Author's Note: I was going to wait a little longer to post more but I got excited by the alerts and favourite that I couldn't hold it back any longer. I suppose this one is a little bit like a continuation of the last one so it's kind of nice to have them both up. This one isn't as long as the first one as that had to establish a lot about "Anthea" currently known as Alice but I hope you enjoy it just as much, if not better. 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 Heard His Name

She turned up to his office on Monday morning for the job interview. A job interview for what, she wasn't sure. She wasn't sure why she even texted the number just after the third scotch on Friday night before Jamie left, Jamie had convinced her to text the "creepy smart guy" Alice had told her about. Jamie reminded Alice that she had made a big move to London in order to get ahead in life and that this could be her big chance. Would she really risk throwing it away? Wasn't the mystery of it part of the appeal? So she did and here she was. If Alice got kidnapped or murdered because of this, she'd find a way to get Jamie back, even from the afterlife.

The office was small and non-descript, wooden panels, and plane artwork. The man sitting behind the desk appeared slightly uncomfortable – this was probably not his usual job. He looked up from the paper work, seeing Alice, smiled and stood up.

"Can I help you?" He asked? Alice stepped further into the office.

"Yes I have a job interview." With who, she still did not know. It all seemed so suspicious she had never learnt that man's name but here she was. It could be some kind of scam but it could also change her life. The man's face flashed with recognition.

"Ah yes!" He leant over and pressed the button on the intercom.

"Mr. Holmes, I believe Miss Clarke is here." Mr. Holmes then. Having a name was something. An image of the name in the three piece suit, the silk tie and the sharp eagle eyes flashed into her head. Yes, Holmes suited him.

"Thank you, James, send her in." James looked up with a smile and gestured to the door to his left. Alice formed a smile at him and walked towards the door – knocking gently and waiting for a reply before entering.

He was exactly as she remembered, from the sharp eyes and fake smile to the neat tailored three piece suit. Files littered his desk, a cup of tea on the side, and the computer quietly humming away. He stood up, walking around the desk to shake her hand. He hadn't offered her his hand before, now he did. She took it.

"Nice to see you again, Miss Clarke."

"Mr. Holmes." She said with a nod. He looked at her, eyes almost twinkling at her keen observation as he walked back behind his desk. He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk for her to sit down before sitting down himself. He placed his hands together, fingers against his lips and observed her once again.

"So you think you're up for the challenge?" He hummed.

"That depends on what the challenge is, sir." He took in a breath and placed one of his palms on the desk.

"That is currently irrelevant. What is important right now, however, is I offered you an opportunity that could be perhaps out of your league and you took it. You would not be here if you thought you weren't up for a challenge, regardless of what it would be." Alice smiled slyly.

"What can I say, sir?" She spoke with amusement in her voice. "I'm bored." He chuckled in response but it did not reach his eyes. This mask intrigued her to no end.

"I said this was challenging, I did not say it would not be boring." He quirked an eyebrow. "The two are not as mutually exclusive as one might lead you to believe." He leaned forward. "There would be a lot of paper work and a lot of mundane errands." She wondered if he was challenging her.

"I suppose this is for the job that the man out front is currently doing." A tilt of the head imploring her to explain. "He looks uncomfortable at a desk. No fancy reasoning" Alice shrugged and Mr. Holmes gave a half smile that quickly faded away.

"He is indeed uncomfortable at a desk but he is trust worthy. I can't just have anyone in this office as I am sure you have discovered for yourself."

"With the covert numbers and no names, I had no clue, sir." His eyes once again almost twinkled as he smiled in response. Did he find her charming, amusing, or annoying? His intelligence oozed from him and here she was, making the sarcastic jokes she made when feeling some pressure. "I don't mind doing paperwork and fetching coffee, sir, I'm quite efficient, as I'm sure you discovered for yourself."

"With the grades you got in university and how effective your notes on the security operation were, I had no clue, Miss Clarke." Alice smiled and stifled a laugh, her smile reaching her eyes like always. There was no malice in the joke, he did not find her annoying then, that was a relief. He leaned back in his chair, brushing his jacket, and continued on. "What I am looking for is a personal assistant and everything that goes along with it."

"Paperwork, phone calls, food, coffee, meetings, dry cleaning, et cetera." Alice interjected.

"Yes that." He sounded vaguely amused. "However my job is, well, more important and dangerous than it appears to be. There are many dangerous tasks that go along with being my personal assistant and you will be on call twenty four seven." He waited to see if she had any objections.

"If you've looked into my life, Mr. Holmes, then you know I don't have one." She was only half joking. "And I'm not afraid of danger." Mr. Holmes stared at Alice for a long time before speaking again.

"Do you know how many PA's have said that to me in my career so far and how many of them barely last a month?"

"I'm not most people, Mr. Holmes."

"No, you are not, Miss Clarke." A pause. "You will also have to go under an assumed name. Multiple of them, actually."

"I never liked my name anyway." Again she was only half joking. Too many people called her Alice in Wonderland. Her head was never in the clouds and she did not like the insinuation that it was. He was biting the inside of his lip in thought. She wondered what he could tell about her today – that she chose the best clothes she had and still looked out of place in this office? That while she was slightly intimidated she was not afraid of him like others might be? That she had drunk an extra coffee to be alert enough to keep up with a man this smart this early? That she was capable of this job?

"You do not need to give your office two weeks notice, I'll send them an email and you'll be let go immediately." He said as he stood up. "Please tell James to get your contract and phone from personnel and then tell him to go back to his usual position. I'd like you to start immediately." Alice stood up too. She was slightly flustered at the extreme speed of this but judging by this man she was not surprised. She had a feeling her life was changing. She had so many questions to ask, so many whirling around in her head, but the one that came out of her mouth was the most mundane possible and she almost shuddered at the sound of it.

"What do I call myself?" She asked. He seemed vaguely amused under that mask of his.

"What would you like to call yourself?" She bit her lip and thought for a moment, no name coming to her mind. After a minute she held her hand out for him.

"Mr. Holmes, I am your assistant; Anthea James." His gentle smile at this came so close to reaching his eyes it almost physically hurt her. He clasped her hand with his own.

"A pleasure to meet you, Anthea James. Mycroft Holmes."

Author's Note: It makes me cringe to think of anyone drinking scotch straight. I don't know how people do it. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it and my take on our dear Anthea.