Artie Maitland looked up from his homework as he heard three consecutive knocks on the front door. He set down his pencil and went to answer it. "Hello?" He called out, but saw no one. He frowned in confusion as he saw a dark blue envelope on the ground right in front of the door. He bent down to pick it up and flipped it over. "One." He read out loud from the outside of the envelope. "What does that mean?"
-x-
The Doctor stuck his head out of the TARDIS doors and checked their surroundings. "All clear and one-hundred percent safe!" He called back inside, pulling Clara out with him completely.
"21st century London?" She asked with a crinkle of her nose. "Not very adventurous. Or, technically, one-hundred percent safe."
He shrugged and held out his hand. "Okay, about fifty percent safe." She smirked and intertwined their fingers together, giving him a small peck on the lips.
They both turned at the sound of someone yelling, "No! It's not okay! You can't just shoot her plants!" The Doctor and Clara frowned at a dark colored door with '221b' over the doorknocker.
A man with dark curls burst through the door, wrapping a scarf around his neck. "It's not like she needed them! And it was only target practice." The man uttered, a man with blond hair following after him.
"She needs them to have company!" The blond man protested, angrily following the other man as he walked down the street.
"Oh, must you be so simple?" He turned around to look at the other man. "She has us for company. Did that never occur to you?" He swiftly turned around and continued walking, the Doctor realized, right towards them.
The rest of their argument was unheard as the Doctor attempted to hide the TARDIS, seeing as someone might find it strange for there to be a police box from the 1960s in 21st century London. As the men neared the taller one with dark hair grew silent, frowning at the box as Clara and The Doctor stood in front of it. "Are you even listening to me?" The man with blond hair asked.
The man with dark curls walked towards the TARDIS and started examining it, completely ignoring the Doctor and Clara. "Why is there a police public call box from the 1960s randomly sitting in the middle of the pavement?" He asked, seemingly to himself.
"Um, excuse me." The Doctor said, clearing his throat.
The man continued to ignore them as the other man walked up and said, "I'm sorry about him."
The Doctor studied them both. "And who are you two?"
"Too blue for it to be a work of art." The man with dark curls said. He rubbed his fingers together before saying, "Seems authentic, but could possibly be a replica." He paused before saying, "You're right, John!"
The blond haired man, now known as John, raised his eyebrows. "I didn't say anything."
"Exactly, but you were thinking. You were thinking, 'Why don't we just open it?'."
"No, I wasn't. I was thinking, 'Sherlock is being weird again, and I need to get him away from these people before they call the police'."
"Wait, Sherlock?" The Doctor asked, staring at the two.
"Sherlock what?" Clara asked.
The man with dark curls moved away from the side of the TARDIS and stood in front of them. "I'm Sherlock Holmes. This is Dr. John Watson."
The Doctor and Clara stared at them in disbelief before Clara laughed. "Yeah, right. Very hilarious." Sherlock frowned and looked at John for an answer. The Doctor nudged her and she stopped laughing. "Wait, you're not telling me…" She pulled the Doctor away from them. "You don't really believe them, do you?" She whispered.
He shrugged, a hand running through his hair. "I mean, why would they have a reason to joke? And think about it. Their names are Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, and they live on 221b Baker Street! Is there really any question to it?!"
"Uh, yes, there is actually. Considering the fact that Sherlock Holmes is a work of fiction!" Clara replied.
The Doctor shook his head. "Clara, Clara, Clara. It's simple. We must've, somehow, traveled to an alternate universe." She was silent as the Doctor's smile grew. "Isn't this exciting?!"
She smirked and nodded. "Okay, yeah, I guess it is. We're meeting Sherlock Holmes!" They both jumped up and down for a moment in excitement, before they saw the two men staring at them with frowns on their faces. The Doctor and Clara composed themselves before walking back over to them. Clara held out her hand and said, "I'm Clara, this is the Doctor, and it's really exciting to meet you."
