Sorry, I'm going to be late to work today Jim... -SM

My, my, that's the third time this week. Quite the bad boy, aren't you? -JM

Sorry Sir. This time, I really wasn't intending to be late. Apparently you've pissed off yet another gang of thugs... -SM

Oh, such a shame. I do love the common thug. -JM

More so than I... -SM

Well, let them come. They ain't got nothin' on us, darlin'. -JM

I'm afraid you have it all wrong...they don't want you...they said they just wanted you to "suffer" How, by locking me in a freezer to freeze to death would cause you pain beats me. I don't see how that s going to harm you in any way. - SM

Why, the loss of my right-hand man would be quite a blow. How best should I deal with them, Sebastian? Trial by fire, you think? -JM

You'll be fine without me. You're going to need a new Sniper...however you seem fit. J-Jim...s'cold...my hands are hurting...ju-just call me...- SM

Moriarty sighed and dialed Moran s number.

Sebby? How long have you been in there, exactly? Where are you? He asked sternly.

There was a slight hitch on the other line, Sebastian s breath shaking with each intake and outtake. "..Two hours...s'cold...so cold..." He shivered. "I-I thi-think the old fac-tory near the river...s'not sure..." His voice trembled slightly. "D-Don't come for me...m'not worth the saving..."

Sebastian, if there were anyone I would consider saving, 'would be you. I'm sending in the squad. We'll be there in ten. How many of them are there?

"I-I think there g-gone...they left me he-here to die...m'not sure, I can't see a d-amn thing..."

"Hold on, Seb. Hold on. I will find them and burn them. All of them. Just hold on."

"M-mate...if...if you don't make it h'ere in time...If this is the last time w-w-we talk..." His voice choked up slightly. "I want you to kn-know...you're a gr-great boss...and friend..." His voice faded in and out as he fought to stay awake.

There were muted sounds of shouting and movement as Moriarty got the rescue in gear. He himself was rushing to a car. His hands were shaking slightly and he griped the phone a little too tightly, pressing it to his ear.

"You don't need to say this, Seb. I'll be there and I'll get you. Soon."

There came another ragged breath on Moran's side of the phone. "I-I don't wan-wanna die this way..." He whimpered softly. "I didn't even g-get to see you today..." His voice was weakening with tiredness. "Didn't get...didn't get to see you...one last time..."

Moriarty was close, so close. He was at the wheel, risking life at limb, swerving through traffic in a demonic fashion. With a screech of tires, he pulls up outside the aforementioned location. He's managed to arrive a little before his men, and paused. He should wait. But he needs every second, by the sound of it.

"I'm here, I'm outside, wait, just wait for me"

Sebastian s voice was no higher than a weak whisper by now. "M'tired...just wanna sleep Ji-Jimmy...mak-makes me feel warmer...when I close my eyes..."

"KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!" Jim screamed into the phone, demanding, commanding survival. He's more frantic than he can remember being. He tore into the warehouse, giving only a cursory glance around for hostiles, looking instead for anywhere that could contain a freezer.

Sebastian made a slight whining noise but fell silent, quietly obeying. "I'll...I'll try...but I don-don't know how long I can...m'body's shu-shutting down...too cold Ja-James...cold..." He was fighting a difficult war with his own body. The closer he was to sleeping the warmer he felt, but as long as Jim said not to, he's obey. "Hu-hurry Jim..."

The sound of Sebastian's fading voice drove Jim into a near frenzy. This wasn't how he worked. He didn't function like this. Yet, that... That whimpering drove him near mad. He whip...whipped his head from side to side, looking for something, anything. He thought he heard a faint hum from the far side of the warehouse, and sprinted towards it. Any hope was hope enough.

The usual bored Sniper was now nothing but a heap of cold flesh, withering on the floor of the too cold freezer. He laid there simply staring at the phone on the floor next to him, listening as his friend continued to look for him. He blinked slowly, all he wanted was sleep. "Jim..." He whispered. "Jim..s'okay...I won-won t be mad at y-you if...if I die..." He coughed trying to hide the small sob that escaped him. "M'sorry...for all this..."

Jim finally saw it; an ugly, dirty industrial sized freezer in the far corner of the warehouse. Irrational though it was, he felt a surge of relief; he was there. Then he saw the chains and all hope and color drained away from his body.

Thick, heavy chains, padlocked to the hilt, encircling the freezer.

He had nothing. He didn't even have time, "Seb... Seb, I'm so sorry, I- I can't-" His voice cracked, and he hated himself more than words could express. He sank down beside the freezer. There was nothing he could do. Just this once, he was powerless. By the time he found something to use, Seb would be dead. He knocked on the side of the freezer. "Hey, honey, I'm home," he whispered, choking on the words.

