Chapter 36-It's Not Funny

Disclaimer: I still own nothing…except my mistakes.

"How do you know about PsyOps?" the nosy psychoanalyst probed.

Molly groaned inwardly. Of course it had been too much to hope that Director Vance had forgotten or left that tidbit out when briefing her own personal tormentor.

"PsyOps isn't exactly private information," Molly hoped that this was somewhat true despite having never heard of them before now.

"That may be true," Dr. Samantha tilted her head to the side, "however, the fact that I work for PsyOps is."

Molly refrained from chiming in that Dr. Ryan was basically in charge of that division in the same way that Mycroft was the head of his…department. Instead she said, "My brother-in-law works for the British government." Again in her mind she heard the voice of the woman who would become Mary Watson couching her in the recesses of her mind. Molly had always been a rubbish liar and Mary had taught her to play to her strengths. Mislead with the truth and take advantage of being underestimated. The 'old' Mary's voice had been becoming louder and louder as of late.

"Well," Dr. Ryan began in a conversational tone, "you two don't seem that close from what I was told about the conversation yesterday. It doesn't really seem like he would tell you much about...things."

"No but his brother tells me about," Molly paused dramatically as the doctor had done, "things."

"You haven't talked to him in about three months. How would he know about little ole me? I'm not that impressive."

"You seem to think you are. And we know a lot of things about a lot of things," Molly cringed at her comeback. It was weak but true.

"Are you an MI agent?"

"If I were, would they have sent me here for protection? I have worked with them on occasion." Technically it was true since rescuing Sherlock from the fall had necessitated the need to work with several agents.

The annoyed doctor observed the younger woman in front of her. She was good at reading people. Very good. In fact she could rival Sherlock's deductive skills but there was something about Molly that was off. If the doctor did not know any better she would say that Molly was exhibiting multiple personalities. In fact Molly would make a wonderful case study, if she could break the young woman down. However, Dr. Ryan's main concern, as always, was the safety of her son. It was his very safety that had caused her to break things off with Gibbs in the first place. If this woman knew about her secret operations it was possible for her to know about her son and could possibly use that information against her in the future.

"Who are you Molly Hooper?" the doctor finally asked with squinted eyes.

"I'm...I'm no one." Molly answered in a small voice.

"No one? Nobody is no one." Dr. Ryan tried to expand Molly's thoughts.

Molly giggled to herself; "It's kind of like that episode in Dr. Who where they go to Satellite Five." Suddenly Molly lit up in excitement that the doctor had not witnessed before. "Everyone in the Doctor's gang is identified as no one. The guy in charge doesn't like that, but the system keeps insisting that they are no one. I am no one. I don't count...except to certain people." Her words were said without malice and she thought about how she counted to a certain consulting detective as well as others who were in her life. Her hand went up to twist the end of the blue scarf that she still wore even though it was the beginning of April and it was warming up. She held it up to breathe in its scent but after such awhile and constant handling the smell had faded and it was more a memory than anything else.

Dr. Samantha had picked up on Molly's escape through fiction. The pregnant woman had more ways to hide and cope with the world around her than most. The doctor could not separate what was fact and fiction about the figure sitting in front of her. Her baggy childish clothes gave her an air of childish vulnerability but she held herself like an impenetrable stonewall when she defended herself. She lost herself in childish tales but took to the work of death without it draining her own desire to live. The girl alone knew who she really was and took care to protect whoever that was. There was a deep trauma somewhere that she wrapped about herself as a shield to protect herself from letting others into close. But what was the trauma?

The doctor sighed. There was not much that she could do. She would present what little findings she had with the director but not until after they both faced her together to attempt once more to get her to reveal to them the source of her information. The doctor got up silently and made her exit.

Molly blinked in surprise at the silent departure. She removed the scarf she had been playing with and rolled it into a ball creating a makeshift pillow for herself. She then placed it in front of her on the table and tried to settle in for a nap.

No sooner did she have her head down than the door to the conference room swung open revealing an irate looking Gibbs.

"I tried to talk to the doc. I really di-" Molly started to defend herself.

