So sorry for the delay, really, new job, chaotic schedule… I hadn't even realized a whole week had passed already. Now, I tried to solve the whole thing in this chapter, I hope it's good, if it's not all I have to say in my defense its that: it really is the first time I attempted something like this, I remit you to the first chapter, this is my very first fanfic since I decided to start writing again, so please be kind.

That goes only for the criminal plot, now after this chapter I can return to the romance that I also have to close up. So there will be some happier moments in the chapters to come. Thank you all for being patient, for keeping up with me even when my English is not the best, and for the comments… there's finally more than ten… (It's embarrassing but I know it's all because of my terrible style), I'll be editing the story, to change the format when it's over, now, have a new chapter, let me know what you think, enjoy it.

19. – Family reunion.

Sherlock couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for leaving Lestrade unconscious and in such a delicate situation outside, but the truth was that he was trying to avoid an even worse situation. He regretted once more that his mobile phone had suddenly stopped working; it would be really useful to have Wiggins trying to do something for the DI tied outside.

Instead he waited patiently for someone to open the door, surprisingly it was Anthea who opened the door, the woman presented her usual calm stance in front of him, but he could see how nervous she was clearly in her eyes, lifting a hand he silently asked her to keep quiet, she pressed her lips together with concern and moved aside to let him in.

John and Mary's house had always seemed too little for him, it was of course bigger than Baker Street, but for him it just lacked space, as if the architect had just gotten frustrated and placed walls wherever he wanted, leaving little space to actually move from one room to another. In spite of that Sherlock advanced cautiously, he took a quick look inside the living room, and another inside the kitchen, there Tom and Janine were still knocked out by some drug, he suspected that Mycroft had something to do with that, there was a chair in front of the door leading to the basement, but it was open so John and the other hostages should be in a different place now.

He looked at the ceiling, right over his head was supposed to be the master bedroom, and if John was there he would be able to hear him, he silently cursed the buzz that the relative silence of the place had brought to his ears… Taking the broomstick he lifted it over his head and gave three short taps, almost immediately Sophie's crying voice answered him. He winced internally, that could have alerted Izzy and Mycroft of his presence – but he was sure that they probably knew it before hand – and he didn't want to think of what Mary will do once she found he had woken up her baby…

This was no moment to be thinking about that… Molly will probably tell him that later…

"Focus" he willed his mind to concentrate on the present, he could hear footsteps over his head, Anthea had probably been told to keep an eye on Janine and Tom because she had returned there and was now sitting by the table looking at the ceiling.

He closed his eyes and tried to determine who was walking over them, in the master bedroom were Sophie and Mary, judging by the recent calm after he woke the first one up, lighter footsteps could be heard on the hallway leading to the stairs, in the guests room… Molly.

If he wasn't mistaken Molly was inside the guests room, had they locked them all separately? … He needed to find John; his medical and military training was going to be useful if they needed to contain Izzy.

"STOP BEING SO CHILDISH!" shouted Mycroft voice from upstairs, Sherlock cursed his buzzing ears – it made it hard for him to understand the whispers of his siblings upstairs – because he couldn't tell if they were on the roof or just somewhere else.

Mentally crossing his fingers, he lifted again the broomstick and tapped the ceiling in the hall, just in time to hear Izzy's maniacal laugh, the footsteps stopped… He held his breathing and then a different pair of steps moved on the room.

Trying to keep silent he tapped once again. This time he got a response of a pair of tumps coming from the room above. Great, John was in the same room as Molly! With that in mind he started climbing the stairs as cautiously as he could, things were about to get started.

Molly was trapped in a loop, pacing the length of the room chewing her nails, for moments fresh tears would escape her eyes, but she would just brush them away silently, then she would stop, look through the window, watch the street, check on Greg and start over, it was giving her a headache, but it was better than the shock that had encased John against the door.

It was during one of her nervous walking that she felt it, a slight vibration under her feet, a gentle sound trying to get her attention. John had probably heard something too, because that finally made him move, he stopped her and walked quickly to where she had been walking on and waited…

Another round of tumping sounds was heard a moment later, he looked up at Molly with raised eyebrows and then gave two taps on the floor with enough force to be heard only in the room. He then stood up and gestured her to move to one side of the bed and crouch down, approaching the door until his ear was pressed against it.

A minute later four knocks were heard on the wood of the door, followed by a little movement on the handle.

Click

John stepped away from the door and pulled it open just a little, he turned around to look at her smiling, moving his mouth to form the words 'Stay here' before opening the door and walking outside the faint whisper of a second male voice made her curious.

