History, Repeating Itself by gyzym (teen)

[the-hobbet.livejournal.com]

Fandom: SHERLOCK HOLMES (RitchieVerse)
Pairing: John Watson/Sherlock Holmes
Length: long
Author on LJ: gyzym
Author Website: A03

Why this must be read: Arthur Conan Doyle wrote some famous books about a genius detective before the fic begins. Sherlock is a chemistry grad student. His brother owns a bar. John just returned from Afghanistan to study medicine. John calls Sherlock Forrest. Sherlock calls John Appleseed. Sherlock and John are typical students - sarcastic, potty-mouthed, living hand to mouth, smoking weed, and drinking.

John narrates this hilarious and sometimes suspenseful modern American university AU. It's hard to describe just how much fun this story is - nothing I write could be better than giving you a taste.

"So," he said, still grading, "you're either a very tenacious new student or the potential roommate Miles texted me about. If you're the former, please don't bother--you're sure to be yet another fucking moron I have to attempt to herd towards competency, and I've got enough of those, thanks. If you're the latter, I can't imagine you want to live with me anymore in any case. Door's that way."

I stared at him. And yes, yes, I know that was when I should have turned around, but you have to understand--the guy was pretty hilarious. Hair standing up all over the place, flushed nearly purple and pissed off, using that red pen like he thought it was a fucking sword; he's not that big a man, and the entire effect made me think of Albert Einstein on meth.

So I opened my mouth and said "I'm shocked you're having such bad luck with the roommate search," and that made him look up.

"You don't look like an obnoxious drunk," Holmes said. "Miles oversold you."

I shrugged. "I have my moments. You seem exactly as unfriendly as he said you would be, so I probably got the more honest end of that stick."

Holmes cocked his head. Then, smiling slightly, he held out his hand.

"Holmes," he said. I took his hand and shook it.

"Watson," I returned, and he froze.

"Oh, fuck no," he snapped. He wrenched his hand out of my grip. "Miles must be dying over this--no. No. NO. I bet your first name is John, isn't it?"

"I--yeah," I said, puzzled, "but what does that--"

"Oh my god," Holmes said, "my first decent lead and it's this. Look, man, we can't live together. We can't even consider it."

"Why not?"

"Because my name is Sherlock Holmes," Holmes cried. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to be taken seriously with a name like Sherlock Holmes? At least 'John Watson' could have been an honest mistake, parents not paying attention, no one thought about it til later kind of thing. Nobody's going to call you on that--but Sherlock Holmes, my whole goddamn life, and now my fucking brother sends me--"

"Miles is your brother?" I interrupted, because that couldn't be possible. Miles was huge, and this guy looked like a strong wind might knock him over.

"Mycroft," Holmes snapped, "changed his name when he turned 18, but yeah, he is. Our parents were a little off."

Plus there is a brilliant podfic read by speccygeekgrrl that is even better than reading it yourself!

History, Repeating Itself or on A03
History, Repeating Itself podfic