"No, no, no" Mycroft said, looking between the blog and several papers. "This can't be right, it just can't!" he said, feeling the urge to scream.

"What's wrong?" Athena asked. That wasn't actually her name to Mycroft's knowledge, but that was what she preferred for him to call her.

"I can't find any real origin for the child currently in John Watson's position" He said, fed up of looking. "I've searched all of the birth records, and I've gone through all of the places that might have forgotten for some reason or other, and I still can't figure it out!" he said, pouting. It had been a long-time sense he had been unable to summon all the knowledge that he could want on someone, and yet there were absolutely no records that he could access.

"Say, you've never been able to find my birth records, have you?" Athena wondered, leaning on her boss's desk with a mild look. She had a few explanations for why he wouldn't be able to find that, but she also knew a good deal of reasons why that wasn't the problem with the records.

"No, I haven't" Mycroft agreed. "There's nothing on you before your admittance into the Muller system of foster and group homes. Didn't some previous employer wipe your records?"

"That isn't technically the case" She said mildly. "But go ahead, tell me the child's name" she offered.

"Harry Potter" Mycroft said, looking up quizzically. There were always a few things he didn't quite understand about his secretary, and this was one. Most times, she knew whether background information on an individual would be a dead end just by name alone. Seeing her bristle, he knew that this was one of those times. "What's your take on it?"
"He was born at St. Mungoes" Athena said, lips curling in a sneer. "There's no way that they'll ever give you the records, and that's not even counting that his information was probably sealed during the incident"

Mycroft looked at her in irritation. It was fine that she had access to a few classes of files that he wasn't, but Mycroft needed answers. This was his brother's friend at stake, and he remembered all to well what happened if he didn't get all of the information on family. Sherlock would end up in another huge mess, and be distracted the whole time. There were a few benefits of that for his job, namely the amount of legwork that Mycroft could have him do, but something about that was distinctly unhappy. He needed something else to work with when he was involved. "May I please have some more information on that, Athena?" He asked.

"Sir?" She wondered.

"I need to know exactly why I can't access that information" Mycroft said, suddenly exploding. "I need to have information, and I can't have that when I don't know what's going on. Right now, that child is living with John, and you might have some idea how upset Sherlock will be if something happens to his friend. I need to know, and John won't give me the answers" He said, frustrated. Turning his gaze on Athena, Mycroft's thoughts took another dark turn. "You have connections to whatever that is. Tell me" He insisted.

Now, Athena was the one squirming in discomfort. She didn't want to upset her boss, the one who she'd been working for years, someone she trusted to keep her out of the wrong sort of scrutiny. She'd heard stories of what had happened to people to spilled that to muggles, and she knew that what they did to squibs like that was even worse. She needed a good reason, one way or another. "I don't want to die, sir" she said softly, feeling like a deer in the headlights of a car.

"What does that have to do with it?" Mycroft said, upset.

"It's death penalty to anyone who tells that information, that and a mind wipe to whoever they told" She said, whispering softly.

"Haven't I protected you against plenty of governments already?" Mycroft said, looking hurt.

"That isn't as much of a government as a cult, sir, no matter what they like to think. They wouldn't think anything of you, even though you could win against them in a fight" She said, trying to back up as he stood up, slowly cornering her against the wall.

"What does it take to get around that, then, Athena?" He asked, looking at her in frustration. He wanted answers, and now everyone seemed to have a great game of denying him them.

Letting out an embarrassed squeak, Athena tried to think of a better way to say it. She knew that there were ways, but she'd never researched them much. Bellatrix had told her one way, however. Did she admit that to her boss, who looked like there was no telling what he would do to get his hands on that knowledge? Could she stand to be put in that position with him? Seeing the look in his eyes and remembering their history, Athena decided that it would be worth the risk. Besides, wasn't this the most Slytherin thing to do when trapped in a situation like this?

"Go on, tell me" Mycroft said, seeing indecision cross over her countenance.

"You're not allowed to know unless your directly related to someone in the know" Athena admitted, starting to blush. "So, either a sibling, parent, or…"

"Spouse?" Mycroft said, raising an eyebrow. "Do I guess right?"

She just nodded, to embarrassed to think of anything else to say.

Now, it was Mycroft who had the power. According to her contract, Athena would have to say yes if he ordered her to marry him. It was part of the reason that she hadn't been open to dating anyone: she didn't want to be forced to leave another family.

