I Speak Victorian
Waid's Fanfiction.
"What is the meaning of it, Watson?" said Holmes solemnly as he laid down the paper. "What object is served by this circle of misery and violence and fear?"
(Drama, angst, hurt/comfort and tragedy)
Text Omitted. 2000 words. Watson learns something disconcerting about Holmes' past. ' Holmes’ tone is light, but something in it, and the thought that if it is easy to imagine Holmes harming himself it is very hard to imagine him letting anyone get close enough to burn him, makes Watson raise himself onto his elbow and look down anxiously. “When did this happen?” '
Warnings - reference to child abuse (physical, not sexual).
The Old Campaigner. 3000 words. AU Reichenbach. Watson races back to the falls to discover that Sebastian Moran, old shikari and best shot in India, did not go there unarmed. "Holmes was stretched on his back, his limbs flung askew, and I could see at a glance that one leg was badly broken. His clothes were sodden with the spray."
Infallibly Deadly 441 words. AU Dying Detective. Watson opened the poisoned box.
Warnings: Imminent and inevitable death; utter, irreparable emotional carnage for everyone; it's evil and horrible and you don't want to read it.
Winter in London Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII Part VIII , Part IX, Part X, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part XIV, Part XV, Part XVI, Part XVII, Part XVIII, Part XIX Part XX Part XXI Complete! 45,300 words (Jesus.)
Watson tries to live with the memory of a terrible bargain in secrecy. "The strange detached attention in that slack face was on me again. He asked, “What would you do to stop me?”
Warnings - rape, reference to child prostitution, violence.
Antidote to Sorrow Part 1, Part 2 WIP - 4,800 words so far.
After three dreadful years, even Holmes doesn''t expect Watson to accept him back from the dead quite that readily. And neither of them expect the shocking affair of the Dutch steam ship Friesland, which so nearly costs them both their lives...
Warnings: Terminal illness (tuberculosis), eventual political violence, flashbacky non-linear timeline shenanigans.
Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage 6,700 words. An Antidote to Sorrow companion story -- can be read independently. 1893 in Constantinople and a tall, thin, grey-eyed foreigner is running for his life.
"Life is full of whimsical happenings, Watson."
(Comedy, romance, crack and fluff)
Like a Dream 700 words. Inexplicably, Holmes and Watson time-travel to 1989. “But everyone’s hair, Holmes!”
Floriography Lessons. 1000 words. Now that they are in a "romantic relationship", Watson subjects Holmes to the intricacies of Victorian courtship. Holmes learns about the Language of Flowers, among other things.
The Adventure of the Blue Box Part I, Part II, Part III 8000 words. The real reason Holmes didn't come straight home after The Final Problem? A certain Time Lord still can't land the TARDIS properly... Gen, apart from some ambiguous wistfulness.
Songs of Spring 850 words. Holmes sends the manuscript of The Lion's Mane to the absent Watson -- though maybe his absence isn't as long-term as all that. (Almost angsty enough to go in the "misery" section, but ultimately fluffy as a feather bed.)
Gaslight 630 words .A sad and lonely person moves froma hot, sandy place to a cold, overcast place, and becomes obsessed with a very pale and mysterious stranger.