The next chapter! I'm sorry that it took me so long to write it. My life's keeping me very busy at the moment. I hope that will change again soon. But for now have fun with this chapter! It's a little unusual for me because it's pure Mystrade.
As always thanks to everyone who read the last chapter and left a review, you're awesome! And please let me know what you think of this chapter as well!
I don't own the characters or places!
The whole place was a mess. A window was smashed, most probably that was how the intruder got inside in the first place. Next to that, furniture was broken or even knocked over, resulting in many objects, both big and small lying on the ground. The curtains were moving in the cold wind that got through the window, resulting in a rustling sound. There was also a dog barking upstairs, the sound of moving feet could be heard through the ceiling.
In the middle of this whole chaos stood Greg Lestrade, his coat still wet from the rain outside, and looked around slowly. He'd insisted that he should be the first one to have a look at the crime scene, afraid that his team might mess it up once again. No one knew what happened here. A neighbour had been annoyed by the constant barking of the dog and alerted the police. The owner of the house, a middle-aged man who wasn't known well in the neighbourhood, was nowhere to be found.
On the first look, it looked like a normal break-in. However, from years of working with Sherlock Holmes, Greg knew that things rarely were what they seemed.
He heard footsteps in the hallway and fought back a sigh. He already knew that it was Sergeant Donovan, the sound of her fast steps was easy to identify. Well, and maybe she was wearing high-heeled shoes today, which made it even more obvious. Apparently, she had a date this evening. Why she didn't plan to go home and change her clothes after work was a riddle to Greg, but he didn't need to know everything.
"Anything interesting yet?" Her voice sounded through the half-closed door and only seconds later, she appeared, looking around through narrowed eyes. Luckily, she was smart enough not to step on anything, unlike others in his team.
He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "Looks like a normal break-in to me." Greg admitted slowly, his eyes scanning everything once more. This time, they landed on an object on the ground which was lying apart from the others, in the far away corner of the room. He moved towards it carefully, not wanting to leave any traces on the crime scene.
When he knelt down next to it, he realized that it had been a picture frame once, made of glass and with an elegant silver pattern all around. The picture, however, was missing. Greg looked around searchingly and spotted something under the closest cupboard. He put on his gloves quickly and reached for the paper which had been moved there because of the wind, he suspected.
The paper was dusty and when he ran his finger over it carefully, Greg could feel Donovan's curious look on his back. "What is it?" She asked.
"A photograph." He muttered, but made no attempt to stand up, noticing that something was wrong with the picture. It showed a man, together with a dog, both looking into the camera. The man was smiling happily and Greg suspected that it was the owner of the house who was still missing. However, that wasn't what bothered him about the photograph. It was rather the fact that it was only half the picture in his hand because it had been ripped apart in the middle, right next to the dog who had been in the centre once. There was another arm around him, one that didn't belong to the man. The hand was much smaller, most probably a woman.
"Look at this." Greg stood up and turned to Sergeant Donovan, who was already moving closer. When he handed her the picture, she frowned.
"She's wearing a ring." Of course she would notice such things first. "But he wasn't married."
"Maybe an affair?" Greg guessed.
"Or a good friend."
"We should find the rest of the photograph." He muttered and they began to search for it together. After nearly twenty minutes, they gave up their search. The missing half of the picture wasn't in the room.
By now, the other members of his team were also waiting to have a look at the crime scene. Greg let them inside with a sigh. "We also have to search the rest of the house." He told them. "We're looking for the second half of this picture." He would never admit it, but in this moment he nearly missed Sherlock. Most probably, he would already have solved the case just by looking at the photograph.
But he didn't have to ask Sherlock for help, did he? After all, there was another Holmes who would be happy to help him with his cases.
Greg let go of that thought as soon as it appeared in his head. He couldn't ask Mycroft to help him. At least not yet. They just got the case mere hours ago, after all. Normally, he didn't care about such things, but with the oldest Holmes it was important to him that he made a good impression. If he would have been alone, Greg would surely laugh at that thought. Making a good impression on a Holmes. Was that even possible?
Then he thought of John and Sherlock again. How Sherlock always looked at John like he was the most fascinating thing in this world. Or the way Q looked at James, with so much love in his eyes... Could it be possible that Mycroft might look at him in the same way one day? But with them it was different, wasn't it? They weren't even a couple yet. Yes, Greg dared to say that they already went on a few dates, but nothing else had happened. They just talked. Very much, which had been a surprise at first. Seeing Mycroft Holmes talk about something else than his work.
