Back to Part 1 SVS3-02: Revenge by Kerensa, Part 2 Jim ran along beside Blair’s gurney. After much threatening and growling, he had been allowed in the back of the ambulance with his Guide. The paramedics were, quite frankly, leery of separating the sick young man and his potentially violent partner, so they gave in. The presence of several other police officers might have helped with their decision. "What have we got?" The doctor was distressingly young or at least that’s the way it seemed to an extremely agitated Blessed Protector. He began snapping orders in a knowledgeable fashion and that reassured Jim more than grey hair and wrinkles would have. Ellison was concentrating so hard on Blair’s pale skin and the cold he could feel pouring off of it that he almost zoned out in the middle of the emergency room. With a shake of his head, the Sentinel was able to snap himself out of it. The detective watched as Blair coughed and moaned unconsciously as his irritated lungs tried to draw air in. Puffs of warmed air coming from the oxygen mask were warming Blair’s lungs and the lower part of his face and that helped his breathing a little. Jim stayed hidden in the corner. He knew that if any of the emergency room personnel noticed him they would throw him out. Ellison began to get lost again in the sound of Blair’s body. The whoosh of blood flowing and the places it wasn’t flowing very well, were pulling his mind under again. The flash of light off a scalpel brought him back in a hurry. "Get me the lidocane. He’s too cold to find a vein and we need an IV in, now! So, I’m going to do a cut-down." Blair moaned and Jim started forward. "He’s hurting!" The doctor flicked an interested glance at the Sentinel and then returned to his patient. "He’s too cold to feel anything right now, sir. Besides, we’ve numbed the area." The young man turned back to his patient and tossed, "He’s not hurting, I assure you." over his shoulder. "At least from this." Quickly and efficiently, the doctor made a small incision in Blair’s neck and inserted an IV. directly into his vein. The heated solution began to flow in. Its job was to rehydrate and warm Blair’s super chilled body at the same time. Jim stood to one side and glowered at anybody who came near his lover, the Blessed Protector instinct working, even against the people who were trying to help. The BP instinct wasn’t picky. Ellison could see people causing his lover pain and he reacted. The emergency department staff finally had enough of his glowering and made Jim go to the waiting room. Simon was waiting there for him. The rest of Major Crimes were back at the crime scene. Jim hated how many times Blair’s name was connected with crime scenes, on the wrong side of the police tape. "How’s he doing?" The big man stood up as Jim came into the tiny room. Simon put down the paperwork he had been doing for Blair’s admittance to the hospital. His dark brow was creased in worry. "I don’t know yet. They wouldn’t let me stay!" Jim started pacing in the small room, appropriately, like a trapped animal. His voice kept getting louder, until he was almost shouting. "Jim! Calm down or you’ll get thrown out of here." The Sentinel spared his boss a brief glance and nodded his agreement. He let his Captain steer him towards one of the hard plastic chairs. A low growl caught Jim’s attention. Across the room, his spirit guide, the jaguar, paced restlessly. The majestic animal looked over at Ellison, as if to say ‘I’ll pace, because you aren’t allow to.’ Nodding reassuringly, Jim sat back to wait. Jim looked towards the closed doors. Beyond them, his lover lay helpless and hurting. The Sentinel cocked his head to one side, not noticing when the large, black cat mirrored his stance. Jim’s senses turned towards his best friend and lover. "Body temp…90 degrees." "Damn, I wanted it higher than that by now. Get more warm blankets and try wrapping one around his head, see if that helps warm him faster." "What’s his blood pressure?" (Muffled sounds of an automatic blood pressure machine being activated.) "75 over 40." "What about his…" "Jim. Jim!" Simon’s shout made Jim flinch. He turned to glare at his good friend who was standing right next to the ear he had just yelled into. "You didn’t have to shout...sir. I was keeping an eye on Blair." The big captain leveled an intimidating stare at his friend and Sentinel. Jim, who had his own market cornered in the intimidating stare department, wasn’t fazed in the slightest by the look. "Yes, I did have to shout. You were getting that faraway look on your face again. I can’t bring you out of a zone out and Blair’s too sick right now." Simon sighed at the pained look on Jim’s face at the mention of Blair’s injuries. "So, cut it out. You can’t help Blair if you are in a hospital bed yourself, because you’ve zoned and scared the crap out of everybody. Me included." Simon muttered the last, quietly to himself. Ellison rubbed his aching forehead and nodded. "You’re right." "So, what did you hear?" Simon didn’t notice the irony of asking Jim about what he had heard after he had just raked him over the coals for listening in, in the first place. As captain, Simon figured he could ignore such things. He did, however, unconsciously lower his voice, not wanting to out Jim’s Sentinel abilities in an unsecured setting. "Nothing good." Ellison grimly told his captain about what he’d overheard. "Damnit Simon, he was in the middle of the police parking lot for pity’s sake. There were dozen’s of cops not 200 feet away. Not to mention all the other personnel wandering around. How the hell could this have happened and nobody noticed?" Simon looked thoughtful. "What if he dies, Simon? I can’t do this without him." Jim didn’t mention that he was talking about living. Everyday, normal living. Blair was his anchor in the world and not only with his Sentinel abilities. The ringing of a cell phone had both men scrambling guiltily. They were supposed to have turned their cell phones off when they came into the hospital, but in all the excitement they had forgotten. "Does it hurt yet?" The soft laughter of the