AN: I won't bore you with my long excuses about why it took me so long to publish this. Sorry, hopefully it won't happen again.

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Several pairs of expectant eyes rested on the Doctor as he was let out of the cell. The alien approached the Doctor warily. Every muscle was tensed, as if he were preparing to have to pounce on an escaping Time Lord. The Doctor moved slowly forward so as not to startle the Raxacoricofallapatorian.

"May I?" the Doctor asked as he slowly raised his hands towards the alien's head.

The alien glared at the hands hovering just in front of him. After a moment, he seemed to decide that the Doctor meant no harm and nodded his agreement. The Doctor gently rested his hands on either side of the alien's head and closed his eyes, focusing.

Wherever the connection's path was, a cold trail was left. It started as an icy feeling surrounding the Doctor's brain, and flowed like water down his neck and into his arms. The connection spiraled through his arms and out his fingertips, where it entered the Raxacoricofallapatorian's head. The entire experience, while odd, was not unpleasant.

One by one, the Doctor loosened the memories of their encounters with Dadre and her son. They slipped like water through the icy trail straight into the alien's brain. He gasped at the sight of Dadre's son charging Sherlock. "It's true," he said softly. "What you said. You really were attacked."

The Doctor removed his hands, severing the connection. The alien in front of him blinked a few times, clearing the memories away from his eyes. He looked the Doctor in the eye and smiled. "Thank you. We will deal with the problem now. You and your friends are free to go."

After shaking the Doctor's hand, he unlocked the cell door and motioned for the others to come out. "I trust that you can see yourselves out alright?"

"Yes," the Doctor answered. "Thank you."

Without another word, the alien was gone. The Doctor turned to his group of friends, smiling at the thought of having a group of friends traveling with him. "I suppose you all want to go home now?" he asked.

"Is it finally over?" Clara asked.

"Yes, Clara," the Doctor answered, smiling affectionately. "I believe it is."

Slowly, the teacher, the army doctor, the detective, and the pathologist, all left the cell to stand beside the Time Lord. They all looked up at him with varying degrees of exhaustion, relief, and happiness.

The walk back to the TARDIS was a quiet one as the five friends let themselves just enjoy each other's company now that all danger was gone. The Doctor, who knew it wouldn't be long before he was back in the heart of the action, spent the time simply observing his new friends. When he had walked into the house of that first murder victim days ago, he had no attention of allying himself with the detective, much less befriending him. Now, it felt as if he had known the odd man for much longer. They were very alike, which was perhaps why they got along so well.

The TARDIS was waiting just where the Doctor had left her. As he approached, she buzzed happily. "Good to see you too," he whispered as he opened the door. Of course, he couldn't forget his oldest friend; the one who had been with him on every adventure for two-thousand years. He ran joyfully to the console and ran a hand over the many levers and switches. "It is good to be home."

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As the TARDIS shuddered, Clara leaned her head against John's shoulder. "This was fun," she remarked.

He hummed in agreement. "It will be hard to go back to real life after this," he replied.

Clara snorted. "This is real life."

The TARDIS shook again and groaned, signaling arrival. "221B Baker Street," the Doctor announced.

"I'll see you again soon, ok?" Clara asked as she pulled away.

"I'll call you," he answered.

"You had better."

Clara watched with a smile as John left with Sherlock and Molly. As the door swung closed, she turned to her best friend. "Well," she began, crossing the console room to stand next to him. "That was much more exciting than I ever imagined murder in London could be."

"I agree with you, Clara," the Doctor replied, lazily flipping a switch.

Clara leaned her back against the console before continuing. "And to think, we met local celebrity Sherlock Holmes. And John Watson of course!"

The Doctor smiled brightly at her. It occurred to Clara that this was how it began; with her leaning against the console and the Doctor smiling at her. Her happiness overwhelmed her, and she let out a small laugh.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked.

"I just hope that things never change," Clara sighed happily.

The TARDIS lurched, and Clara knew that she had probably landed in the middle of her living room. "I'll pick you up again soon," he said she started walking away.

"Looking forward to it," Clara replied over her shoulder.

As soon as she stepped outside and closed the door, the TARDIS took off again, leaving Clara alone.

Without wasting any time, she changed clothes and collapsed on her bed. As fun as her latest adventure had been, it had been exhausting. It wasn't long before sleep came to her.

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Sherlock had insisted on riding in the cab with Molly to her flat. She curled up against him, enjoying his nearness. After so long of watching after him, it was nice to have him close. She could feel his eyes watching her, analyzing as always.

"Are you alright?" he finally asked.

"Yeah," Molly responded. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, just with everything that happened, it would leave some people shaken up."

Molly nodded. "I'm alright. Better actually."

When the cab pulled up to Molly's flat, it was with much reluctance that she pulled herself away from Sherlock. "I'll see you again soon," he promised before closing the cab door. Molly grinned wildly to herself as she watched the cab drive away.

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"Are you going to put this in your blog?" Sherlock asked.

John laughed quietly and answered, "I'm taking out all the parts about aliens. Don't worry."

Sherlock flopped onto the couch and watched as his best friend typed. The entire case had been absolutely brilliant. "I need cases like this more often. London's criminals have nothing on Raxacoricofallapatorius's."

John smirked to himself. "Maybe we'll see him again one day."

The two fell into comfortable silence. Sherlock entered his mind palace and reexamined the new data retrieved over the past few days. He definitely hadn't seen enough of the worlds outside Earth. Someday soon, he vowed, he would see the Doctor again.

Sherlock was unsure of how much time had passed as he came back to the flat. John was still on his computer, typing. Sherlock sighed in contentment and continued to watch for a few minutes before breaking the silence.

"John?"

"Yes, Sherlock?"

"I'm bored."

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AN: So here we are at the end. Thank you to everybody who followed, favorited, and reviewed. You made this story worth writing. I will probably write an epilogue soon. Also, since I had so much fun writing this, I think I'm going to write a sequel. Thanks again, and goodbye for now!

-Dead Man's Toe