Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk (FIN)

[SEBASTIAN TIMOTHY MARTIN]

"Commere... I'm not gonna hurt you, darling..."

Sebastian was terrified out of his wits. He couldn't do anything but let the vision go on. He wrung his hands, gulping and saying, "I doubt that, Mister..." in a little squeak of a voice.

A large sting tinged his face. The man had slapped him, grabbing him roughly by the shoulders. "Now you've done it!" He was thrown to the ground, the man standing over him. He felt the flower crush against his back. He kicked and struggled, trying to get away from him, but the man wouldn't stand for it. He was having his way with him, one way or another.

The man was ripping his clothes off, but he fought him hard. More slaps, more punches, but it was no use. "No, no please! Please let me go!" he yelled in the vision and in the real world.

"Not a chance, you pretty little th-th-thing covered in bloooooooddddd..."

Everything was slowing down. The man moved in slow motion, and his voice became distorted and far away. He could feel himself leaving the vision. But he didn't want to. He didn't want to leave because of the person he was leaving behind.

He didn't want to leave that poor soul all alone.

But it was a past vision. He knew this now. He couldn't do anything about it. All he could do was scream.

"PLEASE LET ME GO!"

His eyes were open, and he was staring up at James, breath ragged and panting, tears streaming down his face.

[JAMES MORIARTY EDWARDS]

James tightened his grip on Sebastian's shoulders when the slap didn't work. This was bad. James hadn't seen Sebastian get so deep into a vision before and he didn't like it. He had no control. James hated not having control. "Sebastian, wake up,"

The boy was thrashing about, giving a good fight against whatever was wrong in the vision. Feeling a twinge of pride at it, James worked to avoid being hit with the lad's flailing limbs. James grabbed Sebastian's face with the hand that had slapped him. He continued speaking the boy, demanding that he come to but nothing was working.

James gave Sebastian a firm shake again and was rewarded with a shout.

"PLEASE LET ME GO!"

James released Sebastian and stepped back before he could even fully process the words. Looking into his eyes, James could see that Sebastian was back, not in the vision anymore.

"Sebastian," James sighed in relief. Closing the distance again, James pulled Sebastian into a hug knowing that the boy would need it. James hated giving hugs but he knew that Sebastian would just be worse off later if he didn't and James really didn't want to have to spend time later trying to deal with that. It suited the older man just fine to deal with the problem now so it wouldn't bother him later.

[SEBASTIAN TIMOTHY MARTIN]

Sebastian shuddered, gripping James tight around the waist. "I-I'm sorry, James, I know... I know you don't like my visions!" he sobbed. He buried his face in his chest, shivering and panting. "I-I-I-I-I p-promise it won't happen again!"

He couldn't look up, he couldn't breathe, he could barely stand on his own two legs. James was the only thing keeping him from collapsing in on himself. The vision had shaken him to his core. Even without finishing it he knew how it ended. He had had these visions before. His only comfort was the hope that the victim had been alive to see another day, rather than dying alone, like so many others. Otherwise, there was nothing he could do. Not when it was past visions like this. All he could do was feel sorry for the person, no, feel the person's sorrow, feel their pain.

"I-i-i-it scares me... Why would someone do that?!" he whispered in a frantic way. "James... James am I crazy for crying...? For being like this...? Am I crazy for caring?"

[JAMES MORIARTY EDWARDS]

James sighed and rubbed the boy's back comfortingly. "Don't make promises like that. You know you can't keep them," The boy was leaning on James heavily and James felt like he was going to drop him. Shuffling them over to a kitchen chair, James sat Sebastian down and pulled the other chair around to be right next to him.

James wiped the tears from Sebastian's face, letting the boy ramble on. He wasn't listening to what he was saying or even that concerned with his body language. He needed to calm him down so he could finish getting ready and get out the door.

"Love, we both know you're emotional. It doesn't mean that you're crazy," It just means that you're unstable. James didn't voice the last part; he continued to rub Sebastian's shoulders, waiting patiently for him to calm down. He glanced at his watch quickly. He had another thirty minutes before he postively had to leave.

[SEBASTIAN TIMOTHY MARTIN]

Sebastian was at a loss. Not because of the vision, but because he knew that his boyfriend wasn't caring at the moment about him. He had seen him glance at his watch, he knew he had an appointment. Suddenly a sharp pain hit his heart, like a bullet, like a knife. It had just become painfully clear that James didn't care about him in the slightest. He had had his suspicions, but he had hoped with all his might that some ounce of good was hiding deep within James' heart.

Now that he knew there wasn't, he had significantly calmed down, even going so far as to stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks. He laughed with an undetectable falsehood, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and rubbing his eyes, his brow furrowed. "You're right, James. I-I'm over reacting. Sorry about that, I'd hate for you to miss your meeting."

