Author Notes: This story is a Soulmate AU and will contain three chapters. I intend to post every week (or at least every other week).^^
Let me know how you like it. =)
Fateful Marks
The crime scene was gruesome. John had lost count how many officers had already run outside to vomit. He would have probably joined them if he had got the chance to eat anything this morning. As it was Sherlock had woken him in the early morning without giving him the time to even have a cup of tea. John had been pissed at the time but now he was glad that he only had to swallow down some bile from time to time.
A shudder ran down his back as he took in the wall above the bed that was covered in the blood of the couple that had lived there. It wasn't even the worst to look at in the room but it spoke of the brutality of the murderer just like the disfigured bodies of the victims did. One woman was lying on the bed while the other one was lying next to it. Sherlock could probably deduce the motives from how the killer had cut off the left breasts of both women and skinned their left arms. John only saw mindless brutality though and he hoped that his friend would find something soon so that they could leave this nightmarish scene.
"Anything yet, Sherlock?" Obviously Greg was thinking along the same lines as John as he addressed the consulting detective who was inspecting the skinned arms of the victims.
"Not sure but... I need pictures!"
"Pictures?" Greg echoed and John had to hide a grin as Sherlock rolled his eyes at him. "Yes, pictures of the victims. Preferably of their left forearms. You know, the part where everyone has their Soul Tattoos?"
A cold shiver ran through John's body as he rubbed absentmindedly over his left forearm where the last words of his soulmate were tattooed into his skin. It was a cruel joke of fate that someone would only know who their soulmate was when it was already too late. The words that appeared on everybody's skin after their birth were the last words their soulmate would ever speak to them. They heard these words and knew that a certain person was meant for them but by then it was already too late. They would never speak to each other again in this life. One - or sometimes both of them - would die before they had the chance to meet or speak again.
John didn't see the sense in it. Why would anyone ever want to know who their soulmate was if they couldn't be together afterwards? In his mind such a finding only led to despair and pain. He didn't know what he would do if he ever found his soulmate only to lose them right in this moment. It was much too painful a possibility to think about and yet John had probably given it more thought than most people because the words on his arm were... so common.
He withstood the temptation to roll his sleeves back to peer at the two innocent looking words on his skin. On the one hand it would look strange at the crime scene and on the other hand... John didn't want to risk that someone played a cruel joke on him. It had happened before and... No, he didn't want to think about it.
John shook his head to push his dark thoughts away and forced himself to focus his attention on Sherlock who was looking through an album of some sorts.
"You believe these two were soulmates then? But how does this help us to solve the case?"
An exasperated sigh fell from Sherlock's lips as he turned around to raise an eyebrow at John before he focused back on the album in his hands. "I am 98.2 % sure that these two were soulmates and that the words on their arms will give us an idea of what happened here. They might even lead us to their killer."
"What about the remaining 1.8 %?" John forced himself to focus on the subject at hand instead of dwelling on what the women might have had written on their skin. The possibilities were endless and one worse than the other.
"There is a slim chance that one of the woman was the soulmate to our killer and that he only skinned both their arms to distract us. I highly doubt that though."
John barely managed to swallow down the bile that rose up in his throat at that. The idea to lose your soulmate to a violent crime was bad enough but to imagine that you were the one to kill them...
"I've got it!"
John heaved a sigh of relief at Sherlock's triumphant cry and hurried to his friend's side as he hold his magnifier over a picture of the two women. On one arm the words read I heard the door downstairs and the others said: "It's Mika!"
"Who is Mika?" Greg's voice sounded from far away as John could only stare at the tiny words on the victims arms on the picture. At least one of them must have suspected that she or her soulmate would die a violent death. What other explanation could you come up with for the words I heard the door downstairs?
"A lot," Sherlock murmured next to him and John only realised that he must have spoken his thoughts aloud as his friend led him out of the room with a hand on his elbow. "Maybe she believed that her soulmate would have a heart attack while checking on the door or..."
"That's not a very comforting thought," John replied even as he took a deep, thankful breath as they left the crime scene behind them.
