                         Pieces

Danae

Disclaimer:  Not mine.  No money.  No harm.  No infringement. 
Just fun!  Robin is mine.

Special thanks to Wendy and Mary for beta reading for me.  To
Michelle for the encouragement.  And to all that have written
with feedback.  Without all of you, where would I be?  Don't
answer that!

This story is a sequel to Puzzle.  If thou hast not read that,
thou will mayhaps become just the tiniest bit puzzled!  Okay,
enough of that.  On with it... <Look, Michelle! Dots!>

Pieces

_______________

"What!?"  Jim winced at Simon's scream.

"It's true, Simon.  I poisoned Blair, not Sybil."

"No, no, I won't believe it."  Simon Banks shook his head.  This
just simply was not happening.  "Jim, that's not possible."

"Believe it, sir.  I remember doing it.  I put small amounts of
arsenic in his herbal teas.  I put it in the food he had in the
refrigerator.  I poisoned Blair."

Simon drew one hand over his face.  "Okay, all right, even if you
did, you aren't responsible."

"How do you figure that, Simon?  What are you going to tell the
DA?  I was under an evil spell?  I don't think he's gonna buy
that one."

"Oh, God.  How could this happen?  What did happen, Jim?  I don't
understand any of this."  Simon paced beside Jim's hospital bed.

"Hypnosis.  It's something Blair and I have worried about.  I'm
susceptible to hypnosis because of my senses."

"The zone outs!  Focusing on one thing."  He came to an abrupt
stop and hit himself in the head with his palm as the realization
came to him.

"Yeah, they resemble self hypnosis.  So it wasn't hard for her
and I didn't even remember until she told me about it.  I tried
to kill Blair."  Ellison turned his gaze out the window.

"No!  She tried to kill Blair and she used you to do it. 
Ultimately, she did it and she's dead.  End of story." Frantic
gestures accompanied the exclamations.

"No, Simon.  It's not the end of the story.  Read me my rights."

"Damn it, Jim!  No!  Everyone believes that Sybil tried to kill
Blair.  Why can't we leave it at that?"

"Because I know the truth, Simon!  It was me."

"Oh, and you think that sacrificing yourself for something you
had no control over is the right thing to do?  What's it supposed
to accomplish, Jim?  You think that it's going to make Blair feel
better?  If you do, you are sadly mistaken.  This will finish the
kid off, Jim.  It will crush him.  Nobody has to know."

"I'll know."

"I won't do it."

"Then I'll find someone who will.  Don't worry.  I won't tell
them that I told you."

"You think that's what I'm worried about?  Has that bitch messed
with your mind so much that you just can't help being a self-
centered bastard?  What about the kid, Jim?  Did you hear what I
said?  He can't handle this right now, damn it!"

"I don't know what else to do."

"Then do nothing until something else comes along.  Don't do
this.  Think of Blair."

"That's what I thought I was doing, Simon."

_______________________________________________________

"Robin?  Are you okay?"  Blair asked as he handed the woman a cup
of coffee and sat down beside her in the waiting room.

"I will be.  I'm going to miss him."

"I'm really sorry about your uncle, Robin.  Maybe if I had acted
faster--"

"No, you don't, Blair Sandburg.  Don't you even think of blaming
yourself."  She looked him in the eyes.  "Do you know how brave
you are?"

Blair felt his face flush and he became enthralled in his
styrofoam cup.  "I killed her," he whispered.

"She killed herself." 

"Yeah, because of what I did."

"No, because of what she did.  She deserved to have her spell
returned to her.  She was trying to kill you, or rather, make you
kill yourself.  She caused you mental and physical pain so that
you would end your own life.  Whatever magic you send out is
returned to you threefold, Blair.  A witch may use magic in many
ways, but only when threatened, should a witch use offensive or
destructive magic.  Otherwise, he or she had better be ready to
suffer the consequences."

"I'm not a witch."

"You're a shaman.  Granted, your discipline is different but the
forces are still the same."

"And she's still dead because of me."

______________________________________________________

"Ms. Perez, it's good to see you.  Here you are, ma'am, your
clothes and makeup."  

The dark-eyed woman took her things from her tall blonde
bodyguard and stepped into the bathroom of the motel.  She
stripped off the prison uniform and threw it in the sink.  She
picked up her cigarette lighter and set the material on fire. 
She watched it burn for several minutes, an insane glee in her
eyes, before stepping into the shower.  She rinsed away the smell
of the prison as she contemplated her freedom and what she
planned to do with it.  

The escape could not have gone any better.  She would have to
remember to give Michael a raise.  The bodyguard had earned it. 
Five long years she had waited.  Michael had never given up.  He
had finally found a guard who could be bribed, or rather black-
mailed.  She smiled.  Michael had not let her business go
downhill, not one bit.  Once the guard had seen pictures of
himself with the obviously underage prostitute, he was anxious to
help them.  Of course, then they had to shoot him.  

Michael had thought of everything, even being sure to bring her
favorite navy suit.  Thankfully, it was a classic cut and
therefore never went out of style.  So the motel could have been
a little better but he had done what he could.  It was not like
he could check them into the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel. 
Despite the fact that they were in Canada, they still did not
want to attract attention.  Canada did have extradition
agreements with the U.S., and she had much to do and no desire to
go back to prison.  First thing, let the commotion die a little. 
Second, pay Detective James Ellison back for those five miserable
years she spent in prison.  It would be nice to see Cascade
again.  It would be nice to see Ellison again.  That is, as long
as he was on the receiving end of her pistol.

_____________________________________________________ 

Things were tense.  Jim buttoned his shirt while Blair sat on the
window sill waiting for him.  He was getting out of the hospital
and going home.  Home to a silent and unhappy Blair.  He glanced
at the young man and tried to smile as the younger man happened
to glance at him at the same time.

"What?"  Blair began to look down at himself and then to smooth
back his hair, suddenly self-conscious.

Jim felt his heart flip-flop.  "Nothing."  Blair turned to stare
out the window again.  "I'm sorry.  You know that I didn't mean
that, right?  When I said you looked stupid that day in the squad
room?  You aren't stupid, Blair, and you don't look stupid
either," Jim said. 

Oppressive silence filled up the room and left Jim wondering
where the oxygen went.  He only had a profile view of Blair's
face but he could see the young man struggle to hold back tears,
gain control, and turn again to face Jim.  "I know."  

"Blair, I know I said some really hateful things to you but none
of it is how I really feel.  Please, you have to believe me,
Chief.  You're my best friend, my guide."  Jim debated silently
with himself while he spoke.  Should he keep his distance? 
Should he reach out and touch?

"We'll work--"

"It out.  You keep saying that, but that's not what I see when I
look at you.  I see you still hurting and waiting for me to hurt
you again.  Damn it, Blair, I didn't mean it.  Any of it.  In my
right mind, I would never hurt you that way."  Touch won out and
Jim crossed the distance between them and placed his hand on
Blair's shoulder.

"I know!  It's just hard!  I'm sorry!  Maybe I am stupid or
something but I just can't shake it off and not wonder..."

"Wonder what?  And you are not stupid, damn it!"

"Wonder if deep down, you don't feel some of it.  I mean, who
could blame you?  I'm messy and noisy.  I'm clumsy and I get into
trouble all the time."  Blair shrugged the hand away and tried to
regain the lost space between them.

"And you're smart and resourceful.  And a damn good cook as long
as you don't try to tell me what the ingredients are.  Not to
mention the fact that if it weren't for me, you wouldn't get into
about, oh, I don't know, three fourths of the trouble you seem to
find.  You taught an hard ass cop how to live a little, Chief,
and I damn near killed you."  Jim finished in a whisper.

"Jim, you couldn't shoot me.  Remember?  You fought her then, Jim
and you won.  I knew you couldn't shoot me.  Well, maybe not
knew, but hoped."  Blair turned back to him.

Jim shook his head.  "You don't know, Blair."

"What don't I know?"

Jim searched his soul and then the deep blue eyes of his friend. 
"I want you to go on home now.  No matter what, I want you to
stay at the loft," he told the younger man as he moved back to
the bed where his bag sat still open.

"Jim?  What are you saying?"

"I'm not coming home right away, Blair.  I have to go and talk to
Internal Affairs."  Jim hurriedly closed the bag.

"Internal Affairs?  Why?"  A hand on his stopped him for a
moment.

"Blair, I--"  The blue eyes before him shined with concern.  He
shook his head.  He could not say it.  "I can't.  You'll find out
soon enough.  I can't tell you and I can't not let you know.  I
can't live with the secret.  I thought maybe I could, but I
can't.  If you need somebody to talk to, Simon will there, I'm
sure.  Or maybe Robin.  I understand the two of you have become
close the last few days."

"Jim, what are you talking about?"

"Here."  Jim pulled a twenty out of his pocket and pushed it into
Blair's hand.  "Take a taxi home.  You may have to come pick up
my truck later from the station though, so here."  Another
twenty.  "Go, Chief, please.  You'll understand later."  Jim
grabbed his bag and fled the room.  He was fully aware that Blair
was following him.  He could hear the younger man calling his
name, but he did not stop.  Finally, he left him standing in the
hospital parking lot.  His sentinel vision cursed Jim with a
clear image of the tears on Blair's face.

_______________________________________________

"Detective James J. Ellison, you are under arrest for the
attempted murder of Blair Sandburg.  You have the right to remain
silent.  If you give up that right--"

"What the hell is going on here!?" Simon boomed as he rushed into
the interrogation room.  

"Leave it alone, Simon."  Jim turned away from his captain.

"Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of
law," Internal Affairs officer, Hale, continued.

"I'll talk to the judge, Jim.  I'll arrange bail quickly," Simon
assured.

"Leave it alone, Simon.  You aren't listening.  I don't want
bail." Jim stood from his seat and let the officer handcuff him.

"Hale, leave me with my man for a minute, will you?"

"Certainly, Captain Banks."  The man stepped out of the room.

"What is this, Jim?  Penance or something?  A little guilt trip
gone bad?"

"I tried to kill Blair, sir."

"And you were not in control of your actions when you did," Simon
whispered.

"Just be there for Blair."

"That's a given, Jim.  Hell, somebody's gonna have to be there
because this is going to destroy that kid and you certainly won't
be there to pick up the pieces, will you?  Because you decided to
duck out.  Rather take the law's consequences than face him,
huh?"

"Simon, please.  Don't.  Just take care of him."

"Aw, damn it!"

"It's too late now, anyway."

________________________________________________________

A key turned in the door and Blair jumped up from the couch.  He
flung open the door.  "Jim?!"  He was disappointed.  "Simon,
where's Jim?"

"Blair, you should sit down."  Simon Banks entered the loft and
made his way to the couch.  He did not sit, however.  Blair
watched the big captain pace before the piece of furniture.  

"It's that bad?"  Blair asked hesitantly.  "Tell me, Simon,
please."

"Sandburg, please sit down."

Although the man had said please, the tone of the request was
still that of an order and Blair complied.  He sat in the big
armchair and pulled his legs under him.  "Okay, what?"

"Jim's in jail."

"What!?" Blair was no longer sitting.  He was up in an instant. 
Hands on his shoulders pushed him back down into the chair again.

"I made sure that he'd be kept out of the general population, so
he's safe."

"Okay, fine.  Now why?"  Blair demanded.

"Attempted murder."

"Attempted murder of who?  Oh god, Simon, I told you that he
wasn't going to shoot me that day!"

"It's not about the gun incident.  Blair, it's about the
arsenic."  

Blair knew immediately that he did not want to hear what was
coming.  He raised his hands to his ears and covered them against
the truth.  He shook his head.  "No, no, no..." he chanted.

Simon pulled his hands away and stared him dead in the face. 
"Yes, Blair.  Jim put the arsenic in your teas.  He was under the
influence of a post-hypnotic suggestion when he did it.  He
didn't even remember it until Sybil Hawthorne told him.  Jim told
me that you and he had both worried that he would be susceptible
to hypnosis."  Simon shifted to sit on the coffee table.

Blair squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.

"Well, we found out that Sybil Hawthorne was a hypno-therapist. 
Can you believe it?  That crazy woman was a psychologist
specially trained in hypnosis.  Anyway, it's not his fault
really.  Blair, you have to believe that.  Tell me that you
believe that."

"I don't know what to believe anymore.  What am I going to do,
Simon?  What happens now?"

"Jim refuses to even talk about bail.  He doesn't want out.  He
thinks he's doing penance, I guess.  He won't even hire a lawyer. 
He'll end up with a public defender."  

"I'll call Robin."

"Why?"

"Robin's a lawyer, Simon.  In California, granted, but a lawyer
just the same."

"Are we talking about the same Robin?  Robin Fairchild?"

"Yes, Simon.  What?  Did you think that she made her living
putting spells on people or something?"

"A witch for a lawyer?  Most lawyers are jackasses.  I guess a
witch is good for variety."

"That's *so* not funny, Simon.  I can't believe you said that." 
Blair sighed.  "Man, what am I going to do!"  He winced at his
own whine.  "Jim tried to kill me," he whispered.

"No!  Sybil Hawthorne tried to kill you.  She used Jim to do it. 
Damn it, Sandburg, you're as bad as him."

"I can't help it, Simon.  I've tried to tell myself that I'm
being overly sensitive.  I tell myself that Jim did not mean all
those things but a little corner of my head is still whispering
to me that he did.  Some part of my heart feels that he actually
feels that way about me and Sybil just gave him the opportunity
to say it.  I mean, come on, Simon, you know what I'm saying
here.  You say it often enough.  'Sandburg, you are not a cop,' 
'Sandburg, you're driving me crazy.'  Well, if I drive you crazy
and I don't really fit in your world, imagine how Jim must feel
sometimes.  I don't just work with him.  I live here in his
space.  I'm messy.  I make too much noise.  I forget the house
rules.  Sometimes, I just ignore them all together.  I devise
weird tests that I insist he has to take.  The list goes on and
on, Simon.  Nobody ever wanted me around for very long before
Jim.  I was too hyper and I got in the way.  Jim is bound to feel
that way sometimes.  He's just been too polite to say it until
Medusa comes along and gives him an out.  Now, he can say what he
feels and blame it on her."  

"Are you done?  Is the pity party over?"

