A/N: Now if you are all still speaking to me Sorry for the cliffhanger ending – um no actually I'm not (just a little bit evil)
There are a series of flashbacks in this chapter. They are not in chronological order. That is deliberate.
Some violence, a bit of swearing.
Chapter 14 – So it went something like this.
Earlier that day
Anthea was waiting for Moran at a prearranged spot. She picked him up in an unmarked vehicle. One that even Mycroft wasn't aware of. Moran got into the car after all the usual suspicions, which were alleviated by the correct code words.
"I am most surprised to see that you have been the one supplying me with all that pertinent information," he said smoothly. "Would you care to explain why someone who has been as loyal as you would turn your back on such a generous benefactor?"
Anthea glanced over at him as she drove, coolly, without a hint of emotion. "Well Col. Moran, sir, I'm afraid you've hit the nail on the head. I do not have a generous benefactor. I am hoping, as we discussed when I first contacted you, that my change of employment will alleviate some of my financial woes."
"Will you be able to supply me with any other information regarding Mycroft Holmes endeavors? I would be generous with you helping me kill the Holmes brothers, but if you bring more to the table I believe you will be happy with my offer."
"Yes, sir. I have years of data and pertinent information on many of Mr. Holmes operations. I am sure you will find them all to be valuable. You would be able to use most of the information yourself or you may wish to sell some of it to the highest bidder." She smiled at him again.
"We certainly should be able to come to an understanding. You may have to do one or two little favours tonight to prove your loyalty, but I'm sure you will be able to do so.
"I'm quite sure, sir."
Moran smiled to himself.
Later Anthea would place him and his men in the back of a delivery lorry that would be dropping off groceries to the Holmes residence. She would ensure it would not need to be checked. She would assist them when they got there and hide them in the wine cellar just bellow the kitchen. She would bring him and his men out as soon as she was able, once the bomb exploded.
oOo
Later that night
Sherlock and Lestrade ran into Mycroft and the lead agent almost right away.
"Mycroft," Sherlock said urgently. "The explosion at the front door. It's a diversion. Moran did not bring any men into the house. There must be another plan to have him enter."
Mycroft pursed his lips together and rose up on his toes with his hands behind his back, thinking. "Hmmm. Yes I see…" he turns to the lead agent. "Go at once to the control room, pull up any video from today and see if there are any suspicious comings and goings. At least ones that maybe aren't suspicious at first glance."
The agent ran quickly to the control room.
"Yes," said Sherlock "I see."
"Well I bloody well don't. What the hell is going on?" said Greg.
"Mycroft and I are thinking that Moran may have arrived earlier today and has hidden himself somewhere in the house."
"You know for someone who's a bleedin' important as you are with all your James Bond gadgets, you certainly have piss pour security," said Greg, running his hand through his hair.
Mycroft shot him a wintery stare. "Yes, thank you Detective Inspector. I suggest we go to the control room and see what they are able to discover."
The three men turned to run back to the control room. That's when they heard two shots being fired.
oOo
Anthea moved over to where John and Mary were lying on the floor, just at the foot of the stairs. She bent down and took each pulse and retrieved John's gun.
"Dead?" said Moran with a gleam of delight in his eyes.
"Yes, sir. Very sir"
"Well I would imagine that the sounds of gunfire should bring some of our friends running to us. Oh and here they are now!"
At that moment Sherlock, Mycroft and Lestrade rounded the corner with the lead agent. The arrival of the group caused Moran's people to turn away from John and Mary. The four men arriving had their guns drawn. They stopped when they took in the group of people in front of them.
Sherlock eyes widened in horror as he noticed the two still bodies lying on the floor, blood spreading on their chests. Heart shots.
"John," he whispered. "No! John!" He moved to run forward. An equally horrified Lestrade grabbed him around the waist.
"Stop Sherlock. There's nothing you can do for either of them."
Lestrade had noticed what Sherlock, who notices everything had failed to take in, his eyes only his friend. They were out numbered by one and everyone had guns out.
Mycroft looked shocked when he saw who was standing with Moran.
"Anthea? I cannot believe this. How can you possible be involved with this?"
"Believe it Mycroft darling," she said. "Believe that I killed John and Mary as well."
At those words, Sherlock made another forward lurch. This time both Lestrade and Mycroft had to hold him back.
Moran stepped forward.
"This has been something I have been waiting for, for a very long time. Now gentlemen, if you would be so kind as to lower your weapons."
"Don't be ridiculous Sebastian. A special forces group will be arriving momentarily. Even if you manage to kill us all, there is no way you will be able to leave this building alive," sniffed Mycroft, as if he were discussing the fact that his soup was too cold.
