For those of you who have read this story and favored/ followed, I thank you for your continued support even if you don't review (which is fine by me knowing that this is read by others and they enjoy it is all that matters). I appreciate it and will always appreciate it, I hope you are all around to see this story to its end, no matter how long it takes! Thank you for reading, and for staying with me while my writing evolves, and I try different things to expand upon this story. I say this because I'm going to receive negative reviews due to the last chapter because I refuse to write for Jodi's doctor at this point, someone has already left me one and I wanted to make sure that you all know how much the support truly means to me! I appreciate you all and I really hope that you continue to like this story as much as I like to write it.
Now! Onto the new chapter, eh?
Chapter 16
Magical London and Sherlock
"This is not funny, Doctor," John muttered as she used an enlargement charm on a shirt and pencil skirt, "Pregnancies are supposed to last nine months, not five."
"Sorry," He apologized as he wrapped his scarf around his neck, "But nine months is a human cycle, and there hasn't been a natural Gallifreyan pregnancy since my Granddaughter Susan."
She made a sound at that and he watched as she finished with the adjustment of her clothes. She pulled on the plain green, long-sleeved shirt and black skirt before pulling on a pair of tan sneakers. He hadn't been expecting her to wear sandshoes of all things. She sent him a look as though she could tell what he was thinking. She pulled her hair into a low ponytail before walking towards him and fixing his collar.
"Weren't you going to resign from UNIT?" She asked him.
"Well, that was the idea," He stated, as he caught her hands in his own and pressed a kiss to the backs of them, "But this case sounded interesting, it's up in the artic who could pass that up?"
"Fair point," She conceded, "Hopefully, you'll be warm enough."
"I take it you'll be going back into Magical London while we're adventuring?" He questioned.
"I would like to spend some time with Sherlock," She sighed, gently freeing her hands, "Besides you know that if you truly need my assistance you can always call for me just like the Tardis does when you're ready to go."
He watched as she pulled items into her messenger bag before hoisting it onto her shoulder. He didn't like the idea of not being able to see her and check on her wellbeing but was going to respect her privacy. He couldn't keep her from her family even if he wanted to, she'd most likely cause him to regenerate if he did. He was a bit fond of this face, he rather not be hit. Not that she would hit him beside the light slap to the arm that she did out of habit.
"The grey tweed looks good on you," John informed the Doctor.
"Why thank you," He grinned.
"You do realize that I will most likely commandeer it if you regenerate, or decide on a different one," She informed him with a teasing wink.
He rather liked the idea of her stealing his coat and wearing it. Even if it was a different face, she would still be wearing something of his. He stopped her from walking away and planted a quick kiss on her forehead before moving to her lips. She sent him an amused look that also hid some fondness in it.
"Do you want anything from Magical London?" She asked him as she gave a soft whistle and Chariot came through the doors and perched on her shoulder.
"Jelly Babies," He answered, "Please."
"I'll see if they have every flavor again, watching you hoard those to yourself is extremely entertaining," She grinned before it fell when a few feathers fell from Chariot, "Old girl is starting to go towards the end, I'm going to ask Sherlock to look after her."
"Not long, eh?" He questioned when he noticed the blank expression.
"Yeah, most witches and wizards have familiars," She informed him, "Some of us can have more than one, Chariot is but one of my familiars the other is in the hold of an old coot that believes in the greater good."
The way she spat those words out made him realize that the man had to be responsible for the war that she went through, she wasn't normally that spiteful when she talked about people from her world. She had to have deep set anger towards him, he just hoped that she didn't run into him while she was visiting her cousin. Well, he hoped that she didn't run into any enemies that might bring her back into the war. Knowing her she might just cause a big enough ruckus and then she'd leave.
She'd become a figure of hope in that war, a prophesized chosen one that would refuse to fight for the greater good.
There was something he had in common with his wife, they both hated that phrase with a burning passion. The greater good is just something that was said to make atrocities seem less harmful. Hitler's violence towards the Jewish was said to be the greater good and look at what happened. That was a phrase that needed to die, hopefully, more and more people would start to understand why hearing it would bring nothing but sadness.
He shook himself from his thoughts and walked to the main console with John. He needed to park so that he could go talk to a UNIT scientist about where he needed to go in the artic. She would also appreciate the shorter distance for traveling her way. He had yet to see her use her broomstick, he was so tempted to ask the Tardis to make a room where she could fly to her hearts content. He would wait until she was no longer pregnant.
"Morning," Sarah greeted the other woman.
"Mornin' Sarah," John greeted back with a small smile.
"You going to go visit your cousin?" Sarah questioned.
