A/N: So this is it. The last chapter. I told you I would get it to you ASAP. And here it is in all its glory.

Next for me is, of course, the NaNoWriMo story. I'm off to a good start on it and I hope I can keep up the momentum.

And then after that should be the final story in this trilogy and it will be Mystrade centric. It will be about Mycroft and Greg figuring out what to do with their lives with the world changing as quickly as it is these days. And finding comfort in each other. But sadly it will NOT be posted here. I've updated my about page to reflect that I have left for AO3. I might post a sequel to an existing story on here (like any of the Halloween ones or whatever, but I think this story ends that you don't NEED the Mystrade story for it to be complete, but I do hope you'll come read it on AO3 anyway.) I am LadyKailitha over there, too. Just type in my name into the search there and you'll find me. You'll also a bunch stories that I have posted here that I hope you'll enjoy, too.

Enjoy!

John whirled around to see Sherlock standing there with a smug grin on his face. "Drama queen."

Sherlock leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "And you like it."

John gulped. "God help me, but I do." And pulled on Sherlock's coat's lapels to bring their lips together.

Behind them, the whole group was thumping on the table and whistling.

When they finally stopped and John had pulled away a little, he breathed, "I still might kill you for being late, but that was one hell of an entrance."

They turned around to see a couple people handing Bill money.

"Oi!" John cried. "What the fuck?"

Bill laughed. "Sorry, Johnny, but we had a bet on who you'd bring. Most of us thought you'd bring Sherlock. Some of us thought you'd bring someone else." Bill glared at Gwen and Cal.

Gwen shrugged. "He'd never shown any interest in men the entire time I've known him."

Cal laughed. "I just didn't think he had gotten his head out of his arse yet."

John looked up at Sherlock through his eyelashes. "It was a near thing."

Sherlock's smile was incandescent. "You got there in the end."

"Thank god!" he breathed.

Sherlock sat down, after John helped him out of his coat.

"Your usual?" John asked.

Sherlock nodded and John went to go get their drinks.

"He knows your usual?" Alice asked with a grin.

Sherlock scoffed. "I'd hope so, after this long."

Amy grinned. "You know we aren't going to waste this opportunity, right?"

"To interrogate me?" Sherlock asked. "Oh I know." He leaned forward on the table. "I'm forty, I'm youngest of three boys. My parents are well-off, but not what you would consider rich. We're descendants of country squires. My father is a writer and my mother was premiere mathematician who had written a couple of books on the matter before giving it up to have children. My eldest brother is the government, but my middle brother died when I was really little, so I don't remember him.

"I'm a consulting detective currently consulting with the Metropolitan Police, though I take cases on my own as well. There was a small matter of my 'death' that was grossly exaggerated. I was best man at John's wedding and am godfather to his daughter, Rosie. Though we co-parent currently. That's enough to be going on with, don't you think?"

There was silence around the table before everyone burst out laughing.

"That was brilliant!" Gwen cried.

"I'm impressed," Hassan agreed.

Sherlock grinned. "Anything I missed?"

"What's your blood type and measurements?" Alice asked, laughing.

"O positive and 43, 33, with a 34in inseam," Sherlock rattled off, smug.

"Posh git," Bill teased.

Sherlock shrugged.

John came up and sat down their drinks. "Did I miss anything?"

"Just the usual making sure I'm good enough for you," Sherlock murmured.

John ran his fingers through his hair. "You are the only who is."

"Awww..." everyone cooed.

"He knew his measurements and blood type," Hassan told John.

"Ah. That's not as impressive as you think it is," John replied with a grimace. "He needs to know his blood type because we are constantly being shot, stabbed, strangled, hit, kicked, pushed down stairs or any number of things that could get us hurt." He jutted his head at Sherlock. "Him knowing what his blood type is makes things go faster at the inevitable A&E visit."

"Christ, Johnny," Amy murmured. "You see more action here in London than you ever did in Kandahar."

