Author's Note: This is actually my first Sherlock (BBC) fic despite being a fan from the very beginning back in 2010. Spoilers for A Scandal in Belgravia and all of season one. Possibly, if you really squint and turn your head sideways shaking it back and forth, hints of Sherlock/John.

Playing Mother

By: Sailor Moonac

Sherlock was a nuisance. An overgrown, childish, dramatic, and rather self-centred nuisance who had a penchant for getting into trouble deliberately and even worse, accidently. Even from the time Sherlock was a mere baby, Sherlock's talent for trouble and all of the consequences of such fell upon Mycroft. Mycroft, the older, more responsible, more brilliant, brother who was relegated the task of looking after Sherlock.

Which made no sense if you consider the fact the Holmes family was more than wealthy enough to hire multitudes of nannies and tutors. And they did have multitudes of nannies and tutors, and they all did their jobs beautifully educating and raising Mycroft while his parents were away for their "minor duties" for the British government. But Sherlock—Sherlock was a nightmare. So while Sherlock also had the luxury of nannies and tutors to raise and educate him, Sherlock also had the luxury of driving most of them mad and getting away with it. As such, most—all of the responsibility of keeping an eye on Sherlock fell to Mycroft.

Mycroft could distinctly recall a five year old Sherlock declaring he wanted to be a pirate when he grew up, which was normal for a five year old. What was not normal was how adamant he was on that profession and did not "grow out of it" until he was nearly sixteen. It was cute when Sherlock was five; he would drive his tutors and nannies and the maids and the steward and the butler and everybody else in between crazy, nicking things and hiding them. Sherlock would then hide his "loot" in the dankest, darkest, filthiest corner of the basement of the manor where a normal five year old would be terrified to even look at. But not Sherlock. And as such, when items were misplaced or could not be located, the responsibility fell to the then fifteen year old Mycroft to locate those items, much to his displeasure.

It was cute for a while, despite having to go to such a filthy corner to fetch whatever item Sherlock had decided to pillage for the day. But it quit being cute when Sherlock took to hiding Mycroft's belongings. And to make matters worse, he hid them everywhere. While it wasn't a problem to figure out what Sherlock had took nor was it a problem to figure out where Sherlock hid it, it eventually became the repetitive daily ritual of going to the pantry, the master bathroom, the ancient dumbwaiter, the attic, etc., to fetch whatever item Sherlock had hid. No, the problem was Sherlock took keen delight in it. He loved seeing Mycroft exasperated. Even as an adult, Mycroft would have to wonder if it was because neither of their parents nor the hired help would pay attention to Sherlock. Only Mycroft would give Sherlock any attention, even if it was to reprimand him [again] to stop nicking the cook's pan or the maid's tea tray or everybody else's belonging. But then Mycroft would remember the fact his brother was a self-diagnosed sociopath that also probably didn't care for other people's regards towards him, and quickly crossed out that musing of it all being a "cry for attention".

When Sherlock was seven and Mycroft seventeen, Mycroft had found a parenting book for problematic children that just happened to be lying on the console table in the corridor outside of his bedroom. Mycroft had raised an eyebrow, wondering why the newest literature tutor (a speck of dark coloured make-up foundation she used pressed into the back of the book carelessly with a finger, the smell of camomile tea which she preferred to "relax from the nightmare [Sherlock]") would leave this book for him (the obviousness of the location, impossible to miss). Still, Mycroft silently took the book with him to the library and glanced over it in favour of his studies.

The book was actually written for parents who had children diagnosed with ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, something Sherlock certainly was not. At that age, Mycroft couldn't really define Sherlock as anything except over-excitable and even now as an adult dealing with a grown up Sherlock running around London with John, solving crimes and just simply getting into trouble, Mycroft still could only define Sherlock as over-excitable. An over-excitable, adult child. If Mycroft had to diagnose Sherlock with something, he would actually diagnose Sherlock with Oppositional Defiant Disorder or something similar. Where Sherlock got his own self-diagnoses of a sociopath, Mycroft didn't know. Especially since Sherlock didn't fit the standard DSM diagnosis of a sociopath. But then again, that was probably why Sherlock describes himself as a "high-functioning sociopath".

Regardless, Mycroft merely scoffed at the ADHD parenting book of the tutor's and tossed it into the grate in the library before firing the tutor the very next day and purchasing a Parenting Management Training Book. If Sherlock was going to be defiant, then Mycroft would have to be strict to compensate and to keep Sherlock safe and somewhat under control.

