A Dish Best Served Cold

Summery: Moriarty is out rule the world once again and he's had it with Sherlock Holmes's interference. He has a plan, but the detective's friends may pay the ultimate price.

Disclaimer All Publicly Recognizable Characters, Settings, Ideas, etc. are the Property of DiC Entertainment and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Original Characters and Plot are the Property of the Author. The Author is in no way Associated with the Owners, Creators, or Producers of DiC Entertainment. No Copyright Infringement is intended.

Chapter 26 - Too the Rescue

New Scotland Yard, New London

Mickey stood outside New Scotland Yard, and sighed. He doubted they would believe him, but it was worth a shot, he had to convince them. With a determined looked he walked into the building. He soon saw Murdock, who appeared to be talking to the Baker Street Irregulars as well as a military droid. 'Must be Shinwell,' he thought.

"What do ya mean Greyson won't see us?"

"I mean, Deidre, that he doesn't want to listen to you tell him how bad he is at his job," replied Murdock with a sigh.

"Well if he 'ad listen—"

"Now is not the time for it Deidre. Have you found out anything from following the fake presidents around?"

"No, I saw some people acting funny while I was outside yesterday, this one guy was carrying a package but then these two guys jumped him and started to beat him up I shouted and they took the package and left."

"Odd…" said Murdock.

Mickey smiled he had read their files, Mace had files on just about everyone she deemed 'important' and the Baker Street Irregulars were defiantly important. He, like Mace, knew the full value of kids. They might be young but, that didn't mean they weren't smart. Both he and Mace had found children to be invaluable in their work and he recalled from her files on the Irregulars that she held them in high esteem despite not having met them. He decided to greet the group.

"Hey Murdock," he called as he walked over. "You must be the Irregulars, I'm Mickey I'm a friend of Mace."

Wiggins' face assumed a confused expression, "Whose Mace?"

"One of Holmes's informants—she's with Holmes right now but… she has a big information network that Moriarty wants to use so he let's her out." Mickey paused when he saw thatthree of the four were gaping, (well, actually, he couldn't tell if Tennyson was gaping but his eyes were sure wide) Murdock—being one of Mace's yard informants—wasn't too surprised.

"She tell you anything useful?" he asked.

"Only their location, which is why I need to speak to Greyson."He told them with a smug expression.

Deidre grabbed his arm and started to drag him towards Greyson's office. "This way," she told him.

She past a few officers who had been told by Greyson not to let her within fifty feet of his office but the look on her face told them to stay away—the fact that Murdock was right behind her, lead them to believe that he had the situation under control. Actually, they knew he didn't but the lie meant they didn't have to deal with Deidre who they all knew had received extensive combat training from Lestrade.

She opened the door to Greyson's office "Oi Greyson got—"

"I thought I gave orders that you were not to be allowed with fifty feet of this office!" shouted the Chief Inspector.

"My fault sir," said Murdock, "but this man, Mickey… knows where they are." Murdock had waited for Mickey to give a last name, though he knew it was useless to do so.

Mace was very private. No one new her real name, she had taken Mickey under her wing a few years back, he had been so timid and well… mute. Out of necessity she had given him the name Mickey, because he reminded her of a mouse. When he had finally started to speak he had not seen fit to inform her of his identity and she had not pressed the issue. Murdock could have used his DNA scanner to find out their names, however, Mace and Mickey had made it plain that they would consider such an act an invasion of privacy. Murdock could use a scanner without retribution (i.e. they wouldn't knife him) however, it was up to him to decide whether or not he valued their friendship.

"They? You mean Lestrade and Holmes?"

"And Moriarty," Mickey piped up from the back of the room, raising his hand into the air for a spit second as if to accent the point to be sure Greyson would not overlook the fact that they had discovered the whereabouts of a mass murdering madman.

"Where did you come across this information?" asked Greyson as he rose from his chair authoritatively, he took a moment to observe Mickey. He had spiky brown hair that was combed back and had a light streak on both sides, he was wearing grey pants, a brown shirt and black vest as well as a black trench coat, and he had an overall business like demeanour.

"From Mace the one who told Holmes the location of the pervious base, as I'm sure even you noticed she was right."

Greyson turned a shade redder as his expression and tone assumed a countenance of offended dignity. "Really? And where, pray tell, is this base?"

Mickey told him.

"Can't you be more specific?" asked Greyson.

"I'm afraid that Mace couldn't give me any details, she is a prisoner with Holmes, and though Moriarty allows her to leave to keep her network up to date, he doesn't allow her to go anywhere unescorted."

"Alright then, you two may not be properly registered but I'll let that slide this time. Murdock, find scanners that scan for energy, Moriarty has to power that base of his somehow. I want you to go on ahead, and see if you can pinpoint his exact location. I'll set up a task force here. You," he said pointing to Mickey, "go with him, provided of course you have nothing further to add to your statement."

Mickey shook his head.

"Well then, what are you all standing around here for? Out—allof you," he said looking at the Irregulars and Deidre in particular.