Anything to get him to stay, to feel guilty. He knew guilty wasn't an emotion often felt by his boyfriend, however, so it was a long shot. Sebastian was typically a manipulator, but he found that to keep up with James' manipulation, he had to become decietful himself. Surely that wasn't healthy, but he would take what he could get.

He got up, walking around James to the kitchen sink. He rubbed his tear stricken eyes more, freeing them of their puffiness with a cold washcloth, a method he found most relaxing when recovering from a vision. "You should finish getting ready. I should clean up around here anyway, as I'm expecting guests later this evening." Lies. If James asked who it was, he'd say it was Jane and Dahlia, and that they were having girl time together.

In fact, that didn't sound like such a bad idea. He might even invite them over anyway. He had more than enough problems to deal with at the moment, and girl time might be what he needed most.

He continued washing dishes, not even looking back at James to gauge his reaction.

[JAMES MORIARTY EDWARDS]

If James had been a religious man, he would have thanked God. He had Sebastian's blessing to leave, albeit a contorted one. It was an attempted guilt trip, a funny little trick that actually worked on most people. James stood up and followed Sebastian to the sink; he placed his hands on Sebastian's hips and kissed the back of the boy's neck.

"Liar," He breathed accusingly. "You aren't expecting anyone," James reached around Sebastian and stilled his hands. Turning him around, James looked him in the eye, sternly. "Don't try lying to me Sebastian. It's stupid to attempt because I'll know the instant you're doing so," James raised one soapy hand to clutch Sebastian's chin firmly. "If you ever try to lie to me again, there will be consequences,"

The two halves melded into one and for one, exhilirating moment, James was James again. Not Edwards, not Moriarty, just James. A genius, a criminal, a master manipulator and actor, and the man Sebastian had foolishly let into his life. Everything that Sebastian had known in James was gone and in his place stood a cold, calculating, confident man with hard eyes and a stoic expression. Unreadable, unshakable.

In an instant, he was two people again. Edwards returned and James stepped away from Sebastian, shaking his hands dry. "I have to go change me shirt," He said by way of excusing himself.

That was as close to losing control as he ever got.

[SEBASTIAN TIMOTHY MARTIN]

Sebastian was a little stunned, but somehow, in the back of his mind, he had expected a reaction like that. Perhaps he was a masochist, and enjoyed the way his boyfriend mentally scarred him. Or perhaps he really was crazy, and James had lied to him, like he always lies. The liar.

He rubbed his chin where traces of soap still lingered, though foolishly he'd added more, remembering to turn around and finish the dishes. It was a rare occasion when he actually did dishes. He usually kept the rest of his house clean, but his kitchen was always a complete disastor. It was mostly because he was always on the run, out to save lives, or late for work after a awful night of visions.

He put the final dish away and rinsed the soap of his hands, turning of the faucet with a sigh. He should probably get dressed too. He really did want to call Dahlia and Jane, ask them to come over, have some girl talk. Lord knows he needed it.

He stole his way into his bedroom, not even glancing at James, the time, or the bed that lay in a tangled mess of sheets, where their sweating, lust filled bodies had been naught a couple hours before. He just went for his closet, throwing on a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt, and then went directly for the phone. He sat down on the bed, starting to dial the number.

"I wasn't lying when I said I was expecting guests, you know," he said to James. "At least if they accept my invitation."

He texted Dahlia first. He was actually hoping she might want to invite him over to her home, as she didn't really want to be in his appartment when only hourse before James had been typical James, and at that moment, that precise moment, he wanted to forget about him entirely.

Hey Dahlia. Just wondering if you'd want to come over or something, for like, a sleepover, as childish as that sounds. I'm inviting Jane too. That ok?

[JAMES MORIARTY EDWARDS]

"You were, by definition lying," James answered snarkily. He shucked his now damp shirt and pulled on another. He stood by the closet, buttoning it up while Sebastian texted his friends. "Since at the time of the statement, you hadn't even asked them," James was eager to get dressed and get gone.

He didn't like that he had almost lost control around Sebastian. That was a horrible thing. Losing control meant getting sloppy which always lead to capture at the hands of the authorities. James wasn't going to let himself get near that position. He would never be caught, especially due to a boy.

Let Sebastian believe what he wanted to believe, James wasn't going to relinquish his hold over himself. He was in charge, tragically so at times. He controled himself and even Sebastian, every moment of every day.

Tucking his shirt into his pants, James continued with his departure routine. He grabbed his wallet and tucked it into his pant pocket, his phone followed, then he slipped his watch on. As he closed the clasp, James addressed Sebastian again.

"I won't be back tonight, or tomorrow. I have business I need to catch up on," James said, punctuating his statement with the click of the clasp catching closed. "Keep yourself out of trouble and your friends out of my stuff,"