Sherlock Holmes just saw his friend John Watson in a broken mess one minute and then he saw him enter the blue box with the strange looking man and disappeared the next. So many things were going his mind at once...one being regret and shame for what he's done to Watson, the only person who cared for him...the only person he really cared for himself. Still, he knew this was for the best. He thought this was for the best. At the same time, amazement at the sight of the TARDIS and The Doctor. Speaking of...just a few seconds later, the TARDIS appeared again. At the moment...Sherlock began to walk away just as The Doctor was walking out.
"John, get off the bloody phone! We're..."
The Doctor froze when he saw a figure from a far walking away. He saw the coat and the hair and that scarf and he knew exactly who it was.
"...home."
John walks out, but The Doctor is blocking him; from exiting and from the ugly truth. He just got him through all the pain of losing Sherlock. He doesn't want to make matters worse by revealing he never really lost him.
"Alright Doctor I'm coming. It's just that...Clara has this...comforting voice that I can just listen to all day you know?"
"Yeah...yeah."
John is confused by how...off...The Doctor is acting.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, I'm peachy. How are you is the question? Do you feel...better?"
John contemplates the question for a proper answer.
"You know...I really do. I still miss Sherlock a great deal, but I'll manage. You got me through the worse with these trips. Now I'm able to smile. I can see the sun shine. I can even say his name now. I have you to thank for that Doctor and for all you've done...I am eternally grateful."
He gives The Doctor a big hug.
"Thank you, Doctor. Now excuse me. Time to get home. I hope to see you again one day."
The Doctor glances out before stepping aside.
"I'm not going John. Not yet anyhow. I said I was gonna have a break in London and I might as well stay in London just for a bit.
"Oh great. You wanna go get a coffee?"
"Maybe later. I'm gonna site see for now."
"Alone?"
"Yeah. Nothing personal. Just...I can't remember the last time I had a quiet walk you know?"
John is confused, but he rolls with it.
"Well, ok. Well, if you wanna drop by you know where I live."
"See ya later."
The two go in separate directions.
Sherlock is still walking. He walks into an alley when a dark figure comes out and slams him against the wall. The dark figure screams...
"WHY?"
"Good to see you too Doctor. How did you catch up so fast?"
The Doctor explodes even more.
"WHY?! WHY ARE YOU ALIVE?! WHY LIVE THIS LIE?!"
"It's complicated. I'll be glad to explain if you let me go."
The Doctor lets go and tries to contain his rage as The Doctor wipes his coat. The Doctor slicks his hair back as his mind is racing with confusion. In a very cold way, he says...
"Explain."
"What do you wanna know first? Why I fell or why I stayed dead?"
"The whole thing."
"Well, I'm sure John told you about Moriarty, right?"
The Doctor nods yes.
"He told me if I hadn't jumped, he would kill every single one of the people I love. Then he shot himself so his henchman's only 'orders' would be seeing my fall."
The Doctor is confused.
"Shot himself? But they never found a body."
"Please let me finish."
Doctor does just that.
"So, I jumped."
"How'd you survive?"
"I fell on a truck and it broke my fall."
"But you were declared dead?"
"Molly helped me with that. She hated the thought of hiding a secret, but after some heavy persuasion, she agreed to fake my death certificate, inject me with a serum that will slow my heart rate to appear dead to others, and she agreed to keep me...dead."
"Molly? The Molly that John says had a crush on you? Jesus...so John has two friends lying to him?"
"It had to be done."
"Why?"
"As long as I'm alive, everyone around me is in danger. I'm an informality. An inconvenience."
"An inconvenience? You have people who care for you. You can stay in the shadows, but don't keep them in the dark."
"It's not that simple."
"Believe me I know. It's a long story, but let's just say John Smith kept me in the shadows for as long as I could bare."
"Who?"
"It doesn't matter. THIS however does matter. You have to at least tell him. There is a man, your best friend, he's in pieces and you watching him drown from the shadows is the most cruel thing I've seen in my 900 years in this universe. So what, you're gonna be a watcher for the rest of your life? Too scared to confront your problems head on so you watch as others suffer? It's pathetic."
"It's pathetic? Really? Coming from you? I've done some research on the legend of *sarcastically* the infamous Doctor. From what I know, you're nothing but an old man in a tiny box who gets lonely so he plucks some schmuck he finds on the street that you have the slightest interest in. You travel with them. You even feed them, clothe them, provide a box over their heads like children. Pets better yet. You have some good times, yes, but when the bad times come, these 'pets' leave your nest either broken, damaged, or dead. Isn't that what happened with your last two pets? Amy and...who was that peckish bloke again?"
The Doctor gets in Sherlock's face. They are face to face. He'd never been the violent type, but The Doctor never wanted to hit somebody so bad in his life. However, he contains himself as well as his rage, keeping it all in his angry expression.
"His name was Rory Williams you heartless machine and he was more of a warrior than you could ever be. Had more courage and bravery you could ever have; he certainly had the courage to face his problems head on unlike you. How dare you even..."
"Calm down Doctor. No need to get so hostile. What I'm saying is when you lose your pets, isn't it selfish to keep picking up stray animals off the street over and over again until you've got a sea of bodies and broken souls behind you?"
"First of all, don't you ever...EVER, call my friends pets again. Second, I may be selfish and I may put the people I love in danger because of my loneliness...but when they were in danger I tried to save them EVERY SINGLE TIME. I may have not saved all of them and I have been beating myself up about it for so long...I've never forgotten their names...I've never forgotten their faces, but I actually faced the danger, the problems, the devils in their faces to protect the ones I love. I've had enemies and danger and demons chasing me all my life, but I looked them in their eyes without blinking, I took them on just to protect the people I care about. Can you say the same? Oh right, you'd rather run..."
Sherlock looks a bit peeved, but speechless at the same time. The Doctor walks away. Sherlock says...
"I...It has to be done..."
The Doctor scoffs.
"You know...you've been saying that a lot but do you really know...no do you understand what has to be done?"
"..."
"I didn't think so. Now, I refuse to walk away with this lie on my shoulders so either you can come with me to Baker Street and tell John the truth yourself, or are you gonna watch from the shadows?"
"..."
The Doctor walks in front of 221B Baker Street and knocks on the door. He adjusts his tie before John opens up.
"Oh hi Doctor! How was your stroll?"
"It was...it was something...I'll tell ya. Can we come in?"
"Yeah sure. I was just making some tea. Would you like..."
John looks puzzled. The Doctor walks in.
"Wait, did you say 'we'?"
"Yes Jawn..."
In comes Sherlock.
"He did."
John's mouth drops wide open as if he's literally seen a ghost. He just stands there like a statue for a few minutes. Sherlock and him stand eye to eye as The Doctor looks kinda awkward and uncomfortable so he sits down. Then John does something...
He punches Sherlock, doesn't knock him down though.
"You Son of a Bitch!"
"I can explain."
He punches him again, Sherlock wobbles a bit. The Doctor tries to stand between them.
"Calm down! Calm down! There are better ways to..."
Standing in the way, John accidently punches The Doctor and The Doctor spins around like a Charlie Chaplin character before collapsing onto the ground.
He's out cold.