A few thoughts about a Mycroftian trope: 

Would Mycroft ever have kidnapped Greg Lestrade? 

 (Sherlock Meta by theopoiesis)

Mycroft. He kidnaps everybody. Snags people off the street, makes veiled (and not so veiled) threats, sends messages via ATM. He’s creepy and Orwellian and more powerful than most people probably understand.

I’ve read a fair few fics where Mycroft kidnaps Greg the first time he meets him. Here’s the thing: I don’t think he would.

I suspect that how Mycroft “meets” Sherlock’s associates is context-sensitive. Mycroft threatened, kidnapped, and attempted to bribe John to see how he would react. He wanted to know what kind of man John is, see what John would do, because John was going to be constantly in Sherlock’s company. Sherlock’s asking John if Mycroft had offered him money means he has probably done it before, with others who might have been thinking of rooming with Sherlock. Considering Mycroft’s position and Sherlock’s general attitude, Mycroft has probably done this with anyone who has tried to share rooms with his brother.

In such cases, it makes a twisted sort of sense. Anyone around Sherlock would have to be able to deal with weird things, with the unexpected, with threats and mysteries. Mycroft has always known this. If someone about to share a flat with Sherlock couldn’t handle a little creepy intimidation from Big Brother, there is no way they’d be able to cope with eyeballs in the microwave and severed heads in the fridge.

Talking to John via ATM after John had proven himself was, I suspect, as much Mycroft’s sense of humor as anything else, but people are watching John and Mycroft may not always want someone to know details. Anyone could be listening in to John’s mobile. Hacking the ATM would certainly allow for private communications.

My question is, would Mycroft ever have kidnapped Greg Lestrade? I don’t think so, and this is why:

I believe Mycroft would take Greg’s position as a police officer into consideration. He would approach Greg differently. You don’t just snag a cop off the street. You don’t threaten a cop. Someone like Greg would respond to a show of authority and to a request for a meeting to discuss Sherlock, considering that it has to do with his work. He’d probably expect questions from his supervisors or other higher-ups. Mycroft might have collected him in one of his black cars, but I don’t think any threats, veiled or otherwise, would have been used. There might have been some talk of Sherlock being under government surveillance and a request for Greg to cooperate. Mycroft may even have scheduled an appointment with Greg at NSY early on, for all we know.

The use of intimidation, threats, and bribery would put someone like Greg off entirely. Mycroft doesn’t need to know whether or not Greg is brave or reasonably loyal, because the man goes out to work every day in situations where someone might kill him. It’s what he does. Bribery would most likely result in an extremely negative reaction - not just a “shove your money up your ass” response but going to his superiors and reporting an attempt at bribing a police officer, which is pretty serious stuff.

To offer Greg a bribe would be to imply that he’s a bent cop, and I can’t see him responding to that in anything but the most negative manner possible. Threatening him would leave him ready to fight, and to bring his people in on it. It would attract far more attention than Mycroft would want. These things would shine light into the dark corners where Mycroft conducts most of his business. It would cause overreactions where a simple phone call or a quiet meeting would actually produce results.

Mycroft would know that. He’s a subtle manipulator, and he knows which tools to use with which people, and under what circumstances. Bribing a police officer would not be politic, and I’m sure he’d be aware if Greg had ever been susceptible to such things. Greg’s record would be easily available to him, and he would certainly have looked it up.

Add to that the fact that Greg is a professional contact, not a potential flatmate. He’d see Sherlock, but he wouldn’t be spending every day with him. He wouldn’t be living under the same roof. He wouldn’t have cause to be in nearly as close contact with Sherlock on a regular basis, and therefore would be a lower priority on Mycroft’s radar.

Mycroft might have kidnapped most of Sherlock’s potential flatmates, but I don’t think he’s ever had reason to do it to Greg.