Chapter Text
Chapter 1:
The Men are Babysitting
"Bye, sweetie!" Mary bused a kiss upon little Kella Mae's forehead as her husband held the big eyed girl. "DO NOT take her to a crime scene, Sherlock Holmes."
Sherlock squirmed behind John's shoulder, refusing to meet the evil eye that Mary leveled at him. Primly he replied, "I do not know what you refer to, Mrs. Watson."
"Right. Sure you don't." The former assassin hitched up her purse on her shoulder and grabbed her keys. "It'll be a late night. Make sure she is in bed by eight, and do not leave her."
John sighed. "Yes, dear. You do know that I am her father right? I won't be leaving my little warrior." He nestled his chin into her little neck and proceeded to blow raspberries to the delighted giggles of the baby.
The detective gently started to shove Mary out of the door. "Go, go. Have fun with the girls. Make sure Molly does not drink too much wine. She cannot hold it very well. Kella Mae is in good hands. I am going to be teaching her sign language, so she can start telling me her observations. Children are always watching, you know." Sherlock shut the door on Mary's fish face of disbelief.
Smacking his hands together gently, he turned to his friend and grinned. "Now, hand over the munchkin!"
With a laugh, John shook his head, "Not going to happen!" After securing his bundle, he did a soft jog away from Sherlock, much to the enjoyment of his little girl.
Kella Mae basked in the joy of having the men fight over her, as any sane woman would. When her tall uncle finally wiggled her out of her daddy's hands, she clasped his sharp cheekbones in her little hands and smacked a very wet kiss to his lips.
Then to the shock of her papa and the arrogant smugness of her uncle, she said, "Boo….Bl….Blooo….d…bloood!" And grinned.
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"Alright, Toby my little furry love, I'll be gone for a bit. You be good and stop shredding my draperies!" Molly juggled a large pan of brownies and a bottle of wine as she opened the door. Toby pointedly turned his back on his mistress with an impressive tail swipe, peeved to be losing his slave for a few hours.
Grinning, Molly finally managed to shut and lock the door to her little flat. A honking horn heralded the arrival of Mary down on the street. With a flurry of a black skirt and a long pea-coat, Molly raced down the flat's stairs. Scooting into the car, she smiled at Mary. "Hey, girl. Brownies and wine. Ready for some down time with the girls?"
"You have no idea! Kella Mae is teething again. Thanks to living with Sherlock and being in the war, John sleeps through everything, but an explosion." The blond ex-assassin sighed. Molly looked at her face and noticed the dark bags barely hidden under her makeup in the dim light of the street.
As Mary pulled back into the street, heading towards Baker Street, Molly turned more fully towards her. "Mary, take me up on babysitting. I'm used to being up at night. Seriously. I would love to be with the little princess. You and John need to take a break. Sleep. Go out. 'Reconnect' if you know what I mean." She wiggled her eyebrows at her friend as she grinned.
Laughing, Mary nodded. "I might take you up on that next week."
"You better." The strains of The Addams Family theme song filled the space between the tired mother and off duty pathologist. With her own sigh, Molly threw an apologetic look at her friend. Digging in her purse she brought her phone, "Hooper. Jack? I'm off. Lestrade brought in a case? You can handle it. Jack, you are good. Sherlock won't bother you. What? Ok. Pertinent facts? Female. 22. Black hair. Slight build. Wounds? Temple shot. Signs of severe sexual trauma. Two parallel cuts from underside of breast to pubic bone. What's that on the neck? Forward it to me. It sounds familiar. Were there slashes on the bottom of her feet? Crap. Set up the camera. I'll be to a place to connect in five."
Disconnecting the call, her hand dropped to her lap. Muttering to herself, she pulled up the text that soon buzzed. "Bloody Hell! Mary step on it. I got to get to Sherlock's computer."
"All right. Hold on." The government trained assassin settled more squarely into the driver's seat, and smoothly accelerated, speeding through the darkening streets of London. She didn't ask any questions, but just worked to get Molly where she needed to be.
The fifteen minute drive shortened to the promised five minutes, brought Molly throwing the door open before it even came to a stop. The wine and brownies were left on the seat as Molly ran up the flat's stairs, past a startled Mrs. Hudson. "Molly, dear?!"
Anthea stepped out of Mrs. Hudson's cozy apartment as Mary came up to the door holding the wine and brownies. "What happened? This doesn't look like a girl's night."
"Body came in. Something showed up on the girl that got Molly concerned. I think she's seen something like it before." Mary handed the treats over to Mrs. H. "Come on. We need to check in with her."
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