Work Text:
2009
John Watson remembered the explosion. He remembered feeling numb before he felt pain. He returned home, back to cheap, awful army housing, back to a mundane life, to pick up the pieces of himself and move on.
The war broke more than his leg. He knew that, he felt like an empty shell and didn’t even know why. He tried to write a blog but there was nothing to write about.
Nothing happens to me
2010
A lot changed the day he met Sherlock Holmes. He changed where he lived, he somehow gained an unpaid almost - job and befriended the most unsociable man in London
He was warned that one day they’d be standing round a body and Sherlock Holmes would be the one that put it there
Within two days they were standing round a body. And John was the one that put it there.
2011
Sherlock was becoming his friend. They’d solved many cases together, and were growing closer.
If John was honest with himself, they were more than friends now. He didn’t know what they were, just knew that they were .
If he was honest with himself, John hadn’t planned to stay long. Get his life back together and then make a future for himself.
He had a future now, but it was different from the one he’d envisioned.
He felt complete and happy and fulfilled.
And he never thought that that could change
2012
John Watson had come close to death but this was the closest.
He’d never forget the pure terror when he realised Moriarty’s intentions. He’d been unsure what to do for a second but knew what he needed to do.
He told Sherlock to save himself, because if John knew one thing it was that Sherlock could not be destroyed if John could do anything about it.
They’d barely escaped, but they did.
They beat Irene Adler at her own game. He wouldn’t forget her words about him and Sherlock, though.
He’d denied and denied but what he really wanted to say was: ‘ is it really that obvious’
He supposed it was. Maybe one day he’d tell him
2013
John remembered feeling more broken than ever when he lost Sherlock
He remembered watching his best friend’s body falling as if in slow motion towards the ground, running towards him even though he knew it was futile.
He wondered if Sherlock had seen him before he hit the ground.
He remembered seeing the body through a haze of tears, checking his pulse, the limp arm falling to the ground as he was gently led away.
‘The things that you wanted to say, but never did. Say them now’
I love you. I love you Sherlock.
‘I can’t’
2014
John remembered meeting Mary and starting to feel again. In retrospect, he didn’t know if it was love or a coping strategy, but it seemed like love at the time.
He remembered going to Sherlock’s grave by himself. Begging him not to be dead. He remembered calling Sherlock’s phone to wish him a happy birthday, hearing the familiar voice at the other end. ‘I’m not available right now. I prefer to text’. John left a message, not knowing why.
He cried as Mary comforted him and couldn’t help feeling like a traitor.
2015
John remembered deciding to propose to Mary, ignoring the niggling feeling telling him to wait, to think.
He remembered the feeling of pure joy and then anger when Sherlock came back.
He went to hug him but ended up punching him because for some reason, John could still not bear to show affection to Sherlock in the fear that it would not be reciprocated.
He was so glad when he reconciled with Sherlock, so glad that he would be his best man, pushing down the feeling that it should be Sherlock he was vowing to stay with forever.
When he found out he was going to have a kid he fully devoted himself to his new life.
Three weeks later Sherlock was exiled on a death mission.
‘John. There’s something I need to say, that I meant to say always and never have.’
He loves me. He has to. This is it. This is the moment.
‘Sherlock is actually a girl’s name’
John laughed to hide his tears.
2016
When Sherlock returned John was so relieved he could have kissed him, but couldn’t. He tried to support Sherlock through his drug relapse while caring for his daughter at the same time but it was difficult. Why, Sherlock? Why?
Then his wife died for his best friend.
John was angry at Sherlock because he needed someone to blame to make himself feel better.
He wished he’d been kinder when he looked back.
When Sherlock almost died again John realised that he couldn’t live without Sherlock now.
2017
When Sherlock’s lost sister brought them into her psychological torture games John was ready to die for Sherlock, because he knew now, had known for years, that he would do anything to keep Sherlock alive.
He was ready to die, to be shot by his best friend.
But somehow, against all of the odds against them, they survived. Somehow they always survive, no matter the toll.
I love you
John could almost not bear to hear those words from Sherlock spoken to someone else.
2018
But it got better, because Sherlock and John can survive through anything together. They rebuilt their old life from the broken rubble of Baker Street, until they had what they used to have.
John moved back in with Rosie, he and Sherlock solved cases again, and found that they still had joy and could still laugh together even after everything they had been through.
And one night, after a chase brought a villian to justice, Sherlock Holmes leaned towards John Watson and kissed him.
And John knew what he had been missing all along.
Because John Watson and Sherlock Holmes come as a pair, and will always be there for each other, no matter how awful the situation, no matter whether they are facing death or pain or loss, because they know that they can endure and survive.
A lot can change in a year.