"What did you find?" the other John asked, quickly moving across the lab and peering over Jim's shoulder.
The IT tech ignored the invasion of his personal space and said, "Doctor Pike. Lives not far from here – "
"About five minutes in a cab" John interrupted. "Do you know what exactly he's working on?"
Jim grimaced. "It's very hush-hush, and I can't understand some of the words, but he has done some research involving parallel universes – amidst other stuff I don't want to think about."
"And if he's working with Trevelyan?" the doctor suggested. It sounded crazy, but it was possible that the scientist had been to this or other parallel worlds before and met colleagues.
"We will have to risk it" Sherlock said simply. "We have to get home, and an expert is our best chance."
John remembered a time when the consulting detective wouldn't have used the word "home" so easily and nodded.
"He would be at work at this time of day..." Bill began.
"Unless he has just finished an experiment and needs to rest" John interrupted him impatiently. "We will have to check out both his workplace and his home. Jim?"
He had already printed out the addresses and John snatched them from his hands.
He left the room; Bill would have followed him if Mike hadn't stood in his way.
"Mike – " he looked into his brother's eyes.
"No".
"I am coming with you" the other man stated. "You are in the company of yourself from another dimension, and you're going to see an expert on the subject. You might end up getting thrown into a different universe if I don't look after you".
One look into the man's face made Sherlock realize that he wouldn't be dissuaded from accompanying them. He knew his brother's features, and this was the expression that told him any resistance was fruitless. Or, rather, had told him when they had been children and Mycroft hadn't yet been able to disguise all of his emotions.
Without wanting to, he remembered years of bad blood and a betrayal, and he knew that this Mycroft would never do the same.
But Bill wasn't him, he reasoned. He shouldn't be angry because someone else would make a different decision. Mike and Mycroft just happened to share the same face.
Bill sighed. "Alright, then." He called out to Sherlock and John, "Are you coming?"
The consulting detective snorted. "We are hardly going to stay here".
Even Mike laughed at that.
"You really are like him".
Sherlock didn't understand why this comment upset him.
He left the lab so quickly that John had to jog after him.
"So we are going to break into a secret lab or a flat once again?"
"I didn't see the address" Sherlock answered, somewhat irritated that John hadn't shown it to him, "It might well be a house."
John looked like he wanted to reply, but decided against it.
The doctor was worried. He had seen the looks his best friend had thrown Bill and his brother.
It was one thing to know that they got on better than Sherlock and Mycroft ever would. To see it, however, was different.
At least, he reflected cynically, he wouldn't have to see John and Harry interact with each other; it didn't seem probable that the consulting detective had a better relationship with his sister than he.
But Mycroft and Sherlock –
Mike and Bill were comfortable around each other, the older brother clearly concerned for his sibling; not that Mycroft wasn't, but Mike appeared to act on his worry in a normal way. John couldn't blame him for not liking the consulting detective. He wouldn't have expected his family to like Sherlock either, if he'd had one. And yet, Mike still came with them and tolerated John's presence, which told him that he respected Bill's opinions and trusted his judgement.
Once, shortly after Sherlock had returned, when thick tension had been hanging in the air between them, and John hadn't been sure if he should be screaming or not, if he should be crying or not, if he should demand explanations or not, his best friend had begun to talk about how he'd eventually contacted Mycroft, maybe in some ill-fate attempt to divert John from the fact that he hadn't called him, and somewhere in this night, Sherlock had let slip that his big brother had always considered him stupid and that he'd been surprised that he had managed to convince the British Government he was dead.
John knew, without having been told, without having to think about it, that Mike had never called his brother stupid. He wondered how Sherlock felt about it.
Judging by the fact that he walked slower to the cab than he would normally have under the circumstances – they were in a parallel universe, and while John wasn't enjoying the situation as much as Jim, he was excited and Sherlock should have been elated. But he wasn't.
Sherlock was tense, and obviously desiring to return home, even if it meant that he would have to face Mycroft and then try to chase the boredom away with the two left feet in their fridge.
They were almost at the cab when John realized. He couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out sooner.
Sherlock was in a strange place, and at the moment, they had no idea how to get home.
It was almost like they couldn't. Almost because they would, of course – John had to believe they would – but still –
Sherlock must be reminded of the three years he hadn't been able to return to England.
Sherlock entered the cab – a bigger one than they were used to, but it had to hold five people – without giving John a chance to talk. The doctor sighed. It would be difficult to get Sherlock alone, without any of these universes' counterparts hearing what they were saying.
"Langdale Pike" John began to read from the document Jim had printed out as soon as they sat, "has made quite the name for himself, not only because of his often controversial and unusual approaches to certain subjects, but also due to his ability to spread rumours about the colleagues he doesn't like".
"What?" John asked, baffled.
His counterpart waved his right hand in the air to make him stop talking, then continued.
"Three scientists who were awarded more than one award over the years had to leave London in the last few months because of certain unsavoury details of their private lives that had become known in the City. Apparently, a few people think Pike is responsible, but since he has a genius, he is allowed to continue working for the Government..."
"I hope Jim covered his trail" Bill remarked drily. "I can't imagine this information comes from any normal website".
"If it did, we wouldn't have needed him in the first place" John snapped back, and while Sherlock could tell he was annoyed that he hadn't been able to hack into the database himself, he was not as irritated as he would have been if someone else had made the comment.
His and Bill's friendship wasn't like Sherlock's and John's, but that didn't mean it wasn't strong.
"He hasn't published anything about his work on parallel universes, and he hasn't even told the Secret Service, who are the ones to fund this project, much".
"He must be a genius" Mike said, "if they allow him to do what he wants with their money. You have anything like it in your universe?"
He automatically addressed Sherlock, once more showing that the brothers were close, and the consulting detective contemplated the trust in Mike's eyes, that he had simply earner by sharing the face with his sibling, for a moment before replying.
"Trevelyan, who is the one who sent us her, has the same freedom. It was the reason we were forced to break into his lab".
John could have pointed out that they would have broken into it eventually anyway, but chose not to.
The drive to the lab didn't take long; they had decided that it was more likely that the scientist would be at hid place of work.
To their surprise, they were told that Doctor Pike hadn't shown up today, although he had been planning to start a new experiment. His assistant had been trying to contact him, but to no avail, and was about to drive to his flat. They assured him that this wasn't necessary, and he seemed to come to the conclusion that they were working for the Secret Service and quickly agreed with them before leaving.
None of them had to say out loud that this wasn't good news. Sherlock shot John a glance before returning to their cab.
John knew there was something wrong the moment they stepped foot in the flat. He would have recognized the stale smell that hung in the air anywhere.
"I have to admit this complicates matters" his counterpart said, kneeling down beside Langdale Pike's body.