"Mycroft" Joanna shouted, sounding alarmed and the British Government, whom had never heard his wife call him by his Christian name since their marriage stood up instantly as a cold trickle of dread slipped its way down his body. Was the baby coming? It was far too soon for that but maybe. Joanna skidded to a halt in the doorway to the hall which went down to her room, her phone out and her face filled with terror.

"What is it mon amour?" Mycroft asked his wife in concern as he walked over to her and put his hands comfortingly on his arms, catching two words alone on her phone, a message from Alexandria. Vatican Cameos.

"It's Sherlock and Lexi, they've gone after him," Joanna said quickly, her voice trembling.

"After who?" Mycroft asked the perfect valid question as there were quite a few people that his brother could be attempting to go after.

"Magussen. They've gone after him for Mary. That is what this has all been about, John and the fire, a show of power and now Magussen has threatened Mary. They made a vow, you heard them, it is one they intend to keep. They both were acting so strangely at dinner, but I only thought it was because…," Joanna said trailing off as if she had said too much.

"Because of what…Joanna," Mycroft said, finally shaking his wife back into conscious thought.

"Lexi is pregnant. She only just found out today. Sherlock doesn't know. If he did…," Joanna said, trailing off again as she bit at her lip and Mycroft inhaled deeply.

"If her did he would have never allowed her to go with him and Doctor Watson," Mycroft concluded. "Is there time?" He asked her and Joanna shrugged before nodding.

"I think so, but we have to go now, now while your parents are otherwise occupied. I think they are going to kill him. He threatened Mary, that makes him a target that needs to be eliminated. And every files Magussen has is in his head, they'll figure it out sooner rather than later," Joanna said in a hushed voice as she gestured to Mummy and Papa Holmes who were both fawning over Joanna's last sonogram picture.

"Then there isn't a moment to lose. Stay here and I…."

"Like hell you will," Joanna interrupted him in a harsh whisper.

"No, no, you're right, you should certainly come," Mycroft said quickly, terrified by his wife's temper and being the intelligent man that he was he was hardly going to refuse her.

"Good, I already have the chopper ready," Joanna told Mycroft before she pulled on her coat, belting it over her big baby bump and leading the way out the door, Mycroft unwilling to stop her. After all baby brother was in trouble and that meant he had to clean up the mess once more.

Later….

Any retort the Magussen would have made was interrupted by the sound of an approaching helicopter. It soared over the roof and at the same time, armed police marksmen ran towards the patio. The helicopter dropped down to hover some yards away, its spotlight aimed towards the four of them on the patio. As they were buffeted by the wind from the rotors, Mycroft's voice blared out over a speaker on the helicopter.

"Sherlock Holmes, Alexandria Holmes, and John Watson," Mycroft's voice said over the loudspeaker and John looked up and saw him sitting in the helicopter wearing a headset and microphone. Sitting beside him in the co-pilot seat was Joanna wearing a similar headset and from here her expression looked grim. "Stand away from that man," Mycroft ordered before Joanna spoke up when she saw Lexi waver slightly.

"Stand down that is an order," Joanna said through the loudspeaker, her voice coming out in an authoritative manner which almost reminded John of his army days. Joanna could have put some of his commanding officers to shame. Sherlock and Lexi looked away from the helicopter as Magnussen looked over towards them.

"Here we go, Mr. and Mrs. Holmes!" Magnussen told the two detectives gleefully.

"To clarify: Appledore's vaults only exist in your mind, nowhere else, just there," Sherlock said loudly, over the noise of the hovering helicopter, as he and Lexi stepped forward, falling into step beside each other, holding each other's hands tightly as they walked over to John's side.

"Nothing is on paper? Nothing is written down?" Lexi asked Magnussen, shouting over the noise of the rotating blades just to be heard.

"They're not real. They never have been," Magnussen answered her as he looked towards the helicopter hovering overhead and Sherlock and Lexi nodded, sharing a look with each other before they both looked down.

"Sherlock Holmes, Alexandria Holmes, and John Watson. Step away," Mycroft ordered over the speaker and John saw Joanna reach up and press on her headset.

"Sherlock, Lexi, John! Back down now!" Joanna ordered them as Magnussen walked forward a couple of steps, waving his hands calmly at the helicopter.

