A/N: Hey everyone, so, to make this story work I had to do a change in the plot around Bruce and the murders, I couldn't remember how I had originally planned to end this, so….consider the term Bad guy, extremely relative. Everything had to be adjusted so….this is going to end differently then I had planned. Thanks for reading! Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Dearly Departed

Sherlock ran through all the clues in his mind, piecing together everything he had gleaned so far from both the murder scene and Eliza Danbury as well as the few bits he got from Molly on the murdered girl. Obviously, there was no doubt in anyone's mind, that she had an accomplice. Who and why still seemed to be eluding him, but he had the gist of it all.

Still, it would do him well to see the murdered girl himself, make sure sweet Molly didn't miss anything.

Sweet Molly, now there is one for the mind palace only- and Sherlock shivered at the thought, sentiment gnawing at the back of his mind to be let out so that he could...what was the word?

Gush.

"Repulsive." he murmured to himself, the very idea of sentimentally gushing over his new statues with Molly something that evoked fear and panic.

"Focus!" He hissed to himself, the cab driver glancing in his rear view mirror to eye him wearily.

You forgot, you completely...forgot….

Lestrade's voice coming through clear and Sherlock waved his hand violently in front of his face as he tried to dismiss it for what he hoped it was, a loss in judgment, a loss of self.

You can do this, you can be both, for Christ's sake, if you can dismantle and international crime syndicate you can bloody well solve crimes and have a girlfriend-

That word was like a bitter taste in his mouth but he swallowed it because he truly wanted to try to break the chain, break his own preconceived notions on what it meant to have a….girlfriend…..

He shivered again, clenching his fists before he grunted, "Get the hell over it." he said loudly to himself, this time, ignoring the cab driver who was currently wondering why he got all the crazies on his route.

Sherlock reached Bart's and swallowed, realizing only too late he should have thought to just bring Molly with him. While, he had access to the lab even when the petite pathologist was off shift it was much faster when she was there.

Another lapse in judgment? This time it was Mycroft who taunted him and Sherlock paid the cabbie and got out, slamming the door behind him and yanking his phone from his pocket.

His fingers nearly stabbed the numbers and he pressed the device far too firmly against his ear, "Hello? Sherlock, what's up, Mate?"

"John. I need you to come to Bart's. I am about to wrap up the Danbury case but I could use….I need…." and Sherlock trailed off, because honestly, he didn't know why he had suddenly called John.

The man had been awol for the entire case, spending any free time he had with Mary, and while Sherlock was slowly starting to understand such pulls as female companionship, he found a bit of resentment still lingered in his chest.

John is the one who can help you get sorted, who can help you learn to manage both work and domestic bliss, he can tell you how to shut it off.

"Sherlock? What do you need, are you alright?"

"Y-yes….I just, can you come to Bart's? I need your help with something, it's rather urgent."

Sherlock could hear the smile in the man's voice when he said, "Yeah, ten minutes."

Hitting the end button, Sherlock shot a text to Lestrade, fingers quick and nimble, There must be a child or relation to Eliza who is unaccounted for. Dig deeper. SH

Pocketing his phone he headed through the entry to Bart's knowing full well he would need to get in and out as fast as possible. This case, he could feel it, something was coming, something was about to happen, he just couldn't find the missing piece, it had to be a family member, he only hoped the dead girl would bring him answers.

Page Break

Molly heard her front door slam shut as Sherlock left and she gave a sigh and fell back onto her bed, her nude body still hot from both the shower and the man's sinful touches.

Whelp, everything else aside, you finally know, Sherlock is excellent in bed.

Her first desire was to grab her mobile and text Menna, tell the woman everything and confide in her all her satisfaction, fears and overwhelming love for the man. But, Molly did nothing, instead she just lay there, staring at the ceiling, knowing that until she discussed with Sherlock more about their relationship and figured out if it was safe to make public, she needed to keep her mouth shut.

