The Agency

Danae

Disclaimer: Not mine.  No money.  No harm.  No infringement. 
Just fun!  The Devereaux's are mine.

Rated PG-13 maybe for violence.

Archive?  Sure.

The Agency
______________

Part 2
_______________

Blair woke to the sound of muffled screams.  The intense pain
that tore through him only seconds later brought the realization
that the screams were his own.  

"Hold him, damn it!" a woman's voice registered in his brain and
he opened his eyes to get a view of one of his worst nightmares. 
Strangers surrounded him, holding his arms and legs.  One man
practically lay across his chest.

"Senorita!" the man exclaimed as Blair met his eyes.

"What is it, Juan?! I'm a little busy here!  Did anybody find me
any antibiotics at least?!"  

"He's awake, Senorita!"

"No shit!  Move, Juan, let me talk to him."

The man moved out of Blair's sight.  His rough, dark face was
quickly replaced by the face of an American woman with
startling blue-green eyes and auburn hair.  She removed the rag
that covered his mouth.  "What--" Blair struggled to speak.

"Just lie as still as you can," she spoke softly.  "I'm really
sorry about this but I'm out of anesthesia and you have shrapnel
in your side.  I have to get it out and sew you up, okay?"

"Who?  Are you her?" he gasped.

"Am I Darrien Devereaux?  Yes.  You came with Pete, right?"

Blair nodded.  "I have to find Jim."

"You're in no shape to find anybody.  You've lost a lot of blood. 
Just lie still and try not to scream too loudly.  We're not sure
how safe we are at the moment.  The scouts are still checking the
perimeter.  Don't worry, we have scouts out looking for Pete and
the others as well.  Just hold on for me the best you can.  I
know this hurts."  She moved back and nodded to someone that
Blair could not see.   Blair tried to turn his head to see what
she was doing but the man that she called Juan grabbed his chin
and held his head so that he could not.  He could not see her but
he heard her.  "It's better if you don't watch, trust me."  The
pain returned then and Blair grounded his teeth together and 
closed his eyes to keep from screaming.  He knew the exact moment
when his mind decided to go on vacation rather than stick around
and endure.  He did not argue.  He helped it pack and chased
after it into the blissful dark.

______________________________________________

"Oh, much better," Darrien remarked as the man's body went lax. 
"Bless his heart." She tried again to get a grip on the piece of
metal lodged in his abdominal wall with the clumsy tweezers she
had acquired.  She had no scalpel, no surgical scissors, no
anesthesia and very little of anything else either.  All of that
was in the shipment that the soldiers had stolen after they
murdered her whole entourage.  Unbidden, the memory snuck in on
her again.  If it had not been for their guide, Jorge, she would
have been dead right along with the others.  The man had saved
her life and then brought her to the rebels.  

She frowned as she thought of all the good the medicine and other
supplies would have done for these people.  And this man.  As it
was however, she had the tweezers, given to her by a prostitute
from the village, a pair of sewing scissors and a few needles
from the town's seamstress, and a ball of twine and a fileting
knife from one of the fishermen.  She sterilized the stuff with
the alcohol that the local bootlegger brewed up especially for
her.  *I'm surprised they're not all dead,* she thought just as
the tweezers slipped off the offending metal again and she swore
under her breath.  "I can't see a damn thing!"  

Instantly, another pair of hands joined hers and she looked into
the eyes of the elderly veterinarian from El Marco.  She smiled
and turned back to her work.  The old man held open the incision
with one hand and dabbed at the blood that pooled in it with a
piece of sterilized cloth with the other.  

"Thanks," she breathed and went back to work.  

"I have more antibiotics, too," he told her.

"Thank God.  He's gonna need 'em."  She closed the tweezers again
and pulled.  "Yes!" she exclaimed as the shard finally moved. 
She drew it out and held it up triumphantly before tossing it on
the ground.  "Let's sew him up."

_________________________________________________________

"Ellison?  Ellison?  Can you hear me?" Pete stared into the
vacant blue eyes.  "He's breathing.  I don't get it," he told the
others.  Ellison had opened his eyes as they were hauled out of
the truck and thrown into yet another jail cell.  However, he
then seemed to space out and had been unresponsive for almost
half-an-hour.  

"This is just great, Pete.  In a Salvadoran jail with a hippie, a
vegetable and you.  My life just keeps getting better," Wilkes
sneered.  "Oh, and did I forget?  Our only hope of getting the
hell out of here is another hippie that doesn't even carry a
gun."

"Shut up, Ray," Pete snapped.  "Hey!  Hey!  You out there!" Pete
yelled at the back of a soldier who was standing guard outside
the building where they were being held.  The man turned.  "One
of my men is hurt.  I want to talk to the guy in charge.  I
demand that he be given medical attention!"  The expressionless
face turned away without a word.

"Well, that worked," Jesse sighed.  

Pete faced his communications expert, only then noticing that
Jesse was extraordinarily quiet.  Usually, the flamboyant young
man would have had something especially biting and sarcastic to
say to Ray over the hippie comment.  "Jess, are you okay?"  Pete
went to his friend then and took hold of his chin so that he
could examine the gash on Jesse's head.

"I'm fine.  Let me try to talk to Ellison.  I watched Blair with
him.  They got some kind of weird connection going on between
them.  Blair talks to him in a particular tone of voice
sometimes.  Maybe I can do it." Jesse pulled out of Pete's grasp
and moved next to Jim.  

"I'll say they got some weird connection going on but I don't
think it's the kind you're talking about, Riviera." Wilkes made a
face and Pete had had quite enough.  

"Look, you stupid bastard, I've had all I am going to take from
you.  Just shut the hell up, Wilkes.  I mean it.  Either you keep
your damn mouth shut or the next time I have a gun in my hands, I
may not be shooting at these damn soldiers.  Do you get my drift? 
Leave Jesse alone.  Leave Ellison alone and leave Sandburg alone. 
And if you even look cross-eyed at me, you're history.  Clear?!"

"Yes, sir, Bossman."  Wilkes' mouth twitched in a parody of a
smile and despite his brave words, Pete felt his blood run cold.

Jess ignored the whole exchange and moved to sit in front of Jim. 
Pete turned his attention back to them just as Jesse began to
talk.  "Hey, Jim?  Jim, man, you in there?  Um-, Blair said you
should listen to me, okay?  Jim, dude, come on.  Where are you,
man?"

A deep breath and a blink of pale blue eyes and life and pain
returned to Jim's face.  "Blair?"

"He's not here, man.  Remember?  I hid him.  They didn't find
him."

Jim looked first at Jess and then at Pete.  "Where the hell are
we?"

Pete shrugged.  "Jail, prison, whatever."

"We have to get out of here."

"Well, in Jesse-speak, duh," Pete remarked, sarcastically, which
earned him a sour look from Jess.

"They didn't find Blair?"

"No, dude.  He was hidden pretty good where I left him.  It was
some sort of deep cave that headed like down into the ground."
Jess gestured with his hands.  "Weird cave."

"That's because it's a tunnel.  I suspected there were tunnels
underground to help the rebels get around without getting
caught."

"Then the rebels will find him, Jim.  He'll be fine."

"You don't know Blair.  Trouble is his middle name, I think."

Pete looked at the bars separating them from the outside world. 
"Jim, right now, I think trouble is all our middle names."

__________________________________________________

She could still see their faces.  She could even hear Katie's
voice in her mind as the young debutante complained about the
bugs and the outhouses and the lack of hot water.  She could
still see the sparkle in Pam's eyes and smile as she and the
older woman shared a conspiratorial smile at the rantings.  She
could still hear Dr. Malloy's melodic voice as he soothed the
little boy they had found huddled alone, dirty and blinded, in
what was once the bustling village of Santa Madre.  And Dr.
Shapiro, for all his decided lack of a bedside manner,
efficiently caring for patient after patient until he nearly
collapsed of exhaustion, she could see his sleepy eyes and dopey
grin as she tucked him in on one of the cots.  He asked her out. 
In a different time and place, she would have gone.  But he was
dead.  They were all dead.  They haunted her along with
countless, nameless faces of strangers who she helped to bury,
who she saw take their last breaths, heard their last words.  

Maybe part of Darrien Devereaux died with them.  She did not feel
the same.  Two days after she buried Chad Shapiro, Darrien
Devereaux shot a man.  She picked up a dropped rifle and fired at
a man in a soldier's uniform taking aim at a small child.  She
fired and he fell.  At first, she felt compelled to save him but
that feeling passed as she watched him struggle to get to his own
fallen gun.  If he survived, he would go on to shoot another
small child and another and another.  She shot him again and
watched him die.  Life could certainly take some sharp turns
sometimes.

She heard the catch in the in-drawn breath and watched as the
handsome features of her patient's face twisted somewhat in pain. 
She sat up in her chair and brushed unruly curls off his
forehead.  Bright blue eyes opened and she smiled into them.  "Hi
there. How do you feel?"

"Like I was hit by a garbage truck."  A weak smile graced his
face.  

"Well, you'll live as long as we keep infection at bay.  No
damage to any organs or anything, just some muscle, so it will be
painful for a bit.  You lost a lot of blood so you're going to be
very weak as well.  Now, mind telling me, what the hell you're
doing here and Pete along with you?"

"We came to find you."

"Well, here I am.  Do you know where the soldiers took the
prisoners?"

"Prisoners?  Oh, God, no.  I was hurt and Jim made Jesse carry me
off.  He wouldn't let me stay with him.  Where's Jim?  He might
know."

"Oh, I imagine he knows all right, seeing as how he's one of
them."

"What!?  I got find him."  He tried to get up and Darrien moved
to push him back down but she need not have bothered.  He
collapsed back onto the cot.  

"As you can see, that's going to be a little difficult in your
condition.  Look-- what's your name?"

"Blair.  Blair Sandburg."

"Okay.  Look, Blair, Pedro has some of his best trackers out
looking for them so you try to relax.  Tell me something.  Jim
who?" *Please, not Ellison* one part of her mind begged while
another part taunted, *Who else would Pete call?*

"Ellison."

"Oh, for crying out loud!  The Iceman cometh, huh?"  She rolled
her eyes and sighed.  "I can not believe that the high and mighty
Captain James Ellison would be a part of this fiasco."

Her patient looked truly puzzled by her statements.  "What do you
mean?"

"I mean, Ellison spending his valuable time on me.  I will never
hear the end of this."

"Jim's not like that."

"Yes, hell, Jim is.  I don't know who you met but James Ellison
is a cold, rigid smartass son of a bitch," she told him.  She
felt sorry for the young man.  He obviously did not know Jim very
well.  He would find out though.  Ellison was probably being
polite for the sake of "the mission."  When the mission was over,
however, he would have no qualms about telling the young man what
he thought of his long hair and earrings.

"No, really.  He's changed a lot in the past few years.  I mean,
I've heard people talk about how he used to be and I've seen a
little of that every now and then but he's not like that
anymore."

"You've known him for a few years?"  She was surprised.

"Yeah.  He's my roommate and I'm his partner."

"Excuse me!?" she squeaked.  *Good Lord, he has changed!  No
wonder he turned me down!* she thought.

"NO!  Not like that.  We're best friends.  That's all!  God, not
that!  He's a cop and I'm his partner that way."

She breathed a sigh of relief.  "Thank God.  Sorry."

"It's okay.  Just don't say that again."  The young man shivered
and Darrien laughed a little as she knew the shiver was not due
to his injury.

"Wait a minute.  You're a cop but you don't like guns?"

"What?"

"Pedro told me that you don't carry a gun.  He said you told him
that you don't like them."

"I'm not a cop.  I'm an anthropologist studying closed societies. 
I got partnered with Jim so that I could study the Cascade PD."

"And you picked Jim and he lets you ride with him?  And live with
him?"  She was skeptical.

"My place got blown up and he let me move in with him."

"You?"

He actually smiled.  "Pretty weird, huh?"

