What Kind of Man || Jim Moriarty

Thirty Two

Katherine was left in solitary for the next three days. Her hands had been untied, she had been able to tell instantly the first time she awoke after they had been in. The limbs throbbed ad instead of holding her in an upright position, her body had been allowed to hang over her knees. Just looking at them made her want to be sick. The skin was torn and bright red, strained dark by dried blood and bruising. She couldn't touch then, she couldn't even bend them to stretch her aching forearms and back. Instead, Katherine could only look away and whimper.

They only brought her water and bread when she was sleeping, all that was needed to give her just little bit of strength so she wouldn't die on them too early. She heard no noise. She saw no light. For a time, she thought she was going crazy. There would be blurs of black scuttling around in the corner and whispers when she was sur she was at her most alert. The door would open and close, but when she turned her head, no one was there, no light would ever flood the room. Then she started to think they were drugging her. Katherine wasn't going crazy, but they wanted her to think she was. They were trying to break her from the inside out, but she was stronger than that. She was going to prove them all wrong, she was going to keep fighting and win. A man who made a living through being a brute was not going to defeat her, especially after she had danced with fiercer forces and come out better off.

However, on the third day, still unable to tell if it was day or night, Katherine started to feel it. Her heart slowing. For hours her will to fight had been a dying flame and the harder it got to lift her own head, the easier it became to accept the end was near.

She should have known it was going to be like this. It had been obvious from the beginning. This was the inevitable, it was always going to end like this. Her, slumping in the chair, taking one last breath, the damp concrete walls being the last thing she ever saw before being disposed of.

In one of the far corners of the room, every couple of hours or so, the generators would roar as they kicked back in. That was the only company she had. But even that rumble, that small groan of electricity, made her cry desperately. She was a broken woman.

But she wouldn't fully snap without a fight. As much as her old habits wanted to creep back into her natural behaviour, Katherine wouldn't allow it. Lucy could scratch and scream at the padded cell walls in her head as much as she wanted, but she wanted going to give her oxygen. Like a flame, she was slowly being starved and was dimming, this hiccup wasn't going to change that. Katherine was not going to allow Mr Samsung to feed Lucy.

Having been there almost a week, unbeknownst to her. Her hair resembled a bird's nest, it itched with dirt and the tatts grew so knotted they stung and pulled on her scalp. The welts on her wrists went on untreated, and Katherine was sure if exhaustion didn't claim her then the infection would. But it was strange, after a couple of days she'd grown used to the pain. Only new scars hurt now. Her clothes were torn, her thin top so much so that she was almost bare naked. But like the pain, humiliation was no longer one of her worries.

Katherine began to weep, her head like a boat caught in a storm, constantly being thrown about, tipping upside down and back again.

"Where are you?" Her whisper caused a ripple in the silence. "You promised." Her faith in him was dying. Admittedly, for the first few days she had believed he would come. She believed Jim would find her and take her back home. Or she would awake in her bed, next door to his, and it would all have been a bad dream. A nightmare. But this was worse than any old fashioned nightmare. He was not coming. It had been too long. He probably hadn't even tried and if he had then it had been short lived and he would have most likely given up by now.

"Where are you?" Her head fell forward, the cuts inflicted to the back of her neck days ago still tightening as the scabs pulled the skin. There were no more tears, she didn't have the energy to cry real tears, instead they were just screams and moans. "Please. Please!" She was beyond help. If Moriarty was coming, he might as well give up.

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All her days were one. The heavy black bags under her eyes were enough evidence of such. Katherine didn't sleep anymore, she was no longer able to escape the horror and the pain by passing out. No matter how long she sat, eyes closed in the darkness, sleep would never come and it would always end in her screaming in frustration. She had even tried harming herself, pulling on her restrained and reopening wounds in hoping it would make her pass out. But no luck. All she did was make the time more unbearable for herself.

She had started to disturb the men too. Some of them refused to even go near her since she had started rocking herself backwards and forwards on the small wooden chair. Katherine would go on for hours, sometimes slowly and sometimes rapid, always with the aim to self sooth. Her eyes would always be alert and wide, and the weakening wood would creak with her wake.