"It's fine! They're harmless!" Magnussen called up loudly as the armed police continued moving into position, aiming their rifles towards the patio. Harmless was the last word John would ever use to describe Lexi and Sherlock. He had seen some of the things Lexi had done in the past. He could still remember an image of her bending over backwards with only a broom in hand as she cut off the downward thrust of a Chinese warrior's sword.

"Targets are not armed. I repeat, targets are not armed," One of the police officers said over the radio and Lexi sighed slightly, closing her eyes a bit and looking down as John looked round at his friend.

"Sherlock, Lexi, what do we do?" John asked them, knowing that this is when they generally had a plan. He turned to look at the helicopter again. They had to have a plan. It couldn't end like this could it?

"John…," Lexi said as she slowly raised her head and met the army doctor's eyes.

"Nothing!" Magnussen said as he looked round at them and Lexi's eyes opened fully as she stood up right with her shoulders back. "There's nothing to be done! Oh, I'm not a villain. I have no evil plan. I'm a businessman, acquiring assets. You happen to be one of them!" Magnussen said and Lexi nodded before she gave John a very pointed look that he could never miss and he would never in his life forget.

"…Vatican Cameos," Lexi said, finishing her sentence and John knew that she had a plan and something major was about to happen. John looked back up at the helicopter as Sherlock turned his head and looked at John his gaze penetrating and intense before he and Lexi shared a long look. For a moment John caught them nod at each other as if agreeing to something before Sherlock raised Lexi's hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. She smiled at him fondly for a moment before that slipped away to be replaced with a look of fierce determination.

"Sorry. No chance for you to be heroes this time, Mr. and Mrs. Holmes," Magnussen told Sherlock and Lexi as Sherlock looked away from John, lowering his gaze but still with a determined look on it as Magnussen turns away from them. Lexi looked down as well her eyes closing and her eyelids fluttering rapidly again as she calculated something.

"Sherlock Holmes, Alexandria Holmes, and John Watson, stand away from that man. Do it now," Mycroft ordered them more firmly and John saw Joanna's eyes widen with some realization as Lexi's eyes snapped open and she looked up at Magnussen.

"Alexandria Holmes don't you dare!" Joanna threatened but Lexi ignored her as Sherlock looked up, standing with Lexi.

"Oh, do your research," Sherlock told Magnussen loudly as he and Lexi stepped closer to John. Sherlock reached round behind the army doctor and into John's coat pocket, then stepped away again as Lexi reached into her own inner jacket pocket, the two detectives walking forward towards Magnussen in unison.

"We're not heroes ...," Lexi told Magnussen, shaking her head ruefully as Magnussen turned to look at them and Lexi shrugged nonchalantly and made a small face.

"We're high-functioning sociopaths," Sherlock corrected Magnussen and the two detectives widened their eyes as they glared at the man.

"Merry Christmas!" The said in unison before Sherlock raised John's pistol and Lexi pulled hers from where she was hiding it under her jacket and quickly turning back to back, they aimed the pistols at Magnussen's head and fired in unison. As John recoiled and even before Magnussen hit the ground, Sherlock and Lexi dropped their guns to the patio and turned towards the helicopter together, raising their hands.

"Man down, man down," The police officer shouted over the radio.

"Get away from us, John!" Sherlock order a stunned John loudly as he turned to look at him. "Stay well back!"

"John. Go! Just get back please!" Lexi told John as she half turned to him, her arms raised over her head as John saw Joanna rip her headset off and turn them both of as she started shouting something frantically to Mycroft. He couldn't hear what was going on by Joanna gestured to Lexi whose expression was grim and Mycroft looked shocked by whatever she told him. From the way Joanna was acting you would think….

"Christ, Sherlock, Lexi!" John said desperately as he raised his own hands and Mycroft suddenly came back on over the speakers.

"Stand fire!" Mycroft ordered frantically in his microphone as Joanna put her headset back on.

"Repeat that is an order. Stand fire!" Joanna shouted as the police marksmen ran towards the patio, aiming their rifles at Sherlock and Lexi as they faced them.