"Honey, I don't know you but the James Ellison I knew would not
have given you the time of day much less a roof over your head."

"He's changed."

"Evidently."

_________________________________________________________
 
Their captors were coming.  The big man that Jim had pegged as
the CO, flanked by four others, entered and Jim knew it could not
mean good news.

"Whatever you do, do not tell them about Darrien." Jim heard Pete
whisper.

Jim gave him the patented Ellison stare to indicate how stupid he
thought that reminder was.  Riviera nodded. Wilkes just scowled. 
The door of the cell opened and the four men came straight for
him.  It made sense really.  Go for the obvious.  The most
injured man might be willing to give up information in exchange
for his life or at least medical attention.  Jim did not have
information though and even if he did, he would not give it up. 
To give up the rebels would be to give up Blair.  Not for the
best medical care in the world.  Not for his life.  Never.  "You
know what you have to do, Lieutenant, if I don't come back." Jim
told Pete as the goons hauled him up from the floor.

Pete swallowed hard.  "Sir, yes sir."  He saluted crisply.  "Do
it or die trying, sir."

"Thank you." Jim called back to him as they dragged him out.  Jim
was glad that Pete did not offer any empty promises or platitudes
of his survival.  His survival was not the most important thing. 
The simple response and salute meant that Pete would not bargain
for his life.  He would not risk Blair.  Of course, he would not
risk Darrien either so his willingness to forfeit Jim was not
entirely selfless but that was beside the point.  Pete would find
Blair if he were able.

So lost in thought was he that when the brutes dropped him into a
chair, he was not certain how he got there.  Looking up, he saw
the CO take a seat behind the desk in front of his chair.  

"What is your name, senor?"

"Smith." he answered simply.

"Humph!  Si."  The man nodded.  "I understand.  You will not tell
me what I want to know."

"I don't know what you want to know.  Give me a hint."

The man shook his head and chuckled.  "You Americans!  You are
all alike.  Arrogant.  Where is the rebel camp?"

"I don't know."

"You lie."

"Not today."

The man motioned to the goons who flanked him and Jim's arms were
swiftly tied to the chair.  "I give you one more chance, senor. 
Where is the camp?"

"I told you, I don't know."

"And if you did?"

"I wouldn't tell you."

A single nod and Jim felt a fist connect with his face.  "It will
get much worse." the man warned.

"Kiss my ass."

A fist pounded on the desk and the man stood, his face a mask of
rage.  "I'll kill you, senor!  Where is the rebel camp!!"

"I'm dying already.  Not much more you can do and I still don't
know where the camp is.  You're wasting both our time."

Those were Jim's last words because shortly thereafter the whole
world went dark and Jim slid off into the darkness gladly.

___________________________________________________

"Mr. Sandburg?  Wake up."

Blair blinked and raised a hand to rub at his sleepy eyes.
"Blair.  Just call me Blair," he told her.

"Blair, then.  Look, we have to move.  Most of the camp is gone
already.  I didn't want to move you until I got that shrapnel out
and you had some rest," Darrien explained.

"We're alone?"

"Not alone.  A few men stayed behind with us.  They'll take us to
the new camp.  Let me help you up.  We have a litter made for
you."

"I can walk." Blair struggled to get up, waving her assistance
away.

"Sure you can.  Maybe far enough to collapse outside the tent. 
We happen to be going further than that.  You'll go on the litter
and that's final."  She pushed his hands down as he tried again
to stand without her help.  "You want to pull those stitches,
Hard Head?  They were hell to get in there the first time and at
least you were unconscious for it then.  This time you're wide
awake.  Now, let me help."  

Blair sighed.  He could not argue with that logic.  "You win."  

"I usually do." She grinned at him as she lifted his arm over her
shoulder and practically lifted him off the cot.  "We'll take the
tunnels for a while then take the last few miles above ground. 
At least that's what Juan told me."

"Any word on Jim and the others?"

"Not yet.  Sorry."

"Yeah, me too.  I mean, I've been so worried about Jim that I
forgot that your brother is one of those others."  She just
smiled and led him out of the tent and lowered him down on the
litter which waited just outside the tent flap.  Blair noted that
the litter was made from a cot like the one he had been lying on.
Almost immediately, the tent collapsed and two men bound it up.  
Blair watched as they deftly transformed the canvas and poles
into another litter, which they then loaded his own cot and
Darrien's supplies on.  His litter lurched forward suddenly and
Blair yelped in surprise and pain.  

"Juan, be careful with him please!  The man just had surgery, you
know!" Darrien scolded.  

Blair lay back and tried to relax.  It was hard to do as he was
bounced around over the rough ground.  Still, it was better that
than the tunnels.  As soon as they passed into the mouth of one
of the tunnels, Blair felt an overwhelming surge of
claustrophobia. 

He hated the tunnels.  They brought to mind disturbing images of
be buried alive.  He closed his eyes and tried to slip into a
meditation state where he could envision wide open spaces under
blue skies.  It worked.  Sort of.  He fell asleep and dreamed of
those places instead.

____________________________________________________

Jim opened his eyes to a world that was tilted on its side and
full of hazy pain.  Something cool touched his head and he turned
toward it.  Jesse Riviera hovered over him, a cool, wet but dirty
rag in his hand.  

"Dude, glad you're not dead."

"Thanks.  Where's Pete and Wilkes?"  Jim repositioned himself
carefully onto his back.  

"They took Wilkes out a few minutes ago when they brought Pete
back.  Pete's out in the corner.  He's bad but you're worse."

Jim noticed the new bruises and cuts on the young man who tended
him.  "Are you okay, kid?"

"I'll live.  They took me out when they brought you back.  I've
had a little time to recover."

"Damn it!" Jim swore but the expletive had little strength.  

"Wilkes is gonna turn on us, man.  I know it."

"Jesse, he doesn't have anything to give them."

"Except us."

"They already have us, kid.  No, Wilkes doesn't have a bargaining
tool here."

"Wrong." came a soft voice from the corner.  "He knows that
Darrien is alive." Pete sat up slowly.  "If the army killed those
medics and doctors and took those supplies, which is what I
believe happened, then they can't afford any witnesses that might
leak their actions to the world press."

Jim sighed.  Pete was right.

___________________________________________________

Ray Wilkes watched the big man paced in front of him.  He waited
for the question he knew was coming.  Ray did not know where the
rebel camp was any more than the others did, but he was not going
to end up like the others.  He had a plan.  He decided not to
wait until the man was ready.  He would throw the guy a curve and
start for him.  "I don't know where the camp is but I do have
some information I think you might like to know."

The head whipped around and black eyes glared at him.  "And what
would that be, gringo?"

"Maybe you remember a group of American doctors and nurses that
came through here a few weeks ago?  Seems they got themselves
killed and their supplies just disappeared into thin air."  

The black eyes narrowed.  "Si, go on."

"You missed one, amigo.  She's alive and she's helping the
rebels.  Say the word and I'll help you find her and the rebels
along with her."

The man smiled.  "What's the word, *amigo*?"

"Cash, my friend.  Those rebels aren't paying me and my bossman
ain't paying me enough to let you beat the crap out of me. 
What do you say?"

"I say, cash."

"Let's shake on it and get down to business then, shall we?" 
Wilkes held out his hand and the man shook it.  Ray smiled. 
"This just might be fun and profitable for both of us."

______________________________________________________

Jesse took in the swollen lip and blackening eye as two soldiers
dragged Wilkes back into the cell and dropped his limp body on
the floor.  The big man groaned and rolled over on his back.  "I
hope you appreciate this, Pete.  I'm expecting a bonus next
paycheck."

Jess looked to Ellison and frowned slightly before facing his
boss and friend.  Pete was smiling as much as his own split lip
let him.  "Thanks, Ray.  The bonus is yours."

Pete was buying it, hook, line, and sinker.  Jess did not believe
Wilkes' story for an instant.  So he had a few marks.  Big deal. 
Jess could tell that Ellison was skeptical as well.   The man
regarded Wilkes with an arctic blue stare that would have frozen
the blood in Wilkes' heart if the man had had one.

Jess moved over closer to Ellison.  "You aren't buying it either,
huh?"

"Not in this lifetime."

"What do we do?"

"Find a way out of here if we can."

"And Wilkes?"

"Watch him.  Hope like hell he doesn't get us all killed."

"That's not very reassuring, man."

Ellison chuckled a little but the sound dissolved into coughing. 
Jesse patted the man's back until the coughing subsided.  "You're
a good man, Riviera.  You remind me of Blair."

"Speaking of which, what's up with that?  You two seem like an
unlikely partnership."

"Maybe.  But it works."

"No argument there.  Earlier, when we first got thrown in here,
you, like, spaced out.  What was that?  You came out of it when I
spoke to you."

"Reaction to pain, I guess.  You said Blair's name and it
reminded me that I had more important things to focus on."

Jesse nodded even though he felt Ellison was only telling him
half the truth.  He would let it drop.  After all, he was a
patient and observant person.  He would figure it out sooner or
later.

_______________________________________________________

Blair was only vaguely aware of the fact that they had arrived at
the new camp.  He was too tired and in too much pain to care.  He
felt himself being lifted and then lowered once again.  He
clutched the thin blanket that was draped over him like a
lifeline and slipped back into restless sleep.  It would be three
days before he truly rejoined the waking world.

His thirst was the driving force behind his awakening.  He opened
his eyes and blinked a few times.  He hoped that if he kept
blinking that the scene would change, like changing the TV
channel with the remote control.  It did not work.  He was still
in a tent in El Salvador no matter how many times he blinked.  No
matter how many channels he tried, the program was the same.  It
sucked but he would have to deal with it.

"Welcome back to hell." Darrien Devereaux appeared in the scene
then and he smiled.  "You've been out for a while with a pretty
high fever.  It broke at dawn this morning.  I think you're going
to live, my friend."

"Thanks to you."

"And Ol' Doc Conte.  And whoever it was that got you to the
tunnel and hid you there."

"Jesse," he stated.  "Who's Doc Conte?"

"El Marco's vet.  If you start barking or something, it's because
I had to use his supply of antibiotics."  She winked at him.

He laughed then gasped as the pain in his side intensified.  

"Sorry.  You'll be fine though."

"I'm thirsty."

"I'll bet.  Here you go." She quickly poured a cup of water for
him and slipped one hand behind his head to help him while she
held the cup to his lips with the other.                         
                                                     
He drank a few sips and she pulled the cup away.  "Thanks."

"You're quite welcome.  I'll put the cup here next to you so if
you need more, it's here."

"Any news about Jim and the others?"

"Yeah.  They're being held in Santavilla.  About three hours from
here."

"And?"

"And it's not good."

______________________________________________________

"What the hell were you thinking?  I can't get them to even try
to escape now!  They won't leave the kid behind and since you
didn't see fit to get Ellison a doctor, he ain't in any condition
to try anyway.  I told you, get Ellison a doctor, get him ready
to travel and I'd see to it that we led you straight to Darrien
Devereaux.  Oh no, you have to go and beat Riviera half to death
and refuse to get the damn doctor." Wilkes paced in front of
Ramirez.  The El Salvadoran commander had very effectively
screwed up his perfectly good plans because Riviera had called
him a son of pig's whore or whore son of a pig.  Something like
that.  Ray did not know nor did he care.  The fact remained that
Pete was no longer even willing to try to escape, not if it meant
leaving Riviera and Ellison behind.

"They will die soon.  Then Mr. Devereaux will be ready to leave."
The man scowled.

"Well, in the meantime, I'm tired of the accommodations.  I don't
want to go back in that cell, Ramirez.  I want a real bed and a
decent meal.  A shower and some clean clothes too."

"Your friends will know that you turned against them."

"What difference does it make?  My plan is ruined.  The best we
can hope for now is that after Ellison and Riviera are dead, Pete
will make a break for it and we can follow him.  Unless..."
Wilkes grinned evilly.

