Old loves, they die hard. Old lies, they die harder.

Third of the short chapters. Maybe I get the next longer one up before I go on vacation on Saturday. No promises, though, I have a shitload of work to do before that D:

Nightwish - Wish I Had An Angel

"Knock knock," Mycroft said before stepping in through the open door to Mary's flat. He had thought about summoning her as he did with most of his other clients, but he had been pretty sure that it wouldn't work with her, so he had decided to just use the spare key and visit her.
He had been to Baker Street just before so it really hadn't been that much of extra work, and this couldn't really wait, anyway.

"Mycroft," Mary greeted him, stepping out of the kitchen and sounding unsurprised.
Mycroft sighed. He was still waiting for the day that he could intimidate this woman.
"What can I do for you? Tea?" she suggested. She didn't even ask how he had gained access to the flat and it made him wonder if she herself didn't use his methods.
Mary Morstan - Mary Watson was one of few people that made him very uneasy.

"That would be wonderful, thank you," he answered calmly and sat on the couch. A moment later she had seated herself in the armchair to his left and they both had steaming hot cups of tea in front of them.
"So?" Mary asked again and Mycroft considered. He had known what he wanted to say, but was it really the best way to do this? He wasn't so sure anymore.

"We both know why we're here. You hurt my brother, and John took the blame for it. Stupid as I was, I was not able to see it at first, but now I know, and it has to stop."
Normally, that was enough, but Mary only smiled, took a sip of her tea and said: "I am sure I don't know what you mean."

Did she really want to go there? She had to know it was useless, this was not the first encounter they had had. But if she wanted to play the game this way, Mycroft wouldn't give in. He always had the stronger arguments.

"I know of your correspondence with Sophie James, I know who she really is and I know what you two planned and why. I know your ultimate goal and how far you would go to achieve it. So please, don't bother lying, because I will know everything about it, and it will be enough to bring you down."

Mary's mouth twitched, but it seemed more of amusement than of fear.
"'Bring me down', what am I? The criminal mastermind, the endboss?"

"If you want it that way, yes, maybe. You are certainly more than just a fly on the wall, and you interfered too much already. I cannot allow you to go on. So please stop your actions or I will stop them."

Mary leaned towards him, eyes twinkling.
"What could you possibly do?"

"Tell John."
As far as he knew, she would do anything to keep her husband by her side.

"Tell John!" she laughed. "As if he might believe you! And even if he did, I could only too easily show him that you lied to him. Because that's all you do. Lie. And I will not have you destroy my marriage. I don't know what you think is going on between Sophie and me, but it certainly doesn't hurt anyone, so please, continue your personal vendetta somewhere else. And please, drink up before you go, I didn't make this tea for nothing."

She made to stand up, but then sat back down, turned to Mycroft and said: "I am so very sorry about what happened to Sherlock. I hope he recovers soon."

Mycroft only picked up his cup and sipped at the tea, he wasn't sure what to do now. He ran several possibilities through his head, but none seemed to really fit. His instincts said call in the guards and take Mary with him, hold her captive until she talked, but the times that such methods were convenient were long gone.

So he just emptied his cup and stood up. He walked to the door and without turning around he said: "Your arrogance is magnificent, but it will be your end. You may not believe that I am capable of unleashing hell for you, but that is fine. I can prove it to you, and I will have fun doing it. The people around you are not as stupid and naive as you think. They adapt very nicely to new situations, and they actually think about what they're told. And one day, very soon, they will find out that you're not the person you pretend to be, and that there's more to you than a burned USB stick. And yes, you thought you could start over, but to do that you would have had to leave your old schemes behind. Think about that maybe.

"But now I must be going. Have a nice day, I am sure we'll see each other again very soon."
Mycroft left the flat and shut the door behind him. This hadn't gone as planned, but it was no problem. He still had his joker.

And he smiled, turning the small object in his pocket. It would come in handy very soon.