"Do not fire on Sherlock and Alexandria Holmes! Do not fire!" Mycroft shouted loudly as the marksmen took up positions, aiming their laser sights towards Sherlock and Lexi.

"That is an order. Do not fire on Sherlock and Alexandria Holmes!" Joanna repeated frantically.

"Oh, Christ, Sherlock, Lexi," John said, his voice filled with despair. Keeping their hands raised, Sherlock and Lexi looked round to him again. Lexi had a few tears in her eyes as she looked at him.

"Give our love to Mary," Sherlock told John and John stares at them, his face full of anguish. "Tell her she's safe now," Sherlock told John as Lexi nodded, one single tear slipping down her face.

"And you… John Watson, you. Don't… you… ever… forget how much the both of us love you," Lexi told John tearfully and both she and Sherlock took one final look at their best friend and then turned towards the marksmen and the helicopter and began to sink slowly to their knees. John held his own hands high, his eyes full of despair and his breath catching in his throat. Sherlock and Lexi knelt side by side on the patio, their hands raised and their faces anguished. The beams from the laser sights travelled over their faces as they stared ahead of themselves, knowing that they had done something from which no-one could save them this time, not Mycroft, not even Joanna.

Third Person POV

In the helicopter, Mycroft and Joanna took off their headsets and stared in equal despair towards Sherlock and Lexi, holding hands in the centre of the console after they set the helicopter to hover, Joanna holding her other hand over her expanding abdomen. She rubbed her swollen stomach, the baby having been kicking her steadily as if sensing her parent's despair and anguish.

"Oh, Sherlock, Lexi. What have you done?" Mycroft asked softly in anguish before he turned to Joanna as a few tears slipped down her face. "Please tell me you are wrong," He said and Joanna shook her head.

"I'm not. I'm sorry," Joanna told him sadly and Mycroft couldn't see the adult Sherlock and Lexi on the patio. Instead, it was as if his little eleven year old brother was standing there, his face full of terror as he stared upwards, his hands raised, his curly hair buffeted by the wind from the helicopter's rotor blades, and tears pouring down his face as he stood next to a nine year old Lexi, her red hair blowing in the wind, her face tear streaked. The young boy lowered his head, weeping before he turned to his wife, the two of them clinging to each other. "My," Joanna said using the endearing term she only ever used for him and Mycroft looked over at her as she held her stomach. Mycroft placed a hand over the one that was holding their baby and his fingers spread out between hers. "If there was anything I could do I would. You know I would, especially now. Especially knowing what we know. But I don't think there is anything we can do, that I can do. I love you My, but marrying you took away a lot of the power I used to have," Joanna told him as Sherlock and Lexi were placed in handcuffs and hauled to their feet.

"We'll figure it out mon amore," Mycroft told her, brushing away her tears with the pads of her thumb, drawing in a deep breath and nodding. He would figure something out, they would figure something out. For Sherlock and Lexi's sake they would find a way. For now he needed to be strong. Joanna needed him and his brother and sister in law needed him. "Together," Mycroft promised Joanna and she nodded at him, taking a deep breath and calming herself.

"Together. Always," Joanna promised him before she leaned across the small space and Mycroft pulled her into his arms, rubbing soothing circles on her back. Oh Sherlock, Lexi, what had they done? What were they thinking?

Joanna's POV

Mycroft and I had been unable to do anything for Sherlock and Lexi until the next morning. Since very early we had been entered into a heated debate with various members of parliament. We had both been to see Sherlock and Lexi who were being kept in a holding cell for the time being. Of course they were being treated roughly as most people thought they were terrorist. They were however hanging in there as they had each other. Though I was livid at Lexi for what she had done, for the stupidity of it, I knew that she would have never let Sherlock shoot Magnussen alone. Now however Mycroft and I were faced with the hardship of trying to save them from their fate. So far, the negotiations were going southwards for us and that was entirely my fault. Mycroft never blamed me for it and I loved him dearly for it. I don't think he ever could deduce just how much I actually love him, but he was the first person who didn't make me feel like a freak. He made me feel beautiful and wanted and loved. But our problems now were my fault even if he would not hold me to that.

