Shout-Outs: Lothiriel84, Ladybugz7, emedealer, lavanyalabelle, draegon-fire, Bucky5, NiceNipps, Jessiekat89, AJP910, Fangirling4life, and Marcia Santos

Rated T:

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

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Chapter 11

She found the letter from Irene when she was weeding through his dirty clothes, trying to find things to bring to him because he had run out of clothes in California. The blood in her veins ran ice cold when she saw it, she didn't have to open it. She knew exactly who it was from.

With shaking hands, she took her phone out and dialed Mary's number, she didn't know what else to do. She thought if she didn't call somebody she was going to curl up in a ball and suffocate.

Mary answered after the third ring.

"Hello Molly, all ready for takeoff tomorrow? I'll come over and we can grab a bite to eat, you wouldn't want anything you cook to go bad while you were in the States. . ."

"Mary," Molly interjected. "Mary, I think that he's still seeing Irene."

Mary laughed. "Whatever are you talking about darling?"

Molly looked down at the crumpled paper in her hands. "Sherlock. . . I think that he went to the United States to be with Irene and not his old friend in California. Remember, Sherlock doesn't have any friends, he said so at your wedding. He said it plain as day, John is his only friend."

"Molly, darling, I think you're being just a bit paranoid. Sherlock wouldn't go off and have an affair with somebody. And he especially wouldn't have one with Irene. Listen, I'm hopping into a hack right now, I'll be there in about fifteen minutes. We can talk then. Just sit tight, okay?"

"Okay," Molly said. "Thank you Mary. I really appreciate it."

"It's nothing," Mary replied. "I was coming over anyways. It really isn't an inconvenience at all."

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"Are you sure that Sherlock is with Irene?" Mary asked after they'd settled into a corner table in a little pub.

"Well. . ." Molly trailed off. "No, I didn't exactly read the letter. But I can tell, a woman can always tell when something like this happens. Can't she?"

"I wouldn't know," Mary admitted. "I suppose she could. But only if the gentleman in question has ever given her reason to doubt before. And Sherlock hasn't ever given you a reason to doubt him, has he?"

"Well, he never seemed interested in me. . . not in that way at least."

"But that's just Sherlock being Sherlock. It doesn't mean he's having sex with Irene, darling. You know how he feels about feelings."

"Yes," Molly answered. "But what if that was just a facade?"

"Why would he marry you if he could have Irene?" Mary replied. "It just doesn't seem to make any sense. I think you need to give him the benefit of the doubt. Go to California tomorrow, talk to him. But don't be accusatory, I'm sure that the truth will reveal itself. And if you find out that he has been unfaithful to you, then getting an annulment should be easy. You have nothing to lose, you two are married in name only."

"But I have everything to lose, Mary. I've already lost the most important thing. I've lost my heart, the Lord knows I tried to hold onto it. But the truth is, I lost it the very first day that I met him in our first class together at university."

"Then you have to try and make it work out," Mary said, taking Molly's hand. "Make him lose his heart to you. You might regret it for the rest of your life if you don't. Be gentle with him, ask him about Irene but make sure he doesn't think you're accusing him of having an affair. And make sure you listen to him, truly listen to 't look for holes in his statement or validation. Promise me that you'll do that, darling."

"I promise," Molly said.

"Thank you! Now finish your dinner like a good girl then I'll come and help you finish packing."

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Molly landed in Sacramento after a flight that had lasted over ten hours. Sherlock wasn't waiting for her when she got there, even with the time difference, she hadn't wanted him to wait for her. She was afraid that her coming would conflict with his work.

"Are you Molly Holmes?" A petite brunette asked.

"Um. . . yes?" Molly answered. "Who are you?"

"Teresa," the woman replied, sticking her hand out for Molly to shake. "Nice to meet you. Your husband is working with my friend, he asked me to come and pick you up because he didn't want you to have to find your way around California by yourself."

"Oh. . . thank you," Molly said. "But aren't you busy? If Sherlock is working with your friend then you both must be involved with police work. . ."

"My second in command is making sure that those two don't get into too much trouble," Teresa answered. "Besides, they've pretty much gotten the case solved. They're just tying up some loose ends. I'll be back in plenty of time to book the bad guy."

"If you're sure. . ." Molly said uncertainly.

"I am! Come on, I'll help you with your luggage. My mustang's just out front. We'll grab something to eat and then we'll get you settled into the hotel. Sherlock entrusted me the key to his room."

"Thank you."

"Of course!" Teresa answered, taking the handles of her largest suitcase. "Come on and follow me, Molly."

They stopped for Mexican on the way to the hotel. Molly picked at tortilla chips and sipped on diet Coke as she watched Teresa eat a taco salad.

"I haven't eaten all day!" Teresa said around a mouthful of lettuce and sour cream. "I'm going on ten hours of coffee here. Jane's going to kill me if he finds out."

"Jane?" Molly asked, furrowing her eyebrows together.

Teresa swallowed. "Patrick Jane, he's my consultant and Sherlock's old friend. I have no idea how they know each other though."

"I don't know either," Molly said. "Up until a few weeks ago, I didn't know Sherlock had any friends."

"Funny, Jane said the same thing about Sherlock when he found out that he was married," Teresa answered. "I guess he keeps you guessing."

"He does," Molly replied, dryly. "It isn't a good thing though. At least meeting you means that he's really here."

"You thought he was somewhere else?" Teresa asked.

