Author's Note: I am so very happy that you guys loved last chapter! It seemed to hit all the points I was going for. You all loved that hug which was great! Also some of you were very keep to see poor Tim gone, my friend and I got a good laugh out of it. This is a decently long chapter too so I really hope you enjoy it. It was easy to write so I hope it's as easy to read. So please, read, review, and enjoy! Also, The 300 review special is up! More on it at the end.

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 Tim Met Mycroft

Three weeks and one day since Tim had left the note saying they needed to talk in Anthea's darkened flat. That meant it had been exactly three weeks since he had decided that he and Anthea needed a break to work out what they really wanted. By that, Tim meant for Anthea to work out what she really wanted and whether or not all this trouble was what he really wanted. Considering they barely spent any real time together Anthea deeply felt Tim's absence – the phone calls particularly. It was extremely painful to wake up on Sunday's in her empty flat and not know that she definitely had someone to hang out with. She'd had to reach out to friends for entertainment. Mycroft, despite having his own issues at the time, had walked into the office the Monday following the note and his father's health scare, taken a long hard look at Anthea and hummed audibly. That's all he had done to indicate he knew what was going on, despite the urge he probably had to say it was only ever a matter of time. That was until she had been re-organising the filing cabinets at the Dungeon. One had decided stubbornly not to open for her and out of frustration she had kicked it hard.

"My dear, please do not take your frustrations of your failing relationship out on my cabinets." He said as he made a big point of placing down his work, getting up, and opening the cabinet in a swift and easy movement. Anthea couldn't even be bothered with a snarky comeback, she had just sighed, which she was certain had earned her an eye roll in return.

She did find it strange, however, how desperately he all of a sudden was to get out of a benefit dinner they had agreed to go to months ago. You had to pay for the tickets for this one, despite it being by invitation only, and given the guest list included minor members of royalty, Anthea and Mycroft had agreed it was in his best interest to attend and they had paid for the tickets.

"You've already agreed to go, sir, so it would be weird if we didn't show up." For once she was the one sitting at her desk, arms crossed, while he argued in front of her.

"It's me, Miss James," He rolled those lovely eyes of his. "I avoid parties like the plague. The rich and powerful will hardly be surprised, nor will they take it as a slight." Anthea bit her lips as she watched her boss.

"Why have you changed your mind?" She mused out loud, frowning slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I not entitled to do so?" He scoffed.

"Since when do you change your mind about anything?"

"It's rare, but it happens." He widened his eyes, being dramatic with his sarcasm. "I once thought that Sherlock would grow out of his ability to get into endless trouble. I changed my mind." He smiled sardonically.

Here they were, the night of the benefit dinner and despite his best efforts, they were still attending. Any other time Anthea might have just given into the strange whim of her boss but it felt so nice to be able to dress up. A simple but elegant black dress and make up carefully applied to look absolutely stunning but still understated enough for the mysterious personal assistant persona. She chose simple silver jewellery as equally stunning and understated. Do some networking, have a nice meal, have some free drinks, make fun of people – she was looking forward to tonight with her favourite antisocial genius. That was of course until the night began and almost immediately took a turn for the worst.

The events room of this particular hotel – done up for a large dinner service – was not quite as nice as the some of the previous ones Anthea had been privy too but the golden table clothes with the candles the colours of sunsets – pinks, yellows, and oranges – look wonderfully elegant and Anthea thought it was beautiful despite Mycroft's opinion.

"So how long did you want to spend walking around talking to people before we find a corner or go sit at our table until dinner ends?" She leaned close to Mycroft and spoke in a low voice, hiding the smile that threatened her lips. Mycroft took a deep breath.

"Dinner starts in half an hour, so," a pause as he tilted his head in thought. "Fifteen minutes." Anthea laughed quietly.

"Is that long enough?" She quirked an eyebrow at her boss.

"My dear, it's too long."