Did Mycroft even have feelings for him? Because Greg did feel something for the other man, something he'd never felt before with anyone else. He wanted to spend time with Mycroft. He wanted to make him smile and laugh. He wanted to know everything about him. He also longed to touch him, always wondering if his lips were indeed as soft as they looked...
Most probably, he was just imagining things when he thought that Mycroft might even like him back. The way he always offered his help could also just be him being nice. But then he thought of the time Mycroft had defended him in front of Sherlock not so long ago and he wasn't so sure anymore.
All this thoughts were running through his head while he watched his team taking photographs and writing down things about the crime scene. In this moment, he was glad that no one was paying attention to him now, otherwise someone would have surely noticed how distracted he was today.
Greg was glad when Brandon asked him a question and wanted to show him something. At least that took his mind off of Mycroft Holmes and all those confusing feelings the man stirred up inside of him.
Two hours later, they were still in the house and going through the things of the man. Every attempt to find him until now had been useless. They'd even looked through his phone book and called a few people, always getting the same answer. Apparently, the man didn't have contact to anyone for months. They also had to get the dog out of the house, with the constant barking it was impossible to think clearly. And he refused to let them on the upper floor of the house, always baring his teeth and growling dangerously when someone tried to do so. Luckily, Brandon's brother was working at the animal shelter and offered to take the dog as long as his owner was still missing.
When Greg's phone rang, he was glad to have an excuse to leave the house for a short time. It wasn't raining anymore outside, so he walked through the garden slowly when he answered the call. It was John. He wasn't sure if he should be glad or disappointed by this.
"How is your case going?" His best friend asked.
"Mysterious, as always. But I assume you already knew that?" Greg replied simply.
"I think Sherlock's not interested in helping you at the moment." John sounded apologetic and a little annoyed as well.
"Is he still obsessed with that book?"
"You have no idea."
"Maybe you should just hide it somewhere?" He suggested.
"He would know where it is."
"Then give it to someone else? I think Q wanted to have it next."
"Sherlock would be furious." However, John chuckled. "Maybe I should really do that. How does this evening sound to you, at our usual place?"
"Oh my, it must be really bad if you want to get rid of the book so fast."
"It's not just that. James called half an hour ago and asked if we could meet today." John explained. "He's feeling better after his last mission. You know, the one where he's been hit by a car."
Greg indeed remembered that. He'd been surprised that the secret agent had been able to walk and do things at all after such an attack. "This evening sounds good." He'd briefly considered asking Mycroft if they could meet later, but had dismissed that thought rather quickly.
"You sound disappointed. Did you ask Mycroft for another date yet?" Of course John could look through his feelings that easily, even over the phone. Slowly, all the time he was spending with Sherlock was rubbing off on him.
"I didn't get a chance. We're both always busy with work." He hesitated before he said the next words. "And I'm still not sure if he really likes me."
At the other end of the line, John laughed. "Then you're blind. He obviously likes you. You should make another move. I bet you would be awesome together."
"Just like you and Sherlock?"
"Or Q and James. But really, Greg. Mycroft always offers you help, he asks you thousands of questions and is really interested in what you're doing. And once when Sherlock said something bad about you, Mycroft was furious. I've never heard him freak out before."
"It wasn't that bad." He argued immediately.
"It was and you know it. So do it, ask him on another date. Maybe tomorrow. There's this nice restaurant in Kensington, I bet you would like it there."
Greg swallowed, considering this for a few moments. He could literally feel John's impatience through the phone, but he hesitated with the answer anyway. In the end, he sighed. "Fine, I'll do it. But don't keep making me hope, John. Not if it won't work anyway."
"You're too pessimistic, Greg."
He decided that it was time to change the subject. "Did you find something new about the cases? Except for the book?"
"Not really. But James said they have another lead. Apparently, one of the victims owned a company of sorts. He wants to tell us about it this evening. And something Sherlock said won't leave my mind, even if it's stupid."
"Nothing you think could be stupid. I mean, you're talking to me. According to your boyfriend, I'm stupidity in person."
This made John laugh. "The old lady was afraid of someone. Just like the other man. I know it's logical, but that made me think... I don't know. That it's important of sorts." John sighed. "As I said, it's stupid."
"No, it isn't." Greg replied thoughtfully. "We should keep that in mind." He decided. "Also tell James about it later, maybe he knows more."
"Alright." Suddenly, Greg heard someone talking in the background. "I have to go now, Mrs. Hudson wants to do grocery shopping and I offered to help her."
"Say hello from me." He said.
"I will. And see you later. Don't forget talking to Mycroft!" With that, John ended the call.
