Sherlock's mind was buzzing. This was not uncommon but it was still annoying when he wanted to get to sleep. He glanced up at the clock:
2:00 AM.
Sherlock sighed and whispered, "Mycroft? Mycroft!"
After a few seconds, his brother groggily answered, "What?"
"Are you awake?"
"Now I am," Mycroft snapped before concernedly asking, "What's wrong? Are you alright?"
"I can't sleep."
"Well, I figured as much."
Sherlock huffed and his brother smiled before reclosing his eyes.
"Mycroft!"
"What?"
"I can't sleep!"
"You've already said that," Mycroft pointed out.
Sherlock let out a loud sigh. Mycroft ignored him and he repeated it.
Mycroft finally sat up and asked, "What's on your mind?"
"Do you think that the Doctor is still up?"
"I dunno. Why?"
"I want to ask him a question."
"At this hour?" Mycroft sighed, but he knew that it was no use. When Sherlock set his mind to something, time became irrelevant. Ensuring that his brother got a proper amount of sleep was also irrelevant. Everything was pretty much irrelevant.
"Fine," Mycroft grunted, untangling himself from his blanket.
In the dark, he could see Sherlock's eyes light up. Mycroft chuckled and the two started down the corridor. Upon entering the console room, they saw that the Doctor was still awake, thoughtfully staring at the console.
He looked up at their arrival and smiled, "Oh, hullo."
"Do you ever sleep?" Mycroft snorted, "Or do you just spend eight hours staring at the console until we wake up."
"Depends on the night," the Doctor admitted, "What's up?"
"Doctor, can I ask you something?" Sherlock pressed.
"Of course."
"How do you know us?"
The Doctor and Mycroft both gave a start. Mycroft thought that Sherlock was going to ask a question about one of their past adventures. Then again, Sherlock's mind never quite functioned as a logical line. Most people went from Point A to Point B to Point C until they finally reached the end of their thought. Sherlock often went from Point A to Point Z, choosing to randomly touch upon the other points when his subconscious found it most appropriate.
"I know you as Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes," the Doctor finally joked.
Sherlock didn't laugh and pressed, "River knew us. So did Jack. And you knew who we were, the moment you heard my name in the park. Why?"
"Yeah," Mycroft spoke up; he had been wondering the same thing for a while, "Why did you already know our names?"
"I'm the Doctor," he chuckled, "I know everything."
"Like what?" Sherlock pressed.
"Like what what?"
"What do you know?" Mycroft summarized.
The Doctor sighed and said, "I'm sorry. I can't tell you. Rule One."
"Forget the rules," Mycroft cried.
"You've done enough of that, already," the Doctor pointed out with a smirk.
Mycroft sighed. It had been a week since the date and the Doctor was nowhere close to letting him forget it. Mycroft really didn't mind; he had screwed up. He did mind that the Doctor was deflecting.
"It's something bad, isn't it?" Mycroft continued, "That's why you can't tell us?"
"It can't be that bad," Sherlock slowly said, "Jack and River both seemed pleasantly surprised. It's almost as if they were star-struck."
"There's that modesty," Mycroft muttered but he had to agree.
" 'Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes' " Sherlock quoted, " 'Are they just as brilliant as you had said?' "
"And Doctor, you said that we were even more so," Mycroft agreed, "I'm flattered, of course, but that means that you obviously had expectations."
"I had to pick companions with eidetic memory," the Doctor muttered, "Boys, I'm really sorry. I cannot tell you."
"It's not…it's not something fatal, is it?" Mycroft nervously asked.
The Doctor hesitated before saying, "Technically no."
"Technically?" Sherlock snorted, "What does that mean?"
"We're only half-dead?" Mycroft added.
"Boys…"
"We're legally dead?" Sherlock suggested with a laugh.
"Boys…"
"We're dead inside?" Mycroft snickered.
"I honestly cannot tell you," the Doctor sadly said.
"What if we ask River or Jack?" Sherlock pressed, "What would they say?"
"They would tell you that I would kill them if they said anything," the Doctor brightly replied.
"Yes," Mycroft said, his mouth twitching, "But would they technically be dead?"
"Technically Jack wouldn't be," the Doctor laughed.
"That's it!" Sherlock snapped his fingers, "We're going to be immortal."
"No," the Doctor chuckled, "Afraid not."
Sherlock frowned but cheered up as Mycroft said, "Well, time can be rewritten."
