𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘪𝘥𝘦 | 𝘖𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 2 ✔︎

Chapter V - A Mysterious Stranger

I take my head out of my hands and take a sip of my tea. No one is in the diner on this first morning of re-opening, and, for once, I've got nothing to do. That's the trouble with being on your own -you never know what to do. I would take the TARDIS for a spin if I could, but the citizens outside would freak if they saw a whole diner disappear. But that's what the Doctor would do. I wonder how the Doctor stands it. In fact, I wonder how he is faring right now...

I texted Ash after our fight, asking if I should try and contact the Doctor again. She said no, because he doesn't remember me anyway and I'll just confuse him. Plus, we don't have any way of contacting him. Ash and I have both, miraculously, forgotten his number. That frustrates me.

I pull out my phone and search more on Sherlock. Scrolling through all the links, I discover that there is a Sherlock fan club. Apparently, they meet and discuss theories of how Sherlock might have survived. I read through some of them. There are a few the seem completely likely, but there is no denying that Sherlock is as good as dead.

Lost in my thought, I don't hear the door open and a mysterious man walk in. I only notice him once he is sitting directly in front of me at the bar.

"Hello." a baritone voice, that sounds vaguely familiar, says. My head snaps up and I automatically put on a smile, shutting my phone off.

"Sorry, sir, er, hi!" I respond out of habit. "What can I do for you?" I finally get a better look at his face. He has high cheekbones and girlishly curly black hair. He is pale in complexion and his eyes are a piercing blue, and I deduce he has sectoral heterochromia, a condition where the iris is multi-coloured. I recognize his face, but I can't put my finger on where. It's on the tip of my tongue...

"Hello." he says again, raising his eyebrows.

Then it hits me. "You!" I shout. "You -You're -" stuttering, I drop my phone.

"Sherlock Holmes. Yes." he replies, in a bored tone.

"But I saw you die!" I say, lowering my voice to a whisper. If I were irrational, I might think I am seeing a ghost. But I'm not, because I've seen many things in my lifetime more surprising than this, and everything about him seems completely real.

"Well, newsflash, I'm not dead." he says. I blink.

"But -but -how did you do it?" I ask, in denial.

"Oh, Clara. There are plenty of theories out there, do you really need another one?" I says, smugness in his voice but not on his face.

Slowly regaining my composure, I state, "Faked your own death, then?" I sip my tea again, my hand slightly shaking. I sign that I have not completely recovered from shock.

"Yes, I did." he says, slightly surprised at how much better I am taking this.

"What you been up to, then?" I ask, and go to grab a cup from behind me.

"Have you heard of Moriarty?" he asks me.

That name seems to ring a bell, so I nod. But I don't think I've read of him anywhere.

"I've been spending my time disabling his network." he says as I turn back around and pour him a cup of coffee from the pot near me. No doubt it's cold, but I'm too shocked to care. I pass the cup to him.

"Why come visit me, then? I barely know you, and you don't even know me." something in the back of my mind begs to differ.

"I recently ascertained that you have taken up residence in 221B, Baker St." I nod. "As you probably know, I have once lived there, as well."

"So?" I ask.

"I am afraid I need it back." he replies, and sips his coffee without making a face.

"Aren't you busy? Why do you need it?"

"221B was my office. I need to use my office again."

"I like 221B! No way am I going to give it up." I say, my eyebrows furrowing as I sip my tea.

"I'm not saying you have to give it up. We could strike a deal." Sherlock offers.

"What kind of deal?" I say hesitantly.

"In exchange for me sharing the flat with you, I offer something I can give you."

I think. What would I want that Sherlock has to offer? I could solve cases with him, but then something more urgent comes to mind. "You're a detective, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I have a friend, he goes by the Doctor. I... haven't talked with him in a while. Maybe I would share the flat with you if you help me find his phone number, or at least see him again?" I say. No matter what Ash says, I still want to see the Doctor again.

"Sure." he agrees. "On to the next matter. Mrs Hudson can't know that I'm still alive, or that I'm living in 221B. I don't need the flat for sleeping, just for work."

"I have an idea. My shifts here go until 1pm, so I could go to the flat afterwards, and then leave at night. You can have the flat to yourself all night that way. Then we can spend afternoons together." so I can make sure you don't blow the place up. I mentally add.

"That could work. Where would you sleep?" he asks, nodding.

"There's a... spare room here." I respond, not wanting him to know about the whole diner. "But how would you get into the flat without Mrs Hudson seeing you?"

"There's a window in the bedroom; I can enter and exit through there."

"Alright, then." I say, and Sherlock passes me his empty cup. I smile at him. "Nice doing business with you."

"And you as well." he grins and gets up to leave the diner.

As the door closes behind him, I can't help but wonder how he will find the Doctor. I take my mind off of the matter and bring the empty cups to the sink. Looking at the clock near the door, I check the time. 12.41am, the clock reads. Turning back to the dishes, I sigh and try to imagine what it will be like rooming with Sherlock Holmes.

~~~~~~

He's back!

Sherlock is here again!

Okay, so... just a little informal A/N.

I just thought that I should probably tell you all why I erased Clara and Sherlock's minds. So, I actually came up with 'But I Saw You Die!' before 'Guilty Until Proven Innocent'. I liked the idea of both of the fanfics, but I realized they wouldn't work out together because Clara and Sherlock would've already met. Then one day I have this brilliant idea: why not erase Clara and Sherlock's minds of each other so the next fanfic works out? And thus, dear readers, Clara and Sherlock forgot.

So, I'm sorry to put you though all the feels. Trust me, I got the feels just imagining the finale! But hey, I'll let you in on a little secret... I have been planning. Planning and plotting out ways for Clara and Sherlock to remember. So just you wait... ;)

But, as you can tell from the cast list, there will not be any Moriarty (Riley or James) in this book. Yay?

As I said in the last book, I am horrible at writing lovey-dovey scenes. But, in the last book I did promise there would be more shipping in this one. So... I'll try to follow through with that one. But just bare with me; I have no idea how to write scenes like that! My mom says writers draw from their experiences, but I have never experienced that. So pardon me if it is awful. I usually just read Wattpad books with scenes like that, then try doing my own based off of theirs. I might just try having them toss a few hints back and forth... I'm good at that. Nevertheless, I will try. :/

Also, to Jade_Loesch, I read you didn't like happy endings. I will do my best to have this one work out for you. ;)

That you all for reading, and I love hearing from you guys! Vote and recommend if you like! :)

-O