John smiled. "All part of the appeal." He ruffled Sherlock's hair affectionately. "But the measurements? Yeah, it's because he's a posh git with an actual fucking tailor."

"Who, I keep telling you, I'd be happy to introduce you to," Sherlock said archly. "So you at least wear something other than those ugly jumpers."

"Oohh," Bill whistled. "He's got you there, mate. Your jumpers are awful."

They got down to chatting about old times, and Sherlock leaned in to hear more about John's exploits on and off the battle field.

"Do you remember the time Sholto had to suck up to that General, and Cal and Gwen were following him around trying to make him crack a smile?" Hassan asked, laughing.

"Still pissed that all it took was Johnny here to wink at him," Cal hissed. "Should have known then, Johnny had a thing for the fellas as well as the ladies."

Sherlock raised an eyebrow at him. "Sholto?"

John coughed. "I didn't know he had feelings for me until my wedding, so...let's not read too much into that."

Gwen thumped him on his shoulder and John could barely contain the wince.

"Here, swap seats," Sherlock murmured gently.

John sighed in relief and moved to Sherlock's right. "Being a lefty is a pain in the arse," he said, by way of explanation.

Bill just smirked into his pint.

Amy looked at her phone. "Damn, I've got to go," she cursed. "They're shipping me back out first thing in the morning. Sorry, guys."

Hassan looked at his phone, too. "Shit, guys, I've got work tomorrow. I've got to go, too."

Everyone said goodbye to them, then Sherlock asked, "I thought you were all military?"

They looked at each other in shock. "How did you know that?" Alice asked.

Sherlock smiled and launched into rapid fire deductions that left them stumped.

After a few moments of silence, Sherlock turned to John. "Not good?"

John opened his mouth to reply, but Bill cut him off.

"That was fucking brilliant!" And everyone rushed to agree.

Sherlock blushed. "I see why you like them."

John laughed.

The others shared confused glances.

"Is that unusual?" Gwen asked.

"Usually I get punched," Sherlock admitted shyly.

"Why?" Cal asked. "I mean it's something anyone can learn. It's not like you're reading minds–" He gasped and put his hands in front of his face. "You can't read minds, can you?"

"No," Sherlock said flatly.

"But it's a near thing," John teased.

Everyone laughed.

Cal and Gwen ended up having to go soon after, leaving John and Sherlock alone with Bill and Alice.

"How long have you been a couple?" Alice asked.

"Only a couple of months," John admitted.

"Is there a reason you haven't come out on the blog?" Bill asked.

John and Sherlock shared a glance.

"Oh!" he said, feeling the tension between them. "I didn't mean to step in the middle of something, I was only curious."

John licked his lips.

"It's a hotly contested subject," Sherlock said through gritted teeth.

"I just don't want everyone to know about our personal lives," John said, pained.

"Why not? Everything else goes up there!" Sherlock bit out.

"That's not fair!" John protested hotly. "You know that's not true. I keep a lot out of it. Especially when it comes to Rosie! And this concerns her."

"What? Don't you want people knowing she has two dads now?"

"That's not –"

Sherlock stood up and dragged his coat on, striding for the door. John got up to follow him but Alice stopped him.

"I'll talk to him."

He slumped back into his seat, his shoulders rounded.

"I'm sorry, John," Bill said, getting up from his chair and moving around the table to sit next to his friend.

"It's not your fault," John murmured. "He wants to tell everyone we're a couple."

"And you don't?" Bill asked. He motioned for two more pints.

"No–I can't," John protested. "I'm not a good person when I'm drunk."

"It's just another beer," Bill reasoned. "I won't let you get drunk, I promise."

John thought back to the whiskey Sherlock had given him that first night and then nodded.

"I've always been a private person," he explained, once their beers arrived. "I understand his urge to shout it from the rooftops, but I don't know. The blog seems like a bridge too far."

