Benton's head snapped back. His body stayed upright momentarily, then slumped to the left. The gun slipped from his hand, clattering across the floor. James blinked as blood splattered across his face. Sebastian quickly holstered his weapon and hurried to his boss.

"Are you okay, James? I-"

Moriarty slapped him, hard, across the face. Sebastian stepped back, confused.

"Don't touch me," Moriarty snarled. "I should kill you right now."

"W-why...?" the sniper asked, placing a hand on his stinging cheek.

"You left me here! With him! And then you were helping him!" Jim's voice went up an octave with each exclamation, until he was shrieking. Instead of responding calmly, as he should have done, Seb shouted back at his boss.

"I was trying to find you!"

"Sure," he sneered. "I heard you two out here."

"It's called acting, James!"

The consulting criminal gave a disbelieving grunt, turning his back on Moran. Taking three, long, deep breaths, Seb calmed himself down. "James, I'm sorry. I was just trying to find you, and the only way to do that was to play along and trick him. Please, don't be upset."

Jim said nothing. His body language was stiff, untouchable. "...You left me here alone."

Fighting the urge to reach out to his lover, Sebastian nodded. "I didn't mean to, James. I went to meet my sister...She's the one who called me."

Moriarty was thawing. Moran never spoke about his family, and Jim never asked. This sharing-it piqued the criminal's interest. "You have a sister?"

"Yeah. Her name's Missy, and she came in by bus. I met up with her and found her a place to stay. I...I thought you'd be protected here." After a moment of silence, Sebastian bravely stepped close to his boss and wrapped his arms around his waist. Surprisingly, the smaller man slumped back against him.

"I'm sorry for hitting you, Sebby," he murmured, playing with his sniper's fingers. He was quiet and docile now, no longer dangerously explosive. Sebastian pressed his lips to James' cheek; he was startled when Jim twisted around and kissed him hard. Unbalanced, the duo stumbled back. Seb tripped over the corpse, and they fell. He managed not to slam his head into the floor-or to break the kiss with his lover. James pulled away first, stood, and yanked the blond man up. "Bedroom. Now," he ordered. Delivering a vicious kick to the corpse before they departed, James seemed unfazed by what had happened to him. They hurried upstairs, falling into bed already half-naked. Sebastian kissed, licked, his way down Moriarty's thin torso. Jim groaned, arching his back up. Carding his fingers through Seb's hair, James tugged at the strands. "Show me you're mine, Sebby."

Grinning like a wolf, Sebastian nipped at Jim's belly. After yanking his jeans off, he released Jim's erection and took the length into his mouth. Mewling, James pushed his hips up, shoving the tip of his cock against the back of Seb's throat. Silently choking, fighting back tears, he relaxed and swallowed Jim down. Twitching, moaning, James fisted his hands in the sheets. Sebastian loved this. The feel of an eager lover under him, begging for his touch.

James was going to get a good pounding tonight.

Sitting up, Seb dug the lube out from the nightstand drawer, popped the cap, and got to work preparing Jim. He was so tight, clenching around his fingers...

"Sebby..." he whined. "Get in me already! Stop teasing."

Compliant, Moran grabbed a condom, tore it open, rolled it on, and lubed himself up before slamming into his lover. Grabbing Jim's hips, he slammed their hips together again. And again, deep, hard strokes, never pausing in between. James dug his nails into Seb's back, biting at his shoulders. The sex was fast and possessive, and Sebastian loved every second of it. His lover bucking beneath him, leaving his marks all over his flesh...

Jim came first, throwing his head back with a cry, raking his nails down Moran's back. Seb buried his face in his boss' neck, groaning and shuddering as he spilled his seed inside of his boyfriend.

"Sebby?"

Rolling off the other man, Moran flopped onto his back with a smile. "Hm?"

Moriarty was silent for a moment. Then: "Sebby, I-"

Amused, the sniper rolled onto his side to face Jim. "Are you going to finish your sentence?"

"No," he grumbled, turning to face the other way. Seb pulled him close, spooning into his back.

"Tell me later then."

The light from the window was dimming. It was already late afternoon; the sun would disappear soon. He was content, his lover in his arms, the almost-confession from earlier ringing in his ears. Life was turning out to be perfect.

Until James heard of a consulting detective by the name of Sherlock Holmes.