Warnings: this is a (life after) death story. Based on 'What Dreams May Come' -- The show and the movie don't belong to me and I make no money for this story. PG13 for disturbing images?
Thanks to Cheryl R. For the speedy Beta, mistakes are mine as ususal. I don't own the guys or the movie and make no money.
Crowswork
So this was Heaven.
Blair Sandburg sighed and looked around at the amazing sights that surrounded him. In one direction was an ancient city that went on for miles.
As he turned to check out another direction, he saw an endless rainforest and soaring mountains with a pristine native village in the distance. He had wandered aimlessly for what felt like days. Gradually, he started to remember the last moments of his life.
"One second I'm climbing into Jim's creaky old truck, on my way to pick up my new bed. The next second, I'm here."
Blair remembered turning the key as Jim came running out of the building, shouting something, then there was a flash. Jim disappeared and I landed in the middle of an ancient Sumatran Sun Ritual.
I could learn to love this place. I could study every variation of man throughout history, but I couldn't forget what I left behind. I died and left Jim to face it alone. The bomb in the truck (I don't know how, but I know it was a bomb) was meant for Jim. Ten months ago, the Sentinel had seen Benjamin Harris murder two of his runners and Jim was scheduled to testify against him. Benny the Blade had been indicted several times but by the time he went to trial the witnesses had either been bought, killed or just disappeared.
Cascade's very own Teflon Don.
"You are troubled, young shaman?" Incacha smiled as he touched Blair's arm.
"Hey, I can understand you. Cool." Blair said as he turned to the slender, dark man who accepted his enthusiastic hug with a laugh. "Incacha! You have to help me, man. I have to go see if Jim's okay."
"Enqueri is in the world of the living and you are not. Not even the Sentinel can see or hear you now."
"I have to! Please tell me how to go back -- even for a few minutes. He saw a ghost before. I'll make him see me."
"You cannot change things. What will happen -- will happen."
"I have to try. Please." Blair felt a sudden, desperate need to find Jim. "Now!"
"You have only to wish and you will be with him... but beware, he will not hear...."
Blair was gone before the Chopec shaman could finish.
The rain beat down relentlessly. It lent a chilly, greasy looking sheen to the streets. "I'm home." Blair exclaimed in astonishment. He was outside of a restaurant in the upscale end of Cascade. Spying Ellison standing in the doorway of the next building, Blair approached, "Jim!" The Sentinel kept staring into the distance, his nearby Guide unnoticed. "Hey Jim! Whatcha doing out in the rain?"
Jim sighed and swallowed hard. The tall man seemed 'off' somehow. He looked like he'd aged ten years in the last few days. He was squinting into the darkness, evidently not using his senses. Were they off...? Gone...?
The detective flipped open his cell phone. "Simon? One of my snitches contacted me. He wants me to meet him at The Greenway Cafe."
Jim listened intently and glanced at the door to the restaurant. "I know, Simon. I shouldn't have left the safe house but he says he has proof that Harris murdered Blair. Anyway, now that I'm here... I don't know... it feels like a trap."
"You're lying to Simon, Jim?" Blair stood in front of his oblivious friend and studied him intently. "What the hell are you up to?"
The door to the restaurant opened and a man in a cream-colored top-coat came out. Benny the Blade waited alone under the awning after the valet went for his car.
Jim strode over to him and sneered in his most sarcastic and vicious tone. "You missed me Benny. Now, I'm going to send you away for a thousand years."
"Jim!" Blair trotted after him and tried to grab his arm. His hands merely passed through it as though Jim was the one without substance.
The handsome gangster turned and glared at Jim. Harris's pretty-boy looks had fooled a lot of people but now hatred twisted his face into an ugly mask.
"Miss your little boyfriend, Ellison?"
Jim's expression didn't change. His voice had that level, bored tone that he only used when he was truly enraged. "Speaking of boyfriends? Maybe you can get your old cell back... with Marcellus? That was your 'daddy's' name, wasn't it?"
