Prompt 29: Rank

The night of Molly Hooper's batchelorette party was an odd night. Perhaps, one could argue, that there was just something in the air that made everything a little bit more... Fun. The smallest of jokes and wise cracks were suddenly hilarious, everyone was in a great mood and just happy in general for the girl who had once said that she didn't count was getting married within the week, to a Detective Inspector of Scotland yard no less. Dimmock was a good man, and would treat Molly as if she were a million pounds (a proclamation Sherlock had gotten out of him after cornering him in an alley and threatening to break him if he hurt her. (Sometimes John wondered if he'd pushed the whole 'showing emotions for people you cared about' lark too far.) and she was truly in love with him. It had taken Sherlock's Fall and his subsequent dependence on her to get over her crush on Sherlock. How could she love someone who was empty because they had to leave the one they actually loved? It wasn't fair to anyone, and then she'd met Michael.

The group that had gathered for the party was eclectic to put it mildly. Obviously Lily, Molly's twin sister had come, travelling back from her new home in Tokyo specially for the occasion she was certain would never happen. Then there was Tina and Mary from Bart's, her constant companions and closest friends, Mycroft's assistant Anthea who'd become her friend mainly because of the Reichenbach situation, Sally Donovan, a surprisingly kind

woman after she had dumped her boyfriend and realised her issues with Sherlock were really issues with herself, Mrs Hudson and her best friend comme neighbour Mrs Turner, and Michael's two sisters Kate and Lucy. While Michael was off in the town with his police mates, doing God knows what, the girls had free run of their house and were having a cocktail party simply because Sally had taken a course that month in bartending and wanted to put the skill to use. Mrs Hudson grinned at Molly and patted her hand, making Molly want to cry a bit. The old lady had become something of a mother figure to her and reminded her that her own parents would not have the chance to see her happy. "Thank you for keeping the party at home dear, my hip you know, can't handle the clubs like it used to" and Molly was laughing once again, revelling in the joy of her life and the company of good friends. The kitchen was abuzz with voices, and try though she may, Molly couldn't be everywhere at once. Eventually, having watched the girl fret at where she should go next, Sally took her arm and sat her down at the counter in between Anthea and Mrs Hudson. Pouring them all another drink ('None for me dear, Mrs Turner and I are going to head home now, want to look fresh in the morning') as the tamer guests began to take their leave and the clock chimed swiftly from two to three.

Soon only four were left. Molly, Lily, Anthea and Sally herself, all in various states of sobriety ranging from vaguely to very much not. The group had moved to the bedroom, Lily and Molly draped across the bed while Sally was on Anthea's lap in the armchair, deeming it "A damn sight warmer than either of you sticks." Anthea had smirked at that. "We should do something!" Lily cried, vaulting her body into a sitting position, still crackling with energy. Sally raised an eyebrow "like what? I don't know about you but I'm not getting up for anything except maybe food, Annie here doesn't really have the option if I'm not and Molly should stay off her feet because come the wedding she'll not want to walk ever again." Lily stuck out her tongue "So as long as no one has to move we're all good? Brilliant! How about we play 'Who's The?' God remember in school when Jack said you were the prettiest Mols ,and then when they asked him for his explanation he said it was because you never made scrunched up kissy faces?!" Lily clutched her sides laughing and even Molly had to admit that it was quite funny.

Anthea cleared her throat and popped her head out from behind Sally "You'll have to explain better because that is not a game I've ever come across." Molly grinned. "It's simple, one person asks a question - for example who's the prettiest girl - then you outline parameters - out of Lily, Sally and eh... Mrs Hudson say - and then the rest of you have to answer, then give the reason behind your answer and the questioner has to decide who they agree with based on that. It's silly, but we used to play alllllll the time." Sally nodded slowly and then sat back against Anthea so the other woman could see properly. "Right then, who'll start?" "I will! I actually have a question in mind already so you know, might as well" Lily chirped and smiled. "Who's the cutest couple out of Sherlock and John, Your" she pointed at the women on the couch "bosses and Mrs Hudson and that restaurant owner, ranked in order of cutest." Lily sat back smugly as the others contemplated and she giggled, Anthea was clearly surprised that Lily knew about Mycroft and Greg, Sally slowly going over every interaction the two had and realising that Lily was right, and Molly was simply trying to rank all of her friends.

"Ok Sally you can go first, just your ranks and when everyone has said theirs you can give your reasoning behind your number one choice." Sally thought about it for a while longer and then smiled. "Right! First place is Mrs Hudson and Angelo, second Johnlock and third Lestrade and Holmes senior." Anthea cocked a brow "Johnlock?" Sally shrugged "Some of the girls down the yard have taken to abbreviating couples names into one by you know, mashing them together. If you really want to know we do it for everyone, even after just a few dates. Dimolly was one of the first that actually came to anything." She winked at Molly who chucked a pillow at her. "I like it... Sherlock is a long name already and seeing as John is always with him... So many shorter reports if we just abbreviated it!" Anthea chided herself and reached for her phone reflexively to send the idea on. "Annie! No phone, we agreed! Your turn." Lily pouted until the other woman relinquished the phone to her. "Taking Sally's idea on, Mystrade first, Johnlock second and Angelson third." Lily nodded and turned to Molly who blushed a little. "Johnlock, Mystrade, Angelson."

