Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sherlock BBC.
Three months later
SHERLOCK HOLMES'S PATHOLOGIST IN CAHOOTS WTH JIM MORIARTY
That was the headline that appeared on the newspaper one morning. It talked about how the recently deceased Molly Hooper was Jim Moriarty's partner in crime and succeeded in fooling the consulting detective right until her death. The article implied that she fell in love with Sherlock Holmes and could not bear all the lies and guilt anymore so Molly Hooper killed herself. There was even a picture taken from a CCTV where according to the newspaper, Hooper and Moriarty conversing in a café called Fox shortly after his release from the Court.
As expected, John rushed to 221B angrily and talked about the possibility of suing that reporter who wrote the article. "Molly would never do that. She's…Molly. Damn it! Those people have no ounce of respect for the dead! It's been only three months since…God, it's been three months that she…"
PRIVATE NUMBER
Remember what you promised me, Sherlock.
His phone vibrated indicating a message was received and upon reading it, Sherlock smirked and instantly replied while half-listening to John's monologue.
When it's convenient.
- SH
Snapped out of his sadness by Sherlock's texting, John fairly shouted at him. "How could you be so nonchalant about this? This is Molly Hooper we are talking about here; the woman who helped faked your death and being ever so loyal to you now being publicly maligned!"
"Do you trust Molly?" Caught off guard by Sherlock's seemingly random question, John sputtered out an "Of course, you dick!" which he then replied easily, "As long those who mattered to Molly believed in her, this article is nothing but plain nonsense because we know the truth. I know she would not want us to be angry over it."
Calmed down, John solemnly nodded and looking at him, imagined how proud Molly would be if she could see how much Sherlock had transformed then left for the clinic after mentioning about coming here later on with Mary and Stella.
On the night of Molly Hooper's death
"I need to die tonight. Would you…help me?" She winced at the voice that quivered upon uttering those words. Just because you could see death coming did not mean that you would not be afraid of it.
"Do you want to die, Molly?" Funny how no one asked her that. A twinge of pain coursed through her still-beating heart.
"That's not fair. I did not ask you that when you 'died'. Sherlock, it's part of playing the game, you have to follow the rules." Molly's attempt to make light of things fell flat as the atmosphere between them became oppressed.
She took out a vial and a piece of paper containing a phone number from her pocket then gave it to Sherlock. "When you see me later, inject this into my body and call this number. An ambulance would come and pick me up. They would take care of the rest. Remember what you promised me."
Before walking back to her flat, Molly spoke earnestly. "I trust you too, Sherlock. I always would."
Louise was given seven days to live, if she survived then she could resume her real identity and given the chance to start afresh with a totally new life but of course, Louise would have to cut off all ties from her past in order for that to happen.
"H-how did the fu-funeral go?" Louise managed to wake up on the sixth day. Looking at the man sitting by the bed, she struggled to speak with her hoarse voice.
"All according to plan." It was a success then. Exhausted, she closed her eyes and for a spilt second, half-heartedly wished this was a dream.
It wasn't a dream. Molly Hooper was dead and she would now live as Louise Hayes. Everything felt surreal but she had to get used to it. This is her life now, her only one left.
"Treasure your second chance, child." Her mentor announced and being by his side for so long, Louise knew he was also warning her. If only her gut instinct was not right about one thing.
"Damn you, Sherrinford" Louise stared hard at the headline with her hands grabbing tightly at both sides of the newspaper, effectively crumpling it. Afraid the Sherlock might do something silly, she decided to contact him. After reading his reply, Louise was relieved. If Sherlock could joke about it then he should be fine.
"It would seem that you made it a habit to break every single rule, Louise! You didn't need me to tell you that you probably would not live for very long considering the poison you took despite the neutralizer. I treated you like my own and it breaks my heart to see you throw away your life for them just like that. Take it as I beg of you, whatever time you have left, spend it peacefully, child."
Louise kneeled by the side of the chair where her mentor sat and placed her head on his knee. His hands brushed through her hair now cut short. "Sherrinford is coming back and he would not stop until he got what he wanted, Sherlock. I did not sacrifice everything for him to still die in the end. I also do not want the Royal Office to have a headache because of that man. I promise you, Sir that everything would be fine."
Louise raised her head and swallowed her tears as she held one of his hands which wizened with age, never realizing how old her mentor actually was until now. She composed herself before continuing.
"I just need you to withhold this information from Mycroft as long as possible. Now he should be in Geneva busy attending conferences so it should not be too difficult. The fact that I'm still alive would be a pleasant surprise for Sherrinford, especially how he tried to use me to taunt his brothers, and should be able to entice him to come out and play. You believe in me right?"
Her mentor patted Louise's head. "Of course, child. I never stopped doing that."
"They could have chosen a better picture of me and they called me your pathologist like I'm an object belonging to you." Louise remarked, looking again at the newspaper in 221B. "I know you are a man of your words even though sometimes you act like otherwise. As promised, you would continue to keep a low profile and this matter would be taken care of."
Sherlock snorted "And how would this matter be taken care of?"
"You said that you would always trust me, Sherlock." Louise put the newspaper away and sat down. "You are not playing fair." He harrumphed and plonked down on the sofa beside Louise. "Life's usually not." She replied and showed Sherlock her brightest smile.
"I could see that everyone missed you, especially him." Louise's smile disappeared the moment he said that. "Sherlock, we are not going in that direction." Before he could give a smart retort, the door opened.
The air stilled as John recognised who that woman was even though her hair was cut short and dressed differently now. "Your place is a terrible bolthole, Sherlock." Louise barely finished her sentence then John punched him in the eye.
"What the hell, John? I'm not the one who faked my death this time round!" Sherlock screeched while Louise rubbed her forehead tiredly. "You knew! All this time, you knew and watched us suffered from the loss of Molly! Besides, I couldn't well hit her right?"
John turned to Louise and pointed. "And you! Don't think we are going to let you off the hook that easily. Mary is so going to kill you." As if on cue, Mary and Stella appeared at the door and calmly walked towards then. Mary handled the child over to her husband. "Cover Stella's eyes and ears, John."
Louise was struck so hard, she could see stars then suddenly pulled into a tight hug. "Don't you dare do this again, Molly Hooper!" Maybe coming back here was a mistake but she missed them so much, she really did. "I'm no longer Molly Hooper, she's dead now. My real name is Louise Hayes." The truth seemed to soothe everyone. "Well, I don't care who you are so long you are fine." Mary released her from the embrace and snuffled.
"Getting soft aren't we?" In an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, Louise teased and was sternly warned by Mary. "Don't push your luck!" She smiled cheekily and went over to John. "I'm so sorry. Forgive me?" Louise's question was answered with a one-arm hug as he was still carrying Stella while ignoring Sherlock's sarcasm, "How very forgiving of you, John. Considering how you strangled and gave me a nosebleed but still ignored me after I came back."
Safely in her father's arms, the child looked at Louise curiously. "My, she had grown. Hello, Stella, do you still remember me?" After staring at her long enough, Stella seemed to have finally recognised Louise and stretched out her arms. Louise immediately obliged, loving the feeling of having a baby in her arms. It's almost therapeutic.
"Now talk." Louise returned Stella to Mary and adamantly shook her head. "No, you two are parents now. Think of your daughter. I cannot let you be involved in this. The both of you are no longer in the army or an assassin anymore. Don't worry."
Scanning the newspaper article, Louise circled all the numbers that appeared in it and proceed to call Sherrinford Holmes. "It's the Consultant, oh wait, ex-but-still-alive Consultant. It must be nice to have the Head of Royal Office as your mentor. I imagined you must be quite angry about what was written and wished to seek redress about it?" The night view from St Bart's rooftop was beautiful pity there was no time to enjoy the scene.
"You were the one who set Magnussen close after Sherlock's heels. You knew putting too much pressure and pushing him too far would bring adverse effects, like snatching a child's favourite toy away. You set Sherlock up by forcing him to kill Magnussen so he had to pay for what he did but your plan didn't work so instead you used Molly Hooper in hopes that Sherlock would go after you and try to kill you then no one could save him from another death sentence…"
"More or less correct but don't sound so condescending. You Consultants and the Royal Office did your fair share of dirty things too. My poor Jim died too young and it's all because of you! You should not have saved my little brother, he deserved to die. Once I settled him, I could move on to my other all high and mighty brother who foolishly thought he could just banish me. Then as a salute for your valiant efforts, maybe my next target would be that old man of yours, hmm?"
"Don't you even dare to think about it, Sherrinford." Louise quickly drew out her gun and aimed it at him. "Like what Moriarty said, not if you are dead. I promised your disciple that I would hold on to my last breath to wait for you. There is one type of person you should be afraid of, the dying ones who had everything to lose and lost. If I kill you then all problems would be gone..." Her index finger went to touch the trigger, ready to fire.
"Drop your weapon! Drop your weapon now and put your hands up! Now!" The flurry of armed men rushing to the rooftop and the shouting did not shock Louise. She knew that Sherlock and John would not listen to her and do nothing about it; they could never stay too far away from the action. Louise smiled to herself and placed the gun on the ground then raised her arms in the air as instructed.
Author's note: I love Molly Hooper too much for her to die like that in the previous chapter but as mentioned, eventually she still would be gone but I would do my very best to give her a proper ending :) And I also hope that you readers would get used to seeing her as 'Louise'.