Chapter Text
John was sitting at the pub nursing a drink. He still couldn’t figure out why Sherlock still didn’t seem to understand why he would get upset over things like body parts in the fridge. This was their most common fight. He sat lamenting the current crisis. "honestly how many left feet did the man need, and would it kill him to properly clean up after his experiments?" he complained. The bar tender was probably used to listening to him bemoan body parts in all corners of the flat, but he still listened cheerfully.
“At least my Alpha only leaves his socks and pants on the floor. A bit of perspective, that’s what you add to my life” the other man added “he likes it when I come home after talking to you, you know, I end up so grateful that he isn’t your Sherlock”
Both men laugh at that, John has enough alcohol running through him that he is starting to relax. One thing he was glad that he got from his father, he was a happy drunk. Harry was an angry person, and his mother would get bitter, but the two Watson men turned into preteen girls whenever alcohol was added.
A man stepped up beside John. John looked into a handsome and familiar face. He could smell the Alpha pheromones, not at all unpleasant. “Can I buy you another drink” the man said “anyone that has to put up with one of us alphas, deserves a round or two, and since your Alpha isn’t here to buys yours, let me make it up to you” the man had an easy smile and he was particularly handsome. If John hadn’t been bonded to the Great Consulting Prat, he could already imagine taking this Alpha home, especially as his heat was due to start in a couple days. He smiled and gave the other man some room to sit with him. They spent the next hour talking about everything under the sun. anything John wanted to talk about, and the Alpha agreed with him on almost everything. John was amazed at how charming the Alpha was but there seemed to be something he was forgetting. By the time the pub started filling up John was far more drunk than he remembered ever being. talking to the alpha, (Ethan, Evan, Edward, some E name, john could never remember) his glass always seemed to be full even if he didn’t remember ordering anything, but he was talking to someone he knew, if only in passing, so he felt safe enough to drink.
“I need to get home” John started to say as he tried to stand up “whoa”, the alpha grabbed hold of him just in time to keep him from falling, wrapping his arms around the smaller Omegas waist.
“Let me help you get home, wouldn’t want you getting hurt on the way” the Alpha said into John’s ear making him shiver at the close contact. He helped guide John out the door and led him to his car. He helped John into the passenger seat climbing into the driver seat and turning on the engine. He smiled slightly at John who was having a hard time staying awake as the alpha turned into traffic.
John felt himself being lifted gently out of the car and taken into a warm house, there was something wrong but he was too tired to try to work it out. He felt strong hands lifting his jumper off of his chest, and unbuttoning his shirt, before working on his trousers. He was glad Sherlock wasn't mad at him for drinking, the way he sometimes got, especially if he got called for a case while john was drunk and had to leave him behind to sleep it off. A few moments later and blackness took him; he didn’t remember anything after that.
~*~*~*~*~
Sherlock woke the next morning to an empty flat, not in itself unusual as John often had to leave for work long before Sherlock would climb out of bed, but something felt off. Looking at the bed it didn’t look like John had even made it home last night. That was slightly unusual, but he figured that he met up with Stamford or Lestrade and ended up staying over at their place. Sherlock checked his phone, there was no text from John to say that he would be out late, and even if he was mad at Sherlock he would have told him that he was going to stay out all night. Sherlock called the clinic, when he spoke to Sara they both started to worry, as John hadn’t shown up for his shift.
After he called every one of John’s friends that he knew with no answer he was really starting to worry. Lestrade was going to be over soon and they would figure out where John was, he even called Mycroft. He kept thinking back to the last argument they had, it was a normal one, it shouldn’t be enough for John to leave him, but the only other alternative was that John had been taken. he couldn’t face the fact that John could be dead because of his selfishness. Part of his mind told him that was ridiculous and that John would be fine, but the crushing guilt refused to let go of him, his Omega, who he was supposed to keep safe was in danger because of him.
~*~*~*~*~
John woke up with the worst hangover he had ever had, and something else, something was not right. He was naked and he wasn’t alone. He could smell an Alpha but it wasn’t Sherlock he tried to remember what had happened the night before when a hand reached over and took hold of his wrist. “awake are you?” the Alpha next to him purred “good, I have been waiting for someone just like you, you are gorgeous does your Alpha ever tell you that, because he should” the Alpha reached around John and started stroking his cock, his traitorous body started to respond. “I could smell your heat starting last night. It has been so long since I spent a heat with an Omega. Don’t worry I will make this good for you.” The Alpha purred into John’s ear as he lined up his cock and drove it home. Still stroking John and driving him to orgasm as his tears fell. John couldn’t decide if he wanted Sherlock there to save him, or if he didn’t ever want Sherlock to know what was happening. He prayed that it would be over soon, but he knew that that wasn’t possible as the Alphas knot breached him he screamed as his orgasm crashed over him.
