New
Arrivals
Author-Amanda
Titles
Runners
by Amanda
Disclaimer: All Sentinel characters and locations belong to Pet Fly Productions. No point suing because, as fellow writer Tas says (Hi, Tas!), all you get is my University HECS debt too.
"My god, Simon, are you all right?"
Banks could hear the rushed question but couldn't answer right away. He was too busy trying to lift himself up off the ground. The question came again and he wondered who the questioner was. The voice was familiar. Why couldn't he stand up? Hands pushed at him as he tried to rise. Hands accompanied by someone's incessant talking.
"No, no, stay down. Don't try and stand just yet."
Banks, annoyed with the person trying to keep him still, grabbed the hands and pushed them away, only to have them return. Sandburg. Banks' ire rose as the hands pushed him again. He shoved them away again, growling at the same time....
Only to have them return. "Yeah, right, like that's gonna scare me," came the irritating voice again.
His head throbbed and his hip hurt. He didn't know why. He felt like he wanted to throw up. It was dark and he remembered it was nightfall. If Sandburg didn't leave him alone he was gonna....
"Ow! Simon! I'm trying to help you here. Give me your phone...."
Banks twisted the handful of shirt he had managed to grasp. He didn't have the presence of mind to know he had also grabbed a good deal of chest hair with it. He shoved the smaller man away and lumbered to his feet unsteadily.
Blair watched him from the ground reproachfully. He didn't move as the police captain staggered to the front door of Ellison's apartment block. Blair stood and went to his side holding out his hands to catch the big man should he fall again.
"Simon, you really shouldn't be moving. You've just been hit by a car! Damnit let me use your phone!"
Banks waved him off and stepped up onto the sidewalk and into the building. Blair had no recourse but to follow. Okay, so get him inside and call the ambulance from there. That'll work just as well, he thought. Banks didn't object when Blair pressed close and pulled the bigger man's arm around his shoulder to help him into the lift.
Upon leaving the lift and leaning the dazed man against the wall, Blair fumbled for his keys and presently, opened the door. They stumbled in and Blair steered him toward the couch. Banks lay his head back against the cool fabric and listened as Blair frantically dialled for help. His first call was for an ambulance and then made a second call to Major Crimes.
Banks raised a hand to his forehead and wiped at it. No blood but he could feel a lump the size of all outdoors. His hip felt stiff and he couldn't focus straight. He could hear Blair talking frantically to someone and asking them to hurry.
How much time has passed? Simon looked at his watch but couldn't remember what time it had been before this happened to him. He watched as Blair put the phone down and run past him. Probably to the bathroom. His guess was proved right when the kid returned with a wet cloth and wiped his face for him, its coolness soothing him slightly.
He could feel the tremors in the hand moving the cloth and gently seized the wrist. Blair stopped his ministrations and looked at the captain in concern.
"We have to get out of here, Blair."
"What are you talking about? The ambulance is on the way. Jim should be here any time."
"I'm okay to move. We have to go," Simon insisted. The kid wasn't listening and he found himself becoming annoyed again.
Blair pulled his wrist free and started wiping the captain's brow again. Only dirt was coming away and he was relieved, on cursory inspection, to find nothing desperately wrong. The only thing really worrying him was the large lump forming on Banks' forehead.
"We're not going anywhere, Simon. I've called Jim. He should be here any time now."
Simon grabbed at the wrist again and held it in a strong grip. Blair bit down on a snappy retort at the painful hold. The man was in pain himself and didn't quite know what he doing. Simon looked dazed as he tried to convince the stubborn young man before him that they were terrible danger.
"Blair, I know who it was. They'll be coming back. This wasn't an accident."
Blair blinked. He didn't like the way this was sounding. "It wasn't?"
A heavy knocking sounded at the door and Blair made to rise. Simon hadn't released his wrist and he found himself being pulled back down to sit again. Simon released the wrist and grabbed the back of his neck, twisting his head back around to look him in the eye, and shook him.
"Blair! We have to get out of here," he hissed.
Blair understood. "You know who hit you? It was on purpose?"
Simon nodded. "Help me up."
"We can get out through my room," Blair said worriedly, helping the captain up. The young man looked about them frantically. Jim wouldn't be far off but Simon's fear was working like a contagion within him and he agreed they had to get out of there now.
