More of the same, for a different community. Chronological order. And all plot bunnies are fully up for adoption. :)


#01 – Anniversary

He is prone to vanishing for days on end himself, and thinks no more of the Doctor's absence that night until it occurs to him that the man has no other friends (if he can be counted in that category) in London, and that this is July 27.

#02 – New Year's

They had met just a week after the holiday festivities that first year, and were close enough friends by the next to enjoy them; and while the Doctor had anticipated greeting the New Year with a champagned evening before the fragments of the Yule Log, he supposed ducking through alleyways in pursuit of a cat-burglar was equally diverting.

#03 – Halloween

He should be used to Holmes's twisted humor by now, but when they are separated one foggy night while searching for clues in the small country graveyard, and something cold and clammy grabs his ankles, his embarrassment at screaming is (thankfully) covered by Holmes's howl of pain in receiving a boot to the face.

#04 – Firsts

The moment he deduces just what Roylott has in that safe, he is forced to resist an impulsive urge of panic to drag Watson from the house – because facing ruffians in London's slums is one thing, but he knows that he could never ask the man to follow him into a death-trap as that room will be tonight.

#05 – Middles

When his harsh words are somehow smoothed over into a more civil inquiry, and his hitherto stubborn witness finally cooperates with the Doctor rather than with him, he suddenly realises just how valuable this partnership might be, and sits back to listen and observe.

#06 – Lasts

After four years, he thought he knew the Doctor well enough to predict his moods – but when he woke one evening after three days of half-consciousness from blood-loss, and was promptly given the worst verbal thrashing of his adult life for his foolhardiness in going alone, he somehow knew it was the last time he was going to take the man's temper, or his loyalty, so lightly.

#07 – Nostalgia

They had spent many pleasant stormy nights safely snug before the hearth, but his favorites had to be those precious few when he would relate an early case or two; for who would not be flattered by such a competent story-teller as his friend listening with such rapt attention to his own, admittedly clinical, account?

#08 – Rendezvous

When they bumped into each other in the dark and scuffled for a moment before identification, Holmes only grinned, saying great minds thought alike; and Watson gingerly rubbed his arm, wishing he'd paid more attention to those baritsu lessons his flat-mate was so fond of demonstrating.

#09 – Death

The barrister's letter came while Holmes was on the Continent chasing a French forger, and he was sadly relieved that he needn't explain why he chose not to wear mourning for a brother who had destroyed the family name and fortune (yes, he was fiercely patriotic, but he'd entered the army initially for the unfortunately simple reason of financial difficulty).

#10 – Life

Though when he'd met the Doctor, his first impression was that of greeting a ghost, over time the man had mostly recovered; however, despite his initial misgivings about this budding romance, he was forced to admit that nothing he'd ever done or said had produced such a glowing love of life as this unassuming blonde enchantress was evoking.

#11 – Birthday

The Doctor spent more time in Camberwell than Baker Street those holidays, and he retaliated quite bitterly, departing London on a case without informing him; but when Watson reproachfully appeared in his French hotel, and he detected a feminine hand in the two neatly be-ribboned packages, he grudgingly admitted while Watson might not understand his reactions, That Woman certainly did. (1)

#12 – Wedding

He had helped his friend pack, straightened his neck-tie, slipped a letter into his valise, made an anonymous donation to the struggling medical practice, handed over the rings, carried the entire role off with cool aplomb – but when Watson turned from the waiting carriage, wrung his hand, and then awkwardly pulled him into a one-armed embrace while whispering a thank-you, the fissure in his composure became a chasm.

#13 – Spring

It took over a year of coaxing, pleading, even good-natured threatening, but he did finally consent to going to Kensington for dinner one balmy evening when he'd absolutely nothing else to do; the cocaine's allure somehow seemed tarnished, haunted by the gentle voice of protest he heard only in his head.

#14 – Summer

The trials of the century dragged on endlessly, for Moriarty's web had included friends in high places; Lestrade and the other Yarders began to worry about the Doctor, when he lost all the weight he'd gained upon his marriage to his good wife; and, buried in Florence, Sherlock Holmes finally realised that this deception he intended was not, as he had hoped, going to last only a few months.

#15 – Fall

He in heart-felt sympathy watched as, about the time the leaves began to turn and drift away, his friend's wardrobe changed from stiff black to an appropriately dark brown in chromatic harmony with the cycles of life.

#16 – Winter

Mr. Mycroft Holmes scandalized the entire the Diogenes Club that Christmas Eve by laughing uproariously, when his little brother appeared to rudely shove a brightly-coloured card into his hands, all the while glaring icicles at his companion's stern face and muttering about foolish traditions and mawkish sentimentality.

#17 – Morning

After being rousted from warm sleep at an unearthly hour, he wondered on his way up the steps to cautiously awaken a cranky physician, if the stairs had always been so steep, or if he were merely growing old – and did Watson feel the same, climbing them day after day?

#18 – Afternoon

He was more aware of the world around him than the readers of his stories (or Holmes, for that matter) believed, and he knew times were changing, Time itself waning from a gaslit age into a bright new century; and with only two choices presenting themselves, retreat or acceptance, he knew eventually they would have to decide upon one or the other.

#19 – Evening

They had argued the question for weeks, Holmes's fear spurred into urgency by the Gruner and Garrideb cases, and Watson's initiated by knowing how the detective reacted to boredom – but neither would yield, and neither were entirely in the right; and so they parted, amicably but firmly, promising to keep in touch and waiting to see if the decision had been the right one.

#20 – Author's Choice, Rebuild

It took sixteen years, countless telephone conversations, and one far-too-close call on a war-mutilated continent, before they were reunited; and as the world, still reeling from the widespread destruction, began to rebuild upon the firm foundations of what had stood the death-winds of war, so did they.

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(1) Baring-Gould places Holmes's birthday in early January (Twelfth Night, I believe), and while I seriously doubt the chain of reasoning behind it there's no reason to mess with an established theory.