It was six months since he'd returned from the dead and Sherlock Holmes finally felt like his life was back to how it should be. John and Mary joined him on cases whenever their work at the clinic and their home life would allow. When the Watsons weren't available, Molly could always be counted on to assist him.

Just as she was doing now – they were in the path lab at Bart's, both of them examining samples taken from a crime scene. Molly's engagement to the utterly dull Tom had ended the month before, leaving her much more time for Sherlock.

He was thinking of asking what take-away she wanted for dinner when his mobile chirped.

A word of warning – Greg is thinking of asking Molly out. John

Sherlock frowned at his phone.

Who's Greg? SH

*eyeroll* You know perfectly well it's Lestrade. He's fancied her for a while now. John

The idea of the DI dating Molly caused a surge of something in his chest. Protectiveness? No, possessiveness. She's MY Molly, not his. Wait… "Oh no…" he muttered, unable to hide his shock.

Molly looked up from her microscope, concerned. "What is it? What happened? Who died?"

"I think I just felt an emotion."

She stared at him. "You have GOT to be kidding me."

He stared back at her. "Molly, this is serious. I don't do emotions. I avoid them at all cost."

"Tell me about it," she muttered, turning back to her microscope. "Sherlock, you're just going to have to deal with your emotion, whatever it is, like an adult."

Her words galvanized him. "You're quite right, Molly," he said as he stood then walked over to her. When she looked up at him, he gave her a sincere smile. "Have dinner with me tonight?"

Her jaw dropped. "Dinner?"

"Yes. You, me, Angelo's?"

"That sounds lovely, truly, but … um … Greg already asked me."

He grinned. "Tell him you have a better offer, which is of course the truth."

"Sherlock…"

"I finally realized how important you are to me, Molly. Not just my work, me. You kept me sane when my world went mad. You're a light in my darkness. A light I never want to lose."

"Never?" she half-whispered.

He grinned. "Never."

She beamed at him. "Just let me tell Greg." She grabbed her phone and sent a quick text.

I'm going to have to cancel our date, Greg. Sorry, something came up. Molly

Across town, another mobile chirped a few minutes later.

John, mission accomplished. Greg