A/N: Hello all, here's chapter 3! Enjoy.

~..~..~..~..

Chapter 3: "You don't think I can do this, do you"

"Sherlock has a son?" Mary repeated in surprise. She'd just got out of the shower when her husband rang her, and she had to sit on the edge of the bed as John filled her in.

"Apparently," John whispered into his phone, still in shock himself.

"But he's just found out now?" Mary pressed in concern.

"Yeah," John nodded. "His name is Nero, and he's being held captive in Greece to ensure…his mother's silence."

"And the mother is…" Mary trailed off suggestively.

"You know who," John told her, realizing that he should at least attempt to be discrete.

"I have to admit," Mary considered after a moment's thought, "this is probably one of the most human things I've heard of Sherlock doing."

"And it wasn't even for a case," John agreed, remembering what Sherlock had done to poor Janine. Proposing, just to break into Magnussen's office.

"So, you're going to Greece, then?" Mary asked, and John could swear he heard a smile in his wife's voice.

"Yes," he answered after a pause. "I'm going to Greece."

"Oh, I wish I could come," Mary said wistfully. "It'd be like a second honeymoon, just with more guns."

John couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Oh yeah, he'd married the right woman.

"Then who would look after Rhiannon?" John put forward. "This won't exactly be a holiday."

"For you it will be," Mary told her husband fondly. "You've been itching for something for ages."

"I don't know how long it'll take," John tried to be clear that he didn't know what would happen, but Mary knew him well.

"You'll be fine," Mary told him. "I wish I could be there to help. You could use a good shot."

"I am a good shot," John defended himself.

"I'm better," Mary countered smoothly.

"John?" Sherlock could be heard in the distance.

"Mary, I've…I've got to go," John's voice had a touch of apology in it, which Mary was quick to disperse.

"Go." She told him quickly. "Sherlock will really need you on this one, John. Good luck," she added quickly. "I love you."

"Love you too."

As she hung up the phone, Mary pursed her lips slightly, thinking. Getting up, she quickly checked that Rhiannon was still sleeping before rushing towards her laptop, dialing on her phone as she went.

~..~..~..~..

Sherlock, John and Irene stepped out of 221B as a black car slid smoothly to a stop in front of them.

"Mr. Holmes," a tall man in a black suit greeted as he got out of the car, handing Sherlock an envelope.

Sherlock tore it open, extracting three plane tickets before passing them out.

"They even included me?" John muttered as he received his ticket. "How'd Mycroft know I'd be coming?"

"It's Mycroft's job to know things," Sherlock explained quickly as he passed Irene her ticket. "Elizabeth Norton."

"My alias," Irene explained. "Obviously."

"Well, even on a private flight there are dangers," Sherlock surmised as he opened the back door for her. "The name doesn't suit you." He added quickly before closing it.

"Since when do you open doors for people, Sherlock?" John queried as he and his friend walked to the other side. Sherlock immediately reached for the back door, leaving John to sit up the front.

"Are you coming or not, John?" Sherlock as he got in and the doctor realized that he wouldn't get the opportunity to talk with his friend for a while.

~..~..~..~..

"So do we have a plan yet?" John asked conversationally as the three of them took their seats in the private plane Mycroft had organized for them in minutes.

"I have a few former clients in Greece," Irene supplied as the plane began to prepare to take off. "I'm owed a few favors."

"I believe the plan is for you to stay out of the public eye," Sherlock stated, his eyes focused straight ahead of him.

"Not all of my clients became my enemies, Sherlock, Dear," Irene explained softly. "And if we are going to get my son back, we will need some help."

"I thought that's why you came to me?" Sherlock finally turned his head to view the woman beside him.

"It is," Irene granted.

"So why do we need more help?" Sherlock asked.

"You're good, dear, but this will be Greece, not London. We need people who know the current area," Irene began, though Sherlock simply raised his phone.

"Mycroft sent me all the information needed. Oh, come on," he scoffed slightly as a look of skeptical surprised showed in Irene's eyes. "As soon as you said the kidnapper was the head of an underground network and called himself 'Hades' I asked my dear brother, who knows more about politics than anyone, to find out more information. Costos Karimicaelides," the gasp of recognition from Irene confirmed to Sherlock that he'd got the right person, "a finance minister who is also known as a rebel leader in certain circles. According to Mycroft, he's been trying to find a way to overthrow the Greek parliament for years, believing that only under his strict instruction, will the country build itself up from the economic disaster it's in."

