Sherlock was sitting on the chair with his legs crossed underneath him, not opening an eyelid even when the Doctor brought him lunch and then greeted 10 and Rose when they got home. They discussed everything in hushed tones over the dining room table, sparing him worried glances.
"Did he and John…were he and John…?" Rose tiptoed around the question.
11 could only nod. "Yes and no. They hadn't made it official yet, or even announced their intentions. But it was there."
"And now he has them both. So what's the plan?" 10 demanded.
"Well, we can use the TARDIS to lock onto River's signal from here, and John's as well. We can get to their ship that way, but Moriarty's expecting us to meet him there. He wants us to. So, we have to have a plan once we're on the ship."
They tossed around a few ideas but ended up hating them all, and 11 finally put his face in his hands and was about to give up and get some sleep when Sherlock burst out of his trance with a loud, "Oh! Oh, of course!"
Without losing a single second, he ran across the room and burst through the doors of the TARDIS.
"What are you doing? Sherlock?" 11 got up and went to follow him, but miraculously enough, the TARDIS began to dematerialize. "SHERLOCK!" He grabbed at the particles as they disappeared. "HOW DID HE LEARN HOW TO DRIVE A TARDIS?!"
10 ran behind him, followed by Rose, but the TARDIS was gone. "That's impossible!" 10 insisted. "Only Time Lords can drive TARDISes! How did he do that?"
"He is a genius," Rose said.
The TARDIS came back for a few moments, whooshing in protest at its driver, and Sherlock's voice could be heard from within. "Wait, sorry—I got it wrong. I figured it out! I'll be back!"
And the TARDIS wheezed away yet again.
John kept his cool as the aliens led him away, somehow forgetting they were there whenever his vision strayed from them. It was all going to be okay, he was sure of it. Moriarty didn't want to kill him. He only had to wait until Sherlock came to rescue him.
Sherlock was going to rescue him. Sherlock was coming. He knew, right now, more than anything in the entire world, that Sherlock was planning a daring, intelligent, smarmy rescue mission. John had the easiest part—waiting.
Or was that the hardest part? John couldn't tell.
He paid close attention to the route the aliens marched him through to get to his cell, cataloguing its details in case it could help him later. When he was thrown unceremoniously into his all-white cell, he ran through it a few times and committed it to memory. His handcuffs slipped off as soon as the cell doors sealed shut, and he sat up and searched around him. The cell was all blank, stark white with two cots and a desk. The desk was covered with books, and behind it, a very pregnant woman sat looking very impatient.
"Hello, sweetie," River Song said. "I must say, if this is a rescue, it's very unconvincing."
He turned around to face her. "You must be River Song. I can't believe Moriarty actually let us in the same cell. It must be another game."
The blonde looked surprise. "John? You haven't met me yet…"
"No…is this another one of those timey-wimey things? You've already met me?"
"Yes, in your future, I suppose," she said, standing up and revealing a huge belly.
"Whoa, you're really, really pregnant," John remarked. He mentally slapped himself—that probably wasn't the best thing to say, considering the look River gave him. "You're, er, glowing, though! Time Lord baby'll do that to you. How far along are you?"
She rubbed a hand on the top of her stomach. "Eight bloody months. It's torture. I've lost all my curves and I'm a hideous lump."
"At least they're feeding you and treating you well. We were all afraid they'd been torturing you."
"No—Jim's smarter than that. He doesn't like to get his hands dirty, the rat," she said with a hateful sniff. "Tell me, is the Doctor all right? Is he coming for us?"
"He's fine. Worried loads about you, though. Sherlock and I were helping him plan to take you back, with 10 and Rose's help." John wasn't sure if he should have revealed that Rose was involved, but she only smiled.
"Ah, Rose and Handy. They'll be a huge help. This is brilliant. The Doctor has it all worked out, I know it. Has he said anything? Is he really okay?"
"He's kind of too worried about you and the baby to really freak out about anything else, but once that baby comes, you're probably in for a bit of trouble. He's a panicky one."
"Don't I know it. How are you and Sherlock?"
"Good. Erm, fine."
"He must be worried sick about you. Absolutely bonkers," River sighed. "Come and sit. We've got to sit tight and wait for our boys to come home."
John couldn't believe it. "You're kidding. From what I've heard about you, you're a complete kick-ass. You have to have a plan to get out of here."
"I happen to be a complete kick-ass, Dr. Watson, as you're going to find out in the future. I don't want to give too much away, but you and I do a lot of work on the Neera Spaceship Base. And I do happen to have a plan. I've had scores of plans. It's just that this baby makes them difficult. I can't endanger her."
John looked at River's huge stomach. "It's a girl?"
"Yes. I know, a little weird. I thought it was going to be a boy, but she's a fighter. Like her mum." River looked lovingly at her baby. "I know you've only just met me, but in the future we happen to be good friends, and these damned pregnancy hormones make me so emotional, so…forgive me if I start crying. I've just been really lonely for the past five months."