Still, her mind played back everything, laying there for the next thirty minutes dissecting the last week, going over all the conversations, the physical responses, the way he looked at her in the shower not even an hour ago.

It was strange, it was wonderful and it was terrifying. Getting everything you want while simultaneously taking on the responsibilities of being with a man like Sherlock...she couldn't fathom how she was going to manage.

Through the silence of her flat Molly heard the faint ring of her phone and she let out another sigh as she rolled out of bed, dressed quickly and went in search of her bag.

She found it, on the kitchen table, her phone chiming away inside. She figured it was either Sherlock or Greg, but was surprised to see it was in fact Bruce.

The phone said she had missed seven calls and sixteen texts, all from him, and as she started to scan through them her heart beat faster, her stomach filled with dread and she knew she needed to forward these to Sherlock.

When she got to the last text her brow furrowed and her lips rolled together while her face grew hot and her fingers went numb,

Look, I saw Sherlock was there, I know he stayed the night, I get it, I'm out, but I really need to talk to you, it's important.

Bruce knew Sherlock had stayed the night, which meant there was a possibility Bruce also knew the man was gone. Molly slowly took her bag off the table and moved out of the kitchen towards the back hall. She wanted to make sure the back door was locked.

Her phone suddenly went off again and she looked at her newest text, her mouth parting in confusion when she read it.

Sorry it's come to this Mol, but you won't pick up and I need answers, I promise I won't hurt you.

"The hell?" and movement caught her eye as a shadow passed over the fogged window of her back door and then suddenly it splintered and shook. Another loud bang and then the door was swinging open and a large man in a mask strode in, hard eyes locked on her.

She felt her heart leap into her throat and she turned, running back in through her kitchen and aiming for the front door, determined to make a scene and get police there by any means.

A vice like grip came to her upper arm and she screamed, "No!" but Molly was not a big woman, she didn't know karate or any type of self defense, having relied on the pepper spray that was in her purse, though the blasted thing was now ripped from her arm and tossed away.

She struggled, fought hard, and didn't stop, even when she heard the familiar voice of Bruce ring out, "Shit, Molly! Stop! I said I wouldn't hurt ya! Molly! STOP!"

He lost his balance, had to prop himself up on her counter but eventually he slipped down the rest of the way, landing on his back and wrapping his massive arms around her.

She kept fighting, trying to scream louder even though a large hand came to her mouth but her struggles didn't last much longer because she heard a near sob from the man behind her, "Damn it, Molly, I'm so sorry!" and then her world went black.

PAGE BREAK

Sherlock stared at the woman, his eyes taking in everything, his mind trying to zoom through it all as he looked at the bruises, at her skin, her face, hair, nails….anything and everything.

"What do you think?" John asked, the blonde man standing next to his friend as Greg talked softly to the pathologist on shift.

Though Sherlock had hated to do it, the pathologist was new and had wanted to go through the proper channels, the chain of command as it were and Sherlock didn't have time for that.

He had summoned Greg so that he could proceed, John having arrived first and then Greg who seemed in better spirits than last they had spoken.

"She was a prostitute, one who had eaten rather well and who hadn't touched a drug in the last three weeks. She was beaten to death, easy enough to see the obvious, but what I don't understand is why."

Sherlock reached up a hand to her face, carefully raising the lips to view the teeth.

"She had been doing this awhile. Maybe eight or nine years, had a serious drug problem, had been malnourished, but….it's almost as if-" and he stopped, his mind trying to put it all together though stray thoughts of Molly and the woman's safety kept coming to mind, causing the man to have to stop and refocus.

Sherlock sighed, shaking his head gently before he said, "This woman, went from being on the streets, half starved with a drug habit to relatively well fed and nursed away from the sweeties. She was near fully recovered when she was murdered, I don't see the connection….why can't I see the-"

"Is it Molly?" John asks softly, stepping closer to him and checking to make sure Greg was still busy. He looked at his friend and Sherlock glanced away before he gave a very subtle nod of his head.

"Worry?" John asked and Sherlock looked at him in surprise, "Yeah, I thought so. You are worried that this has something to do with Bruce and yet you are doubting yourself because you wonder if the only reason your mind is focusing on Bruce is because you don't like him, he represents a threat to you and Molly's relationship….a biased opinion of the man. You're worried if you don't get this sorted, Molly will be in danger, but you still aren't sure…"

"If it's him. Yes, spot on, John. I am impressed."

"It comes with the territory, mate. Having a significant other is like courting worry, no matter what, even if you have a good day, even if nothing goes wrong for a month, you still worry about them. Are they happy, are they safe, are they satisfied….the only way to get passed it, is to accept it. It's instinct, it's...what love is all about."

Sherlock looks at John, his eyes frustrated as he starts to understand what the man is implying, "I have to ignore it."

"That's all you can do. Press it to the back of your mind with a note, saying you will address it later, because it never really goes away. Just gotta put it on hold." John says with a soft smile.

"Damn." Sherlock hisses.

"Any luck?" Greg suddenly asks as he walks over to stand on the other side of the table and gaze down at the body.

"Other than the fact she was a prostitute with a recently resolved drug habit and someone feeding her up? Not yet, but I have a feeling there is something here we are missing, something...I...am missing."

Greg's phone goes off and he steps away to answer it, Sherlock returning to gaze at the body before he shakes his head in frustration and says loudly, "This is intolerable! I can't focus, I can't find the answer even while it stares me in the face!"

"Sherlock, calm down-" John starts but the man spins to look at him, "You encouraged this, you told me to-"

"Oh no, don't pin this on me! You've liked her for a long time, it's not been until recently you've tried to act! You should have done something like this a long time ago, don't panic!"

"I'm not panicking!" Sherlock bites out harshly.

"You are!" John counters, and Sherlock glares at him just as Lestrade comes back to them, "Well, finally got the Jane Doe's information. Names Gloria Spunelly, been missing for about ten years. Was declared dead a few weeks after she went missing when they found a body matching her description in a lake near her home town of Aldershot."

"Aldershot? That's only an hour from here." John says as he looks at Sherlock for answers. The man had taken up the pathology report that had been set aside when the body had been rolled out. His eyes seeing Molly's clean hand writing covering the page.

He scanned through it, something he never did as he liked to find answers for himself, yet in this moment when his mind seemed to be inoperable he hoped Molly was able to be more observant than-

"Gloves! John, put on gloves, you too Inspector."

"What?" Greg asked in shock, the look of confusion and disgust on his face evident, "I need you to roll her up, gloves, NOW!"

The two men complied and seconds later the men were rolling the body onto her right side, exposing the back of her left shoulder.

Sherlock pulled out his magnifying glass and moved in close, searching the bruised skin for something that the other two knew not.

"What is it? Did you find something?" John asked.

"No, not me, Molly. Genius, sweet, wonderful, brilliant Molly Hooper!" Sherlock said, not noticing the look Greg gave John at the praise the man spewed.

"Well, what is it?" Greg asked.

"A tattoo." Sherlock said, his eyes still locked onto the woman's shoulder before he reached out a hand and gently pulled the skin tight.

"It's under layers of bruising, but she saw it, my clever girl caught it, a tattoo, a very special tattoo."

Sherlock then stood and the men placed the body back, "Finally, we are on the right track."

"Sherlock, are you going to explain?" John asked.

"That tattoo, is very specific, it's given to every girl who is picked up by the Golden Fox."

Greg's brows went up into his hair, "The club? Down town?"

Sherlock stares at him a moment before he says with a nod, "Yes. I have always had my suspicions but never looked into it myself. It's more your area than mine."

"What is?" Greg asked, his confusion growing.

"Sex trafficking." Sherlock said in a clipped tone.

"I...what?"

"Oh for God's sake! Think man, Gloria goes missing, a body that resembles her just enough shows up a few weeks years later and yet here she is having only died three weeks prior? It's all so very telling."