Samson believed she was at the end of her rope. One last push was all she'd need to dive head first into crazy town. Her time was fast approaching, but not before he got a chance to play with one of the big dogs. When they found Lucy Scott hiding under his shadow, he had thought nothing of it. Just another one of his 'projects' who he was getting a little use from. She was a pretty little thing when they found her after all. But then he had heard rumours. He was looking for her. Jim Moriarty was looking for Lucy Scott. It started with whispers in his networks, then he saw a couple of faces becoming familiar as the days past. Moriarty's men on his back. She meant something to him. Financially or romantically, it didn't matter but she was worth something. Some people would pay a lot of money to know a man in his sort of business had a weakness, and he wanted to play with it.

He entered the room, like he did almost every day at the same time. It still made her jump though. Time didn't matter to her anymore, neither did light. She was a creature of the darkness, ugly and dirty. She would smell better dead.

"It's time to give you your phone call, sorry if it's a little late." Finley smiled a smug grin as he took a seat on the chair that constantly sat opposite Katherine. "But I just learnt prisoners are meant to get one." He needed to work on his material, even in her current state it made her cringe. "Now, who do you want to call huh?" As he continued to go on, Katherine raised her head and looked at him, her face stained with dirt and week old blood. "I have a list here for you. Mum and Dad?" He was met with a blank stare. He couldn't scare her anymore. "Hmm...No? Okay...oh that's pretty much it. Not a social bird huh? Well, don't worry, I have a wild card up my sleeve." He removed the mobile phone from his pocket and dialled a number without any warning.  Finley's eyes narrowed and met hers intensely after the phone was raised to hover between the, the call set to speaker. Time seemed to tick by slower than ever, but she already knew who was on the other end of that phone. She was just waiting to hear the name.

"Jim Moriarty." That Irish drawl. She had forgotten what it sounded like and Katherine had to pull herself together. Hearing it, she knew it meant they were one step closer. But it also reminded her of how far away she was from everything.

"Good Morning Jim, how are you?" Samson bellowed it, like he was greeting an old friend. She'd heard Jim do something similar multiple times on the phone, but with the man in front of her it didn't have the same effect. It didn't scream power or madness, if just give insight to how overly hard he was trying.

"Who is this?"

"Bit rude. We met once, don't you remember?" She wanted to kick him in the crotch for how idiotic he was being. She's have loved that, making him scream while Jim could here. "My father had recently passed on. My bother Peter was setting up what I believed to be an alliance with you."

"Samson." It was like an animal growling, a pure threat.

"Oh good, you do remember. That would have been awkward. Now Jim I believe I have something of yours, mind I don't know whether it would be much use to you anymore. It's a bit, scuffed in places, broken in others." He slapped her cheek harshly so it could be heard by Jim and then kicked the open cut on her calf. But Katherine didn't even flinch, she would prove him wrong while at the same time proving to Jim she wasn't broken.

"Where is she?" Moriarty's voice was a crackle, broken up by the poor reception, but it was good enough for her.

"Like it would be that easy." He started to laugh and dug his nails into her thigh until she squirmed and made a noise of discomfort loud enough for Jim to hear.

"You're a sick bastard Samson, I'll give you that."

"Careful, wouldn't want Miss Scott paying for your bad manners." Moriarty didn't respond, but unlike Finley thought, it was not to save her from the pain but to delay him. "Tell you what, I'll let you talk to her. A little lover's catch up." He didn't have to trust her not to tell details, she didn't even know what day it was never mind where she was.

"Take me off speaker." After a moments deliberation, Samson did as Jim requested and passed the phone to Katherine. She almost didn't believe him, her mind started to tell her it wasn't actually Jim but just another mind game. But it had to be, no one could pretend to be him, so she raised the phone to her ear and tried not to show weakness.

"Jim." A frail voice greeted him, one Moriarty almost failed to recognise.

"Where are you?"

"I don't know." Of course she didn't know. "Where are you?"

"Close." He couldn't tell her they were nowhere near. Something...stopped him. If she was going to die, he didn't want her to go through it without hope. The less she knew, the less she had to worry about. "What have they done to you?" Jim didn't get an answer, there was no noise at all. She didn't even cry like he expected her too. "Katherine?"

"Kill him." Her voice had found new strength, a new harshness. He could picture her glaring at him, teeth bared like a lioness.

"I plan too." Despite everything, Moriarty smiled and it came through the phone, making her smile. Through all of her behaviour, all the rocking and screaming, that was what came closest to turning his stomach. Her smile which Moriarty created. "Right after I find you." He hadn't given up, that's all she needed to hear. Someone was coming for her and, even if she died before they found her, it gave her comfort knowing the sadistic bastard in front of her was going to pay. "Be a good girl Darling, don't disappoint daddy by dying." Katherine laughed, she actually laughed as she stared at Samson.

