Author's Note: Sorry for the short delay. I will post this tonight (06/04/13) and hopefully will post the next chapter tomorrow. This is the end of the 'prologue' chapters.

Chapter Three

Sherlock snored. Mycroft knew this. Sherlock didn't and always seemed to argue the point whenever it was brought up. But his brother did snore. And he was snoring now—snoring in the Doctor's arms as the Time Lord carefully carried him into the Tardis. Mycroft sleepily followed, though he willed himself to not fall asleep. He drowsily waved at the pirates, worn out from the adventure. And yet the door closed on their adventure, quite literally as the Doctor shut the Tardis door. He set Sherlock in a comfy chair that Mycroft didn't remember seeing. Just as well, he thought. The Tardis appeared to be endless and Mycroft wasn't about to go searching for his brother should he get lost. It was best to keep him right in the main room.

Mycroft ruffled his brother's curls, lost in thought. Sherlock smiled in his sleep and turned over, peacefully dreaming. Meanwhile, the Doctor was happily chatting away.

"…if you want to. What do you think, Mycroft?" the Doctor cheerfully asked. When he was met with silence, he turned and repeated, "Mycroft?"

The Doctor's eyes widened as he realized that the Tardis door was open. He quickly raced over and bellowed, "MYCROFT!"

"What!?"

The Doctor looked up and sighed with relief, the smile returning. Mycroft was sitting on top of the Tardis, having been staring at the stars. He now looked alarmed and apologetically cried, "Sorry! Is this against the rules?"

The Doctor chuckled at the question and assuredly said, "No…no. Can I join you?"

Mycroft nodded and the Doctor heaved himself up. Whereas Mycroft drew his knees to his chest and thoughtfully looked around, the Doctor swung his legs back and forth and beamed at the passing stars and planets.

The Doctor glanced over at Mycroft and frowned before saying, "Something wrong?"

"I'm sitting on top of a blue police-box that's traveling through the universe," Mycroft spluttered, as though just realizing this.

"Yes you are," the Doctor replied.

"We just met pirates."

"Yes."

"Alien-pirates."

"Yes."

"Aliens exist."

The Doctor nodded and jokingly said, "Well I certainly hope so."

"You're an alien," Mycroft continued, "You're an alien in a bowtie. Why are you wearing a bowtie?"

"Bowties are cool," the Doctor proudly replied.

Mycroft snorted and remarked, "On what planet?"

The Doctor frowned but Mycroft didn't notice. He glanced back at the stars and quietly commented, "That's the universe."

"Yes."

Mycroft took a deep breath and finally said, "Okay. No. It's not okay. It's…It feels like a dream."

"Do you believe that it's a dream?"

He looked up at the Doctor's question before admitting, "No. But it doesn't seem…real. I mean until tonight I never would've imagined this could have possibly existed."

He thoughtfully watched as a meteor went by and whispered, "How?"

"What?"

"How can this even exist?" Mycroft asked, "How does a blue police box travel through time and space?"

"Well," the Doctor hesitated before saying, "It's a bit complicated."

"Complicated?" Mycroft amusedly repeated.

"A bit," the Doctor admitted with a chuckle, "Blimey, just look at it though. Twelve hundred years and it never ceases to amaze me."

"Twelve hundred years?" Mycroft reiterated.

"Should we wake Sherlock to see this?" the Doctor continued.

Mycroft thought about it for a moment before earnestly saying, "Better not. He gets cranky if he doesn't sleep."

The Doctor nodded and acclaimed, "You're a good brother."

"Thanks."

"I mean it. You really are."

"I try to be," Mycroft glumly responded, "But I can't protect him from everything."

There was a quiet pause which didn't suit the Doctor well. Therefore he said, "He really looks up to you."

"Yeah," Mycroft said with a small smile, "I know. He was crushed when Father announced that I was going to move out of the nursery. So much so that…well, you saw what happened."

