It was the days after his parents had arrived for their impromptu visit that Mycroft's life started to decline. Artemis hadn't ever been an emotional person but she'd slowly grown more reserved in the last few days and Myc had gotten concerned. Eventually the suit-clad man cornered her in the garden where she sat on the steps staring at the tree line one morning while Siger and Madalena watched the boys.

Mycroft watched Artemis a few moments knowing she'd already noticed his presence then, with a small sigh, he went to stand on her right side. Silence lingered between them for a couple of seconds before he finally broke it.

"You're thinking rather loudly, my love. Why don't you enlighten me as to what it is about."

Artemis didn't speak, just patted the step beside her invitingly, an act she'd picked up from watching Greg interact with Violet. Mycroft just stared at the step, it wasn't dirty exactly but it sure as hell wasn't clean either.

"My tailor would kill you."

"He can try." She answered simply, a comment the auburn-haired man couldn't argue with at all.

Just like the time at the Diogenes Club he simply obeyed and sat down on the ground beside her, but this time Artemis shifted to straddle him as soon as his backside hit the stone. Quickly she kissed him and Mycroft couldn't resist the automatic response to wrap his arms around her waist to keep her close; at this point of their relationship he'd grown used to a holster and firearm jabbing him in the side.

"What is on your mind, Artemis?" He enquired again when their lips parted.

"Thank you for saving me." Mycroft's brow furrowed a little. "You didn't have to drag me into that cabin."

He squeezed her a little tighter. "No thanks is ever needed for that, I assure you."

"I'm sorry for leaving you."

"You didn't leave me, I left you." He sighed. "And I left you to die essentially."

Artemis shook her head but still nothing emotional entered her voice. "I wasn't referring to the cabin but to now. I'm leaving you now."

Mycroft's grip tightened even more as though he had any chance of ever forcing Artemis to do anything. The raven-haired former assassin didn't even seem to notice.

"You have been acting as though the price on your head is now null and void because Hades is next to wiped out, but it isn't and you are smart enough to realize that. The only reason no more attempts have been made is that both Hades and the Mandrapilias family were stopped. It won't be long until more decide it is worth another shot, there is a lot of money on your head."

"We can find out who-"

Artemis cut him off abruptly. "I can do it on my own faster and more efficiency, you know that. It will also protect Sander and Gal." Myc opened his mouth to speak but Artemis just carried on. "I am not asking for your permission, British, just explaining my absence."

He shook his head. "I can't ask you to do that, little assassin. We have people here who can look into it. Besides I am sick of hurting you. Since the day we met all I have done is be the cause of you getting hurt. I shot you twice and left you chained in a burning cabin to die, I'm the reason Hades shot you when you went to Baker Street for the first time and I am well aware I am the cause for whatever they did to you after you were hauled out of that cabin, because I know they did something even if you haven't told me. And now, I am the reason Charon slit your throat open. I didn't know if you would speak again let alone live."

There was a quietude for a moment where Artemis just looked at him, the only noise being the occasional pigeon fluttering around in the trees. Mycroft wasn't the sort of man to bare his soul but when it came to Artemis things seemed to spill out of him. He kept his emotions as hidden as possible but even Artemis had noticed his ingrained belief that he was the cause of all the violence she'd encountered in her life; an illogical and unproductive belief.

"Would you like to know what happened after you started the fire and left?"

Myc paused at her offer. Did he want to know? No, he didn't want to hear it but at the same time he needed to know what had happened all those years ago in Finland. He nodded.

"I gave you long enough to flee into the forest and for the fire to truly take hold of the cabin, then I slipped the cuffs and hauled myself out just as the roof collapsed." She explained like it was nothing, like this sort of thing happened to people all the time. "I made my way towards the training facility knowing I was loosing a great deal of blood and would likely pass out quickly. Some of the younger Hebes came across me and were inclined to leave me to pursue you, but their instructor realized I would have information. He took me to the medical unit and they fixed me." Mycroft despised that she referred to getting medical treatment as 'fixing' like she was some kind of doll or worthless object. "Once properly conscious I was questioned and I told them that a British man had managed to shoot me, that he'd hauled me into one of the cabins and attempted to force information out of me about Hades that I had refused to divulge. I said that when the blizzard broke and I had still not told this British man anything he shot me again and burnt the cabin to the ground before he ran."

Slowly Mycroft absorbed each and every word. "Almost all of that is the exact truth."

"After my report it was determined that due to me still being so young and little more than a Hebe I could still be prone to periods of emotion and sympathy, so I was properly interrogated. They whipped me, burned, beat and cut me but I never told them anything else about you. That interrogation is where most of the scars on my body come from."

Mycroft's expression turned horrified. "So I'm responsible for almost all of these."

It wasn't a question, more of a depressing realization.

Artemis nodded. "Yes, but it is better that you are."

