Author's Note: I will fully admit; I did not do much research on the Museum of Natural History in London. Therefore, the security, layout, and various exhibits are fictional.
Chapter Twenty Three
"RUN! COME ON! KEEP UP, SHERLOCK! RUN!"
Sherlock, Mycroft, and the Doctor dove through the door of the Tardis. The brothers leaned against the door, trembling with adrenaline and fear.
The Doctor frantically hit a button, just as something threatened to crash through the door. Fortunately, the Tardis got away in the nick of time.
"Blimey," the Doctor gasped, "Alright…that was…fun."
"Fun?" Mycroft cried, clutching a stitch in his side, "We nearly got trampled!"
"Fine," the Doctor agreed, his chest heaving, "Not one of my better ideas."
"Taking us to prehistoric times or trying to ride a dinosaur?" Sherlock wheezed.
"Everything was going swimmingly it started chasing after us," the Doctor pointed out.
He rummaged through his pockets before saying, "Uh-oh."
"That sound is never good," Mycroft slowly said, "Coming from you. What is it?"
"I dropped my Screwdriver," the Doctor sadly said, "I dropped the Sonic."
"You're kidding me," Sherlock cried, "Can you…can you buy another one?"
"Yes, I'll just go to the nearest Sonic Screwdriver shop," the Doctor sarcastically said.
"Oi, watch the tone," Mycroft snapped, "We've spent over four months with you; it's not that daft to think that there's a bloody shop somewhere that sells your crazy devices."
The Doctor smiled at that and said, "I'm sorry. Fortunately, I don't need to go shopping. I have home delivery."
A new Sonic Screwdriver materialized on the console. It looked exactly like his old one but the Doctor seemed pleased with it nonetheless.
"Oh, you beautiful thing," the Doctor praised, affectionately rubbing the console.
Mycroft and Sherlock glanced at each other, the former finally saying, "Should we give the two of you a minute?"
The Doctor snorted and exclaimed, "Alright! Let's zap over to the Natural History museum and see what damage we caused."
"Make sure that we get there at the right time," Mycroft teased.
The Doctor made a face and hit a button.
"There," the Doctor remarked, "Twenty years into the future, just like I had originally promised."
"Twenty years," Mycroft softly said, "Blimey, that's still not easy to get used to."
"What?"
"Well," Mycroft explained, "If we go visit Father, he'd be twenty years older. All of my classmates have graduated and have gotten jobs. And it's only been four months on my end."
"Wibbly wobbly timey wimey," the Doctor reminded him, throwing the door open.
They had landed across the street from the museum. Sherlock raced towards the building and eagerly cried, "Come on, Mycroft! Hurry up!"
"I just ran from a gigantic dinosaur!" Mycroft laughed, "Give me a minute!"
The three smiled as they strolled through the amazing museum. They eagerly raced up the marble staircase, posing to look like various statues.
"This is so weird," Mycroft muttered as they went down a familiar looking corridor.
The corridor split and Mycroft said, "Oh yeah…I nearly died right here."
"Doctor, can you get déjà vu from someplace that you've been to in the future?" Sherlock asked, scanning the walls. Twenty thousand years into the future, the walls would be rubble and the corridors would be home to the Daleks.
"Yes," the Doctor quietly said, "It happens to me all the time."
The three went into the dinosaur area. Mycroft flinched when he saw a large T-Rex. Its movements and roars were pretty spot on.
"We saw that one," the Doctor said, pointing to a large skeleton of a triceratops.
"That's creepy," Mycroft murmured.
The Doctor solemnly nodded before saying, "And that's…not good. Not good at all."
He pointed to a display case.
"No way," Sherlock cried.
The Sonic Screwdriver was on display. It was ancient and cracked but there was no mistaken it.
"Excuse me," the Doctor cried, grabbing a nearby tour-guide, "Hi. Hello. Hi! What can you tell me about this piece?"
The man looked surprised as he said, "Well nobody knows much about it, do they? It was found near some of these fossils."
The Doctor impatiently sighed and asked, "That's it? That's all you know?"
"Until this weekend, yes!"
"This weekend?" Mycroft repeated, "Why, what's going on then?"
The guide looked frazzled at their raised voices and pulled out a brochure, "Some of the top scientists in the U.K. are going to be inspecting it."
He leaned forward and whispered, "If you ask me, I think that it's a piece of junk. But what do I know?"
He led the group of tourists away and the Doctor muttered, "Apparently not very much, if you consider this advanced piece of technology to be junk."
"This isn't good," Mycroft muttered.