He really didn't feel like remembering his younger brother dart in front of a car. He hastily changed the subject by asking, "What about you? Do you have any family or friends? Are there other weird-haired bow-tie wearing aliens running around?"

"No," the Doctor quietly said, "I'm the last Time Lord."

"I'm sorry," Mycroft offered before asking, "The Time Lords…you…what do you do? I mean besides save my brother from an oncoming car and offering to take us to see alien-pirates."

"Well…" the Doctor looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "That's also a bit complicated."

"Right," Mycroft said, wearily. He was beginning to get a headache.

"Is your father a bully?"

Mycroft looked up at this but determined that the Doctor was merely asking an innocent question. Mycroft sighed and said, "Not like the bullies Sherlock faces. It's awful. He just started primary school this past year and he's already reading at a high-school level!"

"That's brilliant."

"That's what I keep trying to tell him," Mycroft pressed, "But his classmates…well you know how they can be…"

The Doctor nodded, though his eyes momentarily shone with confusion.

"They don't understand him," Mycroft clarified, "Father doesn't either."

He wasn't sure why he was rambling but it felt nice to ramble.

"Father's not a bully," Mycroft finally muttered, "But he's stingy and uptight and cares more about his stupid conferences than he does about us."

He stopped and looked at the Doctor, almost expectantly. The Doctor looked back and finally said, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Mycroft said, slightly befuddled, "It's just…whenever I've tried to say that to anyone else, they always deny it."

The Doctor looked thoughtful before saying, "Well, I assume that you would know your father better than I would. After all, you've known him for twelve years. Sometimes people have mixed priorities. Has he always been like that?"

Mycroft nodded, still surprised that the Doctor believed him, and continued, "Yes but it's been worse since…"

He broke off and the Doctor prodded, "Since?"

"Mum."

The Doctor patiently waited for Mycroft to explain. It was a moment before Mycroft did and when he did he merely said, "It was two years ago. She was sick…"

Mycroft refused to say anything else and the Doctor quietly replied, "I'm sorry."

"It took forever for Sherlock to understand," Mycroft finally burst out, "My brother is brilliant—absolutely brilliant. But raw emotions have never been his strongest point. It was obvious that he missed her. At least there was that."

"And you?" the Doctor asked, "How did you feel?"

"Well, I knew that I needed to protect Sherlock," Mycroft stuttered, looking away, "I knew that he…he needed me."

"That's not what I asked," the Doctor patiently said, "How did you feel?"

"What do you mean?" Mycroft pressed, his ears flaming.

"Well, do you miss her?"

"Of…of course I do," Mycroft said, briskly, "She was my mother! But Sherlock's my brother and he's…"

The Doctor put a hand on his shoulder and interjected, "Sherlock is asleep. There's no need to protect him right now."

Mycroft looked shocked and for a moment grew vacant. Unbeknownst to him, it was the same look that Sherlock had when his father had stormed out of the nursery.

"Mycroft," the Doctor gently said.

As a wise woman once said, when you're very old and very kind and the very very last of your kind, it breaks your two hearts to watch a child cry.

And that's exactly what Mycroft did. He leaned against the Doctor's chest and broke down. In turn, the Doctor hugged him and even offered words of endearment.

"Thanks," Mycroft finally sighed, "I'm sorry…It's just…"

"I know," the Doctor passionately said, "Mycroft, I know. I know that it hurts."

And suddenly Mycroft could see it. Beneath the kindness and patience in the Doctor's eyes there was hurt and rage.

"Thank you," Mycroft said, sincerely repeated, "For everything. I just…it means a lot."

"You're welcome," the Doctor replied with a kind smile.

The two didn't say anything else. Instead, they sat back and watched the stars race by.

() () () () ()

There was a rather horrid nanny and her name was Nanny Scutt. She lazily bustled through the Holmes' household, occasionally shoving the dust off the banisters. Her bulging eyes were wide alert, looking for anything that might have a gold or silver tint.