Harris spewed out a torrent of profanities and threats as a crowd gathered and watched from a distance. Blair tried again to get Jim's attention because he knew that Harris was insanely homophobic. Two of his victims were gay college students -- kicked to death for sneaking a kiss at the movies in front of Benny the Blade.
Jim just smiled that cold, cruel smile of his and studied his prey through half closed eyes. In a very quiet voice he said, "I'm going to make sure you get passed around in jail. How'd you like me to tag you as a Shorteyes? Or maybe a snitch?" Jim paused as he saw Simon arrive with Brown and Rafe, then he continued. "Those guys won't need much of an excuse to come after a sweet piece of tail like you. 'Bet you'll secretly enjoy every one of them."
Benny pulled his trademark, long, thin knife from his sleeve and lunged at Jim. James Ellison, highly trained in all forms of hand to hand combat, simply stood for an instant as the blade slipped between his ribs, then he pushed the enraged man away. Blair was at Jim's side as he staggered and fell to his knees. As if from a distance he heard Simon shout for Harris to drop the knife.
"Smile." Jim raised his head and whispered through bloody lips. "You're on at least three... three different surveillance cameras."
Harris looked around wild-eyed -- at the bank across the street, and the jewelry store and the elegant antique shop. "Ellison, you bastard..." He ran toward Jim with the blade raised but was blown off his feet by three bullets hitting him at the same moment.
"See ya in hell." Jim collapsed as Simon arrived at his side.
"Jim... aw... damn. Hang on Jim. I can't lose you, too." The big captain was weeping and it almost broke Blair's heart. He wanted to console Simon. He wanted to hold Jim. To comfort him and tell him that no matter what happened, he'd be all right.
Jim opened his eyes and looked past Simon and the other detectives. "Chief?"
"Yeah, Jim." Blair reached out as Jim's head fell forward and the last, wavering breath left his lungs. An ambulance arrived at the same time the two younger detectives began vigorous CPR but Blair knew it was too late. With a last, sad glance at Simon -- who looked almost small as he sat on the wet sidewalk -- Blair wished himself back to Incacha.
"Where's Jim?" Blair asked as he still looked around desperately. "It's been days." He'd finally found Incacha, but the shaman wouldn't answer his question. "You were his friend. Why didn't you help me stop him?" Blair fumed.
"And even though I am still his friend, I could not help him." The ageless shaman looked at the younger man sadly. "Not even his guide... the other half of his soul... could stop him. Enqueri was already a dead man."
"What?"
"When his guide died in his place. The sentinel could not bear such grief."
"If he's dead, then why can't I find him here?" Blair gestured to the incredibly beautiful forest they stood in.
"Enqueri is in... your people call it hell."
Blair grabbed the shaman and shook him hard. "Don't you say that! Jim was a good man. Sure he had a bad temper and maybe he did some bad stuff but he helped so many people. Saved lives. Saved my life more than once. How could anyone send him to hell?"
"No one sent him." Incacha shook his head sadly. "He thought he belonged there."
Take me to Jim! Take me to Jim! Blair tried to will... to wish himself to his friend for the hundredth time. He dropped his hands to his sides and took a deep breath. "Take me there, please."
"No! It is the most dangerous of places. Filled with people but no trace of hope. The way is so dangerous that you could be lost a hundred different ways. Even if you reach him, it is a pit of regret and deep misery. A bottomless well of despair. Within moments of arriving you will forget who you are and why you are there. You will be trapped with him as a stranger... at his side, but alone. Forever."
"Show me the way." Again, Blair wished furiously to go to Jim but nothing happened. "Tell me how."
"I will take you." Incacha waved his hand and suddenly they were standing at the edge of a wide river. The thick black water flowed silently as far as the eye could see. "Get in the boat."
Blair looked at the low, flat boat that scarcely looked large enough for two. "I can go by myself. You don't have to come if you don't want to." He climbed in gingerly and then shrugged. "Jeez, it's not like I could drown again."