"Ugh, you must be fans of John's blog. See, this is why I don't like the blog. We get 'really excited' fan girls." Sherlock groaned, turning back to the TARDIS.
John shook Clara's hand before turning to the Doctor. "So you're a doctor too?" He asked with a smile.
"Um, well, not that kind, but yes, I suppose." The Doctor stuttered, before finally holding out his hand. "It's nice to meet you." He said.
John shook his hand as well and said, "It's nice to meet you too."
The Doctor frowned when he saw Sherlock fiddling with the lock to the TARDIS doors. "Oi!" He said, moving him away. "That's… this is an antique. I wouldn't really want you messing with it."
"An antique?" Sherlock asked with one eyebrow raised.
The Doctor nodded, one hand moving to the back of his head nervously. "Yes, quite so." 'Quite so?' He mouthed to Clara. She shrugged. "Um," He continued. "My grandfather gave it to me, and I didn't have enough room in my flat to put it, so I set it out here."
"You're a horrible liar." Sherlock said with a sigh.
The Doctor opened his mouth to make a retort, but was stopped by Clara's hand on his shoulder. "I wouldn't want to open that if I were you." She said, her arm hooking with the Doctors.
He turned to her. "And why is that?" He asked, a small smirk on his lips.
"It's where me and him shag." She said blatantly.
Sherlock's eyebrow quirked up as the Doctor blushed, frowning at her. "Is it really?" Sherlock asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.
She nodded and said, "Yep. It's our… shagbox. Hmm, actually snogbox sounds better. Yeah, it's our snogbox." The Doctor blushed even more furiously.
Sherlock smiled. "Hmm, snogbox. I like the ring of that." He walked up to her. "I like you." He said.
She smiled back at him. "I'm glad."
John frowned at the two, before coughing and saying, "Sherlock, we should be heading out now. It was nice meeting you two."
Sherlock turned to John and frowned. "Why must we leave? We've just gotten acquainted with these wonderful people."
"Well, we do have to go buy some new plants."
Sherlock sighed and turned back to Clara with a smirk. "It was nice to meet you, Clara is it?" He held out his hand. The Doctor frowned at the two now that he'd stopped blushing.
She shook his hand. "Yes, it is Clara. And it was wonderful to meet you, Sherlock Holmes." He nodded and he and John walked away.
Once John and Sherlock were far enough away from the Doctor and Clara, Sherlock said, "I don't trust them."
-x-
"What's the matter? Aren't we leaving?" Clara asked as the Doctor tapped on the console with a frown on his face, staring off into space.
He turned to her and blinked. "Oh, actually I was just thinking about how this is kind of a once in a lifetime chance. Why would we waste getting the chance to explore an alternate universe where there is a modern day Sherlock Holmes?"
Clara nodded with a smile. "Yeah, you're right. We should stay longer."
The Doctor nodded and started walking towards the doors. "Come along, Po-" He stopped and frowned, his heart jumping into his throat. Clara studied him with a frown. "That was… odd." He said finally. "Um, let's go Clara." He opened doors and they left the TARDIS once again. He glanced down at his arm briefly before swallowing, covering up the small mark that was far too familiar to him.
-x-
"What is in the box?" Sherlock muttered to himself, pacing back and forth across the flat of 221b Baker Street. "They've got to be hiding something in it, something important. Something that is so important that it needs to be locked up inside a phone box from the 1960s. But why a phone box from the 1960s?"
John looked up from his newspaper and asked, "Why are you still worrying about this? The woman already rather blatantly explained what they use the box for."
"Clara."
"What?"
"The woman, her name was Clara."
John sighed and rolled his eyes. "Right, sorry."
Sherlock continued his pacing. "What would they need that had to be locked away? Drugs, perhaps? They don't look like the kind of people that would distribute that. Money? Is it some kind of large piggy bank?" He ruffled his hair in frustration. "Why don't I understand this?!"
