So I was trying to come up with some of John Watson's history because we really don't know a whole lot about him. Hell, we don't know a whole hell of a lot about Sherlock's if truth be told! But in trying to figure out why John Watson is who he is, I came up with this little nugget. To me, it explains some things...it might not to you yet, but hopefully as this story grows and progresses, it will all make sense! Also, some of you have read this as JW: A (Not So Brief) History. It wasn't long enough for me to consider it "not so brief" so I've changed the title slightly. Sorry for any confusion. I just like to be thorough...including titling!

"John?" Sherlock asked, lifting the box from the drawer of John's desk, "What's this?"

"Shit!" thought John. He knew he could get upset at Sherlock going through his things again, but what was the point. And he thought he'd put that piece of junk in storage with the rest of his stuff from Afghanistan.

"It's nothing," he said weakly. He also knew there was no point in trying to grab the medal box out of Sherlock's hand. If he tried, it would just make him more curious as to the meaning behind it.

"This is a Victorian Cross," Sherlock said without opening the box. Leave it Sherlock to know what it was without even looking at it, "For most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy."

"Yes," John said stiffly.

Sherlock shot him a look. John was completely closed off, shut down. 'Bad memories. Well, it was in war that John got the medal…Obvious,' Sherlock thought. The way John hunched in on himself, Sherlock could see there was a story. 'It's a painful story. Obvious,' he thought again, 'Think, Sherlock!' But while he had been able to deduce John's life within moments of meeting him, this was a conundrum. John was obviously hurting, obviously did not want anyone to know he had received one of the highest awards in the nation, and very obviously did not want to talk about it. 'Obvious!' It didn't stop him from asking.

"What happened?"

John's entire body stiffened at the question. He wrapped his arms around himself and started stuttering, "I-I…Well, I-I…I was severely wounded during a b-bombing in Af-afghanistan…I-I…l-led the evacuation of-of over f-fifty p-patients b-before the r-roof c-c-collapsed."

John looked up at Sherlock and the tears began to flow before either of them knew what was going on. Sherlock dropped the box on the desk, stepped toward John and wrapped his arms around the older man. John wrapped his arms around Sherlock and clung to him as he sobbed. Sherlock stood silently holding him until John loosened his grip.

John stepped back and turned away to wipe his face, obviously embarrassed by his outburst. Sherlock turned away to give him a moment and picked the VC back up. He opened the box to actually look at the medal.

The decoration was a bronze cross bearing the crown of Saint Edward surmounted by a lion, and the inscription FOR VALOUR. The cross was suspended by a ring from a "V" to a bar ornamented with laurel leaves, through which the ribbon passed. The reverse of the suspension bar was engraved with the John's name, rank, number and unit. On the reverse of the medal was a circular panel on which the date of the act for which it was awarded was engraved in the center. It was by no means a beautiful medal, but it represented a beautiful act that had obviously cost John more than his commission with the Army.

"Can you tell me about it?" Sherlock asked gently, turning back to John, seeing he had regained some of his composure. If it had been anyone else, he knew he would have been blunter, but he could see that John was already on edge. He handed the medal to John as he passed him and went to sit in his chair. John followed suit. He sat silently for so long that Sherlock thought he wasn't going to say anything. Just when Sherlock was about ready let the matter go, John started talking, his eyes glued to the Victoria Cross.

"I-It was 2009, s-spring, I think," John stammered, "I was working the mid-shift, doing rounds in a hospital near K-kabul when it was bombed. I-I t-took a piece of shrapnel through the shoulder. Destroyed most of the rotator cuff and dislocated it. We had about fifty or so guys in hospital recovering from everything from surgery for in-grown toenail to one guy who'd stepped on a damned mine. I coordinated efforts to evacuate patients. There was fire everywhere. A couple of beams had already fallen and it looked like the rest of the roof was going to collapse. The building was on fire and falling down around us. The nurses and orderlies who had remained behind with me were trying to get me to evacuate when I-I heard-heard Andrew calling for help.

John paused again. 'Andrew?' Sherlock was stunned. The way John had said the name had shown that the other man had been very important to him, 'How important?' he asked himself. He could see John's shoulders shake with silent sobs as he tried to formulate the rest of the story.

"He was stuck under a beam," John continued as he stood and handed the box back to Sherlock. John sat back down before he continued, eyes solely focussed on his hands, "I pulled away from the orderlies who were trying to direct me out of the building…And-Andrew saw me…He kept c-calling my name, asking me to help, beg-begging me to save him…B-before I could…Before I could get to him, the entire roof collapsed right in front of me...I mean, l-literally," he said, finally looking up at Sherlock, "I-if I had taken two more steps…m-moved just a little f-faster, I'd b-be dead along with Andrew. Harry'd be holding th-that VC, n-not you."

The pain was so intense in John's eyes that Sherlock had to turn away. It hurt him to look at John. He felt his heart tighten in pain. He hadn't had a chance with John. John was in love with a dead man. 'How does one compete with a dead man?"

The Victoria Cross is a real British medal. It is the highest honor a soldier can get, much like the Congressional Medal of Honor here in the US (only even harder to get!) The paragraph describing it is almost literally straight from Wikipedia. I apologize if someone is offended by that, but I needed to give an accurate description of it...just a me kind of thing.

I hope you enjoyed this! Please read and review! I love to hear what y'all think!

Next chapter: The Story of Andrew