Sebastian Moran looked down at the man who lay on the roof, a crimson pool flowing from the back of his head. It was definitely him, no doubt about it. Moran knew every inch of his employer and he'd watched the events on the rooftop unfold through his sniper's scope, powerless to stop any of it. It was him. Jim Moriarty. Dead.
Moriarty's eyes were still open, but completely vacant. Sebastian leaned down and closed them softly with his fingertips. He checked Jim's pulse, in faint hope that he was alive, but the size of the pool of blood had already confirmed what he knew. He was gone.
For the first time in his life, Sebastian Moran felt something akin to heartbreak. He'd never got close enough to anyone before to care about them so much. He felt a lump rise in his throat and looked up at the pale blue sky, blinking rapidly to clear his eyes of the water that had suddenly decided to fill them. He ran both hands through his dark blonde hair and forced himself to breathe. He was annoyed with himself for getting emotional, he was a soldier, a sniper, impeccably calm and reasoned at all times; so why was he acting like this all of a sudden?
Sebastian crouched down next to Jim's body. His knees were in the blood and the deep red liquid soaked into his combat trousers, but Sebastian didn't care. All that mattered was that the man he had come to trust, respect, care for...maybe even as far as Love, was dead.
Tears finally spilled over the edge of Sebastian's lower eyelids. They ran down his scarred cheeks and blurred his vision, but he let them fall.
"you..." he choked out the words, addressing Jim's lifeless body, "you left me alone...and...I thought...you'd always be there for me. But now...you can't be." Sebastian sniffed and wiped his eyes with a grimy hand. "I always thought I'd be the one...the one who went first. I was always the one in danger...Oh god would you look at me now." he laughed through the tears that still fell from his deep green eyes "if you could see this Jim...you'd laugh...I'm being ridiculous."
Sebastian stood up and wiped his face on his white tshirt. He breathed out, a long, slow sigh.
"when you found me...I was so alone. Now I'm alone again...but I owe you so much. You fixed it for me Jim...Thank you. Goodbye, Jim." he walked a few paces from his former employer, then turned to face him and saluted.
Sebastian walked towards the door that lead down from the roof and opened it, he then descended the stairs while making a call on his mobile phone.
"I need the two of you to go and get the body...clear everything up...no not later, you will do it now...I'll bury him tonight...place he loved...overlooking the sea...No, I'll dig the grave myself."
He snapped shut the phone and silently made his way through the lobby of St Bart's and out through the front door, not looking back.