Believe in Sherlock

Chapter 25-Sherlock's POV

I saw something move from the corner of my eye and I moved my gaze from Maggie to the space behind her.

It was him.

Jim Moriarty stood at the street corner with his sick grin and his gun pointed at Maggie's head.

I widened my eyes and pushed myself in front of Maggie while simultaneously pulling my pistol out of my waistband. I kept my grip on Maggie's arm tight and aimed my pistol at Moriarty.

His grin widened and I heard nothing around me except for faint shouting and my own heartbeat until his voice came through. "You thought I was done with you? That's sad, Sherlock. I thought you were more clever than that. Death can't stop me from getting what I want. Are you sure you reached ALL of my branches? I have a wide connection, you know. I still owe you." Moriarty's psychotic voice rang in my ears as he waved at me happily before disappearing.

I blinked and saw Lestrade glancing wearily at my pistol. I lowered my gun and muttered, "I have to go." before releasing my death grip on Maggie's arm as if that would save me from falling into the dark abyss of my own mind.

I didn't hear anyone following me and I was grateful for that. I knew Maggie would find me quickly enough as she knows me better than my own brother, Mycroft.

I headed towards the cemetery at which my 'grave' was place and where Moriarty used to lay six feet under the ground that I am running on.

The cemetery was silent as the grave, pun intended. Only a shriveled old lady kneeling in front of her husband's tomb and a rather horrifying crow sitting on a tombstone occupied the cemetery.

I strode over to the other side of the graveyard, to where Moriarty had been buried.

The stone was gone and only a six foot deep hole showed that something had been buried here. But Moriarty wasn't a thing. He was a human. A psychopath, but a human nonetheless.

I stared down into the large crater until I sensed someone standing beside me. I looked over to see Moriarty grinning down into the deep hole.

"You know, I never liked it down there. Much too cramped in that box. That's why I escaped. I'm right here, Sherlock. You can't get rid of me. Not you. Not your dear John Watson. Not Greg Lestrade. Not even your little girlfriend, Maggie can stop me." He gloated.

I kept my face blank and thought over and over, It's just another hallucination. Moriarty laughed shortly, "You think I'm a hallucination? Well, that's for you to decide. If I'm real or not. But nonetheless, I can still hurt you. I still want to burn the heart out of you." He paused before adding in a sing-song high pitched voice, "And you can't stop me!"

I kept my gaze away from him and focused on his shoes. "You can't hurt them. You're dead. You killed yourself on the rooftop of St. Barts Hospital." I said, not really knowing if I was trying to convince him or myself of these facts.

Moriarty grinned sinisterly again. "Whatever you say, Sherlock. How about we go visit that little 'friend' of yours? Margaret Jones? You remember her right? Curly black hair, dark blue eyes, and a heart I would love to see stop beating-" I swung a right hook at him but he disappeared in a whish of smoke.

"Really, Sherlock? This suit cost me a lot of money. You wouldn't want to wrinkle it would you?" Moriarty looked at me in distaste from behind me. I spun around with my black coat swishing dramatically behind me. I glared at him.

"Don't bring my friends into this matter." I said, ignoring his comment about wrinkling his precious suit.

Jim grinned and chuckled, "Are you sure Margaret is just a friend? Remember, I am just a physical form of your inner thoughts. I know what goes on in that big skull of yours. More than you know yourself. I know Sherlock Holmes inside and out."

I narrowed my eyes at him and felt my blood boil. My face felt hot and I briefly imagined smoke coming out of my ears like in those ridiculous cartoon I used to watch when I was just a boy.

I felt my anger rise every second I looked at his mocking face until I started to physically shake with anger. He's the reason I had to leave Maggie, John, Greg, and Mrs. Hudson for THREE years! He's the reason I had to standby when I watched Maggie have a nightmare or cry because she felt guilty about my death. The reason I had to standby and watch John comfort her but end up getting upset about it and crying as soon as Maggie wasn't there to hear or see him. John had suffered. Maggie had suffered. Mrs. Hudson suffered. Even Lestrade shed a tear at my funeral.

Nobody was going to suffer because of this man anymore.

"Sherlock!" I watched Moriarty's lips move but Maggie's voice came out of his lips. "Sherlock! Calm down, put the gun away."

Jim's image flickered until Maggie's slim figure took his place. Her eyes were wide with fear and her breathing was heavy. She must've ran the whole way here. What scared her so much?

I looked down and saw I had my pistol in my hand and it was aimed at Maggie's heart.

"Sherlock. Don't shoot. Calm down and put the gun down." I looked around to see John walking slowly and calmly towards me with his hands up to show he didn't mean to harm me.

I looked at the pistol in shock before it slipped from my hands and fell into the six foot hole at my feet. John let out a deep sigh of relief and walked faster towards me. I turned away from him and looked over at Maggie. Her eyes were filled to the brim with concern and she was looking right into my own lighter blue-green eyes. She walked slowly towards me and before I could deduce what she was doing, she pulled me into a hug. Not the stiff, awkward one that she once held me in, but a warm embrace. The kind you would give a friend to comfort them. I embraced her as well and stroked her long black curls softly.

We separated and John reached us.

"What the bloody hell was that, Sherlock?" He demanded and motioned to the deep hole that once held Moriarty's body and now only held my pistol. Too bad, it was my favorite gun.

"John, we have a case. It's no doubt going to be dangerous so are you in or not." He opened his mouth to reply before I interrupted, "Why do I even ask? It's obvious you're going to say 'yes, but what about Mary' Well, John, I will tell you one thing, she isn't going to join us on the case no matter what. I can only stand so many people at once. Two is my max." I said, not giving John a chance to get a word in. He just closed his mouth and shook his head, muttering something about a thorn in his side.

"John, we don't have time for your complaints, we have a thief to catch." I said with a slight pinch of excitement in my voice. "Come along, Maggie. The game is afoot!" I turned and headed back for the main street to catch a cab back to 221b Baker Street.