Kate worked furiously on her laptop, blocking systems, planting viruses and accessing highly classified information, all while shovelling sandwiches into her mouth and gulping down coffee when she could. She rang Mycroft when a milestone had been hit, "Excellent. Let me know when that bears fruit".
"Will do". She loved hearing his voice on the phone, somehow it sounded even silkier.
"Oh Miss Worthing, have you ever thought about me while masturbating?", he said it so nonchalantly.
She took a breath in about to answer when she realised, she could just hang up. As the line went dead Mycroft smiled to himself. The effects were still active it would seem.
All her programmes were running and she decided to take a look around the room. She couldn't resist going over to his ridiculously large ornate desk and taking a seat in his chair. She leaned back and put her feet up on the desk, when there was an almighty noise and the room shook slightly. There were no windows in here so she ran to the door and it was locked, 'What the…?'.
That noise was definitely an explosion. It wasn't right outside the door but it was within this building complex. She grabbed her phone and there was a txt already from Mycroft – 'Don't mind the noise. Please do stay in the room'.
He'd locked her in, but why? All she wanted to do now, was leave the room. She went back to her laptop and checked on the progress. Things were bearing fruit left right and centre! She txt Mycroft this update assuming he was too tied up for a phone call, and got to work on opening the door.
It wasn't just a normal lock, but a full hand print scanner on the opposite side, along with Mycroft's specific key card. 'Not a problem', she thought. After a few minutes the door clicked and released. Taking advantage of her recent activity she had created an AI version of Mycroft's hand which tricked the pad on the other side of the door. She'd cloned Mycroft's key card the first time she'd met him.
Packing the laptop in her rucksack she carefully went to the door and peeked out the crack. She couldn't see anyone. She quickly opened it and peered down the corridors holding her breath, not sure what she was expecting to see. No one. There was no smoke or indication of anything happening at all. 'Hmmm'. She stepped out into the corridor and round a corner to a window, hopefully to get an eye on something, keeping low and to the wall.
"And where are you off to Miss Worthing?".
She nearly jumped out her skin. Mycroft was stood behind her, looming. His stature felt even more menacing as she was crouched down. He was very close to her which meant she couldn't just stand up. His cool blue eyes glinting in the light from the window, amusement on his lips. He really was gorgeous. He offered her a hand, which she took, standing up.
"Now, why I am not surprised to find you outside my office?".
"Because you know exactly what I'm like, in which case you should probably try reserve psychology on me in future". Her hand shot up to her mouth.
"Wonderful suggestion" he smiled.
"Aww for god's sake".
"This really is the golden formula for you Miss Worthing, looks like we are on close to 3 hours".
She folded her arms and shrugged, "Why was it locked in the first place?".
"Come", he said, moving back over to the office. They went inside. "Considering what you were doing on your laptop and my suspicions over the attack…I needed you, to be safe".
He leaned against his desk, "I felt you'd put yourself…at risk enough, for me today", he was blushing sightly.
"I knew getting shot at was inevitable", she teased, but he seemed serious.
"It was too close. Completely unacceptable on my part".
"I've always known the risk of being involved with you Mycroft".
He looked over at her, studying her face, "Why would you take that risk?".
"Because I think you're worth it".
An odd sensation flooded through Mycroft, 'Interesting'. He was at a loss for words. What did he say to that? He'd never had someone think he was worth anything in personal terms before. He was starting to feel too uncomfortable and needed to shift the conversation.
Kate could see he wasn't sure on what to say, "Soooooh", she felt awkward now, "did you manage to prove your hypothesis? Was that actually an explosion?".
Mycroft pulled himself together, "I did indeed. And, yes it was". He turned round and took a seat at his desk, "all disagreeable parties have been taken care of and safety measures are in place".
"That's all I'm getting isn't it".
"That's all you need to know. For now".
Kate tutted and went to grab a drink, "Tea?". He nodded and she brought them each a cup over, perching on the end of his desk. A wave of exhaustion swept over her.
"You're tired".
"No, no I'm fine, I can keep going. What needs doing?". Her face lit up, "Yes! It's stopped working!".
"Ah, so you just lied?".
"Well, yes, but no. I am tired but I can keep going".
"Shame I never got you to answer that question from before. But there's always next time", he grinned.
"No, no, no. Not unless I have a serum for you! It's not fair!"
'Hmmm', he thought, 'that could be interesting. It may help open up their personal endeavour since they were both finding this quite…awkward. But even the mere existence of such a serum would be a massive security risk.'
He raised his eye brows in mock surprise.
"But seriously Mycroft. I'm just so glad I was there. Right then at that moment". She shuddered thinking of what would have happened if she hadn't spotted that red dot.
"I wish you hadn't been. Don't get me wrong I'm extremely grateful of your actions and am in your debt. But I wish you hadn't been in that position".
"I know. But I was and you'd have been shot otherwise".
"I dare say I would have survived. As long as they didn't aim for the head".
Kate frowned, "So a shot to the heart wouldn't kill Mycroft Holmes?".
"Not through a Kevlar suit".
She laughed, "Of course! Bullet proof suits!".
He allowed himself a smile at her reaction, "Well only the waist coats and jackets. Yours are too by the way. The ones I had made for you at least".
"No way! That's amazing". He was delighted with her reaction.
"Aww well in that case, I'll just sit back and watch next time", she grinned.
"I'm very glad you didn't".
They both sipped their tea quietly for a moment.
"I didn't want to assume", Mycroft shifted in his seat, "but I just wanted to confirm", he loosened his collar slightly, "would you like to spend the night together?", he looked panicked as soon as he had said it, "I don't mean in the biblical sense, I just mean…".
