Emerald Eyes

Summary: After Reichenbach Fall. Mycroft reminisces about his little brother. A particular moment comes into his mind, when Sherlock as a child was bullied and he had promised himself to never let him be harmed. Oneshot.

Disclaimer: So sad it's not mine. So very sad.

Mycroft was there every time Sherlock solved a case. Sometimes he was at the crime scene; sometimes he had someone in the Yard inform him and when there was no other option he would read about it in Johns Blog. But he preferred to be there in person.

Mycroft was perhaps the only person who could observe his little brother without being noticed by him and he took pride in the fact that he always knew what Sherlock was up to. Maybe that was the reason why he felt so… empty at the moment. He hadn't seen it coming. His little brother always managed to get out of troubles in some way, sometimes Mycroft had helped him out (without Sherlock knowing of course) but everything had always been fixable. No longer though… now he was gone and Mycroft didn't know how he should tell Mummy. Thank god she didn't read the newspaper.

He took a sip of brandy and let his copy of the sun fall to the floor. He closed his eyes and thought back to a time when nothing had been more important for him than to look out for his little brother.

No one disturbed Mycroft when he was studying, if one tried one would just be ignored. There was a single exception to the rule currently banging his little fists against his door. "My!"

Mycroft sighted, got up and opened the door for his little brother. The seven year old flew into his arms immediately. Mycroft hesitantly patted his brother on his back and kissed his unruly black curls. "What happened?"

The little boy pressed his head against Mycroft's shoulder, sobs wrecking his tiny body. Clearly he was still too upset to answer the question.

Mycroft picked him up and carried him over to his bed where he set down, the little boy immediately cuddled close to him. Mycroft gently rubbed his back and smiled at him encouraging. "What happened?"

Sherlock looked up at his brother, his big green eyes full of trust. But there was something else in them, something Mycroft couldn't quite name yet. "They destroyed my project. And then… and then…" He couldn't stop crying yet.

It always amazed Mycroft that even though he got bored with people quite quickly he always had enough patience for his little brother. No matter how long it took Sherlock to tell him something he would never try to rush him. Usually it was a very good indication of how upset his brother was.

"I told my teacher and she just said, she said, she said it was my fault because I provoked them, but I didn't, I swear I didn't. I think she doesn't like me because I asked her if she was married to Mr. Hemming because she stayed with him for a few nights this week." The little boy had mumbled into Mycroft's shoulder.

Mycroft continued to rub his brothers back, relieved that he had stopped sobbing. He smiled slightly, it was just like Sherlock to annoy his teacher with his observations. "They probably didn't know how important your project was." He tried to calm Sherlock a little bit more.

Sherlock shook his head repeatedly. "They know. It's not the first time, you know? But then father… father…" Now the hiccup began.

Mycroft stiffened. Their father was bad at dealing with the younger Holmes boy and it seemed to grow worse every day. "What did he say?"

"He said that if I spent less time annoying people and more time being like… like… like you than others would care more for me." It was said almost in a whisper but Mycroft understood it perfectly. He got up abruptly and Sherlock shied away from him.

"Don't be upset My, don't. I don't blame you, please don't be angry at me!" Tears filled his big, usually so bright green eyes.

Mycroft realized his mistake and quickly pulled his little brother close. "You are a wonderful little boy. Don't listen to father. Do you understand?"

Sherlock nodded. "I love you My."

It took Mycroft nearly another hour to get the names of the students who broke his experiment. Three days later those students were expelled from school because no one dares mess with his little brother. However he had no idea how to deal with their father.

Mycroft smiled a sad smile remembering that specific day. He took his phone and dialed mummy.

A/N.: If you've made it this far I'm pretty sure that you at least found it entertaining or interesting. In that case please leave a review, I'd appreciate it.