Author's note: This is an idea that came to me recently and has a bit of a Twilight Zone/Quantum Leap quality to it. So if you like sci-fi, this is the story for you. It takes place mostly in 2016 after "The Final Problem" in season/series 4 and in 2013 only a few months before Sherlock's return from his "hiatus". I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer and Credits: I do not own "Sherlock" nor seek any financial gain from this story. This is purely written for my enjoyment and hopefully the enjoyment of my readers. All the credit for the creation of the original characters for the "Sherlock Holmes" stories goes to the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; and all the credit for the modernized, television version, "Sherlock", goes to the fabulous Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat, and Steve Thompson. "Sherlock" also belongs to BBC in the UK and aired on PBS in the US.
I tried to use as many British terms as I remember, but this has not been Britpicked. Therefore, please forgive my American errors.
Reviews are welcome!
Update (April 25, 2017): If you read this prior to this date, then I have made a few small changes to eliminate some repetitive words and phrases that I noticed when reading it again recently. I'm notorious for that, so this has been fixed.
Sherlock: Two Wishes
Throughout John's life, he's lost a lot of people close to him. Although, two times in recent years he lost two people who he loved so much that he thought he wouldn't be able to go on without them, one he loved like a brother and the other his wife.
So in two different years, John Watson made two wishes. The John of 2013 wished for his best friend to stop being dead and the John of 2016 wished he could see his wife just one more time. And for one strange day, the John Watsons of both years actually got their wishes…just not in the way they would ever imagine.
2016
John awoke with a start to the sound of a young child crying. He looked around the dark bedroom he was in and realized he was home in the flat he shared with Mary. Although, he was alone in bed and he didn't remember them being charged with the care a baby. "Mary?" He inquired into the darkness as the child continued to bellow from the other room. "Mary!" He shouted this time and there was still no answer.
With a sigh, John decided it was up to him to find out what he could do for the young child crying in the spare bedroom. So he threw back the covers and grabbed his dressing gown from the nearby chair, putting it on as he made his way out of the bedroom and down the hall to the child's room.
"Now, now. What's wrong little one?" He asked the baby girl who was standing in the cot and gripping the side rail with tears rolling down her face. The little girl continued so wail as John ran through a mental list as to why a child her age would be crying in the middle of the night. He picked her up out the cot as she wrapped her little arms around his neck and she continued to cry on his shoulder. "Shh. It's ok. What's wrong?" John tried to soothe her as he rocked her in his arms.
It was then that he realized by the way that she was clinging to him with her head on his shoulder that she was probably scared about something. "Perhaps she had a nightmare." He thought to himself as he started walking out into the sitting room, whispering to her that everything would be alright, as he turned on the light. "Shh. It was just a bad dream. Everything is ok." He told the little girl as he walked over to also turn on the lamp by the sofa. The baby girl was getting quieter with his soothing words, but he still heard her sniffling as she continued to nuzzle herself into John's shoulder.
It was then that a picture of a couple on their wedding day caught his eye on the shelf to the right of the sofa. To his amazement he noticed that the picture was of him and Mary. "Is this some kind of joke? I don't remember ever getting married. I wish I knew where Mary went so I could find out what's going on." He mentally stated as he noticed now that the child was drifting off to an exhausted sleep as her wailing was turning more into a whimper.
Taking this as an opportunity to return her to the cot for the night, he made his way slowly back to the spare room, laying her in the cot and pulling a blanket up and around her. As he observed the little one now that she was sleeping peacefully again, he noticed some things about her that reminded him of Mary. "She must be related to Mary." John realized as the wedding picture in the sitting room came back to the forefront of his mind again.
His curiosity getting the better of him, he returned to the sitting room and took the wedding picture down from the shelf to get a better look at it. "I wish Sherlock was still alive. He would have been able to tell if this was Photoshopped from one glance." He smiled sadly at that thought.
"Well, I better call Mary to find out what's going on." He stated out loud as he turned to pick up his mobile phone, which he had noticed was on the coffee table when he first came into the room and turned on the light.
Although, as he sat down on the sofa he noticed another picture on the shelving below the staircase. In a state of shock John rose from the sofa, mobile phone still in his hand, and walked around the coffee table while he stared at another impossible photo. It was one of Sherlock with both him and Mary on what appeared to be their wedding day. "That's impossible!" John exclaimed as he finally really looked down at the screen of his mobile and noticed the date. It wasn't so much the day but the year he saw. "2016?! No, no, no…this has got to be some kind of joke. It's 2013!"
