An AU series of vignettes
What if the Sentinel finds out
his Guide isn't who he thought he was?
Who Are You
Jim was in a wonderful mood. Despite Naomi’s involvement in the case, Simon had been pleased with the outcome. Blair’s mother had shown him a side of his roommate that Jim wanted to see more of. Blair seemed jealous of his lovely mother. Perhaps it was time to make his move on the young man. Time to tell Blair that he wanted to be more than friends.
He’d stopped and picked up a bottle of Blair’s favorite wine to go with dinner. Naomi was leaving today and they would be alone tonight. Jim wouldn’t waste anymore time. Outside the door of the loft he juggled the bottle to get his keys when he heard Blair and Naomi arguing inside.
"You took a great risk coming here, Naomi."
"I thought the baby pictures were a nice touch. It solidified your cover."
"I don’t need a controller checking up on my progress with the Sentinel. Especially a female. I’m having enough trouble getting close to Jim without competition from you. Kelso forwards my reports to the Agency."
"The Agency has been developing your talents since childhood."
"A genius IQ and parents who were agents are not exactly talents."
"You are a natural profiler and problem solver. You identified the Sentinel phenomenon when you were twelve. You started developing techniques to deal with enhanced individuals by age fourteen. The agency had to plant you at Rainier and turn you into an anthropologist. We were hoping that you would find a full Sentinel to study."
"Did they have to make you my Mother?"
"Could have been worse. They could have sent Danbush."
"Jim will be home from work soon. Get out of here, Naomi. Don’t come back for Christmas."
Jim ducked down the hall and hid in the darkness so as not to be seen by Naomi Sandburg or whoever she really was. He slowly slid down the wall. The bottle of Blair’s favorite wine slipped from his fingers to the floor.
The sound of breaking glass in the hallway caught Blair’s attention and he went out the door. The scent of red wine drew him to the shadows.
"Jim!"
The Sentinel was zoned . How long had he been there? No, this was not good. Had Jim heard him arguing with Naomi? Shit.
Blair knelt next to Jim and touched him gently.
"Jim, please come back to me. Please let me explain."
Jim wasn’t responding. Blair had to do something to bring Jim out of the zone and get him into the loft. Why the hell had that woman come to Cascade now? Jim wasn’t listening to him. He would have to break the zone some other way. Tears of frustration and fear were beginning to form.
"Jim, I don’t know how much you heard. It’s not what you think. Please, Jim come back." He leaned against Jim, burying his head against the Sentinel’s chest. "Damn Naomi to hell. Damn the Agency. I told them that a Sentinel was fragile. That a Guide couldn’t claim his mate with their interference. Please, Jim, I have to get you into the loft. You can’t stay in the hall."
"Mate?" The word was roared.
Unyielding arms closed about Blair, pulling him tightly against the Sentinel as Jim surged to his feet.
"Who are you, Blair Sandburg?"
Blair forced himself to remain calm and not to fight Jim’s grip. The Sentinel was feeling betrayed and the next few minutes were critical.
"I am your Guide."
Jim pushed Blair ahead of him into the loft. He shoved him towards the sofa.
"Sit down." Jim went to clean up the mess of the broken wine bottle. Even in the midst of the crisis he couldn’t leave the broken glass for someone to stumble upon. That done, he returned to confront Blair. He sat down on the coffee table opposite Blair.
"What Agency do you work for?"
"It doesn’t exactly have a name. It’s more of a black budget line item."
"Is your name really Blair?"
Blair smiled.
"Yes, my name is Blair Sandburg. I was born in 1969 to two agents in a Nevada complex. They were Cold War era scientists working on various black projects. I’m something of a genetic anomaly. The Agency took over my upbringing when my parents were killed when I was two years old. I was already showing signs of unusual intelligence and some other abilities. Naomi is one of my controllers. She has always posed as my mother in dealings with schools and medical personnel outside the Agency."
"What is the Agency’s interest in me?"
"They aren’t interested in Sentinels. They are only interested in you because I’m with you. I chose to study anthropology and psychology due to my ability to work with individuals with heightened senses. Burton’s writings only confirmed my own theories."
"I don’t understand. What was all that about the Agency hoping you would find a full Sentinel to study?"
"I had theorized that a full Sentinel would need a full time Companion to anchor his senses. I wanted to be that Companion. I nearly lost it when Brackett showed up calling me a Guide."
