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.

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[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.

[ihadabadday]

John had been doing nothing but sleeping it felt like. He eased himself to sit up and rubbed his face. He couldn't feel Sherlock. It ached. There was an odd empty spot inside him and he didn't want to deal with it.

He got up and reached for the talisman he kept on the bedside table when he was sleeping.

Panic gripped him.

It was gone.

Where did it go?

Frantically he began to search and search his room. But nothing. Had he left it out in the living area?

He scrambled into the living area to search that.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock's comfortable sleep didn't last long. Soon, he was tossing and turning, making grunting noises and saying one name over and over again under his breath.

"Persephone.... Persephone.."

His dreams rushed past him like he was sprinting through the dream world. He saw Hell, the River Styx, Cerberus, the Pool of Souls, the throne room, the small room off to the side with a bed and a shower. It was all there, like a map inside of his head, not pieces any more, but coming together into one cohesive thought, a memory.

One of many.

They came flashing past him, most of them too fast for him to even consciously see or understand. His head thrashed about, his body sweaty and pale, his breathing short and quick.

[ihadabadday]

John sat on the couch and sighed. His shoulders dropped. His last connection with Hades was gone.

He pulled his knees to his chest and struggled with the onslaught of emotions he felt.

"Hades..." He sobbed, "I need you. Please. Come back to me."

John got up again and retreated back to his bedroom. His body and mind were exhausted.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock felt dizzy, nauseous, but he couldnt lay down, or even move, while all of the memories whizzed past him. He saw himself fucking random people, killing them, then as the ultimate insult, personally ferrying them to the Pool of Souls. He saw Fates, his one true friend, and Zeus, his older brother the one he always wanted to look up to, and he was rejected and abandoned, sentenced to rule Hell forever.

And then there was John. His John.

The John he found in an alleyway, then took to hell and took him, pounding into him until he ad drained his seed.

John, eating the pomegrante seed.

John, getting angry and leaving.

John dying.

John being reborn.

Years of waiting, then... elation at having his John back.

Then he was gone... off to Sydney

And those sandals, those robes as black as night, and that laugh...

And just like that, the memories stopped, and he jolted awake, falling out of bed with a loud crash and a yell.

[ihadabadday]

Molly stepped into the room. "Ah, it worked. Get up you louse, there is an interloper on your throne and your Persephone is dying."

Bit of a lie, but it would hopefully kick him into gear.

[seaweed_writes]

He had just sat up and was looking at his hands, trying to figure out exactly what had been happening in the last few minutes and what exactly was going on here when Molly burst into the room.

"Persephone is dying?" He was to her in a millisecond, his eyes burning deep. "Where is he?. Tell me. NOW!" Flames flared up from the top of his head and his eyes burnt an angry red.

He was still a bit confused and disoriented, everything was meshing together but it still took some time.. He wasn't 100% sure where he was or why he was her quite yet. But he knew who she was.

"Demeter. Long time no see." He growled. "Where is John?"

[ihadabadday]

"Sydney." She said with a wink, "Don't make him scream too loud."

Molly went back to her fields.

[seaweed_writes]

In a flash, Sherlock was in Sydney, but millions of people lived here. How was he supposed to find John? It was like trying to find a tiny broken sliver of a needle in a stack of haystacks.

He closed his eyes and tried to sense John, but he couldn't. Had Demeter been right, was something really wrong with his Persephone?

Sherlock had to know.. but where to start... Where would John be?

He could be anywhere.

[ihadabadday]

There was a glimmer of power. Persephone. Just a glimmer. But it was there, a beacon to draw Hades to his love.

John was asleep in his flat. He had found the talisman. It sat on his bedside table once more.

He turned in his bed, muttering. Muttering for Hades.

[seaweed_writes]

The feeling, it was a low, tingling feeling in his gut.

Sherlock went down a few roads, following his intuition... and he found that as he did, the feeling got a little stronger, and a little stronger. The closer he got, the more the warm feeling inside of him grew and radiated outwards.

He broke into a run, following the feeling now. He had no idea how close he was, but he knew he was getting closer.

"Persephone. I will be there soon Wait for me." He yelled to the heavens, not giving a shit if anyone else heard him right now.

[ihadabadday]

The power of Persephone called to Hades. Calling and beckoning. Close. So close. Persephone needed Hades.

John tossed and turned, whimpering. Nightmares plagued him. Loosing Hades over and over. Loosing Sherlock.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock had no idea how long he had been running, it was dark and the city was coming alive for the night.

Finally, he stopped at a tall building. John's flat was in there somewhere... but which floor?

He searched floor by floor, letting his feeling guide him.

It wasn't until he got to the 10th floor that he knew he was close.

Sherlock walked down the maze of hall until he got to 1040..

He could feel it, John was here.. His Persephone.. was right beyond the door.

Sherlock pounded on the door as loud as he could, yelling "JOHN! JOHN!"

He wanted to break down the door, but that would only be as a last resort.

[ihadabadday]

The power of Persephone reached out, drawing Hades in.

The door unlocked.

John was asleep in the room. He was deep in the sleep, his power restoring itself, righting itself.

Hades had returned. Hades was alive.

On the bedside table was the talisman he had given his Persephone so long ago.