#the paradigm shift of realizing that the monsters from stories he was told are a real dying people is. a big influence on him

[weirwoodsugar]

a storm of swords

[afteriwake]

The Paradigm Shift (4 & 5/14)

So I think I’m going to do the next two chapters at the same time, too, because I’m almost 99% sure chapter 7 is explicit and would be the one under the cut anyway. Then you all get to suffer and get one chapter a day for the rest of the story (sorry, @strangelock221b!)

The Paradigm Shift - After Moriarty almost kills Molly during a sexual encounter, he sends Moran to take care of things. But Moran has other ideas and Molly finds her life upended and changed forever.

Read Chapter 1 | Read Chapter 4 | Read Chapter 5 | Help Me Survive? | Commission Me?

Chapter 4

She woke up to an empty bed and the few things she had brought with her from London having been put away. Toby was squarely in the center of the bed, sleeping in a patch of sunlight that had come in from the window. She panicked for just a moment about her surroundings but then it registered that she was safe and she relaxed. Seb would keep all of them safe, she knew that.

She realized the robe had slipped partially while she’d slept and that a quilt had been draped over her since she hadn’t gone under the covers when she’d fallen asleep. It was a T-shirt quilt, and she imagined it was something that was important to him to be at this place. It looked as though it was made up of various shirts and jerseys from schools she had never heard of. A Father’s Day present, perhaps? She’d have to ask.

She got dressed at a leisurely pace, enjoying the lack of tension in her body. She was definitely going to take advantage of the sauna as much as possible. She felt truly relaxed and even though she knew there were the bruises around her neck from the shag gone wrong, they didn’t hurt. She was still going to have to look at them, though, and that influenced her choice of clothing for the day. She had taken a few scarves to wrap around her neck when they were escaping London, and she picked a soft chiffon one that was bright yellow and matched the vest she chose to wear with a pair of yoga pants. She had gotten clothing more for comfort than anything else in her rush to leave.

She had the feeling if there was anything in her flat left in good condition she probably would never see it again. Jim was the type to be petty about losing his toys.

And then she felt hit with a wave of emotion she hadn’t been expecting and tears slipped down her cheeks. She sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her knees up to her chest, and started sobbing into them. Her life was never going to be the same, ever, and this...this was what she had now.

She heard the door open softly but her crying continued, and after a moment she felt two strong arms wrap around her and Seb’s solid chest against her legs. She lowered her legs and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his chest.

“Get it out,” he murmured, as though he’d been expecting this. And he wasn’t the only one comforting her; Toby came over to them and rubbed against her back in creature comforting style.

“I can’t go home,” she finally said between sobs.

“No, and I’m sorry for that,” he replied. “But this can be a home of sorts.”

“But it’s not my home,” she said as fresh tears sprung out of her eyes.

“I know,” he said. “Jim will pay, one way or another.”

“No!” She jerked her head up and looked at him. “Don’t do anything that could get you hurt, or worse. I just...I’m not worth it.”

“You very much are,” he said simply, kissing the top of her head gently. “Jim’s a monster, he needs to be put down. Once I know you’re safe, I’ll clean up the mess I helped make, but for now, I’ll give information to Holmes and his brother. You’re the priority. We all want you safe. Alright?”

She nodded and then the tears lessened but he held her close again. This was good and comforting and she hadn’t realized how sorely she needed this comfort until she had it. They were there in silence until she pulled away again. “I’m sorry.”

“No apologies. I was just waiting for the dam to burst.” He moved from in front of her and leaned against the bed next to her. “Groceries arrived while you were asleep. I figure I got most of your favourites. You can tell me what else to get. But I’ll handle the cooking right now. Curl up with Toby for a bit.”

“Alright,” she said, reaching behind her to pet Toby. Her cat moved around her and settled on her lap, and she picked him up and held him close when she went to lay back down on the bed. Seb drifted from the room as quietly as he had come in, leaving her alone with her cats and her thoughts.

Chapter 5

Molly finally got her first look at the kitchen a day later, when she woke up to see the bed was empty again. Seb had taken care of all the cooking the day before, or it had been her choices in takeaway that he’d brought upstairs. She’d hoped to pay him back for his hospitality and kindness with breakfast in bed but alas, that was not to be.

