unfortunately james and sherlock are Doomed By The Narrative and so their love will twist and sour without ever dying (an eternal death rattle promising release and never granting it)
however i do very much like the idea that no matter the circumstances, sherlock's very presence restrains james from his worst impulses. because either he chooses sherlock's love over his own ego and so restrains himself in exchange for keeping him by his side, or he gives into his ego and spends a lifetime attempting to prove that he's better than sherlock. mass murder is not all that complicated and so committing it for chaos's sake proves nothing. so while he might have the impulse to do something unbearably awful with death tolls far higher than his normal shenanigans, that would neither impress nor surpass sherlock, and so there's no reason to do it
and, of course, part of the reason sherlock always plays james's game is because it keeps the death toll low. his schemes and games are always geared towards him. if sherlock refused to play, if he refused james the attention he craves, james would have no reason to hold himself back. in fact, he might decide if is his intellect won't hold sherlock's attention, than his monstrosity will
either way, sherlock is the one restraining james from the true destructive and horrible potential he's capable of
kidnapped, tortured, disposed of. he was a little too slow and the criminal organization he was after won in the end
james finds out, either because he's sherlock's partner or his rival
the world thought they knew james moriarity. they have not seen him untempered by sherlock
he hunts down every member of the organization. he kills them in brutal, horrific ways and ensures they suffer first. law enforcement catches up to him when he finds the organization's base. it's a literal blood bath, james a one man army with a single minded determination to punish everyone responsible for taking sherlock from him
except deep in the dungeons, sherlock is alive
mycroft finds him while searching for james. he holds him close and weeps and then tells him what's happened since his supposed death. mycroft helps him up and they and the actual army he brought with him go upstairs where james must be
they burst through the door just as james slits another throat. his eyes are huge and blown wide, not having truly slept since hearing of sherlock's death, and he's bloodsoaked and wild. one of the officers vomits at the sight
sherlock steps away from his brother and says, "james."
james freezes then slowly turns towards him, disbelief and hope and fear like nothing he's felt before flitting across his face
"i'd like it very much if you stopped now," sherlock says then swallows. "please."
the knife falls from his hand, landing in the pool of blood and splattering even more of it against james's pants. "alright."
then he's stumbling closer. everyone raises their weapons but mycroft holds up his hand, stopping them
james falls to his knees in front of sherlock. he wraps his arms around his legs and presses his face to his stomach, clinging to him as these great terrible sobs leave him. sherlock runs a shaking hand through his hair and makes soft soothing sounds at him as he cries
whether james has placed sherlock above or below his ego controls what it is about this sight that everyone else finds so surprising - the blood, or the tears?
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