An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Young Sherlock (TV 2026), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Xiao Wei/James Moriarty, Xiao Wei/James Moriarty/Sherlock Holmes
Characters: James Moriarty, Xiao Wei (Young Sherlock TV 2026)
Additional Tags: Morally Ambiguous Character, Xiao Wei Has Read Karl Marx, Pre-Relationship, Moral Dilemmas, For James; Xiao Wei is very clear in her objective and does not waver, Character Study, No explicitly romantic things happen except for James flirting, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Author spent their formative years watching NBC's Hannibal if that tells you anything, Unreliable Narrator, Asexual Sherlock Holmes, Polyamory Negotiations, kinda sorta. that is not the main focus of the fic but it is definitely there
Summary:
"Money is the only language those people understand," James says finally.
"Not so," Xiao Wei counters, and he knows she is right before she needs to remind him why. "They understand fear, as a weapon privileged to themselves, and as a weapon that can be turned back upon them. They understand death, for it is death they deliver to the world and death they dread returning to their shores. But are these things, money and death and fear, the only things you understand, James? Are you like them?"
Many many thanks to @hotaruyy and @setting-in-a-honeymoon for betaing this and being indulgent about using Ellipsus. I appreciate y’all very much. Also many thanks to my love @peripateticpatentrefrigerator who showed unending patience with my anxiety about posting this fic and talking about it constantly for a solid week.