"I will take you as far as I am allowed." Incacha stood in the boat and used a long pole to push them out, onto the river. They were half way across when Blair realized that there was something alive, wriggling just under the water. A pale gray shape rose from the foul-smelling murk. A waxen human hand gripped the side of the boat. "Help me."
Blair reached out.
"No!" Incacha snapped as the hand grabbed Blair's arm.
A grayish white face appeared, dark wet hair-like tendrils hiding his face. "Hairy Blairy. Everyone loves the smart little boy."
"Lash!" Blair tried to pull away without tipping the boat.
"I can be you." Desperate, his fingers clutched at Blair. "Please let me be you. Let me be the good one. The one everyone loves."
"I'm sorry. I can't help you." Blair pushed the hands away and Lash was swept down into the deep, roiling black again, his pale hands still grasping at Blair. He was shaken by the encounter. After hearing Lash's father hatefully recount the childhood that created the monstrous serial killer Blair's terror and loathing were always tinged with pity.
There but for the grace of God... Jim and the others teased me about being a bleeding heart and I had to remind them that they were comparing me to Jesus, who was often painted with a bleeding heart. Of course that had only started the hairstyle comparisons.
Blair wiped his eyes as he remembered the intense but friendly camaraderie among the police officers. They had taken him in as one of their own and if they teased and tormented him... it was the same way they treated each other. Like brothers. "I wish they... oh man, I almost said that I wished they were here."
"In time they will be. You will see your friends again," Incacha gestured back to the incandescent land they had left, "but not if you lose yourself in Enqueri's world of sorrow."
"It's not Heaven if Jim's not there."
"Enqueri does not think he deserves it. He never has. All his life he has blamed himself. He thinks that he has failed his family, his friends, me. Your death in his stead was the last, heaviest weight that crushed his spirit completely. He took his own life."
Blair started to deny it, but the words stuck in his throat. He'd seen the truth. Jim had set it up. He allowed Harris to stab him in full view of witnesses and several surveillance cameras, timing it so that Blair's killer would die -- either at the hands of the Major Crime detectives or the state's executioners.
Of course, Jim -- only cowards kill themselves -- follow the rules -- carry the weight of the world on your freakin' shoulders -- Ellison, would see that as just one more stain on his immortal soul.
There was a small island in the stygian sea and when they grew near a man ran forward. "You!" Blair could barely recognize the burly mountain man who had ambushed him while he and Jim were chasing Dawson Quinn. Wade Rooker? He was dragging a body, the dead hand clasping his wrist as if their flesh were somehow welded together. "You made me kill Dell. I loved him so much and I could never tell him. Then you made me kill him!"
Blair could see now that the decaying body resembled the saner half of the pair of survivalists. The one who tried to save Blair's life and died for the effort.
"Greed killed you both." Blair whispered as the man turned and disappeared into the unending darkness, dragging the shell of his beloved friend. "Incacha, is Jim here in this horrible place?"
"He is in his own 'hell'. Of all the horrors he visited in his life, it is the worst place that he can imagine." The water had grown more shallow and Incacha turned and looked down at him. "I can go no farther. Will you return to the light with me?"
"Not without Jim." Blair stood as the flat boat was jostled by the churning bodies just under the surface. The shore was probably a few hundred yards away and Blair swallowed hard at the task ahead. "Thank you for bringing me here. I promise, I'll find Jim."
"There will be a guide awaiting you on the shore. Goodbye, Blair Sandburg."
Trying to ignore the sad finality in the shaman's tone, Blair gritted his teeth and stepped out of the boat. The mass of bodies was so thick, that he was virtually standing on them. He tried to tread lightly and very quickly over the moving mass, stumbling several times. He recoiled as he caught himself and his hands touched the gelid obscenity.
So cold -- don't think about it -- just run -- don't fall, oh God! Whatever you do, don't fall!
