A/N: Well, aren't I quick?! Yep, it's update time again. :) This chapter has written itself. It's one I have planned for a long time now. I hope you guys like it just as much as I do, even though it's quite short.

Thanks for the ongoing support and love for this litte fic. I really appreciate it. Hugs for all of you.

Oh, yeah. I couldn't resist throwing in a quote. It's quite obvious. ;)

Sherlock washed his face and dried it with a towel before he looked into the mirror. His curls were still in wild disarray from sleep and there was a dark shadow on his face. He shaved it off next, taking his time with his morning routine, thinking about last night.

Angelo's words were still ringing in his ears and he was more determined than ever to ignore the so called 'sexual tension' between him and Molly. An ordinary man might have given into his primal needs and have begged Molly to make sweet love to him (it would be sweet and tender the first time, exploring each other's bodies patiently, kissing and…WHAT THE HECK?!)…

Sherlock threw his shaver into the sink angrily and washed off the remains of the shaving cream.

He was no such man. He lived completely in his mind. His body was only transport! It was his slave! Not the other way around!

Sherlock clutched the toothbrush, put some toothpaste on it and glared at his face while he brushed, his hand moving quickly.

There was no time for experiments today, he decided. He had to clean up his mind and lock all those animalistic needs away in his prepared dungeon where he normally locked his desire. And he had to renew the bars to make sure that this time that horrible creature didn't escape.

Being cut off in the middle of his thought, Sherlock noticed that his tongue was tingling. He spit out the toothpaste. The tingling sensation increased and affected the insides of his cheeks. He stuck out his tongue and looked into the mirror. No visible changes. Sherlock bent down and washed his mouth with water. His tongue went numb.

The consulting detective panicked for a second before it hit him.

With an angry noise coming out of his throat he bolted into the kitchen where Molly still sat and had breakfast.

"Wha' 'aff 'u 'one?"

Molly looked up from her paper and grinned.

"Pardon me?"

"'U hear' me! ARGH!"

Molly giggled when Sherlock started pacing around, his fingers bent into claws. He rambled down a storm of insults. She didn't understand one of them.

"You might want to stop talking, Sherlock. I can't understand you, anyway. Don't worry, it won't last long, even though a lot of people would probably pay me a fortune if I silenced you forever."

"Wha' ish shish?"

"Anbesol. Put it in your toothpaste. The effect will only last a few hours."

"Shish ish un'elieva'el!"

"I don't find it hard to believe."

Molly grinned again and rose from her seat to put the dish in the sink.

"You know, you should really think about giving up soon. I warned you that you were no match for me. When will you cave and accept the fact that I am the Queen of Pranks?"

She had her hand on her hip, her long brown hair was loose and falling over her left shoulder. She wore a turquoise cotton longshirt with a black leggings today and both items were hugging her body tightly. This combined with her cheeky smile and the mischievous glint in her eyes made the monster called desire rage through his mind palace, running for the main door to freedom.

Sherlock left without another word and slammed his door shut.

With a giggle Molly pulled out her phone and selected a contact.

"Hey."

"The otter is silenced" Molly whispered into her phone.

A chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Perfect. Coming over."

"See you then."

And she disconnected.

~oOo~

Sherlock was lying in his bed, his blanket thrown over his head. Sulking hard, he was reminded of his visits to the dentist. He had always detested that numb feeling in his mouth and had hated it to be unable to speak. Nothing had changed in this regard.

Soft knocking against his door made him grumble.

"Sherlock?"

'Go away', he thought.

"Sherlock, I'm sorry."

'Oh, you will be.'

"Come on, don't sulk like a baby."

'Baby? BABY? Just you wait, Molly Hooper! My wrath will be merciless.'

"I'll make you a nice cup of coffee, okay?"

'And how am I supposed to enjoy it with MY MOUTH BEING NUMB?!'

"Oh, right, hehe, sorry", she replied as if she had heard him.

"How about this: You can have one of my bras for your experiments. I know you eyed them when I folded the laundry the other day. And even better, you are allowed to choose any of them."

Sherlock stuck his head out of his fort made of blankets. He had eyed her bras and he would love to test on them. Flexibility, especially.

He rolled out of bed and opened the door.

Molly smiled at him and he was already halfway through the door when he spotted Mary in the kitchen. His eyes widened and he wanted to go back into his room when Molly grabbed his wrist.

"She just wants to talk to you."

His eyes widened even more as he understood that Molly had planned all of this. She had numbed his tongue on purpose so he couldn't shoot back when Mary started insulting him.

'Traitor! How could you?! You've extradited me to my arch enemy!'

"Don't exaggerate, Sherlock. She is not here to attack you. And if she does, I'll promise to throw her out."

Sherlock looked at her, confused. Could this devil woman hear his thoughts now?

She smiled up at him.

"Your face speaks volumes."

He glared at her again, but she pushed him into the living room, anyway.

Mary, who had been drinking coffee, looked at him.

She looked…nervous.

"Thanks", she said to Molly as she walked into the living room.

"I'll give you guys some privacy."

Sherlock threw Molly a glance that spoke volumes again and she ensured him with her eyes and hand gestures behind Mary's back that she would be there in case of an emergency.

Sherlock straightened his deep blue shirt and cleared his throat.

So did Mary.

"Sorry I had you put you through this, but I really need you to shut up for a while."

