Out of Darkness, Out of Doubt (Sherlock)

[morganstuart]

Title: Out of Darkness, Out of Doubt
Author: Morgan Stuart
Fandom: Sherlock
Disclaimer: This universe does not belong to me; I'm just an appreciative visitor. I make no profit from this fan work.
Description: Sherlock observes more during cases these days than he used to do. Not much cop, this caring lark.
Author's Note: This is the second result from my two-part experiment with the 221b format (221 words, last word beginning with a "b").
Warnings (Highlight to Read): Non-explicit but disturbing description of murders and their crime



Even to Sherlock's dispassionate gaze, the crime scene had been... unexpected.

An ungodly nightmare, a grey-faced Lestrade had called it. John had closed his eyes and swallowed hard before kneeling on gore-slicked tiles beside the dismembered victims.

It was no surprise, then, that Lestrade ended up at 221B, that the three men pondered evidence and devoured related files until late night bled into early morning.

When John finally piled a duvet and pillow on the sofa, telling Lestrade to salvage whatever rest he could, the detective inspector offered no protest.

John yawned his good-nights and stumbled up the steps to his bed.

Wide awake, thrumming with thought, Sherlock turned to his improvised laboratory at the kitchen table.

A short while later, shouts sounded from upstairs.

Orders.

A litany of names. The soldiers who bore them would never heed that desperate summons.

After a final ragged, inarticulate cry came silence.

Asleep on the sofa, Lestrade folded his arms to his chest, tucked tight fists beneath his chin, and frowned.

Softly, he moaned a plaintive call for the one he had loved and wed, buried and mourned. Then, unanswered, he growled out a troubled sigh.

Sherlock remained motionless. Listening. Watching. Bearing witness.

After a time, when all again was still, he nodded to himself and returned to his flasks and beakers.


THE END

Vital Stats: Originally written in August 2011.

The title borrows from the song "Witness" by Sarah McLachlan.

Comments

[fengirl88.livejournal.com]

I love what you've done with Sherlock in this - the sense that he is still outside "this caring lark" in some ways but that his bearing witness is a form of it, even if he doesn't recognize that.

[machshefa.livejournal.com]

This is incredibly powerful. The way these three men circle one another and then part, each into their own bubble of remembrance and pain... Sherlock, too, with his position as sentinel, has a job to do. He's respectful here in a way that shows his development in relation to the two men whose dreams he witnesses and guards.

Gorgeous work.

[impishtubist.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is lovely. Very powerful. Especially Softly, he moaned a plaintive call for the one he had loved and wed, buried and mourned. Then, unanswered, he growled out a troubled sigh. Gorgeous.

[archea2.livejournal.com]

Yes. I can easily picture that Sherlock - a witness, not a comforter, but curious or caring enough to step out of his own bubble of interest and listen to the still, sad music of humanity.

(... at least, prior to TGG. The post-pool Sherlock, I think, would do more than nod.)

[vince-moon.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed reading this.

[selinabln.livejournal.com]

The scene is beautifully composed. John and Lestrade as part of "the caring lark", haunted by memories and emotions at night, and Sherlock, still the observing one, but obviously strangely affected by the nightmares of his two friends, unable to go back to his experiments until he knows they are at peace again...

My favorite line is this one: "Softly, he moaned a plaintive call for the one he had loved and wed, buried and mourned." The succession of verbs at the end is just gorgeous and painful in it's effect.

[ghislainem70.livejournal.com]

Well, my dear, your skill with ficlet form is ever more apparent, distilling maximum meaning and feeling, with economy. I actually feel the most for Sherlock here, it seeming more painful to bear witness, than to suffer the pain.

[sc010f.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow... okay, you broke me again. :)

This is just so fucking powerful... *cuddles them all*

and SHerlock... oh, Sherlock...

[ascendant-angel.livejournal.com]

wow you packed a lot of punch into so few sentences. powerful stuff, I really liked it.

[morganstuart.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you so much!

the sense that he is still outside "this caring lark" in some ways but that his bearing witness is a form of it, even if he doesn't recognize that

Yes! That's it exactly. (I struggled to do this in 221 words, and you stated it so beautifully in less than a sentence!) I'm so thrilled this did, indeed, come across. It's just what I was hoping to convey.

I'm glad this characterization seems fitting to you.

Thanks again!

[morganstuart.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! I'm so pleased the characterization worked for you. I love how you've described it here; that's just what I'd hoped would come through in the details (and the silences).

He's respectful here in a way that shows his development in relation to the two men whose dreams he witnesses and guards.

Yes! Oh, this makes me so happy. That's just how I saw it. Their dreams, or their reactions to their dreams, obviously affect and matter to him, or he wouldn't be acting the sentinel here.

I'm so grateful for your kind words. Thank you for reading and commenting.

[morganstuart.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you so much! I'm so glad this worked for you. Especially those lines about poor Lestrade's uneasy slumber. I blame Rupert Graves. I could just see him, curled on that sofa in Mrs. Dalloway, and the description wrote itself. ;)

I appreciate your always-encouraging feedback so much. Thank you for reading and commenting, my friend.

[morganstuart.livejournal.com]

to step out of his own bubble of interest and listen to the still, sad music of humanity

Oh, that's such a beautifully poignant way to put it! I love that. Yes, I definitely think this is caring, even the curiosity aspect of it, in this case: people's nightmares are dull and boring, I'd expect, and worthy only of being ignored. But the very real pain of these particular two men makes him pause and set his work aside, and he's unable to return to it until he's certain peace has been regained. For Sherlock, that's truly significant, I imagine.

