Warnings: PG-13 mild violence, several bad words.
Disclaimer: They are not mine. They belong to Pet Fly, UPN and Sci-Fi Channel, but I'm seriously considering suing for custody on the grounds of neglect. No money made. So don't waste your time suing me.
Thanks: Thanks Zerena for THAT quick beta job.
Trishbsc
Thursday, February 3rd
6:15 PM
Blair closed the refrigerator door, placing the salad dressing he had just grabbed onto the table. He glanced over at the clock for the third time in the last ten minutes. Dinner was ready. Actually, dinner had been ready for almost two hours. It was Jim who was way overdue.
His partner had three different cases that came to trial this week. In addition, due to a major crime wave that had struck the city, he and Jim were working a lot of extra hours. Jim had spent a large part of his day in court. Then, in the afternoons and evenings, they tracked down two car thieves and the chop shop that handled their merchandise. William Hadley, the city's largest car dealer, owned it. They had also cleared two homicides and a vandalism case at the Mayor's house this week. Between being stuck in a stuffy courtroom and then tracking down the car theft ring, Jim had pushed himself and his senses past the limit. The last two days, he had been suffering from a severe headache that just wouldn't stop. He had even tried several of Blair's natural remedies without a complaint. Nothing had helped.
Blair checked the time for the fourth time. He was tempted to call Simon. Maybe he would know what had delayed Jim. Just wait until he gets home. It's my turn to enforce house rules.
Earlier that day
12:15 PM
While Jim was stuck in court waiting to testify, Blair had worked on finishing up all the paperwork on their cases. He didn't want Jim to have to deal with it tonight. Now that Hadley and his group of thugs were behind bars, their last open case was over. Just as Blair was printing the last report, the phone rang.
"Detective Sandburg."
"Hi Chief, just checking in like you ordered," replied Jim.
"How's your head feeling?"
"Better, I've got the dials set at two. Just wanted to let you know it looks like I'll be done early today. The Henderson and Brooks cases are already over. Both were found guilty. I'm scheduled to testify right after lunch on the third case, so I'll be back soon to help with that mountain of paperwork on our desks."
"Thanks for the thought, but the mountain is down to a molehill. I've had a busy morning. Go home when you're done with court. It's really quiet at the station, no new cases. I'm about to head out myself. I'll stop by the grocery store and restock the cabinets, plus pick up the dry cleaning. How about roast for dinner?"
"Sounds good to me. Got to run, Chief. I should be home by three."
"See you then. Bye, Jim."
Thursday, February 3rd
6:30 PM
It wasn't like him to be this late without calling. What happened to Ellison's house rule about calling home if you're going to be late? Blair checked the clock again.
Okay, that's long enough. Blair thought as he headed to the phone. As soon as he had started to dial, he heard the sound of keys in the lock. "Finally," Blair said, as he opened the door. "Man, where have you been? I was worried about..." Blair's voice trailed off as he got a good look at his partner. He had never seen Jim look this bad. He was as a white as a ghost. A sheen of sweat covered his face. His hand was shaking as he turned to shut and lock the door.
"Jesus Jim, what have you been doing? Never mind, you can tell me about it later," Blair ordered, as he helped Jim off with his jacket. "Right now, I want you to go take a nice long hot shower. I'll bring you some clothes. Go!"
Blair issues orders better than that drill sergeant did from my days in boot camp. Jim didn't even bother to argue. He didn't feel like talking and a shower sounded really good. He just nodded and headed straight for the bathroom.
Whoa, that was too easy. Blair thought, as he headed upstairs to Jim's bedroom. He collected a clean set of socks, boxers and sweats for his partner. He slipped them into the bathroom while Jim was in the shower. Next, Blair built a large roaring fire in the fireplace to raise the temperature in the loft. He turned off all the lights except for the one over the stove in the kitchen. He looked at the now overdone roast in the oven and decided to start a pot of chicken soup cooking. Jim was obviously in no shape to sit down at the table and eat the heavy, slightly overdone meal that was already prepared.
