In Plain Sight - AU - Locked to seaweed_writes

[ihadabadday]

No one knew how long Gods had walked among the mortals. They just knew they had. Some remained in their country of origin, some branched out and traveled. Others started business or charities. Some just went through existence simply being. Belief didn't have much to do with how the Gods chose to lead their lives.

This tale though, it focuses on the Greek Gods of old and Mount Olympus (which is a real place and traditionally is where Zeus is said to live with Hera).

John Watson didn't care for the politics of the Gods that surrounded them every day. He had other things to focus on, to pay attention to. Like medical school, and then the military. It wasn't until he was shot and laying in the desert, bleeding, did he whisper things to the God of Death, to Hades. To a god he didn't believe in. Blood whispers they were often called. And gods hardly paid attention to them, most believed they were the whispers of dying men.

But John Watson survived when others with the same injury had died. What was different about him?

He returned to London on an army pension and a cane. He shuffled through his life, a constant ache in his chest, like there was something missing. Though he had little to no idea of what was missing. He helped others where he could, donating his time and what little money. A homeless veteran (it boiled him so to see those who helped their country be left behind) once called him a beacon of light.

A beacon of light huh?

Most days he didn't feel like one. Most days his mood was dark and everything was shit.

One night when he was limping slowly back to his dismal bedsit, something caught his attention. He glanced down an alley and saw a tall man dressed in black, being mugged by some ratty youth. The man was far too posh for this neighborhood. So why was he here? But that didn't matter. John, on two strong legs, charged into the alley and used his cane to knock the criminal away. He didn't notice, but there seemed to be a light around him, an otherworldy aura to him.

He held the cane like a sword and pointed it at the would be thief. "You need to leave here." John commanded. It had been easy for some to forget that he had been Captain John Watson of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers in Her Majesty's Army.

Comments

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock stopped pacing as soon as Molly said that.

"Yes, he showed me, he created a flower for me, out of his bare hands. I assume that it was like the one he gave... Hades." He couldn't say 'gave me', because he had no idea about anything that John and Hades had said or done together, other than the little parts John had told him.

"What about the flower?" he asked.

[ihadabadday]

She shrugged a bit. "I thought it might be a trigger to wake up whatever was sleeping inside you. I promised John when he returned from Sydney, that you would have woken."

Molly yawned a bit, that burst of power had left her a little zapped. John's habit of resting after such an outburst was catching.

"I am going to lie down for a bit. Please don't bring the house down around us." She winked at Sherlock and then went back to her room.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock watched her go, then slumped into the chair that she had almost tossed him into.

He hadn't had the heart to tell her that him and John had had a huge fight, right before they left for the US. John had taken the flower and crushed it in his hands. Apparently, John had not told her about Sherlock's flower at all, only the one for Hades, however long ago that was.

He got up and went outside, walking through the dregs of the wheat fields. It was almost winter, and the wheat had been collected already, but he loved the way it smelt. He sat, cross legged i the field and closed his eyes letting his mind wander.

[ihadabadday]

John was sitting in his own little flat, staring out the window at the sky. He touched the pendant he wore, eyes closed. "Sherlock... I love you." He whispered, "I... I would do anything for you. To make you remember and stop the pain that you're in."

He clutched the stone, feeling his power wrap around it. But it could not bring it to life like Hades once had.

[seaweed_writes]

While Sherlock sat there, he felt.. something.. someone reach out for him.. He couldn't feel or hear anything, it was something that was in his bones, in his very soul..

He closed his eyes tight, when they opened, they were blood red, and his skin glowed with a fiery aura. He felt.. heat all around him, flames, not the aura around his skin, but flames, licking up around him, he could feel the heat on his skin, even if he couldn't see anything.

"John..." He cried out, not sure if he was being attacked or is he was causing it. He could feel the fire but it didn't burn him, it danced and waved and followed the contour of his body, if he stuck his arm out, the fire moved around it.

"John.. what's happening to me?" He yelled up toward the heavens. His whole body felt like he was melting and reforming over and over and over again.

