Crisis Averted
This is Part 7 of my "Sherlock's Rose" series.
Mycroft looked at the CCTV image of his guests arriving, sighed, and mentally steeled himself for the meeting that he knew was about to occur. He should have anticipated that Sherlock would bring her, as well as John, when he came to answer his summons. He took a long look at her over the screen. She looked lovely this morning, as usual. Her hair was down and she was dressed very casually in a pair of jeans and the same blue leather jacket that she was wearing the first time he ever saw her. She was flashing that dazzling smile of hers and chatting with John while holding onto his brother's arm. Sherlock was looking at her with the gentlest look on his face that Mycroft had ever seen on his brother. As Mycroft pondered this, his chest tightened as he realized that, since it was still so early, John must have found them together at Baker Street this morning. He quickly realized then exactly why Sherlock had not been answering his phone or his messages last night. Mycroft had been truly concerned when he had phoned John this morning. He knew that Sherlock had been home last night, but since he did not review the Baker Street CCTV feed himself anymore, he did not know that Rose had been with him. He should have checked. He was just worried that Sherlock had been hurt or slipped back into some bad habits. However, he thought bitterly, now he knew that his brother had just slipped into Rose. He shook his head to clear that unwelcome thought.
He looked at the CCTV screen again. They were almost at his office. He had just a moment or two to decide how he wanted to let this play out. If he let his go-to "Ice Man" persona handle it, then he would probably hurt Rose with his coldness. Did he really want to do that? Thinking back to their last few "meetings," he realized that she probably thought that they were friends. She had been so genuine with him. It was not her fault that he wanted more than that, so no, he was not prepared to cause her pain. He could not act too friendly, though, or Sherlock would be suspicious. He definitely did not want his brother to know that … well… that he thought Rose was… that he wanted… Mycroft shook his head. This was not helping. Then the answer came to him! Maybe Sherlock being suspicious was not a bad thing. In reality, he was almost always suspicious of Mycroft and his motives, anyway. In fact, Sherlock would probably be more likely to suspect the truth if Mycroft did not do something unexpected to keep him on his toes. Therefore, with relief, Mycroft decided to just act naturally with the young lady. It would provide an outlet for his feelings, she would be comfortable (hopefully), and Sherlock would probably be annoyed – which was his natural state around Mycroft anyway. Yes! That was it! That would give him the best chance of maintaining at least a friendship of sorts with Rose. It was not exactly what he wanted, but if he could not have more, being friends with Rose would be worth it. He wasn't usually interested in friendship, but he thought that he would be willing to make that effort for her! She was that unique! They would probably continue to meet in business situations, anyway, and there was no reason for things to be awkward between them just because she was with his brother. In fact, that would probably be a good reason for him to be closer to her, sit with her at meetings, etc… He smiled a little at that small consolation. Plus, there was still always a chance… However, he would have to think about that later. Right now, it was time to face the music, so he went and propped himself up in front of his desk in what he hoped was his usual "casually bored" stance and tried to calm the turmoil of his mind and his rapidly beating heart. He felt like he would be okay if he could just get past this first awkward meeting. Just then, Sherlock and his guests finally entered the room and he could not help but feel gratified when Rose's eyes immediately lit up in surprise when she saw him.
"Mycroft!" she exclaimed with obvious delight, and she quickly crossed the room and gave him a hug –oblivious to the completely dumfounded stares of both Sherlock and John behind her.
"Hello, Miss Tyler!" he managed to reply calmly and pleasantly and returned her smile – and even her hug. He just could not help himself. How could he have ever thought that he would be able to be the "Ice Man" around her? Impossible! "I would ask you what you have been up to since I have seen you last, but I hear that you have obviously taken leave of your senses and have voluntarily linked yourself to my brother." He purposefully tried to keep his tone light and slightly sarcastic.
"Your brother?" Rose looked puzzled for just a second and then looked between Mycroft and Sherlock, who still stood a bit slack-jawed and staring at them with narrowed suspicious eyes. "You have got to be kidding me!" She exclaimed in surprise. "How could I have not known that you two were brothers? Oh, that makes so much sense – the two most intelligent and observant people I know are brothers, of course!" Then she started laughing delightedly! "Do you know that he never once mentioned your name to me?" She said as she continued to smile at the elder Holmes.