"It can be." Sherlock shrugged. "If she believed that they were both old and had lived together for decades, it doesn't sound so bad anymore."
"You're right."
"I always am."
Sparkling blue eyes met his and a laughter was torn from John's lips as he shook his head at Sherlock. "No, you aren't. Remember the time when you said that the jam hadn't been contaminated by your experiments and you suffered from diarrhoea for the next couple of days?!"
Colour rose in pale cheeks and John marveled at it before his friend turned away abruptly with a huff and tried to hail down a taxi.
"I meant I am right about important things," John heard Sherlock mutter under his breath. A small smile flickered over his face as he climbed in the taxi that had stopped at the kerb. It was almost scary how Sherlock so often managed to get him to smile at crime scenes but John wouldn't complain about it. It was much better to think about the eccentric behaviour of his friend than about brutally murdered soulmates. No matter that the memory of Sherlock shitting and puking his insides out wasn't the funniest one... and certainly not the sexiest one. If John had to come up with one that fell into the latter category he would go for the time when Sherlock had run naked and wet into the kitchen to check on one of his experiments while John had prepared tea. Needless to say that said tea had gone cold by the time John re-emerged from his bedroom after getting an eyeful of Sherlock's... everything.
"Are you alright, John? Your breathing sounds funny."
Sherlock's deep voice brought John back to reality and he nodded hastily at his friend's inquiry. The last thing he needed was for Sherlock to deduce that John had got off to memories of his friend's naked body. He could only imagine the shock and disgust with which Sherlock would react to such a revelation. His friend had made it clear that he wasn't interested in relationships - or sex - when they had first met and John would respect that. He had to if he didn't want to lose Sherlock's friendship.
Goosebumps rose all over his body as he imagined how life would be without Sherlock in it. The idea felt worse than the possibility of one day losing his faceless soulmate.
"Are you sure you are alright? You're shivering."
John glanced up to meet worried blue eyes and forced a reassuring smile onto his lips. "I'm fine just... too little sleep and the crime scene didn't really help either."
Guilt flickered through the depths of blue eyes at that but was replaced with curiosity a second later. Sherlock's gaze swept over John and he only hoped that his friend wouldn't deduce his best hidden desires as Sherlock's eyes narrowed at him. "The blood and the gore weren't the worst for you. You have seen worse mutilated bodies during your tour in Afghanistan." The cabbie didn't even flinch at Sherlock's words and John wondered for a second what else the man had witnessed in this taxi to remain so calm in the face of such a conversation. He didn't get the chance to ask him as Sherlock continued his thoughtful monologue. "You were on the verge of retching the whole time but it got worse when we realised that the victims had been soulmates. I assume that there have been some experiences that have made you more sensitive to the topic of Soul Tattoos."
John frowned at Sherlock's careful wording. His friend usually didn't hold himself back when he had deduced something and he certainly wasn't doing tact.
"You already know what happened."
Sherlock shrugged and glanced out of the car's window over John's head. "I have a good idea but I have learned that it's not an easy topic to discuss."
Sorrow flickered through blue eyes before the feeling was masked again and John bit his lip to keep himself from asking what Sherlock's story was. Obviously John wasn't the only one who reacted sensitive to the topic of Soul Tattoos. Sherlock was just better at hiding his feelings.
Instead of going down that rabbit hole John squared his shoulders and glanced straight ahead as he recalled one of his life-changing events that was directly related to Soul Tattoos. He just hoped that the remaining half an hour taxi ride would be long enough for him to finish this story as John was unwilling to take this conversation to their flat.
"Harry?"
John called out for his sister as he entered their house. He hung up his jacket and then made his way through the rooms downstairs to look for his sister. It was already early afternoon and while Harry was known for sleeping in late after going out, John was still worried. Usually he received some sign of life from her when he got ready at Sunday's for his part-time job at the nearby coffee shop. Either he heard some snoring coming from her closed bedroom door or she would curse at him for being too loud before going back to sleep. This morning though John hadn't heard a single peep from her. He wouldn't have been this worried if he hadn't heard her coming home relatively early last night. Usually Harry didn't make it in before the early hours of the morning. Therefore it was worrisome that she had been home at barely past midnight.