"My cruiser is this way," said Murdock, as the group entered the parking lot "and I can stop you kids from coming you know."

"No you can't, we'll just follow on our hover boards," Deidre stated.

"True, but now that you've told me that I can legally impound them."

"Yo Murdock, we just want to help," griped Wiggins.

­"I know, I just want it clear that you're coming solely because I've decided to let you and that you have to do as I say when I say it, no arguing. Am I clear?"

"Beep blip whur," (We understand), retorted Tennyson. One could tell by the tone of his beeps that he was impatient.

Murdock nodded and led them to his cruiser, "Okay, not everyone can fit in my cruiser."

"No worries, Tennyson and his chair can easily fit in mine and the droid can ride with us as well," suggested Mickey.

"Alright, everybody into their respective vehicles," said Murdock. 'I hope this decision doesn't get them killed,' he thought as he got in the cruiser.

Murdock flew as quickly as he could without causing any accidents. The ride was unusually quiet, even Deidre remained silent, not wanting to interrupt Murdock's concentration as he flew.

"Well, we're approaching the general area, I'm turning on the scanners for high energy output, small level of radiation and anything else that a base is likely to have."

Deidre glanced out the window; they were on the outskirts of London. The area lacked tall buildings, there was a fair amount of trees and other greenery, Deidre would have taken a moment to absorb it all, if it weren't for the fact that she was worried about her friends. They had been circling the area for fifteen minutes before Deidre said, "Find anything yet?"

"I have found… squat, nothing, nada." said Murdock

"Great, nowwhat do we do?!"

"Calm down," suggested Wiggins. Deidre glared.

"Plan B," Mickey announced from the vidphone. The two groups had decided to keep in constant contact.

"Not Conner, anyone but Conner," pleaded Murdock.

"Got any better ideas?"

Murdock sighed, hit his head on the dashboard, and groaned "Okay, where is he?"

00o00

The six stood outside a bar, it appeared to be run down, it was filthy to say the least but it seemed structurally sound. Murdock turned to Wiggins, debating weather or not to tell the Irregulars to stay outside. Then decided the possible danger was not worth the argument. Conner owed Mace big, "Let's go, you too ki—Irregulars."

They glanced at him but that was all they had time for, as Mickey was walking to the entrance. They followed suite, Mickey walked passed the bouncers at the door and gestured with his thumb at Murdock and the Irregulars to show they were with him.

As they approached the door, Murdock turned to Shinwell. "Stay here, military droids make Conner nervous," adding in his head, 'so does any other weapon not in his control for that matter.'

The inside of the bar was nice, real nice, it had a warm glow about it, produced by the colours, red, pink and mauve all tastefully blended.

Mickey ignored the other patrons and went straight for a private booth in the back where the owner, Conner sat. He stopped a few feet as one of Conner's body guards frisked him.

His remaining body guards did the same to the others as they approached, Deidre proved unappreciative of their attention.

"Hands off, ya creeps."

Conner snickered, he was a large, beefy man with dark hair and beady eyes. "Gentlemen, you do not touch the ladies, you've been with me long enough to know that." They backed away from Deidre and moved on to Wiggins, Murdock lagged behind with Tennyson.

"Lizzy, need ya over here," shouted Conner.

A tall, dark, gaunt women walked towards the group. "What can I do for you Conner?"

"Make sure the young lady isn't carrying any surprises"

Lizzy approached Deidre who looked at Murdock, he nodded and she raised her hands. "No worries love, this will only take a moment." She said as she checked Deidre for hidden weapons. "Just an ionizer," she said

"Same with this kid." said the man who had checked Wiggins.

"Good that leaves the ser—" Conner's grin broaden when he recognized Murdock. "Jimmy, well look at you, heard you became a yardie. How they treating ya there? As good as we did?"

The Irregulars looked at Murdock. "I used to wait tables here, don't ask."

"Ha ha ha, he did a lot more then that, but that is neither here nor there. John, check Jimmy for weapons."

"What about the kid?" he said gesturing to Tennyson.

"No worries, chances are his chair is tricked out and it would be too troublesome to remove any weapons. And as you can see, Evan is having enough trouble with Mickey."

Indeed Evan was removing a knife from Mickey's boot he placed it on the table along with two explosives, three smoke bombs, a cable gun, a lock picking kit, twenty shuriken and four other knives. He then started to check Mickey's other boot.

'That boy has been spending far too much time with Mace,' thought the mobster, "He tries anything," he continued, "shoot one of his friends… shoot to kill." He fixed Tennyson with a stare.

Tennyson stared at Conner coolly, not blinking. Conner smiled and turned his attention to Evan and Mickey. A minute later, Murdock had been relived of his ionizer and Evan had finished with Mickey.

"Now," said Conner, "let's get down to business."

"We need to talk in privet can we go into your office?" asked Mickey.

"Depends, you here on behalf of Mace?"

"Yes."

Conner smiled. 'Mace needs my help, this should be interesting,' he thought. "Alright then, follow me."

A minute later the Irregulars, Murdock and Mickey found themselves in a nice office lined with books. "Well Mickey, what can I do for you?"

