Here it is, the final chapter of the story! I'm curious, did anyone read the whole thing here on this page? Not a single comment for 20 chapters, that made me think. I'm considering to write a sequel, would anyone even read it here?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed all this! Please let me know!

I don't own the characters or places!

Only a few days after returning to work at NSY, Greg found himself standing in the rain on a construction site, a cup with steaming coffee in his hands. He was glaring at Brandon and the object in his hands was the only thing preventing him from strangling the man.

"Explain how all this happened again, please." He tried to keep his voice calm, but when Brandon moved from one foot to another uncomfortably, Greg knew that he didn't succeed. Maybe spending so much time with the Holmes brothers had serious consequences on his temper.

"It seemed like there was an accident at work and part of the new building collapsed. That's how they found the body -"

"Not that." He interrupted him impatiently. "All those footprints." Since his hands were occupied, he nodded at the hallway leading to where they'd found the dead man. "And don't tell me it were the workers here, they all ran away as soon as the body was discovered."

To Brandon's luck (and Greg's annoyance), Sergeant Donovan chose this moment to join them, cellphone in her hand. "We've identified him, sir."

"That fast?" Greg asked in surprise and turned to look at the picture on the screen she showed him. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Brandon slipping away quickly, but he didn't say anything to that. He would deal with him later.

Below the picture Sally had shown him was an article about a famous scientist who'd vanished a few weeks previously. Everyone had thought that he'd run away with his girlfriend, who was from China, but apparently, he'd never even left the city.

"Who would kill a biologist?" He muttered and shook his head. While he sipped at his coffee, Sally explained that they were already questioning his closest friends and family.

"His parents were worried sick, they tried to talk to the police more than once, but everyone was convinced that he'd show up again eventually." She finished her report.

"Isn't it always like that?" He sighed and fought the urge to run his hands through his already wet hair. "Anderson is on his way?"

She nodded. "There's a massive traffic jam in the city due to a demonstration, but he should be here any minute."

"Great." He looked around once more, nodding. He was already about to suggest that they should look at the body when his phone beeped with an incoming message. He just had to glance at it and Sergeant Donovan understood.

"A new case?"

"Something like that." Greg confirmed and drowned the rest of his coffee. "I'll see you tomorrow at Scotland Yard."

"Have fun." She didn't sound very excited to be left alone with Anderson, who just walked towards them, but she also didn't complain.

Greg left the construction site and walked around the next corner, not surprised to see a black car waiting for him. A small smile appeared on his lips and he found that he wasn't even sorry for lying to Sally, letting her believe that he was on a case with Sherlock.

Inside the car, Mycroft was already waiting for him with a white towel in his hands. "You're soaked." Was the only comment he got and Greg grinned when he began to dry his hair.

"You, on the other hand, are looking splendid as usual, Myc."

The oldest Holmes rolled his eyes. "You know that I'm not a fan of flattery, Greg."

"I'm only telling you the truth." He replied with a shrug. "How was your day?"

"Long. Exhausting. I had to sit through a three hour meeting with the Prime Minister." Mycroft smiled dryly.

"I bet you would have had more fun looking at our new case." In short words, he summarized what they'd found out. Mycroft listened closely, asking a question from time to time. His eyes were narrowed slightly and there was a thoughtful look on his face. Once more, Greg was astonished by how beautiful this man was.

"Should I tell you about what happened to him over dinner?" Mycroft quirked an eyebrow, a smile on his lips. Suddenly, his brilliant blue eyes were gleaming.

"Only if I get a dessert afterwards." He decided. "And you let me change into dry clothes first."

"You know that a dessert doesn't work with my diet, Greg." Mycroft almost sighed, making him chuckle.

"You don't even need that. The others don't have to know, do they?" He smiled mischievously. After a few moments, Mycroft smiled back at him.

"You should have told me about everything before things got complicated." Eve insisted, looking from James to Q and back. They were on their way back from lunch at a small restaurant not far away from MI6. "We could have solved this whole business with Moriarty much earlier."

"You've met my brothers." Q said. "They would have never let us ask for help if there had been another way."

She nodded with a sigh. "I know. I still can't quite believe that you're related to Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, Q!" The accusation in her voice was hard to miss. "I'm your best friend, you should have told me!"

"I kept it secret for a good reason." Q insisted. "Even James didn't know about them until recently."

"It's understandable why you told him about it first. But right afterwards, you should have come to me."

James' boyfriend groaned. "How often do I need to apologize before you can forgive me?"

"You could spend a day with me in the city. It's been ages since we went shopping together. Dinner afterwards, followed by an evening in the cinema." Moneypenny smiled widely. "That would be wonderful, Q."

"Fine. Anything else the lady requires?" Q raised his eyebrows.

"Well, if you say it, there's this beautiful man who started to work in our finance department last month -"

"No, absolutely not." Q interrupted her. "I won't get you his phone number."

"But Q…" She looked at him through wide, pleading eyes.

"No." Was the stern reply.

"You could have asked for anything else and he would have given it to you." James whispered loudly. "Now all you'll hear is no."

