Brotherhood Part 2

Danae

Disclaimer: Alas, they are not mine.  I hope Pet Fly doesn't mind sharing though.  No harm or infringement is intended and nobody's paying me so... unspoken plea here.  It's all in the spirit of fun and a touch of reverence for the folks that do own them.  

Thanks to Missy and Nickerbits, my fabulous betareaders. And to Michelle who inspires me with her amazing writing and understanding of the human soul.  And to everyone else who has written to me with feedback.  I hope you know just how important you are to me.

Season four?  What season four?  This thing was started even before S2!  Now, you know where we are....

Brotherhood Part 2_________________________________________________________________

Jim grabbed up his phone and propped it on his shoulder while he continued to concentrate on his driving. "Ellison."  Muffed voices and the sound of splintering wood answered him.  He extended his hearing and caught the wild beating of a familiar heart.  Blair.  "Blair?!" he yelled into the phone.  No answer, just the sounds of a struggle.  Jim stomped on the gas pedal and spun the truck around in the direction of the campus. 

Minutes later, he screeched to a halt in front of the Hargrove Building.  He raced up the steps and caught the scent of blood as soon as he entered the building.  Panic swept through him and he ran to Blair's office.  The ornate door with its etched glass was open and inside was a disaster.  Blair had not gone quietly and he had not gone uninjured.  Jim spotted a bloody letter opener and clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth together.  He fought the urge to add to the destruction around him.  He picked up the open cell phone from the desk and called it in.

_________________________________________________________________

"Why didn't he have police protection?!  I thought you fancied yourself some sort of Blessed Protector!  Where the hell were you?  Why didn't you do something!?" Naomi Sandburg screamed in his face and Jim tried very hard to maintain his temper. It was not working.  Why, oh why did Naomi just have show up now?

"I tried but he wouldn't let me!"

"I trusted you to take care of him!  He's my only child, Jim Ellison!  He's the one thing in this world that means more to me than my own life!  I love him!"

"So do I!" Jim screamed and then looked around him at the shocked faces of the officers and forensics people in his partner's office.  "Oh, for crying out loud, get your damn minds out of the gutter!"

Naomi burst into laughter and Jim looked back at her as though she had lost her mind.  He was about to tell her just that when the laughter dissolved into tears and she fell against him, burying her face in his chest.  Jim was stunned and looked to Simon for some sort of sign.  His captain had a sad expression on his face and it suddenly struck Jim that the man had been strangely silent during the altercation.  

"Walayla Meadowbrook died an hour ago, Jim."

Jim closed his eyes and finally enfolded her in his arms as he fought his own tears.  "I'll find him, Naomi."

"But how much of him will be left when you do?" she whispered into his shirt.

Jim could not answer.  He was wondering the same thing.

_______________________________________________________________

"The blood on the letter opener is not Sandburg's.  Wrong type.  Maybe he got in a good enough shot that the injured party will seek medical attention. I've sent out a general alert to all the area hospitals to be on the lookout for injuries that would fit."   Simon tossed a file on the table.  "In the meantime, Jade has gotten us some information on the various fraternities on Rainier campus.  She and I have been going through them looking for clues.  The university has been quite helpful in supplying as much information as they are allowed to release about the students who head up each frat.  We've found a few that might fit our profile, Gamma Pi Zeta and Delta Epsilon Phi."

"Just exactly what is our profile, Simon?" Jim paced around the table looking very much like a caged cat to Jade, though she would not dare say so aloud.

She spoke up.  "We think that we are looking for upper middle class to upper class white kids, not necessarily racist, per se, but looking for a sort of common bond.  Before true 'hazing' was outlawed, students joining fraternities and sororities had to undergo all sort of trials and tribulations to bond them with the others in the brotherhood or sisterhood.  These things ranged from things that were just humiliating to things that were dangerous and, most of the time in the case of fraternities, painful.  As you well know, lots of kids died."

"And what does this have to do with Blair?"  Jim was impatient and she could not really blame him so she did not snap back.

"We think that since these kids aren't allowed to hurt each other any more to obtain some bond, they decided to use crime as their bond.  Like the inner city gangs.  Commit a crime and gain acceptance.  Really, when you think about it, there isn't that much difference between the two types of organizations.  The main differences are color and money.  When you are the right color and have money, your gang gets to be legal and prestigious.  Wrong color and no money, you get to be the scourge of civilization."

"Now, that is Sandburg logic if I have ever heard it, and believe me, I have." Banks sighed and sank down into a chair.

"Thank you for the political commentary, Dr. Thomas.  Can we move on?  Do we have search warrants, and if not, when will they get here?" Jim rubbed his eyes.

"We don't have warrants, Jim.  The DA is a little reluctant to give us warrants without something other than a profile.  He says we have no probable cause."

"Well, we can't just sit here and wait to...!" He did not finish.  Jim grimaced and shook his head.  "I'm going to find my partner."

"Jim, don't cross any lines." Banks warned.  Jade was uncertain if the warning had even registered with the angry man who stormed out of the office.

