Molly became a Pirate AU

Heaven can wait?
What the heck is this movie??
Anyways.... One day, i was thinking.
Talking to myself, to be exact. And I said, "Self, you are on the wonderful website of pinterest. Why not look up all the heartbreaking Sherlolly fanart?"
So I did. This is what I found:

Perfect artistry done by the wonderful artbylexie :)

                                 



Ta da!!! Smoochie smoochies featuring your favorite ship!
:)

      The captain scurried up the stairs, her hair blowing in the late-morning breeze as the frenzied cry of “All hands on deck!!” came from her first mate who was hard at the wheel. She jumped up to join him and instantly placed her hand on his shoulder as she gazed back behind them.

     “What is it?” She asked, and he handed her a spy-glass.

     “See for yourself.” He said curtly, and she instantly opened the glass and peered through it. Her audible gasp was heard by only her first mate and before he could say anything to her she had shoved the spy-glass at him and was stumbling down the steps onto the deck. The Captain was in the most frantic frenzy any of the crew had ever seen her in, that is, if they took time to stop what they were doing and take notice.

     “Loose the topsail! Loose the main course! Loose every single sail on this bucket, if it can attach and further our speed I want it up!” Her frenzied orders continued on and on until she stepped back up to where her first-mate manned the wheel to catch her breath.

     “Molly.” She refused to turn to her first-mate, who sighed, his next statement barely to be heard over the whipping wind. “You know you can’t run.”

The captain paused, then called over her shoulder, “I want you three in my quarters in 3 minutes,” the skipped down the stairs and was gone from the first-mate’s sight.

                                  *********

     They gathered around the captain’s door exactly 3 minutes later. The first mate took a deep breath before knocking hard, and the two men behind him exchanged a nervous glance. No one had ever seen the captain’s quarters. They were anxious as to what they would find. The door was flung open and the Captain, who had opened it, turned on her heel without missing a beat or formally asking them in and returned to the table which was situated in the middle of the room. 

     Her three friends, never having seen her in such a frenzy, exchanged glances before cautiously entering. The doctor of the ship, Dr. Watson, respectfully closed the door behind them and the three gathered around the table, opposite their Captain, and waited for her to speak. There was a long pause which she broke by whipping her gaze up.

     “Aright.” Her voice sounded hoarse to her friends as she looked up, her bright brown eyes showing her desperation. “I need the three of you to come up with a plan and now.” When her friends simply exchanged glances, she turned to her first mate. “Sherlock. Go.”

     Contrary to what any of them expected, his gaze went blank and he stared at her. “Fine.” Disappointment thudded in her voice and she turned to the next man.      “Lestrade?” The boatswain glanced at the furiously thinking Sherlock before opening his mouth. “We could catch them by surprise,” He suggested, “Swing around and intercept them at the last moment.”

     She only sighed and dropped her head. “I called you gents in here to propose actions that I haven’t yet come up with, aright??”

     “All due respect, Captain,” The doctor cut in, casting a glance at Lestrade before continuing, “You haven’t exactly informed us about what you have or have not thought of. Maybe if you told us what you have come up with?”

     “Turning and taking on 5 English navy ships, for one.” Her first mate spoke for her, casting a fake smile at the three others who stared at him, “For a second, she had considered trying to outrun them, but by all accounts we are still 3 days away from our destination, and thus cannot outrun them.” He placed his hands behind his back. “Our captain has thought of faking a sickness and raising a quarantine flag so that we will not be boarded. The Captain has thought of handing herself over to the English navy, which of course, is absurd, and-”

     “And unless you 3 can come up with a solution from your bloody pirate heads that is any better, it is what I have settled for and I shall not change my mind.”

     An audible gasp went through the room, but Molly did not recant. She stood from where she bent over the table. “I will not see this ship blasted apart and my crew killed if I can help it.” She paused, taking in all of their shocked expressions and sighed, clasping her hands in front of her. “Gentlemen, we are clearly outnumbered. They will wipe us out faster than it takes to blow out a candle and I won’t let that happen.”

     “Captain,” The doctor stepped forward, “Even if you do hand yourself over, either you swing over and have absolutely no warranty that they won’t catch the rest of us and blow us to bits, or, you bring the ship to a stop and we’re as good as captured anyways.” It was clear to everyone that he was just trying to talk her out of it as he continued, leaning on the table, “I swear, there has to be another way.”

