Sherlock Fic: Obvious Fact (2/10)
Obvious Fact (2/10)
by MuseDePandora (see: Master List of Fanfics)
Disclaimer: BBC's Sherlock belongs to various persons and corporations that are not me or associated with me. This piece of fanfiction is written with the admiration and respect for the original work. I claim no ownership of the show, Sherlock, or its accoutrements. No profit is made from this material, now or in the future.
Thanks to r34dinglight and Lexiodessa for beta-reading.
Read Part One HERE.
2.
Sherlock wasn't the type of man who liked being wrong. That was one of the first things John learned about him. Sherlock had assumed Harry was his brother, a mistake anyone could've made. But that was the type of mistake Sherlock hated making.
He knew he couldn't get everything right. He was intelligent enough and realistic enough to take that into account during his deductions. However, if Sherlock Holmes made a mistake, he wanted it to be because he was thinking, and not because he wasn't. When he made assumptions because he had mindlessly accepted social norms, that was the worst. Like Harry. One time, John made the blunder of reminding Sherlock about the Harry Mistake while they were in-between cases. For the next two days, John had to endure Sherlock's running diatribe on the perversion of the reasoning mind through social conventions of gender and heteronormativity. John was quite relieved when a VIP was murdered and Sherlock was distracted by the case. As terrible as that sounded even in his own head. Still, Sherlock never blindly assumed the gender of a person off a name again.
Another example of this was also soon after John met Sherlock. On retrospect, that was rather strange, since Sherlock rarely made that type of mistake. John knew enough later to realize that for him to do it twice in such a short amount of time was extraordinary. He wondered if his arrival into things had been distracting.
The second instance where Sherlock unconsciously succumbed to social attitudes was with the killer cabbie. All this time, the murderer was right in front of them but no one saw it because cabbies were invisible, nameless extensions of the transport industry. Sherlock hadn't noticed a very important possibility because, like everyone else, he'd dismissed them as non-entities without motivation or consequence.
That was unacceptable.
They were on their way back from dinner at Angelo's -yes, there'd been a candle- when John learned Sherlock would never make that mistake again.
"Where you going, Sherlock?" the cabbie asked.
"Home," he answered. "How have you been, Charlie?"
John stared at his friend and the plastic pleasantness in his voice.
"Ah, you know how it is," Charlie answered and Sherlock actually nodded.
"Your brother is still having trouble in school?"
And like that, Sherlock and the cabbie were engaged in small talk the entire way to Baker Street. No doubt it wouldn't have happened if they weren't between cases, but the fact that it happened at all was shocking. Sherlock didn't fill his head up with nonsense and he certainly didn't listen to other people's woes just because they needed an ear. He was barely willing to listen to John's complaints when he was the reason for them. But here he was encouraging their cabbie to spill his life story.
John learned from their conversation that Charlie's brother was the first in the family to attend university but was talking about pulling out. His wife thought it was because he was afraid to succeed but Charlie thought it was because his brother was pampered by the family and had never had to work for anything before in his life. For a good ten minutes, Sherlock nodded and asked leading questions, just allowing their cabbie to talk. When they reached home, Sherlock gave a polite - by his standards - good bye and left John to pay for their ride.
"Is he related to a case?" John asked while he waited for Sherlock to unlock the door.
"No." Sherlock cocked his head to the side, rethinking his answer. "Not yet."
"Then what was that about?"
The door opened and they both went inside.
"It might be important."
"What could possibly be important about Charlie's brother?"
"Oh, I don't know." Sherlock smirked. "Perhaps the fact that Charlie's wife is having an affair with his brother and they're considering running away to America together. Charlie is very good with his money habits and so has a healthy-sized savings account built up from over the last fifteen years. However, he's not very good with numbers or dealing with the bank, so his wife handles all of that. Charlie's infertile so there are no children to tie his wife down in what appears to be a very unhappy marriage. Yet, she stays. Why? The money and the brother. Charlie's brother has always been the golden boy of the family but since falling in love with his sister-in-law and failing at university -yes, he hasn't been attending classes for at least a semester- he has begun to resent the expectations of his family and is likely looking to rebel against them in a substantial way. Running away with his brother's wife and money would likely do it. Charlie is an unforgiving man with a temper. It is entirely possible that if he catches them in the act, he will kill them both. See, it's good to be prepared."
