Chapter 1

Mycroft first met him when he was 16. Sherlock had run away again, because his 8 year old mind didn't respond well to the principle of coming home straight after school. Mycroft, his older brother, was sick of him acting up. And he had upset mommy again, for God's sakes! As if bringing up two highly intelligent sons all by herself wasn't work enough.

"Sherlock!", Mycroft shouted, trying not to sound too annoyed, "come out, if you are here somewhere; I promise, I'll talk to mommy about this coming home thing!" He didn't know why he was looking in the park... only because Sherlock had been here last time didn't mean anything, really, but Mycroft had this strange feeling that this might be the place to be for him this evening. And hadn't there been a noise? A very strange noise, actually. It seemed to have come from behind the trees... met him

It was dark behind the trees – dark and muddy. Mycroft swore. He would get his new trousers dirty! "Sherlock!", he barked, no longer able to keep the anger out of his voice. "It's not funny anymore! Could you behave like a normal child for ONCE?" Suddenly a grown man stood in front of him. "He's not here, but you might want to look near the swimming pool," the man said politely. "Who are you?" Mycroft looked the man up and down. He wore a blue suit, a white shirt, a red tie and red high-top converse vans. Mycroft wrinkled his nose. Even at 16, he knew that THOSE shoes didn't go with a suit. "I am the Doctor," the man said. "And you are Mycroft, right?" "Where do you know my name from? If it was Sherlock who told you, none of what he says about me is true!"

The Doctor's face – which was friendly enough, even Mycroft had to admit – broke into a wide grin. "Of course not, and you don't want to snog Christine Weber or something." "That little brat," Mycroft said between gritted teeth. "Oh, don't worry, your secret is safe with me," the Doctor winked, "with your brother's invisible friend." "Invisible friend?" But it couldn't be... or could it? Mycroft had always thought it strange that his brother, of all people, had 'an invisible friend' – that kind of made-up friend some little kids had, but Sherlock seemed to be too intelligent to have. But then what if...

"You are not a pervert, are you? If you have done anything to my brother, I will have you killed!" Mycroft's eyes gleamed in fury. The Doctor nodded solemnly. "Yes, one day, you will have that power. But you don't have to worry, I was only talking to your brother... and anyway, I'm not interested in that sort of thing," "What's in it for you then?" "Oh, just some exchange of ideas, from one genius to another." Mycroft laughed. "Oh, really, and not full of yourself, are you?" The Doctor smiled again, his eyes blinking. "How old are you now? 16? And not afraid, not afraid at all, standing in a dark spot behind a tree with a strange alien." "Why should I be afraid?" Mycroft snorted. "It's not like you are going to eat me. And you know Sherlock, so you probably won't be stupid enough to kill me in a public place like that."

"I could hide the body in my spaceship," the Doctor laughed. "Nay, don't have time for that," Mycroft said, "have to find my brother." And that was that. Sherlock was brought home safely half an hour later. He had been near the swimming pool; on top of a tree, of course. Even though persuading him to get down there was easy enough, Sherlock couldn't be talked into telling his brother more about his strange secret friend. Lurking behind trees in Regent's Park was a suspicious business, of course, but Mycroft still had the feeling that this guy was somehow okay. Must have something to do with that almost contagious grin.

In fact, Mycroft couldn't stop thinking about the Doctor for some time. "And you don't know where he came from, do you?" "Noooooooot telling you." "Ok, ok, Sherlock, you can still talk normally." "Nah, cause you are daft." Mycroft rolled his eyes. "But he's nice, isn't he? Kind of good-looking as well..."

Now it was Sherlock's turn to roll his eyes. "I'm sure he doesn't want to snog you either." "That's not what I thought of." "That's ALWAYS what you are thinking of these days," Sherlock complained. And then he was right. As always. And what would it be like to kiss a guy? What would it be like to kiss THAT guy?

But some weeks later, Mycroft managed to persuade Christine to kiss him, found out that kissing was not really his thing and forgot all about the Doctor for some years.