John then proceeded to unlock his phone, which was oddly not password protected, and proceeded to look through the phone's contact list. What he didn't expect to find under his favorites was a phone number for Sherlock. Ignoring it, he proceeded to tap the contact for Mary's number and listened as it rang out. "The number you have dialed has been disconnected." John pulled the phone from his ear and stared at it with disbelief. He read the number he dialed, and it definitely looked like Mary's number.
It was then that he noticed he had 2 unread texts. Hoping that it would give him some explanation as to what was going on, he immediately opened his text messaging app and his jaw dropped when he noticed who the texts were from. "Impossible!" He quickly opened the texts and read them.
Lestrade texted and he has a case for us in the morning. At least an 8. Care to join me?
SH
Mrs. Hudson offered to watch Rosie.
SH
John couldn't take his eyes off of the text messages. Both texts were dated around 10:00PM the date before what currently displayed in his phone. "I must be dreaming all this." It was currently 3:00AM but he needed to know whether he was going insane. "Sherlock is dead. That can't be him!" He tried to reason with himself, but there was the proof staring back at him from the screen of his phone; and that was definitely Sherlock's mobile number.
With shaking fingers, John decided the only way to truly determine if the texts were from Sherlock was to call him. So he tapped on the app to dial the number. He didn't care that it was 3:02AM. If it's truly Sherlock, he's probably awake anyway. The call was picked up on the first ring.
"John? Are you alright?" John heard an all too familiar baritone voice on the other end of the line.
He immediately dropped the phone to the floor and backed away from it. "I've finally lost it." John told himself as he could hear the concerned, muffled voice that sounded so much like Sherlock it made his heart ache.
The last thing he heard before he absentmindedly plopped down onto the sofa was, "I'll be there in 20 minutes."
ooOoo
20 minutes later, there was a knock on his door; and he could see a hauntingly familiar silhouette through the frosted glass of the front door. "John." The specter said from the other side of the door. John was frozen in place…he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe…as he stared quietly at the front door as he heard the familiar noises of someone putting a key into the lock. The next moment a man who was dead walked through his front door with a concerned look on his face when he saw John sitting on the sofa totally pale from shock.
"John." Sherlock reiterated as he closed the door behind him and continued to cross over to where John was sitting. "What's wrong?"
"Y-you're dead." John finally uttered.
Sherlock stared at John with confusion, causing the usual crease to appear at the bridge of his nose. "John, I came back 2 years ago. I was the best man at your wedding, and I'm Godfather to your daughter, Rosie."
John gaped at Sherlock with a start. "MY daughter?!"
"Yes, small one, living in your flat. Rosie. She's your daughter with Mary." Sherlock confirmed as he continued to look at John with concern.
John swallowed as he watched Sherlock remove his coat and scarf, throwing them over the back of the chair near the window. "I think you should go back to bed, John." Sherlock suggested as he walked over to help him up from the sofa.
John didn't expect a very solid and warm hand to grab his bicep, as the ghost helped him up from the sofa. He stared at the hand and then up into the face of his best friend who he had seen jump to his death less than 2 years ago.
Sherlock almost expected there to be some protest on John's part…but he seemed quite willing to let Sherlock guide him back to his bed. John just watched him the entire time as Sherlock helped him to get his dressing gown off and then pulled the covers up over him as he laid back down in his bed.
"I've missed you, Sherlock." John told him with a giddy smile on his face, but then his face fell as he remembered everything he said to Sherlock the day of his fall. "I'm sorry. You're not a machine."
"What?" Sherlock replied.
"I said, you're not a machine, Sherlock." John blinked away the tears that were forming in his eyes. "I'm sorry I called you one…that day at Bart's."
"It's…ok." Sherlock tried to assure him. "I'll..um…will be in the sitting room if you need me." He told his friend as John simply nodded and Sherlock shut the door quietly behind him as he left John's bedroom.
It wasn't long until John drifted off into the best night's sleep he'd had in a very long time.
ooOoo
John awoke the next morning, dismissing what he remembered last night as a dream and proceeded to go into the loo. Although, while he was in the loo, he heard muffled voices coming from the other room. One of them was a woman's voice and the other a man's voice.
Thinking it was just Mary watching telly, after leaving the loo, he proceeded to open the door to their bedroom to greet her but was greeted instead with a sight he never believed he'd ever witness. There…sitting at his kitchen table was Sherlock Holmes reading the newspaper as the little girl, Rosie, sat in her high-chair palming and eating Cheerios off of her tray. "What the Hell?!"
