Fic: Significant (part 2/?)
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sherlockbbcTitle: Significant (2/?)
Rating: G
Characters/pairings: John Watson, Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft/Lestrade
Words: 1001
Summary: Sherlock is angry at himself for not noticing something obvious. Lestrade isn't particularly happy either.
“He didn't even know?” Lestrade was not happy. For the past few months he had tried to smooth the ground and be more indulgent towards his new brother-in-law. They had seemingly reached an accord, and although Sherlock still berated Lestrade, frequently, it had seemed that he was making some headway with the relationship.
Sherlock had been allowed free run of police business for years, and he had Mycroft to thank for that, mostly. Even so Lestrade had been incredibly tolerant about Sherlock's involvement.
He had believed that Sherlock's recent, slightly less brittle, interaction with him had had something to do with family feeling, and that maybe Mycroft had had words with him about the way he treated the police.
“I assumed he had guessed,” Mycroft said casually. “It is Sherlock, after all, he usually knows everything. I didn't think making things explicit was necessary.”
“Does he even realise how many procedures have been ignored so he can swish in, stomp over evidence, belittle us all and save the day?”Lestrade had started pacing.
“Well, he does always 'save the day', as you put it, so it's not much of an imposition is it, really?” Mycroft twitched a little. He did so hate conflict.
“Apart from all that he had no idea about us. At all!”
“Well I am not sure what difference it would have made, Sherlock and I have never been especially close. I wouldn't have expected any wedding presents and I very much doubt he would have expressed any warm and squishy declarations of respect for either of us,” Mycroft gave a little moue of disgust at the very thought.
“He's your brother!” Lestrade said with more than a small degree of exasperation.
“Yes, and that's precisely why I have made every effort to ease his passage in the world, to make him happy by allowing to play in the sandbox of police work without getting so involved as to catch any nasty diseases in the process.”
“Is that what you see being a 'real' policeman as – a disease?” Lestrade didn't often lose his temper with Mycroft, he usually preferred to just go along with the man's often Machiavellian schemes, but this was wearing his patience very thin indeed.
“No, of course, that's not what I meant. It's just you can cope with all of this, it's your profession. Sherlock needs to be protected, he's a very delicate child.”
Lestrade sighed. “Ah, Em, you really don't see your brother in the same as everyone else do you?”
“I know my brother doesn't often acknowledge he feels anything but when he does he feels deeply.”
“Well, I suppose that's probably true.” Mycroft was avoiding eye contact now.
“Honestly though , you shouldn't worry so much about Sherlock – especially now he has Doctor Watson looking after him.”
“Yes, that was a ...stroke of luck,” Mycroft grinned.
Lestrade decided to ignore whatever Mycroft was getting at there, it would probably be easier to let it slide. “I just don't understand why we are keeping 'us' a secret,” he said at last.
“Think of our careers!”
“I don't believe that's an issue with you and it certainly isn't with me. Besides, that doesn't begin to explain why you haven't told your own brother. I have been working under a misapprehension for quite a while now, thinking he must be OK with it seeing as he hadn't said anything offensive. You have no idea the sort of things he says to some of my team. I haven't had to deal with it because they are not exactly polite when it comes to Sherlock, and nobody has made any complaints on either side. But he has an acid tongue.”
“Well, quite! It doesn't concern him, you and I. He just thinks of me as the enemy and now you're... sleeping with the enemy, I am afraid he might start to think of you that way too.”
“Oh!” Lestrade said softly. He felt very foolish now. That hadn't even occurred to him.
---
They both had addictive personalities. They had that in common with Sherlock at least.
Before the wedding Mycroft had decided to give up eating as much rich food and Lestrade had agreed to stop smoking. Mycroft was finding it easier, and had started to notice the difference in the way he looked and felt, but Lestrade was just miserable without tobacco. It was going to take longer to get used to life without. He knew though that he wanted to live long enough to grow old with Mycroft. That was the idea. That Mycroft was looking so much better without the added poundage was an added benefit. Some people suited an extra few pounds but Mycroft was not one of them. He didn't have the bone structure for it.
Now Sherlock knew what was going on he was cross with himself for not noticing these very obvious clues.
“Maybe it wasn't as clear as all that, Sherlock,” John said cheerfully. “Yes, Lestrade had given up smoking and maybe it could have been seen as significant, but...”
“It's not something I should have missed, John. People tend to make life altering decisions like going on diets or stopping smoking to please people they are with. That the both of them gave things up at the same time should have been a clear sign. And as for the stopping smoking – it's almost always an indication that someone will be moving in with a non smoker they care about deeply enough to protect. It's all very transparent.”
“Well, not necessarily. You gave up smoking about the same time I moved in, so...”
“Precisely,” Sherlock said, glancing strangely at John.
John wasn't sure exactly what the look meant but he couldn't help feeling a little tingly. He decided not to think too much about it for the time being.
