Chapter 3 Haven't You Noticed

John was deep in thought as he climbed the stairs back up into the flat, ever since he had moved in to 221B, Sherlock had told him he didn't want to know anything about his 'biological inconvenience' so John had promised never mentioned it. Whenever it was time for his heat, he would call up Harry to make arrangements to stay at hers for a few days or spend it with whatever Girlfriend/Boyfriend he had at the time, then he'd tell Sherlock he'd be gone for a week and Sherlock would rarely notice he was gone. It was the perfect routine.

This was strangely enough the first time a case would interfere with his cycle and he honestly didn't know what to do. On the one hand if he joins Sherlock in Dartmoor, they could get it done and be back home by tomorrow without incident. It was very unlikely that he would go into heat in the next 24 hours, well unless he was under an unnecessary amount of stress or really upset.

However on the other hand, his heat was close and he could feel his body preparing for the days he would be lost to his instincts, not to mention his hormone levels were changing and fluctuating at this stage so he was emitting a scent to draw in Alphas. That could only mean that his heat could come at any time in the next five days and if he and Sherlock didn't get this case solved quickly and without incident well... disaster.

"JOHN! WHERE ARE YOU?" Sherlock called from his the living room, frightening the life out of John who was just outside the door.

"I'm here! Jesus, did you have to shout so loudly?" He grumbled but Sherlock just ignored him.

"Where is my purple dress shirt? I've looked everywhere for it and I can't find it." Sherlock asked irritated and John raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Why do you want that shirt specifically? It's in your wardrobe, Mrs Hudson ironed it yesterday." Sherlock just snapped his fingers and shot off towards his bedroom again, John counted to three before Sherlock came sliding back in.

"Ok, I've looked there twice now and I can't see it! So ... Where is it John?" Sherlock growled and John smirked, happy to notice something that Sherlock didn't for a change and strode lazily over to the open wardrobe in Sherlock's bedroom. Sherlock wasn't far behind and appeared just in time to see John pull out the folded, purple Shirt from the shelf at the bottom.

"Oh! Who folds up a shirt after ironing it anyway?!" Sherlock sniffed defensively and went to snatch the shirt from John's hands but somehow his body rebelled and he ended up gently removing it from John's hands and bending forward to nuzzle at the side of the Omega's face, taking in his scent and thanking his good little Omega for caring for his big, strong, Alpha as nature intended.

Once he realized what he was doing however, Sherlock jumped back and cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact with John and instead turned to pack away the shirt he was still holding, John sighed sadly behind him, he had been enjoying that but he knew it wasn't right to give in to is Omega nature and he really had to let Sherlock know what was going on.

"Hmm. Yes we need to have a little chat about that." John drawled, a little amused at the Alpha's display of affection and Sherlock stopped moving to look over his shoulder.

"About what?" He asked, eyes narrowed, challenging.

"Sherlock, around this time of the month, do you notice anything strange about me?" John asked slowly and Sherlock frowned and thought.

"No, of course not. What's that got to do with... that thing that just happened?" John just looked at him.

"Really? You can't think of one recurring scenario that happens to me on a monthly basis?" He asked sceptically.

"No, I can't. Now will you just tell me what's going on so we can finish packing and maybe if we're lucky we'll catch the train that leaves in an hour?" Sherlock snapped, John's instincts told him to back off from the irritated Alpha and this time John did what he was told and took two steps back. Sherlock's own instincts were telling him that this was bad, wrong and unnatural, that he should apologise and comfort his distressed Omega; he resisted. AND FOR THE LAST TIME JOHN WAS NOT HIS!

"It's my heat Sherlock!" Sherlock's eyes went wide in shock at John's exclamation and dove over the bed so it was firmly between him and the Doctor, John would've laughed if it wasn't so insulting.

"I knew something wasn't right! I've been feeling strange all morning! Why didn't you tell me it was your time?! When did it start?!" Sherlock yelled with a disgusted look on his face, John tried hard not to show his hurt at the look, he told himself it was just the hormones and not the fact that his best friend found a part of him, something he couldn't control, disgusting.

"Firstly it hasn't started yet, if it had started then you wouldn't have been able to take a flying leap across the bed and insult me! Secondly you've been feeling strange because my body is preparing itself for heat and that puts a change in my scent that you have unconsciously, as an Alpha, picked up on; that means that your body is preparing itself for my heat and your instincts are telling you to look after me and lastly I didn't tell you because I didn't know we would be taking a merry jaunt to bloody Devon!" John screamed, anger taking over from hurt with every word, bloody hormones, bloody Sherlock!

