Chapter Summary:

John comes up with an idea for Sherlock to go out on his own without being targeted for being a hybrid. The brunet gets to go into the city on his own for the first time, while John heads out for a job interview.

CHAPTER 10: The Coat and The Hat

The next morning, John let Sherlock sleep in, keeping his footsteps quiet as he moved about the flat. He checked his emails as he drank his morning coffee, setting up a few interviews over the next few days. It felt strange, getting back into thinking about work again. Patients, diagnosis, nine to five, chit chatting with co-workers, it all seemed so...ordinary.

Sherlock didn't awake until noon, kicking off the covers in the heat of midday. He sat up and yawned, shaking his head to clear out the night's cobwebs and kick start his brain into working. Flashes from last night's nightmare came back to him slowly and he sighed heavily. Darn, he had tried so hard to bury all of that, keep it in a locked room in his mind. There's no use dwelling on it anyway, might as well forget. He picked up the collar from the nightstand and placed it around his neck. John preferred he take it off when they go to bed, for a little while he could pretend he didn't buy Sherlock like one buys a new car. It was endearing how conflicted the doctor felt about the whole thing, he clearly enjoyed the brunet's company yet felt such guilt about how he came to own him. Sherlock really didn't mind, and he wished there was something he could do to ease John's conscience.

Actually, Sherlock had noticed the doctor was full of contradictions. A doctor that went to war, a career meant to heal in a setting meant to kill. His therapist thought John was traumatized by the war, but Sherlock knew better. The spark of excitement in those cobalt eyes when they had come across Jennifer Wilson's body and the eagerness with which John had gone to Scotland Yard, that wasn't fear. Sherlock had read about soldiers like John, retired from the military but addicted to the adrenaline of putting their lives on the line. The doctor tried to keep it in check, finding it shameful to feel excited when lives are at stake, but really, he should know better than to try and hide it from Sherlock.

Soft footsteps sounded outside the bedroom and John poked his head in through the doorway. He smiled when he saw that the brunet was awake and walked over, sitting down on the side of the bed. Sherlock shifted as the mattress tilted with the doctor's added weight, his tail lazily flicking over to John's side where the older man petted the fur gently.

"Fancy something to eat?"

For the first time since they had met, Sherlock shook his head, refusing food. He didn't think he could stomach it at the moment.

"No, it's OK, I'm not really hungry."

John frowned a bit although he quickly hid it away. Sherlock was always happy to eat, it was as if the brunet was making up for all those years of not getting to have his fill. For him to be not hungry, especially considering he didn't eat breakfast, that was unusual, but then John didn't want to push him. Perhaps he just needed a bit of time to get over that nightmare.

"OK, how about something to drink then? Milk? Orange juice?"

Sherlock thought for a moment then nodded.

"Um...milk...I can come go get it."

He moved to get off the bed and immediately John pulled him into a hug, kissing his cheek. He traced his fingers down the slender back, feeling slightly relieved when Sherlock leaned into him.

"Sherlock...if you want to talk, I'm here."

John didn't need to explain what he meant, they both knew. The tall hybrid nodded, hugging the short haired man back.

After a while they moved apart and headed for the kitchen. Sherlock poured himself a glass of milk and sat down at his own laptop to drink while John went back to his emails.

"I've got an interview tomorrow afternoon, around one. Is that OK? Do you want me to ask Mrs. Hudson to come up and keep you company?"

Sherlock shook his head as he tapped out something on the keyboard.

"No, it's OK. I have a few cases to look over for Lestrade. I don't think she'll appreciate seeing crime scene photos...although given her history I would think she's fairly used to them."

John raised an eyebrow at his partner, looking across the table at him.

"Sorry, what?"

Sherlock returned his gaze.

"Mrs. Hudson, her ex-husband ran a drug cartel. Somewhere in Florid, and at some point she worked as an exotic dancer."

The doctor gaped, unable to match the information he was receiving with his image of the kind, elderly woman that lived below them.

"E-exotic...what?"

"Dancer, John, exotic dancer. Surely you've visited those establishments before? I understand they're quite popular among human males."

John shook his head to rid the image from his mind. No, no, not going to go there.

"How did you even..?"

"Oh, I found some photos of her from her younger days. Appears she was actually quite famous in her city back then, as was her husband. Apparently she wasn't aware of the majority of his activities, blinded by love as the saying goes, but when he murdered a few people and was sentenced to death for it, well, that cat came out of the bag."

