"Sherlock! I came as soon as I heard." John gasped out as he jogged up to Sherlock Holmes. "They barely even let me in here. What the hell happened?"

"He was kidnapped, tortured for a bit and they said there's a gunshot wound, but I'm not sure, not sure what's going on and I… I…" Sherlock suddenly became aware that he wasn't breathing, ohgod, he couldn't breathe, what was happening, what was going on, Mycroft, Mycroft—

"Sherlock. Look at me. It's John, you've got to look at me right now. Can you hear me? Sit down, please!" John spoke loudly but his friend couldn't hear a thing. John grabbed Sherlock by the wrist and yanked him down and they sat together up against the cool concrete walls.

Sherlock felt like he was drowning. He couldn't get any oxygen in his lungs, despite the fact that he was taking huge, gulping breaths. His skin felt prickly and hot and he wanted to scratch it all off, tear it all off actually, but John wouldn't let him.

"You're having a panic attack and I know it's uncomfortable but focus. You know where you are?"

"Safe house." Sherlock wheezed. He blinked rapidly and vaguely wondered if he was going to do something embarrassing, say, cry.

"Okay, good. Why are we here? Think, give me facts."

Facts. Facts! Facts were good, they were excellent! Sherlock squeezed his eyes shut and brought his hands to either side of his head.

"Mycroft's-been-hurt-and-he's-getting-surgery." the detective rushed, not taking a breath.

"Try again?"

"Mycroft's been hurt and he's getting surgery." Sherlock explained slowly this time. "I'm waiting here until he's awake. They've been operating for three hours so I'd estimate I'll be able to enter his hospital room in 54 minutes. Approximately."

"Good, right. Just in and out, okay?" John put his hand on Sherlock's back and to his surprise, the dark-haired man didn't flinch away. Could he have actually enjoyed the touch? Maybe 'enjoyed' was too strong a word, but still…

"Sherlock Holmes?" A man wielding a clipboard stepped outside of a room, staring at the pair of men still leaning up against the wall. "Which one of you is Sherlock Holmes?"

John stared at his friend's blank expression and waited for him to speak up.

After an awkward pause, John cleared his throat. "Er, he is. Sherlock," he hissed, "let's go!"

"This way please. And, erm, no friends please, immediate family only." The doctor glanced menacingly in John's direction.

"I'll wait out here, hmm?" he squeezed Sherlock's shoulder gently just before he entered Mycroft's room.

"Your brother was drugged with chloroform—" the doctor began.

"I know." Sherlock interrupted.

"Okay then, he was shot with a—"

"Yes, yes, I know that too! Get on with it!"

"We've realised that he was tortured with a number of small—"

"Is there a bloody thing you know that I don't?!"

The doctor pursed his lips and glared at the opposing man. "Sir, I—"

"What did you do to him? In the surgery."

"My surgical team and I removed bullet fragments from under your brother's lung, which was unharmed. We've set a few broken fingers, two of his ribs are cracked, so he'll be in some pain for the next couple of days. He's got some minor cuts along the face, stomach and back. He's received nine stitches on his arm."

"Well is that all?" the detective asked smartly.

"Ehem, er, he's currently on a morphine drip and I've prescribed him to start off with a dose of tramadol."

"Dosage amount? I'm sure my brother won't appreciate dosages you've prescribed that are too high in amount." Sherlock snapped. The doctor looked exasperated.

"Look, I'm just trying to do my job."

"Play nice, Sherlock…" a voice mumbled. Sherlock turned to at his brother's pale form.

"You can leave us." Sherlock instructed the doctor. "And do tell John everything's alright."

"John's 'ere as well?" Mycroft slurred, looking up at Sherlock.

"He is."

"Does Mother know?"

"As of now, no."

"Don't tell her… please."

Sherlock studied his older brother's face. "Pain scale?"

"Hmm… 7.5." Mycroft coughed sharply, winching in pain. Sherlock nodded, trying not to portray any strong, irrelevant emotions.

"I'll tell them to increase your morphine amount." To his surprise, there was no objecting from Mycroft. He did however groan.

"What's… um, what're you…" Sherlock couldn't find the words, all of a sudden.

Mycroft gave him a forced smile. "No need to look so flustered. I'm just… I just feel… sick."

"The feeling of nausea is a common symptom when first put on morphine."

"I know… I just… tired." he grumbled, incoherently. Sherlock bit his lip, then quickly stopped. What was he doing?

"Mycroft," he stared, feeling nervous, "I wanted to tell you…"

"Mmm…"

"I, er, well, I…"

Mycroft's eyes were closed, but he was still half-listening.

"Don't you ever get kidnapped again." Sherlock decided. "It… it alarmed me and I dislike the feeling. It's uncomfortable and impractical and do not do this again. Please."

"Never though' I'd 'ere tha' from you." Mycroft was fighting sleep to say these last few words.

"Your intelligence never fails you. I think both you and I know you won't remember this conversation tomorrow. The drugs and your 'traumatic experience' will take care of that."

"I… am aware." Mycroft spoke slowly, in a daze. He was slipping in and out of consciousness and he knew that too. "Thank you… Sherlock."

"Of course." His brother responded, watching as Mycroft's eyes closed and he started to breathe more heavily. "Brother mine."

AN - Hello, all! Wow! Last chapter... My apologies for taking so long. I had some terrible writer's block for the last chapter and kept trying to write, but it just wasn't working out. Finally, it just hit me and this is what I decided to go with; it seemed right. Special thanks to VioletErin.26, Prothoe, start2run (You're right, that did sound too American... I should've known. Hope that didn't ruin it for you!), Singstar4, Guest and SkylarkOfTheMoon. Everyone who read the story, thanks to you guys too! :) Next story in the making will be a sick!Mycroft fic with Sherlock taking care of him. I have three more Sherlock related requests, so you'll all be seeing a LOT of Sherlock stuff in the future. WHEW! :) Hope everyone has a fantastic week!