Fic Rec: Aiding and Abetting

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Title: Aiding and Abetting
Author: Jolie_Black
Pairing: none
Length: about 41,000 words
Rating: mature
Warnings: violence and realistic depictions of the consequences of drug abuse
Author's summary: When Greg Lestrade meets Sherlock Holmes, the brilliant young detective seems to have left his past as a drug addict far behind. But when one of their cases pitches Sherlock headlong into a relapse, Greg is determined not to lose him – whatever the cost to himself.


Reccer's comments: Remember that scene in TRF when Greg texts John to let them know they’re coming over to 221B? That’s not the done thing for a police officer, isn’t it? But this is Lestrade, who Sherlock considers the best of the lot. And this story shows why Sherlock needs him as much as Lestrade needs Sherlock.

I know of few stories in the fandom that do Lestrade so much justice. He’s shown to be a fallible, weak human being, just like the rest of us really. Committed to his work but at the end of the day all he wants is to relax with a beer and a football match on the telly, followed by a cuddle and perhaps a little extra something with the wife. Sadly, for some reason he can’t even fathom himself, his marriage is failing, and what he ends up with after a long workweek is a strung-out junkie on his doorstep.

Because he’s also decency personified, always willing to give someone a second chance, to look at things from the other’s POV (even if he doesn’t really get it), to allow he might be wrong, and willing to work around the rules if the rules are just plain silly.

All that is touched upon in this beautiful story, which shows why one needs a pair of extraordinary creatures like the Holmes brothers to recognise the exceptional human being Lestrade really is beneath that innocuous exterior and unfortunate raincoat.