John looked from Sherlock to the door, as if expecting the topic of their conversation to suddenly show up. Dear god, he didn't know how he was going to face Mrs. Hudson after this. Was he even suppose to know? But if it was up on the internet then she had to expect that someone might run across the information at some point. Still, better not bring it up.

"Uh...right. Let's just...keep that to ourselves, yeah?"

Sherlock's ears flicked as he nodded, eyes going back to his screen.

"Where is the interview tomorrow?"

"Clinic nearby. Not too big, they're just looking for someone to fill in for a few months. I thought I'd start off with something easy and see how it goes."

The tapping of keys stopped and John looked over, wondering what made Sherlock pause. He saw the ears tense, flattening a bit to his head before the blue eyes peered at him once more, slightly hesitant.

"So...when you get a job, you'll be gone all day."

The doctor nodded, not sure where Sherlock was going with that.

"What about...I mean...the...in the afternoon..."

The furry ears drooped as did Sherlock's tail as he fumbled for words. He didn't want to sound needy but he would so miss their walks and their cafe visits. John finally clued in and he gently closed the lid to his laptop, bringing his chair to sit before Sherlock. He stroked his thumb over a pale cheek, leaning in to press a kiss against the full lips.

"Our walks, you mean? Well...we can move them to after I get home...or after dinner. But I'll leave you a set of keys, Sherlock, so if you want to go out while I'm away, you can. And now you have your own bank account, so you can go explores some cafes or do some shopping on your own if you feel like it."

Sherlock's eyes were slightly panicked at the thought. Being surrounded by humans when John wasn't around was nerve wracking, he despised it. All their smells and sounds, it grated on his senses.

The doctor reached up and stroked his ears thoughtfully, his brain slowly putting together an idea.

"What if we get you a hat, Sherlock? A hat and I think I've got a trench coat, that would hide your ears and tail when you're out in public. Oh, and the coat has a high collar, so if you pull it up no one would see your collar."

Sherlock perked up as he realized that would indeed work. The other hybrids would smell that he wasn't human if he stood close enough, but the humans wouldn't know, and it was unlikely he'd be outed by another hybrid.

"Give me a minute, I should have it in my closet."

John got up and headed to the bedroom to look while Sherlock's tail whisked behind him. If he could really move about in public without being identified as a hybrid, maybe he can go down to Scotland Yard on his own when John's away. Lestrade had been mentioning he had some crime scenes recently that he would have liked Sherlock to have been there first hand, but since Sherlock's a hybrid it would have been troublesome to explain him to the other officers that worked the scene. The DI had gotten away with giving Sherlock cold case files, telling his superiors that John was the one handling them, but if they found out it was actually a hybrid a lot of feathers would have been ruffled. Now, however, maybe Sherlock can go.

The doctor returned holding up a beautiful black trench coat, fairly thick, double breasted, and the button holes had nice red accents bordering them.

"I got it as a gift from an old army mate, but it's too big for me. It should look good on you since you're so tall."

He handed the coat over as Sherlock hopped up from his chair to take it, holding it open to check the inside and outside. The fabric was quite heavy, nice and sturdy, and clearly unworn. Sherlock wrapped it around himself and John smiled as it settled perfectly over his shoulders.

"Wow, look at that. You strike quite a figure in that, Sherlock."

High cheeks blushed as Sherlock turned his head to check out the back. He carefully tucked his tail under the coat, happy to note that the material gave no hint to its existence at all.

John held out a hat he had been holding in his other hand, greyish, with two claps on the side tied to the top.

"Found this deerstalker in the closet too, see how it fits."

Sherlock ducked his head to let the doctor place the hat on his head. He wiggled it around until it covered the brunet's triangular ears completely, smoothing out his curls. With the hat on, Sherlock found he couldn't hear very well. All the sounds were muffled, and the fabric trapped the heat from his ears making them hot and uncomfortable, but he could handle it.

"There, looks pretty good," John smiled as he gave his partner a once over.

Sherlock bounced into the bathroom to check himself in the full length mirror, smiling. He did look human, no one would notice the difference as long as he kept his tailed tucked in and the hat on. It was perfect. He rushed out and pounced on John, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you, John! Now I can go with Lestrade to crime scenes!"

John laughed, finding it amusing that that would be Sherlock's priority. It looked like things will be OK.

...

...

John strolled through the park the following afternoon feeling quite proud of himself. The interview had been a success and he had been offer the job immediately. The woman who interviewed him, Sarah, was funny and easy to talk to. She had warned him that the job would probably be dull for him, but John didn't mind. It was an easy job, three to four days a week, and good pay.