He narrowed his eyes. Mary was wringing her hands, obviously searching for words.

"A couple of days ago I had a huge fight with John", she finally started and looked him straight in the eyes.

Her voice had the slightest shake in it and the pain in her eyes told Sherlock that 'huge' was the accurate description for their fight.

"Of course it was about you, or better said about your relationship to the people that call you friend."

Sherlock's jaw clenched and his posture was just as stiff as Mary's.

"I don't agree with the way you treat the people who love you, most of all John and Molly. Whenever I am around, you treat them indifferently or worse and it makes me sick. I can't even describe to you how angry I am about this. You have these amazing people in your life and you act like they mean a shit to you…"

Mary took a deep breath.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to swear. I want to keep this clean and straight. I apologize."

Sherlock raised a cocky eyebrow. Mary ignored it and took another deep breath. She wanted to get this over with asap.

"I want you to understand why your behavior makes my insides boil. I haven't been loved by many people in my life. My father died young, my mother loves me because she has too and my sister…well, she loves a human being just as much as she loves the sunshine. What can I tell you…"

She let the air out of her lunges.

"You might be doing a psychological profile of me right now, but I assure you that I know my feeling of not being loved affects my personality. I craved love all my life. I've been through a lot of bad boyfriends in my teenage years until I have been hurt enough to realize that true love is bloody rare and precious."

Mary started pacing the floor now while Sherlock remained in his position next to his chair.

"And then came John and the minute I saw him I knew that he was a good man, that he wasn't a selfish bastard like the other ones, and I just had to have him. For once, I wanted to be loved like crazy. I was happy for two years…" she looked at him, "and then you showed up."

"Everything I had built for myself blew up in a second. John's best friend wasn't dead after all and when I saw the way he looked at you, I snapped."

Sherlock remembered the punch vividly.

"Yes, I was angry that you had put John through all this pain, but I was even more angry that you had destroyed my dream. I wanted him all to myself."

Mary stopped in her tracks.

"I still want that. I know it's unfair and horrible and selfish, but sometimes I wish that you would be gone again and that it would just be him and me again."

Sherlock was pretty sure that she didn't want him to be 'gone'. She wanted him dead.

"I'm sorry."

Silence fell upon the room. Mary's cheeks were flushed and she looked at the floor while Sherlock's eyes roamed over her face, his heart beating fast.

He didn't know what to think of this. She had spoken what had been in Sherlock's mind for so long. He, too, wished that everything was like it had been before the fall, just John and him, both of them against the rest of the world.

But it would never be like this again.

Mary shook her head and looked up at him.

"I can't change how things have been between you and me. John has ensured me that you love him just as much as I do…And I honestly wonder if this is true."

Her face was like stone and Sherlock braced himself.

"I offer you a Million pounds if you leave London and never contact John or the others again."

Sherlock blinked.

"You know I come from money. And even if I will be the slave to my mother for the rest of my life, I will convince her to give it to me."

Would she really go that far to get rid of him? Would she put John through this again?

"You don't have to play dead. You just…walk away."

Sherlock cursed Molly for silencing him. He would have loved to reply to this accurately. Now, all he could do was shake his head.

To his surprise, Mary looked relieved.

"I see. Well, then we have to find a way to get along, because John won't tolerate us continue our battle for his affection any longer. Believe me, he was very clear about this."

Sherlock raised his eyebrow questioningly.

"I propose a new start. Pretend that I didn't punch you the first time we met and that you've never been an arse, although that is almost impossible."

He went back glaring at her.

She held up her hands.

"Sorry, slipped again."

'Right. Slipped.'

"What do you say? Can you accept me as John's wife?"

Sherlock looked at her.

Mary Morstan was quite a unique character. She was strong and vulnerable at the same time. She was a clever and passionate woman. She fought for the things she wanted, obviously. Sure, she fought dirty. But so did he. And most important, she loved John. She would make him happy. She had made him happy.

Finally, Sherlock nodded.

"Then I will accept you as his best friend."

A smile spread on Mary's lips that showed how relieved she was. She even walked over to him and offered him her hand. After a second of consideration, he took it.

While they shook hands, her smile died.

"If you will hurt him again, I will hunt you down and kick your ass."

'Right back at you', he told her with a look.

Mary smiled again.

"At least we agree on one point."

Sherlock's lips twitched into a crooked smile and they let go of each other.

Mary let out a huge breath.

"Phew. That wasn't so bad, was it? I'm a little sick though."

Her hand rubbed her belly and Sherlock shook his head, smiling.

"Molls? Do you have something to eat?"

Molly came down the stairs.

"Are you done?"

"Yep. You can get done a lot when the old chatterbox here keeps his mouth shut."

Gone was the smile on Sherlock's face, but Mary slapped his shoulder playfully.

"That was the last one, I promise. How about Molly and I prepare something to eat and we call over John? A friendly foursome?"

Molly giggled.

"Would you call him? Oooh, right …"

Mary grinned wickedly at Sherlock and pulled out her mobile, walking into the kitchen.

Molly stood next to Sherlock and smiled up at him.

"I'm glad you two finally get along. About time, I'd say. Just wait, soon you'll love her just as much as we do."

Sherlock rolled his eyes and Molly grinned, patting his shoulder just like Mary had.

"Just you wait."