*********************

Awareness crept up on him gradually. A warm and comfortable feeling surrounded him, and he leaned back against the firm body of his lover spooned up behind him. Wet strokes were tickling the back of his neck, and a tender suction followed by a puff of breath made him shiver. More kisses rained across his shoulders before he woke enough to turn over and kiss his partner fully.

"Good morning," Blair whispered as they broke apart for just a moment, his mouth only inches from Jim's.

Blue eyes smiled back at him and Jim murmured, "Morning, Chief," as his lips descended again, pressing lovingly but insistently against Blair's. His tongue slipped through parted lips, a tender caress inside Blair's mouth.

Blair pulled back with a soft sigh. "Gotta get up. We're due in at the station this morning."

"I know," Jim growled, and dipped down for one more kiss before pulling himself away and climbing out of the bed.

###

Blair was scrambling the eggs when he felt a tentative probe in his mind. //Yes, mother, I'm awake.//

//Good, I thought you should be but I wasn't sure of my time zone calculations.// Naomi's mental touch seemed almost apologetic...and more than a little worried.

//Naomi, what's wrong?//

//I felt...a disturbance in the Force this morning. And I'm sensing danger for you.//

//More than usual?// His mental tone was affectionate and teasing.

Naomi's reply was deadly serious. //Yes. Pay attention today, sweetie. Be mindful of the living Force. And I know you don't always, but keep your lightsaber with you for a while.//

His mother's tone subdued him immediately, and he answered more formally than normal. //Yes, mother. I will be mindful.//

//May the Force be with you, little one.// There was nothing more to be said. She had trained him as well as she could. If they had been in the Republic, he would have been a Knight on his own at least five years before.

The eggs were done and Jim was finished with his shower. Blair would be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the moment. And for the moment, there was no danger. He would eat, he would rest, he would be ready. And he would enjoy the time he had with his love, because the future was always cloudy.

~~~~~~~~

"Ellison, Sandburg," Simon called from the door to his office as they walked in. "We've got a weird one for you."

"What's up, Captain?" Jim asked.

"Got a body down at Lindburg and 5th."

Sandburg looked puzzled. "What's weird about that, Simon?"

Banks gave him a slight glare for calling him by his first name again and answered, "We don't get too many decapitations around here, Sandburg."

~~~~~~~~

As they climbed out of the truck at the scene of the crime, Jim paused, and Blair waited questioningly. "Jim?"

"There's something weird here, Chief."

"Well, that's what Simon called it-"

"No," Jim interrupted, "I'm smelling something...something I don't recognize." His puzzled look cleared for a moment and he glanced up at his partner. "And I don't think the victim was killed here. I don't smell any blood."

A uniformed officer walked up as he finished the last sentence and replied, "You won't, either, Detective. There isn't much. But you'll see."

"What've we got, Davis?" Jim asked, as he and Sandburg turned to follow him.

"Male, Caucasian, mid-to-late 30s. The body was found by Denise Ramsey over there," Office Davis pointed out a distraught young woman talking to another officer. "She was out jogging."

Blair stumbled, and Jim's hand shot out to steady him. "You okay there, Sandburg?"

"Yeah, yeah, Jim. I'm okay, just tripped or something." If Jim noticed his elevated heartbeat, he must have attributed it to being startled from the stumble, because the Sentinel didn't call him on the lie. Blair's attention turned inward slightly, searching for the disturbance that had caught his attention.

Force. There was a disturbance in the Force here, like Blair had never felt before. Oh shit. He reached out with that part of him that touched the Force, probing, trying to understand the pattern of what he was feeling...

"Sandburg!"

Blair jumped. He hadn't realized he was dropping into meditation until Jim's bellow pulled his attention back to the physical world.

Jim was looking back at him with an irritated grimace. "Are you coming?"

"Sorry, sorry," Blair replied, and fell in behind Ellison and Davis as they headed toward the dead body.