Lily beamed and made a gesture like a judge banging a gavel "The floor is now open for your reasoning. Sally?" The curly haired woman shrugged a little. Molly frowned "Actually Sally, come to think of it, you don't really know Mrs Hudson or Angelo that well at all. Why them?" Struggling to find the words to explain adequately Sally sighed "They're hopeful, I mean, Mrs Hudson had a husband once who treated her really badly and Angelo was so distraught after his wife died... They're old. They just kind of prove that you can find love again, and that there's no limit as to when you do. Neither of them has to be alone and I think that is sweet. I've only seen them together once but they might as well be an old married couple, they have each other sussed and it's really cute to watch the familiarity that they share you know, they just know the other even though they'very not been together long at all." Lily gave a solemn nod to Sally as she finished. That was a good reason.

"Well Annie, what about you? Why pick the justice league?" Anthea smiled wistfully at nothing, remembering. "When I first went to work with Mycroft... Scratch that, too long a tale to tell. Mycroft has always been a genius,
politics, tactics, war, peace. You name it and he knows how to play it to his advantage. He convinced everyone that he didn't want anything more than to run the country behind the curtains. I wasn't so easily fooled. A man who puts 24 hour surveillance on his brother cannot convince me that he cares for nothing, that he has no heart. For some reason he had it in his head that he didn't deserve love like other people did, that he wasn't worth it because he was too fat and secretive and emotionless. When he first met Greg... No one but me and perhaps Sherlock, had he been conscious, would have noticed the slight flush that crossed his cheeks when Greg wrapped his arms around him at Sherlock's bedside. The inspector was just offering comfort to a man who was probably about to lose his baby brother, but how often do people hug Mycroft Holmes? Then when Greg asked for his number God I thought he'd have a heart attack! But it took years for him to admit that he liked Greg, they were friends by that time and suddenly Greg's marriage was breaking down and the CIA needed help tracking BinLaden down for good... So he got to run away for a while, telling himself and by extension me that he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up because no one would want him, especially not Greg. It was... Painful to see him so full of loathing for himself. When we got back after a good three months Greg called over to his London apartment to welcome him home and as he was leaving he just spun on his heel and goes "Mycroft you don't have some secret American version of you that you're married to now and just had a honeymoon with or something do you?" and Mycroft splutters and blushes and shakes his head and he says "The last man I had in my life was a long time ago Gregory, I had to have been thirty years younger then, although why that concerns you I don't understand." so you can imagine the look on his face when that pours out of his mouth, eyes wide and all that. Greg just smiles cheerily and moves to go, he just about turns the latch when he turns around saying "That's good. Uh... Screw it! Mycroft I've been dancing around this for a good seven years now and it's time you knew that I like you and if you would want to, I'd like to take you on a date." and when Mycroft asked him why, genuinely shocked, Greg said "Well for one you're probably the most handsome bloke I've ever met, you're smart and witty and more sarcastic than even your brother, I don't know. There's just something about you that I want Mycroft, and I think that something is just... You."Greg kind of proved that Mycroft was good enough to deserve love and kindness to him and I'm forever grateful." Again Lily was solemn when she looked to Molly for her answer.

"I never met John without Sherlock until after the fall. They were inseparable, always working and dashing about together and it was clear that they were the closest two friends could be without crossing the boundary into being lovers. The best thing about being invisible is that you get to see everything. Every time John's eyes would linger when Sherlock turned away from him, how they orbited each other all the time, the way Sherlock would stare at John for hours on end, especially if he'd drifted off and he thought no one was watching. Then when Moriarty set him up he looked... As if his whole world were crumbling around him, which it was, but only when John looked away, because when he was there, Sherlock could pretend he would be coming out the other side. He died for John, and John would have died defending him, nearly did the way he worked to get Sherlock aqquited of all crimes. Sherlock lived with me for a while and he'd wake up and call for John in the night, beg for John when he was ill or injured, I even saw him crying a few times and when I asked him what was wrong he'd just show me blurry cctv footage of John doing something heartbreaking like taking one of Sherlock's pillows to bed with him or noting down the results of the experiments he'd left behind or just staring at the sofa with a wry smile. When he realised that John needed the cane again he was inconsolable for days. Sure he worked every day and most nights to stop Moriarty's web but John was all he thought of. When he was finally able to go home he thought John would hate him, that he'd be left loving this man who couldn't stand him and he was dejected before he even set foot outside the door. I was on the stairs when he knocked and John opened up. He blinked a

lot, then pinched himself, then stepped back a bit, all the while Sherlock just stood there, trembling a little bit. When John pulled back his fist God he expected to be punched in the face and told to get the hell out, but John's fist uncurled as it reached his face and he brushed his curls away from his eyes carefully and he just breathed Sherlock's name before he kissed him and I swear the noise Sherlock made was something I didn't actually know was possible, it was like a groan and a sigh and a yelp all mixed together when he just melted into him... I could have cried when John said "I meant to tell you on the phone that I loved you but I can do it now." They saved each other's lives both literally and figuratively over and over. Sherlock smiles now, real smiles. Some people don't even notice it but I do, the way their hands are always touching now, and they're happy just to see the other. They don't come much cuter than those two." Molly concluded and Lily yawned.

Over the course of the game everyone had snuggled into the bed and were lying down drowsily. "I disagree with all of you. Mols and Dimmock are the cutest" she yawned out from behind her hand. "We weren't an option Lil you can't just-" "Shhh. Yes I can. I'm Lily Hooper and I do what I want. Now go to sleep before I put my new karate skills into practice on you, we've a wedding to go to in twenty six hours."

"Night guys" Molly whispered into the air, the sun's first rays just beginning to brighten the horizon. A chorus of "Night Molly" was the last thing she heard before drifting off into a sleep filled with dreams of white dresses and bouquets.

A/N Guess who's too sleepy to do italics? This girl! Almost at 30 and with 80 followers I'm dying a little inside over that, so 'scuse me while I blush and then sleep, thanks for all the support ~S