Chapter 2: Mycroft

While John made himself a tea he was watched carefully by Sherlock who sat next to the sink. No not Sherlock, William a shy, sweet little boy who was without his family but didn't know why. That the boy was open to him like that was some kind of miracle. John had seen enough children who wouldn't even look at a stranger.

"Can I try it?" William's voice pulled John out of his thoughts.

"Try? Oh you want to taste the tea, right?" Sherlock nodded. "I don't think you will like it. It's more a drink for adults." But Sherlock held out his hands for the cup and John gave it to him. "It's hot so be careful." Sherlock blew a few times and took a sip. That he didn't like it was clear. John took the cup with a smile. "I think I can make tea taste nice for children. Close your eyes, how to make adult tea taste delicious is a secret." John winked at Sherlock who giggled again and closed his eyes covering them with his hands.

John took another cup and put the already used teabag in it with a bit of hot water. After a few seconds he took the bag out filled the cup with milk and sugar and stirred it with a spoon. When the tea was done he tapped Sherlock on the shoulder. "You can open your eyes." Sherlock opened them and took the offered cup. Sherlock sniffed at it.

"John it doesn't look like tea anymore." It was cute how Sherlock looked the way he did when he was in one of his moods as an adult and very much behaving like a child. But now, to see that face on an actual child was adorable. John should take a picture of that later.

"It's still tea, but made especially for you, try it." And Sherlock did. Because of the milk, the tea wasn't hot anymore; he could drink it without blowing.

"It's nice. I like it." William grinned at him. John had still a problem with calling him William but it was the best to separate them. Sherlock was his flat mate and best friend and William was his charge for a week.

Sherlock jumped down from the counter after he had placed his cup on it and hid behind John. The second the boy was in place John could hear steps on the stairs. William must have heard them before him. A knock at the door and then it opened. Most people who came to visit them knew that they could enter without waiting to be let in. Because Sherlock would never bother to stand up and John always told them to come in. Mycroft stood in the door, uncertainty written all over his face as he laid eyes on the little boy who was hiding behind John.

"Hello John. I see my brother was quite successful with the reproduction of the re-ageing potion." Mycroft's cold mask didn't slip back but he wasn't surprised or in shock. He had an open, friendly face, probably for Sherlock's sake.

"Hello Mycroft." Looking down at the child, John kneeled next to him so William couldn't hide behind him anymore. "William, that's my friend from the phone I told you about. Don't you want to say hello?" William looked from John to Mycroft and then back again before he took a step towards Mycroft.

"Hi I'm William. You have the same name as my big brother." It was more than cute to look at the little version of Sherlock interacting with his brother. Who was apparently okay with playing the act that was expected of him, be the friend of John Watson.

"Hello William, nice to meet you." Mycroft was also crouching down so as to be closer to William's height. William still had one of his hands on John's leg. "William, I found something on the way which I think belongs to you." Mycroft pulled out a bag, reached inside and held an old stuffed bee in his hand. One of the wings had stitches, a leg was missing and it looked like the stuffing inside the animal had seen better days. But William wasn't disgusted by the old looking stuffy. He reached out for it and pulled it as fast as he could into his arms.

"What do we say William?" John encouraged him to further interact and show good manners but he gave the child a few seconds to check his toy.

"Thank you Uncle Mycroft." John had to hold his mouth shut. The look on Mycroft was priceless.

"Why don't you call me just Mycroft?" It was adorable how he tried to save his face but there was nothing in this world that could make John forget that.

"But Mycroft is my brother's name and I don't want him and you to be the same. My big brother is a genius and he is really nice and I love him." Sherlock looked at Mycroft with a look that told both adults that there would be no argument that could change Sherlock's mind.

Why don't we sit down and you can play with Mr. Bee for a while?" John directed both to the living room with Sherlock holding his hand and Mycroft behind him. They both sat down and Sherlock climbed into John's lap without asking, holding Mr. Bee close and playing with one of the antennas.

"My brother thought it would be a great experiment to be a child again and that you should take care of him in that time. But still I have to ask you, John, do you want to do that?" Mycroft asked while watching his brother play with his stuffed bee.

"I don't really have a choice, right? I don't think he would like it if other people see him like that or better know that it is him and sorry, Mycroft, but you are not really an alternative." Mycroft looked hurt for a second before he realized what John had meant to say. He was working long hours, had no experience whatsoever with children and when his brother would grow up again he didn't want to have an argument the second he was an adult again. John was the better choice in every way and for many reasons.

"I brought over a few clothes and foods he liked as a child." The doctor had already decided to keep little William safe. The boy was glued to him anyway.

"I have a question. Was he always like that? I mean I should be a stranger to him but he was only shy for about a minute and then it was like I'm his parent." Mycroft watched his little baby brother again.

