221B Recs

Title: The Perils of Urban Warfare
Author: phantomjam
Pairing: John/Sherlock
Length: 7,300 words
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: some case-related gore
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: The problems of acclimatising to civilian life a.k.a the travails of John, his therapist and Sherlock.

Reccer's comments: This is a wonderful John character study with bonus sleuthing and a John/Sherlock payoff that seems inevitable. After a sojourn to the dark side of shipping these two with everyone but each other, it's nice to read fics that remind me why I like them together in the first place, and this is really one of those. Sherlock is brilliantly obnoxious, and there are cameos by most of the show's minor characters in a way that doesn't feel shoehorned in. Love this one!

It comes down to this: kissing Sherlock, John decides, is going to be a lot like sighting down those smooth black planes with his finger on the trigger. He’s going to be an island of calm, his hands will be steady, his nerves of tempered, unbreakable steel and-


‘You’re standing at parade rest again,’ Sherlock notes.


John readjusts his feet.


‘No I’m not.’


Damn. That’s it, he’s thrown, he’s lost his focus.


Sherlock looks at him quizzically. ‘Is something troubling you?’


‘No,’ John answers quickly, ‘why would anything be troubling me?’


‘Well, you’re looming for one thing. And the military posture is a dead giveaway. It always means that you’re deeply uncomfortable or that you’re contemplating physical violence. Which is it this time?’


Sherlock is very, very good at this; John should have been more prepared for it. He opts for honesty.


‘A little bit of both,’ he says.