When Mycroft next woke, he was surprised to find himself feeling better. The pain was virtually gone and his head finally felt clear and like he could think again.

"Hello." Anthea said with a smile, leaning over him, "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Much better." Mycroft admitted.

"Good. They sent in a doctor to sort you out." Anthea explained, "All of your wounds have been dealt with and you've been given some tablets to take for your head."

"Is it concussion?" Mycroft asked, attempting to sit up.

"Yes, apparently you're very lucky it wasn't much worse." Anthea replied, carefully helping him to lean against the wall with her bound hands.

"So we're still hostages then?" Mycroft asked, taking in her appearance and the room that they were being kept in.

"Yes, I believe MI6 are debating their options." Anthea said, leaning against the wall beside him.

"Have you eaten anything or drunk any water?" Mycroft asked, his eyes sweeping over her pale face.

"No. The doctor sorted out my breaks and my cuts, but they haven't given us any refreshments yet." Anthea replied, "Can you remember the four words I told you to remember?"

"Cairo. Bomb. Anthea. Wife." Mycroft said without any hesitation.

"You had me worried for a while." Anthea admitted, "You were talking about not remembering our wedding."

Mycroft chuckled and took her bound hands in his, "How could I forget the wedding, Anthea dear?" he said with a wink.

The door flew open and one of the masked kidnappers entered with a gun trained on them, "Get up!" he ordered in heavily accented English.


"Oh look, we've been sent a hostage video!" Sherlock exclaimed, the excitement in his tone undeniable.

"Put it on then." John huffed in frustration. Sherlock's apparent joy while his brother was being held hostage was beginning to grate on him.

"Hello British Government." Mycroft said, reading aloud from a piece of paper he was holding in his right hand. His left hand was being held by Anthea who was sat beside him. Two armed, masked men stood behind them with loaded guns trained at the hostage's heads.

"By now you will have realized that we have taken two of your diplomats - Mycroft and Anthea Holmes." Mycroft continued to read, "You need to send us £20,000,000 or we will kill both hostages."

"John, I think that's live." Sherlock murmured as he watched the screen.

"Live?" John replied with a frown, "Don't kidnappers send recorded videos?"

"By now you will have worked out that this video is being broadcast to you live." Mycroft read, "You have 15 minutes to make an initial payment of £1,000,000 or we will kill the hostages."

"Bloody hell, Sherlock. What are we going to do?" John asked, his eyes focused on Mycroft's disheveled and bloodstained appearance.

Sherlock dialed a number on his mobile phone and began speaking with the MI6 control room who'd also been watching the video.

"Do you have anyone on site yet?" he asked as he paced, "Then you're going to have to pay, the guns are loaded. Yes, I'm well aware of how much money they're asking for."


Mycroft glanced over at Anthea once he'd finished reading the script. She met his eyes and a silent plan passed between them.

Anthea leaned in and grabbed Mycroft's face with her bound hands, pressing her lips to his in a rough kiss.

Mycroft pulled her onto his lap, continuing the kiss and giving Anthea cover as she worked to remove his belt.

"Western pigs!" one of the armed men hissed, "Stop or I'll shoot."

"If you shoot, you don't get paid!" Anthea taunted, recapturing Mycroft's lips once more.


"What the hell are they doing?" John demanded, standing up as he watched Anthea and Mycroft making out on the screen.

"It's a distraction." Sherlock realized, stopping to watch for a moment before he began barking orders at the agent on the other end of the line, "Get a helicopter up. I don't care how much it costs or where you get the helicopter from, you need to raid from above."

"It better just be a distraction." John muttered, jealously rushing through him.


Mycroft counted the seconds off in his head as he and Anthea went for it in front of the camera and their kidnappers. As soon as they reached the five minute mark, he tapped Anthea's hip gently to tell her he was ready for the next part of the distraction.

Anthea sprang up to her feet and swung Mycroft's belt wildly, hitting two of the kidnappers in the face with the belt buckle. Mycroft moved quickly to get hold of both loaded weapons before they hit the floor. He fired at the two men Anthea had hit with the belt, taking them down but not killing them.

Mycroft ducked as the two men behind the camera fired their guns at them. Anthea hit the floor beside him, a bullet lodged in her side.

"Put the guns down!" one of the men ordered and Mycroft did as he was told, putting the two guns down and moving to put pressure on Anthea's wound.

"Alright, dearest?" he murmured.

"That went well." Anthea replied, trying to ignore the pain.

"Other than you getting shot." Mycroft pointed out.

"Yes, other than that." Anthea agreed.


"Read!" one of the remaining men hissed at Mycroft, pulling him away from Anthea and shoving another script at him.

John watched with worried eyes as Mycroft took the paper with Anthea's blood all over his hands.

"You have 5 minutes." Mycroft read, "We look forward to killing the hostages slowly and on camera so you can watch."

"Are you in position? Good. Go in now before they have chance to regroup." Sherlock ordered the agent on the other end on his phone.


Mycroft looked up as the ceiling above him seemed to shake as a loud band echoed throughout the building. He prayed that the cavalry had arrived to get them out. As men began shouting around them, Mycroft threw himself over Anthea to cover her from any stray bullets.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Mr Holmes?" Anthea teased.

"No, I'm trying to stop you from bleeding out, Mrs Holmes." Mycroft replied with a slight chuckle, moving his weight so he could press down on her wound. There was another bang from above before the ceiling gave out and dust reigned down on them.