Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sherlock BBC and this story is loosely based on Big, a Korean Drama
During the afternoon, London was at the height of activity. People were busy navigating their way to various destinations with heads lowered down to read texts from their phones. It was a miracle that people did not managed to bump into each other.
Still, it did not stop people, both men and women from staring at a woman walking leisurely along the street. We could not blame them for the woman was very beautiful and she seemed to have gotten used to the attention. She returned the stares from the corner of her cat-like eyes and pursed her lips in a sexual way. Now, people bumped into one another. The woman smiled.
Her Jimmy Choo's heels clicked loudly when climbing the stairs leading to the flat upstairs and the woman let herself in since he rarely answered the door anyway. The music stopped rather abruptly.
"Keep on playing. You know I love seeing you play the violin."
"Molly? Why are you back here?" Sherlock questioned.
"Molly? Never knew you were into role playing. Well then, Ben, did you miss me?" She moved towards him like a predator hunting its prey.
"Quit playing games, Molly. Why are you in London?" Sherlock ignored her advances and asked one more time.
"What makes you think I'm Molly?" She taunted him. Everyone believed that she was Irene Adler so why wouldn't he? Maybe he would think that somehow they had already managed to swap back their bodies.
"You walked with a slightly off-step rhythm as a result of you breaking your right foot when you were a child that never fully healed and it was even more pronounced when wearing shoes with heels. This might not be your own body but the muscle memory was imprinted into your mind. You were never good with wearing heels that is higher than three inches and you still don't despite the fact that you have practiced wearing those for three months to be exact. You always bite the left side of your lower lip then tucked your hair behind your right ear when you were nervous. Need I further elaborate, Molly?" And he taunted her back.
"Colonel Sebastian Moran, Moriarty's right-hand man is back with vengeance or at least very soon. He did not tell me of his exact plans but he is coming for you, Sherlock."
On her way to Sweden, Molly was given the brief on who's who in the criminal world in case people from the other side wanted to say hello to Irene Adler. It is best that no one knows about the body swap and Mycroft probably even thought of using Molly as a mole. The plan worked.
Molly intended to relay the information to Mycroft's men in Sweden after Colonel Moran came to see her to reminisce about the glorious past and of his not so future plans but Molly decided to come back to good old London to warn the Holmes brothers herself. Mycroft initially wanted Molly to go back but he could see how homesick she was even if Molly did not spoke of it. Living the life of self-imposed exile was tough for anyone.
"If Sebastian Moran found out it was you who betrayed him, you are in danger too, Molly. Stay in Baker Street. It's safer." Like what Mycroft had predicated, Sherlock asked her to stay with him for better protection.
"How is that so when you are the very target of his revenge plan, Sherlock? Practically everywhere is safer than here." Molly did not want to stay here for reasons other than safety but both of them conveniently ignored the elephant in the room. Before they could resume the argument, John strolled in but stopped in his tracks seeing Irene Adler in the flat. He thought she's dead but apparently not.
"What are you doing here, Irene Adler? Are you two back together already? Sherlock I thought you…"
"We were not, in your own childish words, together in the first place. Instead of being a doctor, you could consider writing a romance novel with your overly imaginative mind, John. Not that people would actually purchase it." Sherlock interrupted John and turned back to Molly "And you would stay here, in John's old room." He sat back into his chair and went into his mind palace, signalling the end of conversation.
John left in a huff, muttering about why he chose a dick to be his best friend and the god-father of his child. Molly wanted to speak to John and ask about his family but then again why would he when she still was Irene Adler? They did not even have eye contact, more like John did not want to look at her. Shaking her head, Molly took a deep breath and focused on her other problem at hand.
As for Sherlock, Molly could also just leave but her legs stood rooted, not willing to move. Sighing loudly, Molly gave up and decided to make some tea since she knew that Sherlock would probably be in his mind palace for hours so might as well make herself comfortable while waiting for him to come back so they could actually talk.
Molly missed London, a strong English tea, fish and chips and so many others things. Though she hated to admit it but Molly missed him the most so she sat on the chair opposite that man and looked at the world's only consulting detective, trying to make up for a year's worth of not being able to do so. This was like a soap drama that went so badly, Molly thought and chuckled sarcastically.
"Why do you want me to stay here, Sherlock?" When he finally came out of his mind palace, it was already night time and Molly was getting impatient and sick of her own love-sickness.
"Did you know what I went through for a whole year? Living someone else's life, being called a name that was not my own but my sister's. It was like my childhood all over again. Every time I looked into the mirror and managed to shock myself because all I saw was her until one day I grew accustomed to it. I was no longer surprised looking at my reflection and not seeing myself. It was like I had accepted my fate. Then I realized that this was a great opportunity to break free from my past. I want to live as myself, as Molly Hooper. I want people to see me for who I really am, not a lousy replacement of Irene Adler."
"I can see you, Molly."
"Do you? Do you really? Eyes dilated, breathing quickens and heart rate increases?" They both looked down at Molly's hand holding Sherlock's left wrist. Since when did he let her come so close to him? "Is all these signs because of me or her? If I were to be stuck in her body forever which I genuinely hoped not, I don't ever want to second-guess everything for the rest of my life, Sherlock."
Molly's heart cried out for letting Sherlock go but no, she could not stay with him; it would consume her and Molly was selfish enough to protect what's left of her. She wanted so badly to believe that there would be a happy ending for them but that was not going to happen. Molly needed to stop lying to herself. "I would move back into my own flat. The last place anyone would think of was Irene Adler hiding there."
"You see but do not observe, Molly." If only she heard that but of course Molly didn't, she already left. The car was already waiting at the curb when Molly went downstairs. Trust Mycroft to foresee every damn thing.
Author's note: This is really an update despite the title says otherwise, hehe.
I would like to apologise in advance for my very un-Sherlock deductions about Molly. Mine is probably not scientific at all. This is why I don't write crime scenes because I just can't, so sorry about that!
**To Modoko, I don't think I can really blame Irene Adler for Molly's terrible childhood although I'll be honest, she is not my favorite character in Sherlock BBC (in fact I was so jealous of her and even felt indignant on behalf of Molly) but to be fair, it's not totally her fault. In both my story and the original series, I would like to believe that Irene Adler did what she had to do to survive in the dark and dangerous world.
Thank you for keeping a tab on my story! I will try to update soon ;)