"He had a phase where only Nana and I were able to get him to talk and eat. He was always shy, our parents had to work long hours and sometimes we only saw them for a short time on weekends. Sherlock started this 'clingy phase' around the age of two and it stayed that way until he was five, I think. Be prepared: he will also not sleep alone in a room or bed. He will not leave you out of his sight and he won't stay alone for a second." John looked down at William while Mycroft explained all of that. Little Sherlock's behavior sounded like the behavior of a child who was afraid to lose someone, maybe because he had already lost something.

"You say I won't have a second for myself for the next week. That wouldn't be much of a change to my normal days…" Mycroft nodded smiling.

"I will call your employer and arrange everything and you can call me whenever you need information or anything else." Mycroft moved as if he wanted to leave but William's attention was caught by that movement.

"Uncle Mycroft why are you leaving already? You just came to visit, you should stay. John can make nice tea for you. He made one for me too. It didn't taste bad after he did something special with it. But I don't know what. I had to close my eyes. Do you know what John did with the tea to make it taste nice?" Adorable little William understood the point of a secret. The person who told him he couldn't tell, wouldn't give out the information lightly but to satisfy his curiosity he could ask someone else. Like 'Uncle Mycroft'.

"William, if I would tell you it wouldn't be a secret anymore, right?" William nodded. "But if John would make another tea we could all drink our tea together." Nodding his head John smiled and started to sit up. He placed William down so he could make the tea but the child had other ideas.

"John I want to come too." John could picture how the week was going to be if he didn't change things now.

"But William who will watch Uncle Mycroft when I'm in the kitchen? He will be very lonely." William looked back at Mycroft who smiled at him.

"You can tell me something about the little friend you are holding in your arms." Mycroft seemed to understand what John was trying to do. Something he never did. Encourage Sherlock to open up to other people.

"And I will only be in the kitchen. You can hear me from the living room and if you ask really nicely I'm sure Uncle Mycroft will lift you up and then you can see me." William let go of John and walked over to Mycroft.

"That's Mr. Bee. He is really special because he tells me stories when I want one and he likes to cuddle and he feels nice under my fingers." To prove his point William patted the stuffed bee.

"That's nice. Would you like to sit on my lap? You can watch John make tea from there and you could tell me something about you brother who has the same name as I have." William nearly jumped into Mycroft's lap and turned around to see John.

"Mycroft is the older one. Sometimes he is really busy but he never minds me being with him in the room. He gave me Mr. Bee. It was a present for my second birthday. Mum and Dad couldn't come because they were in a business meeting in another city. So it was only Mycroft, Nana and me and then Mr. Bee. Who never misses my birthdays or forgets to say good night. Like Mycroft, Mr. Bee is always there." The unspoken absence of their parents, who were supposed to be doing these things, stayed unmentioned.

John came back with the tea, William climbed down and waited until John had passed Mycroft his tea before settling down with his own and William's tea. William sat on John's lap again with Mr. Bee holding his tea and drinking it slowly.

"You know I was wondering why a lost boy didn't ask for his parents but I think I get the picture now. What surprised me is that he didn't ask for you or his Nana." John who had listened to the conversation in the living room wanted to know more about Sherlock's past but he wouldn't push. It wasn't right without Sherlock being able to say no.

"I think his brain has some aspects of the present in it. It wouldn't make sense to ask for his brother because the brother he wants isn't here anymore. The same can be said about the fact that he already trusts you or that he didn't see me as a stranger. His child self might not know us but his adult one gives enough input to help the child to survive." Mycroft tried to explain. He wasn't really sure himself but this was the only explanation. His brother at that age had never been at ease around people he didn't know. That even included their parents.

"Do you think we should tell other people who he is? I mean I can't leave him alone in the flat and I won't stay in here for a week or longer but I could lie and say… I don't know my cousin's son or something like that." He wouldn't know what to do with a child in the flat for a week. But John could think about things like playgrounds.

"You're probably right. But we should only tell a few selected people who are allowed to know it. For everyone else he will be what you just said. No one around here knows about his first name. It should be safe." Mycroft thought about a list of people who could be allowed to know it but John beat him to it.

"Mrs. Hudson, Molly and Greg. We shouldn't tell anyone else and even then only when they meet him, deal?" John always Sherlock's protector.

"Deal. But I must leave you now. Call when you need something. I have a meeting I can't miss." Mycroft stood up. "Good bye John. Bye William. I will visit you soon again." William looked up from his nearly empty cup.

"Bye bye Uncle Mycroft." He waved good bye with his little hand and with one of the bee's wings. Mycroft left them to their business still wondering about his brother. How he could even think about testing something like that on himself. It would have been better for his research if he had used it on someone else. But now Mycroft had another chance to see his baby brother in his most adorable years.