As soon as he had shut the door a heavy black briefcase was placed on his lap.
"That was fast."
Mycroft's PA smiled.
"Mr. Holmes prefers efficiency."
John shook his head.
"So what is it today then. Anthea? Mary?"
She cocked her head to the side curiously, her eyes never leaving her phone.
"Deliverance."
The doctor snorted, cracking the case open.
Inside were several thick folders, a sleek black box that John was terrified to open, and - lying atop a new pair of gloves- a brand new, state-of-the-art is phone.
He picked it up gingerly in his hands, marveling at how heavy it was for its compact size.
"It's different from Sherlock's."
He unlocked it, the password preset to one he would already know.
"Yes. Yours is nearly indestructible, quite a bit sturdier than your partners."
John blinked, processing what she said, a slight blush burning his cheeks.
Partner.
He fought back the urge to giggle, instead opting to carry on a conversation.
"And why would I need a tougher phone than Sherlock?
"Please, Doctor Watson, don't insult us. We've seen how rough you are on your phone. Just last week you dropped it down the stairs, where Mrs. Hudson managed to find it."
The doctor rolled his eyes.
"One accident."
Deliverance-not-Anthea shook her head.
"In a long line. Couple that with the fact that Holmes the younger uses your phone more than his own, and you have the need for a more durable phone."
John nodded, scrolling trough the various applications and features.
"So that's it? no long winded explanation on how to work this thing?"
The PA's smile grew wider.
"No. You can figure it out, that much we are certain of. Now. The important thing here is that little box right there."
The doctor eyed it suspiciously.
"I'm not planting anything in our flat. Hell when Sherlock finds out that I've accepted any of this he'll flip his top."
Laughter rang through the car, startling the doctor enough to nearly dump the case into the floor.
"Doctor Watson. I swear that you've never seen a jewelry box before."
The suspicion in his stomach turned to dread. His stomach fell as, with steady hands belying his terror, he reached for the small black cube.
Inside, he found two titanium rings, and a note from Mycroft
For when you finally decide to make your marriage official.
-MH
John snapped the lid shut and dropped it into the case, closing that with a decisive thud.
"He's serious then."
The assistant nodded. pausing in her texting to look up at him.
"i know that you don't want that sort of commitment, especially not this soon, I agree, it's not normal. But the Holmes brothers are not normal. Just consider it Doctor Watson."
He went to rant about how absurd this whole thing was, and how he couldn't possibly propose to Sherlock THE DAY AFTER them getting together.
He wanted to throw the box-and the case all together- out of the car and run away from the madness.
He wanted to do a lot of things.
But the car came to a halt in front of Saint Bart's, the door opened, and he somehow found himself standing alone on the side walk, briefcase in one hand, and a new phone in the other.
John shook his head and made his way into the hospital, navigating the halls and avoiding the majority of crowds on his journey to the lab. he made his way through the door just in time to see Molly appear from the back, eyes slightly red and and hair in a mess around her shoulders.
He panicked, dropping the case and rushing over to her
"Molly. are you alright?"
He gently sat his hands on her shoulders, searching her face for the answer.
She took a deep breath and nodded, a soft smile forcing its way across her lips.
"I'm fine John. Anthony just called me to say that a friend of his was arrested for murder."
John paused for a moment before his lips curled into an "oh."
"Did you know him?"
Molly nodded.
"Yea, met him once or twice. Seemed a bit strange, but no worse than Sherlock."
She blushed then, a hand flying over her mouth.
"Not to say that Sherlock would ever kill anyone. e's not like that. Sociopath not psychopath."
The doctor moved his hands down to her upper arms and smiled softly.
"I know what you meant Molly. Are you ready to go, or do you need a moment?"
She stood there, blank for a moment, before shaking herself.
"Right! Lunch. Sorry, forgot. Yea, let me grab my purse."
She rushed to a hook by the door, snatching her purse and slinging it over her shoulder, opening the door to leave.
"Molly?"
