Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for the wonderful feedback last chapter. It's always a pleasure to bring Sherlock in. He's a lot of fun. This chapter, unlike last chapter, is a few hours early because I have to get up early tomorrow. I need to sleep for once. Now! I WAS going to do a less important chapter, but after getting a lovely and heart-warming message from someone and reflecting on it, I decided to do this one instead. So, Hazel, this one is for you. I really hope you 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 He Said It

Anthea was awaken in the middle night by the sound of coughing. It wasn't serious hacking that sounded like it hurt, but it was loud enough to wake her up, and painful sounding enough that she winced.

"Are you okay?" She mumbled quietly as she tried to keep her eyes open long enough to glace over at Mycroft. She saw a movement in the dark that was probably him waving her off. After the man seemed to have recovered from the coughing fit he responded.

"Fine, dear." He breathed a little heavy. "Dust or something." She didn't believe him, because Anthea had learnt to question half the information that fell from his mouth, but she hummed and accepted it as an answer anyway. She told him to get a drink of water before she drifted quickly back off to sleep.

She woke up alone and discovered Mycroft had moved to one of the spare bedrooms. He claimed it was because he was restless, but by the way he kept clearing his throat Anthea suspected he didn't want to keep her up with coughing. She'd ask again if he was okay if she knew he wouldn't say he was regardless of the matter.

Sinus headaches so quickly developed into migraines for Mycroft Holmes. SO Anthea wasn't surprised when one day he was wiping at his nose and the next day he looked like everything was a pain to him… Well, more so than usual.

"Mr. Holmes." Anthea placed her hands on his desk and leaned forward. "As your assistant, sir." She was trying to get through a level of professional concern that he may actually respond to rather than a caring friend or girlfriend. "I need to know if you're okay." The sides of his mouth pulled up as he looked into Anthea's eyes – analysing her. He'd probably seen right through her. He picked up his pen and continued to sign documents.

"I'm perfectly fine, Miss James." He sung in a very convincing tone. Anthea watched him carefully as he spoke, waiting for any type of slip up. Any shakes, and sigh, just something. She was rewarded when his grip on his pen tightened. Taking it as a sign of pain, Anthea looked back up to Mycroft's face and waited for his excuse. "Although, when you next step out of the office it would be greatly appreciated if you could stop by a chemist and pick up some painkillers, my dear." And he gave her that fake smile. Anthea watched for another thirty seconds. She stood up and bit her lip.

"Yes, sir." She answered with a curt nod.

She returned from her errands with pain killers, cough medicine, and some chocolate biscuits. She didn't chide him or give him any orders as she brought these items into the office. All she did was place them down on his desk, rub his arm warmly and walk out.

Oh, and she also delayed his one-on-one meeting with one of those House of Commons people who never shut up. That was important. He didn't need that right now. He never needed that, but he particularly didn't need that right now.

Anthea wasn't going to lecture him, it wasn't her place as his assistant, so she'd just quietly try to keep an eye out for the man.

"So," Anthea had knees on the dashboard as she relaxed in the front passenger seat of Carol's car while she was on the phone. The two women had spent a night at a training camp to give an inspirational push to women wanting to join the agency. It had been James' idea and he begged Mycroft to borrow Anthea. Apparently, Carol was the brawn, Anthea was the beauty, and they were both the brains. Carol was so completely used to James she didn't even groan when he had said that in front of her. "Did you go to a doctor yesterday?" She asked Mycroft on the phone. Anthea saw Carol take a side look at her.

"Of course I did." Anthea turned to Carol, scrunched up her features and shook her head. No he didn't. Carol snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Did they give you an antibiotic?" Anthea asked just to keep up with the ruse. The pause indicated that Mycroft knew Anthea didn't believe him, most likely due to her tone of voice. It was hard to keep the bemusement from it.

"I told you, I don't need one." Mycroft sighed. "Honestly, dear, if I wanted to be mothered I'd call my actual mother." Anthea rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, Mycroft." She sighed. She tucked a curl behind her ear and shifted in her seat. "So is it okay if Carol drops me off at your house?"

"Ali, dear, I wouldn't wish for you to catch it."

"I thought you said you were fine. What could I possibly catch?" Anthea turned to Carol with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. The agent broke out into a quite rare grin.

"Well done." Mycroft hummed.

"The headaches are making you lose your edge." Anthea smiled into the phone.

"No, I am fine. I'll see you soon." Anthea laughed out of both humour and exasperation as she hung up her phone.

"Men." Carol scoffed. "My husband, James, Mycroft. It doesn't matter how smart they are, they're all stubborn."

"You don't know stubborn until you've been to a Holmes family event." Anthea giggled. She took a breath and shook her head. "Mycroft will never admit to feeling unwell until he almost passes out. You would think someone so dramatic would be a lot weaker with those things."

"It was a handy when he did missions a lot." Carol mused.

"It's just a flesh wound." Anthea joked. Carol sniffed.