     Their gazes locked and Molly chewed her lip as she stared at him. “Then do share.” Her tone was low but desperate. The doctor swallowed.

     “Molly. You know who it is?”

     “Of course I know, John, otherwise I wouldn’t be going to such bloody drastic measures.”

     “Listen!” John snapped, and Molly bit her lip, taking a deep breath as if the full consequences of handing herself over had just hit her. “You can’t do that.” John reasoned as he struggled to keep his voice steady. “You can’t.”

     Molly took heavy breaths as she evaluated her crew. “Any other suggestions?”        When no one responded, she said as calmly as possible, “Then unless you three come up with any more ideas that will not end in the destruction of this ship and crew,” And here she looked each of them in the eye, “Get out of my sight.”

     John frowned. “But-”

     “GET OUT!”

     She didn’t need to repeat herself as the three instantly filed out, John casting a hurt look behind him as he left, shutting the door behind him.

    

                               *********

     The three gathered behind the wheel to discuss the meeting even as Sherlock, being second in command, tried to maintain order on the deck as the rest of the crew frantically scurried about, knowing full well what was going to happen when they were caught. John was the first to state it out loud.

     “You know he’s going to kill us all.”

     “Oh, really?” Sherlock, at the helm, raised an eyebrow all too skeptically, “I wasn’t sure, thank you, Doctor.”

     “We have to think of something!” the doctor exclaimed, clearly perplexed.

     “Do you think we’re not??” Sherlock snapped, “I am literally wracking my brain for a solution, does it look to you as if I am doing anything different?” John pursed his lips but the first mate hadn’t finished. “Did you think for an instant that I would let the Captain condemn herself like that? Do you? What do you take me for? A mutineer?? There is nothing we can do, John- NOTHING.”

     John took the unexpected burst of emotion with no more than a blink and when Sherlock had finished, coolly returned his friend’s stare. 

     Sherlock half-turned to Lestrade, then said coolly, “Nothing, at least, as far as Molly getting onto that ship.”

     Sensing that something else was up, John and Lestrade exchanged a glance. “What does that mean?” Lestrade posed the question for both of them. Sherlock stared at the deck for a moment, his eyes wide and his brain clocking at at least a hundred miles an hour. After a simple moment, he turned to Lestrade.

     “I need you to rally 5 of the fastest swimmers on this boat. Go.” Lestrade, knowing better than to ask, was gone in seconds. John, still confused, looked at Sherlock.

     “You’re going to try and rescue her?”

     Sherlock returned his attention to the helm, altering their course a little bit. “Not me. You.”

     John’s mouth was instantly open in protest but the first-mate didn’t give him a chance, “Listen to me, I have to stay aboard the ship and steer her after you, I need someone to be on board to make sure no harm comes to Molly. You know what he would do to her- I need you there to protect her, do you understand?”

      As the explanation had come, John’s protestation had died away and he met Sherlock’s icy gaze with his own, crushing down his fear of the enemy captain as deep as he possibly could and simply nodding.

      Sherlock watched him closely. “You will protect her?”

      John paused for a moment before answering, “With my life.”

      Lestrade was back then, the five men assembled at the foot of the stairs as he climbed up them to rejoin the two friends. “Right,” He huffed, “here they are.”

Sherlock nodded to the sailors and turned back to his two friends. “Well done. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

                              *******

      It felt like days for the Scarlet Letter and her four escorts to finally catch up to them. Everyone on the ship was anticipating it. As it was nearing sunset, Molly eventually came out of the cabin, looking tired and worn, but laughing all the same and trying to raise her troops’ spirits as she went. No one but the boatswain, the first-mate, the doctor and the six sailors knew what she planned to risk to save her ship and her men.

      The Scarlet and her friends were only a couple of leagues off their bow when Sherlock, still at the helm, turned and gave a discreet nod to Lestrade, who stood beside him. Lestrade nodded back and hurried downstairs to get his faithful swimmers who waited, decked with backpacks that contained enough dynamite to blow a hole in a ship big enough to sink it. 

     John, seeing the signal, drew Molly aside to distract her as Lestrade and his 5 men scurried up on deck and dashed into her quarters. On any normal given day, the captain’s quarters were strictly off limits unless one somehow managed to merit an invitation inside. This was no normal day, however, and they slipped inside without so much as a sound and without the captain noticing.

