(A/N: All I can say is there is no excuse. Well, other than the stress of moving to another country doesn't just vanish... I'm not going to go into it. Anyway, I've been writing this chapter like crazy. I rewrote it like three times. It may not be all that good, seeing as I did write the last bit in like two hours.

Anyway, enjoy!)

Chapter 15 - Molly Hooper II (I am aware I got her name wrong earlier)

Nickey was gone. Mum was gone. Now Maria was gone. They were being plucked like feathers from my back, and not in a good way. I needed those feathers to fly and without them, I was as useful as a piece of gravel.

I paced my apartment, too hyped up to sit down or catch up on sleep. All of this was all happening in just a couple of days. In one week, my entire family was taken from me. I knew I wouldn't get there in time to stop the woman from taking Maria, so I relied on my distant faith that she wouldn't hurt my sister.

I know, somehow, that my family is alive. I would know if one of them were to die, so that was a burden off of my shoulders, but they were still gone and I had no way of knowing who was going to be taken next and it was killing me. It's not like I could go anywhere now to check on anyone, it was late and everyone would be getting ready for bed.

I determined that if I couldn't do anything right now, I'd do it in the morning. So, if I couldn't sleep, I'd make myself some chamomile tea and take a sleeping pill. Having a job like mine, seeing what I've seen, you'd be surprised how useful these sleeping pills are. We higher ranking detectives worship them like gods.

About ten minutes later, I was in my favorite pajamas (my fluffy comfort ones) and smelling the tea while curled up in bed. As I waited for the pill to kick in, I sipped the hot, somewhat sweet tea. Mostly, I just smelled it, though. The smell of chamomile has been comforting me for two decades now, and there hasn't been a time where it hasn't calmed me.

Soon, I felt myself slipping to sleep and I was grateful. I put my tea on the bedside table and I curled up, holding my favorite pillow to me chest. I think I had been asleep for about ten minutes before I was roused by a loud banging at the door. God, what now? I ignored it at first, then when I heard it again, I groaned, pulling myself out of bed. I made my way to the front door without falling down the stairs or killing myself on anything.

"Yeah?" I asked once I opened the door.

"Crystal, we need to talk."

"Sherlock, can't this wait?"

"No." he pushed inside, dragging me up the stairs, "I'll make you some coffee."

"No, no. Sit down." I said sitting on the couch. Coffee after a sleeping pill was not part of the plan.

"Fine." he sat on the other end of the couch.

"What in the name of all that is holy do you need from me at this hour?" I yawned.

"It has been brought to my attention that you are not exactly who you say you are and I have come to set the record straight and to- are you even listening?"

"Hm?" I managed through my lips.

I knew I was curled into a ball in the corner of the couch, my head on the armrest. I was drifting off. Then, Sherlock grabbed my shoulders and pulled me to the middle of the couch. My feet fell off of the couch and I sat in the middle, my eyes not opening.

"Crystal Greene, listen to me. Where were you on April 7th, last year and September 19th the year before. It is vital for this case I am working on. If you don't tell me, more people might die and I will drive myself, and John insane."

"Can this wait?" I murmured.

"No."

It was too late, I was laying down, my head on Sherlock's knee, my body stretching out over the couch.

"You're comfortable." My eyes didn't open.

"Crystal, this is urgent."

"Shut up. Pillows don't talk."

"Oh, so I'm your pillow now?" Sherlock snarked, "I'm too busy to be your pillow, Crystal."

"I said, 'Shut up.'"

"Crystal-"

"Don't say another word or I will not help you." I managed.

I heard Sherlock sigh, exasperated, and lean back as if prepared for a long night. I grinned victoriously and adjusted myself so I could be more comfortable. After that, I didn't wake up. There was a bit of a haze when I woke up and some ungodly hour of the morning by Sherlock moving just enough to get the blanket off of the back of the couch and draping it over me.

I woke up to the smell of coffee. Strong coffee. Like, an espresso. But I really woke up because my coffee table was vibrating and my phone would not shut up. Groggily, I sat up, the blanket pooling at my waist and I grabbed my phone off of the table.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Alex, you're going to want to see this."

"Wha- Who?"

"My god, Alexandria, wake up. It's Molly."

"Oh, OH! Hi, Molly. Sorry about that." I said, "What's going on."

"I just did an autopsy on both of the 미녀 members and I... found something."

"What?"

"In their stomachs I found messages. I think you're going to want to see this."

"Now?"

"As soon as humanly possible."

"Alright." I said with a sigh, "Give me half an hour. I'll be there in half an hour."

