Drabble for The Neurotic Detective, in which Holmes is hired by the British government to secretly test London's security by pretending to be a criminal himself.
Proud
He had told them from the beginning that it would be a tricky business. He and Watson had gone on nearly every one of his cases together since the Cunningham Heritage, on the first day of their moving into 221b, and so it was only expected that Watson would inevitably discover that he was working on one at present. It was strange to him—stranger than he had anticipated, in fact—to have secret meetings with unfamiliar new colleagues without his doctor at his elbow, but it was business, and he would be able to describe his actions once it was all concluded.
He had not expected the turn of events as the unfolded. After two days of avoiding Watson as much as possible, and doing all in his power to ignore his (highly entertaining) plots to "rescue" him from his apparent mistakes, Sherlock Holmes entered that grand study to see a pair of semi-worn, brown leather shoes poking out from beneath the heavy window drapes.
Watson had not only worked out Holmes' secret, but also guessed his next move, talked Lestrade into helping whisk him away to receive medical aid instead of arresting him for criminal activity (which was impressive in itself), followed him all the way to the diplomatic dress ball without been seen, and sneaked into the minister's office without Holmes ever knowing any of it.
And it was all due to the fact that the doctor had such faith in him, he believed any great flaw of Holmes' integrity could only be a symptom of a great mental disturbance.
Holmes was unsure whether to feel flattered or insulted, but he could not have been prouder.