Author's Note: Hi everyone. Thanks for the reviews on the latest chapter! I'm quite happy that everyone is warming up to Tim. Poor guy :P. As for this chapter… It's quite short compared to usual. I'm extremely swamped though so I'm fine with that. Multiple assignments and work stuff all due this week so this is the best I could do. 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 They Fought About Work (At Home)

There is nothing quite like drifting off to sleep in a comfortable bed after a long day of work. And it was a very long day of work. It was one of those days where one thing after another popped up and most of them had to be dealt with immediately. To get home and collapse into bed with Mycroft felt like utter bliss and Anthea never felt like moving ever again. That's why she only groaned quietly to herself when she remembered that email she forgot to send… Was it that important? She wondered briefly but then convinced herself that no, it wasn't. It was to be sent to James and he usually cleared his inbox before lunch and anyone who wanted to get to him immediately would call or text. She was told to send it in the afternoon, he wouldn't have seen it until tomorrow anyway. It wasn't as important as this warm comfortable bed with the equally warm body heat of her boyfriend.

"What is it?" Speaking of the boyfriend… Mycroft's voice came from just above Anthea's ear. Anthea closed her eyes tighter.

"Hmmm?" She tried to ask what he wanted and that's all she could muster as she was falling asleep. She wasn't surprised that Mycroft was still quite awake even though he had worked harder than she had.

"You groaned like a complaint." He stated. "What is it?"

"Oh." Anthea buried her face further into her pillow. "I forgot to send an email today, that's all." Mycroft shifted away from her and sat up against the headboard.

"Which email?" He asked.

"That one to James." The bed shifted again.

Click.

Against her eyelids Anthea could see that already annoying light that made her bury her face further again into the pillows. Mycroft had turned on his bedside lamp.

"The one with the documents I asked you to send today?" She could hear outright irritation in his voice. Anthea rolled onto her back and opened her eyes. Blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light, she looked up and over at Mycroft. His piercing gaze was on her.

"Yeah, that one." She moaned tiredly. Mycroft clicked his tongue and looked across the room, fighting the urge to look irritated it seemed. "Don't worry, I'll just send it in the morning."

"Anthea." He paused after saying her name and Anthea could see the tension in his jaw. "Those documents are extremely important." Anthea took a breath. She sat up in the bed.

"Then why did you give them to me when I was about to leave with Walter to go stalk someone?" She asked, holding her palms open in her lap.

"Because you've assure me you don't have a three second memory." He hissed. A goldfish comment, and it stung. Anthea closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

"Mycroft." She whispered.

"Yes I know what it sounds like," He sighed and shook his head. "It was not intended to be one of those remarks." She believed him, by the sincere tone of his voice she believed he hadn't meant to call her a goldfish. He usually acknowledge when he did and apologised. It didn't help alleviate the sting the comment had left. She opened her eyes and took a moment to herself as she looked up to the roof. Eventually she shrugged.

"I don't see what the problem is. James wouldn't have seen it until tomorrow anyway."

"Good." Mycroft nodded. "That gives you time to send it now." Anthea turned to look at him again, a frown on her features.

"Now?" She almost laughed. Mycroft pouted and cocked his head to the side.

"Did I stutter?" The genius' trademark sarcasm.

"Myc, we're in bed." Anthea answered incredulously. Mycroft looked around, as if confirming this fact, and then nodded.

"And you didn't send an important email." He was talking down to her, she hated that so much. "A mistake I would love for you to rectify immediately."

"No." Anthea crossed her arms across her chest. Mycroft looked for a brief second like she had slapped him. In her eyes he was being ridiculous. "James isn't going to care, and he wouldn't even notice. I'm tired and I want to sleep."

"I'm sorry, are you arguing with your boss?" Mycroft sneered. Anthea shook her head.

"I'm arguing with my annoying boyfriend." Her words were met with a cold laugh.

"Miss James, there is no boyfriend at the moment." He gave her a cold icy smile. "What happened to the young lady who wouldn't dare to do something like this? The woman who turned up at my house in the middle of the night?" Anthea listened quietly. "That is the assistant I want, not some woman who argues." Anthea rubbed her face and then moved her hands up to run her hands through her hair.

"We're not at work, Mycroft." She breathed. "It's past midnight!" It took a minute for Mycroft to answer her. Steel eyes were full of disappointment as they looked over Anthea's soft face.

"You're always on call." He answered in a hushed tone. "Living here shouldn't change that." Anthea swallowed her breath. She looked over to the door leading out of the room. She knew he was right and she hated both him and her for that. All she wanted to do was sleep, that's all. If they weren't dating she would have gotten away with sending it in the morning, but maybe he was right. If they weren't dating she probably would have gotten out of bed to send it.

