Greg found that he couldn't sleep very well after going back to the hospital. John would be released in the early morning, and so there was little point in the three of them remaining in the ward. He never was much of a deep sleeper, but that night he found himself barely drifting off for most of the remaining hours. Which was why he heard Sherlock's phone ring downstairs.

He knew he shouldn't listen to the conversation, but he wanted to know at least who was calling… just in case something had happened with John, or the terror plot Sherlock had talked to him about. He was not expecting Mycroft to call.

"Mycroft, why are you phoning me at this hour?" Sherlock hissed into the phone.
"It is sunrise, brother mine. It is not unreasonable."
"Well, tell me why you're calling, then."

Mycroft sighed. Should he just tell Sherlock what was going on? He would really rather not.
"As you may remember, our parents are arriving this morning."
"Oh, yes. Do tell them I said hello." Sherlock grumbled, obviously hinting at not wishing to see them.
"You can tell them yourself, I have instructed them to visit you first."
"What? Why? You invited them."
"Yes, Sherlock, but only at their request to see you after your time away."
"I don't care, I'm busy with my terror network, remember? What is stopping you from occupying them all of a sudden? I thought you were going to take them to see Les Mis?"
"I… I am not in a position to be around them for the moment."

Sherlock stopped his pacing. He raised his eyebrow.
"And why would that be, brother mine?" Sherlock sneered into the phone.
"I'm sure you are well aware."
"I'm sure I am, but why don't you enlighten me? After all, you are the smart one."

Sherlock smiled, knowing he'd struck a nerve with his brother. He did not expect the next words spoken through the phone, however.
"Please, Sherlock. I need your help."

Sherlock was stunned. Mycroft never asked for help, let alone his help.
"Of course. How may I do so?"
"I… I just need some time to sort myself out. Please, would you let them spend a few hours with you this morning?"
"Very well, Mycroft."

Sherlock hung up the phone, a little unsettled. It was a rare occasion to hear his brother so shaken. Whatever had happened yesterday between him and Lestrade was serious. And it was surprising that Mycroft was affected this much. Sherlock sat himself down on his chair and thought.

Greg walked down the stairs, unable to keep himself in the bedroom.
"Sherlock?" He called, announcing his presence.
"Lestrade." Sherlock responded.
"I er… I heard you got a phone call. Is everything alright?"
"My parents will be visiting me very soon for some time."
"Oh. Oh, alright then… I'll just get ready and head off early for work."
"You don't have to vacate the premises on their behalf"

Greg thought he should feel flattered that Sherlock didn't mind him being around his parents, but he still just felt awkward at the thought. He walked into the kitchen to make himself some coffee. He really needed the caffeine today.
"I still should go into work, though." Greg called from the kitchen.
"Understandable."
"Hey, if you can… could you go visit Anderson today?" Greg asked, moving to face Sherlock while he sat in his chair. The man rolled his eyes and groaned.
"Very well."
"Just… be gentle, with him, Sherlock. Remember he's not really … stable at the moment."

Sherlock gave Greg an inquisitive look.
"But he was proven right… surely he's fine?"
"Yeah, well… him being right or wrong has little say over his mental state." Greg stated as he went to fetch the kettle.
"Fine." Sherlock grumbled.

Greg walked into the living room and handed Sherlock a cup of tea.
"So… how did things go with John last night?"
"He… he listened without shouting at me at least."
"Good, good."
"But I can tell he hasn't forgiven me for it."
"Give it time."

Sherlock grunted in frustration and stood.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this!" He snapped, ruffling his head.
"What?"
"This… all of this." Sherlock waved his hands around him while twirling on the spot.
"You seriously couldn't have expected nothing to change after your suicide, Sherlock."

The detective sighed and plopped himself down in his chair once again.
"I knew things would be difficult, but not this different. John wasn't supposed to find someone and start a new life without me. Mycroft wasn't supposed to change… although I admit his change is more positive."
"Is that you giving me your approval?"
"You don't need my approval, Lestrade. But yes, I do think you and my brother work together. You should go to him."
"It's still not the right time, Sherlock."
"If you're worried about him being insincere in his affections towards you, or his distress at your absence, I can assure you that you are mistaken."

Greg looked down into his coffee. No, he didn't really think Mycroft was faking it, but he hadn't realised that it had been significant enough for Sherlock of all people to notice.
"Look, I don't really want to talk about it right now, ok?"

Sherlock inclined his head, and then continued to sip his tea. Greg decided it would be best to just find breakfast on his way to work, and perhaps later afterwards he'd go to the store. He heard his phone ding, and so pulled it out of his pocket.

- Got the day off work today. Going to go to see Sherlock. You were right, Greg. I'm not angry anymore. Not after what he said. John.

Greg smiled to himself.

- Glad to hear. So you're ok now?

- Yeah, I'm fine.

"John?" A deep baritone voice asked.
"Yeah, he's doing alright. Says he's going to come over later on."

Sherlock's lips pursed together and Greg could see the cogs whirl in his mind. He was obviously concerned about his parents coming over, and then adding John into the mix likely was challenging for him.

"Alright, so where is Anderson?"

Greg looked up from his desk to see Sherlock standing there.
"Hey, how's it going?"
"Oh, I have some exciting news regarding the terror cell. I believe there is a bomb inside a tube car underneath Parliament. So, Anderson?"

