TITLE: Alternate Track 2

AUTHOR: Stormwolf Dawn

SERIES: Alternate Track Cheyenne

RATINGS: NC-17 just to be safe

SUMMARY: Jim returns to Cascade

Notes: Well some people expressed an interest in reading more of this. Someone told me to not ruin a perfectly good series with my drivel and to stick to my own stories. I have yet to hear from Yvonne. But I decided not to listen to the one person, and do another one.

By Stormwolf Dawn

The lone figure walked along the near deserted mountain highway. The man wore torn and faded jeans, a flannel shirt that fit his frame loosely, and boots that had seen better days. Dirt smeared across the clothes, and mud caked to the boots. But the man continued to walk down the highway, not bothering to stick out his thumb in the universal gesture when a car drove by.

Jim watched the red Ford Taurus drive by as he continued to walk. It had been a month since he had snuck out of the house he had called home where he lived with Simon and Blair. During that time he had lived in the mountains as a jaguar, rarely taking human form. Eventually, he had realised that he couldn't live like that forever, and decided to go back to Cascade secretly to just find out what was occurring, and then to quietly slip out again if the news wasn't so good.

He missed Simon and Blair so much. At night, even in jaguar form, he dreamed of them. Their faces, their hands on his body, the feeling of their minds brushing against his. He missed his sister, Gaby, he missed Daryl, he missed everyone, and wished many times that he could go back to before. Before he had become even more of a freak than he thought he was.

The sound of a vehicle moving towards him brought Jim out of his thoughts in time to see the Sherrif's Deputy jeep drive around the bend into his sight. The jeep slowed upon sighting him, and eventually drove beside Jim as he walked. The Deputy inside rolled down his window and looked at Jim. Jim continued to walk forward, not looking at the Deputy.

"Are you alright, son?" The Deputy asked taking in the torn and muddy clothes, and Jim's faraway look.

Jim said nothing.

"Are you deaf, son?" The deputy asked kindly thinking Jim might be injured or actually be deaf. "Are you hurt?"

Jim shook his head, hoping the deputy would leave him be. He continued to walk.

The deputy pulled the jeep in front of Jim blocking is path. Jim stopped before he walked into the jeep. The deputy stepped out of the jeep and walked over to Jim, who walked backwards to get away.

The deputy took Jim's appearance, and fear into believing Jim was either a wanted criminal, hurt too bad to understand what was going on, or a mentally handicapped person, and reached out grabbing Jim's wrist.

Jim fought then, trying to get away. But the Deputy was well trained and used pressure points to manuever Jim onto the jeep's hood bringing the sentinel's hands behind his back where he handcuffed them together. The deputy spoke to Jim like one would a child, trying to calm the sentinel. Jim fought back as best he could, but pressure points manipulated on a sentinel HURT, especially a sentinel who was having trouble dialing down the pain.

Eventually, the deputy placed Jim in the back seat of the jeep, placed the seat belt over Jim's chest and lap buckling him into place. He then got back into the driver's seat and drove off.

When the reached the Sherrif's station, the deputy explained to the Sherrif what had happened. Jim said nothing when the Sherrif asked him questions, staring straight ahead, practically lost in a zone. The Sherrif agreed with the deputy in thinking Jim might be injured or mentally handicapped and had the deputy drive Jim to the local hospital to be checked out by a physician.

The doctor said Jim wasn't injured and was suffering from malnutrition, and was perhaps suffering from mental trauma. The doctor gave the deputy instructions on Jim's care but felt he would be alright to be released tot he deputy's custody. The deputy then took Jim back to the station where he was fingerprinted for identification purposes then placed in a single cell. His rights were read to him but they did expect he would understand. They were waiting for his fingerprints to come back before deciding what to do.

A meal was brought. A homecooked meal made by the Sherrif's wife, but was left untouched by the sentinel. When the Sherrif saw Jim curl into a ball on the cot and begin to shiver he covered the sentinel himself with two heavy blankets brought over by his wife.

Finally, the prints yielded information. The fax said that Jim was a missing person and gave a contact number to a Captain Simon Banks of the Cascade police.

When Simon Banks took the call that Rhonda forwarded to him from a Sherrif Tate in the next county over, he didn't expect what it was about.

He listened intently when Sherrif Tate told him that they had Jim Ellison at their jail. He made appropriate noises when the Sherrif told him that Jim was not under arrest but had been read his rights. When the Sherrif told him about Jim's condition, Simon assurred the man that he would be there as quickly as possible to take custody of Ellison.

When he hung up the phone, Simon quickly picked it back up and called Blair at the house.

Blair was estatic that Jim had been found because it meant the sentinel was alive. But he sobered quickly as he realised what else it meant. He told Simon he would be ready when Banks got there.

Daryl watched Gaby while Simon and Blair drove to the next county to the Sherrif's station.

Sherrif Tate greeted them.

"Welcome, Captain Banks. I've heard good things about Cascade Police, Major crimes in particular."

"Thank you, Sherrif. I guess, though, its time to get down to unpleasant business. Here." Simon handed over a stack of papers.

The Sherrif looked at them, "What is this?" He asked.

"Those are court orders giving me custody of Jame Joseph Ellison." Simon said with a touch of sadness in his voice.

"Why would you need these?" Tate asked curious.

"James Ellison was declared mentally incompetant by the state two weeks ago."

Though James Farrel had hired the best attorney money could buy, the high priced lawyer had been unable to stop the courts from declaring Jim mentally incompetant mostly because of the fact that Jim had run away. However, the man had managed to award Simon custody of Jim instead of the state. However, because of mental incompetancy declaration, Blair and Simon could be charged with rape and numerous other charges should their sexual relationship with Jim continue. The judge had made that absolutely clear.

Now that Jim was back, the lawyer could petition the court for another hearing to allow Jim to fight for his rights.

The Sherrif nodded, "Alright. Come on back, then."

Blair and Simon followed the Sherrif through the back and to the singel cell where Jim lay huddled on a cot swathed in heavy blankets. The doctor had had Jim cleaned up at the hospital and given clean clothes for the sentinel to wear. The SHerrif opened the cell and Blair immediatley went to Jim practically falling to his knees beside the cot.

Though Jim wasn't zoned, the sentinel was staring straight ahead, his eyes unfocused. He had no doubt heard what Simon had said to the Sherrif.

though Jim was glad to see them, he did not show it. Instead, he built his shields up around his mind even more, and kept a blank stare in his eyes, and a stony expression on his face.

"He's lost so much weight, Simon."

Indeed, Jim was pale and his cheeks were hollowed out. Though Jim was still well muscled, all the fat had been burned from his body, and he had dropped at least twenty pounds.

"Doc said he was malnourished, but he would eat his meal that my Maggie brung him. He fought with my deputy when he was taken into custody, but after he settled down he remained like this. Just looking kinda lost."

Simon nodded, "Thank you, Sherrif. We'll be taking him, and he'll get the help he needs."

The Sherrif nodded.

Simon and Blair hauled Jim to his feet. The sentinel remained on his feet, but had to be led fromt he cell out of the building to Blair's vehicle.

Once Jim was seated in the passenger seat in the back, buckled in for safety, and covered with a warm blanket, Simon and Blair got in and drove away from the sherrif's station back to Cascade and everything that awaited them there.

PART THREE SOON