Fic Rec: The Eye of God

[swissmarg]

Title: The Eye of God
Author: qlstrange
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 66,306 words
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Major character death
Verse: ACD Books/Dr Who crossover ("Wholock")
Author's summary: Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty take their fateful plunge off Reichenbach Falls and land in the TARDIS as it's sideways and on fire. Things go downhill from there.

Reccer's comments: I don't have more than a passing familiarity with the basic premise of Dr Who, and in fact this is the first Dr Who fan fiction I have ever read. Still, it absolutely enthralled me, and I had no problem with potentially not understanding any of the back story.I think it's supposed to be the Eleventh Doctor, if that means anything to anyone. It doesn't really seem to be important, as far as I can tell.

The Doctor and Sherlock Holmes (from the original ACD stories) are a pair of perfectly matched, unruffleable geniuses. The story plays off many of the parallels between the two characters, not the least of which is the need which both of them have for a companion. In this story, Holmes serves as the Doctor's companion for a short while, before his longing to be reunited with Watson becomes too great. So they go back and pick up Watson as well (who of course has believed his friend dead after he went over the Reichenbach Falls with Moriarty).

This short excerpt sums up the dynamic of the group from that point forward:

"'Come along, Holmes and Watson?'" The Doctor scoffed. "No, no. Takes much too long to say. Face it, Holmes. You two are my boys."

Holmes sneered, looking between the other two. "Does that make you two my doctors?"

"And you two my geniuses," Watson finished with a laugh. "Well, it all works out very nicely, doesn't it?"

This fic is full of adventure, humour, love, plot twists, science fiction, angst, and icky human mating rituals (all while remaining within the stated Teen rating).

As one commenter on AO3 mentioned, it is like watching an entire season of Dr Who, in that the story is fairly episodic, with the pair – and later trio – travelling through space and time, visiting and saving various planets along the way. The adventures seem detached at first, but it soon becomes clear that there is a nefarious connection among them, and the 'season finale' is a whopping great doozy that ties everything up and explodes it in a massive supernova of GUH-how-did-this-author-get-to-be-so-amazing. A second, but no less important, arc throughout the fic is the development of the relationship between Holmes and Watson. Freed from the stifling mores of Victorian London, they are able to allow their already deep bond to strengthen and solidify and become redefined.

This excerpt pretty much sums up the entire story:

"Holmes, I'm going to share a secret with you," the Doctor said as he put both his hands on his shoulders and gazed meaningfully into his eyes. "I actually have no idea what I'm doing."

"At last, he admits it!" Watson cried.

"I just sort of fly into adventures by the seat of my pants and tell myself I've got a plan, but that's just to keep anyone who happens to be around me from panicking. But in the time you've known me, has this ever let you down?"

Holmes sighed heavily. "No," he admitted, "I suppose it hasn't."

"Then trust me. I've been in stickier situations before and made it out! But just in case, here."

The Doctor produced Holmes's katana and Watson's rifle from the pockets of his jacket and handed them out appropriately.

"Mycroft, have you got something to defend yourself?" asked the Doctor.

In response, Mycroft held up his walking stick and used it to break a fist-sized hole in the metal wall.

"Right, good!"

"And what about you, Doctor?" Holmes asked. "Do you have something to defend yourself?"

"I've got the three of you and a sonic screwdriver. I'm absolutely sorted. Well, come on, then! We have ourselves a mystery to unravel!"

This is a seriously underappreciated fic, with only 6 comments (one of which is mine) and 33 kudos on AO3 (as of the posting of this rec), despite having been posted in completion for over three months. This may be in part due to the fact that ACD verse seems to garner fewer hits than BBC verse, but this isn't one of those fics written in a style meant to emulate the original Victorian writing (although I love those as well, I undertand they aren't everyone's cup of tea). This is just such an engaging, enthusiastic, fun and touching story that I'd encourage anyone to give it a go, regardless of their primary fandom.