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English
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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
Completed:
2009-07-05
Words:
33,688
Chapters:
20/20
Comments:
26
Kudos:
90
Bookmarks:
12
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19,043

The Innocence of a Child

Summary:

Bliar is injured and Jim must care for him.

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Notes:

Disclaimer:  These guys don't belong to me although I wish they did.  The author is in no way associated with the sticks-in-the-mud who do own them.

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

 

Blair practically bounced as he entered the bullpen which sent his re-grown curls skittering across his shoulders.  He’d received a letter at the university stating that his student loan was now fully paid and man, did that feel good!  He couldn’t wait to tell Jim.   Blair couldn’t believe how well things were going for him at last.  And it had taken quite awhile, too.  Blair looked around but didn’t see Jim right away although his jacket was still there.  Probably down in records or something, Blair thought as he dropped his back pack onto his desk.  Yup, his desk.  Right here in the Cascade Major Crimes division where he was now working as a full-time consultant to the PD and partner to Jim.  He even carried his own gold badge. 

 

It’s been a long, hard road, Blair my boy, but you’ve done it.  All those months burning the candle at both ends had paid off handsomely.  After that disastrous mess when Naomi had unwittingly released his initial dissertation he thought everything he’d worked for was gone.  It was while he was at the police academy that he’d found out the university couldn’t remove his doctoral candidacy since he’d never really submitted his dissertation through official channels.  End result, he worked with his advisor and changed his diss to cover sub-cultures within the police department.  Once he graduated from the police academy he started studying for the detective’s exam, his four years of first-hand experience working with Jim giving him the much-needed experience to move up quickly.  And at night he worked on his final diss.  He was awarded his PhD one year ago.  And boy had the guys in MC giving him one hell of a party.  He still smiled every time he thought about Simon, his long arms thrown around both Joel’s and Jim’s shoulders as he drunkenly offered his rendition of Otis Redding’s Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.

 

“Hey, Hairboy, what are you smiling about?”

 

Blair looked up to see H and Rafe giving him matching grins.

 

“Guys, you are looking at a debt-free man.”  Blair leaned back in his chair, arms spread wide and a grin that let everyone know all was right in his world.  Well nearly, anyway…

 

 

“Debt free?  You mean the student loans…”  Rafe started counting on long elegant fingers.

 

“Credit cards…”

 

“Tuition…”

 

“Yes and yes and even my book account at the university book store are now all officially paid off.”   Blair smiled again.

 

“Congratulations, Sandy.”  Connor smiled as she stepped closer.  “So now that you’re rolling in the big bucks you can buy us all lunch.”

 

“Sure, Connor,” Jim smirked as he came in to the bullpen.  “Now that he’s in the black we can all help him spend his money.”  Jim looked down at his friend as he made himself comfortable on the corner of Blair’s desk.  “And speaking of money, Chief, let’s talk about all that back rent you owe…”

 

This was met with a round of groans that was cut short by Simon yelling at them to get back to work.  Blair laughed along with everyone else as the group split up, but he wondered…just how serious was Jim?   He watched Jim out of the corner of his eye as he settled into his desk right next to Blair’s.  Yes, he did owe Jim but it was so much more than just money. 

 

Blair remained quiet as he typed up the final report on their last case only half of his attention on the report.  He kept mulling over that last thought.   Now there really wasn’t any reason for Jim to keep putting up with him.  He wondered if he should start looking for someplace new to live.  But he didn’t want to.  He liked living with the big gruff detective and wanted to stay close to him.  Besides, Jim still needed him, right?  Sure Jim had a lot more control over his senses, hadn’t zoned in months.  But they had great times together with the Jags games and camping, fishing.  Jim was his best friend and they helped each other in so many ways like cooking for each other and being there when a case was bad. 

 

Blair turned to the printer to grab the final copy of the report and mentally kicked himself.  Just admit it, Blair, you’re in love with the guy and you’d take any excuse to stay around him.  And he does care about you, hell, he’s proven that over and over, but does he love you?  Well, probably not the way you want him to.  You’re his friend and you don’t need his help financially anymore.  And let’s face it…that was the only reason he let you move in to begin with.  Blair sighed.  I guess I’ll start looking for my own place. 

 

With that thought, the great mood he’d found himself in a short while ago vanished completely.  Having his own place wouldn’t be that bad, right?   But the word ‘lonely’ rang through the back of his head.  He pushed it away tried to look at the positives.  After all, his life was pretty good.  He was in a great position with the university, he had a great job with the force...  Well, except for that new jerk in patrol.  He’d seem to fall right into that group of jerks who still considered him a flake at best, but at worse they thought he was a fag that rode the tail of the best detective in the force to get his shield.  He’d overheard their comments and could feel the dislike coming off them enough that he tried to avoid those areas where they tended to congregate.

 

Blair ran an agitated hand through his hair.  Man, he did not need to be thinking about those assholes.   He again thought about getting an apartment.  He could actually bring dates back to his place…  Yeah, and that thought made him grimace, too.  He hadn’t been dating at all lately, couldn’t even remember how long ago his last date had been.   Great, first his good mood had vanished and now he was on his way to depression.   But he was a realist enough to know that there hadn’t been much of a choice.  He’d been spending all of his time trying to get his degree and shield.  Okay, so he could get started again, right?  There was that new girl working in student records back at the university…  But even as he thought about her he realized that he just wasn’t that interested.  That’s okay, though, he thought with new resolve.  First things first, find an apartment…

 

-------------------------------

 

There was a slight breeze blowing, but he knew it wasn’t enough to affect anything.  He looked at his watch.  It would be soon.  He raised the rifle and settled it in place just as he’d done thousands of times before.  He sighted in and scanned the area briefly.  His mark would be walking out of the building at any moment.  There.  The shooter was prepared for the shot while the man walked, but instead he was gifted by a cell phone call that made the man move to the side of the walkway to stop and talk.  Without thought he exhaled and held his breath momentarily and put the slightest amount of pressure on the trigger.  One second later the man below lay sprawled across the walkway while people around him scattered, women screaming.  Less than thirty seconds later, his weapon disassembled and hidden in his case, the man picked up the one brass shell casing and calmly walked towards the staircase.  He needed to make one call which would initiate a substantial transfer to his account in the Cayman Islands and then he was free.  Free to travel or just to relax until the next phone call came with another task.