"Can't you just grab it?" Sherlock asked.
"No," the Doctor muttered, scanning the room, "Too many people. Too many witnesses."
"Well, we can't let them inspect it," Mycroft muttered, "What are we going to do?"
"The only logical thing that we can do," the Doctor remarked, "We need to break into the museum."
Mycroft's jaw fell open and Sherlock's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Are you insane?" Mycroft hissed.
"Yes," the Doctor laughed, "And so is the plan. But it's just insane enough to work."
"You can just grab it…"
"Nope. We need to break in."
"We're going to break into the Museum of Natural History!" Sherlock cried.
"Sssh," the Doctor whispered, "Not so loud!"
He gently pushed the boys back through the museum and outside.
"How exactly are we going to pull this off?" Mycroft skeptically asked.
"I'm so glad that you asked," the Doctor cheerfully said as they entered the Tardis.
The Doctor led them down several corridors before finally stopping at a door. He threw it open, revealing a room that would have made James Bond proud.
"Wicked," Sherlock laughed, staring at all of the spy equipment.
The Doctor mimicked a tour-guide as he chirped, "To the left, you will find several tuxedos. These help you look suave and proper as you pull off your crime. They are also fire-retardant and waterproof. The dress shoes are soundless. Over here, we see a wonderful collection of bungee cords, handheld transceivers, binoculars and related spyglasses. We also have several lasers, including a Sonic laser. Then you have this watch which allows you to blend into the environment…"
The Doctor took an hour to go through everything.
"This is madness," Mycroft repeated his concerns, "This is the most ridiculous thing that we have ever done. Why do we even need to get the Screwdriver? You have a brand new one!"
"Humans aren't ready for that kind of technology," the Doctor kindly explained.
"And we can't just walk in and take it?" Mycroft continued.
"Of course not," Sherlock cried, "That's boring."
"Yes," Mycroft muttered, "Unlike felonies. Felonies aren't boring."
He was still protesting their actions later that night, when they suited up.
"I can't believe that I'm doing this," Mycroft hissed, "We're breaking into a museum."
"Yes, so you've said," the Doctor laughed, "Don't worry. You won't be doing the actual stealing. I've got the perfect job for you."
"What?" Mycroft suspiciously asked.
"The museum is heavily guarded," the Doctor explained, "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get into the main surveillance room. You can control the cameras, rig the locks, deactivate the traps, etc."
Mycroft nodded, slightly relieved. The Doctor handed him a small earpiece. Mycroft put it in and the Doctor said, "Can you hear me?"
"Yes," Mycroft chuckled, "You're standing three feet away!"
"How are we going to get inside?" Sherlock asked, "Are we going to break through the window? Scale the wall?"
The Doctor snorted and pulled a lever.
The Tardis trembled for a few seconds before stopping. Mycroft opened the door. They were in a random corridor. Mycroft glanced at the Doctor and he explained, "Blind spot. The surveillance room is right down the stairs. Are you sure that you can do this?"
"Yeah," Mycroft muttered, trying to sound braver than he felt.
"Good luck," the Doctor whispered, "And above all, if you ever get into a sticky situation, just act clever."
Mycroft wearily descended the stairs and spotted a large sign: SECURITY.
"Hey, what're you doing in here?"
The room was filled with guards.
"I…I…" Mycroft stammered before playing the innocent routine, "I get left behind on the field trip."
One of the guards stood up and suspiciously said, "It's the end of August."
"Right," Mycroft slowly said, "You see…"
He grabbed an aerosol can from his pocket, pulled his blazer over his nose, and sprayed.
The guards immediately collapsed.
"Everything alright?"
The Doctor's voice buzzed in his ear.
"They're out cold," Mycroft guiltily whispered, "They…they are unconscious, right?"
The Doctor laughed and said, "Yes, yes! You've got an hour before they wake back up."
Mycroft wearily crossed to the large wall of televisions and buttons. He squinted and could just make out the shadow of the Tardis.
Mycroft smirked and said, "Watch this."
He took a small joystick and pushed up. The camera pointed towards the ceiling.
The Doctor laughed and cried, "Nice!"
Mycroft went along and averted the cameras for the entire corridor.
"Well done," the Doctor whispered, "Okay. We're near the marble staircase on the second floor, but I can see evidence of laser surveillance."
"The red laser beams?" Mycroft snorted, "Those really exist?"
"Yes. Can you get rid of them?"
Mycroft glanced around and finally found the camera that was pointing to the spot. Sure enough, gray streaks ran across the stairs.