It was almost an hour later and Blair could still hear the shower running. Something was definitely wrong, there wasn't enough hot water to last this long. He knocked on the bathroom door. When he didn't hear a response, he entered anyway, fear for his partner's well being overriding his respect for Jim's privacy. "Jim, is everything all right in here?"
When he continued to receive no answer, he pulled back the shower curtain. "Damn it, Jim!" Blair groaned as he stared at his friend. Jim was still standing under the spray, a blank expression plastered on his face, one hand pressed against the wall supporting his weight. There was a slightly bluish tint to his skin. Blair reached in to turn off the water and realized that it was freezing cold. "Shit, man, what did you zone on in here?" Blair muttered, as he eased Jim out of the shower and levered him down onto the toilet seat. He grabbed several towels from the closet and wrapped them around his partner's cold unresponsive body.
"Come on back to me, Jim. I need you here with me. There's no way I'm going to be able to carry you out of here without a little help, so you might as well come back now." As Blair was talking, he was vigorously rubbing the towels across Jim's limbs and chest, attempting to increase the circulation. Once Jim was dried off, Blair managed, with great difficulty, to slip him into the warm clothes he had brought earlier.
Jim wasn't completely back from the zone, but his eyes were more aware. "Jim? Are you back with me?" Blair asked as he placed one hand on Jim's cheek, raising his friend's face so that their eyes could meet.
"Yeah, Chief. I'm with you," Jim answered weakly, still feeling a little lost.
"Man, what did you zone on? You haven't done that in ages."
"I don't know," Jim replied, starting to list a little to the side.
Blair grabbed Jim's shoulders to keep him from falling to the floor. "Jim, don't fade out on me yet. Don't worry about the zone for now. We can talk about it later. Will you be okay for a minute by yourself?"
Jim nodded, rubbing one hand across his face, dark circles clearly visible under his eyes.
"Okay, I'll be right back. Don't move!"
Blair ran upstairs and removed all the blankets and pillows from Jim's bed. There was no way he was going to be able to get his partner upstairs in the state he was in. Blair built a cozy nest of blankets on the couch before heading back into the bathroom for his partner. Jim hadn't moved since Blair had left the room. Blair reached for his friend's arm to help him up. He draped that arm around his neck and wrapped his other arm around Jim's waist.
"I've got you, Jim. Lean on me. You can't stay here all night, so let's get you someplace a little more comfortable."
"Thanks, buddy," Jim quietly whispered, as he leaned heavily onto his friend.
Slowly, they moved over to the sofa. Blair help Jim to sit down, spreading the afghan over his lap. "Don't go to sleep yet, Jim. I want you to eat something first."
"Chief, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Just a little soup. Give it a shot. You really need something in your stomach."
Blair filled a small bowl with the soup and handed it to Jim. He held off on the thousand and one questions he had until Jim had finished eating. When Jim reached out to put the bowl on the coffee table, Blair took it from his hands and asked the question uppermost on his mind, "Jim, what happened? When I talked to you at lunch, you said you were almost done, that you'd be home early. What went wrong?"
"After court, I stopped by the bullpen. Simon called and said I needed to sign off on the Hadley case for the DA. The call came in just after I got there. Report of an accidental shooting. Simon sent me out."
"You should have called me, I would have met you. You didn't have to handle this by yourself, and just where was everybody else? You're not the only detective in the city, you know," Blair replied angrily.
"Megan and Joel were still finishing up on the paperwork concerning the Watson murder. Rafe and Brown are still assigned to the safe house protecting that witness in the Angelo case. Besides, it was supposed to be an open and shut case."
"So why wasn't it? Jim, I've never seen you affected by a case like this. What happened to checking your emotions at the door?" Blair questioned his concern evident in his tone.
