John H. Watson is an ordinary man living with a madman as a flat mate. He has a secret that very few people know about. Those people are; his sister, Harry, and his parents, who are both dead.
That is until he got a letter in the mail from the military saying that his brother was returning from the warfront because of injury.
"John you look like someone just injured you," Sherlock Holmes said as he intered the room.
"It's nothing Sherlock. It's just a letter from Harry," John says. He stands and walks to his room to get ready for work. He leaves the letter on his nightstand and heads off to the surgery.
Now Sherlock being the man he was couldn't stand not knowing what was going on and what had made his flat mate have that painful look on his face. So he went up to John's room and found the letter. He pulled out of the envelop and skimmed it.
It reads as follows,
Dear Johnny,
You know Harry said that our army lives were going to be the deaths of us, and when you were shot brother I thought she might just have been right. Now I've been shot as well. I'm being discharged on a medical bases. Just like you Johnny. I was shot in my side and it punctured my right kidney. Well at least it was my bad kidney.
So I'll be retiring to London in three weeks from the fifth of April. I really don't want to say with our drunk sister. So please let me crash with you for a while at least? Please Bruder let me crash with you.
Your twin,
Caption Gilbert Watson
Sherlock puts the letter back in it's place and goes down to the sitting room. He sits In his chair and enters his mind place.
John returns back from work at half past four to see Sherlock still in his mind place. He taps on Sherlock's shoulder to get him to come out of his mind place.
Sherlock looks up at John and says, "Why didn't you ever say that you had a twin?"
"Manly because you never asked, but also because we made a pact that when we were deployed that we wouldn't tell anyone of the other, so I didn't tell you," John answered.
"Why not, I mean it's not like it isn't on public records. So why?" Sherlock asks.
"Let me go get a picture of the two of us," John says before going to his room. He digs around for a few minutes and then pulls out an old photo album. He then goes back down to the sitting room and hands it to Sherlock.
Sherlock flips open the album and looks at the first picture in it. It was of two boys about the age of ten. They were in a school uniform and it was glaringly obvious that they were identical twins. Their hair was cut the same and was the same shade of a bright blond. Their eyes had the same deadly glint to them, like they are saying, It's me and my brother agents the world, just with those bright blue eyes. Their hands clasped together between them.
"John I can't even tell which is you," Sherlock says softly.
"Yeah, me and Gil used to use that to our advantage. Our teachers only knew when we switched places because we write with opposite hands. I'm left handed and Gil is right handed. Our first day of secondary was funny though, me and Gil had already started to be referred to as Watsons on roll," John says with a soft laugh.
John then goes over to the desk and pulls out paper to write a reply to his brother. It takes him a while and then he takes it down to the post office.
3 weeks later
John had just gotten home from the surgery when there was a knock on the door. He answers it to see Gilbert and Greg Lestrade.
Lestrade's face as he looked at John was pure surprise. "John what the hell is going on here?" Lestrade asks Gilbert.
"Greg I'd like you to meet my twin Gilbert," John says allowing them into the building.
"Twin?" Lestrade asks.
"Yeah, and until today I was outside of the country. So when you called me John I just went along with it, knowing that Johnny would already be home so I could freak out a friend of his," Gilbert say as he embraces his brother.
"So do I get to see Sherlock's face when you two go in there?" Lestrade asks.
"Sadly no, I had to tell Sherlock about Gil when he found the letter that Gil had sent me," John answers as they go up the seventeen steps to the flat.
"Well has he seen any pictures of us past age ten?" Gil ask.
"Nope," John says popping the p.
They walk into the flat to see Sherlock lying on the couch in only in a sheet. Sherlock sat up and looked up at the three. The sheet slid down his chest.
"Sherlock what are you doing in your sheet? I told you that Gil was arriving today," Gilbert said. John was giggling and Lestrade looked between the two confused.
"Your not John. You must be Gilbert," Sherlock says.
"Man I wish that Johnny hadn't told you about me," Gilbert said.
Sherlock stood and asked, "Lestrade what do you need from me?"
"There is a triple murder that we need your help with," Lestrade says.
It was then that Gilbert passed out and fell to the floor.
