"And you have no clue as to why he left with no previous comment?" Mycroft asked, taking a sip of his tea. Molly shrugged.
"You know he's done this before, I… I just figured it would be the same as always. Why is this different?"
"Sherlock recently discovered pictures of me with someone who should also be dead,"
"Moriarty?" the uneasy feeling Molly had gotten while leaving his flat the day before came back as she said his name.
Mycroft looked surprised at this, his eyebrows shooting halfway up his forehead. "How did you know?"
"Lucky guess," she lied, taking a sip of her tea. No doubt Mycroft could see through her white lie, but he didn't call her bluff, instead sitting further back in his seat and sighing. Hopefully he hadn't been monitoring her like when Sherlock had first been staying in her flat. He pressed his hands together, trying to find the right words to describe the situation to Molly.
"There were some… unorthodox… affairs… I had to take care of them, and he popped out of nowhere, really, offering to help. I regret it now, but I took his offer and we worked together. Moriarty took advantage of me, in my needy state, and I was in debt to him. The pictures were taken when he was leaving my office after I paid off my debts."
"How long ago?" Molly asked, tucking her feet under herself. The knot that had also formed the day before came back, making her feel physically sick.
"Two weeks ago. He has publicly resumed his affairs and I have no power against him. I can only assume my brother is investigating this further."
"My God," she muttered, pressing her palm to her mouth and staring at the ground. The Napoleon of Crime had returned. Something inside of her released the knot in her stomach and the uneasy feeling disappeared. For some reason, I feel I can trust him now… but why?
Tell mum I'll be coming over tomorrow afternoon. xo Molly.
Really? You will be? Lizzy
Of course! I might bring someone, so let her know. Molly thought of John and quickly sent him a text, hoping he would respond soon.
Might this be a boyfriend? ;)
Molly didn't even bother responding, but a certain person was in her thoughts.
He found her sitting at a café she frequented, cradling an almost empty mug of coffee in one hand, holding a book in the other. Molly was squinting at the book, even with her square tortoiseshell glasses on. He sat down across from her, a cup of earl grey and another mug of black coffee to replace hers.
"Didn't know you had glasses," Jim said, settling himself into the chair and pulling out his mobile. Molly's eyes flicked up to him, then back to her book. It was one of those sappy romance books where the cover depicts a man clutches a woman to his chest.
"I do. My contacts give me dry eyes but they look better than this," he noticed that she was wearing a rather plain outfit- grey sweatpants, teal moccasins, and a black hoodie with horizontal pink stripes.
"I think you look nice with specs!" Molly sighed and put her bookmark in at the page, folding the romance shut, and looking up at him.
"What's the motive this time?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he nudged the steaming mug of coffee towards her with his knuckle. Molly stared at it, then finished her mug and pulled the new one towards her.
"It just… it just feels like there's always some sort of motive when you show up. Some underlying reason to see me." Jim shook his head, leaning back in his chair and staring out the windows of the café. There were times when he lied to Molly, but today was not one of them. He didn't want to, and he wasn't sure why.
"No, not today. Other times, yes, but not today. I figured we would just sit and chat."
"About what?" she snorted. "The only thing you can probably talk about is your business as a consulting criminal. And the only thing you want to hear from me is about Sherlock."
"That's not true!"
"Then ask me a question a regular person would ask. Small talk."
"How has your day been so far?" he was watching her so intently that Molly had to break eye contact and pick up her mug, taking a long, warm, sip.
"Crazy. I'm 'sposed to go up to my Mum's house this afternoon but I got food poisoning last night."
"Why?" he could tell by her glance that he was making her uneasy, but it was the normalcy.
"Figured I'd try the new sushi place down the road, you can guess the rest. And I only live with my cat, which you probably know," he did, "so I was up the whole night by myself." Jim could sympathize with that. He rarely tried adventurous meals, as he ate one meal a day at the most, but the one time he had gotten food poisoning had been disastrous.
"That's horrible, you should have called me," he said. Molly's face turned bright red and she slouched down a bit in her seat.
"I don't have it," she muttered. Of course she wanted it, but she wasn't just going to ask him outright.
"Pass me your mobile," Jim ordered. Molly reached over to her purse, rummaged through it, producing her mobile a minute later. He took it and after a few moments of Molly watching carefully and him swiping different ways and typing things, she got her mobile back.
The contact read "Jim :)", and a flattering picture of him in a black t-shirt next to that. He had put in his mobile number, his home number (which she doubted he used), a work number, and an email address. Molly couldn't get over the smiley face.
"Smiley faces are more subtle than hearts," he said, and she smiled at that.
"You know, I told my sister that I might be bringing someone up to my Mum's, and my first choice never replied…" Molly trailed off, wishing she hadn't said it, but hoping he would give her the answer she wanted, deep down.
"How long is the trip?"
"Leaving this afternoon at two and getting back around seven Sunday night."
"Well, I do like getting out of the city every now and then." They smiled at each other.
As they left the café, Jim slipped his hand into Molly's. She reveled in the new sensation until remembering that Mycroft's men could be watching her at any moment, and untangled her fingers from his. But his hand was rough and warm and found hers again before they reached her flat.
PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT SPOILERS FOR THE SIGN OF THREE OR HIS LAST VOW! I have only seen The Empty Hearse due to midterms and while I saw a possible spoiler on tumblr (scrolled by very quickly but read a few words), I would prefer to have everything kept secret. Thank you for your understanding :)
