Wages of Sin
Danae
Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm not making money
so please don't sue!
Thanks so much to my beta reader, Susn.
And thanks to all the folks that read my stories and for all the great feedback
that you send me!
Author's notes: I have a feeling that I
may just catch a little hell over this one. First of all, I am one of those
folks who were NOT terribly happy with the TSByBS. I was sort of challenged to
"fix" it and for the longest time, I had no idea how to even start.
As a matter of fact, all work stopped on my stories in progress because I just
could not reconcile myself with what happened. Then I had this idea. I won't
spoil my own story but some folks may not like me very much after this (Namely
Jimbabes…He has it rough here… but it gets better!). No one dies; no one is
permanently damaged. I am not that cruel. However, I don't know what to call
this one. It's not AU, really. Then
again, it does take a departure from canon.
Call it AU to be safe. Also, the
story will include characters from The Agency.
Wages of Sin
Blair
Sandburg was attempting, once again, to take aim on the paper target that he
had yet to hit with a single bullet when a tap on his shoulder nearly sent his
heart into his feet and the gun right down there with it. He lowered the hated weapon slowly and tried
to lower his heart rate at the same time.
However, that was not going to be possible. He was about to get chewed out again. Par for the course, really, but just as stressful every time.
Sergeant Crimmons hated him and made no secret of it. Whether it was the fact that Blair was headed straight to Major
Crimes after graduation despite his checkered reputation or the fact that Blair
had just gotten to the point in firearms class where he was not closing his
eyes when he pulled the trigger, Blair was not sure. Perhaps a little or a lot of both, he guessed. So, Blair prepared himself for the insults
as he removed the headset that protected his ears and turned to face his
nemesis. However, it was not Crimmons
he faced. There were two men in
military uniforms standing a little too close for comfort. Blair stepped back
and hit the little shelf on the wall of his little booth.
"Mr.
Sandburg, come with us please," one of them announced abruptly.
He nearly
fainted. He simply knew what they
wanted. Recanting his dissertation was
not enough. He had sealed his own and
Jim's fate with that damn paper. Play
dumb, his panicked head instructed.
"Why?" he croaked.
"We
need to speak to you about James Ellison."
Blair was
shocked to get such a straight answer.
"What about him?" He
was sticking with the "dumb" strategy until something better came
along.
"We'll
explain on the way."
"I
don't think so. I'm not going anywhere with you. Where's Jim?"
"We
would be taking you to him, sir."
Blair
swallowed the lump in his throat. They
already had Jim. "I-uh, I need to
make a call first," he stammered.
"No
calls, Mr. Sandburg," the first man told him. The second man, who had not spoken at all, moved forward and
grabbed Blair by the arm with one hand while he plucked the forgotten gun from
Blair's hand with the other. Blair
stared at him dumbly as the soldier tossed the gun on the shelf. Then the man's rough grasp propelled Blair
from the booth and toward the door of the indoor firing range.
Blair tried
to catch Crimmons' eye but the older man was involved with another cadet. He was led out of the building and off of
the Academy grounds. A blue four-door
sedan waited by the curb.
"Get in
the back, Mr. Sandburg."
Bad idea, Blair's head balked and he spun quickly out of his
captor's grip. He had no real plan,
just the overwhelming desire to avoid getting in that car. Confront or run? He never got the chance make that decision. A sharp pain in the side of his neck turned
out to be a syringe. The world started
to turn gray and hazy around the edges and his knees gave way. The last thing he would remember later would
be the malicious grin on the face of the man who shoved him into the back seat
of the car.
Captain
James Ellison pitched his cell phone into the passenger’s seat of his truck and
sighed. He had known the call was
coming. He would have rather had a
little more time. He needed more time.
However, what he needed or wanted had just been rendered irrelevant by
that damned phone call. He glared at
the phone as it lay against his thigh, face up, mocking his futile wishes and
complete helplessness. They knew him
too well and had anticipated his moves.
He had been scolded like a child for the safety deposit box. The airline tickets had been canceled. He should have told somebody. He should have
told Blair. But he was a soldier. Once covert ops, always covert ops. He knew that. They called and he was theirs
to do with as they pleased. And now,
they wanted Blair too. They already had
him. He should have told Blair. But it was top secret, national security,
strictly need to know. Blair had needed
to know. He had accused Blair of betrayal,
of violating trust on more than one occasion.
