Imagined (Sherlock)
May. 11th, 2011 04:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morganstuartTitle: Imagined
Author: Morgan Stuart
Fandom: Sherlock
Disclaimer: This universe does not belong to me; I'm just an appreciative visitor. I make no profit from this fan work.
Description: Sherlock looks into the mind of Moriarty.
Historian's Note: This can be read as a companion piece to "Enclosed" or as a standalone sketch. This takes place after (and indirectly refers to) the Sherlock episode "The Great Game."
It was a pitifully small bundle to hold such weight.
Three narrow strips of fabric lay entwined and knotted together: fine silk the colour of aged parchment; worn but clean white Oxford cloth; soft cotton in a cosy, earth-toned plaid. Each piece was stained a telltale crimson-brown at one corner.
Seated at the makeshift laboratory assembled on the kitchen table, Sherlock Holmes lowered himself into the mindset of his nemesis like a diver descending into dark waters. He needed to know what the monster planned for the three men whose blood decorated the cloth before him.
Sherlock could almost hear Moriarty's smooth voice, faint as a whisper in his ear.
"You watch over him, fund his so-called lifestyle, and he repays you by resenting your attention and generosity. But I ask myself: why destroy one Holmes when I can destroy two? You can be my personal project. I'd like to take you apart and see what makes you tick before I throw away the pieces. I'm sure you're aware that you're far too dangerous to be allowed to live. Even if he asked me to spare you, which we both know he won't."
"You're a joke to him, and you always have been, even when you were saving his life and getting him clean. You bend the rules to allow him to do the work he loves – he needs – and you're insulted for it. But I have use for you even if he doesn't. My associates would dearly love to have a play date with a copper. Think of yourself as a night's free entertainment: 'use once and destroy.' Great for group morale, don't you think?"
"I wonder: what would it do to your master, if I put his little pet down for good? Even if – no, especially if – he begs for your life? Would he come apart at those stylish seams? I think it would be great fun to find out. Then again, now that you've shown him the joy of adopting a homeless puppy, he might just discover how simple it would be to replace you. The streets are full of strays, after all. Whatever happens, it seems that you lose."
Shocking, how easily it came to him.
Sherlock's fingers roamed over the three scraps of fabric, brushing against each separate piece where gore thickened its fibres, and then curled the bundle into a tight fist.
THE END
Vital Stats: Originally completed in May 2011.
Author: Morgan Stuart
Fandom: Sherlock
Disclaimer: This universe does not belong to me; I'm just an appreciative visitor. I make no profit from this fan work.
Description: Sherlock looks into the mind of Moriarty.
Historian's Note: This can be read as a companion piece to "Enclosed" or as a standalone sketch. This takes place after (and indirectly refers to) the Sherlock episode "The Great Game."
It was a pitifully small bundle to hold such weight.
Three narrow strips of fabric lay entwined and knotted together: fine silk the colour of aged parchment; worn but clean white Oxford cloth; soft cotton in a cosy, earth-toned plaid. Each piece was stained a telltale crimson-brown at one corner.
Seated at the makeshift laboratory assembled on the kitchen table, Sherlock Holmes lowered himself into the mindset of his nemesis like a diver descending into dark waters. He needed to know what the monster planned for the three men whose blood decorated the cloth before him.
Sherlock could almost hear Moriarty's smooth voice, faint as a whisper in his ear.
"You watch over him, fund his so-called lifestyle, and he repays you by resenting your attention and generosity. But I ask myself: why destroy one Holmes when I can destroy two? You can be my personal project. I'd like to take you apart and see what makes you tick before I throw away the pieces. I'm sure you're aware that you're far too dangerous to be allowed to live. Even if he asked me to spare you, which we both know he won't."
"You're a joke to him, and you always have been, even when you were saving his life and getting him clean. You bend the rules to allow him to do the work he loves – he needs – and you're insulted for it. But I have use for you even if he doesn't. My associates would dearly love to have a play date with a copper. Think of yourself as a night's free entertainment: 'use once and destroy.' Great for group morale, don't you think?"
"I wonder: what would it do to your master, if I put his little pet down for good? Even if – no, especially if – he begs for your life? Would he come apart at those stylish seams? I think it would be great fun to find out. Then again, now that you've shown him the joy of adopting a homeless puppy, he might just discover how simple it would be to replace you. The streets are full of strays, after all. Whatever happens, it seems that you lose."
Shocking, how easily it came to him.
Sherlock's fingers roamed over the three scraps of fabric, brushing against each separate piece where gore thickened its fibres, and then curled the bundle into a tight fist.
THE END
Vital Stats: Originally completed in May 2011.
Re: Imagined
Date: 2011-08-20 11:26 am (UTC)Please don't take this the wrong way, but you have a dead-on Moriarty voice.
It wouldn't surprise me if Moriarty killed one of them, two out of three, or all three - or let them all go.
Playing a side game with Mycroft - and giving him a variant on his speech to Sherlock in "The Great Game" - would make sense. Once Moriarty was on Mycroft's radar, JM could never relax; Mycroft would have him hunted down. (Assuming that Mycroft is more interested in getting things done than in the love of the game, that is.) *This* is the kind of thinking that could get through chinks in Mycroft's armor, coupled with the knowledge that his brother would have to choose between him and John Watson.
And again, good call on how to make a threat that would make Lestrade's skin crawl. Sliding from the mention of Moriarty finding him 'useful' into the specifics of *how* he would find him useful - yeek.
And for John.
I've seen variants on this scenario where one had to consider how the survivor(s) who *weren't* chosen to survive would react to that knowledge. What would it do to their relationships with Sherlock, even without Moriarty's additional commentary?
The gore on the hair - nice way to make the point that Moriarty *already* has them and isn't just starting the game. He's already made his move.
Very well done.
Re: Imagined
Date: 2011-08-20 02:28 pm (UTC)Please don't take this the wrong way, but you have a dead-on Moriarty voice.
Ha! No, I take it as a compliment, and I thank you. He's truly the stuff of nightmares, and I'm perversely tickled that he sounds right to you here. I particularly loved the idea of Sherlock trying to imagine Moriarty's taunts, and coming up with threats that struck not only at these three men, but also, in a way, at Sherlock himself (how he's been ungrateful to Mycroft, for example, and dismissive of Lestrade).
I'm so glad that the threats seemed fitting to you: the right thing to get through Mycroft's armor (I agree wholeheartedly that Moriarty would never be able to rest once Mycroft got him in his sights - I think Mycroft's emphasis on taking care of business, rather than playing the game, is probably one of the defining differences between the brothers) and the right thing to make Lestrade's flesh crawl. Lestrade must have made plenty of enemies among the criminal set during his long career, and I figured the only thing worse than being abandoned by Sherlock in general, in this case, would be abandoned by Sherlock into the hands of the criminals themselves.
I've seen variants on this scenario where one had to consider how the survivor(s) who *weren't* chosen to survive would react to that knowledge. What would it do to their relationships with Sherlock, even without Moriarty's additional commentary?
That just breaks my heart to contemplate. I suspect Lestrade, practical man that he is, would try not to let it affect the way he consults with Sherlock. (And, in fact, he might have been equally, if differently, horrified to be chosen over someone else.) But the relationship with Mycroft, especially... ouch. (And Mummy would be so disappointed...)
It's always so incredibly useful to know what works and why, and so your feedback is wonderfully helpful. I just can't thank you enough for taking the time to comment this way. I truly appreciate it!