Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Category:
Fandom:
Relationship:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Collections:
Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
Stats:
Published:
2020-11-04
Completed:
2004-07-01
Words:
28,886
Chapters:
3/3
Kudos:
10
Hits:
1,587

Vacation Blues...and Blacks and Purples and...

Summary:

Jim and Blair go on an expedition...and trouble follows.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't plan on owning them either. *Sigh* Oh well, I'm sure Petfly and those other people like them just fine...but I can borrow them, right? *grins*

****

"Jim!" Blair Sandburg called out as he yanked open the loft door. "Jim, are you here?"

Jim Ellison, detective to Major Crimes, looked up from his newspaper. After living with Blair for longer than he'd lived with his wife, Jim was still stunned and amused at the amount of energy Blair was able to produce. "Chief, I'm right here. What's going on?"

You'll never believe it! I got it. I got it. Eli told me today. The group's leaving in three weeks and we'll be gone for a month. I can't wait. I've never been there, Costa Rica, yes, but not there."

Jim, who had gone back to his reading, threw up his head and growled. "What are you talking about? Where are you going? You're leaving me?" Jim's voice sounded plaintive. "You know I need your help - my reserves are gone and it's going to be a busy month. I can't believe you'd do that to me!" Jim finished his rant at a roar.

Blair, who had been almost glowing with excitement until Jim started shouting, seemed to shrink into himself. "I thought you'd be excited, Jim. When I first brought it up, you were all for a vacation. I already talked with Simon, with your permission, I might add, and he's given both of us the time off. You had to use up your back vacation time or lose it and now is the best time to go. Yes, it's been busy, but things have started slowing down at the station. I told you about this expedition to Nicaragua with Eli. He wanted me along to help lead. I have the most experience and we work well together. I told him from the start that I'd only go if you could come with us. We had this conversation two weeks ago. Remember?"

"Chief..."

"Don't -Chief' me. You completely overreacted because you forgot. I got us an all expenses paid trip to an area we both enjoy but have never been and I'm tired of you yelling at me for helping you out." Blair slammed down his book bag and stormed into his room, slamming the French doors behind him as well.

Jim knew he had messed up. He vaguely remembered the conversation with Sandburg and realized he had tuned out his roommate's talking in favor of listening to the Jag's game on TV. He knew that he'd probably agreed with everything Blair had said. Jim also knew that it would take major sucking up to Blair to change his mood now that Jim had disappointed him. It was all his fault and the worse part was that all joy had left Blair over the trip and no matter how much Jim would try to make it up to Blair, that joy would be tainted by Jim's temper tantrum and not be as complete as it once was. Jim also knew that this trip was something he would enjoy. Nicaragua was a place he had always wanted to visit and he had always felt the inequality between himself and Sandburg. Blair worked with Jim daily in Jim's place of work. Jim had never made the effort to visit his favorite anthropologist in his native environment and this trip would give him the perfect place to observe the observer. Sandburg seemed well respected in his field and while at the police department he wasn't treated as a valuable member, Jim knew that Blair was considered one of the top up-and-coming anthropologist's of his time.

Jim got up and walked over to Sandburg's door. He rested his head on the frame and started talking. "I'm sorry. I forgot that we had talked about going. It sounds like something we'll enjoy a lot and I'm looking forward to seeing the country with you. I'd enjoy hearing more about it - will you come out and talk? Forgive me?" With those words, Jim Ellison knew his life had forever and irrevocably been tainted by Blair's influence. He had apologized AND asked for someone's forgiveness. The old, hardened Jim Ellison would never have done either of those things if threatened much less willingly. Jim shook his head and dismissed those thoughts - now was not the time for deep introspection about his life changes, now was the time to grovel like his life was on the line, which it most likely was. Sandburg had saved his life more times and ways than he could remember and the least he could do was let Sandburg plan their vacation. Hey, they might even have fun. Maybe they might not even run into any trouble. Jim snorted at that thought. The two of them couldn't even go fishing without running into criminals.

Jim heard small rustling sounds emerging from the room. Blair was moving around, playing with the books and papers that cluttered up his room. He'd go near the door, hesitate and move away. He did this several times, until he seemed to gain control of his anger. Blair grabbed the door handle and threw open the glass doors. "I can't believe you! You still don't trust me! What's it gonna take, Jim?" Giving up my life to serve you and only you? Wait, I seem to already have done that." Blair sighed and stood there staring at Jim.

"No, Blair. I trust you. It's me that has a problem..."

"You got that right," Blair muttered under his breath.

"I know I wasn't paying attention when you brought it originally and then you scared me. I thought you were leaving me and I don't know how I'd ever survive without you, even for a month. I didn't want you going anywhere without me."

"Jim," Blair started, "Don't you know by now I'd never leave you alone like that? I'm not your father, I'm not your mother - I'm not going to leave you or desert you. Have I ever given you any indication that I'm going to leave? Hell, I turned down Borneo for you - note I didn't hide that offer from you - what makes you think I'd leave without discussing it with you? You'd get plenty of advanced notice if, IF, I'd go anywhere."

"I know, Chief, but my heart is still learning what my head knows. I know you won't leave, but so many people already have. Many didn't want to go, but they left anyway."

"Jim, we're connected on a deeper level than most. You'd know if something happened to me. I'm sure the spirit plane wouldn't let me go without a fight. I'm your guide. I'll guide you in this life and the next. I'll guide you wherever I am. Did Inchacha leave after he died or does he still help you from the plane he's on now? He still helps, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, he does."

"Then I will too. No matter what, we are connected, in this life and the next, and you can't get rid of me that easy."

"I'm glad. I want you to stay," Jim whispered, blinking rapidly.

Blair clasped Jim's shoulder and maneuvered him over to the kitchen table. "So are you okay with our vacation? Can we start planning or should I start finding something else we can do? Together, of course." With that, Blair smiled at Jim and waited for an answer.

"No! Your plans sound great - warm weather, culture, my favorite anthropologist in his native environment...what more can we want?"

"Nothing, man, nothing except each other."

Two Weeks Later

"Thanks, Simon. I know it's busy at work and you could use our help, but we really need this break."

"Jim, you two have been working non-stop for longer than I can remember. Blair needs an opportunity to spend some time on his own life. I'm sure his department resents all the time he spends with us at the precinct. Anyway, it'll make the others finally do their own paperwork and give them a chance to catch a few criminals on their own."

