Chapter 12 Molly's story Pt2
AN: My dear readers. This story has finally come to an end. I'm truly sorry you had to wait this long though I have to admit that thanks to you I was determined to try to finish this. Thank you all for your kind reviews and for following my story and I hope you have enjoyed Molly's story.
While Molly talked about the handsome stranger John immediately remembered their meeting with the Doctor and later with that Jack. Both handsome and wearing long coats. He wondered if Sherlock never would have worn a long coat, but just some jeans, shirt and jacket, would she even have fallen for him? He looked at Sherlock and as if Sherlock knew that he was being analyzed about his 'beauty' and his dressing code and the options to lure people to 'fall' for him, made Sherlock smile at John and mouthed "No". John's face looked baffled. 'How in the hell did he knew I was thinking this way?' The man always seemed to amaze him.
Than the fact that Molly just entered a blue box without knowing anything about the man and his intentions, he must admit that she was braver than he ever thought she would be. Much more braver than him and he had been in the army. He remembered when that box appeared and they went inside he had hesitated. Though he made it as if it all hadn't been real, but just a trick and he didn't liked to be made a fool, he secretly had to admit that he had been a little anxious. It made him wonder why. Not afraid in the face of an enemy but afraid of something he didn't understand. He was getting old. That must be it. When getting older, you see and fear more danger because you know how bad this world is. When you're younger, you still believe in peace and ways of achieving it. He took another sip of his tea and made peace with this conclusion. Yep, just getting older. And now Molly was talking about going to a planet called Berrows where cows were as big as goats, but being home before six. She had without hesitation believed everything the man had said and just followed him. That could have been stupid or you could consider it very brave. But her way of explaining when visiting the Tardis and seeing its inside, that it must be alien and therefore his words must be true. It must be something like woman's intuition to know who to trust or not. He took another sip of his tea and looked expectedly to Molly. He definitively wanted to hear more.
"Berrows really was a lovely planet. I wish that our planet was like that. To live in peace with each other. Sorry Sherlock," Molly said with a grin "but you would be quite bored there. There is not a single murder to solve. And I would be unemployed also. People die of old age there. There hearts just stop. Nothing to investigate. And John, work as a doctor or a soldier? forget it. No army needed, no doctor needed. If you don't feel well, take a pill and you feel better in the morning. Their pharmacy is incredible. Doesn't matter what kind of disease you have. I wished I could have taken a few pills back to earth to give to some scientists to investigate but the Doctor didn't allow it. He learned me that we were to young to have advanced knowledge. Besides, as long as we're still killing each other, it would be dangerous in the hands of governments. It would destroy us though it would look like it would benefit us. After all, he is a Time Lord. He know what's supposed to happen. I was thrilled when I was there and the Doctor showed me a lot of interesting things there. But to be honest, the view was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. After some time we had to leave. Though I felt sad that I had to leave that planet already, the fact that he would take me somewhere else instead of taking me home made me happy for he noticed my love for beautiful views. I must say, what a treat it all was. And I felt honoured that he still wanted to spend time with me though I knew that I was not a worthy travel companion. Young, innocent, shy and lacking knowledge."
"One time he brought me to a planet invested with worms. First we arrived on another beautiful planet with a lot of planets in the sky and red grass, yellow mountains and green rivers, we stayed there for only some fifteen minutes then he suggested we would leave.
"Why?" I asked. I have to admit I was a little pouting at that moment. "We're just arrived."
"Well," he said, fidgeting his earlobe, "I just received a message from someone who needs my help. You wanna come?"
"Who's it from?"
"He grinned at me expectantly. "I don't know. Shall we find out?" he extended his hand and wiggled his fingers. Then I smiled at him, you can't really stay mad at the Doctor, and after grabbing his hand, we ran towards the TARDIS.
