221B Recs

Title: Mobile Phones, Rubble and Shock
Author: prettybirdy979
Pairing: none
Length: ~ 2,500 words

Author's summary: In the aftermath of the explosion, Lestrade must work to keep Sherlock Holmes alive and make sense of his communications... with only a mobile phone and Sherlock buried under the rubble of the pool.

Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Spoilers for The Great Game
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Reccer's comments: This story was originally written for morganstuart for donating to the Queensland flood appeal, and it seems particularly appropriate - because this story, like that appeal and other relief auctions on lj, has at its heart a recognition of human connection and a certain compassion.

The story itself is lovely - quiet and intense, sometimes sad and sometimes sweet, and there are moments in it that touch my heart as few other stories do. It's not the drama of the scene; it's the way the author captures the concern of the characters for one another. And it's not a case of one person caring for someone as a prelude to a romance - it's simply that they're each capable of caring as human beings. It's words and gestures - fearing more for a friend's safety than for one's own, squeezing a hand, placing a blanket, sitting and waiting silently with someone. Sherlock and Lestrade, Donovan and Mycroft, they're all in-character here. But they're coping with something sudden and disastrous and shocking, and they're worried for people they care about. Lestrade is the central character here and he's wonderfully written, as the events of the night take him from desperation to dread to exhaustion and a degree of shock:

Excerpt:
Sherlock is not as serious, but only just. They are both covered in blood and bruises and it’s so wrong to see Sherlock not moving because Sherlock always moves, that’s him and now John just looks like a broken doll covered in ash and dust and blood and it’s everywhere and somehow on Lestrade because he’s touching one of them, trying to make them move so they’ll not look dead.

The final scene is exquisite, with a rather gentle mood that wraps up the story beautifully.

Mobile Phones, Rubble and Shock, by prettybirdy979