"Harry?" John called once more and knocked on his sister's door.
"Go away," came the muffled reply and John would have obeyed if it hadn't been for the sob that followed Harry's words.
"Harry?!" His sister never cried or at least John couldn't remember the last time that she had shed a single tear. Therefore if she sat in her room and sobbed her eyes out something had to be terribly wrong. "What happened? Are you alright? Are you hurt? What..."
"I met my soulmate!"
The rest of his words died in John's throat as the door was thrown open and he got to look at Harry's tear streaked face.
"I met her and now she is dead!" Another sob shook Harry's body and John stood helpless as he didn't know what to do. They weren't really close and certainly not in the business of hugging each other but he felt like he needed to comfort her somehow.
"What happened?"
It was the stupidest question he could have asked John realised as Harry glared at him through red-rimmed eyes.
"What do you think happened?!" A bitter laugh fell from her lips followed by a pained sob. "You know my Soul Tattoo." She pushed her left arm up on which the words "Let's jump!" were to read. As soon as John had been old enough to comprehend what these words could imply he had been afraid for his sister. At least his worst fear hadn't come true because Harry obviously hadn't jumped down from somewhere with her soulmate. Or if she had, she had survived it. Wisely John kept these thoughts to himself as he waited for Harry to tell him the whole story.
"Some friends and I were out. We had something to drink and then... we came to this bridge and Mara... she said that and then she jumped." More tears ran down his sister's face and John searched for something... anything he could say to make her hurt less.
"Are you sure that she was your soulmate? You weren't the only two there after all and..."
"No one else had her last words tattooed on their arms," Harry hissed at him. "And she had "No, Mara! Nooooo!" tattooed on her arm. Guess who was the only one to scream that at her?!"
"Harry..." John tried helplessly but was interrupted when a door was slammed in his face.
"Leave me alone! At least you will be able to pretend that you have never met your soulmate as common as your words are! Maybe you have already met them and you will never know!"
John swallowed down the anger and hurt at Harry's words as he forced himself to walk away from her room.
"I assume that's when the drinking started."
John glanced up to meet Sherlock's compassionate eyes and nodded. "That's when it started in earnest. Before that she only drunk at parties but then... It got better for a while when she was with Clara but it didn't stay that way for long. Meeting her soulmate completely ruined her life." John held his breath as he waited for Sherlock to point out the flaws in that logic. After all not everyone became an alcoholic after they had met and lost their soulmate but yet again his friend surprised him.
"It was the same for Mycroft."
The words threw John for a loop as he repeated them in his head. Somehow he couldn't imagine how losing his soulmate had ruined Mycroft's life. The man was as powerful as one could get and...
"Mycroft wasn't always so cold," Sherlock spoke as if he had read John's mind. "He helped me with my experiments whenever he came back from university. He was kind and patient but then... he was dating this guy, Daniel. They were talking on the phone. Daniel said the words of Mycroft's Soul Tattoo and crashed into a lorry. Of course my brother looked at his body at the morgue and on his arm were the last words that Mycroft had ever said to him. That's when he decided that caring wasn't an advantage."
There was a world of hurt hidden in Sherlock's words and John didn't know what to say. If Mycroft had turned into the cold-hearted prick that he was now when Sherlock had been used to a caring and loving brother that must have been terrible. John's heart went out to the young man from back then who had lost the brother he had known to such a tragedy.
Carefully he placed his left hand on top of Sherlock's and smiled compassionately as he met his friend's surprised face. "I am sorry."
"Thank you."
They sat in silence for some time. John would have gladly spent the remaining car ride like this - finally allowed to touch Sherlock for a little while - when his friend broke the silence.
"There are more reasons as to why the whole soulmate thing is a touchy subject for you."
It wasn't a question but John still felt compelled to reply. It was the least he could do to take Sherlock's mind off his brother.