John glanced back at the closed door leading out to the street and tried to remember what parts of the innocuous conversation with the cabbie could've given Sherlock all those clues. Because John had no doubt that Sherlock was working entirely off of what Charlie had told him.
"Amazing," John said and Sherlock grinned in the dim light of the hallway. His friend was all shadows and sharp angles, wicked in his cleverness. For a moment or two, John felt quite overwhelmed by this other man. It never got old. "What made you take interest in that cabbie? I mean, specifically. Let me guess, it was the fact that his shirt wasn't ironed that told you domestic trouble."
"Don't be ridiculous," Sherlock replied. "Wives aren't expected to iron their husbands' shirts anymore. His wrinkled clothing is more a marker of his occupation and class than his wife's moods. I know you were in the military but please try to overcome your dated concept of gender-roles."
"Then why did you choose him?"
"I didn't."
"Then how did you know he might kill someone?" John asked, too interested in trying to puzzle out the method of Sherlock's genius to realize the way the man's mood was going.
"I didn't," Sherlock snapped. He took the stairs three at a time, his posture like a paper-cut, ordinary but sharp and unexpectedly painful. "And that's rather the point!"
Charlie never killed his wife but that didn't mean Sherlock was wrong. It was because he was willing to learn from his mistakes, recognize society's blind spots, and adjust for them. It also helped that John learned from Sherlock, too. The next day, John found Charlie's address on the internet and sent his wife an anonymous letter. No one needed Sherlock to be proven right.
...Click here to read Part Three
If you enjoyed the piece, or if you didn't, please take the time to leave me a review. No matter how short, I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks.
by MuseDePandora (see: Master List of Fanfics)
Disclaimer: BBC's Sherlock belongs to various persons and corporations that are not me or associated with me. This piece of fanfiction is written with the admiration and respect for the original work. I claim no ownership of the show, Sherlock, or its accoutrements. No profit is made from this material, now or in the future.
Thanks to r34dinglight and Lexiodessa for beta-reading.
Read Part One HERE.
2.
Sherlock wasn't the type of man who liked being wrong. That was one of the first things John learned about him. Sherlock had assumed Harry was his brother, a mistake anyone could've made. But that was the type of mistake Sherlock hated making.
He knew he couldn't get everything right. He was intelligent enough and realistic enough to take that into account during his deductions. However, if Sherlock Holmes made a mistake, he wanted it to be because he was thinking, and not because he wasn't. When he made assumptions because he had mindlessly accepted social norms, that was the worst. Like Harry. One time, John made the blunder of reminding Sherlock about the Harry Mistake while they were in-between cases. For the next two days, John had to endure Sherlock's running diatribe on the perversion of the reasoning mind through social conventions of gender and heteronormativity. John was quite relieved when a VIP was murdered and Sherlock was distracted by the case. As terrible as that sounded even in his own head. Still, Sherlock never blindly assumed the gender of a person off a name again.
Another example of this was also soon after John met Sherlock. On retrospect, that was rather strange, since Sherlock rarely made that type of mistake. John knew enough later to realize that for him to do it twice in such a short amount of time was extraordinary. He wondered if his arrival into things had been distracting.
The second instance where Sherlock unconsciously succumbed to social attitudes was with the killer cabbie. All this time, the murderer was right in front of them but no one saw it because cabbies were invisible, nameless extensions of the transport industry. Sherlock hadn't noticed a very important possibility because, like everyone else, he'd dismissed them as non-entities without motivation or consequence.
That was unacceptable.
