Simply and powerfully told.
Well done:-)
Mrs P:-)

This packs a powerful punch. You can feel John's pain even though he does not talk much. Excellent piece!

What a fantastic snippet of Lestrade the day of! Nicely in character - great insights & well set up for him finding out - very nice!
Love the snark percolator notes BTDT! Lol! Actually a lot of those little moments really gave this piece some great flavour - like this 'Matt Carroll had yet to earn his way into being addressed by his surname'
& this 'Lestrade thought he could smell blood, just vaguely, but perhaps that was his imagination. With a table between them, he couldn't see what other officers had noted- the patches of blood on John's knees'
I like!

This sounds very in character for Lestade.

So I know I've owed you this for aaaaaages and right now when I should be essaying is the best time to review. ;)

Starting out with the malfunctioning vending machine is a perfect metaphor. The fact that everyone accepts it and just gets on is such an accurate snapshot of life. We've got one at work and no one even bothers calling the repairman anymore.

It had taken just as much time and effort to write the note as it would have done to simply make more coffee, but that wasn't the point. All he really wanted was something to keep him awake. Totally this! It's the principle dammit! I love your snarky Lestrade.

I liked the way Lestrade is portrayed as being very much on Sherlock and John's side from the comment about being there for John's epic punch to not bothering to check Barts. I always felt that Lestrade should know that's where they would have ended up.

Describing the various members of Lestrade's squad made it feel much more real than just giving them names and making them exit stage left. It's good that you didn't demonise Sally, even with Lestrade sulking with her you don't give off the bitch for the sake of being a bitch vibe.

I get the feeling that Lestrade is on autopilot once he sees John, he knows it's not going to be good but isn't ready to face it just yet.
And John! God we obviously know what's happened but him having to Lestrade and then apologising. No words just squeaky noises that are probably only audible to dogs! I'm glad you left it there it packed such a punch and leaves the reader reeling.
TLDR version: I loved it!

If that was as painful to write as it was to read, join me in therapy! It may take some time! Stunning stuff.

Oh God!
That was a shocker - brilliantly written though!

Brilliant writing, harrowing reading.

Poor poor John!

John angst is my favourite genre - now on to read more of your writing :)

Hey look, a fic I haven't reviewed yet.

That vending machine sounds like the one in my school, except yours works in general. The notes on the coffee machine were hilarious though. Poor Lestrade, can't even get a coffee right in this business.

It's highly amusing just how much Lestrade likes the Baker Street duo over his own colleague that he regrets missing Dawson get punched. Granted, Dawson's a prick, but so is Sherlock. Oddly, it took me a moment to remember what episode this took place after. I was like: wait... oh. Fail.

"For all he knew, she'd been conditioned to be afraid of baritones or blue scarves." That is the worst conditioning ever. I think it would be classical type. I think.

I really like that ending. It gave off the "well, crap" vibe that I love giving people. It was absolutely fabulous. You did a really great job leaving Lestrade clueless and setting up this perfect sense of dramatic irony. Because once we know the episode, we know, and it's only a matter of time before the penny drops. It drops magnificently.

John's shock is probably the only thing preventing him from being a mad wreck at the moment. Ah PTSD.

I'm not sure why but I like this one a bit more than the other oneshots. Probably because it's a smoother entry to get into. Every reader has their moments of "no, no,why" when they're reading a story or what not and this captures it for everybody involved. I really like this one Eddy. It would be a bit confusing for one not in the canon know-how though. Still great fun. Or rather, depressing fun.

Loved the way you described Lestrade.

Oh...John...
Very, very nice. Excellent writing, characters are as they should be. I also like how you add minor characters where necessary, not trying to only use canon characters when you need some supporting people.
Lestrade is awesome. He could have his own show if Sherlock wasn't around.
And just...John...

Oh, I love how you start off with Lestrade's perspective here; very interesting. I loved the whole bit with the vending machine and how it pertains to life. That was really awesome! And how true it is! And I also love how the bit with the vending machine clearly shows that Lestrade was having a bad day...so it only stood to reason it was probably going to get worse. Funny how things work that way. I really loved the imagery of the rain as well; that just set the tone and even foreshadowed the fact the day was going to get worse. Oh, dear...poor John. I loved the little stand-down with Matt and Lestrade. Certainly, John wasn't a danger to them, so I'm glad the handcuffs were finally removed. This was quite a unique way to inform Lestrade of Sherlock's death. This episode is so interesting, so I love that so many writers have ideas about it. I really enjoyed this. Well done. :)

One tiny error:

more you selfish shit-more, you selfish shit

Ah, the wretched game that is a vending machine. Very aggravating. I also really appreciated the coffee maker notes. All the office politics! It made for a very nice transition into the actual meat of the story.

"he'd missed that, much to his disappointment" Imagining his reaction made me burst out laughing there. Poor Lestrade! You'd think that he'd have been able to see that bit of drama; it totally would have made a lot of aspects of this case worth it. (:

"The rain in London just made everything dirty and wet." Nice imagery there. I got a feeling of disdain from Lestrade as well as a mental image of the rain making everything dirty and wet. Lovely!

"For all he knew, she'd been conditioned to be afraid of baritones or blue scarves." No fearing of the baritones! Blue scarves, maybe. But not the baritone! The baritone is your friend!

"Give her time, she was going to get awfully sick of trips to the front desk." If this were mine, I'd use a semicolon instead of a comma, just for the sake of flow.

I love the idea of Lestrade finding out about Reichenbach like this. I appreciated the fact that you don't even touch on Lestrade's reaction because I think that it is more powerful this way. The fact that John turned himself in so that he could tell him what happened was... fantastic. Well conceived!

This was really beautiful! Another excellent piece! I really enjoyed this and look forward to reading more from you!

Cheers!

Once again, I realll enjoy Lestrade's character, especially the comical side to him, as when he's reading the post-it notes and reminding himself to report whoever's drinking all the coffee. And the serious moments work well, too, especially when John tells Lestrade that Sherlock is dead. John himself is a very sad character here - it's very clear that he's upset and downtrodden by the events at the Fall. I feel very sorry for him. It's especially interesting to read this after I finished off "After the Fall". Great job.

Laughed out loud at the coffee notes and frightened the cat!

Ha, good old Lestrade. He knows exactly where NOT to look to ensure they aren't found.
Oh a small clang with he repetition of clouds.( I am an expert on clangers myself. :-/ )

Oh, gut wrenching ending.

I loved this little window in to what was happening elsewhere - sharply ritten and beautifully observed.