Greg had called Sherlock the next morning. He'd be pleasantly surprised to find that Sherlock had decided to begin some new experiments instead of starting something destructive. He'd even apologised for interfering the previous night… which in of itself was amazing. But, he'd been back to his usual self by telling Greg to stop bothering him and find something else to do. Greg had decided to be childish and suggest Sherlock's brother, to which the younger homes had responded with 'as long as it's far away from me'.

It was interesting that those words from Sherlock had sparked an idea for a holiday with Mycroft in his head. Greg had thought that he wouldn't have any leave left after all the time he'd taken off while recovering… but was surprised to find that he had almost a month accrued. But having the leave and being able to take it were different matters, and managing to convince Mycroft to also take time off was going to be the most difficult of all.

"Absolutely not, Gregory. I cannot be away from Sherlock while Dr Watson is away on his honeymoon."
"I understand that, I do… but … I just feel like it'd be a good idea, to go away for a few weeks. Just us. We've been through some shit, Myc, lately. For a while actually. You've been stressed at work, don't think I haven't noticed… and so have I. We could really use some time off just relaxing and bonding." Greg pleaded, perhaps more emotionally than he originally intended.
"I tried not to let it show. But yes, there is an inquiry set for tomorrow that my colleague is involved in and I've been trying… Sorry. It's just been challenging. I … I would love nothing more than to go away with you, my dear, but I can't leave my brother. I promised I'd always be there for him."

Greg sighed and looked at Mycroft sternly. The British Government raised his eyebrow in response.

"Myc, I'm going to tell you something that you might not want to hear, but I think that it's important. You've done absolutely everything you can to be there for your brother. You have remained there for him through anything. I admire that, I do… but I can't help but think that maybe the reason Sherlock hasn't been able to stand on his own is because he's always been assured that you'd be there to fall on."

Mycroft didn't say anything. He just blinked slowly. Greg was suddenly worried that he'd said something terribly wrong, and was about to be yelled at. He decided to continue.

"I… I just mean that when you've grown up having that support there unconditionally, you can fall into the habit of just expecting someone else always there to clean up your messes and come back to. But when you are all you have, and you need to swim or drown, you learn to swim. Even if you've legitimately stopped Sherlock from drowning a couple of times, hun, he's learned that he never has to try swimming because you're always there to save him. I was the eldest, I had to survive on my own so that I could be there to support my sister, just like you have for your brother. But I wasn't like you. I left her to fend for herself when I was a rebellious youth. And that was the push that made her get her shit together and become responsible for her own life."
"…But… if I leave, and he … drowns… I'll never forgive myself." Mycroft uttered ever so softly.

Greg bridged the gap between them and held him in his arms. He gripped tightly.
"Give him a chance, Myc." Greg responded, "Trust him to make the right decisions. He's grown up a lot since John."

Greg could feel Mycroft's body shake softly. It was a confronting concept for him to come to terms with.
"Alright," Mycroft spoke hesitantly, "But only if he is occupied thoroughly. Do you have any particularly long and involved cases for him?"
"I'm afraid not. I would have given him it already if I had. Well, who knows… maybe something will come up soon and we'll get a chance to spend some time just us, yeah?" Greg said hopefully, breaking the hug and lovingly cupping Mycroft's chin with his hand.

Mycroft smiled back at Gregory, trying to keep his eyes from tearing up. Talking about his brother always hit an emotional spot for him. Greg held him close again.
"Where would you like to go, if we did get a chance to get away?" Greg asked.
"I… I could not possibly be more than a few hours away from London, and so it would need to be within Europe."
"All of Europe to choose from eh? Anywhere special you like?" Greg asked, smiling.
"I am rather fond of Scandinavia."

Greg chuckled.
"Yeah, I can see that. I never pictured you as a beach person."
"So, would you like to spend some time in Sweden perhaps? If we are permitted the opportunity?"

With a beaming smile, Greg broke their embrace to stare directly into his partner's eyes.
"I would love nothing more."

"Seriously, you and Mycroft both need to keep away for a while." Sherlock stated.
"What's going on, Sherlock?" Greg asked, unsure what his friend meant. Was he just trying to push everyone away?
"I have a case. A big one. I am going to need to devote everything to it, and it's going to take a long time. And it honestly will be better for me if I don't have contact with the both of you, or John and Mary, for it."

