A/N: This chapter was hard to write - and I'm not altogether sure I'm happy with it. I had to completely change the plot, so there's now a file on my computer full of three chapters of a plot that will never see the light of day. Oh well.
And my oh my, exams are tedious. Any of you lot sharing my pain right now?
(And thanks for the birthday wishes you guys, t'was indeed enjoyable :D Apart from, y'know, exams.)
Again - no spoilers here (:
Disclaimer: Neither Doctor Who, nor Sherlock are mine. This plot, however, is. And if any of you lot over at the Beeb try and steal my ideas again, I'm warning you… :')
Review replies:
Chalcedony Rivers: LE GASP D: Ahahahaa, I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Thank you for your always lovely feedback (:
Kyer: Good point, well made! I just wanted to make sure I wasn't isolating the majority of my readers, no point making a change is everyone is going to hate it apart from you right? (: Thanks! Hope you enjoy this one as well :D
ZombieKillerLevi: Totally, don't forget the tea for blood… :'D HOBBIT TRAILER? :O Where is this awesomeness? I must away, to search! Here you are, enjoy!
Dr-John-Holmes: Oh God, to be Moffat…. 3 Ahhhh, I am keeping you in suspense, mwahahahaa! :D
kawaiikittey: Welcome to the club ;D Here you are, enjoy!
Hollyboppers: You, my love, are far too kind. (: Here you go, hope you like!
The Side of the Angels: (LOVE the name btw!) Thankyou! Hope you like this one :D
Thisby Solo: Oh, the entire series just made my heart melt, then squeeze, then burn. I love it far too much for general health! :P Well, I bow to your wishes, here you are!
CyanideDeductions: Thank you! Not sure there'll be any of that in here, sorry! But then again, The Doctor's such a flirt, who knows what might occur? I go where they point me… :')
StarrySkies2Nite: Ooh, thank you very much! I give nothing away! Except y'know, there's this whole chapter which may contain some of your wishes… :3 C'mon! Join the Wholock club, we have danger and jam? ;D Here you are, hope you enjoy this one too! (:
LoryLily: Indeed, indeed, 'tis most extraordinary. I'm sorry to hear that! But you're entitled to your own opinions of course (: There wont be much, so I hope it won't dampen your enjoyment of the story, here's another chapter - Thank you! :D
Off we pop!
The Doctor was standing by the Tardis console, alone, when he felt Sherlock's breath on his neck. He swung around quickly, all flapping arms and guilt, trying his best to cover up the screen - but Sherlock (having a slight height advantage), had no problems seeing over the top of him.
"Why are you Googling us?" He asked, eyebrow raised.
The Doctor squirmed and tried in vain to block Sherlock's view. "I was just… interested?" He admitted. Well, it was part of the truth anyway.
In reality, he'd found some results that were quite worrying. There was no mention of any book characters with the name 'Sherlock Holmes', a search of 'Moriarty' rendered the page void, and a Google search of 'Arthur Conan Doyle' came up blank.
"Why? We're right here, you could ask us any question you wanted."
'Not what I need to know' The Doctor thought glumly, but on the outside he smiled, and said. "So. What did Scotland Yard have to say at that meeting then?" Even he winced at the false tone in his voice; the change of subject was so obvious it hurt.
Sherlock decided he'd let the matter go, for now. But the Doctor had been acting very strange since he'd gone to retrieve his Tardis from their flat, and Sherlock was determined to figure out why.
…..
"I have twelve missed calls from Mycroft." Sherlock announced, over a quick meal of prawn crackers and noodles in picnic fashion on the Tardis floor. There was a dining room, of course, but that wouldn't be nearly as much fun. "What about you John?"
John pulled his phone from his front pocket. "Ooh, only ten." He mused, "It would appear that he thinks this one is mainly to do with you."
"Hmm." Sherlock frowned, and glared at the screen of his mobile, as if it had betrayed him by even allowing his brother to call him.
"Mycroft?" Amy asked, "Who's he when he's at home?"
"The British government." John deadpanned over a mouthful of crunchy crisp.
"Mycroft Holmes." The Doctor said, tasting the name in his mouth. "Sherlock's older brother."
"Do you know him?" Sherlock frowned
"No way, one Holmes is quite enough for one poor Tardis, thank you!" The Doctor grinned, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Perhaps it's about the murders." Rory stated. "We haven't seen today's newspaper, how would we know if something's happened?"
"I haven't got any calls from Lestrade…" Sherlock said, "Maybe it's nothing."
And, conveniently, (as it often is in writing), John's phone chose that exact moment to ring loudly. And Sherlock definitely did not jump, thank you very much.
"Hello?" John mumbled. "Oh, Lestrade." His raised his eyebrows pointedly at Sherlock. "No, nothing new yet. Yes, of course we're still looking. No we're not at home right now…" He sighed. Then suddenly, "Wait- what? Oh my God. No, we're fine. No. No, of course, on our way."
He put the phone down, and sat stubbornly staring at the plastic casing in his hands.
"John? Are you ok?" Sherlock prompted. John shook his head slowly. "What's happened?"
"Our flat-"
"What about it?"
"Caught fire."
"Oh." Amy gasped
"That's not all, is it?" The Doctor prompted, gently, a hand on John's nearest shoulder. When John raised his head again, there was a definite watery quality to his eyes. He swallowed thickly before answering quietly. "It's Mrs Hudson; she's missing."
