Once I had scrubbed myself clean from neck to toe, and had rinsed the last of the shampoo from my hair, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, and ducked my entire head under the surface, biting my tongue as the cut on my cheek met the slightly soapy water. The sting in my cheek subsided, and I left myself float gently under the surface, watching the light dapple my eyelids and listening to the muffled, nonsense noises that filtered through the water. Without the bandage, my injured foot felt light, and the pain had lessened to just a slight throbbing when I tried to turn or move my foot. I drifted, feeling weightless and not happy, but less tense. A wave in the water rocked me, and I left my body limp, floating.
Then two strong arms hooked me under my neck and knees, and I gasped at the sudden chill of being lifted out of the water. I shivered against a soaked, clothed chest, covering my top half with my arms and scrunching my legs to protect myself better below the waist. Whoever had invaded my bath set me down carefully on a soft lounger, and I sat up in the centre dip of the seat as a thick towel was draped around my shoulders. I pulled it tightly round myself, and brushed the wet hair off my face.
Moriarty crouched on the floor in front of me, a strange look of panicked anger on his face. Shocked to see him there, I made to get up, wanting to cross the room to reach my pile of clothes and cover myself, but he clamped a hand down on my left thigh, holding me in front of him. I looked him over. His clothes were soaked from the chest down, the white fabric of his shirt turned transparent. He was staring intently at me. I tried again to stand up, but his grip on my leg tightened.
What were you doing? he asked me calmly, but his face still looked angry and alarmed.
I was confused by the look on his face, and my answer was quiet and timid.
I was taking a bath. He blew out a long breath, dropping his head to stare at the floor. As I watched him his shoulders relaxed and his tight hold on my leg loosened.
He looked back up at me, the anger and distress gone from his features. He ran a hand through his hair and looked calmly into my eyes.
Don t do it again. He said. I lifted an eyebrow, daring to question him while he appeared to be in a kinder mood than usual.
Don t take a bath? I asked quietly, and he shook his head.
Don t let yourself just float around like that. He said, standing up and grabbing a towel from the rack on the wall. He slid his shirt up over his head and dropped it to the floor with a dull thud, and then rubbed his torso dry with the towel.
I glanced over at the frosted window and saw that time had ticked further on than I had thought, and it was dark outside. I crossed the room and scooped up my clothes, then dashed into the bedroom and found a loose pale blue flannel shirt and a pair of cotton shorts that stopped mid-thigh. I pulled them on as makeshift pyjamas, and curled up with the blanket and pillow on the sofa I had slept on the last time. I closed my eyes and conjured up images of people I loved, to distract me from my new roommate as I fell asleep.
In my head, I watched John and Lestrade chatting together as they watched Sherlock working quietly in my lab, John laughing out loud while Sherlock rolled his eyes at an entertaining story Lestrade was telling about one of his cases. With my eyes closed I smiled at the three. I had always enjoyed their company, so much friendlier than the silent corpses I chatted to when I was alone. As they laughed and Sherlock worked, the image was disturbed by a soft voice, creeping into my head.
Molly. It said, and the picture rippled and began to swirl out of focus, like a reflection in a pond when you drop in a stone and disturb the water. I watched sadly as the friendly faces dissolved away, and the voice called again, louder this time.
Molly.
Reluctantly, I opened my eyes and looked across the dimly lit bedroom, into the dark eyes of Moriarty, who frowned disapprovingly at me. I sat up, the blanket falling from my shoulders to my waist, and shivered a little at the loss. Moriarty looked pointedly at the bed.
You promised, Molly. He purred. He had changed into boxers and a white tee, and I frowned and bit my lip as I remembered my promise to the master criminal. Slowly, stiffly, I stood up from my sofa and crossed the room to the bed, silently standing on the opposite side to Moriarty, staring uncertainly at him. He nodded approval at me for keeping my promise, and then gestured for me to choose a side of the bed. Instead of replying verbally, I lifted the covers of the bed and climbed onto the soft mattress, curling up into a ball on my side, facing away from Moriarty. I heard a low chuckle and felt the mattress dip as he slipped into bed, and I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed he would fall asleep quickly.
Relax, Molly. I won t hurt you. He whispered into the semi-darkness. He sounded truthful, and I relaxed a little, against my better judgement. I had my injured cheek pressed into the pillow, and the pressure against the bruise made it ache, so I turned over, stretching out my legs a little as I did. I kept my eyes shut, though, not wanting to see the face on the next pillow.
Molly. His voice was quiet, a question in the way he said my name. My eyes opened, and I saw him lying on his back, one arm behind his head, and the other half-extended toward me. His eyes shone in the dark, a soft glow, replacing the hard glint I expected to see there.
The hand that reached out to me skimmed down my arm to find my wrist, pulling my arm up to rest comfortably in the middle of the mattress. Moriarty s fingers found the point where my pulse beat under my skin, and rested there. I looked over at him, and his eyes were no longer trained on me.
It was like the gentle throb of my blood passing through my veins was a comfort to him. His head was turned to face the ceiling, and his eyes had closed. A look of peacefulness had settled in his face, and his breathing was slow and deep. His thumb stroked subconscious circles into my skin, and the action, small as it was, calmed me, lulling me into sleep.