"So let him do it on his blog then," Bill suggested. "Then it's out there for anyone who wants to look, but it's not on yours where it could go viral."

John took a sip of his beer and then licked the foam off his upper lip. "I guess."

Bull nudged his shoulder. "But it feels like a cop-out, huh?"

John lifted his head and looked Bill in the eye. He let out a rough sigh.

"I'm an arse, aren't I?"

"No."

John barked out a bitter laugh before taking another drink.

"No, John. I mean it," Bill said, putting his arm around John's shoulder. "You aren't being an arse. You've been hurt time and time again and are trying not to fuck this one up too. But I've got a pretty good idea that no one's been there like you have, and of course he wants everyone to know. To show everyone how wrong they've been about him."

John sighed. "I know."

"Come on, let's give you back to him." Bill got up and went to pay the tab. When he returned, he slung his arm around John. "Let's go."

Alice found him smoking a cigarette. Sherlock blushed guiltily.

"I promised him I'd give these up, but…."

"You need the comfort?" she asked with a smile. He nodded, and she bummed a fag off of him.

"I didn't know you smoked," Sherlock said, flicking the ash.

"I don't, not really," Alice said. "But smoking with someone is a great way to get people to open up to you."

Sherlock laughed. "Fair enough."

"You want to tell me why the blog is a point of contention between the two of you?" she asked. "Because this isn't a new fight. This is an old fight."

"Have you read it?" Sherlock asked.

"Yeah."

"All of it? Including the comments?" Sherlock pressed.

"Ah."

Sherlock took another drag of his cigarette and let out the smoke slowly.

"You think that he only puts up the bad when it comes to you, but the good for everything else," Alice said, flicking her cigarette twice.

"Am I wrong?"

"Yes."

Sherlock stared at her in shock. "Excuse me?"

"Look, I don't know you," Alice replied. "I don't really know John either. He was discharged before Bill and I met."

"You were John's replacement."

Alice took a drag of the cigarette and tapped the ash as she exhaled. "Bill doesn't like to put it that way, but yes, I was."

Sherlock rolled his cigarette between his fingers, dropping the rest of his tobacco and ash onto the pavement before flicking the butt into the road.

"But we're getting off the topic. John has always praised you. On the blog and off. But I think you forget, or maybe aren't aware, how much your loss hurt him. Yes, fine, you had to fake your death, but I think he's afraid that if he puts it out there for everyone to see, someone like Moriarty, Magnussen, or, hell even Smith will target him and Rosie. Or with the shoe on the other foot, someone targeting you to get to him. And I don't think he would be able to bear the loss."

Sherlock looked down at his feet. "I know," he said, his voice cracking. He put his finger to his lips to still their quivering. "But no one has loved me like he does, and I –"

"Want to prove to the world that you can be loved?"

He blushed deeply.

"Have you told him that?"

Sherlock shook his head. "I didn't technically tell you. You guessed."

Alice laughed. "I think you should." She looked over at the door and saw John and Bill exit. She threw her butt on the pavement and ground it under her foot. "Now's your chance."

Sherlock nodded and they walked over to meet Bill and John.

John looked up at Sherlock and smiled. "You ready to go home?"

Sherlock nodded.

They said their goodbyes and hailed a taxi. Once they were on their way, Sherlock murmured, "I'm sorry I ruined your night out."

John, who had been looking out the window, turned sharply to face Sherlock. "You didn't, and neither did Bill," John said. "Couples fight, love."

Sherlock nodded, lips pursed together. "You're worried that announcing our relationship to the public at large will post a target on yours and Rosie's backs."

"Aren't you?" John asked, panic rising like bile in his throat.

"Terrified. But if they'll hurt you because you're a friend or even just a flatmate, what's the difference that being a couple will make?"

John's jaw dropped. That was true. Villains were going to come after him no matter what he was to Sherlock.