"Unless, what?"

"Unless the rebels come to us.  Darrien Devereaux might know that
her brother is here, especially if that other kid, Sandburg,
survived.  If the rebels were to find out where we prisoners are
being held, they might come to us.  I know Sandburg will come
after Ellison.  Of course, he'll be easy to handle.  Stupid kid's
afraid of guns.  I don't know Pete's sister but hey, she's a
woman right?  No problem.  The rebels will be out gunned.  You
break your rebels in half, I get my money, you kill Pete, Ellison
and Riviera are dead already, and you can have Sandburg and
Pete's little sister for whatever uses you can find for them. 
What do you say?"

"Why would the rebels try to rescue these men?"

"Good point." Ray shrugged.  "Okay, let's say that only Sandburg
and Darrien Devereaux show up.  We capture one of them and make
them tell us where the camp is.  Devereaux definitely knows.  You
kill your witness and find the rebels and the rest goes according
to my last plan."

Ramirez nodded.  "I will make sure that the word gets out."

______________________________________________________________

"They can't make an escape attempt.  Jim's been shot and the
other guy was beaten pretty badly."

"Which other guy?"

"Not Pete.  Not the big ugly one.  The long haired guy. 
Remember, these are not my descriptions now, okay.  Rumor has it
that the one our source is calling the big ugly one has turned on
them and is plotting with General Ramirez on ways to find our
camp and capture me.  Ramirez gave the order to shoot my
colleagues.  He's evil as hell itself."

"Jesse." Blair frowned.

"He's the one that got you to the tunnel?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry.  He's still alive but he's not doing too well from what I
was told.  At least he's got a better shot at survival than the
folks that came here with me.  We were medical people.  We didn't
even have guns to fight back with.  If I hadn't gone with
Jorge..."  her voice trailed off and Blair could see the pain
from the memories slowly taking over her expression.

"What happened?"

"We were picking up our new shipment of supplies.  We actually
thought that the government troops were there to protect us from
the rebels.  Talk about naive!  Anyway, we were just about to
pull out when Jorge pulled me aside and told me that there was a
problem with the shipping papers.  I told the others to go on
without me and get the supplies back to the village.  Jorge and I
would be right behind them.  I straightened out the problem, just
needed a signature, and we were on own way.  We found them not
far down the road.  All of them were dead and the supplies were
gone.  So were the troops.  It didn't take a rocket scientist to
figure out what went down.  And that's when I found out that
Jorge was a plant for the rebels and that the whole damn town
where we had been staying and working was filled with rebel
sympathizers.  I was so worried about the rebels when I should
have been worried about the government."  

"Wow."

"Yeah, no kidding.  Anyway, you need to get up and about as soon
as possible.  I hate to say this but you can't afford and we
can't afford for you to be down long.  We never know when we'll
have to pull up and move again.  Besides, I have to go after my
stupid brother at some point."

"I'm going with you."

"Blair, I appreciate the offer.  We can always use another man
but you are in no shape to go on a rescue operation.  And I have
not even touched on your refusal to carry a gun."

"I'm going and that's final."

"I'll tie you down," she threatened.  

Blair sighed.  "You don't understand.  Jim needs me.  He's hurt."

"So are you."

Blair shook his head.  "I'll just follow you."

"Not if you can't get up.  I'm quite serious about tying you down
to that cot."

"Well, under different circumstances, that might be fun but right
now, if you try I'll fight you."

"You'll lose and you'll probably hurt yourself in the process."

"Then you'll be delayed."

"Maybe I'd just let you bleed to death," she argued but Blair
could tell that she was lying.

"You wouldn't, you couldn't."

She swore creatively under her breath and ran both hands through
her auburn hair.  She reached then and pulled a gun from behind
her back where it had obviously been tucked into the waistband of
her pants.  Blair had a terrifying flash of her killing him but
instead of aiming it at him, she held it out to him. "Then you
will take this.  It's 9mm.  Just slide in a clip, pull this back
once, pull the trigger and keep pulling until there's either no
more bullets or no more bad guys."  He stared at it and her
alternately.  "Take it or stay here."

Reluctantly, Blair took the gun from her hand.  

"We head out tonight at midnight.  We're hoping to slip in and
slip out.  We have help from inside.  Be ready." She started out
then turned back to face him again with the most mischievous
smile he had ever seen.  "And you're right.  Under different
circumstances, it could be quite a bit of fun."

Blair actually felt himself blush all the way to his toes.  

______________________________________________________________

Simon Banks got off the plane in San Salvador, grabbed his bag,
and headed for the rental car desk.  Ellison had not called once
and his three days were up.  Simon got into his rented vehicle
and headed for El Marco.  He unfolded the map while he drove.  He
figured it would take him a good four hours to get to the obscure
little village, if he did not get lost.  He grimaced as he
realized, too, that the last leg of the journey would take him
over dirt roads, straight into the jungle.

He was right in his estimate but as he pulled into the center of
what was once El Marco, he felt a chill run along his spine.  The
village was a ghost town.  The remains of a funeral pyre
smoldered in the town square and Simon prayed that his friends
were not among the blackened bones.  He turned the car around,
resolved to go back to the last town and ask after his men.  
It was a long shot.  The last town back was a long way back, to
say the least, and there was always the possibility that no one
would talk to him.

____________________________________________________________

The first thing that registered was that Wilkes was clean shaven. 
Pete moved from Jesse's side to the bars of the cell, while Jim
struggled to get up.  Jim's eyes were not focusing any more and
he knew that he had a fever.  His eyes were not the only things
that were not working.  His hearing cut on and off and he could
no longer control the pain in his side.  His nose worked just
fine, however, as he picked up the scent of cleanliness that
wafted from Wilkes.  

"What have you done?" Pete asked solemnly.

"He's done exactly what Jess said he would do.  He's turned
traitor, Pete," Jim told the man who had once betrayed him.  

"You told them about Darrien?"

"'Fraid so, Pete.  I have no intention of dying in a cage like a
dog.  Jim's dying.  Riviera is as good as dead.  You'll die here
too.  But not me, no way.  I couldn't get you to go along with
the plan though so I had to change it."

"Plan?"  Pete was incredulous and Jim wondered just how dense
Pete really was.  

"Escape.  We were supposed to escape.  He kept harping on it,
Pete, but first, you wouldn't leave me then neither of us would
leave Jesse.  Right, Ray?"

"Yep.  Ramirez would follow us and we would led him straight to
the rebel camp.  Then I would get rich."

"Then you would get dead, Wilkes.  Surely, you're not stupid
enough to believe that they would let you live." Jim told him.

"I've thought of that actually.  Cross the double-crosser.  I
have plans to handle those possibilities if they should arise. 
Besides, the way I figure it, they'll be too busy with your
little buddy, Sandburg, and Pete's sister to pay much attention
to me."

"Blair's alive?" Jim felt hope rising in his aching body.

"Beats me.  I'm hoping he is, 'cause I'd really like to watch
what Ramirez has planned for him.  Especially since I had to miss
the show with Riviera.  I don't particularly like hippies. 
Something ain't just quite right about 'em, you know?"

"When?"  Pete inquired absently.

"First time they pulled me out of here.  Riviera knew it.  You
knew it too, didn't you, Jimbo?"

"Figured as much," Jim confirmed.

"I let Ramirez smack me a few times to make it look good and we
worked out our plan.  Then he had to go and wreck it by beating
the hippie the way he did.  Anyway, water under the bridge now. 
Well, gentlemen, I have to be going now.  I have a steak dinner
waiting on me.  Oh, here."  He drew a canteen from behind his
back and tossed it through the bars.  "A little water.  If I were
you, Pete, I'd save it for myself.  Ellison and Riviera won't
last much longer anyway."  Wilkes laughed as he exited.

Pete picked up the canteen.  He stared at it a few moments, and
for those few moments, Jim watched and wondered what the man
would do.  Wilkes was right.  Without medical attention, Jim was
not going to last much longer and he knew and accepted it.  Jesse
had not regained consciousness for more than a few moments in the
last 24 hours since the beating he took.  Jim waited.  

"Well, how about that?" Pete mumbled.

"What?"

"I've managed to kill us all this time.  I'm sorry, Jim.  I
thought I had it so well-planned.  I think deep down I knew that
I couldn't trust Ray.  Arrogance got in my way.  Nobody would
ever cross Pete Devereaux.  I guess I'm getting it back now, huh? 
What I did to you, the others.  I'm getting it back times two,
times three.  Jesse," he sighed and sat on the floor where he
stood.  "He's just a kid, Jim.  And Blair, god knows what
happened to him.  And then there's you.  You know, part of this
whole thing was my unconscious need to prove to you that I had
changed.  I needed to make it up to you, Jim.  Instead, we're all
going to die here.  I won't lead them to Darrien and I'm as good
as dead if I don't.  We're screwed.  Big time." Pete laughed
ruefully.  "I'm really sorry.  I hope Blair's okay, Jim.  I
really do.  If he's with Darrien, maybe the rebels will help them
both get out of the country."

"Blair won't leave if I'm alive.  I know him.  He won't give up. 
If he's alive, he'll find us."

"You could be dead by then!" Pete yelled.  "Jesse will be dead by
then!"

"I said if I'm alive.  If I'm dead, he'll make sure the whole
world knows what happened down here."

"Well, if you're so sure he's coming, then you just hold on
then."

"I'm trying.  But if I don't--"

"I know.  If I make it, I'll find him.  I'll take care of him."

Jim only nodded.

"I'll even give him a job if he wants it." Pete smiled.

"The hell you will!  Blair's a teacher.  Not a merc."

"He's no different than Jesse.  My little cat burglar over there
didn't carry a gun when I hired him." Pete was grinning.

"Cat burglar, huh?  I wondered how he got mixed up in this
business. He reminds me of Blair in some ways."

"Blair reminds me of Jesse.  Wilderness retreat for hippies and
their foster fathers." Pete parroted Wilkes' words. "Maybe he
wasn't far off."

"That's not even funny, Pete."

Pete laughed then got up and walked slowly over to Jesse's still
form.  He crouched by the young man and twisted the top off the
canteen.  Gingerly, he lifted his head and coaxed the parched
lips open with the mouth of the canteen.  Slowly, he tilted the
metal container until a few drops of water wet Jesse's lips.  He
roused a little and actually reached with one shaking hand to
take hold of the canteen.  Pete pushed his hand away and spoke
softly to him as he helped him drink.  When Jesse turned his head
away, Pete laid him gently back down and came to Jim.

"Here you go.  Need help?" Pete held out the water to him.

Jim took it from his hand.  "No, got it."  Jim drank deeply from
the bottle and handed it back out to Pete who placed the top back
on it and put it down.  "You didn't drink any." Jim accused,
reaching for it and holding it out to him.

"You two need it more.  If I need some, I'll drink.  I may have
changed but I'm not a martyr."

"You have changed, Pete."

"Thanks, Jim.  I needed to hear that."

"Thank you."

___________________________________________________________

Simon swore and flung the straw hat that he had bought to protect
his head from the sun down on the pavement at his feet.  No one
knew about any white men.  As a matter of fact, everyone he
talked to claimed to have no knowledge of the destruction in El
Marco.  He leaned on the hood of his rental car and reached
down to scoop up the discarded hat.  

"You look for the gringos that were in El Marco?" came a gruff
voice from behind him.

He stood quickly. "Yeah.  Do you know what happened to them?"

"Who are you?"

"A friend to two of them.  Can you help me?"  Simon asked calmly. 

The man seemed to scrutinize him carefully for a few moments
before he motioned for Simon to follow him.  Simon glanced around
himself nervously.  He was not even armed and he was about to
follow a stranger to only God knew where.  He followed
regardless.  Jim's and Blair's lives were at stake.  The man led
him around the corner of a nearby building and into an alley. 
There, waiting for him, were five other men.  Simon swore under
his breath and waited for the inevitable bullet to find its mark. 
No bullet came, however.  One of the men came forward and stood
toe to toe to the big man.  