With the door almost closed, she once again approached the window… Greg was still there, so it couldn't have been him… A neighbor maybe? No, that just couldn't be… From one side of the street a man using a black hoodie walked slowly in the garden and approached Lestrade, just to walk away a moment later…

The man looked to either side of the street before disappearing round the corner… he looked familiar… no, no, no… this was no moment to start seeing familiar faces in every person that walked by, this was a critical situation and she needed to do something… she needed to help.

That's what Sherlock would do… try to help.

With one last glance towards Mrs. Hudson that was still deep asleep on the bed, Molly exited the room and started walking as silently as she could… She was trembling, she was scared, but she was going to help John, and who ever let them out…

Mycroft pressed his lips together in a thin line, not every day you're forced to admit that you underestimated someone, he should have thought of all the years Izzymus had spent out of the country, learning deadly skills that were probably going to make his mother cry, instead of just relying on Magnussen's files… Hell, the man supposedly knew everything about everyone!

He had barely been capable of catching up with Izzymus once he climbed up the stairs after wheeling out the DI, what was he planning? Why was he doing this?

An image of what had been in the papers the day after Izzy had been sent away flashed in his memory… Someone, somebody had modified the information, it had been done quickly and under the nose of many important people in the government, Izzymus's charges had been exaggerated and sent to a completely different department to be signed and approved, a criminal network recruiting in the shadows had been responsible of it, clearly… That day he had thought of pointing out the mistake, do something for him, but in his grieve for having lost such a companion… Evangeline Black… someone that could have been more than a friend for him once. No! That was just wrong. Probably out of rancor he had allowed it to stay like that.

Mycroft Holmes was very aware of what he had done that day, but with the years he had started to believe that his little brother was going to grow with that experience, that at some point it was going to be a benefit to have a brother like him. He had tried to contact him, he had found him a few times, but apparently he had as much energy as Sherlock usually had and he had never once been able to communicate with him… Damn his age, middle age was really taking its tool on him; he should have never stopped, overlooked or taken things for granted… His mistakes suddenly made him feel vulnerable… more human, he was an idiot! And everything that was happening today was his fault.

"Can't you just stop already? You're making me loose time, and I do have more important things to do" he said once he found Izzy on the roof.

"Oh no, dear brother. The show has just started! When I was sent away, I swore that whenever I came back I was going to leave a mark, something that no one would ever be able to forget. That idea had sort of taken a second place when I thought I had achieved enough power to do what you now claim to be doing… Again my own family betrays me! First Sherlock, and now you" during all this little speech Izzy had been moving all over the roof, activating something with a remote control he had in his pocket, checking every now and then that the green leds over the device were turning on.

Mycroft doubted for a minute, he could easily deduce that his brother had probably thought of a secondary plan in case things with Sherlock had gone differently, his sense of self preservation was active and telling him to run out of that place, the probabilities of being blown up with the whole house in a matter of minutes where high, he needed to stop him.

"And what are you planning to do? Play martyr and expect the media to tell your sad story! What's all this nonsense about betrayal? You caused more damage that day than Sherlock or me! I admit it was unfortunate how your name was suddenly put in the wrong place, but you needed to learn your lesson!" He was usually a very calmed man, he was used to know things were happening the way he wanted, and he was proud of the control he had over his own emotions, but this was getting to his nerves, and mixed with the anger and the fear was pushing him to expose himself… if only to win time.

"Oh, please Mycroft, I know what happened, I believed for some years that you, my intelligent and high positioned brother will find a way to bring me back home, but you didn't… Then when I finally find someone that could contact me with Sherlock, he turned out to be his nemesis, I never had the chance to tell James that I was his brother, I did help him with some bombs…"

"James? James Moriarty? What did he tell you? That he was going to help you come back somehow? He and Sherlock were trying to kill each other! At the most he would have used you to get him!"

"I noticed that when he shot himself! That's when Nick contacted me with Magnussen, I worked for him getting special information for his vaults for a few years… Do you think I'm so happy knowing that all my hard work, everything I did is now in your hands? You of all people!?"

"STOP BEING SO CHILDISH!" shouted Mycroft trying to follow the tangled image that Izzy was painting to him "If you had ever wanted to get in touch with us all you had to do was ask for it, not just wait in a corner until the opportunity presented itself, you're not a child anymore! Sherlock is not any ordinary man; I am not any ordinary man! You could have mentioned our names, any of them, to your 'bosses' and you would have got all the attention you wanted!" Mycroft was for once in his life completely outraged, not even dealing with Sherlock's addiction had ever made him this mad. But it was the lack of knowledge over his own emotions that made him notice the state he had just fallen into, he was shaking, out of breath and he could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks, his fingers completely cold and what could be the start of a knot restraining his throat… this was so embarrassing.

