Myths and Facts - AU - Locked to seaweed_writes

[ihadabadday]

John Watson was a professor of Archaeology, with a focus in ancient Middle Eastern artifacts and history. He was mild mannered and ordinary. People assumed he was boring, university educated and went home to do whatever it is that ordinary people do when.

But John Watson had a secret. He often carried out interesting archaeological missions (for lack of better descriptors) for the British Government. Things that the government didn't want others to find, to keep secrets safe from the public. Not that the public didn't deserve to know. But there was much that John Watson found that would turn history in its head, which would cause chaos among the population.

But this day, he had finished his classes and was sitting in his office. He was researching something he had been working on his entire career.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and thus the other missing Ancient Wonders. The only one that had survived antiquity was the Great Pyramid of Giza. And John suspected that was for a reason. There had been reports of other pyramids being dismantled, of crumbling and collapsing. This pyramid was the height of the pyramid building craze that clutched ancient Egypt for so long.

But that wasn't his focus.

He didn't tell many he was researching the Gardens. Too many other archaeologists had been laughed out of a career for it. No. He wanted to find them, prove their existence before he published anything.

He closed his notebook and tucked it into his messenger bag. It was leather and worn, he had taken it on many of his adventures, and he always kept a gun tucked into it. John left the university ground and hailed a cab. He was off to the British Museum to see the Alexander the Great exhibit that was there. Maybe there was something in the collection that would lead to another clue or breakthrough.

At the museum he was stopped in front of a large stone tablet (a recent discovery) reading the text and translating. It wasn't too busy this day, as it was a Wednesday, but there were still people milling about, talking. And he suspected the Curator, one Sherlock Holmes, was watching or around. Bringing this particular exhibit to the museum had been a feat.

Comments

[seaweed_writes]

To say that Sherlock Holmes had a passion for history, any type of it, would be a gross understatement. He had duel degrees in history and anthropology, and had almost had enough credits to have a degree in Ancient Archeology, but, unfortunately, he had hit a.. rather rough patch in his life and had dropped out of uni a couple of semesters before that happened and gotten into drugs.
He had cleaned up his life, and it was with the help of the Director of the British Museum, one Gregory Lestrade. Sherlock was still not sure how specifically Lestrade knew his brother, Mycroft, but Mycroft had somehow convinced the man to give Sherlock a chance all those years ago.
And now, here he was, almost 10 years later, and a curator of the largest section of the Museum, Ancient Greece and Rome. Though recently, he had started to become rather obsessed with the Middle Eastern exhibits, especially the ones about Assyria.
Though the Museum already had the original Rosetta Stone, another large stone tablet had been discovered and donated recently. He knew quite a few languages, but sadly Ancient Assyrian was not one of them. Thankfully, there was already a team of people working on it behind the scenes, which meant it could stay out on display while their research continued.
He wandered over towards the stone, not surprised when he saw Professor John Watson looking at the recent acquisition, and silently mouthing something. It was apparent that he was translating it as well.
John was a fairly common sight here at the museum, though they rarely spoke more than pleasantries to each other.
Sherlock walked over to him, and looked at the stone, smiling. "That's quite a rare find, isn't it, Professor?" He asked, without taking his eyes off the stone.

[ihadabadday]

He didn't reply or look away until he had reached a good point to stop in his translation. John looked at Sherlock and smiled slightly at the man. He knew of Sherlock's reputation and the man's brilliance.

"It's a wonderful specimen. I would love to get up close to it." He chuckled, "Have you translated it yet? It's quite fascinating."

[seaweed_writes]

"You flatter, me, but I'm afraid that Ancient Assyrian is a bit beyond my scope of knowledge, Professor." He replied with a little smirk. "Yes, our team has translated the stone, and is in the process of trying to understand what it means. Being able to read what it says is only the first step, but I'm sure that you knew that already, Professor Watson." They barely knew each other, yet Sherlock always knew that if he teased the man, the Professor wouldn't take what he said the wrong way.
Like almost everyone else did when Sherlock talked to them.
That was why me mostly just kept to himself.

[ihadabadday]

"It's about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon." He told Sherlock, "Describing them. It's amazing really. I've only seen writings about it in books, never on a tablet."

John turned away from Sherlock and focused back on the tablet. "I suspect that this could lead the way to the Gardens with the right clue." He blurted out before he could stop himself.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock raised an eyebrow. He always fancied himself a bit of a detective, he was pretty sure that he could have done well at that profession, had he put his mind to it, but history always held more of a fascination with him, and so that was the path that he had chosen.

But this, this could, perhaps bring the two into focus together, and that was an utterly fascinating concept for him.

