The Adventure of the Civil Partnership Chapter 2 With This Ring
Sherlock and John are hunting a kidnapper who has been taking newlywed couples across the Greater London Area and Sherlock has the perfect way to flush him out. Warning: Pre-Slash/Slash of Sherlock/John Work in Progress - Very Slow Updates
Disclaimers: I certainly do not own Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s amazing creation of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Hamish Watson. I also do not own Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, and the BBC’s adaptations of those works.
Spoiler Warnings: Series 1 and 2 of Sherlock
Ratings: M Warning Pre-Slash/Slash.
Beta: Ivory Winter
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Chapter 2 With This Ring
John’s hand shot out slapping randomly at his bedside table, trying to dismiss the obnoxious noise, groaning into his pillow when his searching hand accidentally knocked the alarm clock onto the floor. Frustrated he hauled himself into a sitting position at the edge of the bed before reaching down to turn off the irritating machine. John sat there rubbing his hands over his face in the blessed silence that followed, trying to remember why he was getting up so blasted early when he didn’t have to be at the surgery until one. When he finally remembered, John groaned again and seriously considered locking the bedroom door and crawling back under the covers.
John remained perched on the edge of his bed considering the day ahead of him. Was he really screwed up enough that he was going to marry his best mate, who he just happened to be in love with, just so said mate could hunt a serial kidnapper? A kidnapper who was likely to be a serial murderer? After considering this for a moment John got up and headed out towards the bathroom to get ready for the day. He had decided last night to help Sherlock with this case, so that is what he would do. John ruefully considered that even if he had locked the door, Sherlock could probably pick the lock in under a minute. It would certainly take him less than a minute to talk John into doing what he wanted. Lord, his therapist would have a field day with this if he were still seeing her. Fifteen minutes later, John was pulling the dry cleaning bag from the closet, and started pulling out his suit, his final step before he needed to go downstairs and face his mad genius flatmate.
“Sherlock!” John roared, stomping down the stairs and into the sitting room, hauling the dry cleaning bag with him. “Where is my suit and what makes you think I am going to wear this…this…?” John’s descriptors failed him and he resorted to waving his free hand at the obviously hand tailored, and admittedly beautifully cut charcoal grey suit.
Sherlock rolled his eyes and huffed in disgust, not moving from where he was sipping a cup of tea in the kitchen doorway. “Mycroft.”
John’s rant was thrown off track by the unexpected response, until he made the connection. “You mean to tell me that your brother replaced my suit? Why?”
“I believe Mycroft felt that your, shall we say, classic suit was not up to his standards.” Sherlock waved a hand, indicating another hand tailored black suit hanging from a clothes hook on the sitting room door. “Of course he has also provided me with a new suit. I have inspected mine and removed two tracking devices. If you hand yours over for a moment, I will inspect it and remove the ones I am sure he had his minions plant.”
“Wait, he had tracking devices placed in the suits?” John shook his head, “Never mind, idiotic question, of course he did. The better question is what does Mycroft want for providing us with these ridiculous things? This suit must be worth more than my monthly salary.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it John,” Sherlock answered, reaching out to take the dry cleaning bag from him. “I suspect Mycroft will attempt to ask for legwork at a later date in return for the suits. Additionally I believe he is getting a great deal of enjoyment out of this situation and the suits are some obscure jest on his part.”
John sighed as he rubbed his face, sitting down in his chair. “Of course Mycroft finds this amusing.” John started to chuckle softly as he considered the ridiculous situation he was voluntarily entering. “Actually, it’s more surprising that you are willing to owe your brother a favor. You usually prefer to avoid the cases your brother requests you to solve.”
Sherlock grinned cheekily as he started inspecting John’s suit. “Just because Mycroft expects a favor does not mean that I am required to provide one.”
John returned his grin, continuing to laugh a little. “Are you eating today? Big day you know. Marriage and a serial murder case, might need a few calories to keep the transport running,” he asked as he got up, moving into the kitchen to make himself a cuppa and some toast, hoping to get Sherlock to consume a few calories. He wouldn’t force the issue today as he occasionally had done during a case. Sherlock had eaten a half way decent meal of take away with him last night anyway, before he apparently remembered several hours later that John would need to know that he had somewhere to be in the morning.