Mycroft hit a button next to the screen: DEACTIVATE.
To his delight, the gray streaks disappeared.
Mycroft quickly shot the camera towards the ceiling.
He then caught sight of another screen. A security guard was coming out of a room nearby. Mycroft hesitated and pulled a lever, shutting the door on the guard.
Meanwhile, Sherlock and the Doctor kept to the shadows. Sherlock snickered as he spotted another camera shoot towards the ceiling.
"We should be right above the display case," the Doctor explained.
"Let's cut the floor—" Sherlock suggested.
"And bungee down—" the Doctor finished.
"It would be tedious."
"And rather pointless."
"And just a bit risky."
"But certainly worth it."
"I love being your companion," Sherlock said with a smirk.
"And I love having you as a companion," the Doctor grinned, pulling out a saw.
They carefully cut through the floor.
"What's going on down there?" Mycroft asked.
"Nothing, nothing," the Doctor cheerfully said, "Would you mind deactivating the cameras around the display case?"
"What?" Mycroft cried, "But you're not there, yet."
"We took a detour!"
"Did you cut through the floor?"
"That's classified," the Doctor joked.
In the control room, Mycroft shook his head and adjusted the cameras. He also shut the doors on a few more guards.
Sherlock and the Doctor smirked and leapt through.
They bounced up and down next to the display case.
"How are you going to get the Sonic from the case?" Mycroft asked.
"I'll just use my new Sonic to open the lock," the Doctor replied and did so.
Sherlock snatched the Sonic and quickly put it into his pocket. The two then shot back through the hole.
"What?" Mycroft cried, "Why couldn't you just do that this afternoon!?"
"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?"
Mycroft nearly leapt out of his skin. He had been so busy talking to the Doctor and his brother; he had forgotten to check the screens around the surveillance room.
A large guard was now towering over him.
"I'm an intern," Mycroft smoothly said, "I just…"
He grabbed the aerosol can and sprayed. Unfortunately, it was empty.
The guard knocked it away, his eyes flashing with fury.
"DOCTOR!" Mycroft instinctively shouted.
The guard quickly pulled a lever and red lights flashed.
"Mycroft, what's going on?"
"GERROFF ME!" Mycroft shouted as the guard grabbed his arm.
He pulled away and began to run.
"Doctor, get out of there!" Mycroft cried.
"What about the secu—?"
"The guard hit a button. Everything is compromised! GO!"
Something hit the wall next to him and Mycroft reflexively fell to the ground. He looked up and was horrified to see a bullet hole.
"He's shooting at me!" Mycroft roared, "DOCTOR! HELP!"
He skittered around a display case and the glass exploded as the guard shot again.
"DOCTOR!"
In a flash, Sherlock suddenly appeared in front of him. For a split second, his brother looked winded. His eyes then flashed as he cried, "Grab on!"
"W…what?" Mycroft spluttered.
"GRAB ON!"
Mycroft grabbed onto his brother's shoulder and Sherlock hit something on his wrist.
Mycroft blinked and they were standing next to the Tardis.
"What…how?"
The Doctor came running up the corridor, also looking confused.
"Vortex manipulator!" Sherlock proudly cried, showing off his gadget, "Jack got it for my birthday, remember? He taught me how to use it when you were visiting Mummy!"
The Doctor enthusiastically shouted, "Brilliant, you are!"
"Thanks, Sherlock," Mycroft cried.
Sherlock flushed with pride and the three ducked into the Tardis.
"Go, GO!"
"I'm going, I'M GOING!'
The Doctor hit various buttons and they were off.
"This whole running for my life thing is getting pretty old," Mycroft pointed out.
"You love it," the Doctor grinned, "Don't lie."
He straightened up and said, "Sherlock Holmes, for acting calm and logical while the two of us were running around and screaming, I would like to present you with this!"
He handed over the old Sonic Screwdriver.
"Wow," Sherlock whispered, "Thanks, Doctor."
He tenderly took the device, staring at it with awe.
"Don't mention it," the Doctor said with a gentle smile, "Besides, I won't be needing it now that I have…"
He reached into his pocket and paled.
"Doctor," Mycroft slowly said, "What's wrong?"
"Well, I…I…err…"
"What is it?" Sherlock asked.
The Doctor hesitated before saying, "I might…I…"
"What?"
"I dropped the Sonic Screwdriver when we were running!"
"You've got to be kidding me," Mycroft cried.
The Doctor gave the brothers a sheepish look.
Sherlock grinned and cried, "Next stop: Museum of Natural History!"