Chapter Text
Sherlock and Molly took a cab from his flat down to the New Scotland Yard. The ride over was far more comfortable than their previous ride the night before, yet still Molly's excitement persisted as they drove, she leaned to look out the window at every stop. Drinking in the sights of London around her.
Meanwhile Sherlock took the opportunity to dwell on her and her mystery. She simply didn't make sense. If she had some sort of Amnesia it was a curious case. She seemed to know exactly who she was, just not how she got here (past falling up a hole in the ground). Nor how the basics of this modern world worked. She seemed to be sane one moment, and delusional the next.
Then there was the bees. She had bees charmed to braid her hair. That should have been an impossible feat. And talking to them! The idea was insane only... He's seen with his own eyes.
"Molly. What types of animals do you claim to speak too."
"I don't claim anything, Sherlock. I can. And we speak to all of them in Andalasia. I've never met an animal I couldn't talk too." She looked back at him. "But you don't believe me."
He looked closely at her. She wasn't lying to him, she believed it to truly. "I may be starting too." He allowed. "Let's see what we can find out at the Yard."
They arrived and Sherlock ushered her in the door and up the lift (which she thought was a magic portal, that lead to an interesting ride with the other occupants) and walked her to Detective Inspector Lestrades office.
Lestrade looked up at them, phone in hand and Sherlock watched the way the mans eyes traveled the full length of Molly and let his chin drop like a fool. "Anderson. I'm going to call you back." He clicked off his phone and rushed to stand. "Well hello! Who do we have here, Sherlock. "
Molly gave the silver haired man a soft smile, waiting for Sherlock to introduce her. She looked to him to find him glowering at the older man. "There'll be none of that, Gavin. Understand? This is Molly Hooper. She is lost and has no I idea how she got here or how to get home. I need your help to see if she fits any missing persons reports."
"Lost, you say. Can't have a pretty lady like you lost. Surely there must be someone looking for you." He tried to charm, heedless of Sherlocks warning. The man beside her nearly growled.
"I'm sure Prince Thomas is. We were supposed to be married, but on my way to the chapel I was pushed into the wishing fountain. The next thing I knew I was falling and falling and then the glimmers came and then I fell out of the hole up to the street." Molly explained with a gentle smile
"You fell..up a hole?" Leatrade clarified, his eyes shifting to Sherlock asking if he was believing any of this. The ass neither confirmed or denied just watched Molly to see what he could discern. Lestrade was beginning to think this was the mans strange way of playing a joke. "Just where did you find her?"
"Pounding on the palace tour advert up on a ledge. Dressed in a overly full ball gown bridal dress." He stayed the truth. Molly looked a bit shagrinned, and Lestrades eyes tighten in on her after shifting to observe the blush and sideways look his friend gave. He asked what happened next, and before Molly could answer “Nothing." Responded Sherlock quickly. But in the pause that followed Molly filled in what had happened next.
"I... Fell on him. It was an accident you see, the rain made the ledge slick... And my dress and it just sort of happened. If Morgan and Sherlock hadn't been there I don't know what would have happened to be." She explained. "He makes a very soft landing spot. That cloak he wears."
"Molly, don't make jokes. And it's a coat here. " He chastised. The girl... Woman giggled a little nodding and sounded out the word coat,as if learning it for the first time. “ Ah a coat! I see. Coat. It suits you very well, your coat.”
Lestrade stood absolutely agog looking between the two of them. "So, anyways, um Molly where is it that you call home?" The detective asked.
"The kingdom of Andalasia." Molly said. Her attention was being lost to the things in his office, he watched as her eyes took in every detail with near wonder.
"Is that in Eastern Europe? Is it Asia?" He asked at the unfamiliar name.
Molly's smiling wavered. "Those places don't sound familiar at all."
"Hmmm. Let's see what we can do." Greg pushed a button in his desk phone. "Sally, my office please."
They waited in silence till a knock on the door came and Sally Donovan popped he head in. "Yeah boss?" Lestrade motioned her in as he went to sit back down. The Detective Sargent came in and shut the door behind her, her eyes shifting leerily to the man and woman in the office with her slogging she never said a word to them.
"Sally, this is Molly. We have reason to believe she is involved in a missing persons case. That there is someone looking for her. I need you to go fingerprint and see if there's anything that comes up. Also chat with her and see what details she has to give."
Sally nodded and motioned coolly for Molly to follow her out. Before they left Molly looked up at Sherlock alittle shyly and he nodded that all was well. When the door closed, Lestrade burst out. "What the hell is going on Sherlock? Is this some sort of a joke?"
Sherlock sat down and crossed a leg over his knee, fingers coming to steeple beneath his chin. "No joke. And I’m not sure what's all happening. I have a few theories though."
Lestrade sighed. "Alright then. Let's see what Sally finds out."
"Through here." Sally motioned, leading Molly to a small sparse room with a table and two chairs. After leaving the men they had taken pictures of Molly and finger printed her to see what they might find. The flash had scared Molly a little but decided she was alright after the spots went away. The finger printing, well that had only tickled. Now though she followed Sally in and the each sat on a side. "Thirsty? Or Hungry? The detective asked.
"Yes, a little." Sally nodded and stepped back out returning with two bottles of water a small wrapped donut and a note pad. Watching her Molly, studied the woman before her. She had beautiful golden brown skin and a sprinkle of freckles. "I just have to tell you, you are so lovely."
Sally simply looked at her as she sat, not replying to her compliment at Clicking record, Sally began her interrogation. "So Molly, what can you tell me about what happened."