God, what a hypocrite I turned out to be, he accused.
To make
matters worse, he had been instructed to report immediately and say nothing to
anyone, including Simon. The department
would be notified of his return to "active duty." Gentle euphemism for what they had in mind.
"Glad
you could join us, Captain Ellison."
"Is
that absolutely necessary?" Jim
motioned to the window in front of him.
"He was
not inclined to cooperate. We had to
sedate him and once here, we didn't want him to hurt himself," the man Jim
knew as Dr. Rose explained.
Jim drew one
hand across his face and sighed as he stared at the scene on the other side of
the glass. His Guide was there,
unconscious and strapped to a table.
"I told you that I would bring him in."
"Was
that before or after the safety deposit box and the airline tickets? Judging by what we found, Captain, you were
considering going AWOL rather than continuing the study. We couldn't allow that
to happen. You are a very valuable man,
Captain."
"So you
hold him to hold me? I'm here now. Let him go."
Jim could
actually hear the man behind him smile.
"Are you really going to pretend you don't know?"
"What
the hell are you talking about?" Jim demanded.
"Come
now, Captain, remember our discussions of Burton's monograph?"
"I
remember. I remember everything, thanks
to you."
"Burton
said that these 'sentinels' needed a companion. He didn't say much more than that really so we had to improvise,
hypothesize what this companion would be like.
We came up with a profile from what Burton did write about the companion
and some educated guesses."
"Yeah,
yeah. What's that got to do with
Blair?"
"I
promised to find you one of those companions, didn't I? You see, I contacted some prominent
scientists in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, sociology and anthropology
and asked for their help in finding a suitable candidate. Dr. Eli Stoddard was one of those scientists. I gave him our profile." Jim could only stare at Rose in horror. His brain tried to assimilate the
information he was receiving but the picture that was forming was not
pretty. While Jim stood motionless, the
weight of this reality bearing down on him, Rose continued. "It took us a little while to come up
with the right one. We were sent a lot
of names and we watched them, led them in the right directions, hoping that
they would show some promise. None of
them did until Blair Sandburg. He was
just a kid then, a promising student, looking for an interesting subject for
his master's thesis. It really was a
wonderful coincidence that Eli and thus Blair were both right in your
hometown. Of course, we were skeptical.
Blair was a little too young and a lot too liberal. He was one that we didn't really think would be compatible with
you, but yet, he was the only one to pick up our clues and run with them. He found the monograph and became our
expert, our candidate for the office of Sentinel's companion. Actually, I think you call him your Guide. Mr. Brackett was kind enough to provide the
term. It is better than companion. Too many connotations there that would not
sit well in our line of work."
"You
chose Blair? You never said---"
"Well,
we had to make sure he would continue to be interested first. And, frankly, I was worried that you would
not accept him. You were so military
and, well, he wasn't and isn't. At any
rate, we worked very hard to make sure that your paths would cross. It was not a small task to keep Mr. Sandburg
from disappearing into the jungles to find his Sentinel. On many occasions, he nearly slipped away
from us. Stoddard was not exactly what
I would call helpful either. Of course,
he never really knew the nature of our interest in his star pupil and that did
not help matters. He thought we were
interested in seeing someone research the subject because we couldn't get
government funding. He believed that he
was doing an old friend from high school a favor while simultaneously finding a
challenging subject for a favored student.
And before you ask, Mr. Sandburg was and is completely innocent of any
subterfuge. Eli and the Colonel felt it
was best not to let him know that his studies were being directed, his life
orchestrated, if you will, by anyone.
He was and is too independent minded to stand for that. He would have headed for the hills."
"Who
could blame him?" Jim muttered, remembering his own flight response when
the first call had come and he realized just how orchestrated his own life had
been.
"Yes, well,
now perhaps you understand why we felt it best that we not tell you about Mr.
Sandburg and that you forget all about the project until he was ready, and we
had a chance to see if the two of you would work well together. We decided that it would be easier for both
of you to meet on your own terms.
Believe me, I was still very surprised when it worked out so well."
"So how
did you do it? Keep Blair in
Cascade? Make sure we met?"
"Oh,
that." Rose chuckled. "Blair was easy, really. We made sure that Rainier offered him too
many opportunities for him to leave.
