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Patt's getting a tad bit bogged down in real life, so I'm taking over for her on Courage Under Fire for a bit. My name is Kel, my address is dragonbane4@aol.com
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After both men had showered, Jim and Blair had shared a last, lingering goodbye kiss and then separated, Blair to his meeting with Jim's brother and Jim to his meeting with his old man.
Jim drove himself to his father's house unerringly; he probably hadn't spoken to or seen his father in several years before that bitch of an ex-wife of his had called him, now he couldn't seem to get away from William Ellison. When he pulled in, he found his father sitting out on the lawn, having coffee and reading through the newspaper.
Jim's mouth hung open for a few minutes, unbelieving that William could be so calm while wrecking his life. "I can't believe this, Pops," was Jim's first reaction. "You have *no* business getting into my life or Blair's life like this! What the hell did you think you were doing, anyway?" He ground his fist into his open hand, fighting the urge to drive it into his dad's face instead, shattering that prideful smirk on his face. "You can't have Blair fired, Dad, that's his *job!* His life's work! You can't go in there and blow that for him because you're pissed off that I'm dating him!
"I'm doing what I had to do, Jimmy. I'm protecting my family." William's expression didn't change, but his eyes grew slightly more guarded. "Don't you care?"
"This is bullshit, Dad, and we both know it! You've never given a damn about Stevie or me, why bother now? Does it make you feel less of a man to have a fag for a son? Get over it, Dad, this is *not* about you, it's about *me!* *My* life, Dad! What makes *me* happy, not you!" His fist pounded even faster and faster in his hand as he paced around the living room. "You called and had this done, you by God better call and have it undone!"
"It's done, Jimmy."
"Then so are we, Pops. Done. Forever. As of this moment." He stalked towards the front door. "I've got to get back to Sandburg. And Dad... if this causes me to lose him... everyone is going to know just what a bastard you are to your children."
"Jimmy, Jimmy wait!"
"I got nothing to say to you, Pops, and you got nothing to say to me unless it's, *I'm sorry, Jim, I'll have it undone.*" He paused on the porch long enough to listen for the apology, and when it didn't come, he sighed. "The shit thing of it, Dad? I love you. Or I did, until you told me this. You're a cold bastard, William Ellison, and I am sorry that you're my father. Don't call me, don't write me, and if you see me on the street, I'll cross to the other side of it. I want *nothing* to do with you, ever again, Pops. Do you understand me?" He didn't wait for his Dad's answer, he walked out.
Putting his hands in his jacket pocket, he immediately clapped them over his ears as he got to the sidewalk. A car alarm from a few streets over sounded like shrieking in his ears, and the day's bright sunlight was unbearably bright. Temporarily blinded, Jim was brought to his knees by the overwhelming sensations. He tried to visualize the dial Blair had taught him behind his eyes and he couldn't. He couldn't zone out either because of the pounding of the sensations in his head.
William saw his son's reaction and he hurried to Jim's side. "Jimmy? Jimmy, are you okay?"
"Leave me alone!" Jim shouted, staggering up and stumbling forward as he ran from William. He ended up at the phone booth on the corner, and he dumped money into the slot--he didn't know how much, he couldn't see what coins he was shoving into the slot, and he dialed Blair's number at the University.
"Hi, you've reached Blair Sandburg, Professor of Anthropology at Rainier University. I am currently in class or in faculty meetings right now but if you will leave me a message, I will get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for calling."
"Chief... I need your help right now... my dad, he's fucked in the head, big time. The dial's not working, man, I can't get it to come up, I can't get my senses to go *offline.*" He ran his fingers though his hair, sliding down to sit on the ground, the phone still pressed to his ear.
William jerked the phone out of Jim's hand. "You don't need to be calling that little fag, Jimmy, he's the one causing you problems in the first place."
Jim jerked away from William's grip. "Leave me alone, man, I told you, don't fuck with me, dammit! You've done enough!"
William drew back and slapped Jim once across the face. "Get a hold of yourself, James!" Anything else that William would have said was lost in the sound of Jim's fist meeting William's jaw.
"Lay off me!" he yelled. He fumbled in his pocket for more change and dialed Bri's cell phone. "Bri! Can you and Joel pick me up? I'm at the corner below my dad's house, but we... we gotta go to the University, gotta go see Blair and see... see if I can fix what Dad did."
"Jim? Yeah, of course, we're on the way, just stay there," Bri said, and passed the phone over to Joel.
"Jim? Jim, what's wrong? Jim?" The line went dead in his ear. "I think we got a problem, Bri," Joel said seriously.
"Hold on." Rafe hit the brakes and in the middle of the road spun the big truck around and headed back the way they'd come.
William staggered up from the hard right that had floored him and jerked the phone out of Jim's hand again, and slapped his son once more. "James! Get up! You're going back to the house and getting yourself under control!"