"Oh well I was on the way to my wedding to Prince Thomas when this old woman bade me to come make a wish in the fountain in the garden..."
Molly finished her story and Sally looked at her, arms crossed over her chest. "That's a pretty fantastic tale, Molly. It's something almost right out a Story book or a movie."
Molly felt her hope falter a bit. She nodded and looked at her hands clasped tight in her lap. "I understand about it sounding like a story in a
book, but a movie- well that’s not important, what is is can you help me get home ? I want to go home so badly.” Her voice was small then. “Everything here is wonderful, exciting, but it’s so strange.”
"We'll get to the bottom of this one way or another. And you have the best people working on it." She smiled. "You have me."
"And I have Sherlock and Morgan... Although I don't know how much help they can give me. It seems that no one familiar with Andalasia. It's like it doesn't even exist here." Molly had a moment of panic. "What if I can't get back home. What if I never see Thomas again... We never even got to have our true loves kiss!" She panicked. "Then what do I do if I can't be with my true love."
Sally made a face at her. "Molly, lots of folks never find true love. Love isn't the only thing in life. You don't need another person to make your life have value." She stopped and placed a hand on Molly's own, calming her voice. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. And if I know Sherlock Holmes half as well as I think I do, than he's not going to either. If that man is good for anything it's protecting his friends."
"But I'm not his friend. I'm the woman who fell on him off a ledge and then cleaned his flat."
Sally whistled low, "You dared to clean his flat and lived to tell the tale?" Squeezing her hand again, she went on. "Than You are a brave woman Molly, you’re going to be just fine."
"I don't feel very brave though, Sargent Donavan."
"Well you are. Put me in that land you call home and id be running to the hill in terror. And please, call me Sally."
"Oh I doubt that! With your obvious courage and wits... well I'd be willing to bet that you make a fine troll catcher. Add that to your glorious hair and skin, why I be that there would be scads of poetry written about you!"
Sally broke into a grin, a huge happy blushing grin. "I’m sure you’re just saying that, but thank you, I needed to hear that."
"You've been sad lately." Somehow now Molly has comforting Sally's hand.
"I... You're right, I have. " Shaking her head she laughed. "You are just like him, you know, Sherlock? You have a way of reading people. But you are all kindness where he is all mean and spite."
"Oh I’m no sure about that Sally, there’s something good in him that I see in al he does. But that’s not what’s important, Sally, tell me what happened. Did someone break your heart?" Molly ignored the way Sally's words made her stomach flutter. Best to dwell on that later.
"Same old story, “it's not you, it's me”. I just can't seem to find the right fit. That type of thing, I just... I was really hoping that Eddy be- well maybe not 'the one'. But a good one. It felt so right, right up until it was obvious that it was so wrong."
"So, you thought he was your true love?" Molly gently said, eyes looking a bit lost, like she was thinking things over.
"He was someone I could have seen growing old with, you know? Cooking dinner, drinking coffee and watching sunsets on the river. Or going to the movie with every weekend. Dinners with the same people for years on end. Steady. Reliable.
"He's a great guy, and we were good together. But one night out of the blue he told me he'd met someone else. Met her at a work thing, she's from the Berlin office. They spent two days at the conference and he says he just 'knew' she was the one. The worst part is I'm not even mad. I'm thrilled for him! Im just sort of ... disappointed."
Molly looked at Sally and smiled tenderly. "That sounds like a really good love to me. The fact that you can say that just shows how right you are. It... can be easy to confuse a good love with a great one. One day the great will come. Don't doubt it for a moment, Sally." Molly affirmed before leaping up to hug Sally tightly. Sally found herself hugging back. Feeling, strangely hopeful for the first time in a while.
"Sally?" Greg Lestrade poked his head in. "If you are all done here we've got a lead for you two to see."
The two followed Greg back to his office where Sherlock and another officer were looking at some CCTV footage playing on a loop. "Oh that's where I came up from. Molly noted when she saw the familiar flashing signs on the strange thing. Looking closer she saw a figure emerge from the ground just as she had. A figure with large sleeves and a full skirt. It looked... "Is that... me?" Molly questioned looking up to see Sherlock watching the video closely. He wasn't answering her but beside him Sally nodded to her.
The pictures shifted and showed Molly nearly getting run over and then walking along the sidewalk, clearly looking disoriented. The pictures kept shifting, retracing her steps for her. Looking lost into windows, unsure which way to take at corners. Even her hugging the tree and meeting the man who'd laughed at her much to her chagrin.
"What's he saying to you?" The lead detective asked.
"He was telling me that I was crazy for believing a prince would ever marry me." She narrowed her eyes, knowing what was coming next. Aye enough the video showed the man yanking out her tiara before running away.
"You never told me someone stole from you Molly." Sherlocks voice rumbled low and... Dangerous was the best way to describe it.
"It... Didn't matter." She tried to deny.
"Of course it does. We need to look at that tiara." He turned to walk out of the door, leaving the other four standing and watching the next moves. A moment latter he returned. "Molly! Are you coming?"
"You... Want me to come with you?" Molly asked amazed. She thought for sure he'd leave her here to be someone else's problem after this morning.
"Do you have some objection to coming along? Any reason exactly that you can't keep up?"
"No." Molly answered.
"Well then, as long as I keep you away from ledges we'll be all right. Now come on." He reached out and grabbed her hand and pulled a little. " I need to go to my homeless network and see where that tiara is now."
With a look back at a stunned Greg and Sally Molly waved and let him lead. Doing her best to ignore the tingles his hand sent up her arm.