I don't own Sherlock, no matter how many times I wish upon a star. So I shall have my fun and then put them back.

All mistakes are my own.

Chapter Thirty-Five

John was curled up on the chair along with Sherlock. His head was resting on Sherlock's lap. He wasn't asleep at all, but he was still tired. He was laying there finding comfort in being near Sherlock. After the interview with Dimmock and Donovan, the two kids had gone quiet and had taken to holding hands as the day wore on. The two had told Mycroft that they didn't want to go out after he had asked them earlier, and neither had they wanted to go to the lab and do a few experiments.

Mycroft walked back into the room after his phone call to Anthea about the serum, asking for an update, though none was forthcoming. He saw the two boys and looked at them sorrowfully. He walked over and picked John up, who whined a little at being taken from his friend.

"Shush," he soothed as he settled the tired child in the crook of his arms, "It's all right." He whispered as he walked over to the sofa and sat down, relaxing a little.

Sherlock gave the two of them a soft smile, even though he felt a little left out. Greg saw the little flash in his eyes as he then said softly to him, "Come over here," his arms open for him to come and join him on the sofa.

Sherlock grinned happily as he jumped from his chair and went over to Greg and let the silver haired man take a hold of him and pick him up. Sherlock was sat on his lap being hugged, giving him some of the comforts that he needed, "Thank you," Sherlock whispered gratefully.

"Don't worry," Greg said hugging him tightly for a moment in reassurance, before loosening his grip.

Mycroft looked at the two kids in turn reluctantly asked them, "What else happened while they had you," he paused for a moment to reassure John noticing that the youngster had stiffened in his arms. He gently soothed him adding softly, "I know you didn't tell Dimmock and Donovan everything that happened to you."

John nodded as he said softly, "In thes vans, thes one in theres withs usss, when I wass thalkings tho Sherlockss and makings ssure thaths hes wass all righths, he grabbed me by thes arm and litherallys thosssseds me assides, intho thes sside of thes vans."

Sherlock nodded, "John was the target for most of it since he tended to come over to me and wish for reassurance and to make sure that I was all right." He explained as he looked at John and then added, "One of the only times that I was harmed was when I threw up, I was dizzy because of the blow to my head. He hit me across the back." He looked down at that.

"So the bruising the two of you have was mainly from that?" Greg nodded running a hand gently through Sherlock's hair, comforting the child.

"Yess," John nodded, "Thes mean one…" he started to say.

"O'Carroll referred to him as Kev," Sherlock interrupted him, remembering the name.

John smiled slightly, "He woulds comes ins noths long afthers O'Carrollss lefth uss alone. He wass thes one thaths causssed uss thes mosths problemss."

"He would pull the two of us apart as soon as he saw that we were sitting together or huddled together. He would yell in our faces all the time, it took all my willpower not to tell the idiot that his wife was having an affair and that she would be leaving him soon," Sherlock said with a derisive snort, "he would pull us up by an arm, his grip would be rather tight. He didn't hit us or anything after the first time that he hit John." Sherlock finished as he looked at the two adults and then back to John.

"Aths leassths we are outh ofs theres now," John said as he rolled a little bit to get comfy in Mycroft's arms. He had to admit that it was comfy to lie like this and it made him feel safer as well.

Mycroft nodded and smiled down at him, "Yes," he gave a quick glance over to the clock in the room and noticed that it was beginning to get late as the sky outside was already dark.

"Can you read us a story?" Sherlock asked him as he looked at his brother.

Mycroft nodded, "Sure, go and pick one that you would like to hear."

Sherlock smiled and got up, he ran out of the room and to the library, it didn't take long for him to come back with a book and handed it over to Mycroft before he sat back down on Greg's lap and curled up a little to face Mycroft.

"Ah," Mycroft hummed, "One of my favorites, The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas." He smiled as he opened the book and began to read.

John and Sherlock remained awake for a few chapters, Mycroft's voice soothing them as they listened to the tale. Slowly but surely the two kids feel asleep. Mycroft stopped reading, making a note of where they were and closed the book. He looked from one to the other and then over to Greg.

"I think we should get these two to bed," he said quietly, a gentle smile on his face, "We'll settle them into my room tonight, hopefully, they would be all right by tomorrow night to sleep alone. Though I do think that you should be with us again, they obviously feel better with you around." He added as he looked at Greg.

"All right, I don't mind that." He nodded softly as he looked at Sherlock, sleeping peacefully, there was none of his adult arrogance and confidence on his face.