"Leave me alone, Dad!" Jim wanted to curl up and shield his eyes and ears and nose from the sights and sounds and smells that overwhelmed him, that he couldn't dial down. His eyes burned with tears caused by sensitive eyes exposed to bright sunlight, and his head pounded. He used the corner of the phone booth to pull himself to his feet, clinging to it for support.
William gripped his son's bicep firmly and began to pull. "You are coming back to the house with me and you are going to start acting like a real man and not a damn drama queen!"
Jim grabbed his father's sweater with both hands and pushed him away. "Leave me alone, you prick!" he shouted for about the third time. William hit the curb on his ass, scraping his palms.
Bri slammed the brakes on the truck again, pulling up to the curbing as Jim shoved his father down. "Jim!" He interposed himself between father and son, pulling William to his feet and pushing him a few steps back as Joel wrapped his arms around Jim's and pulled him back a few steps, separating them. "Jim, what the hell is going on here!"
Jim turned his head and tried to hide from Brian's abrasive voice. "Shut up! Talk low! Don't yell."
Rafe blinked, and then forced himself to lower his voice to a near whisper. "Jim, what is going on?"
"That... bastard is trying to get Blair fired because we're dating! Told you about it earlier."
//Not all of it, Jim,// Joel though before speaking up. "Jim. Come on, man, we'll get you in the truck. We'll get you to Blair."
Jim let himself be led to the truck and settled in by Joel's gentle hands. Rafe eyed William warily. "I don't know what's going on, I'm not sure I want to know, but if you've fucked with Blair and fucked *up* Jim and Blair... then I hope to God your house doesn't burn down because nobody in our group will be running to your rescue."
"Bri!" shouted Joel. "We gotta move, the man's getting the shakes!"
Rafe sprinted back to the truck and got back into the driver's side, gunning the engine and laying rubber as they peeled off down towards the University.
As Bri was driving, Joel was talking to Jim, but all Jim could say is, "We've got to get to Blair before my Dad does."
Joel looked at Jim. "Jim, what did your dad do?"
"He was trying to dig up dirt on me and Blair. I don't know who all he talked to at Blair's university but he went and stirred up shit. He tried to tell me that Sandburg slept with twenty-eight women since the beginning of the year and then my dad went to the dean with his bullshit and the dean says he's expelling all the girls and firing Blair. That's why I sent you guys to the University to look for dirt on the Dean, see if we could find a way to save Blair's job and get my old man out of our lives." Jim dropped his head in his hands; the dials were slowly appearing behind his eyes and his mind grabbed at it, turning it down to one of the lowest settings. Joel offered him a tissue and he blotted his eyes. "I can't believe my dad is doing this."
Brian and Joel exchanged glances. Neither could they. "Blair will know what to do," is the only thing that Brian could offer. "If anyone here knows anything... they're not saying a word." When they got to the university, Brian parked the truck in the parking deck, and they wove through the hallways to Blair's office, waiting outside the locked door in a small knot. Jim was taking deep breaths, breathing in the scent of his lover as it seeped out from under the door of Blair's office. //If I could roll in it I would,// Jim thought to himself, comforting himself with Blair's scent.
Rafe's hand on his shoulder shook Jim out of his thoughts. "Hey, Jim, how much longer until Blair gets out of class?"
Jim consulted his watch. "About ten minutes."
Brian looked over at Joel. "You'll stay with him, right? I gotta go to the men's room."
"Of course," Joel nodded, sliding down to lean beside Jim. "You gonna call Megan? Let her and Simon in on what's going on here?"
Jim interrupted. "You can't! Not with her and the baby, you can't! She doesn't need the stress right now, please!"
Brian looked from Joel to Jim. "All right. We'll wait to see what's happening before I call the guys."
"Thanks," Jim said, watching Bri disappear down the hall in search of the restroom.
Back in class, Blair looked up at the clock. //Ten minutes until the end of class. Fuck it.// He finished up the last of his lecture. "Okay, guys, that's it, don't forget, chapters five through seven tonight, quiz tomorrow!" He gathered up his books, and followed his students out of class. Heading down the hall to his office, the first thing he noticed was Jim sitting in front of his door, and his heart leapt. Then he noticed Joel on his other side, and Brian coming down the hallway, from the direction of the restrooms. "Jim? Joel? Brian?"
Jim opened his mouth to speak, but was surprised by another voice overriding his. "There you are, Mr. Sandburg. We need to have a talk." Blair turned to find a very stern faced Dean Wilkerson standing there, his arms crossed over his chest.
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Tune in next week:
Will Jim be able to fix the damage his father has done? Will Blair be able to forgive Jim for his father's meddling? Can things between them be patched up? Tune in next week and find out!
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