CLOSE TO ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL

Will stood on the pavement of a London road just as the soft mist of rain began to fall over everything. It was one of those stereotypical days in the city-wet, cold, grey, and bleak. He let out a sigh, watching as his breath condensed in the air.

His was the look of a man who had been through Hell and back through his experiences, and that's certainly what he felt like at the moment. The amount of effort he had put into the current case (and the almost nonexistent return he'd gotten out of it) had drained him.

At least he did have money. That was one thing that certainly worked out well. Sherlock had given him more than enough for him to continue living on comfortably for quite a while longer.

There weren't any new crimes to be solved today, not that he was aware of. Then again, he hadn't spoken to Sherlock Holmes in a few days...Or rather, a few weeks.

The man hadn't sent him any news of there being any new evidence to examine, but he had a feeling it was because the consulting detective didn't like him all that much.

Will didn't care, really. There were lots of people he didn't like. Lots of people didn't like him. It was that simple, really. He could just carry on with what he was doing and no one would mind. He glanced at his surroundings, shoving his hands into his pockets for the little warmth it provided him.

Even though he felt like had been somewhat imprisoned within the boundaries of London, he still felt mostly at ease among the city streets. Every day it was evoking more feelings of home - but whether it was forced or natural was debatable.

Right down the street was St. Bart's Hospital. He was heading for the morgue, of all places. It wasn't because he wanted to spend time around dead bodies as Donovan at Scotland Yard had joked. No, he had someone to see. Someone very alive.

Will found himself bouncing on his heels before he walked into St. Bart's. There was a part of him that was hesitating and holding him back, of course. He could not deny how his heart was beating just a tad faster than usual.

Walking into the building, he crinkled his nose at the overly sanitized smell. No, he never got used to that. It brought back too many bad memories. Just about everything brought back bad memories now days. Again, it was something he just couldn't get used to.

It wasn't just various things in the day time that ended up shaking him. At night when he was supposed to be getting rest and avoiding the pain of it all, he ended up getting some of the worst images.

The nightmares were certainly getting worse. The feeling of murdering someone just became more and more vivid until he woke up feeling as if his hands were wet from blood. He had thought that getting therapy from Dr. Lecter would help fix that, but that had not been the case. Besides, Dr. Lecter wasn't exactly in the best situation to be helping him out yet.

Will did his best to get these thoughts out of his head. He had a case to work on, after all, even though he seemed to be the only one who was still taking it seriously. Apparently Sherlock and the Watsons had much bigger problems and cases...not that it mattered to him, of course.

When Will finally found his way to the morgue, he spotted her standing there. Her back was facing his as she examined a dead body with gloved hands. Maybe it was the dead body, the stuffed one she was supposed to be doing an autopsy on for all this time.

But no - there we no threads, no stuffing, no buttons eyes. It was just a simple dead body, probably killed by natural causes.

Now that he was aware that the body was just a simple body, Will was able to switch his focus to the woman he had really come to see. Although he wouldn't admit it, the autopsy was just an excuse. He needed to have some way to see her again.

He found himself smiling slightly as he stepped towards her. One would never think that this girl would get herself involved in such a gory business.

All you had to do was look at her, really. Bright colors, lots of sweaters, cute little nose, ponytail. It sounded more like the making of a librarian than someone who spent their time amongst the dead. But, then again, Will had learned not to trust the cover of a book.

She was supposed to have been working on an autopsy, and he hoped that it had been completed by this point - but, of course, there were other things he could do as well.

Social interaction had never been his forte by any means. To think that he was here himself trying to intimate a conversation was very strange. This was the precise reason he tried not to think about it too hard. Overthinking things was one of his worst habits.

"Hello, Molly," Will said, finding his voice hoarse from disuse. This was the first time he had spoken in what felt like weeks. In reality, he just hadn't said much of anything since he had woken up that morning.

"Oh, Will?" Molly turned around, sending her ponytail flying. Subconsciously she began to bite her lip before finally returning his greeting. It was obvious that she was every bit as nervous as he was, but neither one seemed to acknowledge it.

