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darnedchild) wrote2016-07-29 11:07 am
darnedchild) wrote2016-07-29 11:07 am
Entry tags:
- (admin) smut,
- (character) anthea (sherlock),
- (character) janine (sherlock),
- (character) martha hudson,
- (character) mary morstan/watson,
- (character) molly hooper,
- (character) mycroft holmes,
- (character) sherlock holmes,
- (event) sherlolly big bang challenge,
- (fandom) sherlock,
- (ship) sherlock/molly,
- (title) a vicious motivator
A Vicious Motivator - Chapter Seventeen
Summary: Molly was happy with her life. She's got a job she loves, a nice flat, her cat, and she's even begun dating again (now that she's over her infatuation with Sherlock, mostly). Then Sherlock dragged her out for a few hours of dress up and undercover work, and everything started to go to hell in a hand-basket.
She agreed to accompany him to one more event, purely as a distraction; and in the process ended up with an unwanted house guest (Sherlock's ex Janine), the attentions of a vengeful stalker, and a return of those pesky feelings for Sherlock Holmes.
Rating: M (There will be smut in later chapters)
A/N - Written for the 2015 Sherlolly Big Bang. This mammoth fic is over 114k words and complete in seventeen chapters.
Chapter Seventeen - Epilogue
இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—
"Molly."
"Hmm?" She knew Sherlock was trying to get her attention; but she was almost finished jotting down her current line of thought. She wasn't trying to ignore him but if she didn't get it all down on paper right then she would never remember it. Next week she had her first meeting with the doctor she was going to collaborate with on a new paper about acute tubular necrosis and she wanted to be ready.
He waited for her to finish (Impatiently, true, but he did wait.) before speaking again. "I need a favour."
The way he said that made her inordinately happy. No flattery, no buttering up, simply a request for assistance. Just as she'd been trying to get him to do for ages. "All right. What do you need?"
Sherlock sat on the coffee table in front of her and looked as if he were about to say something, then hesitated. If she didn't know any better, Molly would have thought he looked nervous. "A plus one."
Instinct nearly had her asking if Janine was busy, then it hit her--really hit her, for the first time--that he didn't need a pretend girlfriend anymore. He had a real one.
Her.
She smiled and pushed her notebook and research materials to the other end of his sofa so she could give him her full attention. "Another case? What's the cover story this time?"
His eyes shifted to the side briefly, then returned to focus on her face. "Not a case. A-a dinner." His leg shifted just enough that his knee bumped against hers. "Just a few people, mostly family. I expect it will be terribly dull once the big announcement is made."
That confused her, there was no reason for him to be out of sorts at the thought of dinner with his family. She'd briefly met his parents just a few weeks before as they passed each other on the way into and out of Baker Street respectively, and Molly thought they were delightful. Especially Sherlock's father. Then there was Mycroft who was, well, Mycroft; but even he had become less annoying over the last few months, especially when he was accompanied more and more by Anthea.
Not Anthea. Andrea.
Remembering to address the other woman by her real name was taking some time to get used to. Especially when Molly had to continue to call her Anthea on the rare occasions when she ran into Mycroft's Gal Friday on official business.
The last bit of what he'd said finally registered. "Big announcement?" Molly felt a little lightheaded. She wasn't sure if it was excitement or something worse. Surely she had heard him wrong because it sounded as if Sherlock was talking about them. Was hinting that they announce something at dinner his way of testing the waters to see if she was open to the idea of moving in together without actually risking rejection by asking? "Sherlock? What are you doing?"
"Me?" He looked as confused as she felt. "I'm not doing-No. No! Not my announcement." It had been ages since she'd seen him look that panicked. "It's way too early for that. Not that I'm not considering the idea, because it would be rather nice, eventually. But not this weekend! We've barely even . . . It's only been a few months since-"
Molly interrupted him, "You've been thinking about eventually?" She couldn't help but smile. Sometimes he was so adorably awkward, it made her want to ruffle his hair and kiss the stuffing out of him.
Sherlock frowned and pulled his leg away from hers. "Haven't you?"
