"John! Let's go! I know where he is! I know where this warehouse criminal is, if we go quickly we can catch him!" Throwing on one of his large, nine-month-pregnant jumpers and his coat, Sherlock prepared to dart out the door, showing Scotland Yard up once more.
"Oh no you're not ! You are too far along and your due date is less than a week away! I don't want anything happening to you or the baby!" It had been difficult enough for the man to get up from the couch or the bed let along walk normal in his condition.
"Its fine! Get your warm clothes on, we're going out" Not arguing any further, they set out for the country side, Sherlock touching his fingertips together as he always did while thinking. Little did John know, it was not quite thinking as much as concentrating on small waves of pain washing through his partner's back and sides. Sherlock ignored them, thinking it was probably part of this late stage that this would happen.
At the sight of the possible hide out of the fugitive, Mycroft met them, as well as Lestrade. The house was beaten up, abandoned looking, and had an ominous effect to it , anyone who stood near it felt the hairs on the back of their necks stand up on end.
"Good after noon John, and….Sherlock you're absolutely gigantic! Shouldn't you be resting up?!" Mycroft scoffed.
"Piss off Mycroft, not like the baby's coming any time soon" He replied, wincing when the others looked away at yet another small wave of pain.
"If you say so, anyway, the man should be in there, if your predictions are right this should be quick. I don't want you hanging around dangerous situations for too long" Lestrade added.
"Look, he's right, you might not-"
"Oh stop treating me like some delicate object! I'm not going to get hurt!" Sherlock insisted. The four stepped in the housed, but not before hands were clamped onto their mouths…. Chloroform. No one had heard the footsteps and not one of the four had known there was an attack planned, waiting for them.
Mycroft and Sherlock woke up, bound and somewhat beat up. Sherlock moaned at the throbbing in his head, he must have hit it somewhere along the way there…wherever 'there' was. Along with the headache also came another shock, causing him to jolt slightly, letting out an unflattering sound in the process as he tried to suppress a shout.
"Mycroft, Mycroft?" The younger Holmes nudged him a little more to wake him up the rest of the way. "Mycroft! Are you awake?"
"Yeh, how are feeling?" His voice coming out rusty.
"I'm alright, by the looks of it-" The consulting detective paused to get a look at his surroundings. "We are somewhere in a cave, the soil tells me we're not far from where we were kidnapped"
"Fantastic, so we're nowhere near home. How are going to get out of this?" Before Sherlock could answer, he felt his phone go off in his pocket, the captor must not have searched them. Reaching down with immense difficulty, he was able to extract it and check what it was. According to a message from John, they'd escaped and sent for help, the leader of a group of three it seemed was finally behind bars again. Texting them a vague notice of their location, Sherlock's head whipped up quickly as footsteps rang throughout the cavern. Adrenaline pumping, he slid the phone behind him, giving it to Mycroft, who'd begun to untie himself on the chair attached behind his own.
"Ah! So the Holmes boys are awake! And, oh! My companion didn't tell me about this! So technically there's three of yous then? Assuming it's a boy" Sherlock gave a look of disdain.
"What the hell do you want us for?"
"Do you really not know? Come on now, the great detective, and the British government, what more could I want? I have you two, or three, in captivity, they'll give me what I want. Not only that, but I can have all of the ransom I ask for now that my former partner is in jail" As the man spoke, Sherlock felt Mycroft's hands go free and begin on his bonds. It did not take long for the younger sibling to figure out that his brother wielded a gun in an inside pocket of his jacket, though he knew he'd wait until the time was right before he took action.
"I'll just be right back, gotta make a call, I think I'm going to be rich by tomorrow" Twisting around, the elder brother helped the younger up, noticing an unfamiliar look of pain crossing his face.
"Are you doing okay , that did not look good" He asked, brotherly concern kicking in.
"Braxton…oh what was it, Hicks that was it, just a Braxton hick contraction, been getting those for a couple weeks now don't worry" Mycroft walking swiftly with his gun in hand, Sherlock waddling behind him as best as he could, they eventually made their way out into the open. The sun shone down, light up the April sky of spring as, about twenty minutes later, the brothers emerged.
"Okay, your phone has a tracking device- Great Scott Sherlock are you sure that was only a false alarm?!" He said as the man fell against a large rock, gripping his side with one hand and the rock with the other.
"No, not exactly, that one might have been real" As best as they could, the two began walking alongside the stream which lay in a field not far from the cavern. Three hours now had passed and no signs of helicopters -Mycroft had certainly alerted his men- searching for them yet. Walking was almost not an option at this point, being that Sherlock was in need of stopping every so often to ride out a somewhat vicious contraction, presently ten minutes apart they'd clocked, followed by obvious signs of dizziness from a concussion which now showed itself as a bruise on the side of his head. "Where are your men?!" He asked while sitting through a particularly long cramp. Mycroft, awkwardly, rubbed small circles on his back, trying to calm his brother as beads of sweat ran down his face.