Izzy fell silent for a few minutes, the crazy expression in his face showing a dangerous frown now and without notice a sting of guilt hit, making Mycroft feel ashamed and for the first time in a long time vulnerable…

"Bravo!" A faint clapping sound came from his back, Sherlock's voice was the last thing they had expected to hear right now. "Let me congratulate you Izzymus, you're the very first man that had ever been able to put Mycroft in this state… I could say the same about giving me painful injuries, but I'm afraid someone did that before you…"

Izzymus expression turned surprised, his breathing hitching up a bit, and his posture turning tense at the sight.

John had to smile when he saw that it had been Sherlock – a very injured and probably in need of attention Sherlock – who locked him out of that room, the situation was critic, he could tell, and once they were out he expected him to explain his plan, but Sherlock had just shook his head.

With a nod towards the master bedroom he did quick job opening that door too, and then in a labored whisper he said. "Check on your family and see if Mary can help us, I'll be at the roof"

He had wanted to argue with him, but the urgency in his best friend's movements told him that he should try to convince Mary to help them. Slowly he opened the door and entered.

He lifted his hands and took a deep breath when he found himself in front of a gun. Mary had a fearful expression on her face and had her cheeks damp for crying…

"Don't shoot love… It's me!" he said looking at her back, noting that Sophie was safe in her crib, fully awake and moving her tiny arms and legs.

Mary's hand started trembling and new tears started to fall as she lowered the gun, throwing it to the floor and wrapping her arms immediately around him, he automatically pulled her close.

"I'm sorry… I didn't want to… he threatened you… Sophie! … Said he would hand me over… kill you both… I just couldn't…" sobbed Mary into his chest, her trembling form making him feel how scared she had been.

"Shh, shh, shh… calm down dear. I understand… calm down." He said running his hand over her hair and rocking with her until she calmed down a bit. "Sherlock and I will need your help…" She looked up at him with wide eyes, her teary expression turning serious "… Molly is in the other room; she could take care of Sophie."

Mary nodded, crouching down to pick up the gun with trembling hands, before following him out of the room.

They both shared a look when by opening the door Molly wasn't inside the room, Mrs. Hudson however was starting wake up, with a firm pace John entered the room and shook the old lady's shoulder, making her open her eyes lazily.

"Mrs. Hudson, you might not be feeling well yet, but I need you to go to the other room please." The old woman nodded, probably sensing the tension and followed them out with shaky legs.

Once knowing that Sophie and Mrs. Hudson would be safe without them, they climbed up the stairs in direction of the roof…

The first thing Molly did after walking out of the room was go downstairs, the place was silent, but she had been really surprised to find Anthea sitting in the kitchen looking at the ceiling with a concerned expression, Tom and Janine were both knocked out or something over a pair of chairs, their head hanging down… for a moment she wondered if what ever Sherlock and her had done was really that bad that those two hadn't been able to let it go…

With Tom it was one thing, but she wasn't sure how bad Janine had had it after her time with Sherlock, last thing she knew she had bought a house… somewhere in the country.

Anthea had turned her head to see her, but continued sipping her tea in silence.

"Uhm… everything in order here?" she asked not quite sure of what she was supposed to say to the PA.

"Yes. Don't worry Dr. Hooper, in a couple of minutes more everything will be solved" said Anthea smiling at her.

"What do you mean? A couple of minutes?" Molly asked worried. Anthea just smiled again and looked down at her mobile; tapping with her finger next to it… she was probably just waiting for some message or something. The woman proceeded to ignore her once again and Molly took that as the end of their conversation.

She moved into the kitchen, looking for something anything to defend herself… she grabbed a knife, not a big one, just… it was just in case. Something bigger will make her look ridiculous. An image of an angry Janine holding the rolling pin in her hands crossed her mind, shrugging at the confused glance that Anthea sent her way she grabbed it and climbed the stairs again, barely aware of the 'ping' signaling an incoming message to Anthea's mobile.

"Oh Sherlock, it's good to see you! I thought you wouldn't make it" said Mycroft trying to transmit his disdain and relief.

"For a moment I almost thought that as well, but here I am" said Sherlock walking towards his siblings and stopping making a triangle between them "Mummy and Daddy would be so happy to have us all together for once"

Izzymus's expression softened a little, a beeping sound came out of his pocket, and without taking his eyes from either of his brothers he pulled out the device and checked it. He read the message that he had just received and another worrying wave of anger crossed his features, Sherlock was ready to hear another speech from his little brother, but instead he started laughing…

Mycroft looked at him with the same concerned and confused expression he supposed was on his own face, Izzy even doubled over with laughter.