"Yeah, it's going to be an interesting time," John said with a wry smile, "He's going to raise hell, or just say he told me so."
Sarah had a feeling it was going to be the latter, as did John. John placed her hands into her pockets and sat in one of the seats. Her back was starting to hurt. The increased growth of her stomach wasn't helping her, like she said nine months was normal five was pushing the body to the extreme. She was starting to realize that marrying an alien was a strange thing to do and having children by one was even weirder. Merlin, did she love the man.
They parked and out went the resident witch with a wave of her hand and a large grin. Sarah looked towards the Doctor and grinned at the put-out look on his face. It appeared that he was going to be in a mood of sorts during their adventures together. She'd miss the witch as well, but she could manage without her. She shook her head and motioned for him to leave the Tardis.
"Must you break my furniture?" Sherlock asked as he peered down at his cousin.
"I must," She answered from her spot on the floor, "It's payback for keeping me up all hours of the night playing the violin."
He raised a brow at that, and she slowly got up to her feet. His eyes immediately zeroed in on the bump. It didn't take his mind long to figure out what had happened, but he wondered how she could be that far along. It had only been three weeks since he last saw her. He reached forward and steadied her on her feet.
"How far along are you?" He asked.
"Two months, but technically a month," She answered.
"How does that work, and don't tell me magic," He questioned with a strange expression on his face.
"My husband's an alien," She informed him with a grin, "And I'm from another universe, I became an alien due to travel through the dimensional rift."
Huh, he didn't really have anything to say to that. What could he even say to that? He watched as amusement started to grow on her face at his unamused and stunned silence. A grin started to form as he continued to think of something he could say. He simply sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Do you still store human body parts in the fridge?" She asked him as she began to look around his flat.
"Of course, I do," He huffed, "If I didn't they'd go bad."
"Well, I'm not going to drink the milk if it's all the same to you," She muttered before letting out a soft cough, "Are we waiting for someone?"
"Mycroft."
Judging by the expression that came to her face she had forgotten about the other Holmes. The man who was a squib in both universes, it seems that no matter where he was he got the short end of the stick when it came to magic. She muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Big Brother Government" and went to sit down in the chair that she had brought to the flat. It engulfed her like an old friend and the old owl that was her first familiar let out a soft hoot from the perch. He knew that it didn't have long before it passed.
John was going to be inconsolable when she found out.
"Have you picked out names?" He asked her.
"Hilda for a girl and Aaron for a boy," She answered, "I'll call her Hilly for short."
"You almost named her Brunhilda, didn't you?" He questioned at her sly smile he rolled his eyes at that, "That poor child."
He couldn't believe this version of his cousin. She was so outgoing compared to his version. The version that should in her forties and not her early twenties. She took out a small, white paper package and opened it. Inside were jelly babies, brightly colored. She picked one up and popped it into her mouth.
"Would you care for a jelly baby?" She asked him, in a manner that was almost identical to her husband.
"Who…Who the hell did you marry?" He questioned as he took a small candy from the package.
"Like I said, an alien," She replied as she ate another candy, "He's rather brilliant, he'd give you a run for your money with his mind, he was able to trick even the oldest of his kind with just his thoughts."
"Explain it," He said with genuine curiosity as he sat down in his own armchair.
"Well, it was an overload of thoughts," She started to explain, "It filled up his opponent's mind, it was a brilliant bit of Occlumency mixed with Legilimency it was like his mind shields had been made to overpower such an opponent…granted it did almost kill him."
"Overpower in what?" He asked.
"Mind wrestling," She shrugged, "I could've taken care of it with ease, but he seemed more than glad to do so."
That had left him just as confused as before. He ran a hand through his head of greying dark hair. He never knew what was going to happen with John, at least that much had stayed the same. The dark messy hair had also remained identical to what he was used to. She ate another jelly baby and relaxed in her armchair. Oddly enough, he welcomed the silence that came with this version of John.
"What house were you in?" He asked her.
"Gryffindor, and you?" She queried.
"Ravenclaw."
"Called it."
Of course, she did. Being around him most of her life was enough to make sure that she was somewhat smarter than those around her. She looked at him and he was so sure that she was able to read his mind or his body language at the very least. Her green eyes were different than his John's. Dark green that seemed to glow with power, if he looked close enough there was a gold ring around her pupils that branched out into deep emerald.
"Rune mistress," He muttered.
"Hm?" She looked at him slightly confused before it dawned on her, "Oh, deducing me, are you? Deduce away then."
"You seem to be favoring your right side, though you're left-handed," He continued, "Injury perhaps, longer hair seems to imply that someone dumped a bottle of hair growth potion on you and it truly does suit you cousin, you seem happier due to your husbands influence or perhaps a good friend."
