It was a peaceful day in 221B Baker Street. No experiments littered the kitchen, no guns were being fired at the painted yellow smiley face on the wall, and the consulting detective and his blogger had no cases to attend to. Instead, under John's insistence, they were watching Doctor Who.
"There's no way this'll be boring, Sherlock! Doctor Who is really complex. If nothing else, you could predict what will happen before it does," John had said to Sherlock, who eventually agreed. Smiling, John ran to his room, put on his TARDIS style jumper (that he only wore on very special occasions), and came back out to sit on the couch, still having enough tea to suffice the length of an episode.
"You've got a police box on a jumper?" Sherlock asked, looking to the jumper in question.
"Yes, but it's not just a police box. I'll put on the first episode; you'll learn soon enough," John replied, grabbing the television remote and hastily turning on the Netflix (which he had just decided to get). He selected "Doctor Who," then the episode "Rose."
"'Rose'?" Sherlock questioned, watching as the episode loaded, then began to play.
"It'll all make sense. Just watch," John hushed Sherlock, now completely and utterly focused on the screen.
"But Joh-"
"Shhh"
Many hours passed before John clicked the episode "The Parting of Ways."
"This one's a bit tricky, but I'm sure you've figured it out by now?" John looked to Sherlock curiously.
"'Bad Wolf' has something to do with Rose, if I'm not mistaken, which I never am. Bad Wolf…" he muttered to himself, ruffling his hair a bit in thought. John watched him, very amused, before the episode started. Sherlock couldn't pay attention, still trying to figure out what Bad Wolf meant and how it would take place in the episode.
However, Sherlock's thoughts were scattered as he heard a familiar sound… Where had he heard that? He looked around from where he was sitting: his skull still sat nicely in place, the book shelf was as neat as ever, there was a TARDIS materializing just behind him, the smiley face was… Wait.
Doubling back, Sherlock's eyes widened. He knew he knew that sound! But… no, it's impossible, isn't it?
"John…!" Sherlock whispered urgently, now staring at the slowly materializing phone booth.
"Shhh, not now Sherlock! Doctor Who is on!" John said, not really paying attention to what Sherlock was saying.
"John!" Sherlock whispered again, somewhat of a yelling whisper. "Look behind you!" But John wasn't paying attention. He was humming along with the Doctor Who theme song that now echoed through the room. Sighing, Sherlock shook John's arm, making him spill his tea.
"What is it, Sherlock?!" John asked angrily.
"Look!" Sherlock pointed behind him, standing on the couch facing the machine. John's eyes widened as he paused the episode and stood up.
"Bloody hell…" John muttered, slowly walking to the blue box. "How…?"
"Be careful, John!" Sherlock warned, not fully trusting the thing.
"Why?" John glanced up at his best friend, then gave a small smile. "If it really is… But, why would he come here? … This isn't possible!" John continued muttering to himself as he knocked on the door.
Suddenly, the doors to the police box opened, revealing a blonde-headed girl in a Union Jack t-shirt. "And who are you?" she asked John, frowning very slightly.
"Erm, John. John Watson," John introduced himself, holding a hand out to shake. The girl ignored it.
"Eighteen or nineteen, only child, raised by only your mother. Your father died when you were very young, and your mother is too scared to remarry, though many people are interested. You have, or had, a boyfriend, and you still care about him, but not as much as he cares about you… Ah, you've fallen for someone else? Someone better? You look guilty that you're even here, so I'm assuming you're not alone and you are traveling with said better person. The name is Sherlock Holmes, and I am presuming yours is Rose Tyler."
The blonde girl, Rose Tyler, looked to Sherlock in a shocked way. "How..?" She seemed like she was trying to speak, but she didn't know where to start. "So we are in the right place," she gave a small smile, rushed back inside the machine, then reappeared a few moments later with a man. The man had quite large ears, a cleanly shaven head, and was a bit tanner than some. He wore a leather jacket with a black t-shirt underneath.
"And you'd be the Doctor, then?" Sherlock asked the man with a small smirk. John just stood there, open-mouthed.
The Doctor looked to Sherlock for a while before smirking. "Indeed I would, Mr. Holmes." The Doctor looked positively over-joyed to be there.
"I'm sorry, but could someone please tell me what's going on?" John finally asked, confusion flooding his face.
"I'd have thought you would have caught on sooner than I, John," Sherlock frowned. "This is, obviously, the Doctor and Rose. That," he gestured to the magnificent blue box, "is the Doctor's TARDIS. Clear?"
"I bloody know what it is, Sherlock. Just… how can they be here?!" John retorted, somewhat glaring at the face that the detective thought him so idiotic.
"That is an excellent question," both the Doctor and Sherlock asked at the same time, each then receiving a questioning look from the other.
"I'd expect you to know, seeing you're the one flying the machine," Sherlock answered first, raising an eyebrow at the Doctor.
The Doctor gave a small laugh. "I was testing something out with the controls, and obviously it worked," he replied, looking around the room. "221B Baker Street, then? London. Famous home of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor John Watson."
"Why am I always mentioned last?" John huffed under his breath.
"Doctor? I thought you said we were going to London in the 1940's?" Rose asked, looking somewhat uncomfortable.
"I said unless I can somehow maneuver it into a parallel universe first! We'll go there next, alright?" The Doctor looked to Rose, raising an eyebrow.
"Parallel universe?" Sherlock asked, stepping over the back of the couch and standing directly in front of the Doctor. "What do you mean by parallel universe?"
"Well, that's what this is." The Doctor gestured to their whole surroundings. "One of them, at least. It's a universe that is almost identical to another, but is somehow different. Every choice we make creates a parallel universe where that decision would have gone the other way, and different things like that. It's a bit complicated to wrap your head around."
"So, why do you say this is a parallel?" Sherlock questioned.
"Well… that's a story for another time," The Doctor answered quickly, looking back and forth from John to Sherlock. "But we've got to be off," the Doctor motioned to Rose and himself. "It's been an honor, Mr. Holmes and Mr. Watson," the Doctor paused, then smirked. "I've always been a huge fan, and I've always wanted to meet the both of you." He nodded to both of the men before stepping back inside his TARDIS.
"See ya," Rose said, awkwardly waving to the both of them before following the Doctor back into the TARDIS. However, before she could close the door, Sherlock snuck inside.
"Sherlock!" John yelled, then followed him inside.
"It's impossible!" Sherlock stated, eyes wide as he looked around the console room.
"Once you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," the Doctor said in a somewhat of a teasing tone. Rose put her hand to her mouth to suppress a laugh.
"No, this is completely improbable! There is no logical way that this big of a room could fit in a 1950's style London police box!" Sherlock looked quite angry, as if he were trying to figure it all out.
"I can't believe it…" John mumbled, looking around in complete awe and ignoring Sherlock. "It's actually bigger on the inside!" He looked particularly joyful.
"Yes, it is," the Doctor said in reply to John, also choosing to ignore Sherlock, who was now going on about the reasons that it couldn't exist in any way.
"And it actually flies? In time and space?" John asked, looking at some of the controls longingly.
"Yep. T-A-R-D-I-S. Time and Relative-"
"Dimension in space," John finished, looking down to his jumper in a sort of embarrassed way. "I know. I'm actually a pretty big fan of yours," he admitted, looking up.
"Really?" The Doctor questioned.
"Yeah," John replied, smiling lightly. "I'm a bigger fan than he is, but still."
"Holmes and Watson are fans of me?" The Doctor asked, almost awe-stricken.
"You make it seem like it's a big thing," John stated, somewhat in a confused manner.
"It is. Well, in my mind it is. It's a long story…"