Author's Note:

Is Friday not a good day for you guys? =/ Anyway, have fun with this installment, and let me know what you think of the previous!

Disclaimer: Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles are public domain. Beth Lestrade, compudroid!Watson, and clone!Moriarty are not. Hercule Poirot is Agatha Christie's, Lord Peter Wimsey is Dorothy Sayers's, 1984 and Animal Farm are George Orwell's, Fahrenheit 450... , The Hunt for the Red October and Jack Ryan are Tom Clancy's, and Timeline is Michael Crichton's.

==10. Shared Obsessions==

Rating: K+

Summary: Holmes and Lestrade have an odd encounter at the library.

Pairing(s): H/L friendship

Warnings: crackiness

Word Count: 807

Beth Lestrade was a bookworm. Given the era into which she was born, that was saying something. Add to that the fact that she preferred honest-to-goodness paper-published books over e-books, and that little-known aspect of her personality made her eccentric by default.

There were still a couple of libraries in London that lent out paper-published, so Lestrade would spend as much free time there as possible. She once spent an entire Saturday losing herself in the nearly-lost world of the printed page, flitting from one shelf to the next. Libraries were heaven on earth to her.

With Sherlock Holmes, she found common ground in books.

The man was as much a bookworm as she, and he, too, cherished what paper-published he could find. He, of course, preferred classics far older than himself, like Shakespeare, Milton, or even Greek philosophy, although Lestrade had also seen him with Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. Agatha Christie didn't last long—Poirot drove Holmes nuts—but he devoured Lord Peter Wimsey, despite the obvious imitation of his own life. Also on his list of 20th century favorites were J. R. R. Tolkien ("the man was a genius in language, imagination, and adaptation") and C. S. Lewis ("brilliant apologetics, truly—diamond of a mind").

Despite the shared obsession, however, it was a full year after Holmes's rejuvenation that Lestrade finally had the opportunity to take him to her favorite library. He wore his usual getup, deerstalker and all (though he removed the deerstalker for once as they stepped inside); Lestrade wore civvies: a short-sleeved polo and slacks.

Holmes naturally drifted towards the suspense/crime/detective fiction shelves; Lestrade followed, curious to see what he'd pick up.

Neither would ever have expected to find what they did there.

"Moriarty!"

"Shhh!"

Lestrade growled under her breath and called quietly back to the librarian, "Sorry!" Then she whirled on the criminal mastermind. "What are you doing here?"

"I should have used an elastomask," Moriarty muttered. "I expect the same thing you are doing, Inspector: browsing the books. So difficult to find a good printed classic these days."

"Machiavelli," Holmes noted, studying the small pile of books on the table near his archenemy. He gave a small, grim chuckle. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Took me long enough to find a library or bookstore that had it. Honestly, this time has no respect for the classics." Moriarty shook his head sadly.

"I have Dante, Chaucer, and Milton at home," Lestrade said dryly.

"Ah, redemption."

Lestrade shook her head. "Figures. The one time I don't have my ionizer…"

Moriarty tsked. "You should wear it always, Inspector." He lifted the flap of his hip pouch to reveal his own weapon.

Lestrade gave him an unimpressed look. "Uh-huh. Thanks for the tip." She glanced at Holmes.

He was still gazing at Moriarty's pile. "1984. Lovely. Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 450…" He shook his head. "Single-mindedness." He reached out and pulled a book off the shelf at his waistline. "Ah, The Hunt for the Red October. Watson is fixated on the Jack Ryan films, and I must admit that I enjoy them as well. I've never read the books before."

"True international thriller classics," Moriarty nodded approvingly.

"Holmes," Lestrade muttered under her breath.

He took her by the shoulder and turned her away, huddling down to whisper. "There is not much that we can do, Lestrade. The man has an ionizer, and, though I could reach it, I am not willing to accept collateral damage in the form of so many precious books. There will be another time."

"But not before something terrible happens again," Lestrade pointed out.

Holmes shook his head. "Not quite necessarily. Besides, Moriarty is apparently willing to maintain a temporary cease-fire, an unexpected courtesy."

"All right, all right, you win." Lestrade threw up her hands in surrender, then took a few steps away. "I'll be in Military History if you need me."

"Very well," Holmes nodded. He turned once again to Moriarty, who was favoring him with an amused look.

"What, no challenges to a duel?"

"Only that of wits, Moriarty." Holmes grabbed Michael Crichton's Timeline off another shelf, then cocked an eyebrow at the clone.

"Lestrade's been heaping suspense films upon you, I see."

"Indeed." Holmes didn't mention that Lestrade had a movie night with him and Watson at least once a week if their schedules permitted.

Moriarty reached for… oh, no, The Hound of the Baskervilles. He smiled a bit maliciously at Holmes and said, "I am in the mood for a Gothic novel."

Holmes made to massage his eyelids, then thought better of it as a biting comeback occurred to him. "Well, good to know that biographical fiction is still in vogue, unlike Victorian astrophysics."

Moriarty stared at him, surprise and irritation warring for supremacy in his chiseled features. Checkmate. Holmes smiled the smile of the triumphant and swept away to the next aisle.

Author's Note:

I've seen (and love) the films Hunt for the Red October and Timeline; however, of all the books listed here, the only one that I've actually read is HOUN. xDDD I've only ever read Christie and Sayers in school, though I've read quite a bit of Tolkien and Lewis. (I shudder to think of the conversations that would result between two logicians like Lewis and Holmes!) And as far as Dante, Chaucer, and Milton go… don't even go there. =D

Btw, did anybody get Holmes's "Parthian shot" at Moriarty? Anybody at all? Okay, Holmes was making a cut at the original Moriarty's book on astrophysics, The Dynamics of an Asteroid, which must have long since been consigned to the rubbish pile for its outdated science and math. That's probably the harshest comeback Holmes could make!

Next up, another brief look at Lestrade's past, alongside another Inspector's descendant! Stay tuned!

Please review!