John climbed out of the cab, after the Doctor. The large building loomed before him, all official offices, Mycroft's being one of the more lavish. He'd been to the man's office a few times and he never looked forward to it.
"What does your brother do?" The Doctor asked.
"A bit of everything," Sherlock replied, in that tone he usually reserved for Mycroft.
John shook his head. If he didn't know better he'd say his friend was jealous, something Sherlock would never admit to, of course.
"Basically, he runs the British government," Rose supplied.
"Runs the government?" the Doctor asked, glancing at the building again.
"Basically."
"Shall we?" Sherlock asked, offering Rose his arm.
She gave the Doctor a sideways glance, but then laced her arm through the detective's. The Doctor glared at their backs as he trailed them up to the building. John couldn't help the smile that formed. He didn't hate the other man, although he wasn't at all happy with the way he treated Rose in the past, but Sherlock was his best friend and what was important to him would always come first.
They passed through the doors and headed for the lift. As they waited, the Doctor glanced around the building, taking things in, similar to Sherlock, but more noticeably, although, John noted, part of his attention was always focused on Rose and the detective.
The Doctor still cared for her, more than cared, that became obvious when he punched Sherlock and then proceeded to fight with him until Amy separated them with a pitcher of water. John's mind turned back to his conversation with Rose. She told him she wasn't sure how she felt about the Doctor. He could tell she still cared for him, but love? He wasn't sure. He hoped that was in the past, hoped for his friend's sake.
Sherlock was closer to Rose than he had been to any other woman, including Irene. At least, if the way he treated her was any indication. John wasn't sure what would happen to his friend if she left.
The doors to the lift slid open and they stepped inside to begin their ascent to Mycroft's floor because, of course, he couldn't simply have an office. This was Mycroft after all.
"So…" the Doctor said, glancing at Rose. Sherlock eyed him. "You got here by falling through a tear in the universe?"
"Not exactly," she replied.
"What do you mean?"
"I didn't fall through. I jumped."
"Jumped, but why would you do that?"
"People started disappearing, back, you know, on the other world. I was working for Torchwood, started back up with them after…" she trailed off, dismissing the rest of her sentence. "Anyway, my dad called me when he found what he thought might be the source of the disappearances. A crack, the others must have sealed after, but this one hadn't. I used my sonic to get a reading."
"Your Sonic?"
"James made it. When I scanned the crack it started to open. I knew what it was after I looked at the reading and I knew how to close it."
The Doctor's face turned grave.
"That was dangerous, Rose. You couldn't have known what would happen," he chastised.
"No, I didn't, but it was that or let everyone die," she insisted. "I couldn't let that happen."
The Doctor's face brightened and he smiled.
"Rose Tyler, defender of the Earth."
She laughed.
Sherlock had been glancing between the two the entire time, growing more irritated by the second, if that look on his face was any indication. His eyes were narrowed to the point that John was pretty sure he couldn't actually see out of them.
"She wouldn't have had to if your duplicate hadn't created the cracks in the first place," the detective shot.
The Doctor's eyes widened.
"The meta-crisis created them?"
"I'm sure he didn't mean to," Rose said. "He was working on something and there was an explosion. We…I thought he died."
Her eyes flooded with guilt, but before the Doctor could react Sherlock put his free hand over hers, the one holding his arm, catching her eye as he did so.
"You didn't know," he said in a tone John had never heard before. Comforting was the word that came to mind, but it sounded so strange coming from his friend…completely unexpected.
Rose gave him a sad smile. John glanced at the Doctor, his lips drew into a grim line as he glared at Sherlock, but before he could say anything the lift doors slid open and Sherlock stepped out with Rose still on his arm. The Doctor followed with that same murderous look in his eyes.
-0-
Sherlock kept his hand on hers as they walked down the hall. It felt as if that barrier he kept up had slipped, a bit more than normal and she liked this side of him. She could always get him to let her in with a smile or an offer to take his arm, but she was usually the one who initiated it. This time he'd done it on his own.