…
Standing outside the slightly broken and burnt shell of 221B Baker Street, John Watson realised quite how much he'd grown attached to the building in such a short time. 221B had been the only constant in his life, apart from the people who inhabited it, since he'd returned from the war; and that had been invaluable.
Sherlock was having similar thoughts, although he couldn't stop the large section of his mind which was removed from such silly emotions, and was currently trying to deduce where exactly the fire had started.
Neither of them wanted to think about Mrs Hudson too much. Worrying wouldn't help - and they trusted the Doctor too much to even contemplate the possibility of him failing to find her.
When Sherlock found he couldn't find any origin of the fire, he turned to the Doctor.
"Doctor, I don't think this was an ordinary fire…"
"I agree. Where are all the clues?"
"A perception filter again?"
"I would suspect so… Which would mean-"
"Mrs Hudson."
"- probably hasn't just popped to the shops, no." He pressed the heel of his hands against his eyes. Muttering to himself. "think, think, think…"
Sherlock knew better than to interrupt.
Rory, it would seem, did not.
"Doctor. Doctor. Doctor!"
"Shut up Rory!" The Doctor replied, "I'm thinking!"
"No, I think you really need to see this!" Rory said desperately, and John looked over at him questioningly.
"Rory, I am really quite clever quite a lot of the time. If you interrupt me willy-nilly how am I supposed to keep thinking of brilliant ideas?" The Doctor cried, spinning around on his heels.
Rory just sighed, "Amy's found footsteps." He said, "Leading out of the remains of the fire."
The Doctor let his hands drop back to his sides, a smile forming on his lips, and called, "Well, why didn't you just say so then?" before jogging off after Rory's retreating back; Sherlock and John following soon after.
….
John crouched low over the dark scorch marks on the road, inspecting the pattern of the imprints, and the distance between each separate footprint. Across the road, Sherlock was using his magnifier to take a closer look at some rather suspect scrapes on the wall of the house next to the charcoaled street.
The Doctor was wandering aimlessly around, hands scrunched deep in his trouser pockets and a deep frown set on his forehead. The mystery was thickening, it would seem. First, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor John Watson are comfortably living in the 21st century, then aliens with perception filter technology move in above their heads, and now poor old Mrs Hudson's vanished.
Not to mention the fact that Sherlock and John aren't currently registering as human.
Just then, Rory pushed past the Doctor in his haste to get a clearer view of the footsteps, and the Doctor heard a distinct clicking noise. He looked up from the gravel below his feet, and stared at Rory.
"What was that?"
"A camera" Rory replied, proudly. "I thought we should take photographs of the evidence we have, just in case it vanishes."
The Doctor grinned broadly, "Mr Pond, you are on fire today!"
Rory smiled gratefully, and continued to photograph everything he thought would be useful, and some he didn't (under Sherlock's orders). When he felt satisfied he had everything from every possible angle, he stopped and stowed the small digital camera carefully away under his jacket. It wouldn't do to lose it; just in case it was needed later.
"Sherlock!" John called, from his position at the other end of the street, "I think this might be important!" Sherlock rose up from where he had been inspecting some of the ash left on the road, and jogged smoothly over to John, his coat billowing out behind him. "What is it?" He asked
"Well, I might be being stupid, but I'm pretty certain there shouldn't be a third footstep here." John pointed to the offending scorch mark. "The rest of the footsteps are pretty normal, well - apart from the fact they're burnt into the gravel and quite possibly made by an alien" John smiled, "But here, it's like whoever made these footsteps has an extra leg."
"But this is only here?" Sherlock asked "This one?"
"Yes. The other footprints only indicate two legs." John stated, matter-of-factly. Then, "Oh God. I'm going mad aren't I?"
Sherlock grinned dryly, "That would indicate you were sane in the first place John."
"Oi you!" John grinned, mock-slapping Sherlock's arm through The Coat (And yes, it did deserve capitalisation). "I'd never planned to be chasing down alien criminals in a time travelling blue police box."
"Neither had I"
John laughed, "Well I think it suits you, in an odd kind of way."
"And you, my dear Watson." Sherlock smiled.
John giggle-snorted, "You what?"
Sherlock shrugged, grinning, "I don't know - it just felt like the right thing to say."
"Well, that's perfectly fine, my dear Holmes" John replied with a cheeky wink.
They both jumped about a foot in the air when the Doctor came unexpectedly up behind them and indignantly shouted right in their ears, acompanying his loud voice with several arm-flails;
"Will you both stop flirting? I'm busy trying to find an alien and your romancing stuff is getting in my way!"
The two men shuffled further apart, blushing deeply. "We're not together" John said quickly. "like, a couple, I mean."
"I know." The Doctor replied. "Now. What do you have here…?"
John tried to resist the urge to look at Sherlock whilst the detective was busy explaining to the Doctor what it was they'd found, exactly.
When he did look up, it was to find the Doctor staring at him, a knowing look in his eyes. He couldn't help but blush again before heaving himself up and walking back over to Rory. There were some things he really wished he was better at hiding.
As always - I'm begging for reviews :') Did you like it? Hate it? Think it was ok-ish? Let me know!
Oh, and thank you to all of you that have favourited/story alerted this fic, it does give me a confidence boost to know you're enjoying it :D