We shan't speak much of Nanny Scutt. We must merely know that she was horrible at her job. If she had been a bit more alert, she might've wondered why there was a blue police box in the boys' nursery. But she didn't. Nor did she notice when a funny man in a bowtie gently placed two boys into their beds. She didn't know that both boys were fast asleep, worn out from an adventure that she couldn't possibly imagine. She didn't watch as the Doctor tenderly tucked the blankets around them. She didn't watch him put a key on the bedside table or sadly enter the blue police box. She didn't hear the whisper—the promise that he would return.

In fact, if you were to ask Nanny Scutt about the events that occurred that night, she would declare that nothing had happened at all. There was nothing tremendously out of the ordinary. Everything was perfectly ordinary. Everything was perfect normal.

() () () () ()

"Doctor!"

The cry escaped Sherlock before he even opened his eyes. He sat up and looked around, rubbing his eye. His heart sank as he realized that they were back in the nursery.

Sherlock leapt up and raced over, leaping onto Mycroft's bed.

"Come on!" Sherlock cried, tugging at his brother, "Wake up!"

"What…?" Mycroft opened his eyes and groaned, "Sherlock, what is it? What?"

"The Doctor!" Sherlock squealed, jumping up and down.

"The…Doctor?" Mycroft grunted before realizing what he meant, "Oh no!"

"What happened?" Sherlock asked, settling down and sitting on the edge of the bed, "He didn't even say goodbye."

"I don't know," Mycroft said with a heavy sigh, "It seems like a dream."

"It's unlikely that we both had the same dream," Sherlock pointed out, "And how do you explain that?"

He stared in wonder at the key on the bedside table. He picked it up and realized that it resembled a Tardis.

"He was real," Mycroft said, suddenly quite emotional.

"Sherlock! Mycroft! Hurry up!"

The door flew open and their father angrily scoffed, "You're not even dressed!"

"Father," Sherlock spoke up, "What day is it? Is it still April? Has any time passed?"

"What are you talking about, boy?" Mr. Holmes cried, "Have you gone round the bend?"

"Just around the universe," Sherlock answered with a slick smile.

"Sherlock," Mycroft hissed, anxiously shaking his head.

But Sherlock was far too excited to realize that his father was turning red. He bounced up and down and eagerly said, "You should have seen it, Father! A box! It was blue! She was. And she took us through time and space."

"Enough," Mr. Holmes snapped.

"Sherlock, stop it," Mycroft murmured, "Stop!"

"And there was the Doctor! He was fantastic! Absolutely brilliant! And we met actual pirates! Mycroft was the captain and we managed to…"

"ENOUGH!"

The roar shook the entire nursery and silenced Sherlock. Mycroft swallowed and hastily intervened, "It was a dream, Father. Sherlock had a funny dream."

"It wasn't a dream!" Sherlock cried.

"Yes it was," Mycroft said through clenched teeth.

Mr. Holmes still looked outraged but he managed to calm himself enough to say, "I don't have time for this."

He turned on his heel and marched away. Mycroft let out a sigh of relief but saw that his brother looked livid.

"It's alright," Mycroft assured him, "It's alright, Sherlock."

"You believe me, don't you?" Sherlock asked, "You believe in the Doctor."

"Of course I do," Mycroft cried, earnestly, "I was there. I remember him. I will never be able to forget him."

He hesitated before saying, "But Father…well…you heard him. He doesn't really have time for…to deal with…"

"The two of us," Sherlock glumly finished.

"The two of us," Mycroft repeated. He then saw how miserable Sherlock looked and sought to change that. He put an arm around his brother, giving him a reassuring smile that things were going to be alright. Things were going to be different. Sherlock eventually smiled back before glancing down at the key, his mind racing with the memories of their adventure.

"The Doctor had time for us," Sherlock whispered, "He had all the time in the universe."

Author's Note: I wanted to add the scene with Mycroft and the Doctor on the Tardis to add that more emotional connection. Sherlock and Mycroft are eventually going to become his companions though it will be almost two years before they do so. Let's just hope that it doesn't take two years for another update. Would you mind reviewing?