"Sherlock…"

"Not now John."

"Yes now! We're not allowed to do anything until your brother gives us the 'all clear'. Now, I want you to tell me what is behind that jab that Mycroft took at you."

"I don't know what he's talking about. Barbary and I merely had an argument. I made her see that we are not….compatible."

"What did you do Sherlock?"

"How is this fault? It was Mycroft's idea in the first place."

"Barbary was in a pub, getting pissed, when she was drugged with something….a still unknown substance….and abducted. I know that Mycroft can be a dick, something that apparently is in your genetics, but I am pretty sure that whatever he told you to do did not involve sending one of his best assassins down the rabbit hole. Now, I will ask you again, and I want the truth this time or I will allow Mary to extract the information from you….What did you do or say to Barbary?"

"Mycroft made it clear that he thought it was best that I did not continue on with this woman. After breakfast I ran a few errands and then made my way back over to Barbary's flat. We were intimate, and then I told her that we could not continue on as we were."

"What were Mycroft's exact words?"

"His words and I quote were 'Stay away from her Sherlock, at least on the personal level. Otherwise, when this is over and she goes back to her normal self, you will be left in the dust. Do you think she is going to care a thing about you when she is assigned to a case in say, Cambodia or Kazakhstan? She will be on to her next mark and you will be just an after-thought. I am only thinking of your well-being. You know how you get when things don't go your way. And if you were to carry on with this woman and she was to leave you behind when she moved on, how do you think you would handle that?'"

"Alright. Nothing there that says 'send my agent around the bend and get her kidnapped'. What did you do then?"

"When I returned to her flat, we wound up becoming….intimate, after which I handed her a stack of money which she promptly threw in my face and left, hobbling as fast as she could go, away from that place. As she got ready to leave she told me that she was sorry but that Mycroft had already paid her for services rendered."

"Oh my God. I think I am going to have an aneurysm. You are an absolute cock! That girl loves you beyond all logical reasoning and you try to pay her like she was a whore. You and your brother are unbelievable. Quite frankly I am astonished that Mary hasn't already ended any chance your parents have for grandchildren between the two of you."

"No John, My croft has paid her to see to my safety, there is a difference."

"Look. I shouldn't be telling you this, and you better pray that Mary never finds out that I have or you will need a new blogger. You remember when Barbary came to Baker Street sick as a dog?"

"Yes."

"According to Mary, sometime before that, apparently Barbary had a meeting with Mycroft. During this meeting, he all but called her a whore as well. From what I understand Barbary slapped him so hard his teeth rattled. After doing so she left his car and ran; his magic cameras couldn't find her. Mary said she slept on the roof of a building for days with the weather being absolutely dreadful….you remember the rain.

"What did Mycroft say to her?"

"I don't know why you care. But, Mycroft told her that he had assigned her to protect you, not fornicate with you, and that if you wanted her in your bed she would just go to you like she has all the others…basically throwing everything she has ever done in her face. He knows what her life was like before he found her. And don't even get me started on what she has done in the name of Queen and country since she has been working for him. And he threw it right back in her face. And now you….."

"I shall have to give her a medal, slapping Mycroft like that. It must have been so satisfying. I should do it again sometime myself."

"Do you hear yourself? She loves you…."

"You know I don't do…"

"Sentiment. You don't know what she would do for you…what she has done for you…..all of her life."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"From what Mary has explained to me, Barbary would do anything for you and Mycroft."

"What do you mean 'what she has done for me?' "

"It's not my story to tell Sherlock. But I will say this…..Mary is worried that this assignment will kill Barbary. Now, you better hope that she is in one piece when they pull her out of that house, otherwise Mary is going to come after you."

John would have gladly kept tearing into Sherlock for days until they heard the scream. They both stopped arguing and looked toward the house.

Mycroft's voice crackled over the communications system, 'John, I need you both to stay where you are."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SH~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sweeping the house in a way that was demanded by protocol looked good on paper. But, when one of your best friends and assassins screams like that….to hell with protocol. Mycroft and his crew made their way up the stairs and down the hall following the direction that the scream came from. Once they were in front of the door, Mycroft closed his eyes for just a second while one of the team members kicked in the door and everybody swung into place.

"Oh look who came to the party. You're good Mycroft, didn't even take the entire 24 hours. But you know how changeable I am. I got tired of waiting, decided to step up the time table. Oh did I forget to tell you?"

When Mycroft and the others had busted into the room Barbary had jumped, grabbing a sheet that had been close by and tried scooting out of the way; it was only marginally successful, her left wrist had a shackle around it that was then chained to the floor near the mattress she had been held down on. When Moriarty realized that she wasn't listening to a word out of his mouth, he became completely incensed.

"I said LOOK!" He was waving his gun at Mycroft and Mary, not even really paying attention the other team members.

Barbary knew she had to keep him from aiming at Mycroft and Mary, and back on her.