As quickly as they could manage they stumbled into Blair's room and out onto the fire escape as another pounding sounded against the front door.
Outside the door to 852 Prospect stood two ambulance officers. They stood patiently and knocked again, again receiving no answer.
One looked at the other. "Another bloody crank call?"
The other didn't look pleased. "Must have been. Jeez, that really pisses me off!" Both men left. Second crank call that week and they were rapidly becoming sick of it.
**********
Jim Ellison took the stairs to his front door three at a time, not prepared to wait for the lift. Taggert wasn't far behind him and by the time he reached the apartment Ellison was already stalking about inside.
"They're not bloody here!"
"Maybe the ambulance beat us," offered Taggert.
Ellison nodded and they left the apartment at a run. On his way down the stairs Ellison pulled out his cellphone and called Cascade General, knowing the number by heart. By the time they sat in his car he had been told that a call had been placed for his home but the officers had received no answer when they arrived.
Ellison slammed his phone shut and glared about the street. He quickly told Taggert that Sandburg and Banks weren't at the hospital and the ambulance officers had found no one home.
Ellison stepped out of his car and looked about the dark street. "Blair said Simon had been hit right outside my front door. The car had only just missed him but he hadn't see it in time to warn Simon." He looked about him and saw the remains of destroyed takeaway food containers. The chinese food that had been contained in them was strewn about the road, mashed together nicely by the cars that had been travelling across it for the past twenty minutes.
"Simon and Blair were meeting me here after work. They said they'd get chinese on the way home."
Taggert joined him and looked at the remains of dinner. "I don't get it. Why leave?"
Ellison mouth set into a grim line. "I can only imagine that would be Simon. For some reason he must have considered it unsafe to stay."
"Surely Blair would have stopped him if he was hurt," Taggert argued.
Ellison turned his gaze onto the Bomb Captain. "Can you see Blair stopping him?"
Taggert grinned humourlessly. "True."
Ellison opened his car door. "We'll try Simon's place next."
**********
Blair drew Simon's car to a stop in the dark street. The police captain was in the front passenger seat practically senseless. Blair grew more concerned by the moment, knowing enough about the dangers of falling asleep with concussion. He jiggled Simon's shoulder to wake him up again.
"Simon! Don't fall asleep. You could be concussed. Where do you want me to go? The station?"
"No!" Banks shouted at him, causing the young man to jump. "That's the first place they'll look." Banks looked over at him. "Just drive around for a bit. They may not have seen us leave. Just make sure we haven't got a tail and then we can go in."
Blair set his mouth grimly. He didn't like this but he trusted Simon to know better. If he said they could have a tail then they could have a tail. Blair kept a careful watch in the rearview mirror. His heart leapt into his throat when he saw the dark sedan pull into line behind them. It had been a dark car that had hit Simon. Blair had been a couple of steps ahead of the captain when it had happened. He replayed the hit and run over in his mind's eye.
He had been waffling on about a quarrelsome student and Simon had been giving him advice on maybe just shooting the troublemaker when a squeal of rubber made him turn around in time to see Simon collected by the dark car. The windows had been tinted, and Blair hadn't been able to make out the men inside the vehicle. He could only watch, horrified, as Simon sailed over its bonnet, then up over its roof to slide gracefully down its back and land in the road.
Before the chinese food had hit the ground Blair was screaming and at his side. For a moment Simon hadn't moved and Blair felt panic taking a strong grip. Then Simon had groaned and tried to sit up and Blair had almost cried with relief.
A few minutes passed and the dark car was still behind them. Simon still sat quietly and Blair wondered if he should tell him. He had to, he couldn't keep it to himself and he didn't have a clue what he should do in this type of situation.
"Uh, Simon, I think we have someone following us."
Blair gulped as Simon reached out his window and adjusted the external mirror on his door.
"I think that's them, Blair. Get back onto the main street if you can and quickly. I wanted to go somewhere where we'd be safe but we'll have to wait ‘til we lose them."
Blair nodded and took the next left that would take them back the way they had come. The traffic narrowed in front of them as they came to an intersection and he floored it. Steering quickly between lanes he managed to squeeze between two cars and wrenched the steering wheel sharply to the right, crossing the path of one of the cars. Luckily it had been stopped by the lights and their tail was now stuck behind it.
Simon clapped his young driver on the shoulder. "Good work, kid. That got them." He grinned happily as Blair sped his erratic way around a few corners to further confound anyone following them.
Blair smiled across at his captain, very pleased with himself. He'd lost their pursuers and silently congratulated himself. Simon's happy countenance made him feel all the more better and he slowed the car to a more sedate pace.
Simon lay his head back against the headrest again and closed his eyes, a headache having gotten a good grip right between his eyes. Blair eyed the car's radio transmitter and glanced at Simon. Reaching for it he lifted it out of its cradle. A large hand settled over his and pushed it back.
"Uh, Simon, we can call Jim."
Simon graced him with a tolerant smile. "Best to keep radio silence until I figure out what's going on."
Blair nodded, unhappy at being thwarted. "Where to now?" Blair alternated his attention between the road ahead and the rearview mirror.
"I know a place where we'll be safe. Four blocks down and turn into Forest Way."
Blair nodded. "Yeah, I know that one."
"That'll take us to Linden Road. We'll be safe there."
Linden. Linden. Why was that street name familiar? Blair wondered. He decided it must have been one of the few safehouses that he'd come across during some of Jim's cases. Anything to make Simon happy. Once there it should have a phone and he could contact Jim and tell him where they were.
Ten minutes later saw them pulling into the driveway of a dark house in a fairly dubious neighbourhood. Blair left the engine running and walked quickly to the garage door as directed by Simon. Pulling up the door he returned to the car and parked it inside. Simon ordered him to lower the garage door and he did so. There was a door leading into the house and, by the light of the moon shining through the single window, he watched Simon shoulder open the door with some force.
Once inside Blair found the lights either didn't work or the electricity had been switched off. Some safehouse, he thought. Maybe it was one the police didn't use that much. He followed Simon, who seemed to know the interior like the back of his hand, into the kitchen. Thankfully the water was still on and Simon found an old glass in a cupboard and poured himself some water. Finishing it he poured some more and handed it to Blair.
"Thanks." Blair took a quick gulp. "Is there a phone here? I really should call Jim now. You need your head seen to."
"I'm fine, kid. Let's just catch our breath here for a while." Simon leant against the wall and lay his head against it, his eyes closing.
Blair felt worried by the bigger man's distress and very, very confused. "Simon, we have to let the others know where we are. They're bound to be worried by now..."
Even in the dark he could see the angry expression directed at him by the other man. Blair's face paled under the scrutiny. "What....?"
Simon grabbed his forearm in another grip that gave no thought to trying to wrest free. "Tell who?"
Blair didn't like the look he was receiving. "Jim, that's who. Simon? What's the matter?"
Simon thrust his arm away. "Stop harping on about Jim. We have to rely on ourselves, Blair. We're in more trouble than you seem to realise."
Blair looked up at the dark face, trying to understand. Differing emotions flitted across the big man's face for a brief moment. Simon smiled at him indulgently and tapped his face lightly, reminiscent of Jim's little affectionate touch.
Blair jerked his face away, annoyed. Coming from Jim it felt normal, Jim being a touchy-feely type person underneath the gruff exterior. But, coming from Simon, he knew he was being humoured, indulged like a child.
Simon turned from him and went into the livingroom. It, like the rest of the house, was devoid of any home comforts like furniture. The police captain lowered himself down the wall to the floor and folded his long legs in front of him. Blair watched from the doorway for a moment before settling himself in a similar position against the opposite wall. Simon's deep voice coming through the darkness of the room startled him.
"You know, kid. My first job when I left school was in a book shop doing the accounts."
Ooookay, thought Blair. Heart to heart. I can handle that. "Really? I can't imagine you being an accountant."
Simon chuckled. "Yeah. I had several jobs before I finally decided this was what I wanted to be. What you first do when you left school?"
Blair thought Simon knew all this. "I sorta went straight into my studies. I would have thought Jim would have told you all this. Oh, I had part-time jobs to keep the money flowing but most of my time's been devoted to uni or travelling. You know, field trips, that sort of thing." Banks shook his head and then remembered Blair probably couldn't see him. "I don't know how you do it. I imagine uni takes up a lot of your time."
"Yeah, but I wouldn't trade it for anything, you know."
"Yeah, I know what you mean...." Simon's voice trailed off and Blair guessed he was drifting off.
He watched Simon for the next half hour before his eyes began to ignore the protestations of his brain and droop closed. Sometime later he was jerked awake when Simon shook him roughly.
"What? What?"
Simon's mouth was at his ear and he was dragged to his feet. "We have to go. Now!" he hissed.
Blair tried to push him away. He was disoriented and didn't remember where he was. He thought he was home in his room but a quick glance around the dark house reminded him of their predicament.
They were running. Bad guys. Shit.
Blair, bereft of his hands due to Simon grabbing him again, wiped at his ear with his shoulder. Simon had managed to spit in it when he had harshly whispered his orders to move. Simon pulled him over to the window and he followed the captain's line of sight into the street.
A dark car was parked a couple of houses down. Someone inside the car was foolish enough to light a cigarette and for a brief moment the car's interior was illuminated. Then the light was gone and the car returned to its former dark menace. Blair blinked. The car was different, not the same one of earlier....
He was dragged brusquely through dark rooms and found himself in the garage once again. Simon thrust him at the driver's side and opened the garage door. Blair started the car up as quietly as he could and, once Simon joined him, he allowed gravity to take them down the driveway and onto the street. The slight incline to the street enabled the car to continue without using the accelerator peddle and they silently rolled in the opposite direction from where the dark car sat.
Blair couldn't believe their luck. The bozo obviously hadn't seem them. At the bottom of the street he revved the engine into life and they resumed their frantic escape.
**********
Jim tapped his steering wheel loudly. Joel Taggert listened to the beat as he had been for the past ten or so minutes. It was beginning to play on his nerves. They sat in the stationary car, not yet having moved from outside Jim's place. They had been to Simon's house and found no one. Joan and Daryl had yet to hear from him, so he hadn't gone there. Simon's phone was either out of range or turned off. The hospital still hadn't seen them. Every officer doing their rounds had their descriptions and Simon's car model.
Taggert had asked why they weren't driving around and Ellison had explained that Blair would try his best to return to him at home. Even though the accident had occurred there he would know Jim would wait. Both officers had a feeling of dread that it hadn't been an accident and that maybe their captain and their observer were in deeper trouble than at first presumed.
Jim watched the dark street. It was now three hours since Blair had called in the hit and run and he was getting very agitated. Where the hell are you, Blair? Ellison thought, rubbing his eyes and giving Joel a slight reprieve from his drumming fingers.
Joel sighed as the hands returned to the wheel and their tapping. **********
Banks had allowed Blair to slow the car and pull up. Blair gazed out at their dark surroundings. Another dangerous part of town. Worrying people walked past the car and peered in. He wound up his window, despite the warm night. He tapped the steering wheel in his nervousness, not knowing he was mirroring another worried man's actions on the other side of town.
Blair turned to the man beside him. Simon's face had taken on a sweaty sheen and he could hear his breathing was ragged. "Simon? I have to get you to someone who can help you. Why can't we got to the hospital? Give me your phone and I'll call Jim."
Simon raised his head and regarded the young man, confused. "Who? No, no. We have to go back to Linden Street."
Blair wiped at his face in annoyance. "Jeez, Simon. There's nothing there. The place is empty. Why back there? Is it a safehouse?"
"Simon watched the young man's face. "Yes," he whispered, "a safe house."
"All right," Blair said resignedly, "Can I call Jim from there?"
Simon nodded. "I have to call Joan, too. She'll be worried."
Blair looked at the big man. Joan? From the little that Blair had seen and heard he didn't think Simon was still on very good terms with his ex-wife. Maybe he meant Daryl.
Blair nodded, please he had got the man to agree to something other than driving around mindlessly all night. "That'll be fine. I'll call her too." If you ever hand over the bloody phone to me, Blair thought.
Simon watched Blair put the car into gear and resume driving. He liked the young man. He reminded him of someone he knew. Very nice kid, to help him like this. He didn't feel too well and his head was beginning to ache again. But he had to stay present. He had to protect them both from the men he knew were trying to find them.
