Mission of Mercy

Notes: Feel free to add to story as long as I get a copy, too.

This is a revised copy intended to replace all previous archived copies.

Warnings: AU alert! Slash/explicit sexual content/graphic descriptions of the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster.

A-Shift watched the evening news with varying degrees of horror on their faces at the devastation a series of F5 and F6 tornadoes had left after having torn Oklahoma City apart. The aerial photos were of a flattened landscape; downed buildings, shredded trees, and bodies: Hundreds of cadavers. They could see several people trying to gather up the dead, often pausing to vomit as they worked. Later in the broadcasts, the army showed shots of interviews with some of those they'd evacuated, and one of the evacuees said something that galvanized the entire shift.

"Yeah, well, Miss Streeter and those last five firemen can stay if they want to, but we're getting outta here. She's nuts. She says that as soon as some friends of her's out in Los Angeles sees this on the news and knows that she's here, they'll organize half of their county fire department to come help: But I don't believe her; none of us do. Our own department didn't stay, so why would they bother?"

White-faced, John whispered, "It's called love, lady. Capt.?"

"I'm on it John, I'm calling in your replacements right now. Go home, pack, and get back here. We need to go help that kid of yours!" Hank Stanley was as pale as John was, "Jesus, I can't believe Jane's in the middle of that chaos! I'm going to see if I can get H.Q. to send the whole station out there, and as many more men as we can spare."

In the end a full quarter of the total number of active duty firefighters of both the City and the County of L.A. went to Oklahoma, and hundreds more from other parts of the state also joined them. Coroners swarmed to help, as well. But A-Shift went on ahead as soon as Captain Stanley could make the arrangements for them to do so, with both Gage and DeSoto several hours ahead of the others. The rest of the station members were accepted as volunteers the next day, and by the end of the week half the task force was in Oklahoma City. Three days later the rest had arrived at Tinker AFB, and had joined the ranks of their fellows.

John found her first, it seemed that everyone who remained knew where to find her, and what she was doing. As he approached her, this woman whom he had watched over and looked out for from her fifth year onward, she was bent over trying to get someone into a body bag. She straightened, and cocked her head. She knew without looking that John was nearby.

"John?" He heard her say in a cracking, emotion filled voice. "Johnny?"

"Yeah, come're baby." He said in a husky voice. The dark haired fireman's arms opened to gather her trembling form against himself. He held her tightly, then simply picked her up and carried her back to the area where they'd set up their command center. He walked down the wide paths until he'd reached the big tent where he and Roy had been quartered. She had been sobbing since he'd first touched her, and hadn't stopped. Her cries brought Roy out of the back of the multi-roomed tent and when he saw weeping young woman, his own eyes filled with tears.

"Is she all right?"

"She's not hurt. She started crying the minute I touched her. She just needs comforting, I think." John eased down into the Overstuffed- Franklin rocking recliner that they had brought for this reason, and began to slowly rock the girl as she wept out the horror, the fear, and the loneliness of the five years that she hadn't been home. But, Johnny never stopped crooning to her. His dark eyes locked with his partner's as he rested his chin on her head and tightened his embrace.

"Easy, Sweetie, we're here. Baby girl, we gotcha." He whispered. "Let it out, love, let it go." He told her as she buried her face against his neck and let his love and nearness wash over her.

"Oh God, John...." She tried to say, "John? Where's Roy?"

"Easy, I'm right here." Roy soothed as moved to where she could see him and hunkered down next to the pair. "Easy...." He stroked her hair trying to calm her, but she wasn't ready for that yet. They waited, knowing that she had to get this out of her system. Her haunted, hollow eyes worried the two men. Healing her emotionally was going to take a long time, and they were the only people on earth she'd ever really trusted. They were the only ones who could get her past this, and knew it.

"I'm going to go get Early's permission to inject her." Roy said after several hours of this, then I think we need to get her cleaned up, and put to bed. She'll probably have some nightmares, so we'd better stay with her. She'll go berserk if she can't hear us, she's been through so much....."

"I still look at her and expect to see a little kid," John answered softly. "Don't bother with a shot, she's nearly asleep. I sorta thought that all she needed was a chance to cry herself out."

"At least she knows about us." Gage told his lover. "I still remember that time she caught us making-love in the locker-room. She asked me about it then. All she did was hug me and tell me she didn't care about it. Remember? She's the one person who wouldn't care if we made love to an elephant, as long as she knows we still love her."

"Of course we do; she's our kid." Roy said simply. "God, I hate knowing she had to experience this kind of hell. I found out that there's a couple of tens of thousands of people what are dead, thousands more what are homeless, hardly any food, drinkable water shortages, no power, very little shelter, and most of the survivors are little kids!"

"What I'm finding hardest to deal with is that only five firemen stayed to help, NO cops at all, and that L.A. hospitals had to send in doctors and nurses because none of those stayed to help either. We're all these people have, Roy."

"Those five are all boots, John. Brand-spanking new: they graduated less than two weeks ago."

"What? I figured they'd be seniors! Experienced!"

"So did I." He paused, "They said they almost bugged out, too."

"What stopped them?"

"Jane. She shamed them into staying by holding us up in front of them as examples. She's still got her scrapbooks: All of them, all the snapshots she'd taken of our fires, and a lot of our old rescues. It held them. Only five, but....."

"She makes us sound like saints." John was blushing a bit.

"No, I said she had ALL of the of them. She was trying to show she'd been raised by an entire station, in effect. She did it to claim kinship; maybe not their family, but still directly connected. She didn't get a chance to take a shot at the experienced men or I think she'd have shamed a lot more. She told the boots, later, that it was too late for the local men to return since no one in their right minds would trust them anymore. She said Capt. would take care of teaching them in the field, so at least they'd learn the business right. They were looking at Hank as though he were some sort of godling. He was so embarrassed he was actually squirming. He took them in though. He assigned them, one at a time to various stations and took one himself. Kid acts like Capt. can walk on water." Roy grinned. "He's got a bad case of hero worship."

"She did all that and still found herself filling body bags. That was what she was doing when I found her; putting a corpse in a body-bag."

"Oh God."

"She's fast, and efficient. That means she's been doing a lot of it." He added in a low, anguished tone. "I had a bunch of coroners following me out there. They were zipping up the bag when I left with her."

"Damn." Roy's low curse brought a nod from John.

"Exactly."

Roy brushed his hand gently over her hair and felt her turn her face into his palm in her sleep. She roused slightly and looked up into his blue eyes.

"Roy..." It was all she said, but it held an element that he had seldom heard, She needed her "daddy", and he was the one she'd always focused on in that role.

"Let me have her, John. That was a "daddy" cry." He said as he lifted her out of his lover's lap. He hissed in dismayed surprise. "She's as light as she was when she was ten! She barely weighs anything at all!"