"I wasted my chances, didn't I?" Moneypenny tried to look regretful, which was only ruined by her grin.

Q sighed loudly. "I hate you."

"I'm your best friend and you love me." She threw in.

"I do." Q took James' hand. "But I love James more."

"Good." James muttered and didn't even let go of Q's hand when they arrived at the MI6 headquarters. Moneypenny vanished towards her office, while Q and James made their way towards Q-Branch. After everything that happened those past weeks, it felt good that all the tension because of Moriarty was finally gone. In hindsight, it was even good that the criminal had shown up. Otherwise, James would have never met John and Greg, who were his two closest friends now. Next to Moneypenny, of course.

They decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator, wanting to move some more before Q had to look how all the quests of the other Double-Oh's were working, while James needed to write a report about his last mission.

"She'll never stop blaming me for not telling her, won't she?" Q asked once they were alone in a hallway again. The stairs weren't frequently used at MI6.

"She has already forgiven you. Moneypenny just won't give you the satisfaction of letting it show so soon." James smiled slightly.

Q shrugged. "I could live with that. But if she -" He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. They'd just rounded a corner and Q nearly ran into someone else. Only James' fast reflexes prevented him from stumbling and he placed his hands on Q's back quickly, steadying him.

"I'm so sorry." Q muttered and he seemed to realize who was standing in front of them in the same moment James did.

It was 004, and he looked like hell. His usually so neatly combed hair was a mess, his skin was pale and there were dark rings under his eyes. And were his eyes even a little red…?

"Oh, it's you." 004 muttered, obviously not pleased to have run into them.

"You say it like that's something bad." Q raised his eyebrows. "Is everything alright?" Always the polite Quartermaster, caring for his agents. If someone else would have stood in front of them, James might have smiled.

"You don't look so good." He added with something that was hopefully a concerned look.

"It's none of your business how I look, Bond." 004 hissed, his eyes flickering to Q again, as if he'd forgotten that they weren't alone. "I just had an exhausting day. If you would excuse me now -"

He tried to walk past them, but a short glance at Q told James enough. They moved at the same time to block the way of the other Double-Oh. "Actually, we would like to have a short chat with you, 004." Q said in his most polite Quartermaster voice, one that you couldn't say no to.

The other agent sighed in defeat. "What is it?"

"It came to our attention that you were involved in certain… activities." Q began and when it became obvious that he wouldn't continue speaking, James summarized what they'd heard of his conversations.

"You said something about secret data. What did that mean?" James asked in the end, raising his eyebrows. He'd been convinced that 004 was working for Moriarty, but the consulting criminal had been questioned and when he kept insisting that he'd never seen the other Double-Oh before, they believed him. So what was going on?

004 sighed heavily. "I should have known that you overheard all of that."

"You should better explain it, otherwise I'm sure that M would also be interested in everything James heard." Q said mildly, looking at 004 with more patience than James felt.

In the end, the Double-Oh sighed. "My sister is sick. The doctor's say that she doesn't have long anymore." Q and James stared at him. He'd expected many things, but not this. However, 004 wasn't finished with his tale. "Her partner is locked up in prison because of something he did a few years back. Since they knew about my profession, they kept the information about where he's being kept secret. But she wants to meet him again before she… Before the end. I promised her to find out more about him."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Q said in the end and James found himself looking at the other Double-Oh with new interest. Something about this tale was bothering him, but he couldn't quite grasp what it was. But Q surely could find out more about the sister later.

"Seems like we miscalculated the situation." James agreed more slowly.

"Just don't tell anyone about it!" 004 shook his head, a mixture of anger and annoyance on his face. Without saying another word or even waiting for a reply, he stormed off, leaving them alone in the hallway.

"That was interesting." Q noted.

"Definitely. Do you believe what he said?" He wanted to know.

"I'm not so sure. But we can find out more about it later. Now we should get going, 008 is somewhere in South Asia and might need a little assistance."

James smiled. "I love how dedicated you are to your work."

The Quartermaster chuckled. "I love you too, James."

"I can't believe that you didn't tell me you have a second brother, Sherlock!" Mrs. Hudson exclaimed loudly.

Sherlock, who was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at something through his microscope, glanced at her with a frown. "It was not of importance." He said simply and turned back to his work.

"Not of importance?!" She repeated incredulously.

John, who was leaning in the doorframe with crossed arms, sighed. "I don't think you'll get a better answer right now, Mrs. Hudson. He's working on a new case already."

"But John, please tell me that you got a better explanation than this." She turned to him now, clearly looking stressed.

"After a while, yes." He confirmed with a nod. "It's complicated."

"Because Q is just as complicated as Sherlock and Mycroft?"

"He's better with people." John threw in. "But his job makes things difficult. He's also kind of working for the government."

"We don't talk about that!" Sherlock said without looking up.

"It's Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock!" John glared at his boyfriend. "We can trust her."

"Then she should ask Q about it."

John considered this for a moment. "Fine. He and James will come over tomorrow anyway."

This finally made Sherlock look up. "They will?"

"Together with Mycroft and Greg, yes." John nodded. "I invited them over for dinner."