"Really?" He said, trying to feign disinterest. It wouldn't behoove him to get as excited as a child at Christmas (though he had stopped believing in Father Christmas by age 6). It wasn't like he could traipse off to the Middle East to look for this ancient wonder anyways. He had worked hard to get to his position, he couldn't just abandon it now. Lestrade had taken a chance with him, and he fully intended to do good with it.

"If it hasn't been found in thousands of years, what makes you think that one stone could tell us exactly where it is?"

[ihadabadday]

John stepped closer and then around the stone, looking at the backside. He bit his lip. How to tell Sherlock? Did he want to let this man that he respected the truth? That he often wrote articles about the Gardens under an assumed name.

"Because the Assyrians like clues and riddles. And this tablet is full of them." He moved to stand in front of Sherlock again.

[seaweed_writes]

Damn, Sherlock thought to himself. This man just wanted to get him more interested int his hunk of stone, didn't he? Sherlock hadn't cared about it much before. It was interesting, but not really worth his time. And now, this. It was a mystery wrapped up in a thousands of years old enigma.

And it was utterly fascinating.

"Clues?" he asked, this time he wasn't quite able to keep the tiniest bit of excitement out of his voice. "What kind of clues? If you know something, you really need to share it with our research team, it could help them unlock the mysteries of this tablet."

[ihadabadday]

"The Gardens are my life's work." He snapped before he could really rein it in. John paused and stared at Sherlock, realizing what he just said.

If word got back to his superiors or his colleagues... He might become the laughing stock... He swallowed.

"I'm not about to have some museum lab rats find something out about a piece of history I've been chasing for years."

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock frowned. "Those... 'museum rats', as you call them, are my colleagues. I'd appreciate if you treated them with a bit more respect." Sure. most of them either couldn't stand him, or just mostly avoided him, but they were here because they were experts in their respective fields, and highly intelligent. He may not count them as friends, but he respected the good work that they did here.

"It could be that those 'museum rats' have already uncovered information that could assist you in your cause. It would be mutually beneficial to share information, don't you think, Professor?"

[ihadabadday]

"Excuse me." John nodded and then turned to leave. He knew saying something was a bad idea. Opening up to anyone about his passions had always been a bad idea. People scoffed and rolled their eyes.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were just a myth.

John left the museum, feeling ashamed and embarrassed.

[seaweed_writes]

"Damnit." Sherlock cursed under his breath. He couldn't go after the man, he was still at work, he couldn't leave the museum. He could only hope that the Professor would come back soon.

But until then, he was going to do a bit of investigating himself, asking the team members who were working on the stone about it, to see if there was anything that he could pass along to the Professor. And of course, he would keep what the man knew a secret. at least for now.

[ihadabadday]

John was trembling as he hailed a cab. He had played a lot close to his chest. He glanced back at the museum and then slid into the cab. He let out a sigh and then told the cabbie the address for his flat.

He leaned his head back and sighed, this was a nightmare. His professional career and the job at the university would be in jeopardy if anyone knew. Knew how much time he spent on the Hanging Gardens.

The Professor paid for the cab and got out. He stared up at his building and then started for the door with a shake of his head. There was someone in his flat. And knowing his luck, it was a superior who wanted him to find an artifact.

[seaweed_writes]

As John opened the door, a middle-aged man with thinning chestnut hair and sharp as a tack blue eyes stared back at him, a briefcase and a brolly on either side of the chair that he now occupied. He didn't bother standing in greeting as John came in.

"Professor Watson." He started in a posh London accent. "I understand that you have recently become aware of the presence of a new exhibit in the British Museum, and that you have acquired a certain... fondness for it's contents." His tone was brisk, almost bored, like it pained him to say what they both already knew was obvious.

[ihadabadday]

"Tea?" John offered as he closed the door. He then hung up his coat and looked at the man.

He could use a cup. He stepped over to the kitchen and started a kettle. He took out two cups, just in case. He hummed to himself.

"Yes, I am aware of the tablet that is recently on display. The Ancient Assyrian tablet. It's three feet by three feet. It is not small at all, so it wasn't a personal piece, it was more likely something that an ancient university or politicians used. Or it was a notice for the public."

"And it has clues and riddles for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon."

[seaweed_writes]

"Yes, please." He really sounded like he was taking it more because he knew that he should, than he actually wanted to.

"Yes." The man admitted. Since the Professor already knew that, there was no harm in admitting that he was correct about that basic information about the tablet. "As for it's function, that is still under debate, but your suggestions are some of the ones that our team is... looking into."

He paused for a moment, judging the best way to continue. "We have.. run into a bit of a snag, however." It pained him to admit this, but he knew that the Professor was most likely their best hope, and therefore trust had built between them if he wanted to reach an accord.

[ihadabadday]

John made the tea and then brought the cup out to the man. He then settled into a chair himself. He held his tea and smiled faintly.