“Just another cup of tea.”
“I suppose I should be grateful you remembered to tell me about our engagement last night, instead of just hauling me out of bed this morning and down to the registrar’s office without an explanation,” John called from the kitchen as he put the kettle on and started the toast.
“Don’t be dim, John. Of course I needed to tell you last night. You would have made far too many objections that might have caused suspicions if I hadn’t explained prior to the ceremony. It might have blown our entire cover story,” Sherlock replied from his position hunched over John’s suit in the living room. “Ahhh… Mycroft must be hiring unimaginative minions again. They placed both suit trackers in identical locations. Sloppy, very sloppy. Additionally, they placed them in a location where removal wouldn’t affect the appearance of the suit.”
“Mycroft probably knew that you would inspect the suits and didn’t want them destroyed when you inevitably found the trackers. Would have been a waste of good material,” John replied, rummaging in the fridge, hoping for some unaltered jam for his toast. Luck must have been with him today as he discovered some hiding behind a severed foot.
“Perhaps,” Sherlock replied. “Or it’s possible that the trackers I found are decoys to hide the real ones. We should destroy the suits when we return from the ceremony as a safety precaution.”
“You keep your hands off my suit Sherlock. That is a gift from my future brother-in-law, and I prefer to stay on my in-law’s good side,” John teased. “Plus it’s a beautiful suit, it would be a shame to destroy it. Besides, you never know when having a nice suit might come in handy for undercover work,” he finished reasonably, hoping that this would prevent Sherlock from using the beautifully tailored material Mycroft had provided in some kind of experiment.
John’s relationship with Mycroft had been strained, to put it lightly, since John had discovered that Mycroft had fed Moriarty all the information the madman had needed to destroy his best friend. Mycroft had apologized to John again after The Fall, and he knew Mycroft still felt guilty for his part in providing Moriarty with the information, which had left Sherlock so vulnerable that he had been forced to fake his own death, but John’s grief after The Fall had prevented John from forgiving him. John had finally been able to start coming to terms with Mycroft after the man had apologized yet again for giving information to Moriarty and for his part in covering up Sherlock’s survival. John suspected that he would always be even more suspicious of Mycroft than he had been previously, but John was too happy after Sherlock’s return to not try and forgive the man, even if he couldn’t forget. Besides, the suit was perfect, and John never wanted something that nice to be destroyed just because he was irritated with Mycroft.
Sherlock considered John’s words for a moment, before reaching over and snagging some of his toast.
“Hey!”
“Turns out my fiancé is correct, and I need to provide some fuel for my transport if I am going to survive both Mycroft’s smugness and this ceremony.”
John laughed as he finished his toast and started moving upstairs with the rest of his tea and the now theoretically tracker-free suit.
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Slightly less than a half hour later, Sherlock and John were settled in their respective chairs. John was enjoying the morning newspaper while Sherlock shuffled through case notes when Mycroft joined them with his ubiquitous umbrella in hand.
“Ah, John. I was so glad to hear from Sherlock about your happy announcement,” he said in his most urbane manner. John just snorted and rolled his eyes at Mycroft’s allusion to their first meeting.
“Sherlock’s right, you are enjoying this more than necessary,” John replied.
“Why John, of course I am happy that my adored brother is finally settling down with such an excellent partner. A retired veteran and a doctor with a busy practice, not to mention a man who has proven his loyalty to my brother many times over? What more could I wish for Sherlock?” Mycroft replied moving to take a seat on the couch.
John just raised an eyebrow at Mycroft’s response, deciding that it was too early in the day to get into a verbal sparring match with one of the Holmes brothers, which John had little hope of winning anyway.
“Thanks for the suit, Mycroft,” John said changing the subject. “Although I would appreciate being asked in the future before you exchange my things. I don’t suppose the old one is available to be returned to me? This one is a little fancy for my day-to-day needs, although it might come in handy in the future if we have a stakeout in the palace,” John asked, waving a hand at the tailored suit he was wearing, remembering white sheets and laughter about queens.