"You always did like knowing what was going on in her mind," A familiar voice stated, and John turned around.
"You got fat, Big Brother Government," She said without thinking.
"You choose to focus on my girth and not my age," Mycroft Holmes muttered as he looked at his young cousin, "No wonder, I suppose that last time you saw me I was quite young."
"And thinner…you also had a full head of ginger hair," She continued and then made a face, "Merlin, I sound like the Doctor."
"Oh no," Mycroft muttered, "He's a Watson now, isn't he?"
"I forgot how much alike you two are," She informed him.
"I'm not remotely like him," Sherlock and Mycroft stated in unison with matching frowns.
They noted the raised brow and smug look on her face. She let out a low chuckle at the two before getting up from her armchair with a slight grunt. She walked over to her oldest cousin and brought him into a hug. He tensed up before hugging her back. He had missed her special brand of hugs; Watson had always been a good hugger.
"Now, where are we going for lunch?" She grinned at the two, "I have shopping to do and I'd rather spend my time with you lot wisely before I leave again."
"Swanning off as usual," Sherlock scoffed, "Never could sit in one place."
"Sounds like me and the other John were the exact same person," Her grin increased at that.
"She was a Hufflepuff to the core," Mycroft informed her, and she paused for a few seconds.
Her face was blank, and she tilted her head in thought. The serious expression on her face brought genuine chills down his spine. This was John, but not their John. Another version of her, the exact face and mannerisms but the way she seemed able to shut down her emotions was not reminiscent of their John. This was a version that had lived through a war and had killed people, not save them. She was dangerous, and it seemed as though that point had finally gotten across to Mycroft and Sherlock.
"I was given the choice of Hufflepuff," She quietly admitted, "The hat decided that I would do better in Gryffindor, said I needed to branch out and grow."
"Well, I think Madame McCully is open for lunch," Sherlock stated to move the conversation in a different direction.
"Well, hopefully, I'm dressed well enough for Madame McCully," John stated as the oldest Holmes tossed a pinch of floo powder into the fireplace.
"Believe me, she'd be over the moon to see the lady of two houses," Mycroft said as he ushered her into the fireplace.
"Well, see you there," She muttered before calling out the name.
She closed her eyes as she began to travel through the fireplaces. Her mouth was full of soot and she tried not to breathe it in through her nose. It would not have been a comfortable experience. This was why she hated fireplace travel, it was messy and out of date. Now, if she could figure out how to open time portals or the smallest rifts in the dimensional fabric then she could invent instantaneous travel that didn't make one sick or make a loud noise that sounded as though a car had backfired. She paused as she started to travel towards her husband's way of thinking, well at this point he would've insulted the magical community in eight different ways.
He really didn't do well with those he believed to be idiots.
"Welcome, do you have a reservation?" A snobbish voice asked her.
"Mind waiting for the rest of my party to show up?" She asked with a frown.
She didn't even bother with her wand and simply snapped her fingers. The soot that covered her clothing was gone and her hair was a bit more of a mess than had been since she woke up. A figure came out of the fireplace and she watched as Sherlock ducked under the mantle and used his wand to clean up. They turned and waited for Mycroft, who seemed to suffer the most from the floo. He seemed to be having difficulty catching his breath.
"I'm being outdone by a woman who's pregnant," Mycroft muttered.
"I would smack you for that comment if you weren't so bloody old," She informed him with a frown, "Mind you, I could always set Sarah on you."
She had a feeling that the brunette would have no problem hitting her older cousin, it didn't matter if he was an old man. She was someone who didn't mess around and didn't agree with sexist ideals. Neither did she for that matter, it drilled to home just how different these two were compared to her own. The Mycroft she knew, while also a stickler and politician, respected his female workers and would never have been caught dead saying such things. Different times, she supposed. Different eras, modern age compared to the 1970s. It was strange.
"Table for Holmes and Watson," Sherlock told the owner of the snobbish voice.
Their hostess was a tall woman with a nose straighter than John's. The woman gave a curt nod and grabbed three menus before motioning for them to follow. They did so and John's nose crinkled at the over the top decorations that filled the restaurant. She was starting to miss the Leaky Cauldron and judging by the look on Sherlock's face he didn't think much about it either. It had to be a request from Mycroft, no wonder he gained so much weight.
"A waiter will be right with you," The Hostess said as she set the menus down at a table.
Sherlock and John took their seats while Mycroft excused himself to the restroom to make sure all the ash was off of him. The two shared a look and sighed in unison. Neither of them was comfortable in an upscale restaurant, too many years of running towards the crime scenes and spending time down at the Hogs Head in Hogsmeade.
