AN: This is the beginning of a longer story. I decided to publish this ahead of the rest because it is taking me a bit longer to finish it. I tried not to use quite as many medical terms this time. But as always I'm a pathologist so it's hard for me to recognize terms that aren't necessarily common for non-medical people. If there is anything that isn't quite clear please PM me. Rated M for the anticipation of smut in future chapters. Also, Jim doesn't directly appear in this first chapter. I wanted to build it up a bit. Feedback is always appreciated!


Molly sighed as she checked her email for the hundredth time that day. It had been slow in the morgue. Only one case and it was decidedly not interesting. Her heart leapt a little when she saw the email. She nervously opened it and read it quickly. She had been invited to talk at a course at a pathology conference. She had done some teaching at the medical school, but nothing on this scale and certainly nothing where other pathologists would be paying to hear her speak. The topic she had proposed was the pitfalls of forensic pathology. She felt quite delirious with excitement. Her department would pay for her accommodations and travel. Plus it was a huge honor to run a course.

Her phone pinged and her heart stopped a little. Jim had been texting her on and off for the past couple of months. He hadn't stopped by to see her in person as far as she was aware, but that hadn't stopped him from reminding her of her soft spot for him. Her hands dug through her white coat pockets as she fished out her phone. "Congrats, Molls. Knew you could do it. xx JM" read her text. She quickly buried her phone into her pockets blushing furiously. She never responded to them of course. Except once when he teased her about what she was wearing that day. Molly didn't know what she was more irritated by, the fact that he felt the need to comment on her wardrobe or the fact that he wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was watching her. She decided to get back at him by texting Sherlock the good news. Of course he'd never respond, but she was sure Jim was tracking her messages. About a half hour later, her phone pinged again with a new message: "Tsk tsk Molly. Trying to make me jealous? You know better than that. xx JM" She sighed as she tried to focus on her work.

Over the course of the past few months, Molly had been working feverishly on her presentation for her course. She couldn't wait for the conference. It would be a nice break from her usual routine of autopsies and procuring organs for Sherlock. Sherlock did seem a bit irritated that he would have to deal with the other pathologists while she was gone. Molly was slightly pleased at the idea though. Maybe he would appreciate her more when she came back, she thought to herself. The thing that bothered her most was that she hadn't heard from Jim since she found out she would be presenting. Molly felt so conflicted. On one hand it was a bit of a relief to not have to field all of those texts, but on the other hand what if Jim was hurt? That's the option that bothered her the most and what troubled her the most as well. She couldn't afford to fall in love with the world's only consulting criminal especially when he had tried to kill Sherlock. Molly had dated enough to realize he wasn't going to change either. The part that shook her to her core was she wasn't sure if she cared. Molly was jolted back to reality by her phone buzzing in her pocket with a text from Sherlock bothering her about not being around in the conference. Molly sighed as she crinkled her forehead trying to finish up the rest of her presentation.

The rest of the week passed fairly uneventfully. Packing had been a slight chore on Friday night, but was facilitated by a glass of wine. Molly made a phone call to John to make sure he could watch Toby. She curled up in bed with Toby and a book about the cholera epidemic in London. As she drifted off to sleep, she felt a shiver go down her spine as she felt that someone was watching her. It was probably nothing she reassured herself. In the morning, Molly noticed her purse was on a different side of the room. She wasn't quite sure what that meant or if she had moved it and forgotten. Either way, she was running late for her flight. She kissed Toby as she locked up her flat and lugged her suitcase down her stairs.

The flight and trip to her hotel was uneventful. The hotel was in an older building, but had all the modern finishes. She particularly liked the large king size bed where she could sprawl out without Toby kicking her in the face. Molly texted back and forth with Sherlock trying to find out any details about what was going on in the morgue. Afterwards she decided to go out to dinner with some friends from her old pathology training program. When she was walking back to her hotel, Molly felt the sensation of being watched again. She scanned the street, but it was so enveloped in darkness that the dim glow from the street lamps was no help. For a minute she thought she caught a glimpse of Jim leaning against a light pole. But when she approached the light she realized no one was there. Perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her. Molly made it safely back to her hotel room. When she walked in, she noticed her suitcase had been moved. Molly toyed with the idea that Jim had followed her to the conference, but decided that was a silly idea. He hadn't talked to her in months. It was obvious he had lost interest.

Molly stayed up all night practicing her presentation. She even caved and tried practicing it in front of Sherlock over skype, but he just ended up making her feel worse. Inevitably, her thoughts drifted to Jim as they always did when she was alone and feeling particularly lonely. Deep down she had hoped that Jim would have contacted her. Maybe he would have let her practice her talk without mocking her. Molly decided to go to bed early that night, but had a fitful sleep. It was constantly filled with nightmares and anxiety over her lecture. Thankfully her lecture was in the morning so she could enjoy the rest of the day. It went well with the exception of a few people asking some fairly stupid questions about things she had already gone over. After the presentation she fielded the endless small talk with people she knew she should network with but was too exhausted to care about. Molly felt relieved when she was able to sneak out to get lunch. She savored the moments alone when she was at conferences. Sometimes it helped to have some time to think about things.