Greg's mouth dropped open. He made an uncertain groaning noise.
"He's… at his house. He's been on half time for a year almost."
"Right."
Sherlock made to turn around, but Greg shouted at him before he could manage.

"What's this about a bomb?"
Sherlock smiled that gleeful grin he gave whenever he'd solved a particularly difficult case.
"Lord Moran was seen boarding a tube car on the District line…"
"Yes, yes, you said, and disappeared. Now, the bomb?"
"Right, well, it turns out, the whole tube car disappeared, not just Moran. That information we had about an underground terror network… it was actually an 'Underground' network."
"…Right. So, you said the tube carriage disappeared. Where did it go? It can't just disappear."
"Exactly. But I don't know where it is… there's nothing between St James Park and Westminster."
"So… shouldn't you be out trying to work out where the bomb is then?"
"I am. I needed to go get some maps from Molly. I thought I might as well see Anderson while I'm here, since I needed to tell you about the terror plot development."

Greg looked around uncomfortably. There was a bomb somewhere, and Sherlock wanted to drop by and visit friends?

"I'll need to contact you later once I find out where it is. Have bomb disposal on standby. Oh, and do inform Mycroft about the situation."
"Yeah, we're still not really talking…" Greg mentioned as Sherlock turned to leave.
"Well, looks like you'll need to start, then." Sherlock said with a grin and a knowing twinkle in his icy blue eyes.

Before Greg could protest, he was gone. Greg groaned out loud, loud enough for Donovan to look up from her desk. He didn't care, however, and let his forehead hit the hard wooden surface before him.
"You ok sir?" Sally asked from the doorway.
"Yeah." Greg mumbled, his head still planted on the desk. He breathed in deeply, and then looked up at her.
"We need to get the bomb squad ready. And a team."
"Oh, um… certainly, sir. Why?"
"Terror threat. I don't know when, or where, just that something is going to go down. We have to keep it fairly hushed, though. I'll inform the Chief if you'll start requisitioning for the squad. I need to make a phone call first."

Donovan nodded to him and left to get to work. Greg pulled out his phone and scrolled to Mycroft's name in his contacts list. He felt his stomach twist as he pressed the dial button.

"Gregory?"
"Hey, Mycroft."
"Are you alright?"
"Um, ok I guess. Listen, I need to talk to you."
"I would love to discuss our situation with you, however might I request a different time? I am currently … preoccupied."

Greg cringed a little when hearing that Mycroft felt he was too busy to talk with him, even though that wasn't the reason for his call.
"I …er…" Greg started, but was distracted by the voice in the background of Mycroft's call. 'It's no trouble, Myc, we can just go over there while you talk with your boyfriend.'
Greg heard Mycroft groan softly in disapproval, and could practically see him rolling his eyes. So, Mycroft was out with his parents, then. An adequate reason to avoid talking about their relationship over the phone.

"As you can hear, I am currently taking my parents on a tour of London."
"Yeah, I got that… no, that's not why I called. I needed to talk with you about the terror plot you had Sherlock look into."
"Tell me." Mycroft stated, his voice suddenly serious and grave.
"Sherlock told me to tell you that he'd worked out that there was a suspected bomb inside a tube carriage somewhere. I'm getting the bomb squad ready, and a team to help with whatever needs doing. I am yet to clear it with above, but I called you first."
"Thank you, Gregory. I will take care of the authorities above you. Focus on assembling the team. We may need to evacuate somewhere hastily. Are there any more details that I need to be aware of?"
"Um, I dunno, just that Lord Moran is involved somehow? He was the one that was on the disappearing tube carriage."
"I will take care of it. Thank you. And Gregory? Please be safe."

Mycroft hung up the phone and Greg felt strange. It was nice to talk with Mycroft again without the pain of their argument looming in the air. Although, threat of a terror bombing wasn't entirely much better.

It was night before he was contacted by Sherlock again. The squad was ready to move out within 30 minutes of being requested, and so had been restlessly waiting on standby for hours.

- Tube car detached at unopened Sumatra Road station. Bomb will detonate during anti-terrorism bill sitting in Parliament. Enter Via Westminster Station. Send squad. John and I are going in. SH

Greg instructed the team to begin evacuating parliament. He picked up his phone and called Mycroft while moving out with the bomb squad.
"How far ahead of you is Sherlock?"
"I don't know, I just got the message, so hopefully not too far."
"Gregory, I don't want you to go with the bomb squad."
"It's my job, Mycroft!"
"You could die!"
"Yeah well so could a lot of people. John and Sherlock…"
"They're both down there?"
"Yes, and if we want to have a chance at saving them, we need to get there now. I could use your big brain right about now."
"I am currently working at finding Moran. If I can find him in time, we can stop him."
"Alright."

There was a pause while he stood, trailing behind the team.
"Myc?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Whatever happens… I …"
"Don't."
"No, really. After everything that happened, after the hurt… I still love you."
"I love you too, Gregory. And I am sorry."

Greg didn't know what to say, and so just nodded… and even though he was on the phone, he knew Mycroft would know. He hung up, and then caught up with his team. It seemed surreal that he was going out to try contain a terrorist bomb, and that he might not make it back. It was like he didn't feel it. He didn't feel the panic, the fear, the terror… and he didn't feel the hurt from Mycroft either. He just felt the sense of doom looming over him, the seriousness of the situation, the thrum of adrenaline in his veins… and the hope that he'd see Mycroft again.