"Got her to sleep, then?" Sherlock looked up to see Dr. Strange walk into the front room. "Sorry to impose on you, she never does well when John is working a double, he tried to get out of it, but -"
Strange shrugged, and nodded at John's chair. "Mind if I sit?"
"Please. Like a drink?" Sherlock nodded at the bottle of scotch next to him.
"Do you have any ale around? I used to drink - like that," indicating the expensive bottle that Sherlock only brought out when he needed to short circuit the thoughts running through his head. "But, now I prefer beer when I can get it -"
Sherlock nodded and went into the kitchen to retrieve a couple of bottles from the fridge, then stopped short before he opened them, and swore silently to himself, as he handed Strange the bottle. "American. I know John said you met at a conference in the States, but, with all the excitement of your, hmmm, arrival, I didn't quite perceive it - I'm usually better at picking up on things - I'd say, Illinois?"
"You have a good ear, I've spent some time trying to make it less obvious. You've been to the States, then."
"On business. A few years back."
They drank in silence for a few minutes and stared into the flames in the fireplace. "I lied."
"About?" Sherlock blinked at him.
"How I found you."
"We've met before." Sherlock whispered and turned away from him.
"Didn't think you'd remember. Back then, I rarely took the time to visit my patients when they came out of anesthesia - I was, let's just say -"
"A bit of an arrogant sod?" Sherlock managed to chuckle before he finished his ale. "Another?"
"Please."
Sherlock got to his feet and took the bottle from Strange's hand and returned to the kitchen to retrieve two more bottles. "Your hands - sorry, I've noticed the tremors - John had a similar issue, still happens on occasion when he's - was it the car accident? It's none of my business, I guess I'm just curious how a neurosurgeon from Chicago became some, I don't know -"
"Master of the Mystic Arts?" Strange snorted and accepted the bottle with a nod. "You were one of my last cases. I wasn't going to take you on, except Christine - she noticed - you don't talk about it, do you - the 'business trip'?" Sherlock shook his head. "She had - has, a sense of people. She knew you needed to get back to something - someone? And she knew I was the only person who could do the procedure - you had a bullet - lodged - I tried to put her off, but then she showed me your chart. You had been -"
"Tortured."
"Is this how you deal with it?" He nodded at the glass Sherlock was holding in both hands. "Does it stop you from thinking about it -"
"No. I don't drink usually. It muddles me, but, seeing you - I remembered when John mentioned what you used to be - I needed a bit of muddling. John, and Rosie, she's John's daughter - he had been married briefly - he had met Rosie's mum, while I was away on my business trip - I was working for MI-6, had to pretend to be dead for two years so I could take care of, John laughs even now, but he was what you might call my 'archenemy', a brilliant strategist, but a true psychopath - he and I were very similar, I knew how his mind worked, but he perceived that I had a weakness - at least that is what I thought he was -"
"John. Does he know?"
"He knows the scars, but I didn't, I can't tell him, he doesn't need to know everything. Not to change the subject -" Strange raised an eybrow and he grinned. "Yes, to change the subject - is she why you do it? Couldn't you just give this up - the cloak and the eye thing, go back to the States and I don't know - go on the lecture tour - I can tell things haven't been easy on you -"
Strange smirked. "That obvious?"
"No - I can just tell - it's how your eyes go dark, you can still be talking to someone, fully engaged, but your eyes -"
"I've seen too much. I don't sleep. On the occasions I do -" Sherlock nodded in understanding.
"Then why do you want me to find her? Why -"
"There were years when you couldn't see John, be with him, but you knew he was safe, yes?"
"If I hadn't known that, I'd have given up long before Chicago - he was the whole point - yes."
"I don't know if she's safe, if you could just find out if she's at least alive - I know it's an unusual case for you, and I understand if you don't want to take it on -"
"It's mad."
"Yes."
Sherlock studied Strange's face, and shivered. "The things you've seen - how do you stop from -"
"Going mad? For her. Back before - I had a chance to have a normal life, to have what you have -"
"I wouldn't call my life exactly normal," Sherlock muttered into his glass.
"You have someone who obviously loves you, and a daughter - who is brilliant, by the way, she saw whatever you did just then, and she put her hands on my face and looked me in the eyes. She didn't say a word, just nodded at me - to know that someone saw me for what I am, and accepted me - to have that all the time, to watch her grow up, be part of her life - yes, if I had the chance to go back and start over with her, I would do it, in a heartbeat. But that isn't an option for me. All I can do is try to keep the universe safe for her. At least the part I have control over - I've failed once already, but I ended up here, so I think it means I have another chance."
Sherlock shrugged. "I'll take it on, Strange."
"Call me Stephen."
"All right, Stephen. I'm theorizing you aren't the only one I should be expecting?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure what's going on - I didn't see this happening. And it's driving me a bit mad, trying not to go mad -"
Sherlock laughed. "One thing I have learned, Stephen, some days you just need to let the madness happen - there may be a day when you actually need that bit of sanity you're using up right now, trying not to lose it."
"You mean, I should just -"
"Let your hair down, Stephen, have another drink and tell me a story or two - and I'll tell you about some cases that will knock your socks off."
Strange chuckled and looked over at the bottle in Sherlock's hand, "you're on."
An hour later, Mrs. Hudson quietly entered the flat to check on everyone. She wasn't quite sure about this Dr. Strange fella, and especially with John at the surgery - "Sherlock?"
"Shhh... Mrs. Hudson. He just fell asleep."
"Hmm. I don't know... I know Rosie is all abuzz about him, all the levitating and magic he can do -" She looked at his face and shook her head. "You're taking his case, then."
"Yup. He's why I made it back, Martha. I owe him, and I actually like him. So, just to warn you -"
"What? It's going to get even stranger around here?
"Afraid so."
Sherlock took the offered quilt from Mrs. Hudson's hands and gingerly covered Strange with it as the fire was dying down. He watched as Strange twitched suddenly and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You're safe, Stephen, just rest, my friend."