"Did Bracket know that you were an Agent?"
"No. Kelso verified that my cover was solid. The Agency had invested a great deal in my education. I’m very valuable to them. They wanted me to work for them. We came to a compromise when I discovered you. They like the fact that I’m working with the police. Naomi’s protests were something of a test. To see if the Cascade PD was a safe place for me. She was impressed with you and Simon."
For the first time during the conversation, Jim was beginning to relax. He smiled.
"When you were trying to bring me out of the zone, you said something about claiming me as your mate."
Blair blushed.
"You would hear that."
"And I broke an excellent bottle of Merlot."
"Huh?"
"I was planning on asking you if you would consider a romantic relationship between us."
"You want still me?"
Jim reached out and caressed Blair’s cheek.
"You are my Guide. I love you."
Blair leaned forward and found himself enfolded in Jim’s arms.
"I love you, Jim."
July 15, 2001
Epilogue
Jack Kelso wheeled away from his desk to confront Naomi.
"What the hell do you mean showing up here? The Agency’s hold on Blair is precarious enough without any interference in his life with Jim."
"Are you suggesting that Blair would discontinue his work for us? Just because he’s playing cop doesn’t mean that his weapons research is ended. His work on the helicopters in Saudi Arabia kept them flying during Desert Storm."
"He happens to like to play with the Agency’s toys. But Blair is bonding with his Sentinel. His other abilities are becoming stronger as they become closer. It is to our advantage that he stay close to Jim Ellison."
"I don’t set as much store with Blair’s mental abilities as the rest of you."
"So you are going to oppose his work with the police?"
"I just want him to remember what is important."
"You should remember what is important. Blair Sandburg is worth a hundred of either of us. If you do anything to upset him, your superiors could very easily make you disappear."
Naomi’s eyes narrowed.
"Are you threatening me?"
"I shouldn’t have to threaten you, Naomi. You know better. Stay out of Cascade. "
The redhead gathered her things and left the agent turned professor’s office. He waited a moment and picked up the phone. He dialed a number he wasn’t fond of using. When he was connected he reported.
"I’m afraid we have a problem with Naomi."
This is Who I Am Blair and Jim were cuddled close on the sofa when Blair’s stomach growled reminding them that they had missed dinner. Jim laughed softly and raised his head from Blair’s neck.
"I guess we can’t live on love alone."
Blair smiled brightly.
"I could throw something together."
"We could go out."
"We could call for Chinese."
Jim cocked his head to one side and looked at Blair with puzzled eyes.
"You don’t want to go out." It wasn’t a question.
"You just found out about my secrets. Our bonding is very fragile. We haven’t even made love yet. I’d feel safer here."
"Are you in danger from the Agency?"
Blair laughed at Jim’s protective streak.
"Not the Agency. I’m too valuable to them. The more I think about Naomi, the more I worry. She exceeded her authority."
"Is there someone you should contact?"
"I can call Kelso."
"I thought he was CIA."
"He worked for the Agency within the CIA until he was injured. Now he’s my official liaison with Nevada. My weekly lunch with Jack is actually a debriefing to let "the folks back home" know what I’m up to. I also pass along my current research."
"Not Sentinel research, I take it?"
"No." Blair didn’t elaborate and Jim didn’t pursue the question. He understood "classified" without being told.
"Rainier doesn’t have a clue."
"Hardly. I’m just a lowly TA trying to get a doctorate on an obscure topic that no one believes."
"Except the Agency."
"Because they had a Guide."
"Blair, I know that you are my Guide. I know that I need you. I know that we are two halves of the same soul. A Sentinel has heightened senses. But what is a Guide?"
(Part 2)
Blair pushed up off the sofa and walked toward the balcony doors. Jim followed. He slipped his arms around Blair from behind.
"I’d like to tell you that a Guide is the companion to a Sentinel, but my studies indicate that Guides like myself are as rare as full Sentinels. A Guide is an individual whose mental abilities mesh with another’s physical abilities. You called me the other half of your soul. For every enhanced ability you have, I’m developing a complementary one. My intuition and profiling skills are becoming sharper everyday we work together. I’m finding my classified research easier, as well. You and I seem to have a rudimentary telepathic link that could strengthen with physical bonding," Blair blushed. Jim just grinned and kissed Blair’s ear.
