To make up for the shortness of the last chapter, I've made this one a little longer than normal. It's got angst and drama, so beware! Other than that,enjoy
Mycroft and Greg swore to each other, before they adopted, that they'd never lose their child in public or let them run away unannounced. And they made good on that promise right up until Eltham's first day of third grade.
In Greg's defense though, there had been a lot of scared little kids running around as he helped Eltham off the bus that evening. One minute, his little boy was clutching tight to his hand, and then the next, Eltham's hand was slipping out of his.
Call it a parent's intuition, or just maybe twenty years in the police business, but Greg knew that Eltham hadn't let go involuntarily.
"Eltham!" The DI's voice boomed, attracting the weary looks of other parents escorting their children home. When no response came, Greg began to panic considerably. He whipped around in a frenzy, calling the boy's name again, only to be met with more silence.
Oh, God, Greg thought as fear began to bubble up in his chest. He had never ever lost Eltham in public, nor in private. It was a stupid, and inexcusable mistake; one that Mycroft was surely going to yell at him about.
Summing up all his stamina, and disregarding the fact that he was almost fifty years old, Greg started running. It was a mediocre mistake, not staying put where they had been separated, but he was scared, his mind a jumbled mess screaming at him, and he didn't know what else to do in this type of situation.
Greg was almost certain he'd never run so fast in his entire life. He pushed aside shoppers and Londoners in his haste. They cursed at him like he was crazy… but it was all one big blur to him as he reached the corner of Halesborruow street. Stopping just shy of the cobbled road, Greg took a deep breath as he pulled out his mobile.
He clicked speed dial for the first number in his phone.
"Yes, Gregory?"
"Mycroft, I'm so, so sorry." Greg cried into the phone, knowing that it wouldn't make things better, but unable to stop.
"What is wrong? What happened?"
"I-I don't…know exactly." Greg stuttered as he ran an agitated hand through his hair. "I was walking home with Eltham and then…he- he let go of my hand."
"Greg," Mycroft said, defiantly angered. "Did you lose our son?"
"I didn't mean to." Greg answers quietly.
"I trusted you-"
"I know, I know, Mycroft!" Greg shouted. "But you can yell at me later, when Eltham's safe. I'll be home in a minute, and then we can go over your videos to see if we can find him."
Greg hung up without another word, silently praying to the Gods that Eltham could be found on Mycroft's security cameras. But when he finally arrived home, it seemed that luck wasn't upon the two parents.
Apparently, Mycroft had located Greg and Eltham getting off the bus rather easily. Feeling optimistic, the government official patiently awaited the separation scene, only to discover that a crowd pushing forward against his husband and son, had covered up what happened to Eltham indefinitely.
A couple of minutes later, Greg stepped into the video room. "I cannot believe that you lost our son, Gregory. He could be in danger out there!" Mycroft yelled, blowing up on his husband.
"Are you serious?! I get it, Mycroft! I'm a failure because I messed up one time." Greg sighed, blinking away unshed tears.
"It doesn't matter," Mycroft snapped, brushing away the hurt look of Greg by throwing his jacket on. "We'll simply have to go look for him."
Greg turned around after the younger man. "My, I'm-"
"Let's go," Mycroft bellowed, cutting the DI off.
Three hours later, and still no Eltham. There was no trace of the boy anywhere, and as Greg kept looking, it was like he hadn't been alive in the first place.
It was wearing thin on Greg's nerves as he re-searched the alleyways by the drop off. Everything and anything that was flying through his mind was only on finding Eltham; not how cold Mycroft was being nor that it was their first fight as a married couple.
Lifting a particularly old mattress up for about the thousandth time that night, Greg fished his phone out to see how Mycroft was fairing with the videos.
"How do you think I'm fairing, Gregory?" Mycroft snapped once again, as he answered.
"I don't know, I thought you found him."
"Don't you think if I had found him, you'd be the first to know? Greg, I'm not here to make you mad, quite frankly that's the least of my worries. He's as much your son as he is mine, so I know how you're feeling. But don't think that I'm making you suffer involuntarily, love. If I find him, I'll call, I promise."
Greg covered his face with his hand, muffling the aggravated scream that came out. "Okay, okay. I feel bloody awful that I let this happen, though. I'm a DI for God's sake! "
"And a very good one who made one mistake. But if we don't keep looking, Greg, I fear you'll never fix that mistake."
"Bloody hell, Mycroft. I think I know where he is," The DI whispered, tossing the phone to the ground as he began to step towards the deserted street.
If Eltham is an orphan, Greg thought as he looked around for a bench, then he is somewhere where no one is; to be alone.
It was only a hunch that gave Eltham's location away, but it was a life saver nonetheless.
"Eltham?" Greg whispered, stepping towards the small shaking figure on the wooden bench.
The young boy whirled around, shivering and red faced as he looked back to see Greg standing behind him.
"Dad, is-is that y-you?" He asked, teeth chattering loudly.
"Yes, yes it is." Greg murmured as he opened his arms wide.
Without even blinking, Eltham got up and tore across the street right into Greg's arms, as the DI knelt down to catch him. "I-I was so sc-sca-scared! I thought you and father didn't want me anymore!"
"We would never ever do that to you Eltham, do you hear me? We love you so, so much, son." Greg cooed gently, lifting Eltham into his arms and held him close. He hadn't been able to pick Eltham up like that in years, but surprisingly, the young boy latched on closely, hugging so tightly that Greg found it hard to breath.
"Yeah, but you l-le-let go of my hand today, daddy! Yo-you di-didn't want me any mo-more."
"God, no, Eltham." Greg said, frowning. "That was a huge mistake." He began, still rocking his son back and forth; holding him with ease, despite his weight. "I should've held your hand tighter, Eltham so you wouldn't get lost. But in no way did I do it intentionally. Neither your father nor I would ever do such a thing to you because you are the most precious thing in the whole world to us."
"More precious than sex." Eltham giggled into his dad's chest.
Greg stopped rocking a moment, but resumed it with a big smile; glad that his son was alright. "I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that from you, but yeah, you're more precious than sex."
"Good. Is father mad at me?"
"A little bit." Greg admitted. "But he'll get over it, you know why?"
"Why?" Eltham squeaked.
"Because you both are idiots, but you're my idiots." Mycroft murmured, as he stepped out of their car to come wrap his arms around his family.
"How did you find us, father?" Their son asked, doubtfully surprised.
"My cameras are useful in more than one way." The government smiled as he planted a kiss on Greg's lips.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier, Gregory."
"And I'm sorry for losing, Eltham, and your trust."
"You never did lose my trust, love." Mycroft whispered, leaning in for another kiss.