At last he felt solid ground under his feet and he ran like a rabbit until he was far from the sounds and smells of the damned. He trotted up a hill and turned to survey his surroundings. The sand under his feet was as black as the sea it bordered. The available light was from a sickly white-green slime that edged towering, achromatic and jagged constructs that had no visible function.
"Jim?" Blair looked around, squinting into the shadows. "Jim!"
"What's Slick done now?" A figure swaggered out of the shadows, his silver hair catching the light first. Jack Pendergrast's handsomely craggy face creased into a sly grin as he looked Blair up and down. "Sheesh! So you're his new partner?"
Blair stepped closer and took a better look. It was Jack, dressed in the same tweed jacket he'd been wearing in the old photo Jim had. So this was the great man himself? "It's a long story. It takes about an hour to tell it and I'm in a hurry."
"Okay!" Jack grinned and raised his hands. "I'm not exactly in the dark here. By the way -- thanks for coming to the funeral."
"Jim was there too."
"Yeah, him and Emily." Jack's mouth twisted into a wry grin. "At least she left the kid at home."
"They both loved you in their way." Blair sighed as he saw the old pain flare in the weary gray eyes. "Jim blamed himself for your death."
"It was a roll of the dice, kid." Jack shrugged.
"Why are you..." Blair shut his mouth and turned away. "Oh, man! That is really not my business. Forget I asked."
"Why am I here?" Chuckling, Jack gestured for Blair to follow and started to walk away. "Think of it as a brief layover in purgatory. Maybe because I was dirty cop..." Jack paused and shrugged again. "Okay, lightly soiled. I did some pretty shady crap. Then -- all of the sudden -- Slick was there and he looked up to me. This guy was a real, honest to God, hero and he looked up to me like I was something special."
"He said you were a great man."
"I wasn't even a nice man." Jack tapped the back of Blair's head and steered him down a narrow path. "I'd have killed them. If I'd walked in on him and Emily, I think I might've killed them both."
"I don't think you would've hurt them." Jack reminded Blair of Jim. He recognized many of Jim's mannerisms in Pendergrast. "I think Jim modeled himself on you. Not the shady crap -- if he knew, I think he repressed it -- but he learned how to be a friend... a partner from you."
Pendergrast quickened his pace, pulling ahead. "Didn't you hear me?" His voice was choked and ragged. "I could have killed them. I was an arrogant jerk with a low tolerance for what I perceived as betrayal."
"Jim could be that way, too, but he already had the chip on his shoulder before he met you."
"Yeah, I remember."
For a while they walked in silence over the rugged ground. Jagged rocks stabbed at Blair from the dreary shadows and the shifting sand seemed to move under his feet. Eventually the sawtooth ridges and towering, monstrous shapes dwindled and a flat, almost featureless plain stretched out before them. In the distance was a cluster of dead trees, their limbs snaking high into the pale gray sky. Jack pointed to trees and started walking.
"Is Jim there?" Blair couldn't wait any longer. "Have you seen him?"
"Slick? Yeah, I've seen him... but, it's not him...." Jack didn't speak again until he stopped at the edge of the dead forest. "I can't go in there again. I felt it. If I'd stayed another second, I'd have been trapped forever."
"It's all right. I'll go in alone." Blair looked up and smiled. "Thank you for your help."
"I think that's why I've waited all this time." Jack straightened as though things had suddenly become clear. "Hey kid! I think this is the main reason I was here. To help you and Slick. I think, I can leave now."
Blair remembered what Incacha told him. That good people sometimes doomed themselves to hell because of their own guilt and self-loathing. "You know, I think you're right. You've done all you can for Jim. You looked after him until I got here."
"You got guts, kid." Jack patted him on the head. "Slick deserves a partner like you. And unlike me, you deserve his loyalty."
"Go Jack. It's really great over there. Sports cars and open roads and gorgeous girls." Blair smiled for a moment. "All you have to do is make a wish."
"I know I should talk you out of this...."