"What are the chances that we would have ended up together?"
Blair stiffened and turned in Jim’s arms.
"You don’t think that the agency had anything to do with bringing us together?"
"What about Brackett?"
"He was only ex-CIA. He had my Masters Thesis. He knew about Sentinels and Guides but not about my true past. If he had, he never would have dared come near you."
"You seem so sure about the Agency."
"As sure as you are about the PD."
"I’m not that sure of the PD, Darwin."
"Major Crimes. Simon." When Jim's expression didn't soften Blair
exclaimed, "Damn, Jim, who do you trust?""I trust you, Chief. Now, let’s order some dinner. I’m starving."
Neither of them were aware of the high powered surveillance camera trained on the balcony on a line of sight nearly half a mile away and out of the Sentinel’s notice. Naomi picked up a phone and placed an international call. Perhaps she could use that insipid little Chilean bitch to come between the Blair and Jim before this went much further. Blair was so protective of "the weaker sex."
(Part 3)
Finding Maya Carasco back in Cascade supposedly being pursued by Chilean drug warlords had shaken Blair. She was asleep downstairs in his old room until Jim could have her moved to a safehouse tomorrow.
"Something isn’t right about Maya’s story, Jim."
Blair lay in Jim’s arms. He wasn’t about to sleep on the couch just because Maya was downstairs. He belonged here in their bed.
"You don’t believe her?"
"The one girl that I’ve ever thought I was in love with waltzes back into my life with a story like that just after I have a blow up with Naomi?"
"How much of this is your paranoia talking and how much are you applying your gifts?"
"You love turning my tests back on me, don’t you?"
"Payback’s a bitch."
"I can’t read her mind, Jim."
"No, but your intuition is getting stronger. Almost to the point that we can call it precognition."
"I am not a member of the Psychic Friends Network," Blair huffed.
Jim chuckled and turned Blair over onto his back. Blair’s eyes widened as he felt Jim’s leg part his.
"I don’t need a telepathic link with you to know what’s on your mind," Blair gasped as Jim began to stroke his cock.
"Just strengthening our bonds," Jim teased before he kissed Blair.
Blair reached up to capture Jim’s head in his hands to hold their mouths together so that Blair could explore his fill.
Downstairs, in Blair’s old room, Maya pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. She waited for an answer.
"I’m at the loft. Why didn’t you tell me that Blair was involved with Detective Ellison?" She tried to keep her voice down. She had been warned that Jim had exceptional hearing. "Of course it was important. I felt like a fool playing the damsel in distress to Blair. He didn’t show any interest in me. He’s in bed with Ellison now." Maya pulled the phone away from her ear to avoid the shouting on the other end. "You want them separated, I suggest you go up in that loft."
Maya cut the connection and put away the cell phone. She needed to find her Uncle Gustavo. He had contacts. He would know how to get her out of this mess with Naomi Sandburg and Francisco Rivero.
(Part 4)
Jack Kelso was livid. Naomi’s actions could not go unpunished. Two policeman had died. Not to mention the fact that she had disrupted the Agency’s plans for the Alcante organization. And what she was try to do Jim and Blair was ridiculous. Who did she think she was? Sandburg’s mother? Jerry Falwell in drag? Blair had shown no signs of breaking with the Agency. Indeed, he had been exceeding their expectations since his association with Detective Ellison.
And that flower child persona of hers. Who did she think she was kidding? The woman was no more a Peacenik than Saddam Hussein. She was the one who had directed Blair into weapons research despite his greater affinity for mental disciplines. She would have had him designing payloads for nuclear weapons if he hadn’t been a genius at designing tracking and guidance systems.
Now she was dealing with drug cartels. Jack had an ace up his sleeve. Jim and Blair were protected by an agent neither knew. Watching over Blair was always a full time job. Add in a Sentinel and the job was bigger than an "academic" could handle.
Jack dialed a number.
"Banks!"
"Kelso."
"What the hell do you mean calling me in the middle of a bust?"
"Naomi’s behind Maya’s reappearance."
"Figures. Blair wanted her locked up instead of sent to a safehouse. He kept telling me that cops would die."
"Was he right?"
"Is he ever wrong?"
