Chapter Text
Greg Lestrade was a middle aged man who worked for a private agency that raked in cash from whatever unfortunate person needed help finding their soulmate. In a world where your soulmate's first name is etched into the skin of your wrist, Greg was paid top dollar for finding out who matched who.
Of course, Greg knew that this system was deeply flawed, for his soulmate's name had been Susie. He'd found her easily enough, and they had been in what Greg had thought was a happy marriage, until he caught her cheating on him. If the system had been perfect, Susie would have been content with her husband, and Greg wouldn't have been heart broken, turning to the bottle after their divorce.
Greg had hoped that working for the agency would give him the opportunity to help others out, but even more flaws where brought to his knowledge. He'd had cases where trans people would come in, not knowing if their birth name was written on their soulmate's arm or not, asexual aromatic people came in with names written on their arms, wondering if there was something wrong with them, and sometimes someone would have more than one soulmate. But what pained him most was when someone found out that their soulmate had died young. They'd cry for their lost potentially perfect future, knowing that even if they found love again, insurance companies wouldn't insure their spouse, because their name didn't match the wrist.
It was a broken system, fucking people up and screwing them over time and time again, never guarantying a happy ending. But people made their own happy endings, and that's what kept Greg going. He found himself asking the same question every night: If they can be happy without their soulmate, what about me?
He asked himself this every day, until a posh, red haired man walked into his office, umbrella in hand.