Chapter Text
Mycroft was sitting in Molly’s office chair when she came into her office one morning a week before Christmas. She was rather depressed this year; it was her second since her engagement with Tom had ended, her second being single during the holidays. She’d had the feeling she was going to end up spending Christmas morning miserable and then pasting on a smile while she went to dinner at the Watsons with Sherlock and perhaps Greg and Mrs. Hudson.
That might not be the case now.
She set her coffee down on her desk and then her handbag. “Did you need something, Mycroft?” she asked warily.
“I need your assistance,” he said.
“Is there a case?” she asked.
“In a…personal…matter,” he said. “Normally my assistant accompanies me to government functions, but this is the first holiday season where she will be an aunt, and I had promised her that she would be allowed to spend Christmas with her sister and family here in England. However, my presence has been requested at a summit in Vienna for a week and I need a…date.”
Molly’s eyes widened at the request, even though Mycroft finished it lamely. “A date?” she asked, rather shocked.
He nodded. “Well, a date in the sense that I need someone to attend certain functions with me. It is not in my best interest to attend them alone, otherwise there is…talk. There is a function before a gala Christmas Eve, both of which you’d need proper attire for, as well as one two days after the Christmas Eve gala. Anthea will help with that before we leave, if you agree. Your time off from Barts will be arranged, and you’ll be properly compensated for your time and trouble. You would get to explore at your own leisure while I am otherwise occupied. And I will ensure any gifts that your friends have for you are in the hotel room that you will have booked for yourself.”
Molly sat down on the edge of her desk. This…actually sounded better than her own plans for the holiday, she realized. And she’d never really traveled before, so getting to stay in Vienna for a week, and to get to explore and stay in a nice hotel? It would be a nice change of pace. “Um…all right, Mycroft. I suppose that would be all right. We’re close enough. I could do this for you as a favour. I mean, when am I ever going to get to go anyplace like Vienna on my own?” She paused. “Are the accommodations nice?”
Mycroft appeared to relax and stood up, moving over towards her. “The accommodations are top class, I assure you. I will have Anthea come around tomorrow to take you to get the necessary attire for this trip. You can consider tomorrow the beginning of your extended sabbatical for this favour.” She nodded and he came over and grasped her hand. She looked at him in surprise as he lifted her hand up and brushed his lips across her knuckles. “Thank you, Molly. I appreciate it,” he said.
“You’re welcome,” she got out, thankfully without stammering, feeling her cheeks and the tips of her ears turn red. He let go of her hand after that and then left her office. She had never been quite sure what to do or how to behave around Mycroft when she first met him, other than to tell him off when he’d offered to pay her to spy on Sherlock. He’d been amused by that. But they’d settled into an acquaintanceship of sorts, and then when Sherlock had been gone it had become a…friendship. Possibly. It was when he came back that it had become more sincere. More real as a friendship.
But this, what just happened, had seemed…different. Mycroft had seemed nervous. He was never nervous. Not even when they hadn’t been entirely 100% sure the plan to fake Sherlock’s death would work had she seen him be nervous. But it had seemed like he was afraid she would turn him down. Why would she? The chance to get a paid vacation in a beautiful city like Vienna, to spend the holidays somewhere that wasn’t London where she’d be anything but sad and miserable…why would she say no to that?
She shook her head and sat down in the chair he had vacated. She couldn’t pretend to understand Mycroft all the time. Sherlock she got a lot more easily. Sherlock pretended to be all hard to understand, all enigmatic, but really, if you knew him well enough you could read him like a book. But Mycroft…Mycroft really was more closed off. But he was letting her closer, bit by bit, and she appreciated it. She liked learning more about him. He was quite interesting. In some ways he was even more interesting than Sherlock, which had rather surprised her.
She shook her head and then pulled over a pad of paper. If she was going to be gone for a time, there were things she needed to do to make sure that the department ran smoothly in her absence. As wonderful as an unexpected vacation might be, it would all be a royal headache if she came back and her department was in a shambles. She started to make lists of who needed to do what, what had priority while she was gone, what Sherlock was and was not allowed to take home with him and all the other things that could possibly come up. Then she went to work on the things she had to take care of for her regular day to day routine. After all, vacation or not, she had work to do, and it wasn’t going to do itself.
She was pulled away from the task by a phone call from Mary. She answered it, leaning back in her chair. “Hello, Mary,” she said.
“I’m not disturbing you, am I?” Mary asked.
“Not really,” she said. “I’m just taking care of a few things before I go on sabbatical.”
“That’s an interesting development in your holiday plans,” Mary said with interest. “I take it you won’t be joining us for the holidays?”
“Nope,” Molly said with a smile. “I’ll be in Vienna.”
“What man has swept you off your feet and why have you kept him hidden?” Mary admonished.
Molly chuckled slightly. “It’s not that. Mycroft asked me to join accompany him at a summit he’s attending. Apparently this is the first year his PA is going to be an auntie and she wants to stay in England and he needs someone on his arm.”
Mary was quiet for a moment. “And so he asked you?” she said.
“Yup.”
“Interesting,” Mary said.
“Why do you say that?” Molly asked, sitting up more.
“Well, he could have gone alone. It’s not unheard of,” Mary said. “But I suppose…maybe he just felt bad for you. Wanted to give you a bit of a treat. It is his treat, right?”
“Yeah,” Molly said, her brow furrowing.
“Then I think you should go and have a lovely time and give us all loads of details,’ Mary said. “You’ll be off at swanky parties and I’ll be remembering days when I used to do the same.” She paused. “Granted, I used to have ulterior motives for going. But they were fun to go to.”
Molly smiled. “Maybe I can babysit Annalisa so you and John can have a grownup night out when I get back. Make him take you out for dinner and dancing. It’ll be an extra Christmas gift for not coming to dinner with you all.”
“You don’t have to, love,” Mary said.
“I insist.”
“Well, if you insist, then we can plan something when you get back.” Mary paused for a moment. “Do you want to take your gifts with you or unwrap them here later?”
“Let’s do it later,” Molly said. “Maybe I’ll have nice things from Vienna to add to what I already got for all of you.”
“Sounds perfect, then. Well, I’ll let you get back to work then. Want to swing by for supper tonight? John’s experimenting. He’s trying something Italian. The cooking lessons seem to be paying off, though; he’s made some rather scrumptious meals lately.”
Molly smiled. “Yeah. It beats a ready-made meal and a night in front of the telly.”
“Then stop by around half past six, and bring a bottle of red wine.”
“I’ll be there. Bye, Mary.”
“Bye, Molly.”
She hung up then and stared at her mobile for a moment. She wasn’t having second thoughts on the trip, not exactly, but…perhaps there was more to it than met the eye. She would just have to wait and see what happened when they arrived in Austria, she supposed, because she doubted if there was anything more to all of this that Mycroft would tell her now.
She just hoped it was nothing she regretted in the long run.