"I tell you Sebastian, women at Christmas are the antichrist. In fact they are worst than the antichrist, they are...they're..." Katherine's mind trailed off as she typed out a message on her phone to Jim. But a second later her face contorted and she looked at him through the rearview mirror, in the drivers seat. "What's worse than the antichrist?" He openly threw her a smirk as he pulled out on to the busy London street.

"Your incessant whining?" Bad day at work, he knew about it. Distasteful lunch, he heard the story. Jim was acting weird, he was the one she harassed. Though he would let her get away with the latter point given what their life had been like the past few weeks.

"Now Sebastian, don't act like you don't love my company." Throwing her phone into her bag, she gave a sigh and slouched in her seat. All day the texts had been coming in from him. They were just little things, how the job was, if there had been any updates on Sherlock. But it was off. He wasn't normally like that. She blamed her meeting with Sherlock a couple of months back. Since then he'd kept suffocatingly close. "I'd like to go home now, shopping is no fun when it's for other people."

Home still meant that new shining apartment. They had only been back to the house in the countryside for one weekend and that was to collect some of Jim's papers and the majority of her clothes and belongings. She had to admit mornings were easier as she still worked for Mycroft Holmes, but she missed her staff. It sounded awful, she was already aware, but she did. Though it did mean she'd got the chance to spend a lot more time with her husband. But that was equally as unsettling as it was comforting.

"Any word on Drapers case?" She asked casually, five minutes into the drive. They were only a couple of minutes from the apartment but after spending eight hours shopping with only her five bodyguards, she felt like she needed the conversation. Although Sebastian had been one of the five, he had been strangely silent. Spending more time watching her back than actually accompanying her.

"Not yet. Should be by the end of the week." His answer was blunt and serious, as it always was when business was involved. But she couldn't shake that feeling.

"Sebastian?" Her head turned so she could look out of the rear passenger window. "Is there something going on that I should know about?"

"What like?" She could feel his eyes on her instantly and she sighed. The headache which had refused to leave her for weeks was pounding, making the winter sun seem like it was screaming at her.

"I don't know...something with Holmes or whatnot. Jim is acting protective for the first time in months." The last time had been at a ball where Magnussen had been a guest of honour. A Great White amongst a sea of Tiger Fish. "And...things...It's probably just me sorry. I haven't been feeling well the past couple of weeks." She was probably just stressing herself for no reason. The apprehension of working with Mycroft and being so close to Sherlock was slowly driving her insane.

A long bath and a good meal would be much appreciated. Just as soon as they got home, she would dismiss the sniper and spend some much needed time on her own finally. It would be a good few hours before Jim got home, she could unwind.

"Do you need anything?" Sebastian seemed to be paying closer attention to her, growing concerned when her hand rubbed her temple. It was only for his own sake, if she fell sick under his watch, he would pay the consequences.

"No, it's probably just work."

"What a hard life Mrs Moriarty leads. Not used to the nine hour days yet?" With her hand falling to her side, Katherine smirked at him.

"Tell me Sebastian, would you like a Christmas Day this year."

"Katherine, you're deluded if you think you will get a Christmas Day." Unfortunately he was right, she was kidding herself if she thought it was going to be all presents and turkey with carols playing. The whole Moriarty family gathered around them as they all laughed and told embarrassing stories of Jim's youth.

Jim would be in his office and she would be sat going about her daily chores, just like every other previous year.

Oh she just wanted to be home. Her feet ached, her head ached, even her stomach ached. How long did it take to drive through London Christmas traffic for gods sake!

It was another 20 minutes crawling through the streets before she was able to get out the sickening shell of a vehicle. She could have walked home quicker, she wished she had walked home quicker. At least then the air would have been crisp and fresh and not artificially warm and polluted.

"Sebastian, you're dismissed once we're upstairs." She spoke with certainty as the crossed the foyer.

"Of course Mrs Moriarty."

She couldn't help herself and a long yawn escaped her. She was getting too old for this, even her stamina was staring to fail. Ever since she turned 30 back in July her energy had just dwindled.

When the lift doors opened, Sebastian took the liberty of opening the door to the flat for her and carrying the bulk of her shopping into the flat.

"Bedroom?"

"Yes please Seb, thanks." He was already on his way with the bags before she replied, eager to get home no doubt. Shopping with her was not a breeze and she knew it. Katherine threw her coat down onto the empty sofa chair and unwrapped the wool scarf from her neck as she wandered over to the window.

