Sherlock

The Black Files Pt. 1

Before I begin writing I must apologize for this is my first fan fiction and probably going to be my worst. I also am not caught up with the Sherlock series so there may be some flaws in the timeline. Now then, I guess it's time to begin the story I guess. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls

The time was nearing midnight as a man sprinted down Baker Street. This man was one of the most important men in the world, also the brother of one of the brightest minds in London, most likely the brightest mind in London. This man was also carrying with him possibly the most valuable piece of information to anyone who believed in the safety and security of the world. For a passerby to see what was happening they only thought that there was a loony man running away from a power outage, for the lights in the road were going out behind him, but the man running knew better. He knew what was lurking in the shadows.

"Come on, come on I just need to get close to where he is." Thought Mycroft Holmes as he ran through the rain. He suddenly made a sharp turn down a dark alley, sprinted across it and out the other side. From there he slipped the worlds most important envelope into the mail slot for apartment 221B as he ran to his awaiting car. This time the lights were not going out and he could clearly see the figure chasing him down. Then just as Big Ben tolled midnight the dark figure threw himself at Mycroft and both of them fell into the car. The sound of Big Ben's bell blocked out the noises of the gurgled screams coming from the car. When Big Ben quieted there was silence from the car. Then the car moved forward and disappeared into the night.

"Sherlock? Sherlock!" A very tired John Watson shouted at the tall figure shouting in his sleep.

"What, what is it can't you see I'm thinking." replied Sherlock Holmes with much annoyance in his voice as he jumped up from his bed and put on his coat.

"It looked like you were having the worst nightmare in the world, and were you sleeping with your clothes on?" asked John as his friend put on his scarf.

"I'm going out. I'll be right back. I need to make a call." said Sherlock, running out the door and down the stairs. But before he got out the door Sherlock stopped looking right below his foot.

"Now this is curious!" John Watson heard Sherlock exclaim from downstairs.

"What is it this time, did the Queen send you a request to solve the case for where her dog ran of to?" John asked as he walked down to Sherlock, who pushed John out of the way as he went back upstairs.

"No I told her that if she had not seen the dog since last week it's probably been killed by some wild animal. This is something else. Look at what's written on it." Sherlock said. John walked over to the table where Sherlock had placed the envelope.

"It says 'Black Files, For Government Eyes Only'. So? What's so special about that?" Asked John handing the envelope back to Sherlock.

"No you weren't paying attention. First of all look at the handwriting. This is clearly Mycroft's handwriting. But why would he send me information that is not for the public? Alright I'll tell you. Look at the edges, they're crinkled which means he must have been gripping them tightly, and look at these spots that seem a little darker than the rest. It was raining last night but not during the day. Why he gave this to me I might not know but one thing is for sure." He said turning to look at his friend. "My brother is in trouble."

Chapter 2: The Office

"Mycroft Holmes? He hasn't been here since he left last night. He seemed to be in a hurry too. It's not like him to be late to work." Said his accountant as she texted one of her many boyfriends. 'Oh the benefits to being able to legally create multiple false identities.' She thought to herself.

"Well did he say he was going?" John asked

"Can I take a look in his office?" Sherlock asked at the same time as John getting a look of annoyance from John.

"What was that?" The accountant asked as she broke up with one of her many boyfriends.

"Never mind," Said Sherlock, "I'll be right back John go ahead and ask her what you want." He then went ahead into his brother's office.

"So where did he say he was going?" John repeated trying to look as manly as possible, trying as he usually did to try to flirt with her but failing badly.

"He didn't say it at all. He just told me to have a nice night and left. He looked a little frightened if you ask me." She responded

"What happened Mycroft. What made you leave in such a hurry." Sherlock thought to himself as he started to search his brothers office. "Chair knocked over suggesting that he got up and got up fast. he looked at the window and found that it was closed and double locked and the curtains were pulled down.

"Were you expecting someone brother? Who ever this person is they must be quite dangerous." Sherlock then went to his brothers computer and found it locked. He typed in the correct password on his first try. The first thing that came up was his file on Sherlock's least favorite person in the world.

"So apparently Mycroft told nobody where he was going and just disappeared. What is it Sherlock?" John asked as he noticed that Sherlock looked like he had seen a ghost.

