It was the thumb grazing across his hand that really just put the final nail in the coffin for Mycroft. It was this sort of ... casual intimacy that he had never experienced. Someone who simply could comfort with a touch of their hand. He looked down at their hands together, then calmly flipped over the pages and signed his name with a slight flourish.

Then he looked back at Gregory, with all due seriousness. "If your ex-wife interferes with the running of the Government with her petty jealousies and machinations, then I want you to be prepared for the thunder that will come down. She will be censored, and silenced, as needed." He paused, realized how that sounded, and added quickly, "That does not mean assassinated. More like ... increasing legal injunctions on all parts of her life. I do not suffer fools, and I certainly won't suffer one who is going to hurt you, her own daughter, and the running of this country just so she can get 'one up' on me for daring to care about you."

He sighed, "Anything domestic, I leave in your capable hands. You lead, and I shall follow your example."