"At least dogs are loyal," came the voice of another person walking up to Mickey. "I've been told I lower the IQ of the whole street."
"Ouch!"
"You're telling me!" The man sighed. "I'm Philip, by the way," he said, shaking Mickey's hand. "Philip Anderson."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Mickey Smith."
"So what's up with the whole 'tin dog' thing, then?"
"I feel totally useless."
"Trust me, I know the feeling," Anderson said, sitting down next to Mickey.
"So what do you do, then?"
"I'm an officer at Scotland Yard, but as the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes likes to point out, I'm not one of the brightest."
"So is this Mr Holmes your boss, then?"
"No, technically Lestrade is my boss, but when Sherlock consults, he often gets a lot of decision-making power." Mickey nodded in understanding. "But what about you? What do you do?"
"My girlfriend ran off with this guy called the Doctor, and they travel through time and space, fighting aliens, saving the universe... you get the idea."
"And what do you do?"
"Sometimes I help out. But mostly I just wait for Rose to come back, and then when she does, she's still with the Doctor, and I stand around awkwardly, feeling totally useless."
"That does seem to be how things go. You just stand around, being ignored, until all of a sudden somebody remembers some unpleasant task that needs to be done, and of course you get stuck doing it."
"Pretty much. Do you know, the Doctor once had me hold something for 10 minutes, just because he forgot about me!"
"Sherlock slammed a door in my face."
"The Doctor insists that my name is Rickey, not Mickey."
"At least he knows your first name."
"The Doctor's referred to me as 'Mickey the Idiot'!"
"Sherlock told me to face the other way because I was 'putting him off'."
"The Doctor won't let me come with him during his adventures."
"When I come with Sherlock, he spends the whole time berating me and insulting me!"
"Okay, I guess we both have it rough."
"Don't you ever wish you could do something useful for once?" Anderson asked.
"Every day. I think of Rose up there, saving the universe, and I wonder why can't I do that? Why can't I make that kind of difference?"
"Then go for it! What's stopping you?" Mickey sighed.
"It's not that simple. I can't go with the Doctor, and I can't think of anything else to do. And besides, I'm useless."
"Just because somebody says that doesn't mean it's true. You are capable of more than they think you are. It's just that, compared to the best, you and I look like nothing. We're looking at it the wrong way. I'm an idiot compared to Sherlock, but I do have some intelligence, or I wouldn't be in Scotland Yard. And I can be very useful. You can, too."
"But at what? What could I possibly do?"
"I don't know, but I know you'll find something. And I will, too." The two of them sat in contemplative silence for a while.
"We could write a book," Mickey suggested.
"About what?"
"This. Feeling useless. A motivational book of some kind. I don't know, it's just an idea." Anderson thought for a moment.
"Well, I'm sure there's a market for that sort of thing. There are lots of people who feel useless and are trapped into insecurity by comparing themselves to others."
"We could make some of it be about bullying, too. You said you were insulted a lot." Anderson nodded.
"Sounds great, but I have to go. Where and when can we meet again?"
"Well, I know a great place for fish and chips not far from here. I can send you directions." Anderson nodded.
"I'll text you when we've finished this case, and then we can decide on a time and you can send me the directions." Mickey nodded, and they exchanged phone numbers.
"Well it was great talking to you. See you later!" Mickey smiled as Anderson walked off. Just by talking to someone else like him, Mickey felt just a little less useless.
***
Anderson's phone buzzed.
"Really, Anderson?" Sherlock was surprised. "I thought nobody would want to talk with an idiot like you!" Anderson smirked.
"So is the case over yet?" he asked. Lestrade nodded.
"More or less."
"Then I'm going. Bye!" Anderson walked out with a bright smile on his face, oblivious to the incredulous looks from the rest of the Yard.
***
The two 'idiots' are together and discussed the book they were going to write. Finally, Mickey pulled up his laptop.
"What are we going to call it?"
"Let's call it 'You Matter: How To Stop Feeling Useless'."
"Sounds good." And with that, they began to write.
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