"That does not really surprise me, Miss Tyler." He answered truthfully. He had wondered what, if anything, Sherlock had told her. She just shook her head and laughed again. Mycroft smiled at the sound of that familiar music, but Sherlock didn't seem to find the situation so funny. He had just seen his brother hug his girlfriend! Mycroft had just hugged his…lover…his Rose…like they were old friends! His brother – the man who had only ever hugged him, his own brother, as a child – and then only when forced to by their parents! Confusion and jealousy roared within him.
"How do you know each other?" He all but spat out when he recovered a bit from his surprise.
Mycroft saw an opportunity to needle his brother, and took it. He smiled inwardly as he realized that this meeting was going perfectly to plan, so far. "Oh, Miss Tyler and I have known each other for quite a while," he said smugly. "In fact, we danced the night away the last time that we were together." He winked at Rose and was pleased to see his brother flush with anger. Meanwhile, John just stood there on the sidelines, confused, and wondered what the hell was going on. He tried to imagine Mycroft dancing with anyone, much less Rose – and did he just see Mycroft wink?
"Oh, stop winding him up, Mycroft…and quit calling me Miss Tyler. You know very well what my name is!" she said cheerfully, poked him in the shoulder, and then walked over to Sherlock. She didn't have far to go because he had stalked over to the desk during this exchange, looking ready to yank her away from his brother. However, he calmed down when she took his arm and flashed that dazzling smile at him. His anger dissipated and he returned it with a small one of his own. "And you, git," she said addressing Sherlock fondly. "Why did you make your brother out to be some kind of evil supervillian? I have always found him to be quite pleasant!" John laughed aloud at that and even Mycroft smiled a little at the irony of it all, but was secretly pleased at her words. However, Sherlock's smile had again turned into a frown of suspicion. He just looked back at his brother – trying to figure out his game. Mycroft was never pleasant to anyone…and he just happened to know Rose? Just a coincidence? Not likely! The universe was rarely so lazy, as Mycroft himself often said. The two men just glared at each other for a minute in a silent assessment – with a bit of challenge thrown in.
While his brother was staring him down, Mycroft used the guise of staring back at him to take the time to really look at him. For obvious reasons, he had not seen Sherlock in person since he had started seeing Rose. However, despite the fact that the younger Holmes was currently glaring daggers at him, he thought that Sherlock had never looked better. He looked strong and healthy and was obviously eating regularly. He looked well rested. His eyes were clear, his hands were steady, and there was absolutely no sign that he had returned to any of his old destructive habits. Mycroft had also noticed the soft look that he had just given the woman who was apparently responsible for these positive changes in his brother's life. He saw the way that she had quickly soothed his anger with just a touch and a smile. It did not take him long to realize, that as much as he hated to admit it, Rose was obviously very good for Sherlock. He inwardly sighed, knowing what this meant, and then forced himself to relax his gaze to concede the small victory to his brother – not wanting him to realize the far larger and more important one that he had also achieved.
John just looked between the two Holmes brothers and Rose with surprise. As a man, on the outside looking in, he had an inkling of what was probably really going on here. After all, there were two highly competitive men and a beautiful intriguing woman involved. However, he would have never voiced that opinion out loud. Yes, it would probably be best to keep that particular theory to himself – life was complicated enough with the Holmes brothers at it was. Just then Rose's voice jolted him out of his reverie, though, and he could not help but laugh as he processed what she had said. If anyone could handle those two, and make them behave, it would be her!
Rose just stood to the side and watched the two Holmes men. She knew what was going on, but not exactly why. Since they were brothers, she assumed that there was a lot of history there that she didn't know about. Therefore, not surprisingly, there was obviously tension between the two strong willed men, as well. Not only could she feel Sherlock's disquiet, since she was holding onto his arm, but she was by no means unfamiliar with testosterone battles – even silent ones. Traveling with the Doctor taught her that. Whether it was with Mickey, Jack, or some random pretty boy in a marketplace somewhere - this sort of dominance showdown was pretty common with him back when they traveled together. Even nowadays, since she worked mainly with men, a power struggle between somebody or other was bound to happen almost every day, as well. Therefore, she could recognize one from a mile away. She knew how to play it, though, and waited patiently until both men visibly relaxed.