"Sherlock." John says, his own frustration coming out with a sigh before Sherlock groans, "She was taken! She didn't run away, she wasn't murdered, she was abducted. Brought to London and given a new Identity. They run through girls like water through the tap, more than likely the body authorities found was planted so they would give up looking. Probably just a girl whom had skimmed some money, O.D'ed. or was….used up."

"My God." John says softly as his pitious eyes fall on the body of the girl before him.

"So, you think Gloria was nabbed up by these traffickers, been with them this whole time….recently went on a job for 'em and then...what? Got in a fight with her client?"

"Maybe the client was the person who murdered Danbury?" John offered.

Sherlock thought a moment and then shook his head, "No, this runs deeper, something else….something that-" and it hit him, hit him hard like a ton of bricks, everything falling into place, the entire case lining up in his head like a crystal clear window.

"Oh! Oh, yes!"

"Yeah? You got it?" John asked quickly.

"Oh yes, but this is...this is….not what I expected...it's unique, it's...brilliant….and I have made a terrible mistake." Sherlock instantly turns and heads for the door, John and Greg quickly running after.

PAGE BREAK

Molly wakes up slowly, notices she is restrained but is laying on a soft bed. She doesn't move at first, doesn't want to alert Bruce to the fact she is awake. Her head is aching and she wonders just how hard Bruce hit her to knock her out.

Suddenly there was the slam of a door and a rather shaken voice rings out, "No! I didn't know what to do! I just broke in and took her! Mama, please, it's alright. She is alright. I'm not going to….no I wouldn't ever hurt her...I didn't kill that girl...I don't know who did it...but….the ring...I dropped the ring when I left her body in the alley….the ring Sam took!" Molly could hear the tears in the man's voice as he grew closer and she remained still as the grave, her eyes closed.

"Gloria was doing so good, she...she was my friend….we was….no...I know I have to let her go...I will… I just...I need to tell her the truth before….mama, they are taking you to jail! To prison! I can't let them...it's my fault! I did it...you shouldn't have to….it ain't right!"

The silence rings for several seconds, Molly's mind working furiously to put it all together, having no clue who this Gloria was but having a very good idea who was on the other end of the phone line, noticing the way Bruce is breathing hard, a sob wracking his body, "It don't matter now mama, they are going to figure it out, Mr. Olmes will figure it out, I might as well just...tell 'em. You don't deserve….I know… I know I promised I would make sure papa was taken care of, but….I think Molly can help...she will help."

She isn't sure what that means, isn't sure what this all amounts to, but she knows she needs to get away and tell Sherlock everything she has heard. Suddenly Bruce's voice is traveling towards her and seconds later he enters the space she is in.

"No, I hit her, knocked her out, I didn't….didn't know what to do...she was struggling….I got scared...she is small….smaller than Gloria...I didn't want to hurt her….I just….I have to make sure she is okay….then I will tell her about papa and what happened...she will help us….make it right. Okay? Please, trust me, Molly will help. Alright, love you mama."

She heard him end the call, heard the sob escape him as the man sat with a huff at the foot of the bed, "What are you doing? What are you going to do? You...hurt everyone…Gloria...I'm so sorry."

Molly felt herself calm, her heart go from fluttering to even slow beats as she suddenly seemed to lose the sense of danger that had been building in her stomach.

Despite the fact she knew she should fake her unconscious state as long as possible in hopes of getting the upper hand, something told her she wasn't in danger and so, she opened her eyes and called softly, "Bruce?"

The man turned around quickly to look at her, his eyes puffy and red, his face caked in tears as he stared in shock, "Oh, thank God, thank God for you, I thought I had…"

"Bruce." Molly started, her tone stern but soft and the man fell silent, looking at her and waiting for whatever she was going to say, "I think it's time you told me what is going on."

A/N: There is another chapter, keeping them short as it makes it a faster update. READ AND REVIEW if you see fit!