John woke up early that morning from a startling dream. He moved a little, and remembered what happened the night before. Sherlock wasn't holding onto him anymore, but his arm was draped over John's stomach.

John quietly slipped out of the bed and padded to the living room. He hadn't watched Mary's video yet, and he wanted to make sure he did now that he felt better about the situation. He grabbed some headphones and sat at the table.

He plugged them in and clicked on the video. Her face appeared, and she was smiling.

"Hi John. I'll skip the whole 'if you're watching this, I'm dead' thing. I've made so many videos so far, but I wanted yours to be the last one I made." She started off. She seemed to be thinking, but couldn't figure out the right words to say. John was glad to see her face smiling and not mournful.

"I'm gone, and you are or were very sad. I guessed that you'd wait awhile to watch the video. But now that you are watching this, I hope you get over me, and find someone. You were always too good for me anyways. I had all these lies and you practically told me everything. I say practically because the things I didn't know, you probably didn't know yourself. That might sound weird to you, but let me explain." She paused and readjusted the camera.

"When Sherlock left, you went looking for someone to fill the void. I happened to be that person. And even after Sherlock came back, you were convinced that you loved me. And I was convinced at the time that you did. You may have loved me, but you didn't love me as much as someone else. You and Sherlock are extremely close, and I couldn't even fathom being that close to you. I noticed that you look at him differently. You love him, but you don't even notice it. I talked to Sherlock. He feels the same."

John's eyes started to tear up a little. He paused the video for a moment, but continued.

"You two are a match, and I happened to get to you first. I know that you thought you loved me, but truly, you didn't love me as much as you did Sherlock. And you can't argue it, because I'm sure by now, that you may have already realized that. I was more of a best friend, and Sherlock was your first love whom you've known for years. I just wanted to make this video to tell you these things so it will help you accept it. With that said, if you have started dating after my death, just know that I am proud of you. I want you to be happy in my absence, and I think you'll find that happiness with Sherlock. Whether you decide to continue living with him and date someone else or not. I just want your happiness. I know this video is fairly short, but I wanted to get straight to the point. Goodbye, John Watson. I'll miss you." 

The video stopped, signaling that it was done. John felt a little shaky, but felt a little resolved as well. He wanted someone to say it, and having Mary tell him that helped a lot more. He had a tear streak down his face, but he wasn't sure if it was out of sadness or happiness.

Sherlock walked into the room and leaned against the door frame. It took a moment for John to realize he was there, but when he did, he quickly wiped away the tear on his face. 

"Oh. Sherlock, I thought you were still sleeping." John said. 

"I was but then you left and I woke up. I just now got here." Sherlock explained. He walked more into the room and opened his arms out.

John immediately got up and hugged Sherlock. Sherlock wrapped his arms around him, and John gladly hugged back. He wasn't crying anymore, but he felt a little bit overwhelmed with different emotions. He was sad yet happy. Anxious yet excited. He wasn't sure how he felt.

"Are you alright?" Sherlock asked. John nodded. He let go and rubbed his eyes. 

"I'm fine now. How about I make us some tea?" John headed into the kitchen and started boiling some water.

Sherlock walked up to John from behind and wrapped his arms around his waist. He rested his head on John's shoulder, and looked at what John was doing.

"Let's go to a murder together. I heard Lestrade has a body lying in the morgue. That Phil guy did the autopsy, and you know how wrong he is." Sherlock tried to bait John. 

John shook his head. "You know you're not supposed to work for another couple of days. You need to relax." John reasoned.

"Autopsy is relaxing. It's an unclaimed body, and I've been wanting to do some minimal experiments." Sherlock pleaded.

John set the cups down and turned around, although Sherlock still kept his grip on John.

"Do you promise not to lift anything?" John asked.

Sherlock nodded. "If I need something to be lifted, I'll ask you to do it." Sherlock agreed.

"Hmm. I'm not sure." John started to tease Sherlock. He handed Sherlock his cup, and they both sipped it in the kitchen. Although Sherlock wouldn't leave John's side till he gave in.

"Pleeeassseee." Sherlock pleaded.

