partners in crime chapter 6: a fond farewell

this was it, this was the day that Anthea would have to say goodbye to her best friend for another year not even sure if he'd come back alive. it was early September and Max would miss his Birthday, Anthea's Birthday and most importantly he'd miss the one time of year that the whole of Max's family plus Anthea get together and she didn't feel completely alone. Christmas. because of this Anthea would be spending Christmas in the empty flat. without max there no one really felt like celebrating.

it was three o'clock in the morning and Anthea and Max were up playing video games, neither of them could get to sleep and this was the better option than laying in bed ignoring the inevitable, max had just ordered a pizza from a twenty four hour dominos and both of them were now trying to kill each other plus several other people. "how are you this good" Max said shocked at the fact that Anthea was beating him 7 to 2 "what the hell has 007 been teaching you" Anthea just grinned and replied "sorry thats clarified" just then there was a knock on the door and Max quickly said "not getting it" Anthea got up smiling at her stupid friend sitting on the sofa "your such a child" the only reply she got was Max sticking his tongue out at her. she opened the door and instead of a board looking teenager she was met with her impeccably dressed boss "sir, what are you doing here?" Mycroft held out the pizza to Anthea "i thought id save the delivery man a walk and picked up the pizza myself," Anthea looked at him sceptically, he then sighed and added "I was board and knew you two would be up doing something remotely interesting" Anthea was about to say something when Max shouted from the sofa "hang on, how did you know that we ordered pizza"

"I told you its classified" Anthea said with a smile on her face, she then took the pizza "thank you sir, you didn't have to" Mycroft stepped into the flat and closed the door behind him "well my dear, we have a very blank schedule for tomorrow, and i remembered that lieutenant Williams is leaving tomorrow so i thought id come over." Max got up and started to walk towards where Anthea had put the pizza down and was now getting out plates "how many times have i told you 007 call me Max"

"and how many times have i told you "Max" to call me anything but 007" Max just smiled and grabbed a slice of pizza out of the box.

hours went by with all three of them eating pizza and playing video games, it got to 5:00am and Max got a phone call "sorry guys its the boss i gotta take this" he then got up and went into his bedroom. "come on sir, take over i need a team mate" Anthea said as she handed Mycroft a controller. Mycroft hesitated for ten seconds then grabbed the controller "you do realise my dear that this is in no way a test of actual skill" Anthea unpaused the game "yes but sir, think about it, its like leg work without the effort." she looked over to see the tiniest hint of a smile on her bosses lips.

the phone call had taken max way longer than he expected it to, 32 minutes by his phones count, as he walked back into the living room he saw the funniest thing he had seen since Anthea tried to do a cartwheel after 5 shots of Malabo, there sitting on his sofa was the ever serious Mycroft Holmes, suit jacket off sleeves rolled up and his mysterious assistant on his lap in her pyjamas both concentrating on the game so much that they didn't notice max take out his phone and take a picture. "sir we have bogies at 3 o'clock i suggest deploying the grenades"

"Anthea get behind me we have men coming from both sides we'll need to deploy the grenades and you'll need to get out your rocket launcher"

"good point sir" that was it Max lost it, he burst out laughing and hunched over clutching his stomach which then made Mycroft and Anthea separate quicker than humanly possible. "oh my god you guys, i thought i was bad when i played these games, but you two act like its the real thing" Max said still laughing, then it dawned on him and his face went serious "hang on wait, have you two actually done this?" Anthea got off the sofa and put the kettle on "classified Max" she sung as she got out the cups "sir do you want a cup of tea?" Mycroft got up off the sofa and straightened his tie "yes thank you my dear" Anthea went about making the cups of tea "so Max what was the phone call about?" she asked as she poured the water . max stopped trying to analyse the odd pair bustling about the kitchen as familiar as a married couple and instead took a biscuit from the cookie jar "oh, it was just my boss telling me that the deployment's gonna be earlier than expected" Anthea sat down next to Mycroft and opposite max with her cup of tea at the kitchen table "well when's your deployment now?" she asked looking slightly worried "seven" Max said giving her a sad smile. Anthea's face dropped as she realised that she only had an hour and a half left until she'd be alone again. "if it would help lieutenant i could give you a lift to the army base" Mycroft said noticing how Anthea's mood had shifted "yeah, thanks Mycroft that would be helpful" obviously he and Mycroft were on the same page then.

it was half six and Max Mycroft and Anthea where standing outside the army base, Max in his uniform and Mycroft Holmes and his mysterious assistant dressed for their work day "I'm gonna miss you Aly" Max said as he dropped his bag and hauled Anthea into a big bear hug, she buried her face in Max's shoulder "I'm gonna miss you too you idiot" Anthea said as she hugged him back. they let go of each other and Max held his hand out to Mycroft "Mr Holmes"

"Max" Mycroft said as he took the outstretched hand. Max shook the mans hand and then leaned in to whisper something in Mycroft's ear "look after her, please" Mycroft nodded as max pulled his hand back. "and Aly don't forget, don't burn down the flat with your horrible cooking, the gas bills not due till next month and don't forget to tape Dr who for me." Anthea laughed and replied "ill do that if you come back alive"

"ill try my best" Max joked as he picked up his bag and gave a joke salute "see you in hell guys" and just like that he was gone and it was just the two government workers on the side of the road.

they drove back to the office and got on with there day, well that was until Anthea got a text from max whilst going through files with Mr Holmes.

Aly don't forget i love you and seriously don't forget to tape doctor who. if i don't make it back this time find another man to annoy for the rest of your life, see ya soon bestie.

Max.

attached was the picture that Max had taken of her and Mycroft playing the game this morning both of them concentrating like there lives depended on it, Mycroft's arms wrapped around Anthea's waste and his head resting on her shoulder, once she had read this Anthea burst out crying, Mycroft got up and gave her a hug. they stayed like that for 10 minutes.

AN: hey guys sorry its been a long time since i've last posted, infact i bet most of you have forgotten about this fic.

be warned this gets a bit sad at the end. I'm already working on the next chapter so be hopeful.

anyway review with suggestions and feedback as always.

see you guys next chapter.