I meant to upload this yesterday but then life happened so...yeah.
I watched the first episode of season 3 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. last Tuesday...Spoilers.
Okay, so it might be a good idea to re-read the chapter before this. Read carefully and maybe you'll pick up on the little hints that I've placed in there.
Anyhoo, enjoy this next chapter!
Disclaimer: I still don't own BBC but I bet you already knew that.
John tried to keep his mind on his job but the name on the door kept hold of his mind.
"How could someone have the exact same name as me? No, scratch that, who could possibly have the same name as me and be in the exact same building?" The end of the day seemed to come more slowly than usual for the army doctor. At last, he pushed open his front door and stepped into 221B. Mrs. Hudson was folding clothes and the whole entry way smelled like fresh laundry. John smiled as he opened the door to his and Mary's main living area.
"Welcome home, dear." Mary smiled as she kissed him on the cheek. John felt peace for the first time since he was in the hospital; whatever had happen must have just been a coincidence, right? John shoved the idea from his mind, tonight he just wanted to relax. Mary was saying something and John snapped back to reality,
"I'm sorry, what did you say? I was thinking." He apologized. Mary smirked and rolled her eyes,
"I said, 'there was a man who came over today looking for you.' I told him that you had tomorrow off so he could stop by then. He said he'd be here by 10AM."
John sat up in bed and blinked. The clock read 9:30AM. He got up and pulled on his bathrobe. Mary was already cooking breakfast for three.
"I figured that whoever's coming over might want some coffee cake." She said cheerily; then she laughed, "Are you going to meet him while you're in your pajamas?" she asked. John looked down at himself and then retreated to the bedroom to change.
He looked at himself in the small area he had cleared in the foggy mirror; now he looked presentable. Mary called to him from the kitchen,
"Cath just called! I'm going to meet her for brunch!"
"Okay." John answered as he entered the kitchen and gave Mary a quick kiss, "See you when you get home then." Mary smiled as she picked up her purse and left the flat. The clock read 9:50 AM. John took a deep breath and placed the last plate on the table. Everything was ready: the table was set, the place cleaned up, everything was in its correct place John glanced at the clock again, 9:53. Ugh, time always crawled so slowly when one was anticipating something. John sighed as he got lost in thought,
"What was with the name at the room at the end of the hall? What was it with everything I do? Sometimes it feels like I'm revolving around the same things over and over again. The same strangers, the same patients, the same cars…"
Four sharp knocks on the flat door brought him back to reality; John stood up from his chair and opened the door. A man stood on the other side, he was dressed in a tan suite and a black umbrella dangled from his arm,
"Hello, Dr. Watson." He breathed in a superior fashion. John blinked and began to pour tea. The new comer continued to stand in the doorway, "Aren't you going to invite me in?" He asked with a faint smile on his lips,
"I did, didn't I?" John hesitated. Now that he thought about it he couldn't remember even asking his name, "I'm sorry, who are you?" He asked,
"My name is Mycroft, Mycroft Holmes." The tall man entered the flat and closed the door; he walked slowly, deliberately over to the table and pulled his chair out; John sat down in his own chair to a plate of food. Mycroft tilted his head and looked at John,
"I prefer to have coffee in the morning, thank you." John stood up and dumped the final scoop of coffee into the machine. He froze, Mycroft was looking at him. How quickly did that take him? John glanced at the clock to see that it very plainly read 10:15. John looked up at Mycroft as he finished pouring the coffee and set it in front of him. The clock read 10:26. Mycroft wasn't paying any attention to John; he was staring at his own watch as he absentmindedly said thank you.
"Are you in a rush?" John asked glancing at the kitchen clock. Mycroft smiled an odd, almost painful looking smile that ended up looking more like a grimace.
"No, I was just noticing that all your clocks are broken."
"What?" John glanced up from his empty plate. Mycroft had only just now taken a sip of his coffee. He set the cup back down and continued,
"Yes, your clocks are unbelievably fast. Your kitchen clock says it is 10:38 and my watch says it's only 10:07 AM." If John had been eating something he probably would have almost choked.
"No…" he breathed, "Your watch must be broken." Mycroft shook his head,
"I just got it looked at yesterday, John. There's nothing wrong with it at all." John's heart began to beat faster and his left hand shook slightly. Mycroft pocketed the watch and resumed eating his breakfast, "John," he said in between bites of food, "I'm here to lay down for you the battle plan."
"What? W-what battle plan? What are you talking about?"
"So many questions so soon. Good, that means you want answers. If you are willing now to listen, I will give you the most valuable and important information in your tiny life." Mycroft rose and began walking over to the two chairs in the living room. John seated himself as Mycroft approached. Mycroft sat down and looked sideways at John, "You do get around, don't you?" John was getting more and more freaked out.
"What's going on?" he demanded. Mycroft gave him that grimace with the ends of his mouth still curved up,
"You have the full right to be having a mental breakdown at the moment; especially since I am the first person you've ever met who is outside your idea of time." Mycroft's face turned solemn and he leaned closer to the army doctor, "John Watson, this world that you're living in isn't the only one out there. There is, in fact, one other world that is known."
"Okay…" John hesitated, "Why are you telling me all this?"
"Because," Mycroft sighed, "you're the only one who can establish which world is real and which one is fake."
