Tara rolled on the king-size bed, throwing her arm out to find her partner. Instead, her arm fell flat on the bed. She opened her eyes to find his side empty. She got up and stretched.

When she got out of the bed, she noticed a note sitting on the night table by the bed.

'I am sorry. Emergency at work. Had to go. Will be back soon- MH' it read.

Tara sighed and donned her robe. She couldn't blame the man, he had tried. It wasn't his fault, he got called into work.

She went down to the kitchen to make herself some coffee. She froze when she saw a woman cooking in the kitchen.

The woman noticed her. She smiled at Tara 'Good Morning, Ms. Matthews. It's very nice to finally meet you. I am Mrs. Green, Mr. Holmes' housekeeper. I am here to help you with anything you might need while you're here, and there is a car waiting for you outside, that'll take you anywhere you would like to go' she finished.

Tara blinked uncomfortably, then strode forward and shook Mrs. Green's hand. 'Good Morning, Mrs. Green. It's a pleasure to meet you, and thank you.'

Mrs. Green gave her a warm smile 'Mr. Holmes said you like waffles and raspberries so, I made you that for breakfast and some pomegranate juice.' She said and served Tara her breakfast.

'Thank you, Mrs. Green. This is very sweet of you' Tara said and dug into her breakfast.

After finishing her breakfast, Tara decides to explore Mycroft's house. She looked at all the paintings hanging on the wall. Then she found his umbrellas. For a while, she entertained herself by practicing sword fighting and then raided Mycroft's library.

By the afternoon, Tara was running out of things to do. She had explored the entire house, admired all the paintings, practiced sword fighting, and raided the library. She was also starting to get tired of the disappointed looks Mrs. Green gave her every time she went to the kitchen to get a bottle of water.

Mrs. Green was just as bored as Tara. Every time Tara walked into the kitchen Mrs. Green hoped she would ask her to cook something or do something for her, only to be disappointed when she walked out with a bottle of water.

'Mrs. Green, would you like to help me bake biscuits?' Tara asked after lunch.

'Yes, Ms. Matthews. I would like that' Mrs. Green beamed.

The two women chatted as they baked. Mrs. Green told Tara that she had been working for Mycroft for about 15 years, and in those years, she had never seen Mycroft allowing a woman to stay over or even share a meal with him. Not even Lady Smallwood was given that privilege.

After they were done baking Tara decided she could call Thomas inside and the three of them could have a tea party of sorts.

When she stepped out of the house, she saw the older man sitting in the car and reading a newspaper. When Thomas saw her, he folded the newspaper, putting it away, he stepped out of the car.

'Is there anything you need me for, ma'am?' Thomas asked as he walked to Tara.

'No. I just was wondering if you wanted a cup of coffee. I just brewed a fresh pot' Tara smiled.

'Oh, I'm good, ma'am. But thank you.' He politely declined the offer.

'Are you sure? Mrs. Green and I just baked a fresh batch of biscuits' Tara tried again.

Thomas looked at his watch 'My shift will be done in a couple of hours. I'll be fine.' He told her.

Stubborn as she was, she wouldn't give up 'No, come on. Stretch your legs. I won't take no for an answer.' she didn't wait for him to reply. She turned around and started walking towards the house.

Thomas sighed and followed her.

Tara, Mrs. Green, and Thomas chatted for hours. Mrs. Green and Thomas told Tara more about Mycroft's likes and dislikes, and their families. After some time both of them had to get back to work, leaving Tara to her own devices. The lone tree in Mycroft's lawn draws her attention.

...

Tree of life-

Tara enters her bedroom to find her husband sitting on the settee at the end of their bed, lost in deep thought. She walks over to him and sits down beside him 'How are you doing?' she asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.

'If you mean except for the fact that my mentor just died, great' he replies, sarcastically.

'I am sorry. I know he meant a lot to you' she consoled him.

'He was family' his voice broke.

'Are you going to go to his funeral?' she asked.

'I don't know, funerals can be a real bummer. Everybody is crying. Ugghh.' He grimaced, making her smile. 'Just too much sadness. At my funeral please don't cry. Maybe throw a nice party. Lots of booze, good food,... You know, a celebration of life kind of thing.' He mused to Tara

'You're thinking about dying?' she asked.

'Well, more about having regrets than dying' he shrugged.

'Do you have any regrets?' wondering if she was one of his regrets.

'Today, No. I have had a great life. I have a job I love. I have had the great love of my life. I married her.' He nudged and winked at his wife, making her blush 'So, no I don't have any regrets. I just don't want to mess up down the road' he concluded

'Well, you won't.' Tara assured her husband, knowing she was right. This was a man she trusted more than herself. She knew he would never hurt her.

'Do you ever think about dying?' He asked.

'I think about what would happen after I die' she said flatly.

'What do you mean?' he knew, his wife wasn't particularly religious. If anything, she didn't believe in God at all. As a matter of fact, neither did he. His life had never been easy. Often making him ask the question 'What kind of God would let that happen?'. After a point of time, he assumed the answer 'There is no God'

'It's just a weird wish.' Tara shrugged it off.

'Tell me.' he insisted.

'I want to be buried under the 1858 tree in my family's estate.' She told him.

'You want to be buried under a tree?' he repeated, making sure he was hearing her right.

'It was my happy place as a kid. I would always go there when I was upset. That's where I want to be buried. In my happy place.' She said, thinking of all the times she found comfort and solace in the arms of her beloved 1968 cherry blossom.

