"S-Sherlock…" John got out, eyes wide with horror as he stared at the familiar face on the page.
Sherlock leaned over and looked at the page, pulling a slight face as he saw the picture "That's…you."
"B-but it's not me!" John replied, eyes scanning the rest of the page which was blank aside from a name in bold letters below the photo "It's someone named 'Paul Maddens'. But he…has my face."
He rubbed his forehead and tried hard to think and suddenly an idea came to him.
"Sherlock, I think that actually is me."
Sherlock raised an eyebrow "So you're telling me that in your spare time you're an actor who goes by the alias Paul Maddens? Sorry John but I don't think I can believe that."
John took a deep breath "No, I don't mean that…" he sighed "I'm going to sound crazy but…I think this is me in…another universe."
A silence hung in the air for a moment before it was broken by Sherlock's laughter "You can't be serious John. An alternate universe where you're this man? Sorry but I think you need some more tea because you clearly aren't thinking straight."
Anger flowed through John at the mocking "I'm not insane Sherlock! It's quite a plausible idea."
"Right. And there's an alternate version of me running around somewhere who's a fairy princess." Sherlock continued to mock then he suddenly turned serious "However if that is your assumption then I will accept it until I come up with a better idea."
John gave a sigh of relief "Thank you." He looked back at the page "Right. Well my suggestion is that I just pretend to be this guy until we figure out what Moriarty has done."
"Seems a bit risky." Sherlock replied then grinned "I love it!"
John rolled his eyes "Well at least you're happy about this." He muttered then started to look through the other papers, assuming that he should probably read up on this man if he wanted to be him convincingly.
"Right. Well he isn't an actor anymore, he stopped around 3 years ago and he now is…" he scanned the page for the information, biting his lip when he found it "A primary school teacher at St Bernadette's in Coventry." He held up the certificate that showed Paul's teaching qualification.
"A primary school teacher." Sherlock looked horrified "You mean with…with children?"
"Yes, that's the whole point of schools Sherlock. To teach children."
Sherlock rubbed his head "I hate children."
John raised an eyebrow "A bit harsh. You've never even been around children before have you?"
"No, and I don't intend to start now."
"Suit yourself. You don't have to come with me. It seems you aren't in this universe so you can just stay here while I go to…work." John stood up and looked at the clock "Although I don't know what time the school starts." He decided to look on the school website and he searched around and soon discovered a laptop in the bedroom but that wasn't the only thing he found.
"Uh, Sherlock?" he called and soon the man was standing beside him.
"What is it?"
John gestured to the big ball of brown fur on the bed "I think we have another housemate." He wasn't all that happy about the dog because he didn't know how to take care of one but Sherlock seemed almost happy.
A rare genuine smile had formed on his face as he approached the dog and gave its head a gentle stroke "He seems friendly." He commented as the dog yawned and rolled over for Sherlock to scratch its belly which the man did much to the dog's satisfaction.
"I never took you for a dog person." John commented with a smile, enjoying seeing his flatmate like this.
"I had one as a child. His name was Redbeard." Sherlock replied with an almost sad smile as he stroked the dog contently.
John sensed that it was a sensitive subject for the man so he didn't ask any further questions and merely said "Well I guess you'll be in charge of taking care of him then because I have no experience with pets."
"Alright." Sherlock agreed
"Good." John picked up the laptop and perched on the edge of the bed and opened it, grunting in annoyance when it asked for a password.
"Sherlock I have something that you can help me with." He showed the laptop to Sherlock "I need to know his password."
Sherlock nodded and started a search round the room but there wasn't much in it to analyse and soon he turned his attention back to the dog.
"Sherlock I really need your help here. I don't want to miss work because you want to play with the man's dog."
"I'm checking for a nametag John." Sherlock replied and soon found one "Try 'Cracker' for the password."
"That's his name?" John raised an eyebrow "Guy must really like Christmas." He typed 'Cracker' into the password box and sure enough it unlocked "What idiot uses their dog's name as their password. It's too easy to guess."
"Apparently alternate universe you." Sherlock chuckled, adjusting his coat collar.
"Shut up." John muttered as he opened up the internet and searched the name of the school which brought him to the website.
"It starts at 9am." John looked at the clock beside the bed and leapt to his feet "It's 8:45!" he closed the laptop in a hurry and ushered Sherlock out of the room so he could get dressed.
Once Sherlock and the dog were out John rifled through the dresser, finding to his annoyance that it contained Paul's clothes, not his however luckily they seemed to have a similar fashion sense and it was mainly button up shirts and sweaters although that was about all there was, as well as an extensive tie collection hanging in the wardrobe and a grey overcoat.
"I miss my jacket." John said as he thought wistfully of his cargo jacket that he always wore whilst he dressed in a white button up shirt, black, smart trousers, a grey button up sweater and a black tie as well as plain black socks and shoes.
He wasn't sure about the temperature outside so he picked up the coat too just incase it was cold. It was December afterall.
"Okay I'll see you later Sherlock. Please keep out of trouble." John almost begged as he grabbed the man's wallet and phone from the dining table and stuffed them into his pockets then scrawled the phone number on a piece of paper and put it somewhere Sherlock would be able to find it.
"Yes, yes I'll be fine." Sherlock replied aggrevately as John rushed around although he couldn't help but smile a bit at the clothes the man was wearing. He looked like a schoolboy.