Mycroft nodded, but John noted that it was more an acknowledgement of the statement than necessarily an agreement to abide by the request. John was not as observant as his flatmate but time and exposure had allowed him to get better at reading between the lines of at least some of the Holmes brothers’ words and actions. Past history also helped a lot here. A few months after Sherlock’s return, Mycroft had started to kidnap John again every few weeks or so for talks and still texted John when he was trying to get Sherlock to take a case, although John was much more vocal now of his disapproval of Mycroft’s occasionally high handed methods. So John didn’t have any real expectation that Mycroft would respect this boundary any more than his brother, but he thought a token objection was necessary.
“I do apologize John, but I am afraid that your…umm… suit has been donated to charity,” Mycroft answered, his pause indicating that he didn’t approve of John’s taste in clothes, before turning to his brother and asking, “As I am acting as your witness-come-best man in this…ceremony, do you wish to give me the rings now or once we reach the registrar’s office?”
“You got us rings?” John asked, slightly startled.
The look Sherlock threw John at this question strongly suggested that he thought John was being excessively dim this morning. “Of course we will be wearing rings. How else do you expect the dull people at these events to identify us as married? The rings will also be a way for you to bring the civil ceremony up in conversation without it looking unnatural.”
“Ahh... another way to flush out the kidnapper, I see,” John commented, “I don’t suppose I could see them?”
“Of course, the jeweler’s box is in the skull’s oral cavity. Give them to Mycroft when you are done,” Sherlock replied, waving a hand at the skull on the fireplace mantle without looking up from the records he was sorting.
John moved up to the skull and sure enough, there was a black jeweler’s box. “Sorry Gladstone,” John said as he picked up the skull to remove the box. After placing the skull back on the mantle carefully, he opened the box and almost dropped it. Inside were two matching rings. The rings were wide and silver in color, with a slightly raised inlay of another silver colored metal. If John had ever considered purchasing wedding rings, these would have been exactly what he would have chosen. Simple, yet distinctive. He could immediately imagine one on Sherlock’s hand, and it bothered him that they would be wearing something that should have so much meaning for nothing more than a case, even if it would help Sherlock catch a killer.
“Sherlock, these must have cost a fortune. Where is the money coming from to pay for these things?” John queried as he ran a finger across the inlay of one of the rings, before adding almost against his will, “what are the metals?”
“Tungsten and platinum. And you needn’t worry about the rent money, a jeweler loaned them to me. He owed me for helping to break up a gang’s protection racket and getting them arrested before they destroyed his business,” Sherlock answered.
“I am glad we aren’t going to have to starve to pay for the necessary props for this case,” John quickly replied, glad his back was still toward the Holmes brothers as he realized that he wouldn’t even get to keep the rings as a remembrance after this was over. John forced that thought down before he turned to walk over to pass the box off to Mycroft who was starting to rise from the couch.
“I believe we should collect Mrs. Hudson now if we plan on making your 9 o’clock appointment brother,” Mycroft stated after giving John a long look as he handed over the jeweler’s box. Sherlock nodded from his chair before getting up and bustling into his long coat and absentmindedly hustling John into his, and the three of them started making their way down the stairs to Mrs. Hudson.
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The ride to the registrar’s office could have officially been registered with the Geneva Convention as torture. Mycroft continued to look at the pair of them smugly, while Mrs. Hudson bubbled uncontrollably. She was obviously thrilled by the marriage and John felt extremely guilty. Mrs. Hudson wasn’t happy just because she finally had married ones of her own; she was happy for Sherlock. In her own way Mrs. Hudson was a grandmother to Sherlock, and she was so happy he had found someone who could stay with him that she was almost sobbing with joy. When she had opened the door to her rooms, she had practically drowned the much taller Sherlock in a hug, and kissed John’s cheeks all the while muttering happily about true love and commitment. John could privately agree that he needed to be committed to a sanitarium for participating in this craziness.
It was somewhat disconcerting that several of Mrs. Hudson’s anecdotes about how to keep a marriage strong were about her late husband, who apparently had been a great romantic who believed deeply in the sanctity of marriage. John wondered again exactly what Mr. Hudson had done and how Sherlock had helped Mrs. Hudson ensure the conviction. Neither had been very forthcoming on the topic and John hadn’t liked to pry in something that was obviously so private, to Mrs. Hudson at least.