Regardless of what he would like to think, Mycroft was ruled by sentiment more often than not. He kept paying attention to his brother out of it, and he wouldn't have put in motion half the things that he did if he didn't get invested in the people involved. Sentiment also stopped him from just ordering it from his secretary one way or another. The least she deserved for all that she did for him was some chance at happiness. Mentally calculating how long it would take to give her an at least pleasant experience with getting in position to tell him the secret without breaking any of the laws, he decided that he could wait half a year without anything two awful happening. They could go on a few dates, and then he could romance her properly and introduce her to his parents, and all in all make up for the opportunities that he was denying her with this move. He wasn't opposed to the idea, and could always say something about waiting for the right excuse if she questioned his motives for the suddenness. Further emotional connections wouldn't hurt either of their jobs, not with the way that Athena and him worked together. On top of that, Mycroft's grandmother had been wanting him to have children for a while now. This was a perfect opportunity to do so.

Leaving the corner where he had had Athena pinned, Mycroft had another thing to plan. How exactly would he make the best whorl wind romance in the world without disrupting anything important? He couldn't cut back on his job, and the investigation for Sherlock was essential. There were a few minor things, like his gentlemen's club and his dieting speeches, that could be cut back. it wouldn't be much, but it was already a good start for the best romance in a lifetime for Athena. For all that he knew, they'd be falling in love for real. How much of the plan did he tell Athena? He knew that she knew how far he would go to achieve his means, so there was no point in catching her off guard. Deciding that he'd plan dates with her, Mycroft decided that would satisfy.

"Sir?" Athena asked, confused. "What are you planning now?" she asked, feeling a strong need to know what was going on.

"Planning the romance of a lifetime" Mycroft said, acting as if he barely needed to think about it.

"For?" Athena asked, playing right into his hands.

"Us" Mycroft said, looking up to see how she'd take it. It wasn't quite what he expected, but her response was favorable regardless.

"An actual courtship?" She asked, blushing. Remembering the gems and silks of her youth, she couldn't help but fantasize. "And archway of roses?"

"Your being ridiculous" Mycroft said, not really sure what to make of the idea. "If you want that much for a wedding, it would simply have to have the ceremony post-poned"

"Really?" She asked again, blush running deeper.

"I'm not about to deprive my lovely assistant of her dream just because I'm impatient for information" Mycroft said, looking at her curiously. He was not expecting her to throw her arms about him and give him a dizzying kiss, but he supposed that he didn't mind that reaction. He didn't mind the second after that either, where he got to see her thinking through how it would work and keep smiling. "If you're that eager, we can sign the papers now and just plan the next big thing to do for our wedding instead of dull things during dates" he offered, amused and interested in turn.

Pouting playfully, Athena was once again back to her serious self, even though her happiness remained. "I still would adore picnics surrounded by wildflowers and formal attire dances to be the envy of the whole crowd"

"Dear, I already know you can outshine them" Mycroft said, smiling at her ideas, and motioning her to write it down on the to do list. "As a matter of fact, save me some time and write down everything that you want on a list. That way I can fulfill all of your dreams and do right by you without recreating something too tacky or uncomfortable"

"Done" She said, smiling as she worked on it. "but if you don't mind me asking, why haven't you asked before?"

"I really don't think that it would be right to diminish your value to that, Athena" Mycroft said. "You are far to useful for me to do less for. I just wanted the perfect excuse"

"You didn't want to make it personal?" Athena suggested, once again seeing right through him. Sometimes it was like she could literally read your mind…

"That to" Mycroft admitted. "But let's go with the option that doesn't risk enabling hostage-taking" he suggested.

"Oh it, sir" Athena said.

"Another thing, drop the sir. It doesn't seem right for my fiancé to have to call me that" he said, uncomfortable once more.

"Alright, Mycroft" She said, breathing his name with that clever twinkle in her eye.

"I didn't mean it that way" He protested.

"You're lying, Mycroft. Do you want me to let it slide, dear?" She asked again.

"Goodness, I have just engaged myself to a minx. You are an absolute minx; do you hear me?" He said, trying to play it off.

"I should hope so" She said, leaning in and giving him another kiss. "We can work more on wedding plans later, but I have a romantic picnic settled for tomorrow, sir, complete with- "

"No, let me to at least something" he protested.

"Then you can just know that my family knows a lot about Victorian Flower Language, so you can plan any surprises using that method.

"Do you want any gems to go with that?" Mycroft asked, wondering whether he was going to end up regretting his choice.

"no, not for a first date anyways" Athena said, winking. Going to get his next batch of papers before he even asked her, Mycroft was left alone with his thoughts.

"I still don't regret it" he abruptly said, trying to focus on work instead of how to manage a romantic picnic.