Hello all... So this chapter doesn't have Molly in. Sorry but I try to move the plot along (even if it's just not one of my strong point, I always feel that everything is just too obvious). But in the next chapter, we'll have Sherlock and Molly in the same scene promise! Also, don't hesitate to review, I would be glad to know what you think (especially regarding how I manage to keep all in character or not) :)

When John arrived at Baker Street the following morning, he found Sherlock in his dressing gown, sipping coffee and eating toasts instead of the expected retreat in his mind palace. This was one of the main changes that resulted from being married and living away: missing some parts of the current investigations that the detective was in and having to catch up. He went to the tray and served himself a cup of tea.

"So? Did you find him?"

"Hmmm…. Oh, yes." Replied Sherlock thoughtfully.

"So the man's been caught? We're safe?"

"Nope." Said the detective popping the "p".

John froze, the cup of tea halfway to his mouth and gawked at Sherlock.

"What do you mean no? You found the guy, how can he not be in custody?" said the army doctor, worried. There was a familiar feeling about this situation, this was Sherlock's excitement over the consulting criminal all over again. "Please, tell me that's not Moriarty."

"No, Moriarty's dead. He shot himself in the head. You cannot really come back from that. And even with blank cartridges, the power blast is too much for the brain. Not a clever way too fake a suicide evidently." detailed the detective. "No, that's someone new." he ended with glee.

At the glare that John shot him, Sherlock realised that what he had said was maybe a bit not good. He looked at his friend wonderingly. "What, John?"

"Nothing. So how is he? Is he cute? Does he like dogs? Oh wait, we're not talking about your new boyfriend, no we're talking about a bloody psychopath!"

"Please, John. We both know I don't do boyfriends. And we don't know if he is a psychopath yet." At the look he received when he uttered the last sentence, the detective felt the need to qualify "OK, balance of probability is in your favour. But why so touchy all of a sudden?"

"Sherlock. The last time, no the last two times we were in this situation, someone tried to kill me. Excuse me if I'm a little upset by the idea that you found another criminal mastermind obsessed with you!" shouted John.

"John, the reason I'm your best friend is that I attract criminal masterminds. What changed?" asked the man still sipping his tea. With one look at his friend's furious muttering, he finally remembered:

"Oh, the baby right?"

"Yes, Sherlock! I have a baby on its way!"

"You don't. Mary has one on its way. But you're obviously nesting. Well, that does account for the 5 pounds weight gain." Replied dismissively Sherlock as he gestured to John's stomach.

John was about to say something when he visibly refrained. He muttered indistinctly while pinching the bridge of his nose. Sherlock had always found his friend's open expressions somewhat in contrast with his former career. For an ex-military man, he was totally devoid of the stoic unreadable face that members of the army so usually displayed. Well, John had been an army doctor so there was some element that would explain the lack of poker face. But doctors were also usually not that keen on displaying emotion. Except for Molly of course. But then, she had no need for a carefully schooled professional air to assuage the fears of her patients. They were all dead, after all. What about the lover then? He had seemed quite open in his expression, smiling broadly, relaxed throughout his whole visit. But something didn't sit right with Sherlock… The smile. It reminded him of the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. Some kind of amused malevolence behind the friendliness…

"So, who is he? What does he want?" asked John.

"I don't know. Not that easy to deduce. Not sure that she'd want me to deduce anyway." Muttered Sherlock still in his thoughts about a man he wasn't sure deserved his pathologist yet.

"I thought you found him? You must have an inkling of what is his endgame, don't you? And who is 'she'?" replied an alarmed John.

Sherlock realised that he and John were talking about two different subjects. Sometime, his retreat in his mind palace could be terribly inconvenient. Who John was talking about? Oh, yes, of course… The hacker. He mustn't have come to that part yet.

"Sorry… I forgot that you weren't there last night. So… The man. He is a hacker that's elementary. One with a lot of experience: he was able to crack MI6's firewalls and also those of my brother – he's so slipping right now… Anyway, to have that sort of experience he must have worked for an intelligence agency. Probably not MI6, though, they would have recognised his style. Maybe CIA or DGSE? Well, it actually doesn't really matter anyway. The man found his way in Moriarty's employ a while back. Probably bored by the tediousness of secret intelligence work. Paranoid to the extreme if one takes into account that nobody even heard of him in Moriarty's web, he probably dealt directly with him. And he must have been brilliant if Moriarty indulged him that way. A solitary, brilliant individual that hid for three years, waiting for the dust to settle after Moriarty's death." Explained Sherlock.

"OK." Said John taking the flow of information in. "So when do we go and crush that… spider?" asked the army doctor.

"Not a spider John. No, he works alone, trusts no one and won't have any little web to pick at. This man is a moray eel. He's going to hide in a recess of the dark web until its prey is quite in the position that he wants and then he'll strike." Reflected Sherlock, taking another gulp of tea.

"So we have to wait and hope that we're not his prey?" summarised John. At the Sherlock's nodding, he continued "So, what do we do in the mean time?"

"What we've always done" smiled the detective "Go and solve some cases!" Sherlock got up and gestured to John to get to his computer.