"No, that's James." She quickly looked over to Anthea. "Until he's back in London and then he won't shut up about how he almost lost a limb."

The next morning was a first indeed. For once, on a work day, Anthea was the first out of bed. She made her way out of the bedroom as quietly as she could. Closing the door took the longer than anyone should ever spend on closing a door. She went downstairs to turn on the kettle and to see if Mycroft had any ripe bananas. He had begun to stock them since they began spending evenings and mornings together.

She'd finished double checking the agenda for the day and was in the middle of contemplating another coffee when Mycroft entered the space. He was half dressed – in his dress shirt, and his trousers already, but he looked utterly exhausted. As if he hadn't fallen asleep pretty early for him and then slept half an hour past Anthea's already later sleep time. Anthea watched the man carefully as he passed her on his way into the kitchen proper. He forced that fake smile of his onto his face as he pulled on his shirtsleeve to neaten it.

"Morning." Anthea dropped the good – it didn't look like a good morning.

"Mmm." Ah, definitely not a good morning.

"I can get you a coffee if you just want to sit over here." Anthea offered. Mycroft rolled his eyes.

"We're not at work, dear." He scoffed. Anthea didn't know whether to laugh or to chastise the genius.

"I'm just trying to be nice."

"Well, I don't need it." Mycroft drawled as waited for the coffee to be ready. Judging by the tight line of his mouth and the weight of his brow, he still had a sinus headache. Anthea had spotted the painkillers in both the kitchen and on the bathroom sink, so at least he wasn't being stubborn on that case for once.

It was almost like he'd lost his footing on something, but he'd been standing completely still. Suddenly Mycroft faulted and it looked like he might faint. Anthea pushed the kitchen stool back and jumped to her feet, but Mycroft caught himself. His hands firm on the kitchen counter caught his entire body. Anthea hadn't been aware that he heart had skipped a beat before it went back to normal – albeit slightly faster. And she had been joking before when she was talking to Carol…

"God, Mycroft." Anthea hissed from her side of the counter. "You almost gave me a heart attack!" She ran her right hand through her hair and took a deep breath. "Will you admit now that you're not well?" Still leaning on the counter with one arm, Mycroft rubbed at his forehead with his other hand, eyes closed.

"We have so much work to do." He sounded defeated, like a man who'd clearly lost the fight but insisted on going into the next round anyway. Anthea made her way around the counter to come stand close to Mycroft but not touch him. He was recovering from a bit of a blackout, he wouldn't appreciate any touch right now.

"So?" She asked quietly.

"Meetings, contracts." Mycroft listed the items on the agenda for the next two days. "The deal with the FBI, the talk regarding the leadership issues in Australia." Anthea moved to catch Mycroft's eye.

"You won't be help to anyone if you turn this cold into something serious by being an idiot." A slight twitch in the facial expression at the use of the 'I' word. "Why don't you go back to bed? I'll do the work." Mycroft pursed his lips as his tired eyes ran over Anthea's face.

"Perhaps we could work from the couch-"

"No." Anthea stopped him. "I'll deal with it all. I'll get James to help me."

"Alice, it's a lot of work for the two of you, despite you skills." Anthea cocked her head to the side and shrugged.

"I can handle it." She scrunched up her nose. "The last two times I let you attend work when you looked this bad you dropped a china cup, and you cut your hand." Mycroft sneered and Anthea giggled under her breath. "This time I'm your girlfriend and not just your personal assistant. I don't want you near sharp objects."

"Now you're just being hyperbolic for the sake of your own entertainment…" Anthea tapped him lightly on his arm.

"Okay, let me try it another way." She hummed. "I love you, and I care about you. If you don't go rest, I'm going to call your mum." The look behind Mycroft's eyes softened greatly, but he had enough of his usual persona present to be taken aback and shudder at the loving threat.

"When you word it like that, how could I possibly argue?" It was slightly venomous but not enough to kill anything today. A good indicator that Mycroft did indeed need to rest. "But do not tire yourself out, my dear. If need be, exhaust James." Anthea wanted to reach out and stroke Mycroft's face but she reminded herself again that he wouldn't want that right now. So she nodded.

"Will do." She giggled. "I love you, go lie down."

"Bossy…"

Initially on Thursday Anthea and James were going at the regular pace they would normally approach work with. By lunch time they realised they'd fallen behind enough that they'd have to stay late. Needless to say the pair picked up the paces, and James even had some of his trainee agents do some errands and pick-ups.

The meeting with the FBI took far longer than it should have. It turns out that taking James for help was a mistake. They spent the first half an hour and an extra half an hour at the end trying to convince the agent to come over to their side. They tried offering him double what he makes.

"Holmes already matches my salary so I can be on-call for him." James crossed his arms across his chest. "Are you willing to double all of it?" They'd stopped asking after that. Anthea would have laughed and congratulated him for the way he handled it if she didn't have to rush off to a private deal at the Diogenes Dungeon.