"What sort of snag?" He asked before taking a sip. He wanted to hear what the man had to say. But he suspected that he would be assisting.

[seaweed_writes]

The man took a sip, somehow managing to not make a little face. It wasn't the worst tea by far that he had ever tasted, but it was rather bland and weak, and he had added sugar, making it overly sweet for his taste buds.

"The workers at the British Museum have translated the tablet of course, and they have managed to determine that what it says is not necessarily what that means. I know that you have already come to that conclusion as well, in a quicker time than it took them to decipher it." He took another sip, then put it to the side, ignoring the tea. "It is one large riddle wrapped up in a lot of smaller ones, and we, the people I work with and I, want you to decipher them and attempt to locate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon."

[ihadabadday]

John sat there, listening. He held the tea before taking another sip. He hummed softly.

"Find the Gardens? I may be able to translate and understand Ancient Assyrian faster than most, but that is almost a fool's errand. People have been chasing the Gardens for thousands of years."

John wanted to. He wanted to chase after this and find them.

[seaweed_writes]

The man crossed his legs and gathered his briefcase from the floor. He opened it in his lap with the lid opening towards John, so he couldn't see what was inside it.

"I do have to admit that you seem very much the trusting type, Professor Watson. Here, you've found a total stranger, of whom you have no idea who he is, his name, or who he works for, and yet, when I mention the Hanging Gardens, you start salivating like Pavlov's dog. How do you know that I am entirely trustworthy?"

He took a manila folder from his briefcase, closed it, and put the folder, still closed, on top of the case.

[ihadabadday]

"You look like Sherlock Holmes. And I did do my research on the man Mycroft." He said with a smile, "And some of my superiors have mentioned you in passing."

John finished his tea and set the empty mug to the side. "Now what motives do you have to find the Gardens? What does the British Government want with them?"

"Or is it the rumor that the Gardens is the final resting place of Alexander the Great and some of the contents of the Library of Alexandria?"

He arched an eyebrow, looking at the man.

[seaweed_writes]

Mycroft raised an eyebrow. It was the closest that he would ever come to admitting that he was.. almost impressed with the man, But for him, it was significant. Though he did resent that this man thought that he looked like his brother. he was sure that he looked much more sophisticated- even if he had gotten the damned famous Holmes nose. It was a curse handed down by the male Holmes line, and he had gotten it. It had somehow skipped Sherlock.

"I'm afraid that I am not at liberty to say what my colleagues want to find in or around the Gardens." He said, glad, that they were finally getting down to brass tacks. This banter was getting tiresome. "Suffice to say that you will be paid handsomely for your time, more so if the Gardens are found, and that you will be supplied with everything that your expedition will need for the trip."

"I can assure you that if it is located, that no harm will come of it. We are not there to ransack it, merely to.. learn its secrets, much like you, I would think."

[ihadabadday]

John hummed as he thought it over. Hm. "Can I have someone assigned to assist? I'll need someone else who speaks the language, who knows the culture."

He grinned almost wickedly.

"I want your brother to come with me."

[seaweed_writes]

Mycroft frowned. "As intelligent as my brother is, he doesn't know the Assyrian language, or culture. And he can't just drop his duties as a curator at one of the biggest museums in on a whim." He said, his fingers lazily tracing over the still closed folder that rested on top of the briefcase in his lap.

"I have a list of the experts that we have gathered for this trip. It is quite an extensive one. Not all of them will be going with you on the physical part of the journey, some will remain behind and handle logistics and disseminate and study the clues that you find along the way. " He does finally hand the folder over to John. "You will find that there are some of the world's best archeologists, anthropologists, and Middle Eastern History experts that the world has to offer. I am afraid that my brother has little to add to your party, other than an... interesting and rather infuriating mascot."

[ihadabadday]

John looked at the folder and then scoffed. "I don't care about your experts. I don't know them. I haven't vetted them. I know your brother and I know how he works. He may not be familiar with ancient Assyrian culture. But no doubt he is familiar with other, more modern cultures."

He got up and looked at Mycroft. "You know just as well as anyone, I'm most likely your best bet to find the Gardens. It could take others years to find them. Now I would like your brother to assist me."

[seaweed_writes]

The frown on Mycroft's face became more pronounced. He didn't like being put back on his heels, even a little bit. John knew that he was valuable, and John knew that he knew. That much was obvious.

"And what makes you think that I can simply find a way for my brother to miss what could be months of work? Who could take over on such short notice? who will handle his bills? I don't think that you have thought these logistics through. It has taken weeks to get this group of experts together. I can't just add someone at the last minute."

In fact, Mycroft had known that John would want Sherlock to come along, and had already discussed it with Lestrade, though he had- not accidentally- not discussed any of this with Sherlock yet. The trip was still unknown to him.