Finally a case came in again. It was only a 4, but it was a distraction, which was what Sherlock was craving most. He had succumbed to his desire to check Missed Connections once an hour, and was feeling completely lost as to why he couldn't seem to stop. This new addiction wasn't simply unhealthy – it was embarrassing.

And yet, while he stared unseeing into a microscope in lab 305, the minutes ticking closer to 3:00, an impulse seized him. Before he fully realized what he was doing, his thumb was scrolling rapidly through several days of posts. There. The farewell post (as he had taken to calling it in his mind, though he wouldn't admit as much even to himself). His finger shook over the buttons on his phone. He hit the link: replytopost-16729403.

Automatically, a new "compose email" window opened, populated with the address which would route his message through the website.


Jan 29 | 2:51pm

I did see them. –SH


He felt a cold wave wash over him. He, Sherlock Holmes, had just responded to a days old anonymous post that he could not even be 100 percent sure was intended for him. What am I even think –

His email alert chimed.

Jan 29 | 2:52pm

Meet me? – JW

Jan 29 | 2:53pm

Maybe. When? – SH

Jan 29 | 2:55pm

Now. – JW

Of all the bloody days in my life to finally…

Jan 29 | 2:56pm

Can't now. Have a date. – SH

Jan 29 | 2:57pm

Tell him you can't go. Tell him you're meeting the love of your life. Tell him anything. Meet me now. – JW


Sherlock could hear footsteps in the hall. He couldn't fathom how he had gotten into this situation, but it was clear there was only one way out.

Jan 29 | 2:58pm

Angelo's Restaurant, across from Northumberland St. Thirty minutes? – SH

Jan 29 | 2:59pm

OK. - JW


A man entered the lab just then, wearing an anxious smile and blue button down shirt that accentuated his indigo eyes. The moment he saw Sherlock he froze in place as if struck by lightning.

"You… you're…"

"Sherlock Holmes, yes. And I assume you're John. Listen, my sincerest apologies, but something has come up," he rambled as he pulled on his coat and scarf, "and I'll have to cancel. I am sorry for making you come all this way."

"No, that's… it's quite alright."

"Excellent. Well then, if you'll pardon me, I'll just be off," Sherlock concluded, sweeping into the hallway. After a brief pause, he heard John rapidly approaching, reaching him just before the lift doors closed and pushing his way in.

"Mind if I split a cab?"

"I… suppose not."

"Great then," and with that, John fell silent, a surprisingly cheerful look on his face.


Sherlock slid into the backseat first, and as John followed, slamming the door against the wind, the driver asked for a destination.

"Angelo's, across from Northumberland," the detective answered self-consciously.

"And you?" The cabbie asked, eyeing John in the rear-view.

"Hm? Same," he said, not looking up from his mobile.

Sherlock gave him a suspicious sideways glance, but was distracted by the email alert on his mobile.


Jan 29 | 3:07pm

By the way, JW = John Watson.


Sherlock's mouth fell slightly open. "John," he addressed the man now gazing out the window with an amused smile on his face, "you told your therapist there was one particular man you had found yourself attracted to. Who was it?"

"You're the detective," John Watson teased, grinning broadly at his date, "you figure it out."