"Hello," she said, her voice little more than a squeak.

"So, um, I..." Will began his sentence before realizing he didn't have a decent way to explain himself. As so as it was clear there was no relevant autopsy to be found in the area, his cover story had been tossed away.

He had come up to the morgue to see her. It sounded simple enough, but after he thought through it several times he saw how strange it would seem to her. "I just came to say hey."

"Oh," she replied, a hint of a smile playing at the tips of her lips. It felt like she hadn't smiled in forever.

Molly nodded a few times, unable to keep eye contact with him for more than a few moments. "Well, hey," she said, raising up a gloved hand in a wave. "Good to see you here."

Already the conversation was beginning to fall apart and it had just barely begun. The problem was really that there were two socially uncomfortable people in a room who just felt even more uncomfortable with the other in particular.

There was a long phase of awkward and stiff silence between the two. Will, looking for something to make conversation, looked over her shoulder to peer at the dead body she had been prodding at. As he started to step closer to it, Molly began to stiffen.

"Maybe we should get away from the bodies," she said, beginning to move to zip up the body bag again. "Dead bodies are never good conversation starters, I think."

As soon as those words came from her mouth, she began to rethink what she had just said. Her mind was absolutely reeling despite the rather low amount of stimulus from the room.

"Actually, that's not true," Molly continued. "They're actually really good conversation starters, dead bodies. It's just not for the kind of conversations people normally like having. You know, death seems to be somewhat taboo. It always has been. But it is inevitable. I mean, it's one thing that is absolutely certain. But...never mind. I'm just rambling now."

"No, rambling's good. Rambling is just fine," Will said, putting his hands back into his pockets again. He truly meant what he said - rambling meant at least the speaking was continuing.

He watched as Molly removed her gloves and started moving towards him. There was another period of quiet once again, but this time it ended much sooner and on much more of an open note.

"Do you want some coffee or something?" Molly asked. "I mean, we don't have to just stand in here if you don't want to, you know. There's just something a bit creepy about being in a morgue and not working...besides, the lab's empty at the moment, we could..."

"The lab sounds great," Will replied before she could continue. He wasn't completely sure that she was going to continue, anyways. She seemed very hesitant to say much of anything.

"I'm not really in the mood for coffee at the moment," he said. While he felt exhausted from his lack of sleep due to nightmares, he found that coffee didn't actually help lessen the effects significantly enough. He'd be better off just keeping himself awake without using other chemicals.

She led the way over to the lab, checking behind herself to see if Will was there every few seconds. When they arrived, Molly pulled out a chair and offered it to him to sit. He obliged, making her lips turn up in a small smile. At least one little thing was going correctly.

"Will...I thought you were doing something with Sherlock?" Molly asked. "I'm fairly sure that I have a body to work on soon. It's one of those stuffed ones again, yeah?"

"Yeah, one of the stuffed ones. A few days ago I was working with him," Will sighed. "But he hasn't contacted me in a while about anything. It's almost like he's disappeared off the charts."

"He does that like it's some bad habit of his, doesn't he?" Molly said, crinkling up her nose as she frowned. "It's one of the things that I think I hate about him..."

"Things you hate about him?"

"Like when he broke up my engagement," Molly replied, her mind flying away from what she was saying. . "Tom and I had been doing so well, and then Sherlock came along and ruined it. He always...always does that sort of thing." She began fiddling around with her own fingers.

"I know what you mean," Will replied. "He's practically captured me inside of London now. I mean, not that I really mind all that much..."

"I guess," Molly sighed. "But if he had just kept his nose out of my business, everything would've been fine. I mean, surely you must know what he's just done."

"Er..."

"John found him at a drug den, surrounded by addicts. I went ahead and tested him, and sure enough he had not just been there to stake out a case."

"Oh...maybe that's why he hasn't contacted me for so long...but is that really enough to make you hate him?" Will asked.