~*~*~*~*~
Sherlock and Lestrade were talking to the bartender that John spoke with the night before, every word making both men more concerned than the last. Sherlock stepped outside to call Mycroft while Lestrade continued to question the man.
A few minutes later and Lestrade got a text from a blocked number, with GPS coordinates Sherlock threw the door open and shouted “we found him”
~*~*~*~*~
Both men ran up the steps to the flat, along with several other officers. “We are looking for John. he may be going into heat by now so any Alpha should be able to smell him” Lestrade said to the team “all we need to do is get an Alpha into the front room, if they can’t smell him move to the next flat. Notify me of any flats that they don’t open the door. The GPS says he is in this building but we don’t know which flat. Call me if you find him” he nodded to Sherlock and the two of them headed to the top while the other two teams took their floors. Sherlock headed to one door Lestrade knocking at the other the first opened Sherlock told the older woman that they were looking for someone, and asked if she had seen him. Pulling out a picture he stepped into her front room, sniffed the air, and left.
Back in the hallway Lestrade got a phone call, “Anderson said he could smell an Omega in heat coming from under the flat they are in” he told Sherlock as he ran down the stairs, Sherlock easily overtaking him in a race to find his bond mate.
“I was in the back of that flat” Anderson told them pointing “so they should be, just under there”
Donovan and an Alpha were standing at the base of the stairs, “no one answered from that flat”
“Flat is registered to one Eric Dillon, Alpha” Lestrade said looking at the note the landlord gave him “no omega listed, I hope this is right”
Sherlock picked the lock before Lestrade could finish his conversation, the air filled with Omega pheromones, and the scents of distress. The Alphas all became enraged by the smell of fear and pain coming from the back bedroom. Sherlock and Lestrade were the first into the room Sherlock grabbed the Alpha by the neck and pulled him off of John, in his rage he grabbed the nearest thing he could reach and struck the man repeatedly until he stopped moving, he was feral feeling his partners pain, helplessness, and fear. He stood up from the broken body at his feet and ran to John, cradling him in his arms
“I stand as witness” Lestrade said formally behind him
“I stand as witness” Anderson repeated
“I stand as witness” the other Alpha said coldly
Not one of them could fault Sherlock for the violence with which he attacked the man that had hurt his bond mate. Neither Sherlock nor John showed any sign of having heard what had been said in their defense. John leaned into his Alpha “Sherlock?” he said in wonder “I am so sorry”
“no John, there is nothing for you to be sorry about, you didn’t do anything wrong”
“But I was complaining about you to him, and the things you do that frustrate me. he must have taken that as…”
“No!” Sherlock said harshly “Oh God John, if I hadn’t left those feet in the fridge none of this would have happened. Is this my fault?” he asked Lestrade, his tone heartbreaking.
“No Sherlock, the only person at fault is the bastard that hurt him” Donovan said gently walking over to the pair “Blame him, or if you must blame God, or Fate, or the weather, but neither of you did anything to cause this.” Sally reached out and brushed a curl off of Sherlock’s face with surprising tenderness, “this isn’t your fault, either of you”
John nodded, his face buried in his Alpha’s neck. Sherlock just held him “Take me home, please Sherlock” he asked quietly “I don’t want to finish out my heat in a hospital, and there is no real reason for me to go anyway”
“You have witnesses, Sherlock” Donovan assured “right now, you need to do whatever he needs you to do. John, it will be okay, and it will get better but you are going to have to tell him exactly what you need from him. I know how hard it is going to be to tell him what you think he isn’t going to want to hear, but you have to trust him”
Lestrade looked at her as if he had no idea who she was, she looked back at him challengingly “What, I am an Omega, and a Woman, you think it hasn’t happened to me?” she asked
Lestrade nodded to the pair, “right, you get him home. He needs to finish out his heat in safety.”
“Should we dress him again, or should we empty the pockets and throw away his clothes?” the other Alpha asked
“Keep my jacket and shoes, burn the rest of it” John answered, his voice small and broken but with an angry note to it, Captain Watson was making his appearance again. Sherlock pulled him closer, it was what he needed to hear, to know that John would be okay. He stood up and took the sheet off of the bed, wrapping it around himself, he kicked the body on the floor once as he went through.
Lestrade drove them home. He helped Sherlock get John out of the car and up the stairs; giving Mrs. Hudson a much abbreviated story about what had happened.