He checked his phone, noting he had been away for about two hours, but found only four messages from Sherlock.

'John, going to Scotland Yard. -S'

'So many cars on the streets. -S'

'Lestrade is taking me with him to a crime scene, John! Burglary! Almost 5,000 pounds of stolen jewelry! -S'

'Wow...these officers are unbelievably unobservant. -S'

John shook his head, compared to Sherlock most people would be unobservant. He quickly typed back a reply.

'Interview went well, got the job. Be careful at crime scene, take care of yourself. -J'

It only took a few minutes for his phone to ding, signalling a new message.

'I will. Knew you would get the job, you're overqualified for working at a clinic. -S'

John smiled as he typed.

'Maybe, but better to start off easy and work my way up. Where are you now? -J'

As the doctor neared the flat, he received Sherlock's reply.

'Back at NSY. Caught the burglar, but he's not telling them where he hid the stolen goods. -S'

'Oh, how long do you think you'll be there for? -J'

'I don't know how long this will take. Lestrade just asked me to watch the interrogation to see if I can pick up any signs from the burglar to lead us to the goods. -S'

John opened the door to the flat and headed up the stairs. He sat down on the sofa, kicking his shoes off and pulling his legs up to lie down on the soft cushions. He felt quite proud of Sherlock, it has only been a few months since he had first come to live with John and already he had changed so much. From the scared and insecure hybrid at the market to being able to go out by himself, and even helping Scotland Yard, it was marvelous. He no longer feared asking for things, although he sometimes still hesitated, and he wasn't afraid to refuse things now.

The doctor felt his eyes droop and slowly he fell asleep on the sofa, phone in hand.

...
...

It wasn't until a few hours later when the smell of food wafted through the flat that John awoke. He blinked, confused as to why he wasn't in bed and then remembered. Right, job, interview, Sherlock, Scotland Yard. John yawned and stretched out his muscles, wondering how long he had been asleep. It was still light out, but clearly later afternoon by now. He heard some movements in the kitchen and realized the delicious smells must have came from there.

"Sherlock? Is that you?"

Immediately, a pair of cat ears peeked out from the kitchen door followed by a mop of brown hair sitting over beautiful blue eyes. The brunet had shed the hat and coat, now hung on the back of the door, which left him in a light blue button down shirt and dark blue jeans. Sherlock held a spatula in one hand and a salt shaker in the other, smiling at the doctor.

"You're awake. I started dinner, I even bought a cake on my way back from Scotland Yard. I...I thought we should celebrate, since you got a job."

John pushed himself off the sofa and strode over to where Sherlock stood, stretching up to kiss his lips. He noticed the joyous glint in the other's eyes, the slender tail swishing about, clearly a signal that the brunet was happy about something.

"Let me guess, you also solved the case for Scotland Yard?"

Excitedly, Sherlock nodded, eyes lighting up even more.

"Yes, completely solved. Just paperwork left, Lestrade was complaining about that. He was so surprised when I showed up today with the coat and hat. It's so much easier to deduce things from the actual scene than from photos."

John smiled and ruffled Sherlock's hair.

"So it went well then. You didn't run into any problems? Anyone give you a hard time?"

The curls bounced as Sherlock shook his head.

"No, none of the humans, aside from Lestrade and a few officers who saw me before, realized I was a hybrid. I was kind of nervous in the cab, but then I saw the driver wasn't paying me any attention so I just tried acting as normal as possible."

"Good. Do you need any help with dinner?"

Sherlock headed back into the kitchen with John trailing behind.

"No, it's almost done. Just need to let the rice simmer a bit more."

"Rice? You cooked rice? But we don't have a rice cooker," the older man peered around the kitchen, trying to see what Sherlock had decided to make for dinner.

"I borrowed it from Mrs. Hudson to make Chinese food. I found a recipe on the internet for some stir fry dishes."

The brunet pulled out a plate from a cupboard and set it down beside the stove. Then, carefully, he picked up the pan that had what looked like green beans and minced meat in it and scooped the food onto the plate with his spatula. John headed over to what must have been the rice cooker and opened the lid. A cloud of steam puffed up as he looked inside.

"Oh, looks good. Smells amazing!"

Sherlock smiled proudly as he set his plate down on the table and then grabbed two bowls, holding them out for John to scoop some rice into.

