I am not lonely [Mystrade]

CHAPTER 97 : Damsel in distress

"I really don't see how you can coop with this as often as you do ..." sighed Gregory, gesturing around the room.
"That's part of the job." replied Mycroft, clearly not more passionate about the party than his partner was. "You understand why I work in a cave, don't you."
"Dinners disgusted you from windows ?" chuckled the policeman as a nicely dressed man was approaching.
"Am I making fun of you because working with Anderson didn't repressed you from loving dicks ?" retorted the auburn, faking to be offended.
"You'd be sad if so ..." muttered the detective while the official was turning to the man that had just reached them.
"Good evening Mr Holmes." the latter nodded as a greeting before turning to Greg. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting you ?"
"No,  not at all Mr Magpie." answered Mycroft before the policeman had the  opportunity to say anything. "May I introduce you to my husband,  Detective-Inspector Gregory Lestrade ? Gregory, this is Mr Sylvestre  Magpie, deputy head of MI5."
"Glad to meet you Mr Magpie." smiled the yarder, shaking the hand the man was offering him.
"As much as I am, Mr Lestrade." nodded the MI5 official before turning back to the elder Holmes. "I didn't knew you were married Mr Holmes. Never seen your better-half to this kind of parties."
"Gregory is a very busy  man, and you'll excuse me for not advising the entire political sphere  of the state of my private affairs, I'm sure." fake-smiled the auburn,  not willing to talk about that, especially in front of the inspector,  who, and he knew it, was quite sensible on the subject of being hide as  he was from his partner's colleagues.
"Naturally, naturally. I  suppose that after a week of investigating you'd rather prefer spending a  night off than coming here. I'd do the same." agreed Magpie. "In fact  my wife does exactly the same and I truly can't blame her."
"Exactly.  I think we all rather be elsewhere but still gather here to spend a  boring evening doing nothing. British politics in a nutshell." confirmed  Mycroft relieved by the turn the conversation was taking.
"Have you heard about Malvert's new extravaganza ?" suddenly wondered the MI5 official in mid-voice.
"The one from last week or have he already managed to pick up a new scandal ?" sighed the elder Holmes.
"I'll  get us some drinks." Gregory signified to his husband, letting him to  his conversation and trying to make his way through the crowd to the  bar.
One of the main hall of the Cabinet Office had been turned into a  posh club's lounge and all what Great-Britain counted of most  influential people were gathered around glasses of fine champagne and  expensive snacks, none of them looking really passionate about what was  actually happening. Greg himself had come more because his boyfriend was  looking so annoyed by going there that he had pitied him but he really  couldn't understand the point in organizing parties that cost a fortune,  where everyone seemed to be bored and which, according to the auburn,  had no use as no one actually discuss important matters in this kind of  environment.
As he reached the bar, the detective took a look at his  watch and sighed when acknowledging that he had been there only for an  hour. If he hadn't loved Mycroft that much he probably just would have  ran to the door and called a taxi to bring him back home but instead he  grabbed two glasses of champagne and made his way back to the spot he  just had left, finding his lover and the other man in the exact same  position they were five minutes before.
"Thank you, Gregory." smiled  the auburn, seizing the glass he was offered. "Sylvestre was just  talking about those events that took place in Hyde Park last month, the  one you lead the investigation on."
"Well, if I have to be really  honest I had no idea you had been the commanding officer on this case."  retorted Magpie. "But my services are working with those from Trident to  try to have a better understanding and a proper response about those  juveniles gang from Greater London."
"Well, I did only co-leaded the investigation with Detective-Inspector Sandra Kenzel. You must know her if you work with Trident." tempered the inspector.
"Oh,  don't be that modest Mr Lestrade. From what Mycroft has told me, you  came up with the plan to empty Hyde Park and you were the one to found  the lead about gangs being involved." replied the MI5 official. "An  admirable plan by the way. Way fewer damages than we could have  expected. Do you lead many operation like this ?"
"No. I'm usually more of a desk officer. Criminal division." denied the policeman with a smile.
"That's him being modest once more." tutted the auburn. "He was commanding officer on the Alta Club attacks, last year."
"A case greatly lead according to what I have heard. The trial should come to an end soon, isn't it ?" nodded Magpie, rather impressed.
"It is trust to, yes." confirmed  the detective. "But it wouldn't be the first time they would announce  the end of a trial to be near and finally carrying on much longer so ...  I'll be fully satisfied only when it will really be fully over."
"Do you remember the trial of Zach Redcliffe back in the days ? I though it would never end." agreed the MI5 official.
