Jim.-SM

Yes, Sebby dear? - JM

Jim. Call me. Can' txt. -SM

A mere second later and Sebastian's phone begins to ring "Eye of the Tiger" (James had changed it to that ringtone at one point as a joke).

The phone picked itself up, but nobody talked on the other line. There was only the soft creeking of a building in the backround and the shallow breathing that seemed farther away then it should have been.

The voice on the other end of the line was crisp and cool as ever, not giving the slightest waver...despite the slight increase in the man's pulse as he held his phone closer against his ear. "Sebastian, love, if this is a dirty phone call, I told you to wait until I'm finished with my work."

There was a long beat of silence, the only thing that could be heard beside a low creeking sound was the shallow intakes of breath and sharp outakes. Sebastion finally spoke, when he did it was strained and sounded painful. "J-Jim...Jam-J'ames...where are you...you alright...you sa-safe...?" Something rumbled in the backround, the creaking sounding more like the cracking of something big.

James sat forward in his large office charge, listening intently and having to push the volume up on his phone as high as it would go in order to hear those breathy words. Something in him was beginning to tighten in a most unfamiliar and uncomfortable way...but he did his best to ignore it, fighting for his steady, cold composure. "Of course I'm safe. Why wouldn't I be?" A beat and then; "Where are you? You were suppose to check in an hour ago."

There was a soft sigh, but it soon turned into a stiffled whimper. "Thats'good...glad you're fine..." There was a slight paniced whinning noise on the other line, the sound of something creeking and breaking in the backround became louder then the first time. "S-sorry Jimmy...I know..I know i'm never late...but...I had my reasons.." Ther was a rough cough after he stoped talking.

James' hand tightened around his mobile device as he stood abruptly to his feet, walking swiftly down the long hallway. To where...he didn't quite know. But there was a sense of urgency rising within him. "You know how I hate to be kept waiting," he growled sharply...and then, "Sebastian, tell me where you are /right now/."

There was a grunt of pain and another whimper. "Sor-sorry...just..just wanted to say I got the..got the last guy on our hitlist...wanted to say.." He coughed roughly as he cut off his sentence. "Wanted'say bye..." He squeaked when something heavy sounded hit the floor, sending a tremor through the air. "Wont..have to worry about being kept waiting anymore.." came Sebastians stuffled voice after a long pause.

James stopped dead where he was in the center of the hallway. For the very first time in as long as he could possibly remember, he felt a clawing sense of panic rising up inside of him. Making him nauseous. Causing him to look round and about him, as though some kind of answer to this rising hysteria might present itself. "Shut up," he snapped sharply into the phone. "Don't say that - don't talk like that! Do you understand me, Sebastian? Now tell me where you are!"

What sounded like bricks and wood could be heard falling to the ground, another low moan of pain escaped the Sniper on the line. "I followed our last guy, into some old riggidy b-building..." There as if to say that he was telling the truth came a loud creeking noise, making Moran whimper again in panic. "I-I got him..but he brought half the building down with him when he fell...me included..." He hissed in pain. "S-Stuck..m'pinned down Jimmy...can't move...this place is about to collapes..don't come..don't let anyone come...anybody steps into here..they'll bring the whole place down...only one person needs to die...s'okay James...s'okay.." There was a soft sniffle, wood and other debrie could still be heard falling at random.

His voice was no higher then a whisper by this point. "Always knew you'd be the death of me..." He chuckled sadly.

James swallowed. He couldn't breathe. He was starting to panic and he didn't know how to deal with this sensation. Clutching his phone tight to his ear, desperate to catch any words at all, he found himself starting to collapse back against the hallway wall. "Sebastian," he spoke raggedly and just the breath of the name made his heart give a strange, painful ache in his chest. "Don't..." He breathed inward and then, in a barely audible breath," ...please..."

"Don't have much of a choice mate..." He chuckled again. "Trust me...if I could move...I'd run the hell out of here but.." He stiffled a yelp of pain as he tried to move out from the broken wall that held him down. "Yeah..i'm not going anywhere..." He coughed again. "Listen to me...you go on...find a better and less stupid sniper.." His voice firmed over even though it was scratchy and rough from the screams of pain from earlier. "You...you go on...without me..." He hissed again once the building began to rumble in warning.

James shoved his fingers back into his hair, twisting his fingers into it hard, trying to fight against the pain that was now prominent in his chest. He felt his eyes beginning to sting with salt and he grit his teeth hard. "Seb, stop!" he snapped, somewhere in between a command and a desperate plea. "Tell me where you are - I will send someone for you. /I/ will come for you. Just tell me!" He drew a staggered, ragged breath that sounded so near a sob and the sound of the back of his head impacting hard with the wall behind him could be heard before he gasped out, "Seb, don't do this..."

He spoke gently, trying to keep the other man calm. "No..N-No...if anyone steps in here, this place will surely come down..." He coughed, spitting out the saw dust from his mouth. "No-body else has to die with me dammit...it's too unstable..." He whimpered like a wounded dog as he tried to crawl away from the shrieking walls and roof but was failing, his leg to tight under the stone wall. He couldn't feel it anymore, it felt numb. Alteast the pain was gone. "Jim...don't do anything stupid. You stay the hell away from here...my job is to keep you s-safe..here's me doing it..." He sighed, his voice trembling slightly. "For the...for the last time..."

