Pieces of the Puzzle

Blair sat on the couch with the afghan drawn across his shoulders.  He had stayed home from work to fight off a bad cold.  He noses was sore from blowing it, his head hurt from a headache and he had a chill he couldn't shake.  Jim had left him well stocked with tissues and cold medicine.

That afternoon, Blair was woken from his nap by a Fed Ex deliveryman.  Eli Stoddard, his mentor from Rainer, had sent him a package.  Eli was currently in South America on a dig for the semester with twelve students.

Blair missed Eli, but he had burned his bridges last year over the dissertation.  His true friends knew the truth and knew why he did what he did.  When they needed his help he was there to offer advice.   

He sat on the couch looking at the highly polished pieces of wood.  Eli stated in his letter, that he was at wits end and wanted his best student to figure out the puzzle.  There were ten pieces all together and if he did put them together they would make a small statue.

Though slightly foggy in his thinking, Blair was trying to remember things in regards to the society that Eli was currently studying.  He kept his readings up but he wasn't actively pursuing any theories.

Blair was still sitting on the couch staring at the pieces when Jim came home.  Blair turned and smiled at Jim as he threw his keys into the basket.

"How ya feeling?" Jim asked as he placed his keys in the basket and headed to the kitchen.  Jim let his sense reach out to Blair, checking his vitals.  He had been glad that Blair agreed to stay home to take care of himself.  With not having five places to go at once, Blair had calmed down to take care of himself.

"Like Rudolf the Red nose reindeer."

Jim chuckled.  It was good to hear Blair make a joke.  It had been a long year but recently things had come back around to having Blair back to his spirit.  Crossing to the kitchen, he noticed items on the coffee table.  "What's that Chief?"

"Got an assignment from Eli."

Jim gave a sad smile.  Eli believed in Blair; as did other professors, it was the Dean that was unable to see the truth in what happened.  Though banned from academics officially, many of Blair's friends still sought his advice.

"What did he send?"  Jim found a beer and pulled off the top as he headed into the living room to see the pieces on the coffee table.

"A puzzle."

"What is it?"

"Good question."

The pieces were highly polished square pieces that had etchings on them.  They didn't look like they fit together to make up anything, but Blair knew that if put together just so, it would reveal it's hidden beauty.

Jim picked up one piece and let his senses glide of the fine finish.  His thumb found a slight dimple on the side.

"Where did Eli find these?"

"He's currently in Bolivia."

"The man sure gets around," Jim commented.

Blair looked at the pieces and agreed, "he does."

It didn't escape him the regret in Blair's voice.  "Chief, I'm sorry."

Blair closed his eyes for a moment. 'Here we go again,' he thought.  He opened his eyes and looked at Jim but felt a sneeze coming on.  He grabbed a tissue and caught the sneeze in time.  After taking a moment to recover, he replied to Jim, "Nothing to be sorry about.  It's something we can't change.  I wish I could go back and not have it happen but it did.  I'm okay."

"I know you still hurt."

"Like you and your marriage to Caroline, it's something that I wished could have fixed to make it right but couldn't.  Look, you and Caroline made out to be friends.  Some time I'll have my chance."

Jim nodded.  Jim picked up another piece and did the feeling touch and again found one raise area that would make it lock into another piece.

"Jig saw puzzle," he commented.

"What?"

"Each piece has a small indentation, I barely feel it with my senses."  He started feeling around each piece.  Slowly he started stacking them up and placing a piece on top of each other.

Blair watched as Jim built the small statue.  After being assembled there was a relief of an ancient warrior.  Looking from it to Jim, Blair sat back thinking of the implications.

Jim saw it to.  He wondered if Eli had seen it too.

"Think it means something other than a close resemblance?" Jim asked Blair.

Blair's mind was working on the possibilities.  The warrior looked so much like Jim.  "I think Enrique had his roots."

"What were you supposed to do with this Chief?"

"Take photos of it complete and write up my findings to send back to Eli and turn it over to Cindy at Rainer to add to the artifacts that have been sent back so far."

"Eli I trust, Rainer on the other hand."

"The powers that be will not notice Jim.  Some of my friends will see it but they won't say anything."

Jim took a sip of his beer.  "Maybe they should.  May be they should say something to the powers that be."

"Jim if they did, that would through questions to you."

"Questions we should have answered last year."

"Jim, it's the past.  I'm not holding out for recognition.  You and I know as do some of my best friends.  But this isn't the answer to the puzzle."

"What is the answer to the puzzle then?"

"That someone else will figure out the same thing I did but will do it better and finally show to light what we already know.
 
"And you are okay with that?"

Blair shrugged his shoulders.  "It wasn't my time.  Simple as that." 

Blair felt tired again.  Before he realized it, Jim was gliding him to lay down on the couch and pulling another afghan over him.  "Get some rest Chief."

"You may have solved the puzzle of the pieces, but there is no solution to my puzzle."

"That's the enjoyment of it, we keep finding new pieces to the whole scheme.  I hope it will be many years of finding them."

"Sounds like a declaration of love."

"Every day in every way."

"You rhymed."

"I did."

With a yawn, Blair closed his eyes with a smile on his face.  "Love ya."

Jim stood up and looked back at the etching puzzle.  Just another piece to the puzzle that made up his relationship with Blair.
 

@ 2005 Tommy Boy fan fiction * design and content by Paula C. *