Sherlock Holmes: 60 for 60

Canon Story: The Three Garridebs
Title: Envision x 3
Author: spacemutineer
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Three 60s for this one. I kept thinking they would have had to discuss what happened afterward, even if Holmes probably wouldn't want to.

"Would you really have killed him?"
Holmes puts his fork down with a clang against his plate but doesn't look up.
"Of course I would have."
"Vengeance solves nothing. You are too wise for such waste."
"It would not have been vengeance."
"What then? I don't understand."
"I would not have had time to chase him, can you understand that?"
---
"You forget how quickly my mind works. When I saw you'd been shot, the entire scene played out instantly. You on the floor. Me on my knees. Evans, ignored, breaking for escape. I stop him how I can while still trying to keep you with me. The only question is whether I would have been successful on that second point."
---
"Holmes."
"Don't. I am finished discussing it."
"Let me say this, please. You are not the only one who fears the end of our partnership, our friendship. But I am the only one of us who has ever actually seen it. Your imagination is wrong. We are smarter and stronger than how we envision ourselves."
"No, Watson. We're just luckier."

Canon Story: The Dancing Men
Title: Concerned x 2
Author: spacemutineer
Rating: PG
Author's Note: A little bit of meta here. A couple of times recently I've used these 60s to tell Holmes what I think, but this time, I think he told me instead.


I debated what to say to him on the train. Hands folded and chin nodded, he was pretending to sleep.

Without "waking", he read my mind.

"I am fine, Doctor. In every sense. And no, you needn't worry so noisily that I'll be reaching for my cocaine bottle the minute we reach home."

"You still keep a bottle of cocaine?"

---
Grey eyes finally flicked open. "That is not what I meant."

"It isn't what I am concerned about, either."

"Then what is? The case was sad; yes, I agree. Tragic, even, in an operatic sense. But tragedy is part and parcel of detective work. Not all endings are happy ones, as you and your readers should well know by now."

Canon Story: The Veiled Lodger
Title: Own x 5
Author: spacemutineer
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A condensed argument in 60 word pieces. Old words come back to haunt when things come to a head over Holmes' drug use.
Author's Note: I am so sorry, everyone, for my terrible modding and totally inconsistent writing in the last few months. Many exciting things have been happening in my life, but it is a lot of change at once for me, and my anxiety, which is always an issue, has been totally out of hand. I've been so upset about letting you all down, and that has made things spiral worse, as I avoid commenting because I'm so embarrassed about how infrequently I've been commenting. It's so stupid and circular, and so hard to stop. I'm really sorry, you guys. I'm extremely embarrassed about everything, and I want to thank you for hanging in with us despite my crap mod work. I love you all for trying this silly, wonderful thing with me, and I want to a good job for you to keep you coming back. I hate it that I've been failing so badly.


"Every time you bury that needle in your arm you are dancing with death."
Beneath heavy lids, Holmes smiles. "She is such an enthralling dance partner, after all. She may take the lead in distant days, but I've been a step ahead for this long. Death shall find I do not relinquish control so easily, and never to a woman."
***
"As flippant as ever. Now you're smarter, faster even than death itself. Or so the cocaine tells you. But, tell me, what happens if you're wrong?"
"Wrong about what? The dosage? If I am wrong, I die. That should be easy enough to understand, even for you, Doctor."
The needle and bottle spray shards when they hit the wall.
***
"You are a self-centered hypocrite!"
"I never claimed to be anything more. You're the one who prefers to pretend I am some kind of hero. Your fantasies are your own, Watson. I accept the real world instead. I am a venal narcissist. I use myself however I may well please and I make apologies to no one for it."
***
"And you certainly won't need to make any apologies for it when I find your body draped over this chair some morning either. With your eyes rolled back into your head, you'll have little to be concerned about, I suppose."
"Just say it, Watson. I know you've been brewing some grandstanding statement for me. Spit it out. Let's hear it."
***
"Only this. 'Your life is not your own. Keep your hands off it.'"
Holmes' comeback is not instantaneous this time.
"That was different. She was considering suicide."
"And her poison is more predictably effective than yours, which makes everything entirely dissimilar."
"Watson. I'm not going to kill myself."
"Not intentionally. You'll forgive me if I find little comfort in that."