After all, he never had any money.
Scholarships and grants simply fell into his lap at our say-so."
Jim shook
his head. "No, Blair did all that himself."
"Actually,
you're right. He did the majority of it
himself, I'll admit. He got the early
entrance and the first scholarship all by himself. He pulled himself through those first years but after Eli
recommended him to us, truthfully, every grant he has ever gotten to study
sentinels directly came right from here.
Face facts, Captain, to the rest of the world, including the world of
Anthropology, you are a myth. A fable
of some superhero that people wish for but know will never actually come along
to save the day. Who else would have financed
his search? And again, coincidence
stepped in so that we didn't have to lift a finger to bring the two of you
together. We weren't ready in
actuality. We were in the process of
arranging to pull you in and correct the problem with the regression therapy
when instead you were suddenly in our Mr. Sandburg's office. I talked the Colonel into letting nature
take its course."
"Jesus."
"It was
quite satisfying to watch the two of you work things out on your own. And since you were remembering the senses,
so to speak, but not remembering the project, I felt no need to interfere with
you. So, things were going along
beautifully and we were just about to pull you in when Alicia Bannister AKA
Alex Barnes entered the picture. Three
years of research and it was about to be flushed down the toilet, or the
fountain.” He smirked at Jim as if Jim
should appreciate his wit then sobered again.
“We were not terribly happy with your performance, Captain. Intrigued, yes. Happy, no. We felt it was
time to reactivate the memories of the project before it was endangered
again. The colonel was worried that you
would tell Blair. I had to remind him
what a good soldier you were. I had to
remind him just how good you were with covert operations." Rose laughed a little. "Your whole life has been a covert
operation, after all. Then you had to
go and embarrass me with your little escape attempt." He shook his head. "I thought you were a loyal American serviceman,
Captain. What were you thinking?"
Jim turned
away from the man's steel gray gaze.
"Oh, I
understand. You've been away from the
military for several years now. You've
perhaps forgotten the importance of following orders. Maybe you can't quite remember the oaths you took. This work is important, Captain. You are a weapon. We have to find out how you work so that we can---"
"Build
a better soldier?"
"Exactly."
"I
remember my oaths, Dr. Rose. I know how
to follow orders."
"Then
explain those false documents in the safety deposit box. Explain your tickets to New Mexico and then
onto Peru."
"I'm
here, aren't I? I could have used them
anytime but I'm here instead."
"And
the fact that I have Blair Sandburg strapped to a table in the next room has
nothing to do with that, I suppose."
Jim swore
and raked one hand through his crew cut.
"He's not military, damn it! You can't just snatch him out of his
life and---"
"But we
already have and what life anyway? He
gave it up for you. Now, that's
loyalty. The colonel said that he knew why they were there. He could see the knowledge, the panic, and
the self-recrimination in our Mr. Sandburg's eyes. That young man will do anything for you, won't he? Well, we'll see about that. And you," Rose shook his head.
"I'm not sure if you were really that angry with him or if you were just
trying to drive him away. Did you think
you could make him go and that somehow it would save him from us? Really, Captain Ellison, if he had not left
after the Barnes incident or over the way you have behaved since our first call
to reactivate you, he was not going to desert you. You have been the very definition of a hard ass the last few
months.” Rose raised his eyebrows and
smiled at him. “I'd like to think that
your ops training kicked in, but somehow, I think I'd be wrong. Well, you should get some rest. The Sentinel
Project will resume its work bright and early tomorrow morning. Don't worry about Mr. Sandburg. He'll be fine. He should be well rested at the very least. Oh, and your captain has already been sent
notification of your status. At your
loft, he'll find a vague note from Mr. Sandburg stating that he just didn't
feel comfortable in the Academy and with you back in the Army; he sees no
reason to hang around. Given his
tendency to roam, and the wonderful forgery by our handwriting expert, he'll
believe it. It's a shame really. The dissertation was very good. Good night, Jim and welcome back."
Jim banged
his head on the observation window twice before turning his back to it and
walking out of the room.