Jim pulled on a pair of gloves as he looked over the scene. The victim was naked, and looked as if it had been left where it fell, the head having rolled just a foot from the body. Ellison squatted down and touched one finger to the neck wound.

"This looks like it was cauterized as it was sliced, almost like a surgical laser." Jim looked up at Blair's sudden intake of breath and then glanced around the site before looking him straight in the eye. "Do you need to wait in the truck, Chief?"

Blair thought about it for a minute, then nodded, knowing that it would surprise his partner. This wasn't a particularly gruesome looking murder. What Jim didn't realize, though, was that it wasn't the blood that occasionally sent Blair reeling, but rather the violent impressions left in the Force, dark swirls left by evil actions and the deliberate taking of life. And here he could almost feel the Dark side reaching out to him, calling to him... He gasped and turned away quickly, pulling his shields tightly around him as he left.

He kept himself closed off until he had settled himself in the truck, and took a deep breath and tried to settle his feelings. *Serenity, Blair. You need serenity,* he thought to himself, then settled into a light trance to study through the Force what had happened here. That slice *did* look like it had been made with a surgical laser...or a lightsaber. And that scared him. *Fear is the path to the dark side,* he reminded himself, and with another stab of concentration, he released the fear into the Force. Whatever he would find, he would either be ready for it, or not. Fearing it wouldn't help.

He sent his awareness stretching out through the Force, feeling the movements of the police officers, the grief of the witness, and *there*, the disturbance, the darkness, the loss of life, but *more* than that. This wasn't just an effect in the Force from the violence that had occurred here. This was an action *of* the Force. Someone had deliberately called on the dark side of the Force, and its presence was still strong; a miasma, a tangible remainder of evil and fear hung over the place.

Blair's eyes snapped open. What did this mean? No one from this planet knew of the Force. There were a few people who called on it naturally, instinctively, but they weren't common and most didn't understand it well enough to direct it effectively. This...this felt trained, a knowing use of the Force. And a wound that looked like it came from a Jedi weapon.

He had a sudden urge to reach into his backpack for the reassuring weight of his lightsaber.

###

Jim joined him in the truck when he'd finished looking around the murder scene. After a quick check to make sure Blair's stomach was back where it should be, Jim started filling him in on what he'd found as they made their way back to the station.

"Well, it was that cauterization that kept there from being much blood. I think he was killed right here, killed and then stripped. The marks in the dirt around the body are consistent with that. I don't know why the killer would take all the man's clothes, though. Something about this doesn't make sense." The tension in Jim's body radiated clearly in the Force, tight bands that Blair could almost see wrapped around the man as his sharp mind fought with the problem.

"Was there..." Blair paused for just a breath, "were there any signs he was violated?"

Jim's sharp eyes glanced at him quickly, cataloguing his condition, checking to make sure he was all right. It was a Jim thing. "No," he answered finally, "no, there wasn't a mark on him except the decapitation. What the hell could have done that?"