"Nice to see nothing there's changed," John muttered as she opened her menu and looked at it.
"Tell me more of your adventures," Sherlock blurted out.
"Well, there was this one on a space station called Nerva a few thousand years into your future," John began, "The earth was abandoned, due to an electrical storm hitting the Earth if I remember correctly it's been a while, and the select few of the human race was sent to the station to create Noah's ark."
"You could write a book," Sherlock stated.
"Or a telly series," She grinned at him, "And that wasn't my first time on Nerva the next was with the Cybermen, nasty robots that have a human mind encased in metal that uses the human nervous system to move the limbs, they seem to be adverse to gold."
"Ah, UNIT had a problem with Cybermen a while ago," Sherlock muttered, "Some old man named the Doctor helped them to figure it out."
"That had to be his previous face then, the one with the head of white hair," She said as she decided upon the fettuccini, "He's got lovely brown curls now, and is taller if what Sarah say's is anything to go by."
"Alien, right," Sherlock muttered.
"Want to know about Daleks?" She asked him.
He sat there the entire time she told him about Skaro and the Kaleds and the creation of the Daleks by Davros. Mycroft came in at the beginning and listened in on her adventures. The only pause happened when they ordered their food and drink. Alcohol for the men and pumpkin juice for the one who was pregnant- though she was making a mental note to pick up a few cases of butterbeer for future celebrations and to send one to Harry and Sarah- with pasta being what they ordered for food.
She told them about Sutekh and about Morbius. The two men couldn't believe that this John had traveled through time and space. The way she talked about her adventures with her friends and husband was enough to call her fanciful if not for the tale of the Loch Ness. They both paid attention to what UNIT was doing, the whole group was made of intelligent people, it would be incredibly idiotic not to pay them any respect.
"That Davros fellow sounds like a rotten apple," Sherlock stated, "Sounds familiar."
"Now, now, don't be like that to your brother, Sherlock," John chided, and Mycroft seemed to puff up smugly, "He's not as bad as Davros…yet."
He seemed to deflate at that, and she snickered into her juice. She got a swift kick to the shin for that and it didn't seem to deter her from laughing. They paid for their food and drink. Mycroft took his leave of his youngest cousin and baby brother. He had enough of their chatter to last a lifetime.
"What do you even have to buy?" Sherlock questioned.
"Every flavored Jelly Babies, butterbeer, and ingredients to make specialty ice cream for a friend," She answered as she went over her mental list.
It was his turn to take his leave of her. She gave him a cheery wave and he vanished from the spot. She stood there for a few seconds before rolling up her sleeves and heading into the first shop. She found the butterbeer and ingredients with ease, a specialty shop that was in a tiny nook that sold everything she needed to make magical candy. She put everything into her messenger bag, an extension charm was sewn into the fabric, and rolled her shoulders.
She was starting to figure out that everything was different from her time when a store near her exploded. Her eyes went wide as she saw who had started it. The dark cloaks the skull masks, her lip quivered slightly as her hearts sped up in her chest. It had been a few months since she had seen those masks. And six years since the war took almost everything from her. She stood there transfixed while people ran past her. That snapped her out of it, and she squared her shoulders. She wasn't going to allow them to harm any more people while she was around.
With a quick wave of her wand, the debris around her flew towards the masked attackers. Several of them fell to the ground from the surprise attack. She brought a large piece of debris close to her to take cover as she fired off several boil inducing spells and tickling charms. It wasn't the way she was going to win; she had several neutral spells that she could use. She twisted her wand and out of the tip flew a long lasso of white fire.
"Fiend Fyre!" Someone shouted as she moved out of hiding.
It went towards the masked magicals and they began to scream in fear as the fire gained a dragon-like appearance. It reflected her Patronus. Those were what certain old tribes called spirit totems, the form a Patronus took was just that. Her's ended up being a dragon, the totem that represented longevity and travel through space. It used to be an owl.
They could always change.
She pulled herself from her thoughts and called off the fiend fyre before anyone got hurt. The Death Eaters, she needed to remember to use their titles, who remained looked at her as though they had never seen a pregnant woman fight. They went down with rapid stunning spells shot from her wand. She stood there with a cold look on her face before something tugged at the edges of her mind. The Tardis was calling her back, she disappeared with a crack to where the ship was. They were still in Antarctica. She looked around with genuine awe and snow began to stick to her hair. She shivered slightly and quickly slipped into the spaceship.
"Hello," She mumbled in a desolate tone.
