After that spar with Clint, John went up to his room, wanting to get cleaned up before he planned on what to do next. He knew that Clint had dragged him to spar on purpose to show off to the team but he guessed that it wasn't that bad as now the team could know what was his capability.
Before going into the shower though, John turned around and said "JARVIS, if by any chance Tony asks for any other clues, just say that it is a secret known to few."
"Alright Dr. Watson. Though, may I know where you actually met him?" JARVIS asked curiously. "I might tell you but... very few know about it..." John replied.
"Then please answer this one question Dr. Watson. Is it somehow related to Afghanistan? Because I fairly recollect sir telling me about a soldier who foolish enough to come into a terrorist sight alone and rescue him and another prisoner. Sir tells me everything." JARVIS said in a quite amused tone.
"Alright JARVIS, you caught me there" John conceded. "As I said, very few know about this detail you know. And also tell him he is cute when he is frustrated." John said and went into the shower.
One long shower later, John came out and dressed up, before he sat on his bed, shirtless to call Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade. It was the usual, "Yes I am fine" "No, they didn't do anything" "And No, they are not forcing me to do anything" "Yes, I will call you often." to both of them. The rest of the day was comparatively boring with just having some lunch before everyone parted ways.
The next few days had been relatively peaceful apart from the occasional sparing with the assassins and soldier in the tower, while he tried to keep his past to himself for now as it was a sore topic for him and was glad that no one pushed him.
Then John's luck ran out with the Tony guessing game. He had just come out of the shower and was shirtless when someone knocked the door insistently.
"Coming!" John said as he approached the door and opened it. "Hey John, it was just..." Tony trailed as he saw the scars littered on John's chest. "May I come in?" Tony asked and John nodded as he rushed in to get a shirt, self conscious of the scars.
The moment John returned, Tony started. "Jonathan, Afghanistan nearly 5 years back along with Myc right?" Tony asked knowingly. John just sighed. "What gave it away?" he asked.
"I remember the scars from when I saw it when you were checking your ribs after you took off that bulletproof vest. That long gash was something I never forgot you know. But I guess you had your fun." Tony said.
"Yeah, it was definitely fun but what brought you here Tony?" John asked. "Oh yeah, just wanted to inform you that Myc had called and wanted to tell you something. And just expect a visitor pretty soon. Just a heads up." Tony said and went out of the room.
"Oh! And do you want to tell the team about your military background and how you... you know?" Tony said popping in. "Get out now Tony, I'll think about it." John said and shut the door before sighing. "Genius'" he muttered as he went to get his phone to call Mycroft for whatever he had wanted.
"Hello Mycroft, what did you want?" John asked. "Nothing much, just wanted to know how you are doing you know, you didn't check in after you settled in." Mycroft said.
"Just get to the point Mycroft, I know you did not call just for that." John responded. "Straight to the point then, I got your message but it will take some time to collect all the documents to do that you know." he said.
"I realised that. Just work on it though, promise me that." John said. "Don't worry John, I am working on it. No one can see it until you want them to" promised Mycroft and cut the call. John sighed and paced around, thinking about what to do.
No one can come to know about his powers right now, so he was clueless on what to do. He needed a reason why he was in America all of a sudden, staying with the Avengers and all. Plus he cannot give out any personal information incase his close ones were hurt and hence the call to Mycroft.
John sighed again and went out, maybe he might be of some help in preparing the dinner that day.
Just an hour before Tony came to speak with John
It was a pretty good day for Tony. He had almost got close as to why John was familiar, there had been no missions of late, SI was not having any troubles, the team had gotten along well with John even though there was still some doubts. But then it happened.
The phone rang insistently and Tony picked it up while asking JARVIS to continue scanning and processing the information. "Hello, Stark speaking." Tony said.
"I need to come over to your place and no one can know about it." the person replied. "What did you do this time? I thought you were going to stay there for a few days?" Tony asked, a little amused. This guy sure had his way to piss of people.
"Just that the people of London have gone mad. I will explain more when I meet you there. And my conference is actually over you know." the guy replied. "Yeah, yeah, got it bro" Tony said. "And don't forget to book the ticket, I am not in a state to do it myself. Thank you" he said and cut the call.