'It would be nice to talk to a tree instead of a gravestone or an urn' he chuckled at his own joke.

Tara shook her head and asked 'What's your happy place?'

'I am looking at it.' he smiled 'I want to be buried with you. Wherever you go, I go.' he said.

'You know, saying stupid stuff like that is what gets you in trouble, right?' she asked in amusement.

'Trouble like paragliding? Yeah, I know.' he remembered the time he had said something very similar and ended up jumping off a cliff with his wife.

'I'd be happy to share my happy place with you' she said and kissed him.

...

When Mycroft returned later that evening, he couldn't find her anywhere in the house. Upon inquiry, Mrs. Green and Thomas told him that she hadn't left the house the entire day. After a few minutes of searching, he finally found her sitting on a tree in the yard. When he got closer, he noticed she was reading a book. Ulysses. He knew that book was from his library.

When he reached the tree, he stood under the tree for a while to get noticed. Either she didn't really notice him or she didn't want to notice him. The events of that day had led Mycroft to favor the latter.

'Are you ever going to get down from that tree?' he broke the silence but Tara was in no mood to end the silent treatment. 'Very nice book you got there.' he tried again. She tried to hide the smile that threatened to form on her lips, she was starting to enjoy this. 'Are you ever going to talk to me again? If you are, I suggest you do it sooner because it's getting cold out here' He was right, it was getting cold, and she wasn't wearing a coat, he was worried she would get sick. He swallowed his pride. 'I am sorry' he muttered.

Tara finally looked up from her book. That must've been hard for Mycroft. She knew it.

'I shouldn't have left you alone like that. It was a matter of National Security.' he continued.

She rolled her eyes at his stupidity. He actually thought she was upset because he left. 'You left a note.' She said and turned to face him.

That was the problem. Now it was starting to become clear to Mycroft. 'You were sleeping, I didn't want to disturb you' he told her honestly.

'A text or call. That's all I am asking. I don't want to wake up to a note. Is that too much to ask for?'

'No, it is not. I'll keep that in mind next time. Now will you please come down'

She gave him a small smile and started getting down. Mycroft stepped forward and helped her down the tree. He laid his coat on her shoulders as they started walking up to the house.

'What do you want to do now?' he asked as they walked to the house.

'Anything other than sex' she said without missing a beat.

Mycroft stopped in his tracks and looked at her in horror. 'Excuse me?' he asked.

She realized what she had said. 'No. I didn't mean it like that. I ...' she couldn't find the words.

'You what?' He asked with a sly smile. She was flustered and he was starting to enjoy it.

'I mean I like you. And sex with you. Sex with you is great and awesome. And I love it...' she rambles. 'But it just seems like all we do is eat and have sex. I would like to do something else for a change. Not that I am bored of sex with you but... I'd like to do something else with you.' she was flushing.

She was right. Dating was little new to Mycroft but he knew they had to do something else.

'I get your point' he said when she started to get a little too flustered. 'Would you like to watch a film with me?' he asked her.

'Really?! You want to watch a film?' she asked in surprise.

'You wanted to do something else. I merely suggested an activity. Why is that so surprising?'

'It's just that you don't seem like the guy who would enjoy movies.'

'Well, then you're in for a surprise.' he said and led her inside the house.

He led her to a dull, darkroom. It was a mostly empty room. A large white screen hanging on the wall at one end of the room and an age-old projector standing at the other end. A huge collection of metal film canisters stood on one side. Vintage Cinema. Film noirs.

'I should have known you would have a film room' she said as she went and sat on one of the armchairs, making herself comfortable.

Mycroft smiled but didn't respond. He removed his coat, folding it neatly, he laid it on the other armchair. He then walked over to his film collection and started browsing through it. After a few seconds, he picked out a film. Double Indemnity. Mycroft was sure Tara was new to this genre. If she was going to start, he believed this was the perfect film. It set the standard for the genre for years to come. He carefully fed the film into the projector and the blank screen came to life when he switched it on. He turned the knobs on the projector, focussing the image so it went from blurry to crystal clear. He poured them each a glass of whiskey before starting the film.

Tara watched in awe as he sipped on his whiskey and silently mouthed the dialogues along with the characters. She noticed the smile on his face. He was absolutely consumed by the film, so much so that he didn't even notice her watching him. She was enamored with him.

Towards the end of the film, he glanced at her. 'If you don't want to watch this, we could do something else.' He said without averting his gaze from the screen.

'It's not that I don't want to watch this but you are far too distracting' she flirted shamelessly and leaned over to him.

Mycroft smiled and cringed at her bluntness.

Tara got up from her armchair and walked to Mycroft. She straddled herself on his lap and started kissing him.

'I was really looking forward to catching that ending' he teased.

'I know you've seen it a million times. How about you write your own ending this time?' she said, kissing his neck.

'I could but I wouldn't want you to think all I'm interested in is sex' he said and smirked.

She stopped and looked at him. She should've known this would come back to bite her in the ass. And Mycroft should've known he was fighting a losing battle. She would never let him win. 'Fine. Take it or leave it.' she said and started getting off his lap 'Va te faire foutre' she muttered.

He quickly pulled her back onto his lap and held her close. Shaking his head in defeat, he said 'I should have known a relationship with you would end in a lot of weird turns and me losing all the fights' he said, pulling her into a kiss.

Double Indemnity, all but forgotten.

...