At least the views calmed her down. The sun was already beginning to set behind the building opposite. The sky clear was a palette of pike and purple, oranges and red further in the distance. It was beautiful. Even the architecture of the building surrounding them was amazing, all modern and sleek. London had changed so much in the past few years, she almost missed the gothic streets and alleys. But standing where she was now, everything in the world seemed...touchable. In those streets, nothing was possible. But here, she felt as if she could fly. Given everything, the stress, the work, Jim's frequent mood swings but rare devotion. She was happy. Looking out at all she had, she was happy.

She took one last look down at the streets growing emptier as it winded down to tea time and gave a small smile to herself. Then, it happened as she turned.

Katherine Moriarty didn't know what came first, the sound of the glass cracking, the force of the impact knocking her body, or the inscrutable pain in her shoulder. But before she could register anything, she was falling back to sit on a small coffee table, knocking a phone and trinkets to the floor.

"Katherine!" Sebastian's voice screamed from the bedroom but she couldn't make a sound.

She couldn't feel her lips or her tongue, she could move. Looking down, her eyes clouded over as she saw the red starting to stain her white clothing. The thin material started to stick to her chest and her stomach, a the blood ran down her skin. But even still, she was silent, there were no words.

"Katherine! What- oh fuck!" Her back was to him, but he know. The window was cracked like a fracture but in tact, the small hole the main indicator of what had happened. He knew because he saw it, caused it, every day of the week. She was hunch over, her head hanging, but she was breathing. But hat didn't slow his actions. "Katherine! Katherine!" The sniper ran to her, dropping into a crouch by her side, it didn't take long to see the wound and the blood spilling from it. "Shit..."

With nothing to hold against her, Sebastian quickly removed his jacket and pressed it to her chest, removing her curious hand now covered in her blood after she touched her skin. It didn't seem real through her eyes, the pain was there but had not yet truly taken affect due to the adrenaline filling her veins.

"Seb..." The sound barely classed as a whisper, her face paralysed. She was going into shock.

"It's okay, it's going to be okay. Come on, you need to lie down." He needed to stop the blood loss, she needed to lie down and lie still. Her hand clutched the neck of his t-shirt, staining the material as well as his skin, as he helped her down to the hard floor and put himself between her and the window. He was her bodyguard after all. Making sure she was flat on her back, Sebastian brushed a hand over her cheek but never moved his other from pressing on the wound. "You're going to be alright, you hear me?" He never thought he'd be so desperate for her to keep talking, but he had to try and keep her conscious and calm. She gave an inaudible murmur and moved so her cheek touch the floor. Seb was calling someone, she could hear the buttons being pressed. Everything she picked out was the small things, how nice the cold tiles felt on her skin, the steadying slow of her breathing as she closed her eyes. It was all so calm. Maybe this is how they felt, The Samson's? It hadn't looked it at the time, it was all screaming and crying, this was much more peaceful. "We're going to get Jim here and he's going to fix it, okay? No, no, no..." He was babbling, with her blood on his hands, but upon seeing her eyes closed her pinned the phone between his jaw and shoulder and started stroking her hair roughly. "Katherine, you got to open your eyes for me. Now!"

She tried, really she tried. But in the end they were just small slits. She wasn't able to focus on anything. All she could see was the window at the other end of the room. Maybe if she'd just turned right instead of left?

"Jim, Katherine's been shot." She picked up for a second hearing that name. Maybe he would fix it? He could do everything else...couldn't he? "Shot, as in, bleeding. On the floor. Fucking bullet wound in the shoulder Jim...Not...not good." He kept the last part hushed, but she heard it. She almost wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. If her end was being shot through a window, her death certificate may as well ready cause: humiliation.

The phone was thrown to the floor next to her a second later and Sebastian's hand was back in her hair, his face in front of hers to check she was staying awake.

"Seb..." she managed to look at him for only a moment before closing her eyes. It was starting to come to her now, the pain. Sweeping from her shoulder, across her chest and down. "Tell me the truth." He knew what she was asking, he knew as soon as he saw the tear come to the corner of her eye.

"Jim won't let that happen." On the phone, he'd sounded empty. Agitated, then seething, then just...emotionless. He'd hung up silently but he doubted that had lasted long. "He's only five minutes away." Even he spoke with unnatural calmness now, slouching next to her but putting his full weight on the jacket with was slowly turning red.

"Promise me something, he likes you, he'll listen to you..."

"Stop it." Seb snapped at her but she didn't listen. Of course, only Katherine could be more stubborn when vulnerable.

"Don't let him marry again. And if he does..." She took in a sharp breath and then emitted and long groan, trying to control the shaking which threatened to take over her shocked limbs. "Make sure she's fat, old and ugly...and make him miserable. Ah god! He better be miserable!" The scream was out of pain more than actual anger, and despite himself, Sebastian laughed at her. He wouldn't need to keep any such promise, but if he did, he doubt he'd need to with Jim.