"Why brother why?" Tony let out a frustrated shout. "JARVIS, get his room ready, I'll inform the team about his arrival. Stupid brothers and their unexpected announcements. He had just gone to London for a medical conference and suddenly, he calls up and says that London has gone mad and wants to come back." Tony muttered as he went out of the lab to inform the team.
Just as he was leaving, there was another call. He picked it up again and asked "What do you want now?"
"This is Mycroft, please ask whoever is this Dr. Strange guy to leave immediately before any trouble arises. And please ask John to call me." he said and cut the call before he could reply so he just texted that he already knew about it and was working on it.
"Stupid British officials" was all Tony could say as he booked the ticket for one Dr. Stephen Strange.
A few hours before the call, London
He had just landed in London for the medical conference, which to happen in about an hour. "Dr. Strange?" someone called out and he turned to see a driver waiting for him. He boarded the taxi, attended the conference and it went well.
He had just gone to some restaurant to grab a bite before exploring when the mess started. He was quietly eating his sandwich when someone suddenly pointed at him and said "There is the liar who cheated all of us and then faked his death." and that one statement soon started spreading around while he was just blinking, not knowing what is happening.
It was only when someone hit him that he realised what was happening. "Wait! I am not the one you think I am!" he said frantically as he dashed to the exit when he realised that the crowd was not going to leave him alone.
And since then, he had been running until he could no more and quickly entered a house that was luckily unlocked and shut the door quite loudly. "What is going on?" a lady asked as she entered the hall. "Sorry mam but I would- " Strange started explaining before he was cut off.
"Sherlock? Is that you?" she asked, her hands trembling slightly. "John is going to be glad to see you ohmygosh! I need to inform Gregory and- " "Sorry to interrupt mam but I am not whoever this Sherlock guy is. I am Dr. Stephen Strange and there was quite a mob behind me, shouting insults so I sought refuge here." Strange explained.
Mrs. Hudson just blinked in disappointment before letting out a small "Oh" before ushering him in. "Sorry for the misunderstanding Dr. Strange. I am Mrs. Hudson and I own this place. I think you were attacked because you looked quite similar to someone who was falsely accused for a few things before he died." she explained.
"Wait a minute, I had a picture of him somewhere, maybe that will clarify your doubts" Mrs. Hudson said before going back inside. Strange just took out his phone and called up his brother to inform that he would be coming over sooner than expected.
Mrs. Hudson returned with a cup of tea and a photograph and handed it over to Strange. "I can see why people confused me with him. Who is he though?" he asked.
"The one who looks like you is Sherlock Holmes. If you ask him who he was, he might tell you he was a sociopath or a consulting detective but ask the ones he was close to, we would tell you he was a genius who was very good at judging people at one glance. I mean, he can tell about your whole life by just looking at you. Though he could be a little insensitive due to that as not many people liked him for that." Mrs Hudson said with a fond smile.
"And the other person?" he asked, a little nerved out about hearing about his imposter. "Oh, that is John Watson, a doctor like you actually. Ways always supporting Sherlock with cases or otherwise. You can say he kept him in check and put up with everything Sherlock did. And he was the one who was hit the most when Sherlock died, he had died in front of him, the poor guy. The two were too close that you can imagine them to be in a relation." she said sadly.
"Oh" was all Strange could say after hearing the story. "Would you mind if I stay over till I can catch a plane? I have no where else to stay and there is a mob after me."
"No problem at all, I would not mind. Where are you going though?" she asked. "New York for now." he replied. "Oh! Then can you give whatever I give to you to John? He had asked it the last time he had called." she explained.
"Sure, I'll try. But where does he stay for now?" Strange asked. "I... I'm not sure about those details exactly. He just said somewhere near that big tower in New York." she lied partially.
"I'll try my best to do so Mrs. Hudson. Where should I stay though?" "I'll show you come, get ready and come down after that, I'll prepare you something to eat." she said and showed him to Sherlock's previous room.
A/N: The long awaited chapter finally! I know that some of the scenes are too absurd but... I can't help how my imagination works you know. Hopefully this compensates for my long absence from this book.
Hope you all like it! And there you go, Strange is Tony's brother. Any ideas on the Strange - John meeting? Comment please. All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated.
Thank you all for reading!
Rasi10 signing off
Published on 14 April 2019