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„Mycroft? Are you… Is everything okay?“ He carefully entered the cell he shouldn’t even know existed, his concerned eyes fixed on the man sitting on the floor. He didn’t seem to have noticed him; at least there was no sign he had heared the question. His eyes were still fixated on the same spot on the floor. When he failed to answer, Lestrade stepped closer. „Mycroft?“
„Look at me“ the man answered, a hollow smile on his face. „Defeated. Unable to live up to the only challenge life has ever presented to me. Unable to protect Sherlock.“
Greg wasn’t sure what to do. He had never seen this man so… vulnerable. They may have become something akin to friends over the years they’d known each other, but Mycroft had always been very careful what he’d let the Detective Inspector see, which emotions were okay for him to let the other man witness. He had never been this… broken.
He decided to sit down next to him but with enough of a distance that Mycroft wouldn’t feel cornered. „Wanna talk about it?“
He let out a humorless laugh, more like a huff. „What’s there to talk about? I’ve spent my entire life trying to prevent the events of this evening and obviously failed spectacularly.“ He mused for a moment. „No, that’s not quite true. I never imagined it to be this bad.“
„Is there anything I can do?“ He couldn’t imagine anything that would be helpful after a night like this, even if he’d only heared a bare minimum of what had happend.
Mycroft swallowed and his next words were a barely audible whisper. „Could you… hold me?“
Greg was surprised but didn’t hesitate. He just moved closer and laid his arms around Mycroft, who willingly let himself be pulled in closer and laid his head in the crook of Greg’s neck.
They stayed like this for a long time, neither one speaking a word. Greg was sure that he could feel tears streaming down against his neck but didn’t mention it. After a while the tears subsided. „Sorry“ Mycroft brought out in a broken whisper. „No need to apologize.“
„You know, seeing that you and your brother and John all came out of this ordeal safely, maybe it was…“ – he looked for the right words – „Not all bad that it happened.“ Even with his careful phrasing Mycroft pulled away and looked at him dumbfoundedly. Greg hurried to explain. „At least you don’t have to carry this burden all on your own anymore. I know, I’m hardly qualified for it but… If it ever gets… overwhelming again, I would be glad to help you. Whichever way you may need.“
Now Mycroft freed himself entirely from Greg’s arms. „I- I apologize Detective Inspector. I realize I had no right to ask this much of you.“ Greg could practically see the mask of the Iceman sliding back on. „There’s hardly any need for you to make up for my mistakes.“
„Mycroft, I-“
„If you’ll excuse me, Lestrade, I believe I have to organize a few phone calls.“ Mycroft stood up and walked towards the elevator. Greg was so taken aback by the sudden change that it took him a moment to react.
„No.“ He stated firmly, standing up as well. „No, I will not excuse you, Mycroft.“
Mycroft turned around, eyebrows raised. „Pardon me?“
„I will not let you back to carrying the weight of the world all on your own, berading yourself for every little mistake and never doing anything to get even the tiniest relief from all that pressure.“
Greg could see the pain in Mycroft’s eyes. Maybe the mask wasn’t perfectly on again quite yet. „Little mistake?“ His voice quivered. „People have died. Sherlock almost shot me. Sherlock almost shot himself.“ His voice broke. „I didn’t… have the strength to… to…“
Greg walked up until he stood right in front of him. „Mycroft…“ He didn’t know what to say. Apparently his briefing had hardly scratched the surface of the events of that night.
„Well, I might not be able to change what happened tonight. But I can tell you, it’s not your fault. And I can assure you: You don’t have to deal with it on your own.“
Mycroft looked at him, completely helpless. „I can’t demand that from you.“
„You don’t have to. I’m offering it.“ He opened his arms, giving Mycroft the choice to hug him again if he needed to.
Mycroft hesitated for a long moment, then put his hands on the detective’s arms. „I appreciate the offer. But I can’t.“ And with that he turned around and left for good.