My Father's Daughter: The Life of Alexis Moriarty

Chapter 17

"Slow down, Alexis." Mycroft cooed, placing a reluctant comforting hand upon her own. "Start over. What happened?"

Alexis' breath wavered terribly. She tried to steady it but she couldn't. She pulled her hand away from Mycroft's and placed them both in her lap, where they continued to tremble. "I saw her." She met Mycroft's gaze, her eyes wide and full of fear. "I saw my mum."

"Are you sure?" Mycroft asked, leaning back a bit in his chair. "There are lots of women in London, and you may have-"

"It was her." Alexis interjected. "I know it was her."

Mycroft let out a large sigh and tapped his fingers together. "Well... As hard as it is for me to say it, there's not much we can do."

"What do you mean?!" Alexis leaned forward in her seat, placing her fists on Mycroft's desk. "You're, and I quote, 'basically the bleeding British government.' You run everything, Mycroft. There has to be something you can do."

"Do you know how difficult it was for us to find you?" Mycroft asked, cocking his head a bit to the side. "We didn't even know you existed until four years ago. It took us four years to find you, and you weren't even hiding on purpose." He softened a bit and stood up, walking around to place a comforting hand on Alexis' shoulder. "You Moriarties are so brilliant... You hide too well. It's very difficult for us to track any of you down. Your mother is no exception."

Alexis sighed and stared down at her shoes. "What are we supposed to do, then? Wait for her to decide when she wants to show up?"

"No, I don't think we have to wait. What I think you should do is going to be much more painstakingly agonizing." Mycroft bent down to be eye level with her and looked her in the eye. "You're going to have to get your father and Sherlock to work together."