"Three years Doctor! And not one second more!" the man yelled to me as he strolled into the Tardis, with a swagger that I rarely saw in new companions. Time travel perplexed most humans, baffled them, amazed them. This man walked into the Tardis as if it were simply another building or as if it were indeed the phone box it had been disguised as. He pulled his long dark coat from his shoulders as he walked and threw it onto a nearby chair to reveal a tight shirt and smart trousers. He turned to face me and I saw his face alight with excitement. This was a challenge to him, a break from the tedious monotony of life and I, the Doctor, was the one to offer this.
Sherlock Holmes often complained about being bored. He wasn't bored now.
I found myself admiring the ease at which he strolled around the control room. Drinking in the sight of her, my sexy Tardis. He seemed to be savouring every moment, memorising every button and leaver. He probably was.
That may explain how he learnt how to fly her only a week later.
"I can't stay any longer than three years. There's another Doctor out there that needs me just as much as you do!"
"I don't need you!" I explained, "I'm fine by myself."
Sherlock gave me a condescending look.
"I may not be a Timelord but I can still read one. You're no different to any other person I've ever encountered. You surround yourself with danger and monsters as a way of distracting from the fact that you are alone. The last of your kind. You're racked with the guilt of being unable to save your people so you distract yourself by filling your life with humans in an attempt to save us from ourselves. It's simple psychology. Anyone could see that."
"And anyone could see that you feel guilty too." I called from the doorway.
Sherlock looked up at me, momentarily distracted from the controls.
"Well, you're human aren't you!" I explained. "Not quite as human as some but you still care. You're friend thinks you're dead and here you are running around with someone else. You're going to have adventures that John Watson can only dream of! Don't tell me that you haven't considered the fact that you're here and he's not. Don't tell me you're not worried about him."
Sherlock's pale skin flushed slightly at my words.
"Caring isn't an advantage. What I did was for John's own safety. That's all there is to it. I need to disappear off the radar for a while and this is the opportune way of doing so."
I realised I would have to get used to his bluntness, his harsh view of the universe. He was still young yet he seemed to have the understanding of someone much older. Like an old man in the body of a young one. I suppose that's what made him different to most of the humans I encountered. He called what he did "noticing" and "deducing" but it seemed like more than that. This ability he had to read the world like a child's book was unique...
I realised that Sherlock was now standing, watching me, and saw that now was the moment to impress him, to dazzle him. I walked forward and started adjusting the numbers and leavers on the control panel.
"Right! Where to first?" I exclaimed. "I can offer you all of time, space and every single challenge your brilliant mind could comprehend. There's so many mysteries to solve Sherlock Holmes and they are scattered across time, just waiting for someone like you to come and solve them! Oh and the universe is waiting for someone like me to dig these problems up! Oh yes! Me and you Sherlock! Me, you and the universe!"
I turned to his face which had broken into a grin that stretched across his strong cheekbones so it practically touched his curly dark hair.
"Where shall we start?"