"Good."

With that, we hung up and I turned on hyperspeed. I hurried to the bathroom and fixed my hair and brushed my teeth, ridding myself of the taste of some fabric. Then I ducked into my bedroom and changed into something professional looking Pencil skirt, jacket, heels, light on the make up, the works. When I emerged back into the living room, I went to the couch for my phone and I stopped in my tracks.

Sherlock was sitting there, eyes wide as if I'd simply snapped and I was dressed and ready for the day. Though, I was as equally shocked as he was.

"What in the world are you doing here?" I asked.

"You told me to stay, so I did."

"What?"

"You told me that if I didn't continue to be your pillow, you wouldn't tell me anything."

"For God's sake, you keep running into Crazy Crystal. Not Mature Crystal. What the hell is wrong with me?"

"Uh, we have to talk."

"Uh huh, yeah. Not now. I have to go see Molly. Something's wrong."

"Oh." Sherlock stood, "If something is wrong, I should go, too."

"It's... girl stuff." I said, "If you know what I mean."

"Oh... Girl stuff." Sherlock sounded as if he was pretending to understand what exactly was going on. It was clear he wasn't all that familiar with the ways of sexual reproduction.

"Yeah." I said, "I've gotta go, catch you later."

With that, I left Sherlock Holmes in my apartment. Actually, no, I didn't, I dragged him out with me and I left him on the street to stare after me wondering who the hell I was to use him as a pillow. God, I am such an idiot when I'm tired. And on drugs.

I ran to St. Barts, even in heels and made it there exactly when I said I would. Molly met me at the door and led me to her office. I sat down across from her at her desk and she pulled a file from under the mouse pad and she handed it to me, wordlessly. Something was up. That's for sure.

I opened the file and inside there were two pictures inside. Each of them were of a blood covered slip of paper with one word in the center in thick, but elegant, black letters.

"The"

"Most"

I eyed Molly.

"'The most?'" I asked.

"Yes." she finally said, "See, these were forced down their throats. They were drinking or eating something at the time these were consumed. Then they realized that they were choking on them as the paper cut their throats. That's how they died. Well, that and the almost unnoticeable bullet hole in the back of the neck."

"That's an unpleasant way to die." I said, observing the pictures.

"What do you think it means?"

"I don't know." I sighed, "Can I get a copy of these?"

"Of course." Molly took the folder and left the room.

The most. What does that mean? Is there going to be a third death of a 미녀 member soon so I know? Part of me wants to know but another one doesn't want anyone else to die.

Then, Molly returned with my photocopies.

"Thank you, dear." I said, taking them.

"Anything for you. You know, you should come visit more often."

"I should, but I'm so busy."

"I know, I know. I'm being selfish."

"No you're not. Believe me, I miss you, too."

"We should go for coffee sometime."

"We will, eventually. I'm on a case at the moment, though."

"You're on a case?"

"Don't tell Lestrade. I'm serious." I said.

"Why?"

"I'm technically not supposed to be working."

"Ah. Of course." Molly grinned.

"Well, I have to go. John and I have a lunch date."

~!~!~!~!~!~

Okay, so I didn't have a lunch date with John. I actually had work. I just wanted to make it sound like I was doing something more interesting. When I got there, I changed into something more comfortable. Jeans and a blazer.

Seo Hwa Eun and Jacqueline were both there, obviously. Both were glowing, both for different reasons. Jacqueline had just taken the weekend off for some R&R and Hwa Eun was... well, I'm not sure she even knows yet, so I'll keep my mouth shut.

Today was actually quite busy. At least forty people came in for a book or a coffee, and that's good for a small shop like this. At least the word was out. Even if this was a temporary, half-time gig, it was fun. I got to interact with people who didn't annoy me or want to kill me. It was a change for once. A good one.

Even with the change, I missed the adventure and the danger. In a way, I supposed I was like Sherlock. I can't stand being bored. I can't stand not having something productive to occupy my mind. My job actually keeps me from going insane. I have so much going on in my head and so little at the same time that it was hard to keep everything straight. It's hard to keep my head on my shoulders with my head all together. It's exhausting.

I knew, deep down, that if I were to let go and let everything in my brain out, I would be like Sherlock. Only female. Stir crazy, doing experiments on body parts steal from the morgue and keeping them in the refrigerator where the apples should be, and quite sociopathic.

Though, in a way, that made me Sherlock's polar opposite. Unlike him, I was able to hold it together, absentmindedly sometimes. Unlike him, I was able to control all that was in my head and work through it piece by piece. Unlike him, I could sometimes find a way out of the boredom. I was cool, calm, and collected. He was, well, not.

