New chapter folks! Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! They are very much appreciated. Please keep them coming! ;) Enjoy!
John stared at Sherlock blankly, confused and shocked. "How could he possibly know that?" He thought. "No one is that smart..." John narrowed his eyes as he opened his mouth to speak.
"What do you mean?" He asked slowly.
Sherlock let out a frustrated sigh.
"You know very well what I mean, John." He said, shaking his head. "Now answer me: Afghanistan or Iraq?"
John let a nervous chuckle, running his hands through his hair.
"Uh, Afghanistan." He replied tentatively. "But how-"
However, Sherlock quickly interrupted him.
"And you're pre-med, right?" He asked, slowly approaching John.
John let out an exacerbated sigh, but he couldn't help but smile slightly.
"How do-" he begin to inquire, but knowing it was useless, he instead answered- "Yeah, I'm applying to Bart's next year."
Sherlock nodded knowingly, as he placed his hands behind his back, standing right in front of John's chair. John stood up to better meet Sherlock's eyes.
"And I am assuming you saw a lot of violence and death during the war?" Sherlock asked, those eyes burrowing deep into John's.
John's heart began to thump. He could almost feel Sherlock's warm breath on his face.
"Uh, yes too much." He stuttered as he stood up tall. "Enough for a lifetime."
Sherlock let out a sly smile as his eyes ran slowly up and down John's body. John repressed a shiver.
"Want to see some more?" Sherlock asked, still smiling.
John's first instinct was to lie and say no, but he had a feeling would Sherlock would easily see through that. But even more importantly than that, he found he didn't want to lie, not to Sherlock. Not only did he realize this could be opportunity to see Sherlock's brilliant mind at work, but he also had the strong desire to earn this man's trust. This man who seemed to trust no one. John let a small smile to match Sherlock's.
"Oh God yes." He replied.
And with that answer, they were both out the door, shouting their goodbyes to Mrs. Hudson as they rushed down the stairs. "What am I getting into?" John asked himself. But as they stepped into the cold night, he found himself still smiling.
X
The first few minutes of the cab ride were relatively quiet. John kept glancing over at Sherlock, who seemed lost in his own thoughts. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore.
"Okay, how did you do it? How did you know I was in the military?" John asked, his voice raised with curiosity and exasperation.
Sherlock was startled by the question at first, but quickly regained his composure.
"Well it was quite simple." Sherlock answered calmly, turning his head to face John. "The first day of class I had my suspicions what with the visible tan lines around your neck and wrists. Then as I studied you, I noticed your posture. It was straight as an arrow, even when you were carrying your books or bag. Considering those two points and the fact that you called the professor "Sir" when no one else did, I came to the conclusion that you had recently returned from military service abroad. Therefore, with two wars going on, the logical question is Afghanistan or Iraq."
When Sherlock finished, John simply stared at him, mouth a gap. That was simply-
"Incredible..." He muttered, finally finding the correct word. "Bloody incredible!"
Sherlock seemed surprised by this reaction and frowned slightly.
"That's not what people normally say." He said quietly.
John cocked his head to side, curious.
"Well, what do they normally say?" He asked.
Sherlock looked up and met John's eyes, a smirk forming on his lips.
"Piss off." He answered.
They stared at each other for a few seconds, before both of them burst out laughing. John found himself rather enjoying Sherlock's laugh. He didn't seem like a man that laughed often. In fact, the first time John had heard that baritone chuckle was that night in the library. He quite liked hearing Sherlock's laugh and maybe even more the fact that they were laughing together.
Finally, after regaining their composure, John found another question on his lips.
"But how did you know I was in pre-med?" He asked.
John saw another smile beginning to form on Sherlock's lips as he spoke.
"Well, that also was quite simple." He replied, his tone serious, but his eyes laughing. "I caught sight of one of your notebooks."
And they were both caught in a fit of laughter again until the cabbie loudly announced that they had arrived. They stepped out the cab and quickly met with Lestrade who led them up to the crime scene. However, any giddiness that lingered in John quickly disappeared when he caught sight of the dead woman laying on the floor.
As Sherlock slipped on his gloves and began to examine the body, John slowly moved up to get a better look at the woman. She looked to be in her mid-thirties and was dressed in all pink down to her shoes. She looked almost peaceful if it wasn't her dead eyes and the word she had scratched into the wood floor with her fingernail.
"Rache?" John murmured, reading the word slowly.
He looked at Sherlock for an answer, but he was bent over the body and didn't seem to hear nor care. John instead turned to Lestrade, who was standing by the open door.
"What does that mean?" He asked the detective. Lestrade simply shrugged, but suddenly a shorter man appeared in the doorway with a smug look on his face.