The governments of the world hated me. This I knew but they listened to me out of fear of what I could possibly do to them. Mycroft hated me at first too or at least I thought he did but he was the first person to actually want to get to know me and we became friends and from friends to lovers. I was scared getting into a relationship with him to be sure, not because of what I thought others might think but because I had never been in a relationship myself and finding out that neither had he had put me at ease. The problem was when it came out we were married. People lost their respect for Mycroft first. We noticed that it was harder for people to listen to him. He had to fight harder to be heard or else he was overlooked. We came home many nights frustrated and then they stopped listening to me. Then the looks came and the whispers. The general consensus was that Mycroft had only bedded and wedded me to tame me. Of course anyone who had met Mycroft before never thought he could love someone and as for me they thought I was a heartless bitch. When I started showing signs of being pregnant, we lost any power we used to have entirely. It showed that not only were we married but we had relationships of a sexual nature before marriage. Some questioned whether or not Mycroft abused this relationship to get my help. They thought he had married me only so that he could advance himself. And thus right now, showing that I was six months pregnant while we pleaded for Sherlock and Lexi's lives was not helping our case.

I had my hair down this morning but held back by a few elegant clips, my maternity work clothes on which I had thrown on quickly. Neither of us had slept last night. We had spent the entire night trying to figure out a plan to help Sherlock and Lexi and then Mycroft had taken care of me. He had been worried that the drug they had given us might have some after affects that might hurt the baby but I assured him that Sherlock and Lexi would never do something that would knowingly hurt our little angel. He was going to make such a good father already. He was so protective of Sherlock and Lexi and so was I. I used to be scared of becoming a mother and while I knew Mycroft was still terrified I wasn't anymore because I knew we could do this together. Maybe marrying Mycroft had tamed me a little. Becoming a mother and a wife had made more conscious of my behaviours before. I still was a bit reckless and I still had attitude, but I was also more caring and loving, emotions I had long since forgotten how to feel. Mycroft was the same way. We rescued each other from ourselves. He asked me once if I had any regrets about being with him and I told him no. I was married to my best friend and we could have our happy ending too, sometimes reality could be your fairytale. Mycroft was standing at the glass wall of the large meeting room we were in. He had his back to the room and was looking outside. A suited man stood nearby to his right. I was sitting just behind him as my feet were tired today. In fact I was just tired today and the little munchkin was kicking up a storm still. I rubbed my hand over the spot where our little girl was kicking and I saw Mycroft's eyes soften a bit as he caught my movement in the reflection of the glass.

"As my colleague is fond of remarking, this country sometimes needs a blunt instrument. Equally, it sometimes needs a dagger – a scalpel wielded with precision and without remorse," Mycroft said as he looked over to his left, trying once again to convince the members of parliament to what we had been arguing on for the past two hours. "There will always come a time when we need Sherlock and Alexandria Holmes," Mycroft finished and several men sitting at the tables in the room looked back at him silently. They shot scathing looks at me which I ignored for the fifth time this session. I was seated near Lady Smallwood, the only person in this room who I was still on good terms with. The men could all kiss my arse. It was the man standing near Mycroft that spoke next, Sir Edwin.

"If this is some expression of familial sentiment ...," Sir Edwin began and Mycroft rolled his eyes and sighed, turning to him as I growled slightly under my breath. I was tired of these games.

"Don't be absurd. I am not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion," Mycroft told Sir Edwin and I snorted, fixing my husband with a look as he looked down for a moment. He caught my eye and I raised my eyebrow at him. He would always be a big brother no matter how many times Sherlock got into trouble or annoyed him. He turned to Sir Edwin again, breaking our eye contact. "You know what happened to the other one," Mycroft said and I grimaced as Sir Edwin looked away from him, doing the same. Mycroft turned to look out the window again while I decided it was time for me to speak up. To hell with them not wanting to hear from me.

"This is not a matter of familial sentiment," I began and all eyes turned to me. Sir Edwin turned around but Mycroft continued to stare out the window, only watching my reflection in the glass. He gave me a cautious look and I nodded at him slightly to let him know it was alright. "Yes, Sherlock is Mycroft's brother and Lexi is his sister in law the same way Sherlock is my brother in law and Lexi my sister in law. But this is not about them being family. We did not come here today to try and convince you to pardon them. We know what it is that they have done. We know that they must answer for this, but not in the way you would currently have it," I argued with the room, finding my voice just as easily as I had before. Some people were terrified of speaking in front of others but I never was. I spoke my mind and I did it plainly. If you didn't like what I said you could fuck off.

