Sherlock Fic
Title: Meant To Be
Fandom: Sherlock
Pairing: Jim Moriarty/Sebastian Moran... sortof
Rating: PG
Warnings: spoilers for The Reichenbach Fall
Note: playing with the idea that the handsome, nonchalant, dark haired sniper from the end of 2x03 is Sebastian Moran. (and if you're wondering, the two halves of this are exactly the same length)
Summary: Jim first hires Colonel Sebastian Moran because he looks just enough like Sherlock Holmes. And from the first, Sebastian Moran likes Jim Moriarty.
--
Jim first hires Colonel Sebastian Moran because he looks just enough like Sherlock Holmes.
There were plenty of ex-army psychopaths he was considering, and plenty of snipers, but when he flips through Moran's file and sees the pictures-- an old army personnel photo, his face stoic and hard, and a slightly blurry photo, more recent, taken in a bar. Moran is smiling in that one, a dangerous smile showing sharp, mean teeth. His nose is sharper and thinner than Sherlock's, his jaw is squarer... but the cheekbones are there, and his dark hair has a similar sort of wave to it. The resemblance is close enough to be compelling. A smile creeps across his face and he decides on this one. It helps that Moran is so very qualified as well.
It doesn't take much to convince Moran to join the Firm (as Jim has taken to calling it; it validates the business in his mind, to title it so). Jim explains the work and the level of commitment that he expects while Moran listens carefully. He considers for only a moment before accepting.
Jim will call with assignments and they'll meet up, and though he'll never tell him, Moran is the only agent of his that Jim meets with personally. Every time, Moran accepts jobs, takes cash, and saunters off coolly. Something about him is hugely appealing to Jim, and he decides quite quickly that there's no harm in wanting to get to know his sniper a bit better. If Sherlock can have ordinary people associates, so can Jim Moriarty. But none of Jim's charms work on Moran. He tries, but at the end of the day, Moran is handsome and has beautiful bone structure and is a consummate professional. No matter how many times Jim tries to lure him into social outings, tricking him into dinners and parks, Moran never warms up. He never gives in. It makes Jim like and want him all the more. The chase, he tells himself, is more fun than the capture.
But he wants the capture. He wants to hold Moran in his hands like a prize. He wants him.
Jim has never wanted to own an employee so completely. He wants Moran devoted to him utterly. He wants Moran happily bending under his thumb. He wants Moran in his bed and making him toast and caring about him, which is a strange feeling. He's not sure what it is he likes so much about the Colonel, but he feels they were meant to be. If only Moran would see it too.
He sets up Moran on Baker street, to keep an eye on the other assassins and make sure none of them do anything foolish. Jim visits often, sometimes when Moran is home and sometimes when he's not. Curiosity means he touches everything he can, figuring out what types of fabrics Moran likes to wear, what type of milk he buys, what books he reads. That's how he learns that Moran is something of an author himself. How charming, he thinks as he flips through the manuscript. Tigers in India, is written across the top as a tentative title, and Jim scratches it out, replacing it with, Three Months in the Jungle. It's more enticing, he thinks. Less revealing. Subtler.
Moran's looks come in handy as they approach the end. He performs the kidnapping, and Jim hears that the rescued girl screamed when she saw Sherlock Holmes. It's all working out exactly as planned. The fall is coming, and Jim burns with a horrible excitement. It's almost over.
He gives Moran one last task: to take out John Watson, if he must. Moran nods, heaves his rifle over his shoulder, and remains silent. They stare at each other for a very long moment. And then Moran gives a weak little smile and heads out.
Jim waits on the roof for half an hour, staring across at the window where Moran is perched, waiting for the good doctor to return, like they know he will. Jim can just pick out Moran's dark hair and the pale shape of that strong jaw as the man settles into the stairwell, setting up his rifle and awaiting his target.
Jim's great regret in all of this is that he never got Sebastian Moran as his live-in one.
To fill the time, he plays some music on his phone and types out a suicide note.
-----
From the first, Sebastian Moran likes Jim Moriarty.
When Moriarty swaggers into the bar Sebastian has been frequenting since his return from Afghanistan and India, it takes an effort not to stare. He likes Moriarty's dark eyes, thin hips, and honesty about his business.
But he recognizes from that first meeting that he can't allow himself to get too involved with this slight little man. He knows getting too involved will destroy him. Despite feeling that somehow, he and Moriarty were meant to be-- to be partners, to be friends, to be more than friends-- Moriarty is burning himself to death, and Sebastian can see it. He's a fireball on the verge of complete combustion and every step he takes towards Sherlock Holmes, the closer he gets to complete destruction. If he gets himself wrapped up in that, Sebastian knows that'll be the end of him. He's spent half his life avoiding calamities like Jim Moriarty, and while he's happy for the work (it's thrilling, dangerous, and pays well), he refuses to get burned. He refuses to let Moriarty take him down.
So he hardly speaks when accepting jobs. He avoids Moriarty's eyes. He remains cool, distant, and unattached. He sees Moriarty disintegrating and forces himself to turn the other cheek. He can't save him and he knows he shouldn't try.
