Jim
ducked into an office and cocked his head to one side. There were sirens, helicopters, and closer
to him, voices coming down the hall. He
pressed his ear to the door.
"Chase." Yes, finally. He opened the door just a crack.
Rose passed by first. Then Jim
saw her. She was supporting Chase. He thought that when he saw her again, he
might feel some of the same feelings as before, either the stifling
territorialism or the overwhelming lust, but he felt neither. She turned as he opened the door and their
eyes met. Something was different about
her.
"Damn
it, Ellison, I nearly shot you!"
Chase broke him out of the near zone.
"Sorry."
"Rose
says that Baker has an emergency exit out of here."
"Let's
move then." Jim stepped fully into
the hall. Barnes was still looking at
him. Then one hand fluttered down to
her abdomen. Jim opened his mouth to
say something, but found that he did not really know what to say to her.
She
said nothing, just transferred the hand back to Chase and continued to help him
as they started moving again.
"He's
awfully quiet," Jim whispered, nodding toward Rose.
"I
told him I'd shoot him if he didn't shut up.
Maybe he finally got the message."
Rose
only glanced back, giving them both a dirty look, before turning away.
A
familiar feeling swept over Jim then.
He stopped Chase.
"Wait. What the hell is
that?"
"What's
what?"
Then
it clicked. "Blair. Blair's here. He's in the building. I
can feel him close by. What the—"
Chase
slapped in the head. "You always
could, idiot, if you had let yourself.
Where is he?"
"Heading
this way, I think. Feels like he's
getting closer anyway."
"Use
your senses. Is he alone, or is he
bringing the cavalry?"
"But
he lost—"
"Shut
up!" both of them snapped.
Jim
smiled. "The cavalry. There are helicopters and cars outside
too."
"Yeah,
heard them. Anybody hurt? Can you tell?"
"I
can smell blood." Jim nodded. "It's not Blair. I can tell that much. That's all."
"Move,
Rose." Chase shoved the man with
the M-16.
"Baker
is here, you know."
"Yeah,
he said so." Chase indicated Rose.
Jim
looked at Barnes who was still eerily silent.
Her complete attention was on Chase.
"Did you do it?"
"Not
yet. Came really close but dumbass
there got in the way." He motioned
to Rose with the gun. "Look, I'm
as surprised as you about her. She was
completely catatonic until just a few minutes ago."
"Well,
I think she's made her choice."
"Really?" Chase stopped and looked him in the face.
"Yeah,
really."
An
almost smile ghosted across Chase's face, then was gone. "We have to get out of here. Then I can deal with this." He started moving again.
Jim
followed, his heart in his throat and mixed emotions rumbling through his brain
like a herd of buffalo. As they came to
the center of the building, however, time seemed to stop as Jim caught sight of
his guide.
"Jim!"
Simon shouted.
But
Jim could not look away from Blair.
Around him, greetings were shouted.
Pete and Riviera went to take Chase from Barnes, only to have her growl
at them. Still, Jim stared at Blair,
who seemed just as transfixed. Volumes
were spoken without words. There was so
much still between them; some of it pulling them together, but some of it still
pushing them apart. Simon was talking
to him. Someone slapped him on the
back. He blinked and the connection was
broken, causing a flash of real pain to sear through his body.
"There's
another exit? Damn it! That means Baker could be long
gone!" Pete grabbed Rose and shook
him. "Where?"
"Down
the elevator to the basement. It's a
tunnel to the storage building."
"What
fucking elevator? The plans didn't
mention a fucking elevator! Never
mind. Son of a bitch! Let's move, people. Baker absolutely must not get away from
us. Kit, you okay with her?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Rose, that elevator, now."
Jim
looked back to where Blair had been, but he was not there anymore. He quickly sought him out again. He was with Alex Morrow. At least he would be safe with him. Jim decided to deal with something
easier. "Rafe, you okay?"
"Making
it, Jim. Thanks." The younger detective smiled through the
pain.
The
elevator was not far. Rose led them
around the reception area to a hidden area behind it. There was the elevator.
They would have missed it entirely.
Pete tossed Rose into the car and they all followed him in. Once in the basement, they hurried into the
tunnel. At the end of it was a
ladder. Pete started up it, but Jim
grabbed his pants leg. He put a finger
to his lips to stop the question.