Then she saw him, near the bar. There in his only formal suit that wasn't specifically for court was Tim. It wasn't a longing or a needing that Anthea felt as she looked at him and his sandy coloured hair and sad green eyes, it was a sadness and perhaps guilt that she had been smiling when she'd caught him looking at her with a semi miserable expression. She'd made the mistake of letting her breath hitch at the sight of him, garnering Mycroft's attention. Mycroft's steel eyes followed her line of sight. Instantly he knew that was her lawyer, she could tell by the click of his tongue.

"Not entirely what I pictured but I was correct when I said he wasn't your type." He hummed. Anthea frowned and looked up at him.

"What did I tell you?" Mycroft quirked an eyebrow and gave her a smile dripping of sarcasm.

"That you don't have a type but you most certainly do." He nodded over to Tim, who now was saying something to the gentleman next to him and turning to walk their way. "The only thing he has going for him as far as you're concerned is intelligence, a busy schedule, and a chance to diversify any possible children." Anthea chose to ignore her boss as she watched her sort of boyfriend approach.

"What's he doing here?" She whispered.

"Multiple members of his law firm are here." Mycroft answered in a bored expression. Anthea looked up at him with disbelief. He knew that? Was that why he was trying so hard to get out of coming? Was it for her? Or better yet, because he didn't want to have to deal with expressions of emotion?

Anthea experience all she expected to experience as Tim approached – she felt her heart beating in her throat and felt a dread in the pit of her stomach. What she did not expect, however, was how she noticed how short Tim was compared to Mycroft – not that he was short he just wasn't… tall. Nor had she ever noticed how his green forest orbs seemed dull. He stopped in front of her and tried his best to fake a smile but he was no actor.

"Hi, Alison." He said softly. Mycroft scoffed at the name and took a sip of his scotch, looking away. Anthea tilted her head, ignoring him.

"Hi, Tim." She matched his tone. Tim looked at the floor and shuffled his feet.

"I've been thinking about you a lot." He shrugged.

"Not enough, apparently." Mycroft muttered so quietly that Anthea wasn't exactly sure what he said. Brown eyes and green eyes landed on the man muttering into his glass.

"Sorry, sir?" Anthea asked. He raised his eyebrows and fake confused apathy.

"Hmm?" He looked between the two. Anthea scrunched up her nose as she frowned.

"You said something." Mycroft pouted and shook his head.

"You must have misheard, my dear." Tim laughed at the exchange, smiling in a way that looked much more like himself.

"You must be Mr. H-."

"Tim. I see you've already found your way to the most influential people in the room." A short, stout man with slick back black hair laughed as he made his way over to stand next to Tim, patting the boy on the shoulder. Though she had never met him under the guise of Alison, Anthea had met this man as Mycroft's assistant and knew this to be Tim's boss. The one he hated but had to suck up to if he ever wanted to get any higher within his firm. He'd shared stories and Anthea would laugh in sympathy, picturing the little man. "That's networking at its finest." Stephen Burgundy boasted. The small man looked well up to Mycroft and gave him smile full of teeth and gums. "Let me formally introduce you, Tim Burgess, this is Mycroft Holmes." Tim, fighting back the urge to roll his eyes, held out his hand.

"Mr. Holmes, I've heard a lot about you." But not from your boss, from me. He smiled. Mycroft didn't take his hand, just gave Tim one of his fake smiles that reeked of boredom and disdain. Tim accepted the lack of handshake well, giving Anthea a knowing smile as she shook her head.

"And this is –" The man paused as he gestured at Anthea. He laughed, placing his hands into his pants pockets. "That all depends. Who are you tonight?" Ah, great, the multiple identities was being brought up. Anthea gulped as Tim frowned and Mycroft looked faintly amused. She smiled at Burgundy.

"Elizabeth." She smiled.

"You're 'Elizabeth' today?" Tim, tilted his head and tried to keep his tone friendly and light. He was failing, it was coming off to high and a little shrill.