"I..." He couldn't say it, saying it meant accepting it and she was going to come out of this. "Everything will be fine."

"Where is he?" Her voice had called weak again, the spike of energy caused by the last drips of adrenaline, dying of. Katherine's limbs became limp and her eyes threatened to roll to the back of her head as they fluttered shut.

"Coming, he's coming." And in tow would be his best contacts. Sebastian didn't know exactly what to expect, but he'd been told to wait and keep her alive so that's what he'd do. God knows what Jim would do to him if he didn't.

In Katherine's mind things were a little different. She felt betrayed. It probably had nothing to do with her, it was most likely more a stab at Jim than her but she felt let down. He'd promised her so many times. Upon their meeting, after her kidnapping, even on their wedding night. He had swore to her that he would protect her and that no one would touch her. Well...she hated to admit it but laying on the floor of her own home with a bullet in her body didn't make her feel untouchable. In fact it felt very bloody weakening. He had promised. Maybe he had done all he could, but it wasn't enough and he had promised.

"Sebastian!" She gasped at the sound of his voice, making her splutter and cough.

Before she knew it he was stood over her, those devilish eyes focused on her own as he shrunk to the floor. His hand replaced Sebastian's on her wound instantly and the other went to hold her own.

"Hey..." He was whispering. With straight features, his focus turned down to the wound as he uncovered it ever so slightly, and then looked to Sebastian. It probably wasn't the fault of the bodyguard...but he had been paid to watch her. He'd let this happen. Jim made sure the snarl had left him by the time to leant back down to be near Katherine, whispering to her. "You need to keep those eyes open for me darling." She did as he said and looked at him, blind panic spilling from her eyes. "Good girl." There was a small pause, during which he sighed and kissed her again, and then his business persona returned. "We need to get her down to the car. I have men on every floor keeping eyes at bay. You're going to drive us to Swansons." Sebastian dared to look at him like he was a fool.

"Swansons? Jim..."

"We don't have time for anywhere else. I trust him." Sebastian was silenced but his face was a one of fury. That 'doctor' knew less about the human body than the local butcher. Three times removed from surgeries and one time convicted of man-slaughter. Jim was the one to get him off... he was a monster, but Jim was right. The next closest was too far and she'd have bled out before they'd even made half the journey.

As the sniper stood to ready himself, Jim took Katherine's hand and knelt down to kiss the top of her head. She was heating up, they needed to act fast. "Hold onto me darling." He placed her hands around his neck and moved his arms under her. The wail which escaped her as he stood twisted his heart, she was once again broken under his watch. As her cold hands pulled on his hair, he vowed to himself to not snap, at least not at her. She didn't deserve this. "Keep talking to me sweetheart, what did you buy today huh?" He knew she'd planned to shop out all day, that's why he'd instructed three extra pairs of eyes on her.

Her teeth were clenched but as he moved her towards the front door, she managed a reply. "It's a surprise."

"Right." He could help a smirk as he looked down at her. "Nothing for yourself? That's not like you." Teasing her was the only way to ensure a reply, if he'd learnt anything about her over the past three years it was that.

"A..." Her breath caressed his neck as she exhaled, trying to shift in his arms, but no matter how she lay, she was no more comfortable. Her veins had started to itch, she was close to being sick with the pain. "A dress...you won't like it though." She tried to continue talking to him, for her own benefit or being reminded he was there.

"And why is that?" They were having to wait to long for the elevator, forcing his words to come out forced, but he soon made up for it by rubbing his thumb in circles on her knee.

"It's pink." He did allow a chuckle to finally sound then. Sebastian who followed them into the elevator but stood too far away to hear her, looked at him strangely but Jim didn't care. As long as she had her sense of humour, as long as she was with them, he didn't care about anyone else but her.

"One time. One time I said you didn't suit pink." And she never dared wear it again. He admired her stamina over the years but she was stupid. That body looked delicious in anything, bar blood soaked jackets belonging to his idiotic men. "If you're a good girl and stay awake, I'll let you wear it to our next date." She went quiet after that, but Jim never took his eyes off her. She was awake, her eyes just barely open as her head was turned into his chest, but she couldn't speak anymore. The energy just wasn't there.

Luckily, they arrived downstairs with no complications and the car was waiting. Katherine was placed across the back seat of the Range Rover and her head laid on Jim knee while Sebastian took the wheel.

From the moment they set off, her eyes were closed but Jim kept whispering to her, squeezing her hand, kissing her head, just to make her respond. It wasn't for a few minutes that she actually made the attempt to speak, and when she did he actually wished she hadn't.

