Sherlock got off the plane grimacing as he stretched his long legs, and his good arm, a few hours on a plane had not done him any good. He'd left his sling in England, so he would just have to be careful with his damaged shoulder. He walked out the aeroplane door flinching as he was met with an ice cold breeze.
There was a car waiting on the tarmac. Sherlock knew it was for him, he strode over and slid inside. The sooner this was over the better.
The car ride took an hour. Sherlock didn't speak a word during that time; neither did his driver until they pulled to a halt.
"Enjoy your walk sir." he said with a tone that sounded lifeless. Sherlock didn't spare the man a glance as he left and strode off towards the pathway, which was just a worn down patch in the middle of the winding route to the top. Sherlock could hear the water smashing down from here, eternally falling towards the ground. He pulled he coat collar up to protect himself from the cold.
He strode around the corner to see a figure stood near the edge of the cliff, looking down, the figure turned to give him a mad grin.
"You came then. And alone! Who's a good boy?" Moriarty's eyes glittered with insanity "I'm sure you've worked out what happens next. It's not difficult."
"I can't let you walk away from this." Sherlock told him.
"I would say the same, but with your shoulder it won't be hard to beat you. Almost boring but I'm done with games. I need you dead and gone Sherlock Holmes, I have bigger fish to fry."
"I doubt even you can 'burn' Mycroft."
"The Ice Man." The manic grin returned for a moment "Well, fire will melt him I assure you. You didn't see how he took your 'death'; you just assumed he'd just live on cold and uncaring. Did you know he visited your grave every month? And that was when you committed suicide, I'll break him more by letting him know if he'd paid more attention that he could've saved you this time" Moriarty grinned "The problem with Mycroft is he's so secret" Moriarty stage whispered the last word "He doesn't have a public reputation for me to play with, so I just have to try and melt his icy heart instead, which is in a way more fun."
Moriarty took a few steps backwards to let his heel's meet the edge of the cliff, he didn't seem afraid of the fact he could plunge a few thousand metres to his death. Sherlock decided Moriarty's mind probably didn't function in a way that would let him feel such fear.
Sherlock could hear the water barrelling towards the ground, he knew what ever happened today he would end up being dragged down with it. Moriarty pounced forwards throwing a punch at Sherlock's shoulder. Sherlock hissed in pain his hand flying up to hold the wound for a moment. Moriarty darted forward again but Sherlock leapt back, he could feel blood seeping from the wound now, crimson tears trickling down his spine.
This continued for a few moments, Sherlock managed to throw a punch as well catching Moriarty's chin but it did nothing but give him a grazed knuckle.
Sherlock took a few steps backwards.
He knew he couldn't win.
He would have to push him but then Moriarty would take him down with him. There wasn't another option though. Sherlock blinked once, taking his hand off his bleeding shoulder and straightening up to his full height, he took the first step forward.
"Sacrificing yourself? Really? I expected so much more of you."
"And I you." Sherlock's eyes scanned Moriarty he would have to throw his whole weight onto the man to push him off.
Sherlock took a final deep breath, he was about to leap forward when a bullet flew passed his ear and into Moriarty. The consulting criminal didn't stand a chance.
Moriarty was thrown off the cliff and down with the water.
Sherlock heard the soft crunch of grass from behind him.
"You idiot."
Sherlock smiled to himself.
"Do you have a death wish?"
Sherlock turned around and walked away from the cliff edge towards John.
"How did you get here so quickly? Mycroft?"
"Mycroft and I found your travel brochure. Didn't take a Consulting Detective to work out where you were."
Sherlock nodded smirking slightly at the disbelieving smile John gave him.
"For someone so clever you can be so stupid." John sighed.
"Attempting to end the life of James Moriarty was stupid?"
"No, going to middle of nowhere to meet James Moriarty alone was stupid."
"I'll admit it wasn't ideal, not stupid though."
John eyed his shoulder.
"Let's go get that looked at."
"I'm fine."
"Please just shut up and come to a hospital, you've given me enough stress for one day."
Sherlock chuckled softly "Just this once."
"Thank-you." John started walking away from the cliff, Sherlock took a few steps towards the edge glancing down, all that he could see was the steep rock face.
"You coming?" John's voice pulled him away from the edge.
"Of course." Sherlock turned his back on the water fall, quickly walking away to catch up with John. After the hospital they were going home, properly this time, no hiding. He could finally be Sherlock Holmes again.
Three days later
"It's weird isn't it" John spoke from the kitchen; Sherlock was on the sofa, his huge three dimensional mind map now gone making the room more open and bright. "He's really gone. No more Moriarty and his mucked up games."
"Hmm" Sherlock made a non-commitment noise.
His phone bleeped. It was from Mycroft:
No body found – MH
"We're finally safe from him" John finalised walking in.
Sherlock gave him a false smile "Something like that." he murmured.
A/N: Well, here we are it's over, the end! I can't believe it! Thank-you to everyone whose been reading this, hope you all enjoyed it and thank-you all for your support, I've always been wary about writing fanfics but all the lovely reviews I've received on this fanfic have encouraged me to keep writing.
All there is to say now is 'May the odds be ever in your favour'.