"I saw her in court once and her name was Annie. Another time a paralegal called her Margaret." Tim mimed an 'Oh' and tried his best to look interested. Mycroft looked into his glass.

"Excuse me," He sighed. "There are far more people here who demand my attention." And turned on his heels to walk away before anyone could even protest. Tim's boss chuckled and patted Tim on the shoulder once more, the boy jerking forward slightly.

"I better go make us some more connections too." He smiled. "You stay here and put the moves on Mycroft Holmes' personal assistant. Get in with her and maybe we can get in with him." He winked at Anthea and began walking in the direction he had come from. Anthea rolled her chocolate eyes. Tim took a look around the room.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked. He placed a hand on the small of Anthea's back and guided her to a corner far away from either of their bosses and far away from prying eyes. Anthea leaned against the wall, playing with the glass in her hand. Tim crossed his hands across his chest. "Let's begin with the fact that you know my boss and never told me." He spoken in a hush tone, eyes piercing into Anthea. She shrugged and pouted slightly.

"A couple of times. Once to get a case against someone thrown out, another time Mr. Holmes and I went to watch the outcome of a trial." Tim closed his eyes and scratched his forehead.

"So you let me make a big fool of myself by describing him as a grotesque when really you knew what he was actually like?" Anthea stifled a laugh and cracked a lopsided smile at Tim.

"You weren't wrong – he's incredibly slimy." Tim's hand ran through his hair and he took a deep breath.

"Not helping, Ali." Enlightenment crossed his face as his hand fell to his side. "But it's Elizabeth tonight, apparently." Anthea frowned, shifting against the wall.

"What do you want from me, Tim?" She whispered. "I told you my job required some strange things."

"You never mentioned secret identities." He almost raised his voice and quickly looked around to make sure no one noticed them. Anthea scoffed, walking further back into the room to look at the table decorations closer as a form of distraction.

"Jamie doesn't even know about that. Why would I tell you that when I haven't told her."

"That's why I'm not allowed to meet Jamie!" Tim had another epiphany as he followed Anthea right behind her. "We would call you different names!" Anthea rolled her eyes as she picked up a candle to smell it. "I can't believe I've dated someone this long and I don't even know who they are."

"Hey," Anthea put the candle down and turned to face Tim with a serious expression. "I would tell you if I could but I can't." She looked deep into his green eyes. "And my name is Ali. Jamie calls me it, you call me it, my mum used to call me it. That is completely true." Tim shrugged.

"How can I even know if anything you are saying is true?" He sounded exasperated as he shook his head. "Like are your parents really dead or did you make that up so I don't have to meet them?" Anthea stared at him as she went cold. She looked around the room in disbelief, as if expecting one of the other guests to be as shocked as she was.

"How can you say that?" She stuttered in disbelief. She turned around again and leaned on the table. "I told you how much it hurt me when Mr. Holmes made a comment about my parents – why would I lie about something so personal?" Tim placed his hands on her shoulder and turned her to face him once more.

"No, Ali." She looked up to see a truly remorseful look on his face. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't get any of this, I'm just trying to understand, I'm sorry." His hands left her shoulder and one went to grab her hand, Anthea pulled it away and used it to rub her arm. She shook her head.

"I know." She muttered. A red headed lady Anthea knew walked passed and smiled at her. Anthea smiled back and nodded, turning back to Tim. Ah, great. Tim looked in the direction the lady had just walked off in, looking absolutely gobsmacked. If they were on better terms Anthea would tell him to close his mouth.

"Was that Fergie?" Tim asked, still looking in the direction the red head had gone off in. "Did Fergie just smile at you." He turned back to look at Anthea, searching her face. "Do you know Fergie?" He whispered so loudly that it might as well be a stage whisper. Anthea pulled a face and shrugged.

"What?" She scoffed. "She prefers to deal with me than Mycroft. Which is fine because Mr. Holmes would rather delegate her scandals to other people anyway." Tim ran a hand through his sandy brown hair again and shook his head.

