Author's Note: Hello! Thanks very much for all your feedback last chapter, it was greatly appreciated! Now this chapter is one I've been looking forward to writing, and I did indeed have a lot of fun writing it despite still having that cold. It's a little short but I think it's good. I hope you guys like it. Please read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Clearly I don't own Sherlock. The show is the baby of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, while Sherlock Holmes itself is the creation of Arthur Conan Doyle.

The First Time She Met Mary

"Anthea, my dear?" Anthea looked up from the screen of her phone to glance at the man next to her in the town car. Mycroft was currently checking the time on his pocket watch, despite having a perfectly good phone in his breast pocket. He looked over to her, making eye contact, as he placed the small clock back away. Anthea gave him a small smile. "I believe it's time we pay a visit to Miss Morstan, don't you think?" He breathed calmly. Ah yes, Anthea had been waiting for this. Been waiting for it for a very long time, actually, long before Sherlock had returned. It was finally time to find out if Miss Morstan, as she was calling herself, was on their side or not.

"I agree, sir." Anthea nodded, her eyes falling back onto her phone. "But let me do it." She could see out of the corner of her eye as Mycroft quirked an eyebrow in her direction. It made Anthea smirk more under her PA guise. "She'll see one of your tricks and run. If it's just me we have a better chance of talking to her." She explained. Mycroft hummed, turning his attention to his passenger window.

"You have quite the point, dear." Anthea gave him a quick warm look as her heart swelled a little. The drop of 'my' every once in a while from the common 'my dear' surprisingly meant it was more heartfelt. It was only a fleeting warmth as once again she went back to answering emails. "Very well," Mycroft shifted in his seat, taking his hands off his umbrella handle to place them on his knee. "I'll leave Morstan to you." Anthea nodded.

"I'll head there once we drop you off at your next destination sir." She announced. Mycroft lifted his chin and titled his head to gaze into the rear view mirror to garner the attention of the driver.

"Did you hear that, Walter?" He'd raised his voice slightly to be more audible over the purr of the engine.

"Yes, sir." Walter's friendly voice as clear as day. "Watson's house after the club. Got it."

Anthea waited calmly outside the house, hands folded in front of her. She was currently mentally debating whether she should come off as friendly or as the sinister PA. It was hard to decide in a situation where you were dealing with someone so deadly but in hiding – and honestly meaning to be in hiding. She decided for somewhere in between – nonthreatening body language but that knowing smirk of hers. It was hard though, to appear within your element when you felt so out of it. Here she was, in the middle of a colourful, normal street, dressed all in black and trying to decide how intimidating she should appear. It was times like this that Anthea wondered where her life had taken her, she had no doubt that Mary Morstan sometimes would feel the same now she was in a suburban surrounding she never dreamed of.

The door opened to reveal a very friendly blonde woman. She still seemed strong and like she could kill you, but her face was inviting and warm. However, as her eyes glanced over Anthea the smile dropped, her hand tightening on the doorknob. Anthea tucked a curl behind her ear and smile.

"Hi." She greeted as she cocked her head to the side. "You probably don't know me but –"

"I know who you are." The blonde woman stopped her in a dangerously low tone. Anthea paused mid thought as Mary swallowed. "And I definitely know you know who I am."

"Oh." Anthea pulled back, smirking to herself, keeping the presentation of calm and collected. Unlike Mary, she wouldn't let herself be shocked and let the mask drop. "Nice to know I've developed an international reputation." Anthea joked, widening her eyes. Mary didn't laugh. She kept her eyes firmly on the other woman.

"What do you want?" She demanded, keeping her voice quiet not to disturb the neighbours. Anthea held her hands up by her face.

"I'm not here to disrupt your domestic life. No one wants that. I'm just here to talk about Sherlock."

A pause.

Mary looked up and down the street. She stepped forward to Anthea.

"Are you armed?" She whispered.

"I have a firearm in my purse." Anthea answered. "I wasn't going to come empty handed."

"I wouldn't expect you to." The blonde raised her eyebrows at the brunette. "Anything else?"

"Besides newly manicured nails? No." She might have gotten a laugh disguised as a sniff at that.

"Come inside." Mary ordered, stepping back into her own doorway. She turned back to Anthea. "We can talk privately in there." Anthea smiled politely, almost a Mycroft smile it was that correct, and nodded, accepting Mary's invitation.

She entered the doorway and waited for Mary to take the lead. The woman led them to the kitchen, and Anthea followed looking around as they went. It was so domestic, so normal. So very John, really. To think, a woman with this reputation had run away to live such a normal life. It was kind of astounding. Then again, why did Anthea love visiting the Holmes parents so much? A search for normality and something she was missing. Again, this might be something she and Morstan had in common.

