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Sebastian found him first… not really found, claimed was more like it. Seeing Jim stupid enough to put a gun in his mouth was hard on Sebastian. They were lucky he was even still alive. Sebastian had seen a man kill himself with blanks. Blanks were still dangerous within a certain range, and right next to someone's temple could still kill. A blank was still being fired, high impact and force localized into one point. At range it was safe. Jim hadn't wanted to kill Sherlock, but injuring him was all well and good. Jim probably thought that he was going to kill himself with that shot. Stupid bastard. He'd do anything to win a game.
Sebastian called the Hospital, told them he'd heard shots fired from their rooftop while he waited for the stupid detective to finish his phone call. He'd jumped. Shortly after people arrived and found Jim. He wouldn't have survived if Sherlock had picked any other location. Sebastian left once the bastard jumped, heading home to try and get whatever papers together that he could. He needed to make himself into one of Richard Brooke's contacts as fast as he could.
Molly came up to look at him when she got a chance. People knew she'd been a friend of Sherlock's, that she'd preformed Sherlock's autopsy. They hesitated to let her alone with the actor, but she was Dr. Hooper, and Dr. Hooper would never do anything to hurt anyone. They let her alone with the actor in the coma. No one even thought twice when she seemed to become friendly with the actor's best friend, Mr. Moran.
"He should wake up soon," Dr. Hooper was heard to say, stroking the man's arm. Mr. Moran would nod along, looking depressed. No one thought twice about the small woman comforting the large ex-soldier (they'd heard her call him Colonel often enough). It didn't even surprise them much that she came to check on the actor. Even she said that Sherlock Holmes was a fake. She must have felt sorry for the man who'd been harmed in the process.
Molly was the one who came at odd hours to visit, because she could and no one would question it. Neither of them were sure when he could wake up, but they wanted someone to be there. Oddly enough, it was both of them. Molly had drifted off, her head next to Jim's hand. Sebastian had gone to get coffee for the both of them, and entered the room only shortly after Jim woke up. He was greeted with the sight of Jim Moriarty stroking the head of Ms. Hooper, who leaned into the touch as she slept.
"Who is this?" Jim asked.
"Molly Hooper," Sebastian said. "Your woman," he added. He felt his gut clench, wondering if he should tell Jim that if he didn't remember… no, when Jim remembered he'd be pissed at Seb if he found out his bodyguard had lied.
Jim looked down at the woman still asleep at his side. He continued to stroke her hair in an affectionate gesture that made Sebastian's gut clench even more. It was too intimate for his boss. Sebastian shouldn't be seeing this.
"Who are you?" Jim asked and Sebastian's stomach dropped right out. Before he could answer Molly started to stir. She shifted and turned. She grinned broadly when she saw Jim sitting up, stroking her hair. Apparently Jim had sat himself up when he awoke, not willing to put up with the indignity of being made to lay down.
"Hey," Molly said, not really sitting up. She didn't want Jim to pull his hand away. His affection with her was so sparse. Jim seemed to notice this. Instead of pulling his hand away he moved his hand lower, stroking Molly's cheek. "Are you okay?" she asked. Her eyes had narrowed a bit, sitting up.
"I'm sorry Molly, but I'm afraid I don't remember you," Jim said, letting his hand fall.
"Jim," She said softly.
"Is that my name?" Jim asked. He seemed to say it more because that was expected than he actually needed to.
"Yes," Molly said. "but you're Richard while you're here."
"Why?" he asked.
"We promise to tell you when you can go home," Molly told him, smiling when he pouted.
"How did I get here?"
"Stupidity," Sebastian said, earning a shiver-inducing glare from Jim.
"You didn't tell me who you were."
"Colonel Sebastian Moran," Molly said, turning to look at Sebastian as well who still had two cups of coffee in his hands. She reached out, taking one. "Thank you Colonel," she said politely, sipping her coffee before setting it down on the table next to Jim's bed.
"Tell me what name I'm signed in under," he said to Sebastian. It was an order.
"Richard Brooke," Sebastian answered.
"Reichenbach," Jim said. His eyes slipped out of focus and then returned to them. "Richard, call me Richard," he told them. "When can I get out of here? Hospitals are dull."
"The doctors have to discharge you," Molly said.
"You're a doctor," he said.
"How do you know that?" she asked. She didn't even have her coat on.
"I don't know. I just did," Jim said.
"I'm a medical examiner," she explained. Richard's eyes lit up.
"Oh, that's much more interesting than a regular doctor," he said.
"I still can't get you out of the hospital early," she told him. He looked very grumpy at that before casting a suspicious eye at Sebastian. It was an odd thing, because Jim seemed to trust him when he first woke up, but now all of his trust was on Molly.