"I am not surprised by this. In fact I expected it. Don't worry. I'm going to kill you and your two men there. Oh, I am planning on taking you with me, Sherlock. I owe you for causing Moriarty's death."
Moran was so engrossed with Mycroft's group that he failed to notice that Anthea had crept closer to him. He did notice when he felt the nozzle of John's gun pressed firmly against his temple and Anthea's arm around his throat in a chokehold.
"I don't think you will be doing that tonight…sir," she hissed in his ear.
oOo
Rewind 1 -Dinner
The first course had just finished when Anthea came into to say that Mycroft had received an urgent call. He left the room with her. They went quickly and quietly into Mycroft's office.
"Sir I have everything in place. Moran is in the wine cellar. I believe he has a diversion of some sort arranged, but I have been unable to discover what that might entail. I do know that Michael has tampered with the video feed for the guest wing and the front door. It may have something to do with those areas."
"Hmmm. I will alert the agents at the front door to be extra vigilant. I believe if he were to try to take on any of the guests he will be in for a surprise. We cannot afford to change any of our routines. We must make it appear that we are unaware of his plans for tonight."
"Sir, he wishes me to prove my loyalty to him. I believe he will ask me to kill one or more of your guests."
"My dear I have everything arrange should you be forced to do that. Hopefully you will not be called upon to do that, but if you are, here is what you will do."
Rewind 2 – The meeting between Sherlock, John, Mycroft and Lestrade
"There is one more item we must discuss gentlemen," Mycroft said. "I have an agent inside Moran's operation. I do not wish to reveal who it is at this time, because, well if this all goes wrong we do not want that person compromised. If you were captured…"
"Yeah, we get it. We might tell," said Greg.
"Yes," said Mycroft. "I haven't much to protect you from Moran's guns. When we discover his whereabouts, you will be provided with bulletproof vests, but if you happen to be near this agent if and when they have to prove their loyalty by shooting you, you should be wearing one of these. And I have one for Ms. Morstan as well Doctor, if you would be so kind to give it to her. I am afraid she probably will not wish to speak to me."
"What are they?" John asked.
"One of my little tricks," smiles Mycroft at him. "Oh and should one of you be shot at in front of the others, let's all try to use our very best acting skills, hmmm?"
"It's like James Bond, yeah?" said Greg.
Rewind 3 - after the fight between Mary and Michael
While she was putting on her shoes, he said, "There's something we'll need to do first."
She looked at him and raised her eyebrows as he explained about Mycroft's 'little trick'.
"So you're saying we put this on and when this undercover agent shoots us it looks like we've been shot? Like a movie special effect?" Mary asked.
"Yes," said John. "I'm given to understand that this agent has a special gun that will fire the blood pack under your clothes. Some kind of electronic signal from the gun or something. I meant to give it to you earlier, but well, you seemed a little annoyed with me, so…"
"Yeah, well I hate being left behind," she had the grace to blush. Then she asked, "And we lie down and play dead," Mary frowned. "As long as no one looks too closely."
"Yeah, as long as no one looks too closely. It's not much of a chance, but it might work."
"Well it's better than nothing."
John helped her put it on.
Rewind 4 – Mary's first night in London – after Mycroft meets with her
"We will need to let him know that she has arrived in London. He will be most interested in knowing that she is looking after Dr. Watson. Perhaps this will draw him out of hiding."
Anthea turned her head slightly in his direction, ever texting, and raised one perfect eyebrow. She nodded slightly, her fingers never pausing.
"When you initiate contact with Moran, I am afraid I have to ask you to do something else for me," a hint of regret in his smooth features. "I will require you to go undercover in Moran's organization, quietly at first, offering overtures and pieces of information. If you begin with passing this information along of Ms. Morstan's arrival in London, it should open doors."
"Yes, sir. Of course,"
"Don't you ever worry about some of the things I ask you to do?" asked Mycroft in a rare, sentimental mood. But Anthea was a treasure to him, irreplaceable.
"Sir, it's what I was trained for," she smiled slightly and continued doing what everyone believed was her only skill. They had planned it that way.
Rewind 5 – After the explosion
Mycroft calmly pushed a button under the table. This was something Michael didn't know about, not having high enough clearance.
The table was wired to send a signal to Anthea's Blackberry letting her know it was time to prepare for her final part in Mycroft's plan to capture Colonel Sebastian Moran. These signals were set throughout the house. Had been placed there for security measures.
Anthea, unknown to any of the others, had been trained under a similar program as Mary had been, but a few years behind. After Moran had been brought down. She was a formidable assassin in her own right as well as bodyguard. And a bloody good personal assistant.
