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*Disclaimer* Not mine, Owned by someone else (Pet Fly Productions, UPN, and Paramount, I believe), just borrowing for a few minutes.
*Gone*
The elevator was out. Jim slowly climbed the stairs to the loft, exhausted. All he wanted to do was collapse and sleep for the weekend. He had just finished a grueling 48-hour shift as Major Crimes was deep in the midst of a crime spree. It seemed that every criminal in Cascade had major deals going down this week. Jim just wanted peace and quiet until he was forced to go back to the precinct after his day of rest.
He fumbled with his keys and without paying attention to his surroundings, opened the door and hung up his coat. Jim stumbled towards the kitchen and started looking for his dinner that his roommate, Blair had prepared. That's when it hit him. It was too quiet. Where was Sandburg?
Jim looked at his watched -- it was after 11 on Wednesday night. Earlier in the day, Jim had called Blair at his office and he had said that he was getting home early and would make supper, putting aside a dish for Jim. He had papers to grade and then would be going to bed early for once -- it had been a long week for him too with both the University and PD requiring extra effort from him.
Jim paused and listened for Blair's heartbeat. He didn't find it. Jim was starting to worry. He looked around the loft. Pots and pans were pulled out and food was sitting out. Obviously Sandburg had at least made it home and had started dinner. By the smell of the milk, he had started it several hours ago. Blair's keys were still in the specially made tribal basket by the door and Jim could see the Volvo through the balcony doors.
He focused his senses on the loft. Jim zeroed in on a few scuffmarks by the door. Something had been dragged recently -- no way would Jim allow scuff marks on his floor, thank you very much. Then he found it. A smell of blood, not strong, but noticeably there. Someone had taken the time to clean it up, but to a Sentinel, nothing could hide the smell of the blood of his Guide.
Jim's eye caught a glimpse of red. Using his superior eyesight, he narrowed in on the spot. HIS Guide really had been injured! The bloodstain was the extra proof to verify what his nose had just told him. Then, without the aid of the Guide, the Sentinel fell into a zone. The ringing of the phone jolted Jim out of his trance-like state. How long had he been under? With no time to figure out that detail, Jim picked up the phone.
"Yes," pause... "Yes," another pause. "NO!!!!!" Jim made a few more one word replies to the person on the other end of the phone. The call only lasted a minute or two and Jim slowly hung up the phone. He did not need this now! He was too tired to have to think, but he was an ex-Ranger. He had done tougher missions and under more pressure than this. But then again, back then, he didn't have a Guide to worry about. He needed help. Jim picked up his phone once again. This time he dialed out.
"Banks." The phone was answered with a deep growl.
He gave the expected reply, "Sandburg has been taken."
"What! He's gone?" Simon exclaimed.
"Yeah, Sandburg. I just got home and he's gone. He started dinner and the food has been left out. He's been gone a while and he didn't leave willingly. I found blood."
"Damn. I'll put an APB out on him. Is his car still there?"
"Yeah. Listen, Simon? I know who took him."
"Who?"
"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. He won't hurt Sandburg until I get there. And when I do, they won't live long enough to hurt a fly much less my Guide." Jim's voice was flat, even. Simon couldn't find any inflection in Jim's voice at all.
"Jim! Don't you do anything stupid. You're not a superhero for all that you have those senses. We're cops. Let's us help you." Simon pleaded, knowing that it was futile, but needing to try anyway.
"Can't do that, Simon. Look, I have to go." Jim hung up the phone and grabbed his coat as he walked out the door. Not looking behind him, he walked to his sweetheart, a blue and white truck, and got in. He started driving, thinking about the walking dead man that had grabbed his partner.
"Ellison, don't you hang up on me!" Simon heard the click from the phone, and then got the dial tone. "Impulsive, lone wolf wannabe, I'm gonna kick your ass, Ellison, IF you get out of this one alive." Simon continued to mutter under his breath as he called the precinct. "Brown, good. Sandburg's been taken. Ellison's on the warpath and seems to know who did it. Has the feel of his Covert Ops days. Send forensics over to the loft -- Jim mentioned blood. I'll meet them there with the key. Put an APB out on the kid and Ellison. The Volvo's still at the loft, but Jim was going to go off by himself to put one out for the truck. Yeah, like I said, he knows who did it but he wouldn't tell me. Yeah. I know. O.K. Thanks." Banks hung up the phone, grabbed his gun and badge and ran out the door. He hoped that someone was able to catch up with Jim before he did something stupid and impulsive. Like that had worked before...Simon snorted in disgust and continued driving to the loft.