"The FBI are going to try to pick up Alcante. I’m sending men to take care of him. The Agency doesn’t want his organization disrupted just yet. Act surprised when the real FBI shows up and you’ve lost your prisoner. As for Maya. We’ve arranged for her to be deported. Our people in Chile will take care of the matter permanently after a suitable time."
"And I’m sure Blair will never know."
"No."
"What about Naomi?"
"We have a "retreat" arranged for Naomi. The complex in Big Sur."
"Re-education?"
"She wants to pretend to be a left over from the sixties. Perhaps we’ll make that her new reality."
"You are an evil man, Kelso."
"You haven’t heard the best of it."
"I’ve got a bust to finish, Jack."
"I’m thinking of making Charlie Spring her controller."
(Part 5)
"Jack, I’m fine," Blair assured his friend and Agency watchdog as they had their first weekly lunch after Blair was released from the hospital. "The Golden is completely out of my system."
"And Jim?" Kelso observed his young charge carefully as he perused the menu at Pierre’s.
"His sight is fine, but he’s still reeling from his experience with Margaret." Blair smirked.
"Why did you let that happen?"
"He was being stubborn about the blindness and Margaret misunderstood his interest. I had to let him get himself out of this one."
"You didn’t make it any easier on him by telling him by misleading him about Margaret’s looks."
"He deserved it."
"You were jealous of his interest."
"Your point?"
Jack sighed and shook his head wearily. Children. Their conversation paused long enough to order a decadent and expensive lunch. Blair might eat like a rabbit the rest of the time, but when he was eating on the Agency’s dime he splurged.
"Has Jim agreed to help you on your latest project?" Jack thought it prudent to change the subject.
"Guilt’s a great motivator. As is fear of sexual deprivation."
"You would never hold out on Jim."
"He doesn’t know that."
"You are not too old to spank."
"Why, Jack," Blair eyes got all round and innocent. "I didn’t know you were into the kinky stuff."
Jack snorted his expensive bottled water.
"At least it wasn’t red wine this time." Blair observed as Jack mopped up the mess.
Part 6
"We get some time to go fishing and you want me to help test a project, " Jim sighed as he went over the last of their gear.
"You promised, Jim," Blair reminded as he checked over the mysterious case that had been delivered via special messenger that evening.
Jim came up behind Blair and hugged him.
"I’m just grousing. Can’t let my grumpy facade slip, you know. Besides, I think that it’ll be a chance for us to both test ourselves."
"You’re pretty jazzed about what happened at that warehouse fire."
"Blair, you warned me to take Reeves’s suits. I could hear you in my head guiding me out of the flames."
"I told you that the connection would get stronger as we got closer. Answer the phone," Blair sighed just before the phone rang interrupting Jim’s nibbles on his neck. Blair frowned as he began to get a bad feeling about the conversation. He didn’t want Jim to leave the loft. This Sam Jim was meeting was bad news.
"Don’t worry, Chief. I’ll be back soon. And well get plenty of rest in time to get on the road for our fishing trip." Blair watched Jim leave and began shaking. Jim was walking into danger and he couldn’t stop it.
When Jim didn’t return hours later, Blair stopped letting Jim handle this and took action. First thing to do was to get help. Whoever had Jim was about to show up at the loft. He needed to call Simon. Jack might think that he didn’t know that Simon was Agency but since his mental abilities had strengthened, Simon had become easier to read.
The phone call was interrupted by the expected arrival of the goons.
Later at the PD after a harrowing chase and Blair’s arrest for disorderly conduct, Simon and Blair got to work on finding Jim.
When the body was found at the address Jim had mentioned, Blair was unable to hide his reaction to the scene from Simon.
"What is it, kid?"
"Vans, an ambush. Sam killed to stop him from talking to Jim. Jim taken. Peru. Graf Technologies."
"What are you rambling about, Sandburg? Who is Sam?"
"The DB! Check Jim’s Army records. Something went down in Peru that has come back to haunt him. I have to talk to Jack Kelso."
"Blair, I can’t let you go running off with people after you."
"Then come with me."
Simon could only follow Blair’s trail as he set off to find Jim. It was like following a bloodhound. When this was all over he and Jack Kelso were going to have a long talk about the Guide.
Part 7
Simon had arranged to meet Jack Kelso at Martinique’s for dinner. The maitre de led him back to a private dining area. Kelso wasn’t planning on anyone overhearing this conversation. Their last meeting had nearly gotten them thrown out of the restaurant.