"You can't, "determination tinged Blair's words.
"...so I won't try." Jack looked back to where they'd come from. "'Just wish', you say?" He closed his eyes and comically screwed up his face. "Good luck, ki...."
Blair was alone.
For the first time he realized that the place was totally silent. In fact it was almost felt as if the still, heavy air was alive as it tried to wrap around him like cotton-wool. It wasn't hot or cold and had no scent or taste. Blair raced into the petrified forest and caught himself on one of the tree trunks. The wood felt unnaturally smooth and he pulled his hand back.
There was a path and he followed it, eager to get away from the nothingness of the plain. In the center of the woods was a house. It was dirty gray instead of white and the spindles were broken and missing but he recognized William Ellison's home. Blair sprinted up the sidewalk to the front door. He paused only an instant before turning the knob, wrenching it open and stepping inside.
"My God!" It was the loft. Blair had been expecting the elegant foyer and sweeping staircase of Jim's childhood home, but it was the loft. Completely emptied of furniture with sterile white walls and polished wood floors. A tall figure stood at the french doors staring into the void. "Jim?"
The sentinel didn't turn. Blair nervously hurried across the empty room and touched the tense shoulder. Jim stood -- almost at attention -- and looked out at absolutely nothing.
"Hey Jim! I don't have a lot of time if what Incacha -- he's over on the other side waiting for us by the way -- told me is true. You don't have anything to feel guilty about and even if you did treat me like crap once in a while I forgive you." Blair took a deep breath and continued. "You did a lot of good for a lot of people and protected your country and your city and your friends and me -- man, you always looked after me and gave me a place to live -- a real home and...." Blair let his words trail off.
Jim never moved or gave any sign that he'd heard. Blair sidled his way between the door and his friend and took the taller man by the upper arms. He shoved hard and was relieved when Jim staggered and looked at him for the first time.
"Jim! It's me Blair! Blair!"
"Blair isn't here. I'm alone." Jim tried to return to his post by the doors. "Blair is gone and I don't know where to find him."
"I'm right here!"
"Blair said I'd know where to find him." The vacant pale blue eyes stared down at him. "But I don't."
"That was the fountain, man! You found me. You dragged me back and...." Blair shook his head in confusion. What had he been saying? The fountain was a long time ago. This was about... what was this about?
"It's happening! I'm forgetting and in another minute I'll be just like you. I won't know anything or anyone and it'll be like eternity, man -- I'll be stuck like some zombie in this place -- I can't do it. Sorry, Jim. I have to go." Blair turned and started to walk away. Jim returned to his maddening, statue-like posture at the doors. "I'm leaving Jim!"
Nothing.
Blair's hand was on the door -- then he was walking slowly back to Jim. "So I guess I'll stay with you then. Hope you don't mind," he placed his hand on Jim's arm and took his place beside him. "Whatcha lookin' at?"
Blair frowned slightly as he looked at his hand on the man's arm. He let it drop to his side as he looked straight ahead. It was very dark but if he looked closely enough he could see... no there was nothing and no reason to even be looking. His mind was calm. It was almost pleasant when the numbness spread over his limbs and the silence settled over him. He was alone and it wasn't so bad. Then all thought faded and the quicksilver mind shut down.
Jim stood and stared as he tried to think about Blair. It was getting more difficult to picture him and Jim had only brief flashes that were gone too soon. Blair in a white lab coat -- a colorful vest -- Jim's discarded clothes. Walking with a hop/skip in every other step to keep up with taller men. Fishing and cooking and talking... oh yes, talking. And getting shot, Blair bleeding and beaten and drugged and floating in that damned fountain. The fleeting dreams always ended like that, with Blair paying for being his friend.
Someone came in and talked about Blair. It made him sad for a moment. Then he returned to his lonely post and his memories. Memories that were gradually fading away until all he had left was the darkness outside. It kept getting stronger and deeper -- growing until it swallowed everything that was light and good and....