I'm not saying I'm not smart. I'm not saying he's not smart. In fact, we're both brilliant. I mean, I'm nearly twenty six and I flew through school and the police academy. I am positive Sherlock went through high school with flying colors. All I am saying, is as far as highly-functioning sociopath people, we're both on different ends of the scale. I can control it and he can't.

Sherlock, however, does have different sides to him. Some of them I have seen and some I haven't, but I'm positive they're there. Somewhere in there, maybe he does have an on-off out of control sociopath switch, I don't know. He seems like a person who would be able to control himself, but I think he leaves it off just for fun.

John, I think, is a completely different kind of smart. He's in check and he knows what he's doing. He's got his head on straight and if it wasn't for him, Sherlock might have killed someone by now. John is sane and he wants to be normal, but without the abnormal, he'd go crazy as well. He misses the adrenaline rush of battle, and sometimes, just the battle of time is enough.

I admired John very much, and I was sure I'd never stop. I haven't still, and I don't regret it at all. Doctor John Watson is a brilliant man who is very good at keeping his feet on the ground and his head out of the clouds. He's an anchor of goodness and sanity, and I knew from the moment I met him that he would be my anchor as well as Sherlock. I knew that as soon as he found out who I was and I could be me a little more, he'd get upset with both Sherlock and I for being so alike, but it's not like we can help it.

It's unintentional, actually. I never tried to be Sherlock and it's obvious that he'd never tried to be me. Well, the me he doesn't know. I don't think for one second that he ever wanted to be like Alexander. I knew he'd never try to be Alexandria. Even with my experience, authority, power (if I'm being honest), and abilities, he'd never want to be like me. Even with a gun to his head. I would never want to be him, even with a gun to my head.

Sherlock and I were the same in many ways, but we were also very different. We were both very chaotic, but we channel that chaos into different things and benefit from them in different ways.

"Crystal!" a voice cut through my thoughts, "Crystal!"

"Sorry, what?" I snapped to attention and found Hwa Eun standing there, next to the stairs.

"I'm going for lunch, want anything?"

"No, I'll get something myself in a few."

"Okay." she started to leave, but stopped, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, continuing to sort the books alphabetically, "Why are you guys always asking me that?"

"Because you don't look fine."

"Well, I am. Don't worry about me."

"Alright." an unsure Hwa Eun descended the stairs, glowing, but not for the reason you might think.

Then, my phone rang. It was Molly. So soon? It had only been, what, five hours since I'd seen her last?

"Talk to me." I said, answering.

"Another one came in not ten minutes ago. You'd better get down here."

"Sure, sure." I had started gathering my purse and coat back together already.

"When can you be here?"

"Ten minutes."

"Good. I gotta go, see you when you get here."

With that, we hung up and I ran downstairs right into something very solid. I stumbled slightly and when I looked up... good Lord, this is getting predictable. What the hell did Sherlock want from me?

"What could you possibly want from me?" I asked, "I have nothing you want and I am quite busy. Jacqueline, I'm eating out. Sorry. Personal emergency."

"Is everything alright?" Jacqueline asked as I pushed past Sherlock.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be back soon, I promise."

"Alright..." Jackie trailed off and I left the bookshop.

"What is going on?" Sherlock asked, clearly having followed me.

"Nothing!" I exclaimed, "Oh my god, leave me alone. I don't think I could handle you right now."

"Why?" Sherlock sounded honestly confused.

"My job-" I stopped moving and turned to him, "Is stressful. I'm not even doing it and it's stressful. Do you understand what that's like?"

"Your job? You work in a shop."

"I do. I work in a shop. Knowing I can't do my other job correctly is stressful. You..." I trailed off, "You are a big ball of stress. You need to stay away from me today."

So, I left. I ran to St. Barts, just like before. My heels were hurting my feet in several different places, but that didn't stop me from running up three flights of stairs. I walked down the hall towards Molly's office definitively. There was a clue and I intended to know it.

I pushed open the door to Molly's office and stopped in my tracks. On the wall behind her desk were three words written in blood. "The Most Important" was in large red letters with three slips of paper underneath them. The ones that had been inside the 미녀. The most important. There were three dots after it as if it was supposed to continue, but the words weren't revealed to me.

"Molly!" I called, "Molly?"