Blair started to protest but Simon's quickly raised hand cut him
off.  He sat back in the chair.

"Now, you listen to me, Blair Sandburg.  That man loves you.  Not
like that, you know, but he does love you."  Blair could see the
blush creep up Simon's neck and he stifled a smile at the man's
sudden discomfort.  "Sure, you can be a little exasperating at
times.  You're too naive and soft-hearted.  You do seem to have
an endless supply of energy that us older guys are very envious
of and therefore get a little aggravated with.  However, you did
not just take up residence in his space.  You took up residence
in his heart, Blair.  He was a hard, cold son of a bitch before
you came along.  You made a human out of a military machine.  Do
you realize what that means?  Do you know how hard other people
tried to do that very same thing?  Jesus, Blair, in my book, in
spite of my moaning and groaning, that makes you someone really
special.  Dear god, if you ever tell anybody I said these things,
they will never find your body and Jim and I will be sharing a
cell.  Anyway, moving on, no, you aren't a cop but that is not
necessarily a bad thing sometimes.  It means I have to be careful
what kind of situations I send you into but it does not mean you
don't have a lot to offer my department.  You have insights into
people that either my men have lost to the job or never had to
start with.  You have a different approach to doing things that,
as much as it pains me to say this, works sometimes.  Now, if I
know all this stuff about you, imagine what Jim knows and what
Jim feels about you.  Blair, you are partner, roommate, friend,
brother, and son to Jim.  He would never hurt you intentionally
of his own free will."

"It just hurts, Simon.  It's stupid and irrational but there it
is.  I'll work it out."

"Maybe you should get some help to that.  I can arrange for you
to see the department's psychologist."  Simon rose.

"Man, I hate therapy.  But I hate feeling this way more."

Simon clasped one big hand on his shoulder and tousled Blair's
hair with the other.  "Everything's going to be fine, kid.  We'll
get Jim out of this and get you and him straightened out.  I
promise."

______________________________________________________

"Ms. Fairchild, what are you doing here?"  Jim did not hide his
surprise at seeing the petite woman enter the private room
reserved for meetings between the jail's inmates and their
attorneys.

"Well, I tried to bring you three nails, a hammer and a cross for
your selfless sacrifice but they wouldn't let me in here with
them.  Pardon the Christianity reference but I figured you would
appreciate it more than a large stake, some kindling, and a
lighter.  At any rate, since you won't help yourself, Blair
decided to call me."  She placed a small brown briefcase on the
table in front of Jim.

"I don't understand."

"I'm a lawyer, Mr. Ellison.  Can I call you Jim?" she asked as
she pulled out a chair and sat down.

"A lawyer?  You're a lawyer?"

She smiled, a smile that was halfway between amusement and the
indulgence Jim had gotten used to seeing on her face.  "Yes, the
witch is a lawyer or rather the lawyer is a witch, whichever you
prefer.  Now, my license is in California so I'm not your primary
lawyer.  We'll have to work with your public defender.  I was
told that he was on his way."

"Why a lawyer?"

"Because you need one, in case you haven't noticed.  You're in
jail."  The amusement was almost gone.  Indulgence remained
constant.  She pulled a legal pad out of the briefcase.

"No, I mean, how does-- well, someone like you end up being a
lawyer?"

"Jim, I'm assuming I can call you that since you never really
answered my question.  You would be amazed at how many Wiccans
end up in court for various and mostly ridiculous things.  Then
they are forced to deal with lawyers who do not understand them
or their religion and may even believe the nonsense. They do not
find that problem with me."

The door opened and a man entered.  "Hello, Detective Ellison."

Jim recognized him and he said a short prayer of thanks to
whatever deity was looking out for him.  If he had to deal with a
lawyer, at least it was going to be Greg Spalding.  He had met
Spalding on several occasions in dealing with cases and found the
man to be honest.  A rarity among his profession.  He and Robin
Fairchild might actually be the only documented cases.  Despite
the fact that he had just learned that the woman was a lawyer, he
knew her to be honest and ethical.  Therefore, finding out that 
Spalding, also honest and ethical in Jim's opinion, was assigned
to his case as well made Jim more comfortable.  

At the same time, he did not know why that was, however, since he
had every intention of going to jail.  He did not want a lawyer
at all.  He poisoned his best friend.  No jury could acquit him. 
Jim had already convicted himself.  He had to make sure that
these two knew it.

"Mr. Spalding, this is Robin Fairchild.  Apparently, Blair hired
her for me."

Robin extended his hand out to the average-looking man and he
took it with a puzzled expression on his face.  "I thought you
needed a public defender."

"He does, Mr. Spalding.  I have a California license.  While I
would like to confer on his case and help out all I can, I can't
try the case without lots of paperwork and special permission
that I just have no interest in getting."

"I see.  Well, then let's get started."  Spalding added his
briefcase to the table and pulled out a legal pad as well.  
Minutes later, Jim examined the lawyer's stunned face.  "Let me
see if I understand this."  

Jim shook his head.  Robin had done most of the talking and she
had told the story in her terms, which meant spells and Wiccan
rituals and the whole nine yards.  "Mr. Spalding, I don't want to
talk about any of that.  I poisoned Blair Sandburg and that's
that."

"The same Blair Sandburg that was your partner and the same one
that hired Ms. Fairchild?"  Spalding gestured with his pen.

"Yes." Robin answered firmly.  

"And you poisoned him because you were under a spell?"

"No!"  Jim and Robin exclaimed simultaneously.

"I poisoned him because I-- well I don't understand that part.  I
just did."  Jim glared at Robin, daring her to mention spells
again.  She did not, but she also ignored his stare.  Jim took a
moment out to marvel at her ability to ignore him completely. 
Usually, when he turned the Ellison stare on someone, he got what
he wanted.  Not so with Robin Fairchild.

"He poisoned him under the influence of a post-hypnotic
suggestion."

"Like a person acting like a chicken because some guy in a top
hat told him to?" Spalding was incredulous and Jim could not stop
the smirk on his face or the thought in his head that challenged
Robin to convince the practical minded Spalding to buy that fish
story.

"No, I mean as in real hypnosis, done by a professional hypno-
therapist to place a complex set of instructions to be activated
later by a code word or action.  It is a perfectly legitimate
form of therapy that has helped people for years upon years. 
However, in the hands of the wrong person, it can be devastating,
like now."  She pointed at Jim.  "This man would not have
poisoned Blair under ordinary circumstances.  Some outside force
dictated his actions."

"Do you realize how hard that is going to be to prove?"  Spalding
ran one hand through his hair.  

"You don't have to prove it, damn it!  I have confessed.  Just
get to the point.  Plea-bargain with the DA and get me my best
deal."

"Oh, I don't think we are going to do that." Robin snapped at
him.  It was the first time he had seen hint of the woman's
temper.  It was enough to make him pause.  She turned back to
Spalding.  "As a matter of fact, I believe that Jim's insistence
that he is guilty and that he be made to suffer the consequences
may indeed be a post hypnotic suggestion in itself."

Jim sputtered and raised his hands in protest but she slapped at
his hands and hissed at him to shut him up.  He was taken aback
and shoved his chair back from the table and slumped down in it
to sulk.

"That's a very nice theory but we are back to proving it." 
Spalding told the woman.

"Leave that to me."  The smile on her face at the moment was
neither amusement or indulgence and Jim felt a shiver run up his
spine.

_______________________________________________________

Teraza Perez held out her hand to Michael so that the faithful
bodyguard could assist her as she got out of the black limo he
had rented for her return home.  She had tried to sit patiently
in Canada and wait for things to cool down but after two days,
she informed Michael that she wanted to get back to Cascade.  She
had never been known for her patience.  A lovely residence had
been secured by the ever-efficient Michael and she found that
indeed the majority of her operation was still intact.  Forget
the raise for Michael.  Perhaps she would just adopt the man as
her heir.  She was greeted by those people among her inner
sanctum who had escaped Jim Ellison's clutches and a few of her
"workers."  

She had inherited the family business when she was twenty-six
from her enterprising father.  The man had made millions in
prostitution, protection rackets, and the drug trade.  Her father
had been killed by a corrupt cop on his payroll over a "salary
adjustment."  Of course, the cop had gotten off.  Teraza went
about holding her father's business together and making it grow. 
Being an equal opportunity employer, she even added male
prostitutes to the ever growing stable.  Finally, four years
later, when the murdering cop had been all but forgotten, she had
him killed.  Then Jim Elton had shown up on her doorstep as new
muscle for the protection racket down in Chinatown.  He was
handsome, charming, and very tough.  She fell for him hard. 
Little did she know that Jim Elton was really Jim Ellison, vice
cop extraordinaire.  She told him everything over the main course
of a romantic dinner and was arrested before the dessert arrived.

Her father had once told her that revenge was the real name of
the game.  He taught Teraza to be a winner in that game.  Jim
Ellison was in for the game of his life.  She smiled and gripped
the file in her hand even tighter.  Michael, bless his evil
heart, had Ellison's whole life inside it.  It had been
interesting reading.

_____________________________________________________

Blair slammed the Anthropology text closed and shoved it away
from him.  He could not concentrate.  He got up from his desk and
left the office.  He wandered the campus, contemplating the
general screwed-up state of his life.  Mentally, he listed all
the things in his life that had gone to hell in the proverbial
hand basket over the last few weeks.  His best friend fell for a
murderess.  That had sucked majorly.  His best friend hated him. 
That sucked worse.  He got poisoned.  Did he really have to
express how much that sucked?  He tried to slit his wrists on a
public street.  Simon had to take care of him.  Aforementioned
best friend almost died in bizarre sacrifice ritual. He found out
that same said best friend was responsible for the poisoning. 
Best Friend then went to jail.  Best Friend refused to see him. 
And finally, since Best Friend was also Research Subject, his
thesis was screwed as well.  Blair felt as if he had been dragged
through nine levels of hell face down, only stopping long enough
to get kicked around a little bit before heading down again.  He
wondered how many levels hell had.  He really did not want to go
down any further to find out, truth be told.  He wanted to go up,
please and thank you very much, and he would even chance an
elevator ride to do it.

He was miserable.  He had thought that trying to get some work
done would get his mind off the turmoil that his life had
suddenly become but he could not work.  He decided to go back and
get his keys and head home.  Home, now that was another thing all
together.  The loft was Jim's home.  Blair's too, he supposed,
out of the goodness of Jim's heart.  Jim did have a good heart. 
It felt strange to be there with Jim in jail.  Insanely, he
wondered if there was a law against subletting the apartment of
the guy who tried to kill you while he was in jail.

He shook the thoughts from his mind.  Jim was not going to jail. 
Robin said so and Blair trusted her.  Blair also cared deeply for
her.  He could not even bring himself to think the "L" word. 
Luckily, she would be going back to San Diego after this whole
mess was over and Blair would not have to deal with the
possibility that the "L" word would slip past his defenses and
out of his mouth.  Naomi would just have a freaking fit if she
knew that Blair was in this kind of imminent danger.  Blair
laughed at the thought as he made his way back to his office.
Maybe he would call Robin and spend the afternoon with her.

Two hours later, he was lost in Robin's deep brown eyes and life
did not seem quite so bad there.  Robin had a plan that would fix
everything, she assured him.  It was a little underhanded but
with Jim refusing to help with his own defense, she and Spalding
had to do whatever they could, however sneaky, to keep Jim out of
jail.  He did not take Robin back to her little apartment after
dinner.  Instead, the two of them went back to the loft. 
Although he felt a little guilty thinking it, Blair figured that
Jim could not very well bitch about the house rules from jail and
Blair really needed company.  Morning found him warm in Robin's
arms and feeling much better than the day before.  He even
thought that he could get some work done at his office.  

______________________________________________________

Robin Fairchild examined the man across the table from her. 
Assistant District Attorney Frank Dyer was a first class jackass. 
If that were not enough, he was also a male chauvinist of the
highest order and he obviously had it in for Jim Ellison. 
Apparently, from what Greg Spalding could tell her, the two had
clashed at one time over a case that Jim thought Dyer had really
messed up.  A corrupt cop had murdered somebody and because of
Dyer's sloppy handling of the case, the guy got off.  Jim had
taken the man to task for it since he was the arresting officer,
and the two had despised one another since.  Thus, Dyer was
really loving this opportunity to drag Jim through the mud and
the court system.  All and all, it had been a delightful meeting,
with Dyer first mistaking Robin for a secretary and calling her
Honey and Sweetheart every time he deemed her important enough to
speak to at all.  She was really going to enjoy what she had
planned for Mr. Dyer.

"You have got to be kidding me!"  the man laughed.  "You aren't
really going to try to prove hypnosis, are you?  I mean, I've
heard the devil made me do it but the hypnotist made me do it. 
That is right out of a bad TV movie!"

"We shall see, Mr. Dyer.  Nevertheless, that is our defense,"
Robin told the irritating man.  "Mr. Dyer, I'd like you to look
closely at this pendant. It's very important to the case."  She
held up her pentacle in front of the man's face.

Greg Spalding swallowed hard and looked away.

________________________________________________________

Blair locked the loft door behind him and turned to place his
jacket on its proper hook.  Movement in the living room startled
him and he yelped and spun to face the intruder.  "Who are you?"
he demanded.  "What are you doing here and how the hell did you
get in?"

"You would be Blair, right?  My name is Teraza Perez.  I'm an old
friend of Jim's."  The Hispanic woman's tone said what her words
did not.  Blair shivered.  "It is a pleasure to meet you." She
stood and took a step toward him.

"Jim's not here."  

"I can see that.  However, that is no great tragedy.  I wanted to
see you, Blair.  Blair Sandburg, Anthropology professor and
student, police observer/consultant, you are a very interesting
person."

"Thank you.  I'd like for you to go now."  Blair pointed at the
door behind him.

"Not yet.  Come, sit and talk to me."  She moved back to the
couch and sat.

"I don't really want to.  If you don't want to leave, then I'll
go."  Blair turned back to the door.  He grabbed his jacket and
quickly unlocked and opened the door.  He never had a chance. 
Outside the door stood two men.  They blocked his way.  He closed
his eyes and turned again to face the woman in the living room. 
"What do you want?"

"I want you to keep me company for a few days."

