The Reichenbach Fall

Silent Truth

It had been an unusually long day for Mycroft Holmes, but he had finally caught up of the work that he had and as he packed up his documents securely in his briefcase, he was rather glad to be finally heading home for the day.

As he made his way towards the door however, the man at the front desk flagged him down. Frowning slightly, he went to see what the man wanted, getting a folded slip of paper for his troubles.

Visitor in the Stranger's room, here to see Mr M Holmes

Frowning deeper, he looked to the man behind the desk, only getting a confused look in return. Sighing, he decided he had some time left in his day for one last meeting and so made his way to the one room where vocal discussions were allowed in the otherwise silent building.

Opening the door, he was surprised to recognise the voice that spoke up at his entrance.

"She has really done her homework, Miss Riley." Said Doctor Watson, sat facing away from him in the spacious room. "There's things here that only someone close to Sherlock could know."

Pausing, he shut the door behind him as he stepped forward. "Ah."

Turning in his chair, John looked around in accusation to the man. "Have you seen your brother's address book lately? There's three names." He told him. "Yours, mine, and Rose – and I added Rose. Now I'm pretty sure Moriarty didn't get this stuff from me, or Rose for that matter-"

"John-" He tried, however was cut off and so simply made his way around to sit in the chair in front of his tempered visitor.

"So, how does it work then, your relationship? You go out for coffee, now and then, eh? You and Jim?" John asked, sarcasm and anger leaking into his words and he raised a few pieces of paper in his hands; the result of the mistake made by the powerful man. "Your own brother, and you blabbed about his entire life to this maniac."

"I never intend-" Mycroft said, finding it difficult to find the right words. "I never dreamt-"

John cut him off again though. "This, see this," He said, holding up the papers he knew to be the destruction of his best friend. "Is what you were trying to tell me, isn't it? Watch his back, because I've made a mistake." The usually collected doctor was clearly fuming at his actions and Mycroft was at a loss as to how to placate him. "So, how did you meet him?"

"People like him, we..." The elder Holmes started, trying to pick his words carefully so as to not divulge too much, but equally knowing that the man in front of him was hardly your average civilian. "Know about them – we watch them. But James Moriarty... The most dangerous criminal mind the world has ever seen, and in his pocket, the ultimate weapon."

"The key code." John clarified.

Nodding, Mycroft let his true fear of such a thing slip just the slightest. "A few lines of computer code that can unlock any door..."

"And you..." John started, trying to understand properly. "Abducted him? To try and find the code?"

Thinking back, he remembered the day as though they were yesterday. "Interrogated him for weeks..."

John caught his eye, wanting to know everything. "And?"

"He wouldn't play along." The powerful man said darkly, remembering watching the interrogation and the empty look in the insane man's eyes. "He just sat there, staring into the darkness. The only thing that made him open up; I could get him to talk, just a little. But-"

"In return," John continued, anger spiking once more. "You had to offer him Sherlock's life story. So, one big lie – Sherlock's a fraud – but people will swallow it, because the rest of it's true." Mycroft hung his head slightly at the weight of what had been discovered, knowing that what was happening now to his brother was because he'd made that mistake so long ago. John pushed forward, leaning forward as though he were explaining the simplest of things to a child. "Moriarty wanted Sherlock destroyed, right? And you have given him the perfect ammunition."

"John..." Mycroft started, falling flat in his excuse. "I'm sorry."

The doctor just scoffed at him, rising from his chair and turning away. "Oh please..."

"Tell him, would you?" Mycroft asked, hoping they would understand.

As John ignored the apology and request of the other man, turning away from him in anger – before he did something that could get him arrested for the second time that night – and instead went to open the door to leave. On opening it however, he found a surprise waiting for him, leaning against the wall next to the door.

"Rose!" He said in surprise, Mycroft looking up in shock once more. Shit, he thought. "When did you-?"

"Hi John. I'm glad you're okay." She greeted lightly as ever, but one look at her and both men could see she was far from relaxed. She seemed to be physically vibrating from trying to keep control of herself in that moment, having just heard everything that they had just discussed, her worst fears confirmed. As John looked at her – though she didn't meet his eyes – he knew she was far more furious than he'd ever seen her. As she kicked off from the wall where she'd been listening, she stood in front of her friend, voice still seemingly normal. "He'll have gone to Bart's - you should check on him."

Skipping over how she'd come to the conclusion about their friend, John was more than concerned at her behaviour in that moment; she gave the impression that she wanted him to leave but she'd never asked him to leave before, even when arguing with her family. She'd always preferred the backup, the comfort that she wasn't alone. "Are you coming with me...?"

"No." She said flatly, tone slipping into something darker than he'd ever heard from her before. "I have a few things to settle here first."

Worry only increasing at the ice in her voice, John frowned. "I can wait?"

"No, that's okay." She told him once more, finally meeting his eyes; he saw the un-shed tears she was holding back, her dark blue eyes literally swimming with hurt and anger. As she took a breath though, he saw her gain a little more composure. "I'll meet you there in a bit."

Hesitant to leave – and wondering whether it really was safe to leave her with the brother who had screwed up so badly – John resolved that he knew better than to get in her way, especially when she was in this state. Nodding, he conceded. "Okay, but text me when you're on your way?"

Nodding in return, she stepped aside for him to pass her, waiting a beat for him to make his way towards the exit before she stepped into the dim light of the room, gaze holding Mycroft to his chair tighter than any rope or cuffs could have; he was the one person she had trusted with her nightmares. In grave error, it had seemed, she thought darkly as she faced him. Slowly shutting the door behind her, the click of the latch sounded out in the otherwise silent room.

