I'm extremely sorry for the lateness. I decided to update to Windows 10 last night and my laptop pretty much crashed (not literally but the screen won't stop flickering and I cannot access anything, so the point remains the same).

Anyway, here we are. Enjoy the second half of this!

Pieces of a Puzzle (Part 2)

"The East Wind takes us all in the end." SH

"There's an East Wind coming..." JW

Tony Stark was sitting ramrod straight in the medical cot of the military hospital in Kandahar. Forcing himself to stay awake despite his exhaustion through sheer will alone. On the bed next to him laid his former-fellow-hostage, who, after the last nearly-three-months, Tony was almost ready to call a friend. His friend was sleeping, something necessary after everything they'd been through. They'd agreed to take turns to rest, and while he'd tried to convince Tony to do so first, Tony had won that particular argument simply because, due to an injury he'd sustained in their daring escape of the captivity, the other man had lost a considerable amount of blood and was considerably weaker in that moment.

They couldn't both sleep at the same time because Tony had a certain something embedded in his chest that he wasn't about to allow anyone to get anywhere near. He'd refused to let even doctors touch him. Rhodey, as great a friend as he might be, was too by-the-rules, for Tony to be sure his wishes would be respected. Hence, forcing himself to stay awake.

And the necessity of that became obvious as the door into the small room opened and yet another doctor stepped inside. He was shorter than any of the ones before him, with sun-bleached blonde hair, a wrinkled lab-coat, huge shadows under dark eyes and a pair of glasses Tony knew for a fact were meant for people with tired eyesight.

"Good afternoon Mr. Stark." The doctor greeted him with a respectful nod. "I wasn't expecting you to be awake."

"You're not getting anywhere near me." Tony spat, ignoring any and all pleasantries.

"Yes, I'm aware you have refused any and all attention." The man nodded, seemingly not offended in the slightest. "I wonder, is there something specific you're unwilling to accept? Do you have a phobia of doctors? Distrust the local medical care?"

Tony actually held back a snippy retort at the man's thoughtful questions. Not only he hadn't gotten offended, but he honestly seemed interested in knowing why Tony refused.

"None of those, I simply don't want anyone near my... me." Tony corrected in the last moment.

"I understand you were in captivity for three months." The doctor stated very professionally. "I'm a former military, and not at all ignorant about the kind of things you might have gone through during that time. PTSD is perfectly natural, as is an aversion for any number of things and situations, I only want to make sure you are on the mend, sir." He made a pause before adding. "If there is a specific thing you don't want me to do, or don't want me to touch, we could work around it." He adopted a lighter tone as he added. "To be perfectly honest with you. It might even help the people here at the base be convinced to send you back to your country sooner, if they're sure you won't die on the journey."

Stark hadn't actually considered that. Which made him actually begin to consider the chances. However, before he could make a decision, something unexpected happened, that changed everything in an instant.

"Sherlock...?!" The doctor gasped, suddenly breathless.

It was until Tony had been left thinking about things that the doctor had turned his attention to the second bed and the man on it. Despite his longer and much dirtier hair, paler skin and emaciated and badly injured body, Dr. John Watson could still see through all that and recognize the man laying on that bed:

"You know him, how do you know him?!" Tony demanded, fully focused on that.

"I... of course I know him..." The doctor gasped beneath his tears. "He's my best friend..."

"You're Dr. John Watson..." Stark murmured in realization.

"How...?" John wasn't expecting that.

"Siggy told me about you." Tony explained.

"Siggy?" John really didn't understand.

"When he arrived he claimed his name was Sigerson." Tony explained. "Of course I know now that's not his real name..." He made a pause, taking a deep breath before adding: "One night, a few days before we made our escape, he said... he told me that if he didn't make it out I was to find you, make sure you knew well... that you knew..."

He couldn't finish it. Was it even right to say that kind of things when Sig...Sherlock was right there? Shouldn't he handle that himself?

"It's okay." John said quietly "I think I know. I took me a bit long to realize it, much longer than it should have. But I know now." He went to take the unconscious Sherlock's hand in his. "I know now, and I'm never leaving him again."

Tony nodded, in absolute agreement.

"Just what happened?" Tony asked, very interested. "Last thing he knew you were happily married and getting ready to receive your daughter..."

"Which didn't happen..." John drawled. "That wife turned out to be a liar, a cheater, as well as a not-so-former assassin, who used to work for the man responsible for Sherlock having to fake his suicide in front of me and stay away for two years and, if that weren't enough, then shooting my best friend, whom she'd already seen me grieve before, in the vena cava, with clear intent to kill... I will never know how Sherlock managed to survive, that was a miracle... and one I'll be forever grateful for." He let out a breath. "It was a mess."

"Why are you here?" The millionaire inquired, curious.

"How about this, Mr. Stark?" John proposed suddenly. "You let me give you a check-over, I promise not to do anything you don't want. And meanwhile we'll talk. I'll answer your questions, and you'll tell me what's been of Sherlock these last few months?"

"Deal." Tony agreed after thinking it over, he pulled at the neckline of the borrowed t-shirt to show the edge of something glowing on his chest. "One thing: whatever else, don't touch this."

"Understood." John nodded. "Then, Mr. Stark, lets begin."

And so they exchanged stories. John explained about Mary having a sudden miscarriage shortly after Sherlock had left, and in the midst of all that pain, finding out that the baby had never his at all, but her ex-boyfriend's (who apparently was less of an ex than they'd thought) the annulment, moving back to 221B Baker Street; then, three months later, Mycroft visiting to inform him that MI6 had stormed the terrorist hideout where Sherlock had been undercover for six months. The agents had been forced to half bring the place down and after finding out traces of a great amount of blood, Sherlock's blood, in one of the rooms they had been left with no other option but to declare the consulting detective as KIA.

