BARTS LAB
It was inevitable that eventually she would ask the one question he'd been dreading.
"And how did you see me?"
Sherlock kept his gaze focussed on the sample he'd been viewing down the microscope. Only when he felt her hand on his shoulder did he give up the pretence. Sighing with resignation he turned to face her. "How much did Mary and John tell you?"
"Not much really," Molly admitted. "Only that it was certainly… imaginative," she added, unconsciously chewing on her lower lip.
The consulting detective briefly considered revealing only part of how she had manifested in his Mind Palace experiment. Except that lying to Molly Hooper was never an option, she could read him like a book. There really was no getting out of this.
Taking a deep breath, he finally admitted. "You were as you are here, a doctor that works in the mortuary, except…."
"But women weren't permitted to undertake such work at that time," Molly noted.
Sherlock sighed, of course Molly would know the history of women in the medical field.
"Hooper was a male…"
"You imagined me as a man!" Molly cried, seemingly outraged.
Annoyed that John and Mary had chosen not to give Molly the full details. They were so much better at this sort of thing. But then, Sherlock acknowledged to himself, that was precisely why they'd left it to him to explain. "I... I… I mean you masqueraded as a man so that you could work in the mortuary, " he found himself stammering.
Molly's expression instantly became curious. "So what type of man did I make?"
"An adorable one," came the reply that surprised them both.
"Does that mean you prefer me as a man?" Molly queried, curious as to how he would react.
"No!" Now it was Sherlock's turn to be outraged.
"Good," Molly replied with a laugh as she noted his horrified expression. "I'm prepared to do many things for you Sherlock Holmes, but changing gender isn't one of them"
"Thank God. I'm particularly fond of my pathologist as she is" he muttered under his breath.
At Molly's delighted gasp he realised she'd overheard him and a red tinge washed over his impossibly sharp cheekbones.
Busted!
With great daring Molly wrapped her arms around his neck, before resting her chin on his shoulder, and asking, a humorous twinkle in her eyes. "So how did 'Hooper and Holmes' get on?"
Sherlock felt a smile tugging at his lips as he remembered the antagonistic banter that had played out between the two, and the incident that had triggered his representing her in such a fashion.
"I believe," he said as he got to his feet, "that that is a discussion best left until after your shift. Come to Baker Street when you're finished."
As he put on his Belstaff and headed for the door, Molly called out. "I'll only come if you promise to give me a full description of how I looked and what I wore."
Sherlock strode back to where Molly stood. "Rest assured Molly, I intend to," he stated. Then with a devilish glint in his eye he bent down to press an all too brief kiss upon her startled lips. "Text me when you're on your way."
And with that he swept out of the lab, leaving Molly with an enormous grin on her face.