"Yes," Irene nodded. "That's right."

"The fact that Costos has kidnapped… your son," Sherlock continued carefully, "means that he must be close to doing so, and one of the many incriminating things you had on your phone must have been his plan to do such a thing, but he either doesn't know your camera phone was taken from you, or he doesn't know what information you took. My guess is on the latter, as you were clearly living under an alias at the time, and why would you need to do that, if your phone hadn't been unlocked?"

"By you," Irene reminded him.

"By me," Sherlock nodded. "I'm the only one who could've done it."

"Yes," Irene granted, a smile tugging at her lips. "You are."

"So I am also the only one who can get…Nero, safely back with his family." Sherlock added, his eyes fixed on Irene as if willing her to agree with him.

"What about a place to stay?" Irene pressed.

"Mycroft has booked us a hotel," Sherlock admitted.

"Like Pakistan?" Irene raised a suggested eyebrow.

"No," Sherlock answered after a moment. "This one has room service and a working shower."

"Room service would be nice," Irene murmured.

Sherlock didn't comment, but the two of them continued their staring contest, as if trying to mentally asses each other.

"What about the language barrier?" Irene continued the conversation. "Do you speak Greek?"

Sherlock paused again, considering. "Judging by the quality of English that the kidnappers were speaking, it may not be necessary," he answered carefully.

"In other words: no," Irene finished.

"I speak well enough to get by," Sherlock defended himself. "I shut down one of Moriaty's networks in Athens over three years ago."

Irene finally broke into a smile.

"Well then, Mr. Holmes," Irene sat back in her seat as the plane began to taxi along the runway. "I think we'll work well together."

~..~..~..~..

As they flew, John watched with fascination, and not a little bit of surprised confusion, at how Sherlock and Irene acted towards each other, as the three of them went over the information that Mycroft had sent them.

John had the government laptop in front of them, which had been provided as soon as the seatbelt lights vanished, and followed Sherlock's instructions, checking and reading the various news articles, government files and yes, even the data on Irene's old camera phone.

"Well, at least it's not a train filled with explosives," John commented drily, shooting Sherlock a look as he perused the information on the screen.

"It's a chemical compound," Sherlock observed, staring at the screen a moment before sitting back in his seat, fingers steepled under his chin.

"What kind of chemical?" Irene asked in concern.

"It looks to be a form of cyanide," Sherlock answered, his voice sounding faraway as he searched his mind for ideas. "Far more elegant than a bomb, though I still expected something more than this."

"What?" John questioned.

"Poison, plain and simple," Sherlock answered, standing up to pace the aisle. "As I said, I was expecting something a little more creative, still…"

John's jaw dropped.

"An underground terrorist leader is going to try and poison the Greek parliament to take over the country?" He clarified.

"Well, I suppose, as you won't be destroying an actual building, just those inside, you don't have to worry about using money afterward on rebuilding the building, so Costos can focus on the country."

"Great," John muttered, "terrorism on a budget."

"How will it be done?" Irene asked, leaning over Sherlock's shoulder to view the screen, and John couldn't help noticing his friend's eyes flicker to the woman beside him.

"No information on that aspect, you only took the photo of what it will be done with," Sherlock informed. "Not to worry," he added quickly. "I'll figure it out."

"It's my son I'm worried about," Irene stated firmly, gaining Sherlock's attention. "If Mycroft knows there'll be an attack on the Greek Parliament, he's probably got people working on stopping it. I just want my son back safely."

"And we'll get him back," Sherlock assured her. "We'll get Nero out well before then, he'll be perfectly safe soon."

Irene took a deep breath, as if trying to compose herself, before walking towards the small bathroom on the plane and shutting the door.

John watched his friend, who kept his eyes on the door Irene went through, and figured it was now or never.

"So," John began hesitantly. "Nero."

Sherlock swallowed and lowered his eyes.

"He'll be fine," Sherlock muttered distractedly as he took a sip of the drink beside him, though it turned out to me more of a gulp.

"Of course he'll be fine," John continued pointedly, "his mum and dad are coming to rescue him."