"Help me.. John... please.. I.. need you.. I.. i. love you!" Three little words, that he had never uttered before, now flew up from the field from his lips to someone so far away

[ihadabadday]

John's eyes snapped open and he gasped. He could feel it. The thread between then was starting to come together. He reached along it with his power, calling to Hades. Calling to him. He wished, he wanted, he hoped...

"Sherlock I love you..." He whispered along the bond. John had a tiny bit of Hades' power in him. He whispered and then sent it back to the man. Maybe... Maybe that was what he needed.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock didn't even notice that the field had actually caught on fire now, not the magical flame around him, but a true fire, burning out from around him, sending large black plumes of smoke into the air.

His eyes were still closed, his mind on nothing but that tenuous link between himself and John.. No, he corrected himself in his mind, Hades and Persephone.

"John... my John.. My.. Persephone." He tried to hard to connect to the man so far away.. he could feel that he was gripping the talisman that Hades.. that HE had given him so long ago.. The memories were still not there, but the connection. it was.

He closed his eyes, screwed them tight, concentrating with all of his might.. the flames, both magical and real grew higher and hotter, whipping into little fire tornadoes around him.

And then he felt it.

The spark.

The stone that John held. With a thought, he set it alight.

[ihadabadday]

John gasped when he felt the stone warm. He pulled the necklace off and stared at the stone. "Hades?" He asked, voice trembling. He clutched it tight in his fist for a moment before pressing his lips to it. Oh... Oh he wished Hades was here.

He wished his love was back to how he was, that they could be together again. That his heart would stop hurting.

"I love you." He whispered against the stone, "I love you so. Wake up, please..."

[seaweed_writes]

"Per....seph...one..." He whispered the word once, then he fell to the soft, cold, loamy ground. The stone no longer flamed, as Sherlock lost consciousness, once again blue eyed, and surrounded by a very real fire burning in the field around him.

The flames licked at his skin, but he lay still and quiet, breathing in the choking air through his shallow breaths. It had taken every bit of his energy to do what he had,. and now he was at the mercy of the fire around him.

[ihadabadday]

"Hades..." He whispered as he lost consciousness. He dropped the talisman and it rolled away just a bit from him. It was cold once more, solid stone.

--

Molly came running out. She cursed and waved her hand, the wind blowing out the fire. Damn it. She ran over to Sherlock and knelt down. He was burned, not badly though, first to second degree burns. She hoisted him up and got him to her car.

Because she wasn't sure what the smoke had done to him, it was better to be than sorry. She got him to the hospital and the doctors and nurses took over.

[seaweed_writes]

It was late the next day before Sherlock came to. He had an oxygen mask to help with the smoke in his lungs, and bandages on his arms and legs. The burns would heal, he wouldn't need any skin grafts, but it would take some time, and he would be in some pain for a while, the doctors told him.

He lay back, closing his eyes one night, full of painkillers, but still that didn't staunch the pain. He tried to reach out to John.. but he couldn't feel him any more.. Panic set in his breast, he wished Molly was here.. she would know if John was OK, right?

[ihadabadday]

John was passed out in his flat in Sydney. His power having drained itself to go to Sherlock. It was hard when they were close, but since they were so apart now... It was even harder.

He slept. He wasn't sure how long he slept. He slept and he dreamed of Hades.

[seaweed_writes]

It was weeks before he was finally out of the hospital. His lungs had sustained some damage, and his burns had not all fully healed, but he was good enough to do the rest at home, he had been told.

He waited in the front lobby for Molly to come get him. She hadn't heard from John since the day that Sherlock set the crops on fire. Of course he was worried. He wanted to fly to Sydney, but there was no way he could in his condition, not right now.

And so, he had to wait.. and hope.. and try to reach out to John again.

[ihadabadday]

John gasped when he woke, taking deep breaths. Odd habit, his mind supplied. He didn't need to breathe anymore. But apparently he needed to sleep.

He forced himself up and rubbed his face. How long had he been out? He got up and stumbled over to find his phone. Dead. He swore and plugged it in. In a moment he was able to see the date...

Weeks?

He had been out for weeks? He swore and sat down, sending a message to Molly.

