Chapter 4

It had been two months since she had been locked away and Erika spent a lot of her time reading. Moriarty's home had an extensive library containing hundreds of books in hundreds of languages and she had resigned to read as many as possible if she was to be trapped here. She was starting to show signs of pregnancy as she was now at 21 weeks. There was a slight bulge in her stomach which she hid as best she could with more flowing and loose-fitting clothes.

Sitting in the library, she was reading a book of Greek Mythology. She smiled slightly, remembering her mother reading them to her when she was a little girl before she went to bed and how her dreams were filled with start and chariots, gods and goddess who protected her as she slept. That was a memory she would always cherish. It was while she was sitting there reading that Moriarty entered.

He stood in the doorway for a brief moment before entering. He hadn't grown attached to his prisoner but he did admire her in his twisted way. He watched her silently for a moment before returning to his original purpose. Walking along the outside of the room, he ran his hand along the spines of the books, reading the titles hurriedly as he did so. Eventually he came across the book he was after.

Bending down he pulled a book down from above his head which was clearly a scientific journal. He then knelt down and pulled the last of a group of large, black notebooks off the shelf. He then took them both to a desk which sat near a wall with a window behind it, so the person working there could have some light. Erika looked up from her book and watched him, curious as to what he was doing. To her great surprise, he opened the journal and the notebook and began to copy out the scientific text.

Erika smiled cheekily. She placed a bookmark between the pages of her text and put it down beside her. Then she stood, walking over to him as naturally as she could with a hand pressed to her stomach. She was about a metre away from the desk and the consultant criminal didn't seem to notice her presence; until she spoke that is.

"Studying for exam week?" she said teasingly. He looked up blankly before grinning like the Cheshire cat; she supressed the chill that ran down her spine when she saw it and tried to act normally. She smiled slightly in response.

"Everyone has their hobbies. This is mine." He then returned to his work and Erika looked down at what he was doing, surprised by what she saw. The scientific journal had an article detailing Ramsey's Theorem with a long list of complex mathematical equations with almost no numbers at all. She couldn't understand any of it but was aware immediately that Jim Moriarty did.

Looking down at the man's notebook, she saw a long list of equations, variables, inequations, formulas and numbers that filled the pages. She stood stunned by the work put in and had no doubt that, based on James' intellect, every line was correct. Moriarty looked up at her again and smirked. He stood up and went to the bookshelves again. A moment later he returned with a bound, leather book. He motioned for her to sit at the chair across from him and she did so. He then sat and handed her to book. Resting his chin on his hands, he watched her.

Unsure what he gave her, Erika looked down at the book in her hands: 'Nontrivial Zeros and the Riemann Hypothesis – Professor James Moriarty'. Surprised, she opened to book, finding it mixed between text and formulas, some continuing for pages that were demonstrating the hypothesis above. Amazed, she looked up, only to find her captor staring down at the book as well.

"A mathematical genius turned consultant criminal," Erika murmured.

"We all must start somewhere," Jim said, leaning back in his chair. "And I know where you began, Miss Butler."

"I have my doubts," she said, looking back down at the book resting on the desk in front of her in the hope it would silence him, but Moriarty never backed down from a challenge. He leant forward again grinned widely, licking his teeth before he began.

"You were a genius. Yes, I said 'were'. Brilliant at school in every topic until you were fifteen when you dropped out."

"It's not important how I-"

"Eleven years, 2 months ago your parent were killed in a train crash in Tanzania, a week after which you disappeared. No one saw you again until you were seventeen when you were found in Sussex with a needle in your arm. After that well, 'The end'."

Erika let a tear slid down her cheek as she glared at the man across from her. "You're a real bastard."

Jim smiled. "You're lucky I need you both, or you'd be pinned to the wall with a knife through your chest."

The cold pleasantness which he said those words with chilled her to the bone. She looked away before realising what he said. "What do you mean 'need us both'?"

He let out a short laugh. "You thought I didn't need the both of you? If I didn't need your son he'd be dead."

"You will not touch him," she said, standing up suddenly and pressing her hands to her stomach protectively. "I swear to God I will KILL you if you so much as touch him!"

Moriarty let out a bored sigh and let his head roll back. He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes and rubbed them. "Why are you so ordinary?"

Before Erika could contradict him he stood and crossed the room so he was standing about a ruler's length away from her. He grinned down at her before kneeling in front of her and, before she could protest, he pressed an ear to her stomach.

"He says he doesn't want you; says you and Sherlock are going to abandon him." His babyish voice brought tears to her eyes but she didn't have the strength to stop him.

"Oh, he says he wants me." At this Erika pushed him away with all the strength she had and Moriarty fell back onto the floor.

"Better," he said, smirking at her.

"You will not take him. I'll die before I let you take him."

"That can be arranged." The coldness in his voice as he stretched himself back up frightened her and she took a step back, her hands still clamped to her stomach. He stood and brushed off his suit before turning back to her, his face business-like.

"Here's the thing, my dear. You mistake maternity with power. You will have your son, and you will give him to me, willingly or otherwise. Then he will be raised here so that I could have someone with half a brain to take over."

Y-you," she said, hesitantly. "You want…an heir?"

"Not particularly but you've given me such a perfect opportunity, I'd be a fool to pass it up." He said, winking at her. "Also, what could possibly hurt more, than me having control over his lover and child?"

He pressed a hand to her stomach in a cold way and she pulled away. "You won't take William."

"William? Is that his name? William Holmes. How dull. William Moriarty? Far better." Before she could threaten him again, he sauntered out of the room with a spring in his step and she sunk back into a chair, knowing that she couldn't be beaten.