"Not fixed points in time," the Doctor pointed out.
"We create a fixed point in time?" Sherlock and Mycroft excitedly asked.
The Doctor looked angry at himself. He quickly recomposed and said, "I'm sorry. I cannot say anything else."
"Fine," Sherlock huffed.
"Come on," Mycroft sighed, "Let's go back to bed."
Sherlock pouted and begrudgingly followed his brother.
He slammed the door and Mycroft quickly said, "Take it easy, Sherlock. Honestly, what did you expect?"
Sherlock ignored him and instead silently paced the room. Mycroft watched him for a moment before gently grabbing his shoulder.
"Sherlock, listen…"
"We've been travelling with him for three months!" Sherlock burst out, "Three months and eight days! Why doesn't he trust us?"
"I do trust you," the Doctor called, from the other side of the door.
The two brothers glanced at each other and Mycroft opened the door. The Doctor fell forward, leapt up, and gently continued, "The reason I can't tell you has nothing to do with me trusting you. It has to do with me protecting you."
"Alright," Mycroft softly said, "Thanks, Doctor."
"Yeah," Sherlock agreed, "Thank you."
Once again, the Doctor tucked Sherlock in and asked Mycroft if there was anything else that he needed. Mycroft shook his head and the Doctor gently said goodnight before leaving.
"Mycroft?"
"Yeah?"
"I still can't sleep," Sherlock whined.
"Neither can I," Mycroft admitted before mumbling, "I was doing just well, thank you, until you had to ask what our future purpose was."
"I was curious," Sherlock sighed.
Mycroft chuckled, "You're not over it, are you?"
"Of course not," Sherlock firmly said, "I'm just getting started. We should find a way to ask Jack and River."
"The Doctor said that they weren't going to say anything," Mycroft pointed out.
"We can still ask them," Sherlock shrugged.
"Fine," Mycroft agreed, "So long as we don't get in trouble."
Sherlock huffed and Mycroft hissed, "I'm NOT sitting through another one of the Doctor's talks."
"What?"
"Nothing," Mycroft chuckled, "Alright. It's worth a shot."
The next morning the two asked the Doctor if they could invite Jack and River along for their adventure. The Doctor cheerfully agreed and said that he'd take them to the Paradisus Hot Springs. He made a few calls and traveled back in time to leave a few messages.
"Okay," he finally said, "They should be over soon. Until then, would you two mind if I take a nap? I haven't slept in a few days."
"Not at all," Mycroft gently said and Sherlock agreed.
He leapt onto a hammock beneath the console room and was out within seconds. The brothers patiently waited until Jack arrived.
"Jack!"
"Hi, Jack!"
Jack laughed and hugged them.
"Can you do us a favor?" Sherlock whispered.
"Sure," Jack exclaimed, "In fact, I have a favor to ask of you!"
"Brilliant," Sherlock smirked, "We'll trade off."
Jack frowned and thoughtfully said, "Well, hang on. I want to make sure that it's a fair trade off. What's your favor?"
"We want to know how you, River, and the Doctor all seem to know us." Mycroft quietly asked, "What's so special about our future?"
Jack hesitated before saying, "Fine. I'll tell you, after you pull off my favor. But it's going to be tricky."
"What is it?" Sherlock eagerly asked.
Jack held up what looked like a small thing of eye-drops and explained, "I need you to put three drops of this in the Doctor's hair."
"Why?" Mycroft snorted, "Does he have lice or something?"
"No questions asked," Jack hastily said, "Until later, that is."
"Okay," Sherlock laughed, "But I sincerely doubt that the Doctor is just going to let us put random drops in his hair!"
"Yes, that's true," Jack agreed before nodding down to the hammock, "But I doubt that he's going to put up much of a fight if he's sleeping."
"So," Mycroft slowly said as he took the bottle from him, "Three drops and then you'll tell us what we want to know?"
"Yep."
"Okay," Sherlock said, sticking out his hand, "You've got yourself a deal."
Jack shook it. He then crept down the corridor, for what he called safety measures, and Sherlock slipped something into his pocket.
"What was that?" Mycroft suspiciously asked.
"Nothing," Sherlock shrugged.
Mycroft took a deep breath and they crept over to stand above the Doctor.
"I'm sorry, Doctor," Mycroft muttered, before squeezing three drops out. They landed on the Doctor's hair but nothing changed.
