So, this fic is for my dearest and darling Stephanie, aka Icebabe59...who is having a bit of a rough day. She gave me a one word prompt...so I hope I do it justice.

Keep in mind, I own nothing. No souls, real or fictitious are mine, I am not the creator of these characters, only this story.

Enjoy!

Loyalty

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The new registrar had only been on for 48 hours, and already she had managed to wrap everyone around her little finger. The lithe blonde, with her winning smile and equally adoring charm, had been able to sweetly worm her way into the hearts of all those in St. Bart's hospital, apart from one.

"I don't care if she's surprisingly young for her chosen field, she's ruining my life!" Normally Molly wasn't one to be so harsh in her judgment of other people, but for the new addition to the team, Becky, well the small pathologist had nothing but disdain. She'd been arguing with the kinder side of herself in her head for the past two hours.

It had slowly become a problem working with Becky, everyone seeming to brush her requests aside in favour of the pretty blonde's. Then, the invitations to going out after work with the nurses stopped coming, Molly being not quite fast enough to catch up to them as they pulled Becky along by her beautiful and thin arms. The final straw, however, had been when encountering the one and only Sherlock Holmes.

Molly would have liked some consistency, would have been more than happy for once to see him cruelly tear down someone with his observations alone. However, she hadn't, couldn't expect the reaction that he gave instead.

Smiling.

"I thought, maybe sometime, you'd like to go get something to drink with me?" Becky asked sweetly, her perfect teeth shining from behind perfectly plump lips, ones that obviously appealed to the man more than her 'small mouth', because he responded quite quickly.

"I'd love it. How about tonight?" The question was followed up by that smile again.

Genuine smiles, something that she had never seen on the man before. She was so certain she could count on at least him to stand by her side, but when she watched the two of them interact, it seemed less than likely that she would win in any sort of battle for souls when up against Becky.

So now, she sat on the ledge of the roof of St. Bart's Hospital. Oh, she hadn't reached a point of desperation, but the cool air and quiet of the night gave her wonderful conditions to think. Molly breathed in, the cold air biting gently at her nostrils and windpipe.

She hadn't even noticed that she started crying, the air too chilly against her skin. She didn't notice when the droplets picked up speed, and didn't even notice when they hit her folded hands that lay on her lap below. However, she did notice the presence of someone behind her, silent though they were.

"Hello, Sherlock," Molly muttered softly. The sound of shoes scuffing against the gravel of the rooftop sounded, reaching her ears sooner as he approached her slowly.

"Molly...what brings you to the roof this frigid evening?" Sherlock asked carefully, before making his way to sit beside her. A dry chuckle came from deep in her throat, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Just wanted some space to think. I hardly thought anyone would notice me slip out."

"I always notice." Molly looked up at his words, finding that Sherlock was sitting close at her side, his eyes bore into hers immediately. She swallowed a bit of her nerves down, before warily proceeding with her question.

"And what did you notice this time?"

"That you are jealous of Becky. Ridiculous really, considering what a slip of a woman she is." Molly gazed at him with a confused stare, and Sherlock simply looked out over the city, before his eyes went down to the street below them. Molly's followed, and caught sight of the several police vehicles that lined the street in front of the building's entrance.

"Oh my! What's going on down there?" Molly asked curiously.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just Lestrade and his sniffer dogs coming to arrest a common thief of medicine. You know, considering she was going to do this from the start, you would think the idiotic woman would have picked some position in the hospital closer than 'morgue attendant'. Honestly, the criminal class is losing its edge; I find it incredibly disappointing." Sherlock let out a sigh as he ended his rant, before casually meeting his eyes with hers. Molly's however, were wide as saucers, and she began throwing her glance back and forth between him and the street below, where the top of a blonde head of hair could be seen being forced into the back of a vehicle.

"But...but she..."

"She," Sherlock cut her off, "was a case, Molly. Nothing more. You honestly still don't see it, do you?" Sherlock noticed how the small woman was no longer looking at him, afraid to hear the words he needed to say to her, yet again. So, he slowly brought her face up with his thumb and forefinger, softly forcing her to look at him.

"You are entirely too important to my work, Molly Hooper. I only associate and work with the best, and that will always, always, be you." He leaned in, placing a light kiss against her cheekbone. The running endearment brought a smile to her face, and her eyes started to tear up again. Sherlock hardly moved as he felt her lean against him, apart from moving his arm to rest around her, holding her to him.

"Honestly, what on earth made you think I'd be interested in a blonde?" He sounded affronted, causing Molly to giggle.

"You think Mary is interesting," she argued.

"Yes, well... Mary is also a former assassin who shot me in the chest and married my best friend, so I think she's already leagues ahead of any common criminal in the way of being 'interesting'." Molly chuckled again, shaking her head against his shoulder as he joined her in the peals of laughter. He stopped moments later, leaning over to whisper to her,

"Besides, I find myself more attracted to the brunette variety of intelligent women."

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Ta-Da! Something short and sweet for my short and sweet friend! :) I hope you liked it, darling...as is the case with the rest of you lovely readers! Let me know what you thought of it! Thank you so much for reading, and I will see you all next time!