"And if I don't want to?"

"You are not being given a choice, my beautiful boy." 

"You don't understand.  If you are doing this to get to Jim, then
you're wasting your time.  Jim is in jail right now.  He can't do
anything that you might want him to do.  No rescue attempts, no
ransom, no turning himself over in my place, nothing like that."

"I know that.  I did my homework.  He's been in jail since the
day I made my unscheduled departure from the hell-hole he sent me
to.  Actually, that is the best place for him while you and I get
to know one another.  No interruptions."

"Oh, god."  Blair ran, his mind on the back exit in his room and
the fire escape from his window.  Either one would do.  He never
got that far, however.  His heart dropped as the french doors to
his room opened and two more goons blocked his path.

"I came well prepared," the woman remarked, never moving from her
spot on the couch.  

He was trapped.  Jim would not be coming to the rescue this time. 
Blair felt the panic attack begin in his chest and his vision
blurred as tears threatened.  The eternity of a moment was so
clear to him as he faced his captors.  The universe seemed to
pull at him from all sides and he knew that at any moment he
would explode into a million pieces.  He wished only that the
explosion would come quickly and spare him any more of the terror
he felt.  Instead of his explosion, he felt a sharp pain in his
shoulder and turned his eyes just in time to see the needle slide
out of his skin.  He took in the face of the man who drugged him
and committed it to memory before the floor rushed up to met his
body on its way down.

__________________________________________________

Jim sat in his solitary cell and played Solitaire with the
playing cards that Simon had brought him.  He played Clock,
Pairs, King's Corner, and finally traditional Solitaire.  Cards
got old very quickly.  He would have to ask Simon for some books
when the man came to see him.  As if the thought conjured him,
the outer door opened and Simon Banks entered the room.  Jim
moved to the bars that separated him from his former captain. 
*Former.*  That was the way Jim had started thinking of his life
as a cop.  Former, a thing of the past.  The fact was that
Jim had tried to kill his partner.  Jim was not a cop anymore. 
He was a criminal and all the arguments that Simon, Robin and
Spalding wanted to make did not change that.  

"Jim, I have some news you might like to know.  Teraza Perez
escaped from prison a few days ago.  She vowed to get revenge
when you sent her up, didn't she?"  

"What can she do to me now, Simon?  I'm in jail.  She got out, I
got in."  

"Never mind.  I just thought you might want to know."  The digust
was loud and clear in ths man's voice.

"What you thought was that if I heard that Perez was out, I would
recant my confession and try to get out of here so I could put
Teraza back in here.  Isn't that right, Simon?"  Jim moved back
to his seat and picked up the deck of cards again.

"I think Robin's right.  I think that you are still under the
influences of Sybil Hawthorne.  But you won't let Robin put you
under to find out.  This is not you, Jim.  You know as well as I
do that you would never hurt Blair intentionally.  You know full
well that you didn't even remember putting arsenic in Blair's
teas until Sybil told you that you did..."

Jim tuned the big man out as he went back over the Perez case in
his head.  He had still been in Vice then.  His assignment was to
get close to the woman and take down her and her operation.  It
had worked better than he had hoped.  Drugs, protection, and
prostitution were all excellent charges to have against her but
when she had confessed the murder of a cop, Jim solved a major
unsolved case, got a cop-killer off the streets, and got promoted
to Major Crimes.  Teraza Perez was a vicious woman.  She had
vowed to make him suffer for his "betrayal."  She vowed to hurt
him, to cause him pain, to destroy everything and everyone he
cared about.  "Blair!" he blurted.

"What?  Have you heard a damn thing I've said?"  

Jim could almost see the steam rising from Simon's head but he
ignored it.  "Have you talked to Blair today?  Simon, have you
seen Blair?"

"I saw him the day before yesterday.  I went by the loft and we
had dinner.  He's doing as well as can be expected.  He tried
working some yesterday and couldn't concentrate.  He and Robin
went to dinner last night.  I talked to him this morning and he
was going in to his office and then he had a class to teach
today.  I was going to stop by later this afternoon.   Why?"

"Teraza made a specific threat to destroy everyone I cared about. 
Simon, until she's caught, could you put a guard on Blair?"

"What about Steven and your father?" Simon asked even as he took
his cellphone from his pocket.

"They're both out of the country at the moment.  Steven is in
Japan and Dad went to France for a few weeks."

"Okay, I'll get back to you in a few hours when I have Blair
situated.  It's about time you started behaving like the Jim I
know."  Simon pressed the buzzer to signal the guard to let him
out and then started dialling.  "Try not to worry, Jim.  I'll
take care of it."  He left Jim to dire thoughts of Blair in the
clutches of Teraza Perez.

___________________________________________________

Consciousness tickled the back of Blair's eyes and he tried to
turn over to snuggle down into the soft mattress under him. Pain
shot through his wrists and ankles and consciousness stopped
tickling and rushed up and hit him instead.  His eyes flew open
and immediately focused on the handcuffs that fastened his wrists
to the head board of a wrought-iron bed.  Lifting his head, he
could see the shackles attaching his ankles to the foot board as
well.   He let his head fall back and he sighed heavily.  As best
he could, he took in his surroundings.  He was in a large bedroom
on a queen size bed.  The decor was light and airy, ruffles and
lace.  Funny that he could not associate the woman that he met in
the loft with the decor of the room.  Teraza Perez was not
ruffles and lace.  

"You just had to be in jail right now, didn't you, Jim?"  Blair
whispered.  Of course, Blair could appreciate the irony of
expecting the man who tried to poison him to come and rescue him. 
"Why me?" he asked his god and Robin's goddess.

"Because you do not choose your friends very carefully," came the
softly accented words of Teraza Perez as she entered the room. 
"As you have already seen, Jim Ellison can not be trusted.  He
betrayed me and he betrayed you, too.  Didn't he?"

Blair turned his eyes from her and gave no answer.  

"You are still loyal to him.  I don't understand it.  I must tell
you, though, that your loyalty to him will be the cause of your
suffering."  She stood at the end of the bed.

"Suffering?  What are you going to do to me?"

"I've been trying to decide just that.  You see, I thought to
kill you at first.  However, that would be too easy.  A little
mourning and Jim would go on with his life.  I would love to add
you to my stable of male prostitutes.  You would make me so much
money."  Her hand ran through his curls and he tried to snatch
away but the restraints did not leave him enough room to move.  
"But something tells me that you would also be too hard to
control.  All the threats in the world and all the guards in the
world would not stop you from trying to escape, would they?  And
besides, there's no way to really destroy Jimmy-boy in that plan. 
I'd have to keep you a secret that way.  I want to destroy
everyone he loves and him in one fell swoop.  Know what I mean? 
So, this is what I came up with.  You will stay here as my guest
for the next week, maybe a little longer, then I'll let you go. 
Isn't that nice of me?"

"How does that destroy Jim?"

"Oh, forgot one little detail.  When I let you go, you'll be a
heroin addict.  Imagine, Cascade's finest detective has a heroin
addict for a partner.  When the press gets a hold of that story,
then does some digging and finds the cover-up regarding Jimmy
trying to poison you, he'll be ruined.  Here's what it will look
like.  Jim Ellison, Supercop, finds out that his partner, his
very own partner, is an addict.  Well, he can't let that get out
so he decides to off said partner, quietly, discreetly, and then
no one will find out that a junkie has been working and living
with him."

"No.  You can't do this.  Please, what have I ever done to you?"

"I told you, you choose your friends carelessly.  Of course, if
you'd rather, I could use a beautiful boy like you in my stable. 
I could be persuaded to find another way to take Jim Ellison down
if I have your cooperation."

"You're insane."

"I thought as much.  Oh well.  By the way, why did Jimmy try to
poison you?  That's the one thing that my file on him does not
explain.  I hate to put together a puzzle and find out that there
are a few pieces missing, don't you?"

"It wasn't his fault.  Someone else used him to try to kill me. 
He didn't even realize he had done it until it was over."

"And you believe that?" she chuckled.

Blair paused.  Did he believe that?  "Yes."  The firm answer was
for himself as much as for her.

"Then you are a naive fool."  She walked away from the bed. 
Stopping at the door of his room, she smiled at him.  "I'll be
back later and bring your new best friend with me."

Blair closed his eyes and one tear escaped from beneath his
lashes to slide down the left side of his face.  He took a deep
shuddering breath and tried to calm his racing heart.  He sent
his mind back to search for the exact moment when his life had
fallen to pieces.  What he found was Sybil Hawthorne's sneering
face taunting him with threats of taking Jim away from him.  He
cursed the woman's soul silently and then felt instantly guilty. 
Was it not enough that he had caused her death?  He had to curse
her to eternal damnation as well?  For just a moment, he figured
then that it would be pretty appropriate that he would join her
there shortly, for Blair could think of nothing worse than being
a junkie.  

He would rather be dead, and before he let Jim be destroyed by
Perez's plan, he would be dead.  He would have to do it right so
that his body would not be found.  If it was found, then tests
would show the drugs.  Maybe if he could make it into the
mountains or to the river, he could pull it off.  More irony. 
Under Sybil's spell and sick with arsenic poisoning, he did not
want to die and fought with all he had to stay alive.  Yet after
surviving all that, he was carefully planning his suicide while
completely clear-headed and, for the time being, well.  He still
wanted to live.  Just not at Jim's expense.  The trade-off sucked
but he had no choice.  Jim was not going to come to the rescue
this time.  Simon would probably try.  Robin would try.  He just
hoped that there was something left to rescue if and when they
came.

_______________________________________________

Simon Banks entered Jim's isolation area, fingering in his right
hand the piece of paper that brought bad news.  He had found it
on the door of the loft, tacked there with Blair's Swiss Army
knife.  He looked up into the inquiring ice-blue eyes of his
friend and still best detective.  He shook his head and handed
the paper to Jim through the bars.  Simon waited for the
reaction.  

It came as a sharp intake of breath and a quiet question.  "Do
you have any leads?"

"There were no fingerprints, but then again, we don't need them,
do we?  She made sure we knew who had taken him.  Other than that
piece of paper and the message on it, we have nothing.  I've got
Brown, Rafe and Taggert out trying to get something."

"Call Robin and Spalding for me.  I have got to get out of here."

"Thank God!  I'll take care of it.  I'm going to pull some
strings."  Simon reached into his coat for his cellphone.

"Thanks, Simon."

"Don't thank me until I find out just how much I can do."  Simon
did not try to hide his relief.  He started for the outer door.

"Simon?"

"Yeah?"

"If you can't get me out of here, please find Blair for me."

"I will get you out of here, Jim.  One way or the other."  Simon
knew what that meant and he knew that Jim knew.  He and Jim might
very well end up sharing a cell after all.

____________________________________________________

After Simon had gone, Jim sat staring at the note in his hand. 
Simon had forgotten to take it with him.  He would come back for
it, Jim knew, but in the meantime, it stared back in accusation
at Jim.  *If only you had been there,* it accused.  *If only you
hadn't been so stubborn, you would have been there to save him,*
it taunted.  In reality, it only said that Blair was the guest of
Ms. Teraza Perez until further notice.  What kind of notice, Jim
wondered and worried.  He leaned back against his cell wall and
silently cursed Perez and Sybil and himself.  The three of them
together, Jim decided, had to be the bane of Blair's existence.

___________________________________________________

The men in Major Crimes got quickly out of the way when Robin
Fairchild entered the squad room.  Simon did not so much as even
ask her not to slam his office door.  It would have done no good
and he did not wish to fall into the woman's bad graces at that
particular moment.  She swore quite creatively and flung her
briefcase onto the couch.  "And I would just like to go on record
as saying that if Jim Ellison was not such a stubborn jackass,
this would not be happening right now.  If I believed in hell, I
would curse him and this Perez woman to it for eternity!"  She
flung herself into a chair, next to a silent and pale Greg
Spalding.

Simon swallowed hard before speaking.  "I take it you got my
message."

Indulgence without the smile is what he got in return.  "Well,
what are you doing?  What's going on?  Have you found Blair?  Did
you get Jim a bail hearing or get his arraignment moved up? 
What?  Tell me something I can work with here."

"The best bail hearing I could get is in four days."  Spalding
told her.

"That is not good enough.  That's four days that Blair is in the
hands of some prison escapee with a grudge," she growled.

"Let me finish.  With Captain Banks' help, I got his arraignment
moved up to three days from now."

"Oh, well, like that is so much better!"

"It's the best I could do.  I'm sorry."

"Okay, fine.  Three days is better than four.  Not by much but
better just the same.  So, what are your people doing to find
Blair?"

"I have my officers on the streets talking to prostitutes. 
Teraza Perez had a string of prostitutes before she went to
prison.  Rumor has it that they never really quit, that Perez's
bodyguard kept things running.  Maybe if we can find one that
will tell us where Perez is."

"Is Ellison ready to go under to determine if Hawthorne left any
other instructions in that hard head of his?"

"Yeah.  He's ready to do whatever it takes to get out of there. 
Will your plan work?  You never actually told me what you were
planning to do," Simon questioned the woman.

Spalding rubbed his temples and sighed.  Robin Fairchild ignored
him.  "It will work."

"And what is it?"  Simon persisted.

It was Spalding who answered.  "You're better off not knowing,
Captain Banks.  It's not going to be pretty when this goes down
and you don't want to be in the line of succession for the
backlash that this is going to cause.  I would really like to
find the nearest exit myself."

Robin rolled her eyes and Simon found himself even more worried
than before, something he had been sure could not have been
possible just minutes before.

______________________________________________________

By the time three days had passed and Jim stood before the judge,
everyone's nerves were shot.  Robin placed a pitcher of water on
the desk in front of Greg Spalding with a little more force than
necessary and got a look of disgust from Spalding in return.  She
looked back at Simon Banks and nodded to him.  The man returned
her nod solemnly, his face grim and his eyes red from lack of
sleep.  His men had truly tried to find Blair.  Robin knew that
and she thanked them for their fruitless efforts with a little
less grace than she intended.  Grace was in short supply at the
moment for her.  She readied herself as Spalding stood to deliver
his opening remarks to the judge.  Robin read the man in the
black robe carefully.  Indeed, he did not look like the kind of
guy who would be appreciative of her efforts and she resigned
herself to spending a couple of days in the Cascade jail on
whatever charge he came up with.  She watched as the man shook
his head at Spalding's words regarding the validity of post-
hypnotic suggestions and hypno-therapy as a whole and how Jim was
as much a victim as Blair.  He was frowning as Spalding sat down. 

