AN: So I know It's been a while. This chapter is big, so I hope that sort of makes up for my lateness

Chapter Eight

The Tunnel

The experience was similar to the last time I traveled, but at the same time totally unique. I got the feeling that this strange tunnel of fire and light and ice never stayed the same for long.

My panic was mostly contained and as I fell, I found myself able to look at each spiral as they spun pass. They were a strange mixture of blue ice that curled and wound around roots of fire that at the same time spiraled into a complexity of strings and roots and channels I'd never fully understand. It pulled my along, grabbing my wrists. It was gentle, but I was frightened all the same because I knew at any instant I could be torn away and erased.

I didn't know how I knew that, I just did. I knew it the same way that I knew I wasn't on Earth, but I wasn't in space either. I was nowhere. I was racing through the cracks, the seams of reality. This realization was absolutely terrifying, and yet, the tunnel was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. And that's coming from someone who supposedly doesn't see beauty.

That's not true, by the way. I see beauty. I see the wonder in the eyes of a child and the budding of a flower.

I just ignore it.

It's not important enough to hold my attention because yes, it might be beautiful, but most of the time it's also spectacularly useless.

I smiled to myself at the thought and decided that while I had time, I might at least try to figure out where I was going…

It took several minutes, or hours, or days, or no time at all. I don't really know, but after digging through the spirals, and carefully aligning the strings of light, I found that I could determine a destination. The spirals weren't just a beautiful perk of traveling through this tunnel, they were a code, a language. Each little bit of blue and yellow and red was a message, each determining my destination. What was even better was I could understand it. It wasn't a visual part of my mind that saw the code. It didn't need to be translated. It was something I'd known my whole life. In that moment I realized that English wasn't my first language. This was. How could I have forgotten it? This language of light and sound and beauty and danger? I knew it better than anything, even if I didn't know why or how.

See? Beautiful and useful. My sort of thing.

Amazing. I spoke out loud, but my voice didn't react the way it usually did. I was speaking in my mind, but the spirals reacted to my voice in a way I'd never imagined. They spun around me and I could feel pride shining in the colors.

It's sentient! I cried.

The spirals reacted in confirmation.

Slowly a grin filled my face and I laughed. This was what I'd been missing. All my life I was searching and I didn't even know it!

With extreme care, I rearranged the strings and spirals until it said what I wanted it to. I wanted to get there before the Doctor, so maybe 9:30? June thirteenth?

Yeah. That worked.

I could see the end of the tunnel now, and I knew my journey had ended. I waved goodbye to the light and in an instant all of the color was gone and there was nothing but blackness.

I stumbled into John's chair and fell forward over the top. Landing on my butt, I groaned. My stomach decided it had had enough of this and I quickly ran to the sink to empty it.

Well then. That was just slightly humiliating. Standing up slowly, I wobbled back and forth but managed to keep my feet. I wiped my mouth and inspected my hands. They looked normal enough but who knew...

"What the bloody-"

There was a crash of broken glass and suddenly John was next to me. He had been across the room when I appeared. He reached forward but I stepped back hastily. "Don't touch me yet!" I cried, jumping behind the couch. Despite the ordeal, I was full of energy, only slightly out of whack. "I'm still not here…" I scratched my neck, realizing that sounded ridiculous. "Or… something."

John just stood there. His mouth hung open. "How did- Did you just- what?"

"Yeah." I bit my lip. There was no hiding this from him anymore. "Look, John." I hopped back over the couch and came toward him.

This time it was John who jumped back. "What is this, Sherlock?" He cried. "You disappeared- literally!" He turned away a distressed hand in his sandy hair. "And now you just appeared… I can't even...you died and now...what are you?"

I blinked. "That seems to be the question of the hour," I mumbled. What to do now…

I collapsed onto the couch and considered pretending to be all knowing, but then it seemed like too much effort. Instead I glanced at the clock on the wall. 9:46.

"Not bad…" I murmured, "We've got fourteen minutes before he gets here... hopefully."

John frowned, "Who gets here?"

"A friend of mine."

John snorted, slowly sitting down in his chair. "Really? I thought you didn't have friends."

"Well, more of an acquaintance."

He nodded slowly, and then stared at the floor. "Please tell me what's going on." He sighed. "Last night… I don't know what…" he trailed off and I let him. "You've been gone for hours."

"I know." How strange. It had been less than thirty minutes for me, but going by the bags under his eyes, John had been waiting for me all night. I tapped my knee absently. "Tell me what you saw when I disappeared."

Shrugging, John searched his memory. "We were arguing and then you just sort of… crumpled."

I frowned. "What?"

John scratched his neck. "It was like everything was folding up around you, like you were made of paper. There was this flash and when I opened my eyes you were gone."

