Wages of Sin part 1b

Danae

Disclaimers/Warnings: see part 1

Simon Banks sat down hard in his office chair and scrubbed his hand over his face. He listened to words that he could not believe; yet he knew them to be true. It was all there in black and white, a whole file of information on James Ellison as a Sentinel that was not written by Blair Sandburg. Jim had known what he was and so had the army and the Pentagon. He had been studied, analyzed, and then his memories of his senses and the study repressed through hypnosis. Stranger than that, Blair Sandburg was hand-picked and steered toward the study of Sentinels in an effort to groom him to be exactly what he was, a Sentinel's Guide. Then the really disturbing news came. They had been watched, examined like lab animals. Every case they had worked, every test that Blair had performed; even their leisure time was recorded. Why had Jim not noticed? Was he programmed not to? Why had anyone else not noticed? Why had he not noticed?

"It seems that Rose got worried about the Barnes incident. They decided that they needed to reactivate Jim's memories." Peter Devereaux continued to read from the file he held. "They didn't call him in then, however. They wanted to see what he would do. Rose was confident that he would 'do his duty' but Adler thought he'd tell Blair and the two of them would take off. Says here that it seemed that Jim then tried to drive Blair away. His attitude toward Blair changed and then they found his safety deposit box. He had some money, fake ID's, and plane tickets in there and they decided that they had better pick up Blair and call Jim in."

"I just can't believe that he didn't say anything!" Simon exclaimed, slamming his fist down on his desk.

"Captain Banks, this is a top secret project. Jim is a trained covert operative. He would not reveal a top-secret project. That goes against his training."

"Blair is his best friend. Training be damned. What about friendship!?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't know what to say, Captain. I would have thought that he would have protected Blair but I would have been wrong, apparently."

"Bastard, cold-hearted bastard," Simon mumbled under his breath.

"So, Pete, we are going after Blair, right?" Riviera spoke up.

"I don't know, Jess."

"Aw, man, come on, we can't leave him there!"

"Dude, you are talking about taking on the freaking government. We'll all end up in Leavenworth," Chase pointed out.

"Maybe not."

"What are you suggesting, Devereaux?" Simon sat forward, hope rising in his chest.

"I'm working on something. Adler doesn't have many friends, you see. And Rose, he's got no friends, except Adler. They're both nutty as fruitcakes. I'm pulling some strings to see what unravels, know what I mean? If that doesn't work, I know a few tropical island paradises that don't have extradition agreements with the U.S. We bust 'em out and retire to one of those paradises."

"Them? Bust them out? Ellison gets what he deserves, Pete."

"Jesse, I'm trying to reserve judgment on that right now, okay? I know Jim. There's got to be some reasonable explanation and I'm gonna wait to hear it before I condemn the man."

Simon wished that he could be that understanding. As he flipped through the evidence of Jim Ellison's betrayal, he could only think of beating the man bloody. He thought back to all the hateful things that Jim had said and done to Sandburg over the last year or so and wanted to wrap his hands around the man's throat. Well, to do that, he would have to find Jim first. So be it. "Do what you have to. Let me know what I can do to help. Just get them back."

"Captain Banks, you do realize that not all of my methods are exactly---legal, right?" Pete Devereaux smirked at him.

He nodded to the man. "Do I look naïve to you, Devereaux?"

"No, sir."

"Well then, get a move on."

The smirk widened to a smile. "Yes, sir. Well, let's go, gentlemen. We have work to do."

"Captain Ellison, good morning. I'd like you to meet Lt. Shawn Holloway. Lt. Holloway is your new guide." Rose smiled, apparently quite pleased with himself.

Jim looked the young man over critically. He was maybe all of twenty-two, probably fresh out of officer's training. His crew cut was so short that his scalp shined from under the remaining blond hair. Jim squashed down the immediate swell of irritation he felt and gave the kid a quick nod of acknowledgement.

The young man saluted him. Jim sighed in exasperation and returned the salute half-heartedly. That seemed to be the kid's cue to start talking.

"Nice to meet you, Captain Ellison. I've been looking forward to meeting you."

"Can we get started here or what?" Jim addressed Rose as he motioned toward the wooded area that would serve as the test site for whatever Rose had cooked up.