"The last thing that Mycroft was looking at before he ran was Jim Moriarty's file and want to know the most interesting thing about this little fact?" asked Sherlock.

"What is it?" inquired John, walking to the computer.

"In the middle of this paragraph it says, 'Your Black Files have been hacked, the hunt begins little rabbit.'" Sherlock said. "Somebody's after Mycroft. And that somebody is in this envelope." He said as he took out the Black Files.

"Well then, let's have a look shall we?" said John closing the door behind him. Suddenly Sherlock pushed John to the ground as one single bullet shot through the window and into the door, right where John had been standing. Then a barrage of bullets began to fly in through the window.

"Under the desk. NOW!" Shouted Sherlock to John pulling him with him under the desk.

"What exactly does hiding under your brother's desk do to help us?" Asked John who was not a fan of hiding under a desk while someone continuously shot at them.

"Mycroft was always paranoid that somebody would shoot at him from the window, the only place that is not bullet proof in this entire room, so he bought a bullet proof desk. Though I don't think our attacker will just keep shooting at us until his bullets run out." Said Sherlock.

Suddenly the bullets stopped coming. Sherlock tested his luck by putting his hand out in the open. There was no bullet shot to meet the hand. Sherlock got up and looked at the desk.

"John have a look at this." Sherlock said on the side of the desk where the bullets had hit. John got up and walked warily over to the other side. What he saw chilled him to the bone.

"Does that say what I think it says?" John asked Sherlock looking at the envelope with fear.

"I'm afraid, John, that what we have is more dangerous than we thought." He turned and looked at his friend with sadness, "I'm afraid that whoever it is who wants these files knows that Mycroft does not have them anymore and that they are now keeping a very close eye on us."

"Great, just great." Said John rubbing his forehead, "Are they going to kill us?" He asked Sherlock still looking at the message shot into the desk.

"Not until they get what they want. And it appears that they have something they want to share with us." Sherlock said going back to the computer and typed in the message on his website

Dear Mycroft Holmes,

The clock strikes midnight

Oh what a fright

For at midnight tonight

A series of events will happen

A series of events at midnight

Oh what a sight

And when he was finished a live video stream appeared on the screen. What Sherlock saw scared him more than anything he had ever seen. What he saw was his brother Mycroft tied to a chair and looking pretty beat up. There was a man who was wearing all black every part of him hidden. He turned to the camera and held a piece of paper up to it. The message said,

Dear Sherlock Holmes,

We have Mycroft. Give us what we want or for twelve nights there will be one murder at midnight, and everyone who dies will be someone you care about. And each murder will be unsolvable, no finger prints, no sign of what weapon killed them, or who it was who killed them. We are people that should not be taken lightly. If we do not get the files by midnight, dear Mycroft here will be the first to go. And do not send for the police or we'll kill them all at once.

Until then,

T.C

And to finish the stream the mysterious man punched Mycroft in gut waking him up from his almost comatose state.

"Sherlock whatever you do, do not give them the files…" Mycroft would have said more but he was then punched in the face and the feed was cut.

Chapter 3: Tea Time

"You've got to hand them the files, Are you listening to me Sherlock?" John asked Sherlock as he played a classical tune on his violin, "Sherlock people we know will die if you don't. Your own brother will die if you don't find them." John said in exasperation.

"I already know where they are John but there is nothing I can do. These people are dangerous. Even if I did find my brother and somehow get him to safety, these people are watching all of us and if I do rescue him who's to say that their spies won't kill you and everybody else. And even if I do hand them the files they would still kill us. We need to know what it is in these files that they want. Close the shades John, I'm going to the basement." And with that Sherlock walked out of the room and down to the basement.

"Can't even bother to tell me why I need to do this when you're going to the basement, aren't you so classy," John mumbled as he walked over to the window. As he reached for the string to close the blinds the window shattered and a bullet tore through Johns leg sending him to the ground.

"SHERLOCK, SHERLOCK HELP!" John shouted as he tried to put pressure on the wound and get out of sight of the window.

"DON'T GET IN THE SIGHT OF THE WINDOW, I'M HIT!" He shouted as he heard Sherlock running up the stairs. He ran over to John and got him up.

"Come on we've got to get you to the hospital John" Sherlock said helping john up and helping him to the door.

