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Bond, Louis, Mycroft, Moneypenny, Jack, and Fred, were sitting in the trading company’s sitting room holding a meeting. A knock was heard on the door.
“I’ll go get it.” Bond said. He rose to his feet and opened the door.
“Good morning Mr. Bond.” An older gentleman greeted him. Bond was shocked for a moment before becoming a bit wary.
“How did you know my name?” He asked the man.
“I dropped my book earlier and you picked it up for me. You told me your name then.” The man answered him.
“Did you come all the way here to thank me for that?” Bond asked the man.
“Not entirely. I run a bookstore and you work for a trading company so I was wondering if you could sell my books as well.” The man asked.
Bond was reminded of Moneypenny talking about people thinking that they were a legitimate trading company and coming with their wares. Bond stepped into the foyer closing the door behind himself.
“What about this one? It’s Sir Artur Conan Doyal’s a scandal in bohemia. You know in that infamous last scene I find it impossible that Sherlock Holmes didn’t see through Addeler’s male disguise.” The old bookseller said. The man continued to list off books before Bond managed to stop him.
“I apologise but we can’t accept these kinds of wares.” Bond told him.
“Oh, what a shame, in that case, I will gift these to you. That bookend would look more appealing with more books on it.” The man said, gesturing over to the bookend on the desk.
Bond looked over at the bookend taking his eyes off the old bookseller for a moment.
“Well that may be true but…” Bond trailed off as turned to face the old bookseller again. The old bookseller was gone. He had been replaced by a face that Bond had thought that he would never see again.
“Hey. Long time no see.” Sherlock said, pushing his now much longer hair back. Bond was shocked.
“S-…Sher-” Bond started. Sherlock put a finger to his lips, signalling Bond to stay quiet.
“Now we’re even.” Sherlock said.
“‘Even’? What…what do you mean? Are you talking about then? S-sorry you being here is just really mind-blowing.” Bond said.
“Yeah, I get it. I’ll tell you everything later. How I survived, why I’m here, and also about them.” Sherlock said.
Bond turned around and opened the door to the sitting room. He walked in taking Sherlock with him.
“Thank you, Bo-” Moneypenny started as she turned around.
Everyone in the room froze when they saw Sherlock.
“Sherlock Holmes…” Louis said, shocked.
Sherlock looked over at his brother who had stood up from his seat. They stared at each other for a long moment.
“Broth-” Sherlock started.
Mycroft moved to make himself a cup of tea. When he lowered the teacup back to the saucer Sherlock could see his hand shaking. Sherlock walked over to Mycroft and took the teacup from his hands, setting it down on the tea cart. He punched Mycroft in the shoulder.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being silent for so long. I really am.” Sherlock told him.
“Sherly the fact that you survived and are alive…just knowing that makes me really happy.” Mycroft said. They smiled at each other.
Sherlock felt eyes on him that were desperate for answers. He knew that those eyes belonged to Louis. He wanted to know what had happened to his siblings. Sherlock turned around to face Louis.
“That day you fell into the river with William and Wisteria. Now you are the only one who has returned. Care to explain?” Louis asked.
“That time when we fell off the bridge our chances of survival were roughly 50-50. The next thing I remember I was in a bed…”
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Sherlock’s first thought when he woke up in an unfamiliar place was to make sure that Liam and Wisteria were safe. They were both lying on beds and they were both still unconscious. Sherlock attempted to rise and go over to them but was stopped by a knife being thrust in front of him.
“Don’t move.” A voice said.
Now that he was sitting up he could see Liam and Ria better. Ria looked mostly unharmed; there were bandages around their chest but he wasn’t sure if those were just there to bind their chest or to cover wounds. Liam looked fine but one of his eyes was covered.
Suddenly Sherlock was distracted by an apple slice being shoved in front of his face.
“Hello. How are you feeling?” A young man asked Sherlock. Sherlock just stared at the man who was waving an apple in his face. He was very confused as to why this man was asking after his health.