Captain
Simon Banks had not had the most pleasant day of his life when he opened the
last envelope of his mail. Daryl was
having trouble with English and his ex-wife expected him to "fix" it. Okay, Blair Sandburg would be the solution
to that problem. The latest case to
fall into the collective lap of Major Crimes was a nightmare; the murder of a
prominent Cascade businessman with suspected ties to black market babies. It was earmarked for Ellison. Last, but certainly not least, was the
four-hour meeting with the new police commissioner and the Mayor. He just wanted to get home but he had needed
to get through the stack of mail on his desk first. He had thought that his day could not possibly get worse but as
he read the very official document that he had pulled from that last envelope
in the stack, he realized that he was wrong.
"Jesus,"
he whispered as he tossed the paper on the desk and rubbed his temples.
"Sandburg."
Simon knew
that the young man would not take this news well. He needed to get to the loft.
He was out of his office and on the elevator before anyone in the
bullpen had a chance to ask where he was going.
He drove
like a man possessed, even using the siren.
He pulled up outside the loft in a fraction of the time it should have
taken. He raced up the stairs only to
find an envelope with his name on it taped to the front door. He looked at it for long minutes before he
hesitantly reached out and took it. He
opened the envelope and withdrew the short note inside. Blair was gone. He apologized for not being able to "cut it" at the
Academy and explained since Jim was gone, so was his reason for staying in
Cascade. It was signed "Sincerely,
Blair Sandburg." Simon punched the
door.
He made his
way down to his car. So Blair was
having a hard time at the Academy. Simon had no idea that the young man was not
doing well, but he intended to find out exactly what had gone wrong. As he got behind the wheel, he realized that
he had just lost his two closest friends in the same day. He let his head fall back to rest on the
seat.
The hazy
white cloud above him solidified into a white ceiling that looked suspiciously
like a hospital ceiling. He tried to
raise one hand to rub his eyes but the hand would not move. He tried the other, but it would not budge
either. He panicked and instinctively
tried to sit up only to discover that his body was immobilized. "Oh God," he whispered as he tried
desperately to snatch his hands free from the restraints.
"Please,
Mr. Sandburg, you'll only injure yourself and we don't want that." The voice filled the white room. Blair turned his head to see his reflection
staring back at him. "Yes, it's a
two way mirror, Mr. Sandburg. Can I call
you Blair? I think Blair would be
better. Do you know why you're here, Blair?"
"Who
are you? Where's Jim?"
"Captain
Ellison is just fine. Don't worry about
him. Right now, Blair, what I need from
you is information. I need your notes
and the master copy of your dissertation.
We checked the loft and the storage space where you have the things from
your office and we found nothing."
"I
trashed it all. It was all a lie. I made it up. Please let us go."
"I'm
afraid not, Blair. I'll let you think
about it for a bit."
"No,
wait!" A click told Blair that his
captor was no longer listening or at least not talking to him anymore. "Oh God, Jim, I'm so sorry. This is
all my fault, man. I'm sorry."
Jim stood at
attention just as he had been ordered.
Colonel Maxwell Adler, Pentagon Special Projects Director, stood to his
right. Dr. Robert Rose was at his
left. His jaw ached as he heard Blair
blame himself for their predicament and apologize to him, probably hoping Jim
could hear him. Jim could hear him all
right. How could he miss it as he stood
between the two men who played the strings of his life?
"I
thought you read the dissertation," he growled, even though he had not
been given permission to speak.
"Oh, I
have. I have my own copy. We found his notes as well. Your partner had his own safety deposit
box. But this isn't about the
dissertation. It is simply a means to
an end."
"What
end is that?"
"This
is a test, Captain Ellison. You are a
trained officer in the elite Army Rangers.
You are trained to withstand torture without giving up secrets but Blair
is, well, he's the son of a bleeding heart liberal with values left over from
the sixties that she passed on to him. Like I told you, we never thought the
two of you would be compatible and Blair's ideology and naiveté were the
reasons for those doubts. We need to
know just how loyal he is to you and how long he will remain loyal."
"You
can't be serious!"
"Captain!"
Adler spoke up. "I think you had better remember what you are and where
you are."
"Yes,
sir." Jim tried to keep his tone
even. Rose could spew his trash until
he was blue in the face but Jim knew what and who was being tested.
"You
can go back to your room now."
Rose smiled blandly.
Jim turned
and saluted the Colonel before leaving the room. As he walked down the hallway, he tried to put away Jim
Ellison. He shoved the man who gave a
damn into the farthest corner of his mind and resurrected Captain James
Ellison, who would not have given a hippie kid like Sandburg the time of day
much less a place in his heart. If
indeed he had a heart at all.
