Sherliam Oneshots | ON HOLD

LOST

A/N: Before we begin, I'd like to make it clear that these are AU's. They're just stuff I made up. I'm aware that the story didn't actually go the way I wrote it. These are just for fun. Anyways, with that said, have fun!

Only crashing waves could be heard, the numbing noise overtaking any other sounds of the evening, which was quickly turning into night. The large sun was setting over the ocean, turning the reflective water a rippling mix between pink, yellow and orange. The rapidly darkening sky showcased a few early stars, with thousands more sure to appear in mere minutes.

The whole beach was empty, save for one man. He stood, his feet bare, waves lapping against his ankles. A little bit of the bottoms of his pant legs got wet, but he didn't mind. He didn't care. The water wasn't near warm, but he didn't pay much mind to the painful bitterness of it, either.

This man was deeply lost in his own mind, as he had been for numerous weeks. Even though he was looking at the striking sight of the sunset, the full beauty of it didn't register with him. In his eyes, not an ounce of awe or admiration for the picturesque coastal view could be found. Though his face was emotionless, his eyes told the true story. Inside his raven blue eyes showed hints of extreme pain and heartbreak. It was the kind that had shook him to his core, cut him off from reality, and changed his personality entirely.

The man used to be a sure character who made the occasional snide remark and was packed full of personality and spunk. But for multiple weeks, that personality was nowhere to be found, not even a hint of it left inside him. When his personality withered, he was left with a bleak character, rarely showing emotions of any kind. He even moved away from his friends so that they wouldn't have to see him in this state. Among other reasons, anyway.

The man's loose button up shirt and tousled raven hair blew in the slight breeze. Even when the monotonous man's hair covered his eyes, he didn't make an effort to brush it away. He didn't seem to notice it at all.

This fallen man bore the name Sherlock Holmes. He was a famous detective that once took immense pleasure in solving particularly gripping mysteries, with a friend who publicized him by writing books about the cases they solved together. That life was one that was forgotten by him; not only forgotten, but abandoned entirely.

It was a while back that Sherlock Holmes had been faced with a particularly intriguing mystery, one for the ages, one that was irrefutably mind boggling. The exact type of mystery that he most loved to unravel. This mystery had revolved around one man, and that man was named William James Moriarty. He and Sherlock had originally met on a boat they had both been on called the Noahtic, and William made it obvious to the detective right out of the gate that he was no common idiot. He distinguished himself by proving that he was one of the few people on the face of the planet that could keep up with Sherlock intellectually.

At the time, Sherlock, using his unmatched deduction skills, was guessing the professions of individuals based upon their appearances. William James Moriarty happened to be one of the people he guessed. Of course, Sherlock surmised that he was a mathematician, which he was ultimately correct about.

The other man did indeed confirm Sherlock's statement, and said that he was a mathematics professor at a university. Sherlock remembers thinking about how he looked young, and rather too young to be a professor.

In turn, the young nobleman guessed facts about him. It was then that it was clear to the detective that the man was brilliant at deducing, and if he was a professor at his age, then he had to be utterly genius. William guessed things that he could not have possibly known before that, just as Sherlock did about people. It was then that his deduction skills were finally matched, and he knew that he had found someone on the same intellectual level as him at long last.