The epilogue.

Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me. Just the idea of the story.

"Molly!"

Molly Hooper looked up from her work to see a harried Sherlock Holmes rushing into her lab. The past few days had been so hectic because Sherlock had been coming in and out many times a day to use the equipment in her lab in order to solve the latest murder case.

"Yes, Sherlock?" Molly asked, aware that she probably would get the usual gruff answer in reply.

Sherlock launched into a detailed description of what he needed to borrow from her. Molly listened patiently, even though she knew exactly what he needed. Her eyes wandered over Sherlock's face for a moment and she looked into his eyes but looked away at exactly the moment she felt he was aware that she was trying to make eye contact.

Molly nodded as she bustled around, picking up whatever that Sherlock had requested for and set it out in an orderly manner. Then she retreated without a word to her workbench and continued with what she had been doing before she was interrupted by Sherlock.

Sherlock silently sat down to work on what he was investigating on. Silence engulfed the room and when Molly could bear it no longer, she quietly snuck out of her lab and made her way to the restroom. There, she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

The face that was looking back at her was one of utter sadness. Her eyes carried a melancholic look and her lips quivered. Her vision started blurring as she realized that tears were welling up in her eyes, making it difficult for her to see.

Do I still like Sherlock that much?

Four months had passed since the Christmas ball and she only saw Sherlock twice within that time. This was her third time meeting Sherlock and she couldn't believe that even after all the time that had passed, he could still stir up the feelings which she had so surely believed had disappeared. The feelings that had always been there, lying dormant, waiting for a moment to sneak up upon her and make her all weak again.

No, get over him. There are so many other fish in the sea.

"Fish in the sea, huh," Molly mumbled aloud, laughing bitterly.

Her job wasn't one that brought her into contact with many, well, living people. Let alone, men. It was the occasional detective, her boss, her colleague down the end of the corridor or DI Lestrade whom she saw. And, of course, not forgetting, Sherlock Holmes.

Molly took her lipstick out of her pocket and pursed her lips. She slowly ran it over her lips as she thought longingly of the days when she could just go about, crushing on Sherlock and not worrying about anything else. Slipping her lipstick case back into her pocket and dabbed her eyes gently with a paper towel, tossing it into the bin as she made her way out of the restroom.

She made her way back slowly to her lab, stopping to have a look up at the top floor. A dashing, young man was leaning against the railing looking down at her. He gave her a smile, showing off his pearly-whites. Molly stopped in her tracks. Was this guy smiling at me? And gosh, he's not too bad looking either!

Molly smiled back in return and waited expectantly.

"Hey, you must be Molly Hooper," the man said, sounding rather friendly.

"Wha… how did you know?"

"I'm Drake from IT," he said, grinning. "That should pretty much explain everything."

He winked at Molly as he replied, sending a little shiver up Molly's spine. Now, thought Molly, if only Sherlock could be a little flirtatious like that, how nice things would be!

Molly continued smiling. "Yes it does."

"Care for a cuppa?"

She grimaced. "Sorry, not at the moment. I've got to get back to my lab now. I need to help my friend with his investigation."

"Who is it?

Molly paused for a moment before answering. Drake's voice carried a tone of vague curiosity mixed with animosity, almost like as if he knew who was in her lab. Another thing that was preventing Molly from answering was the fact that Sherlock didn't like the people working in the mortuary to know he was there, even if he had authorization.

"A friend, really."

"Mind if I pop by your lab? I'd love to see what things are like in there," Drake said excitedly, flashing a bright smile.

He sounds relatively genuine, thought Molly. Oh, why not? There's no harm in letting someone visit her lab. After all, she was doing anything of importance in there at the moment. I mean, there's really no harm in letting someone I just met into my lab just for a look around, Molly found herself thinking again. Oh, don't be so suspicious of everyone!

"Actually, you know what? I'll have a cuppa after all."

Drake smiled. "All right then. I'll meet you in the cafeteria in a minute!"

"Sure thing," Molly said, grinning as she made her way to the café.

Even though her day didn't really start off well, it looked like things were getting better now that she had just managed to score herself a date. Perhaps, she would be able to move on from Sherlock after all.