I am not lonely [Mystrade]

CHAPTER 188 : Sarah

10 Downing Street's corridors were silent in the darkest hour of the  night, every one having gone back home after a rather busy day and the  Prime Minister and her family were sleeping safe and sound on the first  floor of the building. Everything sounded asleep if it wasn't for the  shinning lights in a small window-less office a couple of doors way from  the PM's office.

The room smelt of coffee and the heating was so high that its two inoccupant  had let go of their jacket and rolled their sleeves up. The pungent  smoke of the numerous cigarettes now smashed in the ashtray had left the  atmosphere quite blurry but the men didn't care, concentrated on a  handful of papers spread over the small desk in the middle of the room.

"It is never going to work." Alfred Bell exclaimed exhausted, after hours of work.

The  small middle-aged man seemed very agitated but it was difficult to say  if it was nerves or coffee. His fingers were stained with the same ink  the papers in front of him were written in and his glasses were resting,  long forgotten, on the edge of his forefront.

"Don't you trust me ?" Mycroft retorted lightening up yet another cigarette, probably the tenth of the evening.

"It's not you I don't trust, it's the others." Alfred chuckled humourlessly.

The  elder Holmes had to admit that his friend had had a point. He was  without doubt one of the most competent men in the country and had all  the quality and knowledges required for the position he was pretending  to but one : he wasn't well-born, something that could, once more,  preclude him from succeeding. But this time the official was more than  determine not to let yet another idiot take the position that Bell  deserved, enhance the fact that he was spending his night at 10 Downing  Street and not curled up against his boyfriend in his four-poster bed.

"Well, they won't be able to throw you out once they will know that you detain invaluable informations for them ..." the elder Holmes remarked pointing out to one of the over-written piece of paper.

"It's got to be crazy surely. I'm really not sure I can blackmail them that way ... I'm not you ..." the man hesitated, avoiding his friend's eyes.

"Are you saying that I'm a heartless bastard for using the power that I have to make my path easier ?" Mycroft replied without the other politician having any clue if he was serious or not.

"No, not at all ..." Alfred corrected himself carefully. "I'm just saying that I don't have your boldness ..."

"Well  listen to me Bell. I haven't put myself into so much trouble to obtain  you these informations for you not to use it. If you don't want to do  that fine, I take all these back and find myself someone else for the  job and you stay here to rotten until retirement." the elder Holmes threatened, ever so slightly. "Your choice."

"Alright, alright, I'll do it." the man accepted, looking bothered to have annoyed his friend. "But we need to work some more on it.

The  sun was already rising when Mycroft stepped out from 10 Downing Street  but, despite the 26 hours without sleep he just had been through, he was  feeling in perfect condition. His long time friend was most probably  going to have the promotion he deserved for years and the weekend was  just starting, meaning that the official was going to have two full days  to enjoy some time with his family.

He nearly bumped into the  Prime Minister who was just back from her morning run and who seemed  really surprised to see one of the government top advisor exit the  building where she worked and lived without her even knowing he had been  in, in the first place. The black Jaguar was waiting for him not far  away, ready to bring him back to his place where his family was most  probably waiting for him after a good night sleep. He asked his driver  to stop the car on the way back home and popped in a candy store to by  five giant lollipops, the best way, in his eyes, to kick off the weekend  when you are a ten-year-old child.