"Ultra Infirmitatibus Meis"
Chapter 1
"There is something missing from those eyes."
Anthea could tell something wasn't right.
The desk before her was unoccupied and the phone in her hand had no new messages.
Mycroft 'Iceman' Holmes hasn't missed a day worth working since he was recruited to MI6 at the age of eighteen, not even when he was shot and half delirious from the infection.
It just wasn't in his nature as a workaholic.
So there was no reason to believe he'd just decided to surprise everyone and take a day off to cope with the recent circumstances, no matter how much he actually needs it.
Remembering what her boss told her to do if he ever went MIA, Anthea quickly took out her phone and started tracking Mycroft's phone signal. Breathing out a quiet sigh of relief when it showed up in the Diogenes Club a second later, she alerted Mycroft's most trusted driver, Sebastian, to meet her outside the office and they both promptly rushed over to the silent club.
Both of them were more than just a little angry at themselves for leaving him alone after everything that occurred on that cursed island.
They should have known this would happen.
Mycroft may prefer to be looked upon as an unfeeling robot but, the sole fact that he was doing everything he could to seem that way, presented a completely different picture.
He shouldn't have been left alone last night.
Not with Sherrinford still fresh in his mind…
Not with everyone washing their hands of what Eurus did, perfectly comfortable with letting him take all the blame.
Not with this amount of open wounds...
There was only so much a man can take before the carefully crafted wall starts to crack, and the downward spiral begun.
Something is wrong.
Echoed though Anthea's head when they ran through the corridors, and ignored the disapproving glares of other members.
Something is wrong.
Her thoughts whispered as Sebastian forced his way into the room with a solid kick, when Mycroft didn't answer their frantic calls.
Something is wrong.
Was all she could think when they finally entered the room and saw their, normally so composed and steady as a mountain, boss laying passed out on the armchair and surrounded by empty wine bottles.
Something is wrong.
Anthea thought when she saw how broken he looked. His cheeks stained with dry tears, his posture slumped and defeated…
His right hand still clinching to the empty wine glass…
Something is wrong.
Her head screamed, when the elder Holmes finally opened his eyes…
And it felt like looking into a black hole.
Something is so very very wrong…
Anthea couldn't help but suppress a shiver going down her spine, when she asked Mycroft if he was alright…
And he just looked at her with hollow eyes and an empty smile.
"Never better."
Lady Smallwood was heading for a meeting with the Prime Minister when she noticed that lights were on in Mycroft's room, something that quite frankly caught her off guard as he was granted a weekly leave by the Queen herself.
She sighed heavily.
While Mycroft Holmes isn't a man that regularly disobeys orders given to him by the person he pledged his loyalty to, nothing short of a coma can keep that stubborn mule of a man away from his desk.
He's far too concerned with appearing strong, untouchable and in control.
Anything less would put a serious dent in his Iceman reputation, for an iceberg doesn't fall because of a few hits from the pick-axe.
Its surface may bear marks left by the tool but it will still stand tall, no matter the abuse.
Mycroft spent a large part of his life convincing everyone around him he was said iceberg.
And, though she knew reality was quite the contrary, she was willing to play along in wake of recent events.
If only to keep him from falling into the waiting darkness of despair, he seems to be hanging over at all times.
Because…if he fell…
There wouldn't be much she, or anyone, could do to bring him back.
As the person who could, turned his back on him a long time ago.
Perishing the thought of the younger Holmes brother from her mind, before she starts cursing the bloody fool under her breath, the Lady codenamed 'Love' entered 'Antarctica's' office without knocking.
"I see you are feeling better." She said, closing the door behind her.
Mycroft looked up from the papers in his hands with a raised eyebrow, obviously not surprised by her unsuspected visit, as she tended to do that quite often, but rather by what she said.
"I am well, yes." He agreed, slowly nodding his proud auburn head. "Why?"
"I was under the impression that you were given leave."
"Unnecessary." Came the flat response, as his sharp gaze fell back on the paper he was scanning before she entered the office. "I am fine."
"The queen seems to disagree." Lady Smallwood countered. "And frankly, so do I."
"There is nothing for me to recover from." Mycroft's interest in the conversation was wavering along with his patience for it. "I was not harmed."
"You haven't sustained any physical injuries, true." She agreed with a nod of the head. "But those are not the ones everyone is worried about, Mycroft." The fair Lady didn't have to clarify, she had no doubt Mycroft knew what she was talking about. It was one of the many perks of working with a natural genius. "Nobody would think any less of you for taking a break after everything that happened in Sherrinford." She assured, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing.
The fox-haired man nodded but it was a notion so mechanical and unconscious, she began to wonder if her words were even heard.
He remained motionless for a while seemingly lost in thought, eyes focused on something only they could see and his brow furrowing, before shaking his head and gracing her with his full attention.
"Ah yes…Sherrinford Island." His sharp icy-blue eyes bared into her soul and she couldn't help but feel that there was something missing from them. "How was it handled after my…departure?"
Of course he'd focus on that bloody Island. Lady Smallwood nearly rolled her eyes at the blunt disregard of everything else she said, but answered his question regardless.
"Eurus is back in her cell." She said. "Constantly monitored and separated from all human contact as per instructed."
After a minute of silence, his emotionless voice could be heard again.
"This won't do."
Lady Smallwood blinked, taken off guard.
"Excuse me?"
"The solution." He specifies, eyes closed. "I was informed that the charge already made a mockery of it once." Not waiting for his colleague to answer he continues. "It is pointless locking up an animal in a cage it already escaped from."
She could only stare at him now.
Never during her entire carrier had she heard him talk about anyone this way, family members especially.
"Mycroft what are you…"
"A mind this supposedly dangerous will never be fully neutralized, unless destroyed in its entirety." He answered, voice so cold and indifferent it makes his companion sick.
"Are you suggesting-?" She's almost too afraid to ask.
He nods, eyes still closed.
"But she's your sister." Lady Smallwood manages to wheeze out.
Mycroft the looks her in the eyes, and she's taken aback by how much it feels like staring into the glass eyes of a doll.
"Why would that matter?"
At that moment she finally figured out what was so different about her old friend.
The love he had for his family…
It was gone.