Simon rolled his eyes. "I'm kidding, Blair." He sighed. "Jim, take him home and get some rest...both out you. I'll need paperwork on all this by the end of the week."

  He followed the two of them outside and watched as Jim helped Blair into the truck. He could hear Blair's gasp of pain as he slid into the passenger seat. His hand, still on Jim's arm, fisted around his partner's jacket. Jim covered the hand with his own and leaning in, spoke quietly until Blair had once more relaxed. Then moving carefully, Jim reached around Blair and buckled his seatbelt for him before closing the door and jogging around to the driver's side.

  Simon wondered, as he watched the truck pull out of the parking lot, what it must be like for them. The closeness of the relationship was apparent to anyone who knew them. But there was more to it than that.

  I honestly don't know what I'd do if he left.

  Simon had been glad that Blair decided to make his entrance at that particular moment because he hadn't known what to say to Jim's words. There was only one person in his life that he felt that strongly about. His son, Darryl. Yet he still didn't believe that the two of them shared the same kind of closeness that Jim and Blair did. The two men seemed to have an almost unspoken understanding, a mutual need that the other somehow filled.

  And Simon believed the bond they shared was stronger now than it had ever been before. He couldn't put his finger on it but ever since the incident with Alex, the connection between them seemed to have deepened, gone to a new level. Simon didn't completely understand it. But as he made his way back to his car, he realized that he envied it.

  Jim stepped from the shower and knew instantly that Sandburg was not in his bedroom.

  He dressed quickly but as he opened the bathroom door, he knew that Blair was fine. He could sense the regular rhythm of his heart, the evenness of his breathing. Jim closed his eyes, relishing the restored link to his Guide.

  When they'd gotten home from the hospital, Blair had insisted on taking a shower. It had taken him a long time, Jim able to hear every gasp of pain as he cleaned up and changed into his sweats. Jim had waited until Blair was settled in his room before taking a shower himself. But apparently Blair had not been able to sleep because as Jim crossed the loft, he could see his partner standing out on the balcony staring silently off into the distance.

  Opening the balcony doors, Jim stepped out into the crisp morning air. Blair stood at the railing, one arm held protectively across his ribcage, the other gripping the cold metal before him. He still wore the sweats and T-shirt he'd gone to bed in but he'd added his thick robe and a pair of heavy socks before coming outside.

  Jim crossed to him, stopping beside him. "What are you doing out here, Chief?"

  "Watching the sun come up," he whispered. "Appreciating the fact that I'm still around to see it."

  Jim looked out at the horizon. At the deep hues of orange, red and yellow as they spilled across the morning sky.

  "Jim, don't you think we've had more than our share of bad luck lately?" Blair asked, his voice Sentinel-soft.

  Jim sighed not liking the tone of resignation he heard in his Guide's voice. "Yeah, buddy, I do." Jim had told Blair that he believed that as long as they were together, working as team, they were unbeatable. He still believed that, felt this latest episode had only helped to prove that statement true. But that knowledge did nothing to alleviate the guilt that had settled over him. "Blair, we've had things happen in the past, but lately... this is all connected to the Sentinel stuff and I can't help but wonder if you'd be better off if we'd never met."

  Blair turned to him, his face etched in disbelief. "Are you serious? Jim, I'd be dead if we never met."

  "Maybe. Maybe not," Jim muttered, unconvinced.

  "No maybes about it," Blair said, his sudden outburst causing a wave of pain. Jim placed a hand on his friend's arm in silent support as Blair took shallow breaths until it passed.

  "You okay, Chief?" he asked as the lines of strain around his partner's eyes smoothed out.

  "Broken ribs, man, I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy." He looked up at Jim, managing a half-hearted smile.

  "Why don't we go back inside. You need to rest and--"

  "No, I want to finish the conversation," Blair said, the force of his words causing another sharp intake of breath. "If you're right," he said when he could breathe again without cringing, "and part of my destiny is to be a Guide then Alex would have found me exactly the way she did. Only I would have drown in that fountain because you wouldn't have been there to pull me out. Same with the Shaman stuff. If by some miracle I did manage to survive Alex, Rebecca and Jarred Lowry would have killed me for sure. The only reason I'm still alive is because you were there to save me." But as he stared up at Jim, something in his eyes changed, saddened. "Man, that just made me sound like one hell of a burden."

  Jim laid a hand gently on his shoulder. "You're a lot of things to me, Blair. Burden is not one of them."

  Blair reached up, moving stiffly and covered Jim's hand with his own. "I'll believe that if you believe that none of what's happened is your fault."

  Jim nodded. "Okay, Chief, you got yourself a deal."

  "Great." Blair's smile was genuine this time. Moving carefully, his hand still locked across his waist, Blair turned back to the rising sun. Jim remained beside him willing to stay out here as long as his Guide needed to.

  "Blair," Jim began after a time, "Do you think this could all be some kind of test? To see if we're worthy?"

  Blair's eyebrows furrowed at this new possibility. "If it is," he began slowly, "then I'd say we either passed with flying colors…or failed miserably. I'm really not sure which."

  Jim laughed. "I'm sorry, Chief. I know it's not funny."

  "Hey, man, we either gotta laugh or cry. I choose laugh any day."

  Jim nodded. "I just wish we were closer to finding the answers you need."

  "But I am closer, Jim." He hesitated momentarily before continuing. "I wanted concrete, hit-me-in-the-face answers but I don't think this stuff works that way. It didn't for you, right?"

  "No but like I said before, I had you. You tempered my uncertainty. I knew I could come to you with any question and you'd figure out the answer." He shook his head. "I can't do that for you, Chief."

  "But I don't think you need to. That's my point." He turned his gaze toward Jim, his eyes filled with a certainty that had not been there before. "Croft said he and his brother felt my presence ever since Incacha brought out what was already within me. But until I opened myself up and accepted it, neither one of them could get a handle on me." He paused as if trying to think of the best way to phrase what he needed to tell Jim. "I'm still going to try and find out all I can about Shamanism. But I think whatever this natural ability is, I just need to open myself to it, let it flow through me, see where it takes me."

  "So I was right," Jim said smugly. "Just do some meditation and it'll be there."

  "Yeah, I guess you were right," Blair admitted with some reluctance.

  "So we're going to be okay?"

  "Yeah, man. I never thought that was in question." He shifted his attention back to the horizon, the sun reflecting warmly against his skin. "But I think for now, I'll ask whoever it is who's directing all this to just cool it for a while. All I want is one week with no nightmares for you or me. And one week with no bodily injury - again I include you although since I'm the one who's been taking the brunt of it lately, I lean that one a little more toward me."

  Jim draped an arm across his partner's shoulders. "Sounds good to me, Chief."

  Together, the Sentinel and his Guide watched the sun rise and their city wake.

  The end.

 

 

  Beth Manz, Inevitable Series 03 The Unsuspecting

 

 

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