“Fine, ignoring me now huh?” The man asked.
“How are those two doing?” Sherlock asked.
“Well anyway, do you want some apples?” The man asked.
“Are you even listening to me?” Sherlock asked.
“Alright alright! Both of them are stable so far. The rest of the healing is up to their will to live.” The man told Sherlock.
Sherlock sighed and stopped asking knowing that the man was telling him the truth.
“We’re on a boat to America.” Sherlock said, mostly to himself.
“How did you know?” The man asked Sherlock.
“Your accent and your gun. You keep it at your waist, only Americans hang something like that out in the open like that.” Sherlock told him.
“Wow, you really are a great detective. The books weren’t lying.” The man said.
‘So this guy knows who we are.’ Sherlock thought to himself.
“Novels are often exaggerated. I should know, I was written much shorter than my actual height.” The man said, taking a seat in a chair across from Sherlock.
“My name is Henry Antrim. Nice to meet you. In my home country, I used to call myself William H Boney. That's why people called me Billy the Kid.” he said.
“Another William huh? Well, you saved us so thank you.” Sherlock told him.
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“So as it turned out that Billy worked for the American government. And a very long story short they had quite an interest in us.
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“You know saving the three of you was quite a bit of trouble. All three of you went into cardiac arrest at the same time. I’m glad that I wasn’t alone, if I was you might have died. Anyway this is the most I could do for the Moriarty’s but neither of them has regained consciousness. They’ll need extra care for a while longer I would guess.” Billy said. The whole time he had been speaking he had been cutting up more apples.
“What do you want?” Sherlock asked Billy.
“What do I want? In short, pretending that you’re dead would be better right? The great detective who risked his life to overthrow the lord of crime and became noble and righteous in the process. For that reason, the rest of the citizens will think that they should improve the country. That's why you guys did this right?” Billy explained.
“‘You guys’ you say…I didn’t…” Sherlock trailed off.
“I was watching from the sidelines and thought ‘that’s a reasonable plan’. If by any chance you feel indebted to me for saving your life, why not help me with my country's work for the time being?” Billy asked him.
Sherlock was shocked. This was not how he had figured this conversation was going to go.
“In America, you three wouldn’t need to worry about getting recognised. You won’t be busy for a while anyway, right? However, those who would be worried about you three would need to think that all of you are dead.” Billy told him. He picked up a plate and offered it to Sherlock, on the plate there were two carved apple swans.
“...Ok. But you need to take care of these two whatever it takes.” Sherlock said to Billy.
“Alright then, it’s a deal. I look forward to working with you Mr. Ponytail.” Billy said.
“What’s up with the name?” Sherlock asked Billy. Billy did not answer and just smiled.
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“So when we landed in New York I spent a few months working with Billy under the cover of a local detective agency. One day I came back from an assignment to find Liam gone. I found him sitting on the roof. Ever since that day, Liam has been helping us out with assignments. Ria woke up a few days later but they have also been helping out. We passed a few years like that. Several months ago I was sent off to Asia and then travelled up into northern Europe. While I was in France Liam and Ria sent me a telegram telling me to come and help M16. That's how I ended up back in London.” Sherlock said, finishing his story.
“Mr. William and Wisteria are…” Fred trailed off.
Everyone in the room looked ecstatic. Bond and Louis more so than the rest. In all fairness, they both had very good reasons to be so. Louis was getting his siblings back and Bond was getting his partner back. Louis took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking again.
“Alright then. Now that Mr. Holmes has finished his story, we should return to the case at hand.”
“It’s Moriarty now but that’s another matter. Now that list of snipers that you gave to the foreign minister, you didn’t just give it away did you, Micky?” Sherlock asked.
Several people in the room stared at Sherlock for a moment, processing that he had corrected Louis’s address not telling him to call him Sherlock just informing him that his last name was now Moriarty. Mycroft was the first to recover his wits.