John reacted quickly and kneeled down next to Gilbert and checked his breathing and heart beat. He looks up at Sherlock with pleading eyes. Sherlock went over to the kitchen and got John's work bag and brought it over to John.
John opens the bag and quickly pulls out a needle and a vial of something. He filled the needle with some of the solutions and injected into Gilbert's arm.
"Call an ambulance now!" John yelled panked.
Lestrade pulls out his phone and called 999. John was keeping his bother stable and kept a steady hand on Gilbert's pulse.
The ambulance arrived and John rode with Gilbert. He wasn't allowed to go back with his brother and when Sherlock arrived in the A&E he collapsed into Sherlock's arms.
"John what's wrong?" Sherlock asks in a soft voice.
"Gil might not wake up. It's likely to be internal bleeding and do to his PSVT he might not wake up," John sobs into Sherlock's chest.
Sherlock pulls John into his chest trying to comfort John. John gladly clings to Sherlock as Sherlock steers them to the seats.
They had been sitting there for five minutes when Sherlock noticed that John's pulse was rapid and he was having problems catching his breath. Sherlock eminently gets John leaned forward. John starts to hold his breath and stays like that for about a minute. When he breathes again a nurse comes over and asks, "Do you need anything sirs?"
"No, I'm fine now. I just got a little worked up. I'm better now," John says softly.
The nurse nods before leaving. It was another ten minutes before a doctor came out.
"Who came with G. Watson?" the doctor asks.
"I am," John says.
"Well it seems like he got too excited and his heart got going much too fast. His kidney started to bleed, but we got that fixed. He should be fine, and he is awake asking for a John Watson," the doctor said.
"Thank you for informing me. I shall go talk with my brother immediately," John says standing.
John walks down to his brother's hospital room. He opens the door to see Gilbert sitting up with a sad little smile.
"You know Johnny, I always thought I would be sent back before you, but I out lived you on that battlefield. Sometimes I think that you might outlive me in the battle field that is life," Gilbert says as soon as the door opened.
"Don't talk like that Gil. I really don't want you to die before you. You remember that time that you almost died of a heart attack. Back when we were small?" John asks as he walks into the room.
Sherlock was standing outside the room but he didn't announce his presence to the brothers.
"Maybe? What wasn't that when you attempted suicide?" Gilbert asked.
"Yeah, I was so distraught that you died that I wanted to follow you. I can't live without you, you know that right?" John was crying now, "I almost didn't read the letter that you sent back, thinking that it was a notice of your death, but then I remembered that they always either call or come personally to notify of a death."
"Come here Johnny," Gilbert says opening his arms. John falls onto Gilbert's lap tears running down his face. Gilbert runs his hands though John's short hair.
John passes out not long afterward and Gilbert says, "Sherlock get your arse in here."
Sherlock walks into the room and closes the door. "So you heard all of that didn't you?"
"Yes, I was wondering if you could tell me more about what happened?" Sherlock asked.
"Me and John have always been close. As you probably know we both have PSVT. I showed signs of it first. I had a near heart attack when we were only eleven years old. While was took to the hospital John attempted suicide. He took our dad's straight razor and tried to slit his own throat. Harry caught him and stopped him. I heard about it not long after it happened. After it happened John wouldn't leave my side."
"Was it always John's intentions to be any army doctor?" Sherlock asked.
"No, he only wanted to be a doctor, I was the one who wanted be in the army. So to stay near me he also joined the army," Gilbert says with a sad little smile.
"When where the two of you separated? And why didn't you follow him back?" Sherlock asked
"Because when they sent him back, I wasn't told. John called me two days later crying. He was a mess, and afterwards he said as long it wasn't a letter of my death I could stay in the army," Gilbert says.
"Was there something that caused John to become that clingy?" Sherlock asked.
"I just about died when we were five. I fell into the Themes," Gilbert stats softly. Sherlock nods before standing and leaving.
Gilbert and John lay together on the bed till the nurse came into the room. The nurse made John get up and leave the room.
Gilbert returned to Baker Street two days later. He was now able to do most if his normal exercise routine. He moved into his own flat three days later.