The next chapter! I hope you like it, please let me know!

I don't own the characters or places!

"This is unbelievable! I can't believe you did that! Can you even imagine what could have happened? Someone already got hurt and it could have ended worse!" Q crossed his arms, staring at them darkly. "You should have been more careful!"

"He ran away from us, I might mention." Sherlock noted dryly and stared back at his brother. "After breaking into that flat in the middle of the night. Clad all in black, with a mask on his face. That's highly suspicious, if you ask me. And he nearly shot John."

"He didn't." John threw in.

"Just because I stopped him." His boyfriend muttered.

"Because he recognized me. While I was following him and cursed, his steps faltered for a short moment. A sign of recognition." He shrugged, but Sherlock didn't look convinced.

"A simple deduction." Sherlock muttered and ran a hand through his hair. It was a complete mess from the chase through London and their earlier activities. "But that doesn't change the fact that you pointed with a gun at John!" At this, he turned to the others again.

"I wouldn't have shot him." James, who was lying on the couch, said simply. "As John said, I recognized his voice. I don't just shoot people. Even if they're following me."

"What were you even doing there?" John wanted to know. "How did you know about our case?" The last question was directed at Q.

"Oh no, you won't change the subject like this, John!" Sherlock interrupted them quickly, still glaring at James angrily. John remembered their earlier conversation, that Sherlock was scared to lose him. Most probably, this made the anxiety even worse. He reached out to take Sherlock's hand and to his relief, his boyfriend let him. "You should apologize!"

"What for?" Q demanded to know. "I think James is the one in here who deserves an apology! After all, you hit him on the head with a baseball bat!"

"He deserved that! I can't tolerate it when someone threatens John." Sherlock replied simply. "So if anyone in here deserves an apology, it's him."

Even if James was lying on the couch and looked a little pale, he managed to share an annoyed look with John. Slowly, the constant argument of the two Holmes brothers was getting tiring. It had been like this ever since Q came to that alleyway to pick them up and bring them back to 221 B. They didn't ask how he knew about their location, but most probably, he'd been tracking James. John didn't voice his question, knowing that it would only make Sherlock even more annoyed than he already was.

"I think no one needs to apologize." John threw in before the argument could escalate even more. He was glad that Mycroft wasn't here. In this moment, two angry Holmes brothers were by far enough to deal with. Suddenly, he also felt guilty for leaving Greg in the flat of the victim. After Q picked them up, John sent Greg a short message, telling him what happened. However, Q made no attempt to pick him up, saying that it was more important to get James to lie down somewhere. Of course the Double-Oh denied that he was hurt, but they all knew that he must have a terrible headache.

"I agree with that." With a sigh, James sat up again, ignoring Q's worried expression. He simply took his boyfriend's hands and pulled him down on the couch next to him. When James also wrapped his arms around Q's waist, the youngest Holmes sighed in defeat.

"I'm still angry at you for hurting James, Sherlock!" He said warningly.

"He only did what was necessary to defend John, love." James whispered into Q's ear and kissed his cheek. "It's fine. Though next time, try to hit me somewhere else. The head is a terrible target."

"The head is the best and you know it." Sherlock noted dryly, which made James smile slightly. "Most effective in a fight since it confuses the target and -"

"Alright, we get it, Sherlock." John interrupted his boyfriend softly. "We won't attack James again, so you don't have to worry, Q. It was a big misunderstanding."

"You could have just contacted us." Sherlock glared at his brother. "After all, you must have known that we're working on this case with Lestrade."

"It might surprise you, but I don't know everything just because I'm good with technology." Q threw in and John thought that he could see amusement in his eyes. However, he wasn't entirely sure about that, knowing Q for only a short time.

"I know that you're not as brilliant as me, but there must have been something saying that NSY is on that case." Sherlock said simply. "Which makes it only logical that we're involved as well. Lestrade would never solve a good case alone."

"He's got Mycroft to help now." John threw in. "Their quote is getting better."

"Barely." Sherlock muttered without looking at him. "And that's not the point here, John. We were talking about you interfering in our case. What were you even doing in his flat? At night?"

"If I should guess, I would say that they were looking for the same thing as we did." John said slowly before one of the others could answer the question.