"There is no prison in which we could incarcerate Sherlock and Alexandria without causing a riot on a daily basis," Mycroft told the room at large, adding to my claims and I looked over at my husband with a soft look. We promised to do this together and we were.

"Every prison is filled with murders, psychopaths, and terrorist that Sherlock and Alexandria have put there," I told the room as I looked away from my husband. I hated having to use Lexi's formal name but in this situation it was required. "If we incarcerate them not only will be their riots but there will be plots to kill the both of them before the week is out. We must afford them a level of security. Not only that, but I trained Alexandria myself," I told the room and the men all looked at me with mixed expressions of anger and surprise at being reminded to the fact that I was an intelligence agent, not a British member of parliament and yet I had some power left in their government. "There is no prison that could ever hold me and thus none that could ever hold Alexandria. Incarcerate them and I promise you they will both be out of their cell in under three hours, especially if you separate them, then I give it an hour and a half," I told the room, knowing that Lexi would fight even harder to escape if she was separated from Sherlock.

"The alternative," Mycroft said as he looked left towards where Lady Smallwood was sitting at a table. "...would require your approval," Mycroft told the members of parliament.

"Hardly merciful, Mr. Holmes," Lady Smallwood scoffed and I narrowed my eyes. Yes, it was hardly a good plan. Quite frankly it was terrible but I believed in Sherlock and Lexi and I knew that even under these circumstances they could find a way out of them. Besides we had a better hope of them possibly surviving than if they were incarcerated. Everyone thought they were terrorists, even the guards would be willing to kill them for the right price some just out of loyalty to the crown. Some guards used to be in the RAF.

"Regrettably, Lady Smallwood, my brother and his wife are murderers," Mycroft told Lady Smallwood before he turned away and looked out of the window again. Oh but they had killed more than just Magnussen, this was just the only public murder that could be linked to them.

"With all due respect Mr. Holmes, Miss Reyer," Lady Smallwood said and I snapped my head around to her.

"It's Mrs. Holmes," I corrected her icily as I narrowed my eyes at her and Mycroft turned around as soon as he heard my tone of voice. Several members of parliament shifted in their seats uncomfortably as many shot looks between Mycroft and I.

"Mrs. Holmes…," Lady Smallwood corrected herself with a slight nod and I lifted my head up as Mycroft walked closer over to me, sensing that I was getting angry. Peanut was kicking a bit more now too and I rubbed the spot a bit more, trying to sooth her. I took a deep calming breath hoping that maybe if I calmed down it would calm her down. The doctor said that if I was too stressed it stressed out the baby. "We cannot agree to this proposal simply because of your concerns. If they were anyone else this is what we would do. We will not make exceptions because they are your family or because they are celebrities. We are the government, we do not haggle," Lady Smallwood said and I finally broke. I chuckled, the sound filling the room and Mycroft froze and tensed instantly as everyone's eyes turned to me. "I'm sorry Mrs. Holmes did I say something funny?" Lady Smallwood asked me and I nodded and her, still laughing a bit before I pushed back in my chair and stood up to my full height which, while not much, could still be pretty imposing when I wanted it to be. I shot Mycroft a look that he better not stop me and he just smirked ever so slightly, knowing what I was going to do before I even opened my mouth to speak. He moved out of my way as I walked to the head of the room and turned to face all of parliament.

"Exceeding funny Lady Smallwood," I told the woman with a bit of bite to my words as I rolled back my shoulders. I might waddled when I walked, I might look like I swallowed a watermelon, but I couldn't remember when that changed anything. "I seem to remember that it was you that hired Sherlock and Lexi to retrieve some letters of a scandalous nature from Magnussen," I started and Lady Smallwood paled and spluttered as everyone turned to look at her. Her husband had killed himself recently when the news had broken. "You see you put them in Magnussen sights. The man was obsessive about them. You might recall about three years ago the trail of James Moriarty. He was another man obsessive about Sherlock and Lexi and it led to their faked deaths," I said before I looked out at all the members of parliament, my eyes narrowed and I shook my head before smiling ruefully and chuckling again. "I don't seem to be able to recall when it is that you lot decided that you could stop listening to me. Last time I checked, I could still topple your entire government with a few lines of computer code. I could tear you down in an instant and there is nothing you can do. You can't touch me and you can't imprison me because I could just walk right out of there. I've done it before," I threatened and Sir Edwin spoke up like I knew he was dying too.