In hindsight, that was what probably caused Sherlock to be so resentful of him. The more Mycroft tried to reign in and play mother to Sherlock, the more Sherlock lashed out, progressing from nicking random items to outright destroying things and injuring himself by doing stupid things like climbing the chimneys. What's more, Sherlock decided to take a keen interest in identifying any and all possible details on a person and tell that person what negative deduction he had arrived to from those details. Unfortunately, he practised this a great deal on the hired help and from then on, the Holmes household could never maintain any hired help for longer than three months. Except for the butler who had been with the family long before Mycroft was even born.

Thank God Sherlock soon found an interest in the violin after seeing a performance by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall. The violin helped calm Sherlock somewhat. But instead of stealing and hiding Mycroft's belongings when irked with him, Sherlock took to playing the violin off-tuned and loudly. In the middle of the night. At that time, Mycroft dreaded and longed for when he would escape to university considering his bedroom was right next door to Sherlock's.

This sudden "mothering" role of Mycroft lasted until he left for university. Mycroft could recall the animosity Sherlock would have for Mycroft every time he returned for the summer holidays or Christmas and New Year. Though Mycroft only began enforcing a strict, almost overbearing role of disciplinarian over Sherlock not long before leaving for university, the resulting resentment of Sherlock was far more lasting.

That might have been why Sherlock decided to take up drugs when he went away for university. The need to lash out against his overbearing brother who attempted to rule over his life and reign in on Sherlock's mind and interest…Mycroft was not surprised that was the result of his actions. Getting Sherlock clean was far more painful and a greater nuisance than going to the pantry, the master bathroom, the ancient dumbwaiter, the attic, etc. every day to collect random items Sherlock hid.

Mycroft often wondered when time allowed for a minute to himself, how Sherlock would have turned out if he had simply ignored the parenting book that literature tutor had not so discretely left for Mycroft. Would Sherlock have been so…damaged? Damaged may not be the most accurate word to describe Sherlock, but Sherlock was certainly not normal. Or maybe he was, falling to the guiles of Irene Adler, just as any ordinary man would when offered love, loss, and redemption by the damsel in distress.

The incident with Irene Adler, reflected Mycroft, highlighted his younger brother's fickle heart and possibly his resolute lack of normalcy. Thank God for Dr. John Watson to keep his brother in line…among other things. Meeting John Watson was probably the best thing that ever happened to Sherlock, and John alone could offer something to Sherlock Mycroft could never. Friendship, companionship, care, loyalty, morals, morale, and much more.

Mycroft finished the last of his scotch and flipped the camera phone over in his hand to see the screen. I AM S-H-E-R LOCKED. Mycroft smiled wryly to himself. Indeed, this Irene Adler incident not only illustrated Sherlock's brilliance, something Mycroft was already well aware of, but also Mycroft's greatest weakness.

Sherlock was precious to Mycroft. Sherlock may know this on a very fundamental level based upon the logic of familial units, or he may not know this based upon the same logic. But Moriarty and many others knew this. And that makes Sherlock his weakness. Mycroft can easily put up the image of the "Ice Man" and say things like "caring is not an advantage". But he does care for Sherlock so very much that it is dangerous.

John will watch over Sherlock by his side, and Mycroft will watch over Sherlock at a distance. For now, Mycroft has no choice but to be content with simply that.

Some notes on this one-shot. First, I merely based Sherlock's and Mycroft's age on Benedict and Mark's ages, which would be 35 and 45 respectively, a ten year difference.

Second, I should mention that while I am in medical school, I don't specialise in psychology and am not studying to be a psychiatrist. So most of the psychological disorders are just pulled from my text and as such, is written with a very superficial knowledge upon the subject. Also, DSM stands for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is used to diagnose patients by seeing if they meet certain standardised criteria for diagnosis.

Cadogan Hall is just concert hall in, where else, Belgravia.

Lastly, this fic was mostly inspired by the small hints as to Mycroft's true nature we got to see in A Scandal in Belgravia. If anything, I think we learned more about Mycroft then than in A Study in Pink and The Great Game combined. I think Sherlock and Mycroft definitely have some animosity, but I think it's mostly one-sided on Sherlock's part. Mycroft, despite everything, definitely seems genuinely fond of Sherlock. I hope we see more of Mycroft, especially in The Reichenbach Falls.

-Sailor Moonac