"We left that beautiful planet behind and the TARDIS brought us to the planet with worms. And what a planet it was. When I say worms, I mean not those tiny worms we have here crawling around, oh no, I mean worms as thick as bodybuilders arms. And they were long. Extremely long. Three meters was nothing. I believe that was the size of their kids. The Doctor figured out how they got there and how to get rid of them without trying to kill them. It seemed that mother worm had been a stowaway in a space ship and had been the only survivor after that ship had crashed. Unfortunately mother worm had been pregnant and gave birth to let's say 3 to 5 children which also breed with each other and before you knew it, you had a lot of worms. If they had been small, it wouldn't have been such a problem but now this big. There wasn't enough food for them so they attacked animals and sometimes humans too. The Doctor was able to find out where they came from and managed to find a way to communicate with them and convinced them to leave and go back to their planet. They listened and left. But let me tell you. Those worms… brr. It crawls around you and you know it can squeeze you to death. We never figured out who had been able to summon the Doctor, though I believe the Doctor suspected someone. After a few adventures I figured out that he was a person who wanted to try to save the universe, mostly from evil and also given the evildoers a chance to turn around. But when they don't take it, he'll stop them.
"How did he make them leave" John asked, "they can't fly a spaceship" still struggling with the alien stuff though he had experienced it himself.
"Well, you know the Tardis is bigger on the inside. She created a room for all the worms, and let me tell you there were a lot, and one after another they entered and stayed in that room till they arrived on their planet. Luckily the Tardis can fly swift, cause it made me a little anxious, the fact that there were extremely big gigantic worms a few rooms away from us, maybe hungry?"
"So," Sherlock said, "you weren't afraid getting inside a tiny little box with a complete stranger. You weren't afraid visiting strange planets with the risk of not been able to go back to earth. You weren't afraid of Jack the Ripper, jumping on his back to prevent him from escaping. You weren't afraid of Daleks whatever they may be, but you are afraid of worms?" He looked at her with a gleam in his eyes.
"You would be too," Molly replied, when you see them eat a complete elephant or an animal similar to that. What do you think we would look like in their eyes? Just little sausages."
"Mmm," Sherlock's gleam disappeared, and John was sure that Sherlock wouldn't try from now on not to give Molly a worm invested body to investigate. At least not if Sherlock could help it. John smiled. But John had to admit that Sherlock had a point. Not afraid, only of those creatures. Molly was braver than they ever considered her to be. Why? Was it because she acted shy? Was it because she didn't ran into danger? He had always respected her but now even more. Sherlock looked at John and nodded. How the hell did Sherlock know what John was thinking. John rolled his eyes and sighed.
Molly continued, letting the worms behind. "One day we visited a planet which wasn't nice. When we stepped out of the box we were surrounded by dead bodies just lying around. By the look of it they were recently killed, but there were no wounds. The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at one of them and read the information. He looked concerned after reading and I asked what had happened. He explained that they had been poisoned but it wasn't clear how. "Let's investigate," he said, while leading us to the village nearby. To be honest, you are just like him. All happy when there is something like a puzzle which has to be solved."
Sherlock looked affronted, but John remembered Mrs. Hudson's remark: "Oh, look at you... all happy. It's not decent." "Yes, you are" he said with a smile.
"Yes, Sherlock," Molly agreed "that's why I subconsciously got a little attached to you. Solving puzzles was, I must say 'is', still his thing. Of course he can't stand it that someone is causing death and/or destruction, then he steps in. He will put an end to it. But feelings. It's not really his area. But after living some 900 years and seeing so many people die or dead, I wonder if you're still capable of letting it get to you or if you're just get used by it. I can't tell. And you are also a puzzle solver. You live for the chase. You both do good work, making the world, or in his case, the universe, a better place." Molly looked at both men after her compliment and both felt a little embarrassed. Though John would do it for the greater good, his adrenalin addiction was also something to admit that's why he chased criminals. Sherlock knew that he really loved the puzzles and that he sometimes forgot the people who were the victim. He gave them justice but not for the right reason. And still Molly admired them.
When Molly saw they felt uncomfortable, she said: "Look at it this way. If you," looking at Sherlock," had decided to become a second Moriarty, none would have been able to stop you. And you," looking at John, "would also be a force to be reckoned with. You know how to kill and you are a crack shot. Working together would have made the world a terrible place to live in then. Luckily you are honourable men. Alright," seeing their expression and decided that they had to think this over, "back to the story" and without a beat she continued.
