p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Sherlock awoke in the hospital once more. He couldn't remember why he was there. When he opened his eyes and took in his surrounding seeing his siblings, he closed them once again, wanting the release of sleep or morphine, he didn't care which./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Sherlock, I know you probably don't want to talk right now, but you need to tell us what happened. Mrs. Hudson found you passed out on the floor; the coffee table was pushed out of the way. The paramedics were worried about your lungs so soon after your previous release on top of the accident." Victoria looked less put together than she usually was. Her hair, normally had not one strand out of place, was now in a messy un-stylized bun. She had dark circles under her eyes. Her clothing was rumpled rather than its standard recently pressed look. She even had a coffee stain near the collar./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Sherlock's voice was strained and gruff in his response. There were grief and fear laced in his words. "Richard Brook is back, and he is not pleased that I have tried to move on from him." He did not speak loudly, but as soon as the name Richard Brook left his lips the room went silent. Both siblings had their breaths held. They remembered the last time Sherlock got tangled with Richard Brook, and they were never hoping to see a repeat performance./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It was Mycroft's turn to interrogate his brother for answers. He remembered all the hospital visits and late nights keeping his brother from the edge, and his brother receding within himself. Only with prodding continuing to do the work that he enjoyed doing. Mycroft Holmes might be an interior designer, but goddammit he was going to kill Richard Brook this time. His brother was meant for more than this abuse./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Sherlock, did he say anything that might give you an idea of where he is, where he was going?" Sherlock shook his head with a guilt-filled frown./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""That's okay, Sherlock," Victoria said, cutting off any other questions her brother had./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Why don't you get some more rest. I can have the doctor give you more morphine if you'd like." Sherlock gave no acknowledgment of what she said other than to roll his head away from his siblings and shut his eyes tight. Mycroft looked furious at such a suggestion and about ready to burst out in anger. Victoria quickly dragged her brother out of Sherlock's room, closing the door behind them./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What is your problem Mycroft? I'm trying to help."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""No, Victoria you're not. You weren't here the last time. You didn't see him so numb that the undead would have had a better chance of passing as one of the living. He was close to death and wanted it. He never ate unless I force fed him. I had certain people around town keeping an eye on him. Because of that, I was able to pay off certain unsavory creatures from doing business with Sherlock. He was desperate for an escape, Victoria." The anger was slowly receding from Mycroft's face and turning into one filled with fear, his voice got quieter "I was almost too late once. He had tried to drown himself. There is a reason his doctors are so worried about his lungs other than the recent smoke inhalation. They were already damaged from his almost drowning. On top of that his smoking habit that came about a few months later." Mycroft was looking at some point in the distance, reliving the past only to break from his trance to look right in his sister's eyes. "When it comes to Richard Brook, Sherlock does not make the best decisions, Victoria, and Richard knows it."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Why did you never tell me any of this before? Do mummy and daddy know?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""To an extent. I never went into detail, but keeping hospital visits from them was not easy at the time, so they know about Sherlock's near drowning, but they don't know exactly how it happened. They think Sherlock fell into a lake and was saved by a nearby fisherman. It is partly true, there was a lake and a fisherman, but I was paying him to look after Sherlock."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You still haven't told me why you never said anything."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You needed to focus on the twists and turns of the government. It was your dream, and I did not want you resenting Sherlock or me because we pulled you away from your dream. You already had so many other things standing in your path; you didn't need another one. Then when you finally made it through all the hoops they threw at you, the crisis was over, and I thought it would never be an issue again."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Oh Mycroft, you are my brothers. A crisis at home trumps any crisis that happens in government. Come on, we have some research and planning to do. We need to figure out where Richard Brook has been all these years, and why he is back now. I have a feeling it's nothing good."/p
hr style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Moran, I'm back. How's Doctor Watson? Having fun, I hope; only the best for Sherl's new plaything," Richard said removing the sack over John's head. "Yes, dazzling lights. Get adjusted to them; I'll wait. I have all the time in the world, unlike you. You see, I don't take well to people invading my territory or messing with my property. I like my possessions only to be handled by me. When someone else comes in and smudges the clean finish on my porcelain, I get...edgy. I put a lot of effort into my… investments, Doctor Watson. I am going to make you take full responsibility for your actions against my belongings; however I see fit,". Richard was directly in John's face, and if it had been anyone else, namely Sherlock, John would have kissed them./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"After a short staring contest where Richard was able to see every bit of fear that John Watson tried to hide, he shouted into his face, "Moran." With a quick grin before he turned to the man, he called for, "Get my tools would you, please. I am ready to have some fun with Doctor Watson. I think I might relieve him of his useless appendage." Only then did John's attempts at escape begin in earnest. If there was one thing he had learned from some former friends of his, it was how sadistic certain people could be, and John Watson just realized he was in the hands of one such person./p