"The accident involved two small boys, one was ten, the other six. The ten-year-old had his father's gun. It accidentally went off, killing his younger brother. They were alone in that house, Chief. The father had left them alone because he had to attend this 'important meeting'. He told that little boy that he was responsible for his younger brother. When the uniforms tried to get in touch with the father, tell him what happened, they couldn't get past the executive secretary. He was tied up, couldn't be interrupted, for any reason. Finally, they had to go down to the office and personally stop the meeting."
Jim's voice was breaking as he continued the story. "We found out from the neighbors that the mother had left the boys four years ago. No way to get in touch with her. There was no housekeeper, no babysitter, just two little boys alone in that house. I'm trying to get the story out of this little boy. He had the brightest blue eyes, Chief. He kinda reminded me of Steven."
Blair figured Jim saw himself too in this boy, but he wasn't going to say that out loud.
"He said he heard a noise and got his father's gun so he could protect his little brother. The younger boy wanted to hold the gun. He tried to take it away. During the struggle, it went off. Blair, the whole time I was there, he never cried. It was like there was this old man trapped in that little boy's body. He just kept talking about how sorry he was, how mad his father was going to be, that it was an accident."
Jim's whole body was shaking now. Unshed tears visible in his eyes. He lowered his head until it was resting on his arms, unable to continue speaking.
"Jim, don't torture yourself like this. For now, just let it go. We'll deal with it later, together. Rest now, the day's over," Blair spoke softly, as he sat down on the end of the couch. He put one of the pillows across his lap, then pulled Jim's head and shoulders over to rest on it. Jim rolled the lower half of his body onto the sofa, accepting the comfort Blair was offering.
"Close your eyes, Jim," Blair instructed, as he gently rubbed circles on the older man's temple. "Relax, buddy. Try to rest."
Blair could feel the tension drain from his partner's body as he relaxed and dropped deeper into a peaceful sleep. He didn't stop the massage until he was sure Jim would remain asleep. It was only a few minutes later when Blair eased out from underneath the pillow. He tucked the afghan carefully around his friend and headed out to the kitchen to clean up the remains of dinner.
As he finished up the dishes, he heard the soft ring of a cell phone. Blair traced the sound to Jim's coat pocket. With a quick check on his partner, who was still sleeping deeply, undisturbed on the couch, he answered the phone on the fourth ring.
"Ellison's phone," Blair said, as he moved into his bedroom, closing the French doors behind him.
"Sandburg? Where's Ellison? I need to talk to him."
"Hi Simon, He's sleeping right now. Do you want to leave a message?"
"Sandburg, I said I needed to talk to him!" Simon exclaimed.
"With all due respect, Captain, I'm not going to wake him up. He was beyond exhausted when he finally got home. What is so important that it can't wait until morning?"
"The DA has a couple more questions about the report on the Hadley case. He wants the report to be revised tonight and on his desk first thing in the morning."
"Captain, Jim and I worked that case together. I'll be right down to handle this. You don't need Jim."
"Sandburg, I'm tired of playing around here. Put Ellison on the phone!" Blair rolled his eyes, time to resort to obfuscation.
"What was that, Captain? I couldn't quite understand you. We must have a bad connection. I'll be right there. See you soon, Sir."
Blair smirked as he disconnected the call, turning the cell phone off. He picked up his keys and his coat, heading for the door. He paused long enough to make sure Jim was still sleeping and to flip off the main phone extension in the living room. Lastly, he turned the volume on the answering machine completely down before heading out.
It was only a little before nine when Blair entered the bullpen. The place was deserted, but he could hear two voices emanating from Simon's office. Talking a deep breath, he walked over and knocked on the door, preparing himself to enter the lion's den.
"Enter!" answered a gruff voice.
"Good evening, Captain," Blair paused, as he recognized the second person in the room as Joel Taggart, "Captains. Where's the file on the Hadley case. I'll get right to work, Sir."
"Detective, sit down!"