They shrugged and headed back down the corridor.
Jack was waiting outside his bedroom.
"Sorry," Mycroft whispered, "Nothing happened."
"It takes a few minutes to set in," Jack chuckled, "But listen…I really can't tell you anything. The Doctor would throw me into the infinite void for an eternity. Sorry, boys."
"WHAT THE . . . ?"
Jack threw back his head and laughed before repeating, "Boys, I am so sorry."
He reached for his wrist but nothing happened.
"Looking for something?" Sherlock asked with a smirk. He took the vortex manipulator from his pocket and teasingly held it up.
The brothers laughed at the look on Jack's face just as the Doctor came up the corridor.
"What…the…?" Mycroft gasped.
Jack grinded his teeth and rubbed the back of his neck.
Sherlock licked his lips but couldn't say anything.
The Doctor took a deep breath before dangerously asking, "Would somebody like to explain why my hair is neon-green?"
They merely gaped at him.
"Hello, Sweetie," River called from the console room, having no doubt used her own vortex manipulator to arrive. She poked her head in the corridor and merely stared.
For a tense moment, nobody said anything.
Then, the sound of laughter was enough to shake the entire Tardis. Mycroft and Sherlock clung onto each other for support. Jack fell onto the floor and River leaned against the wall. The Doctor glowered before eventually joining in.
Mycroft and Sherlock looked at Jack for answers and Jack wheezed, "Found…it…a… few…years…ago! Three drops and it completely changes the hair. Don't worry! I have the antidote! Along with a few other colors!"
"We're so sorry, Doctor," Mycroft gasped before taking one look at the Time Lord and cracking up again.
The Doctor tried to frown but couldn't pull it off.
Nonetheless, he still said, "Okay. Rule Thirteen. If Jack ever tells you to help him pull a prank…DON'T!"
"We're sorry!" Sherlock cackled, "It was a trade-off! One simple prank for answers."
This time, the Doctor succeeded at frowning, "Answers about what?"
Sherlock looked guilty as he admitted, "About how you three know us…"
The Doctor groaned and turned to Jack, "You didn't tell them anything?"
"Of course not," Jack promised.
"Good," the Doctor gently said before screaming, "THAT STILL DOESN'T EXCUSE THE FACT THAT MY HAIR IS GREEN!"
Jack whispered something to the Doctor who looked thoughtful before saying, "Fine. I suppose that you two are off the hook. Jack, I don't suppose that those come in ginger?"
He and Jack went back into the console room but Mycroft quickly said, "River…"
She stopped and Mycroft hesitated before saying, "I don't suppose that you would be able to tell us why you already knew who we were?"
She smiled and said, "Ah, Mycroft. Spoilers."
"What if I told you something that I knew about your future?" Mycroft eagerly said.
After all, several weeks ago he had read Forest of the Dead.
She merely smiled and said, "Well then, that would be double the spoilers."
She headed into the console room and Mycroft and Sherlock disappointedly trudged into the bedroom. The Doctor came in shortly after. His hair was back to normal but the three laughed all the same.
The Doctor then became serious as he asked, "You two are never going to let your question go, are you?"
"Never," Mycroft and Sherlock simultaneously said.
"But you're never going to tell us, are you?" Mycroft muttered.
"Never," the Doctor sighed, "You'll find out, eventually."
The brothers still looked disappointed.
The Doctor softened and said, "But I will say this…Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, you are going to be brilliant. You already are brilliant and your brilliance is only going to escalate."
He put a hand on either brother's shoulder and continued, "Don't worry. Everything is going to work out for the better."
His eyes sparkled with sincerity as he quietly said, "No matter what happens, no matter how things may seem, everything is going to be alright. You two are going to be brilliant and together you're going to be able to get through anything. Do you understand?"
Sherlock and Mycroft stared at him in wonder before nodding.
"Alright then," the Doctor softly said, "Off to the Hot Springs!"
He ruffled their hair and ushered them back into the console room. The Tardis zoomed off and within minutes, the five were sinking into hot and steamy pools. It was relaxing, even for Sherlock who soon forgot all of his troubles.
That is, until he glanced down at his reflection and then looked over at Mycroft. Mycroft returned the glance and the three looked over at the adults who were trying not to laugh.
"DOCTOR!"
After all, it wasn't every day that one had neon-pink hair.