14 chapters in and this story is still going strong and still getting follows and favourites and some more lovely, lovely reviews! Thank you again! I hope it keeps you hooked as it gets closer to the climax of the story! :)


The office was quieter than it had been earlier in the day. Most of the staff had gone home, their computer screens black and the occasional mug with cold coffee in left next to them on the desks. However, there were still a few people dotted around and one of them was sat in the corner, hunched over the laptop that John had managed to get off the man from St Bart's.

"Donovan not here then?" John asked and Greg shook his head.
"I thought it best she wasn't here in case Sherlock does show up and she seemed to agree with me. She's finding out the phone number of the guy who tried to take the laptop and then she's going to try and track it." He responded before folding his arms and nodding his head towards the man who was staring at the laptop intently. "So Norman's helping us out with this."

John had had to get over his initial dislike of Norman, he hadn't really any reason to take offence to him except that he had been careless and bumped into Mary but she was okay and Norman had apologised, he supposed. Plus, Greg had spent quite a lot of the journey over explaining what a bright young man he was and if he could help find Molly, then John just had to get over it.

"Anything?" Lestrade asked, standing behind Norman and leaning on the wall. The second man tipped his head from side to side and made an uncertain noise.

"Not sure yet. There's some sort of pattern to it that I've figured out but it might not even be code." He replied but continued to look at the screen even so.

John waited a little impatiently and kept checking his phone for any sign that Sherlock was on his way. He really hoped that Irene hadn't managed to distract him from what was happening. She was very good at manipulating anyone, even Sherlock to an extent, even if the man in question wouldn't admit it and after John had had time to compute who exactly Sherlock was running off to meet, he had wished he had either stopped him or gone with him.

"Is there nothing that we can be doing while we're waiting?" John asked impatiently, starting to feel useless standing around waiting for Norman and a familiar voice from behind them answered him.

"Yes. You can help me." John rolled his eyes as he saw his friend walk into the room, his long coat flicking behind him and if he wasn't feeling a little short-tempered, he would have laughed at Sherlock's dramatic entrance.

"I thought you would have been too busy with Irene to meet us considering she was important enough to run off for so quickly." John said, earning a raised eyebrow from Sherlock.

"I was researching and it actually happened to be quite a useful meeting." He replied and John folded his arms.

"Why? What did you find out?" He asked, a little more interested but Sherlock shook his head.

"You first. What have you found?" He asked but his eyes were already on Norman hunched over the laptop in the corner and even before John had begun speaking, Sherlock began to make his way over.

"A guy at St Bart's was trying to get it out of the lab. We chased him and managed to grab it but all we found were a bunch of numbers on a document." John explained as Sherlock lent over Norman's shoulder, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the screen.

"We thought it could be code so I thought Norman could have a look at it. He's quite good with them." Greg said from where he was standing and Sherlock looked at Norman with interest.

"Are you really?" He asked, almost sarcastically but Norman didn't seem to pick up on it.

"I'm alright." He shrugged. "Usually anyway but this one is tricky. It looks like there's three separate sections to it. Look." He pointed at a part of the screen and Sherlock seemed hesitant to move his eyes from the young man but did so anyway and it made John wonder what it was about him that had caught Sherlock's attention. "Each line is split into three parts. The last section is obviously a date." Sherlock nodded as he spoke as if it was entirely obvious. "But the first two I can't make out. A lot of them have pattern but then some break it completely." He finished and Sherlock stood up straight.

"Hmm. All very interesting but has anyone actually stopped to wonder or even check who this laptop belongs to?" He asked, his eyes darting between the three of them, the silence that followed seeming to rub Sherlock's ego. "John you should recognise it by the amount of times we see it and especially so when you think on where you found it." He added and John thought for a moment, not sure where Sherlock was going with his lesson until it clicked in his head.

"Molly. It's Molly's laptop." He replied and Sherlock nodded.

"The same model and colour but there's also a few scratches on the top right hand corner where she dropped it once after I startled her coming into the lab but you wouldn't need to pick up on that to know it's hers if you had just looked on her desktop." He walked around to the side of Norman as he spoke and turned the laptop at an angle that meant both John and Greg could see it. "Her wallpaper..." He clicked the mouse and the document with the numbers disappeared leaving behind a picture of a cat. "Is a picture of her cat." He finished, waiting for one of them to respond.

"So why was there a man trying to steal Molly's laptop and what is that code doing on there?" Greg asked and Sherlock shook his head.

"First, we don't know it's code, most probably isn't, just a form of documentation and second, the more important thing at the moment is using the laptop to find her." He replied, bending back towards the laptop and pulling it towards him. Norman looked at Sherlock with a surprised expression before pushing his chair back away from the table, giving him space.

"And how do we do that?" Greg asked.

"I asked Irene if I could find Molly without help and she said that I couldn't." He replied and waited for acknowledgement to his words but neither John nor Greg responded, causing Sherlock to roll his eyes at them. "Isn't it obvious? It means that Moriarty must have taken her somewhere personal to her, somewhere that she hasn't told us about but that he probably managed to find out about when he dated her." He replied and Greg frowned.