"You ask a lot of questions.  You should go home."

"My friends are down here and I haven't heard from them.  I'm not
going anywhere until I find out what happened to them."

The men in the alleyway looked at one another, some silent
communication taking place that Simon hoped was not regarding his
unmarked and shallow grave.  

"I might know what happened to them."

"Are they alive?"

"They may be."

"What do I have to do to convince you that I'm not your enemy?"

The man shrugged and stepped back out of Simon's face.  

"Look, I'm just interested in Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg. 
Are either of them alive?  Are they dead?  Were their bodies in
that funeral pyre in El Marco?"

Again, looks passed between the men and one of them nodded sagely
to the muscle guy that had been trying so hard to intimidate
Simon.   

"Blair Sandburg is alive.  We don't know about the others.  They
were taken prisoner and Ellison was hurt.  One of the others is
hurt as well.  They could be dead.  We don't know."  

"Where is Blair?  Take me to him."

______________________________________________________________

Blair moved slowly through the camp, the pain in his side was
excruciating but he was determined to get his mobility back as
best he could.  Darrien had agreed to let him go along but he had
to be able to keep up without passing out or Darrien's
acquiescence would mean nothing.  He watched the woman
surreptitiously as she set about her work.  Blair was impressed. 
The American nurse gave orders that were followed immediately and
without question.  She almost seemed to be the unofficial head of
the rebel camp.  She made sure that tents were up and stable,
that food was stored, that her medical tent was set up properly
to her specifications and yet had time to make a bandage for the
skinned knee of a little girl.  *And she managed to look damn
good doing it,* Blair thought appreciatively.  Blair wondered for
a moment if Darrien Devereaux actually needed saving.  She seemed
to have things quite well in hand.  She looked up then and caught
him staring.  She smiled just a little at him and he returned the
smile, somewhat shyly, embarrassed to have been discovered.  He
knew he was blushing because he could feel the heat moving across
his face.  Her too-serious face softened then and she really
laughed.  It was a sweet sound and her amazing eyes sparkled. 
Blair fought for his next breath.  She strode over to him
purposefully.

"I said you needed to recover quickly.  Not immediately, you
know?  

"If I'm going tonight, I have to be able to move, right?"

"Still on that, are you?" She shook her head as she grabbed a
little metal chair and placed it behind Blair.  "Sit," she
ordered as she placed the slightest bit of pressure on Blair's
shoulders to force him down.  It was all it took.

"You thought I was kidding?" he asked, indignantly.  

"No, not exactly.  I simply thought that once you tried to get up
and move around, you'd see the lunacy of that little plan." She
leaned against a nearby tree and looked him over.  

"I have to go.  Jim may need me.  I can't explain this to you but
Jim may really need me.  Besides, why did you give me the gun if
you thought I wouldn't go?"

"You need to have some sort of protection whether you stay here
or go.  The men here have enough people to take care of with the
women and children and the elderly.  Any relatively able-bodied
person needs to take care of themselves.  You're hurt but you're
not crippled.  You need to take care of yourself and perhaps
while doing so protect some of the others as well.  I know that
sounds harsh but I learned quickly down here.  Either you learn
to fight to survive or you die.  It's that simple."

"I thought the Med. Corps taught non-violence."

"They do.  But reality has a different lesson that it teaches,
Blair.  I prefer to live in reality than to die in ideology. 
Sorry if that makes me a horrible person but that's the way it
is."

"You're not a horrible person.  Want to talk about it?"

"Are you a shrink or something?"

"Minored in psych." He smiled at her and was delighted when she
smiled back.

"I've seen more and learned more than the Med Corps intended.  I
am innocent and naive no more.  I've seen babies and grandmothers
dead in filthy streets.  I had four of the best friends I have
ever had murdered and left to rot in the sun.  I just couldn't be
the pacifist anymore."

"Not a horrible person.  You're a good person who has had
to make some horrible choices for the sake of your own and
others' survival.  You're a brave woman, Darrien.  I wonder if
your brother realizes that you don't need rescuing like some
damsel in distress."

She laughed again.  "What a fairy tale we'd make!  The fairy
princess who has to save her gallant knights from the evil goblin
minions.  You know, I have always had a sneaking suspicion about
those fairy tale writers.  They all seemed to be men. Men are so
good at skewing reality to make themselves look good."

"Obfuscation." Blair grinned.

"Oh, is that what you guys call it?  I think I understand now. 
Oh well, I'm hardly a fairy princess, now, am I?  More like a
bitch from hell.  And proud of it." She bowed a little.

Blair had to hold his side as his laughter threatened to pull his
stitches.  "Ow, don't make me laugh!"

"Okay, that's it.  Back to bed with you."

"But-"

"No buts.  Let's go.  I'll let you up again later."

"You're as bad as Jim," he mumbled as she put her arms around him
to help him out of the chair.

"Oh, don't even get me started on that.  Jim Ellison, one of my
knights in not so shining armor!  That's hilarious."

"Blessed Protector," Blair corrected.

"Say again?" She was ushering him back to the medical tent.

"He's my Blessed Protector."

"Oh, this I have got to see.  Jim Ellison as anybody's Blessed
Protector!"

"Damn, Darrien.  What'd he do to you?  I mean, I know he can
really piss people off sometimes but you really don't like him at
all, do you?"

"Oh, I don't know.  Maybe it's me, Blair.  I was young and I had
a crush.  He was very handsome and very strong.  And very
arrogant and very cold.  Maybe I thought I could fix him, you
know?  I tried my best to get him to notice me.  Finally, I just
asked him why he wouldn't give me the time of day.  Not in those
exact words.  I don't remember my exact words, but I do remember
his.  He said that he didn't have time to cater to little girls
that didn't know when to give up.  He said that I was stupid if I
thought for one minute that I had anything to offer him.  He told
me to get lost and grow up.  I was seventeen.  I didn't even
think that I had been that forceful in my pursuit, still don't,
up until I asked that fatal question.  I was, well, devastated. 
I never told Pete what he said.  Pete didn't have that much to do
with us, the family, anyway.  The only way that I had met Jim in
the first place was that Pete was not brave enough not to come
home for certain holidays and a few times he brought Jim with
him.  Then I visited Pete once or twice on base."

"That was harsh." Blair observed as they entered the tent and she
led him to his cot.

"That was the Jim I knew.  I shouldn't have been surprised.  Pete
had told me what a hard ass Jim could be and warned me off, but
like I said, I thought I could fix him.  Wrong!  But apparently,
somebody fixed him if he's such a good friend to you.  After all,
Pete was Jim's closest friend from what I knew of him and even
they were, well, let's just say, the machismo ran fast and deep
and the emotions were shallow there."  

Blair lowered himself down with her help. "Well, he's changed
quite a bit.  Not to say he doesn't have his macho moments. 
After all, he is a cop.  A big cop, but he's not the same person
who said those mean things to you.  You're the reason he's here. 
The only reason.  He wants to make that up to you.  He said so. 
He said that he owed you for something he did.  Now, I know what
and he's right.  He does owe you, an apology, if nothing else."

"You're a sweet man, Blair Sandburg. Thanks."

"For what?  I should be thanking you.  You saved my life."

She fluffed the pillow behind his head.  "Oh, for the information
that Jim does at least care that he hurt me.  And for the
appraisal."

"Excuse me?"

"You know.  The reason you were blushing like a school boy out
there a few minutes ago.  Your eyes give your thoughts away. 
Thanks for the compliments that I found there."

Blair was blushing again.  "I, uh-"

"Don't try to get out of it.  You'll just manage to dig the hole
deeper." She waved the explanation away as she made her way to
the exit.  She disappeared though it and left Blair staring at
the empty portal.  He jumped a little when her head appeared
there.  "And by the way, you aren't so bad yourself." She laughed
and disappeared again.

Blair laughed with her and then settled back and closed his tired
eyes.

____________________________________________________________

Simon tried hard to keep up with all the twists and turns the
jeep had taken but it was no use.  He was lost but good by the
time the vehicle stopped and he was ordered out of it.  "Where
are we?" he asked, irritation at finding himself in the middle of
nowhere making his voice harsh.  

"We have to go the rest of the way on foot.  There is no road to
the camp.  Follow me."  The man Simon had dubbed their leader
told him.  One of the other men moved into the driver's seat of
the jeep, waited for the others to unload some boxes from the
back, and then turned it back the way they came.  

The man before him started off into the jungle.  Simon took one
last look behind him, at the jeep that was fast disappearing in a
cloud of dust.  He sighed.  So this was not the smartest thing he
had ever done, he admitted to himself.  A one unarmed man rescue
mission into deep jungle with strangers who had guns was not the
best idea he had ever had.  However, he was there and there was
no turning back.  If they were going to kill him, he had no way
of stopping it anyway.  He followed the man into the jungle.   He
glanced behind him to see the others carrying the big boxes on a
litter.  Maybe there were not going to kill him.  He tried to
reassure himself over and over as they walked.  An hour later, he
caught sight of a makeshift camp ahead.  The rebel leader called
out something in Spanish and the small group was suddenly
surrounded by several people who swarmed out of the camp to greet
them.  The boxes were whisked away as Simon stood there, silently
searching the camp for a familiar face.  Then he saw it. 
"Blair!" he called even as he began to rush toward the limping
anthropologist that was tottering his way through the camp. 
Blair turned quickly, his curls falling into his face and yet not
completely obscuring the wince that the sudden movement caused
him.  Blair was hurt and Simon picked up his pace another notch. 
Before he could reach the young man, however, a woman and two men
cut him off, guns drawn and aimed at his chest.  Simon stopped
instantly and raised his arms.

"Simon?  Wait!  Darrien, he's a friend!"  Blair called out as he
hobbled over.  

The woman lowered her weapon and motioned for the others to do
the same.  "Jorge!  What were you thinking, bringing a stranger
here like that?  Pedro is going to kill you when he finds out."

Simon reached out to Blair as the young man got close. 
"Sandburg, are you all right?"

"Simon, what are you doing here?  Don't get me wrong, I could
certainly use your help but why did you come?"

"Your three days were up," Simon replied simply.  "What happened,
Blair?"

"Oh, man!  The whole thing fell apart right from the beginning."

"Blair, I just put you back down in the bed not an hour ago. 
What are you doing up again?  Again!" The woman who had held the
gun on Simon said as she took Blair by the shoulders and turned
him toward one of the tents.  "You have to be the most stubborn
man I have ever met.  Are you trying to make yourself sick again? 
Do you want more stitches without benefit of anesthetic?"

"No, I just-" Blair started to protest but she was not listening. 
Simon grinned as she ignored his protests completely.

"Sir, you can talk to him in the med tent," she told Simon. 
"Darrien Devereaux," she introduced herself.

"Captain Simon Banks, Cascade PD," Simon told her as he followed
them into a tent.  

"Nice to meet you.  Sorry to have drawn on you like that but I
had no idea who you were.  Jorge should have given us a warning
that he was bringing in someone we didn't know.  He knows
better."

"No problem."  He watched as she gently helped Blair back onto a
cot and covered him with a light blanket. 

"Can I talk now?" Blair asked, typical Sandburg sarcasm in his
tone.  

"I suppose." She smiled.  "Mind if I stay?  I haven't heard the
whole story myself."

"No.  Anyway," Blair met Simon's eyes, "we were attacked even as
we were getting off the stupid plane, man.  Soldiers with
anti-aircraft guns were shooting at us and Jim and the others
were forced to surrender.  We got out of that only to be caught
by the rebels and taken to El Marco which was promptly attacked
by, guess who, soldiers.  Jim was shot and he told Jesse to get
me out of the village.  I didn't want to leave him, Simon.  You
have to believe me!"