John had nearly gone crazy after that. He knew Sherlock would never forgive him if he were to do something as stupid as kill himself; but he just couldn't continue as he was, so John decided to join a group of volunteers to help in Afghanistan (he couldn't go as a soldier anymore, but he was still a damn good doctor). He'd actually arrived shortly after Tony was kidnapped.

Tony in turn told him about Sherlock being dumped into his and Yinsen's cell shortly after Tony himself woke up. Yinsen being the only competent doctor anywhere nearby. He'd been very badly hurt, obviously the result of torture, it was a miracle he'd survived and recovered as much as he had. Afterwards Tony had made sure to convince the Ten Rings of that 'Sigerson' was completely indispensable to his work, to make sure they wouldn't hurt him or take him away.

John would be forever thankful to Tony for that.

With John there (though even Tony was surprised at how much he was willing to trust the man simply because of the things Sherlock had said about him during their three months of shared captivity), Tony finally decided to sleep. John fulfilled his word and didn't allow anyone else to get close (the fact that he'd managed to do a check-over and submit the results helped greatly, he was sure of that).

Eventually Sherlock woke up, equal parts shocked and delighted by John's presence and drugged enough he actually expressed his delight openly in ways he never would have had he been in his right mind... or maybe it was less the drugs, and more the recent near-death experience and extended separation (John could remember with sadness and regret some of the things Sherlock had said upon his return after The Fall, and how he'd punched the consulting detective instead of taking him into his arms like he'd wanted to, deep down).

The moment the two former hostages were feeling well-enough to get out of the hospital, plans were made and put in motion. Sherlock was still believed dead back in the UK, and even if he weren't, there was no way of knowing what would happen, as he'd technically been sent to serve in place of being sent to prison. John was in Afghanistan legally as part of a summer volunteer program (which had technically ended a month prior, though he'd chosen to stay, not wanting to return to a London without Sherlock); he refused to even consider going anywhere without his partner. So, in the end it was (relatively) simple. Tony made arrangements for Sherlock to return to the US with him, using the name the Ten Rings had known him by. John traveled under his own name, as the men's doctor. Once in California Tony contacted a hacker friend of his who helped him get all the documents for two new identities for the men: and thus William and Johnathan Scott came to be.

xXx

By some sort of non-verbal almost-instinctive accord, the group of heroes that had saved New York, gathered the following morning in the kitchen of Tony's penthouse. They'd slept in various rooms in the lower floors which, unknown to most, Tony was already making plans to remodel into apartments for each of them (just in case they ever needed a place to stay); except for the Scotts, since they already had their own floor, right beneath Tony and Pepper's (technically it was part of the penthouse), and sharing the common areas. They were all family after all.

Liam was a bit jumpy that morning, though only those who really knew him (read John, Tony and Pepper) truly realized it. He didn't allow John to get more than three feet or so away from him, and spent as much time as possible with their non-dominant hands entwined. Most who noticed those details thought he was just trying to reassure himself, after having watched his partner battle aliens (and nearly get killed more than once) the day before; John knew the truth. He was waiting, waiting for what they both knew was coming their way.

It took a while, with all the talking and lighthearted joking, and of course the soreness the more human members of the team of superheroes were feeling (not everyone healed as fast as Thor and Captain Rogers, or was as immune as the Hulk), but eventually they were finished with breakfast and moved on to the living room, where they all took seats gathering in smaller groups. Liam and Pepper had taken one of the biggest couches, with John on Liam's other side and Pepper half on the arm-seat, half on Tony's legs (she too refused to be too far away from her lover after the day before); Romanoff had pretty much pushed Barton into an armchair before settling herself on the floor between his legs; Banner took a place in another of the couches, and was joined by Thor after Rogers chose a spot on the floor, beside the armchair where Barton sat, instead. The moment they were all there, Tony pulled a tablet seemingly out of nowhere, and with a few clicks the TV was showing them all something.

"Come on!" Barton whined. "I thought we were taking the day off!"

"What are you doing Stark?" Rogers inquired, confused.

After all, it'd been Tony who'd insisted on them all taking the day off...

"I'm proving a theory!" He announced exuberantly.

Only Rogers and the Scotts among those present knew what he was talking about, the others hadn't the slightest idea. The Captain wasn't sure if it was a good idea at all, but had a feeling there would be no stopping Tony, so he let it go on.

"This." He announced bringing up picture of Dr. Selvig. "Is Dr. Selvig's profile picture. Please focus on the eyes."

A few others began suspecting they weren't going to like where things were going, but it was too late to stop Tony, if he could have ever been stopped.

"This picture is one of the last things the Pegasus facility took before it went down." He stated as he brought another up, the Dr.'s eyes were blue and looked wrong. "The next one is one JARVIS took when he was in that rooftop yesterday, right before everything started." Still the same eyes. "And finally, this is today."

The last picture showed a haggard-looking man, obviously exhausted, like he was just coming out of a bad sickness... but his eyes looked like they had in the first picture.

"Next." He pulled up a profile picture of Barton.

Barton tensed, only Romanoff managing to keep him from bolting. However, before Stark could begin with the same diatribe, John placed a hand on the genius's arm, staring straight at him. It was like his eyes communicated something, for he shrugged and vanished the picture. Barton relaxed minutely and everyone else let out a breath.

