"Coming of the Ice King."
Chapter 5
"M: Mycroft deduces, and is right. Then guesses, and is also right.
S: Stubbornly refuses to sees the truth."
"What I did really isn't as spectacular as you're making it out to be."
"You made them fight each other! The whole gang! How can that be anything but magic?!"
"I simply stated a few facts that he'd rather keep secret, I really do not see how that classifies as magic."
"But how in the world did you find out those things about him, if what you do isn't magic?"
"The art of Deduction is a simple observation technique." Mycroft explained with incredible patience gained from living his whole life with one Sherlock Holmes. The flow of questions began mere minutes after the left the fighting gang members, most coming, quite ironically, from Not-Sherlock. "Spies use this method of gaining information to uncover enemy secrets without having to resort to all the unpleasantness of interrogation." A half-truth. Only he and his brother use it in said purpose, his double-agents usually just beat the answers out of their victims. Brutes, the lot of them.
Not-Sherlock and Finn blinked at his admission.
"You're a spy?" The tall blonde asked. "Are you heading towards the Wall because you were discovered?''
The older Holmes nearly rolled his eyes.
No wonder this world was on the edge of becoming invaded by enemy forces and failing to do something to stop it, the people occupying this land were such simpletons that they make his local goldfishes look smart and competent in comparison, a feat that Mycroft had classified as 'mission impossible'.
"Why I head towards the Wall is none of your business, Mr. Finn.'' Mycroft replied coldly, sending the Crow one of his ice-glares. "And you're wrong. I'm not a spy, I'm a consultant. I give advice to the ruler of my country.'' Also known as occupying a minor position in the government. He added in his head out of habit. But you most likely wouldn't even know what that means.
"But you said-'' Not-Sherlock began, brown eyes narrowing in confusion.
"I also never said that Spies are the only ones capable of using this method of observation.'' The older Holmes pointed out, looking at the clone of his brother with a pointed look. "You simply assumed that they are.' After that he returned to leading the way. "Then you took that fact and transformed it into a 'deduction' about who I am.'' He scowled. "A rather pitiful one, but a deduction nonetheless.''
"So this 'deducting' thing is a…guessing game?'' A brown haired soldier, one who hasn't said anything up to this point, asked.
Mycroft snorted.
"Only complete and utter amateurs are forced to question the accuracy of their deductions.'' The elder Holmes brother stated, pulling slightly on Caramel's reins because the horse has slowed its pace and began slacking, ever since Mycroft offered to place the soldiers' food bags on his back. "Masters of the art are capable of finding out nearly anything they want about their target, just from looking at them." Well…he and Sherlock could, anyway. "Honestly, some people are so negligent with hiding their personal information, deducing them is a waste of time and energy." Mycroft muttered under his breath.
The four soldiers fell quiet for a solid minute, mulling over what their new companion decided to reveal about himself, as the small group made their way through the snow-covered forest towards their shared destination. Taking advantage of the silence, Mycroft allowed himself to think about all the cocequences his sudden disappearance has caused in both his line of work and his little brother's life.
Seeing him just disappear despite all the protection placed around his home probably sent his dear PA into a well hidden frenzy so it's safe to say the security feed from the camera in his room has already been in Sherlock's position for a good number of hours, assuming that the flow of time here in Westeros is at all similar to that of London, that is.
Wherever or not he did something in response to the video, in entirely up to debate.
The logical part of his brain told him that, taking their rocky relationship into account, his little brother has no reason to be worried about him and is more likely rejoicing that Mycroft is not watching over his shoulder 24/7, than leading a search party to try and bring him back.
The Big Brother part of him whispered that, though at first Sherlock deny it at every turn, his absence will be noticed and, eventually, missed.
He'll deny it at first, of course.
Mycroft was a constant in his life and the British Government, he can't just disappear out of the blue.
The Detective will think it's a trick to punish him for the, adequately named, 'Reichenbach Fall', and ignore any signs pointing to the contrary. Even those coming from his blogger and Anthea.
It will take a couple of days, or weeks if Sherlock is stubborn enough, along with a few tastes of what the world is like without Big Brother there to act as a buffer, but he'll accept that his older sibling really is gone in the end.
After that Mycroft isn't exactly sure what his younger brother will do, this hasn't exactly happened before. As long as the dark haired man was concerned, the elder Holmes was always within reach.
It was always Sherlock who got captured tortured and hurt, with Mycroft acting as the 'knight in a silk suit welding a sword-umbrella' and having to save his sorry behind, every time that happens.
God knows how he'll react to their roles suddenly being reversed.
Further thoughts regarding the actual younger Holmes, have been cut off by words said by Not-Sherlock:
"Why should we trust you?"
Mycroft stopped and looked behind him with a raised eyebrow, it seemed that the small company of soldiers has stopped blindingly following him for quite some time now, judging by the distance between them.
"Excuse me?"
"You said you are not a spy." Sherlock's clone said, eyes narrow and arms crossed on his chest in defiance. "How do we know you're not lieing?" How do we know your 'deductions' are not a fluke? Was left unsaid but everyone knew it was there.
Hearing this, Mycroft sighted and rubbed his eyelids. This is going to be a long walk, he can feel it in his bones.
"Does it matter?" The red haired man asked, his voice already sounding tired of this conversation. "I thought that, by saving you back there, I proved that I have no ill intensions towards your kind."
