Hey, hey everyone. I'm going into my last full week in work and I'm starting to countdown the hours until I break for Christmas. I don't know about you lot but I'm in need on this break this year.

I also need to get a wriggle on and finish posting this story so I can get on and start the next one so you can expect the last two chapters over the next few days.

We left Molly determined to head into the melee and do her best to help Sherlock. Shall we see if he needs it. (Either way our Molly is brave).

Chapter 11

As she reached the entrance to the tunnel a torch light was flashed in her eyes and she had to squint and hold up her hand at the sheer brightness of it.

A hand grabbed her arm and she tried to pull away from it hitting them with her other hand until she heard John calling out her name.

'Molly, Molly it's OK. It's me...John.'

The light tilted to one side out of her eyes and she saw John looking at her with concern. She turned her head to see what was going on around her and she saw Greg along with a couple of PCs holding onto to a middle aged man who was struggling and looking furious. Sherlock was talking to Greg who was nodding and then a moment later Sherlock turned and when he saw her he made his way over.

'Are you alright?'

John let go of her arm and all she could do was slap Sherlock as hard as she could.

'You bastard. You knew...you used me as bait and you knew they'd be here waiting. Was it all just a lie?'

She knew he knew what she meant and he brought his hands up placatingly. 'I'm sorry Molly, you were never in any real danger I promise. I was waiting for him to attack you...I needed to get him out in the open and this was the only way.'

She turned away from him and took a few staggering steps into the woods breathing heavily and she tried to get her emotions under control. Had he just used her the whole time? Kissing her to have her compliant. She felt sick and leant over with her hands on her knees.

Sherlock had been called back over by Greg and so it was John who came to see how she was.

'I'm just tired John, can I go? Is there someone who can take me?'

'Of course, you're in shock and we need to get you warm.'

He called over one of the police officers and asked if he could drive them to the guest house. He went and told Sherlock whilst Molly followed the officer to the car. She glanced back and saw Sherlock looking over at her with a look of concern on his face but she didn't want to talk to him...she didn't want to even see him. He made her sick.

Thankfully the journey wasn't long. It seemed that the tunnel from the house ran through the hill and came out at the other side of the woods closest to the village.

It was John who confirmed it. 'It would have been a shorter route to the village, well used in previous years. He'd covered up the entry point but Sherlock and I found it this afternoon. I have to admit I wasn't that keen on going back into the woods but...well...we have to confront our fears don't we. We put on that show at the house in case he was listening to us somehow.'

Molly nodded numbly. She followed John into the bed and breakfast and just listened as he booked her room and guided her up there.

'Get yourself warm and get some sleep Molly. I'll call for you in the morning. OK?'

She just nodded again, her arms wrapped around herself physically holding her emotions inside.

He gave her a small smile and kissed her on the cheek.

'It will be alright, I know it will Molly. He's an arse but...but I know he cares about you.' He nodded, as if to himself. 'Yes, I'm sure of it.'

It was of little consolation to Molly though.

She let herself into the room, barely aware of her surroundings. She stripped off until she was just in her t shirt and a pair of knickers and then she wrapped herself up in the duvet. The only bright point was that she was so exhausted, physically and emotionally, that she was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

...

She slept like the proverbial log but when she woke it was still dark outside...the downside of Autumn. It was immediately apparent though that she was no longer alone in the bed. Instead there was a warm body wrapped around her own. Her back pressed against his chest and his arm lying loosely over her waist.

She instinctively knew it was Sherlock. In fact, when she took a breath through her nose she could smell the faint remains of his cologne. She moved her hand to her thigh and then to his body and she realised with a jolt that he was either naked or almost so given that her hand was on his bare leg.

At her touch he shifted slightly, his arm tightening around her and she slowly became aware that she could feel his erection against her backside. Arousal and confusion flooded through her in equal measure and she turned over in his arms so that she could see his face.

'Sherlock?'

His lip quirked up into a slight smile. 'Shh...I'm sleeping.'

'How the hell did you get in here?'

She saw him shrug. 'I told the landlady that I was your husband.'

'And she believed you...that's all it took?'

'Well, I may have had ID.'

Now she was thoroughly confused. 'ID? How could you have ID?'

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes and she felt that lust from earlier curling through her body as he gazed at her sleepily.

'I've used the pseudonym William Hooper for a few years...nice and nondescript, but very handy this morning. Anyway are these really the questions you want to be asking me right now Molly?'

He slid his hand down her side until he reached the edge of her t shirt and then she could feel his warm palm low on her back and it had her mind spiralling.

'I...I thought it was all a sham, that you were just using me.'

He bent his head and nuzzled her neck, his leg sliding between her own and her breath caught in her throat and she had to bite back a moan.

'I apologise Molly. I should have told you what the plan was, I assume people are brighter than they are and know what seems so obvious to me.'

He kissed her neck and she could feel his hands slowly sliding up her back, rucking up the material of her t shirt and she had to concentrate to keep herself on track. She needed him to be honest about his feelings not some stupid plan to catch a criminal.

'Thanks for the insult but that's not what I'm talking about. Why are you here...in this bed...with me?'

