The next chapter! I hope you like it, please let me know! That would be awesome.

I don't own the characters or places!

"You didn't have to order pizza for us." Q said to John, looking slightly embarrassed. They'd just arrived at Baker Street, only five minutes after the pizza John had ordered for them.

John chuckled. "Don't thank me. Sherlock might have mentioned that you didn't have dinner yet. We also didn't eat that much today."

Q glanced at his brother. "Do I even want to know how you guessed that?"

Sherlock shrugged. "It was obvious." He muttered and John could see an amused glance in his eyes. He squeezed his hand.

"Why only for us?" James asked and gestured at the pizza in front of them. "The pizza is for four people and as far as I'm concerned, we'll be six soon."

"Mycroft and Lestrade already ate something." Sherlock said lazily, turning to John. "Apparently, Lestrade's case wasn't going well and Mycroft decided to discuss things with him over dinner." He grimaced. "The case would have been better than ours."

John held up his hands. "You agreed that we should help that lady."

"Waste of time." Sherlock sighed and began to eat his pizza.

Since John felt Q's and James' curious looks on him, he turned to them and began to explain the case they'd solved that day. Q and James listened eagerly. Again, John was surprised how much the quartermaster of MI6 and one of their best secret agents liked his stories. Actually, he'd expected their lives to be a little more exciting than theirs, let alone from the fact what they were doing for work.

When he voiced his thoughts, they both laughed. "It's not that exciting, really." Q said and leaned against James. "Most of the time, I have to deal with stupid, stubborn Double-Oh's." He smiled at James adoringly, who narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend.

"Stupid and stubborn, hm?" James raised his eyebrows sceptically. "I thought we were talking about 'alright' before?"

Q chuckled. "I meant the others and not you, James."

"Most of the time, our missions aren't as mysterious as yours." James said to John after kissing Q shortly. "Your stories are a highlight in our lives."

John felt blood rush to his cheeks at that compliment. "Thanks." He muttered, a little taken aback. Next to him, he could feel Sherlock watching him intensely and he would have loved to ask what his boyfriend was thinking right now. However, the door opened just in that moment.

Mycroft entered the flat, followed by Greg. As usual, Mycroft Holmes was wearing a suit (blue this time) and the umbrella was in his hand. In his weatherproof clothes, Greg looked like the exact opposite of him. When their eyes met, John smiled at his best friend.

"I see that you already knew about my dinner plans." Mycroft said to Sherlock without a hello.

"Wasn't hard to guess." Sherlock shrugged. "And besides, pizza won't work with your diet."

"How was your case?" Mycroft raised his eyebrows, a gleeful smile on his lips. "I assume it was interesting?"

Sherlock grimaced. "We won't mention that again this evening! It was hard enough to listen to it again when John told the others about it." Suddenly, he turned to John. "And no, you won't write about it on your blog!"

"Who said I was going to?" He asked innocently.

"The look you threw at Lestrade proved that." His boyfriend said simply. "Don't try to deny it, John."

With a sigh, he gave in. "Alright, I won't do it. Are you happy now?"

Instead of answering, Sherlock kissed him with a wide smile on his lips. "I love you, John." Then he turned to Mycroft and Greg again. "Now sit down, we have important things to discuss and we don't have all evening."

"I absolutely agree with that." Q added seriously. "James and I also have to get home in time."

"We do?" When Q looked at him, James began to grin. "Alright, yes, we do."

Mycroft sighed deeply. "Can you keep your thoughts to yourselves for the next hour?" He shook his head slowly. "Not everyone in this room wants to know that much about your love life."

Greg chuckled at this, making Mycroft narrow his eyes at him. "Oh come on, everyone knows what John and Sherlock are up to when they're alone. Did I mention that I walked in on them once?"

"That's nothing we'll discuss here!" John threw in loudly, interrupting his best friend with a death glare. It only made Greg laugh louder. That Q and James joined him didn't make it any better.

"You're here because of this." Sherlock interrupted them simply and pulled out the letter, placing it on the table right next to the pizza.