"The food shortages, plus all these children." John remarked. "She had us for role-models, Roy. She did without so several kids could eat instead of just her." John shrugged. "I don't like it any more than you do, but we'd've both done the same thing, wouldn't we?"

"Yeah, we would. She did what she thought we'd approve of, and knew we'd fix it when we got our hands on her." Roy's voice had softened as he rearranged her on his hip as he had done so many times when she'd been little. She was the same height as she had been at twelve years old, so she fit again now that she weighed less than ninety pounds. His heart ached for her, she looked so young now, with her grimy face, grubby hands and small, thin body. Her cheek had come to rest on his shoulder and she was sound asleep in his arms.

"Let's get her cleaned up. She looks like she's been playing on the hoses."

"She looks like she still would. God, she looks like a ten year old kid."

"She hasn't changed at all. We can see that with the way she responds to us in her sleep."

"Yeah, doesn't even wake up. I guess that means she still trusts us." John said quietly.

"I'll give her a bath, why don't you go talk to Doc Andrews. After what Jane's been through, I want his take on her mental state."

"Good idea." John got up and kissed them both as he headed out of the tent. He had to admit that her actions and responses had him a little worried. She was acting like a child again, and letting them make all of her decisions for her. John knew full well how independent their girl was. She hadn't been this compliant since she was six or seven, he hoped she wasn't going to snap.

The consultation took about an hour, but John wasn't happy with the results. She wasn't as bad as he'd feared, but she did seem to be reverting to a younger self. Herb Andrews'd said she wanted the sense of safety she'd lost, and to expect some degree of intense insecurity and a need to have them close.

John sighed as memories of a happy little girl who used to play between the squad and engine whenever they were on-duty and she wasn't in school. The school bus would even drop her off there after school if they were working, or pick her up there the next morning and let her off at John's ranch that afternoon.

She was a broken rule: Rule No. 1: 'Don't get hung up on a patient', had went flying out the window when they had responded to a forced sodomy call, and found the victim to be a five year old little girl.

Roy had sued for full custody and won a month later, and that was it. She was their daughter. Or rather, she was Roy's daughter and commandeered John as a live doll, early on. He was her playmate, in many ways. He was the one she brought most of her questions and 'bumps' to. Her nightmares had been vanquished in Roy's strong arms, though.

She'd showed Chet that she was better at Practical Jokes than he was, and had always retaliated whenever he nailed John with one. Many of her's had become County Classics, well known and

remembered throughout the department.

Tears filled John Gage's eyes as he thought of her now haunted eyes, and the darkened circles under them. He wanted her happy again. He looked around the compound and finally took in the full force of the devastation around him. Not even one building remain intact. Most of the vegetation was gone, too. He closed his eyes in pain as he realized how horrible the storms had been. John opened them as he heard his captain call him, and turned to face his superior.

"Yeah, Capt.?"

"I heard you found her."

"Yes, we did. She isn't hurt, but she's an emotional wreck, and she's half-starved." John replied. "She only weights around 90lbs. Roy's cleaning her up and is putting her to bed. Dr. Andrews has ordered us to stay with her at all times, she's on the verge of a major break down and he thinks we can maybe prevent it."

"Well, I've got some more unpleasant news. The army just informed us that we won't be allowed out of the area for ten years. It seems that the government thinks that this incident will make a good experimental colony for the Mars project. That outer fence just became our county line, and nobody gets out. The soldiers have orders to shoot to kill anyone who tries, and we've already had one death. They blew his head off, Johnny."

"Dear God!" Breathed Johnny in open horror, "Jesus, can't they get volunteers?"

"No, actually." Hank snapped. "They'll fill any request for general supplies for three years, and all medical supply orders for the full ten. Other than that we're on our own. Tell Roy we've just begun a whole new life."



~Two Weeks Later~

As the weeks passed, they kept her within eyeshot when everyone was working, and in the living portion or in camp of their tent when they weren't. After a few days, though, she went to do something to try to feed what was left of the community: Neither John nor Roy was about to let her rejoin the clean up of bodies. Instead, they had her go with Mike and Marco to organize a supply drop by the army.

That took several hours, and when they got back, both men were wearing expressions of bemusement. At their approach, Roy looked up and said, "What?"

Mike answered him, "Jane sorta took over the meeting, and got a list a couple of hundred items long approved. Then she sent his ass over to Dixie for HER list."

"She knows Dix had been itchin' to take a shot at the Major. She just gave her the opportunity, is all." Marco commented.

Johnny's smile resembled a shark's. "I don't know about any of you, but having Dixie McCall angry at me isn't my idea of fun." He chuckled heartlessly at the army man's predicament. "What all did Jane get outta that asshole?"

"She didn't go though him, exactly. She told him she'd rather go through the Marines since the newest boot would have a bigger brain. He was highly insulted, but there was a Marine with higher rank here this morning and she had sent a common grunt to fetch him before that tardy major ever showed up. The one who is in charge of Operations here. The Army's pissed, but that's not our problem." Mike told them.

"She's gotten us farming equipment, seeds, and making them build us underground barracks and housing. She pointed out that with limited resources, we needed tornado-proof homes. Lopez remarked.

"She's gotten everything we need to build a new society, including some items she's had addressed to you, John. She told them you were going to be our new preacher." Marco added, "But it's all the sorta stuff she said your Grandpa woulda used. She said something about how you used to take her to visit with him, since she needed the wise old man as much as she did you and you made sure she got him. Said that maybe this would be a way for you to stay 'connected."

John's slow smile answered them. "She's right. Huh, preacher? Well not precisely, he was more a shaman, anyway. The army probably won't like it, and that's good. I'm not real inclined to do anything they'd enjoy anyway, are you?"

"No, not really." Mike's smile grew broad as Marc agreed with them both.

Marco was grinning as he added, "She also ordered a M.A.S.H. unit into the area, and the personnel have to stay with us and operate as a civilian hospital. She's got some others, Marines mostly permanently assigned, and she forced them to remove all of the dangerous predators the zoo lost. I think they're gonna be here a while, and she's treating them like step-kids!"

"I can't wait to see what she's going to do next. She even nailed Chet this morning!" Marc crowed in glee.

"Well, it was last night actually." Mike corrected him.

"Yeah, we just didn't get to see the result until this morning." Lopez agreed.

"What did she do?" Roy asked in amusement.

"She tie-dyed him. She made a mixture of vaseline jelly and a lot of different food colors. Then she short-sheeted his cot, and put the stuff inside the crease. He came out of it looking like an Easter egg!" Stoker was laughing his ass off.

"Yeah, she said she added vinegar to the mix just to set the dye." Marco chuckled. "Captain Stanley told him he had to let it wear off, because of the water shortage."

"So her newest assault on the Phantom will have lasting effects." Mike's eyes twinkled wickedly. Roy was laughing so hard he could barely catch his breath. John was leaning weakly against his mate and gasping for air.

"That's my girl!" He wheezed mirthfully. "Get him, baby!"

