Disclaimer: I own nothing, but am eternally grateful for the genius of ACD and now MG, SM, BC, MF and the BBC crew.
I have no experience with asexuality, but have researched the subject on the internet. I apologise if I have got anything wrong. Any errors are for the sake of the story and not to cause offence.
Similarly, I am not an expert in most of the things I use in this story, just what I picked up from the interweb and my own imagination. As this is an AU I'm excusing any failures in authenticity as "well that's what happens in my universe." A cheap get out I know, but these are my scribblings and they make me happy.
If you wish to comment, I would love to hear from you.
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Trigger warnings: Be aware, there are mentions of brutal murder, a memory of death in Afghanistan, depression, angst, kidnapping, and crime scenes throughout. The background story centres around a child sex trafficking ring and the investigation to bring them down. There are mentions of child abuse and homelessness. None of the child abuse or sex trafficking scenes are graphic or detailed.
He couldn't tell precisely what had caused goosebumps on his flesh and his heart rate to rise. As he paused on the threshold of the flat some disturbance in its atmosphere had caused him to become suddenly alert. Uncertain of what awaited him and unwilling to tip his hand he reached into his pocket for his mobile, feigning a text message as he assessed the evidence of an intruder.
Sherlock had been the last person to leave 221B that day. Mary and John had both left for work that morning, John for his shift at University College Hospital A&E and Mary for her lectures at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Neither was expected back until early evening. Sherlock had left in late morning, first to catch up with his homeless network and then to visit Molly at Barts to collect some tissue samples for his latest experiments.
Standing on the threshold of their flat Sherlock surreptitiously studied the carpet in the door way. Faint indentations from work boots had crushed the fibre. So, someone had entered the flat.
Still appearing to study his phone Sherlock let out an exasperated hiss then turned on his heel and stomped down the stairs towards Flat A, bellowing for Mrs Hudson. As he descended in a swirl of Belstaff and annoyance his eyes scanned the hallway looking for any disturbance, any clue, any sign of the intruder's intent.
Above the front door, tucked into the corner under the fanlight Sherlock spotted a tiny camera. Now he knew what he was looking for he marched to Mrs Hudson's door and knocked.
Looking flustered, his landlady opened her door, wiping her floury hands on her apron, removing the remains of her latest batch of baking.
"What is it Sherlock?" Her annoyance at his demanding bellows was obvious in her voice and the tight pinch of her mouth and around her eyes. "I could hear you shouting down the stairs. What's the matter?"
With a look of fond exasperation he took her shoulders and eased her gently backwards into her flat, kicking her front door shut behind him.
Authors Notes:
So you know, based upon the outcome of my previous story, Watersheds, I did some digging on how I see my characters identifying, even though, as John says, "I soon learned that the labels were actually pretty meaningless. I am John Hamish Watson and I am who I am."
In the story, John identifies himself as biromantic – the romantic aspect of bisexuality.
Based on John's diagnosis, which Sherlock agrees with, Sherlock identifies as demiromantic - he may feel romantic attraction once a reasonably stable or strong emotional connection has been created. However he hates to be touched by those he has no romantic attraction to except by the very few he has an established strong emotional connection with. This includes Lestrade and Mrs Hudson. Although his main area of casual interest in the past has been men, he now includes Mary in his sphere of romantic attraction.
Throughout the story Mary identifies herself as asexual or under more recent definitions, largely heteroromantic - "If you were to ask on the Kinsey scale I'm probably about a 2. I'm predominantly interested in men, but can be attracted to a woman. I have no interest in sexual intercourse."
As I said, I have no actual experience with this and have based this on internet research, but this is how I want my characters to be for the purposes of this story arc. If I've got anything badly wrong then please let me know. Any and all comments and constructive criticism are welcomed. Many thanks.
