Author's Note: Hello everyone. Thanks for the feedback last chapter. It felt very reminiscent of early chapters to me. As for this chapter! I came up with idea while out with Lauren… well… we discussed to different versions of this chapter. I then let my friend Camila decide on which version I was going to write and discussed further idea with her. So this chapter is the product of multiple discussions and yet ended up different to how I initially thought. In a good way. 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 Ran Into Eurus Out

Anthea broke into a grin as soon as she saw the ever unchanging Robbie come in view on the street. Messy black hair, leftovers of last night's eyeliner around his eyes, wearing a Clash London Calling t-shirt. Take a couple of stone off him and he'd be the same boy who'd fix amplifiers for cigarettes in university. The only difference now was he'd invoice you for it and put the docket right away for when he filed his taxes. This time Robbie was in London specifically to visit friends. He was staying with one of their friends from uni and was making the rounds. There was no way Anthea was going to miss him this time around.

"Robbie's coming to London!" Anthea had bounced in her spot sitting in the bed as she read the text message. Next to her Mycroft flicked over a page in his book.

"What day do you want off?" He'd asked without looking up. "I need you Monday."

As they came closer into each other's sight Robbie outstretched his arms as he walked. Anthea looked up and laughed. She walked up to him and hugged him. Her ex-boyfriend wrapped his arms around her and lifted her feet just off the floor, making Anthea laugh more.

"Man, it's been so long." He grunted as he put the tall brunette woman back on her feet. Anthea shoved one of his shoulders playfully.

"It's always a long time between our visits." She said as she shoved him. "I miss you."

"You could come live with me and Cate in Liverpool." He waggled his eyebrows, brown in colour compared to his dyed hair. "We could smuggle you out of London. Put a mannequin at your desk. Myc and Jay would never notice." Anthea rolled her eyes.

"Brilliant idea." She teased him, crinkling her nose. "They'll never notice. You are the greatest threat to Queen and country, Robbie. Worse than Moriarty himself." Robbie held his arms out and shrugged.

"Been trying to tell people that since I was ten." He said. Anthea laughed and pulled him into another hug. She'd often heard the idea that people had personalities they switched on and off around people. She wondered if she and Robbie turned back to the people they used to be around each other. It didn't matter if they did, because they could go years without seeing each other and still have fun. He would always be one of her most valued friends.

Anthea and Robbie sat at one of the table set up outside the little chicken restaurant. Anthea had gotten a wrap, Robbie a burger, and between them sat a large bowl of hot chips smothered in salt that they shared. They had already caught up. They'd talked about mutual friends, about Robbie's family, and about Jamie. They'd reminisced and shared a few particularly funny stories that had happened to each of them since they'd last seen each other in person. Now all that remained of their lunch were their soft drinks and half the bowl of chips. The two past lovers continued to pick at the chips as they talked like it hadn't been a million years.

"I'm not saying any time soon," Robbie picked up a chip, looking at it rather than at Anthea. "But I'm starting to think that Cate's the one." Anthea, who was in the middle of taking a sip of Sprite, widened her eyes and made a noise in her throat. She screwed the lid back on her Sprite and swallowed.

"You mean you're going to marry her?" Anthea asked. Robbie's eyes glittered devilishly as he tried to keep a smile off his face.

"Not soon!" He repeated. "But… yeah, I think so." He popped the chip into his mouth. Anthea leaned back in her chair and took Robbie in. It was like she could suddenly see how grown up he had become. Like there was no way he was going to destroy the establishment now because he had a business to look after and an engagement ring to save up for. Not to mention his wing-woman worked for the establishment which wasn't so much as an establishment as it was one man. Anthea sighed reflectively and shook her head.

"Oh Robbie," She cooed. The brunette then clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Cate is lovely and I am so happy for you, but I am so mad that everyone around me is getting married and having babies." Robbie laughed. Anthea smirked. "No, seriously!" She laughed as she said seriously. "Everyone's growing up and I have nothing to my name." Robbie picked up another chip and used it like a baton to point at Anthea.

"Alibear, you're the joint owner of a mansion." Anthea simmered a bit. Her jaw clenched as she tried to think of a retort to that.

"It's an estate." She said. Robbie burst into a laugh of disbelief.

"Sorry, my lady!" He bowed in his seat. "I hope you and your lord do forgive me for making such a faux pas.

"And technically I don't own half of it." Anthea leaned forward and jokingly sneered at Robbie. "I'm only set to inherit it when he dies."

