via questionsleftunanswered

So I was surprised a couple of weeks ago, looking over the ficnotes I’d written, to discover that I haven’t highlighted the delightful, delicious “Heart in the Whole” by Verityburns yet.  I linked to it in my massive round-up of favorite fics over at Harpyness but at that point it was still a work-in-progress. Guess I just forgot to highlight it as a finished (and glorious!) thing.

Title: Heart in the Whole
Author: Verityburns
Pairing: John Watson/Sherlock Holmes
Author Rating: NC-17
Author Summary: Events after “The Great Game” leave Sherlock dependent on his best friend and colleague. But John has a secret of his own… Hurt/Comfort / Romance / Little bit of an actual plot!
Length: 20 chapters
Available At: Verityburns’ LiveJournal. You can also access all of her fics and associated fan art through the index page.

UPDATE: The day after I posted this, Verity has released an audio version and “deleted” scene.

It’s not really giving anything away to say that this fic begins with a Sherlock who has suffered some severe injuries following the explosion at the pool (immediately following the cliffhanger ending of “The Great Game” episode in season one). Sherlock and John are not, at the beginning of this fic, a couple, although John is mooning over Sherlock in quite a severe sort of way. Home from the hospital, Sherlock is crabby and physically damaged and, most crucially, temporarily (possibly even permanently) blind due to his injuries.

What ensues is a saga that’s a scant one third mystery (tracking down Moriarty) and unabashedly two parts romance. John and Sherlock negotiate the new terms of their friendship, and the gradual recognition that they want something more intimately physical than either of them expected. This fic earns bonus points for the way it handles Sherlock’s exploration of sensual and sexual touch with John, in this particular rendering something that he is not entirely sure he wants (or if so, on what terms).