A.N: Hello my dear Sherlolly friends!

I hope this chapter will be worth the wait there will be only one chapter (and an epilogue) left after this one. A big thanks to my reviewers and to Georgia "beta-extraordinaire".

Don't forget to review and let me know what you think.

Hugsies

Steffy

Chapter 16

The riddle had been easy. Almost insulting by Sherlock's standard. It took him less than a minute to understand the meeting point was at the Templar Church.

Sherlock arrived at the church and stopped at the main doors. Looking around, he realised that he didn't even have a plan... not really. And with less than 30 minutes to come up with something, that was a challenge, even for the genius he was.

As expected, the main doors were closed, forcing Sherlock to take the side doors. He walked slowly between the pews, trying to assess his surrounding in the very dim church until he spotted Molly tied up on a chair in front of the altar.

He took a couple of brisk steps toward her before stopping cold when he noticed the three red laser lights on her, probably from sniper rifles. One of them was directed at the middle of her forehead and the two others were directed at her chest.

Sherlock could see the fear in her bloodshot eyes and a pure murderous wave filled him. He could almost see himself ripping their throats out with his bare hands.

He gave her a tentative smile, raising his hands in surrender while stepping into the line of sight.

"Everything will be okay Molly; I'll get you out of here safe and sound."

"I wouldn't make promises you couldn't keep Mr. Holmes," said a deep, accented voice.

Sherlock looked around, but due to the church's acoustic she couldn't locate the origin of the voice. "Even if I have to admit that putting your body between her and the rifles is quite brave. If not completely useless."

Molly tried to talk under the tape and Sherlock didn't need to hear the words to know what she was trying to say. She was telling him to move. She was selfless like that, his Molly.

Sherlock smiled once more to Molly before turning around again. "Why don't you show yourself? You did this entire little scene to get me here, even if I have to admit that meeting in a church is quite ironic. I have no weapon and I rather enjoy being able to see whom I'm talking to."

"Very well, Mr. Holmes." Said a man, appearing from behind the altar and coming to stand just beside Molly.

Sherlock frowned; it was not a man he ever saw before. "You have an advantage, you know who I am but I don't have the pleasure."

"And let's keep it that way." The man gestured to someone in the darkness and a new laser appeared on the side of Molly's head. "You see Mr. Holmes, I know you don't care about your own life or safety but I also know that the people you care about are your weaknesses and it seems that this young lady is quite an asset."

"What do you want?" asked Sherlock. His mind was running a thousand miles per second trying to figure out how to save Molly.

"If it was up to us, you would be dead already but you see, your brother is still more important to us than any damages you've caused. I believe you can be a reasonable man, especially in the right circumstances." He said, resting his hand on top of Molly's head and making Sherlock growl.

"Yes. Mycroft is something else, I agree."

"We want you to understand, so hopefully we can let you both walk out alive."

"I see... Why did you kill them?"

"To be fair, we never intended to murder anyone. Paul, the priest, had a profound hatred of the Catholic Church and he was recruited quite young. He went through a seminar and become a priest. We placed him exactly where we needed but when this woman appeared it complicated the plans."

"He fell in love and wanted to leave." Sherlock guessed.

The man nodded. "Little did we know she was the reason he hated the Catholic Church to start with. Some somber story of teenage romance. He told her everything and she convinced him to walk away and start a new life with her. We couldn't allow that, we couldn't have anyone knowing about us and we certainly couldn't let him leave...He knew too much, and so did she."

"Sentiments...A weakness with no comparison."

The man nodded. "I knew you would understand. To be honest I never thought you would come to this meeting unarmed and alone. Only for this woman."

Sherlock looked at Molly again and couldn't help the little tender smile that appeared. "Don't underestimate the power that woman has over me."

"I don't. That's why we took her in the first place. But we also know that you would never let us go free. Weboth know that, as soon as you're out of here and she is safe, you would track us down." The man retrieved a gun from his pocket and pointed it straight at Sherlock's head.

Molly screams were muffled as her eyes filled up with tears.

