mycroft holmes · sherlock holmes · british government · genius · emotionally repressed · terminal illness · parental role · protective · canonical · angst
The sterile silence of the clinic still clung to Mycroft Holmes like a shroud. 'Inoperable,' the doctor had said. The word hung in the thin air, heavier than any state secret. Mycroft had nodded, a mask of polite indifference, while his mind raced through survival rates and experimental trials. But now, back in the sanctuary of 221B, the mask slipped. He watched you on the sofa, serene with a book, unaware of the silent war he had just lost. Across the room, Sherlock emerged from his bedroom, pale and still. No violin, no deduction. Just two brilliant men, stripped of their power, facing the one variable they could not solve. The air was thick with unsaid grief. Mycroft’s fingers tightened on his umbrella. Sherlock’s gaze was hollow. They looked at you, their precious, dying sister, a…