Simon
arrived at the Academy and walked straight into the Commandant's office without
a second glance at the protesting secretary.
"Hank, got a few questions I need answered."
"Simon! How's it going up there in Major
Crimes?" The man stood from his
desk and offered his hand to Simon.
"Too
damn busy, Hank."
"I
guess you're checking up on your boy?"
"Something
like that." Simon withdrew the
letter and handed to his old friend.
"Can you give me some idea about that?"
Hank
Franklin read the letter and shook his head.
He handed it back. "I
honestly don't know, Simon. The only
thing I can tell you is that he was having some trouble in firearms class. He excelled at everything else. I was going to try to talk to him about that
this week. I know Crimmons is a hard
ass, but he's a good instructor. Still,
I think there might be a problem there.
I spoke to Crimmons but he said that Sandburg was just afraid of the weapon
and that he was being hard on him to toughen him up."
"But
you think it's more than that?"
"Maybe. There seems to be some resentment floating
around regarding the special arrangements that were made for the kid,
Simon. You had to know that was going
to happen. Some of the cadets gave him
a hard time. He handled it pretty well,
all in all. Even asked me to stay out of it.
Most of it was essentially harmless, anyway. Making smartass remarks, pulling his ponytail, shoving him a
little in the hallway, that sort of thing.
Don't know that we did him a favor when we allowed him to bypass the
haircut. At any rate, harassment coming from an instructor, even the harmless
stuff is unacceptable. I wanted to talk
to the kid to see if Crimmons was guilty but he didn't show up today and now I
know why."
"I want
to see Crimmons."
"Sure
thing. I'll call him in."
Minutes
later, Sergeant John Crimmons entered the office. Simon watched the man carefully as he came to a stop in front of
Commandant Franklin's desk, his eyes straight forward, refusing to acknowledge
Simon's presence. "John, this is
Captain Simon Banks from Major Crimes.
He wants to ask you a couple of questions."
"I
don't know where Sandburg is, Captain."
Crimmons turned to face Simon with a look of annoyance on his face. "I didn't ask where they were taking
him. It obviously wasn't my
business."
Simon was so
ready to lay into the guy that the implications of what he had said nearly
escaped him. As it was, he stuttered
and sputtered as he tried to shift his mental gears to get up to speed. "Wh-Who took him? When?
Why didn't you tell somebody?
What the hell is going on here?
Are you saying that somebody just walked into the Academy and took him
out? A Police Academy? And you did nothing?"
"They
were military. One of them was a
Colonel, Captain. I figured they had a
good reason. Although I can't think for
the life of me what they want with him.
The kid can't half hold onto his gun and he's a lousy shot even when he
does. Of course, that could be because
he won't keep his damn eyes open. I
mean, we all know why that boy was here. Some serious strings got pulled and
hocus-pocus, he's on his way to being a cop.
But let me give you a piece of information. He's got no business carrying a badge. Know why? 'Cause he's got
no business carrying a gun. So if the
military wants him, then hey, that just means I don't have to deal with him
anymore. Besides, I'm just a lowly
Police Academy instructor. Who am I to
argue?"
Simon was
too busy trying to grasp the gravity of this situation to have even bothered to
interrupt Crimmons' speech but since the man was finished and Simon needed to
vent on somebody, Crimmons was about to get a few pieces of information himself. "Sergeant, let me enlighten you. First of all, it's none of your damn
business how Sandburg got here. It was
your business to teach him what he needed to know. Your failure to do so is not his problem. It's yours.
In addition, I would be willing to bet he's already a better
investigator that you would ever be, which is why you are a 'lowly Police
Academy instructor' and he was on the fast track to Major Crimes. For example, did it ever occur to you to question
these men, get names, check to see if they had permission to be here? What if
the uniforms were fake?" Simon
knew they were not but Crimmons had not.
"No, you asked nothing. You
did nothing. I bet Blair Sandburg asked
questions. And since you seem so
dissatisfied with your title here, perhaps you'd like another. I think I could arrange for you to have a
brand new title. What about lowly
crossing guard?" Simon turned back
to his friend. "Hank, obviously
things aren't what they seemed to be. Somebody took Sandburg out of here, possibly
against his will. I'll need to talk to
anyone and everyone who saw those men here yesterday."
