A/N: Oh hey, my darling reader!

Posting again as chapter 11 so that the link from the e-mail will work.

x

Irene rolled over and glanced at the alarm clock. She groaned as she realised she had to get up now. When she was a dominatrix, she could wake up whenever she wanted. Irene sighed and swung her legs over the bed and stood up. Rubbing her eyes, she made her way to the bathroom to get ready for work.

After her shower, and brushing her teeth, Irene walked back to the bedroom and took out similar clothes to the day before. She forced herself to get dressed and she made her way to work. As she walked into the morgue, she glanced at her watch and frowned. Irene wondered what Molly was doing at that moment. She hoped Molly looked after Kate. There'd be too much to do if Molly didn't treat Kate well, such as murder.

There was a small knock on the bedroom door as Molly slept. Kate stood on the other side, a tray of breakfast in her hands. She opened the door to see Molly asleep. As she put the tray of food down, Molly opened an eye.

"Morning, Kate." With a small smile, Kate began to retreat back to her office when Molly stopped her. "Will you join me?" Kate bit her lip and watched as her mistress moved the large blankets away from half the bed. The small, reassuring smile on Molly's face caused Kate to hesitate. "Please?" Molly whispered.

Sighing in resignation, Kate kicked off her shoes and crawled under the blankets with Molly. She wrapped her arms around Molly's frame and rubbed her back in small circles.

"You can trust me, Irene," Kate whispered.

Molly pulled Kate's head towards her. "I know," she whispered in reply before kissing the top of her head.

The area was dank and dark. The stone walls were moist and the only source of light came from the entrance a hundred meters away. It seemed that the sun was only just rising outside of the small, dark space. A silhouette appeared, blocking off the light. Pulling the thick shawl that covered their head and shoulders closer, the figure moved through the space, their frail hand placed against the wall as they walked, trying to get some support. They placed their feet as if they had walked that path for years. Letting out a cough, they froze for a few seconds before continuing. After several minutes, they were at the back of the cave, the moisture on the walls dampening their shawl.

Hidden in the darkness were a small candle, a book, a small knife, and a mortar and pestle. Reaching into a pocket, they pulled out a small leather pouch. Inside were two strands of hair and a match. Once the candle was lit, the worn out, hollow face of an old woman was revealed. Her thin grey hair wisped around her face as she lowered the shawl. She opened the book and lifted the pages apart before she found the right page.

She placed the strands of hair into the mortar and added some dirt. She spat into it before taking the pestle and making a paste out of the three items. Lifting a hand, she took the knife and pierced her palm, cutting between scars. The blood pooled on her skin and dripped into the mortar. Clearing her voice, one frail finger trailed down the page before freezing.

"Paths forged together by one creates a bond best shared. With strong will and a burning to succeed, the bond grows stronger. Both alike, yet as different as can be, time fails to weld the bond for eternity. Skip the formalities and voyage on as one. Acknowledge the differences, embrace the similarities. The dominatrix and the pathologist shall be one and share in a new perspective," the old voice rasped out.

Using her index finger, the woman scooped the concoction from the mortar and into the leather pouch before blowing out the candle. She pulled the shawl close again and made her way to the entrance of the cave.

Near ten minutes had passed when she found herself squatting by the entrance. Under a large rock, she dug the earth away and planted the pouch. Once it had been covered up, she stood up and hobbled away from her hideout.

Irene and Molly walked into Baker Street, Irene's hand on Molly's lower back. The detective sat in his armchair, lost in his mind-palace.

"I'm busy," Sherlock said, his eyebrows furrowing.

"This," Irene said before clearing her throat, "is important."

Sherlock's eyes flew open and he looked the women up and down. He frowned as he took in the scene. "Is this a joke?"

With a small laugh, Molly looked up at Irene and her cheeks heated up.

"No."

As Sherlock stood up, about to use some colourful words to describe how he was feeling about the situation, John walked in, a cup of tea in hand.

He frowned as he looked at Irene's hand on Molly. "Um, hello?"

"Good morning," Irene said, smirking at John.

The doctor looked over at the detective and his jaw dropped a fraction. "What's going on?"

Irene wrapped her arm around Molly's waist. "We've come to tell Sherlock to good news."

Smiling at the boys, Molly lifted her left hand and held it up, a sparkling object on her ring finger. "We're getting married!" she exclaimed.

John's eyebrows shot up and his jaw dropped. "W-seriously? C-congratulations! I- I didn't realised that you two knew each other, let alone were dating. But I'm happy for you both!"

With a laugh, Irene and Molly looked at each other.

"We didn't want to make a big thing of it. It was very discreet. In fact, you two are the only two to know," Irene said before pecking Molly's temple.

Molly smiled. "Mum's met Irene, but she didn't know about… well, us being together. She'll find out soon, though. But we wanted to tell you about it first."

Rolling his eyes, Sherlock stood up and started to walk out the door. John coughed and Sherlock looked back at him. He rolled his eyes again at the look on John's face and looked over at the women.

"Congratulations," he said before stalking off.

Irene started to laugh, Molly following suit. Doubling over, Irene held her hand over her mouth.

Irene opened her eyes and couldn't help the smile that graced her face. It had been the first time she had ever laughed so hard in a dream that she woke herself.

"His reaction would be priceless," she muttered to herself before giving a small giggle. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stood up with a sigh. "I could use such a laugh."

A/N: hey darlin,

I decided to add the dream thing as a bit of a LOL. Also, Irene/Molly is fabulous. So much love for that ship. It would be my OTP if there was more stuff.

Lesbihonest, though, this isn't a shippy ship story. I love the ship and there isn't enough of a ship base for that ship though (to my dismay), but I'm not writing this as that type of story.

My fanfiction is a hetero-ship, or something, but my serious writing is for the LGBTQIA community (because I love the LGBTQIA community and teens don't nearly have enough appropriate, relatable stories that don't shame being non hetero). But there is no ship in this.

Yada yada yada, this story is fab. Now, I've just about finished school (for good) and I've got one exam left. By the 4th of December I should find out about me getting into Uni (which is super fab for me) and then I'll be free to write and write and write until, idk, February or something.

I might just finish off the rest of what I've started and then give up fan fiction for a while. I mainly use it to improve my writing and to practice. Plus, it's fun, so…