Simon sat down on the small stool next to the cot and touched the
younger man's arm.  "I believe you, Blair.  Of course, I believe
you. Go on."

"Then the grenade blew up and the next thing I knew Jesse had hid
me in one of the tunnels that the rebels use and he said he was
going back to help Jim and Pete but he never came back.  Then I
woke up here.  No, actually not here.  In the old rebel camp and
Darrien was in the middle of my surgery."

Simon spun his head to glare at the woman standing at the end of
Blair's cot.  "In the middle of your surgery!" he accused.

She opened her mouth presumably to defend herself but she did not
get the chance.  Blair did it for her.

"It wasn't her fault, Simon.  She was out of anesthesia.  Hell,
Simon, they're out of just about everything!  The soldiers stole
their new medical supplies when they killed all the doctors and
the other nurses.  She had to give me antibiotics from the local
vet's office."

"Damn!  So where is Jim now?"

"Santavilla.  He and my brother and this Jesse person are being
held there.  We're planning a little rescue party for tonight. 
Blair is insisting that he's going.  I think it's nuts but he
says he needs to.  We could use another man.  Are you game?"
Darrien asked.

"You bet I am."

"Good.  And do you have a problem with guns?" she asked, a smirk
on her face as she glanced at Sandburg.

"Only that I don't have one at the moment," Simon told her
solemnly.

"Easily remedied, Captain Banks, easily remedied."

__________________________________________________________

"Pete?" 

Jim heard the weak question and was surprised that he did. 
Apparently, his hearing was back on line somewhat.  "Pete,
Jesse's awake.  He's asking for you," Jim told the man who was
staring out of the barred window of the cell they were in.

In an instant, Pete was kneeling at Jesse's side.  Jim watched
silently, picturing himself in Pete's place as he had so often
been when Blair was hurt.  He did not really mean to listen but
yet he found that he could not tune the conversation out.

"Pete, am I gonna die?"

"Nope.  No way.  Nobody dies today, Jess.  Even hard-headed smart
mouthed cat burglars have to live today.  You hear me, Jesse
Riviera?"

"Okay.  No problem.  Didn't want to die today anyway.  How's
Jim?"

Pete looked at Jim with sad eyes and Jim gave him a rueful and
pain-filled smile.  "He's gonna live too.  He has to or else
Blair just may learn to handle a gun so that he can shoot me and
Jim wouldn't want that.  Right, Jim?"  

"Right," Jim answered.

"It hurts, Pete."

"I know, Jess.  Just hang in there."

"Hey, Pete?"

"Yeah?"

"You gotta do one thing for me, okay?"

"What's that, Jess?"

"You gotta kill Wilkes, okay?  I know you guys were like friends
but he's a traitor, Pete, and if you let him live, he's gonna
come back to haunt us all one day.  Mark my words, Pete."

"Don't you worry about Ray.  We'll figure all that out later. 
You just rest and get better.  Okay?"

"Okay." Jim heard the fatigue in the young man's voice slowly
dragging him down back into unconsciousness.

"He's out again," Pete announced.  

Jim did not need the announcement.  He had heard the changes in
Jesse's breathing.  "I'm surprised he woke up at all, Pete.  He
doesn't have a rib that's not broken and I think he's bleeding
internally, slowly, but bleeding just the same.  He's got some
head injuries too."

"So what are you trying to tell me, Jim?  That he's gonna die?  I
think we both know that!  God, I have a lot of nerve telling him
not to, too!  I know he's in pain and yet I tell him to hold on. 
Hold on for what?!  So he can suffer longer!?  And you!  You're
burning up with fever.  That wound is infected as hell!  Jesse is
worried that I'll let Ray Wilkes live!  If I get half a chance,
that bastard is dead.  He is so dead that the maggots are already
inside his miserable corpse!  He just hasn't figured it out yet!"

Jim grimaced at the visuals Pete's speech conjured up.  "Thank
you, Lieutenant, for the nice image.  If I wasn't sick before, I
am now."

Pete took a deep breath.  "Sorry.  You really think that
Sandburg, the kid who won't carry a gun, is going to find us? 
You still believe that?"

"If he's alive, yes."

"Do you think that he's alive?"

"Yes."

"You sound so sure, Jim."

"I have to be, Pete."

"Who are you and what have you done with Captain James Ellison?"

Jim laughed despite the pain it caused him.  "Now, he's dead.  He
died a while back when he ran headlong into a whirlwind called
Blair Sandburg and got his whole life turned upside down.  He's
not missed at all.  So, who are you and what have you done with
Lieutenant Peter Devereaux?"

"All's fair, huh? Well, he died too.  When he left three friends
dead and his best friend wounded in the Nicaraguan jungle all in
the name of following orders.  You were my best friend, Jim.  But
Oliver had me so snowed that I threw that away."

"Why, Pete?  Orders or no orders, why?"

"He told me all kinds of crap about national security and that I
was under no circumstances to fail and if that meant leaving
behind the dead and wounded, then that's what I had to do.  He
said that you guys knew the risks that you were taking and that
you all knew that I had an extra objective that had to be
reached.  You guys knew no such thing, did you?"

Jim shook his head.

"I think that I suspected that all along but I was arrogant.  I
had been hand-picked by Oliver himself and I thought I was a big
shot then, man.  When I got back and the shit hit the fan, Oliver
managed to cover the whole thing up and my objective was never
even mentioned.  He urged me to resign and paid me off to do it. 
Man, at that point, I was ready to get out.  I knew that I had
screwed up.  I just wanted out.  Then you came back.  How'd you
do it, Jim?  I saw you take that bullet.  I saw you go down.  I
thought, no way, he lives through that.  I took off.  But you not
only lived, you made it out on your own.  I thought I was dead
meat then.  If the government didn't hang me out to dry, you
would.  You didn't, though.  You wouldn't speak to me, but you
never exposed what I did down there either.  Why is that?"

"What good would have come from it?  Those men would have still
been dead.  I was satisfied that you were gone, out of the
Rangers, out of Ops.  That was fine by me.  I knew Oliver had to
be behind it.  I couldn't prove anything."

"You should have got out with me, Jim.  Oliver had it in for
you."

"I know but I wasn't through with the Rangers.  After Peru
though, I couldn't keep going.  I had to get out."

"I am sorry, Jim."

"I know.  I know that now. I'll let you live." Jim chuckled.

Pete grinned at him.  "Gee, Jim, thanks."

Jim turned serious then.  "But Wilkes has to pay for what he's
done."

"You got that right." Pete looked down at the limp figure of
Jesse Riviera.  "You definitely got that right."

______________________________________________________________

"I didn't think that I'd have to argue this with you, of all
people, Simon!" Blair snapped as he got dressed in the camouflage
clothing that Juan had brought him.  "Jim might need me.  He
might be in a deep zone from the pain.  Or the pain could be out
of control, driving him crazy, like a wounded animal."

"I'm sure Jim will love that comparison," Simon stated.

"No more and no less than I do but it's the only way I could put
it to make you understand! Ow, shit!"  Blair doubled over and
drew a quick breath and released it slowly.  

"Sandburg, you okay?" Simon grabbed him by the arms and helped
him straighten.

"I'll live." Blair winced as the pain twisted through his
insides.  "But the last time I saw Jim, he had a bullet in him. I
doubt very seriously that the soldiers that were trying so hard
to kill all those villagers and us along with them got him a
doctor so I'm sure he's not doing so great right now.  Now, I'm
going and that's final.  Darrien's not arguing with me about
this.  Why are you?"

"Because if Jim's alive, he'll kill me if you get hurt any
worse."

Blair stopped fumbling with the button on the pants he was given
and gave Simon a stone-cold glare.  "Jim's alive.  Don't you even
say if.  He's alive, you hear me, Simon?"  Simon held up his
hands in surrender and Blair instantly felt guilty over his
outburst. "Sorry, Simon."

Simon half-smiled at him.  "It's okay, Blair.  I know you're
worried about Jim.  So am I.  Don't you think Jim would be
happier if you were safe?  Do you really think that Jim would
want you traipsing around the jungle in your condition?"

Blair could not help himself.  He laughed.  "I'm not pregnant.  I
got a little shrapnel from a grenade in my side.  Even Darrien
said that there was no damage to any organs.  Just muscle, so
it's painful sure, but not life threatening as long as I take my
antibiotics and keep the infection down."

"And get rest.  She also said that you needed lots of rest,
Blair."

"I'll rest when Jim's safe.  Lots of rest, as much as you say,
but right now, I'm going to help get Jim out of that damn jail so
Darrien can save his life.  And Jesse's life too."

"Let's go if we're going, gents!" Darrien's voice reached Blair's
ears from outside.  He reached under the thin mattress of the cot
and brought out the gun that Darrien had given him.  He pulled
the clip out, inspected it to make sure it was full, slammed it
back in and tucked it into the waistband of his pants at the
small of his back.  He looked up at Simon then and almost burst
into laughter again at the stunned look on the captain's face.

"What the hell was that?" the man finally asked, all the shock on
his face transferring straight into his voice effortlessly.  

"A gun.  9mm to be exact.  Coming?" Blair inquired, nonchalantly
as he passed by Simon and out of the tent.  Blair knew that the
man had indeed followed him out of the tent but he hung back. 
Blair could feel his eyes pouring over him.  Blair pulled himself
as straight as he could and gritted his teeth against the pain in
his side.  He would not show Simon any weakness that the man
could use to stop him.  His gait may have been a little slower
but he succeeded in making the distance over to where Darrien and
the others waited without limping or faltering.  

He recognized most of those waiting.  Pedro was the leader of the
band of rebels, the official leader, though Blair had seen him
defer to Darrien more than once.  Juan, he knew from his
"surgery" while Jorge was the one that Darrien had yelled at
regarding Simon's unannounced arrival.  The others he had seen
around but did not know their names.  Pedro said nothing but
turned and headed into the jungle.  Darrien handed Simon an AK-47
and then followed Pedro.  For the first hour or so, Blair managed
to keep the pain somewhat at bay but it seeped back in on him
little by little until he was struggling to remain on his feet
each time he took a step.  He felt cold then hot and then cold
again.  He clenched his jaw and kept moving.  His only comfort
was that they were out of the tunnels for the moment.  Darrien
had told him that they would be re-entering the tunnels once they
got close to Santavilla. 

"We can't stop and we can't go back.  We can't leave you here. 
Hold on, Blair," Darrien whispered in his ear as she fell in
beside him.

"I know.  I am," he told her, pain making his voice shaky and
rough.

"I should have put my foot down about this but I didn't.  It's
partially my fault.  Just try to hold on.  If it gets too bad we
can stop for a few minutes and let you catch your breath."

"No.  I'll be fine."  

"You better tell that to Captain Banks behind you.  He looks like
he can't decide whether to shoot you or himself."

Blair glanced behind himself and searched out Simon in the
darkness.  He stopped and let the older man move up beside him. 
Simon was seething.

"I'm okay, Simon."

"Sure you are.  And I knew Shirley Maclaine in another life."

"That was pretty good, Simon."

"Blair, why don't you let somebody take you back?"

Blair did not have a chance to answer.  Darrien appeared beside
them. "Because now it's just as far back as it is forward and we
can't afford to lose any man in this mission.  Not even Blair."

"Gee, that sounded real good."

"You know what I mean, Blair Sandburg.  Don't start with me
here," she hissed.  "I need you to help me with the wounded.  Now
can we go, gentlemen?  We still have an hour of walking ahead of
us."

She ducked out of the conversation and ran to catch up to Pedro. 
"So that's the sweet kid that Jim and Devereaux were so worried
about?" Simon mused.

"I know.  Seems kinda silly now, huh?  They come to rescue her
and she ends up going off to rescue them." Blair walked away but
he still heard Simon's next comment.

"And she seems perfectly capable of it, too."