"They're
up there," he told him.
"Baker?"
"And
several guards. They're trying to
figure out how to get past the feds."
"How
close are they to the door?"
The
fact that Blair had spoken to him shocked him for a split second, and he could
not seem to answer. "They're not
near our door, Chief." The
nickname, slipped out and he waited for the rebuke. It did not come. Instead,
he asked another question.
"If
we surprise them, can we take 'em?"
"Maybe. I'd say there are at least six guards and
Baker."
"We
have them outnumbered."
He
turned to Pete. "We have two
injured and one that is still not quite in this reality. That sort of negates out number
advantage."
"We
have to do something. If Baker gets out
of here, he will come after us with everything he's got. If we live through it, you may find yourself
right back in a cell. That what you
want? We cannot take the chance that
he'll escape. I like Chad Ryan. He's a friend, but the vast majority of the
feds I've met, I wouldn't trust to help me across an empty street in Backwater,
U.S.A. without getting me run down by the one and only working motor vehicle in
town!"
Jim
put his hand over Pete's mouth. "I
get the point."
Pete
pulled his hand away. "Where
exactly are they?"
Jim
listened for a moment. "To the
left of us, maybe 500 feet max."
"That
close? Oh well. Rafe, you stay
here. Kit, same for you."
"No. I can still shoot, Pete. My ankle doesn't affect my aim."
"Oh,
and the ladder is certainly no obstacle.
You gonna fly up there? Stay
here, Kit. That's an order. I'm up first."
"I'm
right behind you." Jim checked his
weapon then turned to look at Blair again.
"Will you stay here?"
"No." It was a simple, firm answer, and Jim
realized that he had no right to push.
"Be
careful."
Blair
nodded.
"Alex?" Chase's voice made both of them turn.
"What?"
Alex Morrow glared at him.
"Not
you. Alex?" Barnes was moving toward Blair. Jim's hands itched to pull him away, but he
could not seem to breathe, much less move.
She
raised one hand to Blair's face. Blair
flinched and tried to lean away from her, but she managed to touch his
jaw. Chase limped over to them. She turned away and took Chase in her arms
again. Jim realized that she was, in
her own way, apologizing.
The
tense moment was over and once again, Pete started up the ladder.
"They're
getting ready to leave," Jim told him.
"They're going to try to get to Baker's car and go through the
fence."
Pete
nodded and lifted the door above his head just a bit and peeked through the
crack. He closed it. "They're facing away. Now or never. We ready?"
"Go." Simon assured him.
Very
slowly, Pete lifted the door again.
Below him on the ladder, Jim prayed that the hinges would not
squeak. They did not and Pete silently
rolled into the room. Jim
followed. Pete had gone left and was
hidden behind some boxes. Jim went
right. Simon was next. One by one, they took up positions behind
Baker and his men.
Later,
Jim would scold himself for not considering Rose a threat any longer. The man shouted a warning to Baker just as
Brown cleared the hole in the floor.
Below, he heard Chase's stolen M-16 fire. Robert Rose would never bother any of them again. But Jim had bigger problems at the moment as
Baker and the guards turned on them.
Kit
heard the firefight break out over his head as he kicked Rose's dead body. He had warned the man. Alex was rubbing off on him. He glanced behind him to locate the other
Alex, the woman he was going to guide, but she was not where he had left her.
"Fuck!" He looked up. There, on the ladder.
"Alex, no!" He tried
to pull her down, but he missed the hem of her scrubs as she continued to
climb. He looked at Rafe. The man was getting weak from blood
loss. He would be no help. Swearing, he threw the strap of the M-16
over his head and started up the ladder himself.
"Wait,"
Rafe called.
"Can't. She's gonna get killed!" It was hard with a cast, but he struggled up
the ladder. He had to protect her.
Baker
was still trying to get away, he and his men making it out of the building,
forcing Pete to follow. He did not have
to look back to know that he was not alone as he made his way out. There were a few trees and a couple of small
trailers to take cover behind. He got
off a shot just as one of the men left his cover. He went down. Jim got
another one. Two down, five to go. Four, as Banks got another. Pete could see a couple of the feds racing
to help them. Baker was caught between
the two groups. This was almost over. Pete saw the knowledge in Baker's eyes as
the man stepped out of his cover. Was
he surrendering? But Baker looked away
from Pete and Pete followed his gaze.