'Alive'

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock had been quiet the entire ride home. As they got back to the farmhouse, Sherlock went on ahead back into the house while Molly locked up the car. He heard her phone go off, but thought nothing about it. He just wanted to go inside and go to bed and pretend that everything was OK, that John was back and he was just himself again, and all this complicated mess was just over with.

[ihadabadday]

Molly smiled when she saw the message. "Sherlock. He's okay." She called to him.

She wasn't sure how much longer either of her boys would be able to take it. Sherlock needed to wake up.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock had almost been to the door, but as soon as she said that, he ran back full tilt.

"John... John's okay?" He asked,m his voice raising with excitement.

Suddenly, his smile fell. "I... don;t know what to do.. I tried to open up. to... let Hades in.. I guess.. and I connected with John a bit, but then it drained all my energy and.. well.. " He held up his bandaged arms.

"I can't do that again, I dont have the energy for it, and even then I was only able to hold it for a few seconds.. I.. can't .. I can't become Hades.. I tried as hard as I could, and I failed. I failed John." He turned and kept walking until he was in his room. He closed the door, curled up as best his burnt limbs would let him, and lay there till he fell asleep of exhaustion.

[ihadabadday]

Molly swallowed and frowned. This wasn't good. She didn't know what this needed. To bring Hades back.

"FATES!" she bellowed much like Hades had. But she threw her power into it, drawing the deity to her. She was going to get an answer out of him one way or another.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock felt the power of that call, even though he couldn't hear her voice through the closed door and that fact that she was obviously several rooms away.

But that sparked a memory.. it was... hazy... incomplete.. but he yelled for the Fates. and a man came, with gray hair and a slightly stocky build and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth...


Why did he remember this??

[ihadabadday]

Said man did appear. He pulled his cigarette from his lips and let out a stream of smoke.

"I take it that it's not working? He's not waking up on his own?" He asked Molly.

[seaweed_writes]

Molly crossed her arms and frowned. "No. It isn't working. He was able to make a small, short connection to John, but it caused him to pass out and almost burn to death."

The look she gave him could wither any lesser man, or god. "What do we need to do.. It's literally killing both John and Sherlock. What does he need to do to unlock Hades inside of him? Neither of them can take much more. John was MIA for weeks while Sherlock was injured Who knows what happened to him."

She scoffed. "Of course. You know."

"So tell me. What. Do. We. Do?"

[ihadabadday]

Greg sighed. Molly was one of the few people that he could never deny. He moved his hand and a bottle appeared between them.

"Potion of Awakening. It's meant specifically for awakening reborn gods. We try not to use it, or make it's presence known. Make sure he drinks the entire thing." Greg instructed before vanishing.

Damn Hades had to go get himself killed.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock had been totally unaware that one of his oldest friends had been just on the other side of the house up until a couple of moments ago, not that he actually remembered Greg at all.

He was drifting in and out of sleep when he heard a knock on his door. Of course it could only be Molly.

"Molly, please don't bother me. I just want to be left alone for a while."

Left alone to wallow in all that now seemed lost to him.

[ihadabadday]

"I have some tea that will help you sleep. It will ease your aches." Molly stepped into the room carrying a cup of steaming tea.

"Please drink it. I promise I'm not poisoning you." Molly assured him. She stroked his hair.

"Oh child, I am trying everything to help you." She then retreated to give Sherlock peace.

[seaweed_writes]

That was a really weird thing for Molly to say... he looked at her, a bit accusingly. He almost didn't take the teas, but then he decided that if she had wanted to kill him, she would have done it a long time ago.

Being a native Londoner, he loved a good cuppa. These Americans had no idea what a proper cup of tea was. Of course, Molly sounded American, though she came from the gods, she wanted to blend in. But it was obvious that she had spent some time in the UK, as it smelled really nice, and she had put in the requisite amount of too much sugar that he loved.

He took a sip. It wasn't quite PG Tips, but it wasn't bad. He didn't smell any lavender or chamomile or any of those other sleep agents in it, but it was still a decent cuppa.

Sherlock savored it, drinking it slowly. And when he was done, he was quite surprised that he actually did feel very tired. Maybe it was her magic and not the tea ingredients.

Either way, he put the cup down and laid down on the bed, closing his eyes. Sleep came to him quickly.