"This… this is just… You were right Mycroft, I shouldn't have come back. It's this country, this place. Now I understand why you live the way you do, emotionless, cold and trying to take advantage of others, never worrying for somebody else… So I far I've lost more than ever in my life… No job, no family, no friends… Maybe it'll be better if I just push the button…" he said, his stance changing completely, his expression completely out of himself.

Helicopters could be heard approaching to the place, the police making their way towards the house.

"Ha ha ha, see? Even you're people" he said pointing at Mycroft "is already coming for me… I only wanted to be part of your lives, this place… Yes, probably not it the most conventional way but… I did miss you both; growing up that way damaged me" absentmindedly he looked down once again to the controller in his hand, the five leds on it flashing a yellow light.

Izzy lifted dramatically one finger and readied himself to press the button over it…

Swish!

Something really quickly passed between them; the sound of the shot practically lost in the confusion, and suddenly the controller fell to the floor from Izzy's hands. Another fit of laughter burst out of Izzy's form and pulled Sherlock and Mycroft out of their shock.

"Oh! That's good, yes, I should have thought about it…" Izzymus pointed repeatedly at the door "That must be 'Mary'" he said in a mocking tone. "Why don't you join the party 'Mary'?

John and Mary walked through the door to their roof, Mary was still shaking a bit, but the hand holding the gun was steadily pointed towards Izzymus. John was standing right beside her, looking at the three brothers warily.

In a sudden move Izzy reached for the inside of his pocket, another shot from Mary's gun was heard this time, but it hit somewhere right next to Izzymus.

"Wow, calm down 'Mary', I'm just trying to confirm that all my plans had already failed, you see, if there's something my brothers are good doing is ruining my life…" slowly this time, Izzy pulled out his mobile and made some scrolling…

Boom!

An explosion made the entire house tremble, some neighbors in the surroundings started coming out, some people shouting, some others just curious; from where they were it was visible that they were pointing at the house, and Sherlock dreaded the worst…

"Clever, isn't it? An old friend's trick. Oh, don't worry Sherlock, that wasn't your friend if you were worrying about him" said Izzy with a dismissive gesture.

"What do you want Izzymus? Why are you doing all this?" asked Sherlock.

"I want my freedom. Since it's apparently the only thing I have left. At first I wanted to know why you were interfering with my plans, I thought you knew… silly me, but you were only thinking about your own business… oh and clearly enjoying your memory loss…"

"Not everything is about you."

"I know, but then it turns out that the one who knew what I wanted to do, the one who knew that what had happened to me was a mistake, was okay with it the whole time… Forgive me, but all I wanted was my life back."

"And that justifies all that you've done?" asked John in a low voice but everyone hear him. "I just don't understand; did you ever grow up? Why would you do all of this if you only wanted that? I can't imagine how bad your brain damage is, but all you've done was make things worst… Seeking revenge against your own family… I can understand your problem with Mycroft, but why do all this stuff against Sherlock? You should've stopped when it was clear he couldn't remember what happened to you, he helps people! If you had asked then we could've helped you!"

The younger Holmes narrowed his gaze; he started scrolling again on the screen of his mobile, his intentions clear…

This time it took them a while to understand where it had come from, it hadn't been Mary. Izzy's mobile fell to the floor, followed by him clutching his right arm, shouting with pain, someone had shot him, looking for the source of the shot Sherlock approached the edge, and after a few seconds pointed out to the top of another house.

"I was starting to doubt Anthea's abilities… Though I can't understand why she called the damned helicopters, good thing she reacted in time and sent them away" said Mycroft falling down to his knees.

"Oh, no, brother dear, you can't relax just now, I'm sorry, but until this whole thing is over you should consider yourself under arrest" said Sherlock turning around. "John, please see that my little brother stays calm, if you need to give him anything do it; Mary, please keep an eye on Mycroft for a minute, if any of them needs to be reminded to stay calm you're the one with a gun; Molly, drop that thing and do try not to hug me right now… I think I have one or two broken ribs" John and Mary turned their heads around to see the pathologist standing in the door, tears running down her cheeks. "There's still something very urgent I have to take care of, I will appreciate it if you see that some officers take custody of my brothers, and the two fools downstairs with Anthea." Molly smiled at Sherlock, whipping her eyes with one hand, she nodded and then rushed downstairs, Sherlock, moved towards Izzy, painfully crouching down to take his mobile phone and the controller.

"I have to go downstairs and see if there's something I can do with Lestrade, don't worry, I'm sure someone will take over your place soon, then you can join me John, and I'm sure Mary that if you want, Anthea will be happy to make some more tea for you and Mrs. Hudson, do make sure that Sophie is fine."

Cliffhanger… or not? Find out what waits for Detective Lestrade and Sherlock in the next chapter, I hope to finish it for next week, stay tuned –I've never used that one – and thanks once again for reading. Andy.