#khanolly

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@strangelock221b had a rough day and so I offered to write her a pick-me-up fic in the “Sway” AU, and this is what came out. It’s sweet married domestic fluff between Khan and Molly, so I hope you all enjoy it.

Solace - Molly calls Khan after getting sacked illegally from Barts, but it might turn out all right in the end.

READ @ AO3|SERIES PAGE

Khan had not expected a phone call from Molly so late in the workday, but as she was nearing the time to deliver their son, and she was worried about the delivery, he should have expected it. Mycroft had had some of the top doctors in the United Kingdom run diagnostic tests of amniotic fluid and blood samples from his son under the strictest confidentiality, so both of their minds were at ease that their son was as normal as Molly was, but the actual delivery had been on Molly’s mind since she’d had to deal with a postmortem on a woman who died in secret childbirth.

“Molly?” he asked, answering his mobile on the second ring. What he got instead of a verbal response was a choked sob, and his hackles went up. “Molly, what’s wrong?”

“I got sacked,” she said, following it up with another sob. “All so the bloody hospital doesn’t have to give me maternity leave.”

He relaxed. He’d worried for a moment that it had to do with Jalen, or even that the sobber hadn’t been Molly and perhaps had been Mary on her mobile, delivering news that Molly was gone. To hear she had been sacked was bad, but not nearly as bad as what he had let filter through his mind.

“Mycroft owes you a favour still, right?” he asked.

There was a soft hiccup. “He does, yes.”

“Let him yell at hospital administrators. Get on the phone with Lestrade and have him yell on Scotland Yard’s behalf. Have Sherlock find blackmail. You have options. You can get your post back, if you really want it.”

“I do, but…I don’t. It was just so sudden and I wasn’t prepared at all.”

“Head home. I’ll meet you there and we’ll spend tonight plotting.”

“No head-bashing.”

“No head-bashing.” He paused. “Can I break a kneecap or two at least?”

She giggled this time, and the last knot of fear in the pit of his stomach evaporated. She was going to be fine. “No, Khan. No violence.”

“Then what else am I good for?” he asked, the corner of his mouth quirking up.

“Kisses. And shagging. And foot massages.”

“Head home and I’ll prepare a bath for you with your favorite things, and I’ll give you a foot massage and a back rub. And we can have a takeaway and watch those rubbish romantic comedies you’re so fond of.”

“I don’t deserve you, you know.”

“Don’t ever say that,” he said quietly. “It is I that doesn’t deserve you. But I strive every day to be a better man for you.”

“I love you, I do.”

“I love you too, Molly. I’ll leave now and meet you at home.”

“Okay.” She hung up and so did he, and after checking on the schematics he’d drawn up one last time he gave them to his assistant and gave him instructions on how to proceed before going into the office he used when consulting and got his coat. He slipped it on and went to the car to drive home. He’d picked up driving reasonably easily, with some defensive driving skills imparted on him by Mary during their lessons, and now it was one of the times he took to unwind from his day.

He was angry underneath it all, but not angry at Molly. He was angry on her behalf for being sacked. She was a brilliant pathologist, and an excellent researcher and Barts should have just given her the damn maternity leave and welcomed her back in a year and a half with open arms. She could go anywhere, but he knew she loved the work she did on behalf of Scotland Yard, and she loved working on Sherlock’s cases, and it was a blow to be unceremoniously sacked from a job she loved so much.

If she wouldn’t let him in on bringing the hospital board to their senses, at least he could give her something to ease the hurt.

He called in their Indian takeaway order to pick up on the way home, the phone situated in its holder. He could easily concentrate while driving and chatting, but even he had trouble handling the phone and the wheel at the same time. The gift had been from Molly and he appreciated it quite a bit. Before he got to the restaurant he went to Tesco and picked up some ice cream to take the heat of the Indian food away, and also picked up a bouquet of flowers while he was at it.

Once he got the food and had a chat with the owners about their business and their day he headed home to find Molly curled up on the sofa. She seemed to perk up when he stepped into the sitting room. “Flowers? How lovely!”

“I thought you deserved something pretty for the kitchen table,” he said, setting the lilies down on the coffee table and then setting their dinner down after that. “Ben wanted to know how much longer until the baby would come. He suggested the spicy dishes if you want the baby delivered earlier than later.”

Molly smiled, picking up the lilies and getting off the sofa slowly to go get a vase. “I’ve had his special dish and Jalen still won’t make an appearance,” she said.

“Jalen is stubborn, like his father,” Khan said. “I got you Speculoos ice cream to take away some of the heat of your dish. Ben made it extra hot for you.”

“The heartburn is worth it,” she said, pulling down a vase and filling it with water. “I’m so glad Mary took you there. It really hits the spot for my spice cravings.”

“I’ve noticed.” He set the ice cream next to her takeaway and then went to go get them forks and a spoon for the ice cream. “Have you called in your favour?”

“Mycroft said this was a freebie. I help keep Sherlock in line, therefore he wants me at Barts. I know Sherlock promised to behave with my replacement while I was on maternity leave, but that was when I’d be a phone call away to…well, give guidance or approval or whatever. Being sacked, I have no authority.”

“All that to avoid maternity leave, though?” he asked.

“I’m not the only one it’s happened to. Just the highest level staff. Meena said two nurses in caridology were sacked while on maternity leave. They’re planning on filing suit against Barts. I might join them, even if I get my position back.” She put the lilies into the vase and then brought it back to the coffee table. “Even if I decide it’s not worth going back, that’s a lawsuit I may be willing to join. I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh?”

“What if I am a stay-at-home mum? I have plenty in savings, we own this place outright, you get a significant sum from the government for the work you do…you’re only a consultant now, we could be hands-on parents if I don’t go back to Barts.”

“What about your research?” he asked, sitting down and watching her lower herself onto the sofa. She sat with her head against the armrest and stretched out, and he took one of her feet in his hands and began to massage it gently. Her ankles weren’t quite swollen but it was obvious if she hadn’t been sacked she’d have to have started maternity leave soon; she needed to be off her feet sooner rather than later.

“I can do that for any hospital, or any university. And before you ask about Sherlock, he was going to have to get used to a replacement. Now he can without dragging me back in when I want to be with my son. Or…well, John and Mary have two children under the age of five now. And they both work at the surgery rather hard. I was thinking…I could volunteer to…help him?” She sounded almost hopeful as she said that.

Khan was quiet, continuing to massage her feet. Sherlock was, by far, one of his least favorite people to deal with, but they were at least on cordial terms these days. If Molly wanted to be his assistant, take John’s place sometimes, he could rearrange parenting and work schedules around it. If going on cases would make her happy, why would he stop her? “I can just see Jalen in one of those back strapped baby carriers at a crime scene,” he said, giving her a grin.

“So you don’t object?” she asked.

“Not really, no. If that’s what you want to do, we can make it work. But…don’t give up your research completely. You’re more than a brilliant pathologist, you’re a tremendously good researcher as well.”

“I won’t.” She took her takeaway and set the carton on her chest, just above her pregnant belly. “You know, it was such a shock, but maybe it’s a good thing.”

“Well, eat your supper and then I’ll run you a bath and sit with you and we can plot and plan,” he said. “And maybe we’ll be lucky and this will have been the hardest thing we deal with tonight.” Molly beamed at him and then took one of the forks and began to dig into her food while he switched feet for her. For what had started off as an emergency, it seemed all right now. If she was happy, that was the important thing, wasn’t it? It was to him, at least. And he’d do whatever it took to make her and their future son as happy as he possibly could.