Part TWO: In Two Deep
Sherlock Holmes is a fairly common topic of discussion at the New Scotland Yard. Considering his brilliant abilities in the fields of logical reasoning, observation, science, and recollection, and his equally outstanding personality and social skills (although this second part is, more often than not, relayed sarcastically), it's no wonder he's brought up almost on a daily basis during meal breaks and low-stakes operations.
It's a matter of fact that everyone at the Yard, from the janitors that clean the halls daily, to the highest ranking, most experienced detectives, has heard of the equally famous and infamous Sherlock Holmes. Only the persons who commonly work at crime scenes, however, have actually had the pleasure of meeting (and better yet, talking to) Sherlock in the flesh. These officers know Sherlock better than the general public, especially concerning the ins and outs of his strange behaviors.
One of Sherlock's more unusual behaviors, though, is kept a secret from anyone ranking below detective, and may be better off called a 'gift' or a 'superpower'. Being classified, of course, makes it less common a discussion topic between lower ranking officers, whom are more likely to focus on something significantly less supernatural and easier to comprehend, like the weather, or perhaps the meaning of life.
The higher ranking detectives of the Yard, however, are an entirely different story. Not only do they, in secret, ruminate on and on about why Sherlock has his unusual powers to begin with, but they also have various betting pools on the extent of his abilities. Since Sherlock Holmes is not often the most forthcoming of information to those he considers not only below him, but far, far below him, few people know the full reach of his powers, including the Detective Inspector himself. A few of these unresolved pools, along with the well known "How many years has Sherlock lived?" one, include: "Do Sherlock's powers extend beyond humans?", "What's the longest life Sherlock's been stuck in?", and, interestingly enough, "Which of Sherlock's closest associates has he used his ability on before?". Due to this last question, most of the detectives at the Yard would have paid fifty pounds each to listen to a short conversation Sherlock and John once had, many years ago, during a particularly tedious and boring stake-out.
It was not a dark and stormy night. In fact, for once, the weather was quite agreeable.
This particular conversation took place long before John had gotten married, before Sherlock had taken his leap, and even before the two of them together had discovered the mysteries behind Baskerville. As usual in any conversation between John and Sherlock, Sherlock was rude and John was ever-so-patient, but nothing more or less was to be expected from the two men. After a long period of uncomfortable silence, John was the first one to start talking again, in hopes of relieving some of the boredom that had been building over the past few hours.
"How many people, the ones I know at least, have you used it on before?" John asked when the conversation stalled, more out of boredom than true curiosity.
"Hmmm?" Sherlock responded from behind a pair of high tech binoculars (one of his favorite new 'toys').
"You know what I'm talking about, you insufferable..." John decided this wasn't a path worth pursuing, however, and after a second, turned back to his original question. "How many of our mutual friends... well, considering it's you, I should say acquaintances instead... how many of them have you used your ability on before?"
Minutes passed and Sherlock was silent. John sighed, rolled his eyes, and readjusted his position in the driver's seat of a car they had rented for the purpose of conducting this very stake-out. John's mind began to wander to other thoughts, such as what he should grab from the store after they were done with whatever it was they were doing in the first place.
"... Two." The consulting detective finally spoke up, startling John out of his pondering.
"Two? What's about two?" Sherlock let out an exasperated sigh as John's mind raced to catch up. "Wait, is that an actual answer to my previous question? Which two people, Sherlock?"
Sherlock lowered the binoculars from his eyes and quickly turned to John. "Think, John. Who do you suppose it is?"
It only took John a few seconds to come up with the first one, since it was the only one he knew for sure. "Mycroft must be one of the two, correct?" John had long ago reasoned this one out on his own. Assuming Sherlock and Mycroft had grown up in close vicinity, it made sense that they would have touched heads at some point during their childhood, probably when Sherlock was too young to realize what was going on. John's deduction of this was confirmed almost monthly whenever Mycroft did something devious or sly that upset the consulting detective (like putting up cameras in their flat). Sherlock would rant on and on for the rest of the day (and often, night) about how he wished he could get inside Mycroft's head to learn all his "stupid, classified" secrets. Alas, Sherlock often moaned, he would never have the chance since his one-time per person power had been unwillingly used for him before it was useful. During these days (and often, nights), John generally stayed out of Sherlock's way and let him get it all out of his system.
"Yes, John, that would be one of the two." Sherlock replied with a look of almost approval. "Now, who's the other?"
John ran through the small list of people that the detective would actually bother to call associates. "How about Lestrade? You've known him a lot longer than you've known me, it could have came up at some point."
Sherlock shook his head no, and John looked surprised. "Well, what about Molly then?" Once again, the consulting detective denied having ever used his power on the person John had guessed.
"Donovan? Anderson?"
At the mention of the last name, Sherlock let out a full hearted guffaw of amusement. "Go inside Anderson's head and live his entire boring life by choice?" John cracked a grin at that one, but then his smile faltered as he realized he was running out of names.
"Irene? Irene Adler?" said John, beginning to throw wilder and wilder guesses. "Stamford?"
Sherlock sighed again, and John looked at him, irritated. "Oh come on now, who is it? I've gone through pretty much everyone we know!"
"Pretty much everyone, John? Who did you miss? Think!" The detective prodded him on.
"Everyone but... oh, you don't mean... Sherlock!... her?"
"If you are referring to Mrs. Hudson, then you are correct in your thinking, John. The whole event was a rather... unfortunate... accident that took place the day I moved in. There's no need to delve into the specifics of it."
Five minutes later, though, John had gotten the whole story, and since then had been laughing uncontrollably.
Sherlock glared at him from the passenger seat. "You would be surprised that her life was, in fact, one of the more interesting ones I've lived, compared to the lives of most average, boring people."
This, however, only spurred John's laughter on more.
Their stakeout continued on for another hour with no more discussion of Sherlock's ability when their suspect finally appeared from the inside of a rundown hotel building. Thirty-seven minutes later, he was handed over to the Yard for questioning. The case was solved, and John and Sherlock went about their lives normally (or, at least, what qualifies as 'normal' for a pair of men whom live very unusual lives to begin with).
Most of the detectives at the Yard would have paid fifty pounds each to hear this one particular conversation between Sherlock and John, a conversation that occurred during a tedious stake-out on a not-so-stormy night many years ago. However, most of them would have given away their entire meager life savings out of pure curiosity for the answer to one other single question. The question... in question... was perhaps the most wildly debated uncertainty between the detectives at the Yard: had Sherlock used his ability on John yet?
To their disappointment, neither of the pair has ever provided a clear answer on the subject. Perhaps they preferred to keep the matter between them, or perhaps it was simply a running joke between the doctor and the consulting detective to forever keep the Yard on their toes, wondering.
And so, life went on.
Years later, though, after all the previous events in question had passed, the answer to at least one of John's wild guesses would change. Of course, neither of them knew that now.
Neither the doctor nor the consulting detective knew that the chain of events leading to this would start with a highly unusual cup of hot chocolate, either.
End Notes:
This was going to be a one-shot, but... I guess not? Good news for you readers is that I just can't seem to leave this idea alone, so there's at least one more chapter coming.
Statistically, I am more likely to post a chapter faster based on the increasing number of favorites/reviews/alerts I receive. I've ran the calculations, and it checks out.