The judge recognized the ADA and Frank Dyer stood with a chuckle. 
"Your honor, I really don't need to say or do much of anything
here."

"Ian Prescott."  Robin announced.

"What?"  the judge looked at her strangely.

"Sorry, your honor, something just came to me regarding another
case.  I didn't mean to blurt it out."

"Fine, Ms. Fairchild, just try to control those outbursts. 
Proceed, Mr. Dyer."

"Sure thing, idiot." Dyer looked horrified as he realized what he
had said.

"What did you say to me, Mr. Dyer?"

"I don't know why I said that, your honor.  I don't understand
that at all."

Jim leaned forward in his chair and grabbed Robin's arm.  "You
didn't!  Did you?  You did." Jim lowered his forehead to the
table.

"That's nothing.  Watch this."  She reached for the water pitcher
and poured a cup of water and handed it to Spalding.

"And furthermore, I really don't give a damn what you think.  I
have the right to speak my mind!  The Constitution of the United
States says so.  So just go screw yourself, Mr. It's-Not-A-Dress-
It's-A-Robe."

"That's it!  Dyer, you are facing contempt of court charges!"

"Whoops!"  Robin whispered even as she suppressed a smile.  One
glance back at Banks proved that he was as horrified as Jim,
perhaps as much as Dyer, who was, at that precise moment,
removing his clothes.  

"Christ on a Cross!"  the judge exclaimed.

That did it for Robin who dissolved into laughter while Spalding
tried to disappear in his chair.  Robin pulled herself together
and stood.  "Beltane."  

Dyer stopped his strip-tease and blushed scarlet red.  Hurriedly,
he tried to button buttons and pick up his suit coat from the
floor.  "Your honor, I am so sorry!  I don't know what came over
me. I--"

"Perhaps I can explain.  Your honor, if I may?"

"Perhaps you should."

"What you saw was a demonstration.  If we had hypnotized Jim
Ellison or any member of the defense, then Mr. Dyer and you would
have questioned the validity of the demonstration.  However,
during our first meeting with Mr. Dyer, I hypnotized him and set
post-hypnotic suggestions in place using a few key words and one
action.  I'm terribly sorry but we had to have a way to prove our
defense to skeptics.  It was all we could come up with.  Now, if
you will allow me, I would like to hypnotize Detective Ellison
right here, before you and Mr. Dyer and expose what was done to
him under hypnosis."

"Ms. Fairchild, I--- just don't know what to say to you.  I'm
going to find some sort of charges to bring against you.  I just
haven't figured out what kind just yet."

"Have her disbarred!" Dyer screamed.

"And I'll have you up on charges of sexual harassment, Mr. Dyer. 
With your 'honey' and 'darling' and 'sweetheart' and the way you
kept trying to look down the front of my dresses, I doubt I'd
have a hard time.  I have witnesses.  Really, Dyer, if you hadn't
been such a pompous ass, I would have felt very guilty for this
but the way I see it, you got what you deserved."  Robin told
him.

"Mr. Dyer, please tell me that she's making this up."  The judge
looked over the man carefully.

"No, sir, she's not." Spalding spoke up.  "I was there.  I'm her
witness."

"Ms. Fairchild, we'll talk more about this later.  Please proceed
so that I can get out of this circus act."

"Dear God, I've died and gone to hell," Jim moaned and Robin
popped him in the back of the head.

"Shut up.  It worked, didn't it?"

_______________________________________________________

An hour later, Jim stepped out of the courthouse a free man.  He
had been stunned to learn that Robin had been correct.  Sybil had
indeed placed several more suggestions in his head, almost as if
she was afraid that she might fail at her own attempts to kill
the two men and wanted to haunt them from her grave.  Jim's
excessive and obsessive guilt was only one of them, not that he
did not feel guilty anymore.  He did.  It just did not consume
his every thought as it had before the compulsion was exposed. 
There were more compulsions set that could have ended up causing
one or both of their deaths.  Robin did not seem surprised. 
Speaking of the little witch, Jim thought fondly, Robin had
several hundred dollars in fines to pay for disrupting a court
room and some other things that Jim was sure that the judge made
up but that Robin did not argue with.  Dyer ended up paying more
fines than Robin and the man was not happy.  Jim pushed the
irritating man out of his thoughts quickly, however.  He had a
much more important agenda.   He had to find his partner.

_________________________________________________________

Blair watched dispassionately as Michael pushed the needle into
his arm.  If he had been able to engage in coherent thought, he
might have fought, but he could not and did not care.  He giggled
a little as some words fell together in his head and created a
silly rhyme without any effort at all.  *My name is Blair and I
don't care!*  He laughed again and Michael smiled at him.

"What's so funny, Blair?"

"I know why now."

"Know what, dude?"

"Why poets did drugs."

Michael laughed and ruffled Blair's curls.  Blair liked Michael. 
He knew that he should not but he did.  Michael put needles in
his arm, sure, but he was also the only person who was nice to
him.  The others were mean.  He hated Teraza.  She touched him in
ways he did not like at all.  Those other guys only came in the
room to beat him when he had made Teraza mad.  Once after his
second escape attempt, they beat him so bad he thought that he
would die. He did not, however, and he was handcuffed and
shackled to the bed again, except for the arm where Michael gave
him his shots.  Michael stood up and started out.

"Hey Mike?  You coming back later?"

"Yeah, dude.  I got to bring you some more happy juice later."

"I don't want any more."

"Blair, you always say that, but trust me, dude, if I stop now,
you'll change your mind and pretty damn quick."

"No, I won't."  Blair mumbled.

Blair watched Michael frown.  "I know you want to believe that."

The man left then and Blair was left to his jumbled thoughts,
rising up to almost make sense only to fall back into a hazy
abyss before he could truly grasp them.

_______________________________________________________

Michael Phillips closed the door behind him and leaned his
forehead on the door frame.  He hated this.  It was not right. 
Yet, he did as he was told.  Mike, as he preferred to be called,
for all his bulk and imposing features, did not like hurting
people who did not deserve it.  Perhaps what constituted
deserving it was different in Mike's book than some other
people's, but he knew that Blair Sandburg did not deserve what
was being done to him.  

Furthermore, Teraza was brutal.  Perhaps he was remembering
things the way he wanted but he did not remember her being this
way before prison.  She had already had two of her old
"associates" killed because she suspected that they might have
helped Jim Ellison get to her.  She had sent the goon squad out
after several of the prostitutes that she thought were holding
out on her and had them wreck a Mom-N-Pop store in Chinatown
because they were one day late with their payment.  Mike just did
not run the business that way and it had grown and prospered.  He
was no longer in charge, however.  At one time, he fancied
himself in love with Teraza.  She was seven years his senior and
always treated him more like an employee than a lover but he
really thought that they could be happy together.  But no more.  

Mike had to get out of Cascade, out of her life.  He had to start
new somewhere else.  He would have to be careful in the meantime. 
And he also had to find a way to save Blair Sandburg.  He liked
the kid.  He was tough.  Most importantly, however, he was an
innocent in this game that Teraza was playing.  Blair had not
even known Jim Ellison when the man arrested Teraza.  Even if he
had, nobody deserved to have their lives ruined this way for
something that somebody else did.  The hardest part of it was
that Teraza had instructed Mike to do it.  Mike himself had
turned an innocent kid into a drug addict.  

Mike almost laughed when he realized that he was referring to
Blair as a kid when he was not much older.  The laughter died in
his throat though when it occurred to him why he felt it
appropriate to call him a kid.  Mike realized, all at once, just
how old and jaded he had become over the years at Teraza's side
and how young and naive Blair was by comparison.  Enough was
enough.  He had to get himself and Blair away from Teraza as soon
as possible.

______________________________________________________

"Come on, Delores.  We know that you're one of Teraza Perez's
girls.  We also know that she had her muscle rough you up the
other night.  Your roommate told us that much.  We know that you
know where she is.  Tell us and you can walk out of here right
now."  Jim paced in front of the woman in the chair.  He was over
his shock at finding the woman still working the streets and for
Teraza Perez but Sneaks had never steered him wrong before.

"Yeah?  And in thirty minutes tops, I'm dead.  Nobody crosses
Teraza Perez.  Put my ass in jail for solicitation.  Better in
jail than dead."  The garishly made up woman bit her nails and
shifted in the chair.

"She won't have a chance to get to you if you help me.  I'm going
to put her under the damn jail."  Jim had long since lost his
patience with the stupid woman.  He grabbed the arms of the chair
and leaned over her.  "Listen very carefully to what I am about
to tell you.  Teraza Perez has kidnapped my partner.  I want him
back.  Now, you either tell me where she is so that I can get
what I want and put her ass back in prison where she belongs or,
I swear to you, I will release you and put out the word that you
talked.  You'll be dead one way or the other, the way I see it. 
If you tell me, maybe you'll have a shot at surviving."

"You wouldn't do that.  You can't do that.  You're a cop."

"I would and I can and I don't give a damn.  So what's it gonna
be?"

"That guy she took was your partner? One of the other girls told
me about him.  Said he was real cute and had all these curls."
She made ringlet motions around her head with both hands.
 
Jim took in a deep breath. "Yes."  *Epitome of the dumb blonde,*
he thought to himself.

"Man, I am really sorry.  Look, I don't know where she's staying. 
Some of the others do, but I swear to you, I don't.  All I can do
is tell you where I meet with Perry.  I give him my money and he
takes it to her.  Maybe if you could pick him up?"

"Okay, now we're getting somewhere."

____________________________________________________

"What is it, Michael?  You're a million miles away."  Teraza ran
her hand through his short blonde hair.

"It's about Blair."  Mike shifted around to face her.

"What about our guest?  He hasn't tried to escape again, has he?"

"He's in no shape to escape, Teraza.  We don't give him a moment
on the ground to even think about it any more."

"Then what's the problem?"  She circled his chair and sat on the
arm of it.

"The problem is that this is wrong, okay?"

"Excuse me?"

"Teraza, Jim Ellison arrested you, not Blair.  Man, we are frying
his brain here!  He was some kind of genius before we got our
hands on him.  We've reduced him to single syllables here.  Even
if he survives, he could be, like, never the same, a babbling
idiot and it's not right!"

"You keep calling him by his first name." She laughed and Mike
cringed at the hard sound of it.  "Michael, darling, I think you
like our little friend upstairs.  So what if he's never the same. 
So what if he doesn't survive.  As long as he survives long
enough for us to move onto part two of our plan."

"Your plan.  I don't want credit for this one, Teraza."  He
stood, nearly dislodging her in the process.

"Tough.  You have credit already.  Need I remind you that you
have been injecting him with the heroin?"

Mike looked away from her.  "No."

"Good.  Besides, I found out that Ellison was released from jail
yesterday.  Maybe it's time for part two.  After all, he is most
definitely hooked, right?"  She walked over to the bar then.

"Yeah."

"Then cut him off.  As soon as his withdrawal starts, we dump him
and call the media.  Our little Blair is going to be a star and
he's going to drag Ellison into the spotlight with him."  She
poured herself a drink and smiled at Mike as she raised the glass
in a toast.  Mike made a decision in that moment.  Two actually. 
One, he hated her.  Two, since he was the one charged with
Blair's disposal, he would make a call all right.  Funny how
lines can get crossed sometimes.

_____________________________________________________

"What are you doing here?"  Jim could not hide the surprise on
his face as she strode right up to him in the locker room.  He
finished securing the bulletproof vest and reached for his
shirt.  "How did you get in the men's locker room?"

Robin frowned at his questions.  "Jim, I don't actually
understand what it is about you that's different.  I do, however,
know that it's something to do with why Blair is involved in your
life.  Anyway, I suppose I'm offering my services in lieu of
Blair's.  I'm not Blair but I understand what he is.  Our
disciplines aren't the same but we hold similar positions in the
natural order of things.  To answer your second question, I
walked in, nice and casual like."

"Robin, I appreciate the offer but I'm about to go on a stakeout
to try to arrest a guy who might know where Blair is.  I can not
and will not take a civilian with me.  Now, before you argue with
me, you're right.  I would take Blair but that's a little
different.  Blair and I have worked together for almost four
years.  He knows me and I know him.  I do not mean to insult you
but you can't take his place, even temporarily.  You know part of
what Blair is, not all of what he is and for me that missing
information could be dangerous.  And before you ask, no, I can't
and won't give you that missing information."

"Ellison, you are going to need me.  Don't ask me how I know
that.  I just do." She put her hands on her hips in a show of
stubborness that Jim knew could rival his own anyday.

"Very good try."  Jim shook his head as he tucked his shirttail
into his jeans.

"You doubt me still after all you've seen?"

"No, Robin, actually that's not it.  I know what you can do.  I
also know what you will do to come along.  I know about you and
Blair."

"I see.  Okay, I can understand why you'd be a little skeptical
of anything I had to say then but I am not lying to you.  I know
that you will need me when you find Blair.  I don't know why or
for what, but I know."  Her tone had changed.  No longer
stubborn, it had taken on an edge of urgency that Jim could not
ignore.

He searched her eyes for a few moments and saw the urgency there
as well.  He nodded succinctly.  "But you stay in the damn car! 
God, I hope you follow instructions better than Blair."

"No problem.  I hate guns and I have no intention to put myself
in the line of fire."

"Funny, Blair says the same damn thing every time.  Right before
he nearly gets his damn head blown off trying to save my ass or
somebody else's ass."

Robin smiled at him.  "Would it help if I swore an oath or made a
promise?"

"Hell, no.  Blair promises every time, too," he mumbled.

____________________________________________________

"Take him down the alley and leave him there."  Mike told the two
men that lifted and dragged Blair out of the trunk of the car. 
Mike watched them drag the young man into the darkness.  Mike
winced at the sounds of the moans and weak cries of pain coming
back to him on the cold wind.  He picked up his cell phone and
dialled 911.  "Can you patch me through to Major Crimes,
Detective James Ellison?"

