-ooo-

John could feel he was being watched. He had that nagging feeling for the last hour. He was under constant surveillance of Mrs H and she was getting to his nerves. He had gone to get a glass of water from the kitchen, and she had followed him there and back. He had picked up a towel from the bathroom, and she had practically followed him in. By the time he had actually closed that door behind him, Mrs H had gone to tell Sherlock about it. John was immersed in the twilight zone and he couldn't take it much longer. He knew it was out of care, but it was beyond his capabilities to comply with Mrs H constant need to make sure he was breathing right.

And Sherlock wasn't behaving much more normal, either. He kept pretending to concentrate on his computer, standing in front of it with his fingertips over the keyboard and staring at the screen, completely oblivious to the fact that the screen had gone dark ages ago.

John took in a deep breath. He was actively going insane, working himself up because he was stuck at Baker Street with two lunatics.

Mary - he smiled - he had Mary. Maybe he'd just surprise her, at her gym class. He knew vaguely where it was. He'd go to the other side of town and phone her once the class was over to find her. Yes, that was the best way to fix that evening...

He grabbed his phone from the kitchen table and pocketed it carefully. Then he bluntly headed off by the living room's door.

'Where are you going?' Sherlock called him out, he didn't even open his eyes.

'To grab my phone, on my coat', he yelled back from the end of the stairs. He grabbed his coat hanging by the door, put it on, and only then added, out of guilt: 'Also I'm going out for a couple of hours!' Immediately he banged the door shut behind him, greeting the cold night air outside with relief.

Sherlock needn't hear the last portion of John's call out. Just hearing the front door being unlocked told him everything he needed to know. He had miscalculated the extent of John's restlessness. To be fair, he probably hadn't noticed Mrs Hudson's fussing around John more than usual. That was the way she often behaved with Sherlock when she thought he wasn't doing well, anyway.

'Oh, dear... Sherlock?' Mrs Hudson worried.

Sherlock rolled his eyes, as he got his coat on. 'I'll see what he's up to, Mrs Hudson.' And he left, after his friend.

-ooo-

As Sherlock reached the street outside, there was no sign of John, just a cab pulling away.

As a matter of fact, another was already coming in. Mycroft for the win, he thought, haling it.

'Where to, mate?' the cabbie asked him.

'Just follow that cab.'

'No, I ain't getting myself into trouble, sir, you might want to get another cabbie for the job.'

'What?' Sherlock glared at him. 'No, it's... he's the one with the address, I haven't the address.'

'Well, then you should have asked your friend, right?' the driver insisted on letting John's cab drive out of sight.

Sherlock rolled his eyes and took out his phone. He dialed JW's number with annoyance.

«I'm fine, I'm just fine, jeeesss...» he heard from the other side. «I'm just going to meet Mary, we'll be back shortly, alright? Sherlock... promise me you won't stalk me!... Oh, great, now the cab driver thinks we're some weird couple!» Sherlock smiled, amused, as John hung up.

He looked down on his phone, worried. 'So, where will it be?' the driver insisted to the passenger.

Sherlock took a deep breath and told him the address to a small cafe where Mary took refuge of John every week.

Of course he knew it. He had been keeping tabs on Mary every since they had found out she had a secret past. John didn't know it though, and he wouldn't have approved of it, he had all the confidence in the world a regular husband could have for his wife.

Hell, even Mycroft was keeping tabs on Mary, and she suspected it.

Every Holmes was keeping tabs on Mary at that point. And given Sherlock and Mary's history together, both Holmes felt justified.

-ooo-

'There you go', John paid for the ride, wondering why Mary still wasn't picking up her phone.

Maybe she was out with some friends, having a coffee? The cold night enveloped him as he wondered of to the empty street.

-ooo-

Mary held her position behind the dumpster tighter as she finally noticed a veiled movement behind a cracked window on the second floor. She unlocked the firearm in her hand.

-ooo-

Sherlock's cab was still a few streets away. Methodically he was already scanning the houses and shops for the Watsons and their enemies.

-ooo-

John was passing by the cafe, as he hesitated and decided to go inside to warm up. Again he tried to ring Mary.

-ooo-

The silenced phone kept vibrating in Mary's coat pocket. She could feel it, but now wasn't the time to take a call. Probably Sherlock, annoying her again, he was the only one that knew she had a plan.

-ooo-

Sherlock took off from the cab, looking around on the street, by the warmly lit cafe. Everyone had a plan. Mary had a plan, John had a plan. Only Sherlock didn't have a plan.

-ooo-

'John!' he recognized him with relief as soon as he entered the cafe.

He was instantly annoyed, but not really surprised. 'You had to stalk me!'

'Where's Mary?' his words were tinted with concern.

'I don't know, she's not answering me', John replied at once, narrowing his eyes, Sherlock looked all around.

-ooo-

There was a loud bang of a firearm, and the sound of crashing glass. Muffled screams erupted somewhere, confusing.

The window shield of the cafe had come crashing down as the bullet shattered it to a million pieces. Natural instinct took hold of the people in the cafe, as they scattered for safety under seats and tables, screaming along the confusion. Most of them hadn't understood it was a gunshot, and where vaguely searching for answers outside, as they turned confused gazes to the street. It took a bit before someone realized that there was blood on the floor of the cafe, and two men were on that floor.

A/N: Wicked cliffhanger? Check! (Sorry. So sorry.) -csf