Disclaimer: The Sentinel and all characters appearing on that show belong to Pet Fly and Paramount.

Authors Notes: AU. Pre-Slash. Written in response to a Senad challenge that Jim knows about Sentinels and Blair doesn't, that Burton never wrote about Sentinels, and that Jim teaches Blair all about the Sentinel/Guide bond. Blair already has his PhD when he meets Jim, who has to convince Blair to work with him. Thanks to my betas Sheryl and Susan, but any mistakes you find are mine. I've edited it since they saw it last.

Warnings: Language, a very talkative Jim and a skeptical Blair.

Detective Jim Ellison set aside the cup of breakroom coffee that on this particular day might as well have been battery acid. He grimaced at the taste that he couldn't dial down to a tolerable level. The breathing exercises and visualization techniques he'd been taught since he was a child were no longer working to control his hyperactive senses. The headaches and sensory spikes were getting worse. He couldn't filter out the sounds and smells of the other detectives in the Major Crimes bullpen. The Ellison family "curse" was finally becoming more than he could control alone.

Jim pushed himself to his feet and knocked on his captain's open door. He winced at Simon Banks' command to enter.

"Come in, Ellison. What's wrong? You look like shit."

Jim closed the door behind him.

"I need some time off, Simon."

Simon frowned. It wasn't like Jim to ask for time without going through proper channels.

"Is this case causing problems, Jim?" Simon asked, referring to a particularly grisly serial murder case they were working on.

"No, sir," Jim said, not wanting to tell Simon about his family's genetic problem. "It's rather personal."

"Sorry, Jim. We've got that consultant coming in today. The Mayor and the Chief have finally agreed that we need a profiler on staff, so we're hiring Professor Sandburg. I'll want you to let him partner with you. Can't your personal problems wait until after the briefing and your meeting with him?"

Jim had forgotten about the meeting today. The anthropologist from Rainier. Maybe he could get through one more day.

"Okay, Simon, I'll meet with the professor, but, after that, I have to have some time off."

"We'll talk later this afternoon."

"Sure, Captain." Jim left the office hoping that he could convince Banks to give him the time to find what he needed to control his senses.

Jim was fighting a zone. There were too many sensations bombarding him in the conference room full of detectives and forensics specialists. Cologne and aftershave assaulted his sense of smell. The heartbeats of so many peoples hurt his ears. The flickering florescent lights bothered his sight. His own clothes felt like sandpaper on his skin.

"Gentlemen and ladies," Banks addressed the room . "This is Dr. Blair Sandburg, an adjunct professor of anthropology at Rainier University. He's an expert on deviant behavior, especially ritual killings. He's joining us as a profiler, partnered with Detective Ellison, but will be available to consult with the rest of the department."

"Thank you, Captain Banks." Hearing the young man begin to speak in a voice that resembled gravel and honey, Jim Ellison snapped out of the near zone he'd been in most of the morning. Jim watched the expressive hands of the man punctuate his speech as he referred to slides showing the victims of Caesar Nelson. But that wasn't what was keeping Jim's attention; it was the silver gray wolf that appeared to be sitting next to the podium -- a wolf no one but Jim could see.

The wolf was a sign Jim could not ignore. This man was more than new addition to Major Crimes. Jim examined him closely.

The professor, who was short, about five-eight, couldn't be thirty years old. He wore tailored slacks, a tweed jacket and a blue shirt that highlighted his dark blue eyes. His hair was dark with auburn highlights and curled to his shoulder blades.

As the minutes ticked by and Blair Sandburg's voice washed over him, Jim knew he was saved. "No!" Jim's mind screamed, "This couldn't be!" But he could not deny the pain he'd been in earlier was fading every moment he was near this man. He had found his destined Guide.

Jim stayed behind to meet the professor when the others left the conference room. He approached the podium where Simon was congratulating Dr. Sandburg on his presentation. The group had been enthralled by the young man.

"Dr. Sandburg, this is Jim Ellison. He's the detective you'll be working with." Simon introduced Blair to Jim and left them to get acquainted. Blair eagerly held out his hand and smiled. Jim took the other man's hand in almost a hypnotic daze. The handshake was much too brief, but Jim had already memorized Blair's touch.

"I'm looking forward to working with you, Detective Ellison."

