The First Solution

Minerva Magnussun

John thoughts were racing as he looked around for any sign of Sherlock. "How many rooms do you have in this hotel?" He asked suddenly. "Hundreds, the same as most" the person responded. Whoever had taken Sherlock was obviously just trying to make everything worse for John by confusing him with the clues, they never expected him to get them so Sherlock would be somewhere obvious. "221 he blurted out and the man behind the counter took the corresponding key and showed them to the room. The man unlocked the door and then stepped back allowing John to slowly creak it open

Meanwhile
Sherlock held the phone tightly in his hands. "Why is there always a sister" he muttered. "You are right Sherlock Holmes, I am who you say and I will avenge my brother" she came from the other end. "John is clever, I believe that he can work it out!" Sherlock said almost matter of factly. "I'm counting on it, well goodbye for now" she said and hung up. Just then Sherlock heard people walking down the hall outside the door. He slowly approached it and gave a sigh of relief.

As the door opened their worlds were joined once more. John gave Sherlock a warm embrace and held him there just happy to feel his arms around him again. Sherlock then tilted the doctors head up with his hand and kissed him lovingly on the lips. After a few more precious moments of eye contact they decided to walk out into the corridor where greg still stood. "Stay alert detective inspector, I doubt she would make it this easy to leave" Sherlock warned as he started to switch back to himself. Just as he finished the sentence Greg gave him a quick but caring hug with two small pats on the back. "Glad you're back" he murmured as they stared to walk.

They made their way out and Greg offered to drive them home. "I missed Rosie's first day of school, didn't I" Sherlock said with a sigh. John almost laughed "that's the first thing you say!". "Are you alright Sherlock?" He asked. "Yes I'm fine, solitude isn't good for a person but I'll be alright, why" he replied. "I expected you to well, I'm glad that you're not hurt" he smiled. "We have people dealing with this case as we speak, you two should relax and take a break for a few days" Greg said from the front seat. "I know who did this" Sherlock said " Charles Augustus Magnusson's sister apparently cared about her dear brother enough to get some, ineffective, revenge" Sherlock stated.

John sat in silence for most of the journey as he tried to enjoy having Sherlock back but he couldn't. Charles Augustus Magnusson reminded him of all the bad things that had happened. He thought about Mary and how even back then Sherlock tried to protect her. He looked to Sherlock and wrapped his arms around him. It was slightly uncomfortable because of the seatbelts but he didn't care. Sherlock softy hugged him back. "We're here" Greg said as he opened the car door.

John opened the door and began to walk up the steps to their flat. "Wait!" Sherlock whispered sharply. The door to Ms Hudson's flat was open and so was theirs. Greg didn't hesitate to pull out his gun and walk ahead of John into the room. "Don't take another step" the voice came as the woman aimed a gun at Rosie. "Keep her out of this" John snapped. "She's done nothing to you, this is between you and me, please let her go!" Sherlock practically pleaded as they both took a step closer instinctively. She pulled out another gun and pointed it at the pair "stop right there, not another step or I'll fill all three of you with bullets!". "Daddy, I'm scared" Rosie said. Sherlock looked to John and waited till he made eye contact then looked to a drawer to the right of them then he looked to Rosie. He then waited for Greg to look at him and drew his attention to where it had already been, to Minerva.

Sherlock held his breath then let it out sharply "Vatican Cameos!" Came the close to silent breath. Then like a clock striking midnight they went into action, John pulled open a drawer and grabbed a gun aiming it at Minerva as Sherlock dashed across the room to Rosie and tried to pull her behind the desk table they had. Greg has ran at Minerva and managed to wrestle one gun out of her hand but not before she had used most of the bullets which had mainly found their way into the walls of the room. Most of the bullets had missed their targets, all except two, the first had roped through Sherlock's coat and left a small but painful cut near his shoulder, the other was lodged just under DI Lestrades belly button. "Drop the gun!" John ordered after the empty click came from the remaining weapon in the woman's hand.

Sherlock had already texted Sargent Donovan to come with some police and an ambulance. "Jesus, Sherlock get over here" John said seeing the detective inspector lying on the ground. Sherlock walked hastily over while trying to block Rosie from seeing the bloody wound and their friend. John absentmindedly handed him the gun and pulled up his sleeves. Sherlock aimed the gun at the woman, trying his best to ignore the searing pain in his shoulder as he looked from her to Rosie to John putting pressure on Greg's wound and trying to keep him calm. "Fuck" he let out through gritted teeth. "I swear if Rosie heard that you won't hear the end of it" John said in a attempt at humor. The sirens approached and the situation calmed down a bit as Greg was handed over to the paramedics and Minerva Magnussen was put in the back of a police car. Sherlock's wound was quickly patched up. After cleaning off the blood on his hands John hugged his daughter tightly. They all had shock blankets on but they didn't care.

They had to answer some questions and weren't allowed back onto the crime scene so they spent the night in a B and B (they would have gone for a hotel but John thought that it wouldn't be good considering where Sherlock had been held captive). "I'm so happy to just hear your voices again" he said as they sat on the bed in the dimly lit room. "And we're glad to have you back" John said with a smile before pulling him closer for a small peck. They both smiled and went to bed, the nightmare was over, they could sleep easy.