Cadence to Arms by Mad_Maudlin (mature, for violence, not sex)

[the-hobbet.livejournal.com]

Fandom: SHERLOCK BBC
Pairing: John Watson&Sherlock Holmes
Length: 4826 words
Author on LJ: mad_maudlin
Author Website: AO3
Why this must be read:

Many stories written after the cliffhanger at the end of The Great Game and before the beginning of series 2 start with the bomb at the pool going off. In Cadence to Arms the bomb explodes, Sherlock is injured, and John flashes back to Afghanistan, weaving past and current events together in his confusion. But always, John is a soldier and a doctor, dedicated to protecting his patient.

He plunges his hands into the smoke and comes up with a pistol. Also, another hand.

John has enough sense to stifle a yelp, to seize the pistol and bring it up, but there's still no motion, so he creeps forward. Sherlock's face swims out of the smoke at him—a red gash across his face, too damn still, and John's already got his radio back out as he checks for a pulse. "This is Watson to anyone who can hear me, requesting an immediate medical evacuation, I have injured."

Sherlock's breathing is shallow and labored, his pulse is thready—shock or something worse. At first John can't see any injuries aside from the head lac, but as he palpates the chest and abdomen he finds the pinpick burns in his clothes and skin, deep and black: he must've been hit by flecks of burning phosphorus when the grenade went off. He reaches for his kit before he remembers it's all gone, his vest and his gear; he vaguely remembers Sherlock pulling it off, can't remember why. He doesn't have so much as a plaster on him now, can do nothing but catalog Sherlock's injuries and plead for an evacuation he strongly suspects he's not going to get.

If they get out of here alive, he's going to start making Sherlock wear body armor when they go out. A stab vest, at least. Possibly bubble wrap.

Cadence to Arms