"It'll be alright Sherlock, they'll find us before nightfall, its only four O'clock, we have time"
"What do you mean 'we have time!' I am not giving birth out in the middle of nowhere!" He growled, small tears now glazing his eyes as the pain subsided. It looked like, even though it was his first child, the labour was going quick, most likely due to the amount of adrenaline they'd acquired from the cave incident and escape. "Its coming now and there's no stopping it! I need to get to a hospital!"
"I don't get service out here, come on, can you walk a little more?"
"Does it look like I can walk?"
"Fine, fine you're right." Standing up, Sherlock fell back against one of the surrounding trees again, panting laboriously through the contraction. "That was only eight minutes, are you sure you weren't having any problems before we were kidnapped?"
"I don't know, I've had back pain all day so its possible" He let out a yell just then, his voice going hoarse and out of control.
"This isn't good, take my shoulder, we need to get farther away from here"
"I agree" He replied through gritted teeth, taking the offer. Another hour of painful walking on both their parts, and finally it was time to give in, the detective could most certainly not go any more. On stopping in an open area by a lake, Mycroft helped his brother down by a tree half covered in moss.
"Alright, its been way too long, take your trousers off, I need to see how much time we've got" Sherlock gave him a mixed expression.
"I will not! For one, I'm not having the baby right here, and two, John and the others will come in time"
"I may not have any medical training but I can at least see how far dilated you are, now remove your trousers!" Hearing the protective tone of voice, Sherlock did as he was told and slid down the tree's side. Looking closely, and much to both their dislike, Mycroft saw and guessed –rightly at that- that his brother was about more than halfway ready to push.
"Do not be alarmed, but you are about six centimeters dilated, and by my small knowledge, this going to start moving faster" Sherlock gave him a look of panic.
"We don't have any supplies… Ahhhrrrrgg! Mycroft make it stop!" Taking out a swiss army knife, Mycroft lay it down next to him and took off his jacket.
"This is what we've got, and what we'll use" He said tersely. The next hour, the older Holmes attempted to soothe his brother with soft words of encouragement, off topic conversations, and small back and foot massages. However, this was interrupted by a third voice behind them.
"Found you! Thought could get away eh? Well, I can easily change that" The man who'd threatened them in the cave brought a gun and pointed it directly at the man in labour. Both took an intake of breath.
"No!" Mycroft shouted as he too pulled his gun as the villain moved to pull the trigger. Reaching it first, the man went down, a scarlet puddle enveloping the man's heart area. A loud shout could be heard from a good distance off, and it was not the man dropping dead, nor the one in labour.
"You just…. Mycroft you idiot that wasn't a good idea… you're hurt and now you'll be thrown into prison yourself for that!" He said, trying to breath past the contraction. A dark blotch had begun to form on the elder brother's sleeve, indicating he'd been shot as well.
"Well I couldn't just let my little brother and my niece or nephew be shot now could I?" They exchanged a look of understanding as if to say they'd never speak of this again, just as another contraction, now five minutes apart ripped at the detective. "Breath Sherlock, just breath, your nearly there, take my hand, my good hand" Hesitantly, he held on, the hormones urging him to begin to bear down. "Your doing fantastic! Okay, take it easy, breath, one more minute closer to being done" Sherlock did as he was told, letting out shouts of pain part of the way through. Sweat, even though the weather was irritatingly cold, formed on their heads. With much effort and struggle, Myroft got Sherlock's coat off of him to lay across his legs. Eventually, it seemed help was not going to make way anytime time soon.
"Mycroft, my back, help me up a little" He did as he was told. Sitting up better now, the raven haired man cringed, tears forming in his eyes as the pain suddenly intensified. "What's happening now!?" Not wanting to in the least, but knowing it was for his brother's sake, he checked again, his eyes widening.
"You're ready to push now, I'm fairly sure of that, hold on, do you here that?"
"Shihhhit! Its happening!" Sherlock choked out as he tried baring down, not feeling any movement of the child. Between his legs, a raw, burning sensation peeked.
"Sherlock-"
"I cant do this!"
"Sherlock!-"
"Where are they?!"
"SHERLOCK!" He let out a muffled cry and looked over with glazed eyes.
"WHAT!"
"Look up, they're here" Still breathing hard, burning up now that his water had broken, he looked up with Mycroft. Above, a helicopter prepared for landing, taking a spot nearby seconds later. It seemed through the current events, Sherlock hadn't even heard the helicopter arrive. Out of it ran John, Lestrade, and Anthea. In a panic at the far off sight, John sprinted over, ignoring the dead man a few yards away. He knelt down next to the brothers.
"Oh my god, whats happening, please be alright, tell me you're alright!" John said speedily as he came to his mate's side. Sherlock smiled weakly at as best he could.
