Vworp
Vworp
Vworp
The Doctor, Sam, and Dean stepped out of the TARDIS, having materialized on Baker Street, in a car parking space just outside the cafe. The Doctor, smiling, pressed the button for the doorbell twice, then stepped back to look around at the street. It was a thursday afternoon, so the street was fairly empty, save for a graffiti artist spray-painting a word onto a wall across the street. Then the door opened.
"Hello!" John greeted them cheerily. The Doctor skillfully chose not to mention the veiled emotions he detected behind John's smile. Instead, he pulled him into a hug.
"It's good to see you again. You're looking well," the Doctor said truthfully, releasing him. John did, indeed, look better than he had the last time the Doctor had seen him, which had been the day following the Fall.
Before that, John and Sherlock had joined the Doctor on a case in America, which is how they'd met Sam and Dean. Some haunted mansion perhaps forty miles south of Seattle. The Winchester boys had helped the friends wrap it up, and they'd kept in contact, exchanging calls and trading favors.
"Thanks," John said. He looked to Sam and Dean to avoid mentioning that the Doctor himself didn't look very well at all. "Hey, guys."
"Hi John," said Sam, looking slightly tense himself.
"Here, come in," John stepped back to allow the other three to enter the hallway, up the stairs, and into 221B. They took seats around the front room. The Doctor and Sam sat down on the sofa, John took his customary armchair, and Dean stayed standing, possibly out of nerves but probably to avoid sitting in Sherlock's chair. John passed out cups of tea.
"So John," Sam began tactfully, hoping to get away with it without it being uncomfortable, "Dean was wondering if you could, I mean, if it's not too much trouble, maybe tell us, um-"
"Maybe you could tell us what happened with Sherlock," Dean cut to the chase.
Several blinks and one tense silence later, John sighed a little, and nodded.
"Of course," he said, and began to tell the story.