A/N:The long-awaited Chapter Eight! This took so long because I've been working on a choreography project which took up nearly all of my spare time. But I finished that, so now I have lots more time for writing!

Chapter Eight - The First Degree

People.

There were people, everywhere. Sixty-nine guests, an array of caterers and workers, and a photographer. Some happy just for the opportunity to put in a stylish appearance, while others clearly squirmed and suffered in their stiff collars and high heels...most of them with silly, fake smiles, and endless congratulations...

Of course, this was generally to be expected at a wedding reception.

Sherlock endured as best he could, constantly evaluating to make sure that everything remained precisely on schedule and free from any significant problems. (Would little Archie carry out his duties as ring bearer properly? Yes...it seemed as though the bribe of the headless nun pictures was carrying him through. Would Mary's friend David attempt to maintain his overeager friendship? No, he remembered Sherlock's clear and overt warning.)

In so far as possible, Sherlock had worked to make things absolutely perfect.

There was only one more major task he had to perform...

The best man speech.

When John broached the subject of his best man, Sherlock was well prepared to offer his advice. There was Gavin Lestrade ("It's Greg," said John), Greg Lestrade, who for all his inability to solve crimes, was certainly capable to being a man at a wedding; Mike Stamford was a bit slow, not great in front of a crowd, but again, there wasn't much required of the job.

But if John didn't want those two, who else was there? He waited patiently for John's candidate, his mind ready to process and dissect the information, ready to do his best to ensure that everything would be perfect for John (he wasn't being sentimental, he just maybe still felt a little bit bad about the whole 'lying and faking his death in front of John' thing).

John finally managed to say it. "You."

Sherlock blinked, and his mind seemed to freeze in its tracks. Him? ...Sherlock? That...wasn't possible. It couldn't be right. Why would John...pick him...?

Sherlock had done his research. The role of best man was something reserved for those who held the closest emotional ties with the groom. It was a position that focused on and celebrated the ultimate culmination of friendship.

He mentally opened the door to his personal room in his Mind Palace, placing himself in front of a mirror and observing the figure that stared back at him. A man who thrived on the intellectual and had no use for the sentimental. He knew that he was important to John. Hadn't he gotten him to admit as much when they were both down in that Underground rail car? But he'd somehow always assumed...that it based more on straightforward rationality. That John could see how Sherlock exhibited certain quantifiable qualities that the military man lacked and that he understood his inherent need and use for said qualities. Sherlock's work brought the danger and excitement that John secretly craved. The other man found Sherlock's deductions fascinating.

It was the same for him, wasn't it? Something in John satisfied some inner void in Sherlock. John provided the focus that allowed Sherlock to put his best effort forward. Plus his medical knowledge, combat and firearm skills, and his ability to listen to Sherlock ramble were often invaluable on a case. But that was just a symbiotic relationship. Could John really consider him... "I'm your...best..." he almost couldn't speak the word, "friend?"

And even more shocking was John's instant reply. "Yeah, of course you are. Of course you're my best friend." As though it was obvious. Wasn't that Sherlock's job? To know and state the obvious?

And yet, he suddenly couldn't find the words to express himself. Flattered...surprised...unexpected...daunted...moved...

Curse it all, what was it about emotions that disconnected one's brain from one's mouth? He really needed to get a handle on himself.

Though Sherlock felt he would be quite justified in declaring the best man speech as one of the most difficult ordeals in his life (and he had grown up with Mycroft, so that was saying something), like everything else, he was determined that it should be executed perfectly. He had read the telegrams, he had stated John's importance and congratulated him on his choice of companion (although everyone cried at that, so he had been about to question his success there, but John seemed pleased, so he continued) and he now attempted to fulfill the requisite 'funny stories about John' section with stories of past cases.