John's exclamation got the ghost's attention and he folded the paper back far enough for him to scowl over the top of it. "Really, John? Swearing? There is a child present."
"Well, excuse me if I seem to be witnessing a dead man sitting at my kitchen table with a child that is supposed to be mine looking like this is an everyday occurrence." John retorted. "Now I know I'm hallucinating this or dreaming because Sherlock Holmes would never have the ability to care for a small child, let alone feed a child breakfast. You can't even remember to feed yourself, let alone a child."
Sherlock then smirked at him. "Well, actually, it wasn't me. It was Molly." He informed John as he nodded his head over towards the doorway of what now John knows is Rosie's bedroom and saw Molly standing there.
"Oh, hi, John." Molly said with a smile as she walked back into the kitchen. "Sherlock said you weren't feeling well, so, um, he asked if I could watch Rosie for a little while. I hope you don't mind?"
John shook his head in disbelief as he looked between Sherlock and Molly. "You can see him too?" He finally asked Molly.
Molly glanced at Sherlock with concern and then back over at John. "Um, yes, of course I can see Sherlock."
"Then I'm not crazy?" John asked her with hope in his voice.
"No, John. Sherlock is really here." Molly assured him as she watched Sherlock get to his feet.
Sherlock folded the newspaper he was reading and then placed on the table. "Get dressed, John. We're meeting Greg in half an hour."
"What?"
"For the case…the one I texted you about last night." Sherlock explained.
"Now I know this isn't real. Sherlock would never have called Greg Lestrade by his first name." John replied to no one in particular.
Sherlock and Molly shared a worried glance before Sherlock replied to him. "I…have come to regard Greg as a friend, John. I remember his name now."
John stared at him with disbelief. "Oh yeah…since when?"
"John." Molly started. "Maybe Sherlock should take you to hospital and have you examined. You seem to not be remembering a lot of things."
John gaped at Molly with horror and then with determination. "I'm fine."
"John, you are obviously not fine." Sherlock pointed out. "You don't remember my return, you don't remember Rosie….Do you even remember what happened to Mary?"
This got John's attention. He had only been living with Mary for a couple of months; but he loved her, hoping she was the one, so naturally he was worried as to why she wasn't there. "Wh-what happened to her? Where is she?" Molly and Sherlock then shared a look of sadness that even John picked up on. "No…no…she can't be dead."
"John." Sherlock began with sorrow and guilt as he stepped towards his friend. "Why don't you sit down; and we'll discuss this."
"NO!" John retorted with tears in his eyes. "This can't be happening. Mary can't be gone. How did it happen?"
Sherlock glanced at the floor and then up at John. "She….she died saving my life."
"What?" John replied.
"She jumped in front of a bullet that was meant for me. Don't you remember any of this, John?" Sherlock asked with concern.
John had tears rolling down his cheeks as he shook his head and looked away. "No, I don't." He then looked up at Sherlock again. "I don't even remember you…you coming back. How can you be alive Sherlock? I saw you jump from a building…I felt for a pulse and there was none." He paused as then anger started to rage. "How could you have done that to me?! Make me watch my best friend die?!"
Sherlock and Molly were both taken aback from John's sudden rage and John's raised voice frightened Rosie. She began to cry as Molly went directly to her to extract her from her high chair.
John felt guilty that he scared his little girl. "I'm so sorry, Rosie. I didn't mean to scare you." He tried to assure her as Molly held her in her arms to try to settle her down. John's heart went out to his little girl…the little girl he created with Mary…as he walked over to take her from Molly's arms. He hugged her and rocked her to calm her. "Shh. It's ok, Rosie. I'm sorry I shouted." He whispered to her. His rage for Sherlock evaporating.
"I'm sorry, John." Sherlock started and caused John to look up at him with a hint of ire again. "No, you don't get to speak."
"But John, I did it to save you." Sherlock interjected while ignoring John's demand that he shut up.
John looked confused now as Rosie started to settle down and was now just nuzzling John's neck. Molly walked over to take Rosie from him as he continued to stare at Sherlock. "What do you mean you did it to save me?"
Sherlock took a deep breath before proceeding. "Moriarty threatened that if I didn't die, you, Greg, and Mrs. Hudson would be killed by snipers." He paused. His eyes falling to the floor before looking at John again. "I'm sorry you had to witness that…but you're a doctor. If you hadn't seen it for yourself, you would have insisted on seeing the body…"
"…and I would have discovered the truth." John finished for him.
Sherlock nodded his head. "Yes." He replied quietly.