"Alright then." He pulled on the next picture, one of Loki. "This was taken in the Pegasus facility the day it all began."

"That has to be wrong." Thor murmured.

"Not wrong." Liam interfered gruffly. "Just pay attention and you'll understand."

Thor grumbled but did as told, and Tony continued. He began pulling more photos then, most from CCTV, in Stuttgart, both before entering the gala he'd interrupted and afterwards, while he'd terrorized all those humans, one from when he'd been taken into custody, on the quinjet, one taken by the suit on the forest they'd half destroyed, several in the helicarrier (though he carefully avoided anything after the attack had begun), then on Stark Tower, and through the battle.

"Enough!" Cried out Romanoff eventually, losing all patience. "That's about enough Stark. Either get to the point or quit this idiocy."

"No idiocy." Tony stated. "All the opposite in fact."

"Tony..." John called, quietly but authoritatively.

"Bit not good." Liam added, in a knowing tone.

Pepper smiled, also knowingly, and Tony rolled his eyes, though he did get to the point. All the prior stills serving as a frame of sorts for the new image, which was actually a video window, showing Loki were he was in that moment, sitting in one of the to-be-labs several floors down in the same tower, which had been re-conditioned to act as temporary cell.

"This is Loki right now." He stated with sudden seriousness, before doing a close-up of the sorcerer's face... his eyes were green.

"Oh..." Steve, Pepper and Bruce breathed out almost in unison.

"What's the meaning of this?!" Barton demanded hotly.

"Did you not get the point he was trying to make with Selvig's pictures earlier?" Liam drawled. "It was obvious enough that even one such as you should have picked up on it."

"One such as..." Barton began, he was really on a short fuss right then.

"Liam, bit not good." John snapped chidingly at his husband before turning to the archer. "No offense meant Clint. You should know already Liam and Tony are quite similar in that their tongues get ahead of them most of the time. Being genius they forget that not everyone picks up things like they do, and when they do remember they treat everyone else like idiots... there just seems to be no middle point with them."

"Hence the, 'bit not good', comments." Pepper added for good measure. "Most of the time a look is enough to keep them under control..."

"Except when they're too excited, or running on more than forty-eight hours without sleep." John glared at both geniuses, who could only shrug.

"All of that is irrelevant." Romanoff practically spat. "You still cannot be implying that Loki..."

"I imply nothing Agent Romanoff." Liam stated, offended. "Neither does Tony, for that matter. We state. We've had this theory since yesterday at the helicarrier, before the battle either took place. And now we can prove it."

"What made you reach that conclusion?" Bruce asked, interested. "Besides the eye-color."

"Loki is a genius, as well as a superb sorcerer, someone with the kind of brains and power that he was supposed to have would have never made all the stupid mistakes he did." Tony deadpanned. "Going before cameras, allowing himself to be seen, when he should have been capable of stealing whatever he needed with no one so much as noticing?"

"Getting himself captured, and into a cell, when his magic should have given him an out at any moment?" Liam took over.

"There was an attack on the helicarrier, and yet not a single person died." Tony continued.

"Phil almost did!" Clint snarled.

"Almost being the operative word here." John intervened. "I'm not justifying his actions. But the kind of wound Phil had... it was precise, too precise. Damage to a single lung, nothing at all to the heart... even the vena cava, which got the worst, wasn't fully severed. Even if I hadn't been the one there, any doctor with enough experience and the right resources would have been able to save his life." He shivered slightly before adding. "Trust me when I tell you I've done extensive research on such wounds, I know how bad a wound like that can be, and the odds of someone surviving it..."

One or two noticed the way the hold he had on Liam's hand tightened almost convulsively, and how Liam's hand briefly and almost absentmindedly drifted to a specific spot in his own chest, but neither of them commented about that.

"You're saying..." Rogers couldn't even finish, even in his head the idea sounded too crazy.

"Agent Coulson was never meant to die." Liam finished for him. "He was meant to be the straw that broke the camel's back, but nothing permanently damaging." He made a pause before clarifying, just in case. "He was meant to bring all of you together."

"All of us, bro, all of us." Tony corrected him. "You're part of this team too."

Everyone nodded almost absentmindedly at that comment, mostly still focused on everything else that was being said.

"And that's the other point." John took over when he noticed the geniuses had gotten distracted from the main conversation. "What kind of 'genius villain' does everything to get the 'heroes' together, instead of picking them off one at a time when they're separated and more vulnerable, if only because they're alone?"

No one had a response to that. Truth was, when seen under that light even Natasha, who hated Loki with everything she was for the way he'd hurt her dearest friend, had to admit something just didn't feel right anymore.

"Thank you my friends!" Thor said loudly and full of joy. "You have just saved my brother!"

Neither of the three men actually agreed with that. They'd proved a theory, true, that Loki had been manipulated, most likely by the same individual who'd given him the scepter and made him leader of their army. But that didn't mean it was over just yet. At the same time, neither man had done that to save anyone, mostly simply because once they noticed something they couldn't not investigate it. It was in their nature...

Before a single word more could be said, JARVIS interrupted.

"Sir, a quinjet has just landed on the roof." The AI informed. "It carries Director Fury, Deputy Director Hill, a couple of Agents, as well as a man and a woman, foreigner, and who appear on your red list."

"Red list?" Rogers asked, half-confused and half-worried.

He was completely ignored both by those who did know and those as ignorant as him.

"They're here." Liam murmured, and seemed to almost shudder.

"Here." Tony called, pulling a plastic envelope out of somewhere and handing it to John.

"What is this?" The short man asked, even as he opened it and looked inside.

"Basic papers." Tony answered honestly. "Nothing that'll hold under intense scrutiny but enough to get you out of the state. There's also enough money to last you at least a week. Take any of the cars downstairs, I know you have emergency bags packed already in case of an emergency, take all that and go. In the envelope is also a burner phone with two numbers programmed, mine in case you have an emergency, you call me. Then there's Skye's, I called her last night and she promised to have your new identities ready by Monday. So you can call her that day and arrange where to pick them up. I'll be paying for them, of course, same as the last time."

No one said a word as Tony seemed to go through his whole speech without stopping to breathe even once. However, when he did, the reaction wasn't what he was expecting:

"No Tony." Liam murmured quietly.

"What?!" The millionaire obviously wasn't expecting that.

"John and I talked about it last night." The tall man explained calmly. "We all knew this was going to happen sooner or later." He let out a sigh. "I'm tired of running Tony. We both are."

"John..." Tony began, turning to look at the shorter man.

"I knew this would happen someday." The gray-eyed one admitted. "Cannot say I like it. But I knew. We've had a great time since we met you Tony, truly awesome. I have no idea where either of us would be if we'd never met you... but maybe it's time we went back to being who we're supposed to be..."

"And just who is that?" Romanoff questioned.

"Brother..." A new voice breathed out almost at the same time.

Everyone turned to the entrance at once. Fury and Hill were standing there, along with a tall man with dark auburn short hair, a receding hairline and gray eyes and a brunette woman with hazel eyes, both wearing dark-suits.

"Doctor..." The man murmured next, noticing the shorter Scott. "I don't think I'm even surprised at finding you here."

"You really shouldn't." John agreed.

"Just what's going on Fury?!" Tony demanded strongly, purposefully trying to call the attention of the newcomers onto himself.

"These are Lord Mycroft Sherrinford Holmes, from the British parliament, and his wife, Lady Anna Isabel Kemp-Holmes." Fury introduced.

Both Scotts raised their eyebrows at the last part of that declaration. Of course they'd know those two were together (John had more suspected than actually known), but they'd never excepted them to actually make it legal, or public.

"Lord and Lady Holmes." Fury went on. "These are Captain Steve Rogers, Captain America; Agent Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow; Agent Clint Barton, Hawkeye; Prince Thor Odinson of Asgard; Tony Stark, Iron Man; and Dr. Johnathan and Mr. William Scott; these are the Avengers, the heroes who just saved New York and the world from an alien invasion yesterday." He made a pause before adding. "We also have present Miss Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, CEO of Stark Industries..."

"And my future wife." Tony interjected, as Pepper raised her hand to show the ring.

The first thing Tony had done when seeing Pepper was get on one knee before her and ask her to marry him, while still in his half torn jump-suit (from the rough landing on his own roof), Pepper looking extremely anxious, with wind-blown hair and carrying her heels on her hands (she'd taken them off to be able to run). She had said yes almost before Tony finished asking. It had been quiet a touching moment, and shocking too, to those who didn't known Stark and would have never expected something like that from him.

"Right..." The thing seemed to throw even Fury off.

"Those aren't their names." Holmes didn't focus on Stark or his fiancé, but on the married couple beside them. "Why don't you say your real names?"

"Is all this grand-standing really necessary, brother?" Liam drawled, the last word sounding as sharp as a blade.

Thor couldn't help but remember several occasions when Loki had used the same tone when calling him that... before his near-coronation and everything that followed.

"He won't be doing anything unless he wants to!" Tony snapped defensively.

"A guard-dog, how cute." Mycroft said condescendingly, not expecting the other man's reaction to his words and attitude.

"Enough." Liam stated, voice dead cold. "You will not say anything disparaging about my friends, understood, Mycroft? These are not goldfish for you to play with. You will treat them with respect, or so help me I will make you regret it. And trust me, I've learned quite a few interesting things since you sent me to Eastern Europe for the second time!"

Mycroft's eyes widened at that, but what he didn't know was that it wasn't over just yet.

"Wait a second, so you're the bastard who sent him to Eastern Europe?!" Tony snarled, furious like he'd never been before. "It was because of you that he was beaten and tortured to an inch of his life! You motherfuc..."

"Tony, that's enough!" Liam ordered loudly.

And yet no one thought to stop Pepper, no one could have imagined what she would do... until the impact of flesh on flesh echoed across the room and everyone was left watching Mycroft Holmes, with his head turned sideways even as the bright red imprint of a hand appeared on his cheek; a certain redhead standing before him, almost trembling with rage.

"Go Pepper!" Tony cheered loudly.

Most of those present, Maria Hill included, couldn't help but respect the woman for what she'd just done... even if most still didn't understand what was going on.

"That's really not necessary Pepper..." Liam murmured quietly, a hint of obvious sentiment in his voice. "But thank you."

"He deserves that, and much more." Pepper stated icily, seemingly considering how good her chances were of getting away with a second slap, in the end she chose to return to Tony instead.

"Yes, if someone told us what's going on already, I wouldn't mind." Romanoff called.

Liam turned to look at John once, a silent look heavy with so much meaning, then they both nodded at the same time. Hands still clasped together the two stood up and without looking at anyone in specific, they spoke in turn:

"My name is William Sherlock Scott Holmes-Watson."

"And I am John Hamish Holmes-Watson."

A beat or two, and suddenly the reactions began.

"The Sherlock Holmes and John Watson?!" Clint cried out, sounding more alive and focused than at any point except for the actual battle day before, since being taken by Loki. "The British Consulting Detectives?"