"Why haven't I noticed these effects before?" Sherlock asked embarrassed, he hadn't meant to upset John, really he hadn't. He just hated all this Alpha/Omega biology shit.

"That's because I usually piss off to Harry's or to whomever's I'd been dating at the time, for a week to run through my heat so as not to bother you with it and since you've never noticed I suppose it worked out quite nicely." John sighed, he was already fed up with this conversation so when he saw Sherlock start to open his mouth and held up a hand.

"Look, as long as we solve this case quickly and get back home, I'll still be able to call 'round Harry's, well actually... I may head to Sarah's this month since my last three heats I've been on my own and I'm gagging for it to be honest." John's eyes got a little glassy there at the thought of spending his heat with a real Alpha, even if it was only Sarah. Sherlock noticed the change in John's scent and pupil dilation and growled under his breath, the possessive sound brought John out of his little hormone induced fantasy and he shrugged apologetically at Sherlock.

"Anyway like I was saying, my heat is due sometime in the next five days and I only just noticed the symptoms this morning so we do have some time. I normally don't do this until my heat officially starts but I'll take some birth control, that should rein in the hormonal fluctuations in my scent that are messing with your head and then I'll get packed okay?" Sherlock shifted around the bed warily.

"Will that stop me from reacting to this, thing." John winced slightly at the harsh tone, which Sherlock noticed and was about to comment on but John interrupted him.

"I'm not sure, it should in theory prevent you from reacting further but since your body's already been exposed to the scent, I don't know. I'm going upstairs to pack, I'll meet you outside, just leave your bag at the door and I'll grab it with my own on the way out." John said quickly and turned to go upstairs.

"John-" Sherlock began.

"No, not now, okay." John murmured and left quickly. Sherlock groaned and sat down on the bed, he hadn't meant to hurt John, he really didn't but he wasn't used to 'hormonal John' in fact from what John just told him he hasn't even met 'hormonal John' before... but lots of other people have.

Another possessive growl escaped Sherlock's throat and he cursed his stupid biology, this was another reason he hated Mycroft, why did that tubby arse get to be a Beta whilst Sherlock was born Alpha. Uh! He hated everything... except John, John was nice. Whether he was in heat or not, perhaps Sherlock should tell him that sometime, it might make him happy.

"God, I sound like an idiot." Sherlock growled at himself and then stood up to finish his packing so he could get outside to hail a cab.

/

It only took John fifteen minutes to do his packing, it was rather soothing actually, the repetitive motions of folding clothes helping to calm him down and make him realize he'd been acting like a 50 year old woman. It wasn't Sherlock's fault that John was so sensitive, the poor Alpha had never dealt with an Omega on the verge of heat before and he had no desire to either, John couldn't stay upset over that.

He had just pulled a jumper over his red button up and was reaching for his jacket when he remembered to take the birth control pill. He took a pack from his bedside table and popped one out to swallow, slipping the rest of the pack into his jacket pocket, he'd need those if he was going to Sarah's when he got back anyway. As a doctor John found that Omega birth control was severely lacking, it would only be effective against pregnancy if you took it right as you were going into heat, that's why John always kept a pack of condoms next to the pills, you could never be too careful.

John looked up when he heard the front door open, Sherlock must've finished his packing which meant John had better hurry since Sherlock never had any trouble hailing a cab with his magic arm and most London cab drivers hated waiting. After one last check to make sure John had grabbed everything he would need for the week, he quickly snatched up his bag and started jogging down the stairs, noticing that Sherlock had left his bag at the bottom of the stairs just as he had asked so John could grab it on his way out, which he did as he strode out the door of 221B.

He was about to greet Sherlock when he heard shouting coming from inside the sandwich shop and glanced over just in time to see Mrs. Hudson launch a loaf of fresh, baked bread over Mr. Chatterjee's head to crash against the glass door, making it shake with the force.

"Oh! Looks like Mrs. Hudson finally got to the wife in Doncaster." John said to Sherlock who had been watching the fight with amusement, when he was sure John's eyes were still locked on the shouting match inside, he glanced over out the corner of his eye at John, the man didn't seem upset anymore so Sherlock decided to not mention the situation from upstairs and just get on with things.

"Mmm. Wait 'til she finds out about the one in Islamabad." He drawled and John snickered and got in the taxi with their bags, closely followed by Sherlock.

"Paddington Station, please." He said to the driver and off they went to catch a hound.