The Doctor's Daughter | Wholock {1}

Chapter 16: Innocence

Kimmy stared at the ceiling of the lab at Bart's, lying on the cold floor tiles. She and Sherlock had been locked in the room for hours and he was still running tests on the roses and ivy from the university. Kimmy didn't know anything about the equipment he was using, so she couldn't help him. She felt completely and utterly useless. Is this how Dad feels when he helps Sherlock with a case?

As much as she wanted to, she refused to look at the clock. When they'd reached the university, an hour had already passed since Moriarty called her. They'd only had forty-seven hours to find Mary and the Doctor. By now they probably didn't have much longer than forty. She desperately wished that she could pilot the TARDIS. If she could, they wouldn't have to worry about running out of time.

The Doctor had actually let her pilot the TARDIS once. She'd tried to land in London in the fifties, but had somehow ended up in Ireland in the middle of the Great Potato Famine. Who would have ever guessed that was actually caused by aliens? Kimmy smiled at the memory. She'd met a very nice nun that tried to teach her flower language. Kimmy could remember that red roses symbolized love and sweat peas meant "goodbye", but she'd forgotten everything else.

Kimmy sat up, an idea blossoming in her mind. "Sherlock, do you know flower language?" she asked.

"Already thought of that," he answered. "White roses signify innocence and serenity and ivy signified friendship. Doesn't give us much to go on."

Frustrated, Kimmy got to her feet and walked towards the door. "I'm going to go get a snack," she announced. "And don't worry; I'll keep my head down. Want anything?"

"I don't eat while I'm working," Sherlock replied without looking up from the microscope in front of him.

"Of course, silly me," she mumbled sarcastically. She left the lab and started walking down the hall, looking for a vending machine. She didn't find one on that floor, but knew there was one upstairs. She quickly walked up the stairs and walked over to the vending machine.

"That one isn't working," a familiar voice said behind her before she could try to buy anything.

Crap! Kimmy thought. She didn't have to turn around to know that Molly was standing behind her. "Thanks," she said, trying to speak with an American accent. She doubted Molly would recognize her voice in the future, but didn't want to risk it.

"No problem," Molly replied. "Here visiting a relative?"

"My mom," Kimmy answered, still not turning around. Please just walk away!

"I hope she gets better soon," Molly said. A second later, Kimmy heard her walk away and sighed with relief. She turned and started walking back to the lab as quickly as she could without drawing attention to herself.

That was close, she thought. What were the odds of that happening? Sherlock's going to kill me finds out that Molly—

Kimmy stopped mid-step halfway down the stairs, feeling something click in her brain. Molly!

She ran the rest of the way to the lab, almost knocking over a janitor as she did. "It's Molly!" she said as she entered the lab.

"What?" Sherlock asked, looking at her with a somewhat confused expression.

"The flowers," Kimmy explained. "You said white roses represent innocence; Molly is one of the most innocent people we know. Ivy represents friendship and Molly is your friend—don't you dare argue with me, Sherlock, you know she's your friend," she said when he opened his mouth. "Who else could the flowers possibly mean?"

"You might actually be right," Sherlock confessed. "Traces of generic pesticides here on the rose petals, suggesting they came from a household garden. Moriarty might have stolen these from one of Molly's neighbors."

"What are we waiting for?" Kimmy asked, picking up Sherlock's jacket and tossing it to him. "Let's go!"