"So that's true then? Molly and Moriarty?" He retorted, looking both confused and a little repulsed.

"She didn't know who he was at the time and he only dated her to get to me." Sherlock replied impatiently, not giving anytime for Greg to respond before he spoke again. "There might be something on this laptop that points to where she could be. Pictures, emails, a diary entry. I notice sometimes that she shuts her laptop rather quickly when I enter the lab unannounced. Probably to try and stop me reading something that she is writing. I would guess that it's her diary."

"Diary? You're not seriously going to read her diary are you?" John asked, worried what personal things he would read that Molly probably didn't want Sherlock to know about.

"If reading it would help me find her would it bother you then?" Sherlock replied and John didn't answer, knowing that he couldn't argue with his point. Instead, they all watched as he clicked the mouse silently, his eyes darting around the screen. "Ah, got it. If I can find the entries at the time that Moriarty was tricking her then we might find something." He added and John switched his weight uncomfortably, feeling uncertain about what they were doing until he decided to speak.

"Wait Sherlock, stop." John moved over to him and placed his hand on the mouse to stop Sherlock from using it any further. This earned him an irritated look. "Let me read it instead." He said and the irritation turned to confusion.

"Why?" He asked, obviously oblivious to what John was trying to do.

"I know you're trying to help her but I still don't think we should be invading her privacy. Especially you." He replied, his voice quiet but it was practically impossible to keep what he was saying from the other's in a room so empty. "Just, let me look and anything that could be useful, I'll read out." He suggested and Sherlock looked at him with an unreadable expression which went on long enough to start making John feel uncomfortable until suddenly, Sherlock stepped away from the table.

"Be my guest." He said, extending his hand towards the laptop. John didn't move for a moment, a little taken aback that Sherlock had given in so quickly.

"Really?" He asked and Sherlock clasped his hands behind his back as he nodded.

"I shouldn't pry. You're right, it was inconsiderate of me to invade Molly's privacy." He said simply and John let out a noise of amused disbelief.

"So you agree with me? Well that's a first." He muttered under his breath, catching Sherlock smile slightly before he bent over the laptop himself and began to scroll upwards, trying to read as little as he could and only looking for Moriarty's name until he finally saw it. "There we go. 'So, today was the third date with Jim.'" John read out and Sherlock began to pace slowly, his expression one of concentration.

"That will be it. Molly said that they only went on three dates. She's quite a secretive person and it would have taken that long to have found out any real information from her. If she told him anything very personal, it would have been then." He said and John took that as his queue to search the entry, feeling utterly horrible that he was having to read this at all, especially as what she was writing seemed to suggest that she was quite happy with the situation and still blissfully unaware of who 'Jim' really was.

"This could be something." John said after a while of silence and at his words, he heard Greg move from where he was to walk closer to him. "'We talked about me a lot, as usual. He rarely speaks about himself though, which I suppose means he's a good listener so I can't be too judgemental, but tonight I seemed to do all the talking. I even talked about being a kid and everything that happened with Dad and Mum which I hardly ever do.'" John stopped as Sherlock suddenly froze mid-pace.

"Of course!" He shouted, throwing his hands up to his temples and scrunching his face up in concentration and the sudden change in his stance seemed to have captured Norman's attention too.

"Is he alright?" Norman asked, looking in concern at Sherlock.

"Mind-palace." John replied simply and Sherlock waved his hand aimlessly at them, his eyes still closed.

"Carry on, carry on." He urged and John returned his gaze back to the laptop.

"'He let me talk about it for ages and it was nice to do, to finally get everything that happened off my chest. He was really sympathetic and lovely as usual. Ugh, Molly, he's the perfect man, why are you just get over -.'" John stopped abruptly, his eyes catching Sherlock's name a few words down and he thought it best not to continue. He couldn't embarrass her, even if she wasn't there to witness it.

"Moriarty, a 'Lovely man'?" Greg muttered, repeating Molly's words sarcastically.

"Good actor." John replied. "Believe me, we've seen it. His Richard Brook almost had me going."

"Attention on me, this is important." Sherlock announced suddenly, his eyes open again and an energy in them that told John he was onto something.

"Has Molly ever mentioned her childhood to either of you?" He asked and John and Greg looked at each other before shaking their heads. "She has to me. Once." Sherlock continued, carrying on his pacing from before but this time at a quicker speed. "She spoke of her Father and I could tell that the memory hurt her. She was fond of him, incredibly so but he died and it pained her deeply. However, her Mother she never mentioned and even the way she referred to them in that diary entry shows who she preferred. She wrote, 'Dad and Mum' when the norm is usually the other way around. She is not close to her Mother, not at all." Sherlock ran his hand through his hair as he spoke, his words quickening in pace as they tumbled out of his mouth. "And when she was engaged, the one thing she seemed intent on telling me was that Tom got along with his family. She mentioned it at least twice in a very short space of time so it's obviously important to her. Family is important to her. I think her Father's death hurt her more than I originally saw. It must have torn her family apart, separating her and her Mother so all the happy memories would be painful to her now which is why she never speaks of them. So Moriarty must have found out about it and now have her somewhere connected to her childhood." He finished finally and Greg frowned at him.