"Ok, well on that planet the Doctor found out that another alien species wanted that planet for their resources and they had decided to wipe out all the original inhabitants with poison so they could conquer their planet without any casualties on their side. They had poisoned all the wells and had spread poison on the vegetables and fruit. By the time the people noticed something was wrong, the damage was already done. It had been a fast working poison. Although the Doctor was angry he had to admit the way how it had been done had been clever." Then Molly stopped talking. She reached for her tea and took a sip. When she didn't continue her story John became impatient. He wanted to know the rest. He bent over to her and asked: "What did the doctor do with the murderers? He found out who did it and arrested them?"
When she didn't answer immediately he frowned at her. "What did he do Molly? He couldn't condemn a whole planet for the sake of what the government had done, could he?"
Molly stared at both men with a serious face. She pressed her lips together as if she was reluctant to tell. The sparkle in her eyes had disappeared and pain had replaced it. They saw that what they would hear now, wasn't something they probably would like to hear but they knew they would hear it anyway because they had asked. Silence fell in the flat. It seemed as time stood still before Molly replied "well, you've met the Doctor".
John squeezed his eyes not quite understanding what Molly was saying. Sherlock looked shocked while he breathed an 'Ooh', suddenly understanding what she said.
"What?" John looked at Sherlock, seeing his shocked face and Molly's painful face and while he didn't understand what was going on. "What? What do you mean?" His face switched from Molly to Sherlock and back.
Molly sighed. Sherlock decided to spare Molly the explanation so he jumped in and said to John: "John, do you remember the day when you encountered the Doctor for the first time? When he entered the room and asked for Molly we both went to her to offer her protection"? Why would we do that John? Though you didn't see what I saw you unconsciously noticed that this man was extremely dangerous. That he could kill us instantly if he wanted to. That the man had seen war, took part in it, brought death, pain and destruction. You noticed though you didn't even know you did."
John looked at Sherlock and sighed. He knew Sherlock was right. He had noticed those things about the man. Why did he forgot them. Was it because he travelled with him? That he had seen another side when the man wanted to try to save the Ripper's victim but still let it happen cause it was a fixed point in time? And then came with all the stuff about them and their written story? Suddenly John came back from memory lane and looked at Molly when Sherlock said: "Please, Molly, tell us, what exactly did he do."
"Remember," Molly said, to make them understand, "I was fifteen years old when I start travelling with the Doctor. Though I had travelled with the man for almost half a year I was still young. And though I had seen war and death on the TV and heard about waging wars to gain oil, power or committing genocide, I've never been in a warzone. The Doctor was exited after finding out how it had been done to find out who was responsible, but I was overwhelmed with so many people dead. I wanted to bury them but there were too many. I cried for the loss of life of all those men, women and children. Not to mention all the animals who were also killed and that for some oil, gold, minerals or whatever that planet had. Just like I said, people, other people's lives, feelings, not really the Doctor's area. That's why the Doctor needs humans or other people around him, otherwise he gets lost in his revenge, for he was angry. Let that be said. Just like you said Sherlock, you both knew instantaneously that the Doctor was dangerous. When I travelled with him I understood that the universe knew the man and the name 'Doctor' was synonym for mighty warrior. He has more names. The Uncoming Storm is one of them. When you do something wrong and the Doctor catches you, he gives you a warning. Just one. But in this case… When the perpetrators were found, he discovered that almost the whole planet was in it. The government, the army, the companies, banks. Almost the whole society. When they found out that the Doctor knew, they panicked, knowing the Doctor's motto. They wanted to kill him, but they couldn't manage. Don't ask me how, but he's extremely clever. Saw it all coming miles away and had already anticipated what he should do. He told them that he would be gracious if they all would go to the destroyed planet, then he would spare the children. He was absolutely sure the children weren't involved in the massacre, but he wanted the people to understand that he also was able to destroy their planet and everyone on it. So they went. For the sake of their children they went. Though they were outrageous, in their heart they knew he was right and what they had done had been wrong. They wanted that planet, now they could have it, earlier than they had anticipated. Maybe they had a chance to survive if they could remember what exactly had been poisoned. They went, they accepted their banishment. The last I heard that they were burying the dead and trying to make the planet livable again. The remaining adults who had nothing to do with it, most were old, were ordered to take care of the children, cause they were, in his eyes, still innocent. Told the elders to teach the children to tolerate others and not to be greedy but to learn to share.
"Really" John said, "they just went because he said he would blow up their planet? How would he manage that?"