"Of course. Let me explain what we've got here." Rose began to explain the sensory tests he had set up. It was a sort of sensory obstacle course. Jim had to locate various objects around the test site using his senses while filtering out distractions. Holloway's job was to keep him from zoning and help him filter those distractions. Supposedly, the kid knew what to do. They had been training the kid using their own research and Blair's for months. Jim had known that the kid was there. Rose had told him that they had found him a, in Rose's words, "more suitable guide." Jim hated the kid already. However, he was military. Being military, he would be a lot more reliable in the field. He could and would use a gun, for example. He understood military discipline. He would follow orders. And for all that, he was still useless. Absolutely useless. He was not Blair Sandburg. He was not Jim's Guide. He might be a guide. But he was not Jim's Guide.

Jim knew that. Now, he just had to make sure that Rose knew it. Or did not know it. Jim nearly swore out loud. He did not know which way to turn. He did not know Rose's ultimate plan. If Blair was necessary, did that make him safe? Or would that put them both on the chopping block? If Blair was not necessary, that definitely made him expendable. Adler seemed to really hate Sandburg. He had told Jim at dinner in the mess hall the night before that he did not know how Jim had managed to work with "that little hippie boy" and not to worry, he would not have to again if Adler had anything to say about it. Damn, damn, damn, he swore silently as he and Holloway began Rose's little course.

He came to with most of the morning already gone and Holloway's anxious face hovering way too close to his own. Instinct kicked in and Holloway found out how not to bring a sentinel out of a zone. Not that the kid could bring him out anyway. Jim was not sure what brought him out but it was not Holloway. Jim sat up and glared at the kid who rubbed his already bruising jaw and glared back in accusation.

"What'd you do that for?" he whined and Jim resisted the urge to hit him again.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Jim demanded. "How long was I out of it? Why didn't you call back to Rose?"

"I did! He told me that I had to bring you out myself. You were like a damn zombie for almost three hours! What the fuck did you zone out on?"

"Watch the language, soldier! And I don't know. I can't remember."

"Thank God, I finally brought you out of it."

"Don't pat yourself on the back so fast, Holloway. You didn't bring me out of it. It was something else. I don't even remember you being here. Something else..." Jim trailed off as he searched his memory. It was a sound, far off and faint at first until he honed in on it. Jim turned and realized that he was facing in the direction of the facility. Then he knew. "Shit," he whispered. Blair's heartbeat. He had zoned out trying to filter through a white noise generator, and subconsciously, he had reached for the familiar sound of his Guide's heartbeat to lead him back to himself. Holloway was useless. And he would always be useless to Jim. "Rose," Jim said into his radio, "we're coming in. I have a headache and I can't get this right until I get rid of it." Jim glanced at Holloway sourly as he spoke.

Maxwell Adler paced the floor in front of Jim. The man was seriously pissed off. Jim stood perfectly at attention, not even allowing his eyes to follow the man's back and forth movement. Finally, Adler came to an abrupt stop just inches from Jim. "You want to explain to me that debacle this morning on the test site, Captain?"

Jim resisted the urge to step back and regain his personal space. "I zoned out."

"And why is that? I thought that little hippie was supposed to have taught you some control."

"I really don't know what happened, sir."

"Well, I suggest you figure it out, soldier! Your partner had to catch your sorry ass and lay you out on the ground. If that had been a firefight, you'd be dead and so would he. Are you trying to get your little hippie partner back? Is that it? Are you trying to make me believe that you can't work with anybody but him?"

"No, sir. I was just trying to do the test and I zoned."

"Colonel, I think that Captain Ellison is going to need time to adjust to his new guide. This was only their first outing. Blair was with Captain Ellison for almost four years. We have to have time to break those old ties and establish new ones." Rose stepped forward.

Jim swallowed hard. He wanted to ask what would happen to Blair once those old ties were broken. What did they plan to do with his "old Guide" if, on the very off chance, the new one started working out. He stayed silent, however. Jim knew that he could not show the slightest concern for his Guide without it being construed as a lack of loyalty to the project. Besides, Captain Ellison would not ask. He would not care. As it turned out, he did not need to ask. His questions were answered.

"Sandburg is a security risk. The sooner we are rid of him the better, so get cracking."

