With crime cases at their all time low in and around Baker Street, no thanks to Sherlock's gifted skills of solving crimes and preventing any wannabe criminal masterminds from committing their first crime. There's nothing much he can do nowadays. However when a mysterious individual who claims to go by the name...known only as The Doctor, is found hiding in Mrs Hudson's garden and bearing a warning. So to solve the danger he knows of, can it be possible for him and Sherlock to get along with each other?
The Gatecrashers on Baker Street
Chapter 1
One morning in November, while Mrs Hudson was busy choosing which cleaning products she wanted to use for that day, an old fashioned police telephone box suddenly as if out of nowhere in her back garden. She obviously hadn't even heard the thunderous and whooshing noise it made upon it's appearance because she had the radio on loud in the kitchen. Two people then took it upon themselves to explore the garden and look inside the wheelie bins, presumably they had stepped out from the blue box because they certainly hadn't climbed over the bricked walls of the back garden.
"Oh great, we're in present day London again." One of the voices can be overheard moaning from outside. The voice sounded like a young woman's.
"Okay I admit we're not in Milan 2200 Bill like I promised we would be but right now the both of us need to keep as quiet as possible because someone might end up hearing us." The other person spoke, who seemed more responsible and knowledgeable than his friend.
"Okay I'll keep quiet as soon as you answer my only question, why did we arrive here in London and not Milan, Doctor? Is your friend behind this?"
"I don't know but I'd certainly like to find out as soon as possible, if we were to come across her while we're here." The man clearly spoke with a Glaswegian accent.
When Mrs Hudson turned her radio off unexpectedly, it became very clear, they had now been rumbled and she would mistake them for being burglars. From the fluffy haired man's point of view, he honestly believed she would have them arrested as quickly as possible.
"Who's there?" Mrs Hudson asked, she wasn't a shouting woman nor was she someone who thought confrontation was the best way of making another person give themselves up before they hurt her or someone else. She was armed with a rolling pin but she didn't look as though she intended to use it against these unseen intruders.
"Doctor, there's no point us hiding. We're bound to get ourselves in trouble if we carry on acting suspiciously. That elderly woman is obviously going to wave her rolling pin round like a ninja in the next minute or two." Bill had a good point, it was better to stop behaving like a fool than to make yourself look like an even bigger one.
"Sherlock!" Mrs Hudson yelled extremely loud, enough to deafen someone's ears.
"Oh well...that doesn't sound good." Bill looked on with concern.
"Sherlock? Is that her emergency code for requesting police assistance or something on more sinister intentions?" The Doctor asked many questions, he clearly wasn't paying the right amount of attention to, what was actually happening right at that moment.
Not keen to stay hidden for long, Bill suddenly shoved The Doctor over, which caused him to roll sideways on his knees in full view of a frightened Mrs Hudson. Once he ascended to his feet, after wiping bits of grass off his trousers and from the sleeves of his coat, he calmly and slowly approached Mrs Hudson.
"Don't be alarmed. I won't hurt you. I'm The..."
"Sherlock! John!"
"I won't hurt you, believe me. Look I'm sorry for parking my" The Doctor awkwardly glanced over his shoulder back at his shiny blue painted Police Box and quickly back at the elderly lady standing in front of him. "...Police Box in your garden."
"Boys!"
"Oh well...this isn't clearly going as well as I thought it might do." The Doctor started to wonder whether the names she kept calling out loudly, were her lodgers or even her sons. He was running out of ideas on how to calm down Mrs Hudson.
Bill believed she possessed better communication and human skills than her Time Lord friend and so she soon stepped in to help him out.
"I thought you knew humans inside out?" She couldn't wait to hear how he might explain this unproved theory to her; how he might make himself sound stranger than ever and would have to admit the inevitable, he got this theory wrong.
"Not all humans, so it seems." To save any further awkward glances or blushes, The Doctor was certainly quick to his many previous blunders, much to Bill's surprise.
Things were escalating badly for them, especially when another person appeared out of nowhere - branding a cane. He was much shorter in height, perhaps around the same height as Bill. He didn't look happy about the fact, they had upset Mrs Hudson.