Sherlock stood straighter. "We both know you never intended to let us out of here alive. As you said, we know too much." Sherlock turned his head toward Molly and winked. "Before you kill me, I want to know one thing. I mean, you owe me that much."

"What do you want to know?"

"Molly said two people tried to kill that woman and I believe she's right. Molly is generally right." He couldn't stop the fondness in his own voice.

"Ah yes, this idiot of a nun didn't have enough strength or it would have been perfect! She was just jealous." The man laughed. "I guess god didn't make their servant that perfect, did he? But she was just too weak and there was too much screaming. We knocked her unconscious and took care of the rest."

"What about the priest? Why kill him?"

The man snorted. "Apparently killing the woman he loved affected his alliance and you ,my friend, convinced him to talk. We couldn't let that happen."

The red dots moved and were now on the man's head and chest.

"To be honest I couldn't care less, a murder is a murder and your motives are stupid. I was just buying some time because there is something you underestimated. The loyalty of a brother."

At this moment Mycroft appeared from the darkness.

"Took you long enough," Sherlock said, quickly glancing at Mycroft before concentrating on the armed man again.

"You're welcome, brother mine. How is she doing?" Mycroft asked Sherlock as he came to stand closer to Molly.

"She's fine, aren't you, Molly?" Sherlock asked glancing in her direction once more.

Molly glared at him, making Sherlock chuckle. "Sure, she had better days, but she is tough." And the pride in Sherlock's voice made Mycroft roll his eyes.

"This is all very precious but we need to go now." Said Mycroft reaching for Molly's taped mouth.

The man looked down at the dots on his chest before looking up at Sherlock, still keeping him at gun point. "I swear if you take one more step I will shoot him right between the eyes."

"And I swear you will be dead before his body hits the floor," Mycroft replied so coldly that Sherlock couldn't help but be impressed.

"At least I would not have died in vain," said the man, as his hand started to shake ever so slightly.

"I beg to differ. You see, if anything happens to my brother, I would make it my life mission to destroy your organization and all the people in it. As you very well know, I have both the means and the drive to do so."

"And you promised us not to meddle in this."

"And you promised me not to harm my brother, who you obviously intend on killing. I guess we both changed our mind."

The man moved his gun from Sherlock to Molly's head. "Well at least this way, I'll keep my word and I'll have the pleasure to see the look on his face as she dies."

Everything after that happened at once, but Sherlock seemed to see it all in very slow motion.

The man started to pull the trigger as Sherlock ran to stand in front of the barrel, knowing well he wouldn't make it quickly enough. At the same time, Mycroft kicked Molly's chair, which fell backwards, her skull making a sickening crack on the marble floor just he reached for his own gun and shot the man, who fell heavily on the floor.

Sherlock quickly crawled towards Molly after hearing the crack and rested her head on his lap while removing the tape on her mouth. "How are you Molly? Do you see properly?" He asked, ignoring the commotion around them.

Molly nodded but winced. Sherlock gently touched the back of her head, making her wince more.

"It's quite tender." He said, putting her down gently while starting to untie the ropes.

Molly had a little laugh. "Not really how I expected our first date to go."

Sherlock couldn't help the wave of guilt. His life was dangerous and he was taking Molly right in with him without a second thought… talk about selfish. "I promised excitement, didn't I? At least I didn't lie." He replied, trying to hide his shame with humour.

"Your inspector friend just arrived, apparently called by some bystanders. There's an ambulance." Mycroft jerked his head toward the front doors that were now wide open. "You might want to get her checked."

Sherlock reached down and lifted Molly up.

"It's okay Sherlock, I can walk" she said self-consciously, as he carried her bridal style outside the church.

"I'd rather not," he simply replied, only releasing her when he reached the paramedic. "She fell backward on a marble floor, we heard a clear cracking sound, and I fear she might have fractured her skull."

"I can talk for myself, Sherlock!" She said, annoyed, as the paramedic made her sit in the ambulance to assess her.

Sherlock turned around to see Mycroft standing a few feet from the ambulance, leaning on his car and looking towards him.

"Why did you save her?" Sherlock asked as he reached his brother. "With her gone, I would be alone again, just as you want it. You have no kinship with Molly Hooper." He added phlegmatically, standing beside his brother.