"I've been a very good girl daddy." On the other end of the phone, Moriarty chuckled, the sound coming from deep within him. He was all it took. A week in confinement and one little word from him and she came to life, going so far as to flirt and be a saucy kitten with him. He was wrong, she was so ready. "I want to come home."

"Put that bad man back on the phone sweetheart."

"He wants to speak to you again." Katherine fought all of her gut feelings and senses and kept the smile on her lips as she passed the phone back. It was amusing though, watching it all backfire in his face. She wondered what Samson had expected to happen. Had he thought they'd both cry in despair and collapse with emotion like in the movies? Had he expected Moriarty to beg? Surely not...but whatever it was, he had not expected what had played out in front of him.

Moriarty didn't wait for the moron to speak. "You know, I was almost impressed until you called." The drawl was back to being its normal casualness, all hostility dropped. "You almost had me..." He'd learnt a lot from one call. Not from what was said, but everything around it. "A man's biggest weakness is his ego and you just got too cocky." Samson's face scrunched up in anger.

"Say goodbye to your girlfriend Jim." Moriarty's reply was the icing on the cake for her as that sing song, kiss ass, high pitched voice broke down all the walls of Samson's ego.

"Bye!"

"You are so screwed!" Katherine started to laugh before she could help herself. He looked a little scared, good. That was the first smart move he'd made in days. He should be very, very scared. "You have no idea do you?" He high pitched laughter made him fight back the urge to truly end it all, in her state it would only take one punch. But he couldn't, not yet, so instead he slapped her hard and sent her head flying to the right. "Fuck you." It was an inaudible mutter under her breath as he stood from the chair rapidly, making the wood screech against the concrete. But before he was out of earshot, before he could flee, she screamed. "Fuck you!"

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"Stop! Stop!" There was nothing she could do. There was nothing she could give them to make them stop. They didn't want information, if they did this would have been a lot easier. She would have caved and she'd have been disposed of days ago. But no, all they wanted was to play with her and make her squirm. Make her bleed. Make each minute of each hour of each of the last of her days tortuous, painful and cold. They weren't going to give her peaceful death. They were going to make her beg for it and for each moment which passed she could feel her body giving in.

The words were hard to hold back, the food was harder to swallow and the water was too difficult to drink. She could take it into her own hands. Let herself starve. But due to their past cruelty she doubted they'd even allow that. They would take to force feeding her if it meant being able to carve just one more inch of her skin.

"But he's only just started princess." There was two of them this time. The first was him...the brother. And the second the same one which was always there. The one than never inflicted the pain, just ordered it. "I guess you know just how he felt now yeah?" He got in her face, crouching by her knees and lifting her face so she was forced to meet his eyes. "When my brother begged for you to let him live. When you held him at gunpoint." He took a gun from the holster fixed in place at his underarm and studied it. It was less elaborate than Jim's, the lack of detailing made it look like a child's plastic toy. But that didn't mean her heart didn't leap into her throat, choking her, when he pressed it to her temple. "Are you going to beg?" She wanted to wash that smug grin off his face with her spit.

"Do it." She wouldn't beg. She would never beg. Before yesterday he may have stood a chance in getting her to do so, but after hearing HIS voice. After knowing he was coming, he had been searching. After hearing the passion and anger in his words, witnessing how he had spoken to the man who now held the gun to her head. It reignited the fire in her, it strengthened her fight. That was Samson's biggest mistake, letting her hear Moriarty.

"No...No, it would be too easy." He shook his head, chuckling lowly. "It would be too kind."

"Do it." Katherine started to nod her head slowly, even managing to smile. She knew he wouldn't. He was a coward. His whole family were cowards. "What are you waiting for? So he was your brother? Big deal." Rolling her eyes, she felt the gun press harder into her skin. "I give up my whole family. I left them and made them think I was dead...revenge is a coward's act. Especially this..." Looking around the room as if to make a point, Katherine then frowned and felt herself having to hold back tears of frustration. "A grown man and a couple of thugs he pays to stay loyal, picking on a girl. Me, a girl half your age. Having to starve her and tie her up to be able to defeat her." How embarrassing, did he know he was undermining himself?

"Shut your fucking mouth."