John started wondering just how Mrs. Hudson was going to react after the case was over and John had to explain that the marriage wasn’t real, since John knew there was no way Sherlock would explain - too many messy emotions. She was bound to be hurt that they had deceived her and upset that they hadn’t trusted her to help keep their secret. John wasn’t yet sure how he was going to face her and he privately feared that she might not forgive him for this deception. Her joy that Sherlock was alive had allowed her to forgive Sherlock for his ruse, but John wasn’t sure if this almost would be worse since they were deceiving her for the second time in a year, making it seem like they didn’t trust her.
John was becoming slightly irritated and embarrassed by Mrs. Hudson’s commentary. She kept talking about how Sherlock had been lucky to get John. She kept fussing over how John was such a good man, a doctor, a soldier, and so reliable. Mycroft didn’t help, encouraging her at every opportunity. John figured it was an odd attempt to needle Sherlock. After several minutes of this it occurred to John that he could use the situation to his advantage and let out some of the emotions that he always kept tightly controlled, and point out some realities to Mrs. Hudson.
“Have you ever considered that I might be the one who is lucky to have Sherlock agree to marry me Mrs. Hudson? Doctors are a dime a dozen and veterans even more so, but there is only one Consulting Detective. It is quite amazing to me that he chooses to allow such a dull person into his life. Well, at least I feel that way on the days I don’t feel like knocking some sense into his head for trying to blow up the flat, or for forgetting to put body parts on the experiment shelf instead of the food shelf in the fridge,” John said, using the light teasing to cover how he honestly felt. He was always honored that Sherlock enjoyed his company and kept him around as a friend.
Sherlock actually looked up at John’s statement and frowned. “My dear John, it pains me to disagree with my intended, but you are never dull.” Sherlock smiled mischievously at John before taking his hand in a light grip, his thumb brushing lightly across John’s knuckles and adding teasingly, “Obtuse and dimwitted occasionally, but never dull.”
John laughed both amused and reassured at the typically backhanded compliment that was such a standard Sherlockian response, even as he covertly enjoyed the light touch. Mrs. Hudson smiled and muttered something about romantic gestures. Out of the corner of his eye John saw Mycroft smile softly and wondered what that meant. It wasn’t the smirk he had been wearing all morning. John was distracted from worrying about this possibly concerning change by their arrival at the registrar’s office.
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“Ahhh… Dr. Watson, I am so glad to meet you in person,” Mr. Price, the registrar, said as he reached out to shake John’s hand. “Mr. Holmes has told me so much about you, and of course after hearing how you met and some of your adventures, I had to check out your blog. And then of course I remembered reading about the two of you in the papers. It is always nice to see such obviously loving couples choosing to make the legal commitments they can while we wait for the marriage laws to change.”
John thought it was a little odd that Sherlock had picked a registrar who was so obviously gay himself and thrilled to be marrying them. He didn’t see how this would help them find the kidnapper, but after a moment shrugged the thought aside. Sherlock always had reasons for how he did things on a case and eventually he would let John in on them.
“We do have a little paperwork to complete before the ceremony Dr. Watson. Your fiancé explained that you had a medical emergency when he filled out the paperwork last week, but I still need to get a few signatures from you,” the civil servant continued.
John nodded and Mr. Price proceeded to drown him in confusing legalese about how the civil partnership would affect both parties including wills and inheritance laws, taxes, even rights pertaining to any children either man had, and finally a brief review of what would be involved if they ever dissolved their civil partnership. Most of the information John let flow right over his head after a few confusing moments, as he figured it wouldn’t apply to either him or Sherlock. He did try to pay more attention to the dissolution requirements because he would likely need to understand them once the case was resolved. After a minute he gave up since the legalese was more confusing than his brain could handle today. Anyway he assumed Mycroft would be able to help Sherlock push that paperwork through when the time came. He frowned to himself a little as he thought of this. He really should have asked Sherlock before they got this far, but he couldn’t ask now in front of Mrs. Hudson and the registrar, it would give the whole game away.
The registrar noticed John frowning as he talked. “Dr. Watson, I realize that no one wants to think of this on their wedding day and I apologize if it is bothering you, but I am required to make sure you are aware of all the legal ramifications,” the flustered man apologized.