"Can you at least find me a doctor who can tell me when I can get out of here?" he asked.
"Yes, I can do that," Molly said, standing up. She left, taking her coffee with her. Richard turned his head, watching her go, like a man would watch after his lover.
The second Molly was out of the room Richard's head turned in its slinking reptilian fashion, his dark eye focusing on Sebastian. "You want to tell me why you're sleeping with my woman?"
Sebastian felt his hear slam into his chest. "You remember it?"
"No, but it's obvious by the way your gaze shifts to her so often. Though she doesn't seem to care for you very much: barely looks in your direction even when mentioning your name," Richard said, every bit as cutting as Jim could be, though Richard explained a bit more than Jim would.
Sebastian swallowed. This wasn't Jim. There was an affection in him that Jim Moriarty never could achieve, but that didn't make this man any less dangerous. Richard saw Colonel Sebastian Moran as a threat to the one thing Richard knew for sure was his. If Sebastian didn't explain very quickly, they'd find his skin hanging from a flagpole and his skinless body in the morgue.
"You gave me permission."
"Did I?" Richard asked. It wasn't doubt, it was a question. Richard didn't recognize the man who gave Sebastian permission as himself.
"Jim did," Sebastian amended.
"Was he afraid of you?"
Sebastian glared. He wasn't going to have the man he'd been loyal to spoken about like that, even by… well, Sebastian didn't know how to explain Richard. "That would never happen," Sebastian said. "Even if I had the gun and had him tied to the floor. He'd never be afraid of me, or of anyone," he said.
Richard seemed to take this into consideration, taking the information about who he was into himself and figuring out who he used to be from who he was. "Why did he give you permission?" Curiosity.
Sebastian took just a moment, a very short moment, to gather his thoughts. "Your body puts of heat like the sun when you sleep. It's uncomfortable for you to sleep with someone wrapped up next to you, and you do not like to share what you consider yours," he waited, seeing the slight acknowledgement in Richard's eyes. "Including your bed. Molly slept in my bed because you didn't want anyone else sleeping in yours."
"Not enough," Richard said in Jim's most dangerous sing-song voice.
"I'm yours too," Sebastian said. That seemed to click something in Richard's mind. "You said that my sleeping with her would be like two Ethernet cables getting tangled in a drawer: a minor annoyance but nothing that made either cord any less yours or any less useful for their intended purpose."
"She agreed?"
"She doesn't mind. You're not a very affectionate man."
"Jim wasn't," Richard said, smirking a bit. "Come here Sebby, let me get a look at what's mine," he cooed.
Sebastian hesitated. This man made him edgy. He didn't know what about Richard was the man he knew and what wasn't, not yet. There was brain damage, that was sure. Sebastian had never thought that Jim could be any less unhinged, but he was starting to wonder now. He approached out of a sense of self preservation. If he didn't get close enough he was sure that Richard would skin him.
"Good boy," Richard said in a patronizing voice. He ran a hand up Sebastian's chest, making Sebastian feel very uncomfortable. Richard tugged lightly on the collar of Sebastian's shirt, and Sebastian lowered himself down to Richard's eye level. "Want to play?"
"Play what?" Sebastian asked. Years of the military and years with Jim kept him from hesitating when he spoke. Now was not the time to show weakness to a predator.
Richard's grip suddenly became iron and he dragged Sebastian down with a force that Sebastian only vaguely knew Jim actually had. Sebastian found his lips crashing against Richard's. When he made to pull away Richard only tightened his grip. The kiss was violent and controlling, like kissing a fucking war, and Sebastian felt a jab of fear so strong it felt like someone had shot him through the heart.
"Hide and seek," Richard purred, letting Sebastian go.
Sebastian straightened up, looking very dazed. He hadn't expected it. He didn't know what to do with it. What the hell had just happened?
"Back!" Molly chirped as she came back into the room. Sebastian jumped, but she didn't notice, her attention on Richard. "The doctor says he'll come check on your soon, but that they can send you home in a few days if you're doing well."
"Thank you," Richard said, beckoning her close. Molly came hesitantly. When Richard reached up and grabbed her collar Sebastian nearly jumped to grab her away. He controlled himself, though, yet waited for the war kiss Richard had just given him to be planted on Molly. It surprised him when Richard only gave her a sweet, chaste kiss that made Molly blush and giggle. "You will be there for me when I get home, yes?"
"Y-yes, of course," Molly said. "I'll make you fish and everything."
Richard's eyes lit up, most likely a memory of Molly's fish coming into his mind. "That would be perfect, Molly," he said. He laced his fingers with hers and brought her hand up, kissing the back. He glanced over at Sebastian, and the ex-army officer felt his skin crawl. He didn't know yet who Richard exactly was, but he was sure that Richard was going to be very dangerous.