_______________________________________________________

Jim swore as he grabbed the ringing cell phone off the seat of
the truck.  "Ellison."  

"The alley off Wilson between Cambridge and Fourth.  You'd better
hurry.  This is not the best section of town and he's not in the
best of shape."

"Who is this?"

"A friend of Blair's.  Just come get him."  

The line went dead and Jim stared first at the phone and then
into Robin's inquiring eyes.  "About Blair?" she asked.

"Yeah, hold on."  He cranked the big blue and white truck and
flung the gear shift into drive.  "Call Simon.  Speed dial 2 and
tell him, the stakeout is called off.  I got a lead on Blair and
I'm on my way to Wilson, between Cambridge and Fourth."

Jim focused on driving, trusting the extraordinarily calm woman
in the passenger's seat to handle the call.

___________________________________________________

"Did you call the news people already?"  one of the men asked as
they exited the alley.

"Yeah, taken care of.  Let's get out of here."  Mike took one
last look down the alley as the others got into the car.  He
tried to peer into the darkness but he could not get past it to
see the man that they had dumped there like so much garbage.  He
got into the driver's seat with a small prayer that Ellison was
on his way.

_____________________________________________________

The big blue and white truck spun to a stop in front the alleyway
and Jim jumped out after barely slamming the vehicle into park. 
"Blair!" he called, reaching out with both sentinel sight and
hearing to find his partner.  

"Should I call an ambulance?" Robin asked.  "Do you see him?"

Jim did not bother to answer either question as he found what he
searched for.  "Blair."  He ran down the alley and dropped to his
knees beside the little rocking ball that was his partner.  He
was vaguely aware that Robin was fast approaching them.  He
touched the whimpering figure and a frightened cry answered the
touch.  Robin knelt beside him.  "Blair?  Come on, buddy.  It's
Jim."  Jim reached out and touched the younger man again and
pulled him out of the tight ball he had curled into.

"No!" came the objection.  "Go away, Jim.  Can't help me this
time."  Blair jerked away from him and curled into the ball
again.

"Blair, it's Robin," the woman beside Jim spoke.  "What's wrong,
sweetheart?  Are you hurt?"

"Call an ambulance." Jim told her as he used his senses to pick
up the chills, elevated heart rate, and labored breathing.

"No!" The objection was stronger.  "No hospitals, no doctors. 
I'll handle it.  Go away."

"Don't be stupid, Blair!  I'm not going anywhere."  Jim pulled
the shaking figure into his lap.

"Nice choice of words," Robin scolded as she tried to examine
Blair's face as best she could in the dark.

Jim winced.  "Sorry, Chief.  Tell me what hurts, Blair."  Jim was
doing his own examination of his partner as he spoke.

"You don't understand.  This is what she wants!  Wants to ruin
you.  You can't help!  Go now, Jim, before they get here."

"Before who gets here, Blair?  We're the only ones here, buddy. 
I checked."

"They'll come.  You have to go.  I'll have to go, too.  Can't be
here when they come."  He tried to free himself from Jim's arms
but Jim held on.

"Ow," Blair protested as Jim pulled on his arm in an attempt to
turn him to face him.

"What's wrong with your arm, Blair?  Does it hurt?"  Robin asked,
pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"Nothing!" He renewed his efforts to escape and the pieces fell
together in Jim's head.  He grabbed the favored arm and
straightened it.  "No, no, no, please, Jim, don't."  Jim ignored
the pleas and pushed up the sleeve of the flannel shirt his
friend wore.

"Oh, God," Jim breathed and closed his eyes.

"What?"  Robin asked.  Jim knew that, in the darkness, she was
unable to really make out what was plain to him.

"Needle tracks."

Her sharp intake of breath was followed shortly by a sob.

"Now, do you see?" Blair's voice cracked as well.  "Don't cry,
Robin," he pleaded.

"It's okay, Blair.  I'll take care of it," Jim tried to reassure
him.  Jim held him tighter.

"You can't, Jim!  You can't have anything to do with me!  That
was the plan, see?  Ruin you by association with me, the heroin
addict!  Go away, Jim!  They're going to be here soon."

"Who is they?"

"News people."

"Damn it!  We have to get you out of here."  Jim extended his
hearing out of the alley to the streets beyond but heard only
moving traffic.  "Come on, buddy, let's get you somewhere safe." 
He scooped Blair up in his arms and stood.

"You can't, Jim," Blair still protested.

"Well, I'm not leaving you, Blair and that's final.  Whatever
happens, happens.  You hear me?  You're all that matters right
now."

"We'll take him to my place," Robin stated.

"Right.  You drive.  Did you ever call that ambulance?"

"No.  I left the stupid phone in the truck."

"Good."  They made their way back to Jim's truck.

"Jim, please.  Don't ruin your career for me."

"Hush now.  I'll take care of it, I told you.  Everything will be
fine, Blair.  We'll work it out.  I'll handle everything."

"But if anyone finds out!"  Blair squirmed in his arms, trying to
escape again.

"No one will find out.  Nobody has to know, Chief.  Trust me,
nobody will know."

"Don't worry, Blair."  Robin kissed his cheek and opened the
passenger's door for Jim who carefully placed Blair into the cab
of the truck.  

"Call Simon." Jim told the woman, grabbing the cell phone and
handing it to her.

"No!  You said no one would know!" Blair exclaimed and tried to
get out of the truck but Jim and his own weakened state prevented
that.

"Blair, calm down.  It's okay.  Trust me, okay, Chief?"  Jim
turned back to Robin.  "Tell him that we found Blair and that
everything is fine.  Tell him I'll call him later.  Don't tell
him where we're going."

She nodded and made the call.

____________________________________________________

Simon Banks was not a happy man.  He did not like being kept in
the dark and that was exactly what was happening.  Robin
Fairchild's non-information was enough to set his jaw clenching
as proficiently as Ellison's ever did.  He would wait for Jim's
call, but he would not wait for long.  He could and would put out
an APB on his best detective and his partner if he had to do so. 
As it was, a uniform car was being dispatched to Jim's loft, just
to drive by and report back if Jim's truck was there.  A knock on
his door distracted him.  Taggert's face peeked in.  "Come on in,
Joel.  What can I do for you?"

"We just got an anonymous phone tip on the whereabouts of Teraza
Perez."

Simon grabbed his coat.  "Then let's get going."

"Aren't you going to call Jim?"

Simon glanced back at his phone.  He sighed and shook his head.
"I think Jim's plate is full at the moment."

"Blair?"

"Yeah, they found him but something's up with that.  I'll figure
it out after we have Perez."

Joel only nodded and let Simon pass by him on the way out of the
office.

_____________________________________________________

Jim carried Blair's shaking form up the stairs to Robin's second
floor apartment.  "He's covered in dirt and oil from the alley. 
We need to clean him up so I can see what else is wrong."  Jim
informed the tiny woman as she unlocked the door and stepped
aside for Jim to enter.  

"You mean there's more?"

"He's been beaten.  I don't think it's bad but we need to get him
clean regardless."

"Down the hall on the right.  I'll be right there."

Jim let the woman handle the bath while he paced.  Afterward, he
lifted the too-light frame and carried him to Robin's bed.  He
established then that Blair had not been fed.  He had definitely
lost weight, weight he could not afford to lose.  He searched for
broken bones.  A few ribs were cracked, one was broken.  Other
than that, cuts, bruises, and scraps covered the body of his
guide.  

"Jim, it hurts."  Blair folded in upon himself when Jim was
finished.

"I know, Chief.  I won't lie to you.  It'll get worse before it
gets better."  He sat on the side of the bed opposite Robin.

Jim felt Robin's eyes on him as she looked up from Blair's side. 
He met her gaze and saw tears shining in her eyes.  "I'll make
him some tea."

"He probably won't keep it down, Robin." Jim told her honestly.

"We have to try.  I'll make it mint and chamomile.  It might help
to settle his stomach.  The mint will help cleanse his body of
the drugs as well."  She stood and scrubbed at her eyes then
smoothed her hair.  Jim could see her put herself back together
and try to regain the confidence she usually exuded.

"It's worth a try."  He smiled at her, while one hand absently
rubbed Blair's shoulder. "Besides, we can't let him dehydrate. 
He has to drink something."

She weakly returned his smile and left the room.

"How much worse?" Blair asked when she was gone.

"You're still in the fairly early stages, Buddy.  I'm sorry."

"How do you know all this, Jim?"

"I was in Vice, remember?  I've seen this before."

"I saw it in a movie once.  Jim, I'm cold."  With that
declaration, he began to pull on the blanket beneath him.

"Hold on.  I'll get that."  Jim stood and quickly helped Blair
get the blanket from under his body and over him instead.  Jim
carefully tucked the blanket around Blair's trembling form then
pushed back sweat-soaked curls from his forehead.

"This could kill your career, man.  That's what she wanted.  If
anybody finds out..." Blair's voice shook and he trailed off. 
Jim watched helplessly while a cramp twisted Blair's insides and
he stifled a cry of pain.  "Oh, man, that hurts."

Jim closed his eyes and took Blair's hand in his.  "When it gets
bad, just squeeze my hand."

"Then give me the other one.  That's your gun hand.  I'd prefer
not to break that one," Blair joked, a weak smile crossing his
lips for a moment before it died as another cramp hit.

Jim lowered his forehead to rest on Blair's shoulder.  "I'm so
sorry, Kid.  This is all my fault.  All of it.  First Sybil then
Teraza.  Jesus, Blair, why do you put up with me?"

"Because I've never had somebody who takes cares of me the way
you do.  You're my blessed protector, Jim."

"Some protector, Blair. And the only way I'm blessed is because I
have you as my guide and my friend, Chief."  He sat up as Blair
gripped his hand tight.  Jim felt the bed move with the body that
spasmed on it.  "I've not been much of a blessing to you lately."

The pressure on Jim's hand lessened and Blair looked up at him
with blue eyes that should have been dulled by withdrawal but
instead were shining with trust.  "You came to get me.  You could
have left me there.  You should have left me there but you
didn't.  I know you care about me, Jim.  I know that all that
before was Sybil, not you.  I understand that."

"You forgive too easily and you trust too much, Blair, and I'm
damn grateful for it."

"We're going to be okay, Jim."

"Yeah, buddy." 

Robin entered the room with the tea then and Jim took the
opportunity to step out of the room and get a hold on his
tattered emotions.

"We'll be okay," he tried to convince himself.  "As soon as I
pick up the pieces of your heart and soul, Chief, and manage to
put them back together.  If I can."

"You aren't alone, you know?"  Robin's voice behind him startled
him and he frowned at the sensory failure that allowed her to
sneak up on him.

"Thanks.  One of us should be with Blair."  He started back
toward her bedroom door but she stopped him.

"He wanted me to check on you and tell you to try to rest.  I'm
going to stay with him.  The couch is very comfortable.  I'll
call if we need you."

"I don't want to leave him right now."

"Jim, he's worried about you.  He knows that you aren't convinced
that he doesn't blame you."

"And how much do you know about heroin withdrawal, Robin? 
Nothing, I would guess.  I've seen this before.  I'm also a
trained medic.  I should be with him in case of any
complications."

"What kinds of complications?"

"Withdrawal can cause a tremendous amount of strain on the heart. 
Cardiac arrest has killed more than one addict during
withdrawal."  Jim raked a hand through his buzz cut.

Her brown eyes reflected Jim's own pain back at him and he
reached out for her hand.  "That bad?"

He pulled her to him and hugged her.  "Don't worry.  I'll take
care of him."

___________________________________________________

Simon stood over the dying man in the middle of the otherwise
deserted house where Teraza Perez was supposed to be.  An
ambulance had been called but Simon doubted the man would live. 
Rafe handed his captain the man's wallet.  

"His name is Michael Phillips.  Says that he was the one who
called but somebody overheard him and Perez split after she
ordered this."  Rafe pointed down to the man at their feet. 
Phillips was nailed to the floor with the word "traitor" scrawled
out next to him with his own blood.  Two bullet holes were
responsible for the majority of the blood and for the fact that
the man was turning blue.  Obviously one or both lungs were
collapsing.  Brown and Taggert were both trying to staunch the
blood flow.  Another officer tried desperately to pull the nails
out of the man's hands.  

"Simon," Taggert said, "I think he wants to say something to
you."

Simon knelt by the man who, he guessed, was not much older than
Blair and would probably not live to see his next year.  "What is
it, son?"

"Did he find him?  I tried, you know?  I liked the kid.  It was
wrong,"  The man whispered, laboring to get the words out at all.

"Yeah, he found him.  You gave him the tip?"

The man nodded.  "He's only a kid.  Don't blame him.  It was us. 
We did it."

Simon was puzzled and opened his mouth to ask the man what he
meant but just as he did, he heard a rattling breath exhaled and
the man's eyes glazed over in death.  "Son of a bitch!"  Simon
swore, standing suddenly and storming out of the house.  Once at
his car, he kicked the front tire.  He heard the ambulance and
screamed over the siren.  "It's too damn late now!"

________________________________________________

Blair shivered as Jim held the younger man against him, Blair's
back to his chest.  Robin lay beside them on the full bed, one of
Blair's hands clasped in hers.  

"Cold again,"  Blair whispered, through chattering teeth.  Robin
looked to Jim who nodded.  She moved to pick up the blanket that
Blair had thrown off just moments before when he was too hot. 
Jim smiled at her as she tucked it around Blair.  "Thank you."
Blair mumbled then gasped with pain.  He pulled his legs up and
Jim wrapped a big hand over his forehead and rocked him until the
spasm passed.  He felt Blair relax into his arms again and he
tried to relax as well.  Robin picked up the dry towel from the
nightstand and used it to blot the sweat from Blair's face and
neck.  She then took his hand again.  

Minutes later, Jim felt a spasm of another kind and heard Blair's
breathing change.  "Robin, let go of his hand."

"Why?" She did it, sitting up as she asked the question.

"Gonna be sick." Blair lurched off the bed and stumbled to the
bathroom.  Jim was right behind him.  As Blair fell to his knees
before the toilet, Jim grabbed his long curls and held them out
of the way.  Jim heard the woman stifle a sob as she entered the
bathroom and quietly wet a bathcloth in the sink.  She knelt
beside his partner and wiped his forehead and then placed the
cloth on the back of Blair's neck.  Jim knelt as well, still
holding Blair's hair in one hand while the other rubbed his back. 