"Who are you?" He inhaled. Anthea blinked a few times and sighed. This was going miserably.

"Miss James." She turned around to see Mycroft standing a few metres away. With a smooth flick of his finger, he gestured for her to re-join him. What fantastic timing Mycroft Holmes has.

"Got to go," Anthea sighed, turning back to Tim. "The lord has summoned." She smiled at their old joke, earning only a quarter of something like a smile in return. She shook her head at herself and returned to her boss.

Back safely as the second half of 'the most influential people in the room' Anthea and Mycroft networked for a little longer than originally intended before heading off to find their seats. Much to Mycroft's dismay and practically ruining Anthea's fun night out, they were seated at the same table as Tim and another lawyer from his firm.

Anthea played the game and pretended nothing was wrong as she entertained herself with the company at the table but Tim, Tim was not looking in Anthea's direction and sighing on occasions. To add to the strangeness instead of spending his time telling Anthea secrets about the people around the table or faking amusement with a particularly important person, Mycroft watched Tim with a quirked eyebrow and a frown for most of the dinner. There was something about the lawyer that was grabbing Mycroft's attention and Anthea hoped he'd share with her later. Hopefully it was more than just scrutinizing the poor boy. The desert found its way onto the table just about as these particular guests had run out of acceptable topics to talk about.

"So," And older gentleman who owned a couple of banks spoke with his mouth full of chocolate fondant. "Anyone have any good dinner games." Mycroft seemed to perk up at this, concerning Anthea to no end.

"Actually, I do." He hummed pompously as he placed his spoon down on the plate. "Elizabeth and I play a quite interesting game where we like to guess peoples secrets purely using our senses, don't we, my dear?" He gave Anthea a smug smile. She watched him with a puzzled but entertained expression. This was out of character.

"Sure," She laughed. "We do when we're bored, yeah." Mycroft crossed his legs and folded his hands on his lap.

"Why don't we demonstrate on one of our fellow guests?" He ran his tongue over his teeth as he looked over the guests. "Like our lawyer friend, here?" Anthea placed her spoon down now. Tim looked between the two.

"Okay." She breathed.

"Oh, this could be fun." A woman clasped her hands together. Tim nodded and leant back.

"So, Elizabeth, this gentleman has the unkempt and emotional looking state of someone who is on the outs with his girlfriend, wouldn't you say?" Very unsure what was going on, but playing her bosses game, Anthea tilted her head and looked Tim up and down as if she was deducing him.

"I'd say so. On a break for just under a month if I had to guess." Mycroft, always with a flair for dramatics, hummed in thought.

"He looks like the type of man who is generally very loyal. Perhaps he doesn't enjoy secrets." Anthea stifled a scoff. Apparently Mycroft had been eavesdropping, Anthea wasn't surprised.

"Probably due to how many secrets and lies he has to make and keep being a lawyer, sir."

"Quite." Mycroft nodded. "Unfortunately, I'd have to call him a hypocrite." Anthea frowned at Mycroft and Tim leaned forward.

"What?" Tim laughed.

"How do you mean?" Anthea turned to look back at Tim.

"This suit of his is clearly his only formal outfit. Judging by his overall appearance and the very faint stains around the cuffs he is one of those people who do not wash their formal attire after every use, but rather after a certain amount of time." Anthea smiled to herself, knowing how right this was. "I can infer for multiple reasons that he only wore this last week, and I'm about to make a stab in the dark here," Mycroft raised his hand in a stop like signal. "But bear with me. If I happened to know what scent his girlfriend preferred – say a Chanel number 5 bought duty free on the way back from a business trip to Paris – I would like to hazard a guess that the perfume I have been smelling all over his shirt from the moment he greeted us this evening is most definitely not one she'd ever consider wearing." Anthea quirked an eyebrow and looked Tim dead in the eyes which he only now decided to meet, eyes full of dread. "I would love to be the one to tell his girlfriend that her self-righteous and 'wonderfully easy' boyfriend had slept with another woman a week ago, but unfortunately I do not have the luxury of knowing the young lady."

