New
Arrivals
Author-Sorcha
Titles
Sunny Side Up
by Sorcha
My heartfelt gratitude goes out to these people: Jen (for writing the on-the-beach-at-night scene for me. Without your help I would have been stuck for a long, long time.), Danae (for your usual insightful beta reading and help coming up with the title.), and last but not least, everyone who has written to me with positive feedback and encouragement. Thank you!
This story is post-Trance, but pretend that Sentinel Too, Night Shift, etc, never happened. :-)
Feedback appreciated.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own the guys, neither do I make any money by doing this. No infringement intended.
Blair Sandburg rolled onto his back and pulled the bedcovers up over his head. It didn't take Sentinel ears to hear the rain pounding down from the grey summer skies of Cascade. The alarm clock turned off long ago, Blair had absolutely no intention of getting out of bed. A loud and obtrusive knock sounded on his bedroom door, followed by the sound of someone entering the room.
"Sandburg, do you know what time it is?" Jim Ellison's voice was painfully loud in Blair's unwelcoming ears.
"I don't care," Blair mumbled from beneath the comforter. "I've decided that I'm not getting up today."
"Is that so?" Jim crossed his arms over his chest and stood looking down at the lump that was his partner.
"Yes, that's so."
"And what do you think Simon will have to say about that, hmm?"
"Go away, Jim," Blair said rather grumpily.
"No, I don't think that's what he'll say."
"Ji-im," Blair whined. "Stop it. I'm not getting up and that's final."
"Oh, I think I might be able to lure you out of bed."
"Don't count on it, man. Nothing could make me get up this morning."
"Not even the prospect of a sandy beach?" Ellison's voice betrayed how much he was enjoying this.
Sandburg groaned. "Jim, please. . . ."
"With hot sun?"
"*Please*, Jim!"
"The ocean stretching out before you?"
"Man, you are *so* cruel."
"And nothing to do but relax for an entire week?"
Blair peeked out from under the blankets to look at his roommate. "You're not serious, are you?"
Jim grinned at the cautiously hopeful tone that Blair's voice had taken on. "I'm completely serious. Have you ever known me to be anything but serious?"
"I *would* say ‘not often enough', except for the fact that you have one strange definition of ‘sense of humour'."
"I'd watch what you say to me right now, Sandburg. After all, I am the one who will soon be in possession of the key to a beachfront cabin."
Blair shot into a sitting position, the blanket falling down into a heap around his waist. "Oh, man! You're kidding, right?"
Jim shook his head. "As I said, I'm completely serious. An old buddy of mine from high school phoned last night after you'd gone to bed. He and his wife take their daughter up to Vancouver Island every summer and rent a cottage up there. They rented it for their usual week but something just came up and they can't make it. He offered the cabin to me for a good price, and I accepted."
"Oh, wow! This is awesome, man! When do we leave?" Blair was completely out from under the covers now, sitting on the edge of his bed. All previous thoughts of hibernation were now forgotten.
Jim couldn't help but smile at his young friend's enthusiasm, and his total abandonment of ideas that, just a moment ago, he'd been so set on. "We leave tomorrow. Bright and early. You think you can be ready in time?"
"Are you kidding? I can be ready in five minutes." Blair got up and made as if to start packing.
"Whoa, slow down, Villeneuve." Jim put a hand on Blair's chest to stop him. "You can pack tonight. Right now we have to get to the station. We've got a ton of paperwork to get done before we take off."
"You mean *I* have a ton of paperwork to get done." Blair corrected the detective, knowing that it was he who would end up doing most of the tiresome job.
"You said it, not me." Jim was heading out of the room. "Now, hit the shower, Chief. We're leaving in fifteen minutes."
"Hey, Simon really gave you the whole week off, man?" Blair called after Jim.
"Yep. The whole week. It's not going to be a problem with you at the university, is it? I thought you mentioned that next week would be pretty relaxed."
"Yeah, it's fine," the grad student assured him. "Good. Now get in the shower, Chief, before I throw you in," Jim threatened from the kitchen as Blair stood in his bedroom doorway.
"All right, all right." Blair made his way to the bathroom, knowing that Jim might very well make good on his threat if he didn't get a move on.
Jim watched as his friend practically bounced down the hallway. What a change from five minutes ago! Shaking his head in amusement, Ellison poured himself a cup of coffee. That kid was like a rubber ball sometimes. Not only did he bounce back from all hardships, but he kept on bouncing. Blair's youthful enthusiasm and energy almost drove Jim crazy at times, but the sentinel would never wish for his friend to change. No, it was part of what made Blair special. Part of what made him Blair.
******************
"So, are we out of here, or what?" Blair stood by Jim's desk, looking at the detective. He was anxious to get home and start packing for their trip.
Ellison pushed back his desk chair and stood, holding some papers in his hand. "As soon as I get Brown's signature on this, we'll be on our way. Where is H anyway? Have you seen him?"
Blair shrugged and shook his head in reply. He followed Jim across the bullpen to where Rafe was working.
"Rafe, do you know where Brown is?"
"Sorry, Jim," Rafe replied. "I haven't seen him for about twenty minutes. He's in the building somewhere, that's all I know."
"Thanks." Jim headed out of the bullpen, intending to go searching for the other detective.
Blair jogged up beside the Sentinel and put a hand on his arm to stop him. "Hey, Jim, you don't need to go looking for him."
"I thought you were the one that wanted to get out of here as soon as possible." Jim started walking again.
Blair grabbed Ellison's arm again, pulling the older man to a stop. "That's what I mean, man. *Listen* for him. Maybe he's talking to someone and you can figure out where he is."
Jim rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Sandburg, there have got to be hundreds of people in this building. I'm not going to listen for one person among so many others."
"Come on, Jim. You can do it. And it'll be way faster."
"Forget it. There're too many people." Jim walked off again, this time determined not to stop until he'd found Brown.
Blair stayed where he'd been standing with Jim, disappointment, frustration, and anger showing themselves on his expressive face. As his sentinel disappeared around a corner, Sandburg turned back to the bullpen to get his jacket and wait for Jim.
*****************
That evening Blair was more subdued, his excitement toned down from what it had been in the morning. But he was still looking forward to their vacation and set to packing as soon as dinner was over with. When he had all the clothes and belongings packed that he'd need for a week, Sandburg took his bag out of his room and put it down near the front door. "Man, it's gonna be great to get away."
"You're telling me," Jim agreed as he sorted through his fishing gear. "There's a river right near where we'll be staying. Great for fishing, I'm told."
"And it isn't raining there?" Blair wanted to be sure that they'd be getting away from the trying weather.
Jim shook his head, smiling in anticipation. "Hot and sunny, Chief."
"Awesome." Blair rubbed his hands together. "Well, I'm gonna hit the sack now, Jim. See you in the morning."
"All right. Good night, Chief." Jim thought that Blair wasn't quite his usual self that evening, but he shrugged it off and finished up his own packing. They'd be making an early start in the morning. ***********************
Not having to wait long at the border but being met with long line-ups at the terminal, they made it on the two o'clock ferry departing from Horseshoe Bay. Arriving in Departure Bay on Vancouver Island less than an hour and three quarters later, Jim consulted his map briefly and then started off along the highway. Blair did not seem to be in the best of moods, Jim noticed, but he still chatted willingly enough with Ellison, keeping them entertained for most of the journey.
After what was approximately a seven hour trip, Jim drove his truck through the small town of Black Creek and followed the roads to the beachfront resort where they would be staying. They checked in at the main house where a pleasant couple in their early sixties greeted the two men and gave them the keys to their cabin.
The cabin was set back slightly from the beach, surrounded by giant pine trees. There were two small bedrooms, one with a double bed, the other with twin beds. The small livingroom housed a couch and an armchair which faced a great stone fireplace. A giant window provided a picturesque view of the strait and the distant mountains of the mainland. The small kitchen was stocked with all the cookware, dishes, and cutlery that would be needed on their week of vacation. A quick trip to the local grocery store allowed them to stock the fridge and cupboards, not forgetting the cocoa and marshmallows, of course.
By the time they finished their dinner, it was nearly nine o'clock. Sandburg offered to do the washing up so the detective settled down at the kitchen table to play some Solitaire. Jim's mind was only half on the card game though, as he watched his partner with one eye. Blair was standing at the sink, his back to Jim, scrubbing the dinner dishes as if they would never get clean. His mood had become progressively worse throughout the evening. While continuing with his game of Solitaire, Jim asked, "Want any help?"
"No." The answer was short, and Blair scrubbed harder.
The tension in the younger man's back was clearly visible, and Ellison could tell that Blair was ready burst. With a sigh, Jim put the cards down on the table and turned toward Sandburg. "Okay, Chief, out with it. What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Blair swung around, sounding like he was amazed that Jim even had to ask that question.
Jim sat patiently in his chair, facing Sandburg, knowing that it would all come out now.
"What's wrong is that you don't try."
"I don't *try*? What are you talking about, Chief?"
"I'm talking about yesterday afternoon." Seeing that Jim still wasn't following, Blair tried again. "When you were looking for Brown."
"So that's what this is all about? I told you, Chief, there were too many people. I didn't realize it would upset you so much."
"It's not just that, Jim. It was the same with Corrina in Little Havanna. You wouldn't even try to pick her out of the crowd by her scent."
"It was zoo there, all those people packed together. It never would have worked."
"Okay, then how did you find me in the crowd, huh? Tell me that, Jim. Did you just happen to come up behind me?" It was obvious from Blair's tone that he didn't believe that was what had happened.
"No, I didn't just happen to find you," Jim admitted.
"Then how did you find me?" Blair pressed the subject.
Jim let out a small sigh of defeat. "I heard you."
"You heard me." Blair nodded, still as upset as ever. "So you can pick out my voice but you can't pick out Brown's? Or Corina's scent? Is that what you're trying to say?"
"It's different, Chief." Jim was beginning to wonder if steam would start coming out of his friend's ears soon. This really had him worked up.
"Different? How is it any different, Jim? I'd really like to know."
Jim stood up, his voice raising slightly as he found himself having to reveal some things to Blair. "It's different because with you I don't even have to think. It just happens. Like instinct or something."
Blair stopped, his anger seeming to drain away in an instant. "Really?"
"Yes, really." Jim thought that Blair had fallen completely into his scientist mode, but then saw that this was not so as his friend's face fell again. "Okay, Chief. What is it that's *really* bothering you?"
Sandburg looked at the floor for a moment before answering. "When you reject your senses, refuse to use them, sometimes I feel like you're rejecting *me*."
"What? Come on, Sandburg, that's ridiculous."
"Oh, great. So now I'm ridiculous. Well, I'm sorry that I have feelings, Jim." Blair stormed back to the sink and resumed his furious scrubbing of the already clean dishes.
Jim sank back down into his chair. <Great choice of words there, Ellison. You've just made things even worse.> He rested his elbows on the table and put his head in his hands, rubbing his face. Deciding it would be best to calm down before trying to talk to Blair again, Jim reached out with his hearing to listen to the ocean. The sound of the waves crashing into shore had a soothing effect on him and he stayed like that for a few minutes.
Finally deciding that the dishes had undergone enough washing, Blair placed the last plate in the drying rack. As he moved his hand away, it connected with a pot that had been sitting on the counter, sending it and two others flying to the floor.
Crash! The great clatter ripped away the sounds of the ocean, sending the Sentinel sliding to his knees in agony. His hands covered his ears as he rocked back and forth on the floor, feeling like his brain had just exploded. At first, there was only the terrible pain, holding Jim in a tight grasp, blocking out everything else. But then, slowly, Jim became aware of a hand rubbing his back and a comforting voice reaching to him through the shock and pain.
"Come on, Jim, take control of the dial. Make sure it's turned down, but not too far. Keep it normal." Blair stopped rubbing Jim's back and gently pried the Sentinel's hands from the ringing ears. "Come on, man. That's it. You're okay now."
Jim's hands came away from his head and he blinked open his eyes. He took a couple deep breaths and tried to stand. He felt Blair's hand on his arm, helping him back into the chair. "Thanks, Chief," Jim said when he was seated.
"No problem. I'm sorry I was such a klutz." Blair stepped back, looking at Ellison. "What were you doing with your hearing open that much, man?"
Jim rubbed his temples. "Listening to the ocean."
"Well, maybe you should leave that for when you're down on the beach. Or at least for when I'm not in the kitchen," Blair advised with a small grin.
"Yeah, I think you're right." Jim was still rubbing his temples.
"Are you okay, Jim?" Sandburg to a step toward his friend.
Jim waved him off. "I'm fine. My head's just ringing a bit still, that's all. I'll be all right."
Blair glanced at him once more, then moved back to the sink once again. This time he dried the dishes and put them away, carefully placing the pots in their proper cupboard.
Jim sat watching his guide. When the last dish was put away, he spoke up. "Chief, I'm sorry about what I said earlier." Blair turned to face him, drying his hands on a towel, so Jim continued. "I didn't mean it the way you took it. What I was trying to say was that when I refuse to use my senses, that's just me being stubborn. It has nothing to do with what I think of you or whether I want you around or not. To tell you the truth, I don't even know why I resist you so much. I'll try harder from now on, okay?"
Blair hung up the towel, then nodded. "Okay."
Jim smiled. "Good. So what do you say we head down to the beach?"
"Sure," Blair replied. After hanging the dishtowel on a small rack on the kitchen wall, he followed Jim out the cabin door.
****************
Jim and Blair made their way leisurely along the beach, stopping now and again so that Blair could stoop to pick up a shell or stone that had caught his eye. After awhile they came to an outcropping of rocks and decided to sit for a while before heading back to the cabin.
Jim leaned back against the rocks quietly watching while his partner skimmed stones along the water. "You know what, Chief?" Jim began after watching Blair for awhile. "I'm glad we did this. It's nice relaxing like this without having to worry about anyone shooting at us or the Psycho of the week trying to kill either one of us. Nothing like a nice quiet vacation with your best friend to soothe the weight of the world away," Jim finished, closing his eyes and listening once again to the relaxing sounds of the ocean and his friend skipping rocks.
The ocean slapping against the beach was the only sound to be heard as Jim and Blair were both quietly lost in their own thoughts for a few minutes. Blair tired of skipping rocks and went to sit near Jim.
"Yeah, you're right. This is relaxing. I guess vacations really are fun," Blair said thoughtfully as he gazed at the moon as it sat on the ocean.
"What do you mean, Chief? You've been on vacations before, haven't you?" Jim asked, his eyes still closed.
"No, not really. This is kinda my first."
Jim's eyes shot open and he turned to look at Blair, who was staring at the ocean. "What do you mean this is your first vacation? Didn't you go on any when you were a kid with Naomi?"
"No, we never needed to go on vacations. If we wanted to go somewhere or see something, we just went. We moved around whenever Naomi got tired of the place we lived or whom we lived with," Blair said quietly without moving his eyes from the water.
"You mean you're twenty-eight years old and you've never gone on a vacation, not even as a kid?"
"Well, Jim, there are a lot of things I never did as a kid. But no, I've never been on a vacation. I mean I've been to a lot of places. When we lived in Arizona, I spent a lot of time at the Grand Canyon. When we lived in San Antonio, I pretended I was Davy Crockett protecting Texas from the Spanish at the Alamo. I went everywhere, but Naomi and I never took a *real* vacation."
"What about when your were in college? Didn't you ever go on one then?"
"Nah, any free time I had during school breaks I used to beg, bluster and bully my way onto any and every anthro expedition that I could find. So I went all over the world with those, but never on a vacation. I kinda envy you that, going on vacations with your family. I bet you've even been to Disneyland, haven't you?"
Jim closed his eyes again. He still got surprised by the things that his Guide hadn't done. <He's never been to Disneyland. He was *made* for Disneyland.> Jim had nothing against Naomi, she did a good job of raising Blair on her own, but sometimes he wondered what kind of person Blair would've become if he'd had a "normal" childhood.
"It wasn't a big deal Chief. The "family vacations" were okay, well, until My mom and dad figured out they couldn't stand to be in the same room with one another. Then they were just a new place for my parents to yell at each other."
"But didn't you have even *one* vacation with your folks that you can remember fondly, Jim?"
Jim thought for a moment, hearing the plea in his Guide's voice. "Well, yeah, I did."
"So, where did you go? What did you see and do? Did everybody go or was it just a you and your dad thing?"
"Hey, hold on, Darwin, take a breath, will you?" Jim smiled at his friend. "Let me see, we went to Virginia. My mom had this thing about history. We spent some time in Williamsburg and there about. We saw the colonial houses and the village they have set up there with everyone dressed like colonial settlers and working in the town like it was still the 1770's. We toured some of the old Civil War sites. Yes, we all went. My dad and I didn't really do the "father and son only" trips, it wasn't really his thing. Yeah, I had fun. I had forgotten about that until you just mentioned it"
"I know that your dad was a hard man, Jim, but you had it good. I wish I knew who my dad was."
Jim had to strain to hear what Blair said next "I would have given anything to have a vacation like that, even once." Jim sighed at the longing in his friends voice and vowed to make it up to him somehow. Jim smiled as he was hit with an inspiration and got to his feet.
"Hey Chief," Jim said as he pulled Blair to his feet. "I've got an idea. What do you say we start planning our next vacation right now?"
"Sure." Blair's eyes lit up. "Where do you want to go?"
"Well, I was thinking, since I haven't been there in years and they've got a lot of new stuff opening next month, how about we head down to Disneyland?"
"Disneyland? Are you serious, Jim? That would be like *so* cool. We could go and maybe see if Simon and Daryl want to come. We could do it on a weekend. Hey, we could go into the Haunted House and try a test or two with your senses. Maybe see how your eyes react to the holograms in the haunted house, or --"
"Hey, Chief, slow down," Jim said, smiling at Blair's enthusiasm. "I said that we could go there on *vacation*. That means NO tests. That means relaxing and forgetting the real world for a day or two. And I think asking Simon and Daryl would be a good idea. Now, how about we head back to the cabin, I'm starting to get a little tired and we have a long day tomorrow. I plan to spend the whole morning fishing in Oyster River."
*********************
The sun was wonderfully hot the next afternoon. Jim lay stretched out on a towel, enjoying the feeling of the rays beating down on his face and bare chest. Sunglasses on, he had his eyes closed and was on the verge of dozing to the melange of sounds which drifted across the open stretch of sand and water. There was the sound of the now rapidly incoming tide, rushing and lapping over the long expanse of sand which it had retreated from earlier. Voices and children's laughter came from the distance to merge harmoniously with the sounds of birds chirping. Jim smiled as he momentarily zoomed in on the voices of Blair and the two children he was busy building a sand castle with closer to the water's edge. Reining his hearing back in, Jim sighed contentedly and allowed himself to drift off.
The sentinel came quickly out of his half-asleep state at the sound of approaching footsteps. Eyes still closed, Jim recognized that it was Blair coming up the beach toward him. It sounded like Sandburg was trying his best to be quiet, tiptoeing, creeping. "Sandburg, don't you know you can't sneak up on a sentinel?" The footsteps came to a stop, but there was no reply. Jim knew that Blair was standing right beside him now so he cracked open one eye to look up at him. Ellison was greeted with the sight of a bucket full of water being emptied right over him. Reflexively, he tried to twist out of the way, but he was too late and the cold water hit him like a wave of ice. He was on his feet in an instant. "Sandburg!"
Blair was already halfway to the water, laughing as he ran. He was immensely pleased with himself for actually being able to pull the trick off. His laughter was cut short however, when Jim tackled him in the ocean's shallows, sending Blair to his knees.
"You didn't actually think you'd get away with that, did you?" Jim hooked one arm under the smaller man's knees and the other around Blair's back, lifting him out of the water.
"Hey, man, what're you doing?" Blair struggled to get out of Jim's hold but was unsuccessful. "Oh, no," Blair said as he realized that Jim was heading into deeper water, away from the almost-hot shallows. They crossed over a sandbar and Sandburg started to struggle again. "Come on, Jim, you can't dump me out there. It's *cold* out there. Jim!"
The sentinel only laughed. Now in water halfway up his thighs, Jim let go of his load, dumping his guide into the less-than-warm water. His job done, Ellison turned and headed back for shore.
Spluttering and splashing, Blair found the sandy bottom with his feet. Standing up, he wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. "Oh, man, I'm going to get you for that one!" he called after his friend. The only response he got from Jim was another laugh. Picking seaweed out of his hair, Blair spotted a long piece of kelp floating beside him. A mischievous grin spread across his face as he picked it up. He swung the kelp around his head like a lasso to get it going, then let it fly. It hit its target with a satisfying smack and Blair's grin changed to one of victory. "Hah!"
Slowly, Jim turned around to face Blair. He glanced down at the piece of kelp now floating innocently in the ocean, then back up at his friend.
"Uh-oh," Blair said quietly, knowing that Jim wasn't going to let this go. Deciding that he'd better make his getaway fast, Sandburg plunged completely into the cold water and swam for his life, parallel to the beach.
"Oh, no you don't, Chief," Jim called after him and swam off in pursuit of Sandburg.
Their playful war went on until Jim noticed that Blair was shivering, his lips turning blue. "Chief, I think we should call it quits before you turn into a popsicle on me."
"You'll get no argument from me," Blair said, his teeth chattering.
They trudged back up the beach to where they had left their towels. Jim picked one up, shook the sand out of it, and draped it across Blair's shoulders. "Here you go, Chief."
"Thanks, man." Blair pulled the towel more tightly around himself, still shivering.
Jim put a hand on Sandburg's back and steered him toward the cabin. "You take the first shower while I get the barbeque started."
"Great." Blair headed straight for the bathroom, anxious to have a hot shower.
While he waited for his turn, Jim got the barbeque ready to cook the steaks which had been marinading while he and Sandburg had been at the beach. It wasn't long before Blair reappeared in worn jeans and a short-sleeved shirt to take over as chef, and the sentinel got his chance to wash the increasingly irritating salt residue off his skin. When he emerged from the cabin not much later, the steaks were nearly done and corn-on-the-cob was cooking away in the kitchen.
When they sat down to dinner at the picnic table in front of the cabin, the sun was starting to sink and a pleasant breeze was drifting up off the ocean. Jim looked across the table at his friend, remembering their amicable war in which he had been the last to strike. "Well, it looks like I came out on top today, Chief." "Don't get too confident, man." Blair grinned over his cob of corn. "I'm already plotting my revenge."
"And you actually think you'll be able to get me back?"
"I'll get you back, all right. Just you wait and see."
"Just remember, Sandburg," Jim warned, "I am the Sentinel."
Blair laughed, thinking of how he'd managed to dump water on Jim earlier. "As I recall, that didn't help you much this afternoon."
"I'll be ready this time. You can count on it."
"Yeah, we'll see about that," Blair said confidently. He wanted to come up with something really good, an ultimate payback for Jim. He smiled to himself as he brainstormed. Maybe tomorrow. . . .
The End