John actually blushed, just a little. So many people had seen him as little more than Sherlock's shadow for so long, the sidekick, the assistant, the 'eternal bachelor'... he never expected to be listed alongside Sherlock, as his equal.

"Apparently we've found another fan of your blog John." Sherlock drawled in a half-bored tone, though his eyes showed he knew what John was thinking and agreed with Clint.

It'd always been amazing how much those two could communicate with a single look. That was something that hadn't changed at all, despite the names or city where they lived.

"Excuse me, a blog?" Rogers inquired, quite confused.

Tony reached for his StarkPad again, but Pepper was faster than him. In seconds Loki's pics and video had vanished from the screen (they'd have to bring that matter up with Fury and Hill later), instead John's old blog appeared on. The last post at the very top. It was dated on the first days of July, had no header, and the body of it read: 'He was my best-friend, my partner, my perfect match. I will never forget, and I will Always Believe in Sherlock Holmes.' Underneath it was a picture of the two men (with their original hair-color) standing side by side, in identical black tuxedos with white shirts, light-colored ties and white boutonnieres, holding top-hats in their hands. It looked almost like a wedding picture; and it was, though it hadn't been their wedding... all other pictures had been summarily deleted right after the annulment, at the same time John had posted a small announcement that the marriage had failed over 'irreconcilable differences' (though, unknown to John, his sister Harry had made sure everyone knew, without a doubt, that it had been Mary's fault and not his).

"What's the great deal about this?!" Romanoff spat. "Consulting Detective? That's not even a real job! Those don't exist."

"They do." Sherlock stated quiet calmly. "Even if we're the only ones. We would be, I invented the job after all."

"You invented an illusion." Romanoff insisted.

"Not at all Miss Romanova." Sherlock purposefully used her original surname. "It's how I knew exactly what you were from the first time we met."

"That's ridiculous!" The redhead insisted.

"No, just very hard to do." John corrected calmly. "Few people in the world have his talents, and only he uses them in such a way. I can also assure you he knew from the very start, he came to me with it and we contemplated every possible route the situation might take, every single one, before we even went to Tony and Pepper with it. In the end it was Sherlock's plan to let you and your employers believe you had succeeded in infiltrating SI while keeping an eye on you, making sure that whatever you might be trying, if it was nefarious, we would be there to stop it."

"All you did was stop me from injecting him with a drug he needed." Romanoff hissed.

"A drug that, when combined with the treatments I already had him on, might have killed him, or at the very least, worsened his condition considerably." John retorted with cold fury. "And even if it hadn't, it wasn't something Tony ever gave his consent for. You see, I have a problem with people doing things to others without their fully informed, free consent. Like injecting them with unknown substances," he eyed her before turning to glare at Fury and Hill. "Faking a death with the intent to manipulate others, lying to the people who follow you because it's convenient, creating a cover-story for a death that makes it impossible for a man to move on from the monster that betrayed and nearly destroyed him," he turned just enough to spear Mycroft with his stare next. "Sending them on a suicide-mission to the other side of the continent rather than standing up for family, rather than being truthful about a buggering bastard who made everyone so afraid even Parliament ceded to him!"

"John..." Sherlock cut him off quietly. "That's alright, what's done is done."

"It's still not right." John stated, but agreed to give up on his rant.

"Going back to your continued complaints, Miss Romanova." Sherlock said, focusing on her again. "I am a genius, something which I focus now on helping Tony; and back in London I did so by taking private cases every so often and consulting with New Scotland Yard whenever they couldn't solve a crime, which was almost all the time." He smiled. "As for how I knew what I knew about you. Most people see... I observe."

Several people seemed to be left pondering what exactly that meant, while others took hold of tablets Pepper offered them and began perusing John's blog in an attempt to familiarize themselves with the true identities of the two men before them.

"Why are you really here, Mycroft?" Sherlock asked after an extended silence. "If it was just to berate me for using your top-secret authorization code to keep a bunch of senseless bastards from trying to nuke downtown Manhattan you could have simply phoned..."

"Couldn't I have wanted to come and make sure my little brother was okay?" Mycroft asked in turn, and there was a hint of... something, in his voice.

"Please!" Sherlock drawled. "As if you didn't know I was alive and just where I was!"

"I did not." It seemed to cost something vital to Mycroft to admit that, but he did.

"He's telling the truth, Sherlock." Anna murmured, in an attempt to make peace. "The last we knew of you was that you'd been found, imprisoned and... interrogated by the terrorist cell in Eastern Europe. Half the place was blown up during the operation, and while none of the remains were ever effectively identified as yours... it was the belief that you had to be dead..."

Because no one... no one normal could ever be expected to survive what had happened to him, what had been done to him... then again, Sherlock never claimed to be normal (matter of fact, he reveled on being the exact opposite of normal).

"That's impossible!" Sherlock refused to believe it. "Even if you didn't have contacts in the Middle East at the time, the records of my stay in the hospital... and John..."

Tony's sudden and rather loud clearing of his throat interrupted Sherlock's rant.

"I never told him anything." John blurted out right about then. "I never would have. He was the one who sent you out there in the first place!"

Mycroft actually flinched at the reminder of that.

"Things weren't supposed to go down like that." Anna revealed softly. "We had a plan. A video would be transmitted into every screen in the country at the same time, showing Moriarty making a threat in his quite unique style..."

"But Moriarty is dead!" John interrupted.