He was taken aback for a moment. "How on earth do you work that out?"

Mycroft was a genius but sometimes Artemis' logic confounded him.

"For much of my life I hardly noticed my scars, to most they are seen as marks of pain or trauma but I cannot feel pain and I don't register trauma so the scars were like any other part of my body. Then I carved the lines into my skin to create a B and I came to a new conclusion about scars or at least about my own. They weren't trauma or pain, they were love because love was the only emotion I could feel and I felt it only for you. My scars mark me with love rather than victimization because almost all of them came from protecting you in one way or another. So, to me, my scars are the equivalent of what you'd call badges of honor."

Myc found that for a few seconds he physically couldn't speak, needed time to digest everything she'd said, but Mycroft fought wars with words on a daily basis so wasn't reduced to silence for long.

"How is it that you can be so poetic?"

Artemis shrugged, an incredibly rare action from her. "Sometimes it is the children the world tries to break who end up having the most profound things to say."

The British Government ran a hand through her dark hair then kissed her again. "I'll stay with the boys and do what I can but you'll need to check in and share information so we can work together." He promised knowing he'd never be able to stop her going. "I have one condition though and you need to promise me something too."

The former Reaper nodded. "Very well."

"You have to promise me you'll come back to me."

Artemis tilted her head in that way she did when she was confused. "It is unlikely I will be killed but I cannot rule it out, British, and I believe it would be unfair to lie to you."

"Promise me, Artemis."

She thought his insistence illogical but knew he needed to hear her say it so she did. Turned out someone as emotionally numb as Artemis could still be altruistic.

"I promise, British."

"Thank you, because I'm not sure I can be without you now. Perhaps my brother's taunts are correct and I am weak."

Artemis suddenly grabbed his chin and forced him to look up at her, for his blue eyes to meet her green ones.

"Your brother is right about surprisingly little for a genius." She told him assuredly. "You're brave, British. The things you do leave people hating you but you do them anyway fully aware of how people will think of you, not to be cruel but because they need doing and no one else has the guts. You're brave just in a way hardly anyone will ever acknowledge."

She kissed him softly and then he buried his face her chest to breathe her in. He adored her and couldn't go back to being lonely. For several minutes she petted his thinning hair knowing it comforted him.

"You haven't told me your condition."

Finally he looked up to her again. "Marry me. We've put it off so long and I can't let you go to do this and not call you my wife."

He couldn't- he couldn't risk the possibility of her dying and not being able to put Holmes on her gravestone.

Artemis nodded still expressionless.

"Then I shall marry you. You're the only man I'm capable of loving so I wouldn't want to marry anyone else."

That got him to breathe out a laugh. His fiancée would finally be his wife.

Meanwhile Mister and Missus Holmes occupied the living room watching over Galahad and Lysander while they played with their new toys. Missus Holmes sat on the settee with the boys on the floor in front of her while Siger had been pouring himself another cup of tea when he glanced out the window see his eldest son with a lap full of deadly killer.

"Something is going on with the two of them." He told his wife as he poured milk into his tea.

Madalena peered up but couldn't quite see Myc and Artemis from her seat.

"God only knows what it could be. Mycroft could probably take over the world if he wanted to and with that girl he could actually enforce it. She's dangerous but the only thing I trust from her is that she loves our son."

The white-haired Holmes had to agreed Artemis was dangerous but didn't think she was quite the threat his wife did.

"Artemis is good for Myc. Bizarrely I'm actually quite fond of her."

Siger continued to look out at the two of them but was taken aback when Artemis turned to glance at him without warning. There wasn't anything in her eyes, nothing at all and Siger found himself wondering what had been done to her as a child. Finally he looked away back to his new grandsons, Lysander still hadn't said a word to him or anybody else. How could someone hurt children is such a way?

~X~

Mycroft hadn't let anything ruin the day, not his brother's teasing that marriage was nothing but a trap, not the silent look in his mother's eyes which said she still didn't quite think this was a good idea, nothing. It was his wedding day. There wasn't a church, neither bride nor groom cared for religion, so instead the wedding was to be held in the garden of Myc's home. The boys had been dressed in suits but that was as far as arrangements had gone really. Only close family, the Lestrades and Anthea had been invited since no one else was needed nor wanted.

When Mycroft had seen Artemis in her dress though … his brain had needed time to reboot. Clearly Anthea had helped Artemis choose it since the wedding was hurried and Artemis hadn't ever been dress shopping before in her life. It was tight-fitting and floor length though didn't have a train, a sweetheart neckline which showed off her cleavage without being too much and three-quarter sleeves. The dress was the epitome of simple elegance. It was the white lace choker around her neck which had most of his attention through the wedding though. The scar on her throat was too large to be covered just by some lace but that didn't seem to be the reason for it, instead the lace was there to caress the lace almost.