"No, indeed I don't. And you are mistaken, I don't want you alone, I want you safe and nothing is more dangerous than what you two are sharing." Mycroft shrugged and buried his left hand in his pocket. "But I have to concede that she has to be quite unique to attract and hold your interest for so long."

"She is something else," Sherlock replied, smiling towards Molly who was visibly arguing with one of the paramedics, "But I thought sentiments didn't matter to you?"

"They don't," replied Mycroft looking straight ahead. "But just because I will myself to not experience emotions doesn't mean that I am foolproof. The thing is, I saw how much you loved the woman and I know that letting her die would be a death sentence to you too. I know you would have never forgiven me and the bad blood between us is enough. No matter what you think of me, brother, I love you and would do anything to avoid you any unnecessary heartache whether I approve of your choice or not."

Sherlock was completely taken aback by Mycroft's words and for the first time in his life he found himself speechless.

Mycroft shook his head "I have to go do some damage control, why don't you go and contain your woman? It seems that she is on the verge of hitting that poor man." Without another word Mycroft turned around and disappeared in his black sedan.

Sherlock rushed towards Molly.

"Sherlock, help me out! I'm a doctor and I tell them, I'm fine! They won't let me go." Molly cried, exasperated.

Sherlock stood in front of her, tightening the blanket around her. "Molly, you're a pathologist, your patients are all very much dead."

Molly pouted. "And? I still went to med school."

"I know you did and you are brilliant but you took a pretty hard knock on the head. Just go get checked… for me?"

Molly sighed but nodded. "Fine," She replied as the paramedic helped her lie down after throwing a grateful glance to Sherlock.

Sherlock chuckled, it was the first time in his life he had been the voice of reason. He would have to tell his mother.

"Are you coming with me?" Asked Molly tentatively.

"Of course!" Sherlock replied, getting in the ambulance. "There is no other place I'd rather be."

"Than in an ambulance?"

Sherlock laughed again, kissing her on the forehead as he sat beside her. "Silly Molly, no. There is no place I'd rather be than with you." He replied, making her blush.

Molly concentrated on him after the paramedic closed the doors and detailed his clothes. "You're wearing your purple shirt, it's my favourite."

"I know," he smirked, "why do you think I picked it?"

Molly snorted. "What did your brother want? Tell him thank you when you see him, okay? He saved my life!"

"I will" Sherlock nodded. "As strange as it seems, I think Mycroft just gave us his blessing. Not that I needed or required it, but it's nice just the same."

"Yes it is. Oh by the way, it's time to admit it." She said, turning to him with a small smile on her face.

"Admit what?" He asked suspiciously.

"You stepped in front of bullets for me, twice."

"I still don't see…."

"Well I guess it's time for you to admit that what you feel for me is more than fondness."

Sherlock gave her a playful glare, making her smile wider.

"Come on Mister Holmes just say it… I'm waiting…" She added, tauntingly extending her ear towards him.

Sherlock sighed, clearing his throat. "Very well…. Molly Hooper, sweetest, Molly. I lov-"

At this instant the ambulance stopped, and the doors opened to reveal two doctors.

"No, come on!" Molly shouted, frustrated.

The medic team looked at each other curiously.

"She is suffering from a concussion," said Sherlock standing up. "Saved by the bell!" He winked at Molly before exiting the ambulance. "I presume you will take her for a MRI?" he said to the doctor.

"Yes."

Sherlock nodded, he was craving a cigarette like never before and couldn't stop looking at the few people smoking beside the hospital. "I will let you go in, Molly, I'll be out in the waiting room when you're done."

Molly looked at Sherlock as they rolled her in the hospital. "You better be, Sherlock Holmes, and you better be ready to finish that sentence." She finished, as the automatic door closed behind her.

Sherlock chuckled, shaking his head and taking the direction of the smoking area. He wouldn't tell her like that, not here in a cold hospital after she almost died for him. No he would do it the proper way because it was true, there was no denying anymore… Sherlock Holmes was in love with Molly Hooper.