"John's not home." Mary called out as soon as she reached the kitchen. Anthea nodded, looking around the space, taking it in.

"I know." She answered flatly. "It's why I'm here."

"I know." Anthea looked up at Mary, her mouth cracking into a half smile. That was good. It wasn't often Anthea got to talk to another woman this good at the game. Mary gestured to the table in the kitchen for Anthea to sit down. She did, keeping her purse on her lap. "I'd offer you tea or coffee." Mary breathed as she sat down. "But I have a feeling you wouldn't drink it." Anthea let out a single chuckle.

"Well, poison is a woman's weapon." She joked. Mary pursed her lips and shook her head.

"Yeah, I never liked that saying." She dismissed it.

"Me either." Anthea tilted her head to the side. It always made women sound weak, like they had to resort to manipulation and tricks. Funny, that Lady Macbeth use poison when than woman was anything but weak.

They lulled into silence.

"So," Mary placed her hands onto the table. "Anthea is the name Sherlock's friends call you, isn't it?" It was completely innocent, no malice in the words, still Anthea's eyes narrowed as she nodded carefully. She'd probably read it on John's blog, or John had spoken about her. Either way, it was enough to give Mary some information. "Anthea, then. How can I help you?" Well then, down to business. Anthea scooted forward in her chair and folded her hands together on top of the table.

"Like I said Miss Morstan, it's all about Sherlock in the end." Anthea paused, Mary nodded. "My employer is all about keeping his brother safe, and by extension John and their other friends."

"I have no intentions of hurting John." Mary interrupted. One look in her eyes told Anthea she was being honest. Anthea breathed out and shook her head.

"We know. If we thought you meant any ill will towards him we would have interfered a long time ago. But you already knew that." Another pause. Anthea flicked her hair and continued. "Now that Sherlock is back, it means my boss and I will be back in John's life. We felt that you should know, and not to worry about us lurking."

"I know all about the kidnappings and John flipping off the CCTV cameras." Mary waved her off. Anthea could help but laugh.

"That was a fun time." Mary smirked back briefly but it dropped as quickly as it was there.

"But that's not all." She deduced. Anthea opened her pursed and pulled out a card, sliding it across the table to Mary.

"That is our card." She explained as Mary carefully picked the small card up. "The first number is Mr. Holmes' number, the second is mine." Mary stopped looking at the card to glance across the table at Anthea. "If anything should happen to Sherlock, please do not hesitate to call." Mary bit her bottom lip as she read the card.

"That's all well and good, but couldn't I just get these numbers from John?" She asked. Valid question of course.

"Not the third number." Anthea nodded at the card. There was a third number there written in a chemical compound that would only show under UV lights. "That's a direct line." Mary looked at the card more carefully, holding it up close to her face. No doubt she'd see the hints of markings. She ran her thumb over the card, trying to feel for any change in texture. "Consider it us putting our absolute faith into the fact that you really are here to start a new life." The room fell quiet as Mary continued to look at the card. After a minute she got up from the table and placed the card on top of the fridge, under some sort of decoration. She turned around to face Anthea, arms folded across her chest.

"So that's it?" She asked. Anthea nodded. "Mycroft Holmes is just letting me into his brother's life just like that." Anthea shrugged.

"You're far more qualified to keep him out of trouble than John is."

"Yeah, but he's seriously okay with this?" Anthea bit the inside of her cheek as she shrugged again.

"He's weary but he does congratulate you on your engagement." The room fell silent once again as Mary tried to decide what to do with this information. The woman looked down at the floor, her eyes not really seeing as she thought. Anthea waited. When one has the ability to decode Mycroft Holmes, she liked to let them. It was much better than playing translator from Holmes to English.

"If that's all, how about that cup of tea?" Anthea pulled out her phone and looked at the time.

"You know what," She answered, putting her phone away. "Better here than at that stupid club."

The two women were laughing when John walked into the kitchen looking like he just saw a ghost. He approached Mary slowly and carefully. The blonde woman perked up at the site of him, smiling gently.

"Hello." Her voice full of affection. "How was work?" John leaned over and kiss Mary.

"Ah, good." He answered, sounding shell shocked. "But I got to say, I didn't expect to walk in on this." He placed his hand protectively on Mary's shoulder. "Are you okay?" Mary, rolling her eyes at Anthea, placed her own hand warmly on top of John's – placating him.