"And why the hell is that? Even if that is the case about her parents, why would Moriarty think of taking her somewhere to do with it?" Lestrade asked and Sherlock made an annoyed noise and looked at him as if he were stupid.

"Did you not hear what I said? Irene told me that I would need help in finding Molly. She also said that it was because I know nothing about her and regrettably, she is right, I don't. Not nearly as much as I should." Sherlock stopped for a moment, a flicker of regret appearing on his face but for only the shortest of seconds until it was gone again. "Plus, Moriarty would not be able to resist the opportunity to torment her and all of that points to keeping her in a place from her childhood." He finished and Greg sighed.

"Okay, so where do we start?" He asked.

"Her home." John replied quietly and Sherlock looked at him, his silence telling him to continue. "He'll have her in a place that reminds her of all that and where else better than where she lived as a kid?"

"Exactly. John, I'm rubbing off on you." Sherlock replied, a smile on his face and John could tell that even he couldn't hide the happiness that he was feeling at them finally managing to make some progress on Molly's whereabouts. "And to find the home, we have to find her Mother."

"Her Mother? But she could be anywhere." Lestrade responded and Sherlock walked towards him.

"And you have the London police at your disposal and apparently, the best member of your team is in this very room. Why don't you use him and his brilliant skills to find her?" He replied and Lestrade looked at him with an irritated expression before sighing in exasperation.

"Norman, research everything you can on Molly Hooper. I'll try to get some contacts to help me out too, God knows I'm owed some favours." Greg said, pulling his phone out and turning his back to walk to the corner of the room. Sherlock in turn made his way over to John, an energy in him that made John feel more confident that before.

"And what do we do?" He asked and Sherlock moved in closer to him before replying.

"The code." He replied in a hushed voice, his gaze flicking around the room, glancing at the various people working and resting on Norman for a moment before returning back to John.

"But you said it wasn't code."

"Part of it is, the second part. Replace each letter of the alphabet with a number and it spells out a word, most probably a name. The last part is a date and the first part I have a theory about." He waited and John raised his eyebrows at him.

"So? What is it?"

"Too soon to tell. I need more data." He replied before suddenly frowning and looking around the room, a look of confusion on his face. "Where's Mary?" He asked out of the blue.

"I sent her to Baker Street to keep Mrs Hudson company. Why?" He replied and Sherlock made a disappointed noise.

"She could have been useful." Sherlock muttered and the thought of Mary made John remember the earlier conversation they had had before she left.

"Sherlock, I know you're going to point out that I'm being stupid, naïve and brain-dead but I have to ask. How on earth did you figure out that Irene wanted to meet you from that text Dale got?" He asked and Sherlock looked a little surprised before a look of disbelief filled his features.

"Really John? Even for you it mustn't be too hard to figure out." He replied, sighing when John just continued to look at him blankly. "Let's have dinner?" He said, posing the sentence as a question and the tone of his voice suggesting that that was obviously all John needed to understand. When he still didn't respond, Sherlock began to look amused. "Do you not remember that's what she used to write: 'let's have dinner'." He added and John shook his head slowly, drawing out the first word he spoke in reply.

"No. I read the text and it was fairly generic, nothing about dinner anywhere." He responded and Sherlock's expression suddenly turned to stone, causing something to stir in John's stomach that made him feel uneasy.

"How did you read the text she sent?" Sherlock asked, his voice too calm for John's liking.

"Dale's phone. He showed it to me. It said that the cab was outside St Bart's and then had some annoying joke that I'm sure Moriarty found hilar-"

"How did Mary get to Baker Street?" Sherlock interrupted, his tone firm and he took another step closer to John.

"Dale took her, why? What are you -?" John stopped, his heart dropping and his mouth drying up as he began to put everything together in his head.

"Sherlock. Is Dale part of Moriarty's group?" John asked, trying to keep the dread that he was feeling from showing in his voice by mirroring Sherlock's calm tone but he could feel the volume of his speech rising slowly. "Did I send my wife into a cab with a member of Moriarty's group?"

"Possibly." Sherlock replied simply and John cursed loudly, all heads turning to him but he didn't care.

"God Sherlock, she's pregnant! If he hurts her so help me I will..." His words trailed off and he made an angry noise before carrying on. "Where the hell is he taking her?!" John shouted and Sherlock put his hands on John's shoulders, forcing him to look at him.

"John. We'll find her. Let's go to Baker Street, she could still be there, we don't know yet." Sherlock replied and John let out a breath before looking at Sherlock, trying to find the strength not to lose control. After a moment, he nodded and managed to calm himself as much as he could.

"I swear Sherlock, if anything happens to her -."

"It won't, trust me. We'll find them John. Both of them."


So you were right! Dale is a bad man! Or is he just misguided? Or taken in by Moriarty's... awesomeness?

Did anyone get the two different texts on Dale's phone? My friend read it and when I told her when 'ooooooh yeah!' so I'm intrigued. :)