Blair knew. With a terrible certainty in the pit of his stomach, he knew.

~~~~~~~~

They filled out paperwork on the body, then spent the afternoon canvassing the neighborhood where it had happened, trying to find someone who had seen something. As far as they could tell, the man had been decapitated and stripped at the edge of a public parking lot around 5 in the morning and no one saw a thing. They checked with their informants and none of them could tell them about a beheading. As far as they knew, it wasn't a hit -- those were often fairly public information if you knew whom to talk to.

Two very frustrated individuals trudged up the stairs to the loft.

"I'll get dinner, Jim. You can shower if you want," Blair said as he dropped his keys in the basket. He started toward the kitchen, only to be stopped by two strong arms that wrapped suddenly around his waist from behind. He was pulled off balance and up against Jim's chest.

One hand left his waist and then tender fingers stroked his hair to one side. Jim pulled the collar of his shirt aside slightly and kissed the base of his neck, gentle suction that sent a tingle down his spine. He raised one hand to pull Jim closer and stroked the other down the side of his hip.

"Dinner can wait," Blair whispered. He turned in Jim's arms and tenderly stroked his face before pulling him down into a deep kiss. The tensions of the day slowly drained away as he melted into the touch and taste of his lover. There was something very wrong that needed to be watched for, and he knew that, but for the moment...for the moment there was only Jim and Blair.

He slowly unbuttoned Jim's shirt, his lips following his fingers as he kissed down the line of Jim's neck, nibbling on his shoulder for a minute before trailing his tongue down Jim's chest. He gathered up his fear, and his worry, and gave them over to the Force. He focused himself on one thing: the man before him, the man he loved. He pushed the now-loose shirt off his shoulders and let his hands stroke up and down Jim's arms as he licked and nibbled his way back up to the hollow of Jim's throat.

Jim buried his hands in Blair's curls, stroking and caressing, as Blair continued up the side of his neck. He pulled Jim's earlobe into his mouth and played with it with his tongue, sucking rhythmically then scraping his teeth across it only to pull it back in. Jim shivered and tightened his grip.

"What do you want, James?" Blair whispered, and Jim shivered again.

"You," he answered. His voice was quiet and a little ragged. "Don't want to think tonight. Just want to feel you."

Blair smiled a dangerous smile. He could definitely make Jim stop thinking.

"Upstairs. Undress and lay down. I'll be there in a moment." Blair *looked* at him, and Jim's eyes widened, understanding that he had offered Blair control for the night and he *was* going to take it. Blair could almost see the hesitant struggle inside him before the idea settled against his soul and he accepted. Blair knew what he needed.

Jim headed toward the bedroom and Blair went into the kitchen to pull a bottle of beer out of the refrigerator. He paused for a moment, removing his shoes, and listened to the Force, seeking any hint of danger. There was a disturbance, a sense of unease, but he was certain it was not imminent. He briefly touched the link between himself and his mother, feeling only peace as she slept. He was free, then, for the evening. Nothing called him. Tomorrow, he was also certain, would not remain so.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he paused to take in the sight before him. Jim had pulled the covers back and lay stretched out in the center of the bed. The light of the setting sun bathed him in a red haze. His skin appeared to be glowing, a slight sheen of sweat catching the light. His eyes were closed, his face peaceful. One hand was casually stroking up and down his penis, standing firm and erect and begging to be touched.

Blair set the bottle down beside the bed. "Open your eyes, James." He did, and Blair started to strip. Jim's eyes focused immediately on Blair's hands, watching them as they unbuttoned his shirt, following them as they trailed back up Blair's chest to stroke his nipples. He gasped along with Blair when he tugged on his nipple ring. The strokes along Jim's erection were becoming much less casual as Blair shrugged his shirt off and his hands went to his belt buckle.

Blair stopped undressing and Jim gave him a questioning look. "Stop touching yourself. You want to stop thinking, okay, then you let me do the thinking tonight."