John bit his lip, trying to quiet his rage as Molly decided it was best to take Rosie to her room to distract her from the strong emotions that were currently happening in the kitchen. Both men watched them go and then turned their attention back to one another. "So." John finally replied. "When did you come back?"
"Early November…2013." Sherlock replied. "I interrupted your proposal to Mary."
John blinked. "I don't remember any of this. Why don't I remember any of this, Sherlock? Maybe I am going mad."
Sherlock shook his head. "I don't know, but I don't think you are going mad. Does your head hurt? Perhaps you fell and hit your head."
John absentmindedly put his left hand onto the back of his head. "No, I feel fine. Other than the loss of memory." He then gazed at his best friend standing in front of him alive. "Mary must have really liked you to take a bullet for you."
Sherlock sadly smiled and then became serious as his eyes dropped down to the floor with guilt. "It's…it's my fault. I deduced an older woman with a gun. I underestimated her and backed her into a corner." He paused as he looked up at John, who didn't know how to react to this news. "I-I shouldn't have done that. Perhaps Mary would be alive today."
John was speechless. He knew how Sherlock could be when exposing criminals with his deductions. It appeared Sherlock truly went too far this time, and it cost Mary her life. This caused him to become angry…but he knew Mary and he knew Sherlock. And by the sad and guilty expression on Sherlock's face, he knew how much Sherlock blamed himself for it.
"I'm sorry, John. I know you told me it wasn't my fault and that Mary made the choice to save my life…but…" Sherlock rambled on before John stopped him by putting up his hand.
John lowered his hand while he pursed his lips in ire as he turned away. He thought about what Sherlock just told him for a moment and then looked up at his best friend again. "I was right. Mary made the choice to save your life. She didn't need to do that, but she did. Mary was an exceptional woman. I knew that already." He paused. "She knew how much your 'death' almost killed me." He paused again as he looked at Sherlock sadly. "She must have known losing you again would have."
Sherlock nodded sadly.
"When did this happen?" John finally asked.
"About 6 months ago." Sherlock replied. "I was investigating why busts of Margaret Thatcher were being smashed and one of those incidents resulted in a murder."
John nodded. "I don't remember any of it."
"I know." Sherlock replied as John stepped towards Sherlock. "What are you doing?"
John gazed at his best friend with grief yet comfort. "I don't know why I don't remember any of this. But the last memory I have of you before all of this happened is that you jumped from the roof at St. Bart's." He paused as he opened his arms and wrapped them around his friend, hugging to him tightly. "I'm glad you're alive, Sherlock."
Sherlock was stunned at first by John's actions but then decided to return his sentiment by hugging him back. "Thank you, John."
It was at that moment that Sherlock vanished from his arms, disappearing into thin air. He dropped his arms and realized he was now standing alone in his kitchen, looking sadly at the spot where Sherlock was just standing. Tears started to form in his eyes. "It was just a dream."
A moment later, he witnessed Mary emerging from their bedroom and appeared to be ready to leave for work. "John, why aren't you dressed yet? We're going to be late." She said to him as he watched in awe as she went to the counter to pour herself a cup of coffee. She then noticed the look on his face. "What's wrong?"
John then came to his senses. "Um…I think I was dreaming…or something. I-I dreamed that Sherlock came back, but you had died saving him." He paused as he noticed Mary's concerned stare. "We had a baby daughter named Rosie." He smiled at that. "She was beautiful."
Mary also smiled. "John, we've only been living together for a few months…and you're already dreaming of us having a child?"
John smiled again and nodded. "Yeah." But then he became serious again. "As much as I would love to have Sherlock back, I know that's just a dream too."
Mary put the coffee mug on the counter and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around him. "He was your best friend. Of course, you would miss him. But I'm glad to hear you would miss me too if anything ever happened to me."
John wrapped his arms around her too. "It was the saddest and the happiest dream I have ever had in my life." He paused. "If only you could have known him, Mary."
"I think I would have liked him, John." Mary told him as she backed out of their embrace.
John gaped at her with surprise. "You think so?"
"Yes, I think I would." She said with a smile as the couple shared a quick kiss. "But this dream explains your recent strange behavior."
John looked at her with a start. "What strange behavior?"
"You don't remember?" Mary asked with concern as she studied him.
John shook his head with confusion. "No, what did I say or do?"
"You acted like you thought I was dead and was happy to see me alive. You told me Sherlock came back from the dead and I died after jumping in front of a bullet to save him." She explained. "Something about busts of Margaret Thatcher being smashed and Sherlock deducing an older woman to the point that she tried to shoot him."