So that's what it looked like from the outside… Interesting…

I nodded slowly. "Right. Okay. There's no easy way to say this, John."

"Say what?"

Here it goes. "When I… fell, something went wrong. And everything is different now. I don't know why or how, but it is."

John frowned, "You said you faked your death. It was all just-"

"That was the plan," I interrupted, "But I… messed up." I popped the P, the words barely leaving my lips. My pride was chewing my stomach into bits.

John's eyes widened. "But you? Messing up? You don't do that. And besides, you're alive, so it must have have worked."

I sighed. "I appreciate the confidence, John, but that's the whole thing." I paused, keeping my memories locked away. "I died. I slipped up and fell and I knew it was over…" My voice was barely a whisper. "but then… it wasn't." A humourless laugh escaped my lips.

John blinked. "What?"

As quick as I could, I ran through the events of last night with him. The morgue, Mycroft, Molly, Bakers Street, my weight, blood, the strange man called the Doctor, the ice statue, the words tumbled from my mouth like water. It felt so good to tell him. I hadn't realized how much I enjoyed having John as a confident.

After I was done, I fidgeted in my seat and had another revelation. I really wanted him to believe me. I didn't want him to look at me like I was crazy, because if John thought I was insane, then I must be.

So I waited and John just sat there. He sat and sat and was totally infuriating. He leaned back, bit on his fingernail and frowned. "So basically, you died, came back to life, and now a bunch of weird crap is happening."

"That sums it up rather nicely," I replied.

John snorted and ran his hands across his tired face. "If I had not just seen you literally teleport into this room, I would never believe you."

Very slowly, relief trickled into my mind. "You- you don't think I'm crazy?" I honestly was preparing myself for the biggest laugh off of the century. And here he was prepared to trust me.

"Maybe just a little bit," John replied with an amused smirk, "But I wouldn't blame you. You've always been a bit mad." John chuckled. "Honestly, what you're telling me is too ridiculous for you to make up." he leaned forward. "And it's hard to deny it when you teleported before my eyes."

I fell back into the armchair, disguising my relief. "Good. Excellent. Now..." I stood up quickly, crossed the room and stood under the clock.

He believed me. He actually trusted me! My fingers rested naturally underneath my chin. What a fascinating man...

"He should be here-" I glanced at the clock. "Now." I pointed as the hour hand struck 10 o'clock.

"Who?"

"That friend I mentioned."

There was silence for half a moment, and then the breath of a machine filled my ears. Was that the Doctor? Must be. Smirking triumphantly, I waved John to a window that looked out onto the street. Quickly peeking through the curtains, I suddenly froze.

On the sidewalk in front of our flat, a blue box slowly materialized. It became clearer and clearer with every strained breath of the machine. There was something about it that I couldn't place. It reminded me of something important, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember what.

"What's that noise?" John asked, pushing past me.

I coughed, sliding slightly so he could see. Suddenly the memory of the police box in the abandoned bookshop filled my vision.

"It's the same box," I murmured.

John frowned. "What?"

I didn't answer because I was already dashing down the stairs. Slamming the front door, I let the wind tug my coat, a weak attempt at thievery. My feet touched the concrete lightly as I breathed in the air. It wasn't quite cold, but I shivered anyway. The box buzzed and murmured words I couldn't quite understand but drew me in all the same.

Without remembering the steps that got me there, I found myself directly in front of the police box.

Absently, I heard John come after me. I could hear him breathing as he took possession of the sidewalk to my left. "What is it?" He murmured.

It took a moment to realize he was speaking to me. My eyes never left the box as I responded. "Watson? I have absolutely no idea."

Slowly, I reached forward. My hand hovered half a centimeter from the blue surface and the prickling sensation that resulted reminded me of what it's like to hover my hand right above a TV screen.

Suddenly the box opened inwards and I jerked back. Surprise colored my actions and John had to catch me to keep me from falling backwards.

Brushing John off, I stood up straight again. Immediately, a head poked out of the box's the now open door.

The Doctor took one look at me and grinned manically. "You beat me! How on Gallifrey did you manage that?"

Gallifrey. I filed away the word for later.

Shrugging, I stepped back so that the Doctor could exit his strange...box. "I arrived a bit early so that I could ah, explain things to John."

The Doctor's gaze dropped from me to John. His eye widened and he stepped forward. "John," he murmured, addressing me, "as in John Watson?"

"Yes," I answered.

The Doctor grinned and immediately began pumping John's hand in a manner similar to the way he shook mine earlier. "Pleasure to meet you, John!"

John coughed, surprised by the man's enthusiasm. "Ah, sorry. Excuse my bluntness, but who are you and how do you know me?"

"He says he's an alien from a parallel universe where we are just works of fiction," I spoke calmly. "Famous works of fiction, it seems."

