Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! To answer a few: Yes, this is the modern-BBC Sherlock but it's set when they are younger. It is the Eleventh Doctor (the funny man with the bowtie) and as far as his history goes, these adventures take place sometime after Angels Take Manhattan but before the adventures with Clara (which I have not yet seen). I would love to hear any suggestions although I already have a general direction in which I want to steer this story.
Chapter Two
"No."
"Yes."
"No!"
"Yes!"
"But it's impossible."
"I know."
"It's…"
"Bigger on the inside," Sherlock interrupted his brother.
The Doctor smiled and watched as the two brothers eagerly glanced around the console, trying to take everything in at once.
"She can go anywhere into time and space," the Doctor continued.
"But that's impossible!" Mycroft argued, "Who are you? What are you?"
"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said, adjusting his bowtie. Before Mycroft could repeat his earlier question, he added, "Just the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord."
"A what?" Sherlock asked, tilting his head.
"Time Lord."
"There's no such thing," Mycroft grumbled.
The Doctor merely raised his eyebrows.
Sherlock glanced around and attentively said, "So…anywhere in time and space?"
"Yes."
"You're mad," Mycroft spluttered, "Come on, Sherlock."
"Give me a chance," the Doctor eagerly said.
"To do what?"
"To prove it," the Doctor replied, "To prove that it travels through time and space. You two look like you could use some cheering up."
"No," Mycroft firmly said, "No, I'm sorry. I've got to get my brother home. Father won't be pleased if we're late."
"It's a time machine," Sherlock pointed out, eagerly tugging at Mycroft's sleeve, "He can have us back yesterday!"
The Doctor smiled and remarked, "Well, not quite. But I can take you across the universe and back in five minutes."
"Come on, Mycroft! Please!" Sherlock practically begged.
"Do you trust me?" the Doctor asked.
"No," Mycroft immediately proclaimed.
To his surprised, a glimmer of relief passed over the Doctor's face.
"Trust me," Sherlock pleaded, his eyes shining, "Please, Mycroft?"
Mycroft sighed but realized that he was losing this fight. At wit's end, he snarled, "Fine."
"Hold onto something," the Doctor said with a smile.
Sherlock held onto Mycroft who held onto the console. The Doctor pulled several levers and pushed several buttons. A gnashing and grinding sound commenced. The entire box trembled for a moment before stabilizing.
"Was that it then?" Mycroft cynically asked, "Are you happy, Sherlock? Come on; let's go home."
"You'd have a bit of a walk, mate," the Doctor said with a wry smile.
He crossed the room and opened the door. The two brothers felt their jaws drop. Galaxies were spread out before them. Billions of stars and meteors lined the inky sky.
Mycroft and Sherlock slowly stood up and crossed the room. The Doctor protectively put his arms around them, just in case. Mycroft raised his hand and felt the universe fly by. It was brilliant. It was illogical. It simply couldn't be. And such a contradiction could only cause the two brothers to laugh.
"Alright," Mycroft finally declared, "I'm not saying that I trust you but…I believe you."
The Doctor looked delighted and said, "So, what do you think, Sherlock?"
Sherlock thought about it for a moment before saying, "I'm hungry."
"Hungry!" the Doctor yelped, amused, "I take you across the universe and show you millions of stars and you say that you're hungry?"
Sherlock stood by it. Mycroft chuckled, pulling the last biscuit out of his pocket and handed it to his brother. The Doctor smiled at the gesture before exclaiming, "Right then! Where do you want to go?"
"Go?" Mycroft repeated, "Go where?"
"Anywhere you'd like," the Doctor replied, "Anywhere in time and space."
"Really?" Sherlock whispered, excitedly.
"Now hang on," Mycroft reprimanded, "I'm not just going to let you barrel off across the universe! You're still in trouble for trying to cross the street!"
Sherlock stuck out his bottom lip and excused his near brush with death by saying, "But he saved me! The Doctor saved me!"
"What if he hadn't," Mycroft urged.
"But he did," Sherlock replied, as if that settled things.
"It was incredibly foolish," Mycroft chastised.
"But it's not my fault!" Sherlock argued.
"Of course not," Mycroft muttered.
Sherlock glared at him and heatedly snapped, "You said that it isn't my fault when somebody is being a bully."
"It's…it's not," Mycroft stammered, "But…Father's not…he's not a bully."
Both brothers were mildly aware that the Doctor was leaning against the wall, cheerfully listening to every word.
"He's not," Mycroft urged, trying to convince Sherlock, the Doctor, and himself.
"He was going to make you leave the nursery," Sherlock softly pointed out.
"Leave the nursery?"
The Doctor straightened up, tripped over his own feet, straightened up once more and indignantly cried, "You're leaving your nursery? You're growing up?"