"Mrs Hudson get inside, I'll deal with our unwelcome visitors." The man ensured the elderly lady went back inside to her flat's kitchen, which oversaw the back garden and then focused his attention back on these two uninvited individuals.
"Unwelcome visitors? No. No. We're looking for someone called Mycroft Holmes."
"Mycroft? Don't tell me...you're an old friend of his, aren't you? Let me guess, one of his Secret Club society friends right?" This man wasn't making much sense whatsoever, The Doctor looked openly clueless.
"Not exactly. We're here to ask of his help with something highly important."
"Well, if you need to ask his help, it might be best to meet his brother Sherlock instead."
"Sherlock...as in Sherlock Holmes?" Bill's reacted with noticeable excitement.
"Uh...yes. Oh you don't happen to be part of his network by any chance..Mrs...?"
"What? No, I'm a student, I spend most of my time studying and less time on social media. You can just call me Bill. This is...Basil...by the way."
The Doctor looked slightly annoyed, as he was left to wonder, just when Bill and this man may finally let him get a word in edgeways. The only words he uttered were, "Yes...that's my name..." The Doctor then shot Bill a "You can't be a spokesperson for me all the time" look.
"I'm John by the way. Doctor John Watson." John was quite happy to introduce himself to the young woman, by extending his left hand out at and shaking her hand with his.
"Oh another Doctor. Looks like you've got yourself some competition Basil..." Bill hinted with a knowing grin.
"You still haven't explained, why the both of you were found hiding out here." John reminded them, now was their opportunity to explain themselves. What business was it of theirs to inspect or wander around the 221B Baker Street's back garden.
"If we told you, I think it will be quite obvious you won't believe us."
"I've seen action on the front line in Afghanistan, believe me my eyes have seen a lot of horrible situations flashing before them. So please feel free to not keep me waiting too long, by telling me why you're here. " It was clear John didn't fully trust The Doctor but still found some amount of respect for him.
Meanwhile Sherlock invited himself into Mrs Hudson's flat. "The door was open. Is everything okay Mrs Hudson?" He called out to her, checking to see she hadn't fallen victim to burglars. Once he did appear in view, it became noticeable that he was wearing his knitted hat and this gave the elderly lady a reason to giggle.
"I can't really say. I thought they were burglars at first, you know because of the way they were hiding from me but apparently they're claiming they're not far from that." She was still shaken up about this and in need of a proper cheering up.
Sherlock knew John had responded to Mrs Hudson distress call a few minutes earlier. However when his friend didn't return back to the flat or shout upstairs to him; calling him all the names under the sun for running to Mrs Hudson's aid, he decided to check for himself to see what was going on. Now while making a cup of tea for his landlady, something which Sherlock rarely did. Usually John would be the one to make a cup of tea for their landlady.
Sherlock's eyes were soon drawn to an unfamiliar old fashioned callbox, now situated in the right hand corner of the back garden. "Since when did you decide to have a personalized shed fitted in the back garden Mrs Hudson?" He asks.
"Oh it's not mine Sherlock. It belongs the two people, I found hiding outside. "
"Where's John by the way?"
"Oh he was talking to the Scottish one, he's an odd man. Best not to look directly at his eyebrows, if you know what I mean... as they seem to look like they're more judgemental than even yours. "
"Yes thank you for the compliment Mrs Hudson." It was an impossible for Sherlock to feel angry at Mrs Hudson, no he was far from it, even if he did look before leaving her alone in the kitchen and stepping outside into the back garden.
The sun was currently shining brightly, as the consultant detective began to wander around alone. Surely John hadn't fallen for one of Mycroft's tricks again - perhaps these two individuals just so happened to work for him and were acting on guided instructions to pick up his friend.
Sherlock took as much time as possible to closely examine the 1950's callbox, which towered over him like a Victorian clock tower. It didn't take long for him to detect fingerprints on the door of this "Police Box." Whoever they belonged to were definitely... female. He just couldn't envision a description of the second person or of the moment these two people ended up where he was now stood.
xxxx
John was already inside the police box. His eyes were glancing around the main console room. He couldn't quite believe what he had stumbled upon - an actual console/computer operated room within an outdated phone box.
