Molly felt herself waking up, the morning light coming through her eyelids. It didn't take her long to notice that she was very warm.
'This must be a pillow' she thought to herself as she tried to pull the warm mass closer. Unfortunately, the warm mass was denser than she had fist anticipated. It was then that she noticed that the warm mass was breathing. She halted her movements and squeezed her eyes shut.
'That's not a pillow…Maybe if I just open my eyes slowly' Molly's eyes fluttered open to find blue eyes staring right back. Molly, in her shock, made a noise that strongly resembled a whale and instinctively rolled over. Apparently her instincts were strong than she had thought, for instead of just rolling onto her side, she rolled herself right off of the bed. Her hands made a loud noise, hitting the ground, as she landed on her stomach. There was a brief moment of silence, then-
"What on earth are you doing?" Sherlock asked, honestly confused.
"I fell off of the bed." Molly grunted as she stood up.
"I noticed that. Why are you in here?"
"Because…well, because you were having nightmares." Molly refused to turn and look at Sherlock. She wasn't sure she wanted to see his facial expressions.
"You stayed in my room because I was having nightmares?"
"Well, yes-" Molly began to turn when the bedroom door opened.
"Sherlock, dear I have your breakfast." Mrs. Hudson stopped short when she saw Molly standing there in her nightgown. "What are you doing in here Ms. Hooper?"
"Umm…" Molly wasn't sure how to explain her situation, but Sherlock chimed in.
"She was sleeping with me."
Both Molly and Mrs. Hudson made choking noises.
"I-We…I didn't sleep with him…well, I did but it wasn't under the sheets…" Molly could feel the heat of her face getting stronger and was sure she looked like a tomato. She was about to try explain again when John came into the room.
"You've slept long enough, Sherlock" He smiled until he saw Molly's blushing face. "What's going on?"
"Ms. Hooper slept with Sherlock." Mrs. Hudson replied, sounding confused.
"What?!" John coughed.
"We didn't…he was having nightmares and-" Molly sputtered.
"What's with the racket?" Mary walked into the room.
"Is everyone in this bloody house going to invade my room?!" Sherlock snapped, still lying in bed.
John turned to Mary and explained what was going on. When she heard, Mary gave a snort.
"We didn't have sex. I was just trying to help." Molly said weakly.
"I believe you." Mary giggled. "I just think this whole situation is hysterical."
"So you two didn't have sex with each other?" Mrs. Hudson asked.
"NO!" both Sherlock and Molly said at the same time. This caused Mary to laugh even harder.
"Can I go?" Molly whispered. When she didn't hear any objections, she walked towards to doorway. When she was halfway down the hall, she heard Mary yelling after her.
"Molly! Hey Molly!" Mary had to take some deep breaths because she was still laughing so hard. "I'm sorry if I offended you back there. I didn't mean to be rude."
"It's fine."
"You sure?" Mary's tone was completely serious, any trace of laughter gone.
"Yeah…to tell you the truth, if I hadn't been so embarrassed, I would have laughed too." Molly cracked a smile and so did Mary.
"I'm going to go get dressed. Meet you downstairs for breakfast?" Mary questioned.
"I'll be right there." Molly nodded and walked to her room. When she closed the door she let herself have a few giggles before she actually started to dress herself.
"So where are the boys?" Mrs. Holmes asked. She was dressed in a beautiful purple dress, her white hair in a tight bun. She looked down the table at Mary and Molly, waiting for a reply. Mary was in a white shirt and a light blue skirt that complement her. Molly, on the other hand, was in a dark green skirt that complement her figure more than she was used to.
"John decided that he was going to take Sherlock to town. Said he was getting too antsy." Mary took a sip of her tea before turning to Molly. "He wanted to ask you if it was okay, but he wasn't sure what Sherlock would get into if they didn't leave."
"It's fine. He's a doctor; I'm sure he made a good judgment."
"Did Sherlock tell you John was a doctor?" Mrs. Holmes asked, leaning towards Molly.
"Oh, um no, he didn't. I'd heard of John Watson before. I heard…I heard he got shot."
"You're very observant Molly." Violet said, giving a smile. "Anyway, on to a different subject. What on earth was with all the raised voices this morning coming from Sherlock's room?"
Molly had never wished to be swallowed up by the ground as much as she did in that moment.
"Well, um…"
"I believe that it was just a large misunderstanding on all of our parts." Mary interjected, smiling at Molly. 'Thank you.' Molly mouthed.
"It's is safe to assume that my son was a part of the issue?"
"When isn't he?" Mary smiled. Violet smiled in return and gave a small shake of her head. "He's always have a knack for trouble. When he told me he was going to be a consulting detective, I thought he was going mad!"
"What's a consulting detective?" Molly asked.
