Starcrossed lovers

Chapter 1

Jim Moriarty was in a towering temper. Why did everybody have to be so incredibly stupid? He had stormed out in the middle of a supposedly important meeting and now he was stalking the streets of London, looking for something, or better yet, someone, to break. When he spotted his favourite consulting detective his mood changed rapidly from grim to gleeful. Time for some fun.

Sherlock wasn't necessarily out on a case, but he was out deducing nonetheless. He meant to go out and actually find a case, but nothing good had turned up, and what little did, was quickly found dismissible. He wandered around, something he usually never did, taking in the feel of the cool air. It was odd, not having something to do. He was somewhat bored but found comfort, almost, in being completely relaxed, spending time doing nothing.

Jim followed Sherlock at a safe distance waiting for him to turn down a less crowded street. When the detective obliged, he quickly closed the gap between them, moved up alongside Sherlock, slid his arm through his, leaned into him and murmured. "Just keep walking."

Sherlock glanced at Moriarty. He rolled his eyes but a small smirk made its way onto his lips. At least this was a promise of something interesting.

Jim steered Sherlock down a side street and into a small pub, with only a few people. He indicated a table and went to get them both a pint. Sherlock sauntered to where he was directed, giving Jim a slight scoff before departing. He was completely unsure of what he wanted with him. Jim wasn't unreadable, not all the time anyways. But he wasn't predictable, either.

Jim brought the pints down and deposited one in front of Sherlock before sitting down across from him. He raised his own glass and nodded. Sherlock didn't touch his glass, just eyed the other suspiciously.

"Might I ask, what you want with me?"

Jim shrugged and drank. He wiped the foam from his upper lip with the back of his hand and put down the glass. "I want to talk. Just us. No John, no bombs, no missile plans or big brothers."

Sherlock sipped at his drink, not really in the mood for it. "Well this sounds like fun." He replied nonchalantly. "What about?"

"You. Me. What we could accomplish together if I could just convince you, that you're on the wrong side in all of this." Jim smiled winningly.

"I could say the same about you." Sherlock placed his glass down again. He avoided looking at the criminal, keeping his eyes on the bubbles in his glass instead.

"By all means then: convince me!" Jim thought for a moment, then perked up as if a wonderful idea had just occurred to him. "Let's play a game! You tell me one reason why I should come over to your side, and then I'll give you one why you should join me. After each round we'll agree who made the best case, and we'll keep score." He chuckled, this could indeed be fun.

"Delightful." Sherlock kept his gaze down, not really in the mood for entertaining the madman, but having nothing better to do. "I'd say helping people is rather nice, but I don't do this to help people."

"That's not really a compelling reason. Are you gonna go with that? Because then I'll easily win the first round."

If Sherlock was going to go ahead with this, he needed to set some things straight first: "What happens to the loser?"

"Ooh," Jim perked up. This sounded like the detective was really going to play. He loved a good game, and he so rarely got to play with anyone even remotely his equal. "I don't know. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Not really, that's why I asked you." A smile tugged the corners of his lips. If he was going to play a game, he'd at least want to be playing for something worth winning.

"Okay. If you win, I'll keep a low profile this side of the channel for the next two months. No consulting, no bombing, nothing!" Jim held out his hands in a mock gesture of surrender. "But what will you give me if I win?"

"I probably wouldn't give you a thing. Suppose you should fight so you don't have to lose."

"I'm not doing this if there is nothing in it for me." Jim considered. "How about lending me your pet for a week?"

Sherlock sighed. sometimes Moriarty was predictable. "He would refuse."

"Not a problem."

"Not a problem if he refuses? Can't see how that's a win."

"As long as I have your word, you're not gonna come looking for him. Give me time to have my fun. Don't worry. I won't break him... much."

"Don't think I can promise you someone else."

Jim pouted... "Okay, so no pet..." then he smiled wickedly. "Oh, I know: if I win, I want... you." His grin made it quite obvious that this had been his intention all along.