"Shh, it's okay, baby,"  Robin soothed as Blair began to sob
softly.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for, Blair.  It's okay, Chief."
Jim let go of the thick curls and moved to sit on the side of the
tub.  

Robin took the cloth from his neck and wiped Blair's face with
it.  "I think it was the tea that made you sick, Blair.  I'm
sorry."

Jim was quick to disagree.  "Robin, anything will make him sick
right now.  It wasn't the tea.  He hasn't eaten in a while and
the withdrawal was going to make him sick anyway.  Actually, the
tea was a good idea.  Like I said, we do have to keep him from
dehydrating.  Can you make him some more while I help him back to
bed?"

She nodded.  "I'll add some Valerian to see if it will help him
sleep some."

"Sounds good."  

When she was gone, Jim mostly lifted Blair from the floor.  "You
were talking about me like I wasn't here," Blair complained.

"Sorry, Chief.  I didn't mean to.  I'll do better, okay?"  He
moved them both out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom.

"Okay. I don't mean to be grumpy either."

"Chief, this is nothing.  You'll be cursing my unborn children
before this is over.  But don't worry.  I won't take any of it
personally or seriously."  Jim lowered the younger man onto the
bed and moved onto the bed himself, once again positioning
himself behind Blair.  Jim leaned back against the head board,
then reached out to pull Blair closer to him.  

"I would never do that, Jim." 

Jim smiled.  "Yeah, you say that now."  Jim reached for the
blanket and tried to pull it up around Blair but Blair pushed it
away.

"Hot now," Blair told him.  "You're hot, too.  Don't touch me
right now, okay.  You're too hot."

"Okay."  Jim let his friend curl into a ball in the middle of the
bed.  "Although I have to wonder, if I was Robin, would I be too
hot?" he teased.

"Shut up, Jim."

"I didn't think so." Jim laughed.

"If you were Robin, you'd definitely be hot, though not the way
you mean," Blair mumbled.

Jim was still laughing when the topic of the conversation came
into the room with Blair's tea.  "What's so funny?  Tell me, I
could use some happy news."

"Don't you dare, Jim."  Sentinel-soft came the warning.

Jim never got the chance to answer as Robin's phone rang and she
went off to answer it.

______________________________________________________

"Hello?"  She glanced back at her bedroom door.  "Oh, hello,
Captain Banks."  Jim appeared in the doorway immediately.  She
questioned him with a look and he shook his head sharply.  "No, I
haven't seen them since they dropped me off hours ago.  Captain,
do you realize what time it is?  Can't this wait until in the
morning?"  A nod of approval came from Jim.  "They were fine when
they left here.  That's all I know.  Captain Banks, it's three in
the morning.  Can I call you tomorrow?"  "Of course, if I hear
from them, I'll call you.  Good night, sir."  She hung up the
phone.  A sigh of relief escaped her and she sank into the chair
by the phone.

"He's not going to give up.  I should have realized that."  Jim
came fully into the living room.

"Blair doesn't want him to know."

"I know that but it may be unavoidable.  Hell, Robin, I don't
want him to know.  It took Blair a long time to gain the respect
of the men I work with, Simon included.  I just don't know how
Simon will react and I don't want Blair hurt any more." Jim
leaned against the bar that separated the living room from the
kitchen as he spoke.

"I don't think Simon will hurt him.  I saw him with Blair when
you were not yourself.  He cares for Blair."

"He may have no choice in the matter.  Anybody finds out about
this and there's an investigation, Blair will not be my partner
any more, whether Simon likes it or not.  There are just too many
people who would like to believe that Blair lived up to their
image of him.  Simon can't stop that from happening.  He can't
stop an investigation.  No, this has to be a secret."

"The Perez woman will make sure that this gets out.  Blair said
that this was her plan all along."

"By then, I hope to have Blair on his feet and ready to dispute
it."

"And blood tests?"

"I don't know.  I'll think of something.  I am not going to lose
Blair as a partner over something like this.  He did not choose
to be an addict and I won't let anybody drag him through the mud
because of some bitch's twisted revenge against me."

"You really love him, don't you?"

Jim looked down at his feet.  "He's family."

__________________________________________________________

Simon Banks figured that he probably resembled a pissed off
grizzly on a rampage.  His first clue came when the officers of
Major Crimes parted for him like the Red Sea for Moses when he
walked in.  He was pissed and he was tired as hell.  He had
gotten absolutely no sleep at all, worrying about Ellison and
Sandburg.  He decided that Jim had until lunch time to call
before the APB went out.  The uniform car had reported back to
say that Jim's truck was not at 852 Prospect and Robin Fairchild
had not been exactly helpful.  A light bulb came on in Simon's
brain then and he smacked his palm to his forehead.  He opened
his office door and got his second clue as to just how pissed he
looked as several officers scattered quickly from a huddle around
Rafe's desk.  He ignored them.  "Hey Joel!  Get me Robin
Fairchild's local address, will you?" he called to Taggert.  The
big man flashed an okay sign at him and Simon closed the door. 
Something was up big time with Ellison and Robin Fairchild not
only knew about it but was probably hiding the man and his
partner.  What worried Simon the most was why they were hiding in
the first place.    

Joel entered the office and handed Simon a slip of paper.  "You
need me to go along?"

"No.  I just want to talk to the woman.  Thanks, Joel."  Simon
grabbed his coat and left Taggert standing in his office.

He ran through reasons why Ellison would not come in while he
drove.  Did the man suspect a leak in the department?  If so,
why?  And who?  Or was it something else entirely?  Phillips had
said, when he was dying, not to blame Sandburg.  Blame Sandburg
for what?  Simon shook his head.  He did not even want to start
speculating there.  Simon pulled into the parking lot of the
small apartment building where Robin Fairchild lived.  He got out
of the car and squared his shoulders for the argument he knew he
was in for.  Whether Ellison was there or not, Simon knew that
Robin knew where he and Blair were and Simon was determined to
get some answers.  

__________________________________________________________

By sunrise, Blair was in almost constant pain and had taken up
residence on the bathroom floor, refusing to get up, arguing that
he would just have to come back again.  Jim could not argue with
his logic and had Robin bring the blankets so that he could wrap
Blair in them where he sat beside the toilet.  Robin's tea had
only gained Blair about two hours worth of sleep before the
cramps and the vomiting started in earnest.  Therefore, Robin and
Jim had gotten even less than those two hours.  Jim got up and
walked into the kitchen to make some coffee.  As he did, he
caught the odor of cigars and the sound of familiar footsteps on
the stairs outside the door.  

"Damn it!" he swore softly and strode quickly back down the
hallway.  He stuck his head inside the bathroom door.  "Robin?"
He motioned for her to follow him.  

She was bathing Blair with a cool, wet bathcloth in an effort to
ease his discomfort from his latest bout of hot flashes.  She
made a face at Jim before pressing the cloth into Blair's hands
and standing.  Jim watched as Blair threw the cloth away in
disgust and gave them both dirty looks.  "What is it?" she asked
even as the doorbell rang.  She looked terrified.  "Who is that? 
You know, don't you?"

"It's Simon." he whispered.  "I'll get Blair back into the
bedroom and you try to get rid of him.  It's probably not going
to work but try."

"Jim, he's going to know something.  If I look anything like you,
I look like death warmed over."  One small hand gripped his shirt
in panic.

"Thank you for your tact, Counselor.  Go, try.  If you fail
miserably, I'll think of something to keep him away from Blair."

"Oh, now, who's the smartass?" she snapped as Jim hurried down
the hall to get Blair.  A knock brought her attention back to her
door.  "Coming!"  She looked down at her wrinkled clothes.  "I'm
not dressed!" she yelled.

____________________________________________________

"Who's there, Jim?"  Blair asked as Jim picked him up, blankets
and all. 

"Simon.  Be as quiet as you can, okay?  Robin's going to try and
cover for us."  Jim carried his partner out of the bathroom,
nearly running into Robin as she grabbed her robe from her
bedroom and hurried back to the door. 

Jim nodded once to her and closed the bedroom door with his foot. 
He turned and plopped Blair onto the bed.  He tried to tuck the
blankets around him but Blair pushed his hands away.

"Damn it, Jim.  I'm hot.  Leave me alone.  And don't just throw
me around anymore.  I don't like being manhandled."

"Blair, be quiet.  I'm sorry but unless you want Simon to find
us, shut up now and bitch at me later."

Blair mumbled something about kicking Jim's ass later and Jim
ignored it, focusing instead on what was happening on the other
side of the door.

_____________________________________________________

"Hello, Captain Banks.  What can I do for you?"

"You can tell me where Ellison and Sandburg are.  And do not tell
me that you don't know where they are, Ms. Fairchild, because I
am not buying it."  Simon pushed past her into the little
apartment.

"I told you last night.  They dropped me off and left.  They were
both fine when they did."  She did not face him but instead
closed the door with exaggerated care.

"You are a horrible liar, Ms. Fairchild.  Try again."

"Captain, I--"  She met his eyes and then quickly dropped the
gaze.

"Mind if I have a look around?" Simon interrupted.  Simon
watched as the tiny woman's face paled and she glanced down the
hallway.  "Is that where they are?"  Simon pointed to the closed
door at the end of the hall.

"Captain Banks, please, leave them alone right now."

"Ellison!  Sandburg!  Out here now!  Front and center!"  Simon
yelled.

_________________________________________________________

"Stay here, Chief."

"What are you going to do?  Please, Jim, don't tell him."  Blair
grabbed his hand.

"I'm not if I can help it.  I'll handle it.  You trust me,
right?"

"Yeah."

Jim smiled and extricated himself from Blair's grasp.  He pushed
tangled, wet curls from Blair's brow and turned to leave the
room.  

"What if he won't go away?"  came the soft question.

"Then I'll make sure he understands."  Jim opened the door and
slipped out, careful to close it behind him.  He saw Simon
grimace at the sight of him.  "Guess Robin was right.  I do look
like death warmed over," he commented as he approached his
captain and friend.

"Damn, Jim.  What the hell is going on here?  Where is Sandburg?"

"Blair's asleep, sir.  I won't let you wake him."

"You won't *let* me?"

"That's right, Simon."

"What the hell is going on?" the big man asked again.

Jim looked to Robin.  "Go sit with Blair, okay?"

She nodded and left the room.

"Jim, I want some answers."  Simon stepped closer to Jim.  "Why
didn't you come in with Sandburg when you found him?"

"Simon, I needed some time.  I still do."

"That's not an answer that I'm going to accept, Ellison.  Okay,
let me tell you what's been happening since your unscheduled
departure from your job."  Simon's sarcasm was biting and Jim
flinched at his implication.  "We got a tip about Perez but when
we got there, all we found was a dying young man, nailed to the
floor with the word traitor written in his own blood next to him. 
He was the one who tipped us off and he paid for it.  He was also
the one who tipped you off, Jim.  He managed to tell us that
before he died.  He also managed to tell me that I shouldn't
blame Sandburg for something.  He died before he could explain
that statement.  Perhaps you would like to explain.  What should
I not blame Sandburg for?"

Jim looked away from his captain.  "Will you please let me handle
it, Simon?"

"Do I need to answer that question?  Where is Blair and what is
wrong?"

"Simon, you don't really want to know.  Will you just trust me? 
He's my partner and I'll take care of it."

"That's it!"  Simon started for the bedroom door and Jim blocked
his way.

"No." 

"Ellison, I am your superior officer and I am ordering you to
step aside."

"Simon--"

"Damn it, Jim!  You are not the only one here who cares about
that kid!"

Jim swallowed hard on the emotions that threatened at the simple
statement.  "He's scared.  He doesn't want anyone to know, Simon. 
I don't want anyone to know.  I promised him that I would take
care of everything."

"What the hell happened to him, Jim?  Dear God, tell me something
quick because the thoughts running through my head are
unspeakable."

"Heroin, Simon.  They shot him up with it and dumped him in an
alley.  He's going through withdrawal.  We just need a few more
days, sir."

"Jesus.  I don't know whether to be horrified or relieved.  You
don't even want to know what you had me thinking.  And if I had
been right, I would have kicked your ass for not taking him to
the hospital.  I still might.  He needs a doctor, Jim.  He needs
real rehab."

"No.  It'll ruin his career.  It'll give people ammunition
against him.  I won't let that happen."

"What people?"

"Simon, you know damn well what people.  Sure, most of the guys
in Major Crimes have accepted Blair but the rest of the force? 
Please, sir, there are people out there just waiting like sharks
to tear him to shreds."

Simon sat down hard on Robin's couch and put his head in his
hands.  "I wasn't aware that he was having those kinds of
problems."

"Well, neither is he.  Sentinel ears, Simon, and I damn sure
don't tell him everything I hear with them around the station. 
Furthermore, the whole purpose of this was to destroy me.  Hurt
Blair because I care about him and manage to damage my career at
the same time by making it look like my partner was a heroin
addict.  I think the guy who tipped me off was supposed to tip
off the media instead.  Teraza told Blair that he would be found
by news crews that would publicize his heroin addiction and ruin
me.  Blair tried to get me to leave him there in that alley,
Simon.  He was going to try to go off on his own and deal with
this."

Simon shook his head and sighed, leaning back on the couch.  "Is
he okay, Jim?"

"So far.  He's in pain and he's grumpy as hell.  He threatened to
kick my ass a few minutes ago."  Jim allowed the ghost of a smile
to cross his lips for a brief moment.  "Simon, this can't get
out."

"Well, of course, it can't.  You're right.  There's too much at
stake for that."

"Not the least of which is Blair's sanity and self-worth.  I want
Teraza Perez, Simon.  In a bad way.  I want to make sure that she
understands that payback's hell."

"Jim, that did not sound like a cop talking." 

Jim ignored Simon's tone of warning and said nothing.  He sat
down instead on the arm of the nearest chair.

"Don't do anything stupid, Jim.  You ruin your career over her
and she wins anyway."

Jim clenched his jaw.  He could not argue with that logic. 
"Okay, by the book then."

"Good.  Now, I want to see Blair."