"Indeed, but only a few select people know that." Anna reminded him. "Because at the time when he shot himself most didn't believe Moriarty existed, so his records were kept top secret, and by the time Sherlock was back and everything had been cleared the public would much rather forget they'd ever made such a grievous mistake as to believe a monster like him about anything." She made a pause before adding. "Also, if one genius had already managed to fake his death, what guarantee could they have that another hadn't done the same?"

Several people in the room had to nod in the agreement.

"So you prepared a video to fake his return, what for?" Tony inquired, interested.

"I'd managed to convince Parliament that Sherlock might one day be needed again." Mycroft said quietly. "They'd agreed to extract him from Eastern Europe regardless of the mission if it ever became necessary. I believed the possibility of the return of a foe such as James Moriarty would push them into keeping my brother in the country. Then he could chase ghosts just long enough to convince them to sign a pardon."

Neither Sherlock nor John knew what to say to that.

"So, what happened to that plan then?" Pepper wanted to know.

"The video didn't air." Anna stated. "Someone managed some impressive counter-hacking and undid everything we'd prepared. We had no contingency for that. So Sherlock was taken to Eastern Europe for that mission and we couldn't stop it."

"Who could have countered what you were doing?" Hill asked. "It would have needed to be someone who was close enough to find out what you were planning and..."

"Oh no..." John's abrupt moan interrupted her analysis. "Please tell me it wasn't..."

"I'm afraid so." Anna nodded with a sad smile.

"But how?!" John practically snapped. "Even I didn't know you were planning anything!"

"As has been established before, Mary had previous experience in, shall we say, certain things." Sherlock reminded him calmly. "I'm actually not that surprised. She was probably afraid of what might happen if I wasn't sent away... after I didn't die when she shot me, and you'd already spent months away from her when you were supposed to still be newlyweds."

"Yeah well, if she'd never shot you, we wouldn't have had any trouble, would we?" John couldn't help but sound almost petulant as he said that.

"We also might have never gotten to where we are now." Sherlock pointed out softly. "I cannot exactly regret it if only for that reason."

"I think we would have." John countered. "Maybe not here, not exactly. But we would have gotten together. I mean, even on our honeymoon I couldn't help but think about you, about what you might think about this or that. I couldn't handle more than a month living in the suburbs before I went looking for you... also, the whole baby-not-being-mine would have brought the end sooner or later."

Sherlock smiled at him. Neither of them were the kind for public displays of affection, but they still smiled at each other, saying everything they needed to in one look.

"As sickeningly sweet as the two of you are, there's one thing I still don't understand." Clint said in a drawl. "Why were you sent to Eastern Europe at all?"

"Because I killed Magnussen." Sherlock answered honestly.

"Magnussen?" Hill blurted out. "As in Charles Augustus Magnussen, the media magnate?"

"The very same." Sherlock shrugged.

"Why?" Hill didn't understand.

"Because he was a buggering bastard who saw people as tools and blackmailed them as convenient." John answered rather crudely. "He'd half of Parliament in his pocket and had set eyes on the Holmes brothers to be next. I have no idea what he had on Mycroft, but he wouldn't go against the bastard, while Sherlock did. He had no pressure points, it's not like the world didn't know practically all about him, in part due to my blog, in part due to the mess we'd had with Moriarty years before. He discovered though, that he could use me to pressure Sherlock, and if not me specifically, someone I cared for... my wife."

"How exactly was that supposed to work?" Hill asked, confused of the logic behind it.

"My wife, Mary Morstan... well turns out she didn't exist." John tried to explain in as few words as possible. "The real Mary Morstan was stillborn. The woman I called my wife took that name to create a new identity for herself five years or so before I met her. She'd once been an assassin for hire, had worked with Moriarty even, as one of his snipers, even had us in her cross-hairs at least twice; and Magnussen knew that. He knew it long before I did. I suspect he might have known her before she was ever Mary Morstan. He threatened to release that information unless Sherlock gave him what he wanted."

No one asked why Sherlock would do anything for John's wife, it was obvious enough.

"In the end it turned out that Magnussen didn't actually have any real proof of anything, all the information was only in his head." John continued. "That was enough, though, with him owning the media and all that. He got to publish whatever he wanted. Most people were too afraid to stand up to him, and the one time someone tried... it didn't end well." He shook his head. "We had a plan when we went to Appledore, but it was all ruined when we realized there were no vaults or anything like that. And then... well, Sherlock did what he did."

"Cannot say I'm surprised." Romanoff admitted, settling against Barton's legs. "There was a hit out for that man, some people wanted me to take it... by then I was already with SHIELD. Though I have to admit that after learning some of the things he'd done I came quite close to crossing him off anyway on principle alone."

"If I'd been on the same state of mind as I was back when I worked with MI6 I would have handled it myself." John revealed with no hesitation. "However, back then I kept trying to get what I considered a normal life. And I'd spent years following Sherlock... I wasn't prepared for that kind of game-changer, or how Sherlock reacted to it."

Hard as it was to admit that, it was nonetheless the truth.

"You killed Magnussen and what? They offered you a service-for-prison deal?" Barton guessed.

"Something like that." Sherlock nodded. "MI6 had already wanted me on that mission, but I'd turned it down... it being a suicide mission and all that. After I killed Magnussen the mission was offered again, this time as an alternative to a life-sentence in prison..." He made a pause before admitting. "I would have never survived in prison."

For a little while no one said a word, everyone seemed to be busy processing everything that had been revealed thus far.

"None of that explains how you all met." Rogers commented abruptly.

"We all met in Afghanistan." Tony answered like that should be all the answer needed, it wasn't.

