A/N: This was my entry into a competition on another writing website.
Round 4 - Captain: 5 July to 14 July
Prompt: We want a 1K (1000) min- 1.2 (1200) max one shot. Write us a dialogue between good vs. evil, a good old battle of wits. Here's the catch, it must be a crossover. So any 'good/heroic' character from any fandom versus any 'bad/villainy' character from any fandom. To clarify you do a crossover between two different fandoms.
OUTLANDER/SHERLOCK CROSSOVER
Good/heroic character- Outlander (Starz Television series- Seasons 1, 2 and part of 3)
Claire Randall/Frasier
Character's past is accurate until the middle of "Freedom and Whisky" (Season 3, Episode 5)
Bad/villainy character- Sherlock (BBC Television series- Seasons 1 and part of 2)
Moriarty
Character's past is accurate until the end of "The Hounds of Baskerville" (Season 2, Episode 2)
Claire faced the stones at Craigh Na Dun. Her heart was pounding. Her head felt clouded from the buzzing in her ears. To travel again through time to see Jamie was exciting and yet she was partially hesitant to touch the stones. What if she had missed her chance? What if he had moved on with his life and did not want her involved? She shook her head as if to physically remove all of her troublesome thoughts. The buzzing in her ears became louder and higher in pitch as she moved closer to the stones. The pitch began to hurt her ears and she stumbled towards the stone. She pressed her hand against the stone.
Light pierced her eyes as she gazed up into the sky. Claire sat up and looked around herself. There were new fences surrounding the stones. Perhaps between 1760 and 1960 the fences were removed as surely she would have noticed them in her own timeline. Claire stood and brushed off her skirts. She turned around to find something familiar to follow. She noticed a small crowd of people at the bottom of the hill. As she began to start forward she attempted to find their tartan to see if they were friend or foe. Claire faltered as she saw most of the crowd wearing denim jeans and shirts rather than kilts and cotton shirts. She moved towards the trees to hide among them and gather her thoughts. Nervous about where she had appeared in time and in history Claire decided to make her way to the closest township to understand where she was and what time she had entered into.
The town library was a large building with large shelves of dusty books and an area of chess boards that was reminiscent of a library in France she and Jamie had visited. Claire hurriedly moved to the archive section to find the town's newspaper archives. Claire's eyes darted across a collection of years- 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's- Claire stepped back at the sudden realisation that she had managed to time travel again however into the future rather than the past. She moved to the chess area and took a seat at a board.
"How am I ever to find Jamie? Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ Craigh Na Dun must be cursed. How did Geillis manage to go back in time and now I am stuck forward in time? Well done Claire, you've really outdone yourself this time." Claire sighed and rested her head in her hands. Claire took a breath and sat up to collect her thoughts. She jumped as she realised that a man with dark hair and dark eyes was sitting across from her and watching her.
"Can I help you?" Claire asked.
"Care to play?" the man looked at her, almost challenging her with his eyes.
"With whom am I playing with?" Claire inquired. She moved her white kingside bishop pawn forward one space and watched as he moved his king's pawn two spaces forward. He crossed his arms and sat with a small smirk twisted on his face.
"You may call me Moriarty. But I must admit. I refuse to enter a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent." He smiled, waiting for her to take the bait. Claire's hotheadedness got the better of her and she began her tirade back.
"I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid." Frustrated with this strange man she hastily moved her knight's pawn forward two places. He glanced at the board and scoffed.
"Are you naturally this dumb or do you have to put in effort? I could explain what you have decided to play on the board but I cannot understand it for you. In addition, I have neither the time nor the crayons to explain your chess mistakes to you. I suppose I could tell you something more interesting about yourself. After all, I don't mind a love story." Claire froze into position. How would this strange man understand what she is currently going through? If he knew about her current predicament; how did he know?
"Oh yes Claire, I am different to people around here however not different like you are. I know by looking at you that you are a lost woman seeking for a lost love. You are wearing what appears to be a style from a long time ago and whilst I understand in today's era people are entitled to style themselves in any matter, I don't believe your style was intended for a day and place like this one. I believe you are searching for information that you might find here. But you are searching in the wrong places. Good people aren't meant to find dangerous information like what you are looking for." He smiled at her some more increasing Claire's discomfort at the whole situation. She watched as he moved his fingers amongst all the pieces, not moving a single one but waiting and watching.
"Well this has been cryptic and uncomfortable but I think I am going to leave now." Claire moved to gather her few travelling items.
"You're not pretty enough to be that stupid. C'mon now. Surely somewhere in your mind you're curious about what I could have to offer you?" He leant back against his chair relishing in the power of the conversation.
"Fine," Claire begrudgingly took a seat. "What can you offer me?"
"What are you looking for precisely?" Moriarty looked at her, seemingly analysing her. Claire sat upright in her chair to appear more intimidating.
"You said you knew that I was looking for information and I was also looking for my so-called 'lost love'. What more do you need?" Claire was getting nervous. She started to plan her escape.
"There is no need to be frightened. My mind is a palace just needing certain areas to be unlocked by simple commands and sentences- very similar to opening the stones at Craigh Na Dun as Geillis Duncan had achieved, or as she was known more recently, Gillian." Claire stared at the man. How could he know of this knowledge? Was he similar to herself and Geillis and had managed to travel in time?
"Now, now Claire, don't do anything foolish. In fact, just one small move could change your whole life." Moriarty was toying with her surely. How could he know where she had come from and what she was doing?
"If one had used the stones as to step back through time, what did you do to step forward?" Moriarty sat his arms upon the table and rest his chin upon is hands. His Cheshire cat-like grin was unnerving.
"You're about as useful as a screen door to a submarine," Claire snapped and stood up abruptly. "If I had known what I had done differently I wouldn't be in this place! That's why I am here! I am trying to find an answer!"
"Who said I had one? I love playing games; my favourites are battle of wits." Moriarty smiled directly at Claire. He moved his black queen across the board, directly in line with Claire's white king.
"Checkmate."