woman had Jim gritting his teeth. Before he could say anything though, she disconnected. "Jim?" "It was her ." The Sentinel hissed the word through clenched teeth. The urge to throw his phone against the wall was strong, but Jim resisted. "Damn it." Simon did give in to the urge to throw something, his soda can. He looked marginally better afterwards and Jim gave him a sour look. "What the hell did she want?" The Sentinel related the brief conversation between himself and the attacker. "She’s playing with us." Simon looked at his friend and waited for an explanation. "If she hadn’t given us the clues, Blair would have frozen to death out there." The big captain opened his mouth to speak and then closed it resignedly. He pulled off his wire rimmed glasses and rubbed a tired hand across his face. "I know." Jim erupted in fury, unable to contain his anger any more. "Who the hell is she and why did she have to hurt Blair." The detective shoved one of the plastic tables hard against the wall. The loud sound echoed through the mostly deserted room. "Jim, Jim! Calm down. Blair’s going to be fine." Simon looked Jim squarely in the eye and prayed that he wasn’t lying to his good friend. "And we will find who ever this woman is and make her pay." The Sentinel let go of the out of control feelings and stood up straight; his back automatically stiffening into a militarily correct posture. He looked over at his captain and in a deadly flat voice stated the facts. "Yes sir, we will." Simon swallowed hard at the look in his friend’s eyes and was silently glad that he wasn’t on the receiving end of that anger. Over in the corner, the crouching jaguar tilted back his head and roared. Two hours later It had been a long two hours. Jim had alternated between pacing and listening to Blair. Several times, Simon had pulled his friend from a near zone out. Both men had drunk enough bad coffee to drown in and were wired because of it. "I just talked to Taggart." Jim looked up when Banks came back into the room. Simon had devised a schedule, he left the room at 15 minute intervals. He might not be allowed to use his cell phone, but he did need to keep in touch with his men. So, the big captain would go outside of the hospital to get a progress report and then hurry back to the waiting room. Each time he was afraid there would be bad news about Sandburg and Jim would have had to face it alone. "He said that your father and brother are fine. I have a couple of uniforms keeping an eye on them." Jim rolled his eyes, even as he acknowledged the information. "I’ll bet they were just thrilled with that." The captain laughed slightly, a forced laugh that sounded more like a grunt. "Yeah. According to Brown, they were both ecstatic with their new escorts." A clanging noise caught their attention and both men turned to face the clamor. A younger man with headphones on was pushing a cleaning cart. As they watched, he emptied the trash can beside the vending machine. The cleaner ignored the two police officers and didn’t see the big black cat at all. The music from his headphones pulsed out a thumping beat. Simon turned away, trying to tune out the noise. Jim glanced over at his spirit guide and was surprised to see the animal was crouched lower, growling at the cleaning man. The Sentinel turned an appraising eye towards the young man. "Excuse me…" Jim and Simon turned quickly. Simon was astonished to see that Jim was as surprised as he was at the doctor’s appearance. It wasn’t very often that the Sentinel was caught unawares. "Are you gentlemen with Blair Sandburg?" Simon glanced at a stoic Jim. It looked like the Sentinel was hanging on to control with his fingertips. Hoping to avoid a scene, the Captain stepped forward, taking charge of an out of control situation, whether he wanted to or not. "Yes, I’m Captain Banks and this is Detective Ellison. Blair works with us at the police department and…" Flicking a questioning look over at Ellison, Simon decided not to obfuscate. "…Blair and Detective Ellison are…partners." The young doctor smiled at both Jim and Simon. He understood the true meaning behind the word partners . "I’m Dr. Davoral." The man extended a hand that Ellison absentmindedly shook. "I’ve been treating Mr. Sandburg…" "Dr. Sandburg." Jim interrupted, necessity pulling him out of his stupor. Blair had worked for far too long and sacrificed a lot for that title, to not use it whenever possible. "Dr. Sandburg." The doctor accepted the correction with good grace and a quick nod of his head. "How is he doing?" Simon’s worried voice was quieter than usual. "Surprisingly well, all things considered. His core temperature is rising nicely, it’s up to almost 95 degrees now." "Ninety five?!" "Yes, uh…Captain. I know that’s still very low, but we don’t want it to rise too rapidly. That can cause almost as much tissue damage as the lower temperature can." Jim nodded his understanding. Simon frowned, but accepted the news. Bracing himself, the Captain asked the question that he was most worried about. "Talking about tissue damage…what about frostbite." "Surprisingly, I don’t see very many signs of frostbite. He has quite a lot of frostnip however." Simon blinked at the term and racked his brain to figure it out. "Okay, I’ll bite. What’s frostnip?" Jim answered for the doctor. "Frostnip is a lesser form of freezing. It is a degree lower than the lowest grade of frostbite." Frowning, Banks looked over at Dr. Davoral. "That’s good, right?" "Yes Captain, that’s very good. Being exposed as long as Mr., excuse me, Dr. Sandburg was, he should have had a much worse case. I would have expected moderate to severe frostbite over most of his body, instead of the mild touches here and there." The doctor ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Now, I won’t kid you, he is in serious condition. There are some moderately severe patches of frostbite on his toes and fingers. The ones on his feet are marginally worse and will make walking very painful for a while. For the next week or more his hands and feet are going to be virtually useless." "Is he going to lose