She turned back to face John, who pointed at her shoulders.
"You're still in your lab coat."
She looked down at herself and blushed again, clumsily fumbling out of her lab coat and into the sweater that was hanging by the door.
"Alright there. anything else?"
John shook his head and smiled at her.
"You look great."
He gestured to the door.
"Shall we?"
She nodded, walking out the door, John in tow.
They walked in mutual silence out of the building, neither one really knowing what to say.
The silence followed them the two blocks to the little cafe they both favored.
Finally, as they settled at the table, Molly spoke.
"What's in the briefcase?"
John glanced down at it, and rolled his eyes.
"Some things from Mycroft. I haven't really looked through it."
Molly's eyes bulged.
"Getting care packages from the British Government?"
The doctor laughed.
"Something like that. How did you know about him anyway?"
Molly shrugged.
"Sherlock complains."
That drew another chuckle from the doctor.
Their tea and sandwiches arrived, each one thanking the waiter.
John sipped his tea, trying to think of how to broach the topic at hand to Molly.
He watched Molly's eyes trail over him in that concerned way that they do, and then watched her cheeks grow pink as her eyes settled on the mark Sherlock had left on his neck.
"Who's the lucky girl?"
She buried her smile in her mug, as John stammered and blushed.
"Err well, umm."
He tugged at his collar slightly, exposing the continuation of purple that trailed across his shoulder.
"Oh, whoever she was she clearly knew what she was doing."
John sighed, hanging his head and steeling himself.
He was a soldier after all.
"It wasn't a she."
Molly's eyes bugged out even more, and she nearly spit out her drink.
"No. You?"
John nodded, glancing away and swallowing thickly.
"I never would have thought. Not to say that there is anything wrong with it, or anything. I'm sure that he's a lovely guy."
The doctor nodded once more.
"He is. In fact, that's kind of why I asked you here."
Molly nearly squealed, she leaned forward slightly.
"What is it then. Spill. What's his name? What's he like? Is he handsome? Not to say that he wouldn't be, you're pretty handsome yourself. Not that I'm interested or anything. You're taken and all. Are you taken? Or was it just a one off? God sorry, I shouldn't ask that. Was it though? A one off-"
John took a deep breath.
"Molly."
"If it was then I'm totally not judging. Are you wanting me to help you ask him on another date-"
The doctor could see that she wasn't going to stop. He was desperate to just get it out.
"Molly it's Sherlock."
"Because i know this great little place by the-"
She blinked, freezing in the middle of her sentence and growing dangerously still.
"It's Sherlock. I'm dating Sherlock Molly."
She blinked rapidly, obviously in shock.
"That's why I brought you here. I figured that you should hear it straight from the horses mouth. I know that you had a thing for him and I' sorry but-"
"No."
the doctor squinted at her in confusion.
"Sorry, what?"
She looked him in the eye, her bottom lip trembling slightly and her eyes moist.
"Don't apologize. Don't be sorry. If you are happy, and he is happy, then it's all fine."
She tilted her head back, and John saw her clench her jaw. When she looked at him again the tears were gone.
"Are you happy? Is he happy?"
John nodded.
"I am, and God i hope that he is too."
She smiled softly.
"I know that he is. He's fancied you for a while."
The doctor blushed slightly.
Molly waved for a check and downed the rest of her tea.
"Are you alright?"
She nodded, paying for her barely touched meal and standing. John followed suit, gripping his briefcase tightly.
"Thank you for thinking of me John."
He nodded, and smiled into her hair as she hugged him.
He patted her back comfortingly.
"Want me to walk you back?"
She shook her head.
"No, I think I'll go it alone. See you John."
The doctor waved at her.
"call me if you need anything."
She waved back, leaving the cafe.
John paid for his meal, getting a box for what remained of his sandwich.
As he left his new phone beeped, the message tone causing him to jump.
"Bloody thing being so loud."
He paused and thumbed the phone open, only to see that he had a new message.
From Sherlock.
Oh no.