This is my first Sherlock/Molly fanfic. I hope you enjoy :)

Chapter 1 – The Dark Room

'Is that a plane?' was the first thought that popped into Molly's head as she slowly woke up. She hadn't opened her eyes yet and was just listening to the sounds around her. She realised with a start that she wasn't hearing the normal early morning noises in her flat. As she woke up more, she tried to open her eyes but found that there was something preventing her from doing so. Her heart started to race as panic set in. A dull throbbing in the back of her head told her the reason that she had been unconscious and not asleep as she had thought. Molly tried to move and felt rope around her wrists and ankles, tying her to a chair. Taking a few deep breaths, 'it will do you no good to panic now,' she relaxed slightly and tried to determine where she was. There was a slight echo in the room but it didn't seem too large, she listened harder but only heard the traffic from outside, which gave nothing away. Sniffing the air also gave her no clues, just the smell of mildew and rot. Other than those two facts, she had nothing. She couldn't even get her shoes off to see whether she was on carpet or cement. As she was considering how she had gotten here, she heard faint voices coming from behind her. Panic started to bubble again when she heard the door behind her open and the voices stopped. Footsteps got closer and Molly could feel a warm breath in her ear. "Hello darling, did you miss me?"

Sherlock waltzed into the lab like he normally did, making a grand entrance only to find that there was no one to see his spectacular entrance. Slightly disappointed but mostly unfazed, he moved to where the microscopes were and commenced looking at some tissue samples he had gathered at a crime scene. It only took him minutes to find out how the victim had died and as he was firing off a text to Lestrade he heard the lab doors open and shut as someone entered. "Ah Molly, finally. I need your help with… You're not Molly." When Sherlock had raised his head, he had realised that another lab assistant had walked in and not Molly. The lab assistant looked confused, "no I'm not. Molly hasn't come in today. I thought that you knew that?" Sherlock looked at the assistant, deducing him, 'just finished university. For the second time. Lives alone with two goldfish. Hasn't spoken to his parents in 2 years... conclusion: not important.' Sherlock returned to his phone as he finished the message and got up to leave. As he reached the door, the other man grabbed his arm, "sweet girl, that Molly. I wonder where she has gone?" Sherlock stopped immediately and looked at him, the assistant giving him a wink and moved over to the chemical storage. Watching the other man for a few more seconds, Sherlock fled the lab and out to the street to hail a cab. He gave Molly's address to the cabby and they headed towards her flat. On the way Sherlock tried three times to get in contact with her but failed. He started to worry.

Sherlock and Molly had become quite close during the years while he was 'dead'. She had helped him during and immediately after the fall, housing him in her flat as he recovered from the few injuries he had suffered jumping off of Bart's. Over the two years he was hunting down Moriarty's Network, he had occasionally taken refuge in her flat. She had taken all the bad thoughts of what he was doing and soothed him as he mourned the loss of his friends. During those times, he had craved human contact like he had never needed to before and Molly was always there to give it. It was always at night he was worst, having nightmares about the work he was doing, and that's where Molly came to him, soothing him back to sleep, knowing exactly what he needed in his moments of weakness. It wasn't until one night after months of no contact, that he had acted on the urges he never knew he had. Afterwards Sherlock had fallen into a dreamless sleep, feeling at peace for a few hours. The next morning Sherlock had to leave but not without a passionate kiss from Molly as he left and after that he knew that what he was doing was truly worth it.

Sherlock threw some money at the driver as he dove out of the cab and up the stairs to Molly's door. He used his spare key to get in, knowing if Molly was home, she wouldn't mind. When he stepped inside, he felt that the flat was empty and very quiet. Slowly moving through to the living room and into the kitchen, he saw that nothing seemed out of place. There was no sign of a struggle nor was there sign that Molly had just decided to go on a holiday. A bad feeling settled in Sherlock's stomach as he moved down the hall into her bedroom. Once again nothing was amiss until he turned to look at the bed. Written in large red letters above her bed were the words 'DID YOU MISS ME?'