"I didn't know at the time, but the others knew immediately what he meant and obeyed. Later I found out that there had been a war on his planet with a race called the Daleks. Daleks are nasty creatures. Everything that isn't Dalek, must be destroyed. That war went on for years and years. The Doctor found a way to stop this war. There was only one catch. Destroying the Daleks was only possible when he also destroyed his home planet. So he did. The war was over but at a terrible cost. So you understand that such a story would travel far and wide throughout the galaxy. And then you would know when you meet the Doctor and he orders you to stop, run or whatever, you obey. As simple as that. After all he is a Time Lord."
"I must admit that this nearly broke me. Before we went to beautiful planets and though we helped here and there when there was a mystery to solve, this made quite an impact. The Doctor decided to take me home. He was sad but determined and he said it was for the best. I cried. Though I was still shocked I didn't want to leave him, so he embraced me. Then he placed his hands on my temples and he said "I'm sorry, but this is better this way."
"So I left him, saying goodbye without even knowing what we had done. I have to mention, I was home before six. New books and all and a small but lovely memory of a beautiful man who had invited me for tea." Molly smiled a little.
"Strange really when you think about it. I didn't notice but after that my life was better. No more bullying and it looked I was more clever than I've ever been. Though on the outside I was still Molly, on the inside I had changed. Probably those bullies must have noticed it, I don't know. I guess that there still had to be some remnants of my travels and what I had learned and experienced that had changed me were responsible. But life became beautiful."
"When I think about it I think that because of all those dead people we've encountered and his investigation about their death, I unconsciously decided to become a pathologist. And after my study I applied at St. Barts and they gave me the job."
"One night Jack came back in my life. I had a late night shift when a body was brought in. Looking closer I noticed something wasn't right. Weird looking bone structure and red looking blood vessels instead of blue. Before I could really start with the autopsy, Jack came. I had met Jack cause of the Doctor and Jack was a flirt. Oh, that man is dangerous." Molly giggled. "One smile and you forget you're married or something like that. I was lucky I was young when we first met, otherwise I definitely would have fallen for him. Now he treats me like his little sister."
"As I said, Jack came, and with him my memories. Not all, but a lot about the Doctor and about our travels together. Then of course of all the aliens we've met and then it occurred to me that the man on the table was an alien. Then it made sense that everything in his body was 'wrong'. Jack asked me then to remove all evidence of his existence and that he would take the body with him. He then told me he was working for Torchwood Three. I vaguely remembered a Torchwood One which was owned by the government. But Jack told me that the Doctor closed that facility cause they were experimenting with alien technology which went very wrong, cause we're too young. It's like protecting your child to play with matches cause it doesn't understand fire. Maybe you remember those ghost shifts? They were behind it. But those weren't ghosts, but aliens, trying to conquer our world. As I said, the Doctor stops those who are dangerous to others. There were a lot of deaths before Torchwood One could be stopped. And you know what the funny thing is, Torchwood was founded by queen Victoria to stop the Doctor. Now Jack uses his in honour of the Doctor."
"I don't know how he knew that that man was an alien. He never told me, but I know his team is quite good in what they do. So I guess they have a way into the systems everywhere to see if there are strange things that mustn't be brought to light. After all, you didn't know there were aliens among us and you're very perceptive. So I would say, a job well done."
Sherlock looked at her and he agreed. If there were aliens on earth, he never had seen them. They blended in very well and he never had noticed. He even wondered if he would notice if he would encounter one in the future. Probably not. 'Normal people' also showed strange behaviour. Aliens would just fit in. Pity, he thought, it would have been a challenge. Now when making deductions, he had to be careful not to let something slip if he would notice that someone was an alien. People around wouldn't believe him, besides John, and his credibility would be shattered. Though he would know he would be right, and the alien would know he was right if he was still alive, people around would question his sanity and come to the conclusion that they always had been right about him being 'weird' and that was a mild expression he now used on himself.
"So", asked John, "when Jack came, your memories came back as well. You said you had changed. But, forgive me for saying, but you were still a little shy. But after our late encounter with the Doctor you have suddenly changed. How come you were still somewhat shy even saying you changed when travelling with the Doctor and now you look more open. Is it because you're older and wiser now?"
