Continuation of "Scattered Scenes" by Camille
Scattered Scenes from pretend Episode Three, Series Five.
Nearly six months later...
The newest case again brings Moriarty front and center. Dead and gone, but somehow, continues to be revived whenever an aspiring villain makes progress. The latest is a string of crimes, including some murders related to Moriarty. The perpetrator seems to be researching Jim's life and taking out random people associated with him. So... in all honesty, no one is certain if the perpetrator is a fan or a fore of the late-Jim Moriarty.
Sherlock is at John's place, impatiently waiting for him to get ready. They are to see Lestrade about their latest case. Sherlock briefly looks at the nanny tending to the 'now walking' Rosie.
He bellows, "John! We aren't going to the ball," he says as he taps on his hat.
"One more minute!" replies John from the bedroom.
Sherlock notices how happy Rosamund is with her somewhat new nanny. As he pulls his eyes away, he shouts, "Come on, John!" and notices them... a string of a dozen or so perfectly aligned postcards on the side table from various places in the world - mostly Southeast Asia. Curiosity gets the better of him and so he flips each one to read its contents. "Molly," he thinks. "She is in Hanoi? This is from over two months ago." He flips another and another to see which the last postcard was (and from where).
It had been nearly six months since Sherlock last saw Molly. Out-of-sight but not at all out-of-mind. He must have replayed in his mind their last few exchanges a million times, trying to analyze exactly where he changed, his feelings changed. He also replayed, "I'm happy, Sherlock." as a way to keep him from acting on his... whatever it is that's caught him in a state of limbo.
Still flipping through the postcards, he hears his partner-in-crime walk into the room.
"Ready," says John as he enters the space, but notices Sherlock now taking up the whole settee with postcards spread out. "Sherlock!" he protests.
The nanny decides it is best to take Rosie back to her room and so John intercepts and gives his daughter a kiss on the forehead, "Daddy will be back in a few."
"Where is the last one?" Sherlock asks.
"What?" asks John as he walks over to the table and wears his wristwatch.
"The last postcard from Molly Hooper is from over two months ago, from Hanoi. There's nothing since then," he rapidly flips each of the postcards again.
"Well, she did say..." John walks and grabs the postcard from Hanoi and reads it. "Hello John and Rosie. In Hanoi like the postcard reads. If I haven't yet mentioned, this is an amazing part of the world. The people are wonderful! To think I was happy in the company of dead people... Anyway, off on the road again. Might not be connected for a few. Kisses and waves, MH."
"That was over two months ago," says Sherlock. "Have you heard from her since?"
"I don't know," John tries to think. "...I think she texted once a couple of weeks ago to say she is safe."
"You think?"
"She is fine, Sherlock. I thought you were in a hurry to get to St. Bart's to meet Lestrade?" He looks at his watch. "We are definitely late now."
An hour later…
Sherlock, John, Lestrade, and... Mycroft are in the morgue listening and watching as the new specialist registrar explains the way in which the victim was murdered.
"So as you can see from the bruising on here," she points at the top of the victim's head, "a gash to the left frontal lobe is what did it."
Sherlock, distracted, looks to his side at Mycroft. "Tell me again why you're here?"
Mycroft uncrosses his arms and explains with a bit of an eye roll, "If Moriarty is involved, I need to be involved, little brother."
Sherlock refocuses on the dead body and then looks up at the specialist. "Thank you, Ms. …" he forgets her name.
"Pober," she offers. "But you may call me Shelby."
"Right," Sherlock turns to John as he looks at the victim's chart. "He worked here."
"Here? At St. Bart's?"
"Yep," says Shelby. "In IT, I believe."
"Oh!" says John as he realizes the connection to Moriarty.
"That's right, John. Moriarty must've known him when he was pretending to work here." Sherlock continues, "Whoever did this knows about Moriarty intimately or had access to his life."
Lestrade, from the corner, who had until now stayed quiet, chimes in, "Hey, didn't Molly Hooper meet Moriarty the same time?"
Sherlock quickly glances at Greg, wondering if Molly could also be in danger.
Mycroft listens intently.
John is suddenly concerned as well. "Yeah, Moriarty pretended to date her to get to Sherlock."
Sherlock pulls out a stack of postcards from his jacket pocket.
"Hey, you stole those!" John says.
Sherlock explains as he flips through them again. "It's for a case, John. Well, I didn't know that when I took them from you, but as it turns out, Molly could be in danger."
"Please return them when you're finished. Rosie quite likes looking at them."
"What are those?" Asks Mycroft as he steps closer to his brother.
"Postcards from Molly," says John.
"Molly Hooper?" asks Shelby. "She used to work here, I think?"
Sherlock looks behind and sees the specialist keenly watching them (and feeling rather lost). He points at the victim, "You may put him away. Thank you, Susan."