James blinked his eyes several times, fighting back those traitorous tears that threatened to spill down his cheeks. Shoving himself away from the wall, he moved to stalk down the hallway in the direction of the main door. "I tell you what your job is and is not, Sebastian," he barked harshly - but there was a rawness to his tone that made his current state of being evident. "And right now your job is staying alive. Do you understand me? You stay alive and you wait for me because just as soon as I find you, I'm going to kill you myself!"

There was a painful laugh on the other line. "You're not ju-just annoying...but thi-thick too..." The cracking of the building was getting louder, shambles and tiled could be heard falling, the building itself rumbled. Sebastians voice came back on, it was fading in and out, the tiredness was clear when he spoke. "You-you can't even get in...the main wall fell on the entrance of the building...you have to be small to get through there...s'okay Jim...i'm not really wrothe the saving..."

"The fuck you're not," James returned sharply and the sounds of him getting into his car and turning it on could be heard in the background. The screech of tires alerted everyone around that he was a man in a considerable hurry. A very matter of life and death, as it were. He may not know the exact building where Sebastian was, but he knew where the target had last been spotted and he had a safe enough assumption that it would be near there.

"James..." He mumbled. "Ja-James Mori...Moriarty...do not come save me..." He whimpered against the surging pain again. "Please don't...you'll bring the damn building down..then we both die..."

There was an odd pause on the other end. The kind that, while silence may reign, there is palpable energy and meaning behind it. There was the small click of James attempting to swallow through a strangely dry throat and then, barely above a whisper, a singularly quiet word. "So?"

"So?...Jim, what the hell are y-you thinking..." Sebastion's breathing hitched as the building began to rattle slightly. The snapping of splinters and wood started in chorus. "Jim, turn around. Now." He whispered franticly.

James beat one hand hard against his steering wheel, desperately needing the pain to help remedy the ache he felt in his heart. He felt completely and utterly helpless, and 'helpless' was not a feel that James dealt well with at all. Nor was being so cruelly reminded that he'd made the terrible, horrible, wretched mistake and allowing himself to care. "Seb, please...don't do this. I need you. Please. I need to get to you. Let me find you."

"Dammit man!" Moran gave a fustrated growl. "Why the hell would you risk your bl-bloody life for me? I'm going to die..I don't need a damn death buddy to join in the blast-ed fun...I can't let you get hurt...not because of me..."

"And I don't want to do this without you!" James snarled in return, feeding off the other man's anger and trying to channel all of his fear and his concern and his panic into that emotion of rage. "This wasn't the plan! This wasn't how it was suppose to happen!"

"No duh genius...too tell you the truth..I wanted to die when I was older...retire from a life as a sniper...maybe get a house in hawaii...have a family...get a dog and name it after you..." He chuckled sadly. "Instead i'm going to die in a crumbled building...apperntly with my too-stubborn boss.."

"You'd better believe you are," James growled...and then his eyes fell upon the building. And he felt his heart sink deeper within him. The officers standing around weren't even attempting any rescues - they were simply guiding people back out of the way, knowing the building would fall at any moment. James' car screeched to a hault and he jumped from the car, slamming the door shut. His eyes were wide as his walk quickly sped up into a run as he jogged his way around the building, searching desperately for an entrance.

"Jim...Jim are you here...? Things are getting kinda fuzzy for me now..." Sebastian's words came slow and painfully. "J-James...stay outside...you can't come...even if you do, you can't lift the wall from my leg...it's too heavy. I've tried..."

"Then what am I suppose to do?" he demanded harshly. He moved back and forth around the building, like a dog fighting for any sign of a way in. Every entrance was either too small or filled with rubble and debris.'

"You stay there...and you simply let the building take me...thats all you can do...nobody wants to save me besides you. And you alone can't do it...m'sorry..." His wimpering and noises of pain were gone. He barley felt anything anymore. "Jimmy...don't try anymore..just let me go...s'okay..."

James turned round and about. No. He wasn't accepting this. He was getting Sebastian out. He wasn't allowing himself this defeat. He just needed...something... All of a sudden his eyes landed on a familiar black car and he felt every instinct in him telling him to run and hide. His body tensed as he watched that tall, familiar man step from his car...but then he brought the cellphone back to his mouth as he muttered, "Don't let go. Not yet. I'm getting you out." Then, with a movement of his finger, he was pushing the disconnect button.

Sebastion blinked slowley staring at the phone near by. "Did he just hang up on me...?" He simply stared, he couldn't compute that Jim would do that NOW of all times. He sighed, resting his head on the ground. "Idiot. I swear, i'm haunting his little ass for life." He made a hmpf, but did was he was told. He waited paitently for his demise...or for his rescue.