"It sounds like you're planning a murder over here." The woman's voice distracted Robbie and Anthea from their game. They looked up. Just over Anthea's shoulder stood Emily, dressed in a black dress presumably that she wore to work. In her hands was a small packet of chips from the restaurant and a bottle of water. Anthea had forgotten how hypnotically beautiful Emily's blue eyes were. Robbie seemed to notice as his eyes were more fixated on her face than on her long legs which would normally be his focus.

"Oh, hey Emily." Anthea hummed with fake cheer. She snatched up her phone and half hiding it under the table she wrote and set a text to Robbie.

No time to explain but DO NOT call me Alice. Just A.

Robbie's phone pinged.

"What are you doing here?" Anthea asked Emily as they both pretended not to hear Robbie's phone. Anthea watched out of the corner of her eye as he unlocked his phone and read the message – one of his eyebrows quirking up. He locked his phone again and looked at the two woman. If Emily knew what had just happened she made no show of it.

"The same as you, I imagine." She answered, waving her chips a little. Her voice was still as distant as ever but there was humour there. Anthea gave a measured laugh and nodded. Her steel like eyes flickered onto Robbie. "Who's this?" She asked but it was flat and lacked the raise in tone that a question usually had.

"Oh." Anthea peeped. "Emily, this is Robbie." Robbie lazily saluted Emily with a big warm smile. Emily's eyes looked over him.

"Why do I get the impression that you two have had sex?" She asked. Anthea choked on her air and Robbie's cheeks gained a bit of a pink colour. "Was that not an appropriate question?"

"Not the best way to word that." Anthea tucked a curl behind her ear.

"I'm the university boyfriend." He answered the question, pulling a face at Anthea.

"Ah." Emily hummed, seemingly very pleased with this answer. She pulled her chips and water down before pulling over a chair from another table and sitting down between Anthea and Robbie. "That would explain why the sexual tension is being drained out by a platonic bond. Good thing too," Emily gave a playful shrug. "Given that she has a boyfriend, if there were any real sexual tension between you then the next time we meet you might be in a ditch somewhere." Anthea's brow furrowed. Even though Emily was joking she couldn't shake the strange feeling that was left in her stomach and throat from that comment. Robbie didn't seem effected by it – if anything he had thought it was funny. Maybe Anthea's judge of character was broken. Maybe after dealing with people like Moriarty and Magnussen, and being betrayed by people like Richter her senses were faulty. Maybe anyone who was weird set her off now. But Mycroft and Sherlock, and even Mary. They never set her off, and Mycroft and Mary were anything but angels.

"Yeah, but thankfully I don't think Myc or Cate are the jealous types." Robbie said. Emily pursed her lips as she played with the label of her water.

"I didn't say anything about them doing it…" She said. Anthea and Robbie shared a look and for a moment Anthea thought maybe Robbie was sensing what Anthea was sensing. Then he laughed. A mysterious smirk cross over Emily's face as she looked down at her food, almost shyly, as Robbie laughed. There was an innocence there that made Anthea feel a pang of guilt. Maybe Emily just had a very strange sense of humour. Or maybe Anthea was right. The guilt dissipated as quickly as it came on. Anthea bit her bottom lip and played with the lid of her Sprite.

"Anyway." She changed the subject. "How are you Emily? Caught up with your family yet?" A raincloud crossed Emily's path – her demeanour darkened and she did not lift her eyes up from her chips.

"Not yet." She hummed quietly. "Family is…" She pursed her lips. "Difficult. Reconnecting is not always easy." There was that pang of guilt again as Anthea felt a familiarity with the strange brown haired woman. Anthea still felt her stomach try to eat itself whenever she had to read or answer an email from her Aunt. As she looked over to Robbie Anthea could see that he was studying her with reflective eyes.

"Tell me about it." Anthea replied wistfully. Robbie offered her a sympathetic look.

"Maybe we should change the subject." Robbie was talking more to Anthea than to Emily. "Before you both make me feel guilty and unworthy and I start giving away members of my family to you." Anthea laughed and Emily's mouth cracked into a smile.

"No one wants your second hand brother, Robbie." Anthea sneered. A sniff of a laugh came from the woman next to her.

"Whatever." Robbie spoke high and breathy as he shook his head. "I was going to sell him to you for half price but you ruined it."

"Ignore the aging nonconformist." Anthea elbowed Emily's arm. "He's all excited because he thinks his girlfriend is the one." Anthea widened her eyes dramatically with the last few words, teasing Robbie. The man gave Anthea a face, smirking as he did.

"I've never understood people's obsession with the one." Emily frowned, looking between Robbie and Anthea. "Seven billion people on the Earth and we're supposed to believe there is only one person compatible with us? The chances of meeting them are astronomically low. Considering most people don't even need to leave their country of birth to meet this one I'd say there are a lot more than one." Emily looked at Anthea. Anthea was actually quite impressed with this as she crinkled her nose and looked expectantly at Robbie.