Sherlock leaned back in his seat, looking Jim over. "I'm not doing any of your ridiculous work."

"That's not what I mean. If you ever join me, I want it to be by choice. Though after this you might be more inclined to." He smiled again. "No, what I want if I win is you. To do with whatever I want. For 24 hours. All mine." He raised a suggestive eyebrow and then laughed. "But if you're scared you're gonna lose then..."

Sherlock leaned forward, almost laughing. "I'm not scared, but I'm not going to choose to be on your side. So how do we weigh in points?"

"We could bring in an impartial judge, but that might get messy. We're just gonna have to be honest and agree, objectively, who makes the best argument."

"I'd say I'm a bit more honest than you." Sherlock wanted to win, of course but he wasn't entirely worried about losing this. To give himself over to Moriarty? The thought was rather intriguing...if that was the right word.

"You can trust me in this. When I play I never cheat. Winning is no fun if you cheat. So, you accept my terms? All of them?" He smiled eagerly.

"Suppose I do." He was tempted to stick out his hand to shake on it, but decided against it. "Go on."

"You start, remember?" Jim leaned back, arms crossed expectantly.

"Since I'm playing for the good side I suppose, whether I decide I'm on a side or not... you wouldn't have to hide. I'm assuming hiding gets boring after a while... While on this side, when you do have to hide, it's exciting."

Jim nodded. That was actually a good point. "Okay," he said and stretched dramatically. "My turn: if you were on my side, there would be no rules and regulations restricting you."

"True, but I don't typically restrict myself with rules or regulations." Sherlock kept his face neutral, though he was amused. "Point for me or...?"

"Well you made a good point, but let me just add: you are restricted by rules; those of your brother and those of Scotland Yard, because if you don't play along, they'll cut you off from the work you so desperately need. But I'll be nice and give you this one, because you're right: living in hiding can be quite a bitch sometimes." He pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, drew a line down the middle and made an 'x' on one side.

Sherlock cocked an eyebrow. Had he been planning this all along?

"How kind. You could let your talent show all the time, unless you like acting the fool... but suppose that goes back to hiding. You get to see the happy looks on everyone's faces when you've helped them." He tilted his head slightly, "But suppose you get that, too."

Jim laughed. "You're gonna have to do better than that. That was actually two points you made there, but since they were pretty weak, we can let them count as one."

Sherlock let a laugh slip through his lips. "Well aren't you being nice today?"

"I'm almost always nice. You just haven't met me on a good day. Okay, let me think. I don't wanna waste a good one on this..." He thought for a moment. "If you join me, you'll never have to deal with all the idiots. All the Andersons and Donovans, fat women with cheating husbands. You can pick and choose who you'll meet, having people to deal with the rest of the rabble."

"Point for you." Sherlock looked hard at Moriarty for a few moments, "You realize this game isn't going to influence either of us to switch sides. It's just for fun?"

"Let's just see how it goes," Jim smiled mischievously as he made an 'x' on the other side of the paper.

Sherlock thought for a moment, "People don't have to die. Justice doesn't require murder." He shrugged. "How many rounds in this game?"

"I don't know... Until one of us runs out of arguments? That will automatically give one point to the other, as long as they still have a valid argument, and then we tally the score?"

"Fair enough." He picked up his glass and took another drink, keeping eye contact this time.

"So, was the 'people don't have to die'-thing an argument, because then you don't really know me that well..."

"I'm going to have to stick to it. Obviously, that's what you do for a living and I'd rather not kill innocent people. So yes."

"Okay... then I'll model my response on it: killing people is not always a necessary part of what I do. Most times it can easily be avoided. I might not be inclined to spare people's life, but with you beside me, you might very well persuade me, so: you on my side will save lives."

"I save lives on my side. Point for me, I think." He thought for a moment again, "If we disagree on who gets the point, what happens then?"

