Title: Worth It

Author: Pompey

Rating: G

Summary: The things one must go through to capture a criminal.

Warnings: none

Word count: 211(B)

Challenge: July 1 - slipping sign

Only a desperate man would attempt to flee across the Serpentine in late February, when the river was barely frozen and even showed patches of open water here and there. Charles Fields was desperate enough to try it. Sherlock Holmes was determined enough to follow him. As for Dr. Watson and Inspector Lestrade, neither would leave Holmes in the lurch, no matter how unstable the ice looked. However, Watson could not help muttering, "If one of us ends up in the water, I will never let Holmes hear the end of it" before giving chase himself.

Even given the slippery terrain, Watson might have outpaced Lestrade but cold stiffened his previously wounded leg and the Yarder easily passed him. This placed him in the perfect position to be hit squarely in the nose when Lestrade slipped and flailed futilely to regain his balance.

By the time both had recovered and reached Fields and Holmes, the latter had tackled the former, and there was little left to do other than hold down the squirming criminal and snap the darbies on him. Nevertheless, once back to the safety of the shore, the capture of Fields – and Holmes's insistence that the glory be shared between the three of them – did much to help Lestrade forget his bruises and Watson his mustache soaked with blood.