He groaned and flushed at Blair's words, but his hands drew reluctantly away to settle on the bed at his sides. His eyes locked immediately on Blair's hands again at the slight click of his belt buckle opening. Blair unsnapped his jeans and slowly pulled the zipper down, knowing from Jim's reaction that all of his senses were turned up and focused on him. And that was exactly what he wanted. He was going to completely overload the Sentinel's senses, all five of them so he couldn't zone on any one, until there was nothing in his mind except his Guide. For here, for now, in this moment, there were only the two of them, and nothing else existed.

Blair peeled his jeans and boxers off, watching with satisfaction as Jim licked his lips and his eyes grew smoky. He moved to the foot of the bed and slowly crawled up, his torso sliding along just inches above Jim's skin. They didn't touch at all, but he knew the Sentinel could feel the heat coming off him. Blair hovered silently over him, unmoving, watching the desire grow in Jim's eyes. Jim arched his head upward, trying to capture Blair's lips, but he pulled back just far enough to remain tantalizingly out of reach. Jim growled and reached his hands up to pull Blair to him.

In an instant, Blair had Jim's hands pinned down to the mattress above his head. "I said I will do the thinking, James," he reminded his lover. He smiled and slowly, deliberately, lowered himself until their lips were almost touching. His tongue snaked out and slid across Jim's mouth, refusing to enter although it opened to him immediately. He nibbled on a lower lip, his tongue dipping in just enough to slide across a row of teeth, dancing back away when Jim's tongue tried to meet it.

He pulled back, ignoring Jim's groan but pleased to see that his hands remained where they were. He knew that wouldn't last, though. Jim enjoyed giving up control, but he wasn't very good at it. Blair opened the drawer of the nightstand and pulled out two black silk scarves. Jim's eyes widened but he didn't protest as his wrists were tied to the railing at the head of the bed. Checking to make sure the knots were secure enough to remind Jim to keep his hands there, but loose enough that he could get free in an emergency, Blair ran his fingernails down the exposed underside of Jim's arms.

Still straddling without touching, Blair leaned over and picked up the beer. He could see the question in Jim's eyes but he didn't speak as he twisted off the lid and threw it over the railing.

###

Jim watched as Blair tilted his head back and took a long, slow drink. His eyes traced the graceful lines of the exposed throat. He could feel the warmth of Blair's groin inches from his own and longed to arch up into that heat, but he knew that Blair would only pull away. His Guide was leading tonight, and he would follow.

Blair leaned over him and Jim hoped he would come all the way to him this time, but he stopped just short of touching, his breath washing over Jim's face. The scent of the beer mingled with the spicy sweet scent of *Blair* and he suddenly knew exactly what Blair was doing. He inhaled deeply, breathing in every nuance, every shading of scent he could detect. He blocked out every odor except what came from Blair: the beer on his breath, the subtle tang of his shampoo as his hair slid off his shoulder, the musky scent of his sweat and arousal.

Blair sat back up and took another drink of the beer, then set the bottle on the nightstand. He came back down to Jim's lips but didn't stop this time, pressing just their mouths together. Jim opened to him immediately, and the coolness of a swallow of beer washed over his tongue, the taste exploding unexpectedly in his mouth. Blair's tongue followed, and he sucked it in, relishing the taste of his lover mingled with the alcohol. The kiss continued, lips pressed tightly together, tongues caressing, until Jim was only able to breathe *Blair*. No other taste existed, no other scent, only Blair.

Gradually he became aware of the silky glide of hair across his cheek, and the warmth of Blair's body as he continued to hold himself just away from the contact Jim so desired. He grew more and more aware of the firm flesh just inches from his own, longing for the addition of more of that unique sensation that was his lover. Almost as if Blair could sense the shift of his attention, he gradually lowered himself until his weight rested completely on Jim. Their cocks settled against each other, pressed tightly between their bodies, and Jim gasped, grinding his hips upward to intensify the feeling.

Blair pulled away from Jim's mouth and drew his tongue down the line of Jim's jaw.

~~~~~~~~

Blair felt the man's presence as he came up behind them. A rolling wave of Force came at him, a darkness trying to overwhelm him. There was arrogance there, too, so strong he could taste it like a bitter tang in his mouth. The dark creature that hunted him thought he would be easy prey, a nuisance to be dealt with like a fly is swatted out of the air. It took little effort to meet that dark flow of energy with one of his own, turning it back from him even as he turned to face his attacker.

"Blair, what-" Jim's voice came to him almost as a background sound as his attention focused in on the dark man some 20 feet away. He looked like an average man: 6 feet tall, curly black hair over a cocoa-skinned face, black denim shirt and blue jeans. Average, that is, if you were blind. His very stance was menacing somehow, and the depths of his eyes held a simmering hatred that shone through their rich toffee colour. His whole being radiated danger. He walked toward the pair slowly, his very swagger showing that he expected little difficulty in dealing with this matter. Neither his expressions nor motions showed any trace of surprise at the Force manipulation Blair had returned to him.

"Well, this is hardly what I expected." The man's voice suited him, smooth as honey with a cultured accent, yet with a fierce malevolence purring across the simplest of words. "I came looking for Jedi Nisa. Since I sincerely doubt two Jedi managed to find the same unexplored planet to hide on, you must be her brat." His lips drew back in a sick parody of a smile. "Shall we test her training?" With those words, the lightsaber in his hand sprang to life, its beam a violet shade that seemed to somehow reflect the violent heart of its owner.

"Shit!" Ellison cried, and pulled his gun, trying to push Blair behind him. "Cascade PD! Drop your weapon!"

Blair was unmovable, easily drawing on the Force to withstand Jim's push, and grabbed his arm even as the other man laughed heartily at the detective's announcement. "Jim! You need to keep out of this. You have no idea what you're getting into."

"What? Sandburg, what the hell-" but Blair wasn't listening. He dropped his backpack and removed the loose flannel shirt he wore over an inner T-shirt.

He looked up at Jim again, wishing one more time that Jim was Jedi, wishing he could just open his mind to him and let him *know*...but words would have to do for now. "James, I'm sorry. If I had thought for a minute they would find us, I would have told you...well, I would have told you a lot of things. I do love you."

There was no more time for talking, as the hunter leaped into the air at that moment, flipping and aiming his lightsaber in a downstroke headed directly for Blair's torso. Blair felt the movement and called his own lightsaber to his hand, lighting its blue fire and blocking the attack in one motion.

This, then, was his test. Blair had trained and sparred with masters all over the world from as far back as he could remember. The Force gave him a foreknowledge of their movements that gave him an edge they had no defense against. When he'd begun beating Naomi consistently some years before, he knew that the Force was strong with him. But now he stood, for the first time his lightsaber raised in true combat against someone else to whom the Force spoke. A minion of that dark and powerful side of the Force that promised power and strength, but brought forth only suffering and loss.

He felt the currents in the Force swirl around them as his adversary swung to his left and he blocked instinctively, counterspinning and bringing his own saber up on the right. Their movements flowed together gracefully, a deadly dance where a hidden choreographer called out each step to them only a fraction of time before they made it. A flurry of blows struck and blocked with Force-enhanced speed that Blair knew would appear a blur to those around them, yet each slight muscle movement calculated automatically.

Blair stopped thinking and forced himself to dwell only in the moment, feeling every movement, every object in their impromptu dueling arena. He backed up a few steps and ducked under the next swing. The dark Jedi's saber sizzled as it passed only inches over his head and sliced through the parking meter behind him.

He heard Jim's, "Oh my God!" behind him as he blocked the next thrust and returned one of his own. Violet and blue sparks flew as the sabers clashed and then his attacker lashed out with a side kick. Blair flung himself up into the air to avoid it, somersaulting over the enemy's head and landing with a spin to attack his opponent's unprotected back. The hunter turned barely in time to block the slice, catching a glancing blow on his shoulder with a hiss.

Both Blair and the hunter felt the pulse in the Force and jumped apart simultaneously, allowing the bullet Jim fired, at what he thought was a clear shot to the hunter's back, to pass between them and it slammed into a car at the curb. A second later, their sabers engaged again.

###

Jim stared in shock at the two men dueling before him. He felt as if he were watching two strangers. That wasn't--couldn't be--his Blair, gracefully wielding...whatever the hell that laser sword thing was. They'd dodged a bullet. He had a perfectly clear shot at that man's back, and he dodged it. Thank God Blair had dodged, too, or it would've hit him instead. His mind couldn't seem to grasp that thought, kept slipping around it like it was a piece of ice he was trying to grip in his hand. It had the same stinging, fiery sensation in his mind that holding ice gave to one's palm, too. They had just stepped out of the way of a bullet, then gone back to swinging swords like it didn't matter!

He watched, mesmerized, as Sandburg and the suspect traded blows. Sandburg took an elbow to the face, but rolled with the punch and threw himself up off the ground with an upward swing of his laser. His opponent blocked it, but was thrown back a few steps with the force of it. Sandburg pressed his advantage, keeping his opponent off balance for several crucial minutes and then he flung his hand out toward the other man. Jim's eyes widened as the darker man flew back through the air as if he'd been hit by a car. Blair hadn't even touched him that time!

Sandburg made another impossible leap, somersaulting again and landing next to the stranger, laser sword already swinging toward his neck. His opponent blocked shakily and rolled away from the next strike. He jumped up and ran across the road toward the people that were watching. Jim wasn't sure if they hadn't realized the danger or were fascinated by it, but a fair sized crowd had gathered during the duel.

The Sentinel could almost taste the fear and rage that rolled off the man as he ran and his Guide gave chase. Sandburg stopped suddenly, though, as his opponent snaked his arm around a young girl and held his laser to her throat.

"What now, Jedi?" The man sneered and the word 'jedi' was spoken almost disgustedly.

Blair turned off his weapon and stood silently, the intensity of his stare almost frightening. He and the perp locked gazes and just watched each other, neither moving. Jim had the feeling that something was going on, something unseen, something he couldn't sense. Their breathing was still heavy, if anything going up, as if they were still fighting. Both of their heartbeats were still elevated, pounding furiously in their chests, and while Blair seemed to almost exude calm, his enemy smelled of fear. Even when he seemed to have the upper hand, he was frightened.

The murderer's heartbeat spiked and he stumbled backwards as if he'd been kicked in the gut. The girl screamed as the laser glanced against the skin on her throat, leaving a burn. Her captor's expression changed to smug certainty, "I'd suggest you stop that, Jedi. You might cause a little...accident here."

Blair's fiery gaze turned smoky, and his whole body seemed to droop suddenly. He dropped his head for just a moment, a sudden and overwhelming sign of defeat, before looking up again at his attacker. "Let her go. Let her go, and I'll come with you."

"No!" Jim heard himself yelling, but he was rooted to the spot. He couldn't move...what could he do, anyway? The guy had dodged a *bullet* and he couldn't chance firing now, there were innocent people behind him. Blair flinched but the other man only smiled coldly.

Blair's weapon flew out of his hand to be caught easily by the man, who then powered down his own laser and let the girl go. "Then come, Jedi," he hissed and as Blair drew near, the man pressed something against his arm and Blair sagged.

Jim ran forward now, silent and swift, trying to get to his partner. The man caught Blair as he fell, swinging him with surprising ease up over his shoulder, and turned to look at Jim as he crossed the street to them. He waved his hand toward him and murmured, "Sleep." Jim's world turned dark as he fell. He struggled against the blackness, but it overtook him even as his soul was screaming for his Guide.

~~~~~~~~

He woke suddenly, every ounce of training he'd ever had screaming, 'Danger!' Fight or flight instinct sent adrenaline racing through him, but training held his body completely still while he reached out with his senses to determine the threat.

Firm, thin bed underneath him. Dark room, with a sense of a dim light source coming from behind him. A medicinal smell, and then the sounds surrounding him registered and he realized he was in a hospital, and there was a heartbeat close behind him...and the smell of cigars.

He sat up and turned to face his captain. "Simon, why am I in-" Memory assailed him and his words broke off. "Oh my God," he whispered. "Sandburg."

Simon had jumped in his seat when Jim spoke, and now he reached for the call button. "Why am I not surprised? You've been completely unconscious for six hours now, and your first thought when you wake up is Sandburg."

"Six hours!" Jim tried to jump out of the bed, but Banks caught his arms and pressed him back against the bed. "Let me go! Simon, he took Blair, I've got to find him!"

"You are not going anywhere until the doctors check you out," Simon ground out in clipped authoritarian tones. "Maybe you didn't hear me. You've been unconscious for six hours, Jim. Brainwave activity indicated you were just deeply asleep, but we couldn't wake you up. At all. You were basically in a coma, damn it, and we don't know what caused it! You are not getting out of that bed until the doctors say you can."

Jim subsided, for the moment, absorbing the captain's words. Asleep? Yes, he'd been asleep. But while he seriously doubted the doctors would accept it, he was afraid he knew exactly why they couldn't wake him up. Because the man who took Blair had told him to sleep.

~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

Weak and exhausted, Blair forced himself to release the tension in his body, and hung limply from his restraints. He weighed the benefits of using some of his reserve for a healing trance with the necessity of keeping up the strength of his mental shields. Sighing, he concentrated and lightly healed over the surface wounds to stop the blood loss, but went no further. Even that little effort left him breathing heavily.

He needed to save his strength, he needed to relax, and above all, he needed to think of a way out of this. Normal procedure when he'd been kidnapped in the past was to do what he could to rescue himself, without revealing his abilities, or barring that, stall for time until Jim could find him. But in this case, he wasn't entirely sure he *wanted* Jim to find him. Farak had ignored his partner during the battle, but he would regard the sentinel as more than just a local nuisance if he turned up again. Blair admitted to himself regretfully that not even sentinel abilities would be a match for Jedi training, Jedi reflexes, and the power of the Dark Force. And unless he could find a way to reach the Force he was cut off from, he would be little help.

Realizing that nothing would be served by worrying over the problem, Blair set about relaxing his mind, and he sank into a half-trance, half-sleep, hoping the rest would help restore his body's energy.

~~~

Jim tossed in his sleep, images of yesterday's battle flowing through his mind. Again and again he saw Blair jumping out of the way of his bullet, but other times Blair didn't move and the bullet impacted. Other times, he watched his friend lowering his weapon, saw the other man take it and inject his partner with something that dropped him almost instantly.

He was on his knees, tears streaming down his face, as he saw Blair fall yet again, his own gunfire still echoing in his ears. The dark man was sneering at him as his vision blurred. The scenery around them flowed and changed, the man disappearing, leaving only himself and Blair. He felt a shifting, a pulling inside himself, and he looked down to see black paws instead of hands. Jim snapped his gaze back up to his partner in time to see his body altering, morphing, until a grey wolf lay there, a desperate plea in his eyes. The panther that Jim had become padded over to his partner and saw a trap closed over its hind leg, and the blue eyes were glazed with pain. A whimper escaped the smaller animal and Jim ran his rough tongue up the side of his head, a futile gesture of comfort.

Their eyes locked together for a moment, and Jim found himself backing up a few steps. A nod from the wolf, and Jim leaped, not knowing what he was expecting, but suddenly he was falling *into* the wolf, into Blair, into his mind--

Knowledge exploded through him and he sat up in his bed, suddenly and fully awake. His first instinct was to try to dismiss it as a dream, a nightmare, a desperate wish to contact Blair...but he couldn't. He knew what he'd seen, felt, *remembered*, was as real as his own life. He'd seen Blair's.

~~~

"Happy birthday, sweetie!" Naomi's shining face greeted him as he opened sleep-fogged eyes. A moment's thought and he bounced up out of bed with even more enthusiasm than his 12 -- no, his 13-year-old body now -- usually exuded.

"Go wash your face and get dressed, honey. I made your favourite for breakfast - blueberry pancakes."

He rushed through his morning preparations and hurried to the table. Not much was said as he thoroughly enjoyed his food, but his mother's gaze shone indulgently down on him throughout. As his stomach filled and he finally slowed down, she asked, "Have you completed your meditations?" //insert name from JA3//

He nodded, and answered mentally. //You know I have, mom.

~~~~~~~~~~

To be continued...

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