It hit Sebastian hard as he heard Jim's voice crack. He knew right there and then. He was going to die... A pause of shock emptied into something between content and fear. He gave an empty laugh, slowly crawling to the side of the wall where he heard the banging. He laid his frozen and ice covered back aginst the wall. It was okay now, nothing hurt anymore. Everything was too the point of numbness, and he was glad for that at least. "J-Jim...s'okay...I-I always knew you'd be the de-death of me..." He chuckled sadly again; his eyelids already began to close on themselves. "Y-You be good now...you find you-yourself a better...less stupid Sniper y'hear...and...a-and be nice..."

Jim laid down with his back to the freezer edge, clutching the phone to his ear as if to drop it would be to drop the world. "I'll be good, Seb... For you... Just don't expect me to replace you, ok? I will never," some of the fire crept back into his voice, "replace you. OK?"

The frozen man laid his numbed cheek to the side of the wall, his half vacant eyes twinkling with the knowing he wouldn't ever be truly replaced. He small eye crystal feel from his watery eyes. He assumed it was a frozen tear drop. "G-Good...don-don't do any-anything st-stupid too...m'just a sn-sniper after all...no reason to go...to go killing y-yourself or whatnot..." He took his a breath that didn't even register. His lungs had all but shriveled up and closed off by now. "Yo-you don't change...you stay bat shit c-crazy...you stay annoying..." He chuckled weakly, he could feel his body oddly begging to warm. He smiled sadly knowing his time was close. "Th-thank you J-ames Mor-Mori...Moriarty...for taking me in...all those years'ago...m'glad I got to spend the times we-we had together...m'glad I c-can call you my...my..." He whispered. "My best friend...s'been an honor..."

"I will never forget you, Sebastian Moran. Never." Jim's voice was low and intense, and for once, free of mockery and instead thick with emotion. "I'm honored to have known you, my..." What was he to Jim? What could sum it up? Nothing he had words to express. He whispered back, "My dearest friend." He couldn't bear to wait, but neither could he let Sebastian die alone. So he laid there, on the cold, hard ground, just listening to the breathing coming over the phone. For some reason, his eyes were wet, and he didn't know why.

When he heard what Jim had called him, he could no longer hold in the small sobs that broke free from his purple lips. "Y-Your my..my dearest friend too.." He squeaked. There was a long silent pause before finally there came a slurred and soft mumble. "Jim...Jimmy...I feel weird.." He sniffed, his words fading even worse than before. "I-I feel warm...s'making me sleepy..." There was another soft sniff. "M'scared James..."

Before Jim could think about it, he found himself saying, "Shhh, it's ok, Seb, it's ok, soon it will all be over... Go to sleep now, there's a good boy, hush, hush... It will all be fine in the morning... I'll see you soon, ok? Just sleep now, shhh, ok..." By now he was barely coherent, but he kept up the stream of platitudes, murmuring his friend to his grave.

He nodded weakly into the frosted over wall, obeying his boss like a loyal dog would his master "Ok-Okay...wh-whatever you want Ji-Jim..." Came his soft whisper. "I'll see you...when I wake up later...I-I'll see you soon..Jimmy" Sebastians eyes dulled and blurred as his eyelids closed on themselves. "Goodbye...g-goodbye...James..." He barley was able to utter his friends name one more time before he sighed and took his last breath, his eyes went vacant and closed shut for the last time and his head fell with a thump, completely falling over like a frozen bag to the ground.

Sebastian Moran was dead, and yet left the world with a smile, knowing he at least got to die next to his best and dearest friend.

James Moriarty finally dropped the phone. He felt numb. He closed his watery eyes and laid there beside the final resting place of Sebastian Moran, doing nothing more than living. He knew the others would be there soon. He couldn't afford to be weak in front of them. He forced himself to stand up, dust himself down, lean casually against the freezer. He was flippant with the men, yet fierce when dictating how the body of his friend should be treated. He didn't look at the corpse as it was lifted out. He didn't need that to be his last memory of him. He ordered that the body should be given a proper funeral, a respectful funeral.

When he was alone again in the darkness of the warehouse, he finally let himself go. His shoulder sagged and shook as he fell against the closest wall, letting his body shake with the unleashed sadness that he tried to hide since Sebastian had died. He sighed and gave in slightly, letting one lone tear escape his dark eyes. He gathered himself after a few minutes later, putting back his cold hard mask as he rubbed away the tears that streaked his face. He began his walk back out into the waiting cars but stopped midway and turned back around to the factory where he lost his friend. His mask slipped ever so slightly before he whispered a sad and finale word to the man he came to adore, trust and befriend.

"Goodbye." He said quietly, before turning around on his heels and dragged himself out and away from there, leaving what little of his heart that was left with the old factory building and with his dearest friend.

THE END.