_____________________________________________________________

Both frat houses invited Jim inside without even asking to see a warrant.  He was given grand tours and told over and over how appalled the members were at all the violence on campus.  In the Delta house, Jim heard nothing to indicate that the president of the frat was anything but sincere and truthful.  At the Gamma house, however, his host's heartbeat and body temperature were off the scale. And that cologne was one of the scents he had picked up at the Timura crime scene, he was sure of that, thanks to his guide.  However, there was no evidence of Blair anywhere on the grounds.  Jim wanted to grab William Patrick Franklin the Third and shake him until he told them where Blair was but he knew that he did not have any evidence, not any that was admissible in court anyway.  "Mr. Franklin, thank you for your time and cooperation.  I have to be going."

He left the house, his mind racing.  He got in the truck and pulled away from the house, but he did not go far.  He stopped the truck around the corner and focused his hearing on the Gamma House, hoping against hope that they would talk about where they had taken his partner.  He waited.  

_______________________________________________________________

“Well, still nothing from the hospitals. Apparently, Sandburg didn’t get in a good enough shot to send the guy to the emergency room.” Rafe announced as he joined Simon, Jade, and Brown in the conference room.

"You know what I want to know?  How did they get Sandburg out of the building and off campus without anybody seeing anything?" Simon grumbled as he lowered himself into a chair at the table.  "We interviewed every student remotely close to the Hargrove Building and they all say they saw nothing.  Are people just that unobservant or what?"

"What," Jade stated solemnly. 

"What?" Brown asked.

"I mean, that they aren't that unobservant.  Some of them, maybe, but all of them, probably not.  Remember, gentlemen, this is a closed society.  They protect their own.  I would almost guarantee that some of those kids you talked to know exactly what happened to Blair. I'm sure they were there solely to make sure that nobody else could or would see or say anything."

"Okay, here's another question.  Why Rainier?  Why now?  What gave these guys the idea?" Brown asked the psychologist.

"That's something you'd have to ask them.  If and when you catch them," Jade replied.

"Great." Rafe tossed his small notebook and pencil on the table.  "What now?"

"We see what Jim comes up with." Simon sighed.

____________________________________________________________
 //”What are we gonna do, Will?”

“We are going to keep our mouths shut. Jacobson, I thought you said the cops would never figure this out. What happened to that?”

“Hey, man, they didn’t figure it out in Texas. Maybe your cops are smarter, man. You do realize, though, that if they find out it was us, we’re going down for murder. That Indian girl died, man.”

“Yes, Toby, we do realize that, thank you. That’s why we are going to keep our heads and—“//

The shrill sound of his cell phone nearly sent Jim into overload and he lost the thread of conversation coming from the frat house. “Ellison,” he growled into the phone.

"Well?  What are you hearing?" Simon's voice boomed through the connection.

Jim winced at his captain's irritated voice.  He sighed.  "Mainly, you."

"Oh," he mumbled, "sorry."

Jim sighed again.  "It's all right.  I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have said that quite that way.  They're talking about it but they aren't talking about where the others have taken Blair.  Evidently, they got the idea from a guy who transferred in from another school. His chapter of the fraternity ‘adopted’ this initiation in Texas. They didn’t get caught. Damn it!  I wish I had something I could use to arrest them!" He brought his fist down hard on the dash in front of him.  "If I could just get one or two of them in the interrogation room, I'd find out where Blair is.  That, I know."

"Well, you know, Jim, maybe you left something back at the Gamma House.  Maybe you should go check."

"Simon, are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"Stranger things have happened than a good detective leaving, oh say, a notepad of some kind somewhere and overhearing some criminal activity when he returned to retrieve said notepad."

"I didn't have a notepad."

"Jim, are you trying to be stupid?  I know that, and you know that, but they don't know that, and their attorneys won't know that, and their--"

"Okay, okay.  I was just trying to make sure that I truly have your blessing."

"Jim, go get those little bastards, you hear me?"

"Yes, sir."  Jim got out of the truck. 

___________________________________________________________

"I'm not saying anything without my lawyer."  Franklin crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back arrogantly in the chair. 

Simon ran his hand over his face and frowned.  They had run up against a brick wall with Franklin and his cohorts.  Three young men had been arrested at the frat house by Ellison and two uniformed officers and brought in.  None of them were talking.  Simon had already been forced to have Jim removed from the interrogation rooms.  The detective prowled the hallway outside the door even as Simon glared at Franklin.  "Fine, Mr. Franklin.  Just remember that you were given the opportunity to talk to me and maybe help yourself out a little and you turned it down.  A girl is dead, Mr. Franklin.  A professor, who just happens to be a consultant with my department, is missing.  Blair Sandburg has a lot of friends in this department."

"And my father has a lot of friends in state government, *Officer* Banks."

Simon smirked at the boy in response to the implication of his statement then turned and left the room.

______________________________________________________________

"The feds will be here in the morning," Brown remarked absently.

"I realize that," Jim snapped.  "Do you think that I need reminding that those idiots are going to waltz in here and take my investigation from me?  Maybe you'd like to remind me that I'm probably going to find my partner tomorrow morning half beaten to death while you're at it."

"I didn't mean--"

Jim held up one hand to stop the man.  "I know, I'm sorry.  I'm a little on edge right now."

Just then the doors to the bullpen burst open and three men entered.  They came to a stop just inches from Jim's face.  "Are you Ellison?" the one in front asked.