"Yeah, Sandburg and I both have been carrying you all for years!"

"Jim, if you want to keep your vacation time, I'd leave now."

With a final smirk, Jim walked out of Simon's office, closed the door and made his way over to his desk. Along the way, he said his final farewells, before picking up his coat. As Jim entered the elevator, he felt a chill descend upon him, and shivered. Somehow he knew that the next time he entered this building, he would be a changed man.

After shaking off the odd feeling, Jim went down to his truck and started driving over to the University. Tonight would be the final meeting of Blair's travel group. In the end, it was decided that Jim had enough experience with the rainforests and Spanish, that he would help lead the group to the final destination along with his roommate and his roommate's advisor, Eli Stoddard. Jim pulled into Rainier University, parking in what was rapidly becoming his personal spot. As he entered the building, he ran into a familiar looking student.

"Hey, Detective! Looking for Blair?" the brown haired girl asked.

"Yeah, I just got here. Is he in the meeting room?" Jim asked, finally remembering that the girl, Stephanie, was going to be traveling with the group.

"Yeah, he and Dr. Stoddard are putting together final details before we leave on Thursday."

"Thanks. I'm running a few minutes late, so I should hurry. See you at the airport."

"'Bye, Detective." Jim watched as the girl ran down the steps and into the parking lot. She definitely had a lot of energy that he hoped would help her keep up during the trip.

Jim continued into the building, aiming for the small conference room that he knew he would find the two anthropologists. He paused to buy a candy bar and pop from a vending machine, sure that his roommate would have forgotten to eat lunch, and as it was late afternoon, knew that Blair would need some sort of energy burst soon. Jim walked to the conference room, and paused outside the door, listening to the men within.

"But Eli, if we stay the night in Managua, we can leave at daybreak and still be able to see when we get to our destination." Blair's distinctive voice could be clearly heard outside the door. Even if Jim didn't have exceptionally good hearing, people could hear Sandburg's voice throughout the hall.

"Blair, if we continue onto Leon after we land, we can have significantly more time to explore the area around our camp. I'd rather go as far as we can the first night and be able to press on the next day," Eli's voice sounded tired, like he had been fighting over this topic for too long.

Jim decided that it was time to make his presence known. "Hey. Sorry I'm late, but Simon held me up. Wanted to make sure that we really were leaving town so they could throw a celebration party. He also wanted to know if we wanted part in the betting pool on who would get injured, and when. I told him that we'd already placed our wagers and that we'd be collecting when we got back.

"Oh hey, Jim," Blair responded in a distracted voice. "Did you hear what we were talking about before you came in?"

"Yeah, it'd be kinda hard not to. I could hear you all the way down the hall. What's the problem?"

"Eli wants to continue on as far as we can after we land on Thursday. But I think it'd be better to stay in the city until the next day. Truthfully we don't have that much further to go and I think the students will be tired and to wound up to be able to continue on. We'll be taking the buses to at least Leon, and they are a tiring experience for someone who's not used to them. After traveling for several hours-that layover really gets us-they aren't going to be alert enough to keep an eye on all our luggage and equipment. What do you think?" Blair looked at Jim with his patented puppy dog eyes, waiting for the answer to his question.

"Well, I do think that it'd be wise to stop in the city. I think that we're getting in late enough that we wouldn't be able to take the buses till the next day anyway. And isn't this the first expedition for several of the students? Have they left the country before?"

"Yes, this is the first traveling several students have done. You might be right. Fine, we won't lose that much time, and between the three of us, we can make sure that the camp is set up quickly and efficiently," Eli gave in with good grace and started packing up. "Jim, you got here just in time to drive Blair home. That was the last detail we disagreed on. Everyone's meeting at the airport three hours before hand in two days and I'll see you then. I'm sure Blair can give you the rest of the details."

"Sure, Jim come on, let's go. I'll pay for take-out, don't feel like cooking tonight. I'll tell you the details on the way," Blair jumped up from the chair he had just sat in and started packing up himself. "I just have to stop in my office to pick up some last minute paperwork and few books, and then we can go." Blair started walking towards his office, not checking to see if Jim was following him. "Good night, Eli, see you at the airport!"

Eli paused, chuckled at his student's exuberance, and replied, "Good night, Blair, Jim. I'll see you soon."

Jim responded to the professor and then followed Blair further into the building. After a quick stop at the office, the two got into the truck and, after arguing the benefits of Chinese versus WonderBurger, decided to go for Italian. Blair filled Ellison in on the details he missed at the meeting and Jim decided the group was finally ready for the trip. While not a truly long expedition, only a month long, there were hundreds of details that needed to be decided on before they left; otherwise the whole trip would be one of confusion.

The two men, after dinner, spent the rest of the evening preparing for the trip. Between the two of them, they knew that they wouldn't forget anything. Packing two days before they left also gave them some time to pack anything if they discovered they missed something. The rest of the night was spent discussing the exact itinerary of the trip. This would be more of a data gathering trip, rather than a multi-discipline expedition. The students would be traveling around the country, seeing many of the artifacts and ruins that were available to most visitors. The rest of the time would be spent talking with the natives about fairly recent events in the government and the impact the civil war had on the country. Some time would be spent in the rainforest searching for a lost city rumored to exist that some guerilla fighters had rediscovered in their hiding out in the north. However, Eli and Blair were not expecting to find anything significant in the forest.

"So, Blair, do you think you're ready to go? Got everything packed? Cash, passport...teddy bear?"

"Funny, Jim. I should be asking you the same question. I've packed everything, and my passport is with my ticket. You have everything? Your white noise ear plugs, eye mask, and all that stuff? Once we get into Nicaragua, I doubt I'll be able to replace those things, so you'll have to do without."

"Yeah, I got everything. Don't worry so much."

Blair gave Jim a look at the last remark. "Me? Worry so much? Hello, kettle? This is the pot. You're black."

"So how long did that take you to come up with?" Jim decided that it really was his duty to give his roommate a hard time.

"Like I said, funny, Jim. Why don't we go to bed, it's late and we have a lot to do tomorrow. Night, Jim," with that, Blair headed into his bedroom and fell quickly asleep.

