Disclaimer: Don't sue, they're not mine. If you sue, you can have my flea-bitten cat Monster (aptly named), and have all the crap lying on the floor in my place because I've been so busy with work I haven't had the time to clean up. You can pay my bills too, because if you sue, I won't have the money to pay them.
Special Note: I guess you can call this my attempt at a post-S2P2 piece. I might crank out a full length feature some time in the reasonable near future. It's un-beta'd because I want it to be, because it's my heart-felt reaction to Alex and her crimes against Blair. Any and all mistakes are mine alone. Feedback would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanx 2: WolfPup for housing me in this wonderful den of hers. Rona, a.k.a. WonderBeta, for being an inspiration. And to all of the other writers here in the den with me, thanks for willing to put your hearts on-line with the stories you write. Bless you all. Thanks to Spirit with imbuing me with the gracious gift of being able to write fanfic.
Anna Rennie-Clark
Blair sat with his arms wrapped around his knees. Sitting like that, he found his mind wandering to places he'd begged himself never to return to. He could feel the cold water of the fountain on his face, yet knew it was actually the cool breeze up on the third-floor balcony providing his brain with the sensation. But he knew the sensation of the liquid pouring down his throat, and forcing it's way into his nostrils, was nothing nature was supplying him with. Instead it was the Anthropologist's mind sending him down the dreadfully familiar downward spiral.
"I don't want to do this again!" Blair screamed uninhibited into the wind. His Sentinel wasn't home, thus the entire night was his. "I can't do this again," he whispered into his folded arms. Hot tears of anger, of frustration, desperation, and helplessness flowed liberally onto the dark blue cotton of Blair's sweater. "Please don't make me do this again. I don't think I have it in me." The only answer to his desperate plea was the growling of the wind in his ears. Blair thought of getting up and moving inside, but decided he liked the way the wind numbed him.
Shifting in the padded deck chair, Blair was suddenly seized by the feeling of an arm pressing painfully into his throat. He tried desperately to struggle against the inevitable, but once again felt his body being pulled into the void.
This time the Observer landed on his feet, as opposed to face first in the water of the fountain. Glancing around the now painfully familiar surroundings, Blair's mind began to work on why he was there again. Blair suspected he knew why when the doors at the top of the stairs opened. Seconds later, Alex Barnes backed out with her hands held high, that same black gun still clutched in her right hand. Blair couldn't tell what was making her submit like this, but when Alex stumbled and slipped down several concrete steps, Blair got a good eye full.
Baring down on the tainted Sentinel was a monstrously huge panther, blacker than the heart of a jet stone. Its huge yellow eyes looked like bright lamps, a stark contrast to its massive black head. Ever steady on its path, the panther never took his eyes off of Alex as he backed her down the stairs. Watching with intensity, Blair could see the obvious masculinity of the beast.
"That thing has to be the size of a pony," Blair muttered, unable to pry his eyes off of the pair. He watched as the injured Sentinel backed closer and closer to him. He could almost hear the thudding of the incredible paws as the big cat bore ever down on Alex. Suddenly he stopped, causing the pained thief to stumble backwards into the marble ledge of the fountain. Her calves hit the ledge and she sat back hard. Blair was so terrified that he couldn't move, felt as if his eyes were attached by crazy glue to the scene before him.
Alex whimpered. "Stop it, Blair! Please help me!" She tried to shift her finger onto the trigger, but the panther growled low in its thick throat when it saw what she was attempting. "Please. I don't want this filthy animal to...to..." Her plea was cut short when the cat bared his teeth, rearing back on his hind legs. He lashed out a paw and smashed the paddle sized appendage into the hand with which Alex still clutched her Glock 9mm. It flew from her hand and clattered down onto the ledge, then slipped with a splash into the water behind her.
Blair was rooted where he stood, unable to move. "I," he tried to say, but found that his throat closed up on him. Waves of pain and anger swept through him, fear and disgust and confusion. Here was his arch nemesis and attempted killer, the bitch who had dared to shatter his vision of the innocent and heroic Sentinel. What was he to do?
"You..." Blair chocked out, desperately searching for a course of action. His eyes went to flick over the panther, but the beast instead caught the blue orbs and locked onto them. A feeling of barely controlled power swept over the man as Blair gazed into the yellow depths.
'If you wish, I will let her go,' the panther's MindVoice said to him. 'But she dared to harm the most sacred of our ancient group, the Guide. We cannot let her retreat on her own without consequence. However, since it was you she harmed, it is your decision as to the course of action that will be taken.' The beast sat attentively before the terrified Sentinel, keeping watch on her while Blair pondered his choices.
A hand went to his forehead, fingers attempting to massage away the confusion. Okay, things have really taken a weird turn, he thought. What the hell am I supposed to do now?
"Blair, help me!" Alex screamed suddenly. Blair's eyes snapped open and whipped around to see the panther hop up onto the fountain ledge, stopping to stand less than a foot from the female Sentinel. Slowly the massive pink tongue flickered out and dragged up her cheek. Intimate as the gesture might seem, Blair could tell there was more hunger behind it than love. Alex tried to move away, but the panther slammed a paw onto her thigh to keep her in place. Again her eyes flickered to the distressed Guide. "Help me!"
Disgusted by her show of cowardice, and by how she was now looking to him for help when she'd tried to kill him......
"What the hell!" burst from his mouth before Blair could think. "What the hell do you think I am, you inconsiderate bitch? Stupid? You think I don't know what you are, what you're going to do to me? And you want me to help you?" Blair paced away from the fountain and back again, running a hand through his hair in frustration. As he walked back towards the woman who'd changed everything, a decision swept over him.
Turning towards the panther, he spoke. "Take her." And then he turned away, and walked off in the direction that he knew Jim and the others had taken when they came to rescue him. Her scream made him jump, but Blair refused to turn around, he refused to let himself feel pity for Alex. And no guilt. He would not feel guilty. A short time later, a cool nose touched his palm. He let himself feel secure in the touch of the panther as he walked away.