"No!" Pete could see his target. "Kit!
Get down!" Why the hell had
he not stayed below? Then he saw
why. Alex Barnes was a few feet to
Kit's left. He was trying to catch up
to her. Pete saw Baker raise the gun.
"Oh god." Pete took aim, but
Baker dived for cover just as his gun went off. Pete's bullet hit the tree Baker ducked behind. Pete forced himself to turn and look,
fearing that his friend was dead. But
he was not dead. Kit was pulling
himself from under the prone figure of Alex Barnes.
"Kit!" Pete stumbled to them, feeling the heat of a
bullet pass by his head even as he reached them. He grabbed them both and dragged them back into the storage
building. To Pete's amazement, Kit
pulled the woman into his arms and rocked her gently.
"Why?"
he asked her.
"My
guide," she whispered as one blood red hand reached up to touch his long
black hair. "Had to protect my
guide." Her hand dropped.
Pete
had never seen Kit Chase cry before. He
looked down at the woman's wound, somehow the sight of it less disturbing than
the sight of tears on Kit's face. She
was gone.
"If
only I'd found her years ago, Pete."
Pete
put one hand on Kit's shoulder. Kit
looked at him, his face and hair streaked with blood and tears. "Stay here. Okay?"
Kit
nodded and Pete left him there, grieving a murderess he had hardly known.
Why
would they not just give up? Blair
could not understand it. They were
pinned down, surrounded on all sides now and still they fought. Fanaticism, that was the only
explanation. He watched as another of
Baker's men went down. He was not sure
who fired the shot, but he did know it did not come from him. He had stopped firing. Somehow, it did not seem right to fire on
people who were so hopelessly outnumbered and apparently too stupid to just
surrender.
To
make matters worse, he had seen Alex Barnes get shot. He had watched her throw herself in front of Kit to save
him. One part of his mind was
fascinated by the sacrifice. Why would
a woman who had killed, had been willing to kill so many more, suddenly put
herself in the path of a bullet for a stranger. Another part of his mind rejoiced for her redemption, while still
another protested that she could not be redeemed after the things she had
done. And what about the baby? Jim's baby.
He wiped impatiently at the tears that welled up in his eyes.
He
hazarded a glance to Jim's last location.
There he was, sentinel and cop, one in determination to end this threat
once and for all. He should be at Jim's
side. A sentinel needed a guide to
watch his back. Could he still be Jim's
guide? After all they had done to each
other, could they fix what they had broken?
Blair stared at the gun battle going on around him for a moment. Another man went down. The last remaining guard dropped his gun and
held up his hands. But where was Baker?
"Give
it up, Baker!" That was Pete's
voice. Blair could see him crouched
next to one of the trailers.
"There's no way you're getting out of here!"
Blair
sighed in relief as a gun came flying out from behind a tree. It was over. He stood and moved toward Jim.
He had to find out if their friendship could be salvaged. He saw Baker step out and the feds began
rushing forward to take him. But just
as he was about to turn his attention back to Jim, he caught a glimpse of
sunlight on metal. "Gun!"
Jim
saw Blair coming toward him. He turned
to smile at his guide. Now, they could
really talk. But then Blair yelled
about a gun. Jim spun, ready to face
the threat, but the world seemed to slow down.
Baker
screamed something about sentinels and raised his weapon, leveling it at
Jim. Then he could no longer see Baker
as someone stepped in front of him.
"Blair!"
The gunshot echoed in Jim's head as Blair's body jerked with the impact of the
bullet. Jim caught him and they fell
together. Then the world clicked back into
real time. Jim watched as Alex Morrow
emptied his 9mm into Baker's body. Pete
called to Morrow frantically, but the man did not seem to hear. As Baker's body hit the dirt, Morrow looked
at Jim, his face tight and cold.
Jim
sent the man silent thanks and held Blair closer.
"Jim?"
His
name, his first name spoken by the most important person in his life, was
bittersweet music. "Chief, why did
you do that?"
"Had
to. Jim, I'm tired of fighting. It hurts too much. Can we fix it? I just
want to come home."
"Then
you come home, buddy. Come home, Blair."
Blair's
eyes closed, but Jim could see that he was just tired and in pain. He was going to be okay. He looked around them at the
destruction. Everyone stood as if
shell-shocked. No one quite knew what
to do, it seemed.
