A Study in Space (Sherlock Holmes and 10th Doctor)

The Doctor was steering the TARDIS when, as she would have it, she changed her mind. Placing him on Earth in London in the year of 2012. The Doctor opened the door and peeked around it, finding himself looking at a flat complex directly across the street from where the TARDIS had landed. 221 Baker Street...hmmm, the name sounded familiar, but he was missing something. 221...221..B! 221 B Baker Street! Of course, that's where Sherlock Holmes lived.

"Brilliant!" The Doctor exclaimed, crossing the street quickly and ringing the bell for 221 B. There must be a reason that the TARDIS had brought him here.

Sherlock was upstairs in the flat trying to figure out ways to pass the time, eager for a new case to come through.

He'd just logged on to check his emails when the door bell rang. The ring didn't particularly excite him very much. It didn't have that nervous tension that the ring of a client would normally have.

"MRS HUDSON!" He shouted as loud as he could. "THE DOOR!" There was no answer. "THE DOOR MRS HUDSON!" Still no sounds of movement from downstairs. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes he got up and jogged downstairs to open it himself.

Sherlock stared down at the slightly smaller rather odd looking man in the sharp suit and long brown coat. And trainers. Yes, trainers with a suit, Sherlock sighed.

"Yes, who are you?" He asked rather rudely.

The Doctor's eyes were sparkling with excitement, "Who am I? Brilliant!" He said to himself before looking Sherlock in the eyes and addressing him, "I'm The Doctor." He extended his hand to the taller man, "And you're Sherlock Holmes."

Sherlock took the man's hand and nodded. "Yes, that's correct," he answered, frowning. He stared at the Doctor for quite some time, studying him intently and realising he was surprisingly difficult to read. Normally he could tell so many things about a person just from a single glance - their job, their habits, what they'd eaten, drank, what they'd been doing that day....but this guy...there was something mysterious about him.

He was still convinced this Doctor person wasn't a client. He didn't exactly look like someone who wanted him to investigate a murder or a disappearance or something vaguely interesting. He just looked rather smug and pleased with himself.

Suddenly an idea came to him. "Oh....let me guess....you're a fan right? You've been reading John's blog." Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"I'm a fan sure, but no I haven't been reading John's blog. See, I...ended up here for a reason so I'm sure it must have something to do with you. Since you're the worlds greatest detective."

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and ran it over Sherlock quickly, maybe it was alien energy that had drawn him here. But it seemed his readings were as inconclusive as Sherlock's. "May I come in then? Have a cuppa?"

Sherlock took a couple of steps back when the Doctor brought out some strange looking silver device that lit up and made a strange noise when he pointed it at him, moving it up and down in the air. He tried not to show his alarm and maintain his usual cool exterior.

"A cuppa?" he repeated. This man wanted to come in for a cup of tea? Sherlock sighed and rolled his eyes. "I suppose so." Well, he didn't have anything else on at the moment and this Doctor was rather interesting. He stepped back and allowed him to come in, closing the door gently behind them. "I'm just upstairs," he explained, pointing to the staircase.

The Doctor smiled, heading up the stairs and into the flat. "Wow, this is a nice flat." He walked over to the mantle, picking up Sherlock's skull, "To be or not to be!" He laughed to himself before setting it down and sitting in Sherlock's chair, unbeknownst to him, and looked up at Sherlock, "Well! Do you have an interesting case right now? Anything going on in London?" The Doctor awaited his answer eagerly.

Sherlock frowned as the Doctor sat in his favourite chair, but said nothing. Instead he wandered through to the kitchen and filled the kettle with water, putting it on to boil. This was John's job, not his, he thought bitterly to himself.

"No," he answered flatly. "There's absolutley nothing going on, it's positively dull. Last case was two days ago. Bored."

He poured out the hot water into two mugs of tea, poured in some milk and carried one over for the Doctor, setting a small bowl of sugar down on the table with a spoon. Sherlock sighed and sat down in John's chair, fluffing up the Union Jack cushion.

"So what are you doing here anyway Doctor?" he asked, eyes narrowing, still not sure whether he should trust this man he knew nothing about.

The Doctor gladly accepted the cuppa, taking a long sip before answering, "Well, I was on my way somewhere else when my ship, The TARDIS, dropped me here. When I saw your flat I figured it must have something to do with you so I came right away." He smiled pleasantly before continuing, "There must be some reason I'm here, and if it's something bad, which it usually is, I may need you help taking care of it Sherlock Holmes."

He usually didn't disclose so much information to someone he'd just met, but if anyone could handle the information it would be this man.

Sherlock frowned and shook his head, not sure whether he'd processed the information correctly.

"Sorry I might not have heard you right Doctor but...did you just say you came on a ship?" he asked, rather surprised. "Where abouts did it dock, Canary Wharf? And you got a cab here...right?" He spoke a little uncertainly. He could normally tell when people had got cabs.

Sherlock was however, a little cheered by the mention of something bad occuring, or the possibility of something bad about to occur.

"I really need a case," he muttered, "Nobody's been murdered for....ages."

The Doctor laughed at Sherlock's last remark before endevouring to explain, "Well..when I say ship I mean spaceship. That's probably how you'd put it, but the TARDIS does much more than just travel through space." The Doctor looked down at his cup of tea, very subtly there were ripples, extending from the centre and radiating outwards, as if something very large was shaking the earth.