"Are you two done then?" she asked in a slightly amused voice. "If not, John and I could always come back later…" She smiled as a barely concealed laugh came from John's direction.
Slowly, very slowly, Sherlock relaxed when he realized that his brother was mainly trying to annoy him – as usual. He didn't seem to be out to harm Rose. That's all that mattered. In fact, Sherlock thought back on their uncharacteristic (for Mycroft, anyway) interactions so far (the smile, hug, and jokes) and made a deduction. Strange as it seemed, Mycroft actually seemed to genuinely like her. Well, this was his Rose that he was talking about! If anyone could work such a miracle, it would be her! He had noticed more than once the effect that she had on people. Just look what she had done to him! He smiled gently at the woman next to him again, who was still holding onto his arm, just waiting patiently for him to finish his standoff with Mycroft. At her comment, Sherlock also gave a short bark of laughter. She had caught him out again. He was beginning to think that this woman understood him better than anyone else ever had! Even though he still didn't know how Rose knew Mycroft, he trusted her. Therefore, he would let this drop for now and just ask her later about his brother. He knew that she would tell him more than Mycroft would anyway. He would just have to keep his eye on the situation, though, because, brother or not, he just didn't trust Mycroft any further than he could throw him – and since Mycroft really liked cake, that wasn't very far!
Now since that was all settled, it was time to get back to business! "You summoned?" Sherlock asked, his eyes still a little guarded.
"Oh yes!" replied Mycroft, glad to finally be able to get down to business. Business was always easier to deal with than matters of the heart. "I have a problem that I think will be right up your alley."
"Oh, I've heard that one before!" Rose said as she playfully bumped Sherlock with her shoulder.
"Well, it was true." He said as he smiled back at her.
"Oh yes, it was indeed!" She agreed happily.
Mycroft threw a puzzled glance at John, who just shrugged, before they all went to sit down to hear Mycroft's story of politics and murder.
After many cups of tea, intense scrutiny of the case file and CCTV feeds, and quite a bit of laughter and good natured ribbing (to the surprise of the three men – who had all worked together before without nearly this much cheerfulness), the four of them had the problem solved by lunch time without ever leaving the sitting area in Mycroft's office. Neither Mycroft nor Sherlock would admit it to the other, but they had both enjoyed the "meeting of the minds" and camaraderie that had occurred amongst the four of them in the last few hours. Also, they were both quite proud (even if they were a little embarrassed) that it was Rose who broke the case when she noticed that a particular presidential aide was present at each of the recorded incidents – a small detail that both the Holmes brothers and John had missed. After Mycroft had made a discreet phone call to President Jones to let her know of their findings, he surprised himself by offering to take the other three out for lunch. He did not know whether he was relieved or disappointed when they declined. John said that Mary was expecting him back and Rose shared a look with Sherlock before saying that they also had a previous engagement. Sherlock looked a little confused for just a moment until his eyes widened when he remembered her "Later!" from this morning. Mycroft watched him fight back his smile and decided that he truly did not want to know what their plans were. However, he smiled at Rose (and his brother's subsequent grimace) when she promised that they would accept the invitation next time. He knew that she meant it and he even found himself looking forward to it. He still wasn't really happy about this situation, though. He was more attracted to Rose than he felt he could comfortably keep hidden and he could only hope that it would get easier to deal with at each subsequent meeting – especially since he had decided to step back completely and not to pursue Rose at all. It was obvious that his brother needed her more than he did and it would not be the first time that he had put his brother's needs before his own. However, on the other hand, he felt more optimistic about Sherlock's future now than he had in a long time. John had been a tremendous help in the past, but Mycroft knew that Rose's influence would be even greater – especially now that John had a wife and a real baby (and not just his brother acting like one) to think about. He looked over at Rose again thoughtfully and watched as she whispered something in Sherlock's ear that caused his lips to curl up in a quick smile. At least now, however, he had some valuable assistance with the task of keeping his brother alive and well, Mycroft thought gratefully.
Mycroft then shook John's hand, nodded at his brother, and relished the parting glare that Sherlock gave him almost as much as the goodbye kiss that Rose gently placed on his cheek as they were leaving.
He watched them all walk out of the office before he leaned tiredly against the wall for a moment. Crisis averted, both professional… and personal, he thought as he made his way back to his desk. It was time to get back to work. Work was what he did best.