"We
have an ambulance on the premises."
"Get
it back here then." Jim did not
even bother to look at Chad Ryan as he spoke.
Jesse
Riviera ran past him, back into the building.
He was checking on Chase. Then
it hit him. Alex Barnes. Pete was standing over him. He looked up. "Barnes?"
"Sorry,
Jim."
Jim
nodded. Maybe it would matter
later. Right now, the only person who
mattered was in his arms.
"How
is he?" Pete asked.
"He'll
be okay. Caught him high since Baker
was aiming at me."
Pete
grinned. "Might be the first time
in his life he'll be thankful that he's short."
Morrow
picked up a gun from the ground a few feet away and Jim realized that it must
have been Blair's. Morrow shook his head and
Jim sighed.
Kit
tapped his unbroken foot impatiently.
He was fine, but Pete had insisted that his ankle get x-rayed again to
make sure it was set right. He had sent
Jess to get him a Dr. Pepper and he was beginning to believe the guy got
lost. The exam room door opened.
"About
time."
"Didn't
know I was expected. I'd have come sooner."
Kit
jerked his head up. He chuckled a
little. "You weren't expected,
Ellison. You don't happen to have my
Dr. Pepper, do you?"
"Nope,
sorry. How're you doing?"
"I'm
fine, damn it! I tried to tell Pete
that, but he's stubborn as hell!"
"Birds
of a feather, Chase."
"Screw
you," he remarked, but he was smiling.
Ellison was right. He and Pete
deserved one another. "How's
Blair?"
"In
surgery, but he'll be fine. Bullet tore
up some muscle and bruised his lung, but didn't go in. Rafe's going to be okay too. That bullet went all the way through. They're fixing him up, giving him some
blood."
"That's
good."
There
was a long moment of silence which both of them tried to break at the some
time. Kit deferred to Ellison.
"I'm
sorry about Barnes."
Kit's
heart flipped. "I'm sorry about
your baby."
"Well,
I'm not sure how I feel about that right now.
Don't think I'm ready to deal with that one."
"When
you are, let somebody help, okay?"
"Yeah,
okay. What about you? You were ready to be her guide. How are you—"
Kit
held up one hand to stop him. "You
know, it's funny. I was so sure I'd
never want to be a guide, but there was this need that I could fill, and I
couldn't help but want to fill it. I'd
like to say it was just the baby, but it wasn't. And she wanted me. She
called me her guide before she died.
Now, god, Ellison, I'm so glad I didn't do it. She's gone. She's
dead. Do you realize what that would
have meant for me if I had gone through with it? I would have done it too.
I was so close. If Rose hadn't
interrupted… No offense, man, but I
hope I never come into contact with another sentinel. Fucks with my head too much." Something occurred to him.
"Oh, man, Alex. Has anybody
talked to Alex?"
"Pete's
with the feds. Jesse's been with
you. I don't think so."
"Find
him. Is he here? Did he know about Barnes and the baby?"
"Yeah,
apparently they all knew."
"Find
him now."
"Why?"
"I
really shouldn't tell you this, but his wife died in a firefight."
"Pete
told me. What's the problem?"
"Did
Pete tell you his wife was pregnant? I
might be overreacting, but he doesn't handle things like this very well
sometimes. Find him for me
please?"
"Jesus,
okay. I'm not good at emotional
stuff."
Kit
glared at the man. "You're better
at it than you think. Just go."
Ellison
went to the door then turned to look at him again. "I'm still not sure I like you, Chase, but you've earned my
respect. Thanks for everything."
"Back
at cha, exactly, man. Go." He waved him out.
Jim
found Alex Morrow outside the hospital, leaning against the wall near the ER
entrance.
"Hi."
"Hi
yourself." Morrow just stared
through him.
"Chase
is worried about you."
"Is
he now? Tell you, did he?"
"I
already knew some of it."
"I'm
okay with Barnes actually. She was a
victim and she died. It's horrible and
it's sad, but she was not Eliza. No
confusion there."
"Then
what? Something's up." Jim leaned on the wall near him.
"This
is up." Morrow pulled a 9mm from
the back of his belt and held it out to Jim.
"This is the gun I gave Blair."
Jim
took it. "Yeah. I know."