To be continued
Link to Part One
Part Three
Rating: G
Characters/pairings: John Watson, Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft/Lestrade
Words: 1001
Summary: Sherlock is angry at himself for not noticing something obvious. Lestrade isn't particularly happy either.
“He didn't even know?” Lestrade was not happy. For the past few months he had tried to smooth the ground and be more indulgent towards his new brother-in-law. They had seemingly reached an accord, and although Sherlock still berated Lestrade, frequently, it had seemed that he was making some headway with the relationship.
Sherlock had been allowed free run of police business for years, and he had Mycroft to thank for that, mostly. Even so Lestrade had been incredibly tolerant about Sherlock's involvement.
He had believed that Sherlock's recent, slightly less brittle, interaction with him had had something to do with family feeling, and that maybe Mycroft had had words with him about the way he treated the police.
“I assumed he had guessed,” Mycroft said casually. “It is Sherlock, after all, he usually knows everything. I didn't think making things explicit was necessary.”
“Does he even realise how many procedures have been ignored so he can swish in, stomp over evidence, belittle us all and save the day?”Lestrade had started pacing.
“Well, he does always 'save the day', as you put it, so it's not much of an imposition is it, really?” Mycroft twitched a little. He did so hate conflict.
“Apart from all that he had no idea about us. At all!”
“Well I am not sure what difference it would have made, Sherlock and I have never been especially close. I wouldn't have expected any wedding presents and I very much doubt he would have expressed any warm and squishy declarations of respect for either of us,” Mycroft gave a little moue of disgust at the very thought.
“He's your brother!” Lestrade said with more than a small degree of exasperation.
“Yes, and that's precisely why I have made every effort to ease his passage in the world, to make him happy by allowing to play in the sandbox of police work without getting so involved as to catch any nasty diseases in the process.”
“Is that what you see being a 'real' policeman as – a disease?” Lestrade didn't often lose his temper with Mycroft, he usually preferred to just go along with the man's often Machiavellian schemes, but this was wearing his patience very thin indeed.
“No, of course, that's not what I meant. It's just you can cope with all of this, it's your profession. Sherlock needs to be protected, he's a very delicate child.”
Lestrade sighed. “Ah, Em, you really don't see your brother in the same as everyone else do you?”
“I know my brother doesn't often acknowledge he feels anything but when he does he feels deeply.”
“Well, I suppose that's probably true.” Mycroft was avoiding eye contact now.
“Honestly though , you shouldn't worry so much about Sherlock – especially now he has Doctor Watson looking after him.”
“Yes, that was a ...stroke of luck,” Mycroft grinned.
Lestrade decided to ignore whatever Mycroft was getting at there, it would probably be easier to let it slide. “I just don't understand why we are keeping 'us' a secret,” he said at last.
“Think of our careers!”
“I don't believe that's an issue with you and it certainly isn't with me. Besides, that doesn't begin to explain why you haven't told your own brother. I have been working under a misapprehension for quite a while now, thinking he must be OK with it seeing as he hadn't said anything offensive. You have no idea the sort of things he says to some of my team. I haven't had to deal with it because they are not exactly polite when it comes to Sherlock, and nobody has made any complaints on either side. But he has an acid tongue.”
“Well, quite! It doesn't concern him, you and I. He just thinks of me as the enemy and now you're... sleeping with the enemy, I am afraid he might start to think of you that way too.”
“Oh!” Lestrade said softly. He felt very foolish now. That hadn't even occurred to him.
---
They both had addictive personalities. They had that in common with Sherlock at least.
Before the wedding Mycroft had decided to give up eating as much rich food and Lestrade had agreed to stop smoking. Mycroft was finding it easier, and had started to notice the difference in the way he looked and felt, but Lestrade was just miserable without tobacco. It was going to take longer to get used to life without. He knew though that he wanted to live long enough to grow old with Mycroft. That was the idea. That Mycroft was looking so much better without the added poundage was an added benefit. Some people suited an extra few pounds but Mycroft was not one of them. He didn't have the bone structure for it.
Now Sherlock knew what was going on he was cross with himself for not noticing these very obvious clues.
“Maybe it wasn't as clear as all that, Sherlock,” John said cheerfully. “Yes, Lestrade had given up smoking and maybe it could have been seen as significant, but...”
“It's not something I should have missed, John. People tend to make life altering decisions like going on diets or stopping smoking to please people they are with. That the both of them gave things up at the same time should have been a clear sign. And as for the stopping smoking – it's almost always an indication that someone will be moving in with a non smoker they care about deeply enough to protect. It's all very transparent.”
“Well, not necessarily. You gave up smoking about the same time I moved in, so...”
“Precisely,” Sherlock said, glancing strangely at John.
John wasn't sure exactly what the look meant but he couldn't help feeling a little tingly. He decided not to think too much about it for the time being.
To be continued
Link to Part One
Part Three
no subject
Date: 2010-09-24 02:12 pm (UTC)Once again well done, many thanks for sharing. It's brightening up my work day.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-24 09:19 pm (UTC)