anything?" Simon looked quickly from Ellison to the doctor. The idea of Blair losing any toes or, God forbid, fingers, was terrifying. The loss of toes would make it harder for Blair to walk or run. The loss of fingers would be devastating to someone who talked with their hands all the time. Either injury would prevent Blair from graduating from the academy and becoming Jim’s full-time, official partner. "I don’t think so. As I say, most of the frostbite is minor and we are gradually warming his extremities up, so I sincerely doubt there will be any lasting damage at all." The doctor gestured wearily to the lounge chairs and the three men sat down. None of them noticed the other man taking a really long time cleaning the room. Nor did Jim pay any attention to the jaguar, who was slinking closer to the working man. "As for Dr. Sandburg’s other injuries, I had to put 12 stitches in the side of his head where he was struck. Because of the blow to his head, Blair has a moderate concussion. Luckily it was not worse and we are able to give him some mild pain killers." "P-pain killers?" Jim was trying to get over the image of Blair living the rest of his life missing some fingers, so he was having a harder time following the conversation than he normally would have. "Yes, detective. As his body warms up, it’s going to be painful. Extremely painful. We are doing our best to make it as painless as possible though." A soft moan echoed through Jim’s hearing, followed by a low whisper. Jim? Simon realized by Jim’s posture that he was listening in on Blair. Simon subtly bumped Jim’s arm, hoping to keep Jim from being too obvious. "Can I stay with him, please? It’s important…" Jim’s plea was interrupted in mid stream. "Of course, Detective Ellison." Jim and Simon’s raised eyebrows had the doctor snorting, obviously trying not to laugh. "Gentlemen, there’s a notation in Blair’s file, right on the front of it to be exact, saying how much better you both do if allowed to stay together." Dr. Davoral grinned at their dumbfounded looks and added. "Actually, what it says is ‘for pity’s sake, don’t separate them’." Sobering quickly, the young doctor waved a hand towards the closed doors. "Besides, I know what the power of love can do, how it can speed a person’s recovery. Go ahead, Dr. Sandburg is in Treatment Room #4. The nursing staff are expecting you, so you won’t be stopped." Ellison quickly stood, the doctor’s manner the only thing holding him back. "Eventually he will be moved up to a room. I want to keep an eye on him for the next few days. Frostbite or even frostnip are nasty things. I don’t want there to be any complications. Also, there’s the head injury to worry about. Dr. Sandburg has indicated that his vision is a little distorted." The doctor raised a hand to stop any questions. "As I said, tests indicate that there aren’t any problems. I just want to watch him, just to make sure." Dr. Davoral gave a friendly smile to the two worried friends. "He should be fine." Jim bobbed his head sharply. "Thank you, doctor." He turned to his friend. "Simon…" "Go on Jim, I’m going out to the crime scene and see what’s happening." And tell everyone how Blair was doing. But that didn’t need to be said. Jim knew how many friends Blair had at the station. With that, the three men went their separate ways, leaving the cleaning man to finish his job. The younger man, with a scarred face, grinned wickedly and pulled his video camera out of the cleaning cart. The kidnapper walked away, leaving the cart behind. Blair lay on an examination table, but in an odd position. Instead of his head at the top of the bed, the anthropologist was pulled down with his head in the middle of the table. His body was slid forward so that his legs, from the knee down, were hanging over the end. A small table was underneath Blair’s legs and his feet were in a tub of warm water. Likewise, Blair’s hands were hanging over either side of the small bed, similarly in their own, albeit smaller, pans of water. Really, it was almost comical to see, if you didn’t realize the severity of the reason for those receptacles of water. Or you didn’t see how pale Blair still was. Lines of pain creased the younger man’s forehead. Jim stood beside Blair and contemplated his lover. The Sentinel’s heart twisted to see the young man like this. The IV coming out of the Shaman’s neck was frightening, like something out of a bad Frankenstein movie. The plastic tubing snaked up to a pole that held no less than three bags of solution. All were being pumped into the helpless anthropologist’s body at once. Blankets covered him everywhere that wasn’t in the water, but did little to disguise the multitude of monitors that were still hooked up to Blair. Monitors that made sure his heart and lungs hadn’t been damaged by the unanticipated stay in the freezing cold. Jim sat down beside his sleeping lover and laid a hand on the covered chest. Even through the multiple layers of blankets, Jim could feel the young man shivering. The IV jerked every time Blair swallowed and if Jim watched very carefully, he could count Blair’s heart rate as the tubing pulsed with every beat. The Sentinel noticed a small bandage on Blair’s left ear. He wondered about that until it dawned on him…Blair’s earrings. The metal in the hoops must have frozen to his ear. Jim carefully pulled back the edge of the covers and peeked underneath them. Sure enough, there was also a small dressing on his chest. The nipple ring must have frozen too. "jim." "I’m right here, Chief." Ellison carefully covered his lover back up, tucking the blankets around him. Blair opened his eyes and squinted in the subdued light. The overhead lights had been turned off in deference to his cold abused eyes. Even with that consideration, the light was still painful. "Chief, did you see who did this?" Jim hated questioning Blair like this, but he had to know if the young man could give them a description. The longer it took, the farther away the criminals could get. Or the closer they could get. Blair swallowed painfully and Jim picked up a glass and held the straw to the young