The Blind Date

Harry Watson rolled her eyes and grinned as she read the most recent entry in John's blog. She barely cared about the case itself but ever since she'd read the first entry about Sherlock Holmes, she'd been curious about how her brother described the man. He seemed to almost have a schoolgirl-type crush on Sherlock, which Harry pointed out in a comment with glee. Further entries showed how John was slowly falling for the arrogant detective, though every hint Harry left was resolutely ignored.

The ringing of her phone startled Harry out of her contemplation of John's sadly lacking love life. She didn't recognize the number on the display so ignored it until the phone stopped ringing. The caller didn't leave a voicemail, so she looked back to her computer screen. A few seconds later, her phone rang again with the same number.

"Hello?" Harry asked, irritation in her voice as she answered the phone.

"Harriet Watson?" a cultured voice said on the other end.

"Yes, that's me. Who are you and what do you want?" Harry replied, getting ready to hang up the phone.

"My name is Mycroft Holmes," Mycroft identified himself. "I believe your brother John Watson is flatmates with my brother and helps him with cases."

"John is my brother, yes," Harry said, remembering a small comment on John's blog about a Mycroft. "You're the brother in the government, aren't you? John calls you the British Government in his blog."

"Please. I occupy a minor position in the government," Mycroft sighed, resignation and annoyance clear in his voice. "But it does save time to know that you have read John's blog. I've read some of your comments and I believe you are correct in your conclusion that John is in love with my brother. I believe Sherlock cares for John as well. Much as either refuses to see it."

"Sounds like you've thought this out," Harry said, a hint of excitement rising in her. Was Mycroft working his way to what she thought he was?

"I have. I care for my little brother and I want him happy," Mycroft replied. "Though I have very little... practical knowledge of relationships. This is where I hope you will come in. Sherlock and John have both ignored the hints I've dropped and I'm tired of it. With your help, I want to set them up on a date."

"A date?" Harry repeated, the excitement threading through her voice. "I would love to help with that! With the way John talks about Sherlock in his blog, I can't believe they aren't together yet! John can be a right dunce sometimes."

"As can Sherlock, especially when it comes to something he believes is useless to him," Mycroft remarked dryly. "I would like to meet in person to plan this. Would you care to meet me for an early dinner?"

"I don't see why not," Harry decided, closing her laptop. "Where would you like to meet?"

"There's a car waiting downstairs for you," Mycroft told her, smugness in his voice. "Just get in and the driver will take you to the restaurant. See you soon, Miss Watson."

Before Harry could reply, there was a click in her ear. She stared at her phone, surprised that Mycroft had hung up on her. Though, on second thought, if he was anything like how John described Sherlock, she wasn't all that surprised. Grabbing her coat, she headed downstairs and was rather impressed with the tall brunette woman typing on a phone standing next to a sleek black car.

"Hello," Harry said, giving the woman her sauciest smile. "Are you here for me?"

"Just get in the car," the woman sighed without looking up from her phone. "I'm tired of Watsons trying to flirt with me."

Harry shrugged at that and got in the car. It was worth a try. The ride was silent, not even the clicking of keys coming from the woman's phone. About 20 minutes later, the car stopped outside a trendy Greek restaurant. When the woman made no sound or move, Harry looked at her quizzically.

"Is this it?" she asked, indicating the restaurant out the window.

"Yes, it is. He's waiting. He doesn't like to be kept waiting," the woman said, glancing up from her phone to glare at Harry. She noted that the woman had very beautiful dark brown eyes before getting out of the car. Once inside the restaurant, she merely had to mention Mycroft's name before the staff started treating her with the utmost courtesy and ushered her to a small table in the back of the restaurant.

Mycroft rose as she approached though he didn't hold his hand out for her to shake. He indicated the chair opposite him and waited until Harry was seated before seating himself.

"Before you even ask, I'm completely on board with this plan," Harry said, wanting to get to the crux of the matter quickly. "Though it's going to have to be a good one. John can be very stubborn."

"As can Sherlock," Mycroft replied, inclining his head towards Harry. "I think the first step would be to get them on a date with each other."

"I may be wrong, but don't they already pretty much go on dates?" Harry asked. "I mean, John doesn't come out and say it, but he does say they often watch people from restaurants. Wouldn't that be considered a date?"

"Not in their minds," Mycroft corrected her. "And Sherlock will probably never see it as a date because they are doing it for a case."

"So what do you recommend? Sending a text or something to each of them from the other telling them to meet at a specific time and place?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"Essentially," Mycroft said, a small smile crossing his face when Harry looked at him incredulously. "I was thinking we will each convince our respective brother to come out for a meal and then meet at the restaurant. Then we will explain why we had them meet and then let them work it out for themselves."

"With supervision, of course," Harry said, nodding. "Because if it starts to go off course, we step in."

Mycroft nodded at her and the two spent the next hour planning how they were going to get their brothers together and where. Finally deciding on Angelo's as the perfect place, since Harry pointed out it was essentially their first date, Mycroft and Harry finished their dinner and went their separate ways. They both had a lot of work to do.

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"Sherlock, I have a case for you," Mycroft said, implementing his part of their plan.

"Boring," Sherlock replied, not even bothering to look up from his microscope. He was sitting on stool in the lab at St. Bart's trying to determine the spread of bacteria.

"If you take this case, I'll leave you alone for a month," Mycroft continued. He knew how much Sherlock resented his intercession in his private life and offering to stay out of it for a certain amount of time was the best way to get Sherlock interested.

"Six months," the detective immediately countered, switching slides.

"Two and I'm being generous," Mycroft said, getting ready to bargain hard for this.

"Four months and you take all the cameras out of the flat," Sherlock told him.

"Three and the cameras stay. They aren't in any private areas, after all," Mycroft countered. Sherlock grunted in assent and switched slides again. Happy with his victory, Mycroft slid a piece of paper with a date, time, and the restaurant printed on it.

"What's this?" Sherlock asked, interest finally rising.

"The case. I need you to be here on this date at this time," Mycroft replied. Sherlock nodded and pocketed the paper, going back to his microscope. Mycroft left, a smile crossing his face. He counted this as a win.

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"Harry, what do you want now?" John sighed into his phone. He didn't like getting calls from his sister since she was drunk often.

"I want to spend some time with you," Harry replied, stifling her giggles. "Why don't we have dinner sometime? My treat. I want to try that place, Angelo's, you mentioned on your blog."

"Fine, Harry," John replied. "What day is good for you?" Harry gave him the date and time she and Mycroft had set up. When John agreed, she thanked him and hung up the phone. As soon as she was sure he couldn't hear, Harry let out a yell of triumph. This was going to go so well.

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The night of the date arrived. John and Harry showed up at Angelo's about five minutes early, snagging a table near the window. Mycroft and Sherlock walked in at exactly eight o'clock, Sherlock staring suspiciously at John and Harry.

"Sherlock! What are you doing here?" John asked, waving his friend and Mycroft over. Harry had to take a sip of her water to hide her grin.

"Mycroft said he had a case for me," Sherlock said, turning to glare at his brother. "Really, Mycroft? A date?"

"Date? What?" John exclaimed, staring from Harry to Mycroft. "What the hell is going on here?"

Mycroft sat down, looking pointedly at Sherlock. He didn't speak until they were all seated and the waitress had dropped off more glasses of water.

"Harry and I set this up because we have all noticed something that you two either haven't or are willfully ignoring," Mycroft started. "You both are attracted to each other. This is a date for you two to realize it since our hints have done nothing."

"You can't just set me up on a date with my flatmate," John argued. He glared at Harry now, moving to rise.

"Just sit, John," Sherlock interrupted him. "One dinner isn't going to kill us and you know Mycroft won't leave us alone unless we do this."

John gaped at Sherlock but did indeed sit down. Harry and Mycroft explained all the reasons they believed the two men were attracted to each other: the intense stares, how they always were together, the way they fit into each other's lives. Sherlock listened with a passive face but a growing comprehension lighted John's face. Now that he was thinking about it, he had to admit that he did enjoy being in Sherlock's company. Most of his girlfriends fell far short of Sherlock and John wondered if Sherlock kept calling him back because he fancied John.

"Yes," Sherlock said suddenly, staring hard at John. He nodded when John turned to him with shocked eyes.

"Right, then," John said, a confident grin crossing his face. "Mycroft, Harry thank you for your help but your presence is no longer needed tonight."

"About time," Harry said, leaning over to give John a kiss on the cheek before getting up. She and Mycroft left, their plan a complete success.