"OH MY GOD MY LEG!" Shouted John Watson as a doctor at St. Bartholomew's Hospital put stitches in his bullet wound.

"Well if you had closed the blinds like I told you none of this would have happened," Sherlock said to John as the doctor finished his work. "Now how about some tea?"

"Tea?! Sherlock I just got a bullet through the leg and you want to go out for tea?! Are you out of your bloody mind?!" John shouted at Sherlock as he got up and used his cane for the first time since he met Sherlock.

"No I just need something to drink that's all," Sherlock said, "That and I found out the winning lottery number."

"What?" John asked.

"So I take it that you found out…" John was in the middle of asking Sherlock when Sherlock told him to be quiet.

Sherlock then passed John a note which said,

John they have eyes and ears everywhere. I don't know how but if I tell you that I know the information somebody is going to kill us both where we sit. The person who is watching us, the man who shot you, is actually sitting at the table behind me. Go ahead have a look behind me.

John looked behind Sherlock and saw a man in a black trench coat and shades drinking tea and made eye contact with him. The man nodded in his direction and opened up his newspaper which had a message for John.

Tell anyone about me and you'll die before Mycroft.

The man then folded the newspaper and walked away from his table disappearing into the crowd of people who usually wander the streets of London.

"Who was that?" John asked staring into the crowd of people where the man had disappeared into.

"Didn't you read the note, he's one of the people who's keeping an eye on us. By the way can I see your cane?" Sherlock asked suddenly.

"What?" John asked.

"Oh of course the pain killers are still at work. I'll be taking that." Sherlock said taking John's cane and running his hand over it.

"Ah, there it is," Sherlock said, his hand stopping over a small groove in the stick. He pried it open with a fingernail and found a small compartment where the cane was bugged.

"Well so far we've only found one, but there are bound to be more" Sherlock said putting the bug on the ground and crushing it with his foot.

"They bugged my cane? Since when?" asked John, a little annoyed that they had taken something personal of his and set it up so that they could be spied on.

"Oh I'd say the second we went to check out Mycroft's office they broke in and bugged the majority, if not all, of our stuff. No doubt they've bugged the bookshelf, bathroom, closet, staircase, fridge, and probably our bedrooms as well." Said Sherlock taking a sip of his tea and biting thoughtfully into a biscuit.

"Wait a minute did you just say they? You mean there's more than one person watching us?" Said John, suddenly feeling very violated.

"Oh yes, the lottery has more than one number John, you should know that by now," Sherlock said winking at John, and handing him back his cane.

"Now then, is there anything else that you want to tell me? Is there a bomb in our basement?" John asked Sherlock as they approached the door to their apartment.

"No, it's in the attic," Sherlock said taking out his key and was about to put it in the lock when he noticed that the door was busted open. "John wait here I'll be right back." And with that Sherlock quietly opened the door and stepped into the apartment.

"So I'll just stay out here then." John said kicking at a rock by his foot.

A man walked by John and suddenly there was a sharp sensation on his neck, and when he touched it he noticed that there was a dart there. The man grabbed John as he lost consciousness, and brought him to a car which then drove away.

Meanwhile, Sherlock walked slowly up the stairs and when he reached the door to the living room he realized what happened.

"So they thought that I left the files here. But where is Miss. Hudson?" He thought to himself as he walked around the room. That's when he realized that they had taken her. There was shattered glass from a bottle. "She must have been trying to defend herself when they came for her. Ah there's the blood. But is it hers or her attackers?" he looked around and saw that there was also a piece of fabric on the glass. "From the looks of it, it's a piece of a shirt torn off, plaid design red and black, it was her captors who got cut up."

Sherlock continued to investigate but got the feeling something was missing, something very important. That's when he realized that John hadn't been pestering him from the door like he usually does.

"John?" Sherlock called out. And when he didn't get a response he ran down the stairs and was about to leave when a voice spoke to him from the basement.

"Sherlock Holmes, if I were you I would consider coming to the basement." Said a deep and mysterious voice from the basement. Curious about how this is going Sherlock walked down the stairs to the basement. There he saw a man in a black suit and a gas mask pointing a gun at him.

Chapter 4: Closing Time

"Another day, another dead person to examine. Uh, why can't Sherlock ever be here on days like today?" Molly Hooper thought to herself as she opened the door to the room where the body was kept. "Why do I have to like such strange people?" She thought as she closed the door. She walked over to the table and opened the body bag. But instead of a body, there was a bomb.