"Yeah, what can I do for you?"

"William Franklin.  You arrested my son and I want an explanation, and I mean now."

Jim's eyes narrowed, and he saw Brown and Rafe stand up and move to stand on either side of him.  He was not sure if the move was to show solidarity or to hold Jim back from punching Franklin's lights out.  "Have a seat, Mr. Franklin.  I'd be happy to explain." 

Minutes later, Franklin's demeanor was no longer confrontational.  The man rubbed his eyes and sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping.  "You actually heard this?"

"Yes sir, I did.  We suspected one of the fraternities on campus was involved and were in the process of investigating each of them.  I had already spoken to your son and had left when I realized that my notepad was missing and returned to the Gamma house to get it.  When I got there, your son and some of the others were discussing the crimes.  The door to the house was open, as I understand it usually is until they go to bed, and they could be heard quite clearly. I arrested them.  They aren't talking, sir.  Things would be better for them if they told us where to find the others and their latest victim."

"One of the victims died, isn't that right?" The man sounded so subdued that Jim felt sorry for him.

"Yes sir.  A young woman.  She had been raped repeatedly and scalped.  She was of Native American descent, thus the scalping."

"Dear God.  What am I going to do, Jack?" he asked one of the men with him.

"Detective Ellison, I'd like to talk with Will Franklin now, please."

"Of course." Jim motioned for the lawyer to follow him and led the man to the interrogation room where Franklin had been placed.

Two hours later, Will Franklin was still not talking.  William Franklin had left, declaring that his lawyers could handle the situation and that he no longer wanted to deal with his son.  Jim saw the disgust and pain in the elder Franklin's eyes as he wandered more so than walked down to the elevator and wiped tears from his eyes as he got in the elevator car.  The old man had tried to get his son to tell them what he knew. However, Will Franklin held fast to his story that he and his frat brothers were just talking about the crimes and were not involved.  The lawyers, apparently, decided to go with that. 

"Either charge my client or let him go," Jack Ruskin challenged Jim.

Jim smiled coldly and turned to Brown.  "Book him," he told his fellow officer.  "Satisfied?" he asked Ruskin.

"You're making a career ending mistake, Ellison.  You can't really put Will at any of those crime scenes.  You only heard young boys talking about some pretty fascinating crimes and jumped the gun.  The Franklins have some powerful friends."

"Ruskin, you know as well as I do that even the kid's father is not buying that story.  I heard them talking about how they really couldn’t be tied to any of the victims because they chose them at random. They were sure that they didn’t have a thing to worry about as long as they all kept their mouths shut.  I heard them talking about how one of them went too far with Walayla Meadowbrook and how they would all be facing murder charges if anyone talked.  I heard them laughing and talking about raping and cutting Yoko Timura.  I heard this with my own ears.  And as far as placing your client at the scene, forensics is working on that right now.  We have some very good samples, Ruskin.  They were smart enough to wear condoms but not smart enough to remove them without leaving traces behind on the victim. Not to mention the skin and hair samples under the girls' fingernails.  Waylayla Meadowbrook did not go quietly."

Ruskin swallowed nervously then seemed to get a second wind.  "Ellison, do you think I don't know your interest in this?  You're desperate to find your partner.  You'll do anything it takes to bring somebody down and you chose my client."

A redirect, Jim thought.  He was expecting that.  "Are you calling me a liar?"

"I'm calling you a desperate cop."

"I know what I heard.  And a jury will hear it word for word, Ruskin." 

"Then I suppose I shall see you in court," Ruskin sighed.

"I suppose you will indeed." The smile on Jim's face went from simply cold to sinister as Ruskin grabbed his briefcase and hurried out of the bullpen.  Simon approached him then.  "Anything?" he asked.

"Nothing.  The little bastards won't turn over on their 'brothers.'"  Simon's tone voiced his disgust and frustration.

"Damn!  If you would just let me in there--"

"Not in this lifetime," Simon said decisively as he came to join them.  "I want to find Sandburg as much as you do but I'm not going to allow you to terrorize suspects, Jim.  And believe me, it's for your sake, not theirs."

Jim closed his eyes and sighed heavily.  "I'm going out to the university and see if I can find anything."

"Jim, you're tired.  You need to get some sleep," Simon argued.

"Sleep?  You're kidding, right, sir?  Sleep while Blair is out there somewhere?  I'll see you in the morning."  Jim grabbed his jacket from his chair and walked out. 

____________________________________________________________

Kevin Harris grinned happily as he put the finishing touches on his masterpiece.  The living canvas was silent and still, still breathing, just not so well.  They would give time for the paint to dry and then put their artwork on display.  The sun would be up soon and they had to be extra careful this time.  The cops would be out in force.  Maybe they would not go to the campus this time.  There was the park not far from campus.  It would be just as effective and probably a lot safer.  There were joggers out, students milling around, but more cover in certain parts to hide their activities.  He would suggest it.  After all, he was a full brother now.  They would listen to him.

With a savage kick to the small of the back, Kevin left Professor Blair Sandburg, broken and bleeding, and went out to get another beer.

