'Molly.'
The familiar baritone sounded far away.
'Molly Hooper, wake up. I need to speak with you.'
Slowly she came back to herself, her entire body molded to her bed, exhaustion still very much present in her bones. Face down, she turned her head to the side.
'Mmphf,' she grunted, knowing full well who the insensitive git was that interrupted her rest. 'Whadyawan?'
'As I said, I need to speak with you. I have put the kettle on, even though I am a guest,' his demand for her to make him tea was less than subtle. If she had the energy, she'd give him what-for. 'It would be convenient if you would hasten to join me in the living room, as there is much to discuss.'
Too tired to be indignant about his high-handed ways, Molly merely quirked an eyebrow, her eyes still closed.
''msleepin,' she mumbled and turned her head away, praying that he'd leave.
'From speaking with Mike Stamford, you arrived home more than twelve hours ago. I assume you have been sleeping since then, therefore you have had sufficient rest.' She heard him move about the room. Suddenly, with a grand swish, bright light filled the room.
'Sweet baby Je- Sherlock!' She sat up, blinking frantically.
The despicable man stood, hands behind his back, by the offending window, smirking at her. Exhausted and angry that her sleep had been interrupted, she hurled her pillow at him. He easily dodged it, but underestimated her as the book from her nightstand smacked him square in the jaw.
Rubbing his stinging chin, he huffed, 'Honestly, Doctor Hooper. That is no way to treat a guest.'
'You're not a guest, you're a pestilence and quite honestly number 1 on my hit list,' she growled, throwing the covers back and standing up.
As soon as the cold air hit her bare legs, she realized she was halfway to naked in front of Sherlock Holmes, her bra and knickers affording her some semblance of modesty. Her clothes lay in a heap from where she had shed them before crawling into hibernation. With a loud shriek, she lunged over and pulled the entire comforter from her bed, holding it high on her chest as her entire body flushed hot.
They stood in silence, Molly utterly humiliated and looking at anything except Sherlock, who was staring unabashedly at her now-covered body. When several minutes passed, Molly shuffled her feet in impatience.
Sherlock jerked out of his daze, a befuddled look on his face. Whirling about, he strode from the room, leaving an embarrassed Molly in his wake. She relaxed immediately in relief. Sherlock stuck his head back in the room suddenly. She gasped and gathered more of the comforter about her body.
He smirked, arrogance back in full force.
'I'm still waiting for my tea.'
His chuckle was answered with the sound of another book hitting the door.
Dressed in yoga pants and a comfy tunic, Molly wordlessly handed Sherlock his cup of tea, resisting the urge to pour it over his swollen head. She sat in the opposite chair with a huff, not even trying to hide her annoyance with the Consulting Detective.
'So, Sherlock,' she asked, 'what is so bloody important that you had to wake me up from the first good rest I've had in three days?'
'You.'
Sputtering around her tea, she coughed and blinked in surprise, 'Pardon?'
He rolled his eyes, 'You were not at the morgue when I arrived yesterday. However, you were scheduled to be there. Mike Stamford informed me of your unexpected 3-day shift and that you were given the next five days off,' he sneered, as though her absence would cause the rise of the criminal world.
'So? If there was anything you needed that was case-related, Doctor Klaus would have assisted you. Unless you wanted to nick some body parts,' she smirked knowingly.
His nose wrinkled in derision, 'That man does not… agree with me on procedure. It is far more work to accommodate his rules than yours.'
Molly giggled, 'That's only because you cannot flirt convincingly with a man.'
Sherlock stared at her hard, 'I do not flirt with anyone, man or woman.'
'Yes, you do,' she pointed her finger at him accusingly, 'Why do you think I caved in to your demands for six years? You widen those beautiful eyes at me, pretend to absentmindedly ruffle your hair, and say something complimentary and I basically give you control over the morgue and lab.'
'I-I do not ruffle my hair,' he sputtered indignantly.
Molly rolled her eyes, ignoring his denial. 'Nevertheless, you have a tendency to use your appearance and sexuality to your advantage, especially around me, considering I give you bodies,' she blushed, 'I mean, body parts, dead body parts, for experiments…' She trailed off, timid Molly rising up again. She'd been doing quite well in being confident and strong around the man she loved, putting aside her stuttering and stumbling to be his friend.
'Fine,' he spat, pouting at being labeled a flirt. 'I flirt to get my way. But you, Molly Hooper, are worse.'
'Me? How?' she asked incredulously.
He pointed a finger at her, much like she had done before. 'You give in to it. You know it's fake, yet you have always given in to my requests.'
'Demands,' she corrected through clenched teeth. Suddenly, the conversation had taken a turn from teasing to something deeper.
