"…and you're sure you have everything under control over there?" asked the man on the other side of the video call.
"Director Fury," said the woman, with a strong note of authority in her voice. "I believe I have everything fully under my control here. If anything, I should be asking if your experiments involving that Tesseract of yours requires MY assistance."
Nick Fury suppressed a short laugh at that. "I'm more than confident that my team can handle things over here," said Fury. "But if you do need someone, I can send over Rogers or Romanoff…"
"I'll keep it in mind, but I'm sure we'll be okay," said the woman. "So long and good luck, Director Fury."
"Same to you, Ms Poppins," said Fury, as the video cut out.
"Shouldn't he have called you Director?" asked Q.
"Oh, believe me, he'll be hearing about it in our next meeting," said Mary. "But for now, I assume our guests should be arriving soon."
"I bloody well hope so," said a man already sitting at the conference table. "I didn't come all the way here to be stood up."
"Oh, don't worrying Mr. Hunt," said Mary. "I predict we'll have some company in…let's see…3…"
"Three what?" asked Gene. "Also, it's DCI Hunt to…"
"2…" continued Mary, ignoring Gene.
"Again I ask, two what?" demanded Gene.
"1…" said Mary. Before Gene could interrupt again, the doors to the conference room burst open, and two men dragging a third, unconscious man walked through.
"You know James, when I told you to bring me Mr. Holmes, I was hoping he'd at least be awake so we could discuss the matter with him," said Q.
"Oh, but I am," said Sherlock, suddenly wide awake. John and James gave a sudden start at Sherlock's comment.
"Wait, you're awake?" asked John. "Since when?"
"I was never unconscious," said Sherlock. "I knew Mr. Bond here was going to take me with him no matter what, so I decided to make it as inconvenient as possible for him."
"Permission to actually knock him out this time?" asked James, seething with rage.
"Unfortunately, I can't grant that at this time Mr. Bond," said Q, also sounding a bit irritated with Sherlock.
"In any case, I do suddenly have a slight interest in this case," said Sherlock. "Namely, you were speaking to Watson about magic as though it was real."
"To be fair, I'm still sceptical of that," John pointed out. "Not trying to doubt you James, but it sounds very unbelievable."
"No offense taken doctor," said James. "I'm still trying to grasp what I saw last night. I wouldn't expect you to believe me without some proof."
"And that proof should be here soon," said Mary, nodding towards a fireplace at the end of the room.
"I was going ask about that," said Sherlock. "It seems like a very odd place for a fireplace, especially since we're on the sixth floor of a twenty-two-storey building."
"As I said, you'll soon see…" started Mary, just as a flash of green came from the fireplace. "Never mind, they're here now."
As the room flashed green, James jumped back in shock and drew his gun, just as a man in his early thirties with messy black hair emerged from the fireplace. He was soon followed by another man of roughly the same age, but this one with red hair. Almost immediately after him was a woman with brown hair. All three were wearing some kind of robes, though the first man and the woman looked somewhat professional in their style of dress, while the other man looked far more laid back. "Stay right where you are," commanded James, aiming his gun at the trio.
"Bloody hell, is this how all muggles greet people?" asked the redhead, slowly putting his hands up.
"James, put your gun away," said Q. "These people are our allies."
"After what I saw last night, I feel I'm entitled to have some doubts," said James, though he obediently put his weapon away.
"I'm…sorry, is there a reason you three had to come through the fireplace?" asked John, still trying to comprehend what he just saw.
"On the rare occasions we need to come to MI6, we tend to use the Floo Network," explained the woman. "The fireplace was installed simply so we didn't have to walk through the halls dressed like this and arousing suspicion."
"Floo…Network?" asked Sherlock, who for once was actually too shocked for words. "What are you…you must have come through the corridors to get here, that fireplace backs onto an open office space."
"As I mentioned, magic is apparently real," said James, who looked like he was starting to relax now that the wizards hadn't started attacking them.
"Gentleman, may I introduce Mr. Harry Potter," said Mary, striding forward to indicate the black-haired man who'd entered first. "The boy who lived, and defeated the Dark Lord."
"I'm never going to be known as just Harry, am I?" asked Harry.
"I'll call you just Harry," said Gene, who had hardly reacted to the trio's entry. "Though it's more because I don't know or care who you are."
"…thanks, I guess?" said Harry, as Mary began introducing the others.
"This young lady right here is Miss Hermione Granger," said Mary, indicating the brown-haired woman. "And lastly, Mr. Ron Weasley. I wasn't expecting them to bring you to a matter of national security."
"Wherever these two go, I go," said Ron.
"Especially if there's trouble involved," said Hermione. "Though I question whether we should be revealing ourselves to so many muggles."
"The hell did you just call me?" demanded Gene. "I didn't come here to be insulted by a skirt."