"Colonel, I realize that Blair is a problem but perhaps, when this is all over, he can be persuaded to stay on and work on the project. He is a natural guide. If we are able to find or create more sentinels, we will need someone to work with them initially until we can either find or create more guides."

"Get serious, Rose. That little hippie is not going to stay here and work on the project with you after what you've done to him. He'll escape the first chance he gets and run straight to the press."

"And who will believe him, Maxwell. He's a self-proclaimed fraud. He has nowhere to go, no options for his future but with us. We gave him a sentinel. By the time I'm done with him, he'll be grateful for the offer."

"He's useless to us, Rose. The only thing he can do now is damage this project. It's time that we got rid of him."

Jim's heart dropped into his feet. His hands itched to reach out and snap Adler's neck but he did not. Only a very astute observer would have noticed the minute flinch and tightening of his jaw as he controlled the impulse. Unfortunately, Rose was an astute observer. The man's hand descended on his shoulder and Jim's eye twitched as he schooled his expression into one of indifference. "I think Captain Ellison would disagree with that assessment. Wouldn't you, Captain?" Rose's tone dripped honey and Jim was nearly sick on the man's shoes.

"Yes, sir."

"And what would you have us do, Captain?" Adler growled.

"I think you should have Sandburg work with Holloway."

"Now, see, there's an idea." Rose slapped Jim on the back.

"Absolutely not."

"Maxwell, Blair Sandburg is the one and only real expert on sentinels in existence. I don't even presume that I know as much as he does."

"You have the boy's notes, Robert."

"That's not good enough, damn it, Maxwell! If it were then this morning would not have happened. Holloway couldn't bring Ellison out of the zone out."

"Why is that, Ellison?" Adler turned to Jim.

"I don't know, sir."

"Then what do you know, soldier? Get out of here. Dismissed."

"Thank you, sir." Jim turned on his heels and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him. He did not even bother to try to listen. Maybe he did not even want to know the outcome of the argument. He quickened his steps and was nearly running by the time he reached an outside door. He burst through it and kept going until he was facing the wooded test site. Bending over, he placed his hands on his knees and hung his head down as he tried to catch his breath. His heart was pounding as the gravity of what he had done weighed down on him. Adler was planning to "get rid of" Blair. That could only mean one of two things. And killing him was the kinder of the two. On the other hand, Rose's plan was to somehow convince Blair to work on the project. Blair would be alive but he would hate Jim once he found out the whole truth. But he would be alive. Now, Jim only had to worry about whose plan would win out in the end, Adler's or Rose's. He stood up straight and turned his eyes to the sky and prayed that Robert Rose was a very persuasive man.

Blair shivered. It was so damn cold. The thin sheet from the table did little to warm him, but it was all he had other than the boxers that they gave him. He huddled in the corner of his little room, the room that was apparently going to be his whole world for who knew how long. As it was, he was not sure just how long he had already been there. He had no watch. There were no windows to the outside, and the lights in the room were always left on. He was amazed at how easily he had lost track of time. All he did know was that they would be back soon. They had left him alone for a while but it was too good to last. He grimaced then as he realized that if they were leaving him alone, they were probably with Jim. Suddenly, he wanted them to come back. He swore under his breath. Why this? Why now? Things were strained enough between them. Jim probably hated him for sure now. "I'm so very sorry, Jim," he whispered.

He glanced around the room once again, looking for something he could use as a weapon. If he could just get out, even for just a few minutes, he could find a phone and call Simon and get them some help. But there was nothing. Just as there had been nothing every other time his mind teased him with the hope of even momentary escape. There was only the table, the IV stand, and the toilet, all bolted securely to the floor. He sighed. Besides, they had guns. Even if he did manage to find something, he would never get a chance to use it before they shot him. Blair was aware that he was expendable. They wanted his thesis and notes but they did not have to have it. They could do their own tests, make their own notes. As a matter of fact, they probably already were in the process of doing just that. He just hoped that they did not hurt Jim in the process. He nearly cried at that thought. Maybe he should just give them what they wanted. They were going to kill him one way or the other eventually. If he gave up his notes then at least they would know to be careful with Jim. He might have gotten Jim into this but he could protect Jim from some dangerous mistakes that these people might make. Why had he not realized that earlier? He cursed himself. Jim could be hurt already because he was not thinking. He apologized to his friend again.

