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As John details to Lestrade the robbery they witnessed not even half an hour ago, small, frantic movement catch the corner of his eye. Sherlock. His hands are fidgeting wildly, roaming around without direction. Picking at his fingernails, pulling at his scalp, scratching his arms…
"Hang on a sec," he tells Lestrade, already walking over and rummaging in his messenger bag.
"What's the freak doing?" Donovan asks nosily, peering over.
He pulls out noise-canceling headphones and shoves them into Sherlock's hands wordlessly, who immediately grabs them and puts them on with gratitude plainly written across his face. He leans against the wall and sinks down, closing his eyes as relief washes over him. John gently crouches down and places a pain stim toy in his hands, which is immediately taken and pressed into skin.
"What are you doing? And what's wrong with the freak" Donovan asks condescendingly.
John straightens up and gives Donovan a glare so icy that even she takes an unsteady step backward, like she's surprised at her own body's response. "Are you willfully ignorant, or just hateful?" he hisses.
Lestrade, hearing heated voices, hastily walks over. "What's going on?" he inquires, with a purposeful placating tone, wanting to prevent any sort of fight from breaking out.
"Sherlock is autistic," John explains through clenched teeth. He takes a couple measured breaths to calm himself then looks at Donovan,rather impressively restraining himself from not punching her in the face. "Sally, do you know what autism is?" he asks, trying to be patient for the sake of Sherlock.
"It's a… neurodevelopmental disorder."
"That's a big word for you. Good job." At a glare from Lestrade, he adds in a quick, "Sorry. That was mean. Yes, autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder, with hallmarks including struggles with social communication and sensory processing, among others."
John takes a breath and looks over at Sherlock, who is sitting with his eyes closed and head tilted back against the wall, rolling the pain stim toy between his hands and up his forearms.
"Sherlock is overstimulated right now. Between the loud noises resulting from the unexpected robbery we witnessed, and consequent stress, the flurry of activity and emotion can overwhelm anyone's brains, and those neurodivergent are especially susceptible. The headphones help block out external stimuli, and the fidget provides a healthy stim to focus on." Instead of the picking Sherlock is so prone to.
"How… long will he be like that?" Donovan asks nervously.
John rolls his eyes. "He's not in a coma, for Christ's sake. It depends on how overstimulated he feels, but I'd guess he'll need about fifteen minutes. He can continue giving his statement then," he tells Lestrade at the end.
Lestrade nods faintly, just glad he didn't have to handcuff anybody - well, anybody else.
"I'm sorry," Donovan says finally. John snaps his head up, surprised to hear the words coming from her mouth. "I didn't really know the freak-" She pauses, correcting herself. "Sherlock, was…" She gestures vaguely with her hands, hoping to convey the situation.
"Thanks," John replies, surprised at himself. "But you really should apologize to Sherlock himself."
She nods. "I will. Just… not right now, correct?" She looks up at John, hopeful that she is making the correct decision.
John smiles then and nods. "Yeah."