As per request, here's chapter two. Enjoy!


Jim dragged himself into Sebastian's living room and slung his shoulder bag to the floor. He approached the couch from which the sniper was eyeing him warily, gestured through light pats that Sebastian should lay back on the sofa, and positioned himself so that he was lying between Sebastian's legs with his head just below the taller man's chest.

"Rough day, Jim?"

Jim arched his back for a moment to angle his face enough to see Sebastian's, even if it was upside-down. "You have no idea," he groaned.

"Well, actually-"

"I mean, do you have any idea what it's like to really have to work?"

"Yeah, that's -"

"And the other people! Can you imagine working with such incredibly ordinary people all the time?"

"You always make me -"

"No, I much prefer my cushy view from on high, thanks. Don't you agree, Sebbie?"

"I-sure. Totally agreed, boss," Sebastian conceded.

"And it's the most mundane tasks!" Jim was waving his arms in the air now. "It's always, 'My phone went out. My email isn't working. Fix it for me, Jim?' Fucking disgraceful!" Sebastian noted the way Jim's voice changed when he was mocking his new coworkers.

"From the way you're talking, I'd think all the employees in the hospital were annoying little girls."

Jim groaned again. "No, just one."

Sebastian's hand had dropped into Jim's hair and was scratching his scalp lightly. Jim was twiddling his thumbs with annoyance at the humdrum employment.

"I didn't think getting close to Holmes would be such an incredibly boring path. Saint Bart's is woefully normal," Jim lamented. "What about our other endeavors, Seb? What do we have in the works, as it were?"

If there was one thing Sebastian was grateful for, it was Jim's clientele. Without them, Jim would have nothing to think about but Holmes, and Sebastian was already concerned with the effort Jim had put into the consulting detective. "At the moment, we've got two standard robberies, one very impressive vandalism, two crimes of passion, four illicit substance rings, and one serial murderer." Jim had only arranged a few of their current endeavors, but his network could handle the others.

"A serial murderer? Is that the dying cabbie?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Mm, I wish he wasn't such an average person. Sherly's been taking an interest in him. Well really, his interest is in my work. Ugh, unrequited admiration is entirely unsatisfactory."

Sebastian almost asked about Jim's nemesis's apparent new nickname, but didn't want to bring up further conversation of the man.

"Tell me a story, Sebastian," Jim declared suddenly.

Sebastian hesitated. "What type of story?"

"I dunno, but make it a good one."

"Er, okay. So once there was this, ah, prince. And his name was Jim."

"Really? A fairy tale? Please, that is so entirely ridiculous. What a boring thing to say."

"I'm sorry, who's telling this story?" Jim gestured for the assassin to proceed. "So, as I was saying, there was this prince named Jim."

"I wanna be a king."

"What?"

"If you insist on telling creepy fairy tales, I get to be king."

"Okay, fine. You're a grumpy old twat of a king."

"Hey!" Jim snapped up and whipped around. "You are hurting my feelings and my pride. I don't appreciate that!"

Sebastian was about to supply a witty remark, possibly about the absurdity of being able to hurt a psychopath's feelings, when Jim's phone rang. Jim popped off the couch to answer it. Sebastian sat up. "Beegees?" he mouthed.

Jim flipped him off and held the phone to his ear. "Yes, what?" he demanded. His eyes glossed while he listened to the other line, occasionally mumbling little tokens of his attention. Finally he ordered, "Alright, keep watch and let me know of any future progressions," and hung up.

As soon as the phone was restored safely to his pocket, a manic grin took Jim's face and he let out a high-pitched chuckle. "Oh my god, Sherly just adopted an adorable little pet. It appears they're moving in together. How sweet! I imagine that this 'Dr. Watson' and I will get acquainted quite nicely. I have to go, Seb." Jim grabbed his shoulder bag and left for the hospital.

Sebastian stayed in his place.