oooh, interesting. OP here- pre slash is fine by me. As is john not-broken. (I just like the idea that sherlock assumes JOhn would be guilt ridden had sherlock let him go through with being the one to assault him, thus, yeah.) So long as sherlock puts john's potential guilt/etc in mind as teh reason he refuses to let John do it despite knowing that means itl'l be the less gentle moriarty, and as long as he's more focused on how John will take things than himself (seeing himself as able to handle things easily / perhaps more annoyed or angry than distressed) I'm fine with it. I definitely like whichever of the potential fillers suggested Sherlock not wanting to ruin the pre-romantic period / mess things up with john since tbh that fits my sherlock headcanon- he WOULD use logic even in a situation like tht (rather than "well how do I get off the easiest now without harm", oh no, he's thinking of what he wants down the line. So sherlock).