With a shaky voice Barbary tried her best pushing his buttons, 'M-maybe you're not really interesting enough to keep my attention. Maybe you're not as important as you were three years ago. Nobody cares about James Moriarty anymore." That did it.

Moriarty stepped back over to her and began kicking her in her sides and stomach. Barbary, with the sheet wrapped around her, curled up to try to protect herself, crying out when there was a particularly brutal kick.

"Let her go Moriarty." Mycroft yelled.

"I don't think so. I have been paid an obscene amount of money by a particular client to help lighten their burden." He grabbed for Barbary's hair to pull her by his side, closer to where the chain hanging from her arm was attached to the floor.

"Do tell,' Mycroft was taking that tone that anyone who knew him would tell you that meant there was something about to happen; his eyes were taking on that 'too calm' gleam.

"They want Sherlock, and you, off their backs. And I know that this little gem is one of your best assets. Could you imagine my surprise when I found out that they, my clients, kicked in a few extra dollars to get this one back? They paid top dollar for her, too." He kept petting her hair. Barbary chanced a glance at Mary; Mary could see the look in her eye, telling her to take the shot if she got one. Barbary could feel her skin crawling; she wouldn't dare make eye contact with Mycroft, she couldn't.

"Once I learned that they were willing to pay that much for my services, I could kill quite a few birds with this little stone. I knew I could get you here; you've invested a lot of time and money in training your little guard dog. I knew that you would come to collect her. You would undoubtedly ask for Sherlock's help….to see what he could find out from the video. Am I right?"

"Of course you are, but then you knew that."

"Yes. I did. And I knew that Mary would come; Barbary is the sister she never had. She would never leave her to perish. And, between Mary and Sherlock, it was a given that the other gold fish…John would be coming as well. So, I can take out the two of you….Hey, Mycroft, how fast do you think that John and Sherlock would come running when they hear the gunshots?"

Moriarty raised his gun, pointing at Mycroft's forehead; it was that moment that Barbary chose to make her move. She used her weight to yank away from Moriarty's grip on her hair, catching him of balance a bit. Once he was able to gain his footing again he made his way to her, reaching for her. When Barbary realized that Moriarty was off balance she rolled over on her back, letting out a groan of pain, and got her knees to her chest; when Moriarty reached for her again, she used her feet to kick him away from her. This gave Mary and Mycroft the opening they needed. Both of them took shots at the demented man, unloading their clips. The consulting criminal fell to the floor, a look of disbelief was the last thing that passed over his face.

Barbary was curled up in the floor, as far away from Moriarty as her chain would allow her to go, pulling the sheet around herself. Her breathing was a bit erratic and she was shaking a bit. She tried rolling over onto her side away from everybody else but the chain would only extend to a certain degree, leaving her arm extended out behind her. At this angle, Mycroft and his people could see blood seeping into the sheet.

Mycroft made it to her side first, reaching out to try to touch her shoulder; Barbary tried to pull away from him, nearly pulling her arm out of the socket in the process.

"Mycroft, back off, I'll get her." Mary stepped closer to them, pushing Mycroft out of the way. "Bar, I'm going to use these bolt cutters to cut the chain away, we can work on getting the shackle itself off when we get you out of here."

Barbary didn't seem to notice. She was still having trouble breathing; whether that was from a physical injury or from panic, nobody could be sure yet. Mycroft carefully held his wrist up to his mouth and spoke carefully into the transmitter telling John and Sherlock it was safe to come in now.

Once Mary got the chain cut away from the shackle, Barbary started to struggle to sit up and back away from the others.

"No!"

"What is it Bar? He's dead." Mary looked deeply concerned for her friend.

As John and Sherlock came into the room they saw Barbary leaning over Moriarty's dead body checking for a pulse, sticking her finger to one of his bullet wounds, gouging it, to see if he would flinch from the pain.

"NO!"

"Barbary?"

"He didn't have to suffer."

John stepped forward slowly, 'Barbary, Mycroft and the others want me to take a look…."

He was cut off by Barbary shaking her head no and backing away, 'Make him leave,' pointing at Sherlock.

"What do I have to do with anything?"

"Go away!"

Barbary wheezed, her breathing becoming harder and harder.

"Sherlock, come on. We'll go back outside. Let John and Mary see to her for a moment." Mycroft grabbed Sherlock by an elbow and began to lead him away. As they stepped away they could both hear Barbary pleading with John not to look; it was a pitiful sound really. Before Mycroft and Sherlock got very far away, John came racing up to them and let them know that he would not be able to attend to Barbary in this state.

"She's too upset; her breathing is erratic at best. She's panicking and I don't want to upset her further. I can tell by the amount of blood that has soaked into the sheet that she needs a hospital and she needs it sooner rather than later. Mycroft…"

Mycroft made the announcement over the transmitter that they should send in the paramedics immediately; once they were in he waved them over in Barbary's direction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SH~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Barbary, in the meantime, had grabbed on to Mary's hand and would not let her go.