"Night, Blair," Jim went up the stairs and got ready for bed. However, he did not fall asleep as quickly as his roommate. He spent a while going through the checklist in his head, making sure that he had remembered everything. Medicine chest, check. Extra food, check. Extra survival supplies, check. Jim knew that he hadn't forgotten anything important, but with the luck he and Sandburg had on vacation, he knew that before the month was up, they'd need some of the extra equipment he was bringing. With that though, Jim fell asleep and dreamed of a vacation free from drug lords, guerilla fighters and gun shots. He wouldn't mind the lizards though...

The Next Day:

"Hello, this is Captain David Claire speaking. We're currently cruising at 35,000 feet and are just reaching California. We're still on time and will reach our destination at 7:30 P.M. The seat belt sign will be turned off in just a moment; feel free to move about the cabin at that time. Thank you. Hola, me llamo es Capitán David Claire hablando..."

"Jim, you okay, man?" Sandburg's voice cut through the voice, barely discernable, filtering through the speakers on the plane. "You've been grimacing since we got to the airport. Where're your dials?" Blair whispered to his partner.

"Dials? I have dials?" Jim closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headrest. "Everything's too loud and the smells. Make it stop. Now." Jim's face continued to pale as he finished talking with his partner.

"Okay, take a deep breath, another and one more. Good. Now, I want you to picture the dials. I'm going to try something new. Hopefully it'll give you a bit more control. Sound good?"

"Yeah. So I can see the dial, what should I picture instead?" Jim asked quickly, just wanting the pain to end and not having energy to argue with his enthusiastic friend.

"Okay. I saw you playing with that new music program on my laptop. Picture those electronic dials - they have a lot more levels than the basic ten we started with. Let me know when you've got it in mind and tell me where it is set at." As Blair waited, he continued to think rapidly - -Jim must be in pain if he's doing this without protest.'

"Jim, doing okay? It doesn't usually take this long for you to find the dials."

"Sandburg, I think the pressure is affecting how I handle things. Can't picture the new dials. Can't picture the old dials. All I can see are the inside of my eyelids and they ain't pretty," Jim spat, in a fit of anger.

"Okay, swallow, see if that helps. We need to relieve the pressure before we go any further. I'll try to find some gum; I should have thought about this earlier but I keep forgetting that we haven't flown on a commercial flight since your senses came online." Blair continued searching through his pack, looking for the gum and the earplugs he had in his bag. "Ah, here we go. Chew on this; it'll help reduce the pressure in your ears. After we do that, you should have more control. Once we get you under control, you can use the plugs to help block the sound of the engine."

Jim hastily put the gum in his mouth and chewed rapidly. He sighed as the pressure released and his pain levels were reduced immensely. He quickly searched for the dials, found them and adjusted them as far as he could, which wasn't much. "Chief, found the dials, but they aren't moving much."

Blair reached out and grabbed Jim's arm gently. "Okay, keep up your breathing and on the exhale picture all your stress, all the pressure, all the noise and smells just vanishing. I want you to breathe, release and dial down. Breathe, release and dial down. Again. And again. One more time. Good." Blair's soothing voice droned on for several minutes, calming not only Jim, but passengers in the rows around him. Several children stopped screaming. Their parents looked at Blair with gratitude.

The lines of pain around Jim's eyes faded away and he felt aware enough to straighten up in his chair and look around. Even through the lingering pain, Jim saw the effect Blair had on the people around him. Even on a plane with no connection to any one, his guide helped to calm not only himself, but the people around him. "I feel much better, dials are around 3. The pressure really got to me." Jim tried to thank his guide without saying the words.

"Here, put these in and dial up enough to hear me but not enough to hear the engines." Blair handed Jim the white noise generators/ear plugs he had rescued from his bag. Jim took them, placed them on his ears and dialed up a notch. He sighed and said, "Much better. Thanks."

And Jim really was grateful - he no longer had any pain at all. He knew that he'd never have been able to fix this by himself.

Blair knew that if he didn't make light of this situation, Jim would get too worked up in this own self-pity and fear based reactions. "Wow, you actually thanked me! I think that's a first. But it was nothing. I got Larry meditate, I can get you to do the same!"

Nobody wanted a grumpy Jim.

"I still think it's funny that you got searched at the gate," Blair continued. "The expression on your face when they made you take off your shoes. And then the look on the inspectors' faces when they saw how organized Mr. Anal Retentive Detective made his carry on." Blair continued to snicker. He knew Jim was upset that his white socks got dirty from the concourse floor.

"Hey, watch it with the monkey references, Hair Boy. It'd been you striping down but they heard you being referred to as -professor' by one of the students. Then that last inspector who showed up late had taken a class with you and vouched that you weren't a terrorist, even with that hair style," Jim shot back at his barely controlled roommate.

"Whatever, Jim." Blair quickly turned serious. "They'll be serving dinner soon. Watch out for any chemicals put in the food that they'd use to keep it fresh. While you have no problems with Wonder Burger, I'm not sure how you'll do with this stuff."

"Yeah, I know. It shouldn't be too long after that, that we'll be landing."

"I'm looking forward to some of the views from the plane. Once it gets dark, you can see the city lights all the way down to Managua and it is really beautiful. You'll have to tell me what you see."

"Sure, sure, whatever you say," Jim answered quickly, hoping to get out of a series of tests from his scientist of a friend.

"Nice try, Jim, won't work and I'm STILL going to ask you how far you can see." Blair knew that if he didn't keep his Sentinel's leash short, and make him aware of who was in charge, Jim and his furry spirit guide would walk all over him.

The two settled down into their seats and started watching the in-flight movie. They were interrupted by the dinner cart, which didn't turn out to be too awful and both men quickly consumed the meal. Blair managed to fall asleep and Jim semi-zoned on his partner's breathing. Blair was woken up by the pilot announcing the time and temperature in Managua. The time was only slightly different from their time zone, so luckily they wouldn't have to worry about adjusting to local time. The temperature, however, was much warmer and much more humid than at home. It was even raining slightly as the plane readied itself for landing.

"Jim, dial down, the noise the wheels make on impact might be too loud for your generators. Once we've touched down and stopped at the gate, give them back to me and I'll keep an eye on them so you don't lose them. I have the case right here. Once we're in the terminal, we'll be meeting up with the students outside of customs. The building isn't very large at all and the only problems should be the crowd outside the airport waiting for their friends and family. Even with the rain, it'll still be crowed. We won't have much trouble finding a taxi; the key is not to lose anyone."

