Chapter Text
Today had promised so much. The weather was lovely when Molly went into work today, she treated herself to coffee and a breakfast muffin and none of it spilt down her front on the bus ride. When she got in, there was no left over paperwork and the workload didn’t look too heavy.
Then he arrived and her whole day went to hell in a handcart. When he swept into the lab with his coat flapping and curly hair, Molly turned into a stuttering mess and had no idea how to stop. He had been coming in for about three months and he always made a beeline for Molly. She didn’t mind when it was related to a case for Scotland Yard, especially when Detective Lestrade accompanied him. But when he just came in looking for body parts to experiment with, she really didn’t know what to do. Mike had told her she was allowed to give him things that had been donated for science that the med students didn’t need, but he usually wanted something odd or specific and those didn’t often come up in donated bodies.
Today it had been a cancerous pancreas. As luck would have it, there was one on Molly’s list for the day. Unfortunately, the body had been marked for the students to have. Sherlock had ignored her protests and insisted that he take it home. She had never been able to say no to him for very long, and he had left happily, with a cooler of pancreas and gallbladder complete with stones. Molly had to come up with some reasonable explanation why she hadn’t been able to give the complete body over to the med school, which had been stressful. She hated ‘creative paperwork’.
His smile was something to behold though, Molly mused as she stepped out of the morgue entrance and made her way to the main road. She would do a lot to have that smile directed at her. She got a little flutter in her stomach just thinking about it.
As she turned the corner a black Jaguar pulled up to the curb in front of her. The rear door opened and a voice called, “Miss Hooper, won’t you join me?”
Molly had no intention of getting in a strange car, no matter how nice it was. She started backing away and reached into her bag for the spray she kept there for emergencies. Before she could do anything, the voice spoke again. “I really wouldn’t, Miss Hooper. Assaulting a governmental employee is not a good idea, it tends to be frowned upon by the police. Besides, I would then be forced to let your superiors know that you have been passing body parts to a member of the public, without any form of authorisation.”
How did he know about that? Was she being watched? Molly was starting to get freaked out by this whole situation and running through options frantically, trying to think of a way away from this creepy man in his posh car.
“N-n-no idea what you’re talking about.” Molly stuttered, for some stupid reason going with the ‘brazen it out’ option.
“Come now, we both know you do. Besides, I only want to have a little talk. No harm will come to you, I assure you.” His voice was smooth, melodious almost. Molly thought about it briefly and then, going against all of her instincts and the little voice in the back of her head that sounded like her dad, stepped forward and got into the rear seat of the car.
“Well done, Miss Hooper. A very good choice. If you carry on being so sensible, we may even be able to come to a mutually beneficial agreement.”
Now Molly was in the car, she could see the man sitting on the seat next to her was tall, impeccably dressed in a three piece pinstripe suit and had a head of dark hair. There was something about the set of his mouth and shape of his jaw that was vaguely familiar. He didn’t look that physically intimidating, wiry but with a little paunch that spoke of too much time behind a desk, or in a car, but there was something in his eyes that creeped Molly out a bit. They were cold and calculating, assessing Molly like she wasn’t human, just a thing to be analysed. Molly felt a shiver go up her spine when his eyes swept her from head to toe.
“Hello?” Molly said, making it sound more like a question than a greeting.
“I assume you want me to introduce myself. I am a minor government official whose name is not relevant at this juncture. You can call me Michael for now.”
Molly tried a small smile, mainly out of nervousness but this man was not going to reciprocate.
“I want to put a proposal to you. I have seen you, over the past few months, helping out Sherlock Holmes. You have given him samples you are not authorised to release and have worked with him on several cases he has been involved in.” Here, he paused, seeming to want a response from Molly. She nodded, not sure where this was going.
“I would like you to give me updates on Mr Holmes. Oh, nothing sensitive, just general information about his cases and behaviour. You will of course be financially rewarded for doing so.”
