Wow. Thank you all so much for the support! The amount of reviews and follows I've got already is utterly amazing! I hope that this story can keep you interested! I'm certainly enjoying writing it anyway! Now to see what Sherlock and the rest of his gang are up to. :P...(gang?)
John paced along side the car as Mary, who was leaning against it, watched him, her eyes scanning his face warily for the reaction that she knew was coming. He had been okay when the news had first arrived but after time to think on it, she could tell that it was starting to bother him.
"You alright dear?" She asked but was merely ignored by her husband who continued to pace, his eyes occasionally flicking over to the plane that had just left and was now returning back to where it had been a mere five minutes ago.
"I'd speak before you explode John, you're going a little pink." Mycroft said from where he stood a few metres away from them. Mary resisted the urge to smile as she saw annoyance flash over John's face.
"Alright." John stopped walking and faced Mycroft, his tone short. "Alright. I'm going to ask the most obvious question in the world and you'll probably roll your eyes at me but I want to know." He began, exhaling sharply afterwards. "How?" He asked simply, his eyes darting between Mary and Mycroft, both of whom looked at each other, not sure what to say. "How is he alive? And don't say 'well Sherlock managed to fake his own death' because that was different. Moriarty blew his own head off. As far as I'm aware, there's no coming back from that." John finished, using his arms to accent the 'no'. Mary merely shrugged and looked at Mycroft, quite interested herself as to how Moriarty had managed it. The plane had touched the ground and was now rolling to a stop behind Mycroft, who was looking at them with a look of weariness before sighing and leaning on his umbrella with his right hand.
"I haven't the foggiest. Although it could be quite possible that someone is merely using his name and picture to masquerade as him as a means of getting attention."
"You are dim sometimes Mycroft and you call yourself the clever one." A voice from the top of the stairs leading up to the door of the plane said and the three of them looked up to see Sherlock quickly making his way towards them. As he came to a halt in front of them, Mary could see his eyes were sparkling, full of excitement at what was happening and also relief probably that he wasn't to be sent away after all.
"Of course it's him. This has 'Moriarty' written all over it; the drama, the surprise, the spectacle. Completely over the top." Sherlock added, to which John snorted probably thinking what Mary was thinking: 'you can talk.' Mycroft rolled his eyes at his younger brother.
"All I said was that it was a possibility which is quite a logical assumption to make considering the facts." He said and Sherlock shook his head slightly, as if his brother's mere presence was irritating.
"Logical is not the word I would use Mycroft. Stupid? Yes, but not logical." Sherlock replied before flicking up the collar of his coat. "Shall we?" He added, his hand stretching towards the car before he walked towards it, the other three staring after him. After a moment, Mycroft sighed and walked back to his own car just as Sherlock's head popped out of the car door to look at Mary and John who were still standing on the runway.
"Well? Are you coming?" Sherlock asked and his head disappeared again. John looked up towards the sky in a gesture of frustration before shaking his head and walking towards the car, Mary following behind him.
"Where exactly are we going?" John asked as they sat in the car next to Sherlock.
"Wherever my dear brother wants us to go. I'm still on his watch for the moment." He replied and Mary suddenly had a thought that made her pull her phone out.
"What are you doing?" John asked as Mary typed her message.
"Seeing if anyone else knows what's going on." She responded, sending a text to Molly first. "We panicked Molly a little last night, I just want to see if she's aware of the Moriarty situation."
"What did you tell her?" Sherlock asked suddenly. Mary hadn't even been aware that he was listening to her, he had had a 'don't disturb me' look on his face.
"The truth Sherlock, we weren't going to lie to her. She deserves to know." John answered before Mary had the chance and Sherlock scrunched his face up in frustration, tapping the tips of his fingers on his temples.
"Why? Why couldn't you have just told her what I told you to tell her?" He hissed and John sat back in his chair.
"Because what you wanted us to tell her was a downright lie and after everything she has done for you, she deserves more than that." John argued, and Sherlock moaned in annoyance before sitting forward so he could see Mary.
"Does she know?" He asked firmly and Mary blinked, unsure what he meant as John had just explained what they had told Molly.
"Know what?" She asked and Sherlock rolled his eyes.
"Does she know about Moriarty?" He pressed, prompting Mary to look down at her phone.
"She's not replied yet so I don't know." She answered.
"Oh, for God's sake." John muttered, pulling his own phone out and typing.
"What are you doing?" Sherlock asked.
"Telling her." He replied and Sherlock reached over to grab the phone, batting at his arm but John pulled it away too quickly. "Sent." John said, smiling in Sherlock's irritated face.
"Why don't you want her to know anyway? She's probably already seen it." Mary commented as Sherlock took out his own phone, pressing it urgently.
"She'll panic and a panicked Molly is useless. I don't need a useless Molly right now, I need her to be useful." Sherlock replied.
"She's probably found out by watching the TV at work or at home. It's everywhere apparently, according to Mycroft." Mary said and Sherlock's gazed snapped to her.