"You want to find out why the man died." James nodded slowly. "We were doing the same."

"Actually, we're not allowed to talk about it." Q shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "That's top secret."

"I think we can make an exception." James whispered. "They know about this one anyway."

"There have been more similar cases." Sherlock observed and frowned at the couple. "The big mystery has always been the cause of death."

Q nodded. "There have been five. This was number six." He sighed in defeat. "If M ever gets to know that we told you all this, he'll kill us."

"Unlikely." James threw in. "You're far too important, Q." James smiled at his boyfriend and Q rolled his eyes.

"As if MI6 could ever do without you, Bond." He teased and grinned when he called James by his last name. Then Q turned to John and Sherlock. "007 is the best of our Double-Oh's."

"Many people would disagree with you about that." James said thoughtfully, but John thought that he also looked a little proud. "They say I'm a living time bomb."

"Doesn't surprise me." Sherlock muttered. "You seem to leave a trace of chaos on every mission."

James grimaced at that, but didn't argue. John knew exactly why. Even if he wasn't allowed to tell them much about his missions, the secret agent had mentioned a few accidents before. And explosions. Many of them.

"James' missions rarely go wrong." Q argued. "Except when a certain detective decides to interfere."

"Do I have to remind you again that this is our case?" Sherlock crossed his arms. "We were there first."

"We're looking into the series of deaths longer than you are." Q said simply.

"But you're not one step closer to solving this riddle." Sherlock argued and leaned back on the couch. "We are. Because this is case number seven, not six."

This made Q forget his anger. "Seven?"

John nodded. "Though both of our cases don't seem to be connected."

"Except for the cause of death. Which no one knows anything about." Q muttered and narrowed his eyes. "What do you know so far?"

"I think we should wait for Lestrade." Sherlock said suddenly, making the others look at him in surprise. "What? He'll be here in five minutes! And I think he's got news."

This caught John's attention. "Do you think he found it?"

Sherlock nodded. "He did. At least it nearly hit you on the head, John."

John stared at him. "You mean...?"

"The sports bag." Sherlock grinned. "Where would you hide something from your boyfriend?"

"In the place he would never look for it." John grinned back at him. "Brilliant."

"I really hope Lestrade didn't miss it." Sherlock grimaced. "It's not unlikely for him not to see something when it's lying right in front of his feet."

"Don't be mean." John said softly. "You like Greg."

"Greg?" Sherlock frowned, making John roll his eyes.

"Don't act stupid, you know his name." He said simply.

"Lestrade's first name is Greg?" Sherlock echoed and John saw James and Q exchanging a look.

He turned to them. "Just ignore it. I think he's doing that on purpose."

"Alright." Q muttered after staring at them for a few more seconds. "So what were you talking about? Because we have no idea."

In short words, John summarized this case and the one of the old lady. When he came to the part that they both were scared, Q's eyes narrowed and he pulled a laptop out of his bag. "I'll have to do some research on that." He said to James and began to type furiously.

"Since the cause of death is unknown and no one should know that we're investigating, we didn't get the chance to talk to relatives or friends yet." James explained while his boyfriend was busy. "We only have what the police wrote down."

"Which isn't much." Q muttered, eyes still fixed on the screen. "Because the deaths should be kept secret. M's doing, I think."

"Sounds like him." James agreed and also glanced at Q's laptop. "But we have the data of all the relatives. That should help."

"Who are the other victims?" John asked curiously, already reaching for his notes on the table next to him, but then he heard footsteps on the stairs and hesitated. Sherlock was completely relaxed, so most probably, this was just Greg. Suddenly, the steps stopped and he heard Mrs. Hudson say something, but he couldn't make out the words. When the person answered, John was sure that it was indeed Greg. Most probably, Mrs. Hudson had asked him what all this chaos in the middle of the night meant. Which was a justified question, he realized. Even if their landlady was used to this after so many years with Sherlock and John, of course.

The door to the flat flew open only a minute later and Greg stormed in, looking quite annoyed. He was holding something in his hand, but John couldn't make out what it was yet. When Greg had entered the flat, Q and James also looked up at him.

"I see that Sherlock didn't manage to knock you out completely." Greg said instead of greeting the others. He took off his jacket and grabbed a chair to sit down next to John.