All of a sudden a man dressed in black and wearing a black gasmask walked out of the shadows and pointed a gun at her head.

"Scream and I shoot." The voice behind the mask said. The man locked the door and then went towards her, hit her unconscious and then tied her down to the chair she had fallen into. The man then took out his phone and sent a message.

"Have a good night sir." Sally Donovan said to D.I Greg Lestrade who was busy thinking of a recent string of murders and walking out of the building.

"Mm." Greg replied as he walked out.

"Where the hell is Sherlock? I really need his help." Greg thought as he walked to his car.

Suddenly he heard some footsteps behind him and he turned around expecting to see Sally coming towards him to try to convince him as she usually tries, to get him to stop going to Sherlock Holmes for help. Instead he found himself facing a man dressed in all black with a gasmask on and a rifle in his hands.

Greg jumped to the side as the man slammed the butt of his rifle down where Greg had just been and then jumped on him. They wrestled for control over the gun. Then Greg heard more footsteps and all of a sudden there were six men all dressed the same way, and they began to hit him over and over with their rifles, fists, bats, and rocks.

When they were finished the Detective Inspector's face resemble a painting done by Picasso and his clothes were shredded in many places. The men then dragged him into a waiting van and disappeared into the night. As the driver took off he took out his phone and sent a message.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I?!" John shouted awake at last from the dose of tranquilizer that was injected into him. He tried to get out of the seat he was in but he found that he was bound to the seat. He also found out that it was a rolling chair because when he tried to move back and forth the chair moved with him.

Suddenly he was upside down and looking several stories below him.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" John shouted as he stared down. He realized someone must be holding onto him because he wasn't dropping at all, just stuck there. Suddenly with a great heave his savior pulled him back onto the ceiling of the building.

"Tha…" John was in the middle of saying when his savior punched him very hard in the face.

"Shut up, and if you try that again I might not decide to catch you." The man then went to the camera and adjusted the angle so as to get a good look at the now bloody face of John Watson.

"Please have a seat Mr. Holmes we have much to discuss," the man said gesturing at the seat in front of him with his gun.

Sherlock sat down in the seat, "I have nothing to discuss with you."

"Oh but we have much to discuss. We still want the files Mr. Holmes, and we are willing to do anything to get them back." the man said. Then his phone went off. The man looked at the screen and smiled.

"I believe you might want to see this Mr. Holmes," The man said taking out a laptop and showing the screen to Sherlock.

Sherlock's blood turned cold as ice as he looked at the screen. There were four windows and each one of them was showing live footage of everyone Sherlock cared about. There was Mrs. Hudson tied to a chair and gagged, Mycroft was also tied to a chair and his face was so beat up that you wouldn't know it was him unless someone told you 'Oh yeah that's Mycroft Holmes.' On the other windows there was footage of Greg Lestrade, Mrs. Hudson, Molly Hooper, and finally John Watson.

"I just felt that I should remind you what's at stake if you don't hand us the files," The man said still aiming his gun at Sherlock said, "Remember you only have till midnight, then Mycroft dies, and each night they will die until it's only you. I suggest if you have the files on you that you give them now." There was a long pause and they both stared at each other.

"I have nothing to give to you and I never will." Sherlock said quietly, but with great fury. The man looked a little disappointed.

"Well I hope you change your mind, because if you don't then all of them are going to die. And if you ever find new people that you're fond of they will die as well, the last words they'll hear will be that they never should have been your friend." The man said getting up and walking out the door.

"Oh and if you open the files you will be shot immediately. Bye." The man shouted down to Sherlock as he reached the door.

Chapter 5: Six O'clock

Sherlock sat there staring at the laptop. Then he brought it closer and searched it over, removing every piece that was bugged and destroying them. Then he took out his own phone and plugged it into the laptop. He then started to trace the signals and found where each of them were.

Sherlock then casually walked out the door and looked around. He finally spotted the people he was looking for. In the building opposite of the apartment he saw a man sitting there with a gun in his hands and nodded in his direction. He also looked in the crowd and found another man staring at him and that man also nodded in his direction.

Sherlock then sent a message to the number the man had left on the table

Come and get them. They're in the basement.

