Credit

It had been a few days since a case had been presented, much to Holmes's frustration. The detective had been getting a bit stir-crazy, so when he suddenly left on some unknown excursion, Watson half wondered if Holmes might actually have gone out in search of a mystery. It wouldn't have surprised him; he was still getting used to his flatmate's unusual habits. Whatever the case, Watson was perfectly content to stay where he was. He had some reading he'd been meaning to catch up on. Thus, he was soon seated comfortably on the couch, a book in his hands, smiling as he read. His attention was quite abruptly seized, however, when Holmes hurtled into the room.

Watson greeted his friend, taking in the magazine dangling from his hand in surprise. Noting the expression on his face with bemusement, he set the book down in his lap and waited for the other to explain. As usual in such cases, it didn't take long.

Holmes sat down, apparently trying to appear casual. He soon gave up on this, however. "Watson, why do you keep letting this man … this … Conan Doyle … take credit for your work?" he demanded unexpectedly. Watson let loose a surprised laugh.

"Why, Holmes, I didn't know you cared about my work." Holmes gave him a look, clearly saying both that he was going to ignore that statement and that his own question had not been answered. The doctor gave in.

"To tell the truth, I don't particularly care whether or not I get credit for my stories," Watson began carefully. "And since Doyle does most of the editing anyway, I decided he deserved some recognition." Holmes snorted.

"But surely not credit for the entire work?"

Watson sighed wearily. "I told you, Holmes, I don't care about who gets credit." He picked up his book again, obviously closing the conversation. Holmes stared at him for a moment, then stood and left the room, magazine still in hand. Watson let out an imperceptible sigh of relief that the matter had been dropped so swiftly.

Or so he thought – until his next story came out.

Holmes watched from his armchair as Watson picked up the magazine, opened to his story and gave a start, his eyebrows raising slightly before he carefully placed it aside and looked at Holmes curiously. There was really no need to say anything. Holmes knew he'd seen his change to it.

The byline read "Dr. John Watson".

Holmes smiled, and was the first to speak. "I know you said you don't care about the credit, but you deserve it anyway. I talked to your editor, and he agreed." Watson now looked slightly stunned, and it took a moment for him to reply.

"Did you know, Holmes," he said slowly, "that this is the first time anyone's directly given me credit for anything I've done?"

Holmes's response left him speechless.

"Then it's high time that changed."