Joan unlocks and again locks behind them once they're through. She turns on the light.

Inside is a simple studio apartment, with a queen sized bed, a small kitchenette, a tiny bathroom, a single light above the middle of the room...and no windows and at least five locks on the door.

[theodorelasso]

Ted consciously doesn't question or comment on the complicatedness of the route. It feels unnecessarily extreme, but he doesn't say so, just trusts Joan.

These London cabs aren't really made for chatting with the drivers unfortunately, so instead he looks out the window, taking it as a sightseeing trip. Occasionally he'll point something out to Joan, whenever he sees something fun.

The walking is a bit more stressful, as he doesn't want to dawdle, but he has to walk somewhat carefully on the cast, even with a crutch.

Once they get there, Ted looks at Joan to make sure they're actually done, before he starts looking around. "This is cozy," he comments, which is probably a pretty generous description.

[formersurgeon]

Joan is responsive as possible to Ted during the journey, smiling and telling him random interesting facts about the things he points out l, helping him walk as much as possible. The route is a little excessive, but they're dealing with someone with one hell of a reach and Joan doesn't want to take any chances.

"That's putting it lightly," she murmurs. She looks at Ted and gives him a small, strained smile.

"Hopefully we'll only be here a day."

[theodorelasso]

"It's okay," Ted answers with a slightly warmer smile, leaning over to kiss her temple. "As long as you're here, I'm happy."

It's a gloomy place, and the underground smell and the echo of the walls reminds of him of the basement he was locked in. But this place means safety, not danger, and the presence of Joan makes that a lot easier to remember.

[formersurgeon]

Her own smile warms a little, and she turns to him and guides his face gently to hers to return the kiss. Then she takes his free hand and gives a slight tug toward the bed.

"Let's get comfortable."

As much as possible at least.

[theodorelasso]

"Oof, yeah, it'll be nice to lie down," he agrees, following after her. He goes and sits down on the bed, setting the crutch down, taking off his shoes (one normal shoe and one sandal made to fit on casts). He stretches his arm and hand, somewhat achy from walking so far with a crutch.

[formersurgeon]

Joan takes her own shoes off and pulls back the covers. They're both fully dressed, but she doesn't care. All she wants to do is to snuggle with Ted, warm and comfortable under the blankets.

She climbs in and reaches out a hand for him.

[theodorelasso]

Ted smiles as he shifts off the covers to get under them, lifts his feet up into bed and scoots backwards against the pillows. "We're really taking this 'spend all day in bed' thing seriously," he jokes mildly, reaching his arm out so she can snuggle up against him.

[formersurgeon]

"Making the best of our situation," she says with a smile, snuggling against him with a happy sigh. She lifts her face to kiss his cheek. "There's no one else I'd rather be in hiding with."

[theodorelasso]

"Likewise," Ted agrees, hugging her close. Joan will always have to compete with Henry when it comes to Ted (though 'compete' is probably the wrong word), but he would be too worried to enjoy himself if he was in hiding with Henry. With Joan, he knows she can take care of herself. "Ooh, if you could be in hiding anywhere - security concerns aside, just someplace to spend time, away from everybody - where would it be?"

[formersurgeon]

Joan definitely doesn't see herself as being in competition with Henry. She knows that if there's ever a time when Ted has to choose between the two of them, he will choose Henry, and he absolutely should. Joan is going to do everything she can to make sure Ted never has to choose.

She smiles at the question, considering her answer. "There's this place in upstate New York where there's a cabin on a lake. It's surrounded by trees. You wouldn't even know it's there if you didn't know to look for this tiny dirt road heading into the trees. It's the perfect place for just getting away from everything."

[theodorelasso]

"Oh, that sounds amazing," Ted answers with a longing sigh. "I'm sort of stuck between just... a farm in the middle of nowhere, with a minimum of one dog.. Or somewhere really exotic, like a tropical island or a ski lodge or something like that. Just to have something completely new and exciting, you know?"

[formersurgeon]

"All of that sounds great," Joan says, smiling softly. "I'd love to go to those places with you."

To be fair, she'd go anywhere with him.

"I've never had a dog," she muses. "We have a tortoise. And we had chickens that one time."

[theodorelasso]

"A tortoise?" Ted asks with soft excitement. "That's adorable, what's its name?" Of course they'd have unconventional pets. Bees and tortoises and chickens. They probably wouldn't have time to care for a dog whenever they were on a case anyway.

[formersurgeon]

"Clyde," she says, smiling at Ted's enthusiasm. "He's being taken care of by a friend of ours in New York."

She takes his hand, threading their fingers together. "Did you have any pets growing up?"

[theodorelasso]

"Not really, no," Ted answers, looking at their intertwined hands. "Had a dog for about a year in high school. That's about it."

[formersurgeon]

She frowns faintly at that. "Only a year?" she says, squeezing his hand. "What happened?"

[theodorelasso]

"Oh, he was an old dog," Ted answers reassuringly. "Adopted my neighbor's dog. Uh... Well, I guess I'm telling this story out of order," he says thoughtfully, rethinking how to tell it.

"So, when I was a kid, I used to be really scared of dogs. See, when I was three years old, I got bitten by one. I don't remember it, but apparently it was pretty scary. So I would just bawl my eyes out if there was dog anywhere near me," he explains. "Then when I was in high school, my neighbor's wife died, and, well, he was pretty upset about that, of course. So he couldn't bring himself to take care of his dog anymore. Hank. Same one that bit me. So I started taking care of him, feeding him, taking him for walks. And eventually, I adopted him, when our neighbor got put into a nursing home. But, like I said, he was old. We had to put him down a year later."

[formersurgeon]

"I'm so sorry," she says softly. It's interesting to hear about that part of his childhood, how he came to love and care for a creature who had once caused him pain and fear. She can't help but think of Turner. Had he looked at that man as something akin to Hank? Did he see in him someone who could be loved and cared for?

[theodorelasso]

Ted absolutely did. Probably not by he himself - but he definitely saw Turner someone who could have been a much better person, in time, had he been shown that kindness and patience. And the fact he was robbed of that opportunity simply to send a message had definitely broken Ted's heart a little.

Ted is sort of thinking along the same lines, frowning softly to himself. Thinking about what could have been.

[formersurgeon]

Joan sees that frown, that sadness in his expression, and she wonders if perhaps he's thinking the same thing. Again she wishes these terrible things hadn't happened to this good, kind, gentle man.

She reaches up to gently turn his face toward hers, to give him a soft kiss.