It's not a scene, not a snippet, not really much of a story. Really, it's pointless. Just some little h/c, smarm thingy I wrote and can't even come up with title for....If anybody can come up with one, I'm open to suggestions. And this one will be exclusive, I think. you can archive on the Angst page if you like.

Anyway, here goes...

Disclaimer: Ain't mine. Wish they were. Just borrowing them for fun and angst..

Warnings: A little language. That's all, I think.

Name provided by Izzy

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Shock Value

by Danae

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Jim could see the hostages but not the gunman. He eased through the hedges at the side of the bank, confident that his guide was behind him. He swore under his breath and swatted at the bee that buzzed around his head. "Chief, I can hear this guy but I can't locate him. I'm going to try piggy-backing to track him. Don't let me zone."

"Ow," he heard behind him.

"What?"

"Bee stung me."

Jim chuckled. "You'll live."

"Gee, thanks, Jim. Okay, focus on his voice." Sandburg cleared his throat and Jim felt a gentle hand on his back. "Got it?" He cleared his throat again.

"Got it."

"Hey, Jim-"

"Hold on, Chief. Almost got him." The would-be bank robber was half-hidden behind a frosted glass partition.

"Jim, I think I've got a problem here."

"One minute, Chief. Okay," Jim grabbed the walkie-talkie out of Blair's hand. "Simon, I got a shot here."

"Clear?" the captain's voice returned to him through the little box.

"Yeah."

"Take it, Jim."

"J-jim." The softly spoken plea from his guide got his attention.

He turned just in time to see his partner collapse. "Shit!" Jim dropped to the ground. "Blair?"

The younger man's eyes were open and the expression in them sent Jim's heart into overdrive. Blair was scared. "Help me," he mouthed, no sound accompanying the motion of the blue-tinged lips.

"Jim! What's going on? Did you lose your shot?" Simon's voice startled him and he picked up the walkie-talkie from where he had dropped it.

"Simon, call an ambulance."

"What?"

"It's Blair."

"I don't-"

"Never mind that! Call a damn ambulance! I'm coming out with him." Jim threw the thing back down on the ground and moved to gently lift his partner. "You hold on, Sandburg. You hear me? Hold on." The younger man' s throat was swelling rapidly, cutting off his air supply. Jim tuned in to his heartbeat. It was too slow. Cradling Blair like a small child, he made his way out of the hedges and back around to the front of the building. Simon was standing by his car.

"What the hell happened, Jim?" the man demanded as Jim approached.

"Bee. A goddamned bee. He's allergic. He's in anaphylactic shock. Open your door, Simon."

"A bee? Did you know he was allergic?" the big captain asked as he did as Jim requested.

"No. Don't think he did either. Ambulance on the way?" Jim put his burden down in the back seat of the car. "With me, Chief? Try to stay with me." Jim cupped Blair's face in his hands. Blair's unfocused eyes met his briefly, before his eyelids drooped once again.

Simon knelt down next to them. "The ambulance is on the way. Jim, he doesn't look good."

Any response Jim might have made was forgotten when Blair's body jerked suddenly and he tried to curl up, holding his abdomen. "Easy, Blair." Jim shifted around and moved Blair so that he leaned against Jim's chest.

"Captain Banks? What's happening? I thought you had a man ready to take this guy out." Captain Williams of the Swat team approached.

"I've got a medical emergency here. Can your men take it from here?" Banks asked the man.

"Sure." Williams glanced around Simon and Jim looked up at the man, challenging him to make some asinine remark. "He okay, Ellison?"

Jim felt vaguely ashamed of his lack of faith in his fellow cop. "He will be," he replied with enough conviction that he almost convinced himself. "Thanks, Captain Williams."

"Don't worry about this. We'll wrap it up for you." The man was gone then as quickly as he had appeared.

"I hear the ambulance. You hear me, Blair? I hear the ambulance." Jim smoothed curls back from his guide's flushed face. He was just about ready to believe that everything was going to be okay when the body in his arms went limp. "No!"

Simon was there in an instant. "Jim?"

"Take him, Simon. He's stopped breathing."

The two of them laid the younger man gently on the ground and started CPR. It did not take long, however, before Jim realized that it was no use. Blair's throat was too swollen; the air was not getting through. Despair darkened Jim's vision, dulled his hearing, and when strange hands moved him from his partner's side, it took him a few minutes to realize that the ambulance had arrived. He watched and prayed as the paramedic quickly injected a clear liquid into his guide's arm. Epinephrine, Jim noted with some detached part of his brain. Then they had Blair loaded onto the stretcher and in the back of the ambulance before Jim could even get his head together enough to check and see if the drug was working. Simon grabbed his arm and led him back to the car.

"Get in, Jim."

He obeyed even as he focused his senses on the back of the ambulance. "He has to be okay, Simon. He has to," he muttered.

"He'll be fine. The kid's lived through serial killers, kidnappers, and all sorts of weird mishaps. A bee is not going to take him out."

"I hope you're right."

__________________________________________________________

"They just gave him another injection, Simon. He's not responding to epinephrine. They're giving him anti-histamines along with it now." Jim announced.

"Jim, I wish you wouldn't do this. If you zone, what the hell am I going to do?"

Jim shook his head. "You know what I said to him when he told me he got stung?"

Simon sighed. "No. What did you say?"

"I said, 'you'll live.' I actually laughed and said, 'you'll live,' Simon."

"Jim, you didn't know."

"Right. But he tried to tell me and I ignored him. I'm a lousy partner, Simon. I didn't realize that my partner was in trouble. Partner, my guide. My guide was in trouble. I'm not just a lousy partner, I'm a lousy sentinel."