"James' head is too hard for that." Q replied simply and glanced back at his laptop. Behind his glasses, his eyes were looking concentrated.

"Thank you very much, Q." James muttered, but he didn't look annoyed. Instead, he just pulled Q closer and turned to Greg. "Sorry that I just ran into your crime scene, Greg." With a look at Sherlock, James emphasized his first name. If Sherlock noticed this, he didn't let it show. "We didn't know that you were working on that case. Or that John and Sherlock are helping you."

"We'll have to explain the broken window somehow." Greg sighed. "And next time, you'll not just leave me behind and run away without an explanation!" At this, he glared at John and Sherlock.

"I told you what happened." John threw in.

"Yes, once it was over. And you texted me, John. That's not a real explanation."

"We can give it to you now." He offered. "We were just exchanging information."

"So you're also involved in all this?" Greg shook his head. "I should have known it."

"It seems to be a little more complicated than you think." Q said. "We don't know the connection between all this yet. The only thing we know is that the cause of death is always unknown."

"Another riddle." Greg sighed deeply. "Sometimes, I really hate that."

"Solving riddles is your job, Lestrade. Well, or it should be." Sherlock scoffed. "If you would ever be able to solve a case by yourself."

"Sherlock!" John hissed and hit his boyfriend on the arm. "He doesn't mean it like that." He looked at Greg apologetically.

"It's fine." Greg ran a hand through his hair. "I'm used to that."

"You shouldn't." Q threw in.

"He won't change." John said simply. "No need to talk about that."

"A politician, a nurse, someone who works at a museum, a dockworker and a teacher from the university." James interrupted their conversation and chuckled when the others looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You wanted to know who the other victims are, John." He explained with a shrug.

"That makes five. Together with an old lady and a banker..." Sherlock said thoughtfully.

"To me, they don't seem to be connected at all." Greg threw in. "We didn't even find a connection between the old lady and the banker yet."

"Except for the fact that they were both scared." John reminded him.

"The connection has to be there!" Sherlock exclaimed loudly. "Otherwise, this wouldn't make any sense!"

"What do you mean?" Now Q looked at his brother curiously.

"I just know that there's something tying all those deaths together! I can't explain it yet, but I know that it's there!" Sherlock closed his eyes and shook his head, a concentrated look on his face.

"That's his intuition speaking." John informed the others.

"Right now, he's looking for something in his mind palace." Greg added. "That might take some time."

"We shouldn't be too loud now, otherwise it might distract him." John continued their explanation.

"Then he always starts to yell, saying how useless we are." Greg nodded with a smile on his lips.

"Most of the time, the waiting is worth it." John said seriously. "When Sherlock says that there has to be something, I'm sure that there really is."

"If you would stop speaking now, you might know what's going on much faster!" Sherlock hissed without opening his eyes. "Your constant talking is also distracting. And it's scary to hear you complete your sentences with Lestrade, John!"

At the last sentence, Greg, James and Q exchanged a knowing look, making the jealous tone of Sherlock's voice even more obvious to John. He hoped that he wouldn't blush right now and focused on the object in Greg's hand instead. It was a book. He quirked an eyebrow, not wanting to speak again. Apparently, Greg understood his silent question since he handed the book to John. He also felt Q's and James' curious eyes on him when he opened it.

Algorithms – A mathematical study, the title said. John frowned at this and opened it slowly. To his surprise, the title inside was a different one. How To Outsmart Smart People by Chris Mayor.

He glanced at Greg, but his best friend just shrugged helplessly. John looked back at the book in his hands and skipped through the pages slowly, surprised to find it a mixture of equations and text. It didn't look like a mathematical book, but also not like some kind of guide. What was this? He read a few lines, but wasn't sure what it should tell him. Knowing that he wouldn't find anything spontaneously, he handed the book to Q and James, who were already waiting.

When they also just frowned at the book in confusion, John knew that this wasn't just a riddle he and Greg couldn't solve. He turned to Sherlock next to him, but his boyfriend was still lost somewhere in his mind palace. However, his shoulders weren't that tense anymore and John knew that he would be back soon. Apparently, his search wasn't successful yet, according to the unhappy frown on his face.

"What is this?" After about five minutes, Q couldn't hold back anymore.