"Before Sherlock went off to war, he used to help Scotland Yard solve crimes. Whenever there was anything that was over their heads, they'd call Sherlock in to help. Sometimes he would even solve them without leaving Baker Street. That's where he lived." Mary explained when she saw Molly's confused expression. "John used to run after him and help in any way he could. That usually resulted in John getting left behind in some random place. He would write the cases down afterwards, though. I'm sure he'd let you see some of them if you asked."
"So Sherlock's job was to literally look for danger?"
"That describes it pretty well" Violet grinned.
"Did he ever get really injured?" Molly asked. "He couldn't have done all of that and not gotten hurt, right?"
"He got pretty close a couple of times. But he usually came back just a little battered." Mary replied.
"Of course I only hear of the danger long after it has past." Violent said. "I don't know what I am going to do with that boy."
"I suppose we shall have to keep him" Mary chuckled. "Since the boys are gone for the day, would you like to make some cookies with me?" Mary turned to Molly "I always make cookies when I'm bored."
"Really?" Molly was slightly skeptical of that. She didn't really see Mary as the baking type.
"Not really; but Mrs. Hudson said I wasn't allowed to practice my shooting in the garden and I thought baking was a good alternative."
"That sounds like a-practice your shooting?!"
"Oh yes, dear." Violet said, a gleam in her eye. "She practices with her gun. She used to be a sort of assassin."
"You were-what?"
"I was a bit of a rebel when I was younger." Mary laughed. "I had some fun; of course that was before I went rogue. But that's enough about me. Are we going to bake or not?" Mary got up and made her way to the kitchen.
"Is she serious?" Molly turned to Violet as she pointed to where Mary had been.
"Completely. But don't let her fool you; she's a big softly." Violet smiled.
Molly couldn't help but think that Violet was right.
Molly took a deep breath. Mary was leaning over to put the cookies into the oven and Molly scrounge up enough courage to blurt. "So about the whole 'assassin' thing. What happened?" Molly looked sheepish. "You don't have to answer."
Mary turned around and shrugged. "I worked for an agency. I started off with just getting information but worked my way up to killing. When I found out that I was and had been sent to kill innocent people, I quit. Changed my name, moved, and destroyed any record of myself. That was a long time ago."
"So Mary isn't you real name?"
"Mary was my grandmother's name. I found Marston on a headstone."
"Does John know your real name?"
"No. I said just about what I've told you after Sherlock figured it out. I was going to tell them both the whole story, but John decided he liked not knowing. I use to worry that it would bother him, but he seems ok with it."
"That's good." The kitchen lapsed into a silence. "I'm sorry to pry, I was just wondering."
"You don't have to apologize." Mary smiled, patting Molly on the arm. "Now what are we going to do while we wait for the cookies to bake?" Mary gave a glance around the room, when her eyes landed on a bag of flour.
"
What on earth are you two doing covered in flour?" John asked as he walked into the kitchen.
"We were trying to make cookies." Molly replied, sheepishly. In truth, Molly and Mary weren't 'covered' in flour so much as they were dusted. Mary's face was completely white and here hair was an odd mix of blonde and white. Molly, on the other hand, had flour on her clothes and a handprint on her face.
"The cookies are made, don't worry. We just thought we should entertain ourselves while we waited for them to bake." Mary said, nonchalant. Molly grinned and began to wipe the flour off of herself.
"Well, whatever it is that you two are doing, would you cut it out?"
"And what, pray tell, are you going to do if I don't?" Mary smirked.
"I'll marry you."
Any trace of a smirk was gone from Mary's face as Molly stood back and watched.
"Was that a proposal, Mr. Watson?"
"It was indeed, soon-to-be Mrs. Watson."
Faster than John expected, Mary had her arms thrown around him. She grabbed his face, and gave him a sound kiss. When the lovebirds broke apart to breathe, Molly had to hold back a giggle as Mary wiped some of the flour that had made its way onto John's face.
"Where's Sherlock? I want to tell him the news." Mary asked, still a little winded.
"I thought he came back to the house." John replied, a hint of panic in his voice.
"I don't think so." Molly said, frowning. She walked out into the hall and found Mrs. Hudson.
"What on earth-" Mrs. Hudson took in Molly's still slightly floured form.
"Mrs. Hudson, have you seen Sherlock?"
"No, dear. I thought he was still in town."
"I stopped to get an engagement ring." John yelled, coming out of the kitchen. "So he said he would head back to the house while I did that."
"Did you lose Sherlock Holmes?" Mary asked, coming out behind him.
"I think I did." John's face, which had been so full of color a moment before was now pale.
"What's going on over here?" Violent said as she came around the corner.
"Nothing!" Everyone said in unison like a group of guilty children.
"John and Mary are going to get married!" Mrs. Hudson said before Violet could start asking questions. Violet's face morphed from confusion to happiness.
"That's wonderful!" As she began to fret over the couple, Molly's caught Mary's eye.
'I'll go look for Sherlock.' She mouthed. Mary gave a nod and turned back to Mrs. Holmes with a smile.