He took Sherlock's hand. "I do know that," John insisted. "But I can't help but worry. It's part of my nature."

Sherlock sighed. "I know. But it hurts that you haven't."

John squeezed his hand. "I'm not trying to hide that we're a couple, Sherlock." John licked his lips. "What if I told you I was thinking about stopping the blog altogether?"

"Really?" Sherlock watched John's expression through the flickering lights of passing street lamps. "Why?"

"We don't need it anymore. People know where to find us and it's not a great medium to tell your cases."

"Is that why you haven't put up our last couple of cases?"

"That's part of it, yeah," John admitted. He got out his phone and fumbled around with it for a moment before handing it to Sherlock.

"What's this?" Sherlock asked as he scrolled through.

"A book offer and the biggest reason I haven't been putting up our cases."

"They want a book about us?" Sherlock asked around the lump forming in his throat.

"Well, you mostly, but yeah." John took the phone back. "I've been putting off telling people about us because if I do, it'll be the last post on it I'll ever make."

"John –" Sherlock started but the cabbie cut him off.

"Oi! We're here."

John paid the cabbie and got out. Sherlock followed close behind.

"Why didn't you say something?" Sherlock asked as they climbed the stairs to their flat.

"I have all these plans in my head and I don't know how to tell you. To tell anyone, really."

"So talk to me, John. Tell me all your hopes and dreams."

"Not out here," John said mournfully.

They got ready for bed and Sherlock tucked John under his chin as they spooned.

"Just start talking," Sherlock whispered into John's ear.

John let out a shuddering sigh. "I want to write full time when I'm not on cases with you. I want to buy or rent or whatever, 221C to use as my office. Where I can go to work but be close by. I want to marry you and have you adopt Rosie. I want to change her name from Rosamund Mary Watson to Violet Rosalind Holmes. I want to dance with you at our wedding. I want to have a surrogate baby with your sperm and Harriet's eggs so she would be ours. I want to retire with you out in the country. I want it all."

Sherlock listened in stunned silence as John continued his litany of wants. He pulled John closer.

"That sounds wonderful, John."

John tensed up. "Yeah?"

"One step at a time of course, but yes, John. It sounds like a dream."

John turned to faced Sherlock. "This isn't me asking, not yet. But you're okay with marrying me?"

Sherlock tightened his arms around John and kissed the top of John's head. "Of course I am. I worried you might not want to because of Mary."

John lifted his chin to rub his nose along Sherlock's. "Got to do it right, before the eyes of God and all our friends and family."

"Then marry we shall."

John rolled onto his back and Sherlock stayed curled up on his side.

Sherlock opened his email to see he had a notification for John's blog.

"Oh my god."

Final Blog

Just like it says on the tin, I'm shutting down this blog one week from now. To give people a chance to see this before I close the door on this era of my life.

There are many reasons I'm stopping the blog. One was so that people could see it and contact us for cases. We haven't needed to do that in years.

Another reason I'm stopping the blog is I don't have time to devote to it anymore. I have a rambunctious toddler and a beautiful partner that I want to spend more time with.

Who is that beautiful partner you ask? The best man I've ever known. Sherlock Holmes. This may come completely out of left field for a lot of people. But through lots and lots of therapy (Thanks Ella and Aurora, I owe a lot to you both) I realized in addition to being attracted to women, I was also attracted to men. Call it bisexual or pansexual or whatever.

No, this does not make me gay, now that I'm with Sherlock. Nor does it mean that I was playing with the hearts of the women I've been with. I know a lot of my girlfriends that I was with after my discharge from the army would disagree with that, but I mean it.

The final reason for this being the last blog post is that I have gotten a book offer to serialize Sherlock's and my cases so I'll be working on it and giving a lot more context than what you see here. I have all my notes and all of Sherlock's as well.

The future is looking so bright right now. Life is so rich and I started this blog as way to get out of the rut I was in. I don't need it anymore.

So.

Farewell, friends.

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