"I'm wondering why you haven't tried leaving already." John chuckled.

Sherlock reached down John's pants and pulled out a taser. "Because you would tase me if I left without your consent. And you are my doctor. Also I know you have another taser but I have yet to find it." 

John took the taser and placed it on the table. John gathered their cups and headed back to the kitchen. Sherlock followed, still wanting John to come with him to the autopsy. Sherlock only half wanted to dissect a body. He also wanted John to get out of the house to cheer him up.

John hopped up on the counter and checked his phone. He texted Lestrade about the unclaimed body, and it seems the person had no living relatives and it's been there for weeks.

As John was paying attention to the text, Sherlock walked over and scooted John closer to the edge. Sherlock was in between John's legs, and his arms were wrapped around John's lower back. John blushed and looked at Sherlock.

He had that little face he usually gives John when he denies something. It's a cross between a pout and a death glare. Although when he did this, John thought it was cute.

"I'm bored being stuck in this house. Please come with me to autopsy. We don't even have to change. I've already walked around London wearing nothing but a sheet." Sherlock tried to convince him.

John cracked a smile. "Sure. But I'm still getting dressed." John tried to get off the counter, but Sherlock was in his way.

Sherlock leaned down and gave John a kiss before letting him go.

Sherlock decided not to change, and he waited in the living room. John only changed into jeans, and left his stripped pajama shirt on. Sherlock liked it anyways. He thought John looked nice in stripes, and thought he looked adorable.

The two headed out and caught a cabby to the morgue.

As soon as they got to the morgue, Sherlock ran to the drawers and started opening them up, looking for the body. Molly was in the back running some tests.

"I thought you two were on injury leave?" Molly asked.

"We don't work for the police. Technically we can work whenever we want, but I made Sherlock rest until he felt better. He couldn't wait to do an autopsy." John explained. He sat beside Molly and watched Sherlock start to cut into the body looking for god knows what.

"Of course. If there's one thing Sherlock likes, it's dead people." Molly commented.

Sherlock pulled out a large saw and flashed it at Molly. "You have little faith in me, Molly. I like many things." He said.

Sherlock started to saw into the femur of the body.

"Please enlighten me on the list of things that you like. What does a sociopath find appealing?" Molly said.

"Well." Sherlock stopped sawing and walked around the room. It was his "tangent" walk.

"I like breakfast foods and high quality foods. I like thinking and narcotics, although I've given up narcotics.  I like cases, murderers, serial killers mostly, those who think they are smarter than me, and those who admire me. But that's just my narcissistic side talking. I like American Horror Story, As Above So Below, and The Taking of Deborah Logan. I've become a huge fan of Lilies and Rose since recent." Sherlock flashed a quick wink towards John, then continued.

"I like performing autopsies and experiments. I also like bees. They are such complex little organisms that work together, yet the ferocity of the Queen Bee is astounding. Reminds me of our Queen. I digress, I also like tattoos. I find them fascinating yet simple. Am I forgetting something?" Sherlock asked the two.

John shrugged. "You never forget anything." Molly said.

"You are right. I also love, and I mean absolutely love, John Watson." Sherlock concluded. 

John blushed a little but didn't say anything. Molly stopped what she was doing and put her hands on her hips. She had a wide grin and seemed very happy.

"This is great! John, do you reciprocate?" She asked happily. 

Sherlock turned his attention as well to see it for himself. John felt very much on the spotlight. He nodded. "I reciprocate. Completely." John admitted.

"Great. Now kiss him in front of me." Molly demanded. Sherlock held his arms out.

The only thing stopping John was looking at Sherlock's bloodied gloves and residual blood splatter on his cheek. "When you take a shower and wipe the blood off your face, then we'll talk."

"You mean we'll kiss later. Talking doesn't require physical contact." Sherlock explained.

Molly and John couldn't help but laugh. Sherlock caught on quickly. "I believe I misunderstood some type of figure of speech or sarcasm." 

"You're smarter than you look." John joked. "That was joking behavior, by the way." John added.

Sherlock seemed very confused while John and Molly laughed. Sherlock continued his work while John watched and Molly worked.