man’s lips. "Here you go, Chief. See if this helps." Instead of ice water, the usual hospital drink, Blair had warm chicken broth. It would help heat up his chilled body and replace valuable nutrients that had been lost due to the cold. "I…" Blair’s blue eyes looked into Jim’s pale blue eyes. "…I don’t remember." He frowned again, wincing as the skin where the cut on his face was, moved. Jim smoothed out the lines of pain with a warm, comforting hand. "Wait, I do remember, uhm…getting out of my car. Somebody came up behind me and…uhm…hit me on the head. That’s the last thing I remember until I woke up on the ground." "Damn." "I’m sorry, Jim." "Oh, Chief." Jim laid his head next to Blair’s. "It’s not your fault. I was just hoping that you had seen your attacker." Blair reached up to touch his lover’s face. His wet hand bumped against Jim’s arm and Blair cried out, his back arching in pain. Naturally, that didn’t help his head either. "Shit! Chief, try not to move." Jim put the young man’s hand back in the water and tried to soothe his hurting lover. "hurts." "I know, Chief. But it’ll get better soon. The doctor can’t give you a stronger pain medicine, because of your head injury." Blair nodded his understanding, even as he worried his lip with his teeth. Eventually the pain receded, leaving Blair more worn out than ever. "Just try to sleep. You’ll feel better when you wake up." The young man sighed as Jim pulled him closer. It was awkward, because of all the tubes and wires, but the Sentinel managed anyway. She turned around when the young man walked into the room. "Well Eric. Where is it?" She demanded impatiently. "Here, Jeanine." He sauntered forward and stuck a video in her hand. "Enjoy." Eagerly, the woman shoved the tape into the player. On the television, Ellison and Banks could be seen in the waiting room. Gleefully Jeanine watched Jim as he worried and suffered. "Excellent." The scarred young man was astonished. Praise from her . That was unprecedented. "Thanks." Jeanine got up and wandered over to the balcony. "It has begun. Ellison will suffer for his crimes. She will be avenged." The young man rolled his eyes at the pretentious speech, but only when her back was turned. Eric nodded and uh-huhed in the right places though. He knew better than to disagree with the woman ranting before him. Personally, Eric couldn’t care less about vengeance and all that crap. The young assassin just wanted somebody new to kill. Or play with. Eric rubbed his hands together, remembering the satiny texture of Blair’s skin, especially that on his inner thighs. So soft. The young man closed his eyes and he could almost feel the strands of curly hair as they wound and twisted around his fingers. He was so lost in his memory feast that Eric forgot about the dangerous woman in the room with him. He forgot how hazardous it could be to have her undivided attention. "You did something, didn’t you?" Eric’s eyes snapped open. Jeanine was looming over him. "I don’t know what you mean." "Liar." She backhanded the young man across the right cheek. Eric’s head snapped back with the force of the blow. "Why the hell did you do that?" The scarred young man glowered up at his boss. She snarled back in his face. "Have many times do I have to tell you, don’t touch the merchandise. What if you’d been caught out there, you idiot? You were in the police parking lot, attacking their favorite little mascot and you stopped to play with him." He wiped the trickle of blood off his cheek. "Okay. I get it." "You had better, otherwise I will take care of you." The young man looked up at Jeanine’s cold green eyes and shivered, realizing he was seconds away from a very long and extremely painful death. While he loved to inflict pain, he was a coward when it came to receiving it. "Jim." Simon’s almost silent whisper pulled Jim from his light doze. He sat up from where he had been laying half on and half off of Blair’s bed. The Sentinel’s face was stuck to one of the cardiac lines that snaked under the multitude of blankets. Jim cautiously extracted himself, being careful not to disturb Blair or disconnect the line going to the monitor. The Sentinel looked over to where his friend was standing in the doorway. It was apparent that Simon was also trying to avoid waking Blair up. The older man motioned for Ellison to follow him. Jim listened to Blair’s heartbeat, making sure that he was still asleep. When he was sure that Blair wouldn’t be disturbed, Jim followed Simon outside. "How’s he doing?" Ellison smiled, the first genuine smile he’d had in over a day. "He’s doing a lot better. They finally got his hands and feet warmed up. He’s still a little cold, but he’s going to be fine." Simon released a shuddering sigh and clapped Jim on the back. "Thank God." "Yeah." Banks pulled a plastic bag out of the inside pocket of his coat. "We’ve found some evidence at the crime scene. I wanted you to look it over and see if you can find anything that forensics missed." Normally the Sentinel would have gone to the crime scene himself and used his senses to find other clues that might be lying on the ground or even in the nearby trees, as happened one time. Jim was worried that valuable evidence might have been missed because he couldn’t leave Blair alone. Not that he would have done differently. No, Blair had needed his presence these last several hours more than they needed him at the station. Jim grimly took the evidence bag from his Captain’s hands. Inside he could see Blair’s woolen scarf; the one he had given the young man for Christmas. "Let’s go someplace a little more private." Simon gestured at the busy hallway they were standing in. "Okay." Ellison stomped down the hallway, his good mood ruined by the sight of Blair’s things. Personal things that had been so casually tossed aside by some maniac, hell bent on retribution for something that Jim himself might or might not have done. The two men ended up back in the waiting room where they had spent so many hours the day before. It was literally the only place they could find that wasn’t teeming with visitors. Of course, this was the