A Win for Molly

Author's note: I just couldn't stand watching Molly lose. So I thought this up, and she wins. Sort of. Enjoy!
"Why should I care about anybodies death other than my own? Everyone dies. That's what people do." Those are the words John heard first when he entered the flat. Sherlock was sprawled on the couch as usual, phone pressed to his ear, nearly shouting at whoever was on the other phone. "No. I'm not going to help you. I said that last time was the last, and I meant it. You're not dragging me into that life again. I just got out of it. Honestly, do you think I'm stupid, because that is really low for you." He hadn't even looked up to acknowledge John's presence. There was a pause before Sherlock's knuckles whitened on the phone as he gripped it harder. "You wouldn't dare." His voice was low and dangerous as he sat up fully, a look of fear momentarily crossed his face only to replaced by anger, "You have no proof that I did that. You also have more dirt for me to dig up on you. Why don't I just call Lestrade right now and tell him where you are?" A small smile crawled across Sherlock's lips, "Oh yes I would, don't you dare doubt me for a moment. Remember what that cost you last time? And I believe this ends our conversation." He hung up and after stuffing his phone in his jacket pocket turned to John, "Oh. Didn't see you come in." It wasn't a question of where he had been, or when he had come back, it wasn't a question at all. A simple statement. The only thing Sherlock said to John for quite a while. He put his palms together and sat back again, looking at the ceiling, a faraway look in his eyes.

"No, 'Hello John. How are you? Haven't seen you for a few days. Is everything alright?' Nope. That's fine because I don't have anything to share, and even if I told you, you wouldn't care." John was annoyed. If he knew anything about Sherlock he would wager that he didn't even notice him to be gone. Sherlock sat up immediately,

"You were gone?" John wasn't amused, or surprised. He wanted to punch Sherlock in the face. Sherlock's face went from surprised to realization, "That's why you didn't answer me when I shouted at you yesterday. Not that it matters now, but it all makes sense now." There was a silence for a moment and then Sherlock wordlessly pulled his phone out again, "Sherlock Holmes," there is a pause while someone talks on the other side of the line, "Molly, calm down. Calm down. Molly." He rolled his eyes at John before interrupting her, "I'll be right over." He hung up again and stood, turning to John, "You coming?" John shrugged as Sherlock tied the scarf around his neck,

"What's going on?"

"No idea. She wasn't very... communicative." John nodded before putting his coat back on,

"Bart's then?" Sherlock nodded before swinging his coat on and opening the door. He held it for John before closing it behind him. The cab ride was silent as John looked out the window and Sherlock was lost in thought. Sherlock pushed open the door leading to the hospital's autopsy room. Molly spun around,

"FINALLY! WHAT THE HELL TOOK YOU SO LONG?" Sherlock approached the table,

"We were busy." He examines the man on the table, decay had already started to destroy the mans face and shoulders. Molly gestures to the slowly decaying man,

"Explain." Sherlock looked at the body for a moment then looked at Molly.

"Molly, this is what we call decay. I believe you have worked here for a long time, and have seen dead and decaying bodies before." Molly was exasperated, her cheeks were flushed and she stamped one foot,

"Contrary to popular belief Sherlock, I'm not stupid." Sherlock smiled a little,

"Then why did you call me down here?"

"Sherlock-" He interrupted her,

"Molly-?"

"SHERLOCK! HE'S ONLY BEEN DEAD ONE DAY!" John backed up a little,

"He shouldn't look like that. I've seen all kinds of death and decay before, being a Medical Doctor and all, but I've never seen anything like this. One day? How is this possible?" Molly seemed to have calmed down a little bit and was more serious,

"I was hoping you could tell me. I've run all the tests I could think of. No toxins in his blood, nothing that could cause this rate of decay in a human body. So now Mr. Sherlock Holmes, you tell me." Sherlock ran his hands through his hair, before taking his coat and scarf off,

"Contrary to popular belief Molly, I don't know everything." She walked up to him and slapped him across the face. Sherlock was shocked. Molly had never slapped him before. He backed up slightly, bumping into a table. Molly put one finger up, pointing at him,

"You will tell me how this is possible because I will get fired if I don't explain this." Sherlock was flabbergasted, "The Lab is all fixed up for you. Get to work." She pushed him out the door toward the lab before going back. She pressed her back against the door before seeming to realize that John was still there. "You can join him if you want." She smiled radiantly, drunken with power. John smiled at her,

"You having fun then?" She grinned,

"Oh you don't even know!" His smile widened before he pushed past the door to follow Sherlock. He found him in the lab, busying himself with a couple of petri dishes with samples of the man's blood and fluids, looking cowed. He looked up as John entered,

"Has Molly always been that scary?" John laughed,

"No. Bad day I think."

"Must have been a Hell of a day." Sherlock shuddered slightly before putting the sample under the microscope and taking his usual seat. After a moment he took the sample out and looked at it with the naked eye. "Right. Pass me my phone."

"Thought of it have you?"

"No. My phone."

"Where? If it's in your jacket again, get it yourself." Sherlock sighed and tore his eyes away from the dish to dial Molly's number on his phone,

"No Molly. It's impossible. No, I'm being serious. No. Come see for yourself. This is impossible. Isn't it wonderful? Something new! I've been waiting for this for ages!" Molly pushed open the door as she hung up her phone. Nearly pushing Sherlock off his perch she mumbled under her breath,

"Let me see." She sat down and looked at it under the microscope, letting out a breath, "That really is impossible. There is nothing wrong with him, nothing wrong with his blood, no sign of anything."

"There you see?" Molly nodded before getting up,

"Shit. What am I going to tell my boss?"
No one moved for quite a while, all thinking, trying to grasp some, at least semi-believable, explanation for the increased rate of decay. None came and Sherlock swore under his breath.