'So, who is worse? The person who is flirting to get his way or the woman who doesn't have enough spine to say 'no'?'
When the silence fell heavy between them and furious tears formed in Molly's eyes as she lowered her head, Sherlock knew he had gone too far. Bracing himself for her inevitable sobbing, he grimaced.
'You're right,' she whispered.
Sherlock blinked in surprise. 'What?'
Molly raised her head, the tears gone and an inscrutable expression on her face. 'I said, you're right. I didn't have enough spine to say no to you. I was so damn in love with you, any form of attention was enough,' she laughed ruefully.
In love? Sherlock stared in shock as she stood and took her cup into the kitchen. He stood to follow her and opened his mouth to speak, but a knock at the door interrupted the tension between them. Molly did not even spare him a glance as she strode over to the door and opened it.
A tall man stood on the landing, his smiling face already setting Sherlock's teeth on edge.
'Justin!' Molly exclaimed, happy to see someone genuinely nice for a change.
The other man, Justin, Sherlock thought with a sneer, grinned wider and shifted his motorcycle helmet to his other side, extending his hand toward Molly.
'I didn't get a chance to properly introduce myself the other day,' he laughed, 'and I heard voices as I passed by and didn't want to miss an opportunity. Justin Lane, at your service.'
Molly giggled and shook his hand, a blush rising in her cheeks. Sherlock grew agitated at the stranger, office worker; architect by the smudges on the side of his hand, American, he visibly grimaced at the accent, recently moved in as the flat above has been vacant up until now, single and flirting with my pathologist.
'I hope I'm not interrupting,' Justin asked, his gaze sliding past Molly to Sherlock.
Molly turned around, having nearly forgotten about Sherlock, 'Oh, right, sorry. No, not interrupting. Justin, this is my… colleague, Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock, this is my new neighbor, Justin.'
Irritation and a sense of (was that hurt) rose in Sherlock at being labeled a colleague. Not one to show any emotion, he stalked over to the two and shook the stranger's hand firmly, a little too firmly based on the flash of pain across Justin's face. 'Nice to meet you, Sherlock.'
Sherlock narrowed his eyes in reply.
Justin took back his hand, rubbing it absentmindedly as he turned back to Molly, a hopeful smile on his face. 'Colleague, eh? So, does that mean you're free for dinner this evening?'
'She'll be busy assisting me,' Sherlock interjected in Molly's surprised silence.
'What? N-no, I'm won't! I'm not!' She frowned at him and turned to smile at Justin. 'I'm more than free and would love to join you.'
Sherlock felt a beast inside him roar to life at being summarily dismissed as Molly made plans to show Justin a few London sights. When Justin bid them farewell, Molly shut the door behind him with a happy sigh, forgetting that Sherlock was standing beside her.
'I thought I told you to avoid relationships,' his voice harshly popped her happy little bubble.
With a groan, she whirled about and stomped to the sofa, plopping down in aggravation. 'It's not a relationship, Sherlock. It's dinner with a new neighbor, someone who may become a friend.'
'Friend?' Sherlock snorted in disbelief, 'Did you not observe the way he flirted with you, undressing you with his American eyes?'
In bemusement, Molly watched as Sherlock paced in agitation. 'The only thing that man wants with you is to knock you over the head with a bat, toss you over his shoulder, and carry you back to his American cave to have his way with you.'
The sound of muffled snorts halted his pacing and he turned toward the sofa to see Molly doubled over, desperately trying to hold in her laughter.
She wheezed, tears of mirth pooling in her eyes. Unable to speak, she gave in to the raucous laughter at his expense. Ruffled and offended, Sherlock narrowed his eyes as he waited for her to regain control of her mirth.
Several minutes passed before she had calmed down. Sherlock glared at her, wordlessly demanding an apology. Molly narrowed her eyes in mock seriousness and raised her chin in defiance, her lips trembling with a threatening smile.
'I stand by what I said,' Sherlock finally broke their standoff. 'He is only interested in 'getting into your knickers'.'
Resisting the undeniable urge to fall into laughter again, Molly swallowed hard and composed herself to appear resigned, staring straight at Sherlock's smug face.
'That may be true,' she admitted with a sigh. She had seen the appreciation in Justin's gaze and it made her feel womanly, something she had not felt in a long time. She stood up wearily, opening the door and gesturing for Sherlock to leave. Begrudgingly, he knew he had well over-stayed his welcome and left her flat, though he turned around to have the last word.
Unfortunately for him, Molly beat him to it. With a wicked smile, she whispered seductively, 'And if it is, he's going to be very successful.'
With triumph in her eyes, she slammed the door on a stunned Consulting Detective.