The first was that of "The Bloody Guardsman" (John still insisted on titles for everything, and given that it was his wedding, Sherlock allowed it). An attempted murder (one of the few that Sherlock had to admit that he'd never solved), but that wasn't important. The main goal of the story was how it demonstrated John's compassion for people. John always focused on a person's well-being far ahead of the mere facts and circumstances that might make them interesting.

Then there was "The Mayfly Man", a tale of a woman who believed that she had dated a ghost. As well as being another instance of how John tended to look at the heart of things, and could understand personal motivations in a way that Sherlock never could, this case also filled the requisite 'alcohol intoxication' section that speeches such as this were supposed to use to embarrass their subject (according to How to write an unforgettable best man speech, anyway).

It had taken him an entire day after the fact to remember things that the client had mentioned and what the location of the 'ghost's' apartment had looked like. (Most of the details placed in his Mind Palace had been absolutely useless. A decorative skull classified as '?deaded?' A strange type of seat filed as 'egg? chair? sitty thing?' Seriously, Sherlock was never again going to let John buy the alcohol after that incident.)

Remembering it now, Sherlock realized that that case had also marked the first time that he had begun to use people in his Mind Palace to classify data.

Before that point, the Mind Palace had been reserved for facts only. There was a place for everything, and Sherlock knew exactly where it was kept. There was no need for anyone else. But after John had become a part of the Mind Palace, other people seemed to slip in as well. And Sherlock found that...he no longer had the need to shove them out of 'his' space. They weren't the horrid nuisances that he had once considered them.

Interesting.

The five women who 'dated a ghost' were all allowed in one room; however, their stay was quite temporary (just until the case was solved).

The Woman had a place – though she really only served as a reminder that perhaps he should clear out some of the unnecessary distractions in there...

Mycroft had a place (now that was something he never would have considered possible in his earlier days). Just like the real Mycroft, Sherlock's construct of him used pointed questions that led directly to the logical conclusions. He always focused on the bigger picture and had no hesitation about telling Sherlock what to do to focus on it.

John Hamish Watson..."Enjoy the wedding!"...locked room murder...

With a jolt, Sherlock realized they were all connected. The "Bloody Guardsman" murderer and the "Mayfly Man" was the same person...and he was here today, planning to kill again. But how to solve it! He was in the middle of his best man speech...and Mind Palace Mycroft kept shouting at him to "Narrow it down" when looking for the killer...

Maybe having Mycroft in his head wasn't such a great idea.

But John...John knew where to keep the focus... Don't solve a murder, save a life... He could get Geoff ("It's Greg!") Greg to lock the room down and give him time to decipher the clues. Sherlock's search for a murderer became instead a hunt for the victim...

From the there the would-be killer was obvious, and even the method he used to kill. (Somewhat clever, really, but now wasn't the time to think about that.) As Sherlock reminded the almost-victim, today was about John.

Sherlock had thought he needed John for the skills that John provided for him. (Who else but John would have caused Sherlock to pick out the only two cases that were actually connected, especially when he wasn't actively trying to solve them?) But, really, he needed John to connect him to an entirely separate perspective of humanity. People weren't all as boring and monotonous as he'd always made them out to be, but without John, he would completely lose his link to this other world... He had never belonged there, and in truth, never would.

Strange...He'd always considered that a value to be celebrated, not a lack to be mourned.

But now, Sherlock was starting to suspect that keeping others closer might actually make him stronger...and that maybe, just maybe, he didn't want to lose that.

A/N: I think that this chapter ended up a little more sentimental than previous chapters, but in the end I decided that it was okay, since this marks a real turn in Sherlock's perspective (and it was a wedding, so even for Sherlock, a little bit of emotion is not completely out of line).

The title is a two-fold reference: there's the obvious referral to the attempted murder in the first degree, but it's also a reference to the idea of "Six Degrees of Separation" (that you can be connected to anyone in the world through no more than six people). In the this case, John is the first degree that connects Sherlock to the rest of the world.

Only one more chapter to go! (And probably a short epilogue)