John must have passed out. When he woke up Mycroft was standing over him with a small bottle of smelling-salts. John coughed and pushed the bottle away from his nose. Mycroft tilted his head to one side and looked at his watch again,
"Oh would you stop that?!" John snapped at the older man. Mycroft looked up with a slight look of surprise on his face…or…was that just another grimace? John swung his legs over the side of the couch and prepared to get up,
"Stop," Mycroft's commanding tone caused the army doctor to freeze in place. Mycroft sat down in one of the chairs and looked at John, "I want you to walk over to me." He said simply. John stood up and found himself standing next to Mycroft. The red-head shook his head and sighed, "Try it again." He ordered and John was back on the couch again. This time John hesitated and closed his eyes. He began to imagine the beat of a clock,
'Tick…tock…tick…tock…' the beat continued to play in the army doctor's head; to this beat Watson stood up and carefully moved towards Mycroft. One step-tick-another step-tock-tick-tock, when John opened his eyes after six or seven short steps he saw that Mycroft was smiling,
"Good, very good in fact." Mr. Holmes said in a pleased voice, "I'm surprised that you've managed so quickly. Now," He grimaced, "on to more discussing. I will tell you the differences between the two worlds and then I leave you to choose which world you wish to call home." Mycroft motioned to the chair opposite him. John sat down.
"Okay," He said, "I think I'm ready." Mycroft looked like he seriously doubted that John was ready for anything that he was about to hear.
"Let's start with this world," Holmes said, "In this world you have a good job, a lovely wife, a good flat with a very nice landlady, and you even have a friend." The word 'friend' was spoken as if it was something to be ashamed of, almost like it was some long-forgotten swear word. "Here you lead a very happy, carefree life. There is no sickness where you don't want it and no one you love will die or even age. Here you can have a large family and never lose any of them. Your sister will quit drinking the moment that you request it; you'll get a promotion at work as soon as you hint at wanting one. This is the world, John Watson, which will never experience war, pain, or death. In this world, everything is perfect and everyone is free to do exactly what you think they should be doing." John blinked at the last statement,
"What? So I'm in charge?" He asked with an amused smile. Mycroft tilted his head to the side,
"I'm afraid that you can never stop being in charge. Everything here, quite literally, revolves around you." Mycroft sighed, "No pain, no death, and everybody lives happily ever after, unless you want otherwise. That is option one."
"Option two is?" John asked. Mycroft checked his watch before answering.
"Option two, yes, the 'other world' as you may call it. In the other world there is a very different case of events. People are born everyday but many people also die every day. There are people there that you know and who love you very dearly. You lead an insanely unorganized life style that is wrought with danger, mystery and insanity. You have a lovely wife, who happens to be expecting your first child…and, of course, there's always Sherlock Holmes." John gripped the side of his chair,
"How do you know about Sherlock?" He demanded, "Sherlock is just someone that I made up!" Mycroft looked a trifle shocked at this sudden outburst.
"Oh dear," he said, "You don't really believe that, do you?" The question sounded almost desperate. Like it was imperative that John truly believe in Sherlock Holmes, "You finally 'accepted it', then? Well, what if I told you that Sherlock was real and the moments that you've seen him are moments that he's managed to break through into your world by accident?"
John blinked, "What?" He asked. Mycroft saw that he had only made the poor army doctor more confused. He sighed,
"Sherlock Holmes is real. He has points in time that he wants to see you and just as you have points that you want to see him. When these points occur at the same time there is a weak link that forms through the worlds…like a fogged up window. That's how you are able to see Sherlock at different points. However, he can't see you in this state because you don't want him to." Mycroft explained.
"Of course I want Sherlock to see me!" John claimed. Mycroft merely raised an eyebrow and the statement was dropped.
"Back to the pros and cons of the 'other world'," Mycroft said, "The other world you have no control of and there are bad days, good days, and average days. There are people who are smarter than you as well as people who are dumb and then there are the people who resign on the same level of IQ as you do. There is love and suffering and pain and life and death. In the other world there is no such thing as happily ever after because nothing ever ends." The last few words fell like blocks of lead against concrete. Mycroft reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out a small circular container; he got up and set it down on the mantel.
"What's that then?" Watson asked. The other man turned to him,
"Memory patches." He said, "I told you that you had to decide which world you wished to live in so now you've got to choose. In this container," Mycroft motioned to the object, "are memory-wiping patches. Simply place them anywhere on the skin and they'll be absorbed into your system in only an hour; everything we've talked about will be erased. You'll forget about me, about the 'other world' and even Sherlock. One patch covers three hours and I'm leaving you with eight; that gives you 24 hours to decide."
"But…" John hesitated, "what if I decide to go to the other world?"
"Well," Mycroft breathed, "that's a little more complicated. There is a watch; a pocket watch. This watch contains suppressed memories. Find it. Once you've found the watch and opened it you'll get all the other memories returned to you and re-enter the other world." Mycroft leaned close the Dr. Watson, "Just remember, John, either way you choose there is no going back. So decide wisely."
John stood there watching as Mr. Holmes picked up his umbrella and headed to the door. Suddenly the older man paused.
"Any questions?" He asked. John glanced at the waiting man,
"Yeah, um," John said, "Just-just one." Mycroft raised his eyebrows as indication for him to continue, "If," John began carefully, "If, like you say, I am 'in charge' of everything-even time-then…how are you not in my time? I mean…why are you so…free?"
Mycroft grimaced a warm grimace, "I suppose you could say that I sort of stepped through the wall diving the worlds just for a quick visit." The man turned and opened the door and began walking down the stairs. When Mycroft was about half-way down John heard him call back up to him, "Time to choose a side, Dr. Watson." Then the front door closed with a loud 'click'.
"Wait!" John shouted as he dashed down the stairs; he flung open the door only to find himself staring at an all-to-empty Baker Street. Mycroft Holmes was gone as if he was never there but the container of memory-patches was still sitting on the mantel upstairs.
I hope that this clears some stuff up without making the whole story obvious but if you have any questions (that don't contain spoilers) I'll do my best to answer them in the next chapter that I post. :)
~SimmonsButterflys