"We're doing good, but your baby's coming right this second and I'd prefer it not be in this spot, that and I've been shot" Behind him, the other two followed, offering to help carry the consulting detective. The helicopter was almost roomy, giving a decent space for the birth, as well as medical supplies in the pockets. Sherlock was laid down, sitting up vaguely against the inside, sweating profusely now.
"how long has he been in labour?" John asked Mycroft, trying, but clearly failing, to speak passed his panic and the pained moans coming from inside the vehicle.
"A while now, his water broke just before you showed up, he cant be moved, he'll have to deliver here. Then we can most definitely be carted to the hospital"
"You're alright for now?"
"I'll live, but right now….its my brother that needs the attention"
John pulled on a pair of rubber gloves, preparing to help Sherlock along the way as Lestrade tended to Mycroft until he could help himself the rest of the way.
"John?"
"Hey, Sherlock, its going to be alright. Keep doing what you're doing and we'll have our son"
"I don't know what to do, this all so different, I don't feel right John"
"Yes, I know, I know, here, take my hand" Shakily, Sherlock held his hand, squeezing the life out of it when each wave hit. After a while of urging and stroking his back, John had Sherlock let go of his hand. Still panting, Sherlock felt an immense pressure opening him up wider than he already was, causing him to shout a slur of curses.
"Oh god it hurts! I'm so sorry , I didn't know this would happen! Please tell me it's almost over!" John came around, allowing for the man to lean into him for comfort before reassuring him once more and then checking on the progress.
"Okay love, I can see the head I want you to push when you feel the next contraction coming on, and hold for as long as possible, you'll feel a pressure and something else, I'll be helping you along the way" Quickly, he nodded, followed by bearing down as not a minute later did the next full on contraction hit. Sherlock punched the side of the chair in front of him as the head was eased out to avoid screaming too much, he may have been an omega, but he was an alpha at heart and wanted to show it. "Fantastic! Lestrade, support his back! One more push and you've got it! Anthea get that small towel over there and hand it to Sherlock! Now Sherlock, bite down and I'm going to ease the shoulders out after the next push, the hardest part is over, you're through crowning now!" As much as they disliked the situation, each followed John's orders as he was currently using his commanding, soldier, sounding voice.
"Its taking too long, I need help….real doctors… please!" Sherlock cried out.
"No Sherlock! You will get through this!" Mycroft urged to the surprise of the others. One last time, with a rough voice and trembling body, Sherlock pushed, with the help of his brother and husband easing out the shoulders, he felt an unbelievable amount of relief. Something turned, twisted, and pulled itself away from him. Opening his eyes, he saw John taking the emergency towel and quickly cleaning the baby, stimulating it as a high pitched cry rang out through the evening sky. Tears of the sweet, sweet feeling of that pressure being gone flooded his eyes. John, barley paying attention to anything more than catching and wrapping up the baby to hand over to Lestrade to notice one important factor, he hadn't seen the gender. Quickly, he cleaned the screaming, flailing child up with some room temperature water, dried them up, and handed his baby over briefly to grab another towel from the back area.
John had come around just in time with the other supplies from the back with Anthea to coach Sherlock through ridding the after-birth and Lestrade tying off the cord of the pink newborn. John stopped in his tracks, stunned at what had just gone on, and how he'd handled the entire situation. He climbed into the back of the now not-so-sanitary back of the helicopter to embrace his mate.
"You did it Sherlock! You did so good, he's healthy, and perfect." He said, as Lestrade handed Sherlock the now calmed down baby wrapped in John's soft jacket.
"Ah, actually, it's a she. The baby's a girl" Lestrade pointed out. Both members of 221B looked down at the child in Sherlock's arms in astonishment. The baby was a girl then? She was so delicate, fragile, and beautiful, with wisps of curling dark hair already on her head. For the longest time they'd thought it was a boy, they'd even painted Sherlock's former room light blue and decorated it with bees for a boy. They all sat in silence for some time, Anthea preparing for take-off to the hospital.
"How about Adira" Sherlock said after some time after they'd taken off into the air.
"What?" John asked, still sitting on the floor beside his new family.
"I want to name her Adira, it means courageous, majestic, strong. It is what she will become someday."
"It fits nicely" Added Lestrade.
"What about a middle name?" Mycroft asked. The two looked at eachother, then at their new daughter.
"Sophie, I have my reasons, Sophie will be her middle"
"I think its beautiful, Adira Sophie Holmes" Sherlock said, trying out the name. The ride was loud, louder than was hoped for, being that the sound of the initial machine was mixed with that of the tiny baby with surprisingly strong lungs. The duration of the time Sherlock had spent trying to shush Adira to sleep or quiet down, or at least cry quieter as he held the girl close to his chest. This was going to be a long flight.