Kate was smirking at him, "Ah yes, this is the first time I will have actually been asked if I wanted to stay at yours for any length of time".
"Well under the previous circumstances…".
"I'm teasing Mycroft".
He looked relived, "Excellent".
"But under one condition".
"Yes?".
"I can have that long hot bath".
He smiled, "It's already being arranged. However, due to the events of earlier we will be staying at a hotel tonight, not my house. I hope that will be satisfactory?".
"Very".
Did Mycroft look nervous?
"Well with that settled, we will depart in 30 minutes. I just have a few phone calls to make before we leave".
"I'm assuming I'm allowed to leave the room now?".
He hesitated for a second. "Yes. You can".
"I'll leave you in privacy for your phone calls, I need to stretch my legs".
And with that very business-like end to the conversation, he nodded and Kate left the room. She mooched down the corridors and headed up the stairs to the roof, craving to be alone and a breeze on her face. She was exhausted and feeling quite drained after the none stop recent events, a few new injuries and the aggravating of old ones. Not to mention the emotional rollercoaster of the car journey here. She sat down and let the cool air wash over her and start to relax. Butterflies awoke in her stomach. She'd never spent the night with someone before, and not in a sexual sense, but the actual sense of sharing a bed, falling asleep and waking up with someone, there. She suspected Mycroft hadn't either. Another 'normal' intimacy neither of them had had the courage or inclination to experience with anyone before.
A hand rested on her shoulder gently and shook her awake. She'd dozed off and Anthea was smiling down at her.
"Ready sleepy head? He will be ready in a minute".
"How did you know where I was?".
She looked puzzled, "You do realise you've been under full government surveillance since the day you met him?".
"Ah".
"You have more than one GPS tracker on you as well", she smirked.
"Of course".
"Four in fact", Mycroft had suddenly appeared next to Anthea.
"Sir", Anthea acknowledged him, "The cars ready".
"Perfect".
He turned to Kate, "Shall we?".
They weren't in the car for long when they arrived outside a very grand, white hotel called, The Lanesborough. Affectionally nick named 'The Royal Hotel' being located right next to Buckingham Palace Gardens. It was absolutely stunning inside and Mycroft naturally breezed through the place. There was no 'checking in' for him. They were taken straight to their room where Mycroft had a quiet word with the Butler. Kate looked around the room in awe. She'd never been somewhere so luxurious before. She could hear running water and went to look in the bathroom to find another butler tending the large cast iron bath, complete with ornately decorated feet. She squirmed with excitement inside. Back in the main room there was a beautiful plush super king bed with fresh silk night ware laid out on top and slippers by each side. She plopped down heavily on one side of the bed and fell back into its soft downy embrace. Mycroft entered the room and smiled at the sight of her sprawled out on the bed.
"Mycroft!" she said excitedly, a little shiver ran down his spine at the sound of his name being said like that. He loved hearing her say his name in anyway, "this place is amazing".
The other butler came out from the bathroom, "The bath is ready Sir".
"Brilliant", he nodded, "Thank you".
He bowed slightly and left the room.
He turned to Kate, "Would you like to eat first or take a bath?", anticipating her thoughts he added, "The bath will remain its current temperature for the next two hours, so there's time to eat beforehand if you'd like".
"You read my mind".
Mycroft wished he could. In fact, he found it quite difficult to tell what she was thinking, but he could quite clearly see the turmoil in her face when poised with that question.
They ordered some room service and Mycroft poured them a glass of red wine each, as they finally seemed to have relaxed into each other's company. Oddly, Kate felt a bit relived that Mycroft knew all that stuff about her and how she really felt about him. It made her feel less anxious.
Mycroft poured himself another glass as Kate went to have a bath. He lounged in one of the ridiculously comfortable chairs and couldn't help but let his mind wander to the scene in the bathroom. He did think for a moment he might go in there, but knew she needed to just be alone and relax for a bit.
Kate emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, she was literally glowing.
"That was the best bath I've ever had". She plonked down on the edge of the bed. "You should have a bath too, it was bliss".
Suddenly the thought of being in the same bath water as her was appealing. Which was quite the opposite to his normal impulses. Intrigued by this suggestion he decided to go for it.
As he sunk down into the hot water, he could feel his body being released, knot by knot loosening, sighing out in relief. He hadn't realised just how tense he was. Thoughts of Kate floating naked in here, passed through his mind. He really wanted to be intimate with her again, to be bold and make the first move, but he wasn't sure exactly how.
After twenty minutes Mycroft was done and headed back into the main room, trying to keep his cool. He stopped and cocked his head to one side and smiled. Kate was fast asleep. She'd probably fallen back on to the bed soon after he'd gone in the bathroom. He walked over to her and admired her shapes under the silk night gown. He was partly relieved she was asleep; they could both do with a good night's sleep and he could avoid any awkwardness of them having their first actual night together. He just had to deal with waking up next to someone rather than falling asleep as well.
She was lay on top of the duvet however, so he was going to have to move her under the covers. Very carefully he pulled the covers back near the top of the bed and gently slid his hands on either side of her waist. He pulled her slowly upwards and got her torso over the fold of the duvet and into the bed. She murmured slightly and turned on her side, muttering. He left her for a minute not wanting her to wake her now, and scooped up both her legs in one hand and pulled the duvet out from under them. He covered her over and surprised himself as he started to tuck her in, stopping half way round her. He gave himself a little shake, turned the lights off and got in bed next to her.