Marriage and Mental Illness (Sequel to Tall Buildings and Pill Bottles)

The First Married Case

AN: This one is mostly about the case, so I'm really sorry that there is so much info-dumping! There is a Spanish speaking character in here and I'm so sorry if I'm using words wrong or blending it with English wrong. Please correct me if I'm wrong! (Kindly please!)   I, myself, only speak English though I want to learn more someday but it isn't my experience.

2 Japanese slurs are used towards the end of the chapter, an AN will appear right before it. Thanks so much for all your reads, votes and comments!

John's POV

Sherlock was already dressed when he woke me up. "John, it's time to get up. We've got work to do today." I rolled over, sighing heavily. I slipped out of bed, smiling warmly at my husband, who was bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet.

"Alright, love. I'll get dressed, could you make breakfast this morning? Since you're already dressed?" He kissed my cheek, smiling faintly.

"Of course," he left to cook breakfast while I dressed. I found him in the kitchen, with piles of files stacked up on the counter. There must've been over a dozen thick stacks, brimming with information.

"Greg dropped those off not too long ago. It's all the previous case files from last time the Soldiers appeared. He plated the food, setting it on the kitchen counter."Mycroft also dropped by. He said to say hello to you and dropped off a few more files on the Soldiers. More confidential stuff than Greg had access to." I nodded, glancing at the clock.

It was already ten in the morning. "I didn't realize I'd slept in, I'm sorry." Sherlock waved his hand, dismissing it. "Don't be, you needed sleep. And the majority of what needs to get done can happen here anyway. We might need to go into the lab to get more results, but that won't be for a while," he explained.

I took a seat, a knot of guilt beginning to form in the pit of my stomach. He'd wanted to be up early for this case, he'd said as much last night. His fingers grazed against mine, barely touching. "Really, it's fine. I got up early, started building the case board on the wall, so really, don't feel bad."I gave him a small smile and thanked him. He returned the smile and began eating.

He gave me a brief rundown of what he'd down when I was asleep. All of the information we'd gathered and worked on while still in France was already put up. A quick glance into the sitting room confirmed it, papers already tacked to the wall, a map off to the side. A group of six tacks was pinned to the street where the group of LGBT Uni students was slaughtered, another pin where the Latina woman had been found.

I washed the dishes while Sherlock began moving the files out into the sitting room. I finished, and walked out to him, slipping an arm around his waist. "So, ready?" His infamous crooked smile appeared as he looked down at me. "With you, I'm always ready."

We spent hours reading through newspapers, case reports, and lab results. Sherlock was mapping things out on his new laptop as well, enjoying it thoroughly. I worked mostly in silence, listening to Sherlock talk through the details of the case out loud, occasionally interjecting.

One thing that I truly loved about working with Sherlock was our ability to work together. Even if we were arguing or disagreeing on a case, we could still work together well, we had that rare ability to set work apart from our relationship.

Sherlock was currently pacing around the room, stopping every now and then to look over the case board on the wall. I was sitting at the desk, going through the files and marking on his new laptop.

"Hey, Sherlock, look at this," I called to him, interrupting his ramblings. He stopped, coming up behind me. "Who was the first victim the first time they appeared, in 1999?" He glanced at me quizzically. "Bob Hannaway. A gay man."