His eyes shifted back to the toilet on the other side of the room. He had to go. It was embarrassing to have to go out in the open room, not knowing if someone sat behind the two-way mirror on the opposite wall. The shower was worse, however. After each session with Rose, when the drug in his system had worn off to the point where he could stand, he would be instructed to take a shower. The shower was quite literally just a small showerhead that came down from the ceiling and a depression in the floor that had a drain in the center. He would stand under the spray of first soapy and then clear water, trying hard to maintain some dignity, until the water shut off and he slipped into the clean boxers that were left for him. Then he got to spend the next hour or so really freezing, shivering so hard that his teeth chattered and his whole body ached. He hoped that Jim had better accommodations. Granted, Jim could turn down the dials against the cold but the sentinel would not react well to the total and humiliating lack of privacy. And Blair would be to blame once again for this violation of Jim's privacy... Jim's trust.

Their only hope was Simon. He hoped that Simon would ask a few questions. That would be all it would take to find that something was not quite right. The men that had come for him were not exactly subtle after all. Please, Simon, you have got to know that something's wrong. Please, help us. Help Jim at least.

"Ron, tell me something I can use, man, please!" Pete urged the man on the other end of the phone. He listened. "Uh-huh. I see. Okay, can you get me in to see the man?"

"Yes! Thanks, man, I owe you now." He hung up the phone and turned to the anxious faces in the room. "I've got to go back to D.C. Ron's got me an appointment with the head honcho of the Adler Early Retirement Committee. He won't tell me particulars but he says that a very large faction of the higher ups have been looking for something to force Adler out for a long time. And if Adler goes, then Rose goes."

"Okay, how does that get Jim and Blair back? Won't they just give the project to someone else?" Simon asked.

"Well, here's the thing. I'm going to do some fancy talking."

"That's what Pete calls lying through his teeth." Kit Chase grinned.

"Thank you, Kit. Anyway, I'm going to spin a tale of a couple of regular guys manipulated by Rose to actually believe this fairy tale of sentinels and guides. Jim will be our first victim. Deeply traumatized by his time in Peru, he was an easy target for Rose who convinced him that he was some kind of 'mythical superman,' to use Rose's own words from the file. Blair is our second victim. He was lured into the web by his own curiosity and was convinced by poor deluded Jim that sentinels were real and that Jim was one. And oddly enough, we have a third victim, our own Colonel Maxwell Adler whose own ability to discern fact from fantasy is becoming more questionable as he approaches senility. Adler, under Rose's influence, then had one man called back up for duty and actually kidnapped another from the Cascade Police Academy. What do you think, guys? Am I a genius or what?"

"That is never going to work, Pete." Chase shook his head.

"Kit, you have no faith."

"Then neither do I," Jesse sighed and put his head down on Simon's desk. "That is so lame."

"I'm afraid I have to agree with your men, Devereaux." Simon stood and walked around his desk to stare out his window. "I hope you have a plan B."

"Only the tropical island paradise one."

"We are so very screwed," Jesse whined.

"Ye of little faith. Well, until you guys come up with something, I'm going with what I got."

"Will you get the hell away from me, Holloway!" Captain Ellison screamed at his "guide."

"I'm only trying to help, Captain."

"Yeah? Well, you're getting on my damn nerves!"

"Okay, gentlemen, perhaps we should call it quits for the day." Rose entered the testing room, shaking his head. He marked something on his clipboard and then met Jim's eyes. "You are resisting your guide, Captain."

"He annoys the hell out of me. I can't explain it but there you go."

"Lt. Holloway, you are dismissed."

Holloway shot Jim a dirty look and then left the room. "I can't work with him," Jim stated simply once Holloway was gone.

"Can you explain why, Captain? Give me some reason and we can examine it."

"I don't know. Maybe I've gotten used to Sandburg."

"Well, you will just have to get used to Holloway and you can't do that if you aren't trying."

"I am trying. He just bothers me. He's not my guide."

"But he will be."

Jim sighed and ran one hand over his short hair.