In an instant, it was silent in the flat and they all stared at the letter.

"Is it what I think it is?" Greg asked hesitantly and glanced at John, who nodded.

"Moriarty." Q muttered thoughtfully.

Sherlock nodded seriously. "The game is on."

"What does it say?" Mycroft's eyes weren't leaving the letter.

"Could you read it to us?" Q asked. "I'd like to hear it."

"It's not that spectacular." Sherlock muttered, but John had already taken the letter, knowing that his boyfriend wouldn't see the sense in reading it out loud. He unfolded it and his eyes wandered over the elegant handwriting once more.

"Dear Mr. Holmes" John began to read and felt all eyes on him.

"I must admit that your actions have caught my attention. That doesn't happen to me very often. Normally, humans are a boring species, without the ability to surprise me. Yet, you have surprised me more than once recently. Considering the stories in the blog of your partner, as well as other information I have collected, you seem to have an outstanding intellect, paired with the right amount of daring. I see myself as one of those rare persons as well. Always in action, planning and scheming, but never getting too serious in the course of it. That's what makes life special, isn't it? The unforeseen. The risks. The surprise. The fun. I think we are very much alike, Mr. Holmes. You, as the world's only consulting detective and me... well, let's just say as the opposite. I bet our meeting would be glorious. We could change the world, you and me, Mr. Holmes. We will change the world, it's just a matter of time. I can't wait to meet you in person one day. Until then, don't stop surprising me, it's the only thing I ask from you. The world needs people who are different than the rest more than anything.

Yours, J. M."

When he finished reading out the letter, the others all remained silent. Slowly, John folded the letter again and just wanted to place it on the table when Mycroft held out his hand. John handed him the letter without a word. Mycroft frowned when his eyes scanned the letter and Greg leaned closer to be able to look at it as well. To John's surprise, Mycroft turned the letter so his best friend could have a better look at it. Seeing them sit there together and read the letter made John's lips twitch.

Apparently, Mycroft didn't find a secret message in the words. With an unhappy look on his face, he handed the paper to Q and James, who were already waiting. They also scanned it quietly.

"Very beautiful handwriting for the worlds only consulting criminal, isn't it?" James asked when he leaned back again, one arm wrapped around Q's shoulders.

"I bet he has his people for writing those." John muttered. The handwriting had already bothered him when they first read the letter.

"I don't think so." Sherlock, Q and Mycroft said at the same time. They all stared at each other then, surprise obvious on their faces. Just like the uncomfortable look John, James and Greg exchanged. Sometimes, it was scary how much alike the three brothers were.

In the end, it was Sherlock who cleared his throat. "I think he's written it himself. You just read it, John. Apparently, I'm the first person in a very long time who can surprise him. Telling me all this was important to him. He would have never let anyone else play a part in this."

"He's right." Q added. "I'm not even sure if anyone else in his network knows about his obsession yet."

"Unlikely." James muttered. "Most of the time, they keep those things to themselves until it's time to act. And then, the others also just get to know the basics and not why it's so important."

"He said 'as well as other information I have collected'." Greg threw in thoughtfully. "What does he mean?" His eyes were fixed on Mycroft, but his gaze also shifted to Q. John had told him that it was their youngest brother who'd discovered Moriarty's interest in Sherlock in the first place.

"He's searched the whole internet for Sherlock." Q explained, worry obvious in his green eyes which looked so much like Sherlock's. "Not just your blog, John, but all the articles of the press. Your own website, Sherlock. Information NSY has collected about the cases you helped them with. Even data from your university." Q sighed. "I stopped his access on that data, but I noticed it far too late. He already knows very much about you."

"Too much for my liking." Mycroft said darkly. "He also tried to get into our network. At least that's what we assume. We couldn't identify the attacker yet."

Q looked at him in alarm. "When did this happen?" He demanded to know.

"A week ago." Mycroft said simply. "But it doesn't have to concern you, dear brother. We have the situation under control."

"Under control?!" The anger in Q's voice couldn't be missed. "Didn't we agree that we're working on this together? You should have told me about it right away!"