"So I guess I'll stay with you then."
What? For a moment it sounded like Blair, but it couldn't be. Blair was in the light -- in Paradise. He was a creature of light and warmth and could never be cast into a place like this.
Jim shook himself and looked at the man beside him. Really looked.
"Blair?" No nonono! This couldn't be. Blair belonged to the other place. Jim grabbed the sleeve of the flannel shirt and turned the slighter man toward him. Wide, deep blue eyes looked lost and confused at the rough handling. There was no sign of recognition as he shouted. "You can't be here, Chief! It can't happen like this!"
Blair looked frightened.
Of me? Jim's belly tightened into a knot as he watched his friend edge away from him. "Come on, Blair. Don't be scared. I won't hurt you."
Blair slid down the wall and folded his arms over his knees. He opened his mouth but no sound came. Jim watched as the wide eyes filled with misery before they were hidden by his hair as he leaned forward.
"Aw, Chief." Jim sat next to his friend and reached out, only to have Blair flinch and shrink away. "You were never afraid of me. Most people are... were... and I gotta say I worked pretty hard to make them afraid." Jim smiled and tried for a lower, softer tone. "But not you. I gave you my best lethal glare and frowned and yelled and you just looked up at me with that bullshit grin and did what you wanted anyway."
Jim thought he saw a glint as Blair's eyes peered from behind his hair. "You heard me, didn't you? You go back now. Back to where you belong."
The curly head shook slowly before returning to rest on his crossed arms.
"You can't go back, can you?" Jim forced himself to speak quietly as sorrow threatened to steal his voice. "Why? To be with me? Is that why you came here?"
The huddled figure didn't move.
"I thought I deserved to be alone." Jim reached out and touched the bowed head. "I guess I chose to be alone, huh? I didn't think about you."
He let his fingers thread through the curls and was pleased when Blair relaxed and leaned slightly toward him. He edged sideways and eased his arm behind the bent shoulders. "So I guess it's just us?" Jim closed his eyes and smiled sadly when Blair leaned into his side. As sudden, overwhelming exhaustion overtook him, he whispered, "I'd give anything to take you back."
Jim woke up to the sound of water rushing over rocks. He took a deep breath and looked out at a pristine stream that tumbled over the car sized boulders to a deep, shaded pool.
His friend was in water over his knees, flicking his lure over the surface of the water. Blair looked over his sunglasses and grinned like a five-year-old. "You gonna sleep all day?"
Jim shook himself. So this was heaven? How could he think he didn't belong here? No matter how far he let his senses range there was nothing unpleasant. Best of all, Blair was here. He was happy and safe and he was Blair. "How are they biting, Chief?"
"Great." Blair waded closer to Jim and showed him an impressive string of fish. "I got enough for the whole village, almost. Danny was up stream with my fishing spear. He actually caught some fish with it."
"Danny?" Jim didn't take his eyes off the smiling man in the water. "Danny Choi?"
"How many 'Dannys' you know who are dead?" Blair gave him his best "you are so dense" look. "I've got water in my waders, give me a hand."
Jim leaned over and offered Blair his hand. It was a sucker play and he knew it -- even before he was pulled off balance and into the cool water. The force of his entry into the water knocked Blair off his feet and they both ended up soaked. Jim stood up and lifted the sputtering Blair by the straps of his waders. "It's good to see you, too." Jim gave him a fierce hug, lifting him off his feet.
Blair returned the hug for a moment then wiggled out of the waterlogged fishing gear with Jim's help. "We have to get back to the village for the celebration. Incacha invited Danny and Jack and I think Bud's coming over, too. Wait till you see the village. It's terrific. 'High up on the mountain in a clearing, man, you can see forever... then the clouds move in and it's like you're on an island in the sky."
"Sounds like Heaven, Chief." Jim pushed Blair onto the bank before he climbed out of the water himself.
