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Ships this post: Greg/Mycroft preslash (1), Greg/Mycroft (4), John/Sherlock (5)
Mycroft's rise through the ranks of the Civil Service had been so meteoric that it had been a while before even he appreciated where he was heading; not MI5, or M16, but the small, select, rarely acknowledged section who coordinated the work of the Intelligence services, the government, and the civil service.
Because brilliance allied to youth was rarely taken seriously by those who mattered most, Mycroft slowly developed his own style both in dress and manner that added gravitas and the impression of age to his appearance, although he thought he must have been born looking middle-aged. He learnt to adapt to the expectations of those with whom he routinely dealt, in the process learning more than he gave away. As he continued along the crooked path to power, the role he had chosen to play subsumed him - but then he had always excelled at the roles selected for him; the only difference was that this time he got to choose.
The work was complex, demanding and more satisfying than anything he had known. Chess with human pieces was so much more agreeable than the board game because human beings were so delightfully unpredictable, even in their predictability. The 'average' man could behave in the most unexpected ways; trying to anticipate every eventuality, especially when politicians' egos were involved, was particularly interesting, not least because he had never thought of himself as a 'people person'. He even developed social skills enough to ensure his work did not suffer, an achievement which brought him a degree of sardonic amusement.
--Puppet on a String, by (AO3)kazvl, (Greg/Mycroft preslash)
( cut for length )
Mycroft's rise through the ranks of the Civil Service had been so meteoric that it had been a while before even he appreciated where he was heading; not MI5, or M16, but the small, select, rarely acknowledged section who coordinated the work of the Intelligence services, the government, and the civil service.
Because brilliance allied to youth was rarely taken seriously by those who mattered most, Mycroft slowly developed his own style both in dress and manner that added gravitas and the impression of age to his appearance, although he thought he must have been born looking middle-aged. He learnt to adapt to the expectations of those with whom he routinely dealt, in the process learning more than he gave away. As he continued along the crooked path to power, the role he had chosen to play subsumed him - but then he had always excelled at the roles selected for him; the only difference was that this time he got to choose.
The work was complex, demanding and more satisfying than anything he had known. Chess with human pieces was so much more agreeable than the board game because human beings were so delightfully unpredictable, even in their predictability. The 'average' man could behave in the most unexpected ways; trying to anticipate every eventuality, especially when politicians' egos were involved, was particularly interesting, not least because he had never thought of himself as a 'people person'. He even developed social skills enough to ensure his work did not suffer, an achievement which brought him a degree of sardonic amusement.
--Puppet on a String, by (AO3)kazvl, (Greg/Mycroft preslash)
( cut for length )