Mistake
is a Sherlock Holmes fanfic written by KCS.
Despite their age, Holmes and Watson are still at work in their well-known field...until one night, a mission for Mycroft changes everything. Watson is hit by a stray bullet and rendered comatose, driving his grief-stricken friend nearly to his breaking point. Even after Watson awakens, the injury takes a toll. After years of taking on impossible cases, the Great Detective and his faithful doctor may have reached the hardest of all.
This work includes examples of the following tropes:
- Asleep for Days: Watson ends up in a coma for six weeks thanks to a grazing shot and a fall to the pavement. He remembers the incident and is shocked when Holmes tells him it's been more than a month since then.
- Continuity Nod:
- Talking to the unconscious Watson, Holmes mentions that he once said he owed him a thousand apologies, a reference to The Adventure of the Dying Detective.
- At the end, Holmes advises Watson not to venture behind their cottage and brings up his interest in raising bees, referring to Holmes eventually retiring to a bee farm in the country.
- Converse with the Unconscious: The doctor tells Holmes that it's possible Watson can hear him, so he takes up a habit of talking about cases and reading to him while waiting for him to wake up.
- Dramatic Drop: One afternoon, Holmes walks in with a stack of books while the doctor and nurse are giving the still-unconscious Watson a checkup. When Watson's pulse spikes after Holmes wishes him good evening, the doctor grins and tells the detective that he's responding to his voice. Holmes drops the books in shock.
- Dropping the Bombshell: A variant; the shock doesn't so much come from the phrase as from the event itself. After some time of being rendered unable to speak by brain damage, Watson shocks Holmes by telling him good evening. The doctor had been working hard at speech therapy behind his back so as to surprise him.
- Empty Promise: Lestrade finds out about the incident early, thanks to having to prevent Holmes from killing the criminal responsible. Devastated by Holmes' reaction as well as the event itself, he "rashly" tells the detective that of course Watson will be all right in an attempt to comfort him.
- Get Out!: A third-person variation; when Lestrade first arrives to collect the criminal who shot Watson, he wonders if he's able to make Holmes give up his prisoner by force. However, after a moment, the detective acknowledges Lestrade's explanation that he's there to take the crook and tells him to remove the man from his house.
- Give Me a Reason: While driving back to Baker Street with the criminal, Holmes asks him to do him the kindness of trying to escape, so that he can have an additional reason to shoot him.
- Interrupted Suicide: After Lestrade arrives to take away the criminal, he turns to go, despite his misgivings about leaving Holmes alone. However, he sees Holmes eying the revolver and fortunately puts two and two together before he can leave. He storms back in, yelling at the detective not even to think about it.
- It's All My Fault: Holmes' grief is exacerbated by blaming himself for not checking for a lookout, considering it unforgivable carelessness. The night of the shooting, he becomes suicidal, unsure if he can bear the weight of the guilt. Even Mycroft, who Sherlock usually believes, can't convince him he wasn't responsible.
- Narrative Profanity Filter: At one point, a doctor tries to evict Holmes from the room for exciting Watson too much. Holmes informs him what he can do with his medical advice, making Watson laugh.
- Pistol-Whipping: When the criminal who shot Watson tries to ambush him upon being cornered, Holmes whacks him over the head with the doctor's revolver, knocking him temporarily unconscious.
- Pulling Your Child Away: As Holmes runs after the sniper, he gives off a very menacing aura. Other criminals who happen to be out keep their distance from him and mothers pull their kids into doorways.
- Silent Snarker: When Watson wakes up, he can't initially speak. However, when Holmes asks him if he can focus on his voice, he is still very capable of exasperatedly rolling his eyes.
- Tears of Joy: Holmes gets teary-eyed upon seeing Watson regain his ability to walk around Christmas. The fact that he's crying despite being incredibly happy utterly confuses the detective.
- Through His Stomach: Upon hearing the good news that Watson is awake, Mrs. Hudson immediately hands Inspector Lestrade (the messenger) a bowl to hold. She tells the confused policeman that Watson has been eating through a tube and she doesn't know how good the food is at the sanitorium, so she's baking him something.