She knew it had to do with the Doctor. That Sherlock was worried about how she felt and whether she was going to stay or leave when the Time Lord left. At the moment she wasn't entirely sure herself. She cared for Sherlock, more than cared. There was a word she'd kept tucked away. A word she was too afraid to utter because the last time she gave it voice it ended in disaster and she couldn't chance that happening again. Then the Doctor showed up. The man she loved, but did she still love him in the same way? He hurt her, cutting a deep wound into her heart when he walked away. It took a long time for that wound to heal, but the scar was still there. If she went with him could she ever be sure he wouldn't do the same thing again? Maybe not tomorrow or the next day, but what would he do when she turned thirty…forty…when her human lifespan began to show in the lines around her eyes and streaks of grey in her hair?
She knew he loved her. Could see it in his eyes, but in ten or twenty years when looking at her began to remind him that he'd lose her would he decide to walk away again on his own terms instead of waiting for that day? She wanted to trust him, trust that if she went with him he would be content with her forever, but her heart wasn't so sure.
She pushed her thoughts aside as they stepped into Mycroft's office. The elder Holmes stood, leaning against his desk, going over a file. Rose assumed it was the same file they were after. He looked up as they entered.
"Ms. Tyler," he greeted. His eyes darting to the detective's hand, resting over hers. He raised an eyebrow before catching his brother's eye. "Sherlock."
"Mycroft," the detective said.
"It appears we may be on a first name basis soon," the elder Holmes replied, giving Rose a tight smile. An inside joke, one she hoped no one else would catch on to. She returned his smile, hoping that would be enough of an answer.
The Doctor appeared to be sizing Mycroft up. He wasn't very fond of bureaucrats, at least, he hadn't been when she traveled with him.
"John," Mycroft greeted.
"Mycroft," John replied, not with the same disdain Sherlock used.
The elder Holmes' eyes finally fell on the only other person in the room. The Doctor held out his hand, giving Mycroft a tight smile.
"Hello, I'm-"
"The Doctor," Mycroft said, returning his own tight smile, glancing at The Doctor's hand as if he might catch something if he touched it. "Yes, I know."
"You know?" the Doctor asked, dropping his hand.
"I make it my business to know who my brother associates with. I assume you know Ms. Tyler because, like her, you don't appear to exist, although I'm sure The Doctor is merely a title, but I couldn't find anything when I ran a facial recognition search."
"You ran a search on me?"
"Of course, as I said I make it my business to know who my brother associates with." He gave the Doctor another glance and then turned his attention to Sherlock, handing over the folder. "The research as requested."
Rose released his arm as he reached for the folder. She stepped out of the way as the Doctor joined Sherlock, both of them pouring over the research notes.
"He appears to have used electrical impulses," Sherlock said.
"Among other things," the Doctor replied. "See here," he pointed to a section on one of the papers. "Psychological reprogramming."
"I was right."
Right?
"It would appear so."
"Right about what?" Rose asked, looking between them.
She was pretty sure she knew what they were talking about, but she couldn't believe it. They both looked at her, but it was the Doctor who stepped toward her.
"Rose, I…" he rubbed the back of his neck, a sign that he was about to tell her something he knew she didn't want to hear. He used to do it before, something that James did. "I think Sherlock's right about the killer."
"No!" she yelled, taking a step back.
"Rose," Sherlock tried.
She glared at him.
"No! He didn't do this! I…" her voice broke. She couldn't believe it. She just couldn't. "I don't care what that doctor did to him! He would never…" She could feel herself breaking and at that moment she didn't want either one of them anywhere near her so she did the only thing she could. She turned and ran out of Mycroft's office.
"Rose!" The Doctor and Sherlock called after her, but she didn't stop, didn't even pause. Instead of waiting for the lift she threw open the door to the stairs and ran down them.
She expected Sherlock to believe it. He already thought James was dangerous, but the Doctor. How could he think James was capable of that? Her doctor, the Doctor in his previous regeneration, wouldn't have. She was sure of it. He wasn't the same man. Not anymore.
Standard Disclaimer.
Thank you to all my brilliant readers!
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