______________________________________________________________

Jim's head spun in the direction of the scream, and he was off and running with a speed that belied the fact that he had gone without sleep for twenty-three hours.  The few people on the Rainier campus at that early hour stared at him as he ran toward the sound that only he could hear.  He raced across the commons area of the university and jumped a hedge before crossing the street to the small park on the other side.  He quickly located the source of the sounds that reached his ears, a woman crying, two other voices, one calling for someone to get an ambulance, the other trying to get a response from someone.  Jim's focus narrowed and he heard the labored breathing and the slow, slow heartbeat of that someone---Blair. 

He had known really so he was surprised that it still hurt so much.  He rounded a stand of small trees to find three people hovered over what was barely recognizable as his guide.  He slid to a halt and dropped to his knees next to Blair.  His partner was lying on his side and had been stripped down to his boxers.  His bruised and bloody body had been painted with swastikas and the work "kike" was visible across his back.  And there was blood on the ground from a wound that Jim could not see.  Jim's hand shook as he reached out to move the curtain of blood-damp curls from Blair's face.  "Oh god." he gasped.  Jim lightly ran his hand down Blair's back and over his ribs, trying to assess his injuries.  He found many broken ribs and lots of angry bruises but determined that his partner's back was not broken.  As gently as he could, he began to shift Blair onto his back.  He needed to find the source of the blood.  He swore and ripped a piece of his shirt away as he did.  Blair had been stabbed in the lower right side of his abdomen.  He pressed the cloth to the still bleeding wound with one hand while the other touched his guide's forehead.  He willed Blair to open his eyes but the younger man remained unconscious.

Jim listened to the too slow beating of his guide's heart until the rest of the world disappeared.  The next thing that he was aware of were Simon's hands on his shoulders pulling him up from the ground and paramedics taking his place beside Blair.  He shook off the zone and his captain's hands.  "Be careful with him," he ordered.  "He hasn't been conscious so I think there's a head injury.  He's lost a lot of blood, too."  After that, all he could do was watch.  Soon, the medics had Blair loaded into the back of the ambulance and were about to close the doors when Jim grabbed one of them by the arm.  He gave the man a look that was meant to tell him that he was in no mood to argue and then climbed into the vehicle with his partner. 

____________________________________________________________

Simon found Jim sitting in the waiting area of the emergency room.  He sighed and approached the man who looked so angry and yet so sad at the same time.  The jaw was clenched, the hands curled into fists, the shoulders squared, all signs of Jim Ellison's not inconsiderable temper.  The eyes, though, showed pain and sadness.  The windows to the soul, the eyes were called and Simon was getting a clear view into Jim's soul.  It was a rare glimpse.  The man was usually so guarded, the shutters firmly closed over those windows, so to speak.  Except when it came to Blair Sandburg.

"Jim, how is he?  Have you heard anything?"

"I've heard plenty but they haven't told me a damn thing.  I know that they're gonna take him into surgery soon.  He's in a coma, Simon.  He lost so much blood and his skull is fractured.  That's all I know.  Where's Jade?"

"She's right behind me."

"And Naomi?  Did you call Naomi?  I was supposed to call Naomi."

"Don't worry.  Rafe is taking care of her."  Simon's cell phone rang then and he flipped it open.  "Banks."  He listened to Rafe's frantic voice on the other end.  Simon rubbed his face with his free hand.  "I'll tell him." He hung up and faced Jim's inquisitive stare.  "The feds are on their way down here."

Jim did not acknowledge him, however, as the man seemed to look past him.  Simon turned to see a familiar face coming toward them.  He could not help but lament the fact that the tiny doctor was so familiar with them all that she did not have to ask who they were there for.  She knew them as well as they knew her.  "Jim, I'm taking him into surgery to repair the damage from the stab wound.  It's going to be touch and go because of his other injuries but we have to do it now.  We're pumping blood into him and he's losing it before we get the next pint ready.  I'm surprised that he hadn't bled to death by the time you found him.  He must have been stabbed as an afterthought just before they left him for you to find."  She noticed someone that she did not know then as Jade joined them.  "Dr. Orenda Milap." 

"Jade Thomas," she shook the doctor's hand.

Dr. Milap smiled.  "At any rate, I need to get going.  I'll let you know something as soon as I can."

"Thank you, Dr. Milap," Simon answered for them all.

"It was a new wound," Jim said absently as he sat down once again.  "Payback probably for the shot Blair got in at his office."

Simon sat down next to him.  "He'll pull through."

"Just how many times have you said those exact words to me right here in this room, Simon?  How many times has Blair been right where he is now since I've known him?  Too many."

"Jim, this has nothing to do with the work Blair does with you.  This has to do with hatred and bigotry, which are as old as time itself, I think sometimes.  Or maybe that's as old as I feel when I'm faced with it."

"Try to convince Naomi of that, Simon."

"Naomi?"  Jade asked. 

"Blair's mother," Simon told her.  "She's on her way here."

"Ah, I'll see what I can do."

