Title: The Smell of Bacon
Fandom: Spooks (MI5)/Sherlock (BBC)
Rating: PG
Length: 650
Summary: The next stage of the operation has gone wrong, but fortunately someone comes to Lucas' rescue
A/N: The next part of my Co-operation Series

Lucas North crawled up the steps from the basement.  He was bruised, bleeding and it felt as if three of the fingers on his left hand were broken.  His only satisfaction was one of his two assailants was going nowhere at all.  The other had departed slightly earlier, having given his companion the instruction to ‘finish him off’.

At this point Lucas neither knew nor cared what had gone wrong.  Harry had assured him with Piotr Wojcik’s (aka Valery) disappearance the operation with Zarmutek could go forward as planned.  But somehow it hadn’t worked that way.  It had only been Lucas’ sixth sense telling him there was a problem which had prevented his own death.

Lucas collapsed onto the pavement, grateful it was still early and no-one was around to see him. He tried to summon enough strength to stagger to the nearest phone box to call for help.  As he did so he saw the approaching blue flashing lights of a police car.  He lay still, hoping he’d be mistaken for someone sleeping rough.  Being picked up by the police at this stage was guaranteed to blow what was left of his cover.

But the car stopped and the driver got out.  Lucas half registered he had no colleague, but couldn’t be bothered to wonder why.  The policeman came over and bent down.

“Thank goodness,” he said.  “You’re alive.  Can you get yourself into the back of the car if I help you?”

Lucas nodded and then gave a cry of pain as his broken fingers came into contact with the man’s arm.

“Take it easy, in your own time.”

“Thank you, Greg,” Lucas murmured.

“No problem.  Do you need to go to hospital, or can we patch you up ourselves?”

“No hospital.  I …”

“Don’t try talking.  We’ll go to Baker Street.  I’ll let John Watson know we’re on our way.”

Lucas fell into a semi-conscious doze as they sped through the London streets.

***

He woke when the car stopped.  Greg and John helped him up the stairs and into what he took to be Sherlock’s bedroom.  Greg helped to remove his outer clothing, taking care to avoid his fingers and then left John to do the patching up.

After about 15 minutes John took a step back to admire his handiwork.  “You’re not as bad as I thought you would be – it’s mostly superficial wounds, although I’d like to keep an eye on them for the next few days.  I’ve taped your fingers together, and we’ll put your arm in a sling for now.  We could get them x-rayed, but I doubt it will tell us more than they’re broken.”

“They’ll be fine,” Lucas replied.  “I’ve had worse.”  He looked around the bedroom.  “Sherlock’s?”

“Yep.  He’ll be back in a bit.  I suspect at the moment he’s telling his brother exactly what he thinks of him for putting you in unnecessary danger.”

“About that.  I’ve had some thoughts.”

“Keep them to yourself for now, mate.  My role is merely to repair the damages other people cause, not look into why they cause them.”

At that point Greg called out, “Are you two about done in there?  Breakfast’s almost ready.”

“We’re on our way,” John replied.

The smell of the cooked breakfast did wonders for Lucas’ spirits.  It was tempered only by the realisation he would not be able to cut up the bacon.  However, Greg instantly sized the situation up when he saw the sling Lucas was wearing, and cut the food into manageable pieces.

The three of them sat down to eat.  Lucas was about to ask how Greg had found him, when the other two began arguing about the rugby match they’d seen the previous day.  Lucas listened and started eating his breakfast, accepting the buttered toast Greg passed over to him.  The details about the previous night could wait until at least after breakfast.