seb's actions might seem a little (or a lot) out of place, but i figure anyone who gets along with jim needs a little insanity.
warning for use of a homophobic word.
i'm not a military expert. my apologies if i got anything wrong.
i told you i was brave (but i lied)
in which sebastian moran needs a job and jim moriarty doesn't like to get his hands dirty.
When Sebastian meets Jim Moriarty, it is by chance, as all major events in his life tend to happen. His American mother died in a crash because she decided to break her strict schedule and leave five minutes early. He joined the army because of a fight at a pub and a stranger said he fights like a soldier.
Though—at the time—Sebastian does not think meeting Jim is truly a "major event" in his life; he's just a bloke he (quite literally) ran into. But he has a feel for people and Jim seems like a decent man. He is passionate about his beliefs and there is fire in his heart. There aren't many people who still hold conviction and Seb despises the people who don't.
So when Seb runs into Jim the third time (not literally) and he asks if he would like to grab a pint, Seb can't find a way to say no.
.
(What Sebastian doesn't know is this: it was never chance for Jim.)
.
Seb needs a job. His last one—working at a deli—lasted the longest after he was discharged (not honorably) from the army. But he's bored and craves adrenaline and he can't find that in London, despite how hard he (occasionally) tries.
He contemplates moving to America for a bit, but that notion does not sit for long. London boils in his veins and he doubts that he would find something in America that he can't find in London.
After two weeks of searching for a job and still facing unemployment, Seb starts to regret beat up that bastard who called his friend a fag.
(This isn't the first time he regrets it, either.)
.
On his way to his flat, back from an interview, Seb accidently runs into some man fixated on his mobile, knocking him down.
"Sorry," he says, as he helps the man up, already aching to be gone.
He grins easily, and grabs his phone on the way up. "Oh, it's fine. I wasn't looking where I was going."
Seb grins back—less easily—and tries to continue on his way; he does not enjoy small talk with strangers. Or anyone, really, and this man looks like he wants to have a deep conversation. "Sorry, I have to hurry. I have an interview I can't be late for." A lie, obviously, but he doesn't want this man to follow him home.
"Of course, of course." He steps aside and Sebastian eyes his way, not noticing the dangerous gleam in the man's eyes. "My apologies."
He nods idly and leaves without another word.
.
The second time they meet (at Tesco), Sebastian gets his name.
"Jim Moriarty," he says with that easy smile.
"Sebastian Moran."
They shake hands, and Seb tries to look interested and not impatient about this slow queue.
"Are you in the army?"
"What?" Seb glances at him, defensive and surprised that he could guess that. "How do you know?"
"I had a mate at college who joined the army." Jim waggles his fingers comically in Seb's direction. "You have the same vibe he does—strong, in control."
He nods, and stares at the box of crackers in his hands. "I'm not in the army anymore. I got discharged for defending my friend."
He glances back to see Jim's forehead crease in—confusion? Sympathy?—before smoothing over.
"I'm sorry," he says seriously.
Sebastian makes no reply, and they don't say anything the rest of the time.
.
When Sebastian meets Jim the third time, he asks if Seb would like to get coffee.
"It is just," Jim says, floundering and giddy and nervous, "perhaps we were meant to know each other."
And Seb—who believes in chances, who (perhaps, secretly) craves friendship—takes a (final) leap and says, "Yes."
.
"You mentioned, last time, that you were discharged because you defended a friend." Jim fidgets nervously and fingers the top of his mug uneasily. "Was—I mean—"
Seb would have laughed at how silly Jim looks if he were the laughing type. (He smiles, but he pretends that he doesn't.) Instead, he says, "Some bastard called him a fag. He didn't do anything about that, so I did." He pauses and takes a sip of the tea. "My superiors do not appreciate volatile people on the field, so they told me my time was up."
"Do you miss it?"
He shrugs. Sebastian loves high risk situations, loves the feel of having someone's life in his hands. His sniper became an extension of himself, and his partner became his brother. The whole army became his family, and he misses that, too.
(His dad was never around, especially after his mum died.)
Jim waits patiently for an answer and so—eventually—Sebastian says that yes, he does miss the army.
He smiles, and does not look like a man who fidgets and offers easy grins. He looks dangerous and wild, like an animal trying to break out of its cage.
"Would you like to see some more?"
And Sebastian—who trusts Jim Moriarty because he (must) still be the same person who has fire in his heart, despite the sudden (and drastic and unexpected and curious) personality change, because Jim Moriarty must be a decent man, because he needs somewhere to belong again—warily nods, tightening his grip on his beer.
There is a long pause where Jim stares into his cup. "Well then," he eventually murmurs. "I guess we found our man."
.
Jim takes him far out of London, up North, until they reach Scotland. No one says a word, and Seb keeps contemplating what, exactly, he is getting into.
.
("My last sniper was incompetent," Jim says.
"What happened to him?" Seb asks.
Jim's smile is fierce and wolfish. "Well, he's not my only gunman.")
.
Sebastian spends a week at the house learning the ins and outs of Jim's crime syndicate and when he's left alone (more or less—he's always escorted by a gaurd), he wonders if there is a chance to get out before it is too late.
(He wonders if he would take that chance if it ever came.)
But the more he learns—the more the members talk about how much they love it, how they feel like they belong—the less he wants to leave. He is given a sniper gun: the L115A3, which he used during his service.
(When he holds it for the first time in over a year, he caresses it like a baby and does not care who sees.)
He is taken on missions—once with Jim, three times with one of his other high ups—and doing them—protecting his brothers-in-arms, fighting for what he (truly) believes in—
Everything, Sebastian thinks, is perfect.
.
Jim comes to him, a month after he was brought to Scotland. "So, Sebastian Moran. Do you like what you see?"
And Seb—who believes in chances, who trusts this man with the fire and conviction in his heart, who has been given a second chance at living and doing what he loves—looks James Moriarty in the eyes and says, "Yes."
He never once looks back.