“Why do you want to know? Who is he to you?” Molly had no idea why anyone would have come to her for this information. Surely, someone else would know what he was doing much better than she would.
“Let’s just say I am an interested party. I can assure you, I have no intention of harming Mr Holmes. If you agree, I will have a substantial sum transferred to your bank account, tax free, every month. All you would need to do in return is give me a few little details about him.”
Molly took a moment to mull this over. There was no legitimate reason why anyone would want to know about Sherlock, and if it was the government, as this ‘Michael’ had claimed, then they shouldn’t be getting into an individual's private business. Unless they were a terrorist or something. That made Molly stop the subconscious shaking her head she had started.
“What has he done? Is he part of a terrorist plot or something?”
“No. Nothing like that, he is on our radar however.” Michael said, again smiling his insincere, flat smile.
Molly wasn’t sure how to take that. Normally, being on the government’s radar was a bad thing, but she just couldn’t picture someone who worked that closely with Scotland Yard being on the wrong side of the law. Maybe it was because of his association with the Police that they wanted to keep tabs on him. Although, if that was the case, why not ask one of the detectives he works with. Inspector Lestrade seemed to consult him on a regular basis. When Molly voiced this thought though, a strange expression crossed the man’s face.
“Inspector Lestrade is aware of my interest, but I would prefer another opinion. I must press you for a response, Miss Hooper, I am a very busy man.”
Molly’s instinct was to say an unequivocal no, but she wanted to get out of the car safely and she had no idea where they were or whether they would let her out if she refused. It seemed that Michael was aware of her thoughts.
“Allow me to assure you that regardless of your response, you will be safely transported to your home and allowed to exit this car under no duress. I would simply ask that you think carefully about the situation. I am asking for your opinion and observations on one man and in return you will have funds. They would allow you to move to a more desirable location, have a holiday, whatever you want.”
He was watching her very carefully, gauging what her response would be. As she thought about it, and came to the conclusion that, while she would love some extra money she would not feel comfortable giving this man information.
Obviously, her decision was plain, as Michael screwed his face into a grimace.
“I would ask you to reconsider, Miss Hooper, but I can see that you have made your mind up. It is astonishing what sentiment can do to you. One little crush and you are turning down sizable funds. I would say I hope Sherlock realises what a protector he has in you, but I sincerely doubt that he ever will.”
As her crush on Sherlock was mentioned, Molly flushed deeply. She had hoped that her feelings weren’t obvious but apparently they were not as secret as she would have liked. She turned her face to look out of her window and saw that they were moving into an area she recognised.
“If you could just turn left here and then I am not too far from my flat. Thank you.” Molly didn’t want to give them her address.
There was an eye roll from her companion and he sighed deeply.
“Miss Hooper, we already know your address, why do you think we are in this part of London? We will drop you off at your flat.”
Another shiver went through Molly at these words, she didn’t like that these people knew her address, although she should have guessed that they had researched her before this meeting.
“Thank you,” Molly said, so quietly it was barely audible.
They turned the corner onto her street and pulled up outside her flat. As soon as the car pulled to a stop, Molly put her hand on the door handle.
“One moment, Miss Hooper.”
She turned around to face the man, finding a card being held out to her by a black leather gloved hand.
“Take my card, and if you have any concerns about Sherlock, please, contact me.” There was something about the way he said this that made Molly look at him. While his face was as unemotional as it had been the whole time, there was a look in his eyes now that she couldn’t identify. Was it concern? He blinked and it was gone, but it was enough for Molly to reach out and take the card.
She climbed out of the car and shut the door. She turned to watch it pull away and glanced at the card as she was doing so.
Mycroft Holmes it read, with a mobile phone number underneath. Molly gasped. Holmes. Holmes. This weird half hour made sense now. He must be related to Sherlock.
Maybe, this whole thing had genuinely been about concern for Sherlock. A strange and misguided type of concern, but nevertheless…
Molly tucked the card into her purse and turned towards her front door. It wouldn’t hurt to keep it, she supposed.