Sherlock downed the rest of his drink before placing the glass back on the tray. John noticed his hand was shaking.

"How are you feeling, Sherlock?" John asked in concern.

Sherlock avoided his friend's gaze, pursing his lips as if afraid to speak.

"Mycroft is right," Sherlock whispered after a few moments. "I am an idiot."

"You're not," John retorted quickly. "You're Sherlock Holmes, the world's only consulting detective, you're as clever as it gets. However," John continued, causing Sherlock to raise his eyes for the first time, "as much as you try to prove otherwise, you are still human. Nero's living proof of that."

Sherlock's hands began to shake and John saw blind panic rising in his friend's eyes as Sherlock turned his gaze on him.

"You don't think I can do this do you?" Sherlock said. It sounded more like a statement than a question. "You or Mycroft."

"Do what?" John asked. "Save Nero from terrorists while stopping a terrorist organization poisoning the Greek parliament?" The doctor shrugged. "That's a regular day at work for you, isn't it?"

Sherlock didn't even acknowledge his friend's attempt at humor, instead, he wiped both hands down his face as he took a deep breath.

"Nero," Sherlock whispered, his eyes flicking to his friend's face. "You don't think I can be there for Nero. That I can't…" The detective rested his head against his seat, closing his eyes as a sigh escaped his lips.

"Be a parent?" John suggest carefully, and at the last word, Sherlock leaned forward to bury his face in his hands once more.

"How could I have done this, John?" Sherlock's voice was muffled, but John could still hear the fear in his voice. "How will I be able to do this?"

"Look," John grabbed his friend's shoulders, sitting him back upright so he could meet his eyes. "You are as clever as it gets, Sherlock. When Mary and I were getting married, you put all of that intellect into planning the wedding, covering every detail to the point where you were You Tubing serviettes. You gave Rhiannon home-made silly putty for her birthday and knew her favourite colour better than I did. Now, I don't care what Mycroft thinks," John finished firmly, "but I think you are more than capable of being a good parent to your son."

Sherlock began to take deep breaths, and John could feel his shoulders relaxing beneath his grip. Seeing his friend calming down, John let him go and settled back in his seat.

"So," John began after a moment, casting a look towards the door to make sure Irene was still out of ear shot. "You and Irene in Pakistan?"

The question helped to clear the air as Sherlock began to chuckle.

"I have to admit," John continued, a smile spreading across his face, "I didn't think you had it in you."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised myself," Sherlock admitted slowly. "I'm not giving you any details," he added quickly, pointing as if to reprimand his friend.

"I didn't ask," John raised his hands indignantly.

"You were forming the question," Sherlock insisted. "I'm just making sure it's not spoken."

"Okay," John nodded, accepting his friend's need for privacy. "Back to work then."

Sherlock nodded as he settled in his chair to think. "Back to work."

~..~..~..~..

Okay, how do you think I did?

I was inspired for the 'poisoning of parliament' idea from the Sherlock Holmes movies featuring Robert Downey Jnr. For while I do love the original stories, as Irene only made that one appearance in 'Scandal in Bohemia' I couldn't think of an original one in which she could feature and I could base my story on.

I get the feeling that Sherlock would do his best to stay focused on his job and try and treat the case as if it were any other, however, as he is only human, and Irene has always had a certain effect on him, challenging him, I felt that he would start to try and impress her or treat her as more than just a client in small ways as his heart begins to show through.

However, I also feel that Sherlock, while he assured John and Mary they wouldn't need to panic about having a child, he himself would be terrified at the thought of being a father as he is aware of his own short comings when it comes to relationships.

I also am sure that John would do his best to support his friend in any way he can, such as reminding him that he can adapt his intellect to any task, as he had done for the wedding, as proof that Sherlock could be a competent parent.

As for Irene, I think she's intrigued by Sherlock's intellect as much as he loves the challenge she brings. I imagine her continuing to play games with him, genuinely this time, as she understands that having a challenge, a game to play and a mystery to solve is what keeps Sherlock Holmes intrigued. I also wanted to show her as almost a female version of Sherlock, in that she tries to show that she is in control at all times, but when her heart gets involved, she becomes vulnerable or makes a 'human error' as Sherlock would say.

Please review, I appreciate feedback. It may take me a while to update as I try to figure out exactly how Sherlock and co will solve this one.