"But you wouldn't now would you?" He asked me and I turned to him, raising my eyebrow.

"Do you want to bet?" I asked him and he gestured to Mycroft.

"You married Mycroft Holmes, you won't do a thing. In fact you're carrying his child. We all know what you did. What was it? What was the deal you two made" Sir Edwin asked as he looked at Mycroft, directing the conversation to him. "Fuck the little whore and marry her and she would make sure you got advanced to the highest position? Not like you didn't already have more power than anyone else. Maybe we're just tired of listening to you two," Sir Edwin said before he found himself slammed onto the table by a pregnant woman, his hand pulled behind his back. He let out a cry of pain as I manhandled him. Mycroft was at my side, his face red with rage and his expression livid. He looked like he very much wanted to hurt Sir Edwin and several members of parliament were on their feet, looking to come to his aid. I looked at them and laughed breathlessly.

"Don't even fucking think about it," I said and I grinned to myself for a moment as I realized that the old me was coming back. Oh she had never left, but she had been toned down a lot. Apparently she came out when Mycroft or my baby were threatened. Momma bears were a force you didn't want to mess with. I twisted Sir Edwin's arm once more for good measure before letting him go. "So that's what you all think?" I asked the room as I stared pacing in front of them and I looked over at Mycroft and grinned at him mischievously. "Well I have to admit he is a good shag," I said and Mycroft smirked instead of blushing or spluttering. "No you see, what happened if all of your little brains can possibly comprehend it, is two people fell in love. I know it's such a tremendously complicated concept," I said as I walked over to Mycroft and slipped and arm around his waist and he did the same to me. "There was never an agreement or a ploy for power. And guess what. Just because he is the British Government and just because I am married to him, I won't stop at destroying you bit by little bit if I so choose. The way our relationship has always worked is personal life is separated from our life at work. So don't think for one second that marriage has tamed me," I said as I pulled away from Mycroft's side. "In fact, I rather think it's made me far worse. If you think women are bad in general, try mothers. So…," I said as I took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm going over all of your heads," I told the members of parliament who looked at me in rage. "Because last time I checked I have that power. Sherlock and Lexi are going into the MI6 program and as for all of you…," I said as I looked round at Mycroft. "If I have so much as one problem from any of you again you can find out just why the governments of Spain, France, Russia, and China, are still frightened of me," I warned all of them as they all looked back at me and I took a deep breath and nodded once, glad that I had taken control once more. I didn't seen any issues over who had power in the government coming up again in the future. "Honey," I said and I smiled back at Mycroft and offered him my hand. He took it and wordlessly we left the room. As soon as we were alone together in the car he brought me closely to him and kissed me passionately.

"That was incredible," He told me as we broke apart and I grinned up at him as I caressed his face. "You always look so beautiful when you…," Mycroft said before I chuckled and cut him off with another deep kiss.

"When I tell the government to fuck off?" I finished for him as we broke apart again and Mycroft chuckled lightly beside my ear as he nuzzled my neck. I sighed in contentment before I cuddled myself into his side. He placed his hands over my stomach and kissed the top of my head.

"How are you?" He asked me and I knew he meant how was the kicking.

"She settled down once I started telling them off. I think she is going to be a force to reckon with if she has our attitudes," I laughed and Mycroft kissed my cheeks as I nuzzled my face into his chest, breathing in his scent. Under his hand, our little angel kicked. "And once again she makes her presence known," I told Mycroft and he chuckled lightly.

"Everything is going to be alright," Mycroft assured me as we settled back down together, the three of us safe and together.

"I know amante," I sighed before I looked up at him and kissed him lightly, this kiss tender and sweet. "I know," I told him before I settled back down on his chest. Everything would be alright, in the end. For all three of us.