Oh my goodness, so I'm not the only one who thought when John came out towards Sherlock at the pool, that he was Moriarty after all. It was just this fleeting thought, but it was extremely confusing until John umstrapped the jacket to show the explosives.

Oh that nasty twist in Sherlock's stomach that he thinks is hunger, when he is thinking about Molly's "gay" boyfriend. I love the way you put that in to show the reader that Sherlock is having feelings for Molly and doesn't even know it. Very nice little pre-Sherlolly nod.

I like the little scene with Sherlock and Mycroft. I never really thought about when James Moriarty might have been in custody aside from when they are showing that stuff in the third episode of season two, after he gets into the Tower of London, but supposedly Mycroft has been aware of him for a long time and monitoring ing him, so who knows?

Of course, I still find it ridiculous that people could have thought Sherlock was a fraud when there was so much evidence to show that Moriarty was a real, dangerous villain. But perhaps that was not publicly explained at this time. Perhaps the first taste the public heard of Moriarty was when he was on trial later during the third episode of season two.

I also like Sherlock's internal change of Mycroft's mention of Ms. to Doctor Molly. He certainly does appreciate Molly's competence.

I love that you show Molly's inner strength, in the way she is able to move forward. She has her little time of sadness but gets over it very quickly. It shows such a strong woman on the inside. I just love her character so very much, and her resilience.

The other thing I love hearing is the way you show her immediate forgiveness towards Sherlock, despite her anger and thought that he should have told her Jim was a psychopath. This nature of hers is what makes it so easy for me to write her as a Christian, with the instant forgiveness she is able to give even while still angry.

I like the talk between John and Sherlock as well. It's great that John feels comfortable enough to call Sherlock out on his callousness.

And finally their conversation. The whole thing was absolutely believable. I'm glad that Molly was able to confront Sherlock in that way, with confidence and anger, and I'm glad that Sherlock admitted he was fooled as well, so that Molly knew he had not intentionally not told her that Jim was a psychopath. I like the way that Sherlock is actually concerned that Molly might not want to work with him anymore, and how you show that he likes working with her.

Sherlock's inner thoughts about her were spot on, and here the reader gets the chance to see that, for the first time, he is really seeing Molly properly as a person, rather than her always being able to see him. What a delightful way to show it!

I even enjoyed Sherlock wondering if Molly was looking for a new date. More hint of pre-Sherlolly that will come to the forefront during that Christmas same. Brilliantly done, my friend!

And oh my, the way you had him take her pulse and how her heartbeat accelerated was incredibly well written. There was something so intimate and even sensual about it, and it brings forth those shades of what he does with Irene in the next episode, so it is easily pictured in my mind.

So, in conclusion, even though this is not a Sherlolly story per se, you give the reader a taste of what is to come, and it is just beautiful to read. Thank you so much for this! I quite happily accept this into my head canon for them!

Good for Molly, for confronting Jim. His reaction was certainly very interesting!

Despite the way he says later in the episode that he was "playing" gay, my head canon says he doesn't need to play at it because it is the truth. I think in a way he was attracted to Sherlock, perhaps he saw him as his other half and polar opposite. He was most definitely using Molly to get close to Sherlock.

Well, again, I never really thought about how it would have affected Molly to discover that Jim was a psychopathic killer. You write her reaction so well, and her fear for her own safety is completely believable as a result. I can certainly understand her hesitation when it came to answering the door to Anthea, and to hear from Mycrof in that way when she didn't even know Sherlock had a brother must've been disconcerting. It was quite clever of Mycroft to rattle off all those details to her, but I can still see she would have been nervous about it all being some kind of sick ploy by Moriarty.

"Our differences lie in the fact that he believes he must do everything himself, and I believe in delegating tasks to competent employees." What a perfect way to describe the differences between the brothers, well done! Molly's silent observation of Mycroft's "minor" position is so appropriate.

