This'll just be a generic catch-all for my many Sherlock one-shots. I'm rather nervous writing for this fandom, truth be told. Reviews with constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.
Friend: a person whom one knows; an acquaintance.
From the moment John Watson had walked into the room, Sherlock had begun deducing. He'd delete it all later, of course, but this was the kind of thing he did automatically. John was… doctor, army doctor, recently invalided from the Middle East, shot, limp and hand tremor (possibly from PTSD)… The list went on and on. John wasn't able to even figure out Sherlock's name naturally. Disappointing. He probably wouldn't last a week.
One week later, John was still there, and Sherlock still hadn't deleted any of his deductions for some reason.
Friend: a person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
Mycroft had been right about one thing. Sherlock's life was a war and probably not the best environment for an army veteran with latent PTSD to recover in. Still, why on earth would John leave now? John needed the adrenaline to function like Sherlock needed cases. It wasn't his fault that this (oddly enough) worked. Besides, it was just getting interesting. Now they had a name (Moriarty, there was no way that was getting deleted), all they needed now was a face and a crime to pin him with.
One month later, Sherlock had a face and a crime and wasn't happy about it for some reason.
Friend: a person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
For a second, one bloody second, Sherlock had felt more pain than ever before. He had never had a friend. He had never really trusted anyone. More importantly, he had never wanted so desperately for someone to be worthy of that trust. John had been perfect. Now… to find out he was Moriarty… That hurt. Until he saw the bomb and realized what he should have realized immediately. Then he was furious. Scared and furious and desperate to find some way out, any way out, any way to get John out alive.
He was stupid. He shouldn't care. But he did, and he'd be damned if he let a psychopath take away his only friend.