As they sat down at the table, John saw that aside from the stir fried beans and rice, Sherlock had also made soup and another dish that looked like fish. He chuckled when he noticed that Sherlock was wielding a pair of chopsticks once more, while he had placed a fork and spoon down for John.

"Did you get those from Mrs. Hudson too?"

The brunet nodded, looking over the utensils happily.

"Yes, she gave them to me. Said I can use them to practice."

The rest of the meal they shared quietly, talking over the burglar case. Sherlock had been thrilled, out and about on his own for the first time. He had tried to keep his curiosity in check so that people wouldn't get suspicious, but he couldn't help poking his nose around when no one was looking. Sherlock had used his phone and taken an enormous amount of photos, from manhole covers to people walking their dogs. Everything seemed interesting to him and John listened patiently, smiling as Sherlock described the different patterns on sidewalk cement between Baker Street and Scotland Yard.

They curled up on the sofa to watch telly after dinner, two pieces of cake stacked on a plate. Sherlock had bought the dessert from the cafe he and John had visited before, where Sherlock had accidentally crashed into a customer. Isabelle was there again and she had been delighted to see Sherlock, asking him how he was doing and what John was up to. She had complimented him on his outfit, and even gave him a free slice of cheesecake, since Sherlock had enjoyed it so much last time.

John relaxed back on the sofa, holding Sherlock in his lap while the brunet held the plate. The doctor picked up a bite of cake on his fork and brought it to Sherlock's mouth, who happily accepted it, lapping at the fork to get all the cream. A bit of icing stuck to the corner of his mouth and John leaned over without thinking, licking it up. Sherlock mewled and turned his head a bit, pressing his lips against the older man's. John licked over the plush lips, tasting the sweetness from the cake as Sherlock opened his mouth, poking his tongue out to meet John's. With a soft moan, the short haired man pulled back a bit, carefully taking the plate of food from Sherlock to place it on the coffee table along with the fork, freeing both their hands so they could touch and feel. Immediately, Sherlock's long arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him close once more, nipping at his mouth and pressing his tongue inside. John let the brunet have his fill as his own hands traced down over Sherlock's side and back, fingers burying themselves into the silky hair to rub at his ears.

Sherlock's purr was muffled by John's mouth as the kiss deepened. The doctor shivered feeling the brunet's fingers trail down his spine. Sherlock shifted in John's lap, sitting up and moving his legs so that he could straddle his owner's lap. He rolled his hips against John causing the older man to groan as his hold on Sherlock tightened.

By the time they pulled apart, both parties were breathing hard, pupils blown wide and clearly desperate for more. It had been several weeks now since their first time together. Although stealing kisses with the occasional hand job or oral sex had become regular occurrences, it hadn't proceeded further than that. John was hesitant, afraid that to go all the way might trigger memories in Sherlock that would upset him.

Now, however, as their eyes locked, both of them ached to feel more. Sherlock cupped John's face between his hands, leaning in until there was hardly a hair's width separating their lips. He pushed his pelvis down and felt John's hardened member even through the fabric of their trousers.

"John..."

The name was whispered softly, trailing off in a moan as the doctor's hand reached behind Sherlock and massaged at the base of his tail.

"John...please...will you..."

The older man leaned in and kissed Sherlock's cheek, pulling the brunet down so he can nuzzle against the soft ears, kissing them.

"Will I what, Sherlock? Tell me what you want..."

Darkened blue eyes fluttered as he swallowed hard, willing his mouth to function.

"Will you take me? I want you to...if you want to..."

John inhaled sharply, his eyes once more meeting Sherlock's. They were lust filled but so filled with adoration that it made John's heart ache. When had anyone shown him so much care? He brushed back some of the curls that fell over Sherlock's forehead, the hand at the brunet's back, clasping over his waist to pull him close.

"You really want that, Sherlock? You're sure?"

Not missing a beat, Sherlock nodded, mewling in his throat. His eyes grew hopeful and John found himself incapable of refusing.

"All right...let's go to the bedroom, then, yeah?"

A wide smile blossomed over Sherlock's lips as his tail flicked excitedly. He wrapped the slender appendage around John as they stood up, stumbling towards their destination.

CHAPTER 10 END

Whew, 10 chapters :D Thank you all for sticking with me and your lovely comments! I adore them 3 3

Sorry for cutting this chapter off where I did OTL Needed a breather before I dive into the smut once more XD Pretty obvious what's in store for next chapter I think, haha, I shall get it up as quickly as my fingers can type it out (typing is so much slower than imagining in my head -_-)