The Tardis gave a low whistle in understanding. John moved through the hallways towards their room and went straight into her briefcase. As soon as the lid closed she hurried towards a large room. She changed her skirt into a pair of shorts and grabbed a spare broomstick. She had to do something about her anger, she couldn't allow it to feed to her magic and lash out. She didn't know what would happen if she were to have an accident in the Tardis. The ship could take her doing simple spells and some rune work but tended to warn her if she tried any spells that used a lot of magic. Well, when she was in the briefcase she could do so without a problem.
She kicked off into the air and began to fly around the large space. She practiced the different maneuvers from her time on the team. She had been forced to every early morning session, just in case she had to play. She stopped into a hover when she heard a whistle from below. The Doctor stood there with a worried expression. She winced; the Tardis had told him what happened. Couldn't hide anything from him if she tried.
"A loss of temper I see," He called up to her when she refused to come down.
"That never happened in my world," She informed him without thinking, "I couldn't…I couldn't let all those people be killed."
"That noble nature is going to get you killed," He informed her with a deep frown, "It's idiotic and last I knew being an idiot wasn't in your nature."
"Brazenness and near-suicidal tendencies are normal in Gryffindors," She informed him, "But…Theta, there were children there."
She wasn't looking at him anymore. She was staring at the wood grasped tightly in her hands. He made a sound of understanding. She had been so deeply set off by the fact that nothing like this was reported in her history. At least she had a motherly instinct to protect a child. That nature of her's was truly going to get her killed one day. Just like his had almost done him in.
"If you're a Gryffindor than what does that make me?" He asked her.
"Most likely the same, you're just as brash as I am sometimes if not more," She grumbled as she started to move down towards him.
"The house of the brave and chivalrous," He said, "Some would say bravery is for those that lack common sense."
"It was any of the houses but Slytherin," She huffed as she became eye-level with him, "You may be cunning, but you lack the ambition that is prevalent in most Slytherins."
"Was it so hard to come down?" He asked her.
She gave him a look that seemed as though she was contemplating going back up when he grabbed onto the wood. She understood his weariness about her flying, and slowly put her feet on the ground. She was still ready to go back into the air. She tilted her head slightly.
"Fancy a ride?" She asked him.
"Would it even hold both of our weight?" He questioned.
"You ask that even though you're already sitting behind me," She sounded amused by that and he simply reached forward to grasp onto the broom with her, "Hang on, I may have cushioning charms everywhere, but falling will still hurt."
She gently kicked off and watched as the Doctor tightened his grip on the broom. He didn't seem to be the type to enjoy flying like this. She took it easy and he slowly relaxed into it. If he rested his chin on her shoulder than no one was the wiser.
"No wonder you fly when upset," He commented, "It's oddly relaxing."
"You do realize that if our children have magic it's the first thing I'm teaching them, right?" She asked him.
"Oh no," He muttered, and she chuckled.
"Didn't even think about that did you?" She teased him.
"Hopefully, our brash nature will cancel each other out," He said.
"Doubtful, the Watson's are known for their particular brand of stubbornness, we're typically Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs," She informed him with a sly grin, "I believe you might've lost this one, love."
"Johana," He warned her, and she simply hummed in response, "I could always teach them Gallifreyan physics."
"Ah, that would put them ahead if they chose to go to Hogwarts as I did, or the academy like you," She informed him.
"Boarding schools," He sighed, "Except with yours we'll be able to see them during the summer and holidays."
She smiled at that as she landed. He was the first off, his legs a bit unsteady under him. She dismounted and rested it against her good shoulder, a grin on her face. He could almost see the teenager who still had that little bit of innocence and naivety left when she did that. The war couldn't squash that part of her that had grasped onto flying as a happy memory and held it close to her with an iron grip. He was just going to have to increase the number of happy memories, wasn't he?
"You swiped my Jelly Babies," He stated.
"Yes, yes I did," She chuckled.
He was finding the only person that could do that and he wouldn't get mad. He put an arm around her waist and began to lead her out of the briefcase, only pausing to let her put the broom up. When they reached the main control room John looked at Sarah in confusion. She was dressed in a swimsuit with an inflatable beachball in her hands.
"Are we going to the beach?" She questioned.
"Hopefully," Sarah chirped.
John couldn't help but agree with that. She was longing for something on Earth that wasn't dreary old England. It would give her a chance to take a break from all the war. She sighed in relief as the Doctor parked the Tardis and Sarah quickly went out the door. The cold burst of air was enough to let her know that he had just gone back to the artic. The Doctor joined Sarah and she could hear them laughing from inside the Tardis.
"Idiots, the both of them," She said in a fond tone.
The Tardis gave her a whistle and she chuckled.
"I suppose that I am one as well," She smiled as the two came back in, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
