John and Alice ran into each other outside of the Diogenes Club, both asking, "Mycroft?" and nodding, verifying why they were there. They had both decided to find him and question him about his role in Moriarty's trial, release, and subsequent rise. They confronted him in the club, practically dragging him into a back room to talk. Alice was fuming, having figured it all out in the cab.

"Kitty Riley's really done her homework, hasn't she?" John asked, starting to pace in front of Mycroft, barely concealing his rage. "She's published some things only someone close to Sherlock would know." Mycroft sat down, looking at both of them. "Your own brother, and you went to blab to some maniac about him?"

Mycroft shook his head. "I never intended… I never dreamt…"

"So this is what you were telling me about?" John wondered, dropping a stack of newspapers onto a coffee table, all of them running front-page articles on Sherlock faking his entire career. "'Watch his back, because I've made a huge mistake'? How did you meet him? Moriarty?"

"People like him, we know about them. We track them. But Moriarty… the most dangerous criminal mastermind in the world… a few lines of keycode and he could unlock any door. Nuclear weapons, prisons, experiments people with security clearances still do not know about… he has access to them all," Mycroft shrugged. "There was nothing else we could do."

"And you arrested him to get the code?" John asked, continuing to pace.

"Interrogated him for weeks," Mycroft confirmed. "But he wouldn't play along. The only thing that made him open up, well, I could get him to talk, just a bit, but…"

"You had to offer him Sherlock's life story in return?" John wagered. "So they wrapped lies in the truth, and made the world believe it, since a lot of it is true. Moriarty wanted Sherlock destroyed, and you gave him the perfect weapon."

"John… I'm sorry."

"Please," John spat, shaking his head. "Sure you are."

"Tell him for me, would you?"

"Piss off." John stormed off, taking a cab to St. Bart's.

It was now Alice's turn to look at Mycroft. "I really am sorry," he explained, but it was too late. She was ready to rant, to rend him limb from limb if she had to.

Alice strode across the room, slapping him viciously and hissing, "You were supposed to protect him. Sure, John and I helped, but you… you're always supposed to look out for your little brother. You're supposed to protect him, to make sure something like this doesn't happen. And now I hear you're the one who fed them all of this? You've ruined his life, Mycroft! Everyone is going to hate him, if they don't already. I… I could wring your neck, but it wouldn't do any good. I would kill for him if I had to. I gave up that life long ago, but if it came to it… On your head be it. Whatever comes of this is your fault. And mark my words, I will hold you responsible."

She turned away, storming out and taking a cab to where she knew Moriarty would be waiting. It was a small building, the facade of a house, but Moriarty used it for meetings and holding spaces when he needed it. Sure enough, he was waiting for her. "Hello there. I've been dying to see you," Moriarty smiled as Alice bolted for him. "Ah, ah, ah," he warned, twirling a gun out of his pocket. "Not another step, my pretty."

"What have you done?" she asked, hoping she could appeal to the last shred of his humanity. "Jim, you've ruined his life. You've ruined my life. What if…" She decided to use the only thing she could think of against him, "What if I ruined Seb's life? What if I published a ton of lies about him, peppered with the truth? What if the entire world thought he was a criminal, that everything he had done was faked?"

Moriarty laughed. "Oh, please. You couldn't possibly have the brain to pull it off. I'd like to see you try."

Alice crossed her arms, affronted. "Well I've already figured out how you've gotten this far."

"What, the computer code? It wasn't too difficult to get," he smiled, twirling his gun around a finger.

"Bullshit! None of that code is real. You had people on the inside who did it for you," Alice told him. "There is no master code. The British government may not be perfect, but no one is that dumb."

Moriarty nodded. "Good, good, you're onto something. Unfortunately, I've got to run. But I've left a treat for you at Baker Street." Alice raised an eyebrow, Moriarty checking his phone. "She's going to be bleeding out in juuuuust about 34 seconds."

"What? Oh my…" Alice's eyes flooded with realization as she pulled out her phone, desperately calling Mrs. Hudson. The phone just kept ringing.

When she didn't answer, Alice looked over to Moriarty, who mouthed the word "BANG!" with a laugh. She ran, frantically waving down a cab and dialign Mrs. Hudson's number over and over again.

"I'm Scotland Yard." Alice flashed her badge as she dialed again. "221 Baker Street, as fast as you can go." She glanced out the back window of the cab, Moriarty waving from a window.

They pulled up to 221B just as another cab was dropping John off. He was fumbling for his keys as she jumped out of the cab. Alice stuffed a handful of cash in the cabbie's cupholder, grabbing John as she ran up to the door. "Mrs. Hudson…"

They burst into the flat to find Mrs. Hudson alive and well, making tea and watching one of her favorite soap operas. "Oh, hello, dears. Is something wrong? Has Sherlock sorted everything out with the police?"

John turned to Alice, his ultimate realization sinking in. "Oh lord…"

"Go," Alice told him, gesturing towards the door. "Make sure he's alright. I'll stay here and watch out for Mrs. Hudson. I wouldn't trust the assassins out there with anything right now."

He nodded, running for the stairs as Mrs. Hudson asked, "Whatever is going on?"

"Sherlock's got to be in trouble. Someone told us you had been shot… he's got to be behind this. He wanted us away from wherever he is, whatever he's doing. I'm going to assume he wants to clear this up and make sure there's no way we could be held responsible," Alice explained, sitting down next to her. "What are you watching?"

A moment later, her phone started to ring. Before Alice could say hello, Sherlock began talking. "Listen to me. I don't have very long to talk. I'm standing in a stairwell calling you, because you need to hear this. Alice, whatever you do, I need you to stay with Mrs. Hudson right now. Do not watch the news. In fact, turn off the telly. Don't check your phones unless it's John calling. Don't even look out the window. Close the curtains."

"Okay. Sherlock, what's going on? You sound terrified." Alice looked to Mrs. Hudson, who just shrugged.

"Everything will work out in the end. Remember what I told you. I'm going to need you to do something for me, after… after this. I need you to protect the others. Make sure the press knows who I really was, because otherwise, they will attack you, John, Lestrade, everyone I know with a career," Sherlock instructed. "Make sure they know I did this all on my own. II made everything up. I faked it all."

"No," Alice bit her lip, trying not to cry. "Sherlock, I know what you're doing. I know you, I know you better than anyone. I know you. You're real, Sherlock. You couldn't fake all of that. You couldn't fake being you all of the time. There's no way - "

"I have to go soon."

"Sherlock Holmes, don't you dare!" Alice jumped out of her chair, even though she had nowhere to go and no power to stop him. "I swear to -"

"Alice, please, calm down," he instructed, trying his best to keep his voice steady. "I need you to listen to me."

"No, you listen to me. Don't you dare do this. You know what it will do to all of us, Sherlock."

"Goodbye, Alice. I love you. I always will."

"I… I love you too." Sherlock hung up, Alice sinking back onto the sofa in tears. Mrs. Hudson hugged her, turning the television off. Neither of them said anything, at least until Alice's phone rang again a few minutes later.

"John?" Alice asked hoarsely. Mrs. Hudson held her hand as she listened, John's voice breaking.

"Alice, get to Bart's," John instructed. "Sher… Sherlock's dead."


A.N.: AAAAAGH I hate Reichenbach. I mean, it's one of my favorite episodes, but it kills me every time. Ugh.