Chapter Text
So much feelings were rushing through Jim's heart and mind! He needed to get to his tiger as soon as he could! He needed to tell him everything, he had to see if they still had a chance... They must have a chance! Jim knew for sure that Sebastian loved him with all his heart! Sebastian was his body and soul, all Jim had to do was accept him. And now Jim was ready to do that, now Jim was ready to accept love.
He took two-three stairs in one stride, impatient to start feeling alive again, impatient to sink deeply into Sebastian's embrace again!
He rang the doorbell.
Nothing.
He rang it again.
Silence.
"Sebastian?" Jim uttered nervously, knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell at the same time. "Sebby? Please, I need to talk to you." he said
Surely Sebastian was still drunk like he had found him a week ago. Maybe he was so drunk he couldn't hear Jim. Jim rolled his eyes, imagining how he had to wait for his sniper to get sober again before he could have a proper conversation with him. But then he just smiled and bit his lip at the thought of how happy the two could be from now on.
When there was still no reply Jim tried the door handle. It was open. Jim got in the apartment. It was quiet. The light was dim, almost nonexistent. Jim took a few steps forward. He felt this terrible smell! His love was stronger than that though! He'd just have to make Sebastian take a shower; or maybe they could take one together...
There was a strange feeling in Jim's stomach as the smell painfully reminded him of something else... The stench of a rotting corpse!
Jim got to the living room where he could see Sebastian's leg from behind the couch. Yeah, the man was still spending his days lying on the floor! Seriously, Moran!
Why were Jim's legs trembling like this?
He took a few more shaky steps into the room. The smell got thicker. He circled the couch, holding his breath. His eyes went wide and his hands reached up to his mouth to stop him from screaming.
Sebastian was lying on the floor. There was a pool of blood that Jim could not see a second ago when he first entered the room. Sebastian was dead. Not dead drunk. Just dead. There was a bullet whole in his head. His expression was pained.
Jim was forcing himself to shut his eyes, to not see this anymore! But the calculations were swirling in his brain, deductions, logic; his brain was frantically assessing everything, providing him with every detail of what had happened to the man he loved. It was painfully obvious to Jim that Sebastian had been dead for some time now... by the looks of it, a day, his brain supplied. Jim's heart was not spared any detail - the angle of the shot, the hand that pulled the trigger, the type of gun (present from Jim, oh, cruel irony!), the approximate time of death, even how long it took him to die... All this information that his well trained mind could supply was forced into his head like a hot iron blade!
It all made sense, if you think about it. Sebastian's heartbreak. Sebastian without Jim. Sebastian having no reason to breathe any longer. Sebastian waiting for Jim to send his men to kill him. Sebastian finishing off what Jim could never start. Sebastian being the good right-hand man that he was, had executed his own murder by himself...
He could not have done it earlier - Severin was visiting him regularly, every day, Jim knew this. Severin was preventing him from doing this earlier. but the day Sev could not come was the day of Richie's birthday. And Sebastian was clever enough to know that. Sebastian always knew the best day to execute a murder. He knew the exact time he had to shoot. He had excellent timing. And he calculated this one brilliantly. It all made sense, if you think about it. But Jim could not think about it. Jim would not think about it.
Moriarty could not stop staring at the dead body of the man he loved more than anything in the world. The distant thought that his own hands were covered in blood hit him and he realized that at some point he had knelt down and took Sebastian's head in his hands, holding it close to his chest. He didn't even know he was doing that until he saw he had already done it.
Sebastian's eyes were still open but Jim did not have the strength to close them. Most people close the eyes of their dead loved ones because their dead gaze was torture to them; Jim Moriarty found a strange comfort in seeing Sebastian's eyes for one last time.
He spent the rest of the night of his birthday with Sebastian Moran's corpse in his embrace. His mind was (for the first time) completely blank.
===
They were found like this by Severin the next afternoon when he came to visit.
The shock was impossible to describe. Severin was a lot more vocal in his pain than Jim was but the force of the feelings of both men was equally strong.
Severin had to drag Jim away from Sebastian's corpse. Jim didn't want to let go, he put up a fight. He had to be injected with a soporific so that they could restrain him because he got too violent when he was forcefully separated from his sniper.
The next months were not easy for any of the boys.
===
"How is he?" Severin asked.
"Same... mostly... " Rich sighed, giving Severin a quick kiss.
"You seem surprisingly calm" Sev noted.
"I got used to it, actually..." Rich said, frowning. "Is that bad? I got used to my brother being... like this for the last two years?"
Severin held him tightly, knowing that he needed the comfort and support. "It's not bad. It's being realistic."
Richie hugged him back, feeling in his scent. "I just wish he had a distraction. Something to make him stop thinking of Sebastian all the time..."
"I know..." Sev agreed "I mean, I had you to help me get through it. What does he have?"
"Me?"
"Not the same, Richie. He lost the man he loved." Sev said and sighed "I just wish Seb knew how much Jim truly cared. I can't help but feel angry about that! He died, thinking Jim didn't care..."
"No." Rich shook his head "I think he died, thinking Jim would never make up his mind to admit how much he cared. But I'd like to think Sebastian knew the rest..."
Sev placed a gentle kiss on Richie's forehead. "That's a nice thing to think. But if he knew that, he'd fight for Jim, he wouldn't shoot himself... " he shut his eyes closed "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry..."
"No, you were good to my brother." Rich said "Considering everything I expected you to not want to see him or me anymore."
"I love you, Richie! I needed some time to heal this wound but I could not go on without you!" he said, meaning every word "And Jim-- he suffered enough. I don't dare show up around him because I don't want to remind him of Sebastian. I know how painful that would be to him."
"Thank you for that"
"And I really hope he finds his distraction."
===
The name is Sherlock Holmes. The address is 221B Baker street.
Occupation: consulting detective (what the hell!? Was that a thing!?)
Likes: logic, crimes, murders, playing the violin, John Watson.
Dislikes: everything else.
Those were the details of Jim Moriarty's 'distraction'.
Sherlock Holmes was the first thing that got Moriarty out of his severe depression after Sebastian's death. He was the thing that made Jim get up and put on a suit again. He was the thing that made Jim reconstruct his crime network again. He was Moriarty's new obsession. And Richie welcomed it! Oh, how he welcomed it!
Richie was pleased. It's been five years since Sebastian's suicide and honestly after trying so many things to help his brother, Richie had lost hope. This detective was a godsend! Richie went as far as helping Jim in his plans for Sherlock - something he'd never even considered before. But now it was helping Jim!
There were trials, there were people in and out of Jim's house every time Richie came to visit him. It was hard to keep track. But Richie was pleased. Jim looked as if he had a reason to live again!
And then there was the terrible news! Jim Moriarty was dead - shot himself in the head. Sherlock Holmes was dead too - jumped from the very same building where Jim blew his brains out!
Richie was devastated. Severin had a lot of consoling to do.
The picture was clear now. Sherlock Holmes did not help his brother. Sherlock Holmes was merely a grand way for Jim to end himself - one of those genius master plans that bordered on art that Jim liked so much. He never got over Sebastian and now he found a dramatic way to join him.
===
Two years later...
"Are you sure about this?" Severin asked Richie once again.
Rich nodded.
"Really sure?" he had to ask again "It's not going to be easy, Richie. This will be so hard on you emotionally..."
"I know" Rich interrupted him "But Holmes is alive, Sev. Holmes is alive and back! Not a scratch! And my brother isn't. My brother is dead! I can't just let them all get away with this! They have to pay! I just can't--"
"I know. Okay." he kissed him. "As long as you're ready."
Richie took a deep breath and nodded firmly. "I'm ready." he said determinedly "Play it!"
Severin did.
Not a second later all the screens in London had Jim's face on them.
Did you miss me? Did you miss me? Did you miss me? ...
~ The (alternative) End ~