weekend, so the hospital was jumping with patients and their worried loved ones. Standing inside the small room, Jim pulled out the soft scarf. Holding it out at arm’s length, the Sentinel looked over the garment carefully with his enhanced vision. "There’s nothing here…" Jim’s voice trailed off as his super sensitive nose caught a whiff of something. Handing the scarf to his Captain, Ellison pulled out the matching hat and held it up to his face. "I smell a…perfume…" Jim concentrated, taking a deeper breath. "No, not perfume, cologne. It’s the same scent that I caught on Blair back at the parking lot." Simon grimaced, not liking the idea that Blair had possibly been molested while he was unconscious. "Do you recognize the scent?" Ellison looked over at his friend in horror, before he snapped his head to look at the other side of the room. "Oh, my God!" "Jim?!" The large captain took a step back at the anger on his friend’s face. "He was here!" "What?" Simon glanced at the hat, clutched tightly in Jim’s hand. "The attacker?" The detective turned back to Banks, angrily jabbing a finger towards the doorway. "He was the damn housekeeper that was in here yesterday." Simon gasped. "Are you sure?" The bigger man held up his hands in a surrender posture. "Okay, silly question." "I’m sure, sir. I’ve never smelled a cologne like this before. It has a cinnomany smell to it." "Damn, they were flaunting it right in our faces." Simon watched as Ellison began to pace again. "All right, Jim, calm down." The glare that comment earned should have incinerated the other man on the spot. "Don’t give me that look. Let’s concentrate, we need to try and picture the criminal." They established that he was tall, about 6", slim, maybe 175 and other than that, they weren’t sure. The rest of his appearance was most likely a disguise. Both men thought hard, but nothing more came to their minds. "He kept his back to us and I admit, I didn’t pay that much attention to him." Jim’s brow furrowed. "He had several scars on his right cheek." Banks waited to see if Jim’s excellent recall came up with any other pertinent information. When the detective didn’t say any more, the captain spoke up. "Okay, at least we have a tentative basis for an ID. We’ll have an idea of who to keep on the lookout for." Ellison nodded as he absentmindedly stroked the soft material in his hands. "I’m going to call this description in, so we can get an APB out on this guy." "Yeah, but what about the woman?" Simon paused and looked up. Dark eyes and pale blue ones met in a worried glance. "I know." Jim tilted his head slightly. "Blair’s waking up." "Okay, go." Banks smiled at his friend. "Take care of him…for all of us." The large man started for the entrance to the hospital, already pulling out his cell phone. Jim headed the other direction, back towards Blair. Both men were tense, worried about the young man lying hurt in the hospital room upstairs. "Okay everyone, listen up!" Rafe looked over at Brown in shock. Joel Taggart was a very soft spoken man, it took a lot to make him yell the way he just had. "One of the attackers was apparently at the hospital. Jim and the captain just now figured it out. Here’s a description of the man. Add this to our hunt for the foreign woman. See if any of our suspects have known contacts that match this man." Joel handed the paper to Megan, who went over to confer with the other detectives working on the case. "Let’s find these creeps." With that, Taggart went back into his temporary office, Simon’s office, and slammed the door. Megan smiled and snorted quietly. "What’s funny?" H enquired. "I was just remembering something Sandy said once. He wondered if it was something about that office that made everyone loud." Rafe grinned. "Yes, I think it must be." Reminded of their good friend, the detectives attacked the computer and files vigorously. They were determined that Blair would not be hurt again. Blair cried out in his sleep and shifted uneasily on the bed. The burning sensation over so much of his body, not letting go of the young man long enough for him to fall into a deep sleep. "No." He whimpered. Jim sat up and looked at his exhausted and hurting lover. This was their second night in the hospital. In the first one, Blair hadn’t been able to rest because of the hourly checks on his head. A concussion necessitated waking the patient once an hour for at least 12 hours to make sure they know what’s going on. Luckily, Blair’s double vision was gone by the next morning. But by then the young anthropologist was so tired he was almost seeing double. Dark circles made half moon outlines under Blair’s eyes. Pale skin was surrounded by straggling and tangled hair. Blair’s pride and joy couldn’t be combed, because the young man’s head hurt too badly for it to be messed with very much. The nasal canula bisected his cheeks with a pale crystal line. A dark purple lump bulged out on one side of his head. Some of the blankets had slipped down when Blair was moving around. The Sentinel pulled them up higher and tucked them around his Guide as best he could without dislodging the monitoring equipment. One hand eased under Blair’s neck and began to gently massage the tense muscles. The other hand slipped under the covers and rubbed Blair’s tummy, one of the few places without wires or bandages. "Shhhhhh, Chief. You’re safe." Blair smiled in his sleep and relaxed into the loving touches. He slid deeper into sleep and dreamed of making love to Jim all night long. Blair smiled as Jim helped him out of the bathroom. His big lover had had to all but carry him. While the frostbite to his feet had been minor, it had still caused problems and he was supposed to refrain from using his hands and feet as much as possible for the next couple of weeks. The trip home from the hospital had been exhausting, for both men. Jim had stayed by Blair’s side during the whole hospital stay. The Sentinel was unwilling to risk leaving his Guide alone and vulnerable. Even with the patrol officers outside, the Blessed Protector inside of Jim couldn’t relax. The long soak in the tub had eased