"She simply means non-magic folk," said Mary. "There's a reason magic has been kept a secret for so many years."
"I'm guessing these magicians just don't want to reveal their secrets," said Sherlock. "Since we have yet to see a truly magical act from them."
"Sherlock, they just came in through the fireplace," said John.
"We can't see the other side of that wall," said Sherlock. "For all we know, they just wanted to make an entrance."
"Mr. Potter, if you could please prove a point to Mr. Holmes," said Mary.
"If you say so," said Harry, pulling out his wand and pointing it at a mug on the table. "Wingardium Leviosa." On command, the mug began floating before the group.
"Oh, come on," said Sherlock, exasperated. "Obviously there are wires above the…" As he was speaking, Sherlock started waving his hand above the mug to find how it was suspended. However, the mug continued to float, with no change to its elevation. "…huh…"
"James, I'm sorry for doubting you earlier," said John.
"Well, if we're all satisfied that magic exists now…" started Mary.
"I'm not, but I'm sure I'll figure out how you did that soon enough," said Sherlock, still thinking about it. "Let's see…"
"Prepare to be disappointed then," said Mary. "Anyway, we're still waiting on one more member, though I assume he'll be along shor…" As she was speaking, Mary's head shot up, as though she'd heard something. "Ah, here he is now."
"What is that sound?" asked Hermione.
"It sounds like an alarm," said John.
"Is someone daft enough to try attacking MI6?" asked Gene, as the alarm sound grew steadily louder.
"Wait, what's that?" asked James, pointing to the corner of the room. The others turned around to see something blue slowly come into existence.
"Is that…a police box?" asked Gene. "Bloody hell, we haven't used those in decades."
"So we're not the only wizards you called then?" asked Ron.
"No, no, you're still the only wizards," said Mary. "This is more like science."
"Science?" asked Ron. "What is that?"
"Honestly Ron? I'm sure I've told you about it before," said Hermione, as the door to the police box opened.
A man emerged from within, wearing a pinstripe suit covered by a long brown overcoat. He looked around the room sheepishly, as though he knew he'd interrupted something. "Oops, sorry, didn't mean to land here," said the man, fully emerging from his box. "I'm just going to have a quick look around, see where I am, and take off again. Continue with your meeting." It was at this point he seemed to notice the three wizard's outfits, compared to the others in the room. "Odd choice of attire for a business meeting, but who am I to judge?" The man began walking towards the door as though to leave.
"Nice of you to join us today, Doctor," said Mary, grabbing his attention.
The Doctor (and John) spun around to see who had spoken. "Mary!" the Doctor cried. "How are you going? Still nannying, are you?"
"Occasionally," said Mary. "But right now, I'm leading a very important meeting for S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Really?" asked the Doctor. "Quite the career change that. Well, I don't mean to interrupt. I'll be on my…"
"You're invited to said meeting," said Mary. "In fact, we were expecting you'd be here."
"Oh, well in that case," said the Doctor, grabbing a chair and sitting down. "Actually, do you mind if a couple of others join us?"
"Not at all," said Mary. "I'm sure your companions will be most interested in what we're about to talk about."
"Excellent," said the Doctor, getting back up and walking over to the TARDIS. "Martha, can you bring her out for me? I think these people might need to speak to her."
To several people's shock, a young black woman emerged from the police box. "I'm not sure if she's up to meeting people," said Martha. "She has had quite the shock, you know."
"Yes, but I think she might need to talk to these people," said the Doctor. "They can help, I think."
"I'll see what I can do," said Martha, disappearing back inside.
"…I'm…sorry, but isn't that just a regular police box?" asked Sherlock, stunned at what he was seeing.
"It's a bit bigger on the inside," explained the Doctor.
"Ah, that makes sense then," said Harry, his two friends nodding in agreement. From their expressions, it was clear they completely believed the Doctor.
"That's not how it works," said John. "How can you…" Before he could finish, the police box door opened again, this time with Martha coming out with another woman. She looked absolutely distraught, as though she'd been through something traumatic in the last few days. As she appeared, James stood up and stared at her in shock.
"Miss Trench?" asked James, causing the woman to look up at him. "I thought you were dead."
"Trench…Trench is my maiden name," said the woman. "My name is…Honeychurch. Miranda Honeychurch."
"I see…" said James, considering something. "You wouldn't happen to know someone named Naomi, would you?"
"My sister," said Miranda. "Do you know her?"
"I…knew her…" said James, trying to avoid Miranda's eyes.
"Knew?" asked Miranda, as the implication of what James had said hit her. "Oh my God…is she…"
"I'm sorry," said James. "She wanted to avenge you and your husband. I should never have let her join me."
"Yes, yes, very sad," said Mary, drawing attention back to her. "Now that we're all here, shall we begin the meeting?"