Lestrade regarded his visitor with a wary eye. Mycroft Holmes sipped his tea (fetched by a trembling rookie) and returned the DI's stare.

"Have you considered my offer?"

In reply, Lestrade glanced at the text that Sherlock had sent him at some ungodly hour of the morning.

Dealing with Mycroft. He will ask you for help. Say no and I'll take care of a filling cabinet's worth of cold cases for you. Say yes and I won't help with any cases for a month.

-SH

The offer was simply too good to refuse. No amount of government perks were worth the amount of headaches that the consulting detective's assistance would alleviate. (Or the amount that his refusal to cooperate would cause.)

Putting on his most diplomatic smile, Lestrade faced the elder Holmes. "Though I do appreciate the opportunity, I must decline the offer." Another smile, one that a bystander might mistake for friendliness. "You see, I've got ever so much paperwork to do. Perkins-" He gestured to the coffee-bearing recruit- "Perkins, please show our guest the door."

Perkins is halfway down the corridor before Mycroft turns half the weight of his gaze upon the poor boy- probably not two weeks out of training- and that's enough to send him scurrying down the hall with a hasty "I' haveaniceday." He promptly vanishes into a nearby office, no doubt to regale them with stories of the Really Frightening Minor Government Official Who Probably Isn't All That Minor And May Have Something To Do With Sherlock.