"Oh, fine!" He held his hands out in a surrender action. "She's the one I found. Better?"

"Much." Emily responded. Maybe she was okay. Maybe she was just really weird. Usually Anthea liked weird.

"He's really not that fussy." Anthea shrugged. "He asked me to marry him over cupcakes. He told me he loved her because of her French Toast." Anthea cocked her head to the side as she looked Robbie up and down. "Really he loves food, not women. There's a reason he got fat." She teased him lightly. Robbie's face flickered between appalled and amused.

"Hey!" He defended himself loudly. "I'll have you know I don't eat any more than I did at uni." Anthea scoffed. "It's true! I just do a lot more sitting at a desk and a lot less sweating at parties. My body gave up on me." Anthea couldn't keep up the mean teasing anymore. She nodded sympathetically, letting him know that she did know.

"So it's biological, perhaps even genetic then." Emily mused like a scientist next to Anthea. "Interesting." She looked at Anthea's face. "I wonder if there's something about your biological makeup that makes you susceptible to men with a biological predisposition to being overweight." Anthea grew cold very suddenly – a shiver crawling down her spine and causing her to sit up a little straighter. Her brows furrowed as she looked Emily over. What made the woman say that? How could she possibly know anything like that? Any good feelings that had been developing over her were gone.

"How did you know Mycroft used to be fat?" Anthea asked quietly, eyes narrowed.

"Wait, Myc was fat?" Robbie asked in disbelief from across the table. "Since when?" Anthea spared a fleeting look over in his direction.

"As a kid. He was a…" She didn't want to say fat. She remember too clearly his face when they were fighting and she tossed his childhood weight in his face. Even without him around she couldn't say fat kid again. "He was a chubby kid. He works hard to keep his weight down. Really hard." She rambled a little as she dismissed Robbie with a wave of her hand. Her gaze was fixated on Emily. "But how could you know that? I didn't tell you." Next to her Emily blinked innocently, looking like a confused little puppy.

"I didn't know." Those big dark blue eyes blinked again. "I was making an assumption based off Robbie alone." She tilted her head to the side, concern crossing her face. "Did I-?" She stopped herself, clenched her jaw, and inhaled sharply. "I didn't offend you did I? I know I can be intense. I don't want to hurt your feelings." Anthea looked away and exhaled. She glanced over at one of the empty tables behind Robbie. She didn't feel guilty this time – more like she knew she should feel guilty but her radars were stilling going off like there was some sort of emergency.

"Sorry." Anthea muttered, not sure if she actually meant it. She bought her gaze closer back to reality, looking at her Sprite bottle. "You are definitely intense but I'm cautious. I have to be." She looked up to see Robbie watching her. He didn't seem to be getting the same vibes as Anthea was from this Emily. He just seemed to care about his ex's feelings. Sweet man.

"Forgive me if I unintentionally upset you." The strange woman battered her big eyes and pouted. Now Robbie was beginning to look a little uncomfortable.

"It's okay."

"I can honestly say my only intentions have been to be your friend." Emily nodded. "I would hate to have jeopardised that so early."

"It's okay, Emily." Anthea spoke harshly with a fake smile on her lips. "Have you heard Robbie and I talking to each other? It's okay. A little…" What was the word she was looking for? It was on the tip of her tongue. "Deduction isn't going to ruin anything."

"Yeah, it's okay to offend each other." Robbie stepped in, leaning forward. "Like watch this. Hey A, you try to act down to earth with your car and stuff but you're totally a posh princess now." Anthea's jaw fell open and she pretended to be extremely hurt. She placed a hand on her chest and her posture caved forward while Robbie looked at her with devilish delight.

"Or maybe, Robbie, maybe it's just about time you grew up." She couldn't help but laugh as she said it. Robbie's delight grew and he looked over at Emily encouragingly.

"See? No feelings. Playful banter." He winked at Anthea. "It's all good."

"Okay." Emily answered coldly. "If you insist." Anthea rubbed at her forehead. Her alarms were screaming at her again. Part of her wanted to believe Emily but her eyes, even so beautiful, were so cold. Anthea just wanted to get far away. Her texts were easier to deal with because she didn't have to look at her or feel her presence. She just needed to breathe some fresh air. Anthea clicked on her phone to illuminate the screen and pretended to be surprised by the time.

"Oh Robbie, we need to go." She said, beseeching Robbie with a silent look. "I have to be back at work for the next meeting." Robbie knew full well that Anthea had taken the whole day off. After a pause he looked at his own time.

