Jim followed Blair down the cement path toward their hotel's swimming pool. He and Blair were staying the weekend in Olympia while attending a seminar on dealing with suspects under the influence of drugs. So far, the seminar had consisted mainly of knowing what to say to such individuals, to keep them from hurting themselves or others.

Jim had been very proud of Sandburg when the young man stood up and told the group about his experience with the Golden drug. The young man explained how, when someone is on drugs, even their best friends can seem like enemies. He had turned to grin at Jim, and the detective couldn't help but smile at the friendship he saw in Blair's eyes. He'd become quite fond of the kid in this past year.

After the seminar, they were both a little stressed, and decided to kick back and enjoy the hotel's  huge swimming pool. Now Jim moved ahead of Blair to pull open the heavy iron gate leading to the pool, and held it for the anthropologist.

"Thanks, man," Blair said, squeezing under Jim's arm and past him into the pool area. The young man set his towel down on one of the dozen or so lounge chairs, stripped off the shirt he was wearing over his bathing trunks, and turned to admire the facilities. He was especially interested in the half dozen young females sunning themselves on the patio at the far side of the pool enclosure.

"Not bad, eh Chief?" Jim said with a smile, dumping his own towel on a chair next to Blair's. The pool was nearly Olympic size, with a slide, stone steps leading up out of the shallow end, and a diving board at the deep end. Jim removed his own shirt, moved to the steps leading down into the pool and dipped a toe in.

"Yikes!" Jim withdrew his toe quickly with a hiss. The water was frigid! Jim actually looked into the pool to check for ice, before turning to his friend.

"What's up man?" Blair asked. "Is the water cold?" He moved to stand beside Jim, and swept his foot through the water. His reaction was similar to Jim's.

"Man!" Blair hopped around as his foot tingled with the cold. He looked up at Jim, uncertainly. "You aren't gonna swim in that, are you?"

Jim laughed. "Not me Chief. You?

Blair shook his head, dark curls waving. "Nuh uh, man." He looked around, and moved to the lounge chair where he had dropped his towel. "I'm gonna see if I can get some sun, though. Wanna join me?" Blair asked.

Jim thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, Chief," he replied, "That'd be good." Jim reclined on his own chair, closing his eyes as the warm sun caressed his body.

Blair was just getting relaxed, drifting off to sleep, when Jim's voice caught his attention.

"You know, Chief, the loft is past due for its yearly Spring cleaning," Jim began. When there was no response, the big man opened his eyes and looked over at his friend.

Blair nodded a little. "OK, that's fine. I can stay out of your way for a few days," he replied. Blair forced down his smile as he turned slightly away from Jim, waiting to hear the detective's reaction.

Jim chuckled a little, shaking his head. "That's, uh, not quite what I was implying, Chief," he said, grinning. He reached over and lightly smacked Blair on the shoulder. "I meant, you and I should work together on it." Jim raised an eyebrow as Blair sat up and looked at him.

"Yeah?" Blair said, pasting a look of mild interest on his face. "You'd actually be willing to let me, the certified slob, take part in the Holy Ellison Cleaning Ritual?" Blair grinned.

Jim sighed. "You really are a wiseass, you know that?" he muttered, but with a smile in his voice. He and Blair frequently engaged in these little exchanges, usually to the great amusement of anyone within earshot.

Blair chuckled. "Yep, that's me. Blair Sandburg, W.A." He looked thoughtfully at the deserted swimming pool, then turned to Jim. "OK, I have an idea," he began.

"Uh oh," Jim replied.

Blair ignored him. "Here's the deal," he said, standing up. "We start at the shallow end of the pool, and balance on the edge. Whoever gets all the way around to that filter at the deep end first without falling in wins, OK?" Blair smiled, bouncing on his feet as he finished the challenge.

Jim studied the narrow edge of the pool, then stood up with a smirk. "You're on, Chief," he said.

They moved to the edge of the pool and stood back to back. Blair spoke over his shoulder to Jim.