Around noon, Lestrade walked in with a box of evidence. "I thought you two were on medical leave?" He asked.

"How many times do we have to tell you, John and I don't work for you. We volunteer. So we can take as many days off as we want whether we're injured or healthy. Technically I could feed you incorrect information and you wouldn't be able to arrest me." Sherlock explained, again.

"I knew there was a reason we didn't recruit you." Lestrade sighed.

"It was because Sherlock turned you down. On multiple occasions." John butted in.

Lestrade pulled out the evidence baggies and placed them on Molly's desk.

Sherlock stopped what he was doing and looked at the bag. Everyone knew he was eyeing the evidence. "Do I smell murder?" Sherlock asked.

"No you don't." John told him. "Because I specifically instructed that you don't work any physically demanding cases until a couple of days."

"We don't know if it's a murder. It may just be a weird suicide that looks wrong." Lestrade told him.

Sherlock dropped the saw and gave John another look. This time John crossed his arms and stared right back.

"You can work this case, but no antics. You are allowed to see the body once, and the rest of the information you'll get from Lestrade. You will work it out in your mind. Anywhere you want. But you cannot be traveling around town." John tried to bargain.

"But Lestrade only knows 8% of the details, and I need the 100%. How will I solve a case mentally without enough deduction?" Sherlock asked.

"Think of it this way. You've always done things the easy way. Now try the hard way. Solve a murder without seeing evidence in person. Lestrade and Molly can send you pictures of their findings." John bargained.

Sherlock thought for a moment. "It would be a challenge. Lestrade, Molly, I request photos of everything you find, any detail you think may be unimportant. I need full cooperation, and I will solve the case without leaving the flat. Come on John, let's go." 

Sherlock ripped off the gloves and grabbed onto John's hand, dragging him out of the morgue.

"Are those two... you know?" Lestrade asked Molly. She nodded quickly.

"They have finally accepted the fact that they are in love and are now in a relationship. Who would have thought a sociopath could love?" Molly locked the body back, making sure to clean up Sherlock's mess.

Lestrade seemed conflicted. "I was trained in profiling. Sociopaths can't love. And if they seem like they love, it's for some gain. Sherlock made three girls prior to him believe they were in a mutual relationship, and you know how that turned out."

"This is different, Greg." Molly started. "All those other times, he did it because he was forced to. Either for a case or, in my case, to save someone. High Functioning Sociopaths are not known for having loving feelings, but in the rare case that they do, they are a force to be reckoned with. They won't act differently around those they love because they have already gathered enough evidence to know that the one they love is alright with their current personality. Sherlock has been with John for so long that they both mutually understand the other and how they act. Sherlock has had to act differently to those other girls but for John, he acts exactly the same unless he wants to show affection. Since John saved Sherlock after Molly's death, Sherlock shows physical and verbal affection to John. It's obvious that Sherlock is part of that small percent that can actually love. And unlike many cases, the recipient reciprocates." Molly concluded.

"Then tell me what Sherlock gains from a relationship." Lestrade asked her.

"Exactly what normal people gain. Happiness, stability, and ultimately, a better life. Sherlock has gained all of those elements, and I couldn't be happier for them both." Molly concluded their talk and continued her work, as did Lestrade. He was smart enough to know when a conversation was over.

Back at the flat, Sherlock set up his spot on the couch and was nearly into his mind palace before John moved Sherlock's head and sat on the couch. Sherlock rested his head on John's lap. John already had his fingers through Sherlock's hair.

"Why are you doing this?" Sherlock asked, genuinely curious.

John shrugged. "You aren't the only person who goes through their mind. The only difference is I go through my memories while you go through cases. I just happen to like looking through my memories while being with you. Do you have a problem with me running my fingers through your hair?" John asked. 

Sherlock didn't answer. He just closed his eyes and went into his mind palace. Sherlock did not mind the slight disturbance of John's fingers through his hair, and continued to think through every detail. He felt that having John in such close proximity helped him concentrate. 

John looked down at Sherlock, and could see a faint smile on his face. Sherlock looked at peace being in his mind palace. An occurrence that hasn't happened before. 

John quite liked his smile.