When Gregory handed him the ring Mycroft had a terrible thought, he owned much to Hades. Had they not killed her parents, forced her to become a Reaper then Mycroft never would have met her and he'd still be alone. He'd not be a father and husband, just a middle-aged man with nothing in his life except for work. He couldn't be grateful to monsters like Hades, he couldn't. Mycroft paused for a split second to move passed his realization so he could say his vows.

When the officiator pronounced them man and wife he kissed her for the first time as Artemis Holmes, not Mariska Kovrova or a damn number but as his beloved wife, and words couldn't quite describe the happiness that welled inside him. For almost all his life he'd not desired a spouse in the slightest, they'd not have understood him and it wouldn't have been a cruel fate to wed a man who never stopped working. Yet Artemis was far from a goldfish, she understood him and wasn't the sort to let herself be locked away at home. She'd told Mycroft she was made for him and he honestly couldn't – and more importantly didn't want to – argue with that sentiment.

Mycroft Holmes lingered in his odd bliss world during the small dinner that Missus Holmes had arranged and firmly insisted upon. The wedding may have been small but she'd not let it it slip by with little more than a passing of rings and then a shout for a taxi. Unfortunately everyone around the dining table knew the whole thing was just for Madalena Holmes' benefit. Myc, Artemis and Sherlock weren't the sort who cared an iota for social norms. Lestrade, John, Anthea and Siger were of the opinion that the day should have been about Mycroft and Artemis meaning that they should have the wedding they desired whether it be traditional or not. Then there were the children, Galahad and Rosie were still too young to really understand what a wedding was while Violet and Sander were smarter than many gave them credit for and could easily read the room. Still, nobody there was accustom to winning an argument with Missus Holmes and so the post-wedding dinner continued.

When the dinner finally came to an end night had fallen and the children were all either half asleep or getting there. Anthea left first off to bed no doubt, Mycroft knew just how long she'd been awake, after her the detective inspector and his daughter departed. Gregory had been carrying a dozing Violet who'd absolutely refused to leave until she'd had a proper hug from her Uncle Mycie. With Rosie snoring and Sherlock bored as all hell Doctor Watson was almost shoved out the front door while flashing everybody an apologetic expression. In all honesty Mycroft was glad to see the back of his brother for the night. It wasn't until it came time for his parent to leave that Mycroft felt trepidation, for it had been arranged that Sander and Gal would spend the night with their grandparents. Logically he knew that his boys would be safe with them but he still he couldn't shake the slight feeling of worry.

It was his wedding night though and Mycroft longed to hold his bride in his arms, lay her in bed and consummate their loving union. So, with his family gone, Mycroft scooped up Artemis and carried her up to their bedroom.

"It always surprises me." She said off-handedly as he strode towards their room.

"What does, my love?"

"Just how deceptively strong you are."

The older man smirked to himself. "I may not be the owner of rippling muscles but what sort of husband would I be if I couldn't carry my wife to our marriage bed."

He pushed the door open then and stepped inside the dark room, the only light came from the silvery moon which let itself in via the large windows.

"Most of those muscles are just for show, besides, even if you did have them your brain would still be the sexiest part of you."

"How kind my new wife is." He set her down on her heeled feet only to capture her cheeks with his hands and pull her in for a deep kiss. "While I must admit your own mind is beautiful I would be greatly lacking were I not to commend this supple form."

"Would you help me out of my dress? It is rather tight and I doubt it's appropriate to rip it."

Myc smiled and rounded her. "It certainly isn't."

Carefully he released the tiny buttons from their little loops then glided the dress over Artemis' shoulders just enough to expose them. He kissed one before Myc returned to close the bedroom door behind them. Artemis freed her arms and let the dress pool to the ground at her feet just as her new husband turned back around and found him quickly ground to a statuesque halt with his mouth open.

"Your assistant seemed insistent I wear this."

For a second Mycroft thought he'd died and gone to heaven. It wasn't the most revealing lingerie he'd ever seen but he wasn't the sort of man who had women in corsets throwing themselves at him. The delicate white lace which he'd seen throughout the ceremony around her neck now revealed itself to be wrapped around her entire torso and Mycroft swallowed audibly. Breasts beautifully cupped by white, stockings caressed firm thighs and elegant bridal heels.

"Do you like it?"

Mycroft let his legs give out beneath him, he hit the ground with a thud and just wrapped his arms around Artemis' waist so he could press his face into her stomach. Automatically she cradled his head.

"What are you doing?"

"Realizing just how right you were. You really are the only woman who can bring the British Government to his knees." The auburn-haired man kissed her belly through the lacy fabric. "Remind me to give Charlotte a raise."

Without warning he slipped his arms behind her knees and suddenly lifted her so she was forced to wrap her legs around his waist and let him all but throw her down on the large bed. Mycroft wasn't usually a forceful or dominating man but this was his new wife and by the gods did he want her.