Blair’s aching muscles. Jim had been very solicitous and attentive. The stitches on the side of his head and the one’s on his neck, where the IV had been, were kept scrupulously dry, as per the doctor’s orders. While Blair had been resting, in between checking on Blair every few minutes, Jim had turned the living room into an inviting retreat. Against the back wall, the multi disc CD player was loaded with a selection of relaxing music. Not Santana, but it was a quiet tape full of guitars and pianos. Blair wanted to ask who it was, but couldn’t find the energy to care at this point. Maybe later. There was, what could best be described as, a nest in front of the fireplace. Actually, the loft didn’t have a true fireplace, not in the traditional sense. The stove was freestanding and more of a cross between a fireplace and a stove, but they called it a fireplace. Pillows and blankets covered the ground, in a high pile, creating a comforting bed-like platform. One of the sofas had been moved from its regular place and was backed up to the nest. More pillows were banked against it, making it a supple headboard. Jim gently lowered his lover onto the fluffy mound. Blair sank into the soft pillows and fleecy blankets with a contented sigh. "This sure beats a hospital bed." Blair smiled up at his still standing lover. Jim sank down beside the younger man and pulled him into a loose embrace. "No question about that, Chief." The young man had already eaten supper at the hospital, so dinner wasn’t something that Jim was going to worry about. Ellison had brought his own food in and had dined with his lover. It had been Wonderburger, so Blair hadn’t felt too bad about being stuck with the hospital food. The Sentinel propped Blair up against the headboard. Blair sighed in contentment. Being pampered was nice, even if the reason for it sucked. "Thirsty?" Jim already knew the answer, even before Blair could say anything. One of the symptoms of hypothermia was your body getting rid of all the excess fluid that it could. Consequently, the victim had to drink a lot more to replace the liquid. "Um huh." The Sentinel disappeared into the kitchen, only to return a couple of minutes later. The sounds of the microwave dinging and cups clinking were the only noise to disturb the calming music. "Here you go, Chief." Blair opened his eyes and took a deep breath. His smiled broadened at the wonderful fragrance he smelled coming from the cup. "Hot cocoa?" "Yep. I used your special recipe." "With little marshmallows?" The Sentinel laughed at the hopeful look on his lover’s face. "Of course, Chief. Is there any other way to drink cocoa?" Blair laughed too, almost giddy at being home. Jim held the cup for his lover. Holding things was still tricky for the young man. His hands weren’t as limber as normal yet and he tended to drop things easily. The two men relaxed by the warm fire. Blair felt tensions easing away as the fire warmed the outside of his body and the cocoa warmed the inside and he sighed contentedly. After a little bit, the wonderfully thick chocolate drink was finished. Blair lay back and watched in amazement as Jim placed the tray with the cups on it, over to one side. That was soooo unlike the fastidious Sentinel and broke at least 2 or 3 major house rules. Normally, the room would have been tidied to within an inch of its life before the older man would have dared to relax. Jim noticed Blair’s surprised look. "I’ll worry about them later." "Okay, Big Guy." The detective pulled Blair over and laid the younger man’s head on his shoulder. Blair burrowed in to the strong arms and closed his eyes happily. Then something began nagging at the back of his mind. Blair frowned and then realized what was bothering him. He didn’t want to disturb their peace, but he didn’t want to keep any secrets from his lover either. "Jim, there’s something I need to tell you." Jim leaned back and looked at Blair warily. "O-kay." "It’s nothing bad." Blair hastened to reassure him. "It’s just something that happened while I was unconscious." The Sentinel waited for a few moments and then waved his hand encouragingly. "Go on." "I…well, I was back in the jungle." Jim sat up quickly. "Do you mean that you were dying…" "No!" Blair tried to sit up as well, but couldn’t get the necessary leverage against the cushy bed. "Take it easy, Chief." Jim stopped his lover with a gentle push to the middle of Blair’s chest. "Just calm down." Blair crossed his gloved hands over Jim’s hand, trapping it against his chest. "I wasn’t dying, I was on a…" Blair struggled to find the right word. One that, hopefully, wouldn’t freak Jim out any more than he already was. "I was on a spirit walk." The Sentinel nodded. That he could accept, after all, he had been on several walks himself. "My sprit guide was there…and a monkey…" "A monkey, Chief?" Jim interrupted Blair’s enthusiastic recitation. "Yeah, like Larry. You remember him, don’t you Jim?" Jim laughed. "Yeah, Chief. How could I ever forget Larry." Both men grinned, remembering some of the antics that the little primate had gotten up to. "I saw Incacha." Blair waited for Jim’s reaction. He was pleasantly surprised when his lover just nodded, accepting the news easily. "What did he say?" Jim moved closer and began to run his free hand through Blair’s riotous curls. Blair leaned his head into the caress and snuggled Jim’s other hand even closer. "He said I need to learn the way of the Shaman." The detective nodded. "That sounds like a good idea to me. If all these spirit guides are going to be hanging around, warning us, it would be nice to know what they are trying to tell us." "So, it won’t bother you if I do some research on this and look for other shamans who can teach me?" "No, Chief, if that’s what you want, then I’m behind you 100 percent." "Uh, Jim." Ellison turned from where he was tending the fire and looked at his lover, the hesitant tone of voice worrying him. "What is it, Chief?" "Could you give me a hand, I need to go to…" Blair waved a hand behind him and ducked his head. Jim saw the blush on Blair’s face and looked to where he was