I pulled my phone from my pocket and called her. Immediately, her phone came to life and started buzzing on her desk. My hand fell from my ear. Molly was gone. The 미녀 had taken her. Nicky, Mum, Maria, and now Molly. Who in the name of sanity is "The Most Important." Do they know something I don't? I sure as hell don't know the Queen personally, so that couldn't be it.

Could it possibly be Vanessa, or Frankie, or John? It's only a matter of time before they're taken. It's only a matter of time before another 미녀 is killed and another part of the message is revealed. Though now... now I have enough to make a decent investigation on. I have to dig into my own life and figure out... who is the Most Important?

My cousin, my mother, my sister, and a close friend. Who is this Min Ho guy? His name rang a bell, but I couldn't quite recall where I'd heard it before. Being me and coming into contact with several different bad guys in my lifetime, it's not all that great if I can't remember who Min Ho is.

"Detective?" I heard a voice behind me and I whirled around.

"Lestrade!" I exclaimed, "What-?"

"What are you doing here?" asked Lestrade, "You're off duty."

"What, I can't visit a friend every so often?" I asked, sounding more guilty than I would have liked.

"Alex..."

"Why are you so concerned with me right now when there is clearly a crime scene behind me." I said, turning sharply to face the room.

"They took Ms. Hooper?" Lestrade breathed.

"The 미녀? Yeah."

"What do they want with Molly?"

"I don't know and it's honestly not my job to figure it out." I said, turning back towards Lestrade.

"Yes it is." he said, sounding confused.

"Not now it isn't." I pushed past him and down the stairs.

As I descended, I pulled a small notebook out of my purse and on the very first blank page I came across, I wrote the words "The Most Important" trying to copy the elaborate font the message came in. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I looked up to make sure I was heading in the right direction. Sherlock was outside the door and he looked slightly out of breath. With a breath in, I turned sharply but I was stopped by his voice.

"For god's sake, Crystal." when I turned, he was standing there letting the door close behind him.

"What?" I asked.

"How in the name of sanity can you walk twenty four blocks to work, then run all the way to the hospital where Molly needs help in heels." Sherlock's voice was breathy as he tried to regain some composure.

"Easy." I said, "Practice. Now what do you want? You really need to leave me alone."

"I need you to answer some questions."

"Yeah, I know I do. I have some questions myself and I need some space so I can answer them by myself."

"No, I have some questions for you. Like, I want to know-"

"Yeah, yeah. Come back later. I'm busy." I pushed past Sherlock and out onto the street.

I easily hailed a taxi and before Sherlock could get a chance to follow, we drove off. For the first time since I set off from the bookshop, I was able to catch my breath. I took a deep breath, allowing my lungs to fill with sweet, sweet oxygen that smelled like the crappy air freshener in the taxi.

"Where are we going, lady?" a female voice said from the drivers seat.

"Hm? Oh, I'm terribly sorry." I told her the address.

"Right away, Miss Colt."

"Thank you." it took a moment to sink in, "I'm sorry what?"

"Right away, Miss Colt."

"How do you know my name?" I asked, sitting forward. God, this job drove me crazy sometimes.

"Everyone in the 미녀 is required to know who you are. You are our biggest threat."

"Because of 민허, I know." I said.

"Min Ho?" the driver asked, "Isn't that that person that Hye Sun was so infatuated with?"

"Infatuated?"

"They had an interesting relationship. I can't remember if they were just friends, or related or what, but they were inseparable. That is, until he was taken in."

"So you have no idea who he... or she was?" I asked.

"No." So the mystery continues.

"Who are you?"

"I am Oh Eun Young." she said, looking back at me briefly, "I was told to tell you that it's over."

"What?"

"It's over. No one else is going to die. Our assassin is done with her work. She no longer has anyone to kill."

"So, you came here to tell me not to worry anymore about people dying? What about people in my life going missing."

"I'm sorry?"

"People in my life are going missing. My cousin, my mother, my sister and now a close friend. All are missing. For two of the disappearances, messages were written on the wall in blood. Their blood."

"Are you serious?"

"Very. I never kid about these sort of things."

"Who could have done it?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me. It's one of your operatives who's doing this." I exclaimed, "Something needs to be done. The people I love are being taken out from under me."

"Detective, I have no idea who could be doing such a thing."

"What are you up to?" I asked, squinting slightly.

"Nothing, I assure you."

"Fine, if you say so. Would you pull over?"

As soon as she did, I got out. I didn't pay and she didn't enforce it. So, I walked twelve blocks back to work. I got there ten minutes after I said I was going to, which wasn't good for anyone. Jacqueline and Hwa Eun saw how frazzled I was, so they didn't ask questions. I guess they figured it was family troubles.