"Kelso."
"Banks."
"You are looking well."
"Can’t say the same for you. Having problems, Simon?"
The waiter came and took Simon’s drink order. Not surprisingly, Simon ordered a double Scotch. When the drink arrived the griping began.
"It’s not bad enough that I had to deal with Ellison when he was just a hardass cop. I did not let the Agency re-activate me to baby-sit men with superhero complexes."
"What you really object to is the fact that they really have those superhero powers."
"It was spooky enough that Jim could sense things I couldn’t, but now Sandburg is reading my mind. He’s communicating with Jim telepathically. I’m convinced he tracked Jim to Colonel Oliver by tuning into his thoughts. He knew that Jim had been taken and what happened at the scene of a murder. What the hell is happening to Blair?"
"Blair is Jim’s Guide. He’s always had untapped psi talents. When he was very young, he had a playmate that was blind. The boy’s hearing was exceptional. He and Blair developed a telepathic link. Blair couldn’t communicate that way with anyone else. Being inquisitive and smarter than anyone has a right to be he began to research enhanced senses and psi talents. He worked with many people with one or two enhanced senses. He would always display a marked increase in a specific mental ability that corresponded with that sense."
"He has psi abilities for all of Jim’s senses?"
"And they get stronger the closer the relationship between them grows."
"And they’ve become lovers."
"Yes."
"Shit."
The waiter returned for their meal order.
"Bring us another round. And we’re both having the steak. Medium-rare. Baked potatoes with everything, side of sautéed mushrooms and fried onions, Caesar salads to start." Jack ordered for both of them, adding an excellent wine selection. Simon was still fretting.
"Is it too late to book at room at Big Sur and join Naomi?" Simon asked pensively.
Part 8
Jim carried Blair bodily up the stairs to their bed over his shoulder. It was not an easy feat. Blair wasn’t that light. And Blair was protesting every step of the way. Loudly. Jim didn’t stop until he placed Blair on the bed.
"I think I was right when I called you a caveman."
"And don’t you forget it." Jim was stripping off their clothes and tossing them to the floor carelessly. Blair began to smirk. Perhaps nearly getting himself blown to bits in an elevator had its advantages.
"I suppose you think you are going to ravish me and assure yourself that I’m in one piece."
"You have any objections?" A glorious nude and beautifully erect Sentinel loomed over him.
"What if I wanted to do the ravishing?" Blair pouted.
All of the aggression flowed out of Jim’s body as if it were a child’s balloon pricked by a needle. He collapsed laughing onto the bed beside his lover.
"Okay, I overreacted."
Blair turned on his side and reached out to pull Jim against his body.
"Maybe a little bit."
"What good is a psi factor if we keep walking into danger like this?" Jim pressed his face into Blair’s neck.
"Jim, this is Cascade. We can’t avoid the danger."
Jim snorted.
"Let’s move."
"I vote for Tahiti."
Jim reached around to Blair’s butt.
"Can we wait until you finish ravishing me?"
Part 9
The loft was quiet. Jim held a sleeping Blair as they cuddled on the sofa. Both of them were still hurting from the last few days dealing with the Chopec and Cyclops Oil. Blair had lost a good friend. Jim had lost a teacher.
Incacha had approved of Blair. He had sensed the deep bond between them. He knew that Blair had his own abilities. Passing the Way of the Shaman onto Blair had been his way of blessing their union as Sentinel and Guide.
Incacha had been disappointed at Jim skirting his responsibilities by denying his senses. Blair had reacted with fear to the temporary loss of their link. When Incacha was killed, Blair’s fear finally forced Jim to face his own insecurities and commit to being the Sentinel once and for all.
Commit to being Blair’s mate in all things. They shared responsibility for each other’s welfare and for the welfare of their tribe.
"With great power comes great responsibility."
"Are you channeling Stan Lee now, Blair?" Jim chuckled as he realized that Blair was awake and tuned into to his thoughts.
"Appropriate, don’t you think?"
"Too much so. So which one of us is Spiderman and which one of us is Mary Jane Watson?"
Blair didn’t hesitate in his answer.
"Peter Parker was the brainy one."
"So, I’m the groovy sex kitten?"
"And how. What say we take this conversation to bed?"
They climbed the steps to bed. Their bond was growing strong again. They would nurture it together.
The End.
