Soul mate

The meeting

"John Watson!"
Since returning home john had stopped checking his wrist. There'd been too many distractions; teary visits from is mum, tense ones from harry. Trying to find somewhere to stay while he was healing and until he could find a job of some kind.

"I heard you were abroad some where getting shot at! What happened?"

"...I got shot."

There was something nagging at the back of his mind but he couldn't place it. He felt different-- almost, better.

"Come on- who'd want me for a flatmate,"

It wasn't until he stepped in the door of that lab.

"Mike can I borrow your phone, I can't get a signal on mine."

John snapped his gaze up, and his right hand clenched around the head of his cane. That voice. The gorgeous baritone sent shivers down his spine and made his chest feel like it was inflating.

"Ah - here use mine," he offered breathlessly. Sherlock met his gaze and something flickered over his expression briefly. His eyes darted to his wrist and he lifted his sleeve just enough for his breath to hitch.

"Mike give us a moment," he ordered. Mike eyed them, back and forth, before complying and leaving the two in the room alone.

"Be back in ten minutes I ought to go check on something anyhow," he said to john before he walked out, Sherlock stood as soon as the door shut and strode over to john, looming over him so close the john had to take a step backwards.

"Does it read zero," he hissed, "just plain grey zero?"

John wet his lips and sputtered for a moment. Sherlock rolled his eyes and snatched the cane from johns hand taking his arm in the other and shoving up his sleeve.

0000d 000h 00m 00s

"Afghanistan or Iraq?"

"What?" John asked bewildered

"Answer the question Afghanistan or Iraq,"

"Afghanistan," john managed, "how did you.."

"You were shot. You died and went into cardiac arrest four times," Sherlock stated

"How did you know this?," john asked

Sherlock released johns arm roughly and undid the cuff on his right arm holding it out for john to see. The doctor ran a finger over it gingerly then encircled sherlock's wrist with his hand. "Did you know," Sherlock murmured, "if your soul mate-" he said the word like it was filthy, but his gaze was still soft. "-dies you can feel it? It shows up red on your wrist and physically pains you?"

John swallowed and smiled tightly. "To be quite fair I think the bullet hurt worse," he quipped.

"What's your name?" Sherlock asked

"John Watson"

"Sherlock Holmes"

The two stared at each other in a haze, eyes scanning over each other's faces like they were committing them to memory.

"Your looking for a flatmate?" John inquired softly, eventually

"Not anymore,"

Sherlock grinned and john grinned back sliding his hand from sherlocks wrist to intertwine their fingers together.

"Brilliant."