Jim nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'll try to keep track of the students. After meeting with them over the past few weeks, I can identify most of them fairly quickly."

Ellison and Sandburg remained quiet until the doors of the plane opened. They were in the back, so they stayed seated until they could actually move up the isle. The trip through customs went quickly and they managed to gather all the students without any problems. One of the students, Karie Plahye, was missing a bag, but the airline was able to track it to an earlier flight and retrieved it from the storage area it had been placed in. As a group, they stepped outside to the damp air of Managua, Nicaragua. The students' excited voices cut through the air and several taxi drivers approached the group.

Blair and Eli, who had been letting Blair lead, stepped forward and started negotiating with two drivers for the price of the group to be taken to the hotel. As the two anthropologists shook hands with the drivers, the students started getting into the taxis. Blair made sure all the drivers knew where to go and got into the last taxi with 4 students. Jim had gone with another cab and Eli with another. Luckily only one group of students didn't have a group leader with them, but one of the students spoke fluent Spanish and had, at one point, lived in Nicaragua for a brief period of time and was familiar with the customs.

Blair sighed. They had arrived safely and hadn't lost anyone yet. He hoped they all made it to the hotel in the same condition. He watched the passing scenery with a tired interest and only really focused when a student asked him a question. Within 20 minutes, the taxi had arrived at the hotel and the students exited the cab and joined their fellow travelers. The last taxi containing Eli Stoddard and 3 students pulled up. Eli, Jim and Blair left the students by the gate and walked into the small lobby where several cats surrounded the trio.

"We have reservations under Stoddard." Blair spoke in Spanish.

"Of course, here we are," the night clerk replied. "The rooms are just around the corner. Here are the keys."

Eli finished signing in the group while Blair and Jim distributed keys. "Guys, we'll be waking up at 8 in the morning. One of us will walk around and knock, but that's all you get. Be packed and ready to go by 9. Remember, you can drink the water, but it's probably safer not to. See you tomorrow."

Blair and Jim nodded good-night to Eli and opened their room. It was simply furnished with two single beds and a T.V. There was a small bathroom with a shower. The men quickly stripped down and hopped into bed, saying good-night. Morning would come quickly and it would be a busy day trying to arrange the last minute details of the trip.

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

"Wakey, wakey, Jim. Time for eggs and baccy!" Blair Sandburg's cheery voice rang out in the small hotel room. He moved about the limited space quickly, repacking the few items he had unpacked the night before. He turned on the TV, hoping to catch a local weather station. Noticing that his partner was still sleeping, Blair took this opportunity to get back at Jim for all the times Jim had very forcibly woke him. Blair grabbed the edge of the thin sheet covering his co-leader, and pulled. Other than a small grunt, Ellison didn't move.

Blair decided this called for drastic measures. He filled a glass of water from the sink. Taking his life in his own hands, he moved back to the other room. Quickly making sure the door to the outside was open; Blair flung the half-filled glass of water on his partner.

"Wha...!" Jim fell out of bed with a bellow. He got to his feet and caught sight of his manically grinning friend. "You're dead, Sandburg!" Jim growled out.

Blair took the opportunity to run for the door, escaping only with inches to spare. "You have to come back here sooner or later, Sandburg!"

Blair didn't slow down-he knew that if he did, Jim would get his revenge. He quickly reached the lobby of Los Felipes, the hotel they were staying in, and decided to buy a bottle of pop. The clerk placed the soda in a plastic bag, tying the opening around the straw. Blair had exchanged a small amount of dollars to Cordoba the night before at the airport so he could pay in local currency. Though he knew that he could have easily paid for the soda in dollars, the anthropology student knew he'd need smaller coins and that he'd need American dollars for leaving the country.

As he was paying, the clerk started talking. "¿Eli Stoddard forma parte de su grupo, sÃ? Tengo un mensaje para él." (Eli Stoddard is part of your group, yes? I have a message for him).

"SÃ, Eli es uno de los lÃderes del grupo. Yo me cercioraré que él recibe su mensaje. Estoy seguro que él estará en escogerlo en breve arriba. ¡Gracias!" (Yes, Eli is one of the leaders of the group. I will make sure that he receives your message. I am sure that he will be in shortly to pick it up. Thank you!) Blair started walking towards the patio.

Pausing to pet the kittens that seemed to be living in the lobby, Blair moved back to the courtyard to start knocking on doors. The hotel had been fairly empty, so the students had all been placed next to each other quite close to the lobby. He started with Eli's room quickly determining the man was awake and almost ready to go. Informing Eli about the message, they each wished each other good morning and made quick plans to meet in an hour. Blair started walking to wake the other members.

He knocked on the students doors. Everybody was already awake. Several had to finish packing and dressing but everyone still had plenty of time to finish. He delayed going back to his room until the last moment, knowing that Jim would have had time to clean up and would be waiting for him. When he did approach, Jim swung the door open and stared at Blair.

Blair approached cautiously, "Jim, truce man, okay? We have to meet with Eli soon." Blair hoped Jim would wait for the revenge, but then again, the anticipation would be bad-having a specially trained roommate was a challenge sometimes.

As Sandburg approached the door, Jim came running out. By the look on Jim's face, Blair knew he didn't have a chance and took off running.

Jim herded Blair through the trees on the smooth path; the small open aired area was filled with tables, chairs and coaches. These slowed him down and Jim gained ground just as Blair reached the pool.

"Don't think about it, Jim! It'd take forever to dry these clothes out with this humidity. Please!" Jim, however, was not in the mood to be merciful. Blair continued backing up. Within a step or two, he reached the bridge that was crossed the widest part of the pool. He stepped up and turned around, hoping that by taking the bridge, he could avoid Jim.

Jim saw this, and ran even faster to the other end of the pool. Slightly slipping, Jim reached the end just as Blair did. He reached out, grabbed Blair's arm, and swung him around. Putting just the right amount of pressure on Blair, he managed to tip him over into the pool.

Blair came up spluttering. "Jim! I'm going to get you for this! And tests, lots of tests are in your future!"

"Uh huh. Right. Come on, Sandburg, there isn't that much time before we have to meet with Eli. You're going to make us late with your swim." Jim grabbed Blair's hand and helped swing him over to the pool stairs. Not waiting for Blair to finish exiting the pool, Jim walked slowly back to the room. Blair followed quickly, telling Jim that the students were up and mostly ready and that they were meeting with Eli after he picked up his message.