"Tonight was my last night," Mycroft softly admitted. He carefully scooped his brother up, balancing him on his hip. For a moment, the two sadly stared at the thousands of stars.
Sherlock pensively rested his head on Mycroft's shoulder.
"One more night before you grow up," the Doctor thoughtfully said. He suddenly looked excited as he roared, "Well then! We have to stretch that night out as much as possible!"
"Can we?" Sherlock pleaded, "Please, Mycroft?"
And though every string of his heart strummed with hesitation, Mycroft found himself longingly nodding. The Doctor gave a small cheer of delight and closed the door, once again asking them for a destination. Mycroft thought for a moment but it was Sherlock who excitedly answered, "Can you take us to see pirates?"
The Doctor beamed and replied, "I can do one better!"
Mycroft and Sherlock quickly grabbed onto the console. The Doctor hit more buttons and pulled more levers. The grinding noise returned and the box began to shake. When everything settled, the Doctor skipped over to the door and threw it open.
"Wicked," Sherlock whispered.
"What is it?" Mycroft asked, only seeing giant rolls of white. He then realized that they were enormous clouds that stretched for miles.
"Hang on," Mycroft caught Sherlock's hand to prevent his brother from diving head-first out of the Tardis, "Clouds are made of water. You can't just…"
"On Earth, you would be right," the Doctor patiently said, "However, this planet's entire surface is nothing but clouds. It's perfectly safe."
"You…you first," Mycroft pleaded, uncertainly.
The Doctor nodded and suddenly yelled, "Geronimo!"
He leapt from the Tardis, landing in a heap of fluff. Sherlock giggled and repeated his wild cry before joining him. Mycroft flinched but relaxed when his brother safely landed. For a moment, Sherlock merely rolled around and eagerly felt the texture. He then looked back towards the Tardis and cried, "Coming, Mycroft?"
Mycroft sighed and whispered, "Geronimo."
He jumped and landed on what felt like a pile soft pillows. He sat up but was immediately driven down as Sherlock tackled him. The two chased each other around, leaping and bouncing on the fluffy surface, as the Doctor proceeded to make a cloud-angel. Mycroft realized that the gravity was less than that on Earth. He felt as light as a feather. He was able to easily sweep Sherlock up and toss him. For a moment, Sherlock hovered high in the air before laughing and cannonballing into the clouds. He popped back up, shaking wisps from his hair.
"Ahoy!"
The Doctor suddenly leapt up, looking delighted. Sherlock and Mycroft looked up and felt their jaws drop. An enormous ship was sailing towards them, skimming across the clouds as if it was water. Black sails fluttered in the wind.
"They're…pirates?" Mycroft whispered.
"Alien-pirates," the Doctor enthusiastically replied.
The Time Lord then took a deep breath and roared, "Ahoy! It is I, The Doctor!"
The ship crawled to a stop and a huge anchor lowered. The Doctor quickly nodded his head and the three scrambled onto the top of the Tardis. The anchor caught the door of the Tardis and lifted the box up to the deck. The three slid down and were immediately met by a group of scraggly men. Sherlock ducked behind Mycroft who ducked behind the Doctor who looked confident as he roared, "Yo-ho! Aaarrgh!"
When they merely stared at him, the Doctor shrugged and said, "No? Okay."
A pirate stepped forward and clapped him on the shoulder, roaring, "Doctor! It's good to see you again!"
The others boomed similar greetings before turning their attention to the brothers. The man who greeted the Doctor gave them a toothy smile and growled, "Welcome aboard!"
This seemed to be enough to ease Sherlock's nerves. He grinned and ducked around his brother and the Doctor, eagerly going up and shaking the pirate's prosthetic hand.
"Mycroft and Sherlock," the Doctor introduced, "Guseraquis the Third. Gus for short."
Gus spat on the floor which Sherlock imitated.
"A new habit to break," Mycroft muttered, "Lovely."
The Doctor merely grinned and spat alongside them. Mycroft rolled his eyes but repeated the process, not wanting to disrespect anyone.
The Doctor looked around and asked, "Hang on. Where's the Captain?"
"He's six feet under. Had a blooming heart-attack," Gus soberly explained, "We had to bury him a few months ago."
The Doctor, Mycroft, and Sherlock offered their sympathies though the pirates didn't seem too bothered by the memory.
"So, who is the new captain?" the Doctor asked.
A chorus of mumbles and whispers wafted through the crowd, as if the thought hadn't crossed their minds.
"You're joking?" Mycroft snickered, "You have to have a captain!"
"Captain Mycroft," Sherlock suddenly shouted.
"What?" Mycroft yelped.
