Disclaimer: settings and characters as depicted in BBC series not mine. No money being made. Plot is mine.
Moriarty's Lose End
It was not as difficult as Sherlock had thought to improve security at Baker Street. Once they had completed their task as 'distraction' for Moriarty's theft of the coming interest rates – money was such a dull motive, really and Sherlock was a little disappointed – it didn't take much effort for Sherlock to set up an arson attack on one of Moriarty's favourite clubs. The damage done was much more significant – smoke could be very hard to clean up – but no lives were lost, which had been a major concern of both partners. John had been concerned because he was a doctor and Sherlock hadn't wanted to escalate the hostilities between himself and whichever faction with Moriarty's organisation that was testing his loyalty.
John's concern about the loss of innocent life was to be tested with their next 'task'. It had taken Sherlock only a week to organise and complete his little arson attack, during which time Moriarty and the Yard had both been occupied with other things – the criminal with manipulating the market in his quest for profit and the Yard in solving a spate of armed robberies, netting large amounts of money with precision tactics.
In hindsight, Sherlock should have anticipated that Molly Hooper would be a target of Moriarty, if only because she was something of a loose end. Lestrade had interviewed her extensively in the aftermath of Moriarty's bombing spree, but she had very little information to offer the DI, what with being completely unaware of Moriarty's true identity or business. That didn't mean that she wasn't an unwelcome connection to the master criminal, especially in light of some rather frightening news.
Molly Hooper was pregnant. This was, in part, basis of her denial that Jim from IT was gay – he had bedded her on their first date and then continued to do so on an extremely regular basis. Molly had not realised that she was pregnant until weeks after the Pool Incident and had in fact spent some time in denial over the whole issue.
Sherlock was aware that Molly's attraction to him had made her very easy to manipulate – part of him had despised her for being so easy to use – and it was this unfortunate facet of her personality that had made her an ideal target for Moriarty's attentions. He knew that Sherlock wasn't interested in her, choosing to simply use her as a way to get close to his real object of interest.
"You don't think that Moriarty is asking this of you because of the arson attack, do you?" John had asked once Sherlock had explained their next task, dread in his eyes. Sherlock considered the question carefully, calculating the many parameters that would change Molly's status in Moriarty's eyes.
"No," Sherlock said at length, "I believe that Moriarty simply doesn't want his connection to Molly to be strengthened by the arrival of a child. Molly alone would have been embarrassing, but I believe he would have eventually found amusement in stalking or otherwise tormenting her. Molly was being kept in abeyance – for a time when he was bored. Now that her pregnancy is known…"
"She applied for maternity leave," John sifted through the documents on the table that belonged to Molly's file, "Poor girl."
"Stupid girl," Sherlock retorted, not liking that John was worrying about Molly Hooper of all people, "She should never have trusted birth control measures to her partner. All too simple to sabotage it, especially if you supply them yourself."
Real anger flared in John's eyes for a moment and Sherlock wondered if his partner would hit him, so enraged did he appear. John shoved his chair away from the kitchen table and stormed out into the front room, fisting his hands in his hair and muttering too quietly for Sherlock to hear. Sherlock refrained from sighing or making any other gestures that would further upset his partner and returned to looking for a way to kill Molly that would not lead back to him or John. Lestrade would probably call them in on the case, and if there was a body for investigation it would need to withstand intense scientific scrutiny – on both the Yard and Moriarty's part.
"You're right, I suppose," John grated the words from where he stood in the doorway, arms wrapped tightly about his chest, "But don't you ever, and I mean never, tell Molly that. Not through look or gesture or implication or plain outright saying it. Do you understand me, Sherlock? Never."
"Never my Heart," Sherlock promised, pleased to have gotten away without a lecture. He made a mental note to apply that to John as well, before turning back to the file in front of him. It would avoid arguments, which made his chest tight. Besides if John was in a bad mood, he may not be willing to enter into further physical intimacies with Sherlock – something the genius was eager to pursue.
"We need to think of a way to do this that will satisfy both Moriarty and the Yard that she is dead, beyond all shadow of a doubt, and at the same time to protect her and the child," Sherlock informed John as he sat back down opposite the thin sleuth, "We need to find a way to make her disappear completely."
"Permanently or just until Moriarty is gone?" John asked, "Permanently would be easier, right?"
"Yes," Sherlock nodded, "But I don't think Molly would agree to it, do you? She likes working in the morgue and has friends here."
"After what she's been through, I think a chance at a totally new life would be welcomed," John informed him. Sherlock nodded, shelving the argument for now. After all, people were John's strength, plotting was his.
"We'll need to talk to her at some point," Sherlock mused, "And we may well need Mycroft's assistance with this one – if her change of identity is to be permanent it will need to be even more durable than for that idiot embezzler in Dubai."
"If we faked a suicide," John frowned, "One where her body was never found… that won't satisfy Moriarty, will it."
"No, we will need her to be declared dead, with a body that can satisfy scientific scrutiny…" Sherlock trailed off, "Or… an accident. An accident with just enough genetic material left behind to satisfy Moriarty and her colleagues, but done in such a way that no one would ever question that she had survived… tell me, John, how much blood can a pregnant woman lose before it affects the health of herself and the foetus?"
"If we absolutely had to have blood, then no more than a pint – expectant mothers with existing medical conditions who need to have surgery have been able to bank that much blood prior to surgery… but it will weaken her considerably," John frowned at Sherlock when he shifted impatiently, "Sherlock, she's four months gone. She's known for three months. If she was going to terminate, she'd have done so by now. Molly won't want us to put the baby at risk and the strain on her body… we need to be extremely careful. Besides, didn't we catch the guy from Janus cars partially because he'd used blood that had been frozen?"
"We'd need to take it just before we stage the accident," Sherlock informed his Heart, "Which means she'll need help to get away… hmm…"
He got up from the kitchen table and rummaged in a drawer to find his nicotine patches, his mind withdrawing from the flat and his John entirely as he thought and planned and generally schemed his way towards saving the life of a woman that had once idolised him. The utmost of care would need to be taken, not because he was worried about Molly, but because he wanted John to be proud of him.
At the end of the day, only John's opinion mattered.
AN – I would like to make it perfectly clear (before people start reviewing) that I am well aware that pregnant women are NOT allowed to give blood. An exception may be made in a medical emergency if the woman in question needs to 'bank' her own blood. There is NO need to tell me that pregnant women can't donate. If you indicate to the blood bank that you are pregnant they will send you away without donating, no contest.