"Zygons you say?"
"Yes Zygons...you see this is why telling someone new about Zygons makes me look as mad as a box of frogs, Bill."
"Doctor! at least give John a chance to answer first before you wonder whether to consider him to be one of the most stupidest or pudding brain idiots you've ever met." Bill happily highlighted a few certain facts, for him to take into consideration while he judged John's points of view.
"Red, orangey ugly looking thing?" John describes as well as asks The Doctor whether he himself truly knew this creature's appearance.
"Yes." The Doctor confirmed in a matter of seconds, nodding his head as he did so.
"One of them tried to bloody attack me once at the local surgery I work at. Posed as a patient, even went as far as convincing almost everyone I work with, that they were he/she genuinely was an innocent elderly person. Never fooled me though, I guess having assisted Sherlock at many crime scenes has taught me to, stay more vigilant around people and for clues to solving a case. "
Their conversation was brought to an unexpected halt, when tapping from outside. "Please not four times, please not four times." The Doctor muttered as he temporarily turned back on Bill and John, believing they wouldn't overhear him talking to himself.
"Four times? What's that all about?" John's quick to ask him on this matter. Knowing it wasn't his business, he couldn't resist feeling curious, to learn certain truths that came with this mysterious man.
"It's really nothing..." The Doctor didn't want to answer any questions, which the human doctor might try to ask him.
Thankfully the knocking stopped after a short while. Neither Bill or The Doctor knew who may be behind the knocking however John had a pretty good idea of who it might be.
"Sherlock. You might as well as come in here and introduce yourself, instead of trying to play Knock, Knock Who's There?"
Both of the TARDIS doors instantly flung open, much to The Doctor's annoyance. Sherlock's voice boomed around the room. "Fascinating, absolutely fascinating. A room powered by strange and amazing technology, hidden within a police box." For someone like Sherlock, nothing about the TARDIS seemed to alarm him or make him feel suspicious about how and why this blue box had mysteriously appeared in the first place in the back garden of 221B Baker Street.
The Doctor wasn't too impressed with the type of behaviour Sherlock was displaying right in front of him. "Oh it's beyond all of your expectations Mr Holmes." The Doctor was soon observing every single movement or facial expression Sherlock made. As soon as he detected the easy to see tempted gaze in Sherlock's eyes, when his hand hovered over the lever, The Doctor was quick to warn him not to touch any buttons.
"I wouldn't go as far as touching anything if I was you Mr Holmes because you might regret it afterwards." The Time Traveler was of course very protective of the hexagon shaped console.
"Oh don't worry, I don't intend to." Sherlock eventually stopped in his tracks, smirking knowingly at The Doctor.
What The Doctor hadn't known was, while they were busy talking, Sherlock's mind and eyes were cleverly at work. Words like:
Doctor
Scottish.
Traveler.
Grumpy.
Ancient.
Smart Arse.
Married.
Time Lover.
Eccentric.
Guitar Player, as well as many words endlessly glowed brightly, neon-like as they spun round, as if they were on a never-ending wheel, around The Doctor's head.
"How do you know my name by the way? I'm pretty sure neither of us have had the pleasure of meeting each other before."
"Oh well...I don't need to have met someone to try and learn their name. Believe me I know of other particular ways of doing so. I suggest you should probably try doing the same Mr Holmes, it might help to improve your social interaction skills."
John found The Doctor's putdown comment rather hilarious, as did Bill who couldn't keep a straight face when she became aware of the fact, she was now under the watchful eye of the consulting detective.
"Is he always like this? behaving like someone's stolen his favourite Christmas presents." Sherlock asked Bill.
"Not all the time. There's things about him, some you might find surprising once you get to know him better." Bill tells Sherlock. Her suggestion slowly strikes a chord with him, as he observes The Doctor attempting to not look so stressed.
"Sherlock at least give him a chance. He was hoping to require Mycroft's assistance on a not yet committed case. So I told him out of asking for Mycroft's help and explained this is more your department; stopping crimes from being performed."
"What sort of crime?" It was all Sherlock could do right there and then, always ask the questions. Well he was now on his best behaviour of course.