"Yes,  I was a junior officer on the case at the time. We were all thinking  that they would let him walk free in the end." chuckled Gregory.
"Well, Sylvestre, you know as well as I know that he would have walked free if someone haven't  invited the jury to consider a new evidence that had miraculously  emerged two days before the end of the trial." snorted the elder Holmes.
"You were just in office at the time weren't you ?" grinned Magpie. "I still wonder what this evidence was tho. No one excepted the jury ever seen it, isn't it ?"
"I suppose we can safely assume it was a piece of clothing with both one of the victims blood and Redcliffe's on it. Tho you are right, there isn't many people who've seen it." replied the auburn with an innocent smile.
"I haven't even heard of a new evidence." interrupted Greg.
"Neither  did I. I learned it only when joining the office five years ago."  chuckled the MI5 official. "And I wouldn't have noticed it if another  case hadn't required me to wonder about this case."
"That's the goal of discreet action actually." smirked Mycroft. "Not to worry about this tho, new laws are just making this kind of intervention impossible to perform anymore ..."
"Maybe for the best ? I mean, we are supposed to have fair trials for everyone no ?" intervened the policeman.
"Surely we do Mr Lestrade. But this man was clearly a culprit, solely half of what had led  to his arrest was due to illegal methods of spying so the case wasn't  strong enough for court." nodded Magpie. "Now that we have changed our  spying methods, the police cases are much stronger and don't require illegal and discreet interventions anymore."
"We could say that yes." the elder Holmes agreed, still looking not completely satisfied with those new methods.
"Alright  gentlemen, I'm sorry to let you down but it seems like my boss is  looking for me." the MI5 official excused himself, showing the other men  his phone. "Good evening Mycroft. It was nice meeting you Mr Lestrade."
The  pair of them nodded the other one goodbye before sighing heavily. It  must have been less than an hour and a half they were there but the  perspective of more useless talk seemed to upset them both and after  managing to dodge a couple of boring governmental officials Mycroft  decided that it was time to find a way to leave without anyone noticing.
"You  see the door behind the bar, near to the restroom's one ?" he indicated  to Greg who nodded in response. "It leads to a staircase that itself  leads to an underground ending at the Defense Cabinet."
"What's the use in that ?" wondered the detective.
"To  do what we are going to do." whispered the auburn, seizing his partner  arm and dragging him to the door before discreetly slipping out of the  crowded lounge into the poorly decorated stairway.
"Mycroft Holmes you are a child !" laughed the yarder, following his lover downstairs.
"Shh. I don't want anyone to hear us." warned the official. "I don't know you but if I had stayed ten more minutes in this room I might have hanged myself."
"You are the mundane one in the pair of us." chuckled the inspector. "You can just imagine me ..."
They were making their way alongside a poorly lighten tunnel as those where Churchill could be seen walking in the films and TV  show Greg enjoyed so much and despite the odd situation he was in, the  yarder couldn't help but being quite fascinated about where he was.
"Yes, this is indeed Churchill's underground. Now I strongly advise you to walk a little bit  quicker if you don't want to finish the other half in pitch dark."  laughed the auburn, seizing his boyfriend's hand and urging him a  little.
A few minutes later they emerged from the underground into the backyard of the Defense Cabinet and without being seen made their way to the nearby street. They found a little café and despite looking rather out of place in their tuxedo and posh shoes, they sat down in one of the boxes, waiting for a waitress to take their order. Their eyes met and without exactly knowing why, they both break in frantic laughters, still amazed by what they just had done. They struggled to order two cappuccinos without looking completely mental before going back to their laughters once again, unable to repress it.
It  has been a long time since Mycroft had been that happy and relaxed and  seeing his partner laughing genuinely as he was doing only makes him  more happy. After a couple more minutes of laughing for no reason they  finally managed to catch up their breath, even if two stupid grins were  plastered to their faces.
"You are completely mad." chuckled Gregory as the waitress was coming back with their drinks.
"I've never done something like that before. Look at the bad influence you have on me !" replied the other man on the same tone.
"It's gonna be my fault ? I didn't even knew there was an underground !" retorted the policeman, faking to be greatly offended.
"You were looking so bored, I could let you there, I had to save you." grinned the elder Holmes.
"Hey ! I am not a damsel in distress !" snorted the detective, dipping his finger in the foam of the coffee in front of him and pressing it against his husband's nose.
"If it's like this, it's war !" retorted the official, imitating his lover and drawing him foam moustaches.