"I'm sorry to bother you, but you did leave quite a mess with my pots earlier. Could you come clean it up? I would, but I don't really have the time at the moment. I need to finish getting ready." Mrs. Hudson said as she entered the men's flat.
Sherlock turned to her. "Get ready for what?" He asked as he stopped pacing.
She looked down bashfully. "Well, I'm going out tonight."
"With who?" Sherlock asked. John looked up from his newspaper.
"Oh, just a nice man I met when going to get new pots for my new plants that you two very kindly bought for me. He was so sweet, that man. He seemed older than he looked, oh and he had the best hair! He and his girlfriend were very kind, and they asked me to join them for dinner tonight." She answered.
Sherlock put a hand on the door and asked, "What time are we leaving?"
"Well, he said he'd come by around seven, but I'm not sure if you would be allowed to co-"
"Thank you, Mrs. Hudson." Sherlock said as he slowly started edging her out of the flat.
"But the plan-"
"Goodbye, Mrs. Hudson." Sherlock said as he closed the door. He turned to John. "Quite peculiar that the Doctor and Clara somehow run into our good friend Mrs. Hudson on the same exact day we happen to stumble upon them." Sherlock said.
John frowned and asked, "How do you know it was the Doctor and Clara?"
"You didn't listen, did you? You lot never do. That's the problem." John rolled his eyes. Sherlock continued, "Mrs. Hudson said 'he and his girlfriend', intending that it's not anyone she's looking to get romantically involved with. She also said 'he seemed older than he looked', and tell me I'm not the only one that felt that same way about the Doctor."
John sighed and said, "Fine, what does it matter if it's the Doctor and Clara?"
"It means we have to go and find out what's really in the police box." Sherlock said, starting pacing again.
"No." John replied, bringing his newspaper back up to his face.
Sherlock stopped pacing and frowned at him. "What?"
"No." John repeated. "I'm not going."
"Why not?" Sherlock asked. John didn't reply. "Oh, is this about the plants?"
"No! It's not about the plants!" John said as he stood up and threw down his newspaper. "It's about you chasing away Sarah!"
Sherlock said, "Are you still upset about that?"
"You called her mum a hooker!"
"Well, that's because she is one. Did you not see her at that dinner? All the signs declared that she was in fact a prostitute, hiding it from her daughter because she was ashamed."
"Sherlock, you can't just tell someone their mother is a prostitute!"
"Oh, she'll get over it."
"No, she won't!"
"Why does it matter?!"
"Because she matters to me!" An angry silence filled the room as Sherlock looked away. "Why do you hate her so much? What is so wrong with Sarah?"
"I don't hate her." Sherlock replied.
"Then why don't you like her?! What is so wrong with Sarah that you must always drive her away from me?!"
Sherlock turned away from John and grabbed his coat, throwing it on quickly. "I'm going out."
"No, Sherlock, answer me!" John stopped him as he headed to the door. "Answer me, Sherlock!"
"I treated her like that because…" Sherlock shook his head, not looking at John. "She mattered more to you than I did." He answered quietly, before pushing past John.
John frowned at him as he walked past, shaking his head. "But you… what… you said… you didn't…" He chuckled, still shaking his head. He followed Sherlock, muttering, "You bastard."
-x-
Sherlock ran his hands along the side of the TARDIS. "No other entrance than the front two doors." He muttered to himself. He walked around to the front and turned to John. "Do you have you lock pick with you?"
John frowned and asked, "How do you even know I have that?" Sherlock held out his hand. "Fine." John reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his lock picking set, handing it to Sherlock. Sherlock immediately got to work on the lock. John stood watching him, not really sure what to do. "So, um, Sherlock, about Clara."
"I'm trying to work, John."
"Yeah, I was just going to ask, um, do you really like her?"
Sherlock stopped and turned to look at John. "What?" He asked with a frown.
John shrugged. "You know, you were very interested in her earlier."