"That's not what I'm here about," a frustrated Gibbs spoke out.

Molly looked up at him with wide brown eyes that were now forming tears at his harsh tone.

"Every day my agents risk their lives solving cases and they need what sleep they can get without their charge keeping them up at all hours of the night. Knock it off because it isn't funny." Gibbs blue eyes danced with emotion as they stared into her brown ones. "I understand you are having a hard time but taking it out on the people who are trying to help you is not the way to go about things and you know better than that."

And then he said the words that break the hearts of every child that respects their parents. "I'm very disappointed in you."

Molly's eyes widened a bit more in shock. Her first instinct was to cry in shame but she fought down her natural urges and adopts someone else's habits instead. "Life's full of disappointments," she spat out bitterly.

She opened her mouth to further retort but the door opened once again revealing Director Vance and Doctor Ryan.

"Gibbs, what are you doing here?" the director questioned his loyal, if somewhat independent, agent.

"Just letting her know that the stunt she pulled last night was not appreciated. Further more you need to be thinking of your child." Gibbs directed at the pixie haired woman.

"I constantly think of my child Agent Gibbs. I was never going to do it past the one night." Molly looked at the table as she gave her admission in a defeated tone.

"Oh really? Then why the game of negotiations." Vance asked.

"I saw an opportunity...I took it," she said in a lofty tone. "I don't like the anklet." Molly held both hands in front of her stomach and bent forward as if protecting it.

"Part of our deal was that you would cooperate with Dr. Ryan. She tells me that you have not been the most forthcoming." Dr. Vance lobbed his statements at Molly.

"I tried. It's not my fault if she didn't like the answers. Deal's off anyway. I'm not going to mess with the anklet and you were never going to remove it anyway."

"I guess we'll never know. But we do need to know about how you knew that Samantha works for PsyOps."

Molly's eyes slid up quickly at Gibbs and looked back down. She could not fight the natural inclination to seek out her father's thoughts or his protection even if he was upset with her.

Everything was such a mess. She wished she could just come clean but it would put too many people in danger. Ironically her keeping silent was keeping the good doctor and her son safe. Molly knew about the boy and had a moment of thought that he was Dr. Ryan's pressure point. Molly had almost vomited when such thinking went through her mind. She would not become like her predecessor and use others information against them. She just needed to learn to keep her mouth shut even tighter than it already was.

Both the director and the doctor noticed the eye movement. The director's eyebrow went up in question as he looked his agent in the eyes. Gibbs met his them evenly and said that he had told her in an effort to get Molly to respect and open up to Dr. Ryan.

Dr. Ryan knew it was bull. "Why didn't she just say that, hmm?"

"I don't want Gibbs to get in trouble," came Molly's quiet reply. It was true. She did not want any trouble for the man she looked up to and was happy to see alive once again.

The doctor picked up on the improper tense. Molly should have said, "Didn't," since the situation was past. It was a small slip up, but it was there all the same.

"Is there anything else you need to tell us Mrs. Holmes?" the director gave Molly a penetrating look as he gave her the opportunity to come clean with whatever it was she was hiding.

Molly hesitated. She did not want to tell Gibbs anything because she wanted to keep him and his team safe. Vance was outside those parameters and nothing in her database showed that he had any connection to Division. Director Vance was trained to deal with violent situations and had even worked with the CIA. She did not particularly like the man, and she believed the feelings were mutual. She had not been the best or most cooperative of guests. If she allowed this agent in perhaps he could help her at least keep her father safe. Just having someone know would be nice. However, she thought of the two children he had at home. If she involved him, he would be put in extra danger. With Vance's wife gone, the children would be parentless if they lost him. Too many had already died to protect both Kelly Gibbs and Molly Hooper. She did not want anyone to die for Molly Holmes. She did not want any more blood on her hands and certainly, not from anyone she had come to know.

Molly could not trust Dr. Ryan. Dr. Ryan would sell her out in a moment to protect her son. Molly could not blame the woman.

"Molly?" the director broke through her thoughts and claimed her attention.

"Where did you go just now?" Samantha Ryan tried to prod the young woman into talking.