"Perhaps." His frown grew even more pronounced, and Molly rolled her eyes. "Yes. Of course I have. But you are absolutely correct. Moving in together is a big step and not something to rush into."
The frown melted away, thankfully; but she wasn't sure she trusted the calculating look that took its place. She knew for certain she shouldn't trust it once he started speaking again. "That wasn't exactly what I was thinking about, but now that you've brought it up, I accept. Let's let Mycroft and Andrea have their moment before we say anything to the family, though. It would be the polite thing to do, don't you think?"
Utterly flabbergasted, Molly could barely sputter, "That's not-I didn't!"
"Didn't you? Hmm." Sherlock tilted his head to the side as if he were reviewing the last few minutes in his mind, but she was familiar enough with his tells to know he was faking it. "Oh well, cat's out of the bag now, I suppose. Which reminds me, I'm thinking we should begin by introducing that cat of yours to Mrs Hudson. Wouldn't do to give her a heart attack the first time he unexpectedly pops out of the shadows to wind about her ankles, would it?"
Molly crossed her arms and shook her head, although the twitching of her lips probably gave away that she wasn't as irritated as she was pretending to be. "I never agreed to move in here."
"You'd prefer to stay in your flat?" Sherlock wrinkled his nose. "But this one has so much more character, and Mrs Hudson barely makes a fuss when I destroy something. Think of your security deposit."
"That is not what I meant, and you know it," she huffed.
"Are you saying no?"
"No. I mean, no, I'm not saying no. That is, I'm not saying I won't . . . Ugh." Molly threw her hands up in defeat and slouched back against the sofa.
"Good. That's settled. Baker Street it is." Sherlock smirked and looked extremely pleased with himself. "Let's give it another month, no more than two--just to let Mummy and Father get used to the idea that their eldest is getting married--and then we'll move you in here. After that, we can start thinking about what I originally had in mind. How does that sound?"
"Workable." It was difficult to be annoyed with him when she considered how happy the thought of living together made her. Not to mention the future promise of what he'd originally been thinking off. The thought of an engagement--and someday marriage--made it impossible to keep up the illusion of irritation she'd been trying to maintain.
Sherlock opened his mouth to say something else, probably something smug that would make her want to smack him, when his phone chimed. He leaned across the coffee table and stretched out a long arm until the tips of his fingers managed to snag his mobile phone off the desk. "Text from Lestrade. He's got a case. I already know John's busy, which is a pity because this sounds promising. Could be an eight."
He looked up and gave her an eager, boyish grin. "Would you like to solve a crime today?"
Part 1
She agreed to accompany him to one more event, purely as a distraction; and in the process ended up with an unwanted house guest (Sherlock's ex Janine), the attentions of a vengeful stalker, and a return of those pesky feelings for Sherlock Holmes.
Rating: M (There will be smut in later chapters)
A/N - Written for the 2015 Sherlolly Big Bang. This mammoth fic is over 114k words and complete in seventeen chapters.
Chapter Seventeen - Epilogue
"Molly."
"Hmm?" She knew Sherlock was trying to get her attention; but she was almost finished jotting down her current line of thought. She wasn't trying to ignore him but if she didn't get it all down on paper right then she would never remember it. Next week she had her first meeting with the doctor she was going to collaborate with on a new paper about acute tubular necrosis and she wanted to be ready.
He waited for her to finish (Impatiently, true, but he did wait.) before speaking again. "I need a favour."
The way he said that made her inordinately happy. No flattery, no buttering up, simply a request for assistance. Just as she'd been trying to get him to do for ages. "All right. What do you need?"
Sherlock sat on the coffee table in front of her and looked as if he were about to say something, then hesitated. If she didn't know any better, Molly would have thought he looked nervous. "A plus one."
Instinct nearly had her asking if Janine was busy, then it hit her--really hit her, for the first time--that he didn't need a pretend girlfriend anymore. He had a real one.
Her.
She smiled and pushed her notebook and research materials to the other end of his sofa so she could give him her full attention. "Another case? What's the cover story this time?"
His eyes shifted to the side briefly, then returned to focus on her face. "Not a case. A-a dinner." His leg shifted just enough that his knee bumped against hers. "Just a few people, mostly family. I expect it will be terribly dull once the big announcement is made."
