prettyarbitrary:

songlinwrites:

ivyblossom:

sherlock-undercover:

“Whatever it takes, whatever happens.” – Sherlock Holmes

John is in danger, and Sherlock is protecting him. I can’t wait to see the depth of both of these go to in series 4.

hold the fuck up

I’ve just realized some implications here. Namely, that John thinks there’s no one Sherlock would go out of his way to protect. We, the audience, know that’s patently fucking stupid, because we saw Sherlock do just that in Reichenbach. So why does John not make that same connection?

Has Sherlock not told John that he “died” because John’s life was threatened?

No, John knows it’s him Sherlock is protecting.  As evidenced by the fact that he comments on it to Lestrade, John knows that his chair being back out in the living room means something, and then when he sits (quite possibly to try to figure out what Sherlock wants him to do with it) check out his expression of realization when he lays eyes on the perfume bottle.  I’m not entirely sure whether he thinks Sherlock had it left there as a message that he was specifically protecting Mary or John, but after Sherlock’s promise at the wedding he certainly knows it means one or the other of them.  And in a sense, protecting either of them is protecting both.  That’s the point of the whole chain of vulnerabilities.

(However, according to Sherlock himself, John’s life was no longer in danger by the time he stepped off the roof.  Mrs. Hudson’s and Lestrade’s lives, however, may have been.  So Sherlock was never protecting John there, but it does show he cares enough to take a risk for his friends.  On the other hand, he’s also enough of an ass to then leave them hanging for two years.  So, you know.  John may find him understandably hard to read sometimes. :D)