"Is that so?" Anthea scoffed as she picked up her scotch and drunk the last of it in a single gulp. She wasn't entirely sure what feelings were bubbling up inside of her right now. She was certain she could feel anger and sadness, but really she was generally quite numb. Tim looked between Mycroft and Anthea as if they had just caught him with his pants down.

"Good for you, Tim!" The other lawyer next to him spoke. "This girlfriend has been giving Tim the run around since the beginning. Nice to see you moving on." Mycroft sneered and Anthea laughed.

"Excuse me." She said, standing up. A wave of dizziness hit her as she did and she took a moment to steady herself against the table. "I think I need to make a phone call outside." She picked up her handbag. Mycroft made no motion to follow but as she walked away Anthea heard the shift of a chair followed by Mycroft's voice.

"If you value your life I'd suggest you sit back down, Mr. Burgess."

As soon as Anthea was outside she tried to take deep steadying breaths – holding them for three seconds before exhaling. However the exercise quickly turned to hyperventilating. Hyperventilating turned into sobbing, which lead to her leaning on her knees and crying. The weight of everything that had transpired within the last three weeks and most importantly, tonight, came crashing down on her and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't keep it together. So why bother? Right there, in the parking lot of the hotel, Anthea cried over the demise of a relationship Mycroft Holmes had told her was doomed from the start. If she didn't care as much as she should, if she was so certain she didn't want Tim in her life on a more permanent basis, why did this hurt so much? The tears eventually gave way back to sobbing and finally Anthea found herself standing in the dark parking lot finally taking the deep breaths she had intended to take in the first place.

It was then, however long since she initially left the dinner, she heard the footsteps in the walking gate of Mycroft Holmes. Once the footsteps came to a halt a metre or two behind her, Anthea looked up at the stars, laughed, and shook her heads.

"You know, you're a dick. You know that, right?" She spat. She turned around to look at him and laughed again at how unaffected he was by her remark. "I mean, I knew you were, but not to me." She took a step towards him and pointed at the man. "You've known all night what he'd done." She had to blink back the tears again. "You knew, and instead of taking me aside and telling me quietly or waiting until we leave you had to go and be a Holmes about it and turn it into a big scene just to make yourself look good."

"Anthea-" She held up her hand, interrupting him, and turned around, walking further into the car park. She stepped three paces before stopping and looking out at the sea of expensive cars.

"I always thought I just dated idiots." She sighed. "But no, I create them." She held back a sob. "I take genuinely nice, funny, and smart guys, and turn them into horrible people." She shrugged and turned around to face Mycroft. "That's why I am like the only person in the world who can stand you. You are the king of the arseholes and I create arseholes. We're the perfect team. The perfect team of horrible, horrible, people." Anthea had to blink back the tears again. "This is entirely my fault."

"Oh, please." Mycroft scoffed. Anthea pointed to him again.

"Don't talk down to me, please, Mycroft. Not now, don't do this." His face completely neutralized. "If I had just let him move into my stupid big place that you made me get then this wouldn't have happened. We'd be fine." Mycroft took a step forward.

"And what would that have accomplished, Alice?" He asked sincerely. "It would have bought the relationship another six months at the most. This was never going to work. You were with him because it was easy, living with him would not have been easy." Anthea felt a tear escape and she quickly wiped it away with her thumb. "He'd have changed your entire life and you, my dear, would have resented that. You would have looked at this man who you were only slightly attracted to and seen him as an anchor." Fierce blue eyes held onto watery dark brown orbs.

"But then we could have broken up on good terms and he wouldn't have slept with someone else." Mycroft pursed his lips and shook his head.

"No, he wouldn't have." Anthea laughed and sobbed at the same time, another few tears escaping.