Mycroft Holmes tensed the moment he saw the man coming towards him at a quick gate. He clutched his umbrella tightly and looked ready for some kind of battle...but James snapped sharply, "Get your men in there! Now! There's someone still in there!" Mycroft narrowed his eyes at him and cooly murmured, "Is this your doing?" James grit his teeth hard as he stared down the other man. "Doesn't really matter if it is or it isn't, does it? Because I'm placing myself in your custody. Sorry about the little plane mishap. All in good fun, I assure you -" His gaze darkened and he growled. "But there is a man in there, and you have to send your men in to get him out NOW." Mycroft tilted his head slowly, suspicious and on his guard. "And if I do?" James lifted his chin. "Then I come with you peacefully. No more tricks. No more running. Nothing more. You take me in and do with me whatever the hell you will." Mycroft eyed him for several long seconds,then turning his head, he called out sharply,"Get your team inside! There's somebody left in there. NOW! Before this whole thing collapses."

Moran's half vacent eyes watched the building begin to sway dangerously. He ighed, feeling his time was up. "Here we go..." he mumbled sadly. "Damn...I didn't even get to tell James goodbye..." He closed his tired eyes and waited, he curled in on himself, leaving only his crushed leg out of his ball. He knew time was up, and gave in to his assumed death.

"He's over here! This way!" A voice called out into the murky gloom of the building. "Hurry! Get that stretcher over here! Now! This whole place is going to go!" A team of five men moved quickly over the rubble towards the beaten, battered, limp man. One of them took hold of Moran while the others set to work on the wall, trying to ease it off. "On the count of three, you lift and I'll pull him outward. One...two...three!" Outside, James didn't even bother looking down as a pair of handcuffs were slipped about his wrists, his eyes trained unblinking and steadfast on the small manner of an entrance that the team had passed through.

Sebastian blinked the blurriness out of his eyes, he could barley function, yet alone figure out just what the hell was happening. He heard muffled yells around him, his hearing gone to just loud ringing. He stared mutely at the five men getting him through the broken wall, not even flinching when he was pulled away from it. Through the whole rescue he was silent, his eyes open but unseeing. Everything was a blur. He stared at his leg, suprized to see it was still conected to his body, it was so numb though. He looked up as the building began to crumble on itself, making the team gun it with him in the stretcher. Just as the ground began to melt aound them, they quickly had sped out through a hole in the entrance, running out as fast as they could to a safe distance as the building finally gave out on itself, collapsing to the floor.

James felt his heart slam against his chest hard as the stretcher was hefted outward and he saw the entire team go skidding to the ground to avoid the explosion...Moran's limp body in the stretcher they carried that slipped to the ground. He made a move in that direction but Mycroft's hand caught hold of his arm tightly. He looked back at the other man and sneered darkly. "Let me see him," he ordered in that quiet, deadly tone that made most cower. Well, Mycroft certainly wasn't a man to cower...but nevertheless he eased his hold and just as soon as James could move free of his grasp, he was making his way quickly towards Sebastian's side, shoving the men that surrounded him back and out of his way as he went down onto his knees, manacled hands clasping at one bloodied, bruised hand. "Sebastian...?"

Tired and dim eyes turned to the voice he knew so well, he felt warm hands gently holding on to his. He whimpered, the impact to the ground had jumbled a broken rib that scratch at his lung. He coughed painfully, ignoring the blood that ran down his lips. His dark green eyes focused on the dark ones of Moriarty's for the first time in hours. He smiled weakly up at his friend who he truley thought he'd never see again. "My God...you actually came..." He blinked. "I'm...I'm alive...?"

"I told you that you weren't allowed to die," James replied coolly, even despite the fact that his whole body felt as though he might just collapse with relief. But not out here. Not now. Not with Mycroft Holmes looking on from only a mere few feet away.

Moran chuckled painfully, squeezing Jim's hand with a weak grip. "Determined little bastard, i'll give you that..."

"Rest Sebby..you've had a long day..." He patted the snipers hand before looking back at Mycroft. "Seb..I have to go now...I'm sorry, after all this I leave you.."

Sebastian nodded. "S'okay...I'll see you soon though...right...?" He peeked one eye open, noticing the Senior Holmes behind Moriarty and everything clicked. "Oh...James...don't tell me you-"

James cut him off, knowing the rant that was comming. "Yes I did..for you. It was the only way Seb...I'll be fine. They wont hurt me."

Sebastian was too tired to argure, simply nodded, letting his eyes close. "When i'm better...I'll come for you...promise..."

Jim smirked before leaning down to whisper in his ear. "You wont have to love. Trust me. I'll see you soon Sebby...i'm truley glad you're alright. Now rest Moran. Thats an order." He grinned.

Sebastian rolled his eyes weakly, but did what he was told. "See you soon Jimmy...and thanks...for saving me...for being thick enough to care.."

Jim smiled, getting up to walk back to the still waiting older Holmes. "Of course darling, but It's you alone. I made an exception for you." He grinned again before leaving his Sniper's side to the medics. He chuckled, so reilved all was right again. Sebastion was safe, thats all he needed. He quietly stepped into the waiting black car, giving Mycroft a wink as he did.