"We have to figure that out now, because I disagree on this one. Your argument for me to join your side is actually counterproductive: you're telling me, I wouldn't be allowed to kill, so that's a reason for me not to join you. My argument is that you'll be saving lives one way or the other, so I should win this one."

"I think you just want to win." Sherlock almost had to fight to keep the smile from his face. "Am I wrong?"

"Of course I want to win." There was a hungry gleam in Jim's eyes. "Not only would a two month timeout put quite a dent in my business, but I do so very much want my prize. I still say I win, because your argument was invalid."

Sherlock hummed in response. "If you say so."

Jim smiled and made an 'x' on his side. "Go on," he encouraged.

"Suppose you win this one." He shrugged, he hated losing but they were fighting for the same cause almost, just under different people… losing wasn't so bad in this case, either… He'd probably have less fun if he won, to be honest.

"I'm ahead on points. You better make the next one good, or I'm gonna think you're not really trying," Jim raised a suggestive eyebrow. "You can always just give up, you know."

"I'm considering it," Sherlock said smugly, making Jim's eyebrows jump in pleased surprise. "I don't have many reasons why you should 'come to the good side' since I don't really consider myself on a side... But since I certainly don't consider myself on the bad side, I guess that in this, I represent 'good'."

Jim smiled gleefully. "Honey I would love for you to give up. But on the other hand, that would mean an end to this delightful conversation. And I haven't quite given up on you yet."

"You're welcome to continue trying to persuade me all you want. I'd probably agree with most the things you have to say, in all honesty." He smirked slightly, eager to hear what Jim could come up with.

Jim considered. "I do have some really good arguments saved, but I was really hoping you would entice me some more. It's almost like being wooed." He batted his eyes coquettishly.

Sherlock laughed at this, but Jim didn't seem to mind. "If I were trying to woo you, I'd complement your after shave or tie. But if you insist..."

"Oh, I do..."

"Of course." He rolled his eyes. "I'm afraid the only good one I had was hiding. But I can expand on it, I suppose: you wouldn't have to be hush-hush when it comes to gloating."

"Ooh that was a nice one. Never been good at being discrete." Jim thought for a moment. "I let you have two as one earlier. Will you do me the same courtesy with this?"

"Of course, only fair."

Jim smiled knowingly. "You do want me to win this, don't you? Okay number one: if you join me, I can help you keep off big brother's radar. No more interventions and interference. He'd be completely out of your life."

"And two?"

"You could bring John along."

"One, as much of a pain my brother can be, it's rather endearing at times. Two, John would never. Who do you think deserves this one?"

"Oh come on. John is completely devoted to you and he is addicted to adrenaline. If you stand beside me and call 'danger' he'll be joining us without a second thought."

"John has more morals than the both of us, though. He'd back out." Sherlock was sure of this. The thought was almost blasphemous.

"Wanna put it to the test?"

"I don't need to test it. I know him well enough."

"Then why not? Otherwise you can't dismiss my argument. I might be right."

"To test it, I'd have to come to your side. I'm not too keen on that idea."

Jim laughed. Okay, Sherlock had seen right through that one. He supposed he would have been a bit disappointed if it had been that easy. "Not completely. Here is how it would work: you do one job with me. Nothing harmful, just something terribly clever. It need never be public knowledge that you were involved. Then when it is done, you'll call John to you and ask him to join you. I'll even help you explain to him afterwards that it wasn't real. We can say I forced you." He flashed Sherlock his most seductive smile.

The thought was intriguing but John was all he had. "I'm going to have decline the offer."

"Then I win this one."

"You win because I said no?"

"Yes. That's basically how it works... On the other hand: I'd win as well if you said yes."

"Back to you just wanting to win. Would you like me to throw in the towel now or would you like to continue?"

Jim considered then shrugged, a little disappointed. "I think you're becoming stubborn, so I guess this is not gonna get much further anyway." He got to his feet. "Be ready to be picked up at seven. Wear something cute." And then he was out the door.