What You Took From Me

Chaos For The Sake Of Chaos

                Sebastian ordered the cabbie where to go as he adjusted the unconscious consultant against the far door, watching in the rearview mirror as the good doctor stared after them. The confusion in his eyes, the hurt, the worry, it all played across his face in a glorious presentation. Sebastian was sure Sherlock would’ve been heartbroken to see it, almost making him regret giving him the injection so soon.

                With a sigh, Sebastian looked to the cabbie, a young man with sun-kissed golden brown hair and blue eyes- contacts, obviously because they were simply way too blue- and said, “Remember, you don’t breathe a word to anyone or you don’t live to see tomorrow.” He cast him a dark look, his voice a low warning. This guy wasn’t going to live to see tomorrow anyway, but it wouldn’t do either of them any good for him to know that.

                “Trust me, I won’t say anything to anyone,” the cabbie said and Sebastian saw him smile in the mirror, showing off a row of glistening white teeth.

                There was something about that smile that brought Sebastian back. Just flashes at first. That warped smile, dark tasseled hair, a bloody nose, laughter. It brought a smile to Sebastian’s own face as he thought about that night so long ago.

               

                The bar he had been in was just like any other dive he would be caught in. He didn’t do fancy or upscale… or clean, really. Right down in the dirt, that’s where he liked to be. Filthy bars and angry drunks. His war-zone home away from the actual war-zone.

                He was on his seventh or so beer in the few hours he’d been there and the buzz was finally kicking in when he saw that wild-eyed, dark haired blast from the past walk in. And at first, Sebastian didn’t recognize him. Jim hadn’t been wearing some fancy suit and tie like last time. No, this time, he blended right in with the crowd, dressed in worn leather and jeans. Like everyone else, he was covered in dirt, his hair tossed in every direction.

                It hadn’t been until they made eye contact that Sebastian recognized him, and it wasn’t by facial familiarity that Sebastian remembered him. It was that look in his eyes. The one that screamed to burn the world down just for fun. Chaos for the sake of chaos. It had taken the warmth right out of Sebastian and replaced it with a chill. The kind that made him want to set down his beer, pick up his gun, and join him.

                The young Moriarty had recognized him as well, shooting him a wink before dropping down into a stool a few patrons away. He called to the bar tender and ordered himself a beer, something so normal, something everyone did when they entered that kind of establishment, but Sebastian knew better. He knew something was going to happen, someone was going to die. But who, he couldn’t help but wonder.

                The bar tender?

                A patron?

                Sebastian himself?

                Sebastian snorted at that last thought. Moriarty would have to take him by surprise, drug him maybe. Something sneaky, something sly. Or perhaps done at a distance.

                He took a drink from his beer, still thinking of all the ways he could be killed when a body dropped next to him.  Sebastian’s eyes shot up, looking around instantly to see if Moriarty was still standing.

                He wasn’t.

                The body that was dropped, well tossed, was Jim, in a heap of leather and limbs. He was rubbing his head, swearing under his breath.