“No, no I understand you are just doing your job Mr. Price. I was just trying to understand everything. Extensive training in understanding the law is unfortunately not a standard part of a medical or military education,” John replied, trying to reassure the man.
“Oh my, I am sure you don’t need to worry about it John dear. I cannot imagine you or Sherlock ever separating,” Mrs. Hudson jumped in from where she was sitting next to an abnormally patient Mycroft.
“Yes well, this is all very interesting but if you are done explaining, can John sign the paperwork so we can get on with the ceremony?” Sherlock ask abrasively from where he sat in his chair next to John, his patience obviously wearing thin.
John elbowed him covertly for his rudeness as he leaned forward to sign the paperwork in the places the registrar indicated, and finally he was done and it was time for the ceremony.
John stood with Sherlock before the registrar with Mrs. Hudson and Mycroft flanking them as the man led them through the ceremony. The ceremony was pretty basic with the registrar asking if there were any impediments to the partnership. And then it was time for the vows and the exchanging of the rings.
“I, Sherlock Holmes, take you John Watson to be my civil partner under law. I make this pledge freely, with honesty and sincerity and with a commitment that will grow deeper and stronger as the years pass,” Sherlock recited after the registrar, smiling slightly at John, making him even more impressed at the man’s acting abilities. If John hadn’t known better, even he would have believed that Sherlock was speaking from the heart he claimed not to have. “I give you this ring as a token of my love and a sign of the promises I make to you today,” Sherlock finished as he slipped the ring onto John’s left hand, and then it was John’s turn.
“I, John Watson, take you Sherlock Holmes to be my civil partner under law. I make this pledge freely, with honesty and sincerity and with a commitment that will grow deeper and stronger as the years pass. I give you this ring as a token of my love and a sign of the promises I make to you today,” John said, his voice surprisingly firm, sliding the ring onto Sherlock’s finger. His eyes never left Sherlock’s as he said words outloud which he knew he could never openly say to the other man. So he took this opportunity for all it was worth, committing every second to his memory and praying that he hadn’t already revealed his heart to Sherlock.
Mrs. Hudson was snapping pictures at an insane rate, obviously unwilling to put down the camera as the registrar invited the four of them to sign the contract. And then the registrar finished with, “Gentleman and Lady, Sherlock and John have now signed their Civil Partnership contract. It gives me great pleasure to declare that they are now civil partners, legally joined. I invite them to kiss their husband and I invite you to join me in offering your congratulations to them both.”
John was startled a little by these words. He must have been an idiot to have completely forgotten, or perhaps unconsciously ignored, this part of the ceremony. Another thing he should have discussed with Sherlock so they could have come up with an appropriate way out of it. Sherlock just gave a mischievous smile, obviously reading the concern in John’s body language, as he raised John’s left hand and pressed a gentle lingering kiss to the ring.
John distantly heard Mrs. Hudson practically coo at the gesture and snap another picture as John’s eyes widened, and a smile he couldn’t control lifted the corner of his lips. The odd moment was broken an instant later as Mrs. Hudson surged forward to hug them both, and pepper their cheeks with kisses as the registrar shook their hands and congratulated them.
Mycroft even came up to capture John’s hand, “Welcome to the family John,” he said, giving him a deep look before turning and saying even more astoundingly to Sherlock, “congratulations brother. Now may I suggest that we go out for a celebratory breakfast before John has to go to the surgery?”
Mrs. Hudson nodded as she took the arm that Mycroft offered, walking with him from the room, muttering about how sad it was that John’s busy schedule was preventing them from enjoying a proper honeymoon. John stood there for a moment trying his best not to burst into hysterical giggles at the whole situation and Mrs. Hudson’s enthusiasm, before Sherlock cocked an elbow at him, smiled and asked, “Shall we join them?”
John lost it completely, laughing loudly as he took Sherlock’s arm and exited the room.
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FanFiction Writer Notes:
As I have said before I am a frighteningly slow writer, but I hope you will all hang in there with me.
Once again I want to thank my wonderful Beta Ivory Winter who is already making this a better story. All mistakes are mine and mine alone.
I love constructive criticism, but no flames for the slash please. I love everything from grammar and spelling corrections, to your thoughts about whether or not John and Sherlock are in character.
Thanks Rairakku.
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