They were on their way back from dinner at Angelo's -yes, there'd been a candle- when John learned Sherlock would never make that mistake again.
"Where you going, Sherlock?" the cabbie asked.
"Home," he answered. "How have you been, Charlie?"
John stared at his friend and the plastic pleasantness in his voice.
"Ah, you know how it is," Charlie answered and Sherlock actually nodded.
"Your brother is still having trouble in school?"
And like that, Sherlock and the cabbie were engaged in small talk the entire way to Baker Street. No doubt it wouldn't have happened if they weren't between cases, but the fact that it happened at all was shocking. Sherlock didn't fill his head up with nonsense and he certainly didn't listen to other people's woes just because they needed an ear. He was barely willing to listen to John's complaints when he was the reason for them. But here he was encouraging their cabbie to spill his life story.
John learned from their conversation that Charlie's brother was the first in the family to attend university but was talking about pulling out. His wife thought it was because he was afraid to succeed but Charlie thought it was because his brother was pampered by the family and had never had to work for anything before in his life. For a good ten minutes, Sherlock nodded and asked leading questions, just allowing their cabbie to talk. When they reached home, Sherlock gave a polite - by his standards - good bye and left John to pay for their ride.
"Is he related to a case?" John asked while he waited for Sherlock to unlock the door.
"No." Sherlock cocked his head to the side, rethinking his answer. "Not yet."
"Then what was that about?"
The door opened and they both went inside.
"It might be important."
"What could possibly be important about Charlie's brother?"
"Oh, I don't know." Sherlock smirked. "Perhaps the fact that Charlie's wife is having an affair with his brother and they're considering running away to America together. Charlie is very good with his money habits and so has a healthy-sized savings account built up from over the last fifteen years. However, he's not very good with numbers or dealing with the bank, so his wife handles all of that. Charlie's infertile so there are no children to tie his wife down in what appears to be a very unhappy marriage. Yet, she stays. Why? The money and the brother. Charlie's brother has always been the golden boy of the family but since falling in love with his sister-in-law and failing at university -yes, he hasn't been attending classes for at least a semester- he has begun to resent the expectations of his family and is likely looking to rebel against them in a substantial way. Running away with his brother's wife and money would likely do it. Charlie is an unforgiving man with a temper. It is entirely possible that if he catches them in the act, he will kill them both. See, it's good to be prepared."
John glanced back at the closed door leading out to the street and tried to remember what parts of the innocuous conversation with the cabbie could've given Sherlock all those clues. Because John had no doubt that Sherlock was working entirely off of what Charlie had told him.
"Amazing," John said and Sherlock grinned in the dim light of the hallway. His friend was all shadows and sharp angles, wicked in his cleverness. For a moment or two, John felt quite overwhelmed by this other man. It never got old. "What made you take interest in that cabbie? I mean, specifically. Let me guess, it was the fact that his shirt wasn't ironed that told you domestic trouble."
"Don't be ridiculous," Sherlock replied. "Wives aren't expected to iron their husbands' shirts anymore. His wrinkled clothing is more a marker of his occupation and class than his wife's moods. I know you were in the military but please try to overcome your dated concept of gender-roles."
"Then why did you choose him?"
"I didn't."
"Then how did you know he might kill someone?" John asked, too interested in trying to puzzle out the method of Sherlock's genius to realize the way the man's mood was going.
"I didn't," Sherlock snapped. He took the stairs three at a time, his posture like a paper-cut, ordinary but sharp and unexpectedly painful. "And that's rather the point!"
Charlie never killed his wife but that didn't mean Sherlock was wrong. It was because he was willing to learn from his mistakes, recognize society's blind spots, and adjust for them. It also helped that John learned from Sherlock, too. The next day, John found Charlie's address on the internet and sent his wife an anonymous letter. No one needed Sherlock to be proven right.
...Click here to read Part Three
If you enjoyed the piece, or if you didn't, please take the time to leave me a review. No matter how short, I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks.