August 2006

Nervously, John looked around. By now he wasn't so sure if it was a good idea to go out the very day he returned. But he had decided to make the most of the time he was spending in London. He was hoping to meet someone he could spend at least a few nice weeks with before he went back.

He became more and more restless and cursed himself for his hasty decision. Finally he couldn't stand it anymore and fled into a side alley. Exhausted, he leaned against the wall behind him and tried to get his breathing under control again. Slowly the noise around him faded away, until suddenly a dark figure slid into the alley and ran past him. Shortly afterwards another figure followed, apparently running behind the first one.

A dark cloak bulged behind the second figure and John could only be surprised to see the distance to the first figure getting smaller and smaller until it was finally completely overcome and both figures fell to the ground fighting with each other. From one moment to the other John's senses sharpened. It was important to estimate in the shortest possible time what was going on and which of the figures he had to help.

Within fractions of a second he had decided to support the figure with the cloak. Boldly he grabbed the collar of the other figure and tore him away from the person wearing the coat. With a swift movement he turned one of the figure's arms on his back and pushed the person, whom he had meanwhile identified as male, to the ground. He heard sirens and heard more steps rushing into the alley. "Sherlock?" cried a man's voice. The only response was a moan. Apparently, John's intervention had been quite helpful. Looking over his shoulder, he realised that the coat-wearer, Sherlock apparently, was twisting with pain.

"Who are you?" asked the man surprised, who had called for Sherlock just a few moments earlier and now came to a halt next to him.

"John Watson," replied John. The expression on the man's face remained questioning. "I was only helping. Perhaps you could take this man from me now, whatever he may have done. Your colleague needs help, he may have been injured. I can take a look at it, but not with him in my hand," John replied, holding the man firmly in front of him, even though he was very much resisting John.

"This is not my colleague, he is only helping us. But if you could just look at him and um... thank you," the man said and took out the handcuffs. By now the alley was swarming with policemen and although someone had apparently helped Sherlock to sit up and lean against a wall, he was now sitting there alone.

"Excuse me. Good evening. Sherlock, right? Can I help you somehow?" asked John as he bent down to the coat-wearer. A judgmental look met John. As the other one tilted his head slightly, thus allowing more light to fall on his figure, John could see the other's face for the first time. Dark curls, high cheekbones, light eyes. A young man, just reached adulthood. One could still clearly see the last childlike soft features in the other's face.

Only very reluctantly the other one finally gave in to John's question and stretched out his right arm from his body. John noticed the analytical, evaluative look resting on him the whole time he looked at the arm. "Clearly broken. It will definitely have to be fixed. Your opponent has done a good job on that. Under no circumstances should you move the arm any more, it's best to put it in a sling and go straight to the hospital," John noted.

"So you're a doctor," replied the other to John's astonishment. " You were away, but only came back today. The way you stopped the killer shows that you have experience in overpowering others. So no normal doctor. An army doctor, your haircut and your posture underline this," Sherlock continued, and John's amazement grew. He cleared his throat slightly. "Maybe we should take care of you now before you analyze me further," John interjected, but the other one made no attempt to do anything. For a moment John looked at him.

"May I?" he finally asked, pointing to Sherlock's scarf. He nodded slightly, still looking up at John. "Is he all right?" wanted to know the man who'd called for Sherlock, and who'd turned out to be a Detective Inspector by now. Only now did John realise how reluctant the other seemed to be to Sherlock, but there was something between them that connected them. Sherlock was obviously not a policeman, but still the Detective Inspector had said that he helped them.

John decided that now was not the time to further analyse the connection between them. With practiced moves, John used Sherlock's scarf as a sling and then offered his hand to the other to stand up. The latter ignored the gesture and wrestled himself up. Taking one last look at John and the Detective Inspector, he stumbled out of the alley. For a moment John looked after the other in bewilderment and was sure that something was wrong with the picture when he saw the young man turned left at the end of the alley.

It took him a moment to realize what was wrong with the picture. John had expected the other man to turn right as the nearest hospital was in that direction. Another moment later John ran after the other one. To his astonishment, the other one had already gone quite a distance.

"Sherlock, wait," he shouted as he almost reached the dark-haired man. The one addressed kept walking, either he had not heard John or he ignored him. "You really shouldn't take this lightly. If you want to continue chasing criminals, you should get it treated as soon as possible," scolded John as he was walking next to the other one. "It's none of your business," replied the other coldly. "Fine, as you like, then I'll take you with me," hissed John and grabbed the other firmly by the arm.

He gasped in surprise as John turned around and dragged him in the other direction. It wasn't long before John felt the strong resistance. John pulled the other close to him. "Either you come with me voluntarily or I will make sure that it is no longer obvious that I am taking you to the hospital against your will," he threatened Sherlock. Immediately he stopped struggling and looked at John in surprise. John himself was surprised what effect his threat had on the other person. He felt a slight shiver go through the other person's body. As he looked at the other one, the first thing he noticed was the slight blush on his cheeks that stood out against the otherwise pale skin.

"There you go," John noted, not realizing what a emotional chaos he had just caused in the other one.