"You were right, we shouldn't have come. God, why are you always right?" Anthea shook her head as she looked at her boos. He merely shrugged.

"It's a burden, but someone must bare it." This time she only laughed. Anthea folded her arms across her chest and sighed.

"You know, you and Sherlock have it right. No relationships, no emotions, no attachments. Life would be so much easier." Mycroft hummed and looked Anthea up and down. He was thinking something, she could see his brain ticking. He was probably just thinking about how uncomfortable emotions make him, as if his generally stiff body language didn't make that clear enough. She rubbed her eyes, not caring if she smudged her makeup. "Can we leave now?" She sighed. "I just want to go home." Mycroft nodded once as he pulled out his phone to dial Walter.

"My dear, I wanted to leave hours ago."

When she got home Anthea collapsed onto her couch still in complete evening wear. She lay there, staring at the ceiling, analysing the wreckage of a night. This is one that would go down in her memories as a very bad night. All she wanted to do was crawl into a hole and die but she had work tomorrow – at least for half the day. Then she could find that hole to die in. Anthea rolled from her back onto her stomach, burying her face into the upholstery.

She still had work at least that was normal. And she still had her place to herself like she wanted. She still had Jamie, and James, and Carol, and Walter, and Sherlock and John. And of course, there was always going to be Mycroft, sitting in his office only a few feet away from her, only a phone call away at the maximum. The only thing that changed was Tim. There was no more Tim. No more stupid boring nights with his friends, that was a bonus. No more making up excuses for why she couldn't come over after work when she just didn't want to, that was something else. Also no more 'Ah yes, the lawyer' from Mycroft. Anthea laughed softly to herself at that thought.

That being said there was no more constant companionship on the weekends. No more bothering Tim with trivial things when Jamie wasn't available. No one to call when walking past a particularly dark alleyway.

Then again…

Anthea's phone went off. She sat up to find her phone.

Ali, when you're ready I'd like to talk. We need a real ending, not just that. – Tim.

Not yet, Tim. Maybe next weekend, I'll call you. – A.

We spent too much time together to not talk it out. I'm so sorry, I would have told you if we worked things out. – Tim.

I'm sorry, too. I really am. I'll talk later. Not now. – A.

We both made big mistakes. Call me when you're ready. – Tim.

Anthea lay back down on the couch, holding her phone against her lips. She'd have to talk to Tim eventually, just when it hurt less. Maybe, just maybe, they could have the civil ending she wished they would have. Maybe when they both stopped hurting they could be friends. Maybe she could be the one to pick on his next girlfriend. Maybe. As of right now, she had something she probably had to do before the evening was done. Anthea unlocked her phone and began typing.

Sorry I yelled at you earlier tonight, sir. I don't blame you, you were just being you. I don't blame Tim or myself either. It was just a shock. – A.

My dear, it's already filed under "emotional outburst I don't understand" and filed away. Diogenes Office tomorrow. – M.H.

IOU one "People are stupid and I hate them" rant in return. Dungeon it is. – A.

Pencil that rant in for our next meeting with the defence secretary. – M.H.

Next Wednesday at 4pm, got it. Will it be a five point argument or more? – A.

I'll spare you and keep to the top three. – M.H.

You're so considerate. – A.

I try. – M.H.

Author's Note: Well, there you have it! I've had this chapter planned for a long time. What do you think? I can't wait to hear from you. Guest reviewer thanking time! Thanks to the following: bunnyrabbit100, Guest x2, ValkyrieDefender, Corrine, Wheezzy8, Wink, and ovejalucifer. All my reviewers are simply fantastic people and I love hearing what you got from each and every chapter! You all keep this going!

300 Reviews Chapter! It is entitled "A Surprise Indeed" and can be found on my profile. The most common choices for a second time chapter were birthdays and injuries so I made an executive decision I think you will all like. This is my big thank you gift to you all so please go read it. I really do love you all.