Meanwhile, in a warehouse down by the docks...
"Man, why are you doing this? Jim's not going to let you get away with this!" Blair Sandburg's voice echoed throughout the empty warehouse. His hands were cuffed behind his back and his ankles were tied together.
"That's what I'm hoping. He owes me one. He'll come after his little buddy and that's when he'll pay up."
"Come on, what'd he do that was so bad?" Blair hoped by finding out why this maniac had kidnapped him, he might figure out some way of escaping. Hey, had to work one of these times he had been taken by some psycho, right?
"That's enough. Be quiet or I'll gag you." The man snarled as he walked away and entered the only furnished room in the warehouse, an office that was set off to the side. The open glass windows made it impossible for Blair to wiggle off without being seen, so he didn't even try.
Blair sighed and knew that all he could was wait for his Blessed Protector to find him. He wished that he and Jim had been able to finish up the last series of tests that he had planned for his Sentinel's senses. They were actually planned to help Jim focus on the Guide for easier location when they were separated. Blair knew that there had to be some connection between Guide and Sentinel in the jungle to connect the two, otherwise it would have been impossible for the ancient Sentinel's to protect the tribe and their Guide if they had to concentrate solely on the Guide. Some mechanism had to help the Sentinel focus on his Guide when the Guide was not in near proximity to the Sentinel. Blair began to meditate, wishing for some of his favorite sandalwood scented candles, hoping to trigger this mechanism so that Jim would have an easier time finding him.
Blair closed his eyes and almost immediately entered a jungle. One that looked suspiciously like the one Jim had reluctantly described to him from his visions. There was a slight blue tinge to everything and all was quiet. Blair looked at himself and saw that he did not wear the bloodied clothing he wore in the waking world, but wore his favorite pair of worn blue jeans, a loose fitting white button down shirt with a brightly colored vest that he had forgotten he owned. His feet were covered with worn, comfortable hiking boots, and his hair was blowing around his shoulders. He wore a fetish around his neck and, raising his hand to check, two silver hoops in his ear. Around his wrist he could feel leather wrapped several times. Blair felt a lot like the neo-hippie witch doctor punk that Jim had accused him of being, but in a good way.
Once Blair stopped examining himself, and moved on to the place he was, he noticed the wolf. Large, but sitting quietly waiting to be noticed, the wolf looked at Sandburg. Once he had Blair's attention, he got up and walked into the jungle, only pausing once to look back and check to see if his charge was following. Seeing that he was, the wolf led the way. Blair, never one to be quiet, started talking to his guide. "Where are we going? I really need Jim. He's going to be walking into a trap if I don't let him know what's going on." The wolf just continued to walk.
Eventually they reached a clearing where a large, black cat awaited. The jungle cat was stalking though the clearing, tail swishing behind it furiously. This was not a patient animal. Blair laughed aloud as he knew exactly whom the cat represented. The motions were extremely Jim-like and Blair resolved to never mention the likeness to his roommate as he knew that Jim would not appreciate being told that cat was so like him.
The animal did settle down, however, when Blair entered the clearing, and Blair went over and started petting while he talked. "I really need Jim right now, Whiskers, do you mind me calling you that? Anyway, this guy grabbed me and has some vendetta against Jim and he's going to be walking into a trap if he just comes barreling in to rescue me. I'm sure he's ignored Simon and is searching by himself. Can you warn him that he needs to be prepared and let him know where I am?"
The cat growled but soon disappeared, intent on accomplishing his task of helping the Sentinel find his Guide and keeping them together in one piece. Blair turned to the wolf and thanked him, "Will I be able to come back here again? I think Jim and I really need to work on this connection between the two of us, so that we have more warning when bad events happen. We seem to be magnets for this kind of thing. But, hey, who better to take care of it, right?"
The wolf got up and led Blair back into the jungle, going back to where they had started. Once there, Blair opened his eyes and was back in the warehouse, however, a newly formed connection between himself and his partner could be felt. He saw a swish of a white furry tail, and knew that he was being watched over. The growl he heard also let him know that his Sentinel was being cared for as well. Blair sighed and settled down, knowing that he had done everything he could to warn Jim.
Across town...
Jim started the engine and pulled into traffic. The conversation he had with the old contact had only confirmed what he knew. An old enemy that had managed to break out of jail the week before had been sighted in Cascade. And, like many other criminals before him, had focused on Jim's one weak spot, Blair. This particular man had been known to frequent the docks, so this is where Jim headed. However, being a port city, Cascade had miles of docks to cover. Jim knew that he had to find his partner quickly and despaired of doing so while Blair was still unharmed.
After driving for what seemed like hours, Jim felt something snap into place in the back of his neck, where the skull connected with his spine and knew that Blair was fairly close and relatively unharmed. He then saw a black tail turning a corner. He slammed on the breaks. "I couldn't have just seen that!" Jim exclaimed. "Where'd that jaguar come from? Shit, now I'm seeing things." Jim followed the cat anyway. He knew that he'd just seen his spirit animal. As Jim got closer to the docks, the newly formed connection between his partner hummed. He started getting flashes of pictures--Blair cooking, startled. Blair waking, hog-tied in an empty warehouse. A man's face. A man's face, shit, that was Carlson. Jim had hoped he would never see the guy again after the fiasco in the Middle East. But now he knew for certain who had Blair. Jim chose to ignore how he received the confirmation, but then, Jim was good at repression.
Jim stopped the truck in front of a warehouse. It was next to the one the jaguar had stopped at. Jim listened for the all-familiar heartbeat and found it beating steady and sure. For the moment, Blair was safe and unharmed.
That wouldn't last much longer, Jim knew. Carlson was known for his cruelty. That's why Jim had gotten him kicked off his team in the first place. He had never expected for him to be tried for his crimes, thought. Covert Ops people tended to slip through the cracks as it was hard to find a jury with enough a high enough clearance to actually hear what the crimes were. Because of Jim, Carlson had spent the last ten years in jail. It would've been longer, but Carlson had escaped the high security prison he was in.
Jim tried to get closer to Blair, but was prevented by a large gray and white wolf, whose eyes looked exactly like Sandburg's. Jim took it in stride; after all, what's a wolf after seeing a jaguar and following him? Jim picked up his cell phone and dialed. He had finally stopped acting without thinking and had started to think things through. He called for back up.
"Simon, it's me. I've found him and I need help."
"What? The great, lone wolf Ellison's calling me for help?"
"Simon," Jim sighed, "I didn't have a choice. This guy's dangerous. Ex-Covert Ops, just escaped from high-security prison. He's at a warehouse on the docks, alone with Blair. But he's expecting just me. Let's disappoint him. He won't be expecting that approach. But Simon, I'm the one that brings him down. I don't know if anyone else could handle him and come out alive."
"What's the plan?" Simon growled into the phone, gesturing for Rafe, Brown, Conner and Taggert to come closer.
"All right, here's the plan." Jim directed Major Crimes to the warehouse and spaced them out at good vantage points. He had put on Kevlar and stormed into the warehouse, knowing he couldn't have better backup for himself and his partner.
He found Blair quickly and started to untie him. "Jim, don't take me wrong, I'm glad to see you, but what the hell are you doing here?! Even I can see this is a trap and that this guy is psycho." Blair's hands were free and he started rubbing his wrists to improve his circulation.
"Shh... Don't talk. I've got everything covered. Simon and the rest of the gang are waiting outside. Carlson should only be expecting me. When I tell you to I want you to run and I've got your back. Okay?"
"No, it's not okay, Jim. I'm not leaving you. I don't stay in the car; I don't leave my partner."
"Chief, it's too dangerous, just go." Jim paused and stuck his listening pose. "Damn, he's seen me. He's trying to sneak up on us." Jim sighed, realized he was going to have trouble getting his friend to go to safety and gave into the inevitable. "Just do what I say and if you get hurt, I'll you in the hospital."
"Oh no, not that! Anything but that." Blair whispered, trying not to worry about the ex-Ranger that was trying to kill him and Jim. "Jim, you know that I've got your back."
"I know and there isn't anyone else I'd want to be there. Just be careful. Okay, he's here." Jim finished freeing Blair, but kept his back to where he knew his ex-team member approached. Jim knew he had to be careful; otherwise he'd lose not only his own life, but also Blair's.
The two men stiffened when they heard the snicker behind Jim. "Well, well, look what the cat dragged in. Captain Ellison and his little buddy."
"You're not getting away with this, Carlson," Jim snarled, looking like the tense jungle cat he was.
"Yeah, and I am not Gilligan and this does not look like a deserted island to me..." Blair wisecracked, trying to not panic at the heavily armed man in front of him.
"Who's going to stop me, Ellison? You? You make a move and I'll blow you away. Then your friend there."
"I don't have to do anything. Now, Simon!" Jim shouted into his hidden microphone that his boss had insisted on.
The next minutes would be hard to recapture by everyone there. Carlson froze for a brief second and then made a move for Blair, who was still sitting on the floor. However, when Jim had shouted, he had already started moving away from Carlson and Jim. Carlson's grab missed and the only thing he got his hands on was air. Jim, on the other hand, pulled the gun he had hidden and aimed it at his old teammate.
"Freeze, Carlson, otherwise I have no problem turning you in dead. Your keepers don't care as long as you are -contained' somehow," Jim snarled.
Carlson looked around the warehouse. Sandburg was already outside. Several Major Crimes detectives were surrounding him, all with their service weapon pointed at him. Then there was Ellison. The icy blue stare made even he shudder. He realized Ellison would follow through on his threat and decided to take advantage of it. He had no desire to spend the rest of his life in solitary in a tiny cell. After escaping once, no way would he ever get an opportunity to escape again.
Carlson's expression turned feral. "Well, Captain, guess you'll have to do that then. I'll keep your spot in Hell warm for you!"
And with that statement, Carlson grabbed his gun, which he had under his jacket and tried to fire off a shot at Jim. But as he aimed and prepared to shot, Jim shot Carlson dead center. For a second, clarity shown in Carlson's eyes and he whispered, only loud enough for Jim and his enhanced hearing to pick up, "Thanks, Capt'n." With that, his eyes dulled and he slumped to the floor, the life leaving his body as he had lived, violently.
The room was quiet for several seconds. Nobody quite understanding what had happened, and how they had managed to get out of the situation without anyone other than the bad guy getting hurt. It almost seemed too easy. After all, this was Ellison and Sandburg they were talking about. After a few seconds, Jim bent down to the fallen man and checked to make sure that Carlson was dead. After finding no pulse, Jim turned to Simon and said, "Captain, I'll give you the number to call to inform the right people that he's dead. They'll probably want to claim his body. Technically, he's still under government control. It-s back at the loft. I'm going to take Sandburg to the hospital just to get him checked over than we'll go get the number."
Banks silently started at his best detective. "Okay, I'll be back at the office. Hopefully Blair wasn't hurt?"
"No, Blair wasn't hurt and he doesn't need to go to the hospital either!" Blair spoke up in his defense. Look, check me out yourself, Jim; you could tell if there was anything seriously wrong with me...right? Right, so the whole trip to the hospital can totally be avoided. I just need to go home and sleep this off. Sound good to you? Yup, that's what I thought, sounds good to me too. I'll meet you in the truck and you can drive us back to the loft where you can get Simon that number." With that, Blair took off for the truck, hoping that with his rambling, he had derailed the idea of going to the hospital.
Simon, Jim and the other detectives that still remained in the warehouse just stared after the young graduate student. "Where does he get that energy? He was just knocked out and kidnapped, where he was then tied up for hours in a cold, drafty warehouse. After facing down a very dangerous man, he gets up and RUNS out the door to avoid a trip to the hospital?" Rafe asked the area in general, totally bewildered at how anyone could get out of this situation in one piece and then have the energy to avoid anything much less a police captain and a Major Crime detective. "Anyone else and they'd still be on the floor trying to figure out if it was okay to get up yet."
Jim just shook his head and motioned to Simon that he was going to follow Blair outside. Simon called out, "Take care of the kid, Jim." He knew that tonight would be a rough one at the Sandburg-Ellison household. While Sandburg may not have been physically hurt, being kidnapped would cause the kid some severe nightmares. For all that the kid had energy right now, that energy would be used against him when night fell. Jim waved back, indicating that he had heard Simon and continued out the door.
Jim walked over to Blair who was leaning against the truck, waiting for him to drive them home. "Before you get in, let me check to make sure you're okay. It'll just take a second."
"I know." Blair allowed Jim to run his hands over his extremities and the rest of his body. Jim, with his high sense of touch, did not detect anything broken or out of place. "So do I get the Sentinel seal of approval?"
"Is that anything like the FDA seal of approval?" Jim cracked back.
With that, the two men climbed into the truck. "Jim," Blair started slowly, "while I was in the warehouse, I had a vision. I think we're connected somehow. I could feel you approach."
"I know. I saw the jaguar and he led me to you. I could feel when we were getting closer."
"After we rest up a bit, we need to talk about what this means. I'm just too tired right now to care." Blair sighed, his normal enthusiasm dulled by the perilous day he had had. "So, who's going to finish supper? I really don't think I feel up to finishing it even if the ingredients were still good after being out all day."
"How about we stop for Chinese?"
"Sounds good. Let's go home, Jim."
The End