Greg stared at the now dark screen of his phone for a few more moments. Then he sighed and turned around, wanting to get back to the house. However, he froze in his movement when he saw a black car standing on the street in front of the house.
"You don't have to get back in there yet, they're still searching the house. Not that they will find something anyway." A voice close to him said and once more, Greg turned around, this time in the direction of the voice.
Mycroft Holmes was standing next to a tree with crossed arms. His eyes were on Greg and for half a second, he wondered how long the other man was already standing there and how much of his conversation with John he'd heard. But considering that this was a Holmes standing in front of him, he could most probably guess everything they'd talked about just by looking at Greg's face, even if he didn't hear his part of the conversation.
"They won't find anything?" He said the first thing that came to his mind. "What do you mean by that?"
"It wasn't a break-in." Mycroft stated simply.
"Then what happened here?" His mind was racing when he realized the meaning of Mycroft's words. "It certainly looks like something happened. A window was smashed. The owner of the house is gone. And there's this photograph which has been ripped apart -"
"An ex-girlfriend. He loved her but she left him. In his anger he ripped the photograph apart." Mycroft replied with a shrug. "As to what happened with the window, he played with the dog in the garden and the ball hit the window, breaking it in the process. That must have been last night."
Greg stared at Mycroft. "So where is he?"
"You should check the hospitals. He left without his wallet, you might have noticed." At this, Greg nodded. That was another reason why they'd suspected that a crime had happened here. "He just wanted to get someone to fix the window when something happened. Which is why he didn't return. They couldn't identify him at the hospital yet."
"You want to say that we wasted half our day here?" Greg sighed deeply. "Great. Just great."
"You could have called me." Mycroft stated. "Then this would have been over much faster."
"I've told you dozens of times that I won't call you when you're at work. Not with something like this." This time, Greg crossed his arms. "This wasn't even important. We would have found the solution ourselves."
"Of course you would. After all, you're not stupid." Mycroft looked at him meaningfully when he said this, making Greg realize that he'd indeed heard his conversation on the phone.
He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "How much of that did you hear?"
"Most of it." Mycroft's expression softened. "How does dinner sound to you? Tomorrow evening? I know a great place in Kensington. I'm sure you would like it."
"You..." Greg hesitated, searching for the right words.
"Yes, I am asking you out on a date, Greg." Mycroft stated. "And since I know that you'll not be available this evening, I think tomorrow would be a good opportunity."
"Fine." He said after staring at Mycroft for a few more moments. This made the oldest Holmes smile. "But you really didn't have to come here, Mycroft. I know you have more important things to do."
"Let's just say I needed a break." Now that he looked at him more closely, Greg indeed noticed that the other man looked tired.
"Is the government that tiring?" He tried to make Mycroft smile once more, though he wasn't sure if it would work.
It did, even if he shook his head. "Not the government." Mycroft looked around quickly to make sure that no one was close enough to hear their conversation. "We're still looking for Moriarty. Ever since he wrote that letter to my brother, it seems like he's vanished."
Greg frowned. "What do you mean by vanished?"
"Normally, our experts were always able to find traces of him. His name was mentioned together with terrorist attacks, illegal dealing with weapons and much more. But at the moment, there's nothing."
Somehow, that made Greg feel uneasy, but he wasn't so sure why. He had the feeling that this could be important and tried to figure out why. Unfortunately, he didn't find an answer to that question. "Did you ask Q for help concerning this? I'm sure he could find something."
"We have many experts. I don't think that my brother could do something they can't." Mycroft explained simply.
"But it was Q who found out about Moriarty's interest in Sherlock in the first place." Greg threw in, shrugging apologetically when Mycroft's eyes narrowed. From the direction of the house, someone called his name. "Seems like I have to go." Greg smiled at Mycroft. "I'm sorry."
"You should tell them that the case is solved." Mycroft said. "So they can stop to search the house."
"One more question." Greg raised his eyebrows. "Why does the kitchen look like a battlefield?"
At this, Mycroft laughed. "The cat of the neighbours wanted to have a look at the house. It resulted in her and the dog having a fight."
"And you really think we would have found out more about that?" Greg asked without expecting an answer. "Alright, I'll go and deal with everything there. But how does coffee sound to you after that?" He'd asked the question before the could think of it once more. Otherwise, his courage might leave him again. Yes, they'd agreed to go to dinner together the next evening, but it was still hard to believe that Mycroft Holmes wanted to spend time with him.
Mycroft smiled. "That would be wonderful."
Greg smiled back at him. "Give me ten minutes." With that, he turned towards the house once more, wanting to get away from there as fast as possible. He couldn't wait to spend more time alone with Mycroft!