Molly sat down exhausted on her couch and looked around. Soon all this would be history. Soon it would be swarming with boxes and she would have to leave her home behind, which had given her security and safety all these years. She knew that moving also meant leaving her friends.
At this thought she suddenly felt a strong knot in her stomach. Again and again the question came to her mind whether she would make a mistake after all? Did she really want to leave her friends? Her goddaughter Rosie? And how was she going to explain it to everyone?

Her first opportunity came about a week later. She had not heard from her friends since that day.

'Apparently they were busy renovating Sherlock's flat,' she thought.

Molly was doing another of the countless autopsies that day. Although she knew there would be a lot of paperwork waiting for her later, she seemed cheerful. During her lunch break she visited her boss' office and had some details about her new job and her new home explained to her. Her new workplace will be at University Hospital in Waterford. There she would mainly act as a pathologist as well as giving advice and support to prospective pathologists. Her flat or her own little house is about half an hour's drive outside the city. Both her current employer and the hospital in Waterford provide her with her own accommodation in Dunmore East. Molly would start to find out about her new place of residence right after work today and would already be busy organising her move - after all, it should start in less than a month.

But her anticipation was quickly dampened when the door to the mortuary suddenly swung open and Sherlock, closely followed by Greg and John, rushed in. Now she felt excitement rising within her. She had not seen or heard her friends or Sherlock since that day.

"Hello Molly. How have you been?" asked Greg as he stepped closer into the room.

Molly straightened up with her typical friendly smile and tried not to look too tortured when she saw Sherlock.

"Hello Greg. Hello John" she continued to smile.
"Hello Sherlock" she added in a shy tone.

Sherlock waved away only slightly. Both he and John seemed to avoid her gaze somehow and an uncomfortable silence suddenly spread. The behaviour of the two was strange. Why couldn't John look her in the face?
But Molly did not hold out for long and then turned back to Greg.

"So what can I do for you?" she then asked. Hoping to break that silence.

Greg briefly explained to her that there had been a murder case and that they needed to see a body that had come in during the day. Molly listened intently the whole time, but kept catching herself looking in Sherlock's direction. He still didn't look her in the face. John stood quietly beside her the whole time, glancing furtively at the floor. Only when Sherlock started to speak and asked him to examine the body while he was already examining some samples in the laboratory did he look up.
Sherlock didn't even wait for his friend's answer but left the room as quickly as he had come.
What remained was a rather puzzled looking John, a rather confused DI and Molly, who looked after him questioningly.

Greg was the first to find his voice again.

"So, Molly, how are you doing? Is there anything new with you? We haven't seen each other for a long time."

Molly was grateful for that. Now was the chance to tell them about her move. So while she was rolling the requested corpse out of the freezer, she told them both about her news.

"Yes that's right. A lot has happened lately" she began to tell them, looking at John. He took her look and with an apologetic look he tried to return hers.

"But thanks for asking. I'm fine and honestly, there's some news...but first tell me, how are you Greg and how are you John?" she asked.
Somehow she tried to delay the time. She did not know why. After all, sooner or later she had to inform her friends.

"Oh, I'm fine so far. But now tell me, what's your news?" Greg asked curiously.

Molly took a deep breath. She did not wait for John's answer.
"Well, the news is that..."

„... I'm leaving London. I'm needed in a hospital in Waterford and I'm moving there too," she said, pushing the dead body into the DI's field of vision.

'Pooh. At last it was out. It was harder than I thought.'

The two men who were about to take a closer look at the body turned to her with a jerk and a startled expression on their faces.

"Wait, Waterford? That's in Ireland, isn't it?" Greg then asked her.

"That's right. We have a partner hospital there and they have quite a staff emergency. So I agreed to help them. I will do my usual work as a pathologist but I will also teach students. And best of all, I'll have my own little cottage in Dunmore East. I just need to find out what this Dunmore is," she explained, looking slightly questioning.

"And when will it be? When do you have to leave?" Now finally John had found his voice again.

"In about a month" she replied.

"Well then. Of course I think it's a pity that you're leaving but I also wish you good luck in your new home and with your new job. I'll miss you very much, Molly," Greg replied to her and gave her a short hug.

"But we still have to celebrate your departure, okay?" he then asked and winked at her slightly. Then he said goodbye to the two of them as he still had some things to do.

John just stood there motionless and looked at the dead body in front of him. He was speechless and couldn't explain how all this had come about. His daughter's godmother would leave London. His girlfriend would leave London. He thought about what the motives could be and then he only came to one decision.

"Is it because of Sherlock? Because of the phone call?" he then asked.

Molly, who in the meantime had pushed the body back into the freezer, abruptly closed the flap and turned to him, startled.

'The phone call. Why did he have to start now of all times?'

Molly quickly realised that John had to be there. How else would he know about it. But she didn't want him to think it was just because of that either. Although, that's what it was.

"John, don't be silly. I'm going because I have to. There was no one else who could do it. This has nothing to do with Sherlock," she then explained with a fake smile, hoping that he would buy it from her.

But John just looked at her with a sceptical look. He knew this would not be true but he also saw that Molly hoped he would not ask any more questions. She was apparently still very hurt and her only way out of this was to leave Sherlock and London. He was saddened by her decision but could understand her.

"And will you tell Sherlock?"

"If it comes up, of course. Though I think he'll be less interested." she replied to him.

Of course, she had to tell him. She couldn't just leave without saying goodbye to him, too.

John sighed and stroked his hair with a slight embarrassment.

"I think he is interested. Listen, Molly, I know what Sherlock did to you with that phone call wasn't OK. But basically, he just did it to save you. He's doing all this just to keep us safe..."

What did he say? Was that him justifying Sherlock's behaviour? Was he apologising for him? No, it was too much. Molly couldn't bear to hear it, she didn't want to.

"NO! I don't want to hear it now! Stop apologising for Sherlock! And you have no idea how I feel after that phone call and all these years! And how do you even know about this? No, stop! Don't say it. I don't care any more!" cried Molly angrily.

Both Molly and John were surprised by her reaction. She was sure that John would not buy it anymore but she didn't really care anymore.

'Oh, man. Sherlock, what have you done? What have you done to her,' he thought.

"OK, I'm sorry. I just wanted..." John didn't quite know what to say, did he? Before this uncomfortable silence would fill the room again, he was going to change the subject to try and soothe Molly a bit.

"Will you... will you visit Rosie?"

She knew that he was just trying to change the subject, but she was happy about it. She didn't want to argue with him. Not over Sherlock.

"Of course. Rosie is my favourite goddaughter in the world. I'll be there for birthdays and holidays. Ireland isn't going anywhere." she tried to calm him down.

John was glad and relieved that she was no longer so angry and promised to keep in touch. Both John and Molly felt that the initial tension from their conversation and brief tantrum had gradually evaporated and that they could now deal with each other normally again.

They talked for a few more minutes about her move, the Baker Street renovation and her goddaughter, before John set off in search of Sherlock and said goodbye with a short hug.