John was feeling rather uncomfortable. When they had arrived at the Diogenes Club, which looked very much as though it had remained unchanged through two centuries the doorman had decided John's jumper was not quite smart enough to permit him entry. A suitable jacket, one size fits nobody had been found for him. Which had meant the removal of his jumper. Something that was fraught with peril whenever Sherlock was around.
They were now sat in a small mahogany paneled room waiting for Mycroft to be retrieved from the leathery bowels of the institute. Sherlock was gazing at John's recently exposed, but now safely covered in tweed, midriff.
"Stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you just ordered me on toast." The door opened and the elder Holmes brother entered.
"Sherlock. Have you found it?"
"No. I need access to the Underground. The unauthorized Underground."
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Oh come off it, you said it was of national importance, lives were at stake, security and all that bollocks. I need to get down there."
Mycroft sat quietly for a moment, a look of absolute concentration on his face as he weighed up Donald and his precious secret's retrieval against the havoc his little brother could serve on an unsuspecting London with access to everywhere.
"Alright. But you are to stay away from Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, The Tower and the Thames Flood Barrier."
"There's a disused line under Buckingham Palace?"
"Delete that at once Sherlock. And you Doctor Watson."
"Delete what?" John asked innocently. He was a very quick learner.
"Good boy."
"I'm not a dog." John folded his arms and managed to look even cuter in his anger.
"John's not a dog Mycroft. And neither am I. You don't just shout fetch and we go and get. What is so important about this Dinosaur?"
Mycroft mumbled something.
"What?"
"I said it has something concealed within its skull."
"What Something?"
"The Pendragon Cipher." Sherlock laughed. John looked confused.
"But that isn't even a real thing. It's just a whole lot of superstitious crap. Are you telling me that you are wasting my time to recover a Child's fairy tale?"
"What exactly is the Pendragon Cipher?" John Watson wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew he did not like the sound of it one bit.
"A load of old bollocks."
"It is a stone tablet, upon which is written a sacred prophesy concerning the fate of the realm of England. " Mycroft looked as though every word was costing him.
"No Sorry. Don't understand."
"It is believed that whilst the tablet remains intact and within this sceptred isle we remain safe. But if it is taken and broken into pieces, we are doomed." Sherlock sniggered. "Together we stand, Divided we fall Doctor."
"That's extraordinary."
"No John, the phrase you're looking for is: That is Horse-Shit."
"Setting aside the freaky supernatural stuff for a moment. Why is something this important stuck in the head of a Diplodocus? Shouldn't it be in a vault somewhere, under surveillance? With guns and stuff?"
"One of the terms of the prophesy is that it has to be kept in a certain place. Adhering to certain ley-lines."
"You aligned a Dinosaur with ley-lines?"
"No we aligned the natural History Museum with ley-lines. Then we just conveniently put the cipher in the Dinosaur."
"And you believe all this? About the Cipher?"
"It is not a question of believing Doctor, I am ordered to protect it by Her Majesty. And She does believe." John considered this for a moment whilst Sherlock folded his arms and regarded his brother as though he had just sprouted a second head. "I would have thought as an Officer who has served Her Majesty you would understand John."
"Yes. Yes I do." John said quietly.
"Well I don't. The whole thing is boring!" John looked at Sherlock for a moment.
"Sherlock!"
"Boring!" Mycroft looked at John Watson like a drowning man. John could only imagine the trouble Mycroft would be in if he had to explain to Her Majesty that his little brother wouldn't help. You took your orders and you obeyed them. Even if it meant getting shot. Or chasing around London after a dinosaur. John understood. He undid his tweedy jacket and stretched into a yawn, getting Sherlock's full attention.
"What I don't get, is why you would take the whole dinosaur if you knew what you wanted was in its head?" Sherlock raked his eyes over John.
"Of course. The two things aren't related at all. Whoever has the dinosaur wanted a dinosaur. They have no idea what they've actually stolen. Come on John." Mycroft shot John Watson a look of pure gratitude as John raced after Sherlock.