Mycroft Holmes loved to read. He didn't let on that he loved to read to many, but the few that knew him well understood that about him. Molly Hooper was one of those people. After the Fall, in which Sherlock Holmes faked his suicide & Molly aided him in doing it, Molly began to feel sorry for the elder Holmes brother. John Watson said it was a silly thought. He didn't need pity. He needed to be slapped. It was his fault, after all. Despite the doctor's insistence that her good heart was clouding her sharp mind, Molly continued to spend time with Mycroft. Nothing romantic, hardly friends, but time. Time, which until Molly had entered his life, Mycroft very much took for granted. The young pathologist was teaching him to be patient of others. To be a touch more open minded. To be, truth known, sentimental.
Now, since Molly was the only one alive that knew that Sherlock was, well, alive, it was proving quite a challenge not to spill the beans & let the obviously hurting Mycroft in on the secret. Her good heart was soon going to outweigh her loyalty to the not-so-dead-Holmes, & since she hadn't heard anything from him in a few months, she was verging on desperate to relieve Mycroft. He hurt, badly. He was wounded, & only Molly could see it. And what bothered her most, was that she was the one that held the key to his emotional reprieve.
Molly was of such a kind sort that the fact that she could help another but couldn't was tearing her to pieces.
Dilemma of the most troublesome kind.
So what would happen if Sherlock returned? He would, eventually. Molly played the scene in her mind:
"But he was so upset, Sherlock."
"You betrayed my trust. My loyalty. I cannot believe it, Molly Hooper. I thought that we were friends...I believed that you cared about me."
"But I do! You know I do...but Mycroft...he was so..."
"Don't hand me that. Mycroft Holmes? Upset? You don't know him. Not the way I do."
"A touch better, I think."
And with that, he'd leave, & Molly would be alone again in her flat. And the image was so real, it was nearly burned in her eyelids. Sherlock angry & upset with her. Dammit. What was she supposed to do? Wait forever?