"Hmmm, well that's curious, usually prone to earthquakes Mr. Holmes?"

Sherlock laughed loudly, quite certain now that this man was insane. "A space ship? Travel through time?" he scoffed, "Are you trying to tell me you're some kind of alien or something?"

His mind wondered idly about the location of John's gun, just in case this man was an escaped lunatic from the mental asylum and needed restraining. Sherlock wondered why he'd even let him in the house in the first place but then, there was something rather interesting about him.

Suddenly he noticed the cups rattling in their saucers and stared at them curiously. "No....no I don't think that's ever happened before," he answered. "How...odd."

The Doctor quickly went to the window, pushing the curtains back slightly to peer outside. "Were you a fan of H.G. Well's "War of the Worlds"? Because it looks like we're about to be in for something rather similar.." The Doctor ran back to the door of the flat, evidently leaving to learn more about the mission of the strange creatures outside the building. He turned back at the last second and looked to Sherlock, "Are you coming with me?"

Sherlock frowned and got up from the armchair, heading over to the window to peer out over the Doctor's shoulder.

"Bloody hell," he gasped and took a step back staring down at the weird looking people stood outside 221B Baker Street. "Why are they dressed like that? It's not Halloween for another 6 months."

He watched as the Doctor ran to the door and asked if he was coming, clearly planning to go downstairs and investigate further. Sherlock shrugged. This was probably the most interesting thing that had happened all week so sure, why not. He grinned and grabbed his coat, following the Doctor down the stairs.

As they reached the outside door, a loud knock came from the other side of the door. The Doctor peeked through the keyhole before opening the door. "Hello and how might we help you?" The Doctor asked, matter-of-factly before turning to Sherlock, "These," he began with some gusto, "Are actual Martians."

"Martians?" Sherlock repeated. He scoffed. "Yeah right. What...you mean like...actual Martians from Mars?" He bent down and peered through the letterbox at the three strange figures stood outside the door.

"We require Sherlock Holmes," a voice came from the outside.

Sherlock stood up and stepped back and looked triumphantly at the Doctor. "If they're Martians, Doctor, then why are they speaking English? Don't try and tell me Martians speak English?"

The Doctor smiled, "Always first to catch on, you." He turned away from the door to face Sherlock, "My...space ship, The TARDIS is a living creature, she translates all alien languages into English when she's close by, so that we can understand, and visa versa. We speak in English and the Martians hear us in their native dialect."

He smiled, the look on Sherlock's face was priceless. "So, shall we let them in and see what it is they want?" He put his hand back on the doorknob, waiting for a response.

Sherlock stared open mouthed, glancing between the Doctor and the door, the door and the Doctor, realising the man wasn't even trying to deny that these were apparently Martians from Mars. None of this made any sense whatsoever! You didn't just get aliens coming down from nowhere and turning up on your doorstep, it just didn't happen.

The man was trying to tell him that his "spaceship" could translate every single language into English but Sherlock really didn't have time to listen to such nonsene. Right now something vaguely interesting was happening and there were people outside in fancy dress outfits asking for him.

"OK," he said calmly, "There has to be a reasonable and logical explanation for this. There always is. So just relax, don't worry yourself, and I'll figure it out. You just...go along with whatever they're saying...they're not real...it'll all be fine." Sherlock smiled, trying to reassure this Doctor person. "Yes, let's let them in," he agreed and took a deep breath, bracing himself for the door opening.

"Allons-y!" The Doctor said, opening the door and stepping back to avoid blocking Sherlock's view of the Martians. "Hello!" He said brightly, "I'm The Doctor and this is Sherlock Holmes, nice to meet you."

Sherlock took a couple of steps backwards as the Doctor opened the door, then his curiosity took the better of him and he moved towards the Martians again, holding out his hand slightly to try and touch their faces.

"This is a costume surely..." he muttered.

"We want Sherlock Holmes," the Martians announced, turning to him. "You are Sherlock Holmes?"

"Yes...yes I am," Sherlock answered, then held up his hand. "Wait, don't tell me. You've got a case for me, right?"

The Doctor watched the scene play out, rarely did he find humans who were this calm around aliens, and when he did, they usually became his companions. "Shall we go upstairs then?" He asked, looking from the Martians to Sherlock.

Sherlock shrugged. "Well I guess you might as well come in," he muttered to the strange people. "We've still got some tea in the pot haven't we Doctor?"

He turned on his heels and jogged back upstairs to the flat expecting them to follow him. People normally followed him.

In response, The Doctor only grinned, Sherlock was amazing and fun, very very fun. "Well come on!" He said to the Martians, jogging up the stairs behind Sherlock.

Sherlock got upstairs to the flat and headed through to the kitchen where there was still some tea left in the pot. He grabbed a couple of cups for the new visitors and poured out some tea, taking it back to the living room.

"Right then," he announced, "Here we are. Now...how about we take off those silly masks?"

It took a moment of looking at Sherlock curiously before The Doctor spoke, "Oh no Sherlock I assure you, these are truly Martians. They can't take off their masks because these are their faces." The Martians looked from The Doctor to Sherlock, confused. Finally one spoke up,

"We come to acquire you, Sherlock Holmes, and take you back to Mars for experimentation."