Greg frowned. Sherlock didn't seem to be emotionally unstable. He honestly looked like he did when he was excited to work on the really difficult cases. Still, he'd never explicitly told him to keep away, and Greg was worried.
"If… if this is about what you went through in your time away, you don't have to handle it alone anymore."
"Don't be ridiculous, Lestrade. That's all done and put behind me. But it should serve as evidence to show I can indeed handle myself alone for a while."
"I… I didn't doubt that you could, but I mean… if Mycroft were to go away with me, he'd not be there just in case something happened."
"I am aware. I didn't tell him everything of what I went through back then, either."
"But he was still there for you when it go bad. Look I'm not trying to convince you that you need Mycroft around, because I don't believe that, I'm just a little uncertain about this case you're not telling me about."

Sherlock sighed, and turned from looking out of the window.
"Greg, I will be alright. I will need to do some difficult things, though, and those things will not be received well for Mycroft. But it needs to be done. Trust me that no matter what happens, I will be as careful as I can."

Greg sighed, but then nodded. It was exactly the situation he'd been talking about with Mycroft mere days ago. He thought it was rather coincidental, but then he chuckled at hearing Mycroft's voice resound in his mind that the universe was rarely so lazy.

"Alright, Sherlock. I'll talk to Myc. The only reason he wouldn't take some time off with me was to watch over you… I'd tried to tell him to give you some space, but he wouldn't unless you had something occupying yourself. I hope this will be enough for him… but I'll tell you right now, it's not going to be easy if I can't tell him what it is that you're up to."
"Thank you, Gavin." Sherlock said with a cheeky grin.
"Greg." Greg responded instinctively, smiling.

It hadn't been easy, but he'd managed to convince Mycroft that Sherlock would be alright if they left for two weeks. Greg had gotten the time off, and Mycroft had as well; and so Greg found himself sitting on a plane beside his partner en route to Sweden. He'd never flown first class before… it was so much better than economy. He didn't mind economy, for short trips at least. But Mycroft wouldn't have an ear of it. He'd originally suggested taking a private jet, but Greg had argued against such pointless expenditure. And so they met in the middle.

Greg was excited. And extremely nervous. He hoped that Mycroft only saw his excitement, or thought he was nervous about flying. But really, he was nervous because he'd packed one small, but huge, item. The rings. Sweden looked beautiful, and they no doubt were going to some extremely romantic places. Greg thought that it would be a perfect opportunity to ask. The only problem was that he couldn't try and organise an evening to do it… Mycroft had planned out most of the trip, and he didn't want the man getting suspicious. With anyone else it might have been inconspicuous enough to plan out a day or dinner, but for a Holmes… he'd catch on pretty quick. And Greg really wanted to surprise him.
You don't make that an easy thing to do, my love.

With a soft smile on his face, Greg leant over and kissed Mycroft gently on the cheek. Mycroft turned his head away from his laptop and looked at Gregory quizzically.
"Just because I love you." Greg explained. Mycroft smiled.
"I'm just having a look for some nice activities to do while we are there." Mycroft explained, turning his laptop to Gregory.
"I would have thought you'd done that already." Greg said.
"Yes, I have organised some more specific things to do and the logistics of our stay, but I have left quite a bit of space to do things on a whim or for things you might like to suggest." Mycroft explained.

Greg swallowed. This was his chance to organise something without suspicion.
"What is it dear? You don't have to choose anything if it's going to stress you." Mycroft said with concern.

Damn, well there goes that idea. Bloody Holmes observation.

"No I just … don't… know anything in Sweden that might be nice. I've never been there or thought about going there." Greg covered up.
"Oh, well, you may look up some things if you wish." Mycroft offered, shifting his laptop in Gregory's direction.
"Myc, we're on a plane, I can't just google stuff."
"When was the last time you were on an international flight, Gregory? There's wifi."

Greg must have had a shocked look on his face, because Mycroft giggled to himself.
"It's alright, I have some good ideas." Mycroft said conclusively, and patted Gregory's hand.

Well there goes my chance… again. Erg, I need to speak up quicker.