"The Doctor only found out about this a few days ago."
"Well, he doesn't exactly get the timing right, but he usually gets here in time for me. And he will for us." River put her hands on her hips. "And I do have a plan. I'm going to need your body, though."
"Oi, River, they said you were flirty, but you're married!"
"You'll be back to snog your detective tonight, if we're lucky."
"I don't want to snog him—he isn't my detective."
"He so is. And you so do."
"We're done talking about this. Onto the plan."
By the time both Doctors had jerry-rigged a computer tracking system to track down the TARDIS, it arrived back in the living room, almost completely charred and smoking like mad.
11 looked furious, barging straight into the time machine and not even pausing at the burning hot door handle. "Just what in Gallifrey's name did you think you were doing?"
Sherlock emerged, looking triumphant. "Clinching our victory. I had to do some things I knew you wouldn't approve of, so it had to be a solo mission."
"You half-destroyed my TARDIS—how could you even drive it?"
"Oh, Doctor, really, it's not as difficult as you make it out to be. I got her back in one piece, didn't I?"
11 stroked the sides of his ship. "It's all right, Sexy," he blubbered. "I won't let the mean sociopath hurt you again, I promise."
Sherlock smudged his smoky hands on the furniture and faced his audience. "I was so confused on how to fix everything and beat Moriarty, and I lost John, but I compartmentalized the pain and transferred it into hyperactivity. I've been in the TARDIS for at least three days, doing various things, and here's what I have figured out: Moriarty gets his victims by focusing on their relationships. He considers love a weakness. So the only way to beat him is to find his own weakness, and I happen to know what it is."
"Moriarty's been in love?" Rose asked incredulously.
"Something like it. Twice. I propose we stage a negotiation and barter for River and John by offering him the life of someone he cares about."
"How do we do that?"
Sherlock smirked and went back into the TARDIS, where he snatched and pulled an unconscious man by his gag out to the living room.
10 gasped. "Sherlock, you CANNOT do this. You cannot kidnap innocent people and set them up as pawns in a chess game. You cannot stoop to Moriarty's level."
"It's the best chance we have, 10. Moriarty's playing dirty, and now we have to. This is Sebastian Moran," he explained. "He happens to be Moriarty's best hitman, and they've had a complicated romantic history. Back on Earth, he was stationed to shoot John if I didn't jump from the roof of St. Bart's, and in the years I was in hiding, I had to track him down and kill him. But I've rescued him from the moment I killed him in that world, and now I have him as a poker chip. He's my lucky charm, as it were."
10 lunged at him while 11 and Rose looked on in horror. "Do you realize what you've DONE?" 10 yelled. "You created a paradox—you've saved the life of a man condemned to die. Now, because of you, the universe is falling apart!"
"WAKE UP, DOCTOR," Sherlock retorted. "The universe already was falling apart because of Moriarty. If this plan works, everything will fall back into place."
"And if it doesn't, all of time and space will fall apart because of you. Billions upon billions will suffer and die."
"It's the only chance any of us have," Sherlock explained tersely. "Not just for John and River, but for everyone. If Moriarty wins, he will destroy the Doctor and move on until the entire universe is under his control for his sick little games. We cannot allow this to happen. I will not let this happen."
11 looked fiercer and angrier than he'd ever been in his life. "I never should have taken you with me," he whispered. "You're going to kill us all."
"Have a little faith, Doctor. Worse in your life has happened. And trust me, with the tearing and ripping I had to do to get Moran, I made sure there was a back-up plan. But let's hope it doesn't come to that."
Rose shook her head. "No time to argue, then. Let's make the trade now. Come on, gents, let's get to Moriarty and fix this mess."
They all trudged into the TARDIS together when Sherlock mentioned, "Oh, I should probably tell you—since the universe is collapsing and it really doesn't matter, I happened to be in the neighborhood and I picked up some friends. I figured it wasn't a bad idea to have a few extra hands around."
11 gasped when he saw two familiar, beloved faces at the console.
"You numpty," Amy Pond said with a flashy grin, "I bet you thought you'd never see us again."
"Amy! Rory!" 11 ran and embraced them. "How the hell did you get in here?"
"Sherlock Holmes, of course," Rory said, shaking his head. "Bloody Sherlock Holmes. You really upgraded companions."
"How did he know where to find you?"
"I deduced it all from your limited explanations of what happened to them. You said you couldn't go to New York to retrieve them without blowing up the city, so it was obvious. I sent them a telegram from a neighboring city."
11 hugged them close and laughed. "I am so happy to see you two. Did Sherlock fill you in?"
"We've been briefed, Captain," Amy joked. "Now, let's go save my granddaughter. I'm going to be the hottest grandma in the universe."
"Please never say that again," Rory groaned as Amy hit him on the shoulder.