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The haze had cleared a bit and all three men had picked themselves up off the floor before the bickering started
"None of this would have happened if you and my brother were prepared to go about this ridiculous feud in a civilized manner instead..."
"Civilized, I'm not the one who gate crashed the party!"
"Maybe but if you hadn't insisted on meeting like this, I would not have needed to take such precautions."
"He was the one who set off the smoke bomb which made your minion," a hand was waived at a partly buried corpse "set off the explosives in an uncontrolled manner."
"Yes, about the smoke bomb Sherlock, Sherlock are you listening?"
"Not to you two" Sherlock replied absently, "I'm trying to hear what's going on on the other side on the collapse."
"Awwww," Moriarty drawled sarcastically "worried for poor little Johnny? Alone, injured possible even dying?"
"Sherlock giving the positions of the collapse and Moran, Anthea and John there is a better than even chance one or more of them are dead." Mycroft said flatly.
"I hope so." Sherlock said, pressing his ear to the rubble "I do sincerely hope so."
Mycroft and Moriarty looked at each other, and then at Sherlock with the same identically raise eyebrow.
"Trouble in paradise Sherlock?" Moriarty asked in a much less whining tone.
"Really, Sherlock" Mycroft began frowning
"In my considerable personal experience fights to the death, which is a likely outcome of all but one combination of two or more survivors, involve a lot of shouting and the discharge of fire arms. Given that all three possible combatants are armed and highly skilled in warfare the fact that I have been unable to hear any noise leads me to hope that all three are dead." Sherlock peeled himself away from the wall of masonry to fix the other two with a penetrating look "the alternative doesn't bear contemplating."
It took a second for the other possibility to register when it did Moriarty went pale and Mycroft swallowed hard.
"Given that unthinkable possibility gentlemen," Mycroft offered his diplomats face and voice firmly in place, "however personally distasteful all concerned may find it, may I suggest a cessation of hostilities and a temporary mutual assistance agreement?"
"Just until we are all clear of this mess?" Sherlock asked sharply
"And to include which ever, assistants, may have survived." Moriarty added firmly
"Indeed." Mycroft agreed face and voice still carefully bland.
Sherlock face twisted into a pained grimace but he nodded sharply once. Moriarty took a little longer to agree but in the end he too nodded.
Once terms had been agreed it wasn't terrible difficult for the three of them to extricate themselves from the partly collapsed building, Mycroft's memory of the plans and Moriarty's knowledge of where the explosives where meant they could plot a reasonable safe route out and Sherlock's agility came in handy for disarming those explosives they couldn't bypass.
An hours careful navigation brought them blinking into the sunlight to find a very dusty, batter and bloodied trio of missing assistants mutually glaring at each other across the remains of a courtyard garden. With no further words each man gathered up his blogger, assistant, pet assassin and the six of them went their ways in silence.
---next day---
"This isn't your gun John."
John blinked and looked blearily at exhibit a that had been thrust under his nose by his flat mate.
"Must be Moran's then," John said around a yawn, "things got a bit rough and confused and I put my hand of a weapon in the fight and was too glad to have one to worry about whose it was."
John wandered into the kitchen to make tea, leaving Sherlock to fix an unwavering stare on his back. What ever theories Sherlock came up with too explain the gun John knew he was going to have to tread very carefully for a while.
---
"Ah Anthea," Mycroft gestured towards the object sitting on his desk, "Could you perhaps enlighten me on the provenance of this object?"
"I believe sir that is not the unlicensed firearm Dr Watson does not have in his possession and which he further more most certainly did not have on his person yesterday." Anthea replied without hesitation
Mycroft didn't even blink as he asked "And why was Dr Watson's illusory firearm in your coat pocket may I ask?"
Anthea's lips twitched up at the corner fleetingly "I really couldn't say sir, it's probable that in the engagement I, acquired it."
Mycroft raised an eyebrow at her choice of words but said evenly "Perhaps you would see to it the gun which is not Dr Watson's gets back to where it doesn't belong?"
"Of course sir." Anthea replied scooping up the gun and leaving the office.
Mycroft watched her go wondering if he should keep a closer eye on her, John and Moran. After all it wouldn't do to under estimate them and fall victim to a coup d'etat.
---
"What the hell is this Sebastian?"
Moran looked up from applying a fresh dressing over one of the deeper scrapes to see Jim waiving six inches of steel topped with a slightly squashed collection of silk flowers
"Her hat pin," he growled "but given the hole it made in my leg I'm gonna go with, a stiletto with a stupid handle."
Jim looked from it to Moran and narrowed his eyes "Why do you have her hat pin?"
Great Moran thought suspicious genius time, there goes the next few pub evenings Aloud he said "'Cause I didn't fancy trying to remove it from my leg some where I could bandage the wound."
Moriarty watched Moran carefully as the man dressed the remainder of his injuries. While he doubted Moran would ever side with either Holmes brother the doctor and Mycroft's assistant where another matter. He had no intention of being brought down by one of his own, maybe it would be best to keep Moran fully occupied with something more entertaining for a while to remind him where his best interests lay. Divide and conquer after all and if something was up between the three of them he didn't want Moran around to tip the other two off before hand.