The black silence was almost sickening. One could liken it to the moments prior to an old-fashioned duel between two gunslingers at high noon. Neither man moved a muscle, or said a word, or sneezed or coughed or anything. At a glance, one may have performed a double take to make certain suspended animation was not at work in that narrow London alley.

One mouth downturned. The right side of the other curled upward into a curious smirk.

Both men wondered whether the other would speak first. One's stubble upon his upper lip twitched in anticipation. The other man's lips briefly parted, but quickly closed once again.

The stubbled man chuckled. "Cat got your tongue, detective?"

"...It's been a long time."

Jim rolled his eyes. "Oh, for heaven's sake, Sherlock, if I knew you were going that route…"

"You didn't have to come if you didn't want to."

"Maybe I wouldn't have if you were going to treat this like a family reunion."

Holmes dug his hands into the pockets of his long Belstaff. "Please. You would have come for anything."

"Okay, you've got me." Jim casually threw his hands into the air. "I was a bit bored. What is a man to do after he's faked his death for three years? ...Well, I suppose you'd know, Sherly." Jim received no reply. Once again his lips curled into a devious grin. "How did John take it?"

"Which part?"

"Honey, I've got all the time in the world."

Sherlock sighed. "Well, in short, after I'd disappeared, he moved on with his life, met a woman, fell in lo-" He stopped, almost choking over his words. "They were happy together."

Moriarty held back a snicker.

"And when I returned, he proceeded to beat me senseless. Multiple times."

"It would almost have been better if you'd never come back at all."

It was a taunt. Anyone could see that. Sherlock stuttered briefly. "N-no, it wouldn't have."

A pause appeared between the two, but Jim finally burst out into a fit of hearty laughter. "You do love him! You still do!"

"He's my best friend!"

"He was your boyfriend!" Tears began to flow from the criminals chocolate eyes. "Oh, that's rich! That's bloody rich! Sherlock Holmes is jealous of a woman!"

Sherlock shook his head firmly. "I never saw him like that!"

"Oh, Sherlock, you've always seen him like that."

Sherlock ceased in his protesting, eyes locked on the ground.

"You're just so bloody blind that you don't even know when you're in love."

Jim almost jumped when the detective's head raised, gaze now locked with Jim's own eyes. The curly-topped Sherlock began to storm toward the consulting criminal. Jim began to back away, laughing as his suit jacket was gripped.

"What are you gonna do? Kiss m-"

The first thing that Jim Moriarty felt after that moment was the brick wall meeting his back. The second was quite possibly the softest, smoothest pair of lips he had ever felt against his own. The man's eyes shot open more widely than ever before. After what felt like hours, he let his eyelids close. Sherlock's lips released briefly before again pressing against the other's. Jim let out a soft moan as his hand leisurely reached for the tousled mop of brown upon the detective's head.

The villain's hand went flying back into the wall behind him, wrist held firmly in place by another hand. Jim was confused, but he allowed the dominant gesture, letting another muffled moan escape as the detective's other free hand moved down toward his backside, gracing it with its gently fingers before moving to Jim's waist.

Sherlock went even further, pressing his chest gently against Jim's, pushing him even more firmly against the brick wall in the alley. This only excited Jim even more, the man's heart fluttering.

Before he knew it, Jim Moriarty had lost himself in the hold of his own mortal enemy.

And he didn't mind a bit.

Holmes let the man he now held against a wall moan a few more times before he finally released him, first letting go of Jim's right wrist, then gradually slipping his lips away, lingering on Jim's lower lip for a little while.

A thud came upon the concrete ground. Jim was utterly dazed, eyes still closed, but he returned to awareness as a whisper blew gently across his left ear.

"I'm glad you're back. I was so bored."

The dizzy man opened his eyes to the wall across the alleyway. He was the sole animate being left in the darkness. Jim smirked, removing the homing device from his buttocks, and stood from the ground. "Nice try, Sherl. But a little ecstasy isn't going to distract me that much." The man prepared to throw the miniscule disk into the bin a few feet away, but he stopped himself. "Although, you are a pretty good kisser." Jim stuck the device back onto his rear, chuckling as he walked back toward Sebastian's place.

"Let's do this again sometime."