A New Discovery

Okay, this is my first fic. May not be the best in the world, but still hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sherlock or any of the characters (except for Audrey Martin). They belong to the amazing creators, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. I am most definitely not that brilliant.**

Chapter One

Sherlock was never one for love. He was too busy for that. He had claimed on many occasions as "married to his work", which was completely believable. When not working on a case, Sherlock would lie around in his flat and put the occasional bullet hole in the wall, saying he was "bored". Meeting girls, better yet, socializing, was never considered enjoyable as far as Sherlock was concerned.

Even through in his teenage years, pursuing women never struck Sherlock's fancy, and therefore, he never had a girlfriend. Sure, Mycroft would tease him about it, but Sherlock simply shrugged it off as irrelevant.

That attitude never changed, even as he went off to college, and later started working. That was, however, until a girl named Audrey Martin came along.

Sherlock peered through his microscope at a specimen he was studying for a case. He took his eyes away and looked down at his watch. 8:30 PM. He had been at Bart's all day, but hadn't found any leads. It was frustrating, and he was not used to being frustrated.

"Would you, um, like a coffee?" A high-pitched voice interrupted his thoughts. He glanced to his right to see Molly, who also looked exhausted.

"Black, two sugars, please." He replied in a bored tone, looking back into his microscope. Maybe coffee would help him think-the two nicotine patches on his left arm didn't seem to be doing the trick.

In his peripheral vision he saw Molly hurry out of the room to the cafeteria. She was always so willing to do things for him, and he knew exactly why. Even if she tried to hide it, Molly was head-over-heels for him-the lipstick scenario, as well as many other incidents, were telltale signs of that.

She was one of the easiest people to read-her face gave away her emotions like an open book. That's how he got her to do all of those things for him. He would flirt with her to the best of his ability, she would give in, and he would get what he wanted. But it wasn't real, though. Sherlock knew without a doubt that he could never like Molly that way. He was, as he had made clear to John on a previous occasion, married to his work. Yes, he did know about love, which most people failed to believe. But to him, work was too important to him to busy himself fussing over women, as John did frequently. But Sherlock guessed that was just one thing that made him different from everyone else-the lack of interest in love. He also never expected that to change.

At that moment, Molly walked into the room, holding two mugs in her hands. Sherlock held out his hand expectantly, not taking his eyes off the microscope, until he felt his hands close around the warm handle. He said nothing, and Molly walked over to her table and perched on a stool.

"S-so, just thought you should know that a few of my cousins and I are going to France for two weeks. We're leaving tomorrow."

Without looking up, Sherlock replied, "Fine, fine, I am sure I can manage here."

"Well, a-actually, I've got an intern coming to work. I spoke with her on the phone."

Sherlock looked up at her. "Oh. Alright, then." He was surprised. He could handle everything by himself-alone protects him, after all. After thinking for a moment, he supposed that having someone there to assist him wouldn't be all bad.

Molly then stood up, grabbing her coat and her bag.

"Guess I'll see you in a couple weeks."

Sherlock just simply nodded. She walked out of the door. He realized he didn't wish her a good trip, but she was too far out of earshot by now. He then wondered about the new intern. Will she be anything like Molly? He supposed he will just have to wait and see...

Author's note: Well, that's the end of Chapter One. Hope you liked it! More to come! :) -NPtL