That confused her, there was no reason for him to be out of sorts at the thought of dinner with his family. She'd briefly met his parents just a few weeks before as they passed each other on the way into and out of Baker Street respectively, and Molly thought they were delightful. Especially Sherlock's father. Then there was Mycroft who was, well, Mycroft; but even he had become less annoying over the last few months, especially when he was accompanied more and more by Anthea.
Not Anthea. Andrea.
Remembering to address the other woman by her real name was taking some time to get used to. Especially when Molly had to continue to call her Anthea on the rare occasions when she ran into Mycroft's Gal Friday on official business.
The last bit of what he'd said finally registered. "Big announcement?" Molly felt a little lightheaded. She wasn't sure if it was excitement or something worse. Surely she had heard him wrong because it sounded as if Sherlock was talking about them. Was hinting that they announce something at dinner his way of testing the waters to see if she was open to the idea of moving in together without actually risking rejection by asking? "Sherlock? What are you doing?"
"Me?" He looked as confused as she felt. "I'm not doing-No. No! Not my announcement." It had been ages since she'd seen him look that panicked. "It's way too early for that. Not that I'm not considering the idea, because it would be rather nice, eventually. But not this weekend! We've barely even . . . It's only been a few months since-"
Molly interrupted him, "You've been thinking about eventually?" She couldn't help but smile. Sometimes he was so adorably awkward, it made her want to ruffle his hair and kiss the stuffing out of him.
Sherlock frowned and pulled his leg away from hers. "Haven't you?"
"Perhaps." His frown grew even more pronounced, and Molly rolled her eyes. "Yes. Of course I have. But you are absolutely correct. Moving in together is a big step and not something to rush into."
The frown melted away, thankfully; but she wasn't sure she trusted the calculating look that took its place. She knew for certain she shouldn't trust it once he started speaking again. "That wasn't exactly what I was thinking about, but now that you've brought it up, I accept. Let's let Mycroft and Andrea have their moment before we say anything to the family, though. It would be the polite thing to do, don't you think?"
Utterly flabbergasted, Molly could barely sputter, "That's not-I didn't!"
"Didn't you? Hmm." Sherlock tilted his head to the side as if he were reviewing the last few minutes in his mind, but she was familiar enough with his tells to know he was faking it. "Oh well, cat's out of the bag now, I suppose. Which reminds me, I'm thinking we should begin by introducing that cat of yours to Mrs Hudson. Wouldn't do to give her a heart attack the first time he unexpectedly pops out of the shadows to wind about her ankles, would it?"
Molly crossed her arms and shook her head, although the twitching of her lips probably gave away that she wasn't as irritated as she was pretending to be. "I never agreed to move in here."
"You'd prefer to stay in your flat?" Sherlock wrinkled his nose. "But this one has so much more character, and Mrs Hudson barely makes a fuss when I destroy something. Think of your security deposit."
"That is not what I meant, and you know it," she huffed.
"Are you saying no?"
"No. I mean, no, I'm not saying no. That is, I'm not saying I won't . . . Ugh." Molly threw her hands up in defeat and slouched back against the sofa.
"Good. That's settled. Baker Street it is." Sherlock smirked and looked extremely pleased with himself. "Let's give it another month, no more than two--just to let Mummy and Father get used to the idea that their eldest is getting married--and then we'll move you in here. After that, we can start thinking about what I originally had in mind. How does that sound?"
"Workable." It was difficult to be annoyed with him when she considered how happy the thought of living together made her. Not to mention the future promise of what he'd originally been thinking off. The thought of an engagement--and someday marriage--made it impossible to keep up the illusion of irritation she'd been trying to maintain.
Sherlock opened his mouth to say something else, probably something smug that would make her want to smack him, when his phone chimed. He leaned across the coffee table and stretched out a long arm until the tips of his fingers managed to snag his mobile phone off the desk. "Text from Lestrade. He's got a case. I already know John's busy, which is a pity because this sounds promising. Could be an eight."
He looked up and gave her an eager, boyish grin. "Would you like to solve a crime today?"
Part 1