Greg then picked Sherlock up, while Mycroft did the same with John and the two made their way upstairs. Mycroft took the lead into his room and gently laid John down on the bed as he left to get the two some pajamas to wear.

"Here," he said as he handed Greg some of Sherlock's. "Let's get them comfortable."

Greg gave a quiet chuckle as he began to undress Sherlock, being careful not to wake him, but quickly figuring out that the child was fast out and in a deep sleep, "looks like this one is zonked completely."

"Yes, I just hope it lasts through the night." He smiled, "I know I am being a little over protective of them at the moment, but after what happened, I think I need the comfort of them being close as well."

Greg smiled and nodded, "I know exactly how you are feeling."

Mycroft and Greg finished dressing the boys in their pajamas and tucked them into the middle of the bed. Greg left the room as Mycroft went into his bathroom and changed for bed. He walked back in and settled down in the bed on one side of it. Greg walked back in changed as well and climbed on the other side. He had brought with him a book to read since he wasn't that tired at the moment.

"I'm a little worried about the way they have been all day," Mycroft said softly as he picked up his own book.

Greg nodded a little and replied, "I know, but I think it's more because of what's to come. Tomorrow is the interview in the morning, thankfully it will be early morning."

"Yes, they called me about it before dinner, it might take a couple of hours. I would like to be with John during his, would you be all right with Sherlock, if not I don't mind. I just think he is doing better with you, he still holds a little animosity against me due to our past." Mycroft told him, wondering how tomorrow would go.

"I don't mind." He smiled as he opened his book and the two began to read silently.

Mycroft was brought out of his reading as John rolled over onto his stomach. He smiled a little and turned back to his book. He had noted that John often slept on his stomach. It was how he found John most of the time when he went to wake the two of them up in the morning.

Mycroft and Greg turned quickly to John as they heard a small whimper. Mycroft put down his book and ran a hand up and down his back, "Shush, it's all right." Mycroft said softly, hoping to calm him down and to avert any nightmare that might come.

John moved around a little restlessly, another whimper quickly followed.

"Shush," Mycroft said once again, "it's all right, you're safe, home and safe." He said softly and repeated himself a few times as he waited for the child to settled back down.

Greg sighed softly as the whimpering stopped and it seemed like John was once again sleeping peacefully. It didn't take long though for Sherlock to begin to move around a little restlessly. He turned one way and then another, whispering, "John," as though he was trying to find his friend.

"Hush now Sherlock," Greg said softly as he brushed some hair out of his face and ran his hand through his hair a number of times as he carried on talking gently, "it's all right, John's fine, nice and safe right beside you, just sleep."

It took a while but Sherlock fall back into his own deep sleep. Greg and Mycroft shared a look and a sigh thankful that neither of the two had woken up fully.

"Well, I think they might just be all right now," Greg said as he picked up his book, it wasn't even midnight yet he noticed as he glanced at his watch on the bedside table.

Mycroft nodded, "I think they might be," he paused for a moment, "I do worry, though, they didn't want to go out today at all. Or even go to the lab, I thought Sherlock would jump at the chance to do a few experiments."

The Detective Inspector nodded his head in agreement, "I know, I don't like seeing them so down, I just hope that by tomorrow they would be all right to go out."

"Yes, I plan to try and get them out of the house again, though since tomorrow is New Year's Eve, there is a little gathering that I need to attend. I've already got a suit ordered for you and the boys so the three of you will be able to come with me. We will be watching the fireworks as well." He smiled thinking of the gathering.

Greg winced a little, "I don't know if that would be a good idea."

He frowned a little as he glanced over, "Why wouldn't it?"

"If they don't want to go out and forcing them, it might hurt them in the long run. I know that they will be adults again soon, but at the moment they are children, and it might carry over to when they grow up again." He told him.

Mycroft nodded, "You may be right, we shall have to wait and see what they are like tomorrow. If they are all right then we will all go, but unfortunately, I don't have much of a choice, politics is at the forefront of the night, and it's a game I play as you well know."

"All right, we'll see, and I think I might just go to sleep now, I think tomorrow will be a long day." Greg smiled a little as he put his book away and snuggled down in the bed, turning to face Sherlock.

Mycroft nodded in agreement as he took snuggled down in his bed, and whispered a goodnight to Greg as the man returned it. It didn't take long for the two adults to descend into dreams, hoping that the night would be peaceful.

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. So happy that you are enjoying this. Hope you have enjoyed this chapter as well.