As Blair pulled into the traffic he asked the question. "So, you and Joan been getting along okay recently, then?"
Simon looked over at him, surprised, then decided it wouldn't hurt to tell the kid. After everything they'd talked about through their harrowing night he couldn't see a reason for holding back now.
"She's due any day now."
Blair checked his rearview mirror for anyone following. "Due to what?" he asked absently, keeping his attention on the road before and after them.
Simon looked at him curiously. "To have the baby? I thought you knew."
Blair slowed the car, looking over at the captain in surprise. "Baby? She's expecting again?"
Simon frowned at him. "What do you mean again? What are you on, kid?"
Blair felt a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach. Oh, sweet hell. He pulled out of the traffic and turned off the engine. Turning to Simon he tried to put a pleasant expression on his face, despite the sinking feeling in his gut.
"Oh, yeah, sorry. I don't mean that. What are you thinking of calling him?"
Simon waggled a finger at him. "It's bad luck to presume the sex, boy." Simon's face broke out in a pleased smile. "Sarah if it's a girl, Daryl if it's a boy." The police captain looked over at Blair, smiling and very proud.
Blair's face froze and his brain felt like it had notched down a gear or two. Realisation slowly welled within him and he knew himself to be an idiot. Turning his face away he leant forward and rested his forehead against his hands atop the steering wheel. He should have known. Somehow he should have picked up on it. Simon wasn't firing on all thrusters and he had allowed the man lead them on a harrowing chase through Cascade's streets when he should have been in a hospital bed recovering.
Blair bit the back of one knuckle in self-punishment. The people they encountered in the dark cars probably thought them a couple of looney tunes. He had been stupid enough to believe the drivers had evil intentions for both of them. They had merely been people on their way somewhere or quietly sitting in their cars waiting for someone, oblivious to the fact that they had manage to terrify two grown men who should have known better.
Well, one who should have known better. Simon was hardly to blame. Blair thumped his head against the steering wheel and then sat back. Looking to his right he saw Simon watching him with a curious expression on his face. Yes, he thought, have a good look, Captain, what you see before you is a rare specimen of the greater crested idiot. Rare because they don't often occur in the wild, smarter animals usually eating them before they reach a certain age....
Blair stopped his musing, Simon's face having taken on a worried mien.
"You okay, kid?" Simon reached over and placed a hand on the young man's shoulder.
Blair nodded and sat up again. He looked out the windscreen at the dark road. There were no bad guys chasing them. He knew he should have been more suspicious when he never got a clear look at their pursuers. They'd been running all over Cascade for hours like scared rabbits and for no good reason.
"Come on, kid. We gotta get going. It's not safe here."
Blair nodded numbly and started the car up. "It's all right, Simon. I'll get you to the safe house and we can call Joan and let her know everything's okay."
"Thanks, kid," Simon said, resting his head back against the seat once more.
Blair now remembered the empty house they had visited the previous hour. He knew the street name rang a bell. Simon had mentioned it in passing one day when he was talking about his first year of marriage when they were expecting Daryl. It had been their first home.
I am soooo stupid. Jim is gonna kill me. I should have made Simon give me the phone earlier. This is ridiculous, Blair argued with himself.
"Simon? Can I have the phone now?" Worth another go, he thought.
The tall man raised his head from where he had been dozing. "What? No, not yet. Wait until it's safe."
Blair could see in the corner of his eye that Simon had laid his head back again. Taking the next left he made a beeline for the loft. There was nobody chasing them and he intended to let Simon sleep until they reached Jim. He'd take the car keys with him and leave him in the car while he got help.
They were just pulling into the home stretch when Simon raised his head and looked around. The big man's face clouded in anger and he looked sharply at his driver.
"What the hell do you think you're doing! We can't come back here!" Blair waved one hand at him in appeasement. "No, no, it's all right. We can get help here. Look! There's Jim!"
Ellison had appeared in the street and was looking towards them. Blair sped up and intended to reach the Sentinel before Simon could grow more irate.
Too late. Simon wrested the steering wheel and pulled for all he was worth. Blair cried out in surprise and tried to regain control again. The Ford plunged off the road, luckily missing a parked car, and hit the kerb. Blair slammed on the brakes and pulled the keys from the ignition, flinging open his door at the same time.
He almost saw stars and yelped in pain as his hair was grabbed and he was wrenched back inside the car. Simon had him by a good handful and pulled Blair's head back into his lap.
"You working with them?"
"No, no, Simon. Please...." he cried out again as his head was yanked to one side again. He clutched at Simon's wrist in an attempt to relieve the pressure on his scalp.
"Give me the keys!"
Blair let go of the big man's hands and threw the keys into the street. He could just see Jim getting closer, someone behind him. Taggert, he thought.
"Blair?" Jim called. "Simon? What's wrong?"
Blair's hair was released and he jumped out of the car into Jim's arms. The Sentinel steadied him and tried to get the young man to look him in the eyes. But Blair would only look wildly at Simon.
"Jim. He has a head injury. He doesn't know what he'd doing." Blair could feel something wet sliding down his face.
"You're bleeding! What happened?" Jim demanded.
Blair touched his head and jerked his hand away when the salt in his skin touched the bare scalp. Some hair had been torn out by the roots. Only a small clump but enough to hurt like hell. Jim handed him over to Taggert and went around to Simon's side of the car.
The police captain had stepped out of the car and stood mindlessly next to the door.
"Simon?" Jim queried.
"Jim?" Empty eyes looked over at him and Jim felt a shiver run through him. He watched as his captain slowly slid to the ground in an ungracious puddle.
**********
Blair poked his head around the door of Simon's hospital room. Jim had gone to the canteen to get something to eat, Blair deciding against joining him. Hospital food was only to be tolerated when one didn't have a choice.
Simon lay quiet in the bed, seeming not to hear the young man's entrance. Blair settled for taking a seat next to the captain's bed and remaining quiet himself. He could wait for him to wake, he decided.
A few moments later Blair realised that he was being watched. Turning his head he saw the serious countenance of Simon Banks regarding him.
A smile split the young man's face. "Simon! How you feeling?"
No answer forthcoming, Blair's smile faltered. Simon had yet to smile himself.
Blair began to stand. "I'm sorry, you probably want your rest."
A big hand came to rest on his arm, effectively holding him in place despite the featherweight touch. Blair remained sitting and didn't move.
"Did I hurt you?" Simon's voice came in a whisper.
Blair ducked his head, embarrassed. "No, I'm okay. I'm a tough little coot, remember?"
Simon's hand left his arm and travelled up into his hair. The small sticky bandage still remained, covering the area that was missing some hair. The big man touched it, indeed remembering everything that had happened.
"Christ, Blair. I'm sorry. I don't what I was thinking..."
Blair looked away. Simon like this...was hard to take. The man was usually so irascible and tough. The vulnerability he was showing was unsettling, to Blair anyway. He listened to the assorted hospital sounds coming through the door. Finally looking at the captain he smiled again.
"It's all right. You'd had a pretty hard knock to the head. We'll take it as square for not shooting me on top of the car that time."
Simon finally smiled and pat Blair's arm. "Where's Jim. I imagine he's pretty pissed with me."
Blair chuckled. "No, you're lucky. He's too concerned with how you're feeling to worry about me."
Simon joined in the chuckle. "You mean I might just get away with roughing you up this time?"
"I just wouldn't do it too often. He's willing to put this one on your tab."
Simon levered himself up into a more comfortable position. Blair divined what he wanted and found the controls, moving the bed so the captain was sitting more upright. Simon looked at the tray of food that lay untouched on the other side of his bed and grimaced.
"I should be getting out today. Can't wait."
Blair laughed again at his captain's expense. "This is a switch. Me looking at you in hospital. I could get used to this."
Simon tried to swat his arm but Blair was uncomfortably out of reach. At that moment Jim entered, followed by Joel Taggert.
"Look who I found," called Jim.
Taggert waved to his fellow captain, his immense smile not helping Simon's mood while trapped in the bed. Blair stood and offered Taggert his chair. The bomb captain would probably want to visit a while with his friend.
"Simon, how you doing? Staff treating you all right?" The man's smile threatened to split his broad face. Joel couldn't help it, knowing how much Simon hated being where he was. Taggert adjusted Simon's bedclothes, tucking him in tighter.
Simon swatted at him. "Leave it, leave it! I already feel like a long dead Egyptian king."
Blair grinned at the two new visitors. "Amen Ra has had enough of his tomb and wants to go home now."
"Aww, Simon want to go home?" Jim teased.
Joel laughed and then sobered when Simon scowled at him.
"Why don't you two make yourselves useful. Joel, go and see what papers I can sign to get out of here and Jim, you get to a machine and get me something to eat. I'm not eating that crap." He looked disdainfully at the tray of cold food.
Blair made for the door. "I'll get you something."
"No, kid. You stay here," Simon said, "You're the only one not picking on me. Let them go." Simon waved at them, signalling they should now leave his presence.
Blair smiled at the other two men and took a seat again as Joel and Jim went to the door. He kept smiling at them as they left, uncommonly happy that Simon wanted him to stay above them. Blair settled back in the chair and looked at the captain.
Simon looked back at him and couldn't think of a thing to say. He wanted to thank the kid for sticking by him, all the time thinking he was keeping Simon out of harms way. Blair hadn't known until towards the end that it had been Simon's head injury talking. As far as he was concerned he had a friend to defend and foes to defend against.
Blair saw the look and recognised it for what it was. He patted Simon on the arm. "You're welcome, Simon. You would have done the same for me."
Simon didn't remove his gaze from Blair and nodded. A small grin began to appear on the tall man's face. "But I would have been able to get your cellphone from you and end it sooner."
"Well," Blair conceded, "if we're talking about roles being reversed, I would have been too quick for the hit and run. It wouldn't have happened."
"Oh, really?" Simon raised his eyebrows.
"Mmmm," Blair nodded, "quicker on my feet."
"Uh huh," Simon humoured him. He looked fondly at the younger man, subconsciously knowing that the kid was uncomfortable with all the attention. Simon shifted slightly to accommodate his hurts and thought if it had been Blair.... Simon, the size he was, was lucky. Someone of smaller stature like his young friend would have likely been killed on impact. Simon shook himself mentally. It didn't help thinking like that.
**********
A week later saw them back at Cascade PD. Life had resumed its normal course and the captain was back to his usual temper. Blair sat quietly at Jim's desk, doing some of his own work while Jim wandered about the building somewhere. He looked around the room and realised he didn't see anyone he knew. Joel was on a fortnight's holiday. Henri Brown had been attending court for the week. He turned back to his book, not hearing the captain's door open above the racket of an office going about its everyday business.
"Sandburg!"
Blair's head snapped up. Shutting his book he scarpered into Simon's office. Simon busied himself with his coffee pot, hiding his smile while he heard the young man take a seat behind him. He loved the reaction his bark got sometimes.
Turning he handed Blair a cup. The young man took it gratefully. Maybe he wasn't in trouble. Looking at Simon over the rim, as he took a sip, he saw the big man was fighting to conceal a smile.
Smiling himself, he couldn't help asking, "What?"
"Oh, nothing. Where's Jim?" Simon studied his cup.
"Records, I think." There was that smile again. "What?"
"Hungry? I am. Go find Jim and we'll go get some lunch."
"You're on." Blair answered, gulping down more of his coffee. Leaving some unfinished he left the office quickly, intend on finding his partner. He was starved, it being almost 2pm and breakfast having been almost seven hours earlier.
Simon stood and returned Blair's cup to the bench behind him. A twinge in his hip reminded him to take it easy. He still hurt and thought how lucky he had been. Some would have seen it as unlucky, stepping into the path of a car, but he counted it as lucky. Lucky Blair had been there to look after him.
Taking a last swig of his cooling coffee he left his office to await them at the lift.
FINIS
Did ya like it? Did ya? Did ya? Drop me a line if you like. If you didn't, complaints can be folded in a paper plane shape and lodged through that window over there.
Amnesia and concussion. Great stuff. Fell off a horse when I was eighteen. Landed head first (I never seem to land any other way). Middle of nowhere in the Snowy Mountains in NSW, Australia. Lucky for me someone I knew found me (horse long gone and me very confused) and fought to get me back to camp. As far as I was concerned I knew exactly where I was going and didn't know who this strange person was trying to get me to go somewhere with them.
I still spend more time sailing through the air than my bum has contact with the saddle. It's grey horses. I swear they have it in for me.