"As I said, my people can deal with it. I also had the impression that you were quite busy with your work last week, Q."

At this, James placed a hand on Q's knee in silent agreement.

This time, it was Sherlock who spoke. "What the hell, Mycroft!" He said loudly. "You can't just keep those things from us! It concerns us all!"

"We don't even know if Moriarty was responsible for the attacks on our system. And he didn't get in." Mycroft said simply.

"I'll have a look at it." Q decided, ignoring the angry look on Mycroft's face or the noise of approval that came from Sherlock. "I can identify the attacker within minutes."

Mycroft opened his mouth to protest once more, but to everyone's surprise, Greg placed a hand on his arm. "Let them do this, Myc." He whispered. "They know what they're doing."

John already expected Mycroft to tell his best friend that it was unnecessary, but to his surprise, the oldest Holmes just nodded with a sigh of defeat. "Alright, but you will just look for the attacker and nothing else in our system."

This made Q laugh and James joined him quickly. "If I would search for something in your system, I could do it without permission, Mycroft. You wouldn't even notice it."

The dark look on Mycroft's face was the first sign of a storm that was going to come, so John stopped their conversation quickly. "What do we know about Moriarty?" He said hastily. "He's the worlds only consulting criminal and apparently, quite smart. What else?"

"From the letter, I take that he's vain." Sherlock observed immediately, reaching for the letter again while smiling at John. "He thinks that he's smarter than others. People are boring to him. He sees his only match in me for whatever reason."

"Maybe because you're brilliant?" John asked with a slight smile.

"Most probably." Sherlock nodded. "He wants to control everything. 'Until then, don't stop surprising me, it's the only thing I ask from you.' It's not hard to imagine that he wanted to add 'for now', but stopped himself in the last moment. He thinks that this letter surprised me, I'm sure of that."

"And it would, if not for the information you got from Q." James threw in, making Sherlock roll his eyes.

"He also mentioned changing the world. He seems to see himself as someone who does something good." Sherlock continued, but he was interrupted once more.

"Those people always do." Greg said, making James and John nod in agreement.

"Alright, if you want to continue, I won't stop you." Sherlock threw the letter on the table, an annoyed expression on his face. He reached for the pizza once more. "If you think that you can deduce everything about Moriarty yourselves, do it."

"Just ignore it." John told James, who was the only one looking surprised. "Sometimes, he's like that."

"Only sometimes?" Greg muttered.

"I know more about Moriarty. Not because of deductions, but since I hacked into a few servers." Apparently, Q could also see that the situation was about to escalate. "His real name isn't Jim Moriarty, but he's using that one for years now. Ever since he started his criminal activities. He uses many false names for all his deals, his favourite being Richard Brook, short Rich Brook. He's connected to many attacks, especially in the middle East and China. Also a few acts of terrorism in the US and Europe. Though he tries not to attract too much attention here. Most probably because he doesn't want to alert us at MI6 or you." He looked at Mycroft, who nodded in agreement. "He's also involved in the trade with drugs and other illegal substances. He buys many books, mostly psychological ones. I found that when I had a closer look at Rich Brook, but it could also be a cover. And he's invested much money in a theatre in Italy lately. I'm not sure why, though. Seems to be a completely normal location."

"He's trying to make himself look good." Mycroft threw in. "Many terrorists try that. Small acts of kindness that make them less suspicious. Or at least they hope that."

"Nothing could make these people look less suspicious." James muttered darkly, earning a nod from Mycroft.

"We have been looking into Moriarty's actions for a while now. It's nearly impossible to make a connection between him and events in the world." Mycroft looked at Q. "Maybe we should have asked you much sooner."

"Then maybe this man couldn't show interest in Sherlock anymore." Q crossed his arms.

"Doesn't matter anymore." Sherlock cut in quickly. "Too late for that now. He's shown interest in me and now we have to deal with it."

"I fear he's right about that." John added. "So what's the plan now?" Suddenly, he remembered something else. "And what did your homeless network find out?" He turned to Sherlock.

"Homeless network?" James whispered to Q, but of course everyone heard it.