"Now whoever gets wet cleans the loft, agreed?" Blair asked.

"Agreed," Jim answered. "Prepare to face defeat, shorty."

The race was on. Jim started around the pool in one direction, Blair in the other. Right from the start it was a close race. With his smaller size, Blair could move faster, but Jim made up for it with his longer stride. As they started down the long sides of the pool, Jim glanced over to check Blair's progress, and very nearly fell in. He circled his arms desperately for a few seconds before regaining balance and moving on. He grinned as he heard Blair laughing at him.

"Very graceful, big guy. Ever think of taking up ballet?" Blair called, snickering.

Jim smirked, and replied, "Just so you know, I'll be checking the loft with white gloves after you finish cleaning. If I find one smudge of dirt, you start over again, got it?"

Blair stuck his tongue out at him, grinning as he heard the beautiful sound of female giggling.

Jim carefully navigated the last corner of the pool, and moved quickly along the deep end toward the filter that marked the end of the race. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Blair doing the same. Jim tried to increase his pace, and lunged out with his left foot just as Blair followed suit. Both men's toes touched the filter at the same time.

Jim looked down at his and Blair's feet sharing the filter, then raised his head as Blair started to laugh.

"So, it's a tie then?" Blair asked, giggling.

Jim smiled evilly. "Not for much longer!" he said, lunging at Blair.

Blair yelped and tried to dance out of Jim's reach, but the big man snagged him around the waist with both arms and picked him up, turning toward the pool.

"Jim, no...!" Was all Blair had time to shout before he was launched into the deep end of the pool. The rest of the cry was cut off as the cold water closed over his head.

"I win!" Jim sang, turning and walking away to go get some sun. Laughing, he listened for the expected spluttering stream of profanity from Blair, and was curious when it didn't happen. Puzzled, he turned, laughter dying in his throat as he froze.

Blair was still submerged, struggling just under the surface of the water. As Jim stared, the young man's head broke the surface for a moment. Blair's blue eyes were wide with fear, and Jim's heart slammed into his throat as a terrified, water-choked cry reached his ears.

"{ulp} Jim, help! {gasp} I can't swim!!!" Blair's arms slapped helplessly at the water as he went under again.

Jim moved faster than he ever had in his life. He sprinted the few steps to the edge of the deep end, and dove. His mind was racing, chastising him with his own thoughts. What the hell was he thinking, throwing Sandburg into the pool like that? Water wasn't something you fooled around with, especially when you weren't sure about a person's swimming abilities!

"Jim! Help me!" Blair managed to gasp as he surfaced again for a moment. He saw Jim plunge into the pool.

Jim hit the water, swam to Blair's side in three strong strokes, and wrapped his arm around the young man's waist just as he was going down again. He hauled his partner to the surface and held him up. Blair gasped for air, coughing up water, still struggling to stay afloat.

"I gotcha, Chief," Jim said quietly, tightening his arm around Blair's middle, "Just relax...." He turned onto his back, pulling Blair back to lay against his chest, and backstroked toward the shallow end of the pool.

Blair was coughing and spluttering, spitting out water as Jim towed him to safety. The young man felt his heels touch the bottom, and a moment later Jim stood and scooped him up in his arms with one smooth motion.

Jim carried Blair across the shallow end, then moved quickly up the concrete steps leading out of the pool. The big man nodded gratefully as one of the concerned visitors to the pool dragged a lounge chair over to them. Blair was clinging to him, coughing and gasping against the Sentinel's shoulder as he recovered.

"Easy now, buddy," Jim said reassuringly to his shivering friend, "You're OK." Jim gently laid his partner down on the lounge and knelt beside him, taking Blair's chin between his thumb and fingers. Jim carefully studied Blair's eyes for a moment, then moved his hand to the wrist to check his pulse. The beat was strong and steady, and Jim sighed in relief; Blair would be fine.

"Thanks, man," Blair said softly, breathing hard, teeth chattering.

"My God, Blair...," Jim began. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. Are you all right?" Jim reached for his towel and quickly draped it over Sandburg's body. Ellison felt awful; Blair could've drowned, thanks to him. "I'm so sorry, Chief!" Jim's face was a study in guilt.

Blair took a deep breath and closed his eyes, smiling as he felt Jim's warm palm on his brow. Waving a slender hand in a dismissive gesture, Blair shook his head.

"No Jim, it's OK," he said softly, "I'm fine." Blair opened his eyes to study the water running off Jim's sculpted body in rivulets. He grinned as he added, "Guess it's still a tie, huh? We both clean the loft!"

Jim was finally able to laugh then, feeling his guilt beginning to disperse. "Right Chief," he replied, reaching to tousle Blair's hair. Jim stood up and retrieved Blair's towel, using it to dry his own shivering body. He'd been so focused on saving the kid that he'd forgotten how very cold the water was. As he finished, Jim tossed the towel aside, and moved to sit at Blair's side. The young man looked fine now, and Jim could hear that his
heartrate and breathing were back to normal.

"Hey Chief," Ellison said, furrowing his brow as a memory gnawed at his brain. "I could've sworn you told me...." Jim's face brightened. "Yeah!"

"What?" Blair asked, fighting down a grin. He knew what Jim was thinking.

Jim looked confused. "When we were out on North Star Six last year, remember? The oil rig?"

Blair nodded, grin widening.

Jim continued. "You said you were a pretty good swimmer. I remember you saying it!" Jim fixed Blair with a curious look as the young man suddenly smiled. A toothy smile of pure evil. Sandburg reached up and hit the side of his own head, as if trying to knock sense into himself.

"Oh, DUH..., " the anthropologist said, still smiling, "That's right..., I AM!!!" Blair watched Jim's face change as reality sunk in.

"You were faking?" Jim asked, disbelieving.

"Yep!" Blair chirped cheerfully. "I took two drama courses as electives my junior year, man!" Blair sighed smugly and folded his arms behind his head. "Nice to know that they finally got put to use."

Jim stared at him. "You tricked me," he said, sounding hurt.

Blair got defensive now. "Hey, c'mon man! YOU started it! YOU threw ME in!" He snickered as Jim gave him a dirty look. "What did you expect me to do? Just take it?" Blair asked.

Jim shook his head, standing and turning away. "I can't believe you did that, Blair," he said. Then he turned back to Blair and said, louder, "I can't believe you would scare me like that, just to win a bet." Jim's disappointment in his young Guide's actions was clearly written on his rugged face.

Blair was still grinning. "It worked, dinnit? Gotcha into the pool, dinnit?" Blair tossed the towel aside, and turned onto his belly to let his back tan. "Besides," he added, " I didn't win, remember? It was a tie. We both got wet." Blair laid his head on his arms and closed his eyes.

Jim huffed, and sat down at the end of Blair's lounge, his back to the young man. When he spoke, his voice was soft, almost inaudible.

"I thought I knew you Blair," Jim began, "I've always trusted you, and now you do this...," Jim 's voice trailed off.

Blair looked back over his shoulder at Jim, becoming uncomfortable with the big man's sober state. He'd honestly thought that Jim would've found the situation humorous, but it seemed his partner really was upset by Blair's trick.

"Hey, Jim," Blair began uneasily, "Jim... I'm really sorry, man. I never meant to...,"

"Sorry's not gonna cut it this time, kid," Jim said sharply, still not looking at Blair. His Sentinel ears heard Blair's heartrate begin to speed up. The kid was getting nervous. Jim stood up, as if preparing to leave.

Blair turned onto his back now, facing Jim. His mouth opened and shut a few times as he tried to think of something to say. In the end he settled for "It's not?"

"Nope," Jim said, turning to face his partner again. "Sorry is good for when you leave your bath towel on the floor, or when you drink all the milk and don't buy more, but this...," Jim suddenly grinned down at Blair. "This calls for... a rematch."

Blair jumped as Jim suddenly grabbed his feet and tried to pull him off the chair. Instinctively, the young man grabbed the sides of the chair and held on. He laughed a little as Jim continued to pull at him, dragging the chair a few inches in the process.

 "Yeah, we'll see who gets wet this time," Jim muttered, tugging at Blair's legs, trying to get him off the chair. The chair scraped another half foot across the cement. "C'mon Chief, take it like a man," Jim growled, beginning to laugh.

"Hey, Jim," Blair managed, "You'd better not throw this chair in, you'll get in big trouble." Blair grinned snootily up at his friend as Jim let go of his legs to scowl. The detective moved threateningly toward Blair, and the young man made a show of tightening his grip on the sides of the chair. He snickered as Jim latched onto his left wrist, and began to pry Blair's fingers from the chair. Blair struggled, but eventually Jim got his left hand
free.

Jim gave a short laugh of success as he freed Blair's left hand from its iron grip on the lounge. But, as soon as Jim moved to Blair's right hand, the young man reattached his left to the chair. This game went on for a few moments, both of them laughing, until Jim tried a new attack.

"Give it up man," Blair said as he grabbed the chair with both hands again. "You can't possibly.... YIKES!!!" Blair shrieked as Jim suddenly dug his fingers into Blair's ribs. The young man tried to twist away without letting go of the chair. No good. Blair let go with one hand to try and fend off the tickling fingers, squealing with laughter.

Jim tickled Blair's ribs without mercy, watching Blair's hands closely, waiting for the right moment. The big man was already dodging Blair's left hand as it pushed in vain against the fingers running over his ribs. Jim kept tickling him until both of Blair's hands released the chair to fight him off. Then Jim grabbed both of Blair's wrists and stood up, pulling the young man up and draping him over his shoulder in one swift motion.

Blair kicked as Jim picked him up, turning toward the pool. "Help!" He shouted, to the very amused female patrons of the pool. "Police brutality! Police brutality!" Blair wailed, still laughing.

Jim chuckled as he carried his struggling partner toward the pool. He stood at the edge of the deep end for a moment, speaking over his shoulder to his helpless passenger.

"Now just remember, Junior," Jim said, "You asked for it!" With that Jim heaved forward, intending to dump Blair into the water. What he didn't expect was for Blair to suddenly grab the waistband of Jim's trunks and yank upward.

"Yeow!" Jim yelped, as he found his suit riding rather high all of a sudden. Blair's actions threw Jim off-balance.

OH SH...!" Was as far as Jim got as he tumbled headfirst into the water, Blair still slung over his shoulder. The Sentinel surfaced, coughing, to see Blair swimming like mad for the far end of the pool. Jim gave chase, swimming hard after his partner.

"Still a tie!" Blair sang, as he pulled himself out of the pool. He turned to gloat at Jim.

"OH, are you gonna get it!" Jim roared as he neared the side of the pool. Blair had taken off running around the side to get away from Jim. The detective was about to haul himself up out of the water, when he realized things felt... odd. At almost the same time, Blair called out from behind him.

"Hey Jim, did you lose something?" Blair was laughing so hard he could barely get the words out, as he reached  into the water to grab something floating.

Jim looked down, and discovered he was skinny-dipping. He whirled around in the water to glare at Sandburg, then caught sight of the young college girls standing alongside his partner, squealing with laughter and pointing at Jim. Ellison quickly ducked down into the water up to his chin, eliciting more giggles from the women.

Blair smirked at Jim, twirling the remains of the big man's bathing suit around on his index finger. The elastic waistband of the suit was broken, probably from when he gave Jim the wedgie. The fact that the suit had slipped off when Jim hit the water was just the icing on the cake. Blair calmly slung the ruined bathing suit over his shoulder, and turned to follow the coeds toward the gate.

"See you later, Jim!" Blair called over his shoulder as he exited the pool. He didn't need Sentinel ears to hear Jim's deafening response.

"SANDBURG!!!!!!"

THE END