"You promised..." Since they left the flat, Katherine hadn't been able to shake the feeling of mistrust as he held her. She normally felt so safe in his arms. Whenever he was there it was like no one else even existed, but now it just felt like anyone could come and stick a bullet in her. She hadn't meant to let the words slip out, but it just happened.

And Jim heard them. He heard them and was grateful that her eyes were shut so she didn't see the honest regret cross his face. She was right and it was all he'd been able to think about since Seb's call. He'd let her down and she could've died cause of it...she still could.

"I know, I let you down." He couldn't look at her, so he chose to look out the window. "I'm sorry Katherine." She'd heard him say that phrase a thousand times, each when he'd called into the dark side. But she had never heard him say it so truthfully, and for something he hadn't directly done. "They shouldn't have been able to get to you." No they shouldn't, but...she didn't doubt he had done everything in his power to get in their way. Whoever 'they' were.

When she didn't reply, he turned back to her and saw her chest was barely moving. "How close are we?" Her hands were turning cold and her lips paling. She'd lost a lot of blood and she'd been unbelievably strong so far, but he couldn't expect for it to continue. There would come a time when her fight would run out and he wasn't going to rand by and let that happen in this car.

"Five minutes."

"Make it three and I won't shoot you once we get there." Something ran cold in Jim's voice, sending a chill down Sebastian's spine. For once, he was worried because he knew there was no kidding. God forbid she didn't pull through, no one in the World would be safe from Jim.

The car pulled up outside a detached house just outside Battersea. It looked run down, dirty, seedy. Jim Moriarty's mouth tasted sour just looking at it as his wife squirmed with pain in his lap. But they had no choice. It was the truth and he'd keep telling them all that. It was this or death.

"Come on darling." He scooped her up and got out the car, but as he carried her she felt heavier. Her head dropped and her hand didn't stay around his neck like he placed them, instead they fell onto her stomach, limp.

When they entered, the guy was already waiting in the front 'waiting room'. A few wooden chairs and he found it acceptable to call it that. Beside his were two plainly dressed women in surgical masks and a gurney.

"Mr Moriarty, welcome." Jim ignored Swanson but walked straight over and placed her on the metal stretcher. At least it looked clean. There was a price already settled but nothing would be paid until he was satisfied. So far...he had deducted £10,000.

"They're going to take care of you." Katherine's eyes opened and she looked at him with pure fear. She looked as venerable as a child...she'd started to cry after his warmth had stopped enveloping her. "Be a good girl." Her hand wouldn't let his go, all of her remaining stretch going into keeping him close. As far as she knew, as soon as he left she was dead. He was the only one that could help, not those...masked stranger who looked over her. Him. She needed him.

"I don't want you to go." She barely felt his lips touching her knuckles, there was a light warmth there but she was trembling. It made his chest race, seeing her in such a state. A part of him didn't want her to let go either, but he had to hand her over even if it felt wrong.

With a hand on her forehead which was now sticky in a cold sweat, Jim kissed her lips one last time. "Hey. You need to be strong for me okay...I love you Katherine."

"I love you too." He squeezed her hand, stood and then let go. She was taken to a back room and the door was shut. God knows what they were doing to her behind it. What they were drugging her with, cutting into her with...they better hope to God they didn't hurt her any more.

"She better be in good hands." It was a growl, a deep wolf like grown. Jim bared his teeth and daresent look at the man who still stood by his side. If he did, he feared he's snap his neck. "I want her seen to now and I want it done properly."

"Of course, sir. My team are already working on her, I assure you." Then why was he still here yapping!

Jim smiled that infamous sinister grin and finally turned toward Swanson. All donned in his blue plastic gloves and everything, wasn't he just adorable. It took five second for Moriarty to grab him by his green scrubs and hold him at his eyes level.

"No, no, no. Swanson." From head to toe, Jim studied each inch of his uniform. "I don't want your team, I'm not paying for your team." His eyes narrowed and darkened. "If my wife comes out of that room with even one fingernail chipped...I'll throw you to my pooches. Understood?"

"Y-Yes sir." The older mans fear satisfied him and he released the good doctor. Some people didn't work well under pressure, but surgeons did. "I'll be in touch when we are finished." Moriarty's laughter penetrated the still air, haunting him.

"Did you just hear me? We're staying right here." He made a point and walked over to one of the chairs, taking a seat. Swanson failed to make another sound and near ran back to the room Katherine had been taken into.

