They were running. On the surface, James Moriarty doesn't seem like a running man, but he secretly enjoys it. He will only run, however, under one situation with only one man.

Sebastian ran alongside Jim. Both were breathing heavily after jumping from a building and taking off after a guard discovered them. It was rare when someone noticed their presence, but secretly, they lived for it. They were so perfect in their jobs that sometimes, the adrenaline from making a mistake was much needed and appreciated.

Admittedly, they looked somewhat ridiculous, Jim running in his posh suit and tie and Sebastian keeping up, decked out in black.

Jim looked behind him at the bulky guard, barely keeping up. He smiled his devious grin and ran ahead of Sebastian towards a fence. As he jumped on a crate and over the fence he yelled back at his sniper, "Jump!"

Sebastian followed Jim and they rounded a corner. The pair looked around and saw the guard holding a gun towards them. Jim smiled at guard then promptly ducked behind the sheild of the corner just before the guard pulled the trigger.

"Missed me," he sang deviously from behind the corner.

At that moment a black car pulled up and Jim and Sebastian stepped inside and sat down. They were both still a little breathless from the run, but suddenly they were both laughing.

"You need to loosen up more often, Boss, you're much more fun this way," Sebastian said as he removed his leather gloves.

"I don't need to loosen up, I'm always relaxed," Jim replied scathingly while loosening his skull patterned tie.

"And that's why you've been to the hair dresser twice in the past three months without getting a haircut."

"Shut up. You try ruling European crime and see how well you age."

Sebastian simply smiled in reply as he began pouring two glasses of champagne.

"To a fucked up hit."

"A fucked up hit."

They clinked their glasses together and unceremoniously downed the alcohol.

"But in all seriousness, Boss, we will have to try again in a couple weeks."

"Obviously," Jim answered superciliously, "but this time it will be more fun, since the target's bound to have heightened his security twofold after this."

"Hmm, we should screw up more often then," Sebastian said while pouring himself more champagne. "No offense, but work's been a bit boring lately."

"For you maybe, but it's been too goddamn stressful for me."

"Please, the brilliant James Moriarty, master of crime and illegality, stressed out?"

"Like I said before, you try ruling Europe and see how it feels."

"Rather not, Boss. That's your job."

Jim only sighed in response. He drank more champagne as his face slowly tightened, his eyebrows pulling in, his frown lines deepening, and the corners of his mouth pulling down.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Seb asked cautiously.

"Talking doesn't help. You know that, Seb," Jim replied as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You could try it," Sebastian responded. "For once in your life," he added under his breath.

"Fine then," Jim said argumentatively, "The Italians want me to take out a parliament member who's been trying to interfere with the Neo-Nazis there, but he also owes me a favour which will be very useful when I decide to call it in. The Albanians want me to shut down the police investigation into their prostitution ring. The Russians want me to find a place to hide their bombs while they finalize their plan to blow up the arche de la defence. I'm trying to expand further into China and Japan, but the smugglers are meeting resistance in England since Sherlock cracked their code. And speaking of our old friend, he's solved five of my most interesting murders in the past month and is currently working on the sixth."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't say you're sorry, it's not your fault the world is filled with idiots," Jim snapped.

"Well I'm going to say I'm sorry because your life is currently shit and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Well of course there's nothing you can do. The best you could do is kill them all."

"And you know I would."

"And that's why I keep you around."

"Really? Because I was under the impression you enjoy my company," Sebastian said jokingly.

"But I really do, Seb. And coming from a psychopath, that's a big compliment," Jim replied seriously.

"Well then, take some advice from a friend- because that's what you just described- and take some time off work. Relax. Take a vacation. Sleep in... or whatever you do for rest. My point is, crime will always be there, so take a day off for yourself."

Jim sat pensively for a moment, organizing the pros and cons of Seb's plan in his head.

"You know what, Seb? I think I just might."