"Yes, I was interested in her. She's a very interesting person. She hides her feelings well, but not really well at all. If you were studying her while no one else was, then you'd be able to see almost everything she was feeling, how much everything was affecting her. She's also very strong, and brave. She holds up her own. She doesn't trust easily, but she trusts the Doctor the most, which I'm not sure would be much of a good idea for her. Anyway, she loves the Doctor very much, and it's quite obvious if you look hard enough. She's a very interesting person, John, but if you're implying that I have any interest in a romantic relationship with her then you'd be very wrong. Let's just say she's not someone I'd want as an enemy." He turned back to the TARDIS and continued working on the lock.
John looked at him in disbelief. "You got all that from… you knew for only… You are so amazing."
Sherlock smirked to himself, before jumping back. "Ow." He muttered, frowning at the blue box. "It, I think it heated up the lock. It… It burnt me."
"Now that's just impossible." John said.
Sherlock stepped up tentatively, pressing a hand against the door. "John." He muttered, his eyes widening.
"They're coming, Sherlock!" John said, pulling him away from the box.
"John, it's."
"Come on, Sherlock!" He pulled him away and pushed him back into their flat, just quick enough so the Doctor and Clara hadn't seen them.
-x-
The Doctor and Clara walked down the pavement in silence, their hands swinging back and forth between them. "You know, I was kind of disappointed earlier." The Doctor said as they walked.
Clara looked up at him. "By what?"
He shrugged. "Well, I just never expected Sherlock Holmes to be so… I don't know."
"Sexy?" Clara asked with a smirk.
The Doctor chuckled and turned to her. "Oi, I'm the only one you should be calling sexy." He looked down at the pavement. "But I do have to admit, he is pretty sexy."
Clara laughed and the Doctor smiled at her. "So, what were you disappointed by?" She asked.
He shrugged again. "Well, you know how when you read a book, and you can paint out what you think the characters or the places look like in your mind, and that's just how you've always known them. And if a movie comes out for that book, and you go see it and it's not at all like you'd imagined it, then you feel this pang of disappointment. Of course, the producers of the movie could never make the characters and places fit what everyone thought they would look like, because everyone imagines them in their own unique way. So everyone would enter that theater preparing themselves for that inevitable pang of disappointment. And the thing with Sherlock is, I never knew I was going to meet a modern day him today, so I hadn't prepared myself." He looked down at Clara who was smiling at him. "What?" He asked.
"I love you." She said quietly.
He smiled, his heart warming. "I love you too." He replied, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. He frowned as he pulled away. "You need to be taller so it's easier to kiss you properly on the lips."
"Tell me about it." She muttered, looking away and frowning as they came upon the address that Mrs. Hudson had given them. "Isn't this where Sherlock and John live?"
The Doctor frowned at the door and then nodded. "Oh yeah, how could we forget about Mrs. Hudson? Remember, the landlady." He said as he looked down at Clara. "This universe really does have it all."
Clara nodded and knocked on the door. She smiled as Mrs. Hudson answered the door. "Oh, hello Clara. Hello, Doctor. If you wouldn't mind, my friends Sherlock Holmes and John Watson wished to come along."
She opened the doors to reveal the two men. "Yes, we've met. They'll be fine with it." Sherlock said, exiting the flat and calling a cab. He turned to the group. "Shall we get going?"
-x-
"So, about the box." Sherlock said over his empty plate.
John shook his head and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Sherlock, don't start this again. We've just finished eating."
"What box?" Mrs. Hudson asked.
Sherlock ignored them both and said, "There's something quite peculiar about that box, something that gave me quite the pause earlier today." He studied the Doctor and Clara. "It appears to be sentient."
John frowned. "Sherlock, you know that's absurd."
The Doctor grabbed Clara hand and stood up. "We have to leave, now. We have to… we have to go use the box." He said quickly, making a swift exit. "It was nice having dinner with you!" He called back.
Sherlock stood up and pulled on his coat. "Come along, John. We're following them."