___________________________________________________________

Jim was not sure if he wanted to laugh or scream.  He wanted to tell Jade that there was nothing she could do.  Nothing anybody could do.  Naomi would not be placated.  She would blame Jim and she would be right.  Jim had failed.  He was supposed to protect his guide.  He should have known.  He did know, and still he had done nothing.  Blair wanted to make a stand.  Okay, he could understand that.  But he, Jim, should have been standing by him when he did.  That was what partners, friends did.  Jim got up and wandered away from them-- Away from Simon who was trying to explain Naomi to his tiny red-haired girlfriend.  Did he not realize that Naomi defied explanation as much as her son did?   Away from the soft-spoken woman, who was little more than a spectator in this whole mess, who thought that she would actually convince Naomi Sandburg that Jim was not at fault.  He moved slowly toward the door that Dr. Milap had disappeared through and focused his hearing beyond them until he heard the little doctor's voice.  He listened to her give instructions for Blair's removal to surgery, listened to the orders for more whole blood and some medication that Jim did not recognize, and then listened to her as her voice softened as she spoke to her patient.  "Oh sweetpea, what am I going to do with you?  I see this face too often, Blair Sandburg," she half-crooned, half-scolded.

"Amen to that," Jim muttered his agreement.  A hand on his shoulder brought him rudely back to himself, Dr. Milap's voice lost as the noise of the waiting room re-entered his awareness.

"Jim?"

"I'm fine, Simon."

"Just making sure.  Besides, the feds are here."

The next several hours were a blur to Jim.  The only thing that registered in his otherwise hazy mind was the ticking of the clock.  He talked to Special Agents Mathis and Reese.  He told them everything they had.   Truth was, they had the case solved already.  They just had to make it stick.  Naomi arrived.  She screamed at him but he hardly heard her words.  She was not saying anything that he had not said to himself.  Jade had pulled her away into one of the private consultation rooms to talk with her.  Still, he listened to the clock.  Simon hovered over him like a mother bear over a cub.  To the man's credit, though, he did not talk, nor try to get Jim to talk.  He simply hovered.   Jim chuckled a little, remembering Blair's accusation that he himself hovered.  Blair was right.  It was annoying.  "Simon, I'm okay.  I'm not trying to listen to the surgery.  I doubt I could right now if I wanted to."

Simon grimaced in sympathy, Jim supposed.  Or perhaps he had been hoping that his hovering was going unnoticed.  Not a chance in hell, Jim thought sarcastically.  "Sorry, Jim.  You've just been so quiet--"

Jim shook his head.  "How's Naomi?"

"Jade's got her calmed down some.  She knows it's not really your fault, Jim."

Jim shook his head again.  "Not right now, Simon.  I can't talk about that right now."

"Okay.  So, how about those Jags?"

Jim found himself laughing before he could remember that he should not.  "Is that the best you can do?"

Simon laughed with him.  "Hey, Naomi got Jade.  And I'm not trading off."

Jim sobered.  "Simon, about Jade?"

"What about her?"

"She's--"

"What, Jim?" Simon snapped suddenly. "White?  Is that what you were going to say?"

"Actually, no, Simon.  I was going to say a little young."

"Oh, sorry.  The young thing I will have to give you.  But she is older than Blair, so..." he trailed off.  "Guess I'm a little touchy, huh?"

"Who could blame you with what we've been dealing with?" Jim shrugged. 

"You don't know the half of it, Jim.  You'd think in this day and age people would be over the bi-racial couple issue."  Simon shook his head.  "Her parents are livid.  They're talking about disowning her.  She's tough, though.  She's not backing down from them.  And then there's the stares out on the street, in restaurants, movie theaters, wherever we go.  She tells me to ignore it.  I try."

"You said Daryl likes her?"

"Yeah, he does.  Doesn't phase him."

"That's a testament to how you raised him, Simon."

"Then explain Joan."

"What?"

"Joan.  She's all up in arms.  Says that if I marry Jade, she'll take me to court to cut my visitation rights.  She doesn't want a white woman raising her child, she says.  Damn, Jim, I was married to the woman and never knew she carried around that kind of bigotry in her heart."

"I'm sorry, Simon.  At least Daryl got your values.  I know it's gotta be hard but that's gotta count for something, right?"

The man nodded.  "Thanks, Jim.  Here I am supposed to be watching out for you and keeping your chin up and you're counseling me to keep mine up."

Anything Jim might have said to that comment was forgotten when Orenda Milap appeared through the waiting room doors.  Jim was on his feet and across the floor with no clear recollection of the trip.  "How is he?"  Simon moved up behind him.

"Still in a coma.  He made it through surgery but it was touch and go.  We had to repair quite a bit of torn tissue but the knife missed his intestines.  That was a blessing. There was also a great deal of internal bleeding from the beating. We had to locate the sources of the bleeding and repair that as well. He is on a ventilator because he is not breathing on his own at the moment.  As for the skull fracture, we will need to watch him very closely for complications.  Now, we just wait."

"Blair has a living will," a voice announced from behind them.

"And you are?" Dr. Milap asked.

"Blair's mother, Naomi Sandburg."

"I see.  Well, let's give Blair some time to recover from surgery before we pull that thing out and start waving it around."

Jim nearly smiled.  Orenda Milap was a character.  She minced no words, and in her not-so-subtle but not unkind way shut Naomi up quite effectively.  Besides, he did not want to have to tell Naomi right now that Blair had changed that living will long ago giving Jim, not Naomi, final say in Blair's care.  That information would not go over very well at the moment.  "When can we see him?"