"Don't worry, John." She laughed. "Anthea's just here because Sherlock's brother was worried about how Sherlock's return went." Anthea smiled innocently as John scoffed.

"Did she tell you that I head-butted him?"

"She didn't have to." Anthea took a sip of her tea. "I have the footage of it. Mycroft and I watched it on loop for like ten minutes." Mary laugh, as John rolled his eyes.

"You know I have a phone?" He folded his arms across his chest. "Mycroft could have just called."

"He could have just called like you wanted," Anthea nodded, pouting her lips. "Or he could have kidnapped your fiancé like he wanted to." She looked to Mary and shrugged. "I thought this was a good compromise." John awkwardly unfolded his hands.

"Good point." He muttered, Mary nodding at him, her eyes sparkling of humour.

"Don't worry about me, John." Mary insisted. "I can take care of myself." She picked up her cup of tea and took the last sip. "And it's nice to know that each Holmes has a John to go with them." John shook his head as Mary laughed. Anthea took the opportunity to stand up.

"And on that note, I think I should go." She placed the strap of her purse back on her shoulder. Mary stood up.

"I'll show you to the door." She walked around the table to lead Anthea out. The brunette turned to John and waved goodbye. He raised his hand in return. Once they'd reached the door and out of earshot of John, Anthea thought she'd reassure Morstan one last time as the blonde woman pulled open the door.

"I hope I've assured you," Anthea began as she stepped out the door. "That we don't want to interfere. We just want Sherlock safe." Mary's eyes narrowed as she sucked on her teeth. After a moment of hesitation she nodded.

"I'll take your word for it, for now." She spoke in hushed tones. "Alice." She added. Anthea froze, looking Mary deep in the eyes. What? How?

Morstan had her real name. To be fair, Anthea knew her real name. But how? No one had managed to get it ever before. Not even Magnussen had found her name or identity, yet Mary Morstan had found it. She was good. She was brilliant, and if she were truly on their side then she could be an asset.

Her dark eyes narrowed, her mouth pulled into a smirk. Anthea pointed her index finger at Mary.

"I like you." She breathed. Mary chuckled.

Mycroft was up at his suite at the Diogenes Club when Anthea arrived there. She went up to the room, lightly tapped on it, before using her key card to enter. Mycroft looked up from his desk to grace Anthea with a quick smile, one she returned. He looked back down at his work, and Anthea helped herself to a small glass of scotch from the decanter. She placed the cup back down and made her way over to the couch, sitting down to do some work there.

"Well?" Mycroft hummed, not looking up from his work.

"It went according to plan, sir." Anthea answered. She pulled out her phone, ready to look at all the emails she'd received while out. Mycroft looked up from his working, steel eyes landing firmly on Anthea.

"And how was she?" He asked seriously. Anthea thought about this for a second, biting her lip as she tried to come up with the best way to answer this. She was on guard, she was clever, she was friendly, and she was dangerous… Anthea tilted her head to the side.

"I think I made a new friend." Her voice was high and light. Mycroft scoffed as he turned back to his work once more.

"I can't say I'm surprised." He sighed. Anthea bit at her thumb nail, chipping off some of the new polish. She had something she had to say. Mycroft needed to know. Anthea looked across to the table.

"Mycroft." She spoke quietly. Steel eyes looked up once more. "She knows my name." Mycroft's facial expression shifted. He placed down his pen and sat up in his chair, thinking.

"Again, I can't say I'm surprised." He hummed. Anthea frowned as Mycroft fell into thought. "What do you think of this?" Anthea sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You know what I think of this."

"I want you to say it, I don't want to read it from you." Anthea swallowed.

"I don't think it's a play, and I don't think it's protection. I think she was just proving herself." Mycroft's eyes narrowed as he ran his tongue over his teeth. He nodded slowly.

"You believe it was simply so we would take her seriously." Anthea shrugged.

"I think she loves John." She was honest. "I think she likes Sherlock. And I think she has the same level of respect for you that you have for her." Mycroft hummed, looking down at her table. "So what do you think that means?"

"I think you made her respect you." Mycroft picked his pen back up. "I think she thought since you were open, she'd be open." Anthea's frown deepened as Mycroft fell back into work. "Congratulations, my dear. You did indeed make a new friend."

Author's Note: What do you guys think? I can't wait to find out. Mary is a lot of fun, she really is. Time to thank the guest reviewers. Thanks to; Corrine, Tadaa, Guest, DD, and ovejalucifer. Not many guests this time but still about the average review count. That happens ocassionally, people review on different things, or people miss an update – store them up like I do sometimes to read later. I love you all! Thanks :).