His Master's Voice, Part 5

By CatMoran

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. I don't own the canon characters or concept; I do own this story.

Summary: We continue with the saga of a guide and his fangs.

Warning: Not beta'd.

Feedback requested! Hello, is anyone out there? Please let me know if there's more than three people reading this, or if it's crap and I should just stop wasting my time on it.

His Master's Voice 5
By CatMoran
*****

Just after sunset Jim tapped on the closet door. "Wakey, wakey, Chief! The sun's down, it's time to get up." Immediately he heard rustling and thumping from within the closet.

"Hold on, Jim. I can't find my sunglasses. Where'd they--Here they are. Ok, you can open the door now."

Jim opened the door and smiled down at the comfortable looking mess that was his guide, fussing over his laptop. "Chief, you really raise sleeping to an art form, don't you." He said with a grin.

"I guess I dozed some. But I really got a lot done on my PC. Can we run a phone line in here? I like to have 'net access during the day. Without it, I'm gonna get bored, fast. Oh, and an electrical outlet--the batteries barely made it, even with the display turned down to almost nothing and the sound turned off." Blair finished shutting down the PC and looked at Jim. Sunglasses or not, Jim had no problem distinguishing the look of fear on Blair's face.

"Blair? What is it?" He looked down at himself then back at Blair. "Do I have spaghetti sauce on me or what?" The joke fell flat.

Blair's voice was a frightened whisper. "Jim, I think I'm having some kind of flashback. You're *glowing*."

Jim's jaw clenched. "Golden?" He forced out.

Misunderstanding, Blair replied, "No, well, yeah, a little. But it's more of a blue." He reached his hand forward as if to touch the glow, then yanked it back again. "Oh man, this is bad..."

Jim's jaw relaxed fractionally. "I think I've got an idea, it might not be a flashback. Come on." He offered his hand to Blair and when it was taken, pulled him upright and led him to the living room. Once there he asked, "Still see it?"

"Yeah, but it's barely there. How'd you know?"

Instead of answering, Jim walked to the balcony doors and shut the drapes. He repeated the action with the windows, then walked back to Blair. "How about now?"

"It's brighter again. Jim, what-"

"Just one more test, Blair. Then I'll explain." Jim smiled. "Now, look at the plant in the corner."

With a puzzled frown, Blair obeyed. "Hey, it's glowing a different color. Still a little gold, but green is mixed in instead of blue. Jim, what's going on?"

"You're just seeing auras, Blair."

Blair stared at Jim. "Did I just hear Jim Ellison say *auras*?"

Jim shrugged. "You got a better name for it? I only see them when it's dark and I've got my vision up. Well, I have seen them when it's light and I've got my vision *way* the hell up, but usually everything hurts so I don't notice."

Blair grinned and bounced. "So, I've got sentinel style vision? That's *cool*! Hey, wait a minute, you never told me you could see auras!"

Jim had the grace to look sheepish. "I forgot to mention it?"

Blair glared.

Jim rolled his eyes. "How do you *do* that through sunglasses? Fine, I just didn't want you testing me on it."

"Jim, this could be important! I wonder what the applications of it could be..."

"Well, at least now we'll be testing you, too." Jim grumped.

"Oh yeah, speaking of testing, I've got some ideas on what we need to test. First thing should be whether I really am hurt by sunlight."

Jim grimaced. "Blair, I just got you back. I'm in no hurry to see you turn into a pile of ash."

"No, we'll be careful, promise! Hey, have any of my tests ever hurt you?"

"I'll take the fifth on that one."

"Hey, none of them were supposed to hurt! Man, I'm sorry if they did. You should have told me!"

"Don't get yourself all worked up, Darwin. Some of them were just a little uncomfortable." After a moment Jim added, "And they were necessary."

"I guess that's ok. Promise you'll tell me in the future, ok? We can always find other ways to test if something's bothering you."

"Ok, Sandburg. I promise. Now, do you want something to eat?"

"Yeah, I'm famished!" Blair frowned. "Darn it, I finished off the carrots last night and they were the only thing that looked good. Um, would you go shopping?"

"Way ahead of you. I bought a little of everything in the produce section on the way home."

Blair lit up. "Great! I guess that'll be the first test, instead."

Jim groaned. "Only you could turn supper into a test, Sandburg!"


The End
(c) CatMoran 2000