"Well, if you say it like that, than I must agree. Before the Doctor I was extremely shy. After the Doctor I was shy but much better than before. Otherwise I couldn't and wouldn't have become a pathologist. And the Doctor teaches you that you're important. Your opinions are important. And the fact that you're human and have a honourable code makes you important. When with the Doctor you learn that life is important. The time given to you is important. Cause in his eyes we live so short. That's why he's always so angry when someone is hurting or killing others. And by angry I would say that's a mild expression. When really angry, run! So in my opinion I became important though I must admit that I'm not a person who wants to be up front. Some would say I'm kind of a wallflower, but I know I matter for wallflowers must exist too, otherwise everyone would be equal and then none would be outstanding, doing great things. Otherwise how else can you see perspective. I don't mind being in the background cause I know I'm important and besides that, I am doing important work. In fact, that's what the Doctor is teaching you. No matter what, you are important and whatever you do for a living, that's important too cause the whole world is connected.
"How did you meet Jack"? Sherlock inquired. "What kind of an adventure you had with him?"
Molly smiled. "We went to Cardiff, the Doctor and I. The Tardis needed to be refuelled and in Cardiff is rift activity and that is a Tardis fuel. And no, I really can't explain what exactly that is. I know it's a tear in the universe and sometimes stuff or people comes through and sometimes stuff or people disappear. Where it comes from or where it goes, no one knows. The Tardis needs that rift energy to travel. Torchwood Three is founded in Cardiff cause of that rift and Jack leads it. For sometimes stuff that comes through is from the future or let's say, more advanced. Just like I said, he has a good team and probably knew the Doctor visited. So when the Doctor parked his Tardis on the rift, Jack came knocking on his door and the Doctor invited him in and introduced him to me. When he noticed that Jack didn't flirt with me the way he always flirted, he took Jack with him." As an afterthought "I can't remember what for, but I know we had a lot of fun."
John had listened and he had to admit it was quite a story. But something still nagged inside his head. It was what happened after Mary Jane Kelly had been killed and they had found her child. "Can you explain about my great-great grandmother? You knew touching her would be bad. How did you know? Did he tell you about that girl and her father?" remembering something the Doctor had said about Rose and her dad.
"Well, to be honest, he isn't really a person who spills all the beans so to speak. The things he knows, it must be incredible. But one day we were speaking, I must say I was speaking, about our parents. I told him they were great and that they loved me very much and that I would do anything for them. Then he told me that sometimes doing anything wouldn't be wise. He then told me Rose's story. She had lost her father when she was young and her mother told her that he was hit by a car and died all alone. She asked the Doctor if he could take her there. I forgot why but probably she would have said something to him of not dying alone or something like that. But instead of letting him hit by that car, she saved him. And if you wonder how something so extremely small like saving someone's life could turn out to be so extremely dangerous, I would say, I would agree. But like I said, he is a Time Lord. He sees time. The should bees', the would bees'. The fluctuations. Time things that can be changed. The fixed-points in time which are never allowed to be changed. Stuff that has to happen otherwise it has great consequences for the universe. The fact that her father had to die was hard, but it was a fixed-point in time. You wonder why. He just was an ordinary man. But when he had lived, Rose probably would have not become the person she was, the day she met the Doctor. Then she never would have travelled with him and then she would never have saved the world, worlds and him. On the day her father died there was a wedding. His not dying created a tear in the universe which made it possible that strange creatures crossed it and they attacked the people there. To make it worse, they gave Rose a baby in her arms. It was her younger self and after that the attacks intensified. I believe he told me that he even sacrificed himself to stop the monsters, but it didn't work. Then Rose spoke with her father and the man understood that he had to die. So he walked out of the church and waited for the car to run him over. The fact the car appeared every few minutes and disappeared again made it clear it had to happen. After the car appeared again, he jumped in front of it. He died, but not alone this time. The monsters disappeared and the people who had vanished, reappeared including the Doctor. But he had learned his lesson. That's why he didn't want you to touch her. You might have tripped and let her drop or whatever you can imagine. Or just touching her could do something? I don't know. I only knew that it could be dangerous. And to prevent is always good. If she had died, you never would have been born. Then you wouldn't have saved all those people during the war and Sherlock would never have met you." The implied 'and he would still be a difficult person to be around with' wasn't mentioned but they all knew that would be true.