"Why? You heard them. They're going to 'use the box'." John said with a smirk.
"I still don't know what box you're talking about." Mrs. Hudson said.
Sherlock wrapped his scarf around his neck and said, "Fine, but I'm following them. Thank you for the food Mrs. Hudson." He quickly left, his coat swaying behind him.
-x-
"We have to go, Clara. We can't let Sherlock Holmes find out about the TARDIS!" The Doctor said, pacing around the TARDIS console.
"But what about all you said? Why would we waste this opportunity?" Clara protested.
The Doctor was about to respond when he heard a knocking on the TARDIS doors. He mouthed 'what do we do?' to Clara and she shrugged. He walked up to the doors and pressed his ear against them.
He heard a muffled John saying, "Sherlock! You can't just knock on the doors! You know what they're doing in there!"
"No, I don't, and neither do you." Sherlock responded. He knocked again.
Clara joined the Doctor. "Occupied?" The Doctor called out. He nearly fell as the TARDIS doors suddenly opened, pushing his and Clara into the TARDIS console room.
"That's why. You have to push in." Sherlock said as he entered.
John frowned and said, "But the sign says pull out to open." He grew silent as he stepped into the console room. "What the hell?" He breathed.
Sherlock walked up to the console, making no sound. The Doctor and Clara studied him warily. "Not what I expected." Sherlock finally muttered.
"But it's… it's bigger on the… what the hell." John stuttered.
"John, please don't speak unless you're going to make complete sentences." Sherlock said, flipping a control on the console.
The Doctor ran up to him and said, "No! Don't press anything! And why are you not surprised?"
"Surprised? Well, I am slightly surprised. Out of all the things I thought would be in here, another dimension was not one of them." He replied. "So what does this thing do? Actually, there's a particle accelerator, and it is in fact sentient, hmm, that right there is a time rotor. Time machine, probably. Hmm, interesting. Also a space ship, judging from those controls that allow you to set coordinates. So, a time machine and space ship. This is very advanced technology, and judging from the symbols up there it's not human." He turned to the Doctor. "So, what are you two? You look human enough to me, disproving the stereotypical green alien." The Doctor and Clara stared at him blankly. "Well? What are you?" He asked.
"I've had a revelation of why I'm so attracted to you, Doctor." Clara said, still staring at Sherlock.
The Doctor swallowed. "Yeah? And what is that?"
"Smart is so damn sexy." She replied. Sherlock smirked. She turned to the Doctor. "So, should we tell him? He's guessed about half of it."
"Not guessed, observed." Sherlock corrected her.
The Doctor swallowed again before stepping toward Sherlock. He put two fingers on each of Sherlock's temples, closing his eyes. He could hear Sherlock gasping. After a moment of stunned silence he opened his eyes and stepped back.
"Wow." Was all Sherlock could muster.
John frowned and said, "What? What did you do to him?"
Sherlock remained silent, just staring at the Doctor and Clara. The silence was broken by a cellphone ringing. Sherlock reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Yes?" He answered quietly. He rubbed his eyes before nodding. "Okay, okay, right. Yeah, um, I'll be right there." He cleared his throat his he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "We have a case, John." He said.
John looked at him in disbelief. "Don't you think this is slightly more important?" John asked. Sherlock was already leaving the TARDIS. "Sherlock! What happened?!"
The Doctor placed a hand on his shoulder. "I did something that may have just broken the world's best detective." He said, his eyes worried.
"You're coming with us." John said coldly.
Clara frowned. "What?" She asked.
"You're coming with us." He repeated. "You're going to fix him." He walked out without another word.
The Doctor turned to Clara. "We have to." He said. She nodded and they followed the great Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. John Watson.
-x-
"What do we have?" Sherlock asked as he neared Detective Lestrade.
"Well, we have a man that was seemingly electrocuted to death. Who're these people?" Lestrade asked.
