Title: The Watson Files
Parings: Sherlock Holmes & John Watson (slash goggles optional)
Trigger Warnings: Canon typical violence and injury
Chapter 18 – A Real Person
The case had started out as a 4 but I had convinced Sherlock to take it anyway as it would, in all likelihood, pay our expenses for a number of months upon a successful resolution. It escalated to a solid 5 when Sherlock recovered the jewelry in question only to discover that it was an extremely high-quality forgery.
We were following our main suspect, hoping to catch an accomplice passing him the jewelry, when he ducked into a convention in the ExCeL. Sherlock had to bluff our way in with one of Lestrade's IDs. Unfortunately, it took just long enough that I lost track of the suspect in the crowd. Even though we quickly managed to get onto a balcony with a decent overview, the crowd and the costumes were enough to completely stump Sherlock.
After observing for a minute Sherlock grumbled at me, "The sheer number of people pretending to be characters from popular culture and doing so with only a modicum of success render most of my normal methods useless!"
I had to chuckle a bit.
"It's not just popular culture, it's a rather specific subset of same," I informed him. "See, there's even a Tardis over there."
Sherlock made an annoyed huff, spun and took off. I followed. I wasn't too surprised when he detoured and managed to get us into the service corridors. That was when it happened.
I have long been aware of Sherlock's passing resemblance to a certain famous actor. What I didn't know at the time was that said actor actually happened to be on a panel at that particular convention as he was playing a superhero in soon to be released movie. Even if I had known, what were the odds of the two ending up face to face in a back corridor?
The thing I noticed first was the hair. Sherlock's hair is raven wing black, on the long side with a bit of a curl to it. The actor, on the other hand, had short brown hair even though in the movie trailers I'd seen it had been quite a bit darker and longer accentuating the similarity. Sherlock had been ribbed by several of the Yarders about it when the trailer had first come out so I knew he was aware of the likeness. The second thing I noticed was weight. The actor was somewhat heavier and slightly bulkier.
Sherlock's reaction was predictable at least to me. He quickly looked the actor up and down. Then he smiled using what I had long ago labeled "fake smile #2," taking a breath to start a series of deductions.
Surprisingly the actor managed to completely derail the incipient rant. I'm not quite sure what exactly he did but suddenly it was as if I was watching a mirror image of Sherlock. The actor repeated the up and down look, right down to the little hitch of breath that Sherlock habitually takes as he finishes his deductions. He then mimicked "fake smile #2" exactly, held it for a moment and then raised one eyebrow.
"I don't have time to deal with this," Sherlock exclaimed then he glared at the actor's entourage which parted before him and strode off.
I hesitated for a second and caught the moment when the actor shook off his imitation. "Fake smile #2" morphed into a grin and he winked at me before I took off in Sherlock's wake.
We caught the jewel thief. His accomplice was the client's step-daughter who was trying to frame her father's socialite trophy-wife as a gold-digging opportunist who had replaced the real jewelry with fakes. I fully expected, once the case was finished, that Sherlock would expound on our encounter with the actor but he didn't.
It was only a few months later, when we were watching a film on the tele that Sherlock finely said anything. It was an early work and the actor was a secondary character but instead of his usual commentary Sherlock instead remarked, "A reasonably accurate portrayal given the material. He seems to be unusually perceptive and good at his craft."
Well, I thought to myself, given the number and variety of disguises and personas I'd seen Sherlock use, it takes one to know one.
Author's Note: Original Prompt – Dr. Watson meet Dr. Freud. Have a real-life celebrity of whichever timeline you choose make a cameo.