gesturing. "Oh, of course." The Sentinel slid his hands under Blair’s arms and gently put him on his feet. The young man cried out when his feet touched the ground. Ellison wasted no time and took hold of the anthropologist around the waist. "I’ve got you, Chief." Blair nodded and bit his lip to keep from crying out again. The detective maneuvered around the couch and headed them towards the bathroom. He was holding Blair up and the young man’s feet barely touched the ground. Inside the bathroom, Jim slowly released his tight grip on his lover. The bigger man waited until Blair had his feet under him before the Sentinel raised up the toilet lid. "Ready, Chief?" The Guide didn’t say anything, he just nodded. Bright, shiny hair framed his face, hiding the young man from his lover. Jim eased Blair’s pants down and took hold of his penis. Aiming at the toilet bowl, Jim whispered in Blair’s ear, trying to ease some of the humiliation. "It’s okay. You can’t use your hands very much yet and I don’t mind helping you." Still, Blair didn’t say anything. Even worse, because of the tension, he couldn’t seem to pee. "Hey, how many times have you helped me, huh? Besides, any time I get to hold you is a bonus, although I would like it to be in a little more romantic setting. I mean, take a look around, I wouldn’t want to have a long evening in here, would you?" Blair snorted. "No man, the air freshener doesn’t do much for the décor, does it?" Jim laughed, his breath fluttering Blair’s hair. The young man leaned his head against Jim’s chest and relaxed. That did the trick and soon business was taken care of. The Sentinel laid his lover back down on the bed and covered him up. Blair closed his eyes and twitched as waves of pain rolled from his feet to his knees and back down again. Blair stirred when Jim came back from washing his hands. "Easy, Chief. Just rest." Jim soothed his lover and treated himself as he played with Blair’s curls. It wasn’t long before the younger man dozed off. With long practice, Ellison kept himself from zoning out on the experience. He soon followed his lover into slumber. "So…how are things going with my case?" Blair tried to ease the question in, Jim got really upset when the attack was mentioned. Just like every other time he had been hurt, if it was up to the Sentinel, Blair wouldn’t know anything about it. Well aware of his fear based responses , Jim decided to fight himself and open up to his lover. "There hasn’t been much luck yet. The description of the young man hasn’t turned up any leads yet." "What about the woman? I know nobody’s seen her, but you did hear her. Have you listened to the tapes to see if you could hear anything in the background?" After the first call, that had taken them all by surprise, the other calls from the attackers were taped. It was routine when there was a hostage situation. "I tried, but there was nothing. She must have been in a soundproof room or something, because it was deathly quiet, except for her voice." The Sentinel frowned and Blair waited. He knew that his lover would figure out what was bothering him and together they would find the solution. "I tell you Chief, there was something about her voice that was familiar. I just can’t figure out what it was." Jim pounded a cushion, flattening it in his frustration. Blair smiled at his temperamental lover. "Why don’t you try going through your sensory memories, like we did when you replayed the answering machine message from Jack." Ellison didn’t say anything, although he twitched and his face became stoic. The detective still got upset when anyone mentioned his former partner, Jack Pendergrast. Jim still felt like he had let the other detective down when he missed his call for help, all those years ago. "Come on Big Guy, lean back and relax." Blair’s warm honey voice eased Jim into a better frame of mind. The young Guide parted his legs and pulled Jim back between them. The Sentinel laid back against Blair’s chest. The young man’s gloved hands crossed over Jim’s body, holding him tight. "I have an idea. It’s something new, but don’t tense up again." Naturally, that’s what Jim was doing. He hated the idea of tests and trying out new procedures was almost as bad. There had been many times that the young Guide had held back from expressing new ideas, because of just this kind of reaction. "Relax." Blair rubbed his cheek against Jim’s shoulder. The anthropologist winced as the movement pulled at the stitches in his neck from where the IV had been. It worked though and the tension in Jim’s body melted away once more. "Okay. I want you to think back. Concentrate only on the sound of her voice. Listen to the inflections and nuances. Everyone has different ways of speaking, even twins. So, figure out what is different about her and keep that difference in your mind." "Okay, Chief." Jim concentrated and played the conversations with Blair’s attacker over in his head. He frowned and had to consciously keep from getting mad. Her condescending attitude and smug happiness at his pain were hard to listen to once, let alone several times. Once he had her locked in his head, the Sentinel nodded to indicate to his lover that he was ready. "Got it?" "Yeah, I’ve got her." "All right. Now comes the tricky part. I want you to go back through all of the voices you’ve heard and find the one that she’s similar to." "What do you mean all of them?" "I mean all. Every voice you’ve ever heard in your life." Jim looked over his shoulder at Blair and started to protest, but Blair overrode him. "No, come on. You can do it. I know it sounds like a lot, but I’ll bet that your mind has made a…kind of mental map of all of the voices you’ve heard throughout your life. It’s just a matter of picking the right voice out of the crowd." "Chief, I’ve heard thousands of voices in my lifetime, maybe even millions. How am I going to find one voice out of a lifetime?" The Sentinel started to get frustrated and defensive, as he always did when he didn’t have complete and utter control over his life. Blair had long since come to recognize the symptoms and didn’t feel hurt by them