Joel quickly realized that things were about to get really ugly and decided it was time to make a quick exit. "I'll run down to the deli and pick up that order, Simon. How about you, Blair, want anything?"
"No thanks, Joel."
Joel nodded and patted Blair on the back as he left the office. Immediately after Joel exited, Simon started. "Detective, I want to know who do you think you are, hanging up on me? I gave you an order."
"Yes, Sir, you did, but I was off-duty, as was Jim. With all due respect, you were out of line with your demand AND you're taking advantage of Jim's nature."
"WHAT!"
"Yes, Sir. Do you have any idea how many hours Jim has put in this week, last week or the week before? He's sick. He's exhausted and he needs a break."
"He looked fine to me before he left this afternoon."
"He was not fine, Captain. He hasn't been sleeping very well, he hasn't been eating right and he's been suffering from severe headaches the last TWO days. Simon, I found him zoned out in a freezing cold shower approximately an hour ago. He's reached the breaking point. Actually, he may have passed that point."
"Why didn't he say something?"
"He shouldn't have had to; you're the boss! Can you even remember the last day we had off? I mean completely off, no paperwork, no phone calls, no stopping by the bullpen to sign something or going out on a stakeout, completely OFF."
Simon remained silent, he couldn't remember for sure the last day those two men had off from work. He hadn't realized how heavy their caseload had gotten or how heavily he relied on them.
"Simon, with Jim's military background, he isn't ever going to admit to you, his commanding officer, that he needs a break. Then, factor in the instincts of a Sentinel protecting his tribe and you have someone who won't stop until he physically can't go on. Right now, in my opinion, he can't handle any more. He's been trained not to say anything, not to complain so I will on his behalf. He may protect the tribe, but I protect HIM. Simon, I'm warning you. If you get in my way of doing that, Captain or not, I'll roll right over you. I already had to choose between being a Guide and being an Academic. If you want to force a similar choice between being a Guide and being a Detective, well, I can make that choice too and you won't like it."
"Sandburg...Blair...you've made your point. I honestly hadn't realized what was going on. You're right, I have been taking advantage of Jim's abilities and yours. But Blair, sometimes it's necessary."
"It's okay, Simon. I understand that, but was tonight really necessary? If the DA has that file by noon instead of nine is the world going to end? Hadley is out on bail, the DA having, or not having that file isn't going to change that." Blair shook his head before continuing, "I was a little out of line myself, Sir. I'm truly not challenging your authority in this office. I would never do that, but in my home, Jim's loft, that's a different situation. You also didn't see the condition Jim was in tonight when he came home. Frankly, he scared the hell out of me."
"I didn't have any details when I sent him out there, but I saw the boy when Social Services brought him in. He looked a lot like Jim did when he was a boy, at least the one picture I saw of Jim as a child."
"I figured that out for myself. He said the boy looked like Steven. Look Captain, we're okay here, right? So just give me the file and I'll do what I can with it tonight. I really need to get back to Jim."
Simon handed the folder over to Blair. "There is a handwritten page of questions in the front of that. Do the best you can tonight. Anything you can't answer can wait until tomorrow afternoon, which is the soonest I want to see either you or your partner. Understand?"
Blair nodded and headed for his desk. Just as he was about to sit down, two uniforms entered the bullpen. "Can I help you guys?" Blair asked looking at the name badges, Douglas and Franklin. Blair couldn't remember ever seeing these two officers before.
"Maybe, Major Crimes is assigned to the Angelo case, right?"
Blair hesitated before answering. Why were two uniforms interested in the Angelo case? He glanced over at the door to Simon's office. Before he could answer, he found himself thrown up against the desk, knocking over the file holder on the desk. His arm was twisted behind his back. Another hand was holding his head back at an awkward angle.
Simon, hearing the commotion, came out to investigate. "What the hell is going on out here!"
The hand holding Blair's head released him, but his relief was short lived as Blair felt the cold steel of a gun muzzle pressed against his temple. "Don't move, Captain, unless you want to watch us blow a large hole through your detective's head."