After a few moments, Jim snapped his fingers at Sebastian and started to list off demands. "I want two men on that door at all times." He nodded to decrepit wooded slab leading to the 'surgery'. "Another two out the front. Search the premises and make sure the other exits are manned and secured. No one leaves until I see Katherine alive." He didn't care if it was days. No one was leaving unless it was him and Katherine was at his side.

"Yes boss." Sebastian nodded and began to dole out the orders to his staff, compiled of Moriarty's nest ten men. The whole time they've been here however, Jim hadn't even looked at him and it made the sniper wonder. Maybe it was because in Jim's mind it was all Sebastian's fault, maybe it was the fear of loosing Katherine, which Sebastian knew was a factor. Maybe it was neither. "How much do you trust him?" The hesitation was enough of an answer. Jim hadn't chose Swanson because he was good, he chose him because he was their only choice. The next had been St Barts hospital, but that was more of a death sentence for Katherine.

Therefore, it was no surprise when Jim downright ignored him. "Arrange to have the flat swept and cleaned. I want to know of any bugs that are found and a copy of surrounding CCTV. I'll text you're man a location for things to be moved to." He wasn't taking any risks, not this time. She must have been followed, that's the only way they're have knows she was there.

Hell they weren't even after her. She was just an easy target and the only target they knew they could hit and have it effect him. A dissatisfied client. It wasn't Jim's fault the police had found them. But they were convinced it was his bad craftsmanship. The first threat had been sent to him two months ago, a simple email detailing exactly what emotions they felt and how he would soon feel the same. Loss, anger, betrayal...it was all there. He'd tried to keep her with him as much as possible, in the new flat he swore no one knew about unless absolutely necessary, when the threats became more regular.

Ones which described her in so much detail it made him sick. He'd grown so furious during one letter that his office has been scratched up with a pocket knife from ceiling to floor. It told Jim what his own wife was wearing, what she smelled like, how she would sound with a knife in her belly. The small details hadn't been right however, she hadn't returned home in the dress they described or with her hair up like they'd said, but he hadn't known. And for one fleeting moment, he had been scared. That's what most of the anger stemmed from. He wasn't that attached, so he couldn't be scared.

But he had been. And he was now.

He should have pulled her off the job. He should've nipped it in the bud and kept her at the main house on a case. No one would have got to her then. She still be safe and smiling. But he didn't and he allowed her to carry on, unknowing. At least she hadn't lived in fear the past few months.

Jim turned his head, coming back to the present finally, and realised Sebastian no longer stood by him but sat on the floor in the corner on the room. He saw the blood stains on his neck and t-shirt in the shape of her delicate hands and bit his cheek. He didn't want to see the state of his own suit, the smell of iron was enough. It was like a slaughterhouse.

He heard a scream and stood automatically. It was hers, there was no doubt it was hers. A loud piercing scream as if they were doing the whole thing on her awake.

Jim took a step forward but Sebastian had already approached, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't. Let them." Was he crazy? They were going to kill her with exhaustion and pain. He never should've come here, he never should have let them take her. There had to have been another option, but he had been panicked and sloppy.

Jim looked back over his shoulder and clenched his jaw. "They're hurting her."

"I know but we have no choice." Knowing he'd be stopped even if her tried, Jim fell back into his seat with defeat. "Now I know you don't like being unable to take control. But they can't do any worse. She'll die Jim." Even still, the mere sound of her in pain was too much to bare. She couldn't die, she wouldn't dare.

"I'd rather she be dead than suffer." His head fell between his hand which rested on his knees and his feet played a heavy rhythm on the wood floor boards.

"She's strong." Jim looked up, and in that moment he saw the same look in Sebastian's eyes that he had tolerated for almost a year. That...spark whenever Katherine was mentioned. He'd allowed it to carry on because he kept her safe, but inside it made Jim doubt every bit of his first in commend. He knew Katherine would never fall for him, she was far too committed, but it didn't mean the sniper wouldn't try. "If anything, what's nice is that this...this is finally making you admit things to yourself." It was the final nail in the coffin and it made Jim scoff. He had no idea...no one had any idea how he treated Katherine but the woman herself. No one would ever know, because the effect was what kept her safe. No one would know how he looked at her because if they saw, they'd know how much of a weakness she really was to him. He didn't have many, but she was at the front and centre of his world. This time, his enemies just took a lucky guess.

With his eyes train on Sebastian's throat, Jim sucked in his cheeks, raised one brow and spat through his teeth words he would never regret.

"Go cry in a corner Sebastian. She isn't yours to pine after." It took a while for them to penetrate, but once they did a short scoff left Sebastian before he simply stood and walked back to the corner.

Leaving Jim to throw it all away on his own, and leave him to suffer alone over the long hours which were to come.