anymore; not like he did when he first started guiding Jim. Instead of letting the Sentinel reject him and the idea, the now more experienced Shaman tightened his hold on his tempestuous lover. "Jim, it’s a matter of concentration. It’s like a computer file. You need to set up a program to find the particular file you want." Ellison looked over his shoulder at his lover with an incredulous look on his handsome face. "You’re kidding with this, right Chief." Blair fake growled at the man he loved and he bit Jim on the earlobe. "Just trust me on this, will you." Jim turned back around and relaxed. "Of course I trust you, Chief." The anthropologist smiled, happy at the ease in which Jim showed his trust in him. It hadn’t always been that way and the results had, on occasion, been disastrous. "Okay Jim. The first thing you need to do is filter out all of the male voices." Jim concentrated and followed Blair’s advice and found that it was relatively easy to eliminate what he didn’t want to hear. Immediately, the multitude of voices in his head was cut by more than half of its previous volume. Living in and around the military had made the ratio of male to female voices vastly out of proportion. The Sentinel kept his eyes closed and grinned. "It worked, Chief." "Good. I knew you could do it." Blair laid his head down on Jim’s shoulder. He was really tired and hoped he hadn’t made a mistake in starting this tonight. "Now, was she young or old?" "Young." Jim’s voice sounded odd. Blair realized that his Sentinel was drifting off, getting caught up in the sounds in his head. He sat up quickly, afraid he would fall asleep when Jim needed him the most. "Then get rid of the older women’s voices." Blair stripped off the gloves as he talked and put his hands on Jim’s bare arms. He realized that his voice wasn’t going to be enough to ground Jim this time; Blair would have to use touch as well. "Are they gone?" Blair stroked the outside of his lover’s arms. "Yes." It seemed to be working. Jim’s voice sounded stronger, not so far away now. "Good. Now filter out the children’s voices." The volume in Jim’s brain was dropping lower and lower. The Sentinel floated inside his mind, reassured by the touch of his Guide’s strong and more than capable hands. He knew that he could let go. Blair was his anchor and would keep him secure. "Let your mind search through the voices. Some are going to be too high and others too low in timbre. Get rid of those and see who’s left." Jim had it narrowed down to about 50 women’s voices by this time. It was simply a matter of letting himself hear them talking. One by one they faded away as they didn’t match the voice he had heard on the phone. Until he was finally left with… "Lilah!" "What?" Blair jumped at Jim’s exclamation. "She sounded like Lilah. Not exactly the same, but pretty close." "What was similar?" Jim thought about it for a few seconds, delving deeper into his memories of the time he had spent in Lilah’s company. The good and the bad. "Her accent. It was…lilting, like Lilah’s." Blair rubbed a cold hand across Jim’s arm, trying to prevent a zone out. The anthropologist was so tired and worn out that he wasn’t sure if he had the energy to bring Jim out again if he did zone. That had the potential to be deadly, for both of them. Blair knew in his heart that if something were to ever happen to his big lover, he would never survive. Jim was pleased and nodded happily. He hadn’t realized how much it irritated him, not being able to place the woman’s voice. It had been like an annoying itch and now his genius lover had helped him find and scratch it. The detective placed his hand over Blair’s and frowned at the cold. Blair wasn’t supposed to take his gloves or socks off unless he was taking a bath. The cold was going to bother his preternaturally cold lover even more than it always had. "Where are your gloves?" He demanded. "Right here." Blair held up the objects in question. Before he could make a move to put them back on, Jim turned around and faced him. "Chief, you need to keep these on." Jim held Blair’s smaller, but sturdy, hands between his bigger ones. In just the few minutes he had had the gloves off Blair’s hands were already chilly. The Sentinel blew gently on the cupped hands and watched as his Guide closed his eyes and moaned at the soft warmth. "Come on, Chief. You need to rest." Blair kept his eyes closed and nodded. The fact that Blair didn’t argue was a sure sign of how exhausted he was. Jim laid his lover down on the "bed" he had made. Then the older man picked up one of Blair’s hands and gently rubbed some cream into the still sore fingers. Blair sighed contentedly as Jim soothed him. The detective finished one hand and slid the glove on carefully. The other hand received the same loving treatment. The flickering light from the fireplace cast a mellow glow over the scene. The red highlights glittered in Blair’s brown curls. Any other time, the Sentinel would have been worried about zoning on the dancing display, but now he was fixated solely on his injured lover. Blair opened his eyes and watched as Jim moved down his legs, a hand…ghosting over the younger man’s fleece covered leg. Jim eased off Blair’s socks and rubbed the soothing, all-natural cream over his abused feet. Jim replaced the previously worn socks with a new pair of his own socks. The younger man had been extremely touched when Jim insisted Blair use the Sentinel’s own white socks for his injured feet. Jim had told him that it was because they were bigger and wouldn’t constrict Blair’s feet. Jim had also said that, like the white gloves, there were no dyes in the white socks, so he wouldn’t risk an infection in the irritated skin. The younger man knew differently though. It’s not that the Sentinel had lied or even obfuscated. It was the Sentinel and Blessed Protector in Jim rearing their protective heads. Blair had been attacked and manhandled. The more primal part of Jim wanted to cover his lover and his Guide with his own scent; to mark him and protect him. Blair could handle that. It was comforting to feel so loved and cherished.