New Arrivals
Author-Vision
Titles

Tribal Rain
Introduction
by Vision

Summary: The first story, in a series of stories, dealing with the eighteen months Jim spent in Peru.

Disclaimer: Canon characters do not belong to me. They are the property of Pet Fly and Paramount. I don't make any money etc. etc. Vision sends Becky a big thank you for all of her work.

April 4, 2000

It's time...

I'm not sure why I've chosen this particular moment in our friendship to open myself up to him. Maybe it's because of the dissertation fiasco, or maybe it's just some kind of spirit thing guiding me. Whatever it is, I know that I can't keep it from him any longer. I mean, I can barely look the guy in the eye without turning away. He asks me about my time in Peru and I can barely put two words together. The guy never presses me, he just nods his head and rambles on about the trauma of being left alone in the jungle for eighteen months Little does he know that I've been keeping this journal since that fated day when my helicopter crashed and the government left me for dead.

I know the minute I hand him this book he's gonna lose it. I mean really lose it. I don't know if I can take that chance. What if he decides to leave? What if all the answers to his questions lay within these pages? What do I do then? Don't get me wrong -- I did just fine before the kid came into my life. I got by. I survived. I was a good cop; hell, I was a great cop. Who am I kidding? Funny, I can't even convince myself that I have no feelings for him. How am I ever gonna convince him of it?

I thought about the title today. Up until this morning this thing was just a book, or more appropriately THE book. All of a sudden it came to me, like some crazy revelation. Tribal Rain! It was so simple, and yet so complicated too. I stared at the title for a long time before it hit me. The word "tribal" contained his name. How can you ignore something like that? I mean the guy's name is in the title - too strange. I'm not quite sure about the "rain" part, and yet it seems quite fitting considering it's part of the name of his University. Great, just great. I can't even title this damn thing without him creeping into my thoughts.

Well, I guess this is it -- the moment of truth. He's downstairs curled up on the couch watching some lighthearted comedy on the tube. I can hear him quietly laughing to himself, trying not to disturb me. I used that famous "I'm going to bed my senses are acting up" line on him again. It works every time. I guess I won't be using that one again for a very long time, maybe never. God this is hard. Maybe I should just forget it. I could just burn this thing and just get on with it. He'd never know the difference. Maybe I'll just re-read it one more time...

The end (for now)