"Molly, I need to get some more samples, there has got to be something. I'm missing something." Molly nodded in agreement,

"Be my guest. If you can figure this out..." she paused for something that would express her thanks well enough, she didn't find any and went this, "I don't know what I'd do for you." Sherlock smiled a little bit before leaving the lab to get more samples. Molly turned to John, "Do you have any ideas?" John looked a little surprised that Molly was asking him, he was sure that she didn't even know his name,

"A few, not many of them make sense." Molly smiled a little,

"I will use anything I can." John repositioned himself and smiled a little bit at her,

"Bugs."

"Bugs?"

"Yes. Bugs." Molly raised an eyebrow,

"You think bugs are responsible?"

"Yes. Yes I do." Molly looked at him for a moment, with a curious look on her face, then she smiled,

"That is actually brilliant. Do you have any idea what kind of bugs?" He looked at her for a moment,

"Should I?" Molly gave him a look, "The microscopic kind," there was a silence while Molly debated the probability of that absurd idea in her head, "Only on the skin though. Maybe he got some bugs on him and they are eating his skin." Another profound silence until Sherlock burst in looking pleased, petri dish held high over his head,

"BUGS!" John sat up straighter, looking surprised,

"Was I right?" Sherlock looked down at his friend,

"What?"

"Was I right? Bugs. Little ones. Eating him?"

"Oh." Sherlock didn't say anything for a minute, "I don't know. Molly could you move, I need to put this under the microscope to take a look." Placing the petri dish under the microscope, Sherlock sat on the stool again, placing his eyes over the eye piece. He sat like that for several minutes before making an exclamation of surprise and happiness, "That makes perfect sense! Why didn't I think of that before? Am I really that thick?" Molly looked at him a moment,

"Cellular degradation?"

"Yes. The lysosomes seem to have gone hyper active and are in fact eating all of the cell's organelles, not just the ones that have been worn out. Something told all his cells to break down, told the lysosomes to eat everything. Interesting." Molly looked confused,

"But that doesn't make any sense. What told them to go hyper and eat everything? The body decays naturally yes, but what could have done something like this?" John perked up,

"I still think it's bugs." Sherlock whirled on him,

"What makes you think it's bugs?" John shrugged,

"In Afghanistan, we heard rumors of a type of nanobot being made to hastily devour flesh. To what end I don't know, but this does remind me of something like that." Sherlock was quite for a moment,

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. What do you think Molly?" She thought for a moment before answering, not wanting to appear stupid. She answered slowly,

"It makes sense," Sherlock frowned, "But I'm not entirely sure that it's even possible." John looked down, embarrassed. "Sorry..." She struggled for a name, not finding one and feeling highly embarrassed she asked, "Sorry, what's your name again?" John looked up and offered a small smile,

"John. John Watson." Molly nodded and silently filed the information away before sticking her hand out,

"Molly. Molly Hooper. Work here at Bart's. But you already know that." She shook his hand before turning to Sherlock again, "Examine the skin for any traces of bite marks or little crawling flesh coloured bugs. Thanks. I'm going to get a coffee, you stay here." She turned to John before leaving, "You want to come?" Before John could answer Sherlock stepped in,

"You don't actually believe him do you?" Molly rounded on him,

"I'm not saying that I fully buy into the idea that it could be bugs, but I don't want to any bases uncovered, considering I'm probably going to get fired. Just look into it." She grabbed John by the arm and practically dragged him out. A few moments later they found themselves at a table with coffee. Molly put her head in her hands for a moment before John spoke,

"You fancy him don't you." Not a question, not a prying remark, a statement. A fact. Molly looked up fearfully,

"Is it really that noticeable?" John smiled a little before taking a sip of his coffee,

"Not to him it isn't." She let out a sigh of relief,

"Good." John leaned across the table,

"But doesn't it bother you that he doesn't seem to notice, or care about you?" Molly shook her head,

"It's like falling in love with movie stars, you have the satisfaction of loving them from afar. It's quite entertaining," She looked down before confessing, "But sometimes I wish he wouldn't just say something nice to me because he wants to see a body or something. Sometimes I think it would be nice for him to be nice, because he's being nice." She looked up at John for a moment, "Why do you put up with him?" John smiled,

"He's a very interesting person. I think he needs someone to make sure he doesn't kill himself, and that duty falls on me I guess." He shrugged, "He isn't so bad, not really. Once you get past the little things he does, the nit picky remarks he makes about you or when he takes your things without asking, or when he leaves bits and pieces of people in the fridge, the microwave, the stove. He's actually pretty decent." Molly's jaw dropped, "Shocker I know! He just needs someone sometimes." Molly smiled,

"No it's not that. I finally figured it out!" She stood, knocking her chair back,

"Figured what out?"

"How to get Sherlock to notice me!" John looked worried as Molly rooted through her purse, "It's not what you think, I promise. I'm not going to die of unnatural causes or anything like that." She pulled out a tenner and bought another coffee. Black, with two sugars, just how he likes it. "Come one John. We have work to do."

Sherlock looked up as she entered,

"Brought you coffee." She sat it down in front of him and showed him a dazzling smile. He looked at her a moment,

"What?"

"I. Brought. You. A. Coffee." Sherlock looked down at the coffee,

"I can see that."

"So there you go. You're welcome." Sherlock didn't say anything but narrowed his eyes,

"What are you playing at?" Molly furrowed her brow,

"Nothing." There was a moments pause and then, "Now get out of my morgue and take your lost puppy with you." She said before gesturing to a hurt looking John. Sherlock stood quickly and tied his scarf around his neck before getting his coat,

"Good bye Molly. See you around. Come one John." And he left without another word. Molly sat down on the stool and looked into the microscope, a sly smile on her face. Mission accomplished.