"It matters to me." Not-Sherlock insisted. "Even if you saved my life, I would still like to know if the person I'm traveling with wasn't sent to the Wall for treason."
The elder Holmes eyed him with cold eyes, not really feeling like proving anything to the soldier but also wanting to get to the Wall as quick as possible.
He sighted.
"And how exactly do you want me to prove to you that I am, in fact, not a spy?" He asked, shrugging in defeat and giving in to the younger man's wishes.
Not-Sherlock looked at his three companions and then back at Mycroft.
"The four of us have spent a fair share of time on the Wall." The curly-haired man said. "Since the place is heavily guarded and the chance of someone hiding in close proximity is none-existent, I'm pretty sure that, if your deductions about us are spot on, we can believe you to be the Councilor you claim to be."
Another sight escaped the older Holmes's mouth as he closed his eyes. The request was exactly what he'd thought it would be, a simple deduction challenge.
Nothing too hard, deducing people is Mycroft's bread and butter just as much as it is Sherlock's, but it would waste both time and energy. Two valuable resources that could be spent on more important things.
Like getting to the blasted Wall.
"Very well." He finally said, opening his eyes and looking deep into that of his challenger. "If that's what it takes to continue our way towards the Wall, so be it."
After taking a deep breath, he began deducing.
"Let's begin with you then, shall we?" Mycroft wasn't even waiting for an answer, already gathering information from the picture presented before him. "You're a bastard son of a monarch from the North, most likely the King." Ignoring the silly man's shocked gasp, the Ice Man continued. "How do I know that? Well…it's quite simple really. First: Your high endurance of low temperatures. Manifested by your body refusing to shiver like that of your fellow companions, that fact alone tells me that you, at the very least, have spent the majority of your life in a similar environment, which suggests the north region. Next: Your body built. Compared to your skinny friend over there, you clearly haven't experience much hunger in your life. Your body is well fed and used to regular, and meat-filled meals, something I'm sure can only happen in the dining hall of a wealthy house, especially during the winter. Following that little fact: We have your willingness to serve. Because you don't have a problem going into town and guarding fellow soldiers that have been sent to get food, to a society that clearly hates them, as a punishment for various misbehaviors, I can safely assume that your view of authority is different than that of your comrades. It clearly has been softened for you. An honorable and just king serving as a father-figure, perhaps?" Mycroft began to pace, finding that the additional movement of his legs to help him concentrate on what he wanted to say. "Following that train of thought-" He bluntly ignored the startled 'train?' from Finn- "we can also explain why you're here. Since you're only a 'bastard' there wasn't much for you to look forward in your life. You wouldn't be able to become king because of having mud-blood, the most you could be is an advisor to the oldest legal child, I also don't believe that the man's wife was very happy having you living in her home, so leaving her sight was the best option. Ending with you joining the Night Watch."
Ending his speech he looked at Not-Sherlock, who was staring back at him with his mouth agape.
"Have I missed anything?" Mycroft asked, rising an eyebrow. "Was I wrong in some way?"
Those questions seemed to have pulled the younger man out of his dreamland, for he shook his head.
"N-No, no. You were right, on everything." The dark haired man said, chocolate eyes shining. "That…that was…truly amazing, sir. The only thing you didn't guess yet is my name, and I wouldn't be shocked if you were spot on, on that too."
At that moment, hearing the familiar line of prizes, Mycroft got a truly absurd idea in his head.
He nearly berated himself, there was no way the Universe would be so lazy (or cruel). That is impossible, utterly improbable and he should be ashamed for even thinking that!
But then again, he pondered, what did he really have to lose?
His credibility? No, he just blew them away with it.
His pride? One little mistake won't hurt it. Not when his little brother isn't there to laugh at him.
Oh, what the hey? Might as well take a shot.
"Could your name be, by any chance, 'John'?" Mycroft took the risk, purposely looking up in the sky so that the face of Not-Sherlock was out of his view-point.
He could hear stunned gasps from the fellow soldiers and, nearly had a legitimate Heart-Attack when he heard the brown-haired soldier say:
"Jon? How the Hell did he know your name?"
So…Mycroft tried to calm himself down. Not only is this a man that looks exactly like one pesky little brother of mine, but he also happens to share a name with said man's best friend.
He stands corrected.
The Universe really is so lazy.
Or hates him.
He can't really decide.
When John picked up his phone to call Lestrade, what he saw was this string of messages sent by Sherlock to Mycroft:
'Mycroft this isn't funny.-SH' 10:12
'I thought you were above running away, isn't that what angst-y teenagers do?-SH' 10:15
'If you don't answer this text I'm calling Mummy-SH' 10:18
'Mummy notified. You have been warned.-SH' 10:22
'The gig is out, why are you still hiding?-SH' 10:26
'I didn't really call, Mummy. It was supposed to force you out.-SH' 10:30
'I tracked your phone, Mycroft. Consider yourself found.-SH' 10:33
'I lied about the phone, but you already knew that. Otherwise you wouldn't be hiding.-SH' 10:36
'MYCROFT!-SH' 10:40
There was about ten more messages but, the one that made John's heart squeeze was this one:
'Myc, whatever I did, I'm sorry. Please just come out.-SH' 11:00
A/N: Hi! Sorry for the wait ^^'. Also, apology if the deduction regarding Jon is too 'iffy', it was the best I could do at the moment but I promise that the following ones will be a lot better :D
See you next time!