     As John brought his captain back around the mast, his cheeks practically burning with shame at the trick, Sherlock prayed against the captain’s suspicions as she watched John, trying to make some sort of explanation to his strange behavior around her. Sherlock found himself nearly moaning. Pull it together Watson, He urged silently, almost wishing that they were telepathic. They were close, and when John glanced at Sherlock, the first mate gave him such a meaningful and disdainful look that John instantly changed the subject, making sure that Molly was well invested before glancing back up at Sherlock who nodded and gave him an inconspicuous smile.

     Finally the anticipated moment arrived, with the Scarlet and company flanking them on all sides. Here Sherlock was beginning to sweat. He had anticipated that they would be flanked on both sides by the ships but not on all sides. This was wrong. He could only imagine Lestrade’s similar dismay at the plan’s ultimate failure.

    Failure? He shoved the word out of his mind. No, not failure. It would work out. Seeing Molly emerge from the captain’s quarters and eye the Scarlet letter as if she meant to make her move as soon as they weighed anchor, Sherlock abandoned his post for a moment to scurry down and intercept her. It has to.

     There suddenly came a loud cry from the Scarlet Letter, a command to yield or they would be blown out of the water. The entire crew stood listening, the blood having drained from their faces, as the warning was repeated. Molly jumped up onto the rail, not even having to grab onto anything for balance as she replied in a loud voice, “Who be the captain of this ship?”

     She didn’t have to ask. Everyone knew. The captain, dressed in a dark blue overcoat, stepped up onto his own rail and mirrored her pose.

     “Tha’d be me.” He greeted her, and the two locked gazes. When Molly’s words stuck in her throat, he offered a loud, “Hi!”

     Molly found her courage and forced out, “Mr. Moriarty, would you be open to having me come and negotiate the release of my ship and crew unto freedom?”

     The entire deck of Molly’s Baker went silent as Moriarty studied her. “Why should I?” He asked, “I don’t think you’re in much of a position to be negotiating, Miss Hooper.”

     “It’s me you want!” Molly cried. She then composed herself and called out to him, “I am asking that you take me and leave my ship and crew unharmed.”

     There was a gasp from all of the crew except for Sherlock and John, who exchanged grim glances. Moriarty looked pleasantly surprised, and cocked his head.

     “Indeed?”

     “Yes.” Molly’s gaze to the enemy was like steel. “You must leave my ship and crew unharmed.” She repeated.

      Moriarty stared at her for a long moment. Then he inclined his head. “Very well, Molly Hooper.”

      “Do I have your word?” Molly was going to extra lengths.

      Moriarty smiled. Then he removed his hat and, pressing it to his chest, bowed, almost mockingly. “You have my word.”

      “You must swear by it.” Molly wasn’t finished, for she had dealt with him and his double-crossing ways before. “Do you swear to leave my ship and crew unharmed?”

     Moriarty smiled again, as if enjoying her distress and answered without a beat, “I swear.”

     Molly took a deep breath then, and caught the rope that was tossed to her from the enemy ship. Her crew didn’t move, and most looked at Sherlock, as if expecting him to try and stop her. He noticed John’s ill-timed move for the captain’s quarters and stepped up to Molly to provide a distraction for the doctor’s move. He grabbed her wrist just as she was about to jump off. She turned, her face angry, and tried to pull away.

     “No, Molly, no, listen to me,” Sherlock was feigning panic, but didn’t have to act hard when he thought about what awaited her on that ship, “You don’t have to do this. Let me help, please, I-”

      “Sherlock,” She warned, “Let go.”

      “No.” As their gazes locked, he gulped, feeling a massive lump in his throat that he’d never experienced before. “You can’t leave me.”

      “Sherlock.” Molly’s eyes had filled with tears.

      “No. No. I need to…”

      “Need what, Sherlock?” Molly obviously wanted this done as soon as possible, but a hard-fought tear suddenly streaked down her face.

      “I need you.” He gasped.

      The following silence was terrible, made perfect only by Molly's leaning forward and kissing him. Sherlock thought he was going to fall over from the overwhelming feeling that was assaulting him but before he could even grab her to stop her, she had broken away and jumped off her ship to swing over to The Scarlet Letter. Moriarty’s men were instantly on top of her and she was dragged out of the crew’s sight. Molly's ship was silent for a very long time after she had been long gone from sight. The silence, then was broken by a massive boom, and Sherlock grinned.