"Well, I have to go and talk with our Mr. Sandburg for a bit." Jim watched the man go before heading to the hand-to-hand combat class he was supposed to be teaching. He closed his eyes and vowed not to listen in. His conscience gave him an unpleasant twinge. Jim wanted to be there with his friend in whatever way he could. Captain Ellison did not care what happened to the young man that had been his first guide. Captain Ellison had a new guide. "I have a new guide," he said aloud.

Blair scrambled to his feet as the door to his little world opened. “Big Bubba” and “Big Jake,” as Blair had dubbed them, entered and he warded them off with one hand. “Wait, just wait. I need to talk to the guy behind the mirror. Okay? Before you shoot that stuff into me, I want to tell him something.” He turned his attention to the two-way mirror. “Are you there?”

“Yes, Blair, I am here. What did you want to tell me?” came the reply.

“Okay. Here it is.” Blair walked to the table and put his hands, palms down, on top of it. He took a deep breath. “If I’m making a mistake here, may God and Jim forgive me,” he whispered softly.

“What? I didn’t hear that, Blair.”

Blair closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, he looked straight at his own reflection the mirror. “Captain James Ellison is a sentinel. All five senses are heightened. His condition is, from all the evidence that I have read and seen, genetic. Due to his heightened senses, he is extremely prone to odd reactions to drugs. He also is prone to a condition that I call a zone out where he focuses too much on one sense to the exclusion of everything else. Please, you have to be careful with him. In my notes I have detailed lists of things that can cause illness and injury.”

“And where would those notes be, Blair?”

“In a safety deposit box at the First Union Bank of Cascade on Willis Street. There’s one problem though. I don’t have the key. It’s in Simon Banks’ office, taped to the bottom of his top desk drawer. He doesn’t even know it’s there actually. If anything happ---happened to me, he would have gotten a letter telling him where to find it so, I can’t give it to you. Please, I’m begging you; don’t go experimenting on Jim. Tell me he’s still okay. He is okay, right? It was stupid of me not to tell you. You knew already.” He ran one hand through his tangled hair. “Can I see Jim now?”

“Tell me, Blair. What do you hope to gain by telling me now?”

“Jim’s safety. With my notes, you’re less likely to hurt him. Tell me I’m not too late.”

“So, your reasons are completely selfless?”

“Truthfully? Not entirely.” Blair glanced at “Bubba” and “Jake.” “Bubba” was fingering the syringe he carried, seemingly anxious to get on with his business. “I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t hoping to avoid that needle. But I’m not what’s important here. Jim is. I am nothing compared to him. To my knowledge he is the only functioning modern sentinel.”

“James Ellison is a sentinel?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you worried that you have betrayed his trust in you, Blair, by telling us this?”

Blair swallowed hard and looked down at his hands. “Yes. But I hope he understands that I am only trying to keep him from being hurt. I got him into this after all. Least I can do is try and minimize the damage.”

“What if I told you this was a test and you just failed?”

Blair found himself chuckling in spite of himself. “I’d say that was par for the course for me lately.” “Bubba” and “Jake” moved forward and this time he did not fight them.

/”Captain James Ellison is a sentinel. All five senses are heightened. His condition is, from all the evidence that I have read and seen, genetic.”/

Jim could hardly believe his ears. Rose turned off the tape and turned to him. “As you can see, it didn’t take very long. This was what we were afraid of. He simply could not withstand the pressure.”

“The pain, you mean,” Jim commented absently.

“Well, nevertheless, our fears were realized.”

“What now?”

“He’ll remain where he is for a while. Until I think he’s ready to listen to my offer to join the project.”

“What about the colonel? He doesn’t want Sandburg on the project.”

“I can handle Maxwell.” Rose slapped him on the back and left him to his thoughts.

Part of him wanted to be angry. He wanted to count this among the many betrayals in his life but how could he? Who had betrayed whom after all? Jim sighed and put his head in his hands.

He should have gone to Peru. He should have told Blair as soon as he remembered the truth. He should have done so many things differently. He laughed at himself ruefully. When his secret was exposed in the media, he blamed Blair and blew up at his guide, accused the younger man of violating his trust. What a laugh. The sad truth was that, although he would have probably lost his job, the publicity would have probably saved his ass from this particular situation. In his attempt to prove his loyalty to Jim, Blair debunked his own work, ruined his reputation, and gave these bastards the opportunity to tear them both out of their lives. The irony of it was not lost on Jim. “I am so fucked.”