"Soon, Jim.  They're getting him set up in ICU right now.  When he's ready, I'll come and tell you.  One visitor at a time though."  She met Jim's eyes, her understanding of how hard this was going to be on him shining in her compassionate brown eyes.  He was accustomed to having Blair to himself.  This time, he would have to share his guide with Naomi.  It was only fair.  Yet, that knowledge would not make it any easier to do.

________________________________________________________

Mark Coley shifted his weight in the chair yet again.  The detectives had listened to what he had to say.  The black guy was nice enough but the white guy in the suit had glared at him as though he was something on the bottom of his shoe.  They wanted to know why he had not come in earlier.  He was scared, pure and simple.  He still was.  Kevin had all but said that he would do to Mark what he and his frat buddies had done to Yoko, that black guy, Waylayla Meadowbrook---and Mr. Sandburg.  He was there when they loaded Mr. Sandburg into the ambulance.  He had seen what had been done to him.  He had tried to make himself believe that Kevin was just blowing smoke.  The two had been friends for years.  Surely, Kevin would not hurt him.  But Kevin was not the same guy Mark had met in junior high.  The frat had made Kevin mean.  Or maybe Kevin had always been mean and the frat had encouraged that meanness, gave it an outlet.  Mark did not know.  He just knew that he had an obligation to do the right thing, friends or not.  He was ashamed of himself for waiting.  Poor Mr. Sandburg was suffering for Mark's cowardice.  He just hoped the man would forgive him.  If he lived.

The two detectives returned then with two more men in tow.  The one that Mark knew as Detective Brown introduced him.  "You're feds?" Mark's voice squeaked to his embarrassment.

"Hate crime is federal jurisdiction, son." Agent Mathis told him matter-of-factly.  "Now, why don't you tell us your story again."

God, Kevin, what have you done? He thought even as he began to tell the man about his best friend's involvement in rape, murder, and assault.

___________________________________________________________

It was almost anti-climactic.  The lab results from the first attack pointed to Franklin and another boy, Vance Spenser.  Spenser folded.  The second set of results from the Meadowbrook attack implicated two more, one of who was Jacobson, the “idea man” from Texas.  There was a third assailant they did not have a match for, but if Mark Coley and Vance Spenser were telling the truth, that third assailant was Kevin Harris.  Harris fingered Blair.  Over a damn test grade, Jim fumed. Harris did most of the damage.  Seemed he was not very happy about having to pay to have his side stitched up by an off-duty paramedic who required a little extra to insure his silence. Jim silently applauded his partner for that one. But now, Jim wanted Harris.  However, Harris was proving difficult to find.  Somebody must have tipped him off. 

The university had shut down the fraternity house and a full investigation was underway to determine if the whole of the fraternity was involved or aware of the crimes. If that was proven to be the case, the fraternity would be shut down permanently and the young men expelled, according to the Chancellor. Spenser claimed that only the fraternity’s officers and the Rush committee had any knowledge of the attacks. However, Jim remembered Jade’s lecture about brotherhood as viewed by fraternities and could not bring himself to believe that the rest of the “brothers” did not know what these few were doing.

The thing that bothered Jim the most about Spenser’s statement, though, was that Spenser claimed that neither he nor the others involved were racists. Nor did any of them have anything against their victims. With the sole exception of Blair, the victims were chosen specifically because they had no ties to the fraternity or their attackers. They chose to make the attacks look like hate crimes to throw off suspicion. They expected Baker and his group to be the primes suspects. All in all, they were doing it for fun. And for brotherhood. Jim shook his head and decided that he needed to think about something else.

Like maybe how Mathis and Reese had been very understanding about Jim wanting to stay involved in the case.  Of course, they could not really complain too much, seeing as how Major Crimes had already solved their case for them before they had even arrived.  In fact, they had been so reasonable that Jim was worried that he would have to reevaluate his opinion of feds. Then again, maybe not, he smiled to himself. They were simply the exception to the stupid annoying fed rule. That was the only explanation.

Jim reined in his wandering mind and focused on the scene before him. He sat beside Blair's bed, just as he had been every available moment for the past two days, one hand absently rubbing his guide's arm.  "You need to wake up now, Chief.  You gotta start breathing on your own.  Naomi is harping on that stupid living will.  Okay, so that's not fair.  Your mother is very upset.  She's having visions of you--- well, like this--- for years or something and she doesn't want you to suffer like that.  I keep telling her that she's not going to have to worry about that because you *are* going to wake up and be fine just any time now.  And just for the record, if you don't manage to do that, I'm gonna be in hot water deep, buddy, because I haven't told her that your living will has changed and that she can't make your decisions for you anymore.  And I know you didn't tell her.  Oh no!  Why would you make my life simpler, right?  I knew the instant she mentioned it that you hadn't told her.  As angry as she is with me already, she would never have mentioned anything that might give me any rights to you at all.  And she hasn't been trying to persuade me, see?  She's been at Orenda about it.  So I knew she didn't know.  She's not speaking to me anyway.  In spite of all Jade's efforts, she blames me.  Hell, Chief, I blame me.  I should have protected you whether you wanted me to or not.  It's just that I do understand about taking a stand, Blair.  And what with you just accusing me of hovering, well, I didn't want to prove you right, I guess."

