[The Reichenbach Fall]
"I should get myself a live-in one," Jim said, glancing around the flat. He had to say it. He already had a live-in one, yes, but his live-in one was not really that ordinary. And besides, he couldn't give Sherlock the advantage of knowing that yes, even Jim Moriarty has a pressure point.
"Your death is the only thing that's gonna call off the killers. I'm certainly not going to do it." Jim said. Sherlock was on the ledge.
"Would you give me one moment, please, one moment of privacy?" Asked Sherlock, his voice husky. Jim almost sighed at how ordinary Sherlock had become.
"Of course."
Jim gave Sherlock his "moment of privacy" as he waited for Sherlock to jump. It had been so easy, in the end. Not even Sherlock had been a match for him. Sebby had been worrying needlessly.
It was Seb's worry that had driven Jim to leave their house that morning with a note saying that he was going shopping since Sebastian had the flu. Jim didn't want Seb to accidentally mess something up in Jim and Sherlock's little game, and besides, if Seb was here, Jim might get distracted.
Suddenly, Sherlock laughs.
Laughs.
Jim spins around. Had he become distracted, then, even when Seb wasn't there? "What?! What did I miss?" Sherlock shouldn't be laughing. No. Sherlock was supposed to jump. To fall, or else his friends would die. No laughing for Sherlock Holmes.
Sherlock hopped off the ledge and walked closer to Jim. "'You're not going to do it.'" He quoted what Jim had said moments before. "So the killers can be called off, then- there's a code or a word or a number. I don't have to die if I've got you." Sherlock's voice had gotten a sing-song tone to the end of his sentence.
"Oh!" Jim feels relief and delight suddenly. Sherlock wasn't ordinary after all. He still had a brain. Jim also, however, feels a bit nervous. Maybe things weren't looking so good for him after all. "You think you can make me stop the order? You think you can do that?"
"Yes. So do you." Said Sherlock. Damn. Sherlock noticed the nervousness. Very small nervousness, though. Sherlock talked big. He couldn't do anything.
"Sherlock, your big brother and all the king's horses couldn't make me do a thing I didn't want to."
"Yes, but I'm not my brother, remember? I am you-" Sherlock got in Jim's face suddenly- "Prepared to do anything. Prepared to burn. Prepared to do what ordinary people won't do. You want me to shake hands with you in hell? I shall not disappoint you."
Jim shook his head. No. "Nah. You talk big. Nah. You're ordinary. You're ordinary- you're on the side of the angels."
"Oh, I may be on the side of the angels, but don't think for one second that I am one of them."
Sherlock is me. Sherlock will do anything. Sherlock is not his big brother- outside the law, then? Sherlock knows that even insane people have a breaking point (and he thinks I'm insane; he just said so). He's me. Jim grew cold. What if he knows about Sebastian? He says he's me. He will hurt my pressure point like I've threatened to do to his.
"No. No, you're not." Jim realizes. He blinks. "I see. You're not ordinary. No- you're me. You're me!" Jim laughs crazily. He found someone- He found his other self. He finally found someone worthy enough to play The Game, and this someone was winning. Jim knew what he had to do. He felt himself get a little light headed and he smiled. "You're me. Thank you!" He offers his hand out to Sherlock. "Sherlock Holmes." Jim blinks rapidly and his eyes lower to the ground as Sherlock clasps his hand. "Thank you. Bless you." Jim blinks some more. He realizes that he's holding back tears- tears of happiness (he can still win, even if Sherlock is still a genius) and sadness (Sebastian). Maybe he is mad after all.
No, it's not "maybe"- you've known all along that you're mad. Sherlock knows you're mad; he tries to stop you. Seb knows you're mad; he tries to help you. Sebby. Seb. Tiger. Sebastian.
"As long as I'm alive, you can save your friends. You've got a way out." Prepare yourself, Jim. It's inevitable. You have to win, and the only way you can win is if you do this. Win. Winning is everything in The Game. "Well, good luck with that."
Jim's last thought as he grins and rapidly pulls the gun and puts it in his mouth is that if Sebby were here, he'd resurrect Jim and then kill him all over again for what he was about to do.
