A/N: I was thinking about Sherlock the other day (as you do) and wondered what would have happened if Molly hadn't answered the phone and this is my answer. Not quite how I intended, but hope you enjoy it anyway :) I took the title from the Proclaimers' song "Make My Heart Fly".
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Stay (And Make My Heart Fly)
"Okay, okay. Just one more time."
"Come on, Molly, pick up. Just bloody pick up."
She didn't.
Mycroft, John and Sherlock flinched as a large explosion suddenly filled the screen.
Sherlock barely registered the shocked reactions of his companions as he stared at the static that only moments before had shown Molly making tea in her kitchen.
She was gone.
"So many days not lived, so many words unsaid."
Eurus's words came back to haunt him as he swallowed thickly, still staring at the screen. He blinked as it was suddenly filled with his sister's face.
"Well, that was a little unexpected," she commented idly, "if only she'd answered her phone." She paused, "Still, onwards and upwards," she added brightly, "shall we continue?"
A door slid open, Mycroft regarded it warily but John continued to watch Sherlock carefully.
Slowly, Sherlock turned away from the screen and walked towards the back of the room.
"Sherlock?" Eurus prompted.
He ignored her as he came to a stop in front of the coffin lid, staring at the words engraved on the small plaque.
"Now, please, pull yourself together," Eurus ordered, her brow furrowing as he continued to ignore her. "All those complicated little emotions. I lost count," she continued with a hint of exasperation in her tone, "emotional context, Sherlock. It destroys you every time."
Eurus pursed her lips as he continued to ignore her, he reached out and gently traced the words on the lid. "Why?" he croaked out finally.
"'Why' what, Sherlock? Do be more specific," Eurus answered in a mocking tone.
"Why Molly?" he clarified, turning to face her once more.
John almost gasped at the raw emotion on his friend's face, but Mycroft and Eurus appeared unmoved.
"I was curious," Eurus replied with a small shrug, "you're so particular about who you allow in your life. I wanted to know what made her so special." She made a dismissive gesture, "I couldn't see anything remarkable about her and neither could Jim."
Sherlock's lips curled back in a silent snarl as he turned his back on the screen once more and, for the first time since the explosion, John tore his gaze from Sherlock to glare up at the screen.
"Molly Hooper was the kindest, sweetest...warmest person I have ever known," John spat angrily, "no wonder you don't understand her, how could you? She was everything you so clearly are not."
For a brief moment, Eurus looked almost stung by his words, but that faded quickly as she smiled. "Yes," she said softly, "but now she's dead."
Mycroft and John jumped as Sherlock suddenly swung around with the coffin lid, smashing it violently against the edge of the coffin. Even Eurus looked concerned as he continued to destroy the coffin with a desperation bordering on madness.
"Sherlock? Sherlock, pull yourself together," she ordered, a small note of pleading creeping into her tone.
John moved to intervene, but Mycroft caught his arm and held him back with surprising strength. "Leave him," he counselled at John's questioning look.
Silently, they watched as Sherlock reduced the coffin to a pile of splintered wood and torn linen. John and Mycroft both started as Sherlock suddenly threw his head back and let out an anguished scream.
Staggering back to the wall, Sherlock sank to the ground and covered his face with his hands. John blinked in surprise as Sherlock made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob.
"Are you finished?" Eurus asked, sounding a little bored and breaking the silence that had descended.
Sherlock took a deep, heaving breath before looking up at her with a tear stained face. "Not quite," he told her steadily, getting to his feet and scooping up the previously abandoned pistol.
"I think it's time we finished this once and for all, don't you sister dear?" he asked in a mocking tone as he cocked the pistol under his chin.
"Sherlock-" John began, but stopped as Mycroft tightened his hold on him.
"She won't let him die," Mycroft told him in an under tone.
"You don't know that," John hissed.
Mycroft raised an eyebrow, "She's my sister, give me some credit," he replied sardonically.
"What are you doing?" Eurus demanded, looking concerned for the first time.
"No more unnecessary deaths," Sherlock replied calmly, "I'm finishing this. Ten…"
Eurus looked almost panicked, "No, no, Sherlock!"
Sherlock looked unconcerned as he continued counting in a low, emotionless tone: "…Nine…eight…"
"You can't!"
"Seven…"
"You don't know about Redbeard yet."
John glanced at Mycroft as he felt the other man stiffen.
"Six…"
"Sherlock!"
John blinked at Eurus's rising panic as Sherlock continued to calmly count down, "You can't!" Eurus repeated as something whistled through the air.
John let out the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding as he watched Sherlock pause in his counting to pull a dart from his neck. His relief didn't last for long, as he felt a sting in the back of his own neck and everything went black.