The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and said, "Consulting detectives Smith and Oswald." Lestrade nodded and let the Doctor and Clara pass.
"I was under the understanding that there was only one consulting detective in this world, Sherlock." Lestrade said with a chuckle.
Sherlock didn't answer as he studied the body. "He's also fallen from somewhere high." He looked up and studied the open window three floors from the roof of the building they were now standing next to. He entered the building.
The Doctor bent down and studied the body himself. "Oh no." He muttered quietly to himself, before running after Sherlock.
Clara and John followed quickly behind them as Lestrade frowned in confusion.
As they reached the apartment of the man who'd just recently died the Doctor said, "Sherlock, I don't think we need to work on this case any longer."
Sherlock nodded and said, "You're right. It's obvious. He shocked himself when he was plugging in his toaster, right there, because he hadn't noticed the plug being damp, and the power of the shock made him fall out the window, which he'd opened to let in some air, not even thinking about the fact that the plug is right under the window."
The Doctor frowned at him, before saying, "You like this." Sherlock frowned at him. "You enjoy this. You…" He shook his head. "You get off of the death of others." He took a step toward Sherlock. "You get excited when you find out someone has died, because you think it's so fun to do this."
"What are you trying to say Doctor?" Sherlock asked coldly.
"I'm saying that you are sick. You are a disappointment." He turned away, walking to the door of the apartment. "Come on, let's leave this disgusting 'detective'."
"At least I don't take young human beings along for an adventure just for my own enjoyment, all the while knowing that they are going to die a painful, and horrible death, rather than a peaceful, slightly less depressing one. Maybe, Doctor, you should think before you make such accusations." Sherlock retorted.
The Doctor spun around and glared at him. "Is that what you think? Do you think I enjoy seeing people I love die?! Do you think I get enjoyment out of the fact that everyone I've ever cared about dies because of me?!"
Sherlock glared back at him. "I think that maybe a lot less people would die if you just left the human race alone."
The Doctor scoffed at that. "Do you know how many times I've saved all of your sorry arses?! Do you have any idea how many times I've stopped the human race from being completely wiped out?! That's what I find enjoyment in, saving people. I don't get my enjoyment from working around dead people all day." He turned and attempted to pull Clara with him out the door. She frowned and pulled out of his grip. "What are you doing?" He asked, irritated.
"Maybe I just want a break from saving our 'sorry arses' for today." She said as she crossed her arms.
The Doctor sighed and said, "I didn't mean it like that, Clara."
"Well, it sounded to me like you think you're so superior to the human race. Like you're so much better than us. So I think I'll just stay here for a while. I'm not going to be hanging around with someone who thinks he's better than everyone else, thank you very much." She replied.
The Doctor groaned in frustration as he stormed out of the room. John frowned and said, "So, what the hell is going on?"
Clara sighed and thought for a moment. "Okay, I'm going to try something, and it may or may not work." She walked up to John and placed two fingers on each of his temples. She closed her eyes, immediately grinding her teeth together in pain. John gasped as he closed his eyes too. As she pulled away she grimaced in pain.
"Are you okay?" Sherlock asked, resting his hands on her shoulders.
She nodded and rubbed her head, hoping the searing pain that was now pounding inside of her skull would go away soon. John blinked for a few moments before running up to Clara, rubbing her temples. "Oh, my god. You're only half of a Time Lady. You should know better than to do that." He said, helping her sit down in a nearby chair. "Here, stop fidgeting. The pain will die down in a few moments, you just need to calm down." She nodded and followed his orders as he massaged her temples. "If only that Doctor would've stayed here he would've stopped you."
"Yeah, I don't know why, but he's been quite a prick lately." Clara said.
John chuckled as Sherlock watched her nervously. John suddenly stopped massaging her temples and was staring off at something outside of the window. After a moment he turned away and continued massaging her temples. "John, what were you looking at? You were staring at something, what was it?" Sherlock asked.