"Sir--"

"Don't argue with me.  I want to see him and I'm not leaving
until I do."

_______________________________________________________

Teraza Perez screamed and bought her new bodyguard running.  She
flung the newspaper at him as he entered the suite.  "Nothing!"
she screamed.  "Not on the television, not in the papers, not
even on the damn radio!  Michael betrayed me not once but twice! 
He never called the media."  Suddenly, it was clear.  "He called
Ellison!  The little bastard!  I want him alive so that I can
kill him again!  You!" she snapped at the man standing at the
door of the hotel suite she had secured for herself when
Phillips' betrayal sent her from her new home.  "You get my
people out on the streets and find Ellison and his little
partner!  You hear me!?  I want them found!"

The man simply nodded and left the room.

"You will not escape my revenge, Ellison," she announced to the
empty room.

_________________________________________________________

Robin stood as the door opened, allowing Blair a clear view of
the two men in the doorway.  "Oh, god," he whispered, turning his
face into the pillow under his head.

"Blair, Simon understands.  Come on, Buddy, it's okay."  Jim told
his guide as Simon moved quickly to the bedside.

"Hey, come on, kid.  I know you didn't do this to yourself. I
know better than that.  You're a victim here, Blair."  Simon
tried to reassure him, even as Robin climbed back onto the bed
and took his hand into hers.

Blair turned back to face the man and quickly swiped tears from
his eyes with his free hand.  "I didn't want anyone to know." 
His voice shook and Robin cursed the woman who hurt him without
regard for the consequences of that curse.

"And no one outside this room ever will, kid.  I promise you
that." Simon gripped his shoulder.

"Except Teraza Perez.  And Mike."

"We'll take care of Teraza Perez, Blair.  Who's Mike?" Jim asked.

"He gave me the injections.  I know this may sound weird and
stupid, but I liked him.  He was nice to me.  He apologized for
doing it."

"Michael Phillips." Simon announced unexpectedly.  "The guy who
tipped us off, Jim.  Blair, Michael Phillips helped Jim find you
and Perez killed him for it."

Blair tightened his grip on Robin's hand and she leaned down to
kiss his forehead.  "It's okay, Baby," she whispered softly, her
lips just barely touching his fevered skin.

"I'm gonna be sick again."  Blair told her and she helped him sit
up as Jim hurried to the bed.  She let the older man take Blair
from her arms and then followed as Jim practically carried him
into the bathroom.  She sensed Simon Banks behind her but did not
acknowledge him as she took a clean bathcloth from the linen
closet and wet it in the sink.  Jim knelt beside Blair and held
back the curls that had slipped from the rubber band that she had
put in Blair's hair at some point during the night.  She knew the
precise moment that Banks left the bathroom doorway even though
she never turned to see him.  She started to softly sing to Blair
as she gently touched Blair's face and neck with the cool cloth. 
She wracked her brain for some other herb she could try to
alleviate nausea while Blair's body expelled the tea that she had
tried less than an hour before.  The tea was gone, but the nausea
was not and Blair suffered through several minutes of dry heaves
before he collapsed back into Jim's strong arms.  

"Robin--" Jim started.

"I know, more tea.  I'll be back in a few minutes."  She leaned
over and kissed Blair's cheek and he gave her an exhausted smile. 
She handed Jim the wet cloth and made her way out and to the
kitchen.  From the little kitchen, she could see Simon Banks on
the couch.  "Would you like some coffee, sir?"

"Do you have some made?"

"Yes.  I made it for Jim earlier."

The man stood, rubbing his face, and came into the kitchen. 
"Thank you, Ms. Fairchild."  He took the proffered mug from her.

"Call me Robin, please."

He only nodded and picked up the coffee pot.  

She blinked and was surprised to feel the tear slide down her
face.  She brushed it away quickly but not before the big captain
noticed.  "Blair's a tough kid.  He'll be okay."

"I know," she responded.  "It's hard to see him hurting, that's
all."

"Don't I know it."

Robin smiled at the vehemence behind that statement.  "He has a
talent for touching the best in people's souls.  He's even
touched your soul, hasn't he?  You care for him almost as much as
Jim, don't you?"

He choked on his coffee and she patted his back while he regained
his composure.  "I guess he grows on you after a while," he
finally said.

Robin could not help but laugh at the dazed look on the captain's
face.  "He grows pretty fast too, huh?"

He chuckled then.  "You know, Ms.--Robin, you are one very
perceptive lady."

________________________________________________________

"I don't want any more damn tea!"  Blair shoved the cup away from
his face, causing Robin to drop it on the hard bathroom floor. 
It shattered.  

"Damn it, Blair!"  Jim pulled his partner up from the floor and
away from the broken pieces of the ceramic cup.

"I'll get the broom."  Robin left the bathroom in a hurry and Jim
knew from the look on her face and the sound of her breathing
that she was hiding tears in her hasty exit.

"See what you've done?" Jim asked Blair.

"She dropped it."

"I'm not talking about the damn cup, Blair, and you know it."

"Why don't you both just leave me alone!" Blair screamed at him.

"Not on your life, Chief."

"Yeah, well, what do you care?  You tried to kill me and now
you're just trying to save your own neck.  You don't care about
me!"

Jim reined in his temper.  "Blair, I told you that I wouldn't
take anything you said personally or seriously right now.  I'm
really trying to stick to that but you are making it very
difficult.  And don't you dare be hateful to that woman, do you
hear me?  Give me hell, Chief.  God knows, I deserve it, but she
doesn't, so you reserve your temper tantrums for me."

Blair went limp against him suddenly and Jim heard the words
between sobs.  "I'm so sorry, Jim.  I didn't mean it.  Please
forgive me.  I'm just so tired and it hurts.  The tea makes me
sick, Jim.  Don't make me drink any more."

"The tea isn't making you sick, Blair.  The withdrawal is.  The
tea is keeping you from dehydrating, I hope, and keeping you from
having nothing but dry heaves.  You don't want that, do you?"  
A shake of the head against his chest was his answer.  "Okay,
then.  Robin is going to get you some more tea and you are going
take it graciously."  A nod.  "Okay.  Let's go back to the
bedroom."

"Simon was here, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, Chief, but he's gone now.  He had to get back to the
station."  Jim lifted Blair over the pieces of the cup but let
the young man lean on him and walk back to the bedroom.

"Is he gonna tell anybody?"

"No, he's not going to tell anybody.  It's our secret, Blair. 
Lie down now and I'll be right back."  Jim waited for him to
settle back on the bed before going to find the woman his ears
told him would be found crying in the living room.  She had
gotten the broom and it leaned on the couch beside her.  He
touched her shoulder, pulling gently until she sat back, lifting
her head from her hands.  

"I'm just tired, that's all."  She tried to smile.

Jim massaged her shoulders and shifted his gaze out of the window
as the afternoon sun warmed the room.  "It has nothing to do with
you.  He's tired and in pain and temper tantrums are perfectly
normal in withdrawal."

"I kinda figured that."

"It's about half over.  It won't get any worse."

"Well, how long before it gets better?"  

Jim almost laughed at the impatience in her voice.  It reflected
his own.  "Soon.  I hope."

"Even when this is over, you two aren't out of the woods yet."

"What do you mean?"  Jim did not like the sound of that.

"Don't panic.  I just meant that you have to find a way to keep
this out of reports and such as that.  And you still have the
find the bitch that did this to him and deal with her.  Jim, you
have no idea just how much I would like to go against my rede and
get my hands on that woman."

"Oh, I think I do.  Simon had to remind me this morning that I
was a cop.  I'm supposed to protect and serve and you aren't
supposed to hurt anyone, different oaths, same result.  We're
both going to have to let the law handle it.  I'm going back in
to sit with Blair.  When you can, come back in.  He's real
apologetic right at the moment."

She nodded and he started back toward the bedroom.  He did not
mean to eavesdrop but he heard her just the same.  "Let the law
handle it?  Maybe, maybe not."

Jim closed his eyes and said a quick prayer that he would not
have to arrest Robin Fairchild when this was all over.

________________________________________________________

Robin sat fingering the pentacle around her neck.  "Let the law
handle it?  Maybe, maybe not." she whispered.  She hated Teraza
Perez more than she had ever hated anything or anyone.  Tears
came to her eyes again as she thought of the pain the woman had
inflicted on Blair.  Blair.  She had watched the pain, the
sickness, the anguish and she wanted nothing more than the power
to utterly destroy the woman.  She even began to search her
memory for the means to do just that before Jim's words really
hit home.  He was supposed to protect and serve and she was not
supposed to hurt anyone.  *And it do no harm, do what you will.* 
Suddenly, that line just did not seem quite fair.  Fairness
dictated that Perez should have to suffer.  Blair was suffering. 
She should get that suffering back threefold.  *Now, that would
be fair.*  However, Robin realized that she could not apply the
rules the way she wanted.  

She would not destroy Teraza Perez.  No, she could not call on
those destructive forces and hope to survive the consequences as
the same person she was.  She looked down the hall way where her
lover was in pain.  If she did what she had been considering, she
would not be the person he cared for.  

By the same token, she knew that Teraza Perez was dangerous.  The
woman was not going to just lie down and surrender when Jim found
her.  Perez would try to take one or both of the men with her
when she went down.  And she would go down.  Robin had no doubts
about that.  Jim Ellison was not the kind of man to let something
like this go unanswered.  Robin thought hard.  Perhaps she could
not outright destroy the woman, but could she be faulted if she
did what was necessary to protect her lover and his friend? 
Whatever was necessary?  Maybe, maybe not.  But for Blair, it was
an acceptable risk.  He was worth it.  She had a purpose.  It was
time to begin preparation.  This would be difficult but it could
be done.

_____________________________________________________

"Simon, you better get out here.  There's a news crew here asking
a lot of strange questions about Jim and Blair."  Joel Taggert
stood in his office door looking very worried and very puzzled.

Simon swore under his breath and put down his cigar.  "Send them
in here, Joel.  I'll take care of it."

The man nodded and left.  Moments later, Simon was blinking at
the spotlight from the camera and trying to keep a microphone
from being shoved practically down his throat.  "Captain Banks,
I'm Doug Winston, Channel Seven Action News.  We received an
anonymous tip today regarding one of your detectives.  Captain,
our source revealed that Detective James Ellison of the Major
Crimes division had been arrested and charged with trying to
poison his partner.  Is that true, sir?"

"Those charges were dropped and Detective Ellison was cleared." 
Simon answered, surprising himself with the calm confidence in
his voice.

"Yes, sir.  We checked that out and found it to be true."

"Then what did you ask me for?"

"Well, Captain Banks, our source also suggested why Detective
Ellison would have tried to poison his partner.  Our source
claims that Police Observer Blair Sandburg who acts as Ellison's
partner is a heroin addict, sir.  What do you say to that?"

"I say that your source is a liar, Mr. Winston.  Blair Sandburg
is a fine young man who I am proud to have in this department. 
Mr. Sandburg is not now and nor has he ever been a drug addict. 
I resent your asking that question and I resent your attempt to
ruin the reputations of my men.  Good day, sir."  Simon pushed
the man toward the door.

"If what you say is true, Captain Banks, where are Ellison and
Sandburg?  Why aren't they here to answer these questions instead
of you?"

"Detective Ellison and his partner, Blair Sandburg are in
protective custody at the moment, in a safe house, because of an
attempt on Sandburg's life and our belief that Ellison was also
in danger.  Mr. Winston, I would be very careful who you get your
information from.  You could end up getting yourself and your
station sued for defamation of character."

Winston turned and signalled his cameraman to turn off the
camera.  "Captain Banks, my source was very specific.  Knew
things about Sandburg and Ellison."

"Mr. Winston, your source is probably the same people who are out
there trying to hurt or kill my men.  Think about it.  Use the
media and a threat to their reputations to bring them out of
hiding to answer these preposterous rumors and then kill them. 
Doesn't that make sense, just a little?"

Winston frowned.  "I'm sorry to have wasted your time, Captain
Banks."

"Yeah, well, if you get out of here quickly enough, maybe I won't
tell Ellison about this and you'll get to live to a ripe old age,
barring any natural disasters or runaway buses."

"Have a nice day, sir."

"You, too, Mr. Winston."

Cameras and microphones gone, Simon sagged down in his chair and
rubbed his temples.  He knew that Taggert had come into the
office and he knew the man was standing there patiently awaiting
an answer to the question that neither man wanted to hear aloud.

"I know you, Simon."  Taggert broke the silence.  "That was some
pretty smooth talking there."

"Look, Joel--"

"Is Blair okay?"

"He'll be fine in a couple of days.  Jim is taking care of him."

"That's all I needed to know."  The man turned to leave.

"Perez did it, you know?  Blair would never--"

"Simon, you did not have to tell me that.  I know better.  I know
Blair."

"They don't want anyone to know.  Nobody can know.  It could ruin
them both."

"Don't want anyone to know what, Simon?  Jim and Blair are in
protective custody in a safe house to protect them from Teraza
Perez.  That's all I know."

"Thanks, Joel."

"Not necessary."  Simon watched the former bomb squad captain
leave his office and silently thanked god for the man.

_____________________________________________________

Sunrise found Jim on the floor beside Robin's bed.  His neck
ached from the position he had apparently slept in.  He was
sitting up, his head leaning back against the mattress,
exhaustion claiming him before he even had a chance to lie down. 
As he rubbed his stiff neck, he turned to find Robin curled on
her side next to Blair on the bed.  One hand lay on Blair's chest
over his heart.  Blair slept as well, but Jim could still see the
lines of pain on Blair's face and the spasms in his body. 
Blair's breathing and heart rate were not right for restful sleep
either.  He had not gotten sick for several hours though and that
was a good sign.  Jim could not be sure whether that was due to
the withdrawal subsiding some or Robin's teas.  Whatever it was,
he was grateful.  He stood then and stretched.  He stumbled out
of the bedroom and into the kitchen to make coffee.

He was drinking his coffee by the time his senses picked up the
tell-tale signs of Simon's arrival.  He crossed quickly to the
door and opened it before the man woke Blair and Robin with the
doorbell.  "Morning, Simon," he mumbled, turning back to the
kitchen and getting down a mug for Simon.