Franklin moved over by Simon, forcing him to sit down. Simon quickly found himself restrained by his own handcuffs. Once Franklin was done with Simon, he closed the blinds on the windows that viewed the hallway, but he didn't quite close one of them all the way. Douglas forced Blair into another chair at the same time. "Let's try this again, Detective. What do you know about the Angelo case?"
"Nothing, never heard of it," Blair replied.
"Wrong answer," Douglas said as he struck Blair across the face.
Jim opened his eyes to a dark and quiet loft. "Blair?" Jim dialed up his hearing and realized that he was alone in the loft. He looked at the clock, 8:45 PM. He untangled his legs from the nest of blankets and headed to the kitchen for a drink. He noticed that the light on the answering machine was flashing. He detoured over and pressed the play button.
"Sandburg! Pick up the damn phone! I want to talk to Ellison not you. I mean it! Put Ellison on the phone right now! Sandburg, I'm warning you..." Jim hit the stop button, then the erase button. Sandburg, you really need to turn off mother mode before dealing with Simon. Jim put on his coat and headed for his truck. Better get to the station before Simon and Blair kill each other. It would be too hard to hide both bodies.
As Joel exited the elevator, carrying the sandwiches he and Simon had ordered. He noticed right away that someone had closed the blinds. He peeked though an opening in the slats and saw two uniforms in the bullpen, standing by Blair. When he saw one of the two punch Blair in the stomach, he dropped the bag of food to the floor and ducked down below the window where he couldn't be seen.
He heard the elevator ding behind him. He turned around just in time to see Ellison exit the elevator. Putting one finger to his lips, he waved Jim over with his other hand. Jim quietly took up position behind Joel.
"What's going on here?"
"I saw two assailants disguised as uniforms in the bullpen with Blair and probably Simon. One of them hit Blair pretty hard. Looked like they had him restrained in a chair, but I didn't get a very long look. I also didn't actually see Simon, but he was in there when I left."
Jim turned up his senses, listening for the number of heartbeats in the bullpen. He heard Simon yelling that Blair didn't know anything. Blair's heartbeat was too fast, periodically skipping a beat. "There are only two of them. Both Simon and Blair are in there, but that's it. Blair's hurt and Simon is pissed."
Joel's mouth dropped open, "How did...never mind, I don't want to know. What's the plan? I'm sure you have one, and by the way, you don't look so good. You're pale and..." Joel reached out and touched Jim's forehead. "Yep, you are definitely running a fever."
Jim slapped Joel's hand away. "Sandburg is mother enough, Joel. I don't need another one."
"Okay, I'll be the Dad. Son, you should be in bed."
"Let's get Blair and Simon out of there in one piece and I'll be happy to obey. Okay, Dad?" Jim answered with a smile.
"Leave him alone, he doesn't know anything!" Simon yelled.
"Where are they keeping him?" the goon demanded.
Simon struggled to free his hands from the restraints. He watched as Franklin struck another blow across Blair's face when Blair refused to answer.
"Tell me what I want to know and this will all be over!" Franklin yelled.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Blair answered weakly. The entire left side of his face was completely covered with bruises. Blood trickled down his chin from a split lip. His stomach hurt from the blows Franklin had laid on him earlier. Franklin hit him again. "I don't know, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you squat."
"Let him go. He wasn't part of the case. He really doesn't know." Simon exclaimed angrily, hating the feeling of helplessness.
"Enough! This isn't working. We're going to try something different. Free up one of his arms," Douglas ordered, pointing at Blair as he lit up a cigarette. Douglas stood in front of Simon, puffing on the cigarette. "Okay, Captain, even if he doesn't know anything, you do. So, tell us where you have the witness stashed, unless you like the smell of burning flesh," Douglas said, as he exhaled the smoke into Simon's face.
"Shut up, Simon. Don't tell them anything." Blair muttered, his voice getting weaker with every word.
