Sherlock eyed the Doctor as John crossed the room. Time Lord. Alien. He saw that, but he also saw the man. Seemingly kind and caring, but dangerous, prone to rash choices. There was something between him and Mrs. Pond. Something involving her daughter. You know what it would do to her. She was talking about Rose and the way he felt about her, but Sherlock couldn't deduce why that would matter to Mrs. Pond's daughter.

He wanted the Doctor out of his life, out of Rose's life. Hopefully the confrontation with Rose and the slap she landed him…Sherlock couldn't help smiling at the memory…hopefully that would be enough to send him on his way. Only, the Doctor didn't appear to be in any hurry to leave. Perhaps a bit of prodding would send him back to wherever he came from.

"Not the happy reunion you expected?" Sherlock asked.

The Doctor eyed him.

"I don't see that it's any concern of yours," the Doctor replied.

"Of course not, but then you did leave her behind."

"I didn't have a choice."

As Rose said, there was always a choice and Sherlock could see the truth of that in the way the Doctor shifted, slight darting of the eyes, little shifts that told the detective not having a choice wasn't accurate.

"You keep saying that, but we both know that's not entirely true," Sherlock said.

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" the Doctor snapped.

"You could've cleaned up your own mess instead of leaving her to take care of it."

"I couldn't take him with me-"

"Because he was too dangerous. So, you left her to take care of him."

"Because I knew she could. She saved me and I knew she could do the same for him."

"But what did that do to her?"

"What?" the Doctor asked, as if he wasn't entirely sure what the detective meant.

"You not only broke a promise to her, you left her with a copy of yourself."

Sherlock could feel the anger building inside. Usually, he could pull back his emotions, rein them in before they escaped, but he was struggling because when it came to her things were different.

"He isn't a copy. He's me," the Doctor protested.

"He isn't you. He's a clone," Sherlock snapped.

"Human biological meta-crisis. We are the same, well, we were the same until I regenerated. Only he's human."

"To her he wasn't the man she loved. She watched that man walk away."

The Doctor glanced at her closed door and Sherlock could tell that he'd struck a nerve.

"You couldn't leave well enough alone though, could you?" Sherlock continued. "Had to track her down. Disrupt her life when she was starting to settle after everything she's been through."

"I didn't track her down. We fell through a crack," the Doctor explained and then stopped. He eyed Sherlock. "Hang on. How did Rose get here? She shouldn't even be here."

"She jumped through a crack, but how could you have come through the same way she did if you were in a universe parallel to the one she was on?"

"I couldn't have. Unless…" The Doctor eyed the police box. "She must have done it."

"She?"

Sherlock glanced around the room expecting to see a woman standing somewhere. One he hadn't noticed, which, of course, would be impossible since he noticed everything, but there was no one else in the room.

"The TARDIS," the Doctor explained.

The TARDIS? The blue police box?

"Your ship?"

"She's more than a ship."

Hang on. What the hell did that mean?

"More than a ship? What do you mean, more than a ship?"

"She's alive."

"You're ship's alive?"

"Yes."

The Doctor believed it, but whether it was true or not Sherlock decided to let the matter drop because the important part, at the moment, was how the Doctor got there and when he was leaving.

"Why would your…she…do that?"

The Doctor smiled and Sherlock could tell he'd worked something out.

"To set things right, of course."

"Set things right?"

"Rose."

The pieces snapped together and Sherlock realized what the Doctor was saying. He was going to take Rose with him and either drop her back on that parallel world or keep her with him. For a moment the air seemed to have gone from the room. The sensation was strange…unsettling…and then he recovered. He eyed the Time Lord. He wasn't sure what the Doctor planned to do with Rose, but Sherlock wasn't about to let him take her.

"You are not going to take her with you," the detective insisted.

The Doctor gave him a dismissive look.

"She doesn't belong here."

"She didn't belong on that parallel world that you left her on either."

"This is different. This isn't a parallel universe."

Isn't a parallel universe? Of course it was. The Doctor was obviously trying to justify taking her.

"Then what is it?"

"It's-"

"I've had it with you making decisions for me, Doctor," Rose snapped.

Sherlock looked up in time to watch Rose advance on the Time Lord, angry finger poised. He couldn't help smiling at the scene.

"But-"

The Doctor's demeanor changed, almost cowed by the sight of her.

"No! You don't get to decide what I do and where I go!"

"You don't understand," he protested.

"I understand perfectly well! Do you think I wouldn't have figured out where I was? What this place is? I'm not an idiot, Doctor!"

"I never said-"

"It was implied!"

"No, I-"

"The day you walked away you gave up any right to make decisions for me!"

Sherlock's phone chimed, interrupting what was turning out to be an entertaining spectacle. At least, entertaining to the detective. He pulled his phone out and read the ID. Lestrade. Of course.

He stepped away from the row and answered.

"Lestrade, this better be important," he said.

"I think we have a second one," Lestrade replied.

"A second murder?"

"A woman. Blonde. Roughly the same age."

"Strangulation?"

"Looks that way. Can you bring John?"

"Text me the address."

He hung up, pocketing his phone, then returned to the group. Rose and the Doctor were still arguing, but Sherlock knew from experience that arguing with her was always a losing battle.

"There's been another one," Sherlock said, interrupting them.

"Another one?" John asked.

"A second woman?" Rose inquired, completely forgetting her argument. "Do you think…"

Sherlock smiled.

"Possibly. Of course it could be a copy cat or a completely different killing. I won't know for sure until I've seen the body and the scene. So, I don't want to get my hopes up just yet, but, yes, it's definitely a possibility."

The Doctor eyed him.

"It sounds like you hope there's a serial killer out there murdering people."

"John, Rose, with me. You," Sherlock gave the Doctor a disdainful look, "can stay here or leave. It's your choice."

"You're leaving? With him?" The Doctor asked as Sherlock crossed the room and opened the door.

Rose grabbed her coat and slid into it.

"As a matter of fact I am," she replied. "This is what I do, Doctor."

"Then I'm coming too."

"No," Sherlock snapped. "You're not needed."

The Doctor eyed Sherlock.

"We can either stand here and argue for the next hour or you can let me come along. It's your choice," the Doctor replied, throwing Sherlock's words back.

The detective narrowed his eyes. He could see the truth of the man's words and although he wanted the Doctor as far away from Rose as he could manage he couldn't let the crime scene grow any colder than it already was.

"Very well, but don't touch anything," he snapped.

"Lovely," the Doctor said, smiling in a way that made the detective want to punch him again. "I do love a crime scene. Well, I say love, but what I mean is…"

Sherlock tuned him out as he stepped out the door and ascended the stairs.


Standard Disclaimer.

Thank you to all my brilliant readers!

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