"Shelby," John offers quickly and clears his throat to correct Sherlock's mistake.
Shelby slides the body back into refrigeration and closes the door and leaves the scene.
Lestrade watches her leave, "She's quite good, isn't she?"
"She's no Molly Hooper," says Sherlock without thinking as he continues to examine the postcards. "What kind of a name is Pober?"
The others just look at each other in a state of disbelief at how Sherlock is affected by the new specialist and now of the possibility of Molly being in danger.
"Let me take a look," asks Mycroft and takes the postcards from Sherlock.
"Do you have any idea where she might be?" Sherlock asks from John.
John shakes his head, "Her old phone was disconnected before she went traveling. And I believe she has been changing her SIM with every country."
"She is fine," says Mycroft as he hands the postcards to John.
"How do you know?" asks Greg.
Mycroft looks at Sherlock and sighs.
"Mycroft!" Sherlock raises his voice when he realizes his brother knows more.
"I've had Ms. Hooper followed the past six months."
All the other gentlemen in the room are confused.
Lestrade receives a text. "Sorry, got to get this. Keep me posted on... you know," he says and walks out the door.
John nods.
"What do you mean by followed?" asks Sherlock with a step closer to Mycroft.
"In Sherrinford, nearly a year ago, there were many revelations with Eurus," Mycroft continues. "One of which is how much Ms. Hooper means to you." He looks directly at Sherlock.
Sherlock covers it up by including John, "She means a lot. She's our friend."
"Right," says an unconvinced Mycroft. "Well, since she means a lot to you and since she made plans to do a bit of traveling, I thought it wise to have her followed. I had two agents follow her throughout Southeast Asia. You know, to keep her safe. One male and one female to look like they were just a traveling couple. Of course, I just didn't expect Ms. Hooper to be traveling for six months. Which has proven to be quite an expensive assignment."
"You said had... past tense. Is she no longer traveling?" asks a concerned Sherlock.
"She is safe, Sherlock." Mycroft reassures. "Whoever," he gestures at the spot where the victim was, "this is that is harming people who were in Moriarty's path cannot hurt Ms. Hooper."
"How are you so sure?" asks John.
"Because I've taken every precaution. No one else in this equation needs to be hurt." Mycroft says referring to a death not long ago... of Mary.
John takes a moment to realize what Mycroft meant.
"Don't worry... she is completely unaware that these agents have been following her." He continues, "Let's concentrate on the matter at hand. Who is this murderer? And how do we get to him?"
Sherlock realizes that Mycroft may consider Molly a distraction and only wishes to keep her safe and away until the case is solved.
Scene fades.
A few days later…
A youngish nemesis by the name of Adam Boole had sort out to destroy Moriarty, only to learn that his nemesis (dating back to their childhood) had died a few year prior. Since he didn't get to see the end of Moriarty, he felt compelled by his vengeance and questionable mental state, to cause harm to all that crossed Jim's path. This included Sherlock. However, due to the detective's excellent deductive skills and John's excellent reasoning skills, Adam Boole was caught and all seemed well in the end.
The prospect of another case brings Sherlock and John back to St. Bart's to meet Lestrade and the examiner. But Mycroft seems to have showed up as well.
"You again," says Sherlock as he spots his brother in a random hallway at St. Bart's.
"Hello to you, too, Sherlock." He looks over at John, "Mr. Watson, well done on the Boole case."
"Well," John looks over at Sherlock. "It's your brother who figured it all out."
"Right, of course. Well, I'm merely here as citizen." He looks at Sherlock and gives him a knowing smile before he walks down the hallway.
Lestrade decides to chime in, "Well, if you'd like to get the scoop on the new case before we go down to the morgue…"
The door to the lab distracts Sherlock while Greg continues his update with John. The narrow long window on the door frames a figure that's inside the room. Sherlock's curiosity grows and he walks towards it to get a better view.
As Sherlock moves closer to the frame, Greg and John are slightly confused by Sherlock's odd behavior but Greg continues to update John.
Sherlock's expression softens as he sees who it is that's inside the lab… with her lab coat on, focused on the work in front of her, Molly Hooper looks through the microscope and is unaware of Sherlock's longing and hopeful stare.
Sherlock's theme begins to play as a hint of a smile appears on Sherlock's face.
Scene fades. The end.
Thank you for reading! Would love to know your thoughts – reviews are always appreciated.
This was my first foray into 'fan fiction' world – TFP inspired me a lot write some meaningful scenes between and about Sherlock and Molly. I wanted to be somewhat realistic in terms of the show - so the amount of (or lack thereof) Molly in the scenes are done on purpose. It seems open-ended but it's also a hopeful ending, I think.
Thanks again for reading!