Molly blanched, realizing that she had said far too much to the stranger sitting in front of him. She had no way to save herself from this awkward situation. So, she shrugged her shoulders and lifted her chin up.

"What about you and Jane? Do you two have a thing?" She asked brazenly.

"Nope," Teresa answered, pushing her empty plate away. "Come on, you must be exhausted after your trip. Let's get you to your hotel. Unless you're hungry, then I can wait for you to eat something."

"No," Molly said. "I'm not hungry, I'm just tired."

They drove to the hotel in silence, save for an old standard playing on the radio.

"Jane likes old music," Teresa explained, not even bothering to turn the music down.

And YOU like Jane, Molly thought to herself. You think you conceal it so well, but I've been in it long enough to recognize when somebody else is in the throes of it.

But she didn't say it aloud, she didn't need anybody else to know about her baggage with Sherlock Holmes and she didn't want to make the cute agent anymore uncomfortable than she already had, so she left it alone.

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"I've never ever met two people so dense as Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon!" Sherlock muttered to himself as he came into the hotel room. "Oh, hello Molly. So glad to see that you got here safely. I trust you liked Agent Lisbon well enough."

"She's lovely," Molly answered. "And so accommodating, she took me to get supper before dropping me off here."

"Oh good," Sherlock said. "Jane was about to have a conniption because she hadn't eaten all day."

"He knew about that?" Molly asked, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "She didn't think he did. . ."

"Of course he knew about it! There's very little that he doesn't know about her. I think the only thing he is oblivious to is the way she feels about him. Which is all very well, because he ignores his own feelings for her very well! Stupid people."

"Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black?" Molly challenged.

"What do you mean?" Sherlock asked.

"Never mind," Molly answered, powering the TV down and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "I'm going to take a shower. When I come out, I want to talk to you about something."

Sherlock frowned. "That doesn't sound too good. I take it that I'm not off the hook for rejecting you a couple weeks ago?"

"It still stings a little," Molly admitted. "But no, that isn't what I want to talk about."

"Well, don't make me try and guess what it is. Tell me," Sherlock said. "Before you take your shower. . . please."

"Fine then," Molly replied, even though a part of her wanted to make him go mad with wondering what she wanted to talk about. She picked up her carry-on bag and ruffled through it, pulling out the crumpled letter from Irene. "Sherlock, what's this?"

"I-I don't know," Sherlock answered honestly.

"Really? Because I found it in the pocket of your trousers when I was sorting your laundry."

"Then it must be something I deleted," Sherlock said. "Because I have no recollection of what that is."

"It's a letter," Molly told him. "A letter from Irene Adler. I didn't read it, but I recognized the writing from that time you had me pick up your mail for you. You have to remember that, you were on an assignment from Mycroft."

"Yes. . ." Sherlock answered. "I do remember that."

"Sherlock," Molly asked, sitting on the edge of her bed and giving him a hard look. "Are you having an affair with Irene?"

"Am I having an affair with Irene!?" Sherlock repeated in shock. "No! I haven't seen Irene since she left me for her American lover. Besides, I'm far too busy to have an affair. I barely have time to be married!"

"Wrong answer," Molly said, dropping the note on the bed and standing up.

"I mean. . ." Sherlock trailed off, for once in his life he was lost for words. He didn't like the feeling. "I'm not having an affair with Irene or anybody else. Affairs are undignified and for silly men who don't realize that they've got a good thing right in front of them. Affairs are beneath me, you should know that!"

"And apparently so is being married! If you just wanted a replacement for John, why didn't you put out an advertisement in the papers? Because that's all I am really! A convenient replacement for your best friend. Except, I share a bedroom with you and do the jobs Mrs. Hudson doesn't have time for!"

"Molly, Molly you're being irrational. If we could just talk about this. . ."

"Talk? All we ever do is talk! And sometimes we don't even do that! Well, no more. I'm done with it. I'm done with you. I'm going back to England tomorrow, Sherlock. When you get home, all of my things will be moved out of 21 Baker Street and the annulment papers will be started."

"But Molly. . ."

She shook her head and went over to him, pecking him on the lips. "No, don't say anything Sherlock. I know you don't want to hear it, but we were both fools for entering into this marriage in the first place. We both wanted entirely different things from it. It was silly to think we would get them. I'll see you around, okay?"

"Molly," Sherlock said, following her to the door. "Molly, don't go. . . please, I want you to stay. . ."

"Oh Sherlock," Molly whispered, shaking her head. "If only that were enough."

After she left, she realized her mistake in leaving the hotel room. She didn't have any American money on her, so there wasn't any way for her to get a room for the night. With a sigh, she dug into her pocket and pulled out the card Teresa had left her with. She didn't want to call the agent, but she knew that if she did, she wouldn't ask any questions and that's what she needed the most.

She went to the desk and asked the hostess if she could use the phone.

It wasn't until Molly was safely in Teresa's guest room that she allowed herself to grieve, the tears coming down unabashedly over another failed relationship as she told herself that it was for the best.

She knew that there wouldn't be another one. Because she was going to spend the rest of her life loving Sherlock Holmes.

TBC. . .

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Author's Note:

It took me a while to decide if I was going to repost this in the cross-over section. I decided against it because the Mentalist characters only make a brief appearance in this chapter. That being said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that if you aren't a Mentalist fan, you could still follow the gist of the story. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Holly, 4/26/2014_