Mycroft simply watched her as he stood from his seat slowly, not having expected her to be here waiting for him once more, and certainly not planning to have to explain himself on this topic so soon to either of them; the doctor was predictable in his reaction though. He was expectedly angry, looked like he wanted to punch him and gave him a strict dressing down before leaving before he lost his temper completely.

But Rose Spencer?

She was unpredictable in all the ways he had enjoyed so far, always keeping him on his toes in their games, always coming up with creative ways to get one back on him, pressing his buttons like so few could. And now she stood before him silently fuming and he couldn't see how this would play out at all.

Seeing she wasn't going to speak first, he thought he may as well try to explain himself. "Rose, I-"

"Don't..." She warned darkly, eyes flashing as she stepped forward. "Don't Rose me, Mycroft bloody Holmes!"

Briefly wondering what she may be capable of in that moment, Mycroft tried once more to placate one of his brother's fiercely loyal friends. "I didn't have-"

"A choice?!" She spat back, predicting his words. "There's always a choice and you know full well you made the wrong one. That's why you went to John; because you knew I'd call you on your bullshit!"

"Watch your language," He scolded in his knee jerk reaction, but soon found this was yet another mistake.

"Why? You going to lock me up to too?" She taunted, stepping up to him to sneer in his face, venom bleeding through in every word she spoke. "Ask me what I know, and tell me a story when I won't answer you?!"

Twitching, Mycroft was starting to lose his composure that little bit more. "That's not-"

"That's exactly what happened!" She shouted at him, interrupting him once more as he looked away from her as she ripped into him. "You had him... you interrogated him... and when he wouldn't give you what you wanted, you sold out your own brother and still had nothing!"

"Did you really come here just to shout at me?" He asked, forcing himself to look her in the eye as he spoke quickly in the effort not to be interrupted again.

"I came here to meet John and find out what the hell is going on, and I think I've got a pretty firm grasp on the situation now." She told him, glaring at him before huffing a breath and turning away from him, running her hand through her hair as she muttered to herself. "At least I can trust John..."

At these words, a shadow crossed the older man's features, tone dropping to a darker shade. "I never asked you to trust me."

"No. You asked me to look after him." She confirmed as she rounded on him once more, searching his face as she watched his every move, his every reaction. "You asked me that today – hours ago – do you remember?"

For once, Mycroft Holmes found himself at a loss for words. He could only nod as his eyes flickered away from her, not able to take the weight of her gaze without crumbling; it was all he could do to keep his composure.

She gave a humourless breath around a twisted smile as she looked him up and down. "Plenty of time for other things, but releasing the nutcase sworn to destroy your little brother slip your mind, did it?"

Taking a breath, he prepared to say the couple of words he'd rarely said in his life. "Rose, I'm-"

"What?!" She snarled, too furious to even consider the words he'd been about to utter. Seeing the shock on his features though, she raised her eyebrows at him as she taunted him further when he gave no response, stepping into his personal space once more and she sneered lowly, "Go on... Say it, Mycroft..."

The words catching in his throat at the look on her face, he swallowed his pride and pushed forward. "I'm sorry... Is that what you wanted?"

"Sorry isn't good enough." She said coldly, the un-shed tears starting to fall as her composure slipped a little more as she shook her head at him. "Sorry won't fix this."

Looking around as though the answers to his problems could be written on the walls themselves, Mycroft decided to sod his pride all together, resolving to only trying not to sound as desperate as he truly felt in that moment as he asked her, "Then what will? What would you have had me do instead?!"

Giving the question only a moment's thought, she looked him dead in the eye, the venom in her voice becoming clear as day in her eyes as she started into what seemed his very soul, tears pouring freely now as she said in a voice lower and darker than he'd ever heard, "The next time you have a master criminal who's out to hurt anyone you even remotely care about, you put a god damned bullet between their eyes so they don't get the fucking chance."

Eyes widening even further, Mycroft would later be ashamed at the shade of pale he'd turned at her words, mind halting for several seconds as he processed exactly what she'd said and the fact that she had most certainly meant every word.

It wasn't as though it were something that he hadn't arranged previously – he'd arranged plenty of assignments that led to the loss of a life – either deliberate or otherwise – and it was something he'd just accepted as part of the job, moving on in the knowledge that the ends justified the means. Accidents inevitability did happen and occasionally accidents had to be arranged with great effort.

But she wasn't supposed to think like that.

Seeing that he had no words in response to her own, Rose closed her eyes, tears falling faster than before. "Game over, Mr Holmes." Taking a shaky breath, she opened her dark blue eyes, staring into his once more as he saw everything that she was thinking so clearly for the first time. "I don't want to play anymore."

Still at a loss for words, Mycroft could only watch as she turned away from him and left once again as he still stood in the same spot, still trying to come up with something to say.

After several seconds of staring after the young woman who had long since left, he snapped out of his repetitively dark thoughts, finally letting out the breath that he hadn't realised he'd been holding through his parted lips.

Collapsing back into his chair once more, he realised with a frown that his breathing was actually shaky for the first time since he could remember; she had reduced the powerful man – who practically ran the British government, with a steady hand and an icy heart – to despair.

Taking a breath to steady himself once more, he thought back on her words and tried to find fault in them. It was several minutes later however that he resigned himself to the fact that she had been right. There had to have been another way that didn't involve the events unfolding around them.

While he indeed knew of the bigger picture, he somehow felt that it simply wasn't the point; if there was anything he could do, he should have been able to do this.

Running a hand over his face, he tried to compose himself for the drive home, all the while the same thought – the memory of how she had looked at him, the hurt and betrayal in those eyes - circled his mind like the bad penny he just couldn't be rid of.

What the hell have I done...?