Jim chuckled to himself ruefully.  "Speaking of hovering, have you ever noticed how badly Simon hovers? I can't seem to shake the man, Chief.  You gotta wake up because Simon is driving me insane."  A tap on the window got Jim's attention.  He turned to see Naomi standing there impatiently.  He nodded at her.  "Well, Chief, your mom's back from lunch and I've got to get back to work.  We still haven't found Harris.  But don't you worry, I will find him, Blair.  He will go down. You hang in there, buddy and I'll see you later."  Jim got no response, not that he was expecting one.  He frowned slightly anyway and walked out of the room.  "Thanks, Naomi.  I'll be
back later."

"Fine."  She walked into the room and closed the door in Jim's face.  Jim tried not to be hurt, but he was.  He did not have time to dwell on that, however.  He had to catch the bastard who had hurt Blair.   

___________________________________________________________

"Ellison." Jim barked into his cellphone.

"Let's get one thing very clear, cop.  I'm only doing this so that you pigs will lay off my
organization."

"Excuse me?  Who is this?"

"Baker.  Remember, you hauled me in about the incidents at Rainier?"

"Derrick Baker?"

"Yeah.  Just listen up.  I got a call today from a guy that said he was sympathetic to our cause.  He said that you guys were after him for the attacks at Rainier and he wanted our help to get out of Cascade.  I said I'd have to get back to him, that arrangements would take time, but he said he'd call me.  Now, I don't give a damn about your Jew partner or the others but my organization doesn't need the heat from this.  So, I'm offering him to you.  You want him?"

"Damn straight, I want him."

"He's yours, Ellison.  When he calls me, I'll call you.  After that, I don't want to turn around and see Mr. GQ and his *Negro* partner following me or my people any more.  We clear?"

"You stay clean and we'll stay away, Baker.  That's all I'm saying."

"Fine.  Like I said, this guy's methods and timing are all wrong.  The war's coming.  We just have to sit back and wait.  Will you be ready, Ellison?"

"Don't you worry about me, Baker."

Baker laughed.  "The day will come when I'll have to worry about you.  You will be a formidable adversary.  In the meantime, he calls, I call, you get your man."  A click ended the connection.

The scary thing was that Baker actually believed his own rhetoric.  Even scarier was that he seemed so certain that Jim had to wonder if indeed he would face Baker some day in a war fueled by racial hatred.  Jim shook himself to disperse the dire visions in his head and called Simon with the news.

_______________________________________________________________

Jade listened to Simon's end of the phone conversation with interest.  Jim Ellison was on the other end, and from Simon's responses, the news was good.  "What?" she asked before he even got the cell phone closed. 

"Derrick Baker, that kid from the Neo-Nazi group at Rainier just called.  Harris called him and asked for help.  Baker apparently is more concerned about getting us off his back that helping out Harris.  When Harris calls back, Baker is going to give him to us." A satisfied smile graced her lover's face for the first time in days as he picked up his fork and began eating again.

"Will wonders never cease!" She returned the smile.  "The Chancellor called me back this morning, too.  She wants to schedule those sensitivity seminars for the students as soon as possible."

"Good!  Who knows, you may even reach a few Baker's cronies."

"Now, Simon, you know how unlikely that is."

"Yes, but I also know just how persuasive you can be."  He gave her a sly look.

She giggled and batted her eyelashes at him.  "Why, Simon, are you insinuating that I seduced you?"

"Baby, all you had to do was walk into the room and I was lost."  He reached for her hand and she let him catch it.  She leaned forward to meet him halfway across the table for a quick kiss.  She heard the disgusted noise from the next table and hoped against hope that Simon had not.  But he did.  As she sat back, she saw his face. 

"Simon--."  Too late. 

"Why don't you mind your own business?"

"A Sister wasn't good enough for you?"

Simon stared at the black woman who challenged him.  The woman rose and left the table then.  He watched her go.  "Jade, I'm sorry," he said when she was gone.

"Simon, her ignorance is not your fault.  Of course, you could have just ignored her."

"I know, I know.  I should have."  He shook his head.  "It's just..."

"I know."  Jade touched his cheek.  "Let's finish lunch and get out of here.  You have a criminal to catch, and I have seminars to plan and hopefully, when we are both done, the world will be a little better."

"You are incredible."

"I know," she teased at his so serious tone.  He smiled again, finally.  "That's better.  Eat!  You need to keep up your strength if you're going to be the Great And Powerful Supercaptain I know you are."  She stabbed a piece of lettuce from her salad with a fork and popped it in her mouth. 

"Supercaptain," he muttered as he picked up his own fork.  "Yeah, that's me all over."

___________________________________________________________

Derrick Baker did not call back.  Jim had practically sat on the phone for the rest of the day, and though it did ring, it was never Baker.  All other leads they had on Harris had turned up exactly nothing so they were now depending on the skinhead leader.  That was not a comfortable feeling.  Jim got into the truck and placed the cell phone on the seat beside before he put the key into the ignition.  He took a deep breath.  It was time to go back to the hospital.  Time to see Blair, still, battered, in a coma.  Time to see the accusations in Naomi's eyes.  Jim felt so old, so tired.  Times like these he wanted to turn in his badge, pack up the truck, and disappear into the mountains.  Of course, he would have to convince Blair to go.  It was possible.  He smiled to himself.  All he had to do was point out how cool it would be studying a Sentinel in the "wild" and Blair would be packing.  Then again, he would also be thinking up a myriad of tests for Jim whilst he was at it.  That would not matter though.  At least Blair would be safe.  "Well, you've sat here long enough," he scolded as he started the truck. 

Before he realized it, he was pulling up outside the hospital.  He squared his shoulders and prepared himself to deal with Naomi.  He used the time in the elevator to try once again to come up with a tactful strategy to inform Blair's mother of the changes in Blair's living will.  It was only a matter of time before it would be too late for tact.  He needed to tell the woman calmly, quietly, without aggression, at just the right moment, in just the right way before he lost his temper with her and blurted it out in usual Ellison fashion.  Jim knew well, however, about the best laid plans of mice and men and the road to hell.  Somehow, he just knew, no matter how or when he said it, the resulting battle would not be pretty.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he arrived at Blair's room and Naomi was not there.  He entered the room quietly, as though he was trying not to wake up the young man in the bed.  *If only it was possible to make enough noise to wake him, I'd find a way,* he thought as he pulled the plastic chair closer to the bed and sat down.  Automatically, one hand reached out to touch Blair's arm.  "Hey there, Chief.  Ready to wake up yet?"  When he got no response, he went on, "Okay.  I'll give you a little longer.  Not much though.  You'll never guess who's helping us get to Harris.  Derrick Baker.  Yep, Chief, the Neo-Nazi.  Who'da thought, huh?  Simon and Jade will be by later.  Joel, too.  Rafe and Brown are staking out Harris's dorm though.  They told me to tell you to get well.  Speaking of Jade, she's going to do those sensitivity seminars that you were talking about at the university.  The dean must have liked your idea, and he called Simon to ask him if he knew anybody.  Naturally, Simon suggested Jade.  Hope she has better luck there than with Naomi.  I think she gave up on Naomi."  He was rambling.  "Come on, Blair, open your eyes, Buddy."  He sat back in the chair and leaned his head back.  He rolled it on his shoulders to try to ward off the headache that was threatening just behind his eyes.  He was so focused that he did not hear her approach.

"Jim, we need to talk."

He jumped a little and turned to face the angry mother of his best friend.  He did not want to do this.  This was it, though, ready or not.  "Good evening, Naomi.  I thought you weren't speaking to me."

She glared at him.  "This is not the time or place for your sarcasm.  We have to talk about Blair."

"There's really nothing to talk about.  Orenda will let us know if and when there's no hope.  Until then, I have to believe that he's going to be fine."

"Yes, well, I'm not sure that Dr. Milap will let us know that.  She has seemed very reluctant to discuss Blair's living will with me.  I would like Blair to have another doctor, first of all.   Secondly, I would like that doctor to sit down with me and discuss Blair's living will, instead of telling me that I have to wait.  Blair did not want machines to keep him alive.  That thing in his throat is exactly what he did not want.  Dr. Milap does not have the right to force my son to exist if there is no hope of recovery."

Jim tried to hold his tongue.  He examined his hands, counted the holes in the ceiling tile above his head, swallowed every barb that fought for release. 

"Are you listening to me?"

"I heard you, Naomi."

"Good.  I just thought that if we could put up a united front to the hospital, we could get Blair reassigned without any difficulty.  I don't have the strength to fight the hospital and you right now."

"Well, that's too bad."  Jim wanted to kick himself.  He had not meant to say that aloud.

"Excuse me?"

He sighed and stood up to face her.  "Look, Naomi.  Orenda is Blair's doctor.  She's a good doctor.  She's taken care of him before and I trust her.  Just so you know, she has the same opinions as you do about allowing patients to just exist when there is no hope.  'Quantity of life is not the same as quality of life,' she says.  So if she says it's too soon to talk about letting him go, then it's too soon.  Besides, Naomi, look at that monitor over there."  Jim pointed.  "That's brain activity, Naomi.  That means he's still in there.  Until that thing says differently, Blair's alive and I'm not letting him go.  Do you understand?"

"You're going to fight me."

"Tooth and nail," Jim confirmed solemnly.

"You don't have the right."

And here was the kicker.  "Yes, I do."

"Excuse me?"

"Blair's living will, Naomi.  It's been changed."

"What are you talking about?"  Her tone was harsh and cutting.

"We never knew if we would be able to find you, Naomi.  Blair felt that someone closer would be..." *Better would not be a good term to use here, Jim.*  The voice in his head sounded suspiciously like Blair.  "He felt that I would be--"

"You?  He chose you to speak for him?"  The temperature in the room seemed to plummet as she spoke.  "I don't believe it."

"It's true.  We went to my lawyer, had new papers drawn up for both of us.  I speak for him; he speaks for me.  Simon speaks for us if both of us go down.  I'm sorry, Naomi.  We just felt that... Naomi, he's family to me.  Please try to understand.  You're his mother but you're not always here.  I am."

She whirled around and was gone in an instant.  He ran after her.  "Naomi, don't go."

She stopped and threw her hand back toward him to warn him off.  "I can't talk to you right now."

"Naomi, I'm sorry." 

She walked away.

_________________________________________________________________________