An hour later, Sherlock has practically forced himself into MI6, and tracked down his brother in Q-branch. Most of the minions know enough not to look around too much but a few stare at Sherlock as he strides in and up to their Quartermaster. "Have you found him?" He demands as he looks at his brother.

Ford sighs a little, adjusting his glasses. "No, Sherlock. Despite what you may think, merely telling me that he was in a desert is not helpful. I have had to track down his cellphone which is more difficult because I made it that way purposely, as well as the wireless connection he used, and that's just bothersome because I had to hack in to gain that access." he says quietly in his cool, professional tones. "I have 007 on his way to the area as we speak, I will be giving him the final location once I find it. If this is a wild goose chase, I will be very cross with you." he says as he gives his brother a sharp look out of the corner of his eye. Spotting something on one of his screens, it moves from the upper left corner to the center screen, and he zooms in. "There." he touches his ear. "Bond, I have a location for you, when you land." he says before he transmits it, looking over at his second-in-command.

"R, please get us some Earl Grey, we'll be in my office." Q says simply as he looks at the young woman, then he gives Sherlock a look before he turns and heads into his office, waiting until Sherlock joins him before turning the clear glass opaque, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose after removing his glasses. "We will find him, Sherlock. I'm sure he's fine." he reassures as he looks at him, then he smiles a little.

But of course the detective's mind is already going through various possibilities, and after pulling off his scarf and jacket, he starts to pace back and forth, trying to figure things out. "Yes, yes, of course. You're right. It isn't the first firefight that John has been in, and it won't be the last." He says, looking up when R comes in with their tea, and he takes one of the mugs, leaving Ford to thank his minion.

Sherlock's agitation is only starting to annoy Q, who thanks R for the tea, and then turns back to look at his brother. "I'm impressed you managed to bypass most of our security to get most f the way up here, you'll have to tell me how you did that when this is all over, but it's going to be a while until Bond gets there and can check things out on the ground." He says before he sighs a little. "I have a fairly comfortable couch over there. Get some rest." he says a he motions vaguely toward the couch that he got after he fell asleep at his desk one too many times.

Reluctant to sleep for a moment in case anything happened, Sherlock finally gives in and sighs a little as he moves over to the couch, sitting down slowly. "Fine." he says, but he's definitely sulking, finishing his tea and laying down, kicking his feet up the way he does at Baker street, folding his hands under his chin, deciding to go to his Mind Palace, visit his 'happy' places as it were, as many as Sherlock ever has.

It's hours later when he feels someone dragging him out of his Mind Palace, though it's not seemed that long to him. Sherlock takes a deep breath as he blinks open his eyes, looking up at Ford's familiar face.

"James has found the place." Ford says as he looks at Sherlock, then he turns and heads back over to his computer, leaving the main room for more important missions. "Bond, you're on speaker now, let me know what you see." he says, still wearing his ear piece before he glances at his brother. Sherlock gets up quickly and walks over, looking at the map that shows Bond's location.

"I found their base. Group of tents, two trucks. All of their equipment is still here, except for whatever they had with them, which is probably just their guns." He snorts a little with a slight smirk. "Found John's laptop, it's obvious you've been messing with it, Q. His phone is here as well. It looks like they all left, there should be one more vehicle given the amount of equipment they have but it's missing." He says as he explains the scene. "There is evidence of a firefight, but not a long one. Not many bullet holes, in other words. No bodies." He reports calmly again as he moves through the different tents. "That's the next move?" He asks as he stands there, feeling a bit useless.

"Well, we can't very well pack up the entire camp, especially if we don't know if they're alive or dead. I cannot see any structures in the nearby area, no vehicles." Q says as he looks at different satellite images to try and find something that gives them even a remote chance. "Take John's laptop and phone. Leave a note so he'll know what's going on if he does return. I don't like leaving my tech out there unguarded."

It's obvious that Sherlock doesn't seem very happy about that, but at this point he doesn't know what else to do. John is so far away and he's missing at this point not dead, there are no bodies, and he's sure that Bond would have mentioned if there was evidence of death.

"I've got them. Any further orders, Quartermaster?" James asks with a slightly playful tone to his voice. "I don't think bringing back my equipment will be difficult this time." He says with a little bit of amusement.

A small smile quirks the corner of Ford's lips as he looks at the monitors. "It had better not. And that laptop and phone had better return in one piece as well." he pauses before he sighs. "There's nothing more we can do unless you can find some clue to go on. Do a final sweep of the area, make sure there's no other clues." He says in a tired tone, leaning back in his chair.

"Sherlock, will you please make sure your brother eats something and gets some rest? I am holding you responsible for that until I get back." Bond says in a firm tone. "Q, there's nothing more you can do. Eat. And I mean a proper meal, not just some biscuits. And sleep. Even if it's on that bloody couch of yours, I want you to get some sleep." He insists in a firm tone.

"Yes. Of course." Sherlock says almost absentmindedly, pacing across Ford's office, back and forth behind the chair as he tries to figure out what might have happened and whether or not John would return to base or merely come home, but he's not coming up with anything at the moment.

"Fine. You'll be in my ear if you need me. Let me know when you're back on British soil. Q signing out." Ford says in a cool tone, hitting a button to turn off his side of the comms, leaving the other open in his earpiece. "I'm going to get a few hours' sleep before eating anything, then we can go out or order takeaway, there are some approved companies, here are the menus if you want." He says, pulling them out of his desk and setting them on top before he drags himself up and over to his couch, flopping down on it. "Do try not to break anything, and please, don't do anything which would get me fired."

A briefly amused look is shot over at his brother before Sherlock nods, still trying to figure out what's happening, what to do next.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Ford."

And... more mystery! Next chapter is probably going to be a whopper and an emotional one, so be prepared!

Please let me know what you think!