The Wayfinder and the Siren (JohnLock AU)

Mikey

A/N Hey My Lovelies!!! Here is another chapter!!!! Hope you like it!!! Enjoy<3

Sherlock watched intently as John manoeuvered the ship through the stars, measuring distances with his hand and deftly avoiding any meteors or salvage that threatened to crash his vessel.

"Who taught you to sail?" Sherlock asked one night as John measured the sky.

"My Grandfather. He raised me and my sister after my Dad died. He had retired long before they started teaching the automatic method, so I learned the manual way."

"What is the difference?" John grinned and adjusted the sail slightly before securing the rope. He headed to the back of the boat and pulled out a bundle of wires and chords.

"Automatic basically means that all you do is move a leaver to show where you want to go. Manual is what I do; using brute force to turn the ship. It's more dangerous and a little harder, as most of it is strictly guessing, but if you know what you're doing, it's far more accurate." John tossed the wires back to the crate he pulled them from and smirked dangerously at Sherlock, winking at the Siren. "It's also more fun." Sherlock grinned back at him, pushing off the deck and swimming a loop around the boat.

As they sailed, the Siren asked questions about sailing and how John navigated the stars.

John loved the curiosity of the creature, and gladly answered his questions. He found he quite enjoyed talking to Sherlock, his mind was fascinating and watching him swim amongst the stars was breathtaking.

When they were a few hours outside of E2, John pulled the Star Sailor to a stop, and started rooting through his bags.

"What are you looking for?"

"My Guest Collar. You'll need it when we dock."

"Why will I need it?"

"E2 is a Military town. They require all guests to have a Collar so they know who you came with. Just in case there is an issue." He found the Collar and shuffled back to Sherlock. "It will sting a bit. It takes a sample of your blood for identification purposes. It also takes some of mine." He ran his finger over the inside of the Collar, wincing as the needle pricked his finger. He entered the appropriate data and set it to Guest.

He knelt in front of Sherlock and wrapped the Collar around his neck. He fought with the buckle for a moment to get it to latch, noticing when Sherlock winced by the sound of his hiss in his ear.

He was suddenly very aware of how close he was to the Siren.

He blushed and pulled away, pressing the button at the front of the Collar to allow it to tighten and activate. It beeped and flashed, signifying that it was active. John's own Collar beeped and pricked his neck again, ensuring the blood matched what was in Sherlock's Collar.

"There, good to go." He grabbed his main bag and pulled out his Video Cell and dialed Mike Stamford. The call connected and Mike's face appeared before them.

"John? You're okay! Thank the stars! I thought you got caught in that storm a couple nights ago. I was sure you were dead. Why the Hell didn't you call when you reached E3? Who is that?" John laughed and pointed the camera at Sherlock.

"This is Sherlock. I was hit by that storm, Sherlock saved me."

"You were hit? You didn't call? I would have come-"

"Mikey, calm down. I'm fine, Sherlock was there. He dragged my ass out of the storm. Listen, I need a favor."

"Sure, anything Mate."

"I need you to get me into your Chem lab. I have some tissues I need you to sample and we need some heavy-duty scanners." Mike seemed to hesitate, not that John blamed him; smuggling someone into a Chem lab like that was not exactly approved of. "If you would rather, I can give you samples of the tissues. I just need you to identify what is tainting the samples."

"Your scanner couldn't identify it?"

"No. It just shows up as an infection."

"What are the symptoms? I'm assuming it's living tissue?"

"Yeah. Whatever is tainting the tissues is keeping scarred tissues from healing. When exposed to intense Sonic technology the tissues heal temporarily, then return to their original state of necrosis." Mike looked away from his screen, the sounds of keys clicking filling the silence.

"Nothing is showing up on my end. Must not be in the systems. Send me samples of the tissues and I'll analyze it for you."

"Actually, we're about three hours out. We can meet up for dinner and you can collect the samples in person." John could see the glee in his friend's face and laughed.

"That sounds great! Send me a message when you reach the gates, we can go to the diner off the compound."

"Sounds good Mikey, I owe you big time Bud."

"Take me out and show me a good time, like you did back on S13 and we'll call it even." Mike winked and laughed as John blushed. "Alright Mate, see you soon." John signed off and tucked his Video Cell back into his bag.

"What did he mean by; 'show me a good time?'" Sherlock asked, speaking for the first time in a while. John blushed furiously, busying himself with organizing his kits. "I am not familiar with this phrase."

"It uh- it means a date. Mikey and I served together, went on leave to S13 a few times. He was feeling down, I took him out, made sure he felt better by the end of leave." John tried to hide his face from Sherlock, hoping the Siren wouldn't figure out what he meant by that. There was a long silence and John felt as though he had successfully evaded any questions.

"You and he were lovers." John sighed and hung his head. He really didn't want to talk about this.

"No. We shagged a few times, but there was no feelings or commitment. It was the army, anything that happened between soldiers was nothing more than urge fulfillment. Don't ask, don't tell." He shrugged, turning back to his new companion. "We're going to have some issues getting you through the gates."

"Why?"

"That tail of yours for one. Siren's are considered dangerous to most people. They might put up a fight if they see your tail."

"I can use my song to hide myself, but you will have to collect the samples beforehand." John ran his eyes over Sherlock's body, noting the way the creature squirmed and blushed. He smirked as an idea crossed his mind.

"Ever wanted to know what it's like to walk Gorgeous?"