"Whoa! You're right. Sheesh." He shrugged. "Sorry, A. We better go." He pushed his chair out and stood up. Anthea quickly followed suit.

"Talk to you later, okay Emily?"

"Certainly…"

"Robbie's going to ask his girlfriend to marry him." Anthea said from across the kitchen counter. Mycroft lazily looked up from his plate with a quirked eyebrow. He looked somewhere between mildly interested and completely indifferent. He was sitting down at the bench with his cup of tea while Anthea stood on the other side. It was three in the morning and once again Anthea had come down here in search of Mycroft on one of his sleepless nights.

"Oh?" The tone of his voice was a confirmation for indifference.

"Not yet." Anthea's finger traced the edge of her own cup of tea. "He doesn't want to do it yet but he says she's the one." Anthea looked up, prepared to measure Mycroft's reaction. "How weird is that?" The genius, looking at his phone again, pursed his lips and offered a one sided lazy shrug.

"It's not entirely strange." Mycroft hummed. That wasn't the reaction Anthea had counted on. "Your friend is the marrying kind, certainly, and he may want this relationship to last. However that does not mean he's quite ready to be engaged." Steel blue eyes framed by glasses lifted to land on Anthea. They glittered naughtily. "Even if she is the one." He lifted his eyebrows playfully. It was so similar to how Anthea had said it earlier that she had to laugh quietly. She tucked a curl behind her ear.

"Do you believe in the one?" She asked.

"What do you think?" The genius hummed as he moved his glasses up his nose.

"No." Anthea said. The genius nodded in confirmation.

"Not in the romantic sense, anyway." He added wearily. "I believe you can choose the one. That you can find a person whom you tolerate and tolerates you and decide 'yes, this is the one I want to keep'. Nothing cosmic, just another choice to be made." Anthea felt a warmth in her chest as she looked over her lovely genius. He always spoke so matter-of-factly, face stern, tone flat, but he managed to say such lovely things at the same time.

"You do realise how romantic that just was, right?" Anthea asked him. His brows knitted together.

"Was it?" He genuinely asked as he looked introspectively over himself. He shook his head and flicked a hand at her. "Forgive me then, the lack of sleep must be making me fanciful." Anthea said nothing. She'd let his precious ego believe his petty excuse. Whatever helped him sleep at night, ironically. "In any case, tell Robbie to contact us when he finally does decide to propose. The jeweller James and I went to had fantastic stock and it would be my pleasure to organise a discount."

What was that?

Had Anthea just missed something?

"James?" Anthea leaned on the counter. "You and James?" Mycroft looked a little lost by Anthea's reaction as he looked her up and down. Like he hadn't expected this to be a revelation. "Are you saying you helped pick out Jamie's ring?" Mycroft shifted in his seat and Anthea knew he was most likely crossing one leg over the other.

"Of course." Mycroft said. "How did you think I knew he was proposing at the housewarming?" Anthea squinted at the genius, trying to find his logic in that statement. She couldn't.

"I thought you were being a Holmes and making a deduction." She said. Mycroft sniffed. He removed his glasses, folded them, and placed them on the table.

"My dear, the only reason I went to that ridiculous event in the first place was because I knew and I predicted how you would react." He rolled his eyes.

"How can you sit there and pretend you're not James' friend when you did that?" Anthea asked, still a little shocked by this revelation.

"He's not my friend." Mycroft snapped back.

"Then why?" Anthea asked. Mycroft was pouting now.

"I'm the most stylish and most perceptive person he knows. Who better?" He said. Anthea raised her eyebrows.

"And you're his friend." Anthea laughed.

"I'm not his friend." Mycroft insisted harsher. "He's a good worker and I need to occasionally reward his loyalty."

"By being his friend."

"Stop it!"

Author's Note: What do we think? The two different version were Tim and Robbie. Lauren was going for Tim but she doesn't read this and Camila, who does read it, said she'd much rather see Robbie turn up again. I was happy with either and kind of didn't want the awkwardness that comes along with Tim. Let me know what you thought of it! I love reading your feedback. Thanks to our guest reviewers; Guest, ovejalucifer, Hazel, and B! Thanks to you all and I'll see you in five days!

Also! It should be noted that I am making ONE small deviation from canon. Since this started two years ago, I naturally wrote Redbeard as a dog. Since he's so woven into the plot I'm going to make this what happened (don't read the rest of this if you're not caught op on Season 4): Redbeard was a dog they had. After Victor died, Sherlock transferred all memories of Victor onto the dog. The dog died years later and therefore Sherlock lost his best friend for a second time without realising it. I think that's a fair compromise for the sake of this fic. Also I love dogs. That plays a part, too.