Chapter 6: Collide

Author's note: I apologize, I'm really just rambling in this chapter. I got an idea at work for the middle of a chapter, but wasn't sure how to start it. Hence the first part. It's rubbish. I apologize.

xx

It was June. Roughly 6 months after the "Mycroft Incident" as Adele had dubbed it. The whole thing had been awkward. She had gotten herself up, thanked him for picking her up and done the walk of shame in the snow towards her flat. She knew she looked like a mess. Thankfully that was all over. Over the past 6 months, Adele had not heard a peep from the Holmes boy. He was probably off in Cancun or something on "business". She didn't care. Things had been going good with work, they were steady. Overall, life was fine.

Did she miss him? Well, that was a hard one to answer. It was getting better, not that it hadn't in the years they had been apart, but it most certainly had been a bit better these past few months. There was a promotion in site at work, she had moved to a larger flat and had gotten some new furniture and things were looking just dandy. Even if she was still a single cat lady who seemed to find companionship in younger, drunk men. Adele still had sexual needs that couldn't always be met by herself. It seemed easier to get somebody into bed when they were drunk and younger. It was a practice that she wasn't too fond of, but it was keeping her content as of now. "I just don't understand why they can't use other phrases." Adele muttered, seeming to circle the same sentence with the same fragment for the 8th time in a second essay. Maybe it was time to move. London while a lovely place, was starting to seem a bit dull. There was a whole wide world out there. She could go down to Sydney or maybe to Los Angeles. She had heard the weather was nice there. Thoughts were her in Los Angeles, lounging on the beach when her phone suddenly went off. Looking up, Adele put the pen down and grabbed it, putting it to her ear. "Hello?"

Across London, Mycroft Holmes's office was everything one would expect it to be. It was decorated to a T. The large oak desk sat in the back of the room in front of a window, a large leather chair was behind it. Shelves of books filled the room. It even smelled of old books and expensive liquor, a hint of tobacco here and there from when he had a cigar after a stressful day or during one. The papers in front of him were causing his head to hurt and he wanted to be done for the day. It was getting late anyhow. He wanted to go home, light a cigarette and have a good glass of whiskey. The buzz of the intercom went off. "Mr. Holmes, you have a visitor-Hey! You can't just go in there!"

Mycroft stared at the intercom for a moment before the door to his office swung open and in ran the woman who he didn't want to see right now. Standing up, he walked around the desk, shaking his head. "Adele, what are you do-?" He was cut off when she flung herself at him.

"M-My-My-mu-um-mum died. Mycroft. My mum died." She sobbed, letting her arms wrap around his neck. The tears wouldn't stop pouring down her face. The sobs timed perfectly so she could barely get a breath in. "Mycroft. She had a heart attack. In Taiwan. She's dead." The sobbing grew much louder and fiercer after that statement. Her arms wrapped tighter around the familiar neck.

Mycroft on the other hand, was standing ridged, arms braced to the side a bit, confused by all of this. What was he supposed to do? Hug her? He had never been bombarded with news that his ex-mother in law was dead. Mycroft did now show physical displays of affection. He let his arms awkwardly extend around her as he patted her back. "There. I'm sure it'll all blow over soon."

"Why do you always have to be such an asshole? Why, Mycroft?" Adele said, he couldn't just sympathize with her for a moment, could he?

"You don't have to become attatched if you're an asshole." he said quietly. However, something inside him was melting just a bit. "Come on, now Adele. It'll be okay." he soothed. "It'll be fine." She just kept sobbing. What was he supposed to do? "Come on. Don't cry." The patting on the back became an actual hug and he sighed.

"I'm sorry. She hated you, but I didn't, I-I-I loved you, and we could have had all those years together and had children and she's dead, Mycroft." Adele sobbed once more. Letting her head bury into the nape of his neck. The familiar scent was still there, the tobacco, the peppermint and a hint of the expensive cologne he had put on that morning that just barely lingered. "Please, I'm sorry. I don't know."

"Come on now, it'll be okay. Why don't we head back to my flat? I'll have some tea made up, yeah?" he asked quietly. Mycroft didn't know what to do. This was unusual indeed.