The rest of the work day went by excruciatingly slow. It felt like years, when it was only about six hours. I suppose for a mundane work day, it was years on the soul. As soon as I could go home, I did.

I was scared, honestly. Whoever was taking my family wasn't just going to stop. Today is a perfect example. Molly was taken and the assassin was going to stop killing people. Well, their people anyway. The 미녀 assassin frightened me, honestly. I read each of their death reports and reports that Lestrade wrote and each murder played out exactly the same. The assassin is consistent in her killing method. The aftermath was always the same.

Certain objects in the house were placed just so around the body. It wasn't things like coffee makers or electric toothbrushes. It was things like a lamp placed at a certain angle, giving everything an eerie lighting, a strand of pearls around the victims right ankle, and an empty glass that must have previously held wine sitting delicately in their fingers.

When I reached my flat, who would have guessed it, Sherlock Holmes was waiting for me. I was getting sick of his face. I wanted nothing to do with him. At least, not right now. Not tonight, not tomorrow, or even the next day. His face was doing things to me and not in a good way. Just to give him a piece of my mind, I ignored him as I made my way to the door.

"You promised me answers."

"I was on drugs!" I turned sharply, "I was on sleeping pills and pure exhaustion. You can't trust anything I say. Also, what part of 'leave me the hell alone' don't you understand?"

With that, I went inside, locking the door with the key and the lock and chain. I ran upstairs and went into my bedroom. I gratefully changed into my PJ's and went out into the living room. I made myself a cup of tea, grabbed some chips from the cabinet and flipped on the TV.

There wasn't anything terribly good on, but I didn't want to go to bed yet and I didn't want to think about who would be next. I wanted it to just happen as it came. I should protect everyone I know, but who I really have to protect is the person I believe is the most important person in my life. Maybe they had already been taken. My mother is very important to me. Though, John has made such an impact on my life in such a short time. I've known Vanessa for as long as I can remember. I loved my sister so much that I agreed to live with her for three years. Molly and I have had some fantastic memories in the past five years. Nicky helped me through... everything, really.

If the Most Important person is the Queen, there is no possible way I could save her. The 미녀, however, aren't capable of that kind of espionage. At least, not in a small cell like this. If they had greater numbers, possibly, but not this small group of fifteen. Well, twelve now, but I'm pretty sure that two of them aren't involved anymore.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the women that were killed were all retired. Whether young or old, they had gotten sick of the 미녀 and left. Now, they were being killed off one by one. I'm sure I was given a list a few days back of all the members. Wow... was it that long ago? It was only a few days ago. Six? Seven at the most? Honestly, I had lost sense of time.

I got off the couch just to look for the purse I was using that day. As soon as I found it, I was on the couch again and I poured the contents onto the coffee table. Sure enough, there was the list. I read off the names to myself, but something wasn't right. Something was ever so slightly off. I couldn't tell what it was, but I knew that if I stared at it long enough and thought about it long enough, I would find it.

With a flick of the remote, I muted the TV and stared at the list. I wrote out each name in Korean and in English, which was harder than you might think. At least, for the slightly lesser trained. No offence. Then, it hit me.

Sharply, I stood and started pacing. There were only fourteen names. Two of the fourteen were dead, but there was nothing on the fifteenth. There was no one I knew that could possibly be a 미녀. I thought about it for a long time, but there was no one who I knew who could be a 미녀. Not a single person.

Defeated, I fell back down on the couch and stared dejectedly at the list that was set before me. How was I going to find that fifteenth member who clearly didn't want to be found. Hye Sun... that was who was doing this. Her name wasn't on the list. I cursed colorfully. There was no way to catch her unless I found out who the next person she was going to take was or to find out who the "Most Important" was.

If I'm going to be perfectly honest, and I always am, this "Most Important" stuff was bullshit. I don't have a most important person in my life. Everyone is sort of neutral. I love them all, just... neutrally. If that makes any sense at all. If my job wasn't so dangerous, then perhaps I would have a "Most Important", but my job is very dangerous, so I try not to keep to attached to my family, just to keep them safe.

Says the girl who lived with her sister for three years. Who went to see her mom in the midst of all of this. Who got Molly involved. It's all my fault, I knew it, but it didn't really sink in until right then. Maria I couldn't explain. She was taken, but I was having a row with her, so I wasn't all that keen on contacting her. With that logic, Vanessa should be next. If she goes, then it's almost certain that Frankie will go, too. Or John. In which order it goes, I'm not sure, but it was inevitable.

It wasn't over yet.