'Is it not obvious?' He rocked his hips towards her and she felt his erection against her hip and this time she did let out a low moan but it still wasn't enough.

'No, Sherlock...it's not obvious. I know you want sex but I don't know how...how you feel about me...about us?'

He lifted his head and she could see his eyes once more, the light in the room was turning everything, including him, into lighter shades of grey and she felt captured by his gaze.

'Have I not said it yet? I love you Molly, I've been in love with you for years but I only really realised it in that damned phone call. I've been coming to terms with it ever since and I can't wait any longer...I need to be with you. And I don't just mean now, in this moment, I need to be with you from now until death parts us. Is that enough for you?'

Molly just nodded mutely, her throat felt tight with emotion and her heart was thudding in her chest. With just a few short sentences he'd given her more than she could ever have hoped for. It was almost more than she could take in.

She saw his eyes close as he bent his head to hers and she gave in to his kiss, relishing the feel of his lips against her own. It wasn't long before they deepened it and she finally let her hands move against his body, sliding up his back and feeling his muscles underneath that thin layer of skin.

He shifted his body so he was lying more over her and she could feel him hard against her core and she started to feel her endless desire for him unfurling deep inside her. She had wanted him for so long and her mind was struggling to catch up with the fact that he actually wanted her.

His hand moved up her body under her t shirt until she could feel his thumb brushing against the underneath of her breast and she found herself moaning into his mouth and pressing herself closer to him. She wanted to feel what it was like to be joined with him, to be so intimately connected she didn't know where he ended and she began...but it wasn't to be.

There was a sudden knock on the door which made Molly jump.

'Molly, it's John. Breakfast is about to be served.'

Sherlock shouted back angrily and sarcastically. 'Bugger off John. You're timing as ever is impeccable.'

'Sherlock!'

The shock in John's voice made Molly giggle and she pushed Sherlock away slightly, starting to sit up. The moment had been lost and she knew there was no way they'd be carrying on knowing that John would know what they were doing.

'We'll be down in five John, thank you.' She shouted.

Sherlock turned to her scowling. 'We will?'

She smiled and put her hands either side of his face, pulling him to her for a chaste kiss. 'Yes, we will. Anyway, I probably need to get my head around us first before we go any further.'

He scowled making her giggle once more. 'And how long will that take? I'm not a very patient man when I make my mind up about something.'

She shrugged. 'Who knows...you'll just have to wait and see.' Deep down though she knew it wouldn't be very long at all, not after the way he'd been making her feel.

She got dressed whilst Sherlock had a quick, cold shower and ten minutes later they made their way down to the small dining room in a heated conservatory on the back of the house. Greg arrived about the same time as them and they greeted him and the others as they all gathered around a large table which had been set up in the middle. There weren't many other people in there given the time of year so their group had taken up most of the rooms in the small guest house.

The owner was fussing around taking orders for teas, coffees and cooked breakfast as well as directing them to the small offering of cereals and juices so it was a few minutes before they were able to talk freely.

It was Molly who spoke first. 'So, come on...tell me everything. What happened after I left you all last night?'

Greg responded first. 'We got him down to the station in the town nearby. He pretty much admitted everything once he'd been arrested and interviewed. It was just like Sherlock had said. He was hoping to frighten Mrs Hudson's sister out of the house so he could buy it cheap. Mainly it was for sentimental purposes but he also admitted that there had always been some talk of family treasure hidden in the property and he wanted to be the one to find it...I rather think that was a myth though but who knows.'

Mrs Hudson smiled and leant forward. 'Ooh, I'll have to tell Janet, maybe she'll uncover it when she does her restoration work. How exciting?'

Greg carried on. 'His statement didn't quite answer all the questions though. The main one was over the image that Sarah here had seen. He swore blind that the recovered projector showed a young lad not a woman in white but he just laughed when we questioned him about it and refused to say more.'

The owner had come back over with their teapots and coffees and she looked at Greg curiously. 'Are you talkin' about Pondicherry Lodge by any chance?'

Greg nodded.

'Well, if you've seen a woman in white that'll be Audrina.'

Sherlock narrowed his eyes. 'And who exactly is Audrina?'

'She's the ghost there. Been there for years she has...it was the mid 1800s when she died. Word has it she was getting ready for her wedding, dead excited she was, but as she made her way down the stairs to her true love she caught her foot in the dress and fell to the bottom dying instantly. She's been seen ever since. Has a thing about getting thwarted lovers together by moving items of theirs into the others bedrooms.'

At that statement Molly glanced at Sherlock and saw him frowning.

'She also tries to split up them that shouldn't be together by frightening one of them. So if one of you has seen 'er you shouldn't be with whoever you're with.'

She chuckled as she looked around the table missing John's scowl and the way Sarah was biting her lip.

'Anyway, I'll go get your cooked breakfasts.'

So it looks like there really was a ghost as well as the guy pretending to be one. I didn't quite manage to work in him saying 'I would have got away with it if it wasn't for those pesky kids' but I'm sure that's what he was thinking when he was caught at the end of the tunnel.

Just a couple more chapters to go and we'll be done. Hope you liked the big reveal and Sherlock's declaration xx