*

As the days turned into weeks, the survivors and the men and women who had come to help them and then got stuck there began to form a community of their own. Notice had been sent to the U.S. Government that it's federal laws would not be recognized in the new society that was rising from the rubble. The state of Oklahoma which could have blocked that move had been informed of the same. They were beginning to separate themselves from the society that had abandoned them.

The locals voted in laws they thought best suit their needs, and as many laws as they could think of that they knew that neither the State, nor rest of the Nation would like: Old obscenity laws were scrapped, and all sexual acts were declared both legal and acceptable. Taxes were eliminated altogether, and public displays of affection were tolerated. Theft and assaults were penalized with public beatings, and murder brought a public hanging, rape was punished in kind times five. The children who had been abandoned by their parents or orphaned were brought up in this developing society.

They didn't know any other way to live. Live and let live was the law, and it was backed up by a court from which there was no appeal possible.

~~~~~~~~~

John worked bent over in the garden area where he, Roy, and Jane grew the vegetables that they ate. Roy was laboring beside him, and Jane was in the house canning the vegetables they were harvesting.

The heat of the late July sun beat down on them both until John spoke,

"Let's take the rest of the day off, after we get these last two baskets filled. That sun is going to fry us."

"Going to?"

"Okay, fry us more then. What about it?"

"Yeah, I think we'd better. Is this all we had to do today?" Roy wondered aloud.

"All the work, anyway. The other things I had in mind to do aren't what I'd exactly call work." John was eyeing Roy's crotch as he said this and he watched in satisfaction as it began to fill his mate's pants as soon as Roy saw his line of sight.

"Neither would I." Roy replied simply as he slid one sweaty arm around John's equally sweaty waist to reel him in so he could kiss John. "Neither would I, baby."

John leaned into the kiss, opening his mouth to allow Roy's tongue entrance. As their tongues intertwined and their breathing grew heavy they eased into the shaded area of soft buckwheat she had insisted be sown as a mixture with bluegrass seed for their lawn. The stuff grew thick and full, it's roots grew so close together that no ant nests could invade it. At times like this both men were glad she had been so stubborn. Their clothes fell away as busy hands fumbled with buttons and zippers. John loved the way Roy's fingers ran lightly down his flanks, lightly tickling his nerves to life and sensitizing his skin for what was about to happen. Goose flesh rose as Roy's calloused hands skimmed him before bringing his larger body down over John's slender one. Johnny's hands were gripping Roy's hips as the older man ground himself firmly against John's crotch so that both rigid shafts rubbed together, sliding easily because of the amount of sweat on both of them.

Roy's head was thrown back and his eyes were closed as he relished the sensations racing through his body as his cock was caressed by John's hard member. Then he began to slide himself slowly down his life mate's slender form, licking and nipping his way as he slid down until his mouth was inches from John's rod. As he watched, a single pearl of clear pre-cum emerged from the head of John's dick. Roy couldn't resist; his tongue shot out and gathered in the fluid, then wrapped itself around the head and crown. John's low moan urged him to continue, and he did. Slow licks intended to drive John out of his mind. He used his entire tongue to lave the fleshy rod that bobbed in front of his hot, wanting eyes.

"Suck it, Roy." John rasped. "Please, suck it!"

"Say it, Johnny. Say the words."

"Suck my cock, baby. Please, put my dick in your hot mouth and suck my cock, Roy!" He gave Roy the dirty talk his lover enjoyed, and was rewarded when Roy's wet mouth engulfed his sex. "Oh God, Roy, yessss!" He cried as he felt his cock slide down his mate's throat and felt Roy begin sucking his aroused penis hungrily. Johnny's hips began to churn as Roy's lips covered him over and over again. He tangled his fingers in Roy's hair as he lost control and began to forcibly slid in and out of Roy's greedy mouth. His moans grew until he was crying out his need and knew he was about to cum, by this time he was mindless in his passion.

"Oh Jesus, oh my God, going to cum Roy. I'm gonna blow! "He screamed Roy's name as he fired off shot after shot of hot cum into Roy's throat, his hips bucking uncontrollably as he orgasmed.

Johnny didn't pause as he turned over to get on his hands and knees. He spread his knees wide and looked back over his shoulder with pleading eyes at Roy just as he felt his tongue shoot up his ass, rimming him without mercy.

"Oh shit, Roy, oh God, take me Roy, fuck me! Please, oh Man, I need to feel you filling me!" He felt Roy move, felt him grip his hips as he pressed his huge penis to John's anal opening. He pressed backward as Roy penetrated him, urging his lovers cock deeper into his ass. "Oh God, yes. Jesus, Love me Roy: I need you deep, fast, and hard: PLEASE !!" Begged John as Roy's hugeness slid into his rear. It didn't take long since Roy had worked himself up to the breaking point while pleasuring John, and John was already to cum again. He sprayed the grass with his spunk as he felt Roy's splatter inside him. They slid onto their sides in the grass as exhaustion caught up with them, and rested there. Roy's strong arms cradled John against his solid form.

Later they got dressed and headed back to the Barrow, as people had taken to calling their underground homes. Each of them carried a couple of baskets of freshly picked veggies, but she picked grass out of John's hair and brushed it off Roy's shoulders. "Go bathe." Was all she said, though she giggled at them.

"And don't forget to refill the cistern this time!"



CHAPTER TWO

The pair grinned sheepishly at her as she flipped the grass at them and shooed them to the shower room. She was chuckling as she bent over the peck baskets to sort, clean, cut and boil what they'd picked for canning.

The first winter was going to be a long one and she didn't intend to run out of food. Outside she could hear Mike still cutting firewood to last the cold months ahead. Marco would be in the area where the shredded pines were to cut more big logs. Chet was in the field on a seeder putting in cottonseeds for the second crop, and she had Capt. hauling water for her to do the wash with. The other men had formed attachments with area women except for Mike and Capt., who like John and dad were mated. Chet had taken a wife from among the few women left and she was already pregnant. Shara also had two older kids who Chet had adopted as his own. Marco had taken two women, both were pregnant, and both had several older kids. Capt. and Mike had adopted several of the orphans as had her dad and Johnny, and today she had taken in a set of four siblings.

Altogether this Barrow had ten adults and twenty kids with three more on the way. The women continued to work in the kitchen, or labored over huge kettles of hot water as they washed the family laundry. By day's end, the wash would be on lines outside, and the shelves would be filled with mason jars full of cooked food for the lean months that would be there soon enough. The next day the men would rotate the work. Mike would be plowing, Chet sawing logs, Marco and Capt picking veggies, and John and dad would be either cutting wood or hauling water for the women. She wagered that dad would be hauling water. John took to the hard work in the summer better than dad did. Dad almost always sunburned.

As the days passed the community had turned to farming as a means to eat, and weaving as a means to have decent clothes. Tomorrow was sewing and weaving day. Everyone either sewed or wove, or dyed, or spun. It was the beginning of it, though nobody realized that yet. It took a lot of work to make enough fabric to dress every person in the Barrow and in the barrows that shared and farmed the same Stead, as they now called the fields they held in common.

There was still a lot of work to be done in the rest of Oklahoma County, though, and the men of 51 were all working together now, instead of in three different shifts. The seniority of the captains had been a problem until Hank had pointed out that things should be done according to when each of them had received his captaincy. That put him highest on the station totem pole, Hornbuckler second and Daniels last. The relative positions of each man of the shifts was decided the same way, letting everyone settle into the new way things were being done quickly.

For the most part, the main work was the recovery of as many usable materials as possible, and in doing this, they often had to call the coroners to come retrieve remains found in one of the thousands of smashed or shredded buildings that they were dismantling. This work was hard, backbreaking labor. No station got this duty more than once a week, because of that. Then there were the needs of the hundreds of orphaned or abandoned kids, the distribution of clothing, of water, of food, the sinking of barrows, the clearing of fields, butchering cattle and sheep, shearing sheep, spinning thread, dying thread, and weaving thread into cloth; and thousands of other vital tasks that could not have been done without the men and woman who had come so far to aid these people.

Roy had his hands full of squirming toddlers, since it was his and John's turn to help at the Child Center where as yet un-adopted kids were housed. John had settled for the stinker but easier task of changing diapers, and feeding the changees. Roy didn't mind, though. These little ones were full of mischief but it was generally a fun sort of mischief.

At the moment, three or four of the curtain climbers were playing "King of the Hill", and were using Roy as their hill. They were giggling in delight since that `hill' would reach over to tickle one or another of them at random. Later, they used both men as ponies, and the team watched them with tender little smiles as the little ones took their naps.

"You cheated, you took the infants!" Roy teased in a low whisper. "Cheated?"

John feigned hurt. "Partner, you can change all 12 of the squirming, kicking, and crying lot next time if you want to. I'll be more than happyto play with the toddlers." He pinched his nose shut and made a face to illustrate the reason. "Be my guest, pally."

"That bad?" Roy grinned at him.

"After the first five? Frankly, yes."

"On second thought, I'll pass. They're all your's, Junior!" Roy made a warding motion with both hands as he spoke, and heard his lifemate's soft laughter.

"Too late, lover. You already volunteered, and I already took you up on it."

"Huh, I guess I did, didn't I?"

John grinned at him, licked his lips deliberately, and nodded. "You sure did."

Roy's eyes locked on John's flickering tongue and said, "Stop that."

Grinning some, Johnny did it again did it before 'innocently', "Stop what?"

"That, that thing you're doing with your tongue."

John did it a third time, and smiled wickedly at Roy. "Oh, you mean this? I'm just hungry!"

"So am I, and for the same thing...so stop teasing me when you know I can't do anything about it!"

"Why?"

"Why can't we?"

"No, why should I stop teasing you when I know you love it?"

"Because you'll drive me crazy."

"So?"

"We still have five hours here, how close to the edge do you want me to be?"

"That sounds about right."

"You're wantin' it that hard and fast?"

"It's been a long time since you gave it to me that hard.....you know how much I like it that way." John deliberately adjusted himself, making sure that Roy understood just what the conversation was doing to him, then grinned at him. "If I can stand a five hour long hard on, so can you." He pointed out. "By the time we can do something about it, I'm going to be just as hot to get fucked as you're gonna be to fuck me. And I'm looking forward to it!"

John kept right on teasing Roy in little ways over the next several hours, using not so innocent little touches, sideways glances, sloe- eyed looks that told DeSoto clearly just how much he was loved, seemingly harmless remarks that a second glance at John told him that, yes, he HAD meant it the OTHER way; all of which pretty much had them both in desperate need of relief by the time Dwyer and Powers showed up to take the next 48 hour hitch with the dozen or so kids of the 124th Barrow crèche. Roy hustled him out of therefast.

They had to stand in the stirrups when they rode off on the pair of Morgans they'd shown up riding. Low fuel reserves had most people riding or driving horses, mules, or oxen now. Both men were too hard, and waaaay too sensitive for a saddle to be an option, as they headed at a fast lope to the nearest grove of cottonwoods.

As soon as they were hidden in the thick growth, John was off his horse, had his reins tied to a low branch and had stripped off his saddle. He tied Roy's mare's reins the same way, and simply dropped his pants to his ankles. Roy would have him in a slow and leisurely

fashion later, for now he wanted to feel Roy's cock driving into his ass as hard as he could. Johnny got on his knees and draped himself face-down over the saddle at his feet. He spread his legs wide as he heard Roy kneel behind him.

Then he felt Roy's tongue slide up his ass. He hissed as Roy ate his ass, thrusting his tongue in and out like it was his cock. He moaned, and spread his ass wider, then he reached back with both hands to spread his ass-cheeks wider. Roy shoved his tongue deeper as he received more room to 'work' in. He wiggled his tongue around inside John`s tasty hole, loving what he was doing to the younger man.

"NO! Don't touch yourself. Don't you dare, John. You aren't gonna cum unless my cock is up your ass,

not after the way you've driven me nuts all afternoon! No cheating!"

"Please, Roy, I need your dick in my ass, now!" Johnny pleaded as he struggled to fight his need to cum.

"I can't hold it!"

"You teased me, now it's my turn!" Came the slightly muffled answer as Roy tongue-fucked John's hole.

"Roy, no, please fuck me!" John begged, moaning his need for full penetration as his mate continued to rim him.

"I will, in a little while. Right now, I'm going enjoy tonguing your ass, I love to French your ass!"

Roy didn't do it long, since his own need for Johnny`s depths was so intense. But by the time he did mount John, and slipped into his ass, Johnny sounded like a blithering idiot as he pleaded for Roy to take him. Then John screamed his approval as Roy thrust into his aching, greedy ass, he began fucking him back from the first harsh cockstroke.

Roy had by this time correctly judged how much John needed him to be rough, and he shoved his huge penis up his lover's ass with a harsh series of thrusts. He couldn't believe how hot John's passion had became, as his mate came unglued in his arms as Roy's hips churned into him with heavy thrusts, his flanks heaving as he rutted on John, but he made good and damned sure that Johnny was enjoying it before he released his control, then DeSoto entered his final drive. He rammed himself into John over and over, taking his lover with the harshness that John's need required and that he himself was enjoying.

Then, as John squealed his pleasure, and shot off on his horse's saddle, Roy emptied his nuts into Johnny's tight hole. Both men bellowed as they came together in a rush of ecstasy and passion. Roy had rediscovered how much he enjoyed the rush that came with hard loving. He could hear Johnny's panting as he struggled to recover from the intensity of the orgasm he'd just had. Roy was already getting hard again and renewed his thrusts with John's enthusiastic endorsement. He called Roy's name aloud, over and over as the older man pushed his cock in and out of his tight ass. Soon afterwards, Roy spewed another load, and John's cock sprayed the saddle with his own spunk.

They were late getting home by several hours, and Jane's sole reaction was to comment that since the babies had just been put to bed, that they'd best not wake `em up or they'd have baby watch: Again!



Chapter Three

The baas, and blats of the herd of over a thousand sheep and cattle being slaughtered filled the air, along with the stenches that came with the work of killing, bleeding and gutting them all. Hides were stripped, meat was sectioned and butchered. Jane and her female housemates were laboring under John's expert eye to scrape the fat and blood vessels from each hide as they came off the fences where they'd been tossed after having been stripped off the carcasses. He periodically had to stop one of them and correct the motion or pressure being used, or he pitched in to help spread the mixture of lung and brain that had to be worked into each hide. This was hard, dirty, nasty work.

Some of the adults had been detailed to keep the kids in and around the Barrows as the rest worked. For two weeks this chore had consumed their lives, and today, John estimated that the 250 people who were working at the slaughter would finish the job. As night finally dropped it's blackness over the hellish scene, the last green cured hides and the last of the meat had been put away. The weary, blood and guts splattered people rode or walked to the nearest unused out- barrow.

The out-barrows were the commonly owned barrows that anyone could use, put there specifically for times like this. Roy had joined them as they were putting the last of the uncured hides on the frames that John had made for them, with the other four men of the Barrow in tow. The women followed their men home, but John and Jane were way to exhausted to make it that far so Roy told the others that they'd use an out-barrow. Butchering is hard work, but not as hard as what they were doing. Best you guys count on carrying your wives home. Get a wagon, they're gonna need it." John had insisted on teaching Jane when she had been young, and she'd insisted that Roy learn to do it too. Of all of them, only these three were really good at it. She followed them into #58 Barrow.

There was an issue to settle, and the two men knew that the only way to prevent Jane from being subjected to what would be in effect, a "legal" rape, was to get her pregnant themselves. This was because of the recent Genetics Order that the community's doctors had insisted on. Every woman was required to produce at least three offspring if at all possible, and they knew that Jane would not hesitate to kill any man but them who so much as touched her.

Roy's soft voice spoke to the girl in terms he knew were graphic as he told her how the order would be inforced and at the end of it he said, "But..."

"But...but what?" The dim light of the barrow made her appear transparent since she had had so much blood drain from her face as he spoke.

"There's one other option, Jane." Johnny told her quietly. "Us. Me and Roy. Could you let US?"

"I always knew when it's you...even out cold. You know that. As long as you talk to me, as long as I can hear your voices, I think I'll be all right. You always told me it wasn't supposed to hurt, and I know you'd never hurt me. You never have...but you'd better do it before I lose my nerve." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she waited.

She felt Roy's strong arms surround her and lift her. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he carried her to the out-barrow's small bathing room, and stripped off her blood and gut covered clothing. As he got her undressed, Johnny was filling the big multiple tub, used when more than one person was going to bathe, and started filling a second one as well, for soaking, and loving her later. John took her from his partner and lowered her into the water, then calmly began washing her hair, then the rest of her. Despite the way she trembled she was unwilling to move away from him. He had sort of expected that response, and hugged her before attending to his own washing.

"Okay, just let us do this baby. We're just gonna explore you a bit, and find out what you like most. We're going to make damned sure you enjoy this, and the preparations could take some time..." John told the scared girl.

"Remember who you're with. WE aren't going to hurt you baby, we've never hurt you. You need to trust us more now than you ever have before. Can you?" Roy asked, already beginning to touch her intimately. He felt her shudder, then felt the moisture against his fingers. "Dear God," DeSoto breathed. "You aren't afraid at all, are you?"

"Not of you or John. Why do I feel so funny, though?"

Roy groaned at the question. "Why don't we show you instead of telling you? It'll be easier that way. Now, do you like this?" He sucked her right nipple into his hot mouth and felt her arch to meet his sucking. He nibbled at her for a while, then switched sides to pay equal attention to her left nipple. As he sent her senses reeling, Johnny's tongue found her core, and darted across her clit in a series of licking strokes that had her gasping helplessly in a few moments. The men lavished attention on their woman, this woman whom they had watched grow, and were teaching loving to the way they'd taught her so many things of the years.

She was barely aware of the movement of Roy's heavily muscled body as he got into position between her legs, and with John's hand guiding him, slid into her soaking sheath. This was going to be a long night.

"Jesus, you're tight!" Roy gritted out as he tried to control his entry into her body, he could feel her slowly stretching as her wet heat fit itself around him, like a hot, moist, tight glove. Her inner muscles gripped his rod like a vise, and rippled along his length. "My God, she's within an inch of cumming right now, Johnny!"

"I told you so, it's just because it's us, isn't it Baby? Anybody else, she'd take his heads off. I do mean that in plural, by the way."

"I know, God girl," He moaned helplessly as his hips began to move of their own accord, thrusting his penis deep insider her wetness again and again. "Damn, I can't hold back long...shit! I gotta make her cum fast!" He burst out, as he began to use every trick he knew to rouse her past recall, forcing her to orgasm fast and hard so he could spill himself inside her.

She clung to him, not wanting to let go. He felt the surprising strength in her fingers as she dug into his shoulders, and felt her tremble in the aftermath of what he'd just made her feel.

"Easy, baby. It's okay, love." Roy soothed.

"What the HELL was that?"

"It was an orgasm, Sweetie." John told her in his softest, gentlest tone as he traded places with Roy. "Want another one?"

She trembled at the thought of losing all her control like that. But this was John, and she knew she could hand over control to him. She had done so for most of her life. It was the loss of control that frightened her the most, though. They both knew that, and Johnny felt a certain amount of pride when she pushed her fears aside and nodded. He kissed her shaking jaw and shivering lips as he began to drive her out of her mind.

"Mount me, too, Roy." He breathed as he sank into her core and began to thrust in and out of her an hour later. Roy's greased up fingers had been driving into his ass for several minutes by then, and soon the other man's hugeness was slid into his own tight ass as Roy filled him. He moaned at the incredible sensations his lovers gave him as Johnny loved them both. Eventually the three sated themselves, though the men didn't let her do too much just yet. With Jane, sex wasn't the issue. Trust was the issue, trust and her faith in them, mostly.

*

The next morning seemed brighter and cleaner for some reason, and she asked John about that. He just smiled and hugged her as they left the barrow to return to town. There was another long day of work ahead of them all, and they needed to get to it.

Jane was carding and cleaning raw wool. It was a stinking business, but not as stinky as the dyeing that was to follow. It was her turn to work the raw stuff, but that was considered a break from the real work of coloring, handing and drying the dyed stuff for the spinners to spin. Later, she and the other women would weave this into clothes and blankets, or cloth for other needs. She was used to the labor, but still got a rash daily, from the parasites in the wool. She moved the last pile of cleaned wool to the kettle for boiling. It was a fresh kettle to which bleach had been added. She like to dye white wool, not gray or yellowed from weather.

By the end of the day long shanks of wool, of every possible color were hanging by knots on one end, drying in the evening air. Her whole body ached from carrying wet wool. Roy's face was a welcome sight when he came with the wagon to take her home.

She was asleep before he clicked to the team. Roy handed her to John who had her bath ready. With the ease of long practice they got her cleaned up and in bed without even waking her up. They'd done this since she was little. There were some grins and traded memoires as they washed and dried her, but she never stirred.

Not until the next morning when she woke before either of them, and with mischief in her eyes got between Roy's strong thighs to lick his heavy balls as he slept. He woke gradually, moaning softly under the wet, hot motions of her tongue. Roy spread his legs wider to allow her better access, even though he was not yet awake. He woke when she took his maleness into his mouth and began to suck it. As he opened his passion-darkened eyes to watch Jane suck his cock, he noticed that John was kneeling behind her. Her gasp of surprised pleasure told Roy that Gage had definitately stuck his tongue into someplace, though at this angle he wasn't sure if his mate was licking her pussy, or rimming her asshole. Jane deep-throated Roy's hugeness in response to whatever John was doing to her, though.

He cried out in pleasure as her head bobbed up and down over his crotch. Threading his fingers through her hair, he began to fuck her mouth frantically. Then John stood and entered her from behind, sliding his dick into her pussy, and beginning to thrust away like a jack-hammer! His hips drove himself in and out of her faster and faster as he tried to catch up with Roy, knowing the older man was about to blow his nuts, and wanting to force both himself and Jane to cum at the same time. He made it, barely: A few moments later all three were screaming in orgasmic pleasure as they were tossed around in a hurricane of sexual satisfaction.

*

Simon sat, shaking, at his desk with his head bowed. He had just opened a letter from Daryl with a packet from the feebies, asking that MC 'volunteer' their services in the Oklahoma disaster area cum experimental "Mars" colony. It was a known fact that anyone who went in wasn't allowed to leave, nor were the locals after the series of legal evacuations right after the storms. There had been one fatal shooting by a marine sniper, and no more attempts had been made. If HE didn't go, at least, he wouldn't be allowed to see his son for ten years. No contact at all would be allowed. His head shot up as his door slammed open, and Ellison barged in, his gun out and ready. He looked around, saw the surprise on his captain's face, and no threat. He holstered his gun, and stared at his boss.

"Your pulse was off the chart, Simon, and I could smell the fear on you from five blocks away!" He put his hands on his hips and frowned. "What the hell's going on? There isn't very damned much that is capable of scaring you until you lose it like that!" He demanded.

Simon sighed, and handed him Daryl's letter, and then the 'request'.

"SHIT!" Jim bellowed. This had the predictable effect of having Sandburg run into Simon's office, immediately landing one palm on Jim's shoulder, and looking anxiously into Jim's narrowed, angry eyes.

"Jim?"

"Here, read this first, then this one!" To Banks, he asked, "Did they come seperately or together?"

"Together." Came the soft answer. "I have to go, Jim. And it'll be a minimum of ten years before we see each other again, if we ever do."

"I see an invitation for all of us to 'join' those folks. Gimme a minute." Blair cut in, and took the letters to the rest of MC, saying only that Banks was going, regardless, and did anyone really want to let him walk into that sort of situation alone? An hour later the commissioner had a clump of resignations on his desk, and everyone was headed home to pack. Three hours after that, they were on a military transport plane, headed for Tinker. Altogether, from the time Simon had opened the original packet, to the time they were escorted into Barrow 51 on the southeastern portion of what had once been Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, only ten hours had passed. The decision to act, to go had been accomplished quickly. Now, as their group was being introduced to the Barrow Mother and her two husbands, reality set in. They were here, they were going to have to stay here, and there was no guarentee that the government would stop the 'experiment' after the ten years had run their course. As they listened, she began to tell of the storms, and the 'new' history...

*

Jane stared at the new men, and sighed. The cops were okay, but who had time to babysit the other dude? Especially after having been told that the big cop next to him refused to work with anyone else? Long dark curls framed an angelic face and she had an idea.

"Hmm, hey Prof.? You any good with kids?"

"Yeah, they seem to like me, why?" Blair had a gentle expression on his face.

"I'm puttin' you and Jim on "Baby detail" in one of the Cre'ches. Hmm...the 133rd needs a few people...and it's less than two miles from here. You can start there tomorrow night." She beamed at the pair, and actually patted Blair on the top of his head. She gave everyone else a chorelist, and gave them bedspace for the night. Only Jim and Blair were given a permanent room: together. There was a minimum of space available, they were told. "So you're just going to have to share the bed: It's more than big enough." Jane got them settled in, and left, muttering. Jim dialed up a bit, and grinned at Blair.

"She's sure glad she found a decent chore for you, Cheif, she thinks you're probably some soft-palmed pencil pusher. You know, helpless, niave, ignorant of the 'real' world, and fairly useless. She just told her husbands to see if they couldn't find some occupation for you so you can contribute to our new 'tribe'." Jim was chuckling at Blair's red face.

"I can pull my own weight!"

"I know that, but SHE doesn't, and until she does, she's going to be hard to convince. You're going to have to prove it, since I don't think that old "Sandburg Charm" is going to work on that particular female."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a very early morning for the unsuspecting former members of Cascade's Major Crimes Division. Roused from their beds by crying babies, yelling toddlers, shouting children and reprimands from a half dozen adults, they stumbled out into the main hall where they sleepily stood and stared. Only Simon and Jim were fully awake, and as usual, Blair was hopeless in the dawn. He was asleep on his feet.

"Miss Delores? Who's the new lady?" Piped a small boy from behind Blair. "She looks like she's ready to fall over..."

Blair turned to look at the child, who gasped and hollered: "Miss Delores! That new lady's not any lady!"

"ANGELO MANUEL DESOTO! What kind of thing is that to say?" A hispanic woman scolded the child.

"It's all right, ma'am. He meant that I'm not the woman he thought I was, Blair's voice gently chided the child in the upper bass range.

"Why should I stop? You know you love it!" Another man's voice, full of amusement, echoed into the main hall from a corridor.

"Oh, there's no question of that: But you're gonna make us late!"

"Just a quickie?"

"Oh hell, com 're. You know I hate quickies...I guess we'll just have to be late. Open your mouth, Johnny..."

*

Blair was grinning, Jim refused to look down the hall, or directly at anyone: Especially Blair. He did finally look at the Stead Mother...one eyebrow raised in inquiry.

"There are same sex couples in every Barrow; I suggest you live with it. You accept everyone, and if you turn out to be some sort of homophobic asshole, I'll shoot you myself. Got me, Ellison? This ain't Cascade, and you ain't a cop here. Here, in this Stead, I am in charge! Every Barrow has a leader in a full or partial homosexual relationship. Now, John back there, and Roy...they are MY husbands, we love and make love, in total disregard to who's present and who ain't, as long as it`s just us three. There's some folks as ain't got anybody of the opposite sex in their pairs or whatever. Everybody has to adopt kids to raise, though. If you ain't bonded with yon Guide, you ain't gonna do nobody na good no how, since an unbonded Sentinel ain't nothing but a walkin' time bomb lookin' fer a place to explode. Ain't nobody fer ya but that Guide of yourn, and it be the normal thing fer you kind. Or didn't ya know that, Stupid?"

"Jim isn't stupid! We're figuring this thing out one problem at a time, lady! I don't have all the answers, but we do all right!" Blair said hotly.

"Beginners, are ye? As well I assigned ye two ta the babies, then. Put ya to good use, and keep ya outta harm's way at tha same time. How long ha' it been since ye met?"

"Three years..."

"And your Sentinel ain't took ye ta bed yet? Jesus! Gots ter do something drastic, I guess, to set `im off. Scare `im good, once't, and he'll go B.P.M. he got to Mr. Guide, `cause he ain't the only one we got, and the others ain't gonna abide no unbonded one around."

Roy and John had entered the kitchen area where she was explaining things, and both men were wincing at the grammar she was using. Why the hell she was doing it, they had no idea. But the other two, Jim and Blair were staring at her; the information she was throwing at them so casually had both men stunned. Others? Other, bonded Sentinel were in the area?

As the reality of what she'd just said settled into Ellison's mind, he ground out a low, menacing snarl. Blair gaped at him as his arm was taken in a firm grip, and Jim proceeded to frog-march him right back to their quarters.

"jim?" Blair's voice was soft, and a little scared. "jim...?" Jim only traded hands on Blair's upper arm, so he could rub the confused Guide's back soothingly. Instinct was moving him, instinct that was hitting him harder than it ever had before. Once back in their quarters Ellison quietly but rapidly stripped Blair of his clothes before shedding his own. Sandburg was holding his breath, and trying to relax as the big cop pushed him onto his back, and began to fondle him between his legs, forcing pleasure onto his Guide and making him writhe under the confident strokes. He wasn't wasting time, but he didn't want to hurt Blair, either. Slow sweet loving would wait, since for now the Spirit within Jim Ellison took over, insisting he mate with Sandburg. He ached to drive himself into Blair's tight ass, balls deep. He wanted to feel his innermost muscles clenching around his rod, massaging it, wanted to thrust, wanted to claim, wanted mark him.

Blair's soft gasp when Jim's hands turned him face down was followed by a second one when his head suddenly dove for the parted cheeks of Sandburg's ass and the tiny winking little hole that beckoned to his now watering mouth. He shoved his tongue deep inside Blair's anus, fucking it with his tongue, over and over he ran it in and out, listening to the pleased cries that were erupting from Blair as he ate Blair's ass. Blair was getting very slick, he was almost wet enough to mount. The Spirit within knew that the first six months his Guide was taken sexually, would physically, mentally, or emotionally hurt the Guide. During this time he would use Blair for his own Pleasure, teaching him to obediently sexually to Jim despite fear or pain. It meant balance in their lives, since a Sentinel was subject to his Guide in regard to every other aspect of his life. He didn't like it, but it was needed to cement the bond: The only thing that drew out an even more protective instinct than discovering a hurt Guide, was causing the pain yourself. It insured that you never did it again. And it was this he whispered to the smaller form beneath him as he covered the other man's body with his own. Then, he gagged the Guide: his screams would be loud enough, thank-you. And this harsh mating was a part of bonding. Since the vague beginnings of human kind had produced the first of their kind, this had been the first motion of the bonding act. He smelled the stink of Guide Fear, and felt a surge of lust. He didn't fight his urge to Take Blair, instead locating his opening with one, unerring finger, then aiming his dickhead at it, and pushing relentlessly into the now struggling Guide. He held him down easily, forcing his legs wider apart, and his hips drove him ruthlessly in and out, back and forth: And Blair screamed behind the tight gag.

At first, Blair couldn't believe it was happening, that Jim's huge cock was being forced in and out of his ass, that Jim would degrade and defile him like this, use him like this. But the voice spewing such filthy words in his ears was Jim's and that voice was rough with lust. He told Blair all the things he was going to do to him, and other things he was going to force Blair to do for Jim, and anyone else that Jim decided to share his new love-slave with. He felt Jim's pace pick up at the thought of watching other men eagle-spread Blair and then fuck Sandburg's ass good and hard. He got rougher with the new thoughts, pounding into Blair's unwilling body cruelly as he chanted:

"Take it, Chief, take my cock! Oh yeah, such a fine little hole, so tight, yesssss so hot! Do it, fucking-A, take my meat up your ass! Gonna fuck your ass so hard!" The words faded into deep gutterals, hoarse panting, and grunts of effort. Before long Jim howled as he shot off inside Blair's ass, yanked his cock out, then forced Blair to clean it with his mouth. The Spirit of the Ancient Sentinel untied Sandburg, explained why this was done, what more would be done, and left his human host. Jim stared at Blair in horror.

Blair lay sobbing on the bed, curling into a fetal postion. Jim stared at him in horrified dispair as the Spirit inside him receded.

"There's someone in here with me, that isn't ME." He said in a frightened voice. "It wasn't ME, Blair, I swear it wasn't ME."

But Blair only flinched, backing away from Jim in real fear for the first time. He couldn't stop crying. Jim got up slowly, moving like he was an old man, and went to look for the girl. His haunted eyes told her alot, and his stuttered explaintion told her more. He stared at the knowing wisdom in her eyes.

"He'll go, now. Now he knows that it was not your Guide that withheld himself from you, but you who denied the Guide, he'll go. If it had been a reluctant Guide, the result of the onslaught would have been passion. He, too, aches for what has happened. He is an ancient one, that spirit. An ancient Sentinel who also denied his, and caused his own's suicide. He did this to prevent that, Jim. He knows that you are the only person who can get Blair past this, and he knows that you're gonna haveta let him see how you really feel to do that. Otherwise, you're gonna have a dead Guide in a week or less, because Sandburg'll simply give up. He arranged a situation where you have no choice but to act, and to, eventually, make love to Blair on your own. Because, now, if you don't, he's never going to heal. Ancient Sentinels weren't as civilized as you. They tended to take a direct route to end problems. This is the result. Deal with it, Ellison. You have to, because there isn't anyone else who can."

"You're not really a hick, are you?"

"No. You had pissed me off, though." She shrugged and left him at their chamber door. "Cheer up. He's a GUIDE, for Christ's sake: No matter what he thinks you've done, or will do, he'll ALWAYS come back to you. That's the way his kind are made." She eyed him. "That scares you, doesn't it?"

"Hell yes."

"Good, it should. Keep it in mind." She stalked off with an easy grace not unlike his own...

"Oh shit, not another one!"

*

Ellison stared at her suspiciously, but let it go: Blair needed him. He waited for John, Roy, and Dr. Early to leave the room before he went back into the chamber where his Guide lay quietly on the bed, still, and with his back to the wall. He struggled with the harm he had caused Blair for several minutes. Then he studied Sandburg for another long moment.

"How much did you hear, and how much of it made any sense to you, Chief?" He said as he eased his weight onto the bed next to him.

"All of it: Is he really gone, Jim?"

Ellison closed his eyes against the hurt "Why-did-you-do-this-to-me?" look in Blair's tear-filled eyes.

"Yeah, he is. Is...is it as bad as I think it is?"

"I don't know." He watched warily as Jim shuddered, then zoned. He moaned a little, he knew he didn't have a choice, that he had to move, but he also knew it was REALLY going to hurt when he did.

*I was right, God, I hate it when I'm right about shit like that* Blair thought as he shifted close enough to Jim to get him out of that zone. He was still laying there, panting against the fire eating his guts when he succeeded. He didn't have enough strength left to recover himself. And Jim saw that right off: Tears filled the Sentinel's eyes as he carefully adjusted his Guide's position, and tucked him in gently. Blair barely noticed; he simply hurt too damned much right then to give a damn.

Jim moved to leave, heard Blair whimper, returned. He wasn't sure if Blair would like it, but he was going to do it anyway. If he caused nightmares, at least he could be there to soothe them away. He got into bed with his still naked Guide and cuddled the younger male in as close to himself as he could manage.