Anthea was actually her real name. No one ever believed her, it was an unusual name. She was named for her Greek Grandmother Antheia, on her mother's side. Her name meant 'flower' or 'blossom'.
She was Mycroft's deadly little secret.
oOo
Real time
Moran's men all pointed their guns at the others. The tension was thick.
"I do not have a problem with shooting the Colonel, gentlemen, so please hand your weapons over to Mr. Holmes' people," although her language was in her usual polite vernacular, her tone was unyielding and harsh. It wasn't a tone the others who knew her were use to. They complied and Lestrade picked up their weapons.
John and Mary decided to drop the charade of playing dead and they both sat up.
Sherlock, who had been informed of the possibility that their death could be a ruse during the meeting with Mycroft and the evidence pointed to the fact that Anthea was probably the undercover agent, still felt enormous relief as they stood. He rushed over to where the two were, John holding his head.
"Christ," said John. "I think I hit my bloody head again, when I fell." He looked up at Sherlock, Sherlock who did not believe in or appreciate sentiment, stood there, agitation evident in his stance.
He didn't say anything for a moment. John just grinned up at him.
"I believe I am experiencing some distress at the idea that you may have actually been killed," he paused. "I did not like it. I think I have a new appreciation for what you may have experienced during my absence."
"That's because you are an idiot," John said softly and he hugged his friend.
Neither of them noticed Mary for a moment who was ignoring the men beside her, her eyes on Moran as he now knelt on the floor, hands behind his head, with Anthea holding John's gun at the back of it. He was watching her as well. There was unspoken tension between the two.
She reached for her bag and pulled out a knife. A large pale hand reached out and wrapped around her wrist.
"You do not want to do this, Mary," Sherlock said quietly to her. She glared at him some of her hatred for Moran temporarily transferring itself to him.
John glanced between the two and he understood what they were talking about.
"Believe me," he continued as he came closer to her. "I have discovered the hard way that taking matters into your own hand can be detrimental to others and eventually yourself. Besides we may need his cooperation."
"Are you telling me if Moriarty were alive today and standing in front of you, you wouldn't do this?" she hissed at him. "Are you saying he doesn't deserve to die?"
"Since that is not a possibility I can say in this instance, no. But if it were a possibility then, yes I would be very tempted to do the same. It would have saved a lot of pain and suffering if I had had the chance to kill him earlier."
John's eyebrows rose a little at that piece of news, not the killing part. He would have gladly killed Moriarty, himself, no qualms there. No it was the part about relieving pain and suffering. Perhaps his detective friend had indeed learned some compassion during all of this.
Sherlock wasn't finished speaking, "He most assuredly deserves to die. And I would gladly kill him to protect John and you and others, but not in this manner, not by you. Do not execute this bastard in cold blood. You do not need his blood on your hands."
Mary glared once more and then some of the tension left her and she nodded, letting Sherlock take her knife and the bag. She went and sat on the bottom step of the stairs. John sat with her, putting his arm around her, whispering words of comfort and encouragement in her ear.
Moran's eyes had been following their conversation. Since they were speaking quietly he couldn't hear everything they said, but he certainly understood his life was in question at moment. Weakness, he thought they should kill me. They'd be foolish not too. Would not hesitate in their position and had been happy and prepared to do so.
Mary glanced back at him and he smiled a cruel, reptilian smile. He saw her shiver slightly. His grin broadened. He grew very thoughtful.
The special forces group chose that moment to arrive, as did the other agents who had been checking the rest of the defenses.
I really do need to update some of our training practices, Mycroft thought to himself.
Those agents should have been here sooner.
Moran and his men were taken into custody no doubt to one of Mycroft's special prisons, where hopefully he would be able to extract additional information from them regarding Moriarty's organization.
After Moran was in custody, Anthea walked over to where John and Mary were sitting and calmly handed his gun back to him. John looked up at her and placed his gun back in his waistband. He glanced at Mary and back to Anthea.
"You lot are rather full of surprises, aren't you?" he said.
Anthea just smiled coolly at him and walked back to Mycroft.
oOo
1 week later – temporary residence of Mycroft Holmes
Sherlock jogged up the stairs. He had been searching for John for a while now. He wasn't answering his texts and he had no idea where else he might be. They had plans they needed to discuss.
Damn the man! Where was he? Why won't he answer me?
As he approached John's door he observed that one of Mary's throwing knives was sticking out from it. It was pinning a note in place.
Sherlock,
DO NOT bother us right now.
We are indisposed at the moment.
I'll find you later.
John
P.S. In case you think I'm kidding
I have my gun and Mary's got more knives!