__________________________________________________________

Ray Wilkes was edgy.  He hated waiting.  He paced his modest
quarters and thought about all the money he would have shortly. 
If Ramirez did not try to double-cross him.  He was ready for
that.  Hell, he had already planned a double-cross himself, one
that would work one way or the other.  He knew where the good
general had stashed those medical supplies and all the drug money
they had been raking in from the drug runners they held up.  A
few words to the right guards had gotten him that information and
their cooperation.  It seemed that Ramirez was not one to spread
the wealth around and some of his men were getting tired of
getting the shaft. Yes, everything was going to be just fine.  He
had his stooges to help him kill the general and steal the goods
and the money.  Once away, he would kill them, sell the medical
supplies on the black market and make off for South America with
the cash.  Lots of work in Colombia for a guy with his expertise. 
He stared out the window of his room and waited.  Darrien
Devereaux.  He wondered.  Was she pretty?  Pete seemed to think
that she was.  He was biased, of course, but Ray remembered him
saying how pretty his little sister was on several occasions. 
Maybe, Ray would take her with him if she was.  He would need
company.  If she was not, the troops could have her, just once
before he killed the whole lot of them.  He smiled and turned his
attention to the jail where the high and mighty Jim Ellison sat
slowly dying of a gunshot wound, where that hippie kid lay dying
because, quite frankly, the kid had told Ramirez the truth about
himself.  That was damned ironic.  And where his former boss sat,
watching them both die and wondering when his turn would be. 
Life was good, Wilkes decided.

_________________________________________________________

"Lupe says that they are planning to set a trap for us.  They let
the word out that the gringos were here." Pedro told them as he
rejoined the group hiding in the jungle after meeting with one of
their spies inside the town.

"But we already knew so we're early." Darrien smiled.  "They
won't be expecting us quite so soon."  Blair blinked at the
dangerous smile on her face.  Darrien Devereaux was one tough
woman, he decided.

"Si, Senorita.  Lupe found the medical supplies, too."

"Then they are here.  He hasn't sold them yet."

"No.  They are here."

"Good.  Then we get the supplies too if we can."

"Senorita, I hate to say this but we must think of the greater
good here.  The people need those supplies.  The lives of three
men against the lives of hundreds-"


"What?" Blair exclaimed.  "You can't-" he stopped as Darrien
raised a hand to cut him off.

"If you think for one minute that I'm going to leave my brother
to die then you are sadly mistaken.  I understand all that
greater good shit, believe me, I do, but there's no way I'm
leaving Pete.  If it were someone else, maybe, but I'm not
objective here, Pedro.  And tell me, if your brother Carlo was in
there, would you be?"

"No."

"Thank you for your honesty.  Now, I have an idea.  Take your
men, get my damn medical supplies.  I'll take Blair and Captain
Banks and go after Pete and the others.  "Where are the supplies
in reference to the jail?  For that matter, where's the damn
jail?"

Pedro grabbed a stick and began to map out the town.  "They are
not far from one another.  Here, this is the jail.  Here," he
pointed at a little square he had drawn on the ground, "is the
storehouse where the supplies are.  There are guns there too. 
And money."

"Get whatever you can but get the medical stuff first.  The guns
and money won't do you a damn bit of good if you have no
able-bodied people to shoot the guns and spend the money."

"Si."

"Okay, how many guards at the jail?"

"Two." 

"Easy.  At the storehouse?"

"Six."

"You can handle that, can't you?" She smiled at the rebel leader.

"Si, Senorita." He returned the smile and Blair wondered about
the private joke they seemed to be sharing.

"Ready then?  Remember, we slip in and out quietly.  Let them
figure out they had visitors later, if at all possible.  If not,
our friends inside have assured us that they have diversions
planned to help us out.  Got it?  Any questions?  Captain? 
Blair?"

"No," Simon stated simply as Blair shook his head.

"Let's move then."  With those words, the rebel band split into
two groups.  Pedro led the majority away to the right while
Darrien motioned for Blair and Simon to follow her to the left. 
Slipping silently through the trees, they soon came upon the town
of Santavilla.  From their vantage point hidden in the alley
behind a cantina and another building, Blair could see that the
town was not much bigger than El Marco had been.  Soldiers filled
the streets and Blair could not help but wonder how they were
ever going to get in and out of the busy town without being
noticed. He searched for the jail, Pedro's improvised stick in
the dirt map not helping him at all when faced with the real
town.  

"Are you okay?" Darrien's voice cut into his thoughts.

""Yeah, I'll be fine as soon as we find Jim and get the hell out
of here."

"I hear that."

Blair was stunned.  "What?"  Had he just heard his mother's tag
line from the no nonsense, gun toting rebel collaborating nurse?

"Nothing.  Blair, you hang back and let me and the captain take
care of the guards."

"Okay. Just let me take care of Jim when we find them."

She looked puzzled but said nothing, for which Blair was
grateful.  "Where is the jail?" he asked, still searching the
streets.  

"Honey, you're standing next to it." She smirked at him and he
heard Simon chuckle.

"Oh.  Right next to the cantina?"

"Easier that way.  When you arrest the guys that started the
brawl, you don't have to take them far," she explained.

"Makes sense," he conceded.

-------------------------------------------------

Jim cocked his head to the side and listened.  His hearing had
indeed come on-line again and what he heard was familiar. 
"Blair," he whispered.  He thought he heard Blair's voice close
by, soft as though he were whispering.  He reached out and found
the sound that constantly reassured him.  He found Blair's heart
beat.  "They're here," he announced to Pete.

"Oh, great, Jim.  Have you gone and gotten delirious on me? 
Who's here?"  Pete walked over to him and placed a hand on his
forehead.  "Your fever is worse.  Damn."

"I'm not delirious.  We have to get ready.  Help me up."

"You can't stand up, Jim." Pete straightened and glared down at
him.

"You get me up and I'll stay up.  They might need our help to get
us out of here."

"Who?"

"Blair, your sister and my captain.  It's just the three of them. 
Now help me up and then get Jesse." Jim insisted as he held out
his hand to Pete.  

"Are you serious?  How do you know?"

"Can't explain.  I just know.  Now are you going to help me or
not?"

"Holy shit.  Brackett wasn't lying."

Jim closed his eyes and swore under his breath.

"All that stuff he said about you, it's true, isn't it?"

"We don't have time for this, Pete."

"Nobody believes him.  Or at least, I don't think anyone does,
anyway.  God, Jim, you better hope nobody does.  Jesus, you're
screwed if the wrong people find out about this.  And the kid! 
Sandburg, he knows.  Brackett said something about you needing
the kid.  That's it, right."

"Will you shut up and help me up?!"
 
Jim watched as Pete shook himself.  Pete grabbed his hand then
and pulled it across his own shoulders and mostly lifted Jim from
the floor.  Jim put his back to the wall behind him to brace
himself.  "You okay?"

"Yeah, get Jesse." Jim eyed the man as he crossed to Jesse
Riviera's still form.  Peter Devereaux knew.  That could not be a
good thing.  It was his own fault, he supposed.  He pushed it
from his mind for the time being.  It would have to be dealt with
later.  At the moment, he had to worry about getting out of that
jail and making sure that Blair was okay.  

____________________________________________________________

Blair winced as Darrien brought the butt end of her rifle down on
the guard's head.  The unsuspecting man slumped to the ground and
she dragged him around the corner of the building.  Pulling a
length of rope from her small pack, she instructed, "Tie him up. 
Banks will be bringing the other any second now. Get his gun. 
Hopefully, Pete and Jim will be in good enough condition to use
it."  

On cue, Simon rounded the building from the back, the other guard
tossed over his shoulder.  While Blair tied the first, Simon tied
the second and Darrien stuffed strips of cloth into the men's
mouths.  "Let's move." She rose and strode purposefully toward
the front of the building.  "I firmly believe that all jails
should have a back entrance for escape purposes, don't you?" she
joked as Blair joined her at the exit of the alley.  

"Maybe here, but not in Cascade," Blair answered.

"Amen to that," Simon concurred.

"Okay, I can deal with that.  The patrol will be by in a minute. 
Let them pass first.  Then we move."

"What if they don't pass?  What if they notice the guards
missing?" Blair asked her.

"Hopefully, they'll think that they're inside and keep going.  If
they don't keep going, we may have to announce our presence.  I
would like very much to avoid that."

"Amen to that too," Simon whispered.

"Wonder how Pedro and the others are doing?"

"You said they could handle it, right?"

"Inside joke, there.  When I got involved in all this, Pedro
would always ask me as he handed me a gun, 'You can handle this,
can't you?' in a very serious tone.  And I would say, 'Si, I can
handle anything but bugs and snakes.'  He thought that was
hilarious.  Anyway, it's risky, but then everything here is.  I
think they can pull it off as long as we don't get discovered, or
at least, discovered too soon.  Our friends here will try to help
anyway they can.  They have explosives set in and around the
soldiers' quarters and a few other strategic locations.  If we
get discovered, they'll help cover our escape.  Shh, the patrol's
coming."  She ducked back into the darkness nearly knocking Blair
backwards into Simon as she did. "Sorry," she whispered, reaching
out a hand to steady him.  Just as she did, gunfire exploded from
down the street.  She spun back, leaving Simon to set Blair
firmly back on his feet.  "Shit!  Let's go."

"What happened?" Blair asked even as he and Simon followed her
around the front of the building.

"I would say they got caught at the storehouse." She flung open
the door of the jail and entered.  

"Jim!" Blair exclaimed as he caught sight of the man, leaning
heavily on the wall of the small cell. Blair grabbed the keys
from a hook on the wall and quickly opened the door of the cell.

"Hey Chief, knew you'd find me.  Simon, sorry you had to hunt my
sorry ass down." Jim smiled weakly.

"Don't worry, Jim.  You'll pay for it for a good long while,"
Simon told him.

"Darrien?!" 

"Nice to see you too, big brother," she commented, sarcastically
as she went straight to Jesse's side.  She began checking him
over.

Blair glanced at Pete Devereaux and almost smiled, in spite of
their predicament, at the man's astonished face.  "Are you
okay, Jim?  Can you walk?" he asked, turning his full attention
back to his sentinel.


"With some help.  Are you okay?"

"Sore, but I'll live.  Thanks to Darrien." Blair moved to Jim's
side.  "You're burning up, man.  How are things?" he whispered.

"Not too good, Chief.  Things are cutting in and out on me and I
lost control of the pain a while back.  This hurts like hell."

"Lean on me."

"No, Sandburg.  He'll lean on me," Simon interceded.  "You aren't
recovered yourself."

"He's right, Chief.  I'm wondering why you're here."

"Could we do the discussion thing somewhere else, please?  Blair,
give Pete the guard's gun and let's get the hell out of here."
She stood from Jesse's side.

"Got another gun?" Jim asked.

"Left the other one," Darrien stated.

"Here." Blair pulled out the 9mm and handed it to Jim. Out of the
corner of his eye, he saw Darrien shake her head.

"You're in better shape to use that," she scolded.

"Maybe so, but I'm more apt to use it than he is.  You said
something about going?  I'm ready."

"Pete, carry this man," she ordered, ignoring the look of
incredulity on her brother's face. She went back to the door. 
She waited until Pete had managed to drape Jesse over one
shoulder before she carefully opened the door and peeked out.  

The gunfire from down the dusty street was deafening once the
door was open and Blair saw Jim cringe.  "Dial it down, Jim," he
advised quietly, touching Jim's shoulder and squeezing it gently. 

"I'll be okay." 

"We have a problem, gentlemen.  Big and Ugly is headed this way
and he's not alone."

"Who?" Simon inquired.

"She means Wilkes," Blair told the big captain.

"Damn," Pete swore.

"We have to get out of here before they get any closer.  Make
them chase us into the jungle and we can pick 'em off.  Stay here
and we're trapped." She boldly stepped out the door and started
firing at the men making their way toward them.  Blair followed
Simon and Jim out, slipping behind them as they too opened fire
on the approaching men.  Suddenly, an explosion rocked them all. 
Two of the men with Wilkes were thrown into the air by it.  The
rest scrambled for cover.  Blair tried to catch Pete as he lost
his balance and felt something in his side tear. He blinked away
the tears from his eyes that followed hot on the heels of the
searing pain that ripped through him and managed to right Pete
before the man fell.  They made their way around the side of the
building and down the alleyway toward the dense jungle behind. 
Ray Wilkes appeared at the entrance of the alley like some
specter from a nightmare and Blair's heart leapt into his throat. 
Darrien pushed him into the trees.

"I'll find you!" Wilkes screamed.  "You can't hide and you won't
make if far with Ellison and Riviera."

"I'm just going to have to kill him," Jim mumbled and Blair
smiled weakly at the comment.

"As if we weren't going to before, Jim? He's a walking corpse as
far as I'm concerned," Pete added.

"Well, he's not following," she noted as she looked back toward
the town.  "Captain Banks, can you handle this from here?  I need
to go and see if I can help Pedro and the others.  Or at least
find out what the hell went wrong.  Just a quarter of a mile east
is the opening of the tunnel we came through.  Get back there and
hide there.  I'll be back, hopefully with others and some medical
supplies." Darrien started to leave them but Pete grabbed her
arm.  

"Let me go instead.  Jim and Jesse need you."

"What Jim and Jesse need is that medicine.  Let me go.  I'll be
back in a few minutes."

"No way.  You're not going.  I am."

"Look, Jackass, you may be my brother, a bad one at that I might
add, but you are not going to stand in my way here.  Let go."

"Then I'm coming with you."

"You need to carry Jesse.  I can't and Blair's hurt.  Captain
Banks has his hands full with Jim. Now, get your asses to that
tunnel and stop wasting my time."

"This is not over, Darrien Cathleen Devereaux."

"Oh, mature, Pete.  The old 'call her by three names' thing.  I'm
so worried." She grinned and took off.

"Stubborn, reckless,--"

"Must run in the family," Jim muttered.

Pete glared at Jim and Blair would have laughed had his side not
hurt so much.  He touched it and felt the wetness on the palm of
his hand.  He started to say something but the others were
already headed east.  He followed.

-------------------------------------------------------

Ray had business to take care of.  He strode back through the
little one strip town and searched out a familiar face.  Jose,
the head honcho of his partners in crime.  "How much did they get
before you found them?" he demanded.

"Most of the medicine.  They took out the guards and were taking
it out the back.  Some of my men are tracking the ones that got
away into the jungle.  We have several of them pinned down in the
storehouse now. The general has ordered that anyone not in
uniform be shot on sight.  That is supposed to include you, my
friend so you better lay low."

"No time for that.  We got business.  Get those damn rebels out
of that storehouse and get the guns and money loaded up.  Forget
the medicine.  It would have been nice but we can do without it. 
I need your men here to take out Ramirez's men and I need five
men myself to help me track Pete and Ellison." 

"Si, Senor." The man turned and snapped his fingers and several
men came running.  "Go with Senor Wilkes," he ordered half of
them.  "The rest of you come with me."  

Just then, a flash of red caught Ray's eye and he pushed Jose and
the others aside to get a better look.  Not red really, more like
auburn, from the corner of the next building up ahead.  Ray
smiled evilly.  "Never mind about that tracking stuff.  I have
all I need here.  You men just follow me.  Jose, I leave Ramirez
to you, Buddy.  Have fun."  He moved toward his target.  Pete had
been right.  His sister was a damn fine-looking woman.

--------------------------------------------------------

Jim leaned on Simon and kept pace with the man to keep from being
dragged but his focus was still on the village.  He tried to
track Darrien's movement through the town.  He had not been
thrilled that the woman had decided to go back but figured that
there was little he could do about it.  His senses were still
cutting in and out but it was better.  He felt more grounded with
his guide nearby keeping him focused.  He was still pondering the
mystery of Blair's ability to ground him with just his presence
when he heard Darrien's scream.

"Pete!  We have to go back!"

"What is it, Jim?" Simon inquired, stopping but not turning
around.

"It's Darrien.  Wilkes has her."

Jim saw the panic on Blair's face. He tried to read it to see
which revelation had his guide so worried, that Darrien was in
trouble or that Jim had just pretty much given evidence of his
sentinel abilities to Peter Devereaux.  "Jim?"

"It's okay, Chief.  He already knew."

"Oh god," Blair whispered.

"Shit!" Pete lowered Jesse to the ground.  "Captain Banks, you go
ahead with Jim and then come back for Jess.  If I don't come
back, don't come looking."

"Oh, hell no, you don't, Pete.  You're not going back alone." Jim
pulled away from Simon, actually surprising himself by nature of
being able to do so.  "Blair, stay with Jess.  I'm going.  Simon,
we could use you."

"Try and lose me," the big man challenged.  "But Jim-"

"No, I'm going so don't argue with me about it.  I don't have the
strength to go back and to argue about it too.  If I have to do
one, I say let's go get Darrien and put a hole in Ray Wilkes.  He
has it coming."

"You're not going without me, Jim."  Blair stood before him
defiantly.  

Jim thought about it for a moment.  "Stay back, okay?  I could
really use you near but don't risk yourself, got me?"

Blair nodded. "What about Jess?"

"We'll hide him.  One of us standing over him won't make a
difference in whether he lives or dies.  Whether Darrien lives or
dies will make a difference." Pete began breaking vines and
branches off nearby trees and covering Jesse Riviera with them. 
Simon helped while Blair gave Jim a shoulder to lean on. 
Satisfied, they turned back to the town of Santavilla.

___________________________________________________________

Blair figured that Jim's sense of smell must be off line.  Even
Blair could smell the metallic scent of his own blood.  Either
that, or Jim's nose was so filled with the scent of his own blood
that nothing else was registering.  Whichever, Blair was grateful
for it and for the darkness that hid the spreading bloodstain. 
He did not want to be separated from Jim when his friend was so
sick and in so much pain.  Simon still mostly supported the
sentinel as they moved swiftly through the trees.  Jim was
conserving the remainder of his energy for the fight that they
would face once they reached town.  The sound of more explosions
reached Blair's ears and he wondered what they would be facing
once they reached the tiny village.  How much of it would still
be standing. He turned his attention back to Jim.  He saw the
lines the pain was causing on Jim's face and wished that he could
do more.

"I'm okay, Blair," Jim announced, apparently reading his mind.
 
"Okay," he stated simply. He knew better but it was not the time
to argue the point.  Darrien's life was at stake and if her life
was forfeited, Jim and Jess would not be far behind her.  Of
course, there was the old vet, Blair thought, amused still, even
in these dire circumstances that a nurse, a vet, and some doggie
antibiotics had saved his life.  He hoped they could do the same
for Jim.

__________________________________________________


"Pete was right.  You are pretty.  Fiery little thing too."
Wilkes held her tight around the waist, pinning her arms to her
sides.  

"You bastard!  Let me go!" She screamed and kicked at him again. 
She got a pain reaction but he still did not let go.  

Another group of men approached then, pushing the man she knew as
General Ramirez before them.  The general was shoved down to his
knees only a few feet from her.  "Pig!" she spat at him.

"Damn, Ramirez, what's this with you and pigs, my friend?  First
Riviera, now my little spit fire here.  I take it you two have
met or do you know each other from reputation only?"

"What is this, Wilkes?  We had a deal."

"Funny, I don't recall getting shot on sight as part of our
agreement.  Lucky for me, you don't share like a good little boy
and your men were more than happy to help me out for a piece of
the wealth that you were keeping for yourself.  Jose, kill this
trash so we can get on with this."  

The man who had forced Ramirez to his knees placed the barrel of
his weapon to the general's head and pulled the trigger. And the
man responsible for the deaths of thousands of helpless people,
including two American doctors and two American nurses so dear to
her was dead.  Despite her own situation, Darrien felt a sharp
stab of satisfaction move through her, followed quickly by the
thought that perhaps she should feel something more akin to
horror, but she did not.

"Four of your rebel friends are dead, Sweetheart.  Ellison and
Riviera are dying.  Pete won't leave you behind so when he shows
up to rescue you, I'll kill him.  I'll have to figure out
something to do with Sandburg.  I really want his death to be
interesting.  Got any ideas?" He paused.  "None?  Oh well, don't
matter. This has been a red letter day for me so far.  I get
rich, I kill a few people, and I find the love of my life.  Well,
maybe that's a little strong just yet.  How does lust of my life
sound to you?"

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch," she threatened.

"You will try, I have no doubt.  You'll be trouble but I have a
feeling you'll be worth it." He turned to the man he had called
Jose.  "Load up stuff.  I have to wait for Brother Pete to show
up."

"Si, Senor."  The soldiers left. 

Darrien was alone with Wilkes and she tried to suppress the
shudder of fear that ran through her.  

"Pete!!  Hey, Pete!  I've just been talking with your sister,
Pete!  Seems we have a lot in common.  Okay, so maybe not, but I
don't care!  Come on, Pete.  I know you didn't go far and leave
little sister here alone.  Come out, come out, wherever you are!" 

"I'm right here, Ray." In the light of all the burning fires, she
saw her brother step out into the street.

"Shit!" Darrien screamed.  "You should be long gone, damn you,
Pete!"

"What?  You want I should go?"  Pete half-smiled at her.  "I'm
not leaving without you, Dare.  I didn't come this far to leave
you behind."

"That's real sweet.  Now, drop your gun, Pete, or I'll blow her
brains out.  I like her but I like my life and money a lot more
so don't doubt me here, bossman."

"Don't you dare, Pete!"

"No choice here, sis." Pete lowered the weapon slowly.  

"Peter Devereaux, if we get out of this, I'm going to kick your
ass," she told him.  

"Where's the rest of 'em, Pete?  I want Sandburg.  I'm not too
worried about the other two.  They're as good as dead anyway."

"What do you have against that kid, Ray?  Leave him alone." Pete
stood again, unarmed.

"I don't like the way he looks." 

"I think that feeling's mutual."

"So?  Where is he?"

"Like I'd tell you," Pete laughed.

"You tell me and little sister here lives."

"I'd shoot her myself rather than let her suffer in your hands. 
You better just kill us both if you're going to." 

Wilkes shook his head, obviously amused.  Pete nodded to her very
slowly then, while the man holding her was distracted with that
amusement.  He wanted her down.  Three fingers extended on his
right hand.  Down right in three?  She hoped that was right. 
Then she saw him look past her, past Wilkes.  He was not alone.
She suppressed the smile and began the count even as Wilkes
started talking again.  Three, and she went limp.  It caught the
man by surprise and his grip slipped.  Darrien rolled right as
she hit the ground.  By the time the world was right side up
again, Wilkes was on the ground and she looked up to not one but
two smoking guns.  Pete and Jim Ellison stared at the downed man
and then at each other for a few moments before Pete rushed to
her side. 

"Are you all right?" her brother asked anxiously.  

"I am now.  Let's get the hell out of here before Wilkes' friends
come back."

The man on the ground moaned and Pete's eyes turned cold.  "I
should finish him."

"There's soldiers coming this way!" Blair's voice reached their
ears and Darrien searched for him.  He stood at the corner of the
building where she had been caught by Wilkes.

"They'll probably finish him.  Let's move," Jim announced.  

Darrien pulled Pete by the sleeve and they left Ray Wilkes in the
street to die.  Once in the jungle, they found Jesse Riviera. 
Darrien was relieved but a little surprised to see that he was
still breathing.  They made their way to the tunnel from there. 
Darrien noticed that Blair was lagging behind.  "Blair, you
okay?"

"I'll be okay once we get back.  I think I pulled a stitch or
something but it's not bad.  Let's just get back so you can see
about Jim and Jess."  His voice was strained.  He was tired, she
knew.