“Your sharp ears are still doing well huh? Who do you think I am?” Mycroft said.
The discussion turned to the operation that they would be carrying out the next night. Once they finished Louis gave everyone their instructions and then asked something of Sherlock.
“Mr. Moriarty, could you come with me for a moment?”
Sherlock followed Louis into his office which was clearly designed to please Liam and Ria as well as Louis.
“So do you want to ask about Liam and Ria?” Sherlock asked Louis.
“No, I have something to tell you personally. Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Sherlock Moriarty. At the time and even now you never truly left my sibling’s side. You saved both of their lives. I truly mean it, Thank you. Also, welcome to the family.” Louis told him.
“You know you and Liam look a lot alike now.” Sherlock told Louis. Louis thanked him and smiled sadly.
The next day Sherlock was standing outside waiting for his orders from Louis. He was smoking while he waited, he did that a lot less these days.
“Cigarette smoke, that's nostalgic.”
Sherlock’s cigarette fell to the ground completely forgotten. Miss Adler stood before him, she looked no different than the last time he had seen her.
“What’s wrong Sherly? Is there something on my face?” She asked him. Sherlock was still staring in shock.
“‘So long as you’re alive we’ll meet again somewhere.’” She said, quoting him.
“I’m glad you haven’t changed Miss Adler.” Sherlock said to her.
“Well, Cinderella's magic only lasts a night.” She told him.
“Yes. Shall we head to the venue now Miss Addl-” Sherlock started but he paused when she grabbed onto his arm.
“Hey don’t deceive me like before. But also you have a partner and I have a husband now.” Sherlock told her.
“I know…just for a moment…” She trailed off. He let her hang onto him for a moment, noticing that it was just her way of making sure that he was real and she hadn't hallucinated him telling her that Wisteria was alive. She let him go and straightened her coat.
“Alright. Now then shall we be off Sherlock Holmes?” Irene Adler asked.
Sherlock Holmes nodded and they headed off as their old selves, both people who should be dead now.
The next day at the Moriarty Manor Louis Albert and William were standing and facing each other. Wisteria had yet to arrive but from what they had been told they would be joining them when they finished their work.
“Louis, I'm sorry for abandoning you for the last three years.” Albert said to Louis. Louis smiled at him.
“No apology is necessary. You chose your way of atonement and I chose mine.” Louis told him.
“You really have become a strong man Louis.” Albert said. Both of them turned to look at William.
“You’ve gotten thinner William. Thank you for choosing to continue living.” Louis said. William smiled at him.
“Thank you for waiting for us. We both apologise for not letting you know that we were alive.” William said.
“Honestly you two are relying on me…nothing could make me happier. I was always relying on the two of you. I always believed that you were alive out there somewhere.” Louis said before embracing his older brother.
“Welcome home, William. Welcome home, Albert. And Wisteria should be home soon.” Louis said.
The door was opened to reveal the rest of the group. Fred jumped on William as soon as he saw him. Albert went to greet Jack. The sound of ‘welcome home’ was repeated many many times over.
Later that day Louis was walking past the kitchen when he heard William and Jack talking. He stepped into the room to see what they were doing.
“What are you two doing?” Louis asked.
“Preparing dinner.” William told him.
“Will it just be us?” Louis asked.
“No. He’s informing 221b.” William told him.
“Alright Fred and I will go get ingredients for you, I’ll have Albert invite Mycroft and I’ll have Bond come help you in here.” Louis said.
“You’ve gotten good at this, Louis.” William said.
Louis smiled and thanked his brother then went to give everyone their tasks.
That night Bond and Louis were waiting in the foyer to greet the guests at the door. When they heard a knock at the door they both rose to their feet and Bond moved to open the door. When he did it revealed Sherlock. Watson, and Miss Hudson. Sherlock had a basket of fruit in his hands.
“Welcome everyone. We’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” Bond said.
