Prompt from thestarlitrose on tumblr - Molly finds a dog in an alley and Sherlock takes it

(Thanks to Ellie/canibecandid for the idea!)

Molly Hooper made her way slowly down the street, shuffling along under the weight of a large cooler. Normally, she would be taking a cab to Baker Street to drop off a body part for one of Sherlock's insane but incredibly well thought out experiments.

Today there was a… complication. A large, hairy, slobbery complication.

At Molly's side, complacently following along, was a bedraggled excuse for a dog. Its brown hair was far too long and matted with mud and a million other things that Molly didn't want to think about.

She'd been leaving Bart's and passed an alley when she heard a low whine from the big floppy eared animal. Its leg was cut, a piece of glass from a bottle sticking out of it. Molly had promptly run back to the morgue and grabbed up a few supplies before cautiously approaching the dog, still in the same place, and attending to its wound. The affectionate animal had licked all over her face, causing Molly to sputter (she really was a cat person) and followed her when she resumed her journey to Baker Street.

She couldn't leave the poor animal, so she'd resigned herself to a very long walk and prayed that she didn't run into any policemen on her way (or at least if she did that it would be DI Lestrade.)

Now, she huffed along, pulling out the spare key John had given her the time she'd sat outside waiting on Sherlock to return from a case for nearly two hours. The detective had been texting her, wondering where his liver was (well not HIS liver, the one he wanted to experiment on) but Molly'd had her hands full and hadn't replied.

She pushed open the door and the mangy dog didn't hesitate to follow her inside. Silently hoping that Sherlock would be in his mind palace and so not notice her or the animal, she wearily climbed the stairs.

No sooner had she stepped through the door of the upstairs flat than the detective in question was figuratively all over the bewildered pathologist, checking her over for injuries and shouting questions at her a mile a minute.

"Molly where have you been? You didn't answer my texts! I called Lestrade and John ad they are out looking for you and I just came back from looking for you and where have you been are you ok-"

He took a deep breath and Molly took that as her opportunity to jump in.

"Sherlock, I'm fine, hold on…" she gazed at him perplexed. "Are you actually, worried? About me?"

He blushed scarlet, even his ears turning bright red and hastily coughed.

At that moment, his phone rang and he grabbed it up from the coffee table and pressed it to his ear. The dog sat on Molly's foot and she winced. He really was a massive animal.

"Yes, John? She's here. No I don't know what took her so long she just walked in and-"

He broke off mid-sentence, his mouth agape as he finally caught sight of the dog.

"I'm going to have to call you back," he said, and slowly pulled the phone from his ear.

"Molly," he gulped and the pathologist wondered what could possibly be the reason why he was staring at the dog like he'd seen a ghost. His lips formed a silent word that she didn't catch and he looked back up at her.

"I'm sorry Sherlock he was all alone and I couldn't just leave him there and he doesn't have a tag or anything…" She bit her lip and shuffled her feet.

Sherlock was still quietly eyeing the animal and Molly set the cooler down, edging towards the door. She was stopped by Sherlock's voice, which was a little hoarse.

"What are you going to do with him? You can't have that large of a dog in your flat and Toby won't like him."

Molly pursed her lips. "I'll have ask around and see if anyone I know can take him."

Sherlock took a quick step forward and looked almost eager. He knelt slowly and put his hand out. Molly watched, eyes widening as the dog lumbered forward, tail wagging and proceeded to try to climb into Sherlock's lap, knocking him flat against the floor. To her surprise, Sherlock's laughter pealed out, sounding more boyish than she'd ever heard it, and he wrapped his arms around the dog, scratching and petting playfully.

She smiled fondly and crept down the stairs, Sherlock's delighted chuckles following her out the door.