"What?"
"Mycroft told us just after he rang you that Moriarty's all over every television in the country." John replied and Sherlock looked frustrated before messing with his phone again.
"What are you doing?" John asked, exasperated.
"Asking her where she is." Sherlock replied, his fingers quick on the keys of his phone. They all waited for a few minutes silently, an unexplainable tension in the air. Until Sherlock let out a loud, annoyed sigh.
"Why isn't she responding? I don't have time to be worrying about this." He moaned and Mary raised her eyebrows at John before answering.
"She's probably just asleep. She probably stayed up late last night worrying about you." Mary said and Sherlock stabbed at his phone angrily, still not getting through to her.
"Which is exactly why I asked you to lie. She probably didn't sleep last night due to worry and so overslept this morning but she wouldn't have been too late waking up as her body-clock will have adjusted to her work pattern. It's 9:15, her shift started fifteen minutes ago so she'll be rushing, making sure that she's not too late, she hates the unwanted attention that walking in after everyone else gives her. Judging then by how fast she can walk when she is in a hurry, a few minutes ago, she was probably on the underground which would mean she was unreachable but the journey isn't too long so now she'll probably be back on the street and quite capable of receiving texts. She always has her phone in her pocket and it is never on silent. she should be answering." He replied quickly, tapping out another text.
"Hang on, one minute you didn't want her to know and the next, you're desperate to get hold of her..." John said, confused and silence followed as Sherlock didn't reply, his eyes staring at the phone.
"Come on, reply! I can't focus." Sherlock muttered, his fingers working over his phone's keyboard once more until a few seconds later, the three of them relaxed as they heard his phone beep.
"Good. She's at St Bart's. She'll be safe there. I can think now." Sherlock said as his eyes flicked over the text she had sent before he sank back in his seat and closed his eyes, his hands flat together and resting on his nose.
John looked at Mary who was beginning to feel more and more uneasy. Why was Sherlock so worried about Molly? Was she in danger? And if she was...
"Why aren't we going to see her if you're so worried Sherlock?" John asked, verbalising Mary's concerns. Sherlock inhaled slowly and didn't move or even open his eyes when he spoke.
"As long as she's in St Bart's then she's safe. He won't try and reach her there. Too many people."
"Wait. Who won't reach her? Is Moriarty after Molly?" John replied, his voice alarmed and Sherlock's forehead creased slightly in annoyance.
"That is what I can assume but it doesn't matter at this moment. What matters now is that you are all quiet. I need to think. I need to get inside his head, what his plan is, why he chose to come back now, what he's after and what I'm about to be faced with. As long as Molly is in St Bart's, she's safe." Sherlock responded but when Mary saw the look on John's face, she knew that he was as unconvinced as she was.
Sherlock's phone buzzed again but he didn't move, he remained perfectly still in his thinking pose causing John to roll his eyes. They sat there for a few minutes in silence as John became more irritated with Sherlock's ignorance.
"Are you not going to get that message?" John asked quietly, sighing when Sherlock didn't respond before leaning over to glance at Sherlock's phone. His expression suddenly changed to worry as he looked at it, his hand reaching out to take it off Sherlock's lap.
"What is it?" Mary asked but John didn't answer her.
"You say Molly is safe as long as she's at St Bart's?" He asked Sherlock who hummed a reply to let him know he was right. "Well she's not at St Bart's. She's in a cab on her way to Baker Street." He finished, holding the phone up and Sherlock suddenly moved, his eyes darting to the phone.
"No. No no no no. Why would she do that?" He shouted, grabbing his phone out of John's hand and tapping it violently before putting it to his ear.
"What? What's wrong?" Mary asked.
"As long as she was in a busy, public place, she was fine, completely safe but something made her leave and now she's on her own. She's secluded and she's not picking up her damn phone!" He explained, his voice rising and Mary felt a cold fear fill her as she thought of Molly on her own, a perfectly reachable target for Moriarty. She moved her hand to grab John's, clutching it tightly and he placed his other on top of it, stroking it with his thumb. She could tell that he wanted to say it would be okay but no-one could tell right now. No-one knew where Molly was or what she was doing or even if she was in any danger at all. No-one knew. Not even Sherlock.
"What do we do now?" Mary asked and Sherlock sighed, closing his eyes and sitting back into his chair again.
"We wait. He'll contact us soon." He replied and John frowned, turning around to face his friend.
"We have to go and find Molly." John protested and Sherlock shook his head and moved his hands back to rest on his nose.
"No point. She could be anywhere by now. Don't worry, he'll contact us. Panicking and rushing around aimlessly isn't going to help her. Now let me think." He said, his tone final and Mary and John fell into silence, waiting and worrying until they arrived wherever Mycroft was taking them.
So, Molly is with Moriarty and now they know too. What does the evil Irish genius have in store next? :P Please review as it really really does make me happy (ask my flatmate...) and it makes me want to keep writing! :)
Next chapter: The game is back on.