"Good." John hurriedly threw some food into a brown shoulder bag he'd found in the bedroom for lunch and the papers about Paul incase he needed to know something.
"Bye then." He said as he finally left however he was back in the house again instantly "Guy doesn't have a car. Bike." John sighed as he grabbed a blue helmet near the door and jammed it onto his head then left again, pulling on the grey coat as it really was cold outside.
Outside, leaned against the house was a silver bike which John stared at for a moment before getting onto it "I never thought I'd be riding one of these again." He murmured under his breath as he started pedaling down the street, a bit shaky at first from lack of practice but he soon steadied himself and was picking up speed when he suddenly realized he had no idea where he was going.
"Damn it." John muttered then quickly approached the kindest looking person he could to ask for directions which happened to be a rather pretty woman.
"Paul Maddens, right? Haven't you lived here for five or so years?" the woman asked with a chuckle when John asked for directions to the school "Surely you know where you work."
John felt worry start to creep up inside him as he tried to quickly come up with an excuse "Yes well uh, I had a rough morning and I just need a prompt to help me out." He tried, forcing a chuckle.
Luckily the woman didn't catch onto John's lie and she smiled and said "Keep going straight through town then take two lefts and a right then it's right there."
"Thank you." John breathed then went on his way as quickly as he could.
John ended up arriving at 'St Bernadette's Elementary School' at 9:10, 10 minutes late but he had thought up around a hundred excuses for being late by the time he had gotten there but it didn't mean he wasn't still nervous. It was like he was going for his first day at a new job except everyone expected him to know what he was doing which made it much worse.
He carefully leaned his bike up against a wall at the back of the school, not bothering to try and find a bike rack and he hurried inside, pulling his helmet off as he entered and ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to make it neater.
"Mr Maddens? Goodness you are late!" a larger lady with dirty blonde hair said as she saw John entering.
Another wave of panic went over John as he realized he knew no one's names but he hid it with a sheepish smile, his smart excuses going out the window "I know, sorry I had a bad morning." He gave her the same excuse he'd given the lady he'd asked for instructions, hoping she would buy it.
Thankfully for John the lady just shook her head fondly "Everyone has those. Now the kids are in assembly right now so just sneak in the back and no one should notice."
John appreciated the help and showed it with a real smile "Thank you." He looked around and his eyes soon landed on a large set of doors which he assumed lead into the main school hall where the assembly was taking place.
Ignoring the overwhelming nostalgia he got from being here John wandered about and soon found a side door leading into the hall which he quietly entered through and managed to grab a chair at the back of the room without too many people looking at him and he just gave them an awkward wave if they did look and they soon turned around again.
"Good morning children." A round lady with auburn hair in a bun announced from the front of the room and soon around a hundred small voices were echoing back to her
"Good morning Mrs Bevan."
Well at least he now knew one of the teacher's names and this one appeared to hold some importance from the way the other teachers around him were acting in her presence so he presumed she was the headmistress.
"Well isn't this exciting, we're only a few weeks away from Christmas!" Mrs Bevan said excitedly and the children all expressed their mutual excitement, causing John to smile slightly as he remembered what it was like to be a child at Christmas. It was quite exciting and John missed it frankly.
"Which also means that it's time to start getting ready for our nativity play this year."
John didn't pay much attention as the lady went on about past nativities and 'beating Oakmoore this year' because he had no idea what she was talking about and he only zoned back in when he heard his name…his fake name being said.
"Mr Maddens!"
John blinked and looked around,seeing many pairs of eyes staring at him whilst the children cheered.
What have I done? John thought to himself in a panic, now bitterly wishing he'd been paying attention as he just sat there like a statue.
"Come on Mr Maddens, come on up." Mrs Bevan encouraged with a smile and slowly John got to his feet , noticing briefly that his hands were shaking so he put them in his pockets to hide it as he made his way up to the front of the hall, feeling everyone's eyes burning into him.
He hated being the center of attention unlike Sherlock so he really wasn't enjoying this. Especially when he had to pretend to be someone else on top of that.
John forced a smile and tried hard not to look terrified as he still said nothing and just stood there until the applause died down and Mrs Bevan spoke once more.
"I'm sure you'll do a great job with the nativity this year, Mr Maddens."
John felt his eyes involuntarily widen as the words sunk in "What?"
The word came out of his mouth before he could stop it. He was just so confused.
"Pardon." Mrs Bevan corrected as some of the children sniggered at John's 'rude' language.
"Sorry…I think I must have missed what you said before. What am I doing?" John asked as quietly as he could.
Mrs Bevan laughed "I think Mr Maddens left his brain at home today." She teased and the children laughed, causing John to feel his ears burning in shame. He really didn't want to be here.
Thankfully his embarrassment had paid off as the lady repeated herself "What I said Mr Maddens was that this year you will be directing the nativity play."
Dread filled John's heart as the words hit him however he managed to fake delight "Of course! Well I am very excited to do it and I hope I can do the school proud." He gave a fake smile which seemed to be convincing as the children started clapping again.
"Wonderful. Now shall we sing some carols?" Mrs Bevan suggested
John took that as his cue to leave and he shuffled back to his seat,his body feeling like it was full of lead.
He didn't stick around to hear the Christmas carols and instead snuck back out of the hall and fumbled about for his or 'Paul's' phone and after searching through his contacts John phoned his home number in hopes that Sherlock would pick up and possibly be able to help him out of this fix.