hr style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What do you want?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Why so short with me, Vicky?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""My name is Victoria. No one calls me that, Moriarty. You certainly cannot."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Don't be like that Vicky, I just wanted to call and see how John Watson is doing, because from what I heard… he might not last for too much longer. Blood loss is a difficult thing to come back from. Richard isn't doing much better, do pass that message on to Sherlock, would you. I will save one them, I have the resources. He tells me who to save, and I'll do it, but only one. He has two days to choose, and then they all die." Then he hung up. Victoria didn't know what to do. Her youngest brother was under constant watch in the hospital, and her other brother and his boyfriend had been sent into hiding. Her parents were under a witness-protection-type program. The other heads of the government were questioning her motives and use of resources. She hadn't had a decent night's sleep in days or more than the bare minimum for hygiene. Her family's lives were at stake, and she had no idea what to do to fix anything. Her life was falling apart, and Moriarty was winning./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Sherlock, I know you probably don't want to talk right now, but you need to tell us what happened. Mrs. Hudson found you passed out on the floor; the coffee table was pushed out of the way. The paramedics were worried about your lungs so soon after your previous release on top of the accident." Victoria looked less put together than she usually was. Her hair, normally had not one strand out of place, was now in a messy un-stylized bun. She had dark circles under her eyes. Her clothing was rumpled rather than its standard recently pressed look. She even had a coffee stain near the collar./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Sherlock's voice was strained and gruff in his response. There were grief and fear laced in his words. "Richard Brook is back, and he is not pleased that I have tried to move on from him." He did not speak loudly, but as soon as the name Richard Brook left his lips the room went silent. Both siblings had their breaths held. They remembered the last time Sherlock got tangled with Richard Brook, and they were never hoping to see a repeat performance./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It was Mycroft's turn to interrogate his brother for answers. He remembered all the hospital visits and late nights keeping his brother from the edge, and his brother receding within himself. Only with prodding continuing to do the work that he enjoyed doing. Mycroft Holmes might be an interior designer, but goddammit he was going to kill Richard Brook this time. His brother was meant for more than this abuse./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Sherlock, did he say anything that might give you an idea of where he is, where he was going?" Sherlock shook his head with a guilt-filled frown./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""That's okay, Sherlock," Victoria said, cutting off any other questions her brother had./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Why don't you get some more rest. I can have the doctor give you more morphine if you'd like." Sherlock gave no acknowledgment of what she said other than to roll his head away from his siblings and shut his eyes tight. Mycroft looked furious at such a suggestion and about ready to burst out in anger. Victoria quickly dragged her brother out of Sherlock's room, closing the door behind them./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What is your problem Mycroft? I'm trying to help."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""No, Victoria you're not. You weren't here the last time. You didn't see him so numb that the undead would have had a better chance of passing as one of the living. He was close to death and wanted it. He never ate unless I force fed him. I had certain people around town keeping an eye on him. Because of that, I was able to pay off certain unsavory creatures from doing business with Sherlock. He was desperate for an escape, Victoria." The anger was slowly receding from Mycroft's face and turning into one filled with fear, his voice got quieter "I was almost too late once. He had tried to drown himself. There is a reason his doctors are so worried about his lungs other than the recent smoke inhalation. They were already damaged from his almost drowning. On top of that his smoking habit that came about a few months later." Mycroft was looking at some point in the distance, reliving the past only to break from his trance to look right in his sister's eyes. "When it comes to Richard Brook, Sherlock does not make the best decisions, Victoria, and Richard knows it."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Why did you never tell me any of this before? Do mummy and daddy know?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""To an extent. I never went into detail, but keeping hospital visits from them was not easy at the time, so they know about Sherlock's near drowning, but they don't know exactly how it happened. They think Sherlock fell into a lake and was saved by a nearby fisherman. It is partly true, there was a lake and a fisherman, but I was paying him to look after Sherlock."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You still haven't told me why you never said anything."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You needed to focus on the twists and turns of the government. It was your dream, and I did not want you resenting Sherlock or me because we pulled you away from your dream. You already had so many other things standing in your path; you didn't need another one. Then when you finally made it through all the hoops they threw at you, the crisis was over, and I thought it would never be an issue again."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Oh Mycroft, you are my brothers. A crisis at home trumps any crisis that happens in government. Come on, we have some research and planning to do. We need to figure out where Richard Brook has been all these years, and why he is back now. I have a feeling it's nothing good."/p
hr style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Moran, I'm back. How's Doctor Watson? Having fun, I hope; only the best for Sherl's new plaything," Richard said removing the sack over John's head. "Yes, dazzling lights. Get adjusted to them; I'll wait. I have all the time in the world, unlike you. You see, I don't take well to people invading my territory or messing with my property. I like my possessions only to be handled by me. When someone else comes in and smudges the clean finish on my porcelain, I get...edgy. I put a lot of effort into my… investments, Doctor Watson. I am going to make you take full responsibility for your actions against my belongings; however I see fit,". Richard was directly in John's face, and if it had been anyone else, namely Sherlock, John would have kissed them./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"After a short staring contest where Richard was able to see every bit of fear that John Watson tried to hide, he shouted into his face, "Moran." With a quick grin before he turned to the man, he called for, "Get my tools would you, please. I am ready to have some fun with Doctor Watson. I think I might relieve him of his useless appendage." Only then did John's attempts at escape begin in earnest. If there was one thing he had learned from some former friends of his, it was how sadistic certain people could be, and John Watson just realized he was in the hands of one such person./p
hr style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What do you want?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Why so short with me, Vicky?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""My name is Victoria. No one calls me that, Moriarty. You certainly cannot."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Don't be like that Vicky, I just wanted to call and see how John Watson is doing, because from what I heard… he might not last for too much longer. Blood loss is a difficult thing to come back from. Richard isn't doing much better, do pass that message on to Sherlock, would you. I will save one them, I have the resources. He tells me who to save, and I'll do it, but only one. He has two days to choose, and then they all die." Then he hung up. Victoria didn't know what to do. Her youngest brother was under constant watch in the hospital, and her other brother and his boyfriend had been sent into hiding. Her parents were under a witness-protection-type program. The other heads of the government were questioning her motives and use of resources. She hadn't had a decent night's sleep in days or more than the bare minimum for hygiene. Her family's lives were at stake, and she had no idea what to do to fix anything. Her life was falling apart, and Moriarty was winning./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p