As Above As Below 8
"Molly, hi, it's me Greg. Greg Lestrade, can I come up?"
Molly, on reflex and a tiny bit of utter stupidity, said, "Yeah, sure, Greg, I'll buzz you in," before her brain could catch up with her mouth. Then it hit her hard like a stack of bricks. And also, Sherlock was glaring at her.
"I thought Mycrwoft said it'll be better if you don't have visitors now." He clutched John the bear tighter, giving Molly a look that made her feel absolutely ashamed.
Molly bit her lip. "It's alright, Sherlock, it's not a visitor. It's a…um…anyway, you need to hide, can you do that for me?"
Sherlock stamped his foot on the ground stubbornly, dark curls bouncing, "No, why should I hide?"
The bell rang and there was a knock on the door. Molly glanced anxiously back at it. "Sherlock, sweetheart, please, just hide in my bedroom for a couple of minutes?" Molly begged as Lestrade knocked more insistently on the door. Must be urgent, Molly mused to herself, already ushering the scowling child into her bedroom. "After he leaves," Molly promised Sherlock, "I'll play the Doctor with you."
Sherlock's eyes brightened and he sat down gingerly on her bed, busying himself with the bear. Another bell rang and Molly more or less (after making sure that the door to her bedroom wasn't ajar) wrenched it open to find Lestrade about to knock once more. The DI gave her a weary smile, "I was beginning to worry."
Molly smiled tentatively back at him. "I was…er…just trying to make my place look less of a dump. My nephew's over, so…"
Lestrade raised his eyebrows as Molly stepped back to let him in, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were busy-"
"Oh no, it's fine," Molly cut across him, "Martin's just gone to bed, and I was just about to make some tea. Would you like some?"
"Yes, please," Lestrade said sitting down on the sofa after removing one of Sherlock's sharper experiments.
"So, Molly, how have you been?" the DI asked as Molly handed him a steaming mug. "I haven't seen you in ages!"
"Oh you know…just been a bit busy…" Molly said nervously, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"Busy? Is that why you stopped coming to Bart's?" He took a hearty swig of his tea and raised an eyebrow inquisitively.
Molly blushed scarlet; she didn't realize anyone would miss her at Bart's. After Sherlock went and got himself turned into a toddler, Mycroft requested (after a disastrous attempt of leaving Sherlock at a daycare) that she take a few months off. He guaranteed that she would still have her job; she would still get her monthly paycheck and everything. Molly had agreed because she was dreadfully in need of a break as well. Sherlock took up nearly all her time now.
"I took a leave of absence." Molly said to the DI, carefully avoiding his eyes. "I needed a break."
"Oh, okay." Lestrade took a sip of tea, "Have you heard from John?"
"He hasn't contacted me ever since he joined the Medecins Sans Frontieres. He could be somewhere in Africa now."
"He said he would keep in touch with me too," Lestrade said thoughtfully, "But he hasn't kept that promise."
The last Molly saw of John Watson, he wasn't too pleasantly disposed to the DI. John took Lestrade's attempt to arrest Sherlock (even though he had been under orders) as a form of betrayal and part of the chain of events that led to his supposed suicide. She didn't say that to him now though. That would only serve to hurt him further. Judging by the grey hair and the new wrinkles that creased his face, she could tell that Greg Lestrade hadn't taken Sherlock's fall that well either.
Trying to keep Lestrade from sinking into morbid thoughts—he looked like he was about to—Molly grabbed his free hand and said, "Alright Greg, come now. Tell me what's going on with you nowadays."
Lestrade tightened his hand around hers. "Well…I got demoted to desk sergeant and my wife finally filed for divorce."
Oh God. This was not what Molly had in mind. "Greg, I'm so sorry." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Anything I can do?"
Lestrade suddenly looked her in the eyes; she nearly reared back at the intensity of his gaze. "You know, Molly, I've always wondered—" He started but got interrupted by a certain supremely annoyed six-year-old.
"'S'trade, you moron." Sherlock said scowling, arms crossed and for once not carrying the bear.
Molly's heart started racing immediately, "Sh—Martin, you are supposed to be in bed!"
