Chapter Text
You were late for work (great job btw) and rushed out the door. That was until you stopped suddenly and looked down the street. Police cars with their lights going off were swarmed around something. Ambulances surrounded the site, too.
"The fuck?" You whispered to yourself, a bit startled.
You went on your tiptoes and tried to take a peek at the scene from where you were standing. You saw a team of people in blue scrubs and immediately dropped back down onto your feet and turned to leave.
"Oh god...must be serious." Your hands fiddled with the strap of the bag you were carrying and headed across the street, eyes still trained on the mass of police cars. Someone bumped into you, causing you to stumble slightly.
"Sherlock-" You heard someone scold. "Sorry." A man with brown, messy hair turned to you with an apologetic glint in his eyes before turning and heading off to catch up with his companion who had bumped into you – a taller man with curly black hair who hadn't even spared you a passing glance.
But your eyes caught on someone else with them who was talking to the taller man, obviously annoyed with him. He had large brown eyes and salt-and-pepper hair. You felt yourself blush as thoughts popped up in your head of how cute he was. He seemed older than you-
You cut yourself off when you realized you were now even later for work. Tearing your eyes away from the man as he disappeared behind caution tape, you headed off for work.
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Work had been stressful and as you trudged back to your apartment, all you could do was hope that you hadn't finished off your stash of microwave pizzas last week.
You walked up the steps and to your flat, dropping your bag and coat at the door. The flat was empty and dull; a result of you having just moved in a few weeks ago. There had been no time to decorate between adjusting to a new job and trying to manage moving all your finances into a new country while also letting yourself get used to a whole new place.
Originally, you had grown up in America. After you had graduated university, you stayed in your home state, working as a research assistant for a professor at your college. Then, you got your master's degree before setting your sights on London to gain your doctorate.
That led you to now as misery struck you, opening the freezer to realize you had in fact eaten all of the microwave pizzas last week.
"Noooooo-" You sunk down to the floor and rested your head forward against the cool metal of the freezer. "Cruel world." A muttered sigh left your lips before you pushed yourself to your feet. "Enough of the dramatics."
You flopped onto the couch that had come with the flat – so much for no dramatics. You heard police sirens in the distance, and your mind propelled you back to that morning. You went to the window, eyes falling on the site where the police had been. Now, there was no trace of the event ever happening; the pavement bare and only a small piece of caution tape left hanging limply from a light post.
A quiet "hm" left your mouth as you shifted your weight to your other leg and leaned against the wall. You thought of the man who had bumped into you, the one who had apologized, and the one who hadn't even noticed you. But you noticed him. God, you had noticed him.
"You're being dramatic again." You scolded yourself before turning away from the window. That was a literal stranger and here you were thinking it was some sort of fated thing.
If the universe wants it, it'll happen.
At least that's what you said to yourself to comfort the dumb voice in your head. And then your stomach grumbled, bringing you back to the issue at hand – no pizza. Well, no dinner at all. You held a hand over your stomach and sighed. Money wasn't too much of an issue right now, but you could stand to lose a few... right? No dinner tonight. It would be fine.
You then decided to work on your finances once more. You settled back into the couch and flipped open your laptop.
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The next morning, you awoke to a bitter taste in your mouth, a sore back, and drool running out of your mouth.
"Ughhh.." You murmured as you sat upright. You must have fallen asleep on the couch. Your laptop was still open on your lap, though it had died.
You got yourself ready for work and headed out the door. But it was a Saturday. You laughed to yourself at your foolishness and were about to head back inside when you noticed that someone was standing in front of the building where the police cars had been crowded around yesterday. It was the man with the salt-and-pepper hair. A fluttering went on in your stomach – from hunger or nerves you weren't sure – and you headed towards him.
"Um..hello?" You sounded awkward and mentally scolded yourself for not being confident. The man didn't hear you at first as you noticed he was on a phone call. When he did notice your presence, he turned, gave you an awkward smile before turning back to argue on the phone.
"No, I know. I know- Now would you stop that!" He hung up and ran a hand through his hair in frustration before noticing you were still standing there.
"Uhm." He raised an eyebrow at you in confusion, and you could feel your heart swell. He was so cute. Too cute.
"Hi, sorry to bother you." The words tumbled out awkwardly and you gave an apologetic smile, hoping you looked charming and put together. "I saw you at the crime scene thingy yesterday..." You started.
"Closed to the public, can't give you any details." He said quickly, shaking his head.
"Well, no, I was just-"
"Though I can assure you that the public is safe and you are not in any danger."