John's eyebrows rose. He blinked. "And you believe him?"

"Course not."

The Doctor shot me a mockingly hurt look. "Oh Sherlock, you wound me!" He shook his head disapprovingly. "After all you've seen and experienced, and you still don't believe me?

"You have no proof," I answered. Wasn't it obvious? I knew for a fact that something extremely odd was happening to me, but that not prove such things as alternative dimensions, or alien life.

The Doctor looked over me for a moment and then nodded. "Alright. Fair enough. I suppose I should expect that from you. All for evidence, facts, those sort of shenanigans, you are, right?"

I nodded slowly.

The Doctor beamed. "Then I have just the thing."

Me and John exchanged a glance when the Doctor darted into his box once more. "We can't all fit in there," John stated, his brow furrowed.

"I agree," I murmured.

"But he wants us to follow him?"

"It seems so."

"That's ridiculous."

I sighed. That phrase seemed to be coming up more and more of late.

"Well come on then!" echoed a distant voice.

I frowned and leaned in to poke my head through the door. That was impossible. It almost sounded like the Doctor was in a large room...

My thoughts froze when I saw the inside of the box. What on Earth?

Breathing in sharply, I stumbled backward.

"But- but that's impossible!" I cried.

John gave me a strange look but I ignored him. Quickly, I circled the phone box. It had to be some sort of trick or- or something!

But it wasn't. The box was totally solid. "It shouldn't be able to do that!" I shouted.

"That's sort of the idea!" the Doctor shouted from inside the box.

John followed me in my circle around the box. "Are you alright, Sherlock?"

I spared him a glance. "Yes. I'm fine." No. I'm not.

Nothing makes sense anymore and it is killing me.

John didn't believe me, but he nodded slowly. Both of us circled around to the front of the box, and with dread, I entered it once more. This time John followed me. I heard him gasp, but I kept my eyes tightly shut.

If I kept them closed, them I could pretend the scene before me was logical.

But that was childish, I realized.

My entire life was no longer logical, why not add this to the list?

I forced my eyes open and was blasted with the sight before me.

The Doctor sat on glass stairs leading up to some sort of chaotic control center. He grinned proudly, clearly enjoying this.

I was not so amused and John wouldn't be either, I was sure.

But then the infuriating man pushed past me so he could get a better look. He spun in a slow circle and after a minute his eyes landed on the Doctor. "So..." He coughed. "You're an alien with a ship that's bigger on the inside. How is that-?"

"Different dimension." The Doctor explained and John nodded.

"Huh. Cool."

I stared at him in shock. How could he act so calmly while the fabric of logic and possibility was ripped apart? Did he not know that this was ridiculous?

The Doctor stood up and walked slowly toward me. "Are you alright?" he asked.

I blinked, and realized my knuckles were bone white from my tight grip on the door. I released it and took a step forward. "Yes. Fine."

"He always says that," John offered to the Doctor.

I glared at him and was about the spill out a nasty retort when I felt something.

There was something about this ship that I couldn't quite place. It buzzed with warmth and personality. Personality. How was that possible?

Ugh. I needed to stop asking that question. I swear, it was shredding my sanity. A ship with a personality… odd, but apparently possible.

I was too shocked to say anything, so I stepped deeper into the ship and sat down in a chair that was conveniently behind me. The Doctor approached, concern on his face. "You're not alright." It wasn't a question.

John was busy poking at different gadgets and looking about, so I turned my attention to the Doctor.

Instead of answering him, I changed the subject. "Your…ship,"

"She's called the TARDIS. What about her?"

TARDIS. So this was what he had been talking about. I paused and sighed. "Nevermind. It's ridiculous."

The Doctor chuckled, straddling another chair.. "You came to the right place then. Ridiculousness is my line of business."

I sighed. It took a moment, but I made my decision. Constantly doubting my eyes was not getting me anywhere. It was a chain around my neck, inefficient and tiresome.

So I looked the Doctor in the eye. "Your ship is alive," I stated.

Total shock covered the Doctor's face and for a moment he couldn't reply. "I-" he started, "you can't know that. How do you know that?"

I was surprised by his reaction. Couldn't everyone feel it? The humming in the air, in the mind? Apparently not. "I don't know," I fidgeted in my chair uncomfortably. "I can sort of… feel it."

The Doctor stared at me, confusion in ancient green eyes. "Alright." He spoke, "That's it." He grabbed arm and pulled me to my feet. The man had a strong grip despite his appearance.

"What are you doing?!" I jerked away from him. The Doctor gave me an exasperated look.

We'd caught John's attention by this point and he looked on with interest.

"I need to confirm whether you're human or not," the Doctor explained.

I rolled my eyes. "I know that. Why are you grabbing my arm like some sort of leech?!"