"What?  Let me see." Jim turned back and tried to reach out and
grab him.

"No, let's just get back.  I said I'm fine." Blair backed away
from the man.

"Chief-"

"Jim, please, I'm just tired.  The faster we get back, the faster
I can rest."

"You're bleeding, Blair. Darrien, he's bleeding pretty bad here."

Darrien moved past Jim and made a grab for Blair before he could
get away.  It worked and she snatched up his blood soaked shirt. 
"Pulled a stitch!  You pulled damn near all of them."  

"I said I'm fine.  Can we go now?"  Blair pulled away from her
and made it two steps.  She caught him on his way down.

"Go ahead to the tunnel.  Send somebody back for Blair.  I'll
stay with him." She fished out some cut up cloth from her pack
and pressed it to the wound.

"I'll stay with Blair."

"Jim Ellison, you will go on and get on that damn litter we
brought for you.  You are burning up with fever and have lost
just about as much blood as he has.  If everything went the way
it was supposed to, I'll have what I need to save both your lives
there.  Now go. Do as I say, damn it."

"She's right, Jim," Banks said.

Darrien could tell that he did not like it one bit but he let
Banks lead him away. Pete followed with Jesse Riviera cradled in
his arms.  It was the first time that Darrien really paid
attention to Jesse Riviera.  If she thought that Blair was a
little too new-age to be hanging around with Ellison, she had no
idea what to think about her own up-tight, straight laced brother
and Jesse Riviera.  He looked like a surfer who got his head
tangled in yarn or something and could not get it out.  She
smiled at the visual there then turned her attention back to
Blair.  "You are a stubborn thing, aren't you?" she asked the
oblivious anthropologist.  "And here I thought that the only
thing anthropologists had to fear was the failure of a primitive
culture to understand the complex workings of the modern
brassiere.  You really know how to pick research topics, my
misfortunate friend."

___________________________________________________________

Simon was perplexed when Jim suddenly started chuckling.  "Are
you all right, Jim?"

"I'm fine, Simon.  Just listening.  She hasn't changed much.  She
just got a little meaner."

Simon did not push for an explanation.  Minutes later, just as
they reached the waiting rebels at the mouth of the tunnel, Simon
felt Jim slump against him, his full weight almost taking Simon
down until he got his balance back.  "Oh, you are going to pay
for this one, Jim.  Collapse on me in the middle of the El
Salvadoran jungle will you?  You just wait until we get back to
Cascade.  You're doing your own paperwork for a month.  No, that
won't work.  That punishes me as much as him.  God knows,
Sandburg's reports are so much easier to decipher.  I'll think of
something."

______________________________________________________________

Awareness seeped in slowly and Jim tried really hard to push it
away.  He felt like he had been rode hard and put up wet, as the
saying went.  There seemed to be a giant weight on his side as
well and he tried to move it off him.  Hands grabbed his though
and a female voice filtered in through the haze.

"Leave that alone, Jim Ellison."

He opened his eyes.  

"Well, it lives." She smiled.

"Nice to see you, Darrien," he managed, his voice croaking a
little from thirst.  A cup of water appeared under his nose even
as he wished for it and he lifted his head with her help to
drink.  "Where's Blair?"

"Right over there, sleeping." She pointed and Jim turned his head
to look.  His guide looked quite peaceful.  "He'll be fine."

"And Jesse?"

"That was touch and go for a bit but with Ol' Doc Conte's help, I
think we got him patched up pretty good.  The old man has good
hands still and he says that you guys aren't much different than
working on a bunch of stubborn old mules anyway."

"The vet did surgery on me?"

"Between us, we performed surgery on you and Riviera.  Jesse was
bleeding internally.  We stopped that.  He's got some severe
concussions but no fractures in his skulls so, we watch, we wait. 
We pulled  the bullet out of you and got you on some aggressive
antibiotics and you'll live.  Sewed Blair back up, too and you
slept through it all."

"Gee, I always miss all the fun."

She laughed.  "Hey, we had anesthesia.  Helps a lot.  I'm sure
Blair can appreciate that.  But you react funny to anesthesia. 
You better tell your doctors that.  I had a hell of a time
keeping you out."

"I know." He waved that off.  "Now, what do you mean, Blair can
appreciate that?"

"Jim, I had to do surgery on Blair the first time around without
anesthesia.  It wasn't pleasant."

"Shit."

"Sorry.  He means a lot to you, doesn't he?  I know you mean a
lot to him."

This was Jim's opening. He swallowed and took it.  "Darrien, I've
changed a lot since the last time we met.  I was an SOB to you
and I'm sorry.  I don't have an excuse really. I was just pissed
at the whole world for a good long while there.  Didn't need
anybody, just a hot shot Ranger proving how good I was at what I
did.  You did not deserve the things I said to you.  I'm sorry. 
And yeah, Blair means a lot to me.  He got through my defenses
and became the best and closest friend I have ever had."

"Thanks for the apology, Jim.  He's been really good for you
apparently.  You think that's what happened with my brother and
Jesse Riviera.  I mean, I thought you and Blair were an odd
combination until I saw Pete with Jesse."

"I think so."

"Well, anyway, you're all out of here the day after tomorrow. 
Pete's arranging for that copter he ordered to pick you guys up
not far from here."

"What about you?"

"I'm staying, Jim.  I have work to do."

Jim shook his head.  "Darrien, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Uh-huh, I am not having this conversation with you.  Already had
it with Pete and I'm not budging so don't waste your strength on
it."

"Has it occurred to you at all that you're in the middle of a
rebellion?  What are these rebels' politics, Darrien?"

"I don't care about their politics, Jim.  I care about their
lives.  Pedro lost his cousin and his best friend in that raid
the other night.  He lost his brother Carlo last year and his
parents the year before that.  His mother wasn't an armed rebel. 
She was an aging old woman with arthritis so severe that she was
unable to stand as quickly as the soldiers wanted her too.  They
shot her for that.   When the Med Corps send someone else, I'll
go home.  They aren't going to want me anyway.  Not now.  I'm not
objective anymore.  I've taken sides.  I've shot government
soldiers, although I have no intention of telling them that. 
Hell, they might turn me over to the damn government as a
criminal if they know that."

"Darrien, I can't leave you here."

She looked at him oddly then burst into real laughter.  "You are
kidding right?  Surely, you jest!  Jim, I'm grown.  I grew up,
just like you told me to.  Kids have a tendency to do that,
especially when you're not looking and you were right, I was a
kid.  And you haven't been looking.  So, if you don't mind, I'll
just run my own life now.  Blair may not mind having a Blessed
Protector but I do.  Go home, Jim.  I'm not a school girl with a
crush anymore."

"Touche'."

"I don't mean that badly."

"I know."

"Good.  Rest.  See you later."

She was gone in an instant and Jim marveled at the woman that had
replaced the girl he had known.  He smiled at the irony.  She was
probably the perfect woman for him and she had just given him the
brush off.  He tuned into his guide's heart beat and went to
sleep.  

________________________________________________________


Simon was gone already, choosing to fly back the way he came...
legally.  Blair smiled as remembered Simon's stern lecture before
he left about the two of them not getting into any more trouble. 
Blair would remember the line, "Don't make me come back down
here," for the rest of his life.  Pete helped Jim into the copter
and then turned to help Blair.  Jesse had been loaded on a
stretcher.  Their original plans shot, their stuff had been
picked up from Panama and they would be flying straight back to
the United States.  They would land in Arizona then take two
separate planes from there.  Pete and Jesse would be heading back
to Washington D.C..  Jim and Blair would be going home to
Cascade.  Pete's friends at the CIA were smoothing the way for
them.  Blair watched as Pete said goodbye to his sister and
chuckled at little then.  He had said his goodbyes earlier. 
Well, he had to try, right? He suggested that they get together
sometime.  She had smiled brightly and said sure, as soon as she
got back.  She had kissed his cheek and then he had kissed her
lips.  Then they had really examined one another for a long
moment.  Simultaneously, they both had known.  Together they had
decided, "Nah."  They laughed and hugged and that was that.  

When Pete climbed on board the copter, Blair was pulled away from
those thoughts.  As the copter lifted off the ground, he was
reminded just how much he hated heights and flying.  He closed
his eyes and grabbed hold of the nearest thing to him to hold on. 
It happened to be Jim.

"Relax, Chief.  We're going home now."

"I'll believe it when we get there, Jim. 

_____________________________________________________________

Jim watched Pete Devereaux with a critical eye as the man gave
instructions to his CIA buddies as they prepared to load Jesse
Riviera onto the airplane that would take them back to D.C. 
Blair stopped them and Jim shamelessly tuned into his partner's
voice as he spoke softly to the semi-conscious man on the
stretcher.

"You take care, Jess.  Thanks for saving my life, man.  And for
trying to save Jim's.  Just remember, you have a friend in
Cascade, Washington if you ever want to come out for a visit."

"I'll remember that, Blair." Jesse whispered, his words were
shaky and Jim tuned his fully recovered hearing a little finer to
listen to the young man's heart beat.  Yes, Jesse Riviera would
live.  

Jim turned his attention back to Peter Devereaux.  The man who
knew his secret.  The man who was in so deep with the CIA that
Jim could feel the weight on his ankles pulling him down into the
sinking sands of secret government labs.  He swallowed hard and
tried to blink away the nightmares his mind was playing over and
over like instant replay.  He stopped trying after a few times as
it did no good and when he opened his eyes, Pete was standing a
few feet from him, staring straight at him.

"I know what you're thinking. Won't happen, Jim.  I swear it. 
I'll take this to my grave.  I damn near got you killed once,
hell, twice, if you count this fiasco."

"I do count it, Pete." Jim smiled though to soften the statement.

Pete grinned at him.  "Of course, you do.  Anyway, what I'm
trying to say is, you won't ever have to worry that I'll ever put
you in jeopardy again.  You or Blair, 'cause he's part of this
too, right?"

Jim shook his head, about to deny Blair's part in the Sentinel's
role, still afraid of betrayal.  If Pete ever did take him down,
Jim wanted Blair to be safe from the horrors that the CIA could
and would come up with to test the Sentinel and his guide, but he
did not get the chance.

"Never mind.  Don't say anything.  I understand.  If it was Jess,
I wouldn't open my mouth.  I mean what I say, Jim, and rest
assured, I'll declare Brackett a delusional liar all over D.C."

"Thanks, Pete."

"Least I can do.  Take care, Jim.  If you ever need me, just
call.  I'll come."  Pete held out his hand.

Jim nodded and took it.  "You take care too, Pete."

The man grinned again.  "Can you believe that she stayed in El
Salvador.  To quote Jess, 'Man, that really sucks.'"

"You sure you aren't quoting Blair there, Pete."

"Hey, I know!  Call me and we'll schedule another weekend retreat
for hippies and their foster fathers!" Pete backed his way up the
steps to board the plane.

Jim laughed.  "Thanks but no thanks."  Pete shrugged then
disappeared into the private jet.  Blair was at Jim's side as the
door to the plane closed.

"Uh, Jim, did you talk to him about-"

"Yeah, Chief.  I think it's okay.  If it's not, there's not a
whole lot we can do now, but I honestly think that he's changed."

"Yeah, sometimes people do."

"Yeah, Blair, sometimes they do.  But Blair, do something for
me."

"What's that, Jim?"

"Don't ever change, Chief."
 
"I'll do my best."

"You better.  It's the new house rule."

"What!? Great! Another one! How many does that make now?  I think
we just passed the one million mark, Jim!"

Jim laughed and headed for the private jet that the Devereaux
Agency and the CIA had so generously provided for their trip to
Cascade.  Behind him, Blair railed against the oppression of
House Rules.  Normalcy achieved, all was in balance.  Jim reached
back and grabbed Blair gently around the shoulder and pulled the
younger man under his arm.  And still, he complained.  Perfect. 
He knew he could teach the boy to follow a few simple rules.