"He'll find you. Whether it's after I'm dead or before, he will find you Mr Samson." Moriarty had told the man himself. Oh but she hoped she would be alive, even if it was just long enough to watch him squirm. She wanted to deliver the shot, bring down the knife, give the last blow.

"I said shut your fucking mouth. No more warnings." He cocked the gun, but the safety was still on. He thought she was stupid.

"I can't wait to watch him destroy you. Tear you limb from limb." Her tongue darted out to run over her lips, she waved in the chair, half exhausted and half high from the doubt growing behind his eyes. He was scared. "The Devil is coming. And he shows no mercy...Do it." But he didn't, obviously he didn't. The look of surprise on her face was...null.

But he did stand to retrieve something from the one other breathing body in the room.

"I'd give you something to bite down on, but that would take away the fun." Samson smiled as he returned to stand behind her, out of view. "You smoke, Lucy?"

"As a matter of fact I do." Katherine answered as she heard the flick of a light by her ear.

"Good. You'll probably love this then." His lit cigarette was then pushed into the back of her neck, instantly filling the air with the scent of burning flesh. She didn't disappoint him, and let out a scream, all the while trying not to flinch and make the resulting scar worse.

"He will never find you." The cigarette was dropped to the ground, the end still burning and glowing in the dim light. His footsteps grew quieter as he walked away from her to take his leave. "Enjoy your last evening, Lucy." The door opened, but something was different. He didn't leave.

"Who the-" It was ultimately clear that something was wrong by the way the door stayed open, letting just a little bit of light into the room and causing Katherine's eyes to burn. But all she did was turn her head. Then a gunshot. But she didn't jump to attention, just let her head slump as the fright was too much for her weak frame to take. Then mayhem. Bodies moving so fast they were like beetles, people shouting and making the whole seem like an army base. But still, she didn't flinch. Her body had become used to the abuse, used to the anarchy. Her defence mechanism wasn't to pretend she was someone else or somewhere else, it was just to ignore it. Her mind had learnt to blank it out...it was all happening outside her bubble.

"Se-se..." Samson stuttered with a raspy voice, but not of was registering for Katherine. Not the gunshot, not the sound of precise steps on the concrete created by Italian leather shoes, not ever the intruder's men sweeping the room. None of it, to her, it was all just happening to torment her further.

It didn't even hit her until she saw the shoes come to a stop in front of her eyes, and the hand came to hold her chin and raised her head so she could finally see him. It was him, he had come for her.

Slowly, Moriarty crouched until his face was level with hers and then he smiled. "Holiday's over Darling." She slumped, every inch of her body feeling relief at the same time. It was too much to fight, she had nothing left. But she was free and that fact alone was all she needed to know for her body to give in.

Her forehead landed on Moriarty's shoulder, her bloodied hand holding the collar of his shirt. The crisp fabric was instantly stained, yet all he could do was smile as he looked at her and wound his hands around her small form to undo her ties. Katherine whimpered with pain and her breath hitched as her hands tightened, bringing him in closer to her.

"Shh I know, I know." He whispered until she relaxed again and he moved to the cuffs around her ankles, unlocking the clasps with the keys they'd removed from Samson's person. The skin was like that around her wrists; infected and ugly. They would scar. "Shame, you used to be almost perfect."

All his men stood back to give the pair room and watched. They continued to watch as their boss struggled, balancing Katherine gently on himself as he slid out his suit jacket and laid it across her shoulders. Once the ruined blazer was secure, her got to his feet and brought her with him, picking her up in his arms bridal style. Hear head lay against his chest, her hands flopping until her moved them to rest on her stomach. Her stiff legs still bent in the position they had been in for almost two weeks straight.

"Let's go." Jim said and went to leave, stepping over the motionless body still lying in the doorway.

"What do you want done with this one boss?" Sebastian asked before Moriarty was too far ahead, kicking the slab of meat who had ordered and administered every mark on Katherine's body. He would pay, in worse ways. He'd beg for mercy. And no one would come to save him. Mr Samson didn't have a Knight in shining armour. He was a dead man...sleeping at the minute.

"Take him to Denny's Warehouse. I want five men on him at all times." Jim made a point of looking to Sebastian and then all his men who surrounded them. "I'll send the order to dispose of him when the time's right." They all nodded in understanding and then remained silent as their boss left. Only Sebastian followed, the rest were to stay to tidy up the mess and transfer the body.

"Is she okay boss?"

"She better be."

