"Do you honestly think I could somehow live with myself if I abandoned you now and you were to die?" Watson hissed back, his eyes narrowed. "My duty is to ensure your protection. How could you possibly expect me to leave you alone in these circumstances?"

He was positively glaring across the table, challenging Holmes to protest this, challenging him to send him away. He would not go, whatever Holmes said. He knew that much.

"This is not the first time my life has been in danger, not by far. Do you honestly thing that argument will hold water with me?"