"Damn, Joel. They're gonna burn him. We've got to get in there now."
Joel took another quick look through the window. He quickly assessed the situation. "I agree, Jim. Let's go. You take the one holding on to Blair. I'll take out the other one," Joel suggested as he pulled out his weapon. "On three?"
Jim nodded as he moved to the other side of the door. Silently, Jim counted down and the two men burst through the doorway. "Freeze, nobody move!" yelled Jim.
The two thugs looked at each other then raised their hands over their heads. The plan had been to walk in like they belonged there, get the information and slip out quietly. That wasn't possible anymore. They were quickly restrained. Joel called down to holding and requested backup. Then he used his handcuff key to free Simon. Jim started to lean over to free Blair from the chair, but his vision started to gray out as he bent over to release the cuffs. Blair quickly realized what was happening and called out to Joel. "Joel, help him. He shouldn't be here."
Simon caught Jim before he hit the floor. Joel freed Blair from his restraints. Before Blair could stand up, Joel grabbed his shoulders, "Blair, stay still. You are not in much better shape than Jim is right now, so just stay put until you can be checked out. Simon will take care of Jim."
Blair was going to argue, but he heard Jim answer softly, "Relax, I'm okay, Chief. I just need a minute."
The paramedics checked out the two men. Jim was suffering from exhaustion, mild- dehydration and a low-grade fever. Blair was badly bruised and little stiff, but nothing was broken. Both declined the invitation to visit the emergency room. Simon gave them strict instructions that he didn't want to see either of them at the station until Monday. Jim wouldn't allow Blair to drive them home. Joel volunteered to drive them home in his car and Simon promised he would have their vehicles brought to the loft.
Blair took the front seat with Joel, allowing Jim to stretch out in the back. Both men dozed on and off during the short trip home. Joel pulled out and parked right in front of the door. He asked, "Are you two going to be able to make it from here."
"No problem, Joel. Thanks for the ride," Blair answered.
"Yeah, Dad. We'll be fine," Jim added with a smile.
"Go to bed, Son. You've had a busy day," Joel replied laughing, as he pulled away.
The two men went inside and waited for the elevator. Neither of them wanted to climb three flights of stairs.
"Dad?" Blair asked.
"I'll explain tomorrow, Chief."
It didn't take long before they were standing in front of the loft door. Blair opened the front door and dropped his keys into the basket. "Jim, why don't you head upstairs. You'll be more comfortable in your own bed."
"I'm not arguing with that," Jim replied. He grabbed the bedding from the sofa and headed upstairs. Blair stopped by the kitchen. He took a couple of bottles of water from the refrigerator then followed Jim upstairs.
"Jim, drink this, you need the fluid," Blair suggested, passing over one of the bottles, setting the other one on the night table. "Do you have any aspirin up here?"
"Chief, I'm fine."
"It's no problem, Jim. I'll get it." Blair, somewhat stiffly, headed back downstairs. Jim observed how slowly Blair was moving. I wonder if I can get cuffs back on him, maybe to the railing.
"Got it, Jim. Want me to bring you something to eat while I'm down here?"
Jim quickly plotted Plan A for getting Blair to rest. "No thanks, Blair. Just bring me up an icepack."
"Sure, Jim," Blair called, from the kitchen.
Jim watched Blair climb the stairs again, leaning heavily on the railing. He took the icepack and the aspirin from Blair. Time to launch Plan A. "Chief, Would you mind sitting down here on the bed for a minute. I'd like some company. Don't feel much like talking, just don't want to be alone right now."
"All you have to do is ask, Jim. Whatever you need," Blair responded, stretching out on one side of the bed. Jim watched as Blair's eyelids fluttered and he fell asleep within minutes. Jim propped the icepack along the left side of Blair's face.
"Thanks, Chief," Jim whispered, as he carefully reached over Blair to turn off the alarm, then pulled the blankets up over both of them. "Sleep tight, buddy."
The End