The fluffy white robe was now hers, she had found, seeing it was draped over the chair in front of the desk where her laptop and a few other things had gone. She wasn’t using the laptop just yet in case Jim had done something to it, but Seb had told her to bring it so even if he had she assumed it was fixable. She’d barely looked at anything more than the foyer once they’d arrived because she was so tired, but she had the feeling Seb wouldn’t mind if she explored just a bit. She made her way back downstairs for what felt like the first time in ages and saw there were wide windows. She knew the house was set back from the street but it had been dark when they’d arrived and she hadn’t realized how much light was being let in. Not that the windows were easy to get to; the foyer was taller than both floors of her home and the windows were up high, almost like skylights.

She finished getting to the bottom of the stairs and saw, like the upper floor, it was mostly one large floor plan that was rather open, aside from what looked like a downstairs loo. There were shelves lining almost every wall and books on the shelves. She went and fingered a few of the spines, seeing that there was a large assortment of types of books, things she would never have expected Seb to read.

To be honest, she didn’t think he was much of a bibliophile at all, come to think of it.

The books lined every inch of the open floor plan, which seemed to be divided by furniture more than anything else, usually meaning smaller waist-high bookshelves. She drifted through the one area where there was a large flat screen telly mounted on the wall and comfortable sofas, then to a dining area, and finally a kitchen, where Seb was standing in front of the stove,

“You have a lot of books,” she said, awe in her voice.

She could see the corner of his mouth go up in a grin. “This is my home base safehouse. It’s the closest to home I’ve ever had, really, aside from the farm.” He turned his head and nodded to a stool by the counter. Molly went and sat on it. “I had no idea how to raise my sister and her siblings at first. I just knew there was no way in hell I’d let them turn out like me.”

“They didn’t, from what you’ve told me,” she said.

“No, thank God,” he replied. “They were in San Diego and I asked if they wanted to stay in San Diego or move somewhere else. Or Caitlyn and Charlie at least. They wanted to stay in North County, but the only place I had down there was the farm. So we moved there. I had it fixed up and made ready for a teenager, a kid, and a toddler and that was where they stayed when I worked. Babysat well, of course.”

“Of course,” Molly said with a nod.

“eventually I got enough saved up to get the farm up and running with the help of a good manager. They loved the kids so they stayed at the farmhouse with us. Miguel and Marina retired when Caitlyn took over, but they taught her and her husband the ropes. That was about six years ago. Caitlyn redesigned the farmhouse and designed the place Miguel and Marina moved to as a thank you for everything they’d done.”

“And I’m assuming you paid for the construction?” Molly asked with a smile.

“Actually, Charlie did. The kids adored them. I think Caitlyn still babysits their grandkids from time to time since they stayed in Fallbrook.”

“Your family sounds so close,” she said.

“Unlike yours,” he said.

“Well, my mum and dad are dead and my brother was estranged long before my mum passed,” Molly said. “I doubt he’ll realize anything’s happened to me.”

“The others will, though,” he pointed out. “Holmes and his brother know the truth and I’m sure a suitable story will be told to everyone else.”

“I suppose,” she said, her good mood dimming.

“When he’s gone, you can go back to that life, or at least some of it,” Seb said. “That was the deal I worked out with the Holmes brothers, that this was all temporary for you. I don’t know what your home will be like or whether you can go back to Barts, but I think Mycroft will pull strings.”

“Why would he? I was shagging the enemy,” she said.

“I think they knew, and they know what kind of person Jim is,” Seb said. “You were in deep from the moment he picked you to get Holmes. It’s hard to escape his clutches.”

“I suppose,” she said.

“Look at this as kind of a vacation,” Seb said, pointing the spatula in his hand at her. “I promise I’ll try and make it at least a little enjoyable.”

“You swear?” Molly asked, the faintest of smiles crossing her face.

“I do.” Then he nodded to the skillet in front of him. “Hope you want a full English. I’m starved.”

“Strangely enough, so am I,” Molly said, her smile widening. Maybe it would all work out after all if this really was temporary. She’d just have to trust Seb.

Good thing she did already.