Sherlock's eyes narrowed as he read the note. He huffed. Did John really think that a simple threat was going to keep him from speaking to him? There was much to prepare.
Then he reread the note and as he stood there he understood the implications of the content.
He slowly smiled.
Well at least it's someone I know and she's not nearly as dull as his other conquests.
He jogged back the way he came hoping to come across Mycroft, looking forward to annoying him for a bit while he waited.
oOo
Later
They lay together on the bed, Mary's head resting on his chest. He had his arms wrapped around her and was stroking her back. He was tracing the outline of some of her scars. Most were smooth. The knife Moran had used had been razor sharp and only fine white lines were left as a reminder, but a few had rough edges where he hadn't been as careful. These were the ones that kept catching under John's hands.
It had caused some awkwardness earlier. The heat and passion of finally deciding to stop circling around each other and their feelings had faltered when he moved to take her shirt off. She had blushed and held on to the bottom of it, as she bit her lip.
"It's ok, love," he whispered. She looked up into his warm, kind eyes and saw nothing but trust and love there. He pulled off his own shirt first and she saw the scars on his left shoulder, only one entry and one exit wound, but no less devastating. She gently reached up and touched it. Then with tears in her eyes she let him pull off her shirt. She shivered under his touch as he in turn traced one of hers on her left shoulder. Her eyes filled with tears and he kissed her.
And later as they lay together, she shivered again.
"Cold?" he asked, pulling the duvet up over them.
"Not much. Just thinking," she murmured.
"About what?"
She lifted her head to look at him her chin still resting on his chest. He noticed that the black under her eyes from her broken nose was slowly changing to purple and green. He'd fixed her nose for her, moving the cartilage back into place when they had a minute. He'd teased her gently, a little about the lovely shade they were turning. She'd smacked him lightly on the arm. Her ribs were still tender as well, but they were only bruised.
"You're going with him, aren't you?"
John didn't say anything for a moment. He, Sherlock and Mycroft had been holed up in meetings ever since they came to the new residence. Mycroft's other house was under repairs. They'd explained the damage to the papers as a gas leak. The papers as ever unobservant, believed them.
"I have to," he said. "I need to be there to watch his back." He paused. "He wasn't going to let me come and I said he couldn't leave me behind."
She had lowered her head again at his words and he could feel her smile against his skin.
"That sounds familiar."
He chuckled. Then he cleared his throat. "I have to, Mary. We're like two halves and we don't work well without the other. We're both broken when we're apart." He didn't want her to misunderstand. She was as important to him, but in a different way. "It's different with what I have here with you…"
She lifted her head and placed her hand on his mouth.
"It's ok. I get it. I'm not hurt." She looked at him fiercely. "You chose him, but you'll come home to me."
And she kissed him long and hard.
They didn't talk again for a while.
oOo
They left at the end of the following week. John with his small army knapsack on his back, in his black jacket and Sherlock still looking odd in his jeans and hoodie.
They were going to finish off the last of Moriarty's web. They'd come back when they were done.
John had explained his absent to everyone saying he was going to Canada with his friend for a change of pace and to get a break from London and his sorrow.
Lestrade, who was staying, was going to be there to convince everyone it was true. He was also going to have Mycroft's help in discovering who the mole was at the Yard. Now that he knew there was one he was sure he'd be able to figure it out.
They all stood in the sitting room at the new house saying their goodbyes. Greg shook hands with the two men and slapped them on the back. Mycroft wished them well, in his usually formal way. Mary came up to Sherlock and kissed him. She whispered in his ear.
"If he dies, I'll kill you."
He looked at her, his eyes glittering strangely. He replied, "If he dies, you won't have to."
She looked at him and nodded and kissed him again.
She moved John over to one side to have a few minutes alone before he left.
"Have you decided what you're going to do? Take Mycroft up on his offer?" he asked trying to delay his goodbye as much as he dared. Mycroft had offered her a job to help up grade his security systems.
She smiled and shook her head. "No. I really don't think England would survive for very long if Mycroft and I worked together. Beside I don't think I can deal with any more of his plans and intrigues. No, I'm going to go home for a while, back to Toronto at first. I have some things I need to get together, business and stuff. And then I'm going away somewhere quiet. Do some thinking. A friend, well actually a former client has an open invitation to use her cottage somewhere near Georgian Bay, in the Muskokas. She owns a small lake or something."
"That's some grateful client," he said.
"I'll tell you the story someday. She owes me big," her eyes twinkled for a moment and then she sobered.
"Take care. Be good," she said.
And they kissed and John and Sherlock left.
A/N: There will be one more chapter.