Anthea went back to her flat that night and passed out on her bed almost instantly.

Friday was handled a little better. Even though the two of them worked at double time, Anthea had just accepted that she'd fall behind and would have some extra work to do on Monday. It would only take half an hour to catch up once Mycroft was feeling well.

When people say this job was hand made for Mycroft Holmes they were not kidding. No one but Mycroft, and maybe Sherlock, could keep up with this without a sweat.

Anthea let herself into Mycroft's house on Friday night after work. She walked right in, dropped her handbag and briefcase on the kitchen counter, and slid off her heals with a loud sigh. It was only after relieving her feet did she feel the presence in the room. She turned around. Mycroft was sitting on the couch with a laptop on his lap, and some documentary on the telly. The coffee table had a cup of tea, a bottle of water, and an empty bowl on it. Good, he'd been taking care of himself, except for that laptop. Anthea tried to smile in exhaustion as she lazily gestured to the offending object.

"I thought I caught you answering a few emails today." Mycroft pouted. He shut the lid of the laptop and placed it on the coffee table.

"I was feeling less like death and I know how irritating emails are when you have more important tasks to attend to." Anthea sniffed a laugh as she rubbed her eyes with one hand. She wanted to say thank you, but that would be encouraging bad behaviour. She cocked her head to the side.

"So you're starting to feel better?" She asked, nothing but gentleness in her tone. It earned her a quirk of an eyebrow, followed by a small nod.

"Less congested." That's good, that's very good. As a little wave of relief crashed into her Anthea stretched out her back. She lazily walked over and plonked herself on the couch next to the sick genius. "And how was work?" He asked as he analysed her. He knew the answers, she knew he did, but she went along with the formalities.

"I fell a bit behind, and James almost killed one of his trainees." Anthea shrugged. She leaned in closer to Mycroft's body heat. "But it's nothing that I can't fix on Monday."

"Given that I return on Monday?" Mycroft hummed. Antea groaned at the thought of going back alone.

"Two hours extra if you can't." She moved until her head was resting on Mycroft's shoulder. She felt attracted to his warmth like a moth to a flame. "Don't worry about me. I've got under control." She lied.

"Mmm." He didn't believe her. Anthea closed her eyes.

"Do you have food or do I need to go get us food?" She asked with a yawn. She could feel steel eyes watching her.

"I have soup in the fridge."

"Oh good. I'll have some in a second." Anthea moved her head to rest more comfortable against Mycroft's chest. "I just need a moment to…" She trailed off.

A moment turned into multiple moments, and although Anthea wasn't asleep she wasn't truly awake either. She was just enjoying her first moment in days to relax. Being in this house with no work agenda was always soothing to her soul, and to see Mycroft actually taking care of himself was quite a weight off her shoulders. It was nice to stop moving for a few moments and just relax.

Mycroft had to know she wasn't asleep, he absolutely had to know that she was somewhere between conscious and unconscious. And yet, he did what he did anyway. Anthea, in her stupor, felt a slender hand run through her loose curls in such an affectionate manner.

"What could I have possibly done in my entire lifetime," Mycroft spoke in such a gentle tone. "To deserve someone like you in my life in any capacity?" It was so tender and so sweet, and so unlike the Mycroft Holmes who walked around the offices all day. Mycroft shifted carefully as to not move Anthea. He placed a warm, and equally tender kiss on her forehead, and Anthea felt her whole body increase in temperature. "I love you so much it hurts." He spoke in a whisper.

That was it. Anthea couldn't drift any closer to sleep anymore, that was enough to wake her up and keep her awake for a week. The woman's face broke into a large grin. She opened her eyes and sat up, gazing into Mycroft's eyes with her stupid grin. He looked slightly timid – slightly frightened. Anthea placed her hand on Mycroft's cheek and moved into kiss him. Mycroft stopped her by pulling away.

"Anthea," He breathed. "I don't want you to get sick." If it was even possible Anthea's smile grew larger. She moved closer and scrunched up her nose.

"I really don't care." She giggled and leant in for a long, loving kiss. This was worth getting sick. This larger than life moment that was never supposed to happen. When the Iceman loves you, you're bound to catch a cold or two. And he did. She knew he did, but he'd admitted it. He admitted it to himself and out loud.

It might be the medicine, it might be the illness, but Anthea didn't think so. It had been too honest. Plus, it was out there now. He couldn't take it back.

Anthea broke out of the kiss, and rested her head on Mycroft's chest once more.

"I love you." She sighed, still smiling.

Ten seconds of silence passed.

"I love you too."

Author's Note: So? Was it okay? Did you like it? Also, rare appearance from Carol… but that's not important, I just hope you liked the chapter. Time to thank the guest reviewers. Thanks to; Anna, Rielle Perrin, enola, and (even though she hasn't caught up to the latest chapter) ovejalucifer. Thanks for being awesome, guys. I hope you liked this one, let me know!