John's eyes went wide. "Maybe it wasn't a dream after all."
ooOoo
Back in 2016, John found himself standing his kitchen alone, wondering what had just happened. He had apparently been dreaming that he went back in time and got to see Mary one more time like had wished. It was a good dream that made him smile; but a look of anguish crossed his face as he began to weep, the loss of Mary hitting him again like it had just happened.
But then he heard a noise of someone coming from the spare bedroom. He turned to face them and was shocked to see Mary carrying a smiling Rosie in her arms.
She stopped when she saw John standing in the kitchen in awe. "What's wrong, John? You act like you've seen a ghost."
John gulped as he continued to stare at her. "Perhaps I have."
Mary looked confused now. "John, you're worrying me."
"You died. You jumped in front of a bullet to save Sherlock." He explained. "How can you be here?" John asked with complete shock.
This revelation seemed to spark a memory in Mary. "That almost happened."
"What?" John asked with surprise and then a feeling of dread filled him at the thought that Sherlock ended up being shot and killed after all.
"Sherlock was going to deduce that woman who caused my team's last mission to go severely wrong." She paused before continuing. "But Sherlock stopped himself when you arrived and we both reminded him of the dream you had before he came back from his hiatus. He hadn't believed you until the case of The Six Thatchers, and then he started to think what happened to you was perhaps real."
John stumbled. "I must have arrived earlier to stop Sherlock this time." "Then…then Sherlock is still alive."
Mary beamed. "Of course, he is." It was then that the front door opened and in walked Sherlock, shutting the door behind him.
"Come on, John. Greg is waiting. We have a case!" Sherlock declared as he then greeted Mary and his Godchild. "Good morning, Mary…Rosie."
"Good morning, Sherlock. I made coffee. Interested?" She asked as if this was an everyday occurrence.
"No thanks." Sherlock paused. "But thank you." He added with a smile.
John stared at them with complete shock. "This can't be happening." John thought to himself as he then felt three pairs of eyes staring at him. He felt giddy as he snapped out of it. "Of course, just give me a moment to get dressed." He finally replied as he walked over to give Mary a quick kiss on the lips, wrapping his arms around her tightly as he did, like a man who was happy to see his wife alive again. After a few moments, he then backed away from her, staring into her eyes with a relieved smile before giving Rosie a kiss on the cheek and retreating into their bedroom.
Sherlock and Mary shared a knowing glance…both still somewhat in disbelief that it was even possible that John had somehow switched bodies through time with his older self. Although, more and more evidence seemed to point to that possibility.
"So this must be when it happened." Sherlock finally spoke with his hands clasped behind his back.
Mary looked in the direction that John had just gone and then back at Sherlock. "I think you might be right, Sherlock." She told him with a smile. "I'm glad you finally believed him."
Sherlock nodded in agreement as well as he smiled at Mary. "I'm glad too. Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."
Mary returned his smile and nodded in agreement. She then returned her attention to Rosie while pointing at Sherlock. "Do you want to go to your Uncle Sherlock?" Mary asked Rosie who reached out towards her Godfather with a huge smile on her face.
Sherlock couldn't help but smile in return as he walked over to take his Godchild from Mary's arms. He seemed touched as the little girl wrapped her small arms around his neck.
Mary just grinned at him as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I knew that whole high-functioning sociopath act was a huge fib from the moment I met you." Sherlock gaped at Mary with a start, his mouth hanging open. He then closed it before straightening his back while still holding Rosie in his arms. "And why do you say that?"
"Sherlock, seriously?! You want me to explain it?" She replied with a knowing look.
Sherlock only chuckled. "Just don't let it get around."
"Too late." Mary replied with a devious grin as she took out her phone and immediately started video recording Sherlock with Rosie. "No one who sees this video will believe that nonsense anymore."
"You wouldn't…Give me that!" Sherlock retorted halfheartedly has he tried to reach for the phone with his free hand.
Mary giggled and got away from him before he could grab it. "You're so full of crap, Sherlock. And you know it. You have a huge heart and you care. Nope…not a sociopath."
Sherlock stopped his pursuit and started to laugh. "That's a high-functioning sociopath. And I have an image to uphold."
Mary simply smiled and laughed at him as she ended the video.
John had emerged from the bedroom during the last part of the exchange, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and a huge smile on his face. He hadn't been this happy in a very long time. He watched the two people, three counting Rosie, that he loved most in this world teasing each other as friends should.
The John of 2013 and 2016 made two wishes…and they were granted. He had both his best friend and his wife back with him alive. What more could he ask for.
THE END