20 minutes later, Blair had changed and had hung his clothes out to door as much as they could before leaving. He'd ask the front desk later if they had a plastic bag he could use so the rest of his clothes wouldn't get wet as well. He didn't have much hope that they would dry anytime soon, though.

Blair and Jim walked over to Eli's door, which was slightly open to catch a breeze. They knocked and slowly opened the door. Eli was sitting on one of the beds, his head in his hands. He looked up and started speaking, "Bad news guys. The message, Blair told you I received a message, yes?" Jim nodded. "Well, the message was from my contact in the government. He asked me to call him back, and I just got off the phone with him. The area we were planning on studying had a major earthquake yesterday afternoon. The entire area is in shambles. He said that aftershocks were felt throughout the country, but that the mountain area we were going to was devastated and that he was recommending that no one go near there, much less study. I have no idea what we're going to do for four weeks!" Eli started pulling at his hair. He knew that the tickets would be very expensive to change and the students would be incredibly disappointed. They had planned on studying a very unique culture and now that opportunity would be lost.

Jim and Blair looked at each other. They were just grateful that they weren't involved in the earthquake; knowing their luck, they would've been at the center of the thing and have terrorists to contend with as well. "Look on the bright side, Eli; at least we weren't up there already with the students. Our original plans had us up there two days ago."

Eli looked up with an expression of disbelief on his face. He started laughing, and soon sounded almost hysterical. "Oh god, with your two's luck, I'm surprised that didn't happen! You're right. We're here. We're healthy; everything else will come out in the wash."

"You know," Jim started out slowly, "we had planned on showing the students around the country anyway. We were only going to be up in the mountains for part of the trip. Nothing we planned was written in stone. We could do the touristy stuff first and then when we've run out of places to see, we could have a discussion then about where to go. Let's get the students together, check out the Lonely Planet Guidebook and see what other places the students would like to go to in addition to the ones we've already picked out. I know that there are islands in either Lake Managua or Lake Nicaragua that cater to tourists. Maybe we could spend some time there."

"Good idea. Blair, why don't you round up the students. Get their perspective on events and go from there." Eli gestured out the door, and waited for Blair to follow his directive. Sandburg walked out the door and started knocking on doors. He grew concerned as no one was answering the door at any of the rooms. He turned around when he heard laughter from the patio around the pool. Walking quickly over to them, he rapidly told them about the earthquake.

"Don't worry; we're planning on making the best of this situation. In fact, Eli, Jim and I are holding a meeting in Eli's room...well, actually it's kinda nice out here, let's have it here. Anyway, we're holding a meeting to see what you guys want to do. We're here; we might as well stay here and see what the country has to offer. Go get whatever guides you brought with you and we'll meet back here in 10 minutes. I'm just going to go get Jim and Eli." Blair watched the students go back to their rooms and walked back to Eli's. "Hey, I told the students to meet back by the pool. It's cooler than the room and there's more room there. Sound good?" Eli and Jim nodded. Eli picked up the room key and the three men started walking towards the pool. "I told them about the earthquake and they are grabbing their guides. They seemed disappointed, but glad that we weren't just scrapping the whole trip."

Soon the entire group was sitting around pool, lounging. Blair was tracking suggestions, which were being rapidly flung around. Jim was very impressed at his partner's ability to keep track of the ideas. He knew that he would never have been able to keep up. Jim was grateful that the students were taking their disappointment so well. No one was complaining and a couple had even suggested that they go up to the disaster area and help out. Eli had turned the suggestion down; he stated that he had already asked, and his contact had said that there were enough people already and that the group should enjoy themselves.

Plans quickly formed up and immediate plans were to explore Managua for today and tomorrow go up to Leon for several days. Students were kind of shocked at how little there was to do in the capital city of Managua. They planned to spend another day at the end of the trip in the city but other than that, not much other time there.

By noon, the group had a tentative schedule worked out. Changes would be allowed with the full agreement of the group. After a quick group cheer, another decision was made. What to do for lunch. Knowing there wasn't a lot in the area; Eli went to the lobby to see what was in the city. He also confirmed that they could have the rooms for one more night. Fortunately, the group could stay in the rooms they were in, but they would have to leave by noon the next day. The clerk told him that they'd have to take a taxi to the downtown for restaurants otherwise they could go to a market. He also told them about a Mexican restaurant within walking distance to the hotel.

As the group planned to go to shore of Lake Managua, as well as the president's office, a museum and a couple other archeological sites that the city had, they decided to save some money and walked to the Mexican restaurant. After lunch, the Rainier group attracted the attention of several taxis. Finally, the studious part of their trip had begun as they made their way toward the Palacio Nacional, an art museum in the old palace that still contained government offices on the upper floor.

*****

As the group planned to go to shore of Lake Managua, as well as the president's office, a museum and a couple other archeological sites that the city had, they decided to save some money and walked to the Mexican restaurant. After lunch, the Rainier group attracted the attention of several taxis. Finally, the studious part of their trip had begun as they made their way toward the Palacio Nacional, an art museum in the old palace that still contained government offices on the upper floor.

*****

The taxis dropped the group off two blocks from the museum. The students started chatting excitedly about what they were about to see. Walking past a fairly small park with monumental statues, the group decided that on the way back, they would take a closer look. Within a few minutes they had reached the museum, just in time to avoid the small rain shower that had started. An ice cream vendor called to them, asking if they wanted a sweet, but as they couldn't take it into the museum, everyone turned the offer down.

As they walked into the building, they were greeted in heavily accented English. "Please, it is 20 cords per person and you will get a tour guide as well." The worker asked for the admission price, waiting for the money before calling over a guide.

The tour guide led the students through the museum, stopping briefly in each room, pointing out national artists and contributing some basic facts of the country. The museum comprised mainly of modern art; however, it contained some ancient statues and even some animal skeletons of creatures native to Nicaragua.

Blair was walking between two of the rooms when he suddenly stopped. "Jim, get over here!" Jim and Eli walked over to Blair who was staring at a very weather beaten statue. "Do you know what this is?" Blair excitedly asked.

It's a stone guardian statue that was usually located on the boundaries of the tribe to warn foreigners away," Eli responded, pushing his glasses further up his nose as he peered at the stone blob.

"So it's a sentinel?" Jim's blue eyes sparkled with repressed humor as he made eye contact with his partner. "Weren't sentinels human?"

"Mostly, but this could be a warning that the tribe had a human guardian. I wonder if the guide would let me photograph this?"

"Probably not. We didn't get an option at the beginning to pay to take pictures. And Jim, Blair's told you about sentinels?" Eli looked over his shoulder as he talked.

"Of course, who hasn't he told; first words out of his mouth the first time we formally met were all about those tribal guardians." Jim eyed Eli wondering how much he knew about Blair's dissertation. Eli had been Blair's advisor for years, after all.

"Blair was planning on writing his dissertation on the subject but he couldn't find a subject with all five senses enhanced. We, the faculty that is, were relieved when he finally gave up and changed to the police society's topic. We knew that while two or three enhanced senses were frequently found in nature, that in all likelihood a full sentinel has been breed out of society; they just aren't practical anymore. Blair can always keep searching, but it's time to move on and get the doctorate. Hey! George, Salia! Don't get too far ahead of the group. Excuse me, gentlemen, I need to catch them before they decide to run off again." With that, Eli Stoddard walked off leaving a stunned Jim and an embarrassed Blair.

"What's this? Dissertation on Police Societies? Something you want to share with me, Sandburg?" Jim growled as he focused piercing blue eyes on his partner.

"Jim," Blair started, "I was gonna tell you, I swear."

"Right and when would that have been?"

"Um, soon? Before I finished? Listen, we both know you're relieved that I changed topics. There was no way I could keep your name out of the document and even if I did, it would have been way easy to figure out who you are. Plus, you remember why I didn't go to Borneo?"

"Yeah," Jim grunted.

"It's about friendship, Jim. And well, it IS and that means I'm already too involved with my subject to maintain the proper impartiality needed between research subject and tester. I'm too personally involved. Damn it, I live with you! I've saved your life; you've saved mine. With police work there's enough there to keep a professional distance from it all. I can focus on the other members of the department. I can avoid you in my dissertation if I need to. And I told you before, I had enough research to do ten dissertations; not all that information I gathered was just on you and your senses. A lot of it fit in with the police society theme. Just admit it - you're relieved, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I am relieved. But what happens after?"

"After? After I get the PhD? I've been talking with Simon. The academy isn't that long and afterwards he thinks that I could get a profiling type job; nothing I'm not doing now, except you might have to share me more. I'd get paid AND I'd get insurance. Simon says that I could probably skip half the written courses. I'd be able to test out. The rest would be physical training and self defense type courses. But Jim, let's finish this later. The group is way ahead of us; later tonight we'll talk it over and get you over the fear that I'll leave you. I promise I won't. O.K., Jim?"

With a sigh and a grimace, Jim replied, "Yeah that sounds good. But we WILL talk about withholding information from your partner."

"Whoa, Jim Ellison wants to talk? Will wonders never cease?!"

With a snort and a swat at Blair's head, Jim moved after Eli and the students. "Hey watch the hair man, watch the hair!" Blair jogged slightly to keep up with his very non stone faced guardian of the tribe.

*****

The rest of the tour finished quietly, without great shock or revelation. The students and their teachers topped briefly at the museum store, but held off on buying until they came back at the end of the trip. No one wanted to carry books and pottery around for three weeks. "Though guys? You might want to pick up some postcards. Until we get to Granada, it'll be almost impossible to find any. If you want to send some out before the end of the trip, now's the time to pick them up."

"Why's that, Professor?" Salia asked.

"While Nicaragua is trying to become more of a tourist country, it still is gaining the traditional tourist feel and gifts, such as postcards."

"Huh, that's interesting."

A few minutes later, standing on the stoop of the Palace Museum, they took in the square they faced. Opposite of them was the governmental office building and beyond that was Lake Managua. To the right was an old church, the municipal cathedral, which was being rebuilt. To the left was an elaborate fountain that was a focal part of the square itself.

"Okay, everybody, what next? I don't think visitors are allowed in the church, but we can certainly take pictures of the outside. The guards (and their guns) make it seem like avoiding the governmental building is wise. But we could walk down to the beach. I've been told we can see one of the volcanoes from there," Blair finished his speech and waited for people's reactions.

Everybody nodded and started for the church which was very beaten up and in the process of being restored. A few took pictures by the fountain, posing and playing around with the brightly colored gargoyles on the base. Within ten minutes the group headed past the government building. They had to pause as a car exited the driveway just as they were passing, but it didn't contain anyone famous so they quickly moved on. Within another ten minutes, they had crossed the road; Blair narrowly being missed by a speeding ex-school bus used for public transportation.

"Watch it Chief!"

"Thanks, BP. I knew you had my back!" Blair smiled sweetly up at Jim, twinkle in his eye.

*****

The group walked down the slight grassy slope, down to the beach. Though it was slightly overcast, everyone could still see fairly far, though the other side of the lake was too far away to see the edge. However, to the left, they could see mountains and a volcano in the distance.

As they stood around, in the distance, they could hear the traffic from the busy street. They were still in full view of the government building they passed. Several students started sitting carefully on the ground, while the rest of the group finished taking their photographs. Blair, Jim and Eli joined the group on the sand and started getting impressions from the students about their reaction to the country.

"Professor Sandburg," started one of the sophomore girls, Allison.

"Please, it's Blair, he's Jim and Eli?"

"Call me Eli; Dr. or Professor makes me feel old."

Allison smiled, "Blair, it's so different here; I can't believe we're in a major city and there were farm animals in the street. And those taxis - I've almost gotten run over twice!"

"Yeah. Dangerous roadways here. And the sidewalk - I almost fell in a hole because I tripped on a crack by the hotel." Sean, a junior anthropology major, added.

"Yup, you have to watch out for those tricky sidewalks; the traffic here is very non-structured. Taxis are out to make money and it's hard to do when it's only a few cents to travel from one end of the city to the other," Blair commented.

Eli and Jim both nodded their heads, agreeing with Blair. By this time the rest of the group had joined them, arranging themselves in a circle.

Blair glanced down at his watch. "Oh, hey, it's 2 o'clock already. Are you all hungry?"

Cheers greeted his question.

"Okay, why don't we grab on of the -killer' cabs and go to TGIF's. It's pretty good and will give you all a chance to try out your Spanish while still being able to recognize the food. But wait, Jim, do you have the guide?"

"Yeah." Jim handed it over to Blair.

"It says here that the Huellas de Acahualinca closes at 4. Can you wait until we see that? It's a very small site - it'll only take us 30 or 40 minutes. Then we could have a late lunch/early dinner. From what I've heard, there are only the footprints and a small room with some information about them to see."

The group held a mini conference and decided to go for it. "But after lunch/dinner could we go back to the hotel and swim?" Allison and Sean asked in tandem.

Eli, Jim and Blair shared a look and agreed. It was hot out and the students weren't used to the humidity. The swim would do them good. They all got up and started walking back to the road. As they approached the street, rapid gunshots were heard in the distance. Jim and Blair immediately dropped to the ground, shouting for the rest of the group to do the same. A couple students stayed standing, stunned. They were grabbed by the knee and dragged down to the ground by Jim, Blair and Eli, who was used to unusual situations when he traveled.

Jim kept a look out for the shooter, but couldn't see anything. Blair grabbed his shoulder as Jim stretched out his hearing and sight, piggybacking sight to see where the shots had come from. He quickly zeroed in on the government building that they had passed. The driveway had a car half in and half out, the gate open. He could see guards on the ground, not moving. He stretched his eyesight even further. Jim caught movement on the far side of the building; a man was fleeing the scene. The man was stuffing a gun into the gym bag he was carrying.

Jim knew that he'd never be able to catch up with him and he hadn't caught sight of the face. "Blair, Eli, we need to get out of here. Guards were killed. We don't want to get involved with the police over here. The students don't need that. We didn't see anything; we wouldn't be of any help anyway. I can hear sirens, but if we go back to the shore and walk up to that park over there, they'll never know we were here."

"Jim," Blair whispered, "did you see who did it?"

"No, I saw someone running away, with a gun, but didn't see his face. We'd be useless and most likely get harassed for being American and in the area. Let's go."

The three chaperones quickly and efficiently forced the frightened students back towards the lake. Once headed in the opposite direction of the shots, the students seemed to come out of the shock they were in. "What was that?" "What happened?" "Those were shots!" All the undergraduates seemed to be in a daze and were trying to find an answer to the violence they had just experienced. As the group ran away from the scene, Jim and Blair tried to check the students to make sure no one was hurt. Fortunately, no one seemed to be.

After a few minutes, the group was far enough way that Jim felt that they would be safe from the authorities. He slowed them down and when they reached a small park area, had everyone sit down so that they could catch their breath and make sure that everyone understood what had happened and that they couldn't act rashly.

Blair managed to calm down Allison who was hysterical. She had never even been near a gun before and she couldn't believe that someone had been shot. "Allison, it's okay. You have to calm down. We need you to be calm and rational so we can decide what we're going to do. Please?"

"O o okay, Blair. But I can't believe that happened!" Allison was so upset, she was stuttering.

"It'll be okay, I promise." Blair patted Allison on the shoulder and turned around to look at Jim who was comforting George what seemed to be hyperventilating. As he moved to go help, George seemed to have calmed down enough to function.

Once everyone had calmed down and stopped fluttering around, Jim turned to the group. He asked, "What did everyone see?"

After looking around at each other to see who would talk first, Sean finally spoke up. "I didn't really see anything. The fence that surrounds the building was in the way and it was too far to see. I heard the shots and screams. My face was planted in the ground so I didn't see anyone afterwards, either."

Mumbles agreeing with Sean came from the rest of the students. "I think someone shot someone coming out of the building. I got us out there because we didn't really see anything...only heard the shots. If we had stayed around we would have had to talked to the authorities and I didn't really want to chance that. Probably it would have been all good, but it would have taken ages and we don't really have a lot of time to stay around Managua waiting for the police to talk with us. Also, whoever did it, would have found out that there were witnesses. As it is, no one except us, realize that we were there." Jim's speech was met with concerned glances and whispers.

"But the guards saw us pass!"

"But it was almost an hour before the incident. They'll maybe report that several Americans walked by and never returned, but it'll be assumed that we walked back this way. Which we did. I don't want anybody to worry. No one realizes we were there. The police will be taking care of the matter and none of us are in danger."

The students quickly glanced around and tried to let Jim convince them that they were safe and that they weren't going to be killed at any minute. "Um, Professor? I don't think I really feel like going to the museum right now, I don't know if there is even time," Allison spoke up hesitantly.

Blair looked at his watch and grimaced. "Yeah, it's getting late. We should stop to get something for dinner and then go back to the hotel and relax. Process this and move on."

Eli gave himself a shake and seemed to come back into the present. "I agree with Blair. We've all had a shock and we need to get some food in us. We can finish seeing the sights either tomorrow or at the end of the trip when we come back through. Let's go eat, then go back and relax at the hotel."

Everyone gave agreeing noises and started to walk toward the road. Several taxis passed by and as they got closer, the taxi drivers started calling out. Eli called out in Spanish and a few cars stopped, waiting for directions. Eli rapidly found out the price to take them to the restaurant and arranged for the cabs to all meet at TGIF's. He had prearranged the price and made sure the students knew how much to pay at the end of the trip.

He gave one last look back toward to the government building where the shooting took place before getting into the cab and shutting the door.

****

Interlude

Back Home:

The busy bullpen rang with noise. The casual observer would assume that chaos ruled this office on a regular basis. However, the more informed observer would realize that this was a controlled and contained chaotic mess that the men and women of Major Crime created and used to keep their high solve rate high.

Occasional lulls in conversation and movement around the bullpen did happen. One of these lulls was being experienced as Captain Simon Banks entered the room - heading for his personal office at the back of the room. Before he walked too far in, he had been ambushed by two detectives, one inspector, one secretary and one former bomb squad captain. On the way through the police department building, several officers had also way sided Banks, causing him to be several minutes late and Simon Banks was not a man to be late.

"What do you people want!" growled Banks, who hadn't had the chance to have his first cup of coffee that particular morning. An early call from his son, Daryl, had interrupted his morning routine as well as a call from his vacationing dynamic duo.

While the fierce growl caused the mob to proceed cautiously, as the elite of the department, they didn't let their captain's tone of voice control their next move. Voices demanded, "Have you heard from Ellison and Sandburg? Did they call yet? Did they get into trouble yet? Has the bet been won?"

And that was the crux of the matter. Much money was riding on Sandburg and Ellison's vacation. It was widely known that the two couldn't take a vacation without running into trouble.

Those that worked with the duo placed bets on the welfare of their comrades. These were not stupid men and women who worked the toughest cases in Cascade. While smart, they had an addiction to trying to predict the occurrences their fellow detectives (Blair was one in all but name and paycheck) usually ran into. They enjoyed taking advantage of their workmates' vacation jinx to gain themselves some easy money. The more unusual and unique the situation the two found themselves in, the more dough was paid off to the winner.

Simon sighed, "Who had 30 hours after take-off?"

"OOOHH HAA!" yelled a very happy Henri Brown. "Pay up people!"

Simon shook his head as the rest of the department groaned, Rhonda being the exception. The captain's secretary quickly headed for her desk. Once there, she reached into the top drawer and pulled out a flat book. Taking a pen, she made marks on one of the pages towards the back and made to speak, "Okay, people, who's up for an injury at 72 hours into the trip at 3 to 1 odds?"

Back to Nicaragua:

After quickly gathering the group, Blair, Jim and Eli brought everyone back to their hotel. Blair and Eli quickly took orders and walked to a nearby grocery store and managed to buy bread and cheese and pop to make supper out of. The small meal was finished off quickly and many went to bed early. Some students stayed out relaxing at the pool before bed. Blair and Jim stayed out with them; watching and making sure no one drowned or needed someone to talk to about that afternoon.

The next morning, Eli and Blair made an executive decision and hired a bus for the day. While not one of the old school buses used for public transportation, it was large enough to hold the students and their luggage. Rounding up the group, everyone climbed aboard after receiving some of the last pieces of bread left from supper the night before. Eli had decided that they should still go to the Huellas de Acahualinca before they left Managua so that the students could get a perspective on how long people had inhabited the Americas.

The drive from the hotel was not long and they quickly arrived. After arranging to meet the bus driver in an hour, the entrance and photo fee was paid for in the small one room building. After walking straight through the room, the students were herded outside by their guide-a student from the university that had a working knowledge of English. He took them across the small courtyard to a covered pavilion. They all went down the stairs and lined up along the chest high wall, staring down at the grey mud that contained several thousand year old footprints of humans and animals. The guide informed them that a volcano had erupted and the mud was the result of the eruption. As the full footprint was visible, it was likely the group was migrating and not escaping the volcano. Other proof of this was the animal prints going the other direction.

One of the students asked, "Were these cracks always there?" as there were major flaws running throughout the slab of mud.

"No, there is so much volcanic activity the tremors cause the mud to break up." The guide reminded them that there were several volcanoes close by and that they were still active.

The next stop on the tour was a small room where explanations in Spanish and odd pictures were on the wall. Nothing else, except a case with a few pieces of pottery, was in the room. The guide proceeded to explain the room, "A few years ago, the police came in and took measurements of the footprints. Using the size of the feet, the distance between the steps and even the depth of the footprint, they came up with profiles of the people that created the prints. There were a man and woman and even a young child. The ruler on the wall shows how tall the people likely were. As you can tell, even the man was a significant amount shorter than the average man today."

The students were all appropriately impressed from the guide's knowledge. "Wow, can you tell us what the police got out of the depth of the prints?" blurted out Blair, who had spent a lot of time with the forensics unit of the Cascade PD.

"Well," responded the guide, "they think that they were carrying food and other essentials on their back. The child's print was not as deep as the adults, so logically, the child was not carrying as much as the older ones."

"Ah," wisely replied Sandburg, "that makes sense." Jim took the opportunity to smack Blair's head. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Because you deserved it." Jim walked away and went outside to look at the complex once more.

"I didn't!" Blair protested. "Hey, isn't anyone going to defend me?"

"Nope," Eli relied and started moving the rest of the students back outside. "We're supposed to meet our bus in five minutes. Let's go back to the front and wait there."

Once standing outside the front of the gate, they didn't have to wait long for the bus. Once everyone was aboard, Eli asked them, "So what does everyone want to do? It's almost lunch time. We have the bus until 2, so we have plenty of time to go get lunch and then go to the bus station. We could go to the place we were going to go to yesterday or someplace else. The driver told us about a TGIFriday's in the area as well as the Mexican place."

The bus rang with comments and suggestions, and in the end, they decided to go to the Mexican place and hold off on TGIFriday's until the end of the trip when they were desperate for American food. The bus took off and they quickly reached the restaurant. Food was consumed and everyone agreed that it was good that they had gone there. After making sure everyone had used the restrooms, the leaders instructed the driver to take them to the bus station where they would grab a bus to the next destination, Leon.

Once again herding the students, Eli guided them to the right bus. Blair grabbed a hold of Jim and made sure his Sentinel was prepared for the noise and commotion. Venders and travelers were everywhere. Shouts trying to get the travelers to buy their wares filled the air. Smells of food, of waste and other uncountable scents filled the air and it made it incredibly easy to offend the sensitive Sentinel's air passages. Jim smiled at Blair, grateful that his guide was there to help him through this minefield.

"Are you good, Jim?" Blair double checked with his partner, knowing that Jim would rather pull his own teeth than admit he was in pain.

"Yeah, I wouldn't be if you weren't here, but I'm good," Jim elaborated. "I would never be able to live a normal life without you."

"Sure you would, Jim, if I wasn't here, you'd find someone else to have helped you."

"No, I wouldn't have, Blair. No one else has your knowledge, not even Eli. And even if he had your knowledge, he doesn't have your genius with coming up with ways of handling my senses. And even if he did, he's not you. Everything about you, even your scent is designed to help the Sentinel out. Without you, Blair, I would be in a hospital or dead. No one else would have been able to help me like you have and will in the future. Do you get that, Chief?"

"Jim, I don't know what to say..."

"That's a first, a speechless Sandburg!"

"JIM! Thanks, man."

"Yeah, well, come on, I'm sure Eli is wondering where we are."

The two men walked over to the bus and got on in silence. Eli looked up from his seat and smiled, he knew that these two men would always be close and while they may have their ups and downs, the two would remain friends until their deaths. A more unlikely pair of soul mates he had never met, but they were.