COD (Cause of Death)

A/N: So bittersweet seeing the end of this. So many of you have been asking for me to update it with this last chapter. Not sure if it's exactly what you were thinking of but I do like it a lot. I may make a sequel of sorts one of these days but for now this is it. Thank you all so much for sticking by me as I trudged through my first ever Sherlock story. It was that and it was such a fun ride. Hope to see you all soon with other things.

Much love,

day

#25: The Final Chapter

The shock of being thrown from the high trees made the force of the impact jarring for Molly. She stood up, shaking off what little of the pain that she could and got ready to do what she needed to do. She was a bit frightened. She was on her own here. She had asked that the Doctor just get her close and then she would do the rest.

A part of her held hope that all of this end well but nothing was ever as simple as to end well. Especially not when it came to her and anything that had happened over the past few months. She had run with a time traveler in order to prepare herself for this very moment. Things could go two different ways but she knew what the ending would ultimately come to. She was going to have more blood on her hands.

Molly was unequipped with anything. Just the clothes on her back and the thoughts of coming home to a man who she really did love with all of her heart – all of her existence. There was a chance that she wouldn't be able to even have that with him. What she was dealing with was a bit more than what was supposed to happen. There were outside forces that had jumped into play.

They were amazons really in essence. Giants of women with the beauty of goddesses. Irene Adler had picked well, hadn't see? Molly ignored the malice thoughts of the woman who brought her out into the universe and away from safe ground. She was the prey and Irene the huntress.

She gulped, knowing this was a bit of a bigger game. Irene had friends and while Molly had left hers somewhere above in the TARDIS she didn't think too much about how utterly vulnerable she was at this point. The only thing that mattered was finishing the game. Or at least finishing this part of it. The game wouldn't be over for a while.

Molly took off in a run, trying to find her way around the mush of the grounds of the dark earth and trees. Irene would be hiding somewhere out of her path, somewhere where Molly wouldn't dare to look. She wouldn't go for the center of this large mass of green. She hated to be obvious, or at least that's what she'd had learned through their several encounters since the confrontation in her Nana's house. She was good at games too.

That's why when Molly was knocked off her feet at a specific area where there are lots of ropes of vines and shrubbery around an area, she shielded herself with her hands just in case. "Miss Hooper." She laughed as if she was expecting to be her. Molly rolled away from the feet of the woman who she knew was a bit more than what Sherlock had known of her. She had gotten to see that side of her too courteous of a bit of foreign technology and a bit of a kiss from The Doctor and Jack. Not at the same time. Two different times.

They knew a bit more. They knew she needed to know more in order for this to go off swimmingly.

"Irene." Molly grumbled as she dusted herself off and looked up at the woman. She was dressed in a similar outfit than to the native Amazonian natives. It was a battle dress of sorts. The hide of animal's skin cut up in pieces and tied together with large pieces of rope. Somehow hers looked a bit better down. Perhaps she brought it with her. Her hair was pushed back with hair pieces that looked like the equivalent of a crown except a bit more earthly and woodsy. Her feet were clad in sandals. She looked just like them.

An unsettling feeling started to arise in the pit of Molly's stomach. She ignored it as she started talking. "I think it's time we end this, don't you?"

"By end you mean my demise, I'm sure. If you really plan to do that you should know that it wouldn't be the end. Not even the slightest. My friends will come for you, they have their own views of you and well it's not nice. I think it might be the equivalent of when girlfriends get pissy over another girl stealing a man from their friend."

"I haven't stolen him. He was never yours to keep, nor was he mine."

"I'm sorry that I don't believe you. Sherlock Holmes very rarely asks for anything let alone help from anyone. He really seeks out the company of any one person unless John Watson is around. He's come to you several times. I don't think that's something that implies he never thought of you as his."

"You're blind, Irene Alder and for that I am sorry." Molly told her as she looked over the woman again only to see her looking aggravated.

"It'd be so much easier if you just gave up everything. Him, most of all."

Before Molly could ask her the one question she's always wondered Irene launched at her. Molly tried to Move quickly but tripped back, not noticing that her feet had been tangled in the vines that covered the ground. The sting against her cheek came from the sharp nails that swatted against it. "Why don't you do that, Molly Hooper? It would be easier, wouldn't it for all of us."

"You mean you." Molly growled she grabbed Irene's other hand before it could grab at her throat. "I've been given a second chance and I don't plan on wasting it. Especially when I can stay. I could be with him if he wants it."

Molly kicked her in the stomach and rolled over once she had moved back. She got to her feet again and surveyed the area. What could she use to her advantage? What would help her most? Talking seemed to be out of the question. Irene didn't reason all that well when she was dead set on something. That was every woman though wasn't it? Molly had definitely beyond reason a few times before, but she wasn't like Irene. She knew when to quit.

Irene had moved. She wasn't in the sights of Molly when she looked back.

"I think you hold hope in your heart that he'll want you as much as you've yearned for him all these years." She could most certainly hear her. Her voice seemed to be moving. It was making Molly dizzy trying to track her location. She kept turning and turning and it wasn't helping.

Her hands clutched at her head as she stood still, her eyes shut and she took in a deep breath. Now was not the time to start feeling panicked. She had to focus. "You've always wanted to play with the big boys though. I've done my homework on you. Michael was quite the chap. Not as brilliant of Holmes but he was exquisite and he loved you, he did I'm sure." Molly's eyes started to sting as she covered her mouth as not to let out the sob.

No one was supposed to even know about her life before London. No one was supposed to know about Michael or her. "Shut up." Molly warned her as she opened her eyes and looked around once more. The problem was not seeing it was the fact that she was moving. The ground was moving her around in a circle. Almost like a merry-go-round. It was speeding up to, causing Molly to start to feel sick at the velocity.

She took deep breathes trying not lose her balance if anything at all.

"You were always destined to come to London though weren't you? Then you met him, Sherlock Holmes. He was something out of a dark romance novel. You loved him in secret and although there was no chance for you, you didn't try to stop the cycle from repeating itself. Sherlock was supposed to die. James Moriarty was going to insure that that happened. You just had to show just how much you loved him. How far you would go for him. You are quite the secret weapon, even now when he doesn't know what's going on. You'd go to such lengths to protect the one you love. How very sweet."

There was nothing but the sound of the whirring as the wind whipped around and Molly kept being spun and then it really begun. Irene had come out to finish this game. She seeped her claws into Molly's shoulder while speaking, "It's repulsive." She told her in her deadly tone.

Molly reached for her hand, a plan forming in her head through the pain however Irene had moved again. Molly closed her eyes for a second, ignoring the feel of the blood slipping down from her shoulder and smiled. It was a weak one but there was a certain memory that she held close to her of the two men who had helped her in many ones. Both geniuses, both knowing how to come out of the dead of the night and thrust new methods for her to use.

She could use it now. She just needed to focus, just a little.

Her hand reached out and caught the once concealed throat of the dominatrix and squeezed it. She looked surprised as Molly with tears in her eyes and strain in her body started to fight back. "How—you?" She asked through the little gasps of air that she could get.

"A mind palace isn't just used for storing information you need later. It helps you focus. You were slowly inching closer. It was just a matter of time." Molly concluded as she reached down, her grasp loosening a fraction as she kneeled down to take the sharp knife that was near Irene's leg. Irene kicked out but Molly pulled her down and peered over her. "I really am sorry." Molly told her as she stabbed the knife into the center of her chest and twisted it. "This was your game and this is just you losing."

Molly dropped her hold on The Woman for one last time and let her fall away onto the green of the platform.

"Doctor." Molly croaked out minutes later as she settled down near a tree after dropping down from the platform that had been built. "Doctor, I need you to come get me now." She repeated a few times as she started to cry. She really wish she wouldn't have done that.

Nor did she wish to hear the loud cries of the women who were surrounding her. Their anger was just one of the things she wished she could just erase from her memory. They were coming for her, as Irene promised. It wasn't the end but she knew she had to do it. It had gotten too messy. She could finish it at a later time.

"In three's day time. We will see you again, Molly Hooper." One of them yelled as Molly was snatched up and carried up to the safety of the TARDIS.

x

"Are you afraid to die?" This is a question that she was hoping would be asked. Mostly because it was something she had pondered about over the half of year of hiding away before coming here. It's almost weird realizing that she knows the exact words that will leave her lips in a second.

She's mulled over it for much too long.

"No." A small laugh escapes her small lips before she finds herself continuing on. "I am more afraid of living. I'm a bit of a paradox, you see."

"Paradox?"

"Yes, it's a long story. It's not meant to be spoken aloud as of yet."

"Why?"

There is a breathless sigh that surrounds the quiet atmosphere. "No one would believe it."

That is the one truth she can speak. "Then why did you come here? To keep up appearances? A part from me I'm sure there are very few know of your continuing existence."

"To tell a story. You've always liked them haven't you? Even if they don't hold all the truth. I'm sure you're dying to know what it is. It all began with a man…or two really if you want the honest truth." She smiles because she knows that she's just caught the attention of one of the most destructive human beings she's ever heard of.

Oh. She knows all about this one.

The tape recorder seems to have been moved closer in her direction. She glances at it briefly as she waits for her answer. Can she handle the story? It's a very dangerous story filled with death missions and brilliance.

"I'm listening."

"There are two halves to this story but only one is worth mentioning currently. What your readers will be interested in hearing is the story of how I and a consulting detective survived a fall – another one off the top of Saint Bartholomew's rooftop once again. Well…it concerns that other man. No, not John Watson. I know that's what you're thinking. I think John might have been one of the more clueless parts of this whole adventure for a time. I'm talking about the man in the blue box, an old police box. His name is The Doctor. No, just the Doctor. He is a rather funny man." Molly laughed as she looked at the way Kitty Riley sat across from her looking like she was eating something juicy.

Well, it was that if not more.

"He saved me a long time ago and then came back to do it again. I think he likes me, or at least thinks I'm valuable. Anyway we were falling…"

A resounding crash came from the sloshing depths of the pool that for some reason was where they fell. Molly might have been the first one to realize it but other things might have been on her mind currently as she stood freezing her bones off with Sherlock pressed firmly against her. Lips still attached.

Footsteps could be hear rushing towards them and soon a conversation. "Kissing in the TARDIS. Why does everyone feel like this is the place for that to be done? Is there a sign around here that I don't know about? Kissy kissy faces everywhere."

The Doctor grumbled as River stood beside him smiling at the two Londoners who were currently looking at the man himself with two spectacularly different expressions his face. Sherlock stood there blinking at the man as if he had just noticed that he was there or maybe realizing that they did not get the ground as he expected them to. Molly on the other hand stood there with her boyfriend? Was he her boyfriend now? Sherlock's arm was still firmly around her waist, keeping her close as if something dangerous was just around the corner. Her face held a bit of a tired look but with a bit of amusement at the Doctor's rambling nonsense.

"Hello again, Doctor." Sherlock said as he let go of Molly for a brief moment and hopped out of the pool and accepted the towel, tossing it over his shoulder before reaching out for Molly's hand and practically yanking her up and over with some assistance from the Doctor.

"You should expect nothing less from these two." River said as she placed a striped towel over Molly's head and gave her a coy smile. "They haven't exactly had much interaction since the whole reunion."

Molly let go of Sherlock's hand reluctantly as she began to dry off her hair. For once she was happy it wasn't as long as it had been before her death. The whole process of drying off would have taken much longer.

"What is this place?" Sherlock asked as he began to walk away from the much more dry time travelers after grabbing Molly by the arm only to grab her hand soon after. Water was trailing after them as he began to roam around the inter-workings of the police box that was much bigger on the inside.

The next phase was upon them.

"At least he's more inquisitive than Doctor Hooper had been the day you brought her on. She had just nodded and was ready to go." River said as she pressed a kiss against her husband's cheek as they began to trail after the puddle of footsteps.

"It's called the TARDIS." He heard the soft giggle come out of Molly Hooper's mouth, in turn making the man himself smile again. "At least they're together." The Doctor told River as they stopped and let the duo of Sherlock Holmes & Molly Hooper explore the other caverns of the large ship that was currently roaming above London invisible. River had made sure to make that happen.

"So that's it?" Kitty Riley asked after Molly had stopped talking. She hadn't told her too much just enough that she would know that somehow they had survived. Not many would understand or be able to wrap their heads around the physics of it all or the lack there of it in the case of time traveling and the TARDIS.

"For now." Molly told her, pausing as she lifted her left hand and smiled admiring a ring.

"You're engaged?!" Kitty said as her eyes latched onto the diamond that was around her wrist.

"Yes. Sherlock Holmes is the type that when he sees that he needs you, really needs you, he'll make sure to have you with him. Permanently, if it suits him. Sometimes it takes me a long time to realize it though. He's a genius but sometimes he is rather slow when it comes to matters of the heart. Took him a good while to see mine, anyway. He hates to be sentimental though. I didn't even want a ring if you could imagine that. He had insisted though." Molly laughed. "Anyway, I'll see in a couple months Miss Riley. There will be more to tell, I'm sure. Thanks for the tea."

Molly muttered as she got up from her position in the chair that she had taken residence in and straightened her coat and scarf around her neck before leaving a gaping Kitty, there.

Molly admired the ring again and wanted to shake her head. She had done a bit of lying there. Things were a bit more than that.

She walked down the street and begun to turn the corner when a hand reached out and slipped through her elbow. She looked up smiling at the man in the bowler hat and the sunglasses. "Hello." She greeted as they began walking. There was a slight falter to their steps as Sherlock had John's cane in his right hand, a limp was there.

"You lied to her, Mrs. Holmes."

"Kitty Riley of all people doesn't need to know all the finer details. While it could be seen as important, I think its fine." She smiled as they stopped at the next corner and hailed a cab, getting in only to get out a second later when the whirring of a certain flying blue box came rumbling down the street.

"Now?" Sherlock asked, with a look of excitement on his face.

"Now." She giggled as she pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth before grasping his hand and they took off running. The cane was depositing in a bin on the way.

A text soon came to John Watson's mobile, a curse later.

Don't set the extra place setting. We'll be away for a little while. See you later. – SH

Cane in bin two blocks away from Miss Riley's flat. Sorry, please tell Mary and Mycroft we'll reschedule soon. x Molly Hooper-Holmes

John couldn't help but laugh as he received the one from Molly. She really was starting to love that she could tack on that last name. He couldn't help but think it had been about time. Three months ago, to be exact.

He turned to his fiancée and smiled, "Looks like it'll just be the two of us tonight. Our dear friends have taken off with The Doctor again."

Mary only cooed at that before launching herself at John and kissing him. "We need more nights alone."

John couldn't help but agree.