"Captain Mycroft," the Doctor animatedly repeated.
The pirates began to chant, "Captain Mycroft, hurrah! Awaiting orders, captain!"
Mycroft stuttered and mumbled something unintelligent. By the time he came to his senses, the group was looking upon him with the utmost respect.
"I…I can't be the captain," Mycroft whispered.
"Of course you can," Sherlock excitedly claimed, "You're a great captain!"
"Sherlock," Mycroft hissed, "That's just pretend. It's not real."
"Well this is real," the Doctor said with an encouraging smile, "And this crew needs a good captain."
Mycroft's ears grew increasingly red as he tried to find a way out. After carefully thinking, he finally pointed out, "I'm not even dressed like a pirate."
The Doctor snapped his fingers, realizing that Mycroft was right. The Time Lord began to rummage through his pockets. He managed to pull out two eye-patches, two spyglasses, and two wooden swords that strikingly resembled Sherlock and Mycroft's toy-swords. Mycroft reluctantly took one of each as well as a large tricorn hat. Sherlock and the Doctor fell back with the crew and eagerly stared at Mycroft.
Mycroft glanced at his brother. His eyes were shining with the anticipation of a grand adventure. Mycroft wasn't about to deny him one.
"Avast, ye scurvy landlovers!" Mycroft roared, putting on the tricorn hat and his eye-patch, "Hull the anchor, raise the sails, do…other things! Engard!"
They immediately set to work. Sherlock managed to climb up to the mast and eagerly looked around. Mycroft strolled around and barked orders, with the occasional aid of the Doctor to remind him of his terminology.
"Do we have our heading?" Sherlock called down.
Mycroft hesitated and glanced at the Doctor who roared, "Ay-ay!"
"Then take us over the horizon!"
"Geronimo," the Doctor replied and the ship set forward.
"Geronimo," Sherlock squealed.
Mycroft chuckled and whispered, "Geronimo."
What a grand adventure it was! The ship smoothly sailed across the clouds. They managed to pass mermaids, who leapt out of the clouds and did fantastic tricks. The pirates cheered and guffawed. Sherlock slid back down to the deck to be part of the action but soon sadly realized that he was too small to see much of anything. The Doctor smiled and pulled him onto his shoulder. The mermaids twirled through the air and came close to the ship. They sang wonderful songs and told enchanting stories. At one point, the Doctor covered both brothers' eyes, reminding the crew that there were children on board. When Mycroft reopened his eyes, the mermaids were gone and the pirates looked rather bashful. Sherlock giggled, even if he couldn't understand it any more than his brother.
As the ship sailed on, Mycroft realized that small mounds of gold were rising from the clouds. They soon became as big as mountains! Mycroft reckoned that there was enough gold to make every human a millionaire. And yet the pirates didn't touch a single coin.
"What pirate doesn't like gold?" Mycroft wondered aloud.
"Not all treasure is gold, mate," Gus pointed out.
The gold soon diminished before completely disappearing. Several flamingos suddenly leapt from the clouds and flew onto the ship.
Sherlock hopped down from the Doctor's shoulder and approached a bird. He went to pet it but the flamingo scoffed, "Do you mind?"
Sherlock gave a start and whispered, "It talks."
"Of course we talk, dear boy," the flamingo replied with a smile.
The Doctor somehow managed to talk the flamingo into giving Sherlock a ride. The bird was reproachful at first but softened at Sherlock's pleading look. Sherlock eagerly climbed onto its back and it flew high into the air. Mycroft watched in horror.
"Don't worry," the Doctor laughed, "You can take the next one."
"I most certainly will not," Mycroft scoffed but the Doctor physically lifted him onto the bird and it flew off. Mycroft had to admit that it was a wonderful feeling. They zoomed around the ship, laughing and whooping.
Upon landing, the brothers watched as the Doctor checked a strange looking watch before smiling and saying, "You're going to love this."
All of a sudden, the clouds began to change color—every color that Mycroft could imagine and hundreds more that he had never known. The brothers raced to the edge of the ship to get a better view. The colors eventually turned into stars. That's not to say that the clouds disappeared. Rather, the clouds were made of stars! And every star was a different color.
Several pirates retrieved barrels of rum which they happily drank. Sherlock stepped forward but Mycroft grabbed the back of his shirt and said, "I don't think so."
The pirates began to sing and dance, telling tales that would cause the mermaids' heads to spin. Many of them were energetic, some were slightly scary, and others were surprisingly calming. Mycroft closed his eyes and hugged Sherlock close to him. A few hours ago, they were sitting in a stiff house with an equally stiff father. Now the two brothers were sitting next to an ancient Time Lord, gently swaying to the pirates' lullabies. And it was all due to that funny man with the bowtie.