A/N: Really sorry about the delay (again), my... I guess she's my beta took ages to read it. However , as a consequence, I finished Chapter 7, although my IPad deleted 2 pages, but once I've rewritten them it'll be up, and I'm well into Chapter 8. Now, read on!
John, Sherlock, the Doctor and K-9 all headed over to New Scotland Yard the next day to be confronted by amazed stares from most of the officers, an eye roll from Donovan and a yawning Lestrade. "Hi." Lestrade yawned. "I was about to call you. I thought you might want to observe the new wife in her 'natural habitat', as it was, so I organised invitations for three of us to go to a society ball she's attending. Sorry," he added to the Doctor. "I couldn't manage a fourth one." "It's alright," the Doctor said. "I'll stay in the TARDIS and mull things over..." "It's from 8:30pm to 1:30 am." "...or sleep." Sherlock looked at him oddly. "What? I'm almost 750, you know." "...And I believe it..." Lestrade muttered. "Anyway, it's next Wednesday, at The Ritz." "Alright. Is there anything we should be doing till then?" the Doctor asked. "I don't think so. You can do... whatever you normally do..., maybe John can finally manage to keep a girlfriend for more than 5 days if he actually goes out on dates with her and Sherlock can sulk and brood." "Hey!" from John. "Well, you have to admit it's true." Lestrade said. "It's Sherlock's fault anyway." "In more ways than one..." "I'm not... Oh, never mind." Sherlock had watched all this with an amused smirk. The Doctor interjected here. "So, as far as we know, this is the last wife. That's, what, four wives? How did he manage to juggle them all?" "I haven't found evidence of any more wives." Lestrade answered. "And I have no idea how he managed to juggle them all with none of them being aware of the others." "Presumably," K-9 chirped up "they all believed he was off collecting artifacts or such like when he was with the other wives." "I can see how that would work with two, but four?" John sounded utterly baffled. "People will believe many things if they wish to." K-9 said wisely.
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So, for the next 4 days, Sherlock refused to get the milk, Mrs. Hudson alternately was a sweet old lady and swore at Sherlock for damaging her apartment, John sighed and ended up getting the milk, Lestrade shouted at Angela and she shouted back, before he stormed out of the house to brood over Scotch at the pub, the Doctor fiddled with the TARDIS, and K-9 tried to persuade various people to play chess and occasionally succeeded. On Tuesday, the night before they were going to the society ball, the Doctor got picked up by a strange black car when he went out to buy corn chips (he needed them for the TARDIS. It's better not to ask why.). He was walking down the street towards the grocery shop when the phone in a booth next to him rang and the ATM on the other side of the road flashed 'Doctor' in big letters, and then 'answer the phone.' So, being the Doctor, he answered it. "Hello?" "Hello. I'm a... an acquaintance, shall we say, of Sherlock's. I would advise getting in the car." "Alright then, if you advise it." And he got into the sleek black car that had just pulled up by the sidewalk. "Hello." he said to the woman sitting beside him, texting. "Would you like a jelly baby?". She looked over at him and smiled patronisingly. "No, thanks." "Shame." he said, proceeding to eat a handful himself. "They're very nice ones." "I'm sure they are." They sat in silence for the rest of the journey to Battersea Power Station.
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Back at 221B, John was starting to get worried. "The Doctor's been a while now. I thought he was just getting corn chips." he said to Sherlock, who was in one of his rare conversational moods. "He's probably been detained by Mycroft. I'm surprised he hasn't been already, actually. He got you on, what, the second day? And the Doctor's been here more than a week now. My dear brother's getting slow." "And knowing the Doctor as I do," K-9 added. "He would have walked right in and offered him a jelly baby." John looked surprised. "How do you know about Mycroft? We haven't told you." One of K-9's eyescreens went blank momentarily. "We robots have our ways."
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"You can get out here." the texting woman said, as they pulled up outside Battersea Power Complex. "Alright then." the Doctor said before clambering out of the car. He bent down to say goodbye, but the car had already sped off. He straightened up and walked into the building. As he walked he was guided to the correct spot by messages flashed to his sonic screwdriver. When he walked into the large, (fairly) empty, concrete space he'd been directed to, he was confronted by a well-dressed man with an air of authority, who was slowly spinning a black umbrella by his side. "Hello, Doctor." he said quietly, though his voice boomed in this space. "I hear you're helping Sherlock with a case." It was a statement, not a question. "I seem to be, yes." the Doctor replied cheerfully. "I'm not really sure how that happened." "Yes, he does tend to have that effect on people. Though I must say you're taking him awfully well." "Well, I haven't been alone in a room with him yet. We'll have to wait to see how that goes." "I doubt Doctor Watson will allow you to be. I take it you plan on furthering your acquaintance then?" "Well, they both seem perfectly nice..." Mycroft raised one eyebrow. "Alright, John seems perfectly nice. Sherlock is smart and interesting." "That sounds more accurate." There was a long silence after this. It seemed that neither of them was going to crack, and they were each showing the other that. Finally Mycroft tilted his head slightly and stated, "You can go now. There's a car out the front waiting to take you to the store." "Thankyou." Mycroft nodded to the taller man. He nodded back before walking out, his coat flying behind him.
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Back at 221B, the Doctor came in carrying a bag of corn chips. "Hi." he said to John and Sherlock. "Hello K-9." "I see you got detained by Mycroft." Sherlock commented. "Yes. I think your brother brings out the intimidating side in me." the Doctor replied. "You?" John said incredulously. "An intimidating side? Not that I mean..." "No, it's alright. I get that a lot." "And how do you know Mycroft's his brother? I highly doubt Mycroft told you." "He seems to like his air of mystery, indeed. He didn't even introduce himself. And K-9 told me about him." "I wouldn't like to be on the bad side of you and K-9." John commented. "I have a feeling you'd make fearful opponents." The Doctor smiled. "Well, lucky you aren't then! Now, do you two have tuxedos?" "Tuxedos?" "For tomorrow night. I have the feeling it's black tie." "I don't think I have any that still fit. Sherlock?" "No, never saw the need. Still don't." "You won't make a very good impression if you're not in formal dress at this ball," Sherlock opened his mouth and the Doctor cut in smoothly. "And I know you don't care about impressions, but it is easier to question people if you've made a good first impression." "Alright then." Sherlock agreed grumpily. The Doctor clapped his hands. "Now, I know an excellent little tailor on Oxford Street in the 1800's..." "Um, Doctor." John interrupted his musings. "Yes, dear fellow?" John smiled. "It might be a little awkward if someone asks where we got them and we say "Oh, this lovely little shop on Oxford Street." "Oh? I don't know them." "That's because they went out of business in 1910." It could raise a few questions." "They went out of business in 1924, actually, but yes, I see your point... I guess it will have to be present day then. Shame, the suits are nowhere near as nice as they used to be." "It might be better, yes. One from this century, at least." "Oh, but this century's so small! Only a decade! Still, I'm sure I can find some place..." And that was how they found themselves in a tiny, squashed tailor in a side alley that not even Sherlock knew the name of...