Epilogue

Sherlock slowly regained consciousness, dimly aware of soft hands gently wiping his face with a cloth.

His eyes snapped open and he sat up, scaring the living daylights out of Molly Hooper.

"You startled me," she said, flustered as she absently pressed her free hand to her heart.

"It was you," he said flatly, grabbing her wrist.

"What?"

"You were there," he continued absently, looking passed her and searching his Mind Palace for the elusive memories.

His eyes settled on her face again, "You were there when I…you looked after me."

Molly bit her lip and looked away, "Yes I did," she gave a short laugh as she turned back, "I thought you must have forgotten. Or deleted it."

His brow creased in confusion as he searched her face, "Why?"

Molly shrugged a shoulder, "You needed me."

Once again Sherlock found himself rendered speechless by Molly Hooper, the woman who thought she didn't count despite all the evidence to the contrary.

He tightened his hold on her wrist when she tried to untangle herself from his grasp, "Don't," he ordered, "please."

Molly froze, her eyes on his face as he tried to make sense of this new revelation. Brushing the thought aside that if it had been anyone else he would have been annoyed by their scrutiny, Sherlock delved into his Mind Palace.

He hadn't been lying when he said he needed her, he just hadn't realised how true that statement was. He looked back over their relationship, including those moments he thought he had deleted, and realised that he'd always needed her and she had always been there.

He looked back down at her; he'd always thought sentiment was a weakness, but somehow Molly Hooper had turned it into a strength.

She laid a tentative hand on his arm, breaking him from his thoughts, "It's all right, Sherlock," she assured him quietly.

"Molly-"

"No, really, it's all right," she insisted with a small smile.

Sherlock searched her face, realising that she had seen – deduced – everything he couldn't find the words to say.

"Thank you," he said simply after a moment, releasing her.

She smiled up at him, "You're welcome."

Sherlock watched in silence as she continued to clean him up and promised himself that he would never let her feel unappreciated again.

Molly Hooper deserved better than that.

...

A/N: This is set during/after TRF, in case you didn't get that :)