A Tail of Shadows

A Sherlock Holmes drabble

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The Sherlock characters belong to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, not me. I'm jealous of Guy Ritchie, too, and his amazing Sherlock movies… Read, review, and enjoy!

- ^-^3

It was annoying, watching John walk with Mary from afar. Sherlock had been only too happy to depart from there. And of course Moriarty's henchman just happened to be by the car with the message that Sherlock and the professor meet. That was fine; Sherlock had been planning on that.

Arriving at the school and claiming an "impromptu" audience with Moriarty had been bound to happen. There was simply no way Moriarty could have denied playing with his food before taking a bite…meeting Sherlock before truly setting the game in motion. But if the events from the previous night showed any taste of what was to come, then Sherlock had to try asking for one thing, for one handicap.

"Keep the doctor and his wife out of the game?" Moriarty repeated Sherlock's words incredulously.

It was a chance, a hope—but Sherlock never did well with hope. Logic was his friend, not luck.

And luck surely was not his friend as Moriarty finally replied with a "I think not."

Sherlock…saw red. So, Moriarty had him figured out. Indeed, Watson was Holmes' weak point, but Sherlock felt compelled to make sure Moriarty never played that card. So what could the sleuth do? Surely the professor wouldn't expect a surprise attack here and now, would he? Sherlock's mind whirred and whizzed.

Moriarty was sitting down. At least one second delay would slow him from getting up behind the desk in his academic robes. Seventeen small items were within reach to throw at Sherlock, but Sherlock had a few projectiles close by as well. If Moriarty threw first, Sherlock could duck, throw one of the heavier books, possibly connect with either his shoulder or head—the head would be preferable, as the stars in his eyes would show him dazed and provide Sherlock with a second attempt at crashing something into his cranium in order to distort his memory. If Sherlock threw first, Moriarty might duck and subsequently throw one of two too-sharp letter openers at his adversary, a blow which Sherlock would have a hard time dodging in the partially cluttered room. Injured, Sherlock's escape would seem highly improbable. This was, of course, all highly conjectural. Either of them had to have a good arm, see.

Instead, the sleuth and the professor ended their discussion and Sherlock left without physical harm. But the damage to his psyche had been done. If Moriarty should harm one hair on John's head, then Sherlock would throw all caution to the wind. As long as John was safe, so was Moriarty—for now.

The only question was why did Sherlock bother to care so much?

Sherlock snickered to himself. "Obviously I'd be nothing without Watson in my arms—adventures," he thought aloud, catching himself.

Yes. Quite. Indeed.

- ^-^3

XD I just wanted to write this for 2 reasons: I got the feeling that Sherlock would've loved to incapacitate Moriarty in that scene where they met in the school and I wanted Sherlock to try to "reason" why his doctor had to be safe. B) Emphasis on "his doctor"—his doctor! :3 *fangirl squeals*

Thanks for reading and please review!

-mew-tsubaki :}