"'Jim,' please. I'm sure that Simon has told you that you aren't getting much of a bargain being partnered with me." Jim tried to maintain a professional distance and smiled cordially.

Sandburg laughed. Eyes twinkling, Blair leaned into Jim's personal space.

"Do call me 'Blair.' It wasn't Simon who told tales, Jim. It was the Mayor. Is it really true that you've wrecked three city vehicles in the last year?"

"Only two were city vehicles. The third was my own." Jim felt his reserve cracking.

"Ouch! Still, you have the best closure rate of any detective in the city. You know your job. I'm hoping that I can help, not hinder."

"You are different from the FBI profiler that worked with us on the Nelson case. He didn't think we could find our asses with both hands."

"I've met Agent Marshall." The simple statement spoke volumes, but Blair's face revealed none of his disdain for the agent.

"Let's get some lunch and we can trade FBI horror stories."

"I could eat."

"I won't suggest Wonder Burger. Despite what everyone says, I don't eat there every day."

"I hope not. You might as well inject the grease directly into your veins."

"Don't you know that to a cop, the four food groups are-"

"Grease, sugar, coffee and salt."

"You're no fun, Chief; you know my material."

"I did a paper on the closed society of police departments while I was working on my doctorate. I spent three months riding with various officers at another precinct. I know every donut shop in the city, where not to get coffee and the numbers of most of the best take out restaurants."

"I guess you would prefer something a little less unhealthy, then? How about Chinese?" Jim suggested.

"Dim sum?"

"Wong's has some of the best in town."

Mei Li, the hostess at Wong's Chinese, greeted Jim in rapid Cantonese. Jim answered her in the same language. She frowned at him, but at his engaging grin, hugged him.. She showed them to a quiet booth well away from the kitchen and the main flow of the wait staff traffic. She called instructions to waiter.

After the waiter left them a pot of fragrant tea, Blair asked, "You come here often?"

"More than I should. I know the family that runs the restaurant. The owner's sister was my father's housekeeper. Sally used to bring me here for lunch when I was little. The Wongs are like family to me."

Blair watched in amazement as platters with tempting dishes began to appear before them without the waiter ever bringing menus. Jim beckoned to the waiter and asked something in Cantonese. The young man looked startled for a moment but nodded, moments later returning with dishes he hadn't offered before.

"I don't usually have the ones with sauces or spicy fillings. I, uh, have a sensitive palate, but I thought you might like them," Jim explained

"Thank you. I do like spicy food."

"It's always been too much for me."

"Try this one?" Blair offered him what was actually a very delicate dumpling. Although Jim's Sentinel sense of taste and smell had previously made it impossible for him to tolerate it because of the minute amounts of spices used in the stuffing, he took a bite, focusing on Blair, keeping a glass of water ready in case.

The flavors burst in his mouth in a sensual cascade that he'd never experienced. The slight bite of the chili was an enhancement, not the agony he'd always felt before. Jim smiled.

"It's good. Maybe I'll try a tiny bit of the stronger ones."

"Be careful. You don't want to overdo."

Blair practically feeding him, Jim tried tiny tastes of the other spicy dishes. It was the most enjoyable meal he'd had in months. Jim had known the importance of having a Guide, but had no idea that his presence would have this much of an effect.

They were finishing up with tiny sweet buns when Jim suddenly stiffened. He turned toward the front of the restaurant and focused his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Mei Li is being harassed by a member of the local Tong. Stay here, Chief. I'll take care of this."

Blair watched as the detective silently approached the Hostess Station. It was obvious that a rough looking, Oriental man was harassing Mei Li. A moment later, the man was lying face down with Jim's service weapon aimed at his head.

"Tommy Chang, as I live and breathe. Didn't you hear what happened to the last person that tried to extort money from the Wongs?"

"Forgive me. I did not know that this place was under the protection of a Guardian."

"I'm going to let you go, Tommy. I want you to pass the word to the Tong. Cascade is no longer safe for them. Tell them that the Jaguar now runs with the Wolf." Jim holstered his weapon. "Get out of here."

Any faster, Jim thought as Chang left the restaurant, and you would have left a vapor trail.

