It had been a few days since Sherlock had received John's letter and every time he read it he became calmer and calmer. In none of the letters John had written to him so far had his feelings, especially his love, been as evident as in this one. Sherlock smiled and ran his hand over the part of his coat where he knew the letter was hidden in the inner pocket. Several times he had tried to write a reply, but none of his words did justice to John's emotional letter.
Currently he was on his way to the Yard to pick up a new case from Greg. "Hello Sherlock," the Detective Inspector greeted him already, shortly after Sherlock had entered the room. He immediately registered the shallow smile on Greg's lips that he had been wearing ever since Sherlock had entered the Yard absolutely relaxed, almost euphoric, after receiving the letter from John. "What have you for me, Greg?" asked Sherlock directly. "Murder, the body's already at Molly's. If you would take a look at the victim and please be very thorough. The clothes have already been taken to the lab," Greg replied. Anxiously, Sherlock made his way to Barts.
"Welcome back, soldier. How can I help?" Mycroft was already answering the call when it had barely rung. John was not surprised, he had almost expected to be picked up personally by one of the black limousines that seemed to appear everywhere. However, he was now sitting in a taxi with his mobile phone in his hand.
"You wouldn't happen to be able to tell me where your little brother is, would you?", John directly aseked. "Barts and glad to see you back safe and sound," the other replied. "Now,now Mycroft, one would almost think you had become sentimental while I was away," John rebuked jokingly. "Have a nice day," Mycroft replied, saying goodbye.
It wasn't long before the taxi stopped in front of the hospital and John climbed out. Cursing softly, he shouldered his rucksack and chided himself for longing for Sherlock so much that he couldn't take his luggage away first. Some of the passers-by eyed him with interest and even as he entered the hospital, glances followed him. "Excuse me, can I help you with something, sir?" he was addressed by one of the nurses. "No, no, it's all right, I know the way, but thank you very much," he replied.
In the corridor to the labs he met a young woman who, if his memory did not deceive him, had to be Molly Hopper. When he finally stood in front of the lab where Sherlock was working, he couldn't resist watching his friend through the glass for a moment. Again and again, the sight of his friend took John's breath away and he kept wondering how he had managed to win Sherlock Holmes' heart. Sherlock intently looked through the microscope and, without looking, made some notes that John was very sure Sherlock would never need. Finally, the desire to embrace his boyfriend got the upper hand and he eagerly opened the door to the lab. "Careful, there are highly sensitive experiments going on here," Sherlock indignantly said without looking up. John carefully closed the door behind him. Smiling, John watched Sherlock.
He heard the door to the lab open. "Visitors aren't allowed in here," he heard Molly Hopper say behind him. "What are you looking for here anyway?" she immediately wanted to know. "Shh, highly sensitive experiments," Sherlock interjected. "I'm here for Sherlock," John finally revealed his presence. He felt Molly's surprised look behind his back and he noticed her considering whether she had seen him here before. But that was all secondary. It was much more interesting to watch how Sherlock seemed to freeze before jerking his head up and looking at John with wide eyes.
"What are you doing here?" he asked disbelievingly. "Surprising you and I wanted to give you these," John said, taking the chain with his dog tags from his neck. "But why, I thought you were still trying to get to the next rank?", Sherlock was clearly overwhelmed with the situation, which put a big smile on John's face. John's heart fluttered nervously as he watched his partner's facial expression, which shifted back and forth between being overwhelmed and deductive. Taking a deep breath, John began to explain. "I still want to. However, there's something I'd like to do before my next assignment, which in turn will result in the information on this pair being wrong," John said. His grin widened even more as Sherlock slowly approached him and hesitantly took the necklace from him.
"But why should they no longer be correct. Nothing changes when you become a major, your blood type stays the same, your name stays the same," Sherlock reasoned. "'Well, I can definitely agree with you on the first point. I'll have to disagree with you on the second though, if everything goes as I've pictured it." John could really see how Sherlock understood what John was just suggesting to him. "So you want...? So you want me to...?" spluttered Sherlock, and John was damn sure it was the first time he'd ever seen Sherlock splutter. "'How does it look? What do you think?", John was getting a bit nervous now after all.
"A lot," Sherlock replied, closing the distance to John. Finally John felt Sherlock's hands on his hips again. "You're welcome to keep the dog tags, I know how much you like them," John whispered before he crossed the last distance and kissed his future husband. Only the startled intake of breath behind them made them realise that they were not alone in the lab. Only very reluctantly did they break away from each other.
"But...but...but," Molly stammered. "Nothing but Molly," Sherlock interrupted her. For a while longer Molly stared at them in shock before turning and storming out of the lab. "Shall we then?" asked John. "I'd love to, but we have to stop by the yard first. I'm afraid Greg will get pretty pissed if I just text him and then he doesn't hear from me for the next few days," Sherlock replied as he put John's dog tags around his neck.
With a smile, he grabbed John's hand and gently pulled him along behind him. Arriving at the Yard, Sherlock instructed the driver to wait and John was relieved to leave his backpack in the taxi. "Sherlock, what are you doing here again? Now don't tell me you've already solved the case," Greg raised his head in surprise. "John, I wasn't expecting you and if I interpret your outfit correctly, Sherlock wasn't expecting you either," he stated in surprise as he looked up.
"No, I didn't, but I don't have time right now, John is back as you noticed," Sherlock replied to Greg. "And I see he's made sure you don't get lost," Greg noted with a glance at the dog tags hanging around Sherlock's neck. "I won't be giving that one up any time soon either," John replied, reaching confidently for Sherlock's hand. Surprised, Greg eyed the two of them. Something had changed in their dynamic, something crucial, though he couldn't really say what it was. Sherlock smiled at John and gently stroked the back of the other man's hand with his thumb. "And how long are you staying this time?" inquired Greg. "I'm not sure yet, there's a lot to organise," John replied, squeezing Sherlock's hand as he did so.
Slowly Greg thought he understood and shook his head smiling in disbelief. "Well then, I wish you good luck and I expect an invitation," he bid them both farewell.