It took longer than he wanted it to. His original appointment had been cancelled. Then his second appointment had fallen through. Finally, four days after he had arrived back in D.C., Pete was waiting impatiently for his newest and, he hoped, last appointment time. Pete paced the length of the hallway once again. He was about to repeat the exercise when the door to his right opened and he was beckoned inside. When he emerged two hours later, he was not entirely happy but not entirely without hope either. He went back to his apartment, unpacked his laundry and repacked with clean clothes. He called Maggie and made arrangements to head back to Cascade.

One day later, Kit picked him up at the airport and the two of them went straight to Simon Banks’ office.

“Well?” Banks demanded as soon as they entered.

Pete looked at the others present. Besides Jesse and Banks, there was another man and a woman. “Um, shouldn’t this be private, Captain?”

“This is Inspector Connor and Captain Joel Taggart. They know.”

“I see. Okay, well, this is what we have. I have good news and I have bad news. What do want to hear first?”

“Just spit it out, mate,” Connor spoke up.

“You know, you remind me of my sister.” Pete grinned at her. “Officially, I am re-upped as Lt. Peter Devereaux and assigned to escort two scientists to a facility outside of Everett to look over the notes and progress of the ‘Guardian Project.’ Three guesses who the scientists are and the first two don’t count. Unofficially, we are to remove Captain James Ellison and Blair Sandburg from said facility and destroy all records of the project. After which, Adler will be given the choice of retiring or being busted down in rank.”

“I don’t get it.” Jesse shook his head.

“Neither do I.” Connor was reminding him more and more of Darrien as she glared at him.

“It’s politics, folks. They want Adler to look bad. Losing research subjects doesn’t look good.”

“What about Jim and Sandy? What happens to them?” the woman demanded.

“Well, remember my little story you guys said wouldn’t work? Well, it didn’t. You were right there but I cut a deal. We do this quietly, make sure it looks like Rose was running a bogus project and these guys are willing to forget that Jim and Blair exist. Jim has to make an appearance at the Pentagon and claim that he is not a sentinel for the records and he gets his life back. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but maybe that’s just how bad these guys want Adler and Rose.”

“And if we get caught or something goes wrong?”

“They don’t know us and we are well and truly fucked.” Pete waited for that information to sink in before continuing. “Well, then gentlemen, and lady, let’s get this show on the road. We have preparations to make.” He opened his briefcase and handed Kit a folded piece of paper. “That’s a map of the compound, with all the security info you’ll need. Find us the quickest way out of there. We may be walking into the front gate but we may not get to leave the same way. Jesse, I need you to get started making up some ID’s for us.”

“You mean they didn’t give you ID’s for us?” Jesse frowned. “What kind of hack operation are they running?”

“Truthfully, Jess, I told ‘em you were faster. For some reason they were not reassured by that bit of information.” Pete slapped the younger man on the back and smiled evilly.

“Thanks a lot, Pete. Big Brother will be watching me for sure now.” Jesse made a face at his employer.

“I’m going with you,” Banks announced. “Joel, hold the fort for me.”

“You know I will,” the man assured his captain.

“You can’t go into the compound, Captain. They will recognize you. But we may need a driver for the getaway car so pack your bags.”

“What about me? Do I sit and twiddle my thumbs? What can I do?”

“Connor, just stay here and help Joel. I’ll be in touch if I need you,” Banks told her. Pete could tell she was not happy about it but she sighed and said nothing else.

“Anyway, we will be expected next Friday,” Pete continued.

“Next Friday?! We have to wait a whole week?” Jesse protested.

“Well, Jess, there is all that paperwork that has to be produced and filed.”

“Paperwork?”

“Yes, clearance for Drs. Parker and Barrow to even be there, you know.”

“Parker and Barrow?” Jesse grinned at him.

“Damn, Pete. Couldn’t you do better than that?”

“Excuse the hell outta me! I tried.”

“Well, I just have one question. Which one of us has to be Bonnie?” Kit asked then he and Jesse looked at one another and said simultaneously, “You!”

Part 2