Disclaimer: I own nothing! I claim nothing! I'm just borrowing the characters for my own pleasure and the pleasure of whoever reads this!

Chapter One

The Proposition

Molly never thought she'd find herself fired, especially not for something she hadn't even done. She never thought she'd be blamed for a crime she hadn't even committed by someone she considered her friend either. And yet, here she was, sitting in a small coffee shop, skimming through job opportunities because that was exactly what happened. One stupid lie had cost her the job she had had for years at Whitechurch Hospital in Cardiff.

The data had been off on several reports she had apparently been supervising. It wasn't her fault that her co-worker couldn't fill out reports correctly. It wasn't her fault that he had lied about her involvement with the documents. And yet, she was the one without a job, while her co-worker had taken her open position before her desk was cleared. She knew what it was: he had done it on purpose to get her position. It didn't help that they had been seeing each other against work policy for over a year. It had ended badly, more incentive to fuel the fire she supposed.

People were just so cruel sometimes. She had thought it had been love. She wasn't even sure what love was anymore. Certainly not that kind of relationship.

She was shaken from her thoughts when a young woman, texting on a smartphone, sat down in the seat across from her.

"You're Molly Hooper." It wasn't a question.

"How do you know my name?" Molly asked warily, looking around.

"My employer is interested in the possibility of you working for him for an undisclosed amount of time. Come with me." She didn't bother answering Molly's question, and as soon as she had finished talking, she was up again, heading for the door.

Molly was flabbergasted. Someone wanted to hire her with her new record? Though the circumstances certainly were strange. Who stalked their potential employees? Only one way to answer that. . .

Hoping she wasn't being led to her own funeral, she stood and followed the strange woman out, and then to a waiting car. Again, she looked around warily before entering it after the woman.

"What's your name?" Molly asked as the car started off. The windows were shaded, so she couldn't see much of anything through them. The whole situation was giving her the creeps.

"Hmmm. . . Anthea."

Molly got the feeling that that wasn't her real name, but she didn't press. She squirmed in her seat, wondering if it wasn't too late to bolt. The car's steady moving motion seemed to indicate as much.

She wasn't sure how long they drove, perhaps an hour, perhaps longer, but eventually they came to a stop, and her door was opened within seconds. A hand was offered to help her out of the vehicle, but she shook it off, stepping out and around the man before lingering awkwardly off to the side as the woman stepped out as well.

"This is Miss Hooper."

"Doctor. . ." she muttered, though Anthea showed no signs of having heard her. She led the way to a big, ostentatious office.

Molly glanced around the room curiously, not noticing as Anthea slipped back out of the door until it clicked behind her. She was left alone then, and suddenly nervous again, Molly took a seat to wait for. . . whatever might be about to happen.

Again, she found herself wondering if it was too late to run away.

Too late.

The door opened behind her, and she turned her head as another stranger entered, brown hair, tall, carrying an umbrella. He didn't bother looking at her until he was comfortably seated on the other side of the desk, but Molly kept her eyes trained on him anyway.

"Miss Hooper - "

"Doctor. . ." she corrected, immediately looking down as the man's gaze shifted into an even colder one. "Sorry."

"Doctor Hooper, I am Mycroft Holmes. I'm sure you're wondering why I've brought you here."

She nodded as he paused for her response, and gripped the edge of the seat cushion, her nails digging into the fabric. Finally, the reason she was brought here in the first place.

"As I'm sure my assistant has informed you, I have a job proposition for you." Mycroft began, folding his hands together on the desk. Very businesslike. He practically screamed 'I have too much power and authority.'

Molly didn't like it at all. Still, she'd hear him out. "What job? Why would you even consider me after. . ." she trailed off, looking down at her lap. After I was fired for supposedly damaging critical reports.

"Doctor Hooper, you and I both know that the errors were not your own."

Molly immediately looked up at him, the surprise clear on her face. "You. . . What's the job?" She asked again.

"The job, though not like your previous one, will require you to deal with a highly. . . eccentric individual. Quite simply, you're to assist my brother in an unorthodox manner for an undisclosed amount of time."

Confusion lit up in her eyes. It sounded like a glorified babysitting job. "Who's your brother?"

"Sherlock Holmes, of course."

Any response she might have had was lost to her when she heard that name. Sherlock Holmes? "Surely you can't be serious. How am I supposed to help him?" She asked, her voice high. She had begun following his blog long before now, ever since he was found to be alive. His story was fascinating.

Mycroft gave her a moment to process the little information he had given her before continuing on. "As I said, he needs an assistant. However, due to his unusual tendencies, I have devised a method by which he won't refuse, simply because he'll be curious."

"Wait, what are you talking about? Earlier you said you didn't know how long I'd be working. . . You've made it sound as though I'll be watching him for you. Isn't there someone more suited to that than me?"

"You'll be doing more than just watching him, Doctor Hooper. I've looked into your files and resume, and I find you are uniquely suited to my brother's needs. Your medical background will no doubt be useful for what is intended -"

"What is intended? You still haven't told me anything."

"I intend to present you as a computer program, an artificial intelligence system that Sherlock will no doubt find an anomaly."

A computer program. . . he was offering her a job as a computer program. The very idea was mental! It would never work, surely Sherlock Holmes, the brilliant consulting detective she had read about, wouldn't possibly fall for something like this. "How could that possibly work?"

Mycroft seemed to finally become a bit annoyed with her questions, if the slight tick in his jaw was anything to go by. "Leave the details to me Doctor Hooper. You're job is simply to assist."

"Why should I even take this job?" Though her cheeks were red from her own rudeness, she had to ask. It was just much too strange.

"I hold a minor position in the government." He began, "I can erase the misdemeanor on your record, even find you a better form of employment once the end of the arrangement has been reached."

This made Molly pause. A fresh start, a blank record. She could return to work with that, not have to worry about not finding a job because of something that wasn't her fault. All she had to do was help a stranger, someone she had looked up to for a long time. There was only one choice.

"All right, I'll do it."

"Very good Doctor Hooper, I knew you'd see reason. Your training begins tomorrow, my assistant will take you home."

"Training?" She asked, though her question was ignored. In an instant, the woman from earlier, Anthea, was by her seat, waiting for her to get up. Somewhat shell-shocked by the efficiency, Molly stood, and allowed herself to be led out to the waiting car.

What have I gotten myself into?

Well, there's Chapter one of Him, Molly's POV on Her and all the events transpiring, along with a few new scenes that Sherlock didn't deem important enough to share hehe :3

Until Next Time!