John frowned at him and said, "I wasn't looking at anything. What are you talking about?"
Sherlock looked out the window and said nothing. "I think I'm okay now." Clara said, standing up.
"Okay, just take it easy." John said.
Sherlock started heading for the door as he said, "We should get going."
-x-
The Doctor gulped down his drink and sighed. "Do you know Sherlock Holmes?" He asked the bartender.
"Oh yeah, that guy's a freak." He immediately replied, filling up the Doctor's glass.
The Doctor frowned and asked, "Really?"
The man nodded and said, "Everyone around here knows that. I could almost feel bad for the guy, if he wasn't such a weirdo."
"Why would you feel bad for him?" The Doctor asked, taking a sip of his drink.
"Well, because he gets bashed every day because of it. Yeah, there are some people that ask for his help, but not many. Some people even think he might kill people himself just so he can solve the mysteries. And they don't keep quiet about it. Man, that guy gets yelled at by old ladies in the street."
The Doctor swallowed and nodded. "Oh." He said.
"Another bar? Really?" He turned his head at the familiar voice. Clara stood behind him with her arms crossed. "Do you not remember what happened last time?" She asked.
He smirked and said, "Yeah, if I remember correctly we had sex."
She hit him on the shoulder and said, "Shut up. Come on, Sherlock needs our help."
"For what?" He asked.
She ignored his question and pulled him along with her, meeting Sherlock and John outside. "Okay, so here's the plan. Clara and I will go meet Molly to ask if we can see that body again. You and John will stay here." Sherlock said.
"Sherlock, I just wanted to say…"
"There's no time. You and John stay here." He said, walking quickly past them.
The Doctor frowned down at John and asked, "So what's going on?"
John shrugged. "I really have no idea." There was an awkward amount of silence before John asked, "So you're an alien, huh?"
The Doctor nodded before his eyes went wide. "The TARDIS!" He yelled, running off towards his ship, leaving John there alone.
-x-
"You bastard!" Sherlock yelled, storming into the TARDIS. The Doctor called out in surprise as Sherlock had him by the collar, pushed against the console.
"Watch out for the bowtie!" He said, struggling against Sherlock's strength.
"I could kill you!" Sherlock yelled. Clara tried to pull him away but he shrugged her off. Just now did the Doctor notice that Sherlock's eyes were red. "How could you do that?! I gave you clear instructions, but you just had to disobey them!"
The Doctor frowned and said, "I don't know what you're talking about!"
Sherlock threw the Doctor down, glaring at him. "This is your fault! If you hadn't gone and cared so much about this stupid box of yours, John might still be alive!"
The Doctor swallowed. "I didn't know-"
"I said to stay with him! I told you to bloody stay with him!"
"I didn't know what was going on!"
"You should've listened to me!"
Clara stepped in between the two, helping the Doctor up. "Sherlock," She said softly. "We don't even know if he's dead."
"We shouldn't even have to worry about that, but of course he had to go and screw everything up!" Sherlock yelled.
The Doctor backed away, raising his hands up in defense. "I'm sorry! I didn't know!"
Sherlock's phone rang and he answered it immediately. "Hello?" He asked angrily.
John's voice came over the other end. "I know you're angry at the Doctor," He said, his voice shaking. "But he's not the one to blame. You can find you're precious John where the…" He swallowed. "Where the darkness conceals the lies." Then he hung up.
"He's alive." Sherlock said. Everyone let out a breath of relief. "But he's been captured, and someone has him hidden. We need to find him. They said we can find him where the darkness conceals the lies."
"An alley!" Clara said immediately.
Sherlock shook his head and said, "There are too many of those, it would take too long to find him."
"Where darkness conceals the lies." The Doctor muttered to himself. He looked up and said, "There's a room in the TARDIS that would fill that exact description."
Clara's eyes widened. "No." She said. He looked at her sympathetically. "We're not going in there." She said, taking a step backwards. "You said we'd never have to go in there again."