"Why would you have been in the Middle-East?" The Captain inquired, confused. "And how did Holmes end up there?"

"Just what were you told about me before we met?" Tony asked suddenly.

"Agent Coulson compiled the dossiers for each candidate for the Avengers Initiative." Fury stated in a blank tone. "Yours included everything SHIELD had on you, of course."

It had been a loaded question, and for it an even more loaded answer... because there were things Tony was sure Coulson... Phil had found out, especially in the aftermath of the whole palladium-poisoning-situation, which Tony would have never allowed SHIELD as a whole to know... and apparently they didn't. But if he said any of that it would reveal that Phil might keep some things from the organization, and that probably wasn't a good idea.

"Only the cliff-notes version then." The millionaire declared in a perfectly emotionless tone. "Then, little kids, hang on because this is going to be a wild ride."

He smiled a predator's smile. He knew it was probably going to hurt, he'd never liked talking about Afghanistan after all, never had except to those he fully trusted like Pepper, Sherlock and John; even Happy and Rhodey knew very little compared to everything that had happened. But if he was going to be part of a team, they probably needed to know.

So the story was told, with Tony handling most of it, Sherlock and at some point John stepping in to add their parts. They spoke about the Jericho missiles, the attack on the convoy, even the car battery that had originally been placed in Tony's chest... Yinsen. The horror was absolute. Most didn't want to believe what was being said, but they knew the emotion in the millionaire's eyes was too raw for it all not to be true (Hill and Fury had been warned, quite explicitly, what would happen if anything of what Tony was revealing made it into any of SHIELD's databases).

There had apparently been some connection between the terrorist cell in Eastern Europe and the Ten Rings; enough at least that when the idea of a mole came up, said mole was sent on to their main base to be 'interrogated', after the attempts of the first couple of days in Europe failed. It all changed once in Afghanistan, when news arrived that MI6 had stormed the smaller hideout and pretty much blown the place up, some had intended to kill Sherlock and make him an example, until Tony convinced them that he needed Sherlock as his assistant, for his steady hands and how fast he picked up things (the men also suspected that, seeing how fast Sherlock picked things up, the Ten Rings might have begun to plan on some day using that to their advantage).

Tragedy had still taken place, and it was not easy for either survivor to talk about it. Especially when it came to Yinsen sacrificing his life so the two of them would live.

Several people couldn't help but think how grossly they'd misjudged Tony Stark, and the Scotts too, but the millionaire the most. How much they'd let themselves be lead by critics and hearsay, rather than try to get to know the man. Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff were particularly guilty of that fault. The redhead with her report of 'textbook narcissism' and her 'Iron Man yes, Tony Stark not recommended'; it was taking that story to understand how much the two were truly the same. And Captain Rogers: 'I've known men with none of that worth ten of you'... he'd come to realize during the battle that he'd been wrong, but only as he heard the recount of Afghanistan he came to see just how much.

Yinsen's death was followed by the blowing up of the Ten Rings' camp and the escape. While only Tony had had a suit, Sherlock had worn the work-clothes modified just enough to grant him some protection, and with a built in harness that helped Tony get both of them out of there when they would have been over-run by terrorists... even if that meant they couldn't get too far away and ended having to walk through the dessert for too long until eventually found by a military team in a helicopter, commanded by Rhodey.

John explained about the hospital. Finally clarifying for SHIELD why exactly he was the only doctor Stark let anywhere close. Though the fact that after such traumatic experiences the man was willing to let an unknown close simply because of stories a fellow captive had shared with him was no less surprising.

They ended the story with a recount of John's resignation to the volunteer group, their trip back to the US and their establishing their new identities.

Silence reigned for almost a full minute, until Pepper broke it:

"There's one thing I still don't understand." The CEO stated thoughtfully. "Everything you've said, none of that explains how Lord Holmes didn't find them before."

"We didn't even know John was in America." Anna clarified. "The last either of us knew he'd gone back to Afghanistan to work as a volunteer and then simply disappeared."

For a few seconds no one seemed to have an explanation to that, until:

"Yeah, that might be kinda my fault." Tony blurted out sheepishly.

"Tony...?" Several voices asked at the same time.

"Remember how I said my girl was a genius?" He offered.

Everyone knew that by 'his girl' he wasn't talking about Pepper, she was his Pepper, his love, his only, his fiancé... never something as 'mundane' as his girl. No, with that expression he was talking about the young hacker he considered almost a protege and had been financing on and off in exchange of some odd jobs for years.

"She didn't just help me arrange everything for your new identities." Tony admitted. "She also made sure to erase any record of John's entry into the country, as well as everything about our stay those few days in the hospital in Kandahar. There were, of course, older recordings of the time John worked there as a volunteer; but nothing from the day we were found on."

"Does anyone else know you did that?" Hill asked, brow arched.

"Rhodey." Tony nodded. "He thought I was simply being paranoid, which wasn't that much of a leap, really. And after O...Stane..."

"Stane?" Rogers questioned. "Obadiah Stane? I think I read about him. He was the CEO of Stark Industries, right? Your tutor? Died tragically a few years ago, something about a small plane."

Sherlock, John and even Pepper scoffed in unison at that.

"Obadiah Stane is a bastard, a cold-blooded murderer and a goddamned traitor." Pepper's choice of words were enough to stun everyone.

"If he hadn't been already dead when I arrived I swear I'd have killed him." John added.

John had planned a little date with Sherlock that day; and Tony convinced them it'd be alright, he could handle things for one day (he wasn't planning on confronting Obadiah until he'd gone through the proof Pepper had gone for... of course, that hadn't gone exactly to plan). The couple had never again gone anywhere if there was the slightest reason to suspect danger.

