I turned my body enough so Hamish was shielded from Moriarty's gun. There were only two people in the entire world I would willingly take a bullet for: my beautiful son and my brilliant husband.

"I'm really not interested in hurting your 'little bundle of joy', Sherlock." Jim smirked. "However, if you have got help coming along, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot your little pet boy toy. I also wouldn't mind taking down your brother and his minor position in the British government. In reality, I can do whatever I please with him around, but it would still be fun."

I ignored his threats. There was nothing that I could say or do to stop John from coming. My only choice was to have faith in him, and hope he wasn't coming alone. Hopefully he had been smart enough to get Lestrade or Mycroft's help, or even better, both. I needed to take John's advice and do my best to stall Moriarty. It was time to start talking. There was no way I could win this, he had the gun, all I had was my brain. "What's the compound?"

"Oh, just a little something I had my labs cook up for a bit of fun. Do you like it? The pain is supposedly excruciating. Brilliant, isn't it?" Moriarty gave me a wide grin.

My stomach churned. "Brilliant? This isn't brilliant. People have died."

"That's what people do!" He shouted. If no one heard him yell that loud, this whole neighborhood would have to be deaf, or maybe they had just heard things like it enough to know better than to call the authorities or come over for a word with the consulting criminal.

Hamish started crying and I rocked him back and forth. Now was not a good time to annoy the maniac.

"Yes, but these are children, some are even babies. They have entire lives ahead of them, and you're just taking that away from them."

"You make it sound so terrible when you say it like that."

I tried not to show my true anger. "Please tell me then, James, how is a way to say it that doesn't sound terrible."

"I'm helping control the population and at the same time I'm ridding the world of annoying pests." Jim growled. "And I would appreciate it if you didn't call me James."

"You're a monster, James." I replied, ignoring his request.

He glared at me before replying. "I almost thought you would appreciate if not approve of what I was doing here. I believe I have misjudged you once again, Sherlock."

That comment took me off guard, and I couldn't keep the look of genuine surprise off my face. "How could I possibly appreciate what you're doing here?"

"I know you have always hated children. Well you have up until recent events, I suppose. They are annoying, loud, smelly, and they can't fend for themselves. They have no respect for adults, and even if you tell them constantly to not touch your car, they still do. They are ungrateful and they have irrational fears... But they are not frightened of things that they should be, like me for example."

"You are taking away people's lives, destroying them, removing them from the face of the earth. Not only are they just people, but young people, innocent people. How could I possibly find that okay? You're not just killing people, this is murder, Moriarty." I said seethingly.

"What's the difference?" He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes at his ignorance. "Murder is a premeditated, unlawful act of taking another human beings life. Whereas killing could be in self-defense or in war, but at least for good reason. But you're making this into a sport and hurting other people in the process. This ends now."

Jim's finger itched closer to the trigger on John's gun. "We've talked long enough, Sherlock. You are right, this does end now. We are done here."

I felt the pain in my shoulder before I realized he had managed to shoot the gun, my heart pounded in my ears and I made sure to keep a tight grip on Hamish. We slid to the floor and I placed a firm hand against the wound, desperate to stop the bleeding. The pain was too much, more than I'd ever felt, and I struggled to remain conscious.

A second shot rang out and I flinched, expecting more pain or even a quick shot to the head, but it never came. The last thing I heard before blacking out was a different body hitting the floor with a thud.


I know... This chapter took way too long... I really am sorry.

I edited this in a hurry, so if you saw any mistakes, please feel free to tell me.

This chapter is pretty short, I'm sorry.. But I just felt it summed up a little too well...

Expect one more chapter... And hopefully I'll have it posted within the next week, I've already started it... So hopefully it won't be too long.

Thank you guys for being patient. You guys are amazing. c:

Leave your reviews if you like. And watch out for a new collection of one-shots I'll be starting tonight. c: