tw: being drugged

The Doctor landed the TARDIS on a sleepy road in front of a sleepy row of houses.

"I'm just glad you didn't skip a year or something," Donna said as she and the Doctor exited the TARDIS, following Sherlock, Molly, and John, who had rushed out first.

The Doctor was pouting slightly at John's failure to notice the difference between the inside and the outside of his ship.

"Don't pout, Doctor. You look enough like a little kid already."

"I'm not pouting. I'm…thinking."

"Yeah? Well, I'm just glad we didn't land, like, a year in the future or something? Can you imagine John coming home to find his family has been missing him for a whole year? And them having to wait?"

Molly had dropped back when she heard Donna's comment; Sherlock was hurrying after John. "Has that happened before?"

"Well," the Doctor said slowly, "maybe once or twice but only ever by accident."

"Once or twice?" Donna asked suspiciously.

"Maybe more than that. But not this time and that's what matters."

Meanwhile, John had rushed into his house calling for his wife and daughter. "Mary? Lily?"

"What, John? What are you shouting about? Calm down," Mary said, coming out of the kitchen with a tired Lily in her arms.

"I'm just glad that you're safe," he said, wrapping the two most important women in his life in a hug.

Mary laughed a little nervously as Sherlock entered the house, followed by Molly and two people she didn't know. "John? What's happened? What crime have you been investigating that could get you this worked up?" she asked, looking at Sherlock for whatever information her husband would choose to leave out.

"Crime?" John asked. "What crime?"

"Well, that's what you left so early this morning for, right? Sherlock had told you to meet him at Baker Street early this morning. About five o'clock, Lily was fussing so I got up but you weren't there. I just assumed that Sherlock had texted you again to meet him earlier. I'm now guessing that's not what happened?"

Sherlock shrugged, "Close enough. Maybe it's better that the details go unmentioned."

"Okay, then," Mary said slowly. "How about you explain who these other people are? Hello, Molly. Nice to see you again."

Molly ducked her head in response but didn't get the chance to say anything as Sherlock began explaining. "The two," he said, gesturing to the Doctor and Donna, "are the ones who helped rescue your husband. The Doctor is an alien, not sure from where, with a time travelling space ship that looks like a telephone box and Miss Noble is…"

"My companion," the Doctor said, holding out his hand for Mary to shake.

"Donna, not an alien," Donna said, holding out her hand as well.

"Sorry for barging in like this but John was adamant that he check on his family before doing anything else. Quite right, too," the Doctor smiled at Lily. "Since you both seem to be fine, perhaps we could keep moving, John? We do have quite a lot of work to do, after all."

"Wait, what's going on? I can help, you know," Mary said as everyone turned to leave.

"No, you need to stay here with Lily," John said, kissing his wife on the cheek. "Keep her safe."

"Will you at least tell me what's going on? I can't really keep her safe if I don't know what to do."

Sherlock sighed dramatically. "Fine. The Doctor suspects that another alien has come to Earth and is cloning humans for an unknown purpose. Not just any humans but very specific ones. First Mrs Hudson and then John. We don't know what he's up to but it can't be anything good. Also, we've got someone following us, probably be one of the crew who kidnapped and cloned John and tried to stop me on my way in to Bart's. That's all we know at the moment but with help from both Donna and the Doctor, I believe we can stop whatever they're planning. Good enough?"

It was as if someone had pushed the 'pause' button on life as Mary tried to wrap her mind around everything Sherlock had just told her. Lily babbled on happily, wondering why everything had gone so quiet.

"Now, Doctor, I believe you said we've got work to do," Donna said under her breath.

"Right, we certainly do. We can meet you later, if you need a bit more time?" the Doctor suggested, slowly moving back toward the door.

"No. No, it's alright. John, I'm coming with you. We can leave Lily with Mrs Hudson but I'm coming to help."

John put his hands on his wife's shoulders, "Mary, you can't. We don't know why these people are interested in us, but there's a good chance that they might come for you or Lily. I love Mrs Hudson and she's great with our daughter, but she can't protect her like you can. Okay?"

"But John-"

"No, Mary. Not this time. You're a mother now and you have a job to do. I love you, stay safe," John kissed his wife once more and then followed the rest back outside.

"So, what's our next move, Doctor?" Donna asked as they gathered around the TARDIS doors.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, unfortunately we've lost the signal of the relay device by coming here; it'll be too faint even for the TARDIS to pick up so we'll have to think of something else."

