Fic: You Say Surrender Like it's a Bad Thing

[phoenixfalls.livejournal.com]

Title: You Say Surrender Like it’s a Bad Thing
Author: goddessdster
Pairing: Gen
Length: 3,421 words
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: None
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: The Third Step is just about making the decision. Just that, and nothing more. So why is Alfredo having such a hard time getting Sherlock to do it?

Reccer's comments:
I’ll start with the caveat that I know very little about 12-step programs like Narcotics Anonymous, as I have neither first-hand nor second-hand experience with them. That said, this fic, which is all about Alfredo’s work as Sherlock’s sponsor, rings incredibly true to me. Sherlock is balking at the step where he has to submit to a higher power, and the way Alfredo works his way to the core of Sherlock’s objection and finds a way to coax him through it is just beautiful. The bits of Alfredo’s back story that are cut in really flesh out a character we haven’t seen nearly enough of on the show, and the way goddessdster shows Alfredo maintaining his cool with Sherlock, then opening up a little to Joan, and finally really leaning on his own sponsor is deeply compelling.