New
Arrivals
Author-Ice Bear
Titles
I'll Stand By You
by Ice Bear
Summary: A different twist on The Sentinel by Blair Sandburg.
Note: Heard this song one morning and it made me think of Jim and Blair
Disclaimer: All things Sentinel belong to Pet Fly and Paramount.
“I’ll stand by you, I’ll stand by you, won’t let nobody hurt you, I’ll stand by you.” (By the Pretenders)
It was really late – or really early – depending on how you chose to look at 3 a.m. Blair sat up slowly from his makeshift bed on the couch; he hadn’t bothered to pull it out. There was a slight breeze wafting through the loft, and he turned his head and found its source. The balcony door was ajar; a dark figure silhouetted against the night sky.
A sigh slipped out before he pushed himself up. It had been a long day…he’d kept hoping it was a nightmare but if it was, he had yet to awake. The first clue that something was wrong had been the throng of reporters in front of the loft when they left for work. He was sure that if he lived to be 100, he would never have a day go as wrong as this one. And his partner’s reaction had been, well, volcanic was the first word that came to mind. He shook his head and headed into the lion’s den.
Jim tensed as he sensed the intruder. Once he realized it was his Guide and not Naomi, he relaxed slightly. “You alright, Chief,” he asked softly.
“Been better, you?” He leaned for a moment against the bigger man before straightening up.
A half strangled laugh escaped before he could stop it. “Hell of a day, Blair,” he whispered.
“Jim, I…I’m so sorry. I wish I...”
“Don’t, please,” the older man pleaded. “What’s done is done. I’ve been thinking about it.”
“Hard not to,” Blair nodded, taking one of the chairs. “I don’t know how to fix it, Big Guy. I…I just don’t know how.”
“Not yours to fix, Chief. I’ve been thinking…maybe this is one of those things that happens for a reason…Don’t look at me like that!” He finished at the glare he received.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“No. Well, no more than usual. First thing though, you need to understand that you did not do this,” he held up a hand to stop his partner from interrupting. “I didn’t mean what I said this afternoon…I just, I felt like I’d been blindsided. I know you would never do anything intentionally to hurt me. I know that Blair; really I do. I’m sorry for what I said earlier.”
“No, Jim, you had every right. Man, I still can’t believe that Naomi sent the diss to a publisher,” he finished almost to himself, as his head dropped into his hands.
“She was just trying to help her son. She’s proud of you, Chief. She has every right to be.”
“But she ruined everything – my god, Jim, she might as well have painted a target on your back!”
“I’m a cop…that automatically makes me a target. Look, I have an idea on how to handle this, but I need a little time to work it out. While I do, I need you to promise me two things: first, you won’t do anything until we’ve talked again; and second, you focus on finishing the diss. Can you do that for me, Chief?”
“Not work with you, I…,” he rose to stand beside the man he considered his brother and looked carefully into the solemn blue eyes. “I don’t like it, Jim but if that’s what you need, you got it.” He smiled for the first time all day as he was pulled gently against the rugged body.
“Thank you. Now let’s both try and get some sleep.”
Detective Ellison did his job to the best of his ability for the next two days; doing his damnedest to ignore the assault the media had launched. The only time anyone saw a crack in his façade was after the press horde prevented him from getting to Zeller. His colleagues in Major Crimes closed ranks around him to protect him as best they could from the hubbub the so called ‘Sentinel papers’ had birthed. The rest of the PD was divided into two camps, those that knew Jim was a good cop and that was all that mattered; and those who had never liked Cascade’s two time cop of the year and were happy to have additional ammunition to use against him.
Simon Banks worried about his friend and senior detective. If Ellison got any tenser he would snap in two. And the absence of his partner had the Captain very worried. The last time the civilian observer had disappeared, they’d found him face down in a fountain on the University campus. But this time, at least, Ellison didn’t seem worried about his friend and partner so he let it ride.
At the end of the second day, Blair hesitated before entering the hospital room. “Jim?”
“Hey, Chief,” he whispered, as the hand not attached to the IV sought the button to raise the bed.
“Jim, are you alright?” His hand sought his partner’s.
“I’m okay, Blair. Doc says crutches for a week and then probably a cane for a bit.” A nurse came in, and they sat in comfortable silence until she completed her duties. “I really appreciate you giving me the time to figure things out, Chief. I think what we should do is leave it alone.”
“What? Were you hit in the head, too?” Blair was out of his chair and dangling half way over the bed rail.
“No. One of the reasons you were so taken with Sentinels when you first read about them was because you thought you could help them. And you have, Blair. If you found me and Alex, don’t you wonder how many other people are out there, thinking they’ve lost their minds? You paper could help a lot of people.”
“Yeah and it could get you killed! Or maybe you’re in the mood for the government to drag you off to some secret lab and have you chase cheese through a maze.”
“Sometimes, Chief, the best place to hide is in plain sight. It would be easy for the government, or anyone else for that matter, to take me now because we’ve worked so hard to keep it all a secret. But if was common knowledge, it would be a hell of a lot harder and there’d be an awful lot of questions asked if I did just disappeared.”
Blair pulled the bed rail down and settled himself carefully next to his partner. “Jim, do you know what you’re saying?”
“Yeah, I do. You’ve spent four years being my Guide, my partner, my best friend. Through all of it, you’ve stood by me, stood up for me and stood up to me,” the blue eyes twinkled with warmth and light, “and you’ve protected me from anything and anyone who tried to hurt me.
This paper is the culmination of everything you wanted since you were 12. And it will help people, people like me who aren’t lucky enough to have their own Sandburg.”
“Jim, man, I can’t let you do it.”
“Let me stand by you, Chief. It’s the right thing to do. And it’s what I want to do.”
“You’re sure?”
“I am.” Blair looked at his Sentinel in awe. “So Doc, what are you going to do with all that money? And I want a say in who plays me in the movie.”
“First, I have to finish the damn thing,” he choked out.
“Then get out of here. Just bring me back some real clothes tomorrow? Please?”
“Don’t like the nurses whistling at your finer attributes, Ellison?” Blair’s smile fairly split his face.
“Don’t want to catch a cold from the draft!” Jim responded, his smile wide just before shooting a pillow at the retreating form of his Guide.
~end~