"Umm...nowhere really. Just thinking if there was anything else." Molly reached up and scratched her forehead.

"Doctor, is there anything else you need from your patient?" The director asked.

Dr. Ryan studied her patient for another moment before turning to the director. "That is all the work we can do today I think. Ill be back next week if you wish, director. In the meantime, Molly, make sure you are getting enough rest and that you are eating enough. I also recommend journaling your feelings. If you are paranoid about people reading them you can burn them or have them shredded."

A few more inconsequential words were passed and farewells made as the three government employees made their way out of the conference room. Molly was left with her thoughts of what would happen and pondered why Gibbs would lie for her to his boss.

The director promptly ordered both the doctor and agent to accompany him to his office as soon as they cleared the conference room. Once ensconced safely from prying ears he began to scold Gibbs' of his behavior.

"You told her Dr. Ryan was from PsyOps?" he spat out incredulously.

"I was just giving Molly some credentials hoping that she would trust Samantha if she knew a bit about her." The lie rolled glibly off of Gibbs' tongue.

Dr. Ryan decided to play along with the charade for now but planned on calling him on it when she could get him alone.

"Well it seems to have had the opposite effect. You know better than to tell sensitive information like that!" the agitated director exclaimed.

Gibbs shrugged nonchalantly. "Samantha's is no longer on the field. She stays close to home now." Gibbs spoke about the psychological worker. "I don't think the information is all that sensitive and Molly isn't going to be telling anyone."

"Can you be sure of that though?" Director Vance pressed.

"I give you my word."

"It's not your word I'm worried about. I know you and I have had our differences and that your ways of doing things don't follow the normal protocol but I do trust you to get things done and to protect those in your care. Don't let me down." And with that Gibbs was dismissed.

Once they were alone Director Vance asked for a full report on the British pathologist who was sitting just a few rooms away. Dr. Ryan took a seat opposite of the director who sat down behind his desk.

"I honestly don't know where to start. She would be a most interesting case study if I could just get her to talk to me." Dr. Ryan spoke candidly.

"I'm sure she would be happy to hear that," came the dry answer from the director.

"Molly is quite brilliant with a probable high IQ, but she is also very troubled and I can't quite put together what the nature of her past trauma is. She is acting out in light of it. She has suffered some form of abuse. She knows the ends and outs of psychology and has faced multiple counselors in the past. Her experiences with those, aside from her adopted father, led her to not completely trust those in my profession. She's on her guard from being manipulated. She protects herself in part by disassociating from the world around her. She has either trained herself to do it consciously or it's subconscious. It could be a possible mixture of both. She self medicates with the books she reads. She is aware of everything that is happening but she is somehow protecting herself from the full impact of what she is experiencing. When she told me of the events that led to her being her she gave a cold detached recital. She left out details that had a more emotional and personal impact. When she fled from here she did it as a form of self-preservation. She knows herself well enough to know what she needs. Her current priority is the life of her child and, in as such, she is trying to keep her stress levels down. Keeping busy helps as an additional self-medication but she won't be able to keep it up forever. However, for now, her working in the lab is the best thing. But she is heading for a meltdown sooner or later. Her pregnancy is high-risk in my assessment and I would recommend letting the Mycroft Holmes know that you cannot be held responsible for the survival of the child despite the best care that we can give her." Dr. Ryan finished her long-winded monologue.

The Director rubbed at his forehead as he processed what the psychoanalyst had brought to his attention. "So, you do recommend having her return to the morgue? And can she be trusted?"

"From what I have seen and observed, she prides herself on her work. With the exception of one case I think she does not skew results."

"What case was that?"

"She filled out a death certificate for Sherlock Holmes."

"She did it to protect her husband," Vance stated matter of fact.

"They weren't married yet, but yes. You can trust her to do her job but..."

"But?"

"She's definitely hiding things and she doesn't want us to know what they are. And I'm not sure how important that information is."

Happy New Year! Almost. There will be a new chapter tomorrow, however it is short. But, on Friday I plan to post a chapter that will hopefully make up for it.