Moriarty takes him to dinners and parks and smiles at him. Sebastian's heart clenches every time, to see his boss trying so hard. But he's stronger than to give in.
So he doesn't.
Instead he assassinates people, straps bombs to innocents, kidnaps children and moves into a beautifully furnished apartment on Baker Street. Moriarty swings by often to check up on how things are with Sherlock Holmes and with the other assassins. He touches all of Sebastian's things.
Moriarty tells Sebastian to shoot John Watson, if need be, and Sebastian accepts without question. Jim Moriarty has his plans, and it's not for Sebastian to question him. He's not sure his boss understands the level of regard Sebastian has for him; he knows a genius when he sees one, and Moriarty is a genius. He wants to say something, after that... but he's not sure what. So he just gives a little smile and leaves.
Perched in the stairwell, he watches Holmes jump. He can't see it, but there's a sick thud as the detective hits the ground that he can hear even from the distance he's at. Once it's clear by the crowd and by Watson's crushed expression that Holmes is dead, Sebastian packs up his rifle and coolly walks away. A job well done.
But something worries at the back of his mind. So he strolls around the block and then wanders into St. Barts. He climbs the stairs to the roof, taking his time. Moriarty said he'd text once it was over, and it's over, and Sebastian's phone has been completely silent. He'd been expecting something triumphant and flirty; Holmes is dead. Let's have dinner. -JM perhaps. He'd been thinking that, with Holmes gone, maybe it would be safe to let Jim into his life.
He pushes open the door to the roof and it hits him like a brick wall that it's too late. Too late to have dinner with Jim Moriarty, too late to move in with him, too late to see what they could have been. Because Moriarty is dead, lying in a pool of his own blood.
Sebastian's seen dead bodies before, but this is different, somehow. It feels like something has been ripped out of him. He swallows down a surge of bile. Unable to understand why he's reacting this way, Sebastian sits on the roof by Moriarty for twenty minutes before he's able to pull himself together enough to tidy up the body.
As he's about to leave, corpse in his arms, the roof access door opens and Sherlock Holmes emerges. He stops, startled, and they stare at each other for a silent, still, minute before Holmes turns around and dashes back down the stairs.
"You better run!" Sebastian yells after him. "Because I'll be chasing you, Holmes! I'll chase you until you're dead under my hands! Properly dead!"
His great regret in all this is that he never gave Jim Moriarty a proper chance and now it's too late and his death was utterly for nothing. Holmes faked it. He's still alive.
Well, Sebastian decides, with force, not for long.
Fandom: Sherlock
Pairing: Jim Moriarty/Sebastian Moran... sortof
Rating: PG
Warnings: spoilers for The Reichenbach Fall
Note: playing with the idea that the handsome, nonchalant, dark haired sniper from the end of 2x03 is Sebastian Moran. (and if you're wondering, the two halves of this are exactly the same length)
Summary: Jim first hires Colonel Sebastian Moran because he looks just enough like Sherlock Holmes. And from the first, Sebastian Moran likes Jim Moriarty.
--
Jim first hires Colonel Sebastian Moran because he looks just enough like Sherlock Holmes.
There were plenty of ex-army psychopaths he was considering, and plenty of snipers, but when he flips through Moran's file and sees the pictures-- an old army personnel photo, his face stoic and hard, and a slightly blurry photo, more recent, taken in a bar. Moran is smiling in that one, a dangerous smile showing sharp, mean teeth. His nose is sharper and thinner than Sherlock's, his jaw is squarer... but the cheekbones are there, and his dark hair has a similar sort of wave to it. The resemblance is close enough to be compelling. A smile creeps across his face and he decides on this one. It helps that Moran is so very qualified as well.
It doesn't take much to convince Moran to join the Firm (as Jim has taken to calling it; it validates the business in his mind, to title it so). Jim explains the work and the level of commitment that he expects while Moran listens carefully. He considers for only a moment before accepting.
Jim will call with assignments and they'll meet up, and though he'll never tell him, Moran is the only agent of his that Jim meets with personally. Every time, Moran accepts jobs, takes cash, and saunters off coolly. Something about him is hugely appealing to Jim, and he decides quite quickly that there's no harm in wanting to get to know his sniper a bit better. If Sherlock can have ordinary people associates, so can Jim Moriarty. But none of Jim's charms work on Moran. He tries, but at the end of the day, Moran is handsome and has beautiful bone structure and is a consummate professional. No matter how many times Jim tries to lure him into social outings, tricking him into dinners and parks, Moran never warms up. He never gives in. It makes Jim like and want him all the more. The chase, he tells himself, is more fun than the capture.
But he wants the capture. He wants to hold Moran in his hands like a prize. He wants him.
Jim has never wanted to own an employee so completely. He wants Moran devoted to him utterly. He wants Moran happily bending under his thumb. He wants Moran in his bed and making him toast and caring about him, which is a strange feeling. He's not sure what it is he likes so much about the Colonel, but he feels they were meant to be. If only Moran would see it too.