"Obviously, it's 'Rache' the German word for revenge." The man answered. "Apparently this woman had a lot of-"
But before the man could finish, Sherlock interrupted, walking up to the door.
"Yes, 'rache'!" Sherlock said rather sarcastically. "Excellent deduction, Anderson."
This man Anderson, obviously not sensing the sarcasm, smiled happily.
"Why thank you!" He continued. "I thought it-"
But before Anderson could finish, Sherlock slammed the door in his face and strode back to the body. John suppressed a chuckle.
"So obviously you don't think it's the German word for revenge?" Lestrade inquired, smiling slightly himself.
Sherlock shook his head, letting out a harsh laugh.
"No, of course not!" He exclaimed. "This was her last word! Something to help us find her killer. No, the word she was writing is Rachel."
"Rachel? Why?" John asked.
Sherlock shrugged.
"I don't know yet." He answered slowly, his eyes scanning the body. "But I narrowed down all the words she could have been writing and it's the only one that fit."
John looked up at Sherlock in wonder.
"How did you-" He stuttered. "I mean, that's amazing."
Sherlock looked over at John and smiled briefly before Lestrade spoke.
"So what else did you figure out, Sherlock?" The detective asked.
Sherlock quickly turned back to the body, his eyes now glued to the dead corpse. He took a deep breath before starting.
"First of all, she's obviously visiting to London given that her jacket is still wet and it only rained in Bristols today. Most likely spending the night with one of her many lovers given the state of her wedding ring. She also-"
But John interrupted, his mind swimming with questions.
"Wait, what do you mean 'the state of her wedding ring'?" He asked. "What about it makes you thinks she's having one affair, let alone many?"
Sherlock let out a frustrated sigh and walked over to her right hand.
"The outside of her ring is dirty and grimy, see?" He explained, pointing at it. "All the rest of her jewelry, her necklace, earrings, are clean and shiny. That ring is the state of her marriage right there. But-"
Sherlock pulled off the ring and showed it to John.
"See the inside? It's in better condition than the outside." He said, before slipping the ring back on the woman's finger. "Which means the only cleaning it gets is when she works it off her finger. And honestly, given her age and the detail she puts into her makeup and hair, it's likely a string of lovers because she could never commit to one man and wouldn't want to be 'single' for too long."
As Sherlock stood up, John once again found his mouth open. He had so many questions, so many things that remained unanswered, but all he could say was-
"Amazing...Bloody amazing."
Sherlock smiled again and leaned closer to him, his lips almost touching John's ear.
"You do realize you are saying these things out loud?" He asked softly.
John felt his cheeks warm and quickly shut his mouth, stepping away from the body. Sherlock was still smiling slyly as he turned to Lestrade.
"Now then, where is her case?" He inquired.
The detective cocked his head, obviously confused.
"A case? We didn't find one." He answered.
Sherlock shook his head and pointed back to the body.
"But see the small splash patterns on her leg there!" He exclaimed. "She was carrying a small case!"
Lestrade shook his head once again.
"We didn't find anything on the body." He explained.
Sherlock frowned and took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly, before they suddenly flew open.
"But that would mean-" he started, but instead of finishing he let out a bright smile and ran out the door.
John and Lestrade followed as Sherlock rushed down the stairs, shouting instructions as he went.
"Find out who this woman was! Find Rachel!" He yelled as he ran. "Whoever did this, whoever took her made a terrible mistake."
Lestrade and John stopped as Sherlock reached the bottom step.
"But what?" John asked loudly. "What was their mistake?"
Sherlock turned around to face them, grinning from ear to ear.
"Pink!" He shouted and then he was gone out the door, away into the night.
John didn't know what to do at first. He was utterly confused and rather frustrated that Sherlock had left him there. But assuming that this was normal given everyone's calm reaction, he quickly left the building and began walking down the street, looking for a cab.
As John walked, he noticed his heart was still beating hard. "It was rather exciting, wasn't it?" He thought, smiling to himself. "Even if my new flatmate did just abandon me in the middle of no where."
John finally arrived at a busy crossing and began trying to hail cabs to no avail. And just as he let out a sigh of frustration at his lack of success, the phone booth next to him began to ring.
Hopefully you guys are enjoying this tale so far and the tweaks I have made to the first series. It's tough to follow in Moffat and Gatniss' footsteps, but I am enjoying myself. Anyway, please follow, favorite and review wonderful readers! Till next time!
P.S. Next chapter might be up a little sooner because a certain someone finally shows up and I am uber excited to write him so I have already plotted out quite a deal already! Let's hope real life doesn't get in the way. :)