Sherlock then walked back inside the house, and locked the door. He went down to the basement and set the building on fire. He then ran up the stairs and when he got to the top he sat there waiting.

Then he heard them trying the door and then they busted it down. From there they walked casually down the stairs with great purpose. Sherlock carefully walked down the stairs and when they got to the basement he quickly shut the door bolted it, and blocked it with a dresser.

He then walked outside and walked away before the smoke started to become visible from the building.

"He'll never give you the files, I hope you realize that." John Watson said spitting blood at his captor after finishing his sentence. The man then hit John again with the butt of his gun.

"Shut up." The man said with disgust.

"Oh yeah I bet you'd love that. But let me tell you. When Sherlock gets here he's going to kick your sorry little ass over the side of the building." John said and the reply was another hit in the face. Then another. And another. The hits kept on coming until all of a sudden the man screamed as he was suddenly shoved over the side of the building.

"Took you long enough Sherlock. Now untie me please." But when John opened his eyes he saw someone that he did not expect to see.

"I'm afraid that I'm not Sherlock, but I'll still get you free John," said a very familiar person.

Sherlock walked into St. Bartholomew's Hospital and found that it was in lock down because of a bomb threat. He walked inside and found that the entire place had been cleared out.

Sherlock then walked up the stairs and towards the morgue. When he arrived at the door he opened it. Inside was Molly Hooper tied to a chair and beaten unconscious.

Sherlock ran to her as fast as he could, "Molly! Molly you have to wakeup. Come on Molly you can do it." Sherlock then set about untying her and didn't even bother to turn around when he heard the door close and lock. When Sherlock was done Molly had awoken coughing and crying.

"Sherlock you shouldn't have come, That man told me that if anyone came in he'd blow up the place." She sobbed into his shoulder.

"It's okay Molly you're going to be fine," He then turned around and spoke directly to Molly's captor, " And you wouldn't dare blow up this building with me in it, now would you. Especially since I have these on me." Sherlock said taking out the files.

The man ran at Sherlock as soon as he saw the files. Sherlock also ran towards the man and they tackled each other. After Sherlock threw some punches the man tried to take out his gun, but Sherlock was able to wrestle it away and threw it away from them. Sherlock continued to fight the man, but after a few minutes the man was holding Sherlock to the ground and strangling him.

Just as Sherlock was beginning to lose consciousness there was a loud bang and the man on top of him suddenly rolled over and howled in pain. Sherlock got up and saw that the man had been shot in the gut. Suddenly there was another shot, and another, and another, until Molly Hooper had emptied the gun's ammunition into the man. She then ran and hugged Sherlock, crying as she let the gun drop out of her hands.

"Everything's going to be okay Molly, everything is going to be okay." Sherlock said helping her over to the door. Then he stopped and looked at her.

"If I bring you outside then the people guarding your door will shoot you." Sherlock said looking at her.

"What about the bomb? Won't it still go off?" Molly asked sobbing into Sherlock's jacket. Sherlock walked over to the body bag and looked at the bomb.

"It wasn't going to go off in the first place. The bomb's a fake." Sherlock told Molly. She sobbed in relief and just stood there holding Sherlock. Suddenly the door busted open and three of the men who've been attacking Sherlock and his friends walked through the door.

"And I finally know who you are. You're The Coven, aren't you?" Sherlock said to them.

"Took you long enough, one of them said." Then time seemed to slow down as that same man took out his gun and shot Molly in the legs, bringing her crashing to the ground.

Chapter 6: 221B

"Well Mr. Holmes, do you have the files? Time is running out. And who knows how long it'll be before Miss. Hooper bleeds out without medical attention. Grab her boys." Molly screamed and tried to back away, but she didn't need to, Sherlock was already standing in front of her, holding the bomb that the men had brought in to scare everyone else.

"If you so much as touch her I will activate this bomb right now." Sherlock said quietly, but intensely.

The men then backed up and if they didn't have gasmasks on at the time Sherlock would have seen two extremely shocked faces. All three of the men backed up.

"Alright Mr. Holmes but we will not forget this. You've made a big mistake crossing us." Said the man who had stayed by the door. Then all three left Sherlock and Molly.