"In that case," Sherlock said, "I've got some matters of my own to attend to. Someone text me when they make another move."

Before anyone could protest, Sherlock turned smartly on his heel and strode away, coat billowing out behind him like a cape. He was staring down at his phone to text Mycroft to arrange an exchange of files, when a black town car pulled up beside him. The passenger side window rolled down to reveal the young woman who had tried to stop him outside of Bart's.

"Get in, Mister Holmes."

"Why should I?"

She sighed deeply, "Don't play stupid, Mister Holmes, it's unbecoming. There are two ways we can do this and I'm giving you the option to choose the easy way before having to club you over the head. It's incredibly undignified."

He climbed into the back seat. A crystal flute of clear water was handed back to him.

"Drink it, Mister Holmes."

"You're going to try and drug me?" he scoffed.

"No, we're going to succeed at drugging you. Can't have you knowing where our little operation is based out of. At least, not yet."

"Then you clearly know very little about me if you think anything you could put in half a glass of water would knock me out. I like to think of myself as a connoisseur, Miss…?"

"Saxon," the Master said slowly, drawing the name from her memory. "Lucy Saxon. And no doubt you do, Mister Holmes, but believe me: you won't have tried this stuff before."

"Oh no?"

"No, I'm sure of it. It's not even from this planet. Now, drink up, there's a good lad."

"And how do I know this isn't going to kill me?"

"Come now, Mister Holmes. We might not have met before, but I know you're no idiot. However, if I must spell it out: of course this isn't going to kill you. You didn't even see the car pull up; I could have killed you a hundred times before you finally noticed. And why would I go through all the hassle of tracking you down and inviting you into this nice car just to kill you. No, Mister Holmes, what you drink will not do anything more than give you a rather nasty headache. Quite a bit tamer than what you're used to, I'm sure."

"Who are you?"

"You're not drinking, Mister Holmes. Don't you know that the best way to get information is to cooperate?"

She was right, of course, Miss Saxon. He drank the water in a few gulps, intentionally making them as noisy and irritating as possible.

"Good boy. Now, sleep quietly until we get there, not that you'll have any other choice."

His head began to spin and the city that passed by them outside the windows looked fuzzy and out of focus. Everything exploded in a burst of white light and then it all went black as Sherlock fell into unconsciousness.

When he woke up, it was to a bright white light. No, a rectangle of brightness that shone and burned his eyes. He blinked rapidly and the light dissolved into the recognizable shapes of houses and a sidewalk, trees and flowers, blue sky and white clouds. The neighbourhood was unfamiliar but that didn't matter. He had been doing something important. Something about his phone. And his brother.

Sherlock pulled it out and saw three missed calls and several new texts from Mycroft.

Really, brother, you could try answering
your phone once in a while. I know it's a
lot to ask for you to stand up and get it
yourself but this is important. - M

Fine. Yes, we should meet somewhere to
discuss this. It's rather confidential. - M

Apparently I have to do all the work myself.
Meet me at the cafe with the scones. You
know the one. - M

Sherlock had to think for a moment before the name of that particular cafe came to him. When it did, he hailed a cab and hurried off to find his brother and get some more answers to the questions burning in his mind. On the way, he replied to Mycroft's texts.

Are you sure that's wise? Meeting in a
cafe to discuss confidential information? - SH

Of course it isn't. However, since we
have no idea how or where these people
are getting their information from, the
best place to hide is in a crowd. I really
shouldn't have to explain this to you,
little brother. Your time away has done
more damage than good, I fear. - M

Well, obviously you know best, brother
dearest. Get me a coffee while you're
waiting. Black, two sugars. I'll be there soon. - SH

You can get your own bloody coffee
when you arrive; I'm not your maid. - M

Trust me, Mycroft, you don't want to
talk to me without caffeine in my system.
You know how cranky I can get
when I'm tired. - SH

The great Sherlock Holmes, tired? I don't
believe it. Sleep is for weak, I believe, is
how the expression goes. - M

I can guarantee you don't want to play
this game with me right now. I've just
found out that my landlady and my best
friend have been kidnapped and cloned by
an unknown party for unknown purposes
and that does not sit well with me.
Coffee. Now. - SH

As the cab rolled up in front of the cafe, Sherlock paid the driver and hurried inside to find Mycroft and steaming mug of black coffee waiting for him. He smirked and sat down.

"Now, big brother, we have things to discuss."