Once they got to the car, he took great care in placing Katherine in first and then once she at least looked comfortable, Jim got in beside her and pulled her onto his knee. It was his turn to win her over now. She proven herself well, now was the time for him to play his part and make her even more loyal than she already was. Even if that meant him having to play her rescuer.

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The drive back to the house was four hours all together, two hours out of London. For a time, Moriarty contemplated taking her back to the old apartment she had first stayed in, so they would not have to travel as far. But it wasn't safe enough, and he didn't want to move her more than once. But then, three hours into the drive, a road sign caught his eye.

He had property's all over the World, but more in England than he could count on one hand. Once, by far the grandest, wasn't so far away and had been bought purely for his own amusement. It was too big to serve any practical use, but the look of it. For him to be able to stand outside the high walls surrounded by the moat and call the castle 'his', well, it was far too amusing to simply overlook it.

But he still had it kept. People lived in it plainly to make sure, should he ever want to move in, it was inhabitable. And it was perfect. It was the hardest to find, the most secure. Katherine would feel safe there. And after all, a Queen needed a castle.

"Sebastian, change of plan." Moriarty waited until the Sniper turned around to continue. "Head for Bellmont. I don't think it would do our girl any good returning to the scene of the crime."

"Yes Sir." Sebastian returned to stare out the front window, pretending not to be curious by Moriarty's decision, and gave the driver the orders. Meanwhile, in the back seat, Jim stroked a hand over the girl's head as she stirred lightly, brought around by their voices.

He had taken the time in the car, to study her injuries. By the five he counted the sixth however, he had found himself needing to stop as his hold on her had tightened and she was almost being crushed into his chest. Seeing the nape of her neck which user to look so dainty when she wore her hair up, burned, made him twitch. Her feet which had slipped into six inch heels meant only for a man's eyes in the bedroom, were now crushed, and it boiled his blood. Her body was revealed, her legs were black and blue and her face was hidden by the hair which stuck to it with god knows what.

But he wasn't angry at her. He didn't despise her for getting caught and forcing him to come get her. Jim didn't hate her for wasting his time, making him look foolish and having to cancel important meetings with important people. And that scared him. However, like always, he twisted his own perception of the events. She was nothing too him. Just a silly little girl who happened to show up at the right time for him. He was not angry because there was nothing to be angry at. This would all fit nicely into part of the larger plan. She was worth the wasted time. His Katherine, his ace in the hole.

"Hey, sleeping beauty." Moriarty found himself whispering as sweet as he could possibly lay on. He stoked the hair out of her eyes as they fluttered open to stare up at him lazily.

"Jim." It was just a dreamy murmur.

She touched his chest and pressed her aching cheek into his chest, his shirt slowly becoming tear stained. "Shh, rest." Jim comforted her, all the while smirking at what must be running through her tiny head. "We're going home."

"You came."

"Of course I did. You're safe now." How could he have not gone for her? It was worth it just for this moment. The adoration in her eyes, the happiness and relief. It was sweet. All it took was a bit or money, a couple of nice dresses and a nice word here and there. Now look at her. Putty in his hands. After she had recovered, she would be his puppet, his loving little puppy with a sharp bite and an army under her paw.

"Everything hurts Jim. Everything." Katherine began to weep desperately in an instant. Her body started to shake and her hands moved to try and scratch at her wounds. She was close to going into shock, Jim had to start his acting.

"Don't, you'll hurt yourself more." He took hold of both her hands and held them against his lips, kissing the tips of her fingers. "Sleep. Everything is going to be fine."

She sniffled for the next half hour, never dozing but not talking either. Instead she either looked up at him or closed her eyes and listened to the beating of his heart. It was the nicest sound she'd ever head. Better than the ocean and a breeze in summertime, more relaxing than a well-played harp, more soothing than a mother's voice. To just lie there, in his arms with his scent surrounding her. She was home. Right there, in that moment, she didn't need a fancy home or goose feathers or diamonds, she just needed him.

"Jim?" He didn't make a sound, just squeezed her hands enough to let her know he was listening. "You like me don't you?" That made him laugh, truly. The laughter rose in him and came out softly, life a father's amusement with his child.

"Of course Darling. Have you ever given me reason not to?"

"I..." Before she could complete whatever she was going to say, her batteries burned out and she slumped once again. Her breathing near silence and soft. Moriarty kissed her fingers again and smiled, turning to look out the window at the darkness. They were in uncharted territory already and it was just a matter of time before they arrived.