A/N So this is my first foray into the world of historical fanfic, and at the moment this seems oddly familiar... I'm hoping its just because i've re-read it so often but I do apologize if i'm making bits of someone's ideas canon without realizing it, please rest assured that this is gonna be very much unique by the time it's finished! This is probably a bit short, but i think it says all it needs to so far :)

Thanks to Capoeri for the beta!

Sherlock likes to narrate my stories now apparently, so i'll let him introduce himself to you. Enjoy!

"Sherlock Holmes, at your service. That's what people say isn't it? Don't expect any service. Where was I? Oh yes, Sherlock Holmes, the Squire's son, youngest of three, eldest is Mycroft, middle is Lyndsy, though we've no mother, so she's Lady of the Manor and technically higher in the pecking order than Mycroft - it's such a delight to remind him - mother died when I was three, she got the fever, and father is, as I've mentioned the Squire. What else? Oh yes, sex. Mycroft is beta - and as ambitious as they come, as they often are, he works in government, but if write down anymore he'll burn this book - Lyndsy is Omega, like me. Having a Lady of the Manor is useful to him, so he's less inclined to marry her off. Me on the other hand? I'm useful to him too. As a source of income. It's something at least. I've been betrothed since I was born to the Earl of Essex. It's never been a huge problem. The contract says that on my nineteenth birthday I shall be his bride. However, due to recent developments, it is now something against which I must plot. I am now eighteen years of age and nineteen looks a lot closer from her. There has also recently been made a new Earl. He's four and forty years of age. He's also eager for a son, mores the pity. I must come up with a way to save myself and I must do so without leaving the grounds. As luck would have it, I have a plan…"

"John, I need your help." Sherlock announced, as he dropped from a tree into his secret best friend's path.

"Anything Sherlock, you know that."

"I need you to run away with me."

"You… what?"

"I need you to run away with me. And while we're gone, I need you to bond with me."

"Run… bond… Sherlock, what the hell is going on?"

"Oh really John, it's quite simple! I am to be married to a man more than twice my age who wants to breed with me. I need to leave, if I leave alone I won't be safe, an alpha escort will do to start with but a bonded mate? That would be perfect. The bonding ceremony takes time, I have too many people watching me here to risk any length of time, so logically it must be done as we travel. You are an alpha, unattached and have shown interest in my, uh, attributes, shall we say, during the length of our friendship, so you cannot find me completely repulsive."

"So I'm convenient?"

"No. Well, yes, but… ugh, john don't make this any harder than it is!"

"Sherlock, I can't just… we can't just… bonding is a serious commitment. It's not just… a get out of jail free card."

Sherlock made a face and then began the arduous job of explaining his position "John, I know what bonding is and what a bonded pair must be to each other for the rest of their lives, and I'm not claiming I know that I can be all of that, but… you are the only person to ever put up with me willingly for this long. And I know that I trust you. And I know that I'm going to be making babies with the Earl of Essex, whose name I don't even know anymore, by the end of the month. I am begging you, please." Sherlock dropped to his knees "Please, John, help me."

John gazed down at his earnest pleading face for a very long moment, then seized him by the shoulders and tugged. "Get up, get up, Sherlock, fine, yes, okay, I'll help you."

"You'll run away and bond with me?"

"Yes. God help me, but yes."

"Thank you!"

"If you go down on your knees again, Mycroft will know something is afoot." John observed. Sherlock's brother and sister knew whose company he kept, though their father and the rest of the world was in the dark. (his father was currently away on business so they were able to meet up inside the grounds of Holmes Manor, Sherlock's ancestral home). Sherlock glanced back at the imposing face of Holmes Manor and saw his brother standing in the window.

"Come on then, let's sneak out to the market or whatever it is he thinks we do." Sherlock hared away down the path and onto the road beyond "Come on John, keep up!"

John shook his head, grinning to himself as he followed in Sherlock's footsteps at a much more sedate pace, more befitting of his status in the world "The depths of despair to the inn of the seventh happiness in less than a minute… I'm being bonded to a madman."

End Note: Please review, I love to hear your opinions!