"And his simplicity... is what attracts her to him." Another well written statement. There is definitely something to be said for people who ware brutally honest, rather than ones who always present a false façade. I definitely think the way Sherlock behaves in season one is why some people think he might have Asperger'rs Syndrome, because of that lack of tact/filter. Without the evidence of the subsequent seasons, I would have assumed that as well, although for me Sherrinford once and for all disproved that notion and gave the explanation for his behaviour in the past, and he had changed a lot anyway over the seasons.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the chapter and the way you added Mycroft to the mix and had Molly meet him.

Right, Time for me to get some notes on the story. I don't know why, I thought I had already reviewed the first chapter, but apparently not, so here I go.

It is really interesting to read something about that short relationship between Molly and "Jim". I love the way you show him as being sweet and how he is able to foolher because of it. Poor Molly is so lonely I feel. I like though that you keep the idea that despite herself, she still has feelings for Sherlock.

I never really thought about the fact that she was seeing Jim at the same time as all that other stuff was going on with the bombs. For some reason, I never thought the information about it was made public, besides the first "gas leak explosion".

Reading that scene in the lab from Molly's POV is interesting too. It is rather funny that she couldn't remember John's name, but then, I guess she had barely met him at that point.

Season one Sherlock is definitely not a pleasant character, but even so, you can see he is at least trying to warn Molly off.

This chapter reads marvelous in that you were able to make Molly a fierce woman who just dated a monster without losing her awkward Molly-nest around Sherlock. BRAVO!

If I just learned I dated a murderer, I would be freaking out! So I like that she did, but remembered the "stay angry".
Nice touch having Mycroff come in and tell her that.

It did really lend well to ASIB and the Christmas party scene.

Oooh, I have the friends song in my head sometimes when I think if Molly too... because she is stuck in second gear!

I think I incorporated that in one of my stories too.

I love this take btw, of the Molly-JimfromIT fallout.

I loved this. I like to see strong Molly, I was so proud of her when she stood up to Sherlock that Christmas.

Very nice story!

Great story, it was pretty cool to have the Molly perspective of things.

Wow. I think I just learned a very important life lesson after reading this. You are brilliant. This is easily the most amazing interpretation of the events in The Great Game particularly what happened to Molly after 'Jim from IT'. You've reminded me how much I love her character. Considering Molly's specialization and the people she works with (read: Sherlock), I don't think she's fragile at all. To me, she's more resilient than people give her credit for. I've really enjoyed reading this. I absolutely love your how you wrote Molly. Thank you for sharing your work!

How did I miss this one? I thought I'd read all your stuff! Anyway, I really enjoyed this, and goodness knows I needed some fluff after the shift I had tonight. I thought they were in character in the lab-I especially liked Sherlock taking her pulse (he so totally would employ a strategy that had worked for him before) and his re-evaluation of Molly, and I hadn't thought about that Christmas scene until you mentioned it, but now it's even more heartbreaking :( I also loved Molly's POV as she's familiar but you can also see the difference we miss in the show, never seeing her apart from Sherlock and how she must be smart and strong and not always a mouse.

Fantastic fic, I always love fics that fill in scenes that we never get to see in the original material but know must have happened. You did a great job keeping everyone in character too. I feel like a lot of people have a hard time getting Molly right, and I think you found the right balance of a Molly who's a bit of a wreck around Sherlock but ultimately a strong and interesting woman. Kudos.

I think you did such a good job keeping them in character. Well done!

Very well done: it walked the line of being in character, but revealed some deep sentiments and affections that I long to see. The lab moment was delicious and incredibly intimate for being in a public place. The internal musings sounded true to character. I love you analysis of Mycroft -I like him, but I completely agree that his politeness is infinitely more menacing than Sherlock's blustering. This 3 shot is going into my favorites. I'm off to peruse your other work.

Dear, that was lovely!

I thought you kept everyone in character. I especially loved John. You captured his speech pattern so well! I like the last scene where John observes them. I think they must work very well together and you captured that.