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Mycroft looked up at the clock as he heard Greg's footsteps entering his office.
It was only 10pm.
He turned and said in an annoyed tone, "It's not that late, so why..."
He stopped short. Greg was standing in front of him, his hair completely disheveled and his eyes haunted.
He exclaimed, "Gregory, what the--"
Greg rushed at Mycroft, throwing his arms around him and pulling him towards him. Mycroft slowly wrapped his hands around Greg and asked, stunned, "What the hell is going on?"
When Greg broke away from the embrace and looked at Mycroft, he seemed almost panicked, "Are you all right? Nothing happened?"
Mycroft, even more confused, replied quietly, "I'm all right. Why are you asking me that?"
Greg sighed and pulled away from his embrace with Mycroft, but Mycroft held him back by keeping his arms around him.
"I had a nightmare about you and I wanted to make sure you were here and all right."
Mycroft couldn't help but be moved by Greg's genuine concern and pulled him towards him until he was astride him.
Greg wrapped his arms around his neck and watched him closely, as if to make sure Mycroft was all right.
Mycroft reassured him by repeating softly, "I'm fine, Greg, I promise," and then held him close until he could feel his heartbeat calming and his breathing returning to normal.
Greg whispered unintelligible words against Mycroft's neck, who heard only the word 'scared'.
"What did you say?" asked Mycroft, making Greg look up.
"I'm wondering what I'm going to do when you leave," Greg muttered.
"What?" Mycroft became more and more confused, "But I'm staying here, I'm here."
Greg, feeling vulnerable from the nightmare he'd just had, couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth, probably revealing his greatest fear.
"I mean, if you leave me. Because I am afraid that one day you will realize that you can have someone younger, better looking, smarter than me. "
Mycroft replied without losing his cool, "You idiot!"
"Hey, you could be nice."
"Believe me, I am being nice here, otherwise I would have given you a dressing down to make you realize the absurdity of what you're saying. You are not a consolation prize!"
Greg tried to protest, but Mycroft wouldn't let him speak.
"Greg, I've had younger, perhaps better-looking and perhaps more attractive men and women in my life - although I can't remember - but none of them come close to you, be it here..." Mycroft pointed to his head, "or there," then pointed to his heart.
Seeing that Greg was overcome with emotion, Mycroft took his head between his hands.
"You are not in a state to fully comprehend what I am about to tell you, but I will tell you again when you are in full possession of your senses and not controlled by your nightmare memory. I love you, Greg. You are my love, my peace, my life, you are my soft place to fall, in you I see our happily ever after. It is because of you that I laugh, that I smile, and that I dare to dream more than I ever have before. There is no one better for me than you. If there is anyone who would need to leave it would be you."
He wiped a single tear that rolled down Greg's cheek with his thumb and kissed him on the forehead. Then he just remained silent as he held him in his arms.
Greg would have liked to say a lot of things, but the tiredness was making it difficult for him to sort out his thoughts.
Mycroft's hands made hypnotic circles on Greg's back and he saw that Greg was trying to fight sleep, not wanting to lose anything from this moment on.
Mycroft told him softly, "Come on, let's go to bed my love, everything will seem easier after that, I'll be here when you wake up."
"Promise?" Greg couldn't help but ask.
Mycroft simply replied, "I promise."