"The book the victim has been reading in." John explained quietly. "According to his partner, he never liked books, which made it even more unusual that he spent hours reading this."

"And he seemed to be scared while doing it." Sherlock said and his eyes flew open. Now the unhappy expression on his face was even more obvious.

"I assume your search hasn't been successful?" John asked when Sherlock reached out to take his hand.

"I can't figure it out!" Sherlock shook his head in annoyance. "There are too many loose ends so far. We'll have to do more research first."

"Loose ends?" James echoed.

"No one knows how they died yet. And they were scared. But of what exactly?" Sherlock looked at all of them seriously. "You should look into your cases and find out if the victims also seemed to be scared."

Q nodded. "I'm already on it."

"And what will we do?" John raised his eyebrows.

Sherlock grinned. "We'll have a look at this book. And we didn't finish the diary of the old lady." He held out his hand in Q's direction and his brother handed him the book reluctantly. Sherlock opened it without hesitation and only glanced at the two different titles. "Interesting." He muttered. "Has anyone heard of Chris Mayor before?"

"Should be easy to find out about that." Q muttered and began to type on his laptop once more.

"Both titles seem to mean something for this book." Sherlock sounded fascinated. "I'll need to have a closer look at this."

"But maybe not now." John threw in after glancing at the clock. It was nearly four in the morning. "I think after what happened, we all need some sleep."

"Good idea." Greg, who'd suppressed a yawn a few times by now, nodded in agreement.

"I have to agree." Q said. "James needs sleep." When his boyfriend glared at him, Q shook his head. "Oh no, don't pretend that everything's fine! I know that you still have a terrible headache, James!"

"We should work on this together from now on." John said hastily before James could protest. "To prevent more misunderstandings."

"M won't be happy about this." Q muttered and worry flashed over his face.

"He doesn't need to know." James leaned in to kiss Q. "We've proven before that we're good at hiding."

"You know that I don't like it!" Q hissed. "Last time nearly ended in disaster."

"Because we were alone then. Now we have friends." James exchanged a smile with John and Greg. Sherlock's eyes were fixed on the book once more.

"Moneypenny will be furious when she gets to know that we're hiding something from her." Q ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Fine. But you'll deal with her questions, James."

"Maybe we should -" Whatever Greg wanted to say, he didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Suddenly, Sherlock's phone rang and they all turned to said object, which was lying on the table. Mycroft, the screen said.

"Oh no, what does he want?" Q asked no one in particular .

Greg glanced at his own phone. "He didn't try to call me." He sounded thoughtful and maybe a little disappointed?

"Do I really need to answer this call?" Without waiting for a reply, Sherlock reached for his phone. "What do you want, Mycroft?" He asked once he accepted the call and put it on speaker.

"Sherlock Holmes, did you just get involved in a chase through London and left Greg all alone in the flat of one of your victims, right after someone broke in there?!" Mycroft demanded to know and they could all hear the anger in his voice. John exchanged a look with the others. They all looked like they didn't want to answer this question. Especially Greg looked quite uncomfortable since he seemed to be the reason for Mycroft's call.

"Why should that bother you? Everything's fine, Mycroft. It was just a big misunderstanding." Sherlock said simply. "And now if you would excuse us? It's late and we all need some sleep."

"Oh no, you won't just end the call like that! And what do you mean with complicated?" It sounded like Mycroft had trouble controlling his voice. John was sure that he'd be yelling if he was there in this moment.

"We should go." Q said quietly and stood up, James copying the movement without hesitation. "It was nice to see you again. I'll let you know as soon as we know more." After waving at them, the two vanished through the door.

"Was that Q?" Mycroft asked in disbelief. "Sherlock, what's going on?"

"Maybe I should go as well." Greg cleared his throat, still looking uncomfortable. "We could meet again tomorrow. Well, or rather today."

"Greg?" Mycroft asked and at the same time, Sherlock grabbed Greg's wrist and pulled him down once more.

"Oh no, you won't leave, Lestrade! You can help us to explain everything."

"Explain what?"

John leaned back in his armchair with a sigh, realizing that this night wasn't over yet. He listened silently while Greg and Sherlock began to tell the oldest Holmes about their cases. Of course not without interrupting each other regularly.