You Left A Mark - A Johnlock Soulmate AU

8

John returns from the war a shell of the man he was. The images he saw at night killed his spirit over and over again. There was no use in trying to ignore them, they taunted him and hurt him in ways unimaginable. Due to this torment he forgot all about soulmates and their existence, not once did it cross his mind his motivation to carry on through hell on earth was a few letters scrawled on his skin. John doesn't understand why nothings helping, therapy drains him and his blog is something he'd rather ignore. He just wants a way to escape the pounding in his head for even a second.

One day during a stroll one London, John bumps into his old friend Mike Stamford. They talk for a while until housing is brought up. John explains his situation and ends up following Mike to a man who is willing to flatshare. Nerves seem to creep up on John, he doesn't get scared it was trained out of him years ago. Yet this journey, this one insignificant journey seemed to rattle him, causing anxiety to worm its way into John's mind. By the time he's doubting enough to turn away, he's walking into a lab at the hospital.

Sherlock glances up at the noise and notices one familiar and one unfamiliar face. It clicks in his mind that this is his new flat mate, based on an earlier conversation with Mike and that he was a man of the military. But something was different. Sherlock couldn't read it on his face, or in his clothes, or posture, or speech, yet he knew there was something else about this man. Something special. It's killing Sherlock that he can't figure this out, that he's unable to see what his brain is telling him. He's knows there's something else up with this new man, but he can't see it, observe it.

They agree to meet up. This feeling still lingers in the back of Sherlock's mind, it causes him to invite him on a case. Something he's loved doing alone for so many years. This sensation is new and worrying to Sherlock. It has no solid backing to a thesis, he can't prove it with anything he sees on the man beside him. Despite all this Sherlock takes an instant liking to John, not just because of this sensation telling him to, but because he's the first person to treat him like a normal human being. This man, John, is a new necessity Sherlock deduces, something about him is important in Sherlock's life and the only way to figure it out is to keep him around. To stop him from leaving.