"Moriarty has a base around here somewhere; we need to know exactly where, as well as all the entrances."

"What makes you think I know anything about that?"

"This is your turf."

"How much is this information worth to Mace?"

"One fourth of what you owe her," said Mickey. He didn't want to sound desperate, not to Conner.

"Half."

"…you're lucky we are in a hurry."

"Ain't it the truth," Conner grumbled as he turned to his computer.

A minute later the group was outside looking at Murdock's palmer which had details regarding the exact location of Moriarty's base as well as a few entrances and locations of several cameras

"I'm emailing the data to Greyson's palmer." he told them "Sir, I've sent you an e-mail with all the data we have regarding Moriarty's base. Where are you?"

"Halfway there, don't do anything till we get there—I mean it!"

"Yes sir."

"We're not actually going to wait around and do nothing are we?" asked Deidre.

"Actually, we are."

"What?" cried Deidre and Tennyson. Wiggins, who knew why they had to wait, said nothing, he simply crossed his arms and sighed.

"We can't go in without backup we'll be caught. If that happens we warn Moriarty and… he moves his operation."

"Murdock's right Irregulars, we need to wait… It's their best chance," said Mickey coolly.

"We can head to the area and at least wait for Greyson," continued Murdock.

Another five minutes later they all stood just outside a stairwell that led to the underground, they were in a more rural area, inhabited mostly by shops, and fortunately, there weren't that many people around.

"Well, this stairwell leads to the base. Greyson will be here in ten minutes." Murdock informed the group

Five minutes later Tennyson beeped at Mickey, "Beep whur blip."

Mickey looked at Deidre who was closest to him. "Miss Deidre, do translate."

"He said 'hey Mickey.'"

'Beep whur beepbeep."

"How long ago did you have your meeting with Mace?" Deidre translated again.

Mickey looked at his watch. "About an hour and twenty minutes ago." He sighed and looked up at the sky, a look of helplessness across his face then he turned to the others. "I'm sure they're fine I don't know Lestrade or Watson personally and I've only met Holmes on a couple of occasions, but Mace told me they're tough and she's an excellent judge of character."

"So she's met Lestrade and Watson before?"

"No, she's got a file on everyone she thinks is important, including Lestrade, and Watson. Lestrade has an impressive record, so do you three for that matter."

"Mace has files on us?"

"She runs an information network, of course she has records of you three."

"How much does she know about us?"

"Here's an idea, ask her for your files, I'm sure she'll give you a copy—and don't look at me like that—she got the idea from Holmes, he kept notes on various London residence, probably still does."

"That's not the point," said Deidre.

Mickey shrugged and sighed. A few minutes later Greyson arrived, he didn't use the sirens, not wanting to announce the yard's presence. He spotted the group and landed, various other cruisers went to block off other entrances.

Once Greyson was out he headed towards the group. "What are you kids doing here?"

"You told us to leave your office, you didn't tell us not to go with Murdock," said Deidre.

"That's because I thought the man had sense, we'll discus this later." he said as he turned to Murdock. "It will take us ten minutes to establish a hair net, then we'll move in. Murdock you are responsible for these children, I don't want them anywhere near the area ten minutes form now, got it? Now I have things to tend to, so if you'll excuse me." With that, Greyson left.

"We can't just wait around and do nothing while the Yard takes forever to get ready to get them out," argued Deidre.

"Actually, you can, and you will, you guys aren't trained. I'll admit you've proven yourselves but this situation calls for coordination with the entire yard, which requires training you don't have, it also requires the ability to follow orders, which you lack," Murdock gave Deidre a hard look.

"Look, I'm not going to bother escorting you off the premises, you'll just sneak back in, Johnson is just over there," he said pointing at Johnson who was setting up a blockade to prevent civilian interference. "Why don't you guys stay with him, you'll be able to keep track of what's going on, ok?"

"Sounds good," agreed Wiggins, Tennyson beeped his agreement, Deidre sighed in frustration and crossed her arms but said nothing, as much as she hated to admit it, Murdock had a point. And this would enable them to keep an eye on things.

Murdock turned to Mickey, "Same goes for you, keep an eye on things up here."

Mickey nodded and the group walked over to Johnson.

"Hey Johnson, could you keep an eye on these guys for me?"

"The Baker Street Irregulars and Shinwell, why am I not surprised," he said with a smile. "Who's your new friend? The informant?"

"Ya, Johnson this is Mickey, Mickey, Johnson." The two shook hands.

"Well," continued Murdock, "I guess I'd better get going, Shinwell you stay here." And with that he turned and walked down the stairs and into the underground.

"Well sir, are we ready?" Murdock asked Greyson two minutes later.

"As ready as we'll ever be," with that, he picked up his radio's receiver and shouted with his voice amplified. "Moriarty, we know you're in there, surrender immediately!" Nothing happened. He turned to another officer, "Use the ion cannons to get through all known entrances."

Tune in Sunday the 9 of Feb, for Holmes Wreaks Havoc.