"Okay, fine!" She tossed the warm, comfortable duvet off her. "I'll go send the stupid email." She placed her feet on the cold floor. She saw Mycroft take off the duvet and stand up. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure you send that email." He answered with the most defensive tone. "And getting a cup of tea. I'm not sleeping now, am I?" He probably wouldn't. This had probably ruined her chance to get a good night's sleep and his chance at sleeping at all.

So, with Mycroft on her tail, Anthea wandered down the stairs. She took out her laptop, opened it on the kitchen bench, and waited in awkward silence for it to boot up as Mycroft made himself a cup of tea.

"Nice to ask if I wanted one…" Anthea muttered under her breath as she typed in her password. Mycroft quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Did you want one?"

"No…"

"Exactly." It was petty of them but it was somehow better for Anthea then the dead silence that both preceded and proceeded it.

The computer loaded and immediately connected to the Wi-Fi. Anthea opened her emails, typed a quick generic message to James, added the documents and pressed send. As soon as the program said sent Anthea turned to Mycroft with a sarcastic smile.

"There." She closed the laptop. "Happy?"

"Positively giddy." Mycroft answered in a flat tone. He took a casual sip of his cup of tea. "Now, as for the consequences…" He placed the tea cup down on the counter then scratched at his eyebrow with his ring finger. "I'm taking away the reward I gave you in the afternoon. You have a full day tomorrow." He had given her the morning off since they'd had such a busy day. It was to sleep in and to recover from being at work until 11pm. Anthea had planned to sleep until ten and then get ready to go to work. It seems like that was not the case anymore.

"For not sending an email?" She frowned. "I did everything else."

"You made a mistake, Anthea." Mycroft wasn't even arguing anymore, he was just talking as if this was any conversation. "You know we can't afford mistakes, and instead of rectifying it you argued with your boss."

"I argued with my boyfriend-"

"Who is your boss and were arguing on the topic of work." Anthea didn't reply. She licked her lips and tucked a messy curl behind her ear. "You're mentally and physically exhausted, I understand, but when it comes to work I will not accept behaviour like that from my subordinates." Anthea nodded silently. She continued to nod.

"Understood, sir."

"Good. I'm going to the study." He announced as he began walking away. "I trust you will be going back to bed?"

"No…" Anthea muttered as she scuffed her foot against the floor. "It's too cold up there." There it was, her own little goldfish like comment. Mycroft stopped walking for a split second and as Anthea watched the back of his head she felt a little guilty. He continued walking away without responding.

Anthea went to the lounge room. She turned on the telly and fell asleep in front of an old movie.

Anthea awoke in the morning to sounds in the kitchen. She became aware to the fact that she'd fallen asleep on the couch which brought her to why she'd fallen asleep her. She remembered last night and felt guilty. Mostly she felt a heavy sense of guilt from the cold comment she had made while tired and grumpy, but there was also a lingering nagging feeling that told her she had acted badly last night. She must have been ridiculously tired to behave that way, she knew that work was everything to Mycroft. After the USB incident she swore nothing would ever happen again, and if she forgot something she usually jumped on it. To behave that way was not right. Not to mention it cost her the only opportunity she had until the weekend to catch up on sleep.

Anthea tidied up the couch, placing all the cushions back in place. The television had already been turned off for her. She went upstairs, had a shower and got ready for work considering she'd now have to be there the whole day. She'd make sure to work extra hard today to prove herself.

Anthea walked downstairs to find a cup of tea waiting for her on the counter. Mycroft was sitting at the counter with a piece of toast and his laptop open. Anthea was shut and still sat next to Mycroft on the counter. Anthea took a soul warming sip of the tea and cherished the taste.

"Thank you." She spoke to her genius boyfriend.

"Mmhmm." He answered as he tapped on the down arrow key a few times.

"Mycroft." Anthea spoke gently as if approaching an animal that was easily spooked. Mycroft looked up from his screen, face blank. Anthea titled her head and smiled warmly. "I just wanted to tell you that I love you, and I love my job, and I'm sorry about last night." Mycroft silently raised an eyebrow. "Work comes first, and even though we're equals in this," She pointed back and forth between them. "You're the boss at work." Mycroft pursed his lips, keeping his eyes on Anthea. A minute of deducing passed before he nodded.

"I'm pleased you came to that conclusion on your own." He answered in his bored tone, turning back to his computer.

Anthea walked over to him. She placed her hands on his arms, leaned in, and planted a shy kiss on his cheek. Her own special apology in a way that hopefully won't spook him. As she stood up straight and began to release him his hand snatched up one of her own hands. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

"If you behave well perhaps we can both have Friday afternoon off." He hummed. Anthea crinkled up her nose.

"I'll try to be good."

Author's Note: So how was it? This was an idea I've basically had since like January and I finally wanted to do it. Let me know what you think! Thanks to our guest reviewers; Natasha, Guess, and Guesswho. Only a few this time! And thanks to all my reviewers. Next chapter will be six days away because I'm going to take one extra day so I have enough time to work on it without having to use and days I should be working on assignments. See you in six days!