"You
got it. Crimmons, you're suspended
until this is straightened out. Get out
of my office."
"Sir!"
"You
heard me. Go." Once the man was gone, Hank Franklin turned
back to Simon and sighed. "What do
you think is going on, Simon?"
"I
think Sandburg and Ellison are in deep trouble," Simon grumbled
distractedly.
"If I
can help in any way..."
"Keep
Sandburg's place here open. I'm going
to find my men."
"Whatever
you need, Simon."
"Thanks." Simon shook his hand then made his way out
of the office. "What a
nightmare," he whispered.
Something was not right here.
Jim being called back up for duty he could buy. But a colonel coming to see Sandburg and
taking the young man out of the Academy?
No, that was not kosher. The
military had Jim and Blair and Simon knew exactly why the military wanted them. At one time, Simon had had some contacts in
the military but most of them were gone, retired. The few that were left did not have the clout needed to help him
find his friends. He rubbed his temples
with one hand as he got into his car.
He had no idea how to proceed.
He just knew that he could not give up. As he drove into the station, he
wondered what was happening to his friends while he sat by, helpless. Should have known something was wrong, he
berated himself silently as he thought back to the note he had found at the
loft. "Sincerely, Blair
Sandburg?" Not the way Blair
would have signed that note. Why
didn't I pick up on that? Nothing
he could do about that now. Then it
came to him. He could not go directly
to the military but he did know someone who could perhaps get the information he
needed through some not so direct channels.
And it was someone he would not to have to tiptoe around, someone who
would want to help. He picked up his
cell phone and dialed his office.
"Rhonda, get me the number for the Devereaux Agency in D.C. It should be in my rolodex."
Peter
Devereaux threw the rather thick file folder on his desk and sighed
heavily. This was bad. Really bad.
He punched the intercom.
"Maggie, call in Jesse and Kit please and get us tickets to Cascade
ASAP. And call Ronald MacNamara at the
CIA. Tell him I'm calling in a favor
and I'll be back in touch as soon as I figure out how to proceed."
"Gotcha,
Pete," came back the response from the little speaker.
He sat back
in his chair and turned to stare out of his office window. "Damn, Jim. What were you
thinking? Were you thinking at
all? I don't know if I can get you out
of this. It's gonna take some fancy
footwork and I don't know if I can do the dance. And you dragged Blair down with you. You bastard, how could you do this?"
Distance,
distance, distance. Discipline, soldier. Remember who you are, why you are
here, what you are trying to accomplish. It's all for the good of the country.
Captain James Ellison fell into the rigid structure of military life and
let it numb him. He was a soldier,
first and foremost. This study had
helped him after Peru. He would have
lost his mind after Peru had it not been for Dr. Rose. The return of his missing memories told him
that much. He remembered the day that
Dr. Rose told him that they had reached an impasse in the study and could do no
more to help him. But they had a
solution. They could block out all
memory of his enhanced senses and let him get on with his life until such time
that they had some more answers. He had
agreed readily. When it was done, he
was missing a major portion of his life, all knowledge of his time in Peru
included, but the senses were gone. He
was normal. What they didn't expect was
that the senses would come back on their own as well as bits and pieces of his
memories. What he didn't know was that
they had found what he needed and was working on bringing it into his
life. They had found Blair Sandburg. It was more than a little disconcerting that
their lives had been so manipulated, but as much as Jim did not like it,
Captain Ellison accepted the necessity of it.
He stretched out his muscles carefully after his run and then headed for
the showers. He was due in the
observation room in few minutes.
Sandburg's interrogation was to resume today. They had left him to think the day before but it was time to get
down to business. Distance. It was all part of a plan. The plan.
It was important. It was his
life.
"Captain
Banks, nice to see you again.
Circumstances aside, I mean."
Peter Devereaux held out his hand and Simon shook it.
"Devereaux,"
was his simple reply.
"I'm
sure you remember Jesse."
"Riviera,
right?" Simon smiled. The hair was a bit shorter, still longer
than Sandburg's, but the multicolored string wrapped braids were gone.
"Yes,
sir. I do prefer Jesse though."
The young man grinned at him.
"And as much as I hate to say it, I don't really remember you,
sir."