Simon took it and poured himself some coffee.  "How is he?"

Jim shrugged.  "He's sleeping at the moment.  He hasn't gotten
sick in a while but it's not over."

"I fended off a reporter yesterday."  Simon's tone was matter-of-
fact.

"Figured it would happen.  Plan A didn't work.  She went with
Plan B.  So what's the story?  Should we leave the country now?"

"Not yet.  The story is that the two of you are in a safe house
because of threats on your lives.  He left feeling pretty
foolish.  There won't be a story.  At least not this time and not
the one he wanted to tell."

"So Plan B fell flat."  Jim pulled out a chair at the kitchen
table and sat heavily in it.  

"Yep.  Jim, there is something you should be aware of.  Taggert
knows.  That reporter came in asking all sort of questions and
throwing around what his *source* told him and Taggert knew I was
lying through my teeth."  Simon followed Jim's lead and sat
across from him.

"Aw, God!  At this rate, we could just let the guy broadcast it
to the whole world.  Sure is damn hard to keep a secret around
here, Simon." Jim threw up his hands in defeat.

"I'm sorry.  I managed the damage control pretty well with the
others.  Even told them that you didn't come in because there
might be a leak in the department.  They bought that because this
guy knew about your arrest.  Which brings me to that issue.  Jim,
how did anyone know about that?  We kept that out of the news and
covered it up pretty well, I thought.  How did Perez get that
information?  We may very well have a damn leak."

Jim scrubbed one hand over his face.  A minute's confusion was
displaced with a moment of clarity and Jim felt his temperature
rise.  "Son of a bitch!  Frank Dyer."

"Dyer?!  Why?"

"Look at the facts, Simon.  No one in Major Crimes would leak
this to Perez.  We both know that.  Greg Spalding, no way.  The
guy's the only honest lawyer I know.  Well, besides Robin, who
has been here the whole time with me and we both know, even if
she weren't, she is definitely not a suspect.  But Dyer has a
score to settle.  We go back a ways.  We crossed each other's
path during the investigation and trial of corrupt cop, and I
nailed him to the wall for blowing it.  Then Robin made a
complete jackass out of him in the courtroom.  Simon, we need to
check into Dyer's activities.  Come on, it's worth a shot and my
gut is telling me that I'm right."

"Okay, Jim.  We'll look."

"Okay."  Jim paused.  "So, what did Joel say?"

"Just wanted to know if Blair was okay.  Other than that, he
knows to keep it quiet and he knows better than to think that
Blair would do this to himself.  You can count on Joel."

Jim smiled a little as he nodded.  "So Plan B failed,"  Jim
repeated.  "Wonder what Plan C will be."

"You certainly know how to ruin a man's day, don't you?"  Simon
frowned.

___________________________________________________

"Ms. Perez, that guy came through with that lady lawyer's
address."  

Teraza turned to face her new bodyguard.  *What is his name
again?  Oh, right.*  "Excellent work, Tony.  Go pick her up. 
Ellison is sure to come out to help a damsel in distress."

"Yes, ma'am."  He hurried out.

She licked her lips and smiled.  "If I can't have your little
friend, Jim, I'll settle for your lawyer."  She poured herself a
drink and sat on the sofa.  She had been angry to find that
Ellison's face was not plastered all over the Channel 7 news but
not terribly surprised.  The police did have a way of sweeping
things under the carpet that could make even the most efficient
criminal green with envy.  She wondered how the cops had managed
this time.  She dismissed the thoughts as irrelevant after a
moment's contemplation.  Ellison could not elude her forever and
there was no way that he would allow a woman to suffer in his
place.  He would show himself and then the games would end.  The
games had proven to be unsatisfying anyway, given that none of
them worked out the way that they were supposed to thanks to
Michael and his betrayal.  Better to just kill the man and be
done with it.  Or kill Blair Sandburg and let Ellison suffer with
the knowledge that he died in Ellison's place.  Either plan would
be fine.  There was even the option of killing the lawyer. 
However, she was not sure if that would accomplish what she
wanted.  No, Ellison or his partner, whichever proved to be the
most expedient.  She had plans to retire to Trinidad when this
was all over.  

_______________________________________________________

The retching caused by painful dry heaves brought Jim out of his
light sleep.  He stumbled over the leg of Robin's coffee table
but made it to the bathroom in record time despite his aching
foot.  One glance into the bedroom let him know that Blair had
managed to get out of bed without waking Robin so Jim grabbed the
damp cloth from the sink and ran it under cold water for a
moment.  He knelt beside his partner.  "Here you go, Chief."  He
laid the cloth on Blair's neck and rubbed his back.  When the
retching finally stopped, Blair fell back and Jim moved swiftly
to catch him before he hit his head on the wall behind him.  He
took the cloth from Blair's neck and wiped the younger man's face
with it.

"More tea?"  Blair croaked.  

Jim chuckled a little.  "Yeah, Buddy, more tea."

"I'm really gonna hate tea by the time this is over," he
lamented.

"Seemed to help some this time.  You kept it down most of the
night and all morning."

"What time is it?"

"A little after noon.  Simon came by to check on you this
morning."

"That's nice."  Blair shifted in Jim's arms.

"Sick again?"

"No, hot and sticky.  And the floor is hard."

"Want a shower?"

"Oh, man, yes."

"Let me help you up."  Jim had to support most of Blair's weight. 
His partner was exhausted.  He placed Blair gently down on the
side of the tub then went to the linen closet for a towel. He
handed it to Blair and watched as Blair was unable to even hold
up his arm with the weight of the towel.  "What about a bath
instead?  I don't think that you'd manage to remain standing long
enough for a shower and we do not want to add a busted head to
the list of injuries here."

"Whatever, man.  As long as I get clean."

"Want Robin to help?"

"No, let her sleep.  I can do it."

"I have to wake her anyway.  I certainly can't mix all those
herbs and make that tea."

"Yeah, you'll poison me for sure this time."  

Jim cringed.  "Blair--"

"Oh, Jim, I didn't mean that the way you took it!  It was a bad
joke, man.  I'm sorry."

Jim sighed.  "Guess I'm still a little touchy about that, huh? 
It's okay.  We'll work--"

"It out.  That's my line.  Jim, I really am okay about that now. 
It wasn't your fault."

He searched the deep blue eyes before him and saw the truth of
the statement there.  "Thanks, Chief.  Don't fall asleep in
there.  I'll get Robin and she'll get your tea made."  Jim left
his guide and woke the sleeping woman in the bedroom.  Jim
followed her into the kitchen, smiling at her attempts to smooth
her hair and her wrinkled clothes.  

"Damn,"  she whispered.

"What is it?"  

"I'm out of Valerian.  There's an herbalist right around the
corner.  I'll run down and get more."  She headed for the living
room.

"I'll go," Jim offered.

"No, no, you know more about Blair's condition than I do. 
Besides, how much do you know about herbs?"

"Good point.  Hurry back.  Blair's in the bath tub and something
tells me that he would rather you help him out than me."

She smiled brilliantly.  "Can I help it if I'm prettier than
you?"

"Well, I'm trying not to hate you because you're beautiful."

"Oooo, good one.  And Blair said you needed to work on your sense
of humor," she commented as she picked up her purse.

Jim laughed.

Robin's face turned serious, however, and Jim wondered why.  He
did not have to wonder long.  "You need him for some reason,
don't you?"

Jim felt as if all the air in his lungs had been vacuumed out and
he regarded the woman in front of him while he struggled to
breathe in again.  "Yeah."

"Then I have to give him back, don't I?"

"I'm sorry.  I don't understand."

"When you were in jail and it looked like things might not work
out between you and Blair, I asked him to come to San Diego with
me."

The air was gone again and it took Jim several tries to ask his
question.  "W-what did he say?"

"He never gave me an answer.  He kept saying that he couldn't
answer that until he found out what was happening with you. 
There's a bond between you.  I sensed it the first time I saw
you.  I can't come between you and I shouldn't have tried, but I
love him.  Imagine that.  A Wiccan and a Jew.  Oil and water. 
East is east and west is west."

"You could stay.  Blair would like that."

"Maybe.  Well, I'd better get going and get back."  She grabbed
her jacket and purse and nearly flew out of the door.  

Jim stared at the portal that she had disappeared through for a
long time after she had gone.  A million thoughts flooding his
brain.  What ifs and whys, could it bes and should it bes tumbled
around in his head.  He was almost zoned on those thoughts when a
little voice whispered to him that it was too quiet in the
bathroom.  He snapped himself out of the mental zone and headed
to the bathroom to wake Blair up, Jim's sentinel hearing
confirming that the young man had fallen asleep in the bath tub.  
____________________________________________________

Tony could not believe his luck.  He was on his way up to the
woman's apartment and she comes strolling out of the door.  He
slipped back behind the stairs and waited for her to come to him. 
It was too easy.  She did not even get a chance to scream.  He
shoved her into the back of the car and headed back to Ms. Perez. 
maybe he'd get another raise for his easy handling of this
assignment, just like he had when he ratted out the traitor and
then killed him for his generous employer.  He grinned toward the
unconscious woman in the back seat.  Maybe Ms. Perez would let
him have a little fun with their new guest.

_______________________________________________________

Blair watched Jim check the clock beside Robin's bed for the
fourth time in as many minutes.  "Where was she going, Jim?"

"She said just around the corner.  I should have asked her to be
more specific.  I'm going to call Simon and see if he can send
somebody this way to look for her."

"You don't think that something happened to her?"  Blair was
alarmed.

"Just calm down, Blair."  Jim pushed him back down on the bed.  I
don't even know how far she had to go and she walked because her
car is still here."

"How long has she been gone?"

"Not that long, Chief."  Jim reached for the phone beside the
bed.

Blair knew Jim was lying.  He could see the worry in Jim's eyes
and knew that Robin had been gone for too long.  He listened to
Jim's end of the conversation as the sentinel asked Simon to send
a car to cruise the surrounding neighborhood for Robin and
described what the woman was wearing.  Blair waited until Jim got
off the phone before he offered a suggestion.  "We could go out
and look for her."

"You're too weak and you need to stay out of sight, Blair."

"Then you could go."

"I can't leave you alone."

"Jim!  I'm okay."  He sat up to demonstrate his point and somehow
managed to maintain the position despite the rolling in his
stomach.

Jim gave him that look.  The one that said that Blair was not
fooling him for an instant.  "Blair, I hate to tell you this but
you are not okay.  You were shot up with heroin, Chief.  You're
not through withdrawal yet.  Remember?  You're weak as a kitten."

Blair could not help but look down at his arm.  The t-shirt Jim
had found for him to wear, although large, did not cover the
needle tracks and he touched them gingerly.  He blinked back
tears.  "I'm really sorry, Jim."

"Come on, Chief.  This was not your fault.  Don't do this to
yourself." Jim's big hand covered his and pulled it away from the
bruises and marks on his arm.

"Jim, you know how they say that addicts are always addicts and
that they crave the drugs even after they come off of them?"

"Yeah."

"I don't, Jim.  I don't ever want that feeling again.  I don't
even want to get near the stuff," Blair said vehemently, trying
to convey the truth of his statement with his tone and with his
eyes as he met Jim's.

"I'm glad, Chief.  Although, I have to tell you that I was not
the slightest bit worried about that.  I know you."

Blair smiled at Jim's trust in him.  "Please, Jim.  Just go
around the corner and look for Robin.  Please.  I'll lock the
door."

For a moment, Blair thought that Jim was going to say no.  The
fact that he said okay was a testimony to how worried the
sentinel was about the woman.  Jim left for a moment and when he
returned he placed his gun down on the nightstand.  "Anybody
comes in here that you don't know, you shoot first and ask
questions later."

Blair almost protested that he could not possibly shoot someone. 
However, he shut his mouth quickly as he came to the conclusion
that Jim would not go if he thought Blair might not be able to
defend himself.  He nodded.  "So, should we have a password?" 
Blair joked.

"Yeah."

"What?"

"Ask who is it and I'll say Jim Ellison and you open the door."  

"Yeah, I remember that one.  It works every time."  Blair
laughed.

"That's more like it.  I'll be right back.  I'll lock the door on
my way out."  Jim disappeared then and Blair heard the door
close.  

He sat on the bed and examined his marked arm.  He frowned and
covered the marks with his hand.  Not very effective, he decided. 
He could not walk around with his hand over them until they went
away.  He got up and slowly made his way into the kitchen.  A
plan crystallized in his mind and he had to carry it out before
Jim got back.  He opened all the cabinets and the pantry, then
went to the linen closet in the bathroom.  He could not find what
he needed.  He shuffled back into the kitchen and leaned against
the counter, disgusted.  Another idea came to him as he spied the
tea kettle on the gas stove.  He set it aside and turned on the
flame.  He opened the drawer where Robin kept her knives.  He
took out the largest one and placed the blade into the flame.  He
took a shuddering breath as he stared at the glow.  After a few
minutes, he removed the blade from the flame.  It glowed a
brilliant orange along its edges.  He gulped and moved it toward
his arm.  Heat radiated from it, warming his arm and he
hesitated.  His heart was pounding in his chest as he tried to
make himself go through with the plan, but the blade remained
poised above the marks.  He could not seem to make his hand move
the last few inches.  

Suddenly, the door burst open and Blair spun to meet the
intruder.  Only it was not an intruder in the strictest sense of
the word.  Before Blair could speak, Jim had him.  A strong hand
forced his hand open and he dropped the knife.  It clattered to
the floor at his feet and he was dragged out of the kitchen and
unceremoniously plopped onto the couch.  All the while, Jim was
swearing at him, asking him if he had lost his mind.  Blair
blinked at him as Jim sat down beside him and fell back on the
couch, one arm thrown over his icy blue eyes.  A long silence
followed as Blair stared alternately at Jim and the tracks on his
arm.  Jim seemed to be trying to calm down and Blair decided that
perhaps he had better stay very quiet and still and let that
happen.  Finally, the man sat up and met Blair's eyes.

"Tell me what you were doing, Chief.  Jesus, it looked like you
were going to cut off your arm or something.  Now, I know that
could *not* have been the plan but that's the first thing that
hit me.  What the hell were you thinking?"

"Why did you come back?  How did you get here so fast?"

"I was monitