New
Arrivals
Author-Suzie
Titles
Escape
by Suzie
Summary: Jim and Blair leave their life in Cascade behind. This begins about one year after TSbyBS. Blair is now a Detective and Jim's *official* partner. A Government group doesn't believe Blair's claim of his dissertation being a fraud and intends to take both Sentinel and Guide into custody for study and to discover the extent of their abilities... and whether or not they could be used in wartime situations. #1 of the Wanted series.
Disclaimer: Some of the characters in this story belong to the Pet Fly Productions as part of the television show The Sentinel. I do not claim these characters as my own.
Notes: Thanks, Jen, for being who you are... *AND* for being the best damn Beta Beast a lowly writer could have.
Three men, dressed in matching dark suits and sunglasses, marched purposefully through Major Crimes and into Captain Banks' office without knocking. The door being closed cut off the Captain's protests.
Blair rolled his chair the few feet from his desk to Jim's. "Who are they, Jim?" he asked when his chair bumped his partner's. "FBI? CIA?"
"Probably... maybe," Jim said with a shrug. "I don't know."
"They remind me of the agents in the movie 'Men In Black'."
Jim chuckled as he tuned his hearing in to find out what was going on. Recognizing the look and the familiar cock of the head, Blair grinned and let the Sentinel listen. He let his right knee touch Jim's left thigh as an inconspicuous anchor against zone-out.
"... and what is your interest in Detectives Ellison and Sandburg?" Simon asked the men standing in front of his desk.
"That's *need to know* information, Captain," one of the agents said.
"Well, *I* need to know, damnit!" Simon snapped as he rose to his feet. "Just who the hell are you anyway?!"
"We are with the Government, sir. That's all you need to know."
"What are they saying, Jim?" Blair whispered to his partner.
"They're talking about us," Jim whispered back.
"Us?! What did we do?"
Jim shrugged and looked towards the office when he no longer heard any conversation. The Captain and one of the men in black seemed to be having some sort of face off, and the other two were staring out the office's window at him. It was as if they knew he was listening to the conversation.
"We only want to talk to them, Captain," the same man finally said in an overly calm voice. "Perhaps there is a room where..."
"No," Simon ground out. "You will talk to them here, in my office, with me present."
The Agent facing him stared quietly at the tall, black man on the other side of the desk. The other two turned and joined their companion.
"That was not a request, gentlemen." Simon picked up his phone and jabbed at several numbers. It rang once and was picked up. "Jim, bring Sandburg and come in here please."
"Yes, sir," Jim said into the receiver. "Let's go, Chief. We've been summoned."
**********
"Detective Ellison... Detective Sandburg. These are Agents Moe, Larry, and Curly. They work for the Government," Simon introduced sarcastically.
Ignoring the Captain's obvious insult, the Agent now known as Moe said, "Does the Captain know of your... gift, Detective Ellison?"
Jim frowned and looked from Blair to Simon. "What gift?"
"I heard his last date say something about...," Blair started to joke.
"Detective Sandburg," Agent Moe interrupted. "We know about your research."
"My... research?"
"Come now... let's not play games here. We are here on behalf of the Government to offer both you and Detective Ellison an opportunity to use your abilities to defend your country."
"I denounced my dissertation on enhanced senses a year ago. Jim wasn't a Sentinel then and he is *not* a Sentinel now!" Blair said quickly, suddenly feeling uneasy.
"Detective Sandburg, the agency that we work for has read your dissertation and has concluded that you claimed your work a fraud to protect *your* Sentinel. Isn't that what a Guide is suppose to do?"
Blair's face blanched and he suddenly found it difficult to catch his breath.
Jim was instantly at his friend's side, lowering him into the nearest chair. "Easy does it, Chief. We really don't need you having a panic attack right now." He gently rubbed Blair's back in an effort to get him to relax. "Just breathe... nice and easy breaths."
"I think you should leave now," Simon said, glaring intently at each of the men in black.
Agent Moe ignored the Captain and turned to Jim and Blair. "If you would listen to our offer, Detectives, I think..."
With the grace and speed of a large cat, Jim was in the Agent's face. "I don't care what your people have read... I am not what they seem to think I am," he growled. "Regardless of what Government you work for, we would not be interested in your offer."
Simon stepped over to the door and opened it. "Must I repeat myself?"
A business card was placed on the desk. No name, just a phone number was printed on it. "Think about it. Call us when you're ready to discuss the offer."
Then the three men in black were gone and Simon slammed the door behind them.
"Are you all right, Sandburg?" Simon asked, moving to stand next to the still pale young man.
"I'm... fine," Blair gasped, pushing a shaky hand through his short curly hair. "What are we gonna do?"
"Let's just wait and see what happens in a couple of days."
"You two be careful," Simon told them. "These Government types aren't known for taking no for an answer."
**********
Three days later, Friday evening, the phone rang as Jim and Blair walked into the loft from work.
Blair groaned.
"Let the machine get it," Jim sighed tiredly. "If it's important, we can pick it up."
On the fifth ring the answering machine picked up.
"Detective Ellison... I know you're home so you may as well pick it up," a familiar voice said.
"Hey, isn't that Moe?" Blair said, removing his coat before unbuckling his shoulder holster.
"Yep, that's him," Jim replied, moving towards the phone. "May as well get this over with." Picking up the receiver, he said, "It's been a long week... we're tired... what do you want?"
"We hadn't heard from you and were wondering if you and your partner had come to a decision yet," the agent said.
"The answer was *no* three days ago and it's still *no* now."
Blair came up behind Jim and pulled the bigger man's coat off and unclipped the holster from the back of his belt.
"That is not an option, Detective."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Jim snarled into the phone.
"It means that we were willing to let you do this under your own terms. Now that has changed and it will be under our terms."
"Wait... okay... can you give us some more time."
There was a pause, then Agent Moe said, "All right... twenty-four hours."
Jim slammed down the phone and stared at it as if he were fighting not to rip it up and throw it.
"Jim?" Blair asked quietly. "What happened, man?"
Jim held a finger to his lips, letting Blair know to stay quiet. Then he scanned the loft with his senses, looking for any listening devices. He carefully checked each room, listening for the unmistakable buzz that such devices made and only he would hear. Finally, when he was sure the apartment wasn't bugged, he said, "We are in trouble, Chief."
"What kind of trouble?"
"The kind that means we have to get out of here." Jim told Blair what the Agent had said.
"Oh, God, they're going to come after us," Blair stated nervously. "Are they outside now?"
Jim used his hearing, dialing it up to search for a whispered word, a quickening heartbeat, anything that would reveal the presence of the men who wanted them. Blair moved quickly to his Sentinel and placed a warm hand on his back, as was his way to ground the big man and hopefully waylay any possible zone-out.
Finally, after a long worried thirty-seconds, Jim said, "I can't tell, but they know about me and will no doubt be here for us by morning."
"I thought you said he agreed to twenty-four hours?"
"We're dealing with the Government here."
"Oh yeah." Blair sat in a chair next to Jim. "So... we take off?"
Jim nodded, "We knew something *could* happen. That someone might doubt your fraudulent claim and want to investigate. That's why we set up a contingency plan. I went through the stuff we packed down in storage after that meeting in Simon's office the other day, and everything is still in good shape."
"So, we can pretty much leave anytime?"
Jim nodded. "When Simon receives his packet, he'll have Power of Attorney so he can sell everything for us, and take care of our bank accounts."
"Yeah... everything," Blair said sadly.
"There's no choice, Chief," Jim said, understanding his partner's feelings. "We have to get out of here and chances are we won't be able to come back."
"Yeah, I know, Jim. I'll start packing."
Jim and Blair packed their things as quickly as possible. By eleven o'clock Blair had packed what food he could from the kitchen while Jim packed the gear from their storage unit downstairs.
"All right, Chief," Jim said, walking into the loft as Blair closed up the last box. "Let's get this stuff into the truck and get going."
"Any signs of them yet?" Blair asked.
"Not yet. Do you have that packets to go in the mail?"
Blair nodded and pointed at a large manila envelope addressed to Captain Simon Banks in care of the Cascade Police Department. "I thought it would look less suspicious going through the department mail."
"Good thinking. I've got one going to Dad and one to Stephen. Let them know what's happening and they might get a visit from our friendly Government agents."
"One for Naomi," Blair said, letting an envelope drop on top of the others. "And one to Jack Kelso. I told you that I gave him copies of all my Sentinel research about ten months ago." He dropped another envelope. "This will tell him what to do with it."
Jim followed Blair out as they carried the suitcases and box of food out, locking the loft's door for the last time. After securing a blue tarp over the back of the truck, they were ready.
"Okay, Chief, that's it," Jim said quietly, looking around. "Let's go." He looked at his watch. It was 11:45pm. "We should have a decent head start on them."
**********
Agents Moe, Larry, and Curly arrived at 852 Prospect #307 just after 2am, expecting to find the two men sleeping.
"Shit!" Moe said angrily.
"They've packed up and left all right," Agent Curly said, coming down from the upstairs bedroom. "How much head start do you think they have?"
"Too damn much! Send our people out in every direction until someone can tell me where they are headed!" Agent Moe stomped out of the apartment mumbling, "You're good, Ellison. Let's just see how good you are."
**********
After stopping at a curbside mailbox and dropping the envelopes in, Jim headed towards the freeway.
"So, we head south, right?" Blair asked.
"Yep, that's the plan. We should get to at least Salem before we break for anything other than gas. That will be six hours tops. As soon as we can, we'll get a different vehicle." Jim handed Blair an envelope.
Grabbing the flashlight from the glove box, Blair opened the envelope and gasped at what the beam of light revealed to him. "This isn't the money we put away for this emergency! That was only two thousand... this is..."
"I've been squirreling some away at the loft for emergencies. There's about six thousand dollars there. It's not much, but we won't starve."
Blair pulled a similar envelope and held it up. "Well, since I got on the payroll at the Police Department I've been putting a little under the mattress every paycheck. Between you and me, we have close to ten thousand, plus the original two thousand. I'd say we're in pretty good shape."
"We've got a long road ahead of us, but if we stick together we'll be all right. We'll get through this."
"Together we can do anything, man."
**********
~end~