"No, I
don't imagine that you would. Glad to
see you're back on your feet."
"And
this is Kit Chase." Devereaux
introduced his other man and Simon examined him closely for the first
time. He was obviously of Native
American descent. Nearly black eyes met
Simon's with a light that belied the darkness of their color. Hair longer than Jesse's and Blair's put
together hung down the man's back and was even darker than the eyes. Simon imagined that Kit Chase had to beat
the women off with a stick.
"Mr.
Chase." Simon offered his hand.
"Kit,"
he corrected as he gripped Simon's hand.
"Well,
introduction's are over. Let's get down
to business, gentlemen. Captain, you
lead the way. We need a private place
to talk."
"So you
did find out something?"
"Oh
yeah, and you aren't going to like it, Captain. Not one little bit."
"Don't
worry, Captain Ellison. The drug does
not actually cause any damage at all.
It simply causes the mind to believe that the body is in pain. It's the newest thing in interrogation
drugs."
"I'm
not worried." Ellison did not turn
to acknowledge the man. He simply
stared passively through the observation window at the scene beyond. "Why would I worry?"
Sandburg was
in pain. He could see that. He did not hear it, however. He had the dial turned down. A stab of guilt pierced his chest for a
split second as he thought about how he owed that ability to the man strapped
to the table in the next room. The man
he observed as coldly at the two men next to him. He shut down those traitorous emotions with a blink of his eyes
and a slight tilt of his head.
"I
thought he was your friend. Your
partner?" Jim could hear the sneer
in Rose's voice.
"He was
a means to an end. He had answers that
I needed. And if he's going to continue
to be my 'partner' then he'll pass this test.
As you well know, I've always had questions about his loyalty. He's violated my trust more than once. Well, now we see just where he stands,
right?"
Colonel
Adler stepped up beside him and slapped him on the shoulder. "Spoken like a good soldier,
Captain. You had me worried before but
I think you've come to your senses."
"Well,
I'm not so easily convinced. I was your
champion, Captain, before we found out about those airline tickets. You disappointed me and I'll take a bit more
convincing." Rose flipped a switch
on the panel in front of them and Jim was treated to the sounds that he had not
allowed his Sentinel ears to hear. Sobs
were interspersed with gasps of pain and Jim turned the dial down another
notch. Then another, so that he barely
heard Rose's question. "So, Blair, are you ready to talk to me now?"
"Nothing
to--" another gasp, "ah, god--to talk about. Lied." He seemed to lose his breath then and
struggled against the pain and tears to get it back. "Wasting time," he grounded out through clenched
teeth. "What have you done to
me?"
"Nothing
that can kill you, I assure you.
Although, if you persist in this defiance, you may wish you were
dead. Blair, we already know that your
research is not fraudulent. Make things
easy for us all and tell us where to find your notes and the master copy of
your dissertation. As soon as you do,
we will allow you to rejoin Captain Ellison and you may resume your work with
him."
"Where's
Jim? Please, you have to be
careful," Blair begged for Jim even in his own pain, and Ellison shook his
head.
"Stupid
kid," he muttered absently.
Rose glanced
at him then turned back to Blair.
"Why do we need to be careful with Captain Ellison if your work was
all lies?"
No response.
"Well,
Blair?"
"I
have---nothing to say--to you. Go
away."
"I'm
afraid I can't do that. You will talk
to me, Blair. Or you will never leave
this place. Imagine that."
"Please,
I can't."
"You
will."
But he did
not. Ellison left the observation room
two hours later. Sandburg was not
speaking at all by that time. Rose had
called it quits for the day. The
interrogation would continue the next morning.
In the meantime, Rose had some tests for him. He wanted to see if Jim's abilities had increased with Sandburg's
guidance. He was torn. Did he show them everything or hold back? He knew that all of his senses had gotten
stronger in the years that he worked with Sandburg. If he showed them his true range then what would they do? If he did not, what would they do? Did he really need Sandburg? If he did, how would they react? If he did not, how long would the kid last
should they figure it out? He
sighed. He did need him. To pretend that he did not was
ludicrous. It was a fact of his
life. So, where did he go from
here? What options did he have? None really. He had sealed his own
fate. And Blair Sandburg's. He wished that it were not so but wishing
did no good. Best to just keep focused
on the project. It was time to jump
through the hoops like a good little circus dog.