He sets up Moran on Baker street, to keep an eye on the other assassins and make sure none of them do anything foolish. Jim visits often, sometimes when Moran is home and sometimes when he's not. Curiosity means he touches everything he can, figuring out what types of fabrics Moran likes to wear, what type of milk he buys, what books he reads. That's how he learns that Moran is something of an author himself. How charming, he thinks as he flips through the manuscript. Tigers in India, is written across the top as a tentative title, and Jim scratches it out, replacing it with, Three Months in the Jungle. It's more enticing, he thinks. Less revealing. Subtler.
Moran's looks come in handy as they approach the end. He performs the kidnapping, and Jim hears that the rescued girl screamed when she saw Sherlock Holmes. It's all working out exactly as planned. The fall is coming, and Jim burns with a horrible excitement. It's almost over.
He gives Moran one last task: to take out John Watson, if he must. Moran nods, heaves his rifle over his shoulder, and remains silent. They stare at each other for a very long moment. And then Moran gives a weak little smile and heads out.
Jim waits on the roof for half an hour, staring across at the window where Moran is perched, waiting for the good doctor to return, like they know he will. Jim can just pick out Moran's dark hair and the pale shape of that strong jaw as the man settles into the stairwell, setting up his rifle and awaiting his target.
Jim's great regret in all of this is that he never got Sebastian Moran as his live-in one.
To fill the time, he plays some music on his phone and types out a suicide note.
-----
From the first, Sebastian Moran likes Jim Moriarty.
When Moriarty swaggers into the bar Sebastian has been frequenting since his return from Afghanistan and India, it takes an effort not to stare. He likes Moriarty's dark eyes, thin hips, and honesty about his business.
But he recognizes from that first meeting that he can't allow himself to get too involved with this slight little man. He knows getting too involved will destroy him. Despite feeling that somehow, he and Moriarty were meant to be-- to be partners, to be friends, to be more than friends-- Moriarty is burning himself to death, and Sebastian can see it. He's a fireball on the verge of complete combustion and every step he takes towards Sherlock Holmes, the closer he gets to complete destruction. If he gets himself wrapped up in that, Sebastian knows that'll be the end of him. He's spent half his life avoiding calamities like Jim Moriarty, and while he's happy for the work (it's thrilling, dangerous, and pays well), he refuses to get burned. He refuses to let Moriarty take him down.
So he hardly speaks when accepting jobs. He avoids Moriarty's eyes. He remains cool, distant, and unattached. He sees Moriarty disintegrating and forces himself to turn the other cheek. He can't save him and he knows he shouldn't try.
Moriarty takes him to dinners and parks and smiles at him. Sebastian's heart clenches every time, to see his boss trying so hard. But he's stronger than to give in.
So he doesn't.
Instead he assassinates people, straps bombs to innocents, kidnaps children and moves into a beautifully furnished apartment on Baker Street. Moriarty swings by often to check up on how things are with Sherlock Holmes and with the other assassins. He touches all of Sebastian's things.
Moriarty tells Sebastian to shoot John Watson, if need be, and Sebastian accepts without question. Jim Moriarty has his plans, and it's not for Sebastian to question him. He's not sure his boss understands the level of regard Sebastian has for him; he knows a genius when he sees one, and Moriarty is a genius. He wants to say something, after that... but he's not sure what. So he just gives a little smile and leaves.
Perched in the stairwell, he watches Holmes jump. He can't see it, but there's a sick thud as the detective hits the ground that he can hear even from the distance he's at. Once it's clear by the crowd and by Watson's crushed expression that Holmes is dead, Sebastian packs up his rifle and coolly walks away. A job well done.
But something worries at the back of his mind. So he strolls around the block and then wanders into St. Barts. He climbs the stairs to the roof, taking his time. Moriarty said he'd text once it was over, and it's over, and Sebastian's phone has been completely silent. He'd been expecting something triumphant and flirty; Holmes is dead. Let's have dinner. -JM perhaps. He'd been thinking that, with Holmes gone, maybe it would be safe to let Jim into his life.
He pushes open the door to the roof and it hits him like a brick wall that it's too late. Too late to have dinner with Jim Moriarty, too late to move in with him, too late to see what they could have been. Because Moriarty is dead, lying in a pool of his own blood.
Sebastian's seen dead bodies before, but this is different, somehow. It feels like something has been ripped out of him. He swallows down a surge of bile. Unable to understand why he's reacting this way, Sebastian sits on the roof by Moriarty for twenty minutes before he's able to pull himself together enough to tidy up the body.
As he's about to leave, corpse in his arms, the roof access door opens and Sherlock Holmes emerges. He stops, startled, and they stare at each other for a silent, still, minute before Holmes turns around and dashes back down the stairs.
"You better run!" Sebastian yells after him. "Because I'll be chasing you, Holmes! I'll chase you until you're dead under my hands! Properly dead!"
His great regret in all this is that he never gave Jim Moriarty a proper chance and now it's too late and his death was utterly for nothing. Holmes faked it. He's still alive.
Well, Sebastian decides, with force, not for long.