"I got you, it's okay." Sherlock said, carrying Molly out of the morgue and into the hallway. From there he brought her to one of the hospital rooms and then called Scotland Yard to let them tell the doctors that the hospital was safe again.

"Will she be alright?" Sherlock asked the doctor as he looked at an unconscious Molly Hooper lying in a hospital bed.

"She's going through shock and lost a lot of blood, but she should recover." said the doctor who then looked at Sherlock, "And you look like you need some rest too."

"I'm fine," Sherlock said still staring at Molly. Suddenly he turned to the doctor, "I want someone guarding her room 24/7 do you hear me?"

"Yes, and I can understand why you're asking. Don't worry she'll be fine." the doctor said, "And thanks for saving this place. There were so many people that we couldn't take off of life support that had to stay here, and you saved their lives."

"It was nothing." Sherlock said, turning around and walking towards the exit.

When Sherlock got outside he started for the apartment.

Sherlock closed and locked the door behind him as he quietly entered apartment 221B. He silently walked up the stairs and continued to the top of the building. When he got to the door there he stopped and put his ear to the door. He then opened the door slowly and stepped outside.

There, tied to a seat was poor Mrs. Hudson. But there was also one of the members of The Coven standing right next to her.

"If you come any closer I'll push her over!" shouted the man who then reached his hand out, "Give me the files and I'll let her go."

"Did you hurt her?" Sherlock asked the man.

"She'll be in a lot more pain than I put her in if you don't give me the files." the man replied. Sherlock reached behind him but instead of handing the man the files he shot the man six times, emptying the gun into his chest. The man had been wearing a Kevlar vest but the blow from each bullet sent him over the edge.

Sherlock then ran over to Mrs. Hudson. But as he was untying her there was a small thud that went through the seat. Sherlock looked into Mrs. Hudson's eyes and saw that she had gone away. Sherlock then finished untying her and sat down holding her body, and cried. As he sat there holding her, his phone rang. When he opened it he got a message from The Coven,

One has died. How many more does there need to be before you realize that you have lost? Bring us the files and it will all be over. Refuse to do so and more people will die. We will wait for you at the pool.

Till then,

T.C

Sherlock then replied to the message and carried the body of the late Mrs. Hudson down to her bedroom where he left her and alerted Scotland Yard of her death. Sherlock then started to walk to where it would all end.

Chapter 7: It Tolls For Thee

11:55 P.M. was the time that Sherlock saw as he looked at his watch. He looked at the building and walked inside. There at the pool the leader of The Coven stood by himself looking distant as if thinking deeply on a subject. Then he noticed Sherlock was in the room and smiled.

"This is where it all began for you wasn't it? I thought you might like it. After all we have such history here." the man said, "But now we've come to the present, and I'm going to need those files now." he said reaching out with his hand.

"Why did you say we? I've no recollection of having a member of The… oh it's you." Sherlock said looking at the man, "But you were the detective on the scene. What are you doing in a cult?" Sherlock asked.

"First of all this isn't a cult, it's an army. Second of all it's all your fault, you were boasting about how you could figure it out. I handed all the work over to you and what did you give me? Nothing. You couldn't solve it and I was considered a failure and a fool for enlisting your services. Then a last year, this organization found me by means of Jim Moriarty, who I owe everything for." The man said taking off the gasmask.

"But Moriarty is dead. He couldn't possibly be alive I watched him shoot himself in the head." Sherlock said trying to keep his voice even but was failing to do so.

"Yes and people could have sworn that they'd seen you fall to your death from the top of St. Bartholomew's. You're not the only one who can come back from the dead Mr. Holmes. He sends his regards. Now back to business, the files Mr. Holmes?" the man said again.

"James Mcullen why would you do this?" Sherlock asked, "Last time I saw you, you were young and reckless, but now you're cold calculative and judging from how your eyes are bloodshot and your hands are shaking I'd say." Sherlock was in the middle of saying when James cut him off.

"ENOUGH OF YOUR RUBBISH, GIVE ME THE FILES!" James shouted, annoyed by Sherlock's calculations. Sherlock looked at the man and raised his arms.

"You've gotten my message so you know all that I have to say to you, so why don't you just do it already." Sherlock said to the ruined man.

"Maybe I will." James said, taking out a gun and raising it to Sherlock's chest. Then there were several shots heard by the resident's who lived by the pool.