"David! Mike! Over here!" John waved to his two best friends as they made their way over to him. They had all just survived their final exams and were only one year of on-site training away from becoming doctors.
In John's eyes this was a reason to celebrate. Especially as they had all been holed up in their rooms or the library for the last several months.
"John, good to see you." Mike hugged him and slapped him on the back while David only gave him a tight smile.
John frowned slightly at David's strange behavior but before he could ask if something was wrong Mike spoke again. "I am going to hit the gym now." He rubbed his belly with a cheeky grin. "I have eaten too much chocolates while studying."
"Alright." John couldn't deny that his friend had grown a size since they had started with the preparations for the exam but he wasn't stupid enough to say anything along these lines. "Meet you at our pub for a little celebration at eight."
Mike nodded. "See you then."
David hadn't said anything the whole time and when John turned to him he saw the most shattered expression on his friend's face. "What's wrong?"
For a second John believed that David wouldn't answer him but then a deep sigh fell from his lips and he motioned for John to sit down on a bench.
"It's my Soul Tattoo," he started and John felt a shiver ran down his back. If David had found and lost his soulmate that would certainly explain his strange mood.
"I didn't meet them but... look!"
John could only stare as David rolled back his sleeve and presented his Soul Tattoo to him. It was some kind of taboo to show it to someone else but John forgot all about that when he read the words on his friend's arm: "Please, take care of our children."
"Dear God," he breathed before he could stop himself but David only gave him a grim smile.
"I have worn this Soul Tattoo my whole life but only now did I realise what it means. I will meet my soulmate, live with them and have children with them and then... they will die. And they will be aware of it. I don't know why I only realised this now but..."
"Hey David." John placed a hand on his shoulder as he tried to find the words to comfort his friend. "It's not going to happen for years to come and at least you know that you will have some years together. It's better than having Here is your change, sir or Would you like some nose candy as your Soul Tattoo."
John had met people with such tattoos - it was hard not to see them when you were sleeping together - and he had always felt sorry for them. Judging from David's grimace though he thought differently about that.
"In these cases you learn that a complete stranger was your soulmate and you never see them again. It might be hard but you have probably someone else at home that you love. You lose the potential for a relationship with your soulmate, yes but... you haven't loved them beforehand."
John opened his mouth and closed it again as nothing to say came to his mind. David shrugged and patted John's back as he got up from the bench. A forced smile turned his lips upwards as he turned to go.
"We will meet you at the pub this evening," John called after him and David nodded as he walked off still with this terrifying smile on his face.
"He killed himself."
John didn't even have to ask how Sherlock knew that. It was obvious. It should have been obvious to him back then when he had had the chance to stop his friend from committing suicide. As it was John still wondered sometimes if he could have done more. If anything that he could have said or done would have stopped David. And others times John understood why in some cultures the parents cut or burned the skin of their newborns were their Soul Tattoos were. It saved them from a lot of grief although... John was against performing body alerting operations on someone who couldn't consent to them. Still something like that might have saved David's life.
"Obviously killing yourself is a way to cheat fate... or whatever is responsible for the Soul Tattoos."
The statement earned him a nod from Sherlock but otherwise his friend remained silent and John was grateful for that. He was aware that Sherlock had probably read a dozen research reports about how Soul Tattoos might be linked to someone's genetic make-up and his friend was always eager to share his knowledge. Therefore it meant even more to John that they continued their ride to Baker Street in comfortable silence.
"60 quid, mates."
John didn't even raise an eyebrow at the amount they had to pay as he handed over the money to the cabbie. The crime scene and reliving a couple of his worst memories had drained him too much to worry about money.
They made their way upstairs and while Sherlock darted right towards his microscope John decided that he would get a couple of hours more sleep. Who knew if Sherlock wouldn't wake him up for another case the following night.
"I'm going to sleep for a couple of hours. Please no loud experiments or angry violin music if you can help it," John called over his shoulder as he made his way to his bedroom. He was already at his door when Sherlock called back to him. The words he used were the exact same ones that had marked John's forearm since his birth.
"Goodnight, John."