“Hey, Bond.” Sherlock said.
“I see that you wore the dress today. As I thought, it fits you perfectly.” Bond said to Miss Hudson. Miss Hudson looked very confused for a moment before it clicked for her.
“Ah! Miss Ad- Mr. Bond!” She exclaimed. She wrapped him in a hug.
“Miss Hudson…” Bond trailed off.
“Thank god! You really are still alive.” She said.
“Sorry. I really did want to see you again but…”
“It’s alright. I can see you now.”
“Yeah.”
“Mr. Bond, I'm glad to see you well.” John said.
“Same here John. It’s been a while.” Bond said.
William had come over to see who had arrived and as soon as he saw Sherlock he was running and jumping into Sherlock’s arms.
“Sherly!”
“Hey, Liam. How have you been?” Sherlock asked.
“Hmm…better now that you’re here.” William said.
“Welcome back Mr. Moriarty.” Louis said.
William blushed and glared playfully at Sherlock.
“Sherly…no Sherlock Moriarty you told my brother before I got back? Rude!” William said.
“Sorry love.” Sherlock said, pressing a kiss to the top of William’s head.
“I didn’t expect him to be so clingy.” Bond said.
“Oh right, I forgot to mention both Liam and Ria developed separation anxiety. Ria’s is strongly directed to Liam and once they get here I would assume you. Liam’s is more directed at me but also Wisteria. Quite honestly I’m surprised it’s so mild I’ve been gone for months now.” Sherlock told them.
There was another knock at the door and when Bond turned to answer it there was no one there. The rest of the group had gathered in the foyer at this point and most of them were confused. Suddenly a head peeked around the door frame.
“Hello! Sorry to keep you all waiting.” Billy said.
He stepped around the door and was followed by Mycroft. Pleasant greetings were exchanged and then Billy turned around to call back out the door.
“What are you being so slow for?”
There was an audible sigh and then another person stepped around the doorframe and into view. It was Wisteria.
“I’m back.” They said. Bond jumped on them immediately.
“Welcome back Eria!” He cried. Before Wisteria could even respond he pulled them into a kiss.
“Oh my god, they’ve been here for like 5 seconds Bond! Calm down!” Sherlock said.
Once Bond finally released Wisteria Louis walked over and wrapped them up in a hug.
“Welcome home Wisteria.” Louis said.
“Glad to be back.” Wisteria said.
“So Wisteria, the one who immediately jumped on you is your partner Bond right?” Billy asked.
“Yeah, he is.”
“I think that you were right. I like him already. He seems fun.” Billy said.
“I’m right? Shocking.” Wisteria said sarcastically.
“Rude.”
“You must be Henry Antrim. A pleasure to meet you.” Louis said, extending a hand towards Billy. Billy took Louis’s hand and shook it.
“Call me Billy.”
Suddenly Billy was distracted by the fruit basket that Watson was now holding. Sherlock had handed it to him when he saw Liam heading over.
“Ah! Fruit! You really are thoughtful ponytail!” Billy said. Sherlock glared at him tiredly.
“They’re not all for you.” Sherlock said.
“Assuming about 90% of them are for William…”
“Hey! Don’t just assume that they’re all for Liam!”
“But it’s a fair assumption!”
Suddenly everyone heard the click of a gun being cocked. Billy, William, Sherlock, and Wisteria had their guns out and levelled ready to shoot before they were turned all the way around. Moran dropped the gun in fright. Once the four realised who it was that had cocked the gun and that the threat was neutralised they returned their guns to their holsters.
“S-sorry. I just wanted to see if the rumours about Billy’s quickdraw were true…I see that he taught you three as well…that was terrifying…” Moran stammered.
Billy raised a finger gun at Moran.
“Bang~!”
Sherlock, William, Wisteria, and Billy laughed.
“It is time for dinner.” Moneypenny told them. Everyone followed her into the dining room still chatting and laughing.