"Well, yes, actually. Sometimes I feel like I hate him, which I don't like to feel. Then other times I'm not really sure how I feel about him, and that isn't very nice either. I mean, I thought I had feelings for him for the longest time and I guess I still kind of do- " Molly covered up her mouth as she realized what she had just said out loud, her eyes popping wide open.

"Oh my goodness, I didn't mean to start rambling, it just kind of came out-" This time when Molly was cut off, it was because Will was the one stopping her.

"Molly," he exclaimed, getting up out of his seat. His voice was just loud enough to grab her attention without having to raise his volume much.

"What?" she asked, her eyes immediately snapping up. For the first time, she allowed their gazes to connect. "What is it? I know I shouldn't have said anything, it just kind of..."

"Doesn't matter," Will replied, shaking his head. "Just..." His own voice trailed away before he could complete the sentence. He was every bit as much at a loss for words as she was.

"Just what?" Molly asked, looking down at his shoes. It was certainly easier to watch them shine rather than his eyes. "I really do want to know, Will.

"Personally, I don't think you need to be dwelling on the past so much. Or your feelings about Sherlock," Will admitted. He tried to catch her gaze, but she was too good at running away from it for him to be successful.

"But..." Molly protested, still focused on his shoes. She started noticing little details here and there, and wondered if this was what it was like for Sherlock.

"I know what it feels like to have things you don't really want to feel. Trust me. It's painful, to say the least."

"But..." Molly said again, finally glancing up. She still made see to avoid making eye contact with everything she had, but at least she was closer to looking at him.

"Molly, right now it doesn't matter what happened in your past. It sounds cliche, but we need to look at the present and the future. I'm not trying to wax philosophical here, really...but I think we need to look onwards."

"That's the thing, though," she sighed. "My present is all involved with Sherlock and getting over the engagement with Tom, and frankly I don't really see myself having a future."

"You're not saying..." Will began, finding himself getting concerned. He was rushing to conclusions before he should have.

"No!" Molly yelled out. Then she lowered her voice as she said, "No, I'm not saying I'm going to kill myself or anything like that. It's just...I don't know where to turn to next. I don't know what I'm doing, and that's what the problem is."

"That's what I thought."

After Will spoke again, the two of them broke into another phase of silence and being unable to meet one another's eyes.

"That's what you thought?" Molly finally asked, allowing her thoughts to come out.

"Well, yeah."

"I'm sorry for blubbering all of this out to you," Molly suddenly apologised, unable to cope with another round of quiet between the two of them. "It was probably just a big waste of your time, Will...besides, I should have been working. I shouldn't waste your time."

"It wasn't a waste of my time, Molly. I'm not ready for this conversation to be over, either."

"Wait, what?"

"Just stay here in the lab with me. I'm enjoying talking to you," Will admitted.

"You mean, listening to me complain about Sherlock and my broken up engagement."

"No," Will said, shaking his head. He could hardly even allow himself to blink at the moment because he was focused on her. "I mean talking to you."

"Talking to me," Molly repeated softly. Her eyes traced a line down to the ground as she avoided his relentless gaze. "Talking to me?" she said, this time as a question.

"Yes," Will answered, starting to feel somewhat confused about the whole business. He didn't understand what was so hard to understand about the what he was saying. In fact, he believed he had made it rather clear.

After staring at him rather blankly for a moment, Molly burst into sudden action. As she was walking away, she said, "Give me a second. I'll be right back, I promise."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just going to put on some music."

"Why music?" Will questioned.

Molly decided to just admit her true motives, knowing that Will would end up prying them out of her anyways. It was just easier and less painful at the end of the day.

"I need something to calm me down," she replied, her voice turning faint as she walked away from the scene and kept her back towards Will.

"Apparently I've been failing in doing that," Will grumbled. His thoughts spilled out of him before he could even imagine trying to filter them in any way. He could only hope that either Molly hadn't heard him, or that she wouldn't be offended by it.