Blair, who had joined Mei Li at the hostess desk in time to hear Chang's comment about the Guardian and Jim's reply, wondered, "How had Jim known that Chang was there? There hadn't been any disturbance. What was a Guardian and what did it have to do with Jim?"

Jim spoke quietly with Mei Li in Cantonese for a moment. She looked sharply at Blair and then smiled at them both. From the look on Blair's face, Jim knew he had a lot to explain.

"Are you going to explain all of that stuff about Guardians, jaguars and wolves?" Blair confronted Jim later back at the station. Not wanting to have this out in the bullpen where he and Blair had desks, Jim had commandeered an interrogation room for their discussion. He thought that appropriate somehow.

"What if I told you that the Ellison family has been producing a least one child with all five senses enhanced in every generation since one of our ancestors took a Native American wife in the early 1700's?"

"Enhanced senses?"

"Hearing so acute, that I can detect your heartbeat. Or Tommy Chang muttering his threats to Mei Li at the front of Wong's. I can put a bullet in the barrel of another shooter's gun from 500 yards. I can read the print on a page with my sense of touch."

"Taste and smell so sensitive you can't eat spicy foods. But you did today?"

"Because you were there."

"What do I have to do with it?"

"Mei Li, her parents and the Chinese community refer to me as 'Guardian.' But another name for what I am is 'Sentinel.' Before I joined the police force, I spent some time in the Army, assigned to a unit in Peru. While I was there, I met a Chopec shaman called Incacha, who showed me my spirit animal, the Jaguar. He told me that when I returned to the Great City to watch for the Wolf, my guide and that when the Jaguar ran with the Wolf, I would be able to control my senses without pain."

"How do you know I am your Wolf?"

"I saw your spirit animal this morning during your speech. When I focused on you, I was able to eat spicy foods without pain. I heard Tommy Chang as clearly as if he were sitting next to me."

"This sounds like something out of science fiction."

"I assure you, it's very real. But there is a downside to this. Something that you may not be willing to accept. You may even consider this sexual harassment." Jim was beginning to prowl the room like a jungle cat.

"Are Guides Sentinel love toys or something?" Blair tried to inject a little humor into the discussion. He was shocked to see Jim's back stiffen before he turned to face Blair.

Jim actually blushed.

"While Sentinels protect the tribe, it is the Guide that protects and nurtures the Sentinel. The relationship is definitely intimate."

"You're gay?"

"All of the enhanced Ellison men are but, don't ever call William Ellison gay to his face. My father is still in the closet. My mother divorced him when she decided she couldn't shared him with his Guide any longer. She couldn't be the cover wife generations of Ellison men had maintained for the sake of heirs and social standing."

"I'm sure this is very fascinating, but I'm not sure I buy it. I've heard of people with exceptional senses of smell or taste., but the probability of all five senses being enhanced to such a degree is quite low. The trait shouldn't even breed true generation to generation. And to have such a mutation so detrimental to the Sentinel's health without a symbiotic relationship with another male makes it less likely to be passed to another generation."

"The Ellisons have been masters at hiding their weaknesses and maintaining their social standing. I'm not asking you to move in with me. Or to sleep with me." (At least, not yet, Chief.) "You are my partner. Work with me. Let me show you how I use my senses.. Give me a month to show you how having you with me makes a difference. If at the end of that time, you feel that I'm just telling tall tales, ask Simon to get you a different partner." Jim tried not to look as if he was begging for his very life.

Blair turned away from Jim to think. He was a criminal profiler; using his work in anthropology and psychology to capture killers not chase biological oddities. Then he remembered the look on Chang's face when Jim mentioned the Jaguar and the Wolf. Perhaps that was something that they could use. The Tong believed in the Guardian myth. Perhaps other criminal elements would be as wary.

Blair chose to work with Jim. Blair had seen Jim in action at the restaurant. If the man were truly enhanced, the possibilities for forensic work were incalculable. He turned back and held out his hand. Jim took it.

"A month, then," Blair agreed.

"Thanks, Blair." Jim released Blair's hand reluctantly, smiling in relief. They headed out to their desks.

Before settling in to begin work on the Caesar Nelson case, Blair said, "I've got one question."

"What's that, Chief?"

"Taking out criminals over lunch isn't, like, a typical day for you, is it?"

Jim just grinned.

The End