"One you wouldn't believe..." The Doctor started to describe. He genuinely expected he was soon enough, going to be ridiculed by John's friend, once he explained everything about this crime in the simplest of terms.
"You may think some humans are unforgivable for the unthinkable things they do. Well try and understand how you're going to deal with a murderous alien."
"Alien?" Sherlock doesn't know what to say in response or whether or not to nod his head understandingly.
"Yes alien, Mr Holmes. You might not know it but your brother happens to have a few connections with UNIT. UNIT is a military organization run by Kate Stewart, her father ran UNIT back in the old days." The Doctor confirms one revelation which takes Sherlock by sudden surprise.
"Yes I've heard of them." The knowing smirk which was previously etched across Sherlock's face had now faded away, only to be replaced by a normal one.
"They certainly don't like to be double-crossed or be treated as anyone's sidekicks. .. Anyway these aliens, you see they've taken someone who's come to matter a lot to me." More to the point The Doctor felt he ought to not reveal go too far with giving every detail away about himself and why he knew the Zygons were responsible for more than the kidnapping of Nardole.
"So I see...Doctor." Consciously delving deeply into the soul of this unusual and mysterious man, proved to be the extremely fascinating for him as he soon started to learn what or who manages to keep this man motivated and head and shoulders above the rest; Obviously Sherlock deemed him to be less of a genius than him.
"You're married?" John questions him on this matter, the moment he detects a very expensive looking ring on The Doctor's finger.
"Yes...it's a long story, one which clearly bore Mr Holmes here, into another time dimension." The Doctor didn't plan on telling them about his marriage to River because he knew if he talked about her, his two hearts would ache for her, even though her existence throughout time was now absent forever.
Both John and Sherlock sensed that The Doctor was fighting back some sort of emotions. "Clearly you miss her." Sherlock suggested, he didn't need to read The Doctor's body language to know the truth behind his enigmatic personage.
The Doctor didn't answer, he looked quietly and thoughtfully towards where the mini bar was situated in the room. The sadness in his eyes on the other hand seemed to be to confirm the possibility of this theory being true.
"Doct...Basil shouldn't we be focusing on rescuing Nardole." Bill felt they needed to press ahead and find a perfect way for the four of them to work together on defeating the Zygons, whether the great Sherlock Holmes fancied this challenge or not.
The Doctor soon had another of his lightbulb idea moments; much to the relief of Bill who had became use to seeing at least one or two of The Doctor's last-minute ideas working a treat. "Yes...yes.. You know I've got a great idea to get the four of us to where the Zygons are holding Nardole."
"So have I." Not one to be upstaged by someone whom he just met, Sherlock then announces he has an idea too.
"It better not be better than mine." Straight away The Doctor knew exactly sort of strategy Sherlock was playing against him.
"Honestly I've seen better squabbles between people fighting over last slices of pizza than I've seen between the both of you. Look either of you shake hands and apologize for acting like two 10 year olds at Christmas or you both stand there and carry on behaving the way you are. Someone's life is at stake and I want to see two great minds working together rather than apart." John did all he possibly can to try and bring some much required peace between the pair. Bill couldn't blame him for trying.
"He started it!" The two men both pointed the finger of blame at each other.
"Alright I'm leaving then. Me and John will find Nardole ourselves."
"I can't let you do that Bill. I'd rather protect you than let you walk into danger alone." The Doctor surprisingly admitted something, she hadn't heard him mention before. For some unknown reason he had this strange feeling, he had found himself in this same position previously with another companion. Frustratingly enough he just couldn't recall when or where it actually happened.
"Fine...we'll put our differences aside and work alongside each other, on getting to the bottom of what your creature enemies really want with your kidnapped friend." Sherlock accepted he was perhaps behaving out of order like Bill said and so he decided to agree to helping them out. Offering an olive branch, he held his hand out for The Doctor to shake, which the Time Lord instantly did so.
"Well I think this might be the start of a great unexpected friendship." John cheekily suggests, to which Sherlock and The Doctor both raise their left eyebrows right at the same time.
End of Chapter
All Reviews are Welcome