"Did you say something, Will?" she asked. She allowed herself a single glance as she placed a CD into a player and waited for it to be ready. It was her own personal CD player, and she found that it had been getting an awful lot of use in recent days.

"No...nothing," Will sighed. Luckily she didn't question any further. His silent prayers had been answered, luckily. For the moment he didn't have to worry about anything.

As music slowly flooded over the room, Molly couldn't help but let her lips curl up in a smile. If nothing else, this could make her feel happier and more at ease.

"There we go."

"Pachelbel's Canon in D," Will said, identifying the music.

"Yes, that's right. Toby absolutely loves it."

"Toby?"

"Oh, sorry!" Molly said, launching into another apology. It seemed like she had apologies in her veins rather than blood.

"I was so busy talking about all the other men in my life that I forgot one of the most important ones, if not the most important!"

Will was unable to come up with a decent response to this, so he stayed quiet. Several times he started to form words in his mouth, but they evaporated before he could make anything out of them.

"He's my cat," Molly finally explained after seeing Will's struggle to understand. "I've had him for several years now, but that only makes our bond that much better."

"Oh, I see," Will replied, feeling somewhat relieved. "I'm more of a dog person, to be honest, but it's not as if I don't like cats."

"Oh," Molly squeaked. "Yeah, I'm not really much of a dog person, but I could learn. I think."

Now neither one of them could think of something proper to say. Every time they brought up a new topic it just seemed to go out of control all over again. They had formed themselves a vicious cycle that seemed to prevent them from succeeding.

Molly attempted to find a new conversation starter. Even though this meant jumping out of her comfort zone, she went along with it. All she wanted to do was speak to him, in all sincerity.

"I really do like this piece. Do you like it? Maybe you find it annoying, it's sort of overdone, or at least that's what I've heard. I don't agree with it, personally, but it's all up to-"

"Molly, please. It's fine."

"You're sure it's not annoying you?"

"I'm positive."

"Well, that much is good, then." Molly said, forcing out a small laugh. She finally allowed her eyes to flick up and meet Will's. Now her smile turned into a real one as he saw the way his lips curled up. They didn't speak again, instead they just listened to the sound of the music.

Molly found herself gently swaying to the music, and then her arms move along with it. Her eyes drifted shut so that she could simply relax and listen to the music. This was precisely what she needed.

Will let out a slight chuckle at the sight, causing her eyes to pop open and for her to return to a straight and stiff position. Her face began to heat up, making her feel as if she couldn't even look at him.

The music began to get more intense, but Molly made her arms stay glued to her sides. She cursed herself silently for doing something so embarrassing in front of Will, staring down at the floor. But then another pair of shoes came into her field of vision.

Molly raised her eyes up to see Will standing right in front of her, very close to her. Too close. She was considering backing away, but her feet felt rooted to the ground.

"No need to be embarrassed, Molly," Will said, gently placing a hand on the side of her face. The blush that was already present on her cheeks intensified as his gaze flicked down to her lips and then back up to her eyes.

Before she could even begin to comprehend what was going on, Molly found her lips pressed up against Will's. She couldn't help but melt into him as they embraced. Pachelbel's Canon in D continued to play in the background.

Oh, it was just like those silly romance novels she had found herself obsessed with! Whenever something negative happened in her love life, she would flock to the soft pages to give her some sort of sanctuary.

But never, absolutely never, had Molly found herself in something that belonged in one of those books. She found that her fairytale moments always ended up failing in the end.

Not this time, though. No, Molly felt this was absolutely perfect.

For a moment, she felt fear flicker through her like the fleeting shadow of an osprey. This was going to be like everything else, too good to last.

But at least for the moment, it didn't matter to her.

A/N And yeah, I just wrote a chapter that is just about pure Willolly. Because it seems like Will and Alana isn't going to be canon again any time soon, I think I have some good ideas for how to weave it into something...but that's another story. And that probably makes no sense if you don't know who Alana is. But I hope you enjoy. And I hope you ship Willolly now as well.