Chapter 15: That Burn Our Kingdoms Down~
Molly Hooper stood on West 34th Street, using binoculars to look up to the very top of the Empire State building, mouth gaping in horror.
"So...so all of this...is really going ...down now, is it, Major?"
The Major stood leaning heavily on his omnipresent cane that was always with him, so iconic a part of his person, that mostly people forgot about it.
War. It weighed heavy on him. His whole life was defined by its scars. His past was written in the blood of young men he couldn't save, his present hung on the thin Fate Threads of young men he was trying to save.
His future was untold yet. Would it be written in the blood of John Watson, and Sherlock Holmes?
They have found Mary Morstan. And the Woman.
The Woman has gotten a job in one of the many offices of the building. By Mary's orders, she has been trying to seduce one of the Empire Realty employees that is involved in a city-wide gang Ponzi scheme, getting him to share the wealth for favors. Mary herself has hidden somewhere on the 86th floor, using the observation deck as a place to set up her sniper tools, spying on her hires, eliminating ones that fall out of line.
Only there aren't so many of her hires left to even worry about breaking ranks.
It has taken Sherlock a fraction of the time she anticipated it would to figure her out .
She thought the poison would immediately weaken him. But at the stage of the poison its original mixers called "The Twilight"it has only made him stronger.
"Yes, Molly. And it appears as though there is nothing we can do about it. The board is set. The pieces are already moving. Sherlock is a step ahead of the Game as always, and is about to close in on the Queen's knight."
Molly nodded, "So the man that we saw Irene..."
She couldn't finish her sentence.
It absolutely disgusted her what she had seen Irene doing with the man in the office on the 90th floor. She tried not to let her mind go there, tried not to think about how Irene had intended to seduce Sherlock into such things too. She was very proud of her friend, that he couldn't be tricked, couldn't be trapped, couldn't be corrupted despite the desperate attempts of the entire world to do so.
She could see him now too, away in the crowd, standing out against the crowd, John Watson beside him. Coming down the sidewalk of Fifth Avenue. Coming this way. About to storm the Mistress' self-proclaimed castle.
Molly's breath catches, and her hand shakes on the binoculars she's holding ,as she realizes what it is that makes Sherlock so invincible.
It is the man walking beside him.
John's head is held high, unable to really see over all the throngs of people. He doesn't know where they are going, exactly. He doesn't really know what is going on either; Sherlock is really the only other player in this Game with Pandora...
For John all he needs to know is that Sherlock is in some sort of serious trouble. And if legions of demon-strong criminals, and all the poison-traps from here to Hell ,to the moon and beyond stand in their way, he is going to help. By God, he is going to help him. Because he is his friend. And that's what friends do, they protect people.
Molly suddenly loves John ,with all her heart ,for that. And her heart prays that Sherlock will be saved. Not just for Sherlock's sake, not just for her own sake, not just for the world's sake, not just for God's sake!
But for John Watson's sake.
Because John couldn't survive losing Sherlock a third time. The first time was utterly impossible, to the point that he had psychogenically wiped it from his mind.
When Sherlock fell from Bart's, it had been like an endless nightmare. John was dead, a prisoner in his own body, not allowed to leave. Molly remembered...
But now, after knowing he had died for him? That right now this terrible place he found himself in was only for the purpose of saving his life?
Sherlock has become so much more than a friend to John. And to Molly to, she realizes. Now he is a brother to them both. Now he is a vital part of their world. As much as the earth needs rivers, the sky needs a sun, the trees need air, so much did they NEED him to survive this.
It was like the Major had read her thoughts.
"Not to worry, Molly , my dear girl. We have already won."
"What...what do you...mean?"
"Because we need to win, because it is absolutely vital to our own lives as well as Humanity that we prevail against this Pandora, we will. Victory is our only choice now."
"But...how? What exactly are we going to do?"
"We have orders to tell Mycroft where Pandora, the Woman, Sherlock and John are. But in this innovative age, we needn't return to him to give our report. I shall send him a message,with all of the specifics that you recite to me. And then we will close in on the boys. I don't know what service we can be to Sherlock now; he seems to know what he's about, and doesn't need help doing it. But we can be there for him in the end...whatever the end is going to be. It seems to me that this is it, that terrible day when we burn our kingdoms down..."
Molly nodded, with a sudden mischievous smile,
"I never really much liked princesses anyway...you know? Sherlock and me...we always wanted to be pirates...when we were little..."
They watched then as Sherlock and John swept into the Empire State building, conversing with one of the tour guides to declare that they were actually here on business, and disappeared into the glass castle that would mark the end of Icarus' crusade.
The Major drew a heavy breath.
"This is the end of crowns...The thrones are coming down today...To be honest I'm glad to witness the end of criminal aristocracy..."
And with that he pulled out his mobile,
"Alright, Molly, girl. Let's get to work then..."