"Well, hello there." Lestrade started good-naturedly, he evidently hadn't heard what Sherlock said before. Molly started praying to whatever god was out there that the once DI didn't realize the resemblance; though there was absolutely no chance of him actually thinking that this six-year-old was Sherlock.
Sherlock came closer, ignoring the urgent flapping Molly was doing behind Lestrade's back. He squeezed himself into the tiny smidge of space between Molly and Lestrade and then inched closer to Molly, all the while glaring at Lestrade. Lestrade tried again, though he seemed a bit unnerved, "Hi Martin, I'm Greg-"
The surly toddler cut him off. "My name's not Martin."
Lestrade threw a confused look at Molly. She rushed in to save herself and hopefully Sherlock. "He's joking of course! He just likes pretending to be the Doctor, you know, from Doctor Who!" Molly wrapped an arm around Sherlock and squeezed him, hard. Not hard enough to hurt him, just enough so he would stop talking.
Lestrade put on a big grin, the kind all adults reserve for small children. "Really? Wow, isn't that nice?"
"You can't have her." Sherlock said, still glaring daggers at the poor ex-DI.
"What do you mean, Martin?" both Lestrade and Molly asked simultaneously, Molly trying to hide the blush that reached the roots of her hair.
"You can't have her," Sherlock repeated, "She's mine."
And with that he snuggled closer to her; she carded her fingers through his hair, a smile growing on her face. Lestrade smiled, "He must love you a lot."
Molly's blush deepened. "Oh…um…yes, I'm his only aunt-"
"You're my only Molly." Sherlock said from somewhere near her stomach.
Lestrade cast Molly a look and said, "Well, I'd best be off. It looks like he needs you to fall asleep." He stood up, Molly standing up with him, Sherlock trailing along after her, holding onto the hem of her blouse. "We should meet up for coffee sometime," Lestrade said, ruffling Sherlock's hair a bit. It was a miracle he didn't bite. "Bye, Molly."
Molly smiled. "See you later Greg."
The moment the door closed behind him, Sherlock looked up at Molly and said quite plainly, "He's an idiot. He had no idea who I was!"
"Oh Sherlock," Molly said exasperatedly, "We are not all as smart as you."
Molly woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a harsh scream coming from Sherlock's room. She threw her bedclothes off and ran towards him, nearly slipping on one of the toy pirate swords Sherlock had left discarded in the hallway.
"Sherlock, are you alright?!" She shouted as she ran into his room. What she saw left no room for doubt what was happening.
Sherlock was writhing on the bed; his small frame nearly drowning in the large clothes Molly had dressed him in (as per Mycroft's orders). As she watched, Sherlock screamed hoarsely, "Molly! It hurts! Make it stop!"
She should call Mycroft; he would know what to do. She should really call Mycroft but Sherlock-
"Molly!"
She forgot what she was supposed to do and quickly climbed onto the bed with him. Sherlock was drenched in sweat as Molly ran her hands over him. Pulling him closer to her, she rocked him gently. Sherlock's small hands grabbed at her night-shirt, clutching at her like a drowning person to a life raft.
He started to convulse violently, head thrown back on the pillow as his body arched. Molly pulled him tighter to her, holding his body so that he didn't break any bones. In the process she nearly got rocked off the bed but managed to keep her balance at the very edge.
Sherlock's body stopped contorting all of a sudden. Molly released a sigh of relief as he started calming down, maybe he wasn't going to transform and whatever fit he had had must be over (note to self: ask Mycroft for childhood illnesses). She could have a few more days with this appreciative Sherlock-
Before she knew what was happening, she hit the floor hard with a fully grown Sherlock Holmes right on top of her.
A/N: Oooh and here we go! Thanks for all the lovely favs, alerts and reviews everyone, they honestly make my day- Lady Nuit, magicstrikes, Emily, MadAsAHatterJayy, Lucy36, Ssmill, Empress Of Verace, barus, the GoldenHaired Mockingjay, MorbidByDefault, Lono, syNemYoa, lililoop, Totally Sherlock and the guests! Can't tell you guys how much I appreciate you guys taking the time to review!
Much love to my beta, A Pirate By Any Other Name, for being an absolute grammar angel!
Hope you guys like this chapter and I'll see you very soon *Mycroft voice*
love and review please!
Adi x