"Jim, come on. It was a freak thing. You said that he didn't even seem to realize that he was allergic."

"No, he seemed to be pretty calm about it. Just said 'ow,' you know? Then he was right back with me for a minute or so. Helped me focus. Then he said he had a problem and I brushed him off. God, Simon, when I saw him drop like that, I knew. I knew it was the damn bee and I couldn't help but think that it just wasn't fair. I mean, I can protect him from flying bullets, that's something I can do, well, most of the time, but flying insects? Damn it! How can I protect him from stupid shit like this, huh? Tell me, Simon."

"I don't know what to tell you, Jim."

"I know." Jim put his head in his hands. He did not want to talk any more and was inordinately relieved when Simon did not push him to do so. He considered trying to listen to what was happening with Blair again but he was getting a headache and in deference to his captain and friend, he decided against it. He was tired and with the onset of the headache, conditions were just right for him to zone. He resigned himself to the waiting.

____________________________________________________________

"Mr. Ellison?"

Jim raised his head. A doctor stood before him. Jim got up quickly. "How is he?"

"He's going to be fine. He's resting comfortably now. It was hairy there for a bit but he'll be just fine. The paramedics did a fine job restoring his airway en route and the combination of epinephrine and Benadryl seems to be doing the trick. We are going to keep him overnight. We're moving him to a room as we speak and you're welcome to stay with him, if you like." The doctor smiled at him. "The nurses have already informed me that I needn't try to dissuade you so I'll just concede right up front."

"Thank you, Dr.-"

"Temple. You're welcome." He walked away then, passing by Simon as the captain returned with two cups of coffee.

"Well?"

"He's going to be okay. I'm staying here with him tonight, Simon. You can go on home."

"I think I'll stay and see him first."

Jim smiled. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you kind of like the kid."

"You wanna work traffic for the next month, Jim?"

"Not particularly."

"Then keep that little bit of info behind your teeth."

"Absolutely, sir." Jim's heart felt lighter and his headache was gone. His guide was going to be okay.

______________________________________________________

Something woke him. He rubbed his eyes and turned to look at the man in the hospital bed next to him. Dark blue eyes met light blue eyes and Jim knew what had woken him. "You know, Sandburg, you scared a good ten years off my life yesterday." He sat up on the cot and swung his legs off.

"Sorry, man."

"No, I'm sorry. I should have paid more attention. I take it you didn't realize that you'd react that way?"

Blair shook his head. "First bee sting, believe it or not."

"All the traveling you've done, jungles, deserts, whatever, and you've never had a bee sting?"

"Nope. I don't do well with fire ants but nothing like what happened with this stupid bee. Go figure."

"Yeah, go figure." Jim stood and gently touched his friend's forehead. He was wearing his concern and guilt on his face, he knew, and Blair's expression was troubled as he saw it.

"Jim, I'm sorry I worried you. I'm really fine."

"Yeah, you'll live."

"Oh geez! Is that what that look is about? Gee, Jim, get over it already. You didn't know. I didn't know. If you need forgiveness, you have it, but there's really nothing to forgive, man."

"Okay, Junior. If you say so."

"I say so. Listen to your guide." Blair teased.

"Oh, believe me, I'm listening. Get some more sleep, Chief."

Blair yawned. "You don't have to tell me twice, Jim," he said through the yawn and he shifted a little before closing his eyes once again.

Jim tucked the blanket around Blair's shoulder then sat back down on the cot. He smiled as he lay back down himself. "Yes, Chief, I'm most definitely listening from now on."

_________________________________________________________

"Hey, Jim. How was your day, man?" Blair looked up at him as Jim entered the loft. The younger man's glasses had slipped down his nose and he had one pen in his hand and one in his hair. He had been out of the hospital for two days, and besides being a bit tired, he was recovered.

"Boring. Sat in court half the day, did paperwork the other half. How about you?"

"Pretty dismal. You'd think that these freshmen had never heard any of this stuff before they took this test. You'd certainly never think that I had spent three weeks preparing them for it. And to make things worse, I lost my favorite pen. I had it when I started but somewhere along the way, I misplaced it."

Jim had to try not to laugh as he walked casually over to the couch and plucked the "missing" pen from his guide's hair and handed it to him. Blair blushed and smiled weakly at him as he took it. "Thanks, Jim."

"Don't mention it, Darwin. Got something else for you. Hold out your hand," Jim instructed.

When the hand was proffered, Jim dropped the silver dog tag and chain into it. Blair looked puzzled as he bought his hand back to examine it. He smiled.

"And I expect you to wear it, Chief. I mean it."

Blair slipped the chain over his head and adjusted the tag announcing his allergy to bee stings so that the words "Medic Alert" were visible. "Thanks, Jim."

"You're welcome. Can't have some stupid bug taking out my friend." Jim ruffled the unruly curls on said friend's head.

"Jim, you should know by now I'm not that easy to get rid of." Blair told him as Jim got two beers from the refrigerator and handed one to Blair.

"Thank God for that, Chief." Jim toasted his friend and picked up the remote.

"You're getting all mushy, Jim."

"Hmph," Jim picked up the remote. "Toss those tests. There's a game coming on."

"Well, so much for mushy." Blair tossed the tests on the floor by the couch.

Two hours later, Jim turned off the television and carefully lifted his guide from his lap. Blair mumbled in his sleep as Jim carried him to his room and lowered him gently down on his futon. He tucked the younger man in and turned to go. He stopped at the door and looked back at the sleeping figure. "Yeah, so much for mushy, Chief." He grinned, flipped off the light and closed the door behind him. "Jim Ellison, mushball." He laughed ruefully as he climbed the stairs to his bed.

The end