"Do
you? Do you know? At first, I thought he would be okay. He was there with us, but then at the end,
he—he dropped this gun. He could have
shot Baker and ended it, but he didn't.
It was not his first instinct.
Taking the bullet was his instinct.
Damn it! Gun in his hand, an
open shot any novice could make, and he drops the gun and takes the fucking
bullet! Do you know what that means,
Ellison? Do you really?" Jim closed his eyes as Morrow's voice grew
louder and louder, more and more agitated, his fists beating the wall behind
him. "He is not a merc,
Ellison! He will never be a merc! You have to be able to pull that fucking
trigger. You have to shoot first, ask questions
if they live! As a matter of fact, fuck
the questions if it means you live! He
doesn't belong in the agency, Ellison!
He won't survive!"
"I
know."
"Good!" Morrow pushed off the wall and moved to
stand in front of Jim. "The gun
will always be his last resort if he even considers it an option in the first
place. Blair is a good man. I have no doubt that he would watch my back
in a fight. But I want an extra weapon
at my back, not a shield! He'd protect
me, or you, or anyone for that matter, but with his life, not with a gun, and
that is unacceptable to me. Oddly
enough, and this may sound strange, but his instincts would make him a damn
fine cop. One that would die young, but
a good one nonetheless. But he
shouldn't have to be a cop. He should
do what he was meant to do. He's so
like Kit in so many ways. The only
major differences being that Kit does have a much stronger survival instinct
and the will to kill if he has to. But
the heart is the same. It will be up to
you to protect him if he stays in your life.
Can you? Will you?"
"I
will certainly try."
"It
won't be easy, you know. He'll make it
damn hard because he doesn't think he needs protecting."
"I
know." Jim looked up at the blue
sky. "Not to be an ass, but why do
you care?"
Morrow
raised an eyebrow at him. "I told
you, I was you once. So sure I didn't
need anyone. Until I didn't have
anyone. It was a hard lesson. I told you, I didn't have the chance to get
back what I lost, but you did. And here
it is. Are you going to take it?"
"He
said he wants to come home."
"Well,
just don't expect him tomorrow. It may
be what he wants, but he's not ready yet.
I know. He's torn between what
he wants and the fear that if he gives in to what he wants he'll be a doormat
under your feet. You're going to have
to prove yourself, Ellison. You're
going to have to change and you're going to have to work to win his
trust."
"I
figured as much."
"But
he will be back, Jim. If you let him
know that he is wanted and appreciated.
And trusted."
Jim
nodded.
"Don't
fuck this up, Ellison."
"I
won't. Not this time."
"You'd
better not." Morrow walked away
from him.
Jim
watched the white fluffy clouds move across the blue field of the sky above
him. He was not sure how long he had
been there, sifting through his emotions and thoughts, before Simon joined him.
"The
feds are happy, despite Baker's demise.
They've rounded up the whole lot of people and all the files from
Millennium and frozen all of the Coalition's assets. They'll have to sort out the guilty from the innocent for a
while. I don't envy them that
task. Devereaux seems to think the
Freedom Coalition won't recover from this bust. So much for the bad guys.
As for the good guys, Rafe's all sewn up and floating on happy
juice. Brown and Taggert went for
food. I told them to get you something
greasy and bad for you. Connor is
actually flirting with that fed, Ryan.
And Devereaux seems quite put out by that."
"Did
Chase get his Dr. Pepper?"
Simon
grinned. "Yes, he finally
did. Riviera had met some cute little
nurse at the vending machines. So, how
are you holding up?"
"I'll
live."
"Good,
glad to hear it."
"You
told the others?"
"About
your senses? Yeah. They deserved to know the truth, Jim. Fact is they were not all that
shocked."
"Guess
they didn't make detective for nothing, huh?"
"Guess
not."
"Thanks
for coming for me, Simon."
"Had
to. Your paperwork's not done."
Jim
chuckled. "You're all heart."
Simon's
face got serious again. "So what
happens now?"
"I
don't know. That's up to Blair."
"Well,
you obviously got your senses back."
"Yeah."
"So
you need Sandburg back."
"Like
I said, it's up to Blair. We have a lot
to work out, and we'll do it his way, at his pace."
"You've
come a long way, Jim."
"I'll
figure out if that's an insult or a compliment when I'm not so damned tired,
Simon."