"Long story." John said to the secret agent.

"They don't know the name. Though I should ask them about Rich Brook again." Sherlock looked thoughtful. "There are rumours about a powerful criminal who's acting from London. No one dares to talk about it openly, they all fear him and his people. They say he's a mastermind. It wouldn't surprise me if it's really Moriarty, everything looks like that. No one's willing to gather more information."

"Doesn't surprise me if that man is dangerous." Greg threw in. "It also doesn't surprise me that we've never heard of him at NSY."

"That's true, Lestrade." Sherlock said. "But you and your team also wouldn't notice a criminal who's standing in front of your door..."

"Sherlock!" Mycroft hissed warningly and Greg smiled slightly at this display of affection from the oldest Holmes.

"In fact, I still can't believe that this man should be so dangerous." Sherlock continued, ignoring Mycroft. "I mean, come on. He wrote me a letter!" He glanced at the paper again. "He rather sounds like some kind of freak."

"Most of the time, criminal masterminds are freaks." James' voice was cold and his expression was dark. In this moment, it wasn't hard to imagine everything this man had experienced in his life so far. Q took James' hand and squeezed it, which made the secret agent relax again slowly. "You shouldn't underestimate him."

"We all shouldn't." Q said softly. "However, I fear that we can't do much except for waiting now. Moriarty made the first move, but I think he also has to make the second. We can't do much more than gather information yet."

"But how will that move look like?" Greg asked.

"I think we'll know it when it happens." John muttered darkly, a bad feeling in his stomach. Somehow, he thought that dealing with Moriarty wouldn't be as easy as Sherlock expected.

"I want to have another look at the letter." Q took the paper, looking at it through narrowed eyes. "Maybe I can find out more in the lab."

"Once you're done with it, I'll give it to my experts. Just to make sure that you didn't miss anything." Mycroft added without hesitation, earning him an angry stare from James and Q.

"We also want to have it." Sherlock argued. "After all, it's mine, so I should have a look at it first." He turned to Q. "You can get it tomorrow afternoon."

At this, Q looked at John and when he shook his head shortly, the youngest Holmes nodded in agreement. "Fine. Just don't try to destroy it."

Sherlock scoffed. "I know what I'm doing."

"Would surprise me." Greg whispered and to John's surprise, Mycroft laughed. A short, amused laugh. It was something he'd never heard of him before. From the shocked looks on the others faces, they felt the same.

"If that's all, you should leave now." Sherlock continued. "John and I have important matters to discuss."

"Of course." John agreed hastily when Sherlock's eyes narrowed at him. "We'll stay in contact?"

The others nodded. "I think we should meet regularly." Mycroft said. "And it shouldn't get public that we do. Otherwise, Moriarty might find out something about our plans."

"He already knows Sherlock and you." Q told Mycroft and grinned. "Though he doesn't know about your connection to us. Or that James and I exist, to be more exact."

Sherlock grinned at his brother. "It's always good to have a surprise on your side. Make sure it stays this way, Q."

"Shouldn't be a problem." After exchanging a look with James, Q stood up. "We have to go now."

"I think that's also our cue to leave." Mycroft said and stood up as well, followed by Greg.

They were already on their way to the door when Greg turned to Sherlock once more. "If you're interested, I could come over with new cases tomorrow."

"Are they good?"

"Terrifying." Greg replied seriously.

Sherlock beamed at him. "Wonderful, Lestrade. So tomorrow morning. John will make tea."

"What will I do?" John raised his eyebrows, but Sherlock only kissed his cheek. And did he just imagine it or was Mycroft looking unhappy when Greg told them to come over with cases? He would have to talk to his best friend about that once they were alone. Maybe they could go out again on Friday... Who knew, maybe James wanted to join them?

"Bye, John." Q smiled at him before he left, followed by James. The secret agent also smiled at John once more.

Then he was alone with Sherlock.

"So where did we stop when we were so rudely interrupted?" Sherlock asked and smiled at John.

"We wanted to go to the bedroom." John replied without hesitation and took Sherlock's hand.