"Anyway, how would this person know about your ship, and how would they be able to sneak past you. It wouldn't be possible. It has to be somewhere in London." Sherlock said, stepping out of the TARDIS.
The Doctor and Clara followed. "How about a bar?" Clara asked.
"That would make sense, to hide him where we'd never look. Where he last was." He hailed a cab and opened the door for them. "I swear, if we don't find him I am going to kill you, Doctor."
-x-
"He wasn't in the bar, he wasn't in any alleyways, he wasn't anywhere we've looked so far!" Sherlock said angrily, pacing the flat of 221b Baker Street.
"There is only one place that we haven't looked." The Doctor said, and Clara swallowed hard.
"Hello?" Sherlock asked as he answered his phone.
John's shaky voice came over the phone again. "You've got twenty minutes, my friend, or we'll leave him here to be forever tormented. Oh, and by the way, he's alone."
Sherlock turned to the Doctor. "Take me to that room in your ship."
Clara started frantically shaking her head. "No. I won't go. I'll never go back there. I can't."
Sherlock put a hand on her cheek, leaning down so his face was level with hers. "Clara, don't worry. You won't have to go. Only I and the Doctor will. I promise, it'll be okay." She nodded and he turned to the Doctor. "Let's go."
-x-
"You're sister loves you."
"You'll die peacefully."
"You're memories from the army will disappear."
"You won't die alone."
"Shut up!" John shouted. He knew they were all lies. This was the room of concealed lies, after all. He breathed in and out, trying not to let the darkness frighten him.
"Everything will be okay."
The cruel voice never stopped. The words were whispered around him. Sometimes in front of him, other times behind him. But he couldn't see anything. He didn't know if he was alone, or surrounded. He didn't know where he was, and he didn't know if anyone would come for him. To be honest, John had never been more frightened in all his life, and the terrifying thing was that he didn't even know why.
"Clara is coming for you."
His breathing grew rapid. He didn't want to be left here forever. His phone stopped working after the second time he called Sherlock, and even if it did the light wouldn't work on it. He was in complete darkness. "Help me!" He screamed out into the emptiness.
"John?" He heard.
"Sherlock?!" He called out. He heard the rustling of moving feet, and then the ropes that tied him to his chair were being untied. Then he was being held.
"John." He heard Sherlock breath into his shoulder.
John smiled, hugging Sherlock tight, hoping this wasn't some new illusion. "Hurry, we must go." He heard another voice say.
He felt Sherlock let go of him and pull him out of the room. He blinked a few times as a sudden light stung his eyes. He saw the Doctor and Sherlock staring at him, and he realized he was in the Doctor's ship. "Sherlock." He said. "What happened?"
"We don't know." Sherlock replied. "But we're going home now."
-x-
"Goodbye, Doctor." Sherlock said, nodding towards the man as he opened the doors to the TARDIS.
"Goodbye, Sherlock." The Doctor replied.
Clara shook Sherlock's hand and gave John a hug. "Goodbye you two. Try not to get into any more trouble."
"We'll try." John replied. "Have a safe trip."
They nodded and the Doctor and Clara stepped into the TARDIS. "We just met Sherlock Holmes and John Watson." Clara said as she and the Doctor walked up to the console.
The Doctor smiled and nodded. "Yes, we did. And, god, was it exhausting. Should we go take a nap?"
Clara nodded as she took the Doctor's hand. "I feel like I haven't slept in ages."
The Doctor nodded his agreement. They entered their bedroom and crashed onto their bed, the Doctor immediately pulling Clara to him. "Goodnight." The Doctor whispered into her ear.
"Goodnight." She said, closing her eyes. "I love you, Doctor."
"Quite so." He replied.
She giggled. "Quite so?"
"Yep." He said with a low chuckle, and a kiss to the side of her head. "I love you too."
Okay, so this is kind of long, and there's a hint of Johnlock, if you squint. But I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review if you like it!