He must have thought you were scared or something, but you honestly had no clue what crime had even occurred at this building.
"What exactly would be harmful? What were you all investigating?" You asked softly, adjusting your hold on your bag.
"A suicide- or something- God only knows what Sherlock is thinking." He waved a hand around his head in annoyance, and you couldn't help but smile softly at it.
"Sherlock?" You recognized the name of the man who had bumped into you.
"You haven't heard of him? World's only consulting detective?" He gave you a quizzical look, and you blushed when you realized how he was staring at you.
"No...care to enlighten me?" You were trying to be smooth. You were failing. But your response gained a slight smile twitching up on his lip and he shrugged.
"Don't think you'd want me to. He's one hell of a character." He let out a short laugh. That sound was enough to make your brain short circuit. But you didn't even know this man. You needed to get a grip.
"Do you work for the police?" You asked such an obvious question that you sighed in disappointment at your slip-up.
"Yes, actually, I'm the Detective Inspector. Greg Lestrade. Nice to meet you.."
"[Y/N] [Y/L/N]." You shook his outstretched hand. His skin was rough, his grip was tight. Solid.
"Nice to meet you." You smiled shyly and you noticed a faint blush on his cheeks as well. "I think I've seen you on the news here recently, yea? Something about these cases?" You pointed casually to the building in front of you both before turning back.
"Quite possibly-" He was cut off as a sharp voice cut through the air.
"Gary!" The tall man from yesterday appeared behind you, stepping around you without bumping into you this time, the shorter man not far behind.
"It's Greg." The DI said flatly.
"Yes, yes, formalities." The taller man said. He had a deeper voice, high cheekbones, and seemed very serious.
The shorter man glanced at you quickly before looking again.
"Oh, hey, you're that girl from yesterday." He smiled gently. "I'm John Watson. That arrogant fool is Sherlock Holmes." He introduced.
"Oh..nice..I'm [Y/N]." You said, glancing over at the tall man. So that was Sherlock.
"You a friend of Greg?" John asked, trying to make polite conversation as Greg and Sherlock were talking.
"No, no...just met, actually."
John raised his eyebrows in slight surprise before nodding. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sherlock turned and trained his eyes on you.
"Hm. American. What state? Let me guess – Michigan?"
Your eyes widened. How did he-
"Your keychain." Greg said. You glanced down and saw that you indeed had a Michigan keychain on your bag.
"Well, I could've just gone on vacation there-"
"To Michigan?" Sherlock scoffed.
"Well, it's a very nice state." You huffed, crossing your arms. What was this guy's deal?
"Sherlock-" John said, shaking his head. "Don't do the whole deduction thing on her."
"I am not doing my whole deduction thing on her. I am simply deducing."
His eyes grew more intense as he stepped forward, towering over you. You glanced over at Greg, silently asking with your eyes if this was normal, but he was just shaking his head in disappointment.
"You just moved here. New job. Researcher. Judging by the state of you, I'd say you aren't doing too well in money."
"Hey-" you began to protest at the jab, but he waved his hand, cutting you off.
"Going for your doctorate, are you?" His icy blue eyes scanned over you, and you felt a shiver run down you. How was he doing this? Was this some sort of elaborate prank?
"Sherlock, stop bothering her. You're freaking her out." Greg said, stepping over to stop him.
"Not now, Gabe. She's so easy to read, it's like an announcer is just shouting every detail about her from the rooftops."
"No, Sherlock-" John said, rolling his eyes. "Some people don't like when you state every tiny detail about them especially if they don't know you-"
But Sherlock wasn't listening to them and instead his gaze was still trained on you. The intensity faded however, quite suddenly.
"Oh. I..." Sherlock grew quiet. "You realize that could have a tremendous effect on your health, yes?"
"Excuse me?" Your eyes flew open wider than they already had been. He couldn't have possibly figured that out just from looking.
"Enough, Sherlock." John huffed, eyes narrowed. Sherlock nodded, stepping back, though his eyes still trailed over to you every once in a while.
Greg stepped up to you.
"Sorry about him. That's...just how he is." He sighed through his nose before glancing over his shoulder at where John was talking to Sherlock, still annoyed, but talking about something else now.
You shook your head.
"It's fine, really. Quite impressive. Is it a trick or is it genuine?"
"Wish it was a trick." The DI grumbled. "Anyways, we have to go and work on the case, but it was lovely meeting you, [Y/N]..." You noticed his eyes trailing over you and you couldn't help but blush.
"Lovely meeting you too, Detective."
He stepped away and you took that as your cue to head back to your flat, a slight flutter in your stomach, this time from excitement.