"I don't understand." Rogers admitted quietly.

"Stane was dealing under the table." Sherlock stated coldly. "Had been doing it for years. Selling Stark weapons to the best buyer... which many times were the worst kind of terrorists."

"Don't tell me..." Barton groaned. "The Ten Rings."

"Of course." John replied coldly. "And, as if weapons alone weren't enough, Stane paid them to kill Tony. Not that things went according to plan."

"JARVIS." No one was expecting what Tony said next. "Bring up the ransom video of the coded file we have for Stane's deals."

"Tony...?" Pepper sounded so terrified everyone else couldn't help but tense.

It was worse than any of them could have imagined. The video showed several members of the Ten-Rings, a bloody and badly hurt Tony Stark with dirty bandages and wires on his chest, looking so unlike himself... if the story hadn't been enough to bring the point home about just how wrong they all had been about Tony, that certainly did.

"Stane did that?!" Romanoff's voice seemed to mix disbelief and honest anger.

"He did worse." Sherlock hissed. "He wanted Tony dead. But when he survived and came back with the arc-reactor, Stane decided he wanted it, and when Tony wouldn't cooperate, he took it by force. If it hadn't been for Rhodey and Pepper, Tony would have died that night."

"And where were you?" Hill asked, curious.

"There were out for personal reasons." Tony stated in an almost chiding tone. "It's not like we knew Stane would make a move that soon."

"If he did that, then why...? I don't understand..." Rogers admitted.

"Why the cover-up?" John finished for him. "It was SHIELD's idea. They were so focused on keeping the truth hidden, as always. So they created an alibi for Tony and Pepper, Sherlock and I didn't really need one, and then made something up to explain Stane's death."

"And then Stark had to go and do the stupid thing with his whole I am Iron Man..." Fury snapped.

"Don't speak about that which you do not understand, Fury." Sherlock practically snarled at the Director. "Tony and I spent three months in a cave in Afghanistan, with no control. Stane did the same and almost got him killed... and then you went an attempted to do it a third time. Like Tony is a child who cannot be allowed to make his own decisions. He wanted control of his life again, and he took it back the only way he could, by stepping into the light."

No one knew what to say to that.

"Of course you still went ahead with your cover-up for Stane's death." John added, in the same tone. "All you managed was to force him to deal with dozens, possibly hundreds of people all around him offering his 'most sincere condolences' for the loss of his friend, his godfather, his second father!" He was practically yelling by that part. "Tony couldn't move on from what that bastard did to him, you didn't let him!"

"Why didn't he say the truth about that, if he had already said it about himself?" Hill asked.

Tony mumbled something under his breath, but no one really heard him clearly.

"He didn't want to make things harder for Phil." Pepper was the one to explain. "He was our liaison with SHIELD and, for whatever the reason, he was the one having to deal with Tony's revelation about being Iron Man. Tony didn't want him to get in trouble or something, or simply even more tired by having to deal with yet another thing."

No one knew what to say to that. On one hand, SHIELD had hurt Tony terribly, on the other, Tony had chosen to deal with it, rather than make things harder for Phil... yet another way he'd shown he cared, another way no one seemed to have seen.

Silence lasted for a long time. Tony had already made a decision he wouldn't be telling anything else, certainly not about the episode with the palladium-poisoning. He'd already revealed more than he ever intended to; however, since he'd done it for the two men he considered as good as his brothers (even more so than Rhodey now), he didn't regret it.

"So, now what?" Thor asked eventually.

He'd stayed quiet through the whole exchange, first because he was aware of his own ignorance regarding many things, later on out of respect for everyone involved. However, he knew things still needed to be settled. And thought it was better if it happened sooner rather than later.

"Now we find out what Mycroft's intentions in coming here were." John declared.

"Just know that if you try to send him to prison or another of your suicide missions I will make you, and everyone else involved, regret it." Tony stated, dead serious.

No one had any doubt about it; Stark Industries might no longer build weapons, but that didn't mean Tony Stark was any less capable of 'dealing' with his enemies... he'd only gotten better at it since Iron Man.

"I..." Mycroft actually had to stop and swallow before speaking. "I came here to see what had become of my brother before truly making my mind."

"And have you?" Pepper pressed.

"I have." Mycroft nodded. "Sherlock Holmes has long since been considered dead. John Watson was declared officially missing several years ago, and in a few more, he will be declared dead. That's how things will be. It is quite clear to me that William and Johnathan Scott are much happier than Sherlock Holmes and John Watson ever were."

It was quite clear to him. It was in every article, picture and video Anna had gotten for him and which he'd looked through on the flight to New York. Many of them had been posed for, or taken at a variety of events. But there were a few, especially among the photos, that were obvious candid shots: like one of them in a corner of a coffee-shop, drinking tea and holding hands above the table; the two of them walking out of some party, ties loosened, jackets off, half hanging upon each-other and laughing uncontrollably; the two of them stepping out of some unknown office, holding hands; the two dancing together slowly late at night at some function, after the important part was finished... Yes, Liam and John Scott were definitely much happier than Sherlock Holmes and John Watson ever were or could have been.

So, what do you think? I really hope you enjoyed.

Next week a crossover that isn't quite one (which means you don't need to worry what its with as you don't need to know anything beyond Sherlock to understand it). That will also be the last crossover in this series... we're reaching the final leg of this journey! (I've officially finished writing this series, with fifteen pieces, this being the only one with two parts).

See ya!