~~~~

Roy and John sat next to the bed they shared with Jane and listened to her as she spoke in quiet tones. The didn't really enjoy hearing where and how many of the years of seperation had been spent on her part, but they knew they needed to know.

"Jesus Roy, homeless, half the time foodless, and the scars! I thought there were too many, but Christ! And this other thing, these, what did you call them, little love? Bonded Pairs? Pairs of what?"

"Jim is one half of the Pairing, he's what's known as a Sentinel, and Blair is the other half, called a Guide. I know Blair likes to tease Jim about being a throwback to early man, but the truth is, they both are. Actually, they ALL are. These two aren't the only Pair here, just the most experienced. They have some serious issues to work through, and they can't do that until they Bond properly. The process is a mentally, emotionally, and for the Guide, physically painful one.

If you'll pardon the phrase, it's a trial by fire. The time for physical pain is over, now they have a spiritual, and emotional trial to overcome, and after that the Sentinel will have a period mental re- adjustment before they have smooth sailing. Just stay out of their business, okay? If there's interfering needed, it's MY job."

"And does their captain know about all this?"

"Probably. You can ask him by letting him know that not only do WE know, but that I've had to handle Pairings before."

"So...what do we do now?"

"Well, we could use more firewood. And it think it's John's turn to milk this week. Look, we all have chores, and I, for one, need to get busy. It looks like we're about to get our first look at the sun in while, since the wind's down and the clouds are up." She sighed unhappily. "There's not much to BE done, for them for now. And life in the Stead isn't going to stop because they're 'out' of it for a while. First get YOUR chores done, then get the main entrance shoveled snow-free. That'll take most of the morning. We'll discuss this afternoon's plans at lunch."

Jim tracked the conversation by ear, so to speak, but maintained his position curled around Blair's smaller form. During the night, the younger male had finally relaxed, and had a decent nights sleep. Jim had remained in full B.P.M. throughout the night. He relaxed a little more until he heard her reserve the right of interfering with him and his guide for herself.

That made Ellison a little nervous: She knew too much, and had much too much experience at dealing with sentinels and guides. He wondered how she knew so much, but remained wrapped around his shattered young Guide, to hold him while he slept.

He had to.

"Jim?' Ellison cringed at the broken catch in Blair's deep voice.

"Yes?"

"I guess the bottom line is that I *am* your Guide. If you need something, then it's my JOB to see to it that you get it: No matter what." Sandburg spoke in a sudden rush of words, as if he feared he wouldn't be able to bear to say what he needed to say, if he tried to say it slowly.

"Oh JESUS! Oh God..." Jim's arms tightened around the smaller, younger male, and the Sentinel trembled. "Christ...no, Oh HELL, she was right! Why the hell did she have to be right?"

He began to rock Sandburg in his arms, cradling the other man close to himself as he moved. "I refuse! I'm NOT going to hurt you, damn it! I'm NOT like HIM! I'm NOT HIM, and I WON'T DO IT!"

Jane listened quietly to Jim's denial, and then sent Stoker to Kramer Stead for Mitch Kramer and Stan Lake. Less than an hour later, when she judged that Mike'd had time to get there and ask Mitch to step outdoors and listen for her, she went outside herself.

She explained Jim's current crisis, since only another full sentinel could aide the alpha male, and only with the aide of HIS Guide, in close quarters to the pair in Bonding Progress. (Using the bonded pair to force the issue was dirty pool, but she was going to do it anyway) When Mitch and Stan had agreed to go with Mike to join them, she went to 'warn' Jim.

"Sentinel of DeSoto-Gage Stead," She intoned formally, "The Sentinel of Kramer Stead and HIS Guide are in route to assist you in completeing your Bond. The presense of another Pair is required for reassurance, advice, and the answers to any questions you may have. As a Fully Bonded Pairing, they're presense here will cause a biological response in BOTH of you, as soon as they cross the territorial border. This response is the Final Phase of the Transition from Normal, to Full Sentinel for, you, Jim, and from Normal to Full Guide for Blair. In this case, shamanism is not a consideration. One need not be a Guide to be a shaman, although if you are a Guide, you CAN be a shaman." She paused when she saw Sandburg slip both arms around Jim's neck, and open his mouth for Jim's. Ellison's tongue was already licking at the corners, and his big hands were already exploring his Guide's flanks as he covered Blair's body with his own larger frame.

She slipped out of the Sentinel's bedchamber to go and greet Mitch and Stan, joining them in the main hall of the Stead.

"Mitch! Stan! I'm SO glad you could make it! I'm even gladder that Ellison is FINALLY allowing instinct to show him what to do and how to do it, though."

"Trouble?"

"Oh yes, and FAR too much of it! That idiot denied poor Blair for three flippin' YEARS, and then brought him into this area where the potenial for threats to an UnBonded Guide is as high as the proverbial kite. The Spirit World stepped in, and sent the OLDEST ONE in to force the issue: Oh Dear, I shouldn't have told you in front of poor Stan!"

Mitchell found Stan suddenly wrapped around his larger body, trying to hide. He was trembling violently, and Kramer turned to soothing the smaller male.

"Where?" Mitch snapped.

"Two doors down on the left, in corridor three, Mitch." Mitch tried petting Stan at first, but finally just scooped the frightened Guide into his arms and headed for the indicated bedchamber. Since it was right next to the one Jim was in with Blair, each of the Sentinels immediately reacted to the presense of the other, each of them by making intense love to his guide...

TBC