The Doctor just threw his hands in the air and walked away. "Follow me!" He shouted over his shoulder. He entered a hallway to the left and didn't look back.

I glanced at John, who shrugged. "If you're an alien then that would explain a-"

"Shut up. Of course I'm human. Don't even joke."

"Got it."

Huffing, I shoved my hands into my pockets and followed the Doctor down the hallway. I could still feel the ship's presence in the back of my mind and it- no, she nudged me in the right direction. John trailed after me, fascination in his eyes. After several minutes of walking, he grew restless "Where are we going?"

"No idea."

"... then how can you know we're going the right way?"

"If you don't know where you're going, then it doesn't really matter which way you go, right?" I quoted.

John just looked baffled and maybe slightly annoyed. "No Sherlock, it sort of does matter."

I glanced at him and shrugged. Wasn't the ship nudging him also?

I was about to come up with some sort of reply, but then I heard the footfalls of the Doctor in a room with glass walls.

One glance and I supposed it was a medical bay of some sort, although it was clearly more advanced than any human hospital. The Doctor spun around the moment I entered the room.

"Good!" He cried, "you found your way. I thought you might. The TARDIS seems to like you."

"Apparently."

The Doctor ignored my reply and pointed at a metal chair in the middle of the room. My stomach twisted just slightly. Me? Nervous? Ridiculous.

I was slightly agitated.

Of course I was human. There was no other possibility. Was there?

The Doctor took a gadget out of a glass cupboard and set it on a table so that it was pointed at me. "The TARDIS is making me a new screwdriver at the moment, so this will have to do. Oh, and take your shirt off, Sherlock."

I shot him a glare.

"Or not." He adjusted a few settings and then stepped back. "Right. Stay still."

I complied.

A blue light shot out from the front of the strange gadget and scanned me from head to foot. The whole experience lasted about three seconds.

Then the Doctor jumped forward. He snatched up the gadget and read whatever was displayed on the surface. Then he slammed it down again. "Come on! That can't be right!"

I slumped down in the seat and put my hands behind my head. "Well?"

"You're human!" The Doctor shouted, almost angrily. "Totally human. One heart and everything! this machine declares you perfectly normal! You don't even have void stuff around you from traveling through time and space! You're honestly almost too human." He paced the room.

John frowned. "But that's not possible. Normal people don't just get up after being dead.."

The Doctor stopped at that. His gaze raked over me again. "You died? For how long?"

He didn't even question it.

I shrugged. "I few hours maybe? I don't really remember."

The Doctor slowly sat down against the edge of an examination table, lost in thought. "That's a stretch, even when I do it. It's best to be dead for the smallest time possible." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

I didn't miss his implication that he also was slippery in death's hands.

"You can't be human and be able to do what you're doing," he continued, "I mean, the only other species that comes close to this is-" He stopped. "I need you to tell me every odd thing about you."

John snorted. "That might take awhile."

"Shut up, John." I rolled my eyes. This Doctor man seemed to have at least a tiny bit bigger of a grasp of what was happening then I did. So I told him.

"Ever since I…woke up, things have been different. I weigh exactly a hundred pounds, which is impossible, my eyesight is better than before, I can teleport or something, there is gold in my blood cells, and-"

"Wait, gold?"

I nodded. "That's what it looked like."

The Doctor frowned and looked over his gadget again. "This would have picked up on something like that..." He grabbed a syringe and tossed it at me. "Draw some of your blood." He remembered from the stories that I would have no qualms stabbing myself with a needle. I shrugged and did as he asked. Then I tossed the syringe back.

The Doctor caught it without looking up and carefully pushed a drop of my blood onto a glass plate under a machine resembling a microscope. "Huh." The Doctor stated. "I can see the gold, like you said, but somehow it's not detected by machines. Clever." He looked up. "Whoever did this to you was extremely powerful."

I stood up and loosened the scarf around my neck. "You think someone did this?"

Makes sense. Probable.

The Doctor nodded. "I think you're human, and that's a big 'think'. I might be wrong, but if you are human, then I think you've been... improved."

"Improved."

"Yeah."

I groaned. We were really just guessing here. So maybe someone had done this to me... or maybe not. Maybe I was some unusual life form no one knew about? And if I had been 'improved', then how and why, and by whom?

So many questions...

"Well," I sighed, "I always did like a good mystery."

At least I wasn't bored…

AN: PLEASE REVIEW! So Sherlock is definitely human, what now?

So random question, how did you start watching Doctor Who or Sherlock? Did someone tell you about it? Or maybe you saw it on the internet? I'm just curious. I remember being totally confused that the Doctor was like, three different people. I swear, that's the only reason I started watching. I was like, HOW DOES THIS WORK?!

Anywho, please review.

Huh. That sort of rhymed.

Cool.