"And I found Newton. Did I ever tell you about Newton? He was this old dog, Peabo -- that was one of Naomi's boyfriends -- got me. He was old and kinda blind but he was a great dog. He'd curl up with me at night and we'd be so warm."
"Newton?"
"Yeah, Newton was big and shaggy and had a bum hip. We were living on a commune in Nevada when he got bitten by a rattlesnake. He got between the snake and one of the smaller kids. Man, I cried for a week when he died." A huge black dog romped down the path and slammed into Blair sideways, laying down on his feet.
"Newton?" Jim pointed at the massive, silky haired Newfoundland, who was somehow rolling, wagging, bouncing and slurping, simultaneously.
"Yeah!" Blair petted the ecstatic dog and laughed. "Isn't he great?"
"He's a great dog, Chief." Jim grabbed the string of fish and held it out of the playful dog's reach.
"Come on, Jim." Blair put an arm around his shoulders and pointed to the village in the clearing above them. "Everyone's waiting. Did I tell you that Janet is here? She lives in a tree house, how cool is that? I'll bet she's making her raspberry chocolate truffles and let me tell you -- you haven't lived until you tasted... Can I say that, now -- 'You haven't lived'? I mean we aren't. Living, I mean?"
"You can say anything you want," Jim laughed as they started up the trail. Newton ran circles around them as they walked. Blair was at his side -- talking a mile a minute -- and they were together, forever. It was how things were supposed to be. Eternity was looking good. "I remember, you and Janet always liked the trees."
"I guess we're living. I mean you could do this whole philosophical thing about what constitutes living but I think this qualifies." Blair went on as if Jim hadn't spoken. "Oh man, wait till you see the grove of redwoods and the waterfalls and the city... there's this city that goes on forever and it's like ancient and modern at the same time...."
Grinning, Jim just nodded and kept walking.
Epilogue
Time had no meaning. They'd spent centuries exploring all the wonders of eternity. They had explored the Amazon, ancient Egypt and Africa, solved mysteries with Arthur Conan Doyle, tamed towns in the old west and cleaned up 1920's Chicago. In between they enjoyed the sheer peace and quiet of Incacha's mountain village. It was heaven.
Jim was sitting on a rock outcrop, looking out over a vast ocean. Blair hesitated then walked out and sat down next to him.
"Still liking the high places?"
"Sorry, Chief."
"You want to go back, don't you?"
"Go back? Are you crazy?" Jim gestured around at the scenery. "Why would I want to leave this?"
"To serve... to protect... to be a Sentinel."
"I don't want to go back. You sure don't and I'd never want to go through that alone and..."
"We'll go back." Blair interrupted with a smile. "Maybe this time we won't wait so long to get together."
"But you like it here." Jim pinned him with a knowing look.
"Heaven isn't going anywhere. It'll always be here. Everyone will be here waiting for us... heck, they won't even miss us. We'll be back before they know we're gone."
"But if we went back, it would mean me being a Sentinel. Hanging out with me caused you a lot of pain. I wouldn't ask you to go through that again."
"I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Blair shrugged. "Maybe this time we'll do even better."
"Are you sure?" Jim forced Blair to make eye contact. "Don't do this for me."
"Each time it gets better, you'll see."
"What do we have to do, Chief."
"Whatcha doin'?" The small curly haired boy peered over the bigger boy's shoulder.
"Fishing." The boy's pale blue eyes seemed to be searching under the surface of the water for his quarry. "Gonna catch that big old catfish."
"If you show me how, you can have half my peanut-butter sam'ich."
"Sit down here and hold this fishing pole just like I'm holding it."
The curly haired boy plopped down onto the pier and took the bamboo pole carefully. "Thanks."
"Guess I have to show you stuff like this. When your mom married my dad it kinda made you my brother."
"Cool."
"Now, just look under the water and put the worm in front of one of the fishes."
"Look under the water?" the smaller boy frowned at the sun glinting off the murky lake. "You can see fish under the water? Cool. Tell me what else you can see?"
The End