"And what about that Arthur fellow? You told him about us? That I write stories about our cases?"
"Yes, I told him. Maybe it was because I was in a lot of pain. I don't know really."
"Pain?" John looked worried.
"Oh," said Sherlock, "you said you had bruised your ribs after chasing that Myrka. That pain?"
"Yeah, that pain. I not only chased it, I tried to fight it. It's what the Doctor does, so you help him. I quite forgot a lot but when the Doctor came to visit me, it all came back to me. He knew I would remember everything and he knew I could face it. After all I'm older and wiser now." Molly smiled a little.
"Well, that Myrka creature is a very nasty creature made by the Silurians, that's a race of reptilian humanoids by the way. Just like the Doctor said. Hard to kill. It's a kind of sea dragon, a reptile with a thick rubbery skin. A kind of cyborg, part animal, part machine with a big dragon head and large tail, four feet, two arms. Taller than humans with wide pale eyes. They can create powerful electrical charges. Fortunately they need metal to kill. But when you touch metal or standing close by, you're gone. Unfortunately they are bullet-resistant. We met one. Don't quite remember where exactly, but we had to let him focus on us instead of the people on the base. So we let him chase us and I kicked him from behind. At that point I didn't know he was that resilient. He hit me and I flew against a wall. Luckily there was no metal in that room otherwise I wouldn't have been able to tell this tale. The Doctor managed to find or create a UV light. It seems cause they are sea creatures they can't stand bright light. A little blinds them. A lot kills them."
"Afterwards, the Doctor took me to a doctor. It turned out to be doctor Doyle. He was a very kind man. He was shocked to notice I had fought against a man. I told him it was a man. What else could I say. But to be fighting against a man. At that time he was really old school. Women aren't capable of anything besides of being housewives and should be treasured. Well. Before I knew it, I told him I was a pathologist and that it was common where I came from that women worked in every sector they wanted just like men. I forgot that that wasn't acceptable in those days. When he found out I really knew my stuff, he became very excited and asked a lot of questions about me and my place. He discovered, the man was clever you know, I came from the future and that I fought a strange creature. I think that inspired him of writing that novel of his about dinosaurs. I think it's called 'the lost world'. I've seen the movie, it was nice by the way. While he bandaged my ribs, I told him about my life and I told him about you two. I told him you" looking at Sherlock now, "solve crimes just by seeing everything. You see, observe, deduct, arrange and rearrange facts and voila, there's the killer. And I told him you" looking at John now, "you are his conductor of light and write your 'adventures'" she quoted the word with her fingers in the air, in your blog so everyone can read about it. And though he was done he wanted to hear more so I told him some stories. Stories about how you two met. How you worked together with the police and you know the rest. When I think about it, it is really amazing. You two are famous in the whole universe" She said with a big smile.
"Well, now you know. How I met him. How I left him. Happy?"
Sherlock looked at her and smiled a really genuine smile. "Thank you, for your story. Pity John," now looking at John, "you can't write this one down, it would have been a bestseller."
John looked at her and smiled too. "Yeah, thank you. If I hadn't experienced it, I never would have believed you. To be honest, I still have trouble believing it. But I know it's true, cause I was there too. Well. Sherlock."
Sherlock looked at John and knew exactly what John wanted. "Molly, would you do us the honor of dining with us at Angelo's. I would say that John is rather famished and after our adventure I see that you're too."
"And yes Sherlock, you eat as well. After all, we've been on a hunt and the case is closed." John voice sounded as if he gave an order. Well, Sherlock thought, why not. John was right, at the moment there was no case. Of course Molly accepted their invitation.
While putting on their coats John suddenly said: "I wonder what Angelo will do now, we will be with the three of us. Would he consider this also as romantic and give us a candle?"
Sherlock dryly replied "I don't think I have to answer that question cause you know the answer yourself."
"Yeah," John grinned, "I know. Well, come on Molly. Let's go and when we come home you might want to tell us about pepper pots and how you defended the earth. Though I believe that's quite another story for another time."
"Yes," Molly grinned. "Let's save that one for a rainy day."
They looked at each other and all decided that for now they had heard and seen enough. Then the three walked down the stairs and closed the door behind them.
Authors note: Angelo even gave them two candles!