"I think it's best if I ride with her John. It might help her stay a bit calmer if I'm there."

"Go ahead, we'll meet you there."

The paramedics got her onto the stretcher and then proceeded to load her into the ambulance; Mycroft had smoothed the way allowing Mary to ride along. As she climbed into the ambulance, Mary reminded Mycroft to call over to the morgue and check on Molly and Yasmina.

"Remember, Moran did leave and, as of right now, we have no intel on his whereabouts."

"Quite right." Without a second thought Mycroft made the call, walking to the car that would take him as well as John and Sherlock to Barts.

Once they were underway to the hospital and Mycroft had touched base with his people that were keeping an eye on the hospital, John asked him what news there had been.

"As of right now, Moran hasn't been seen around Bart's. I have some people checking the security footage to make sure nothing was missed; but currently Dr. Hooper is getting on nicely with her assistant. It seems as though the young lady, Yasmina is quite adept at her tasks, I think Dr. Hooper wishes to be able to keep her past her assignment."

By the time Mycroft's driver was able to deliver the trio to the hospital, Barbary had already been taken back for her exams and the operations that it would take to stitch the injury to her side up and take care of any broken bones. Mary was sitting in one of the waiting room chairs with a cup of coffee, her clothes and hands were a bit bloody; she didn't seem to notice, she was too deep in thought.

"Mary." No answer.

John tried again, 'Mary".

Upon hearing her name a second time, Mary snapped out of her daydream; the look on her face was worrisome to say the least.

"Mary what's happened?" John asked urgently.

"She lost consciousness on the way here; she's lost quite a bit of blood. And so many broken bones….most of her fingers have been broken, I saw that myself. I don't know what all else, I haven't received any other updates yet; they haven't had her back there for nearly long enough to mend her properly yet."

"Mary, let's go home, you need to change clothes and get cleaned up."

"I'm not leaving her."

"John, don't worry. I can have someone fetch something for Mary if you would like. I'm going to go to the nurse's station and let them know to keep us informed."

John let Mycroft make the arrangements for getting Mary's things, and because of their connection to the hospital, Mary was allowed to use the employee shower facilities to clean up.

As she showered, she scrubbed and scrubbed, but could not erase the knowledge she actually had. Mary had not told the men much at all. It was apparent that, in the hours that Moriarty and his two accomplices had Barbary, that more than just a serious beating took place. Mary had no idea what kind of man Torrance was, but he was running with men like Moriarty and Moran so that didn't say much for him. But Moriarty and Moran were both complete psychopaths. The paramedics told her, once Barbary had lost consciousness that there was evidence of sexual activity; they would know more after the doctors had taken care of her and tests had been run. It was highly unlikely that Moriarty had taken part in that at least but, you could never be sure really, because he was so fluid in his inclinations. Without a doubt The Butcher had something to do with it. Moran was notorious; almost everybody that ever heard his name would quake in fear. Barbary may have been a loose cannon at times, but even she kept her distance from Moran at all times.

Mary could only wonder what had led Barbary to being taken by Moran this way; she made up her mind to ask her as soon as she was awake and able to handle questions.

Once she was squeaky clean, or as close to it as she could get in one day, Mary dressed and headed out to the waiting room with the others. In the meantime there was an update on Barbary; there had been some internal bleeding, mostly from being kicked hard repetitively. Some of the kicks had landed near her ribs, breaking a couple causing at least one of them to puncture a lung. That had been fixed; her lung was seen to. They had managed to stop the external bleeding; there had been cuts made with a sharp serrated blade down most of the length of the left side of her torso. Some of the fingers on both hands had been broken and were reset. Barbary also had a fractured right clavicle. There was some bruising along the bottom jaw line. There was a gash near her left temple. Barbary had presumably put up one hell of a fight even though she was heavily drugged and quite intoxicated. And the nurse confirmed that the doctor had found evidence of sexual assault. The nurse said that the doctor was almost finished stitching Barbary and cleaning her up, then she would be sent to a private room immediately to be made as comfortable as possible while she recovered.

Mary knew to expect that, the paramedics had said as much, but it was still hard to hear; she had to turn to look out the window of the waiting room. She had to keep her composure while the nurse spoke to everybody else. As soon as the nurse left the group, Mary turned on Mycroft and gave him hell.

"I told you to take her off of this assignment, but you wouldn't listen. I told you this might happen. This assignment is going to kill her. It nearly did tonight. When will enough be enough for you?"

"Mary…"

"No John, don't try to placate me. I'm sick of this. Twenty-five years Mycroft. Think about that. Yes, you saved her life, and she's been paying for it ever since. But, what I can't figure out….Aside from the usual reasons, why would Barbary be in that pub drinking herself half to death in the first place?"

Sherlock stepped forward, 'I believe that I may be able to explain that…."