"We could go somewhere." Sherlock muttered, looking at the big mess on the kitchen table. "I can't just stop my work so we can eat here!"

John sighed. "How does Angelo's sound?" He asked, thinking of their favourite restaurant first.

"Mycroft will be horrified by it! It's perfect!" Sherlock smiled for a short moment. Then he turned back to his work.

John exchanged a look with Mrs. Hudson. With a shrug, he grabbed his cellphone and wrote a short message to Angelo, asking for a table for six. The reply came almost immediately, saying that they were always welcome, no matter how many people they wanted to bring.

"So Q told you his real name." John said into the silence surrounding them.

Mrs. Hudson nodded. "But you have to ask him about it yourself, John. I can't break his trust and tell anyone about it."

"I bet it's just as strange as Sherlock or Mycroft…" John already expected a protest from his boyfriend, but Sherlock seemed to be too caught up in his work. At least that's what he thought. Because only a few minutes later when he'd decided to go downstairs with their landlady to watch a show she liked on TV, the detective suddenly jumped to his feet.

"We have to leave, John!" He announced. "Immediately. I've solved the case!"

"Can't that wait until later?" He glanced at Mrs. Hudson, who was clearly disappointed.

"No, it can't. Don't look so sad, Mrs. Hudson, you can watch the show later." With that, Sherlock grabbed his coat and vanished on the stairs. "Come on, John!"

"Just go with him." Mrs. Hudson said with a smile. "Otherwise, he'll be gone without you."

John smiled back at her. "You're amazing, Mrs. Hudson. See you later!"

He arrived outside just in time to see Sherlock jumping into a cab, holding the door open for him. Once they were both seated, the car drove off, through the streets of London.

"The game is on again!" Sherlock muttered with a grin and took John's hand.

A few months later

"I still can't believe that you jumped into the Thames!" Greg muttered with a grimace. "I bet that river is toxic."

"It was the only way." James replied with a shrug. "I've had worse."

"I bet you do." John shook his head in disgust. "But really, that river surely is toxic! Have you looked at the water more closely?"

"Don't remind me of that." The secret agent grimaced as well. "Let's talk about something else. I've heard you plan to go on a holiday with Mycroft soon, Greg." The three boyfriends were sitting in James' car together on their way back from a trip to Manchester they'd made. Greg had won tickets for a concert and they'd decided to go together, considering that the Holmes brothers were far too busy for something like that. They were already back in London and John knew that they'd reach Baker Street soon, if the traffic wasn't as horrible as usual. Right now, James looked at Greg through the rear mirror while John turned around to his best friend.

Greg nodded. "But we're still trying to find a time frame, with Myc that's incredibly difficult."

"You want to go to Italy, right?" Their plans changed so fast, it was difficult to keep track of everything.

"Florence." Greg confirmed with a nod. "Maybe also Rome, but we're not sure about that."

"Sounds amazing." He said with a smile and soon, they were lost in a conversation about all the places they wanted to see in their lives. John only noticed that James had gone silent when suddenly, he drove to the right, into a street John knew would lead them back out of the city. "James, what are you doing?" He asked, looking around in confusion.

"I may be wrong, but it looks like we're being followed." James muttered seriously, his eyes looking at something through the rear mirror. When John followed his gaze, he saw a grey car right behind them.

"Someone's following us?" Greg repeated incredulously. "But why?"

"I think there are lots of people who might want to have a chat with me." James sounded grim now. "I'll take another turn to the right soon, if the car is still behind us, we're really being followed."

"Great. Just great." John sighed. "Why can't our lives be boring and normal?" In this moment, his phone rang. It was Sherlock. "It gets even better." He answered the call, trying to let it sound as if everything was alright. "Sherlock, how are you?"

"You sound stressed." Was the first thing his boyfriend replied. "You're already back in London, so it's not traffic. Or not yet at least. Is Lestrade being stupid again?"

"Why should something be stressing me?" John asked innocently. "Everything's fine." In that exact moment, James took a few more turns with the car. When it became obvious that they were indeed being followed, the secret agent sighed.

"Stop lying to me, John." Sherlock argued dryly. "What's going on?"

"We'll be home a little later than planned." John admitted and suddenly, he heard someone talk to Sherlock. "Is Q with you?"

"Mycroft as well." Sherlock sounded annoyed. "They're waiting for James and Lestrade. That's why I called."

"Put them on speaker!" James demanded suddenly, taking another turn with the car which made the wheels protest with a creak. "Someone's following us and I bet they're not friendly."

In the back of the car, Greg groaned. "A normal day, isn't it?"

"Perfectly normal." John muttered and put the phone on speaker. "Guys, we have a problem. Someone's following us."

"James!" Greg called from the back seat. "Someone's following James!"

"Doesn't make a difference, considering we're in his car!" John argued and then the Holmes brothers began to speak and ask questions all at once.

"Stop arguing and tell us how to get away from here!" James interrupted the chattering impatiently.

In the end, it was Sherlock who spoke again. "Q already has your location, now listen to me closely. I know how you can lose your pursuers…"