Great point about the timing, too. Yes, this is definitely pre-TGG Sherlock. I'm quite anxious (then again, who isn't?) to discover exactly who and what the post-TGG Sherlock is. That experience will not doubt leave him changed, and since John's with him, I assume that means he'll be somewhat farther along on his journey toward being a good man as well as a great one.

As always, I'm so grateful to you for reading and commenting, my friend. Thank you!

[morganstuart.livejournal.com]

I'm delighted to hear it! Thank you so much for reading and commenting. I really appreciate it.

[archea2.livejournal.com]

(To give credit where it's due, "still sad music of humanity" belongs to Wordsworth.^^)

Post-TGG canon... yes, I'm curious too. Though glad to think the delay is now leaving you time to give us a few more of your Sofie installments!

[morganstuart.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm so glad this worked for you! I'm especially thrilled the dual ideas of the "caring lark" - that John and Lestrade are part of it, because they both obviously care, but in his own way, Sherlock is being pulled in that direction, too, as evidenced by his reaction to their pain, if not the victims' - came through. The way you describe it here is just what I was hoping to convey, so this does my heart good. :)

I'm really grateful to you for pointing out that line. It's so helpful to me to know what works and why, and I'm particularly pleased that those verbs in succession drove the feeling home.

You're so kind to take the time to read and comment as you do. I appreciate it very much.

[morganstuart.livejournal.com]

Aw, but you're the one who thought to employ it here! ;P And I love the visual of Sherlock stepping out of his own bubble of interest to listen...

You're so sweet! Gah, I just know the new series is going to make so, so much of what I've written AU. I do wonder how much farther to go with it now, when it will have such a short shelf life. I thought Sofie was done, but she keeps wanting to reappear... I don't know whether to let her be, create a new instalment, or write the end story that brings that whole 'verse to its logical conclusion. (I do know how things turn out in the end...) Just a quivering mass of indecision, I am!!! (Sorry for TMI!) But it is nice, if we are going to have to wait, to know at least that this means more time for all of us to play with the canon we already know.

[morganstuart.livejournal.com]

Oh, I can't thank you enough for your encouragement. What a lovely thing to say! I appreciate it. I agree with you about feeling for Sherlock here, as he witnesses and guards over the others' dreams.

Thanks again for your kindness!

[morganstuart.livejournal.com]

*hugs you* I'm so glad you found this to be moving. Don't break, though, please! You have lots more brilliant fic to write! :)

Poor Sherlock, indeed. *sigh*

As always, thanks for your wonderfully kind feedback. It means a lot to know this worked for you.

[morganstuart.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm so glad it worked for you, and you found it to be moving. I really appreciate your reading and commenting.

[thesyntaxdr.livejournal.com]

As always, your writing is like a punch to the stomach, in the best possible way. John and Lestrade break my heart, but Sherlock gets me even worse... I feel like he's secretly relieved he doesn't have any emotional attachments to plague him, not even realizing that moments like this -- witnessing someone else's vulnerability, or pain -- are the building blocks of those very connections.

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

For my nephews I came up with the "Asperger's hug" - where we flash the Buddy!Christ pistol-fingers at each other with a smile. (I'm not touching you because you don't like to be touched, but I acknowledge your presence and your position in my family.)

This makes the same perfect sense: I'm not a hugger and I can't speak meaningless comfort words - but I acknowledge your pain, even if I do not truly fathom it.

[cookiefleck.livejournal.com]

Ah, you are a master of the violin, plucking our heartstrings. Each line of the story is wonderful. How much did I love dear John getting out the bedding for Lestrade. What makes this show, and fan fiction, work is the lovely dynamic of these characters playing off each other (Mycroft, too). Each brings something different - wonderful and wounded - to the table, and I love how you bring that out.

Your "bearing witness" line struck a different chord with me, too. After just posting the photos from Buchenwald, my mind couldn't help but go there as I did feel I was bearing witness when there.

[archea2.livejournal.com]

Gah indeed. My friend, push the new series right out of your mind for the moment and give Sofie what she claims. One of my favorite metaphors for the work of art is the round, closed urn of the 1920es. If you feel your verse can be rounded and enriched and painted some more before it closes on itself, do it!

Look at season 1, giving John an official girlfriend - did it deter the S/J shippers? Not a whit. Let Sherlock catch Moriarty, or Moriarty catch Sofie and meet with your fervent threesome's righteous anger, or Sofie blossom into what you want her to blossom into, and we'll cross the canonical bridge when we come to it.

(I too am rather glad we'll have to wait till January as I still have a few L/§ on my mind and am convinced we'll hardly see them interact in season 2...)

[morganstuart.livejournal.com]

Your kind words are much appreciated! I do love to read the "gut punch" kind of stories, so I'm both amazed and thrilled if I've managed to create the same feeling. Thank you.

I feel like he's secretly relieved he doesn't have any emotional attachments to plague him, not even realizing that moments like this -- witnessing someone else's vulnerability, or pain -- are the building blocks of those very connections.

Beautifully put! You've summed up exactly what I was hoping to convey. The very act of setting aside his work to witness this means he's slowly being pulled into this caring lark himself, even if he doesn't realize it.

I'm so glad all three of them seem fitting and moving to you. I appreciate your reading and commenting so much!