Work Text:
Anthea knew it was slightly worrying to have a boss who asked about your love life. It was far more worrying to have one who didn't need to.
"Sarah Sawyer's been on your watch list for the past six months, since her relationship with John Watson ended," Mycroft commented, smiling benevolently. "You've now received 138 reports on her. Including three containing...adult material."
"I didn't watch the videos," Anthea replied, almost casually. "No security issues, no need to."
"It took you an average of 8.4 minutes to decide not to watch the clips. You spend 5.2 minutes longer looking at reports on Sarah than on comparable women. The eye-tracking software shows-"
"A pattern of repeatedly re-reading certain passages of the reports on her. I thought I'd bypassed that system."
"There's a new version," Mycroft replied. "Which also includes measurements of pupil dilation in the viewer. An inaccurate tool, of course, but combined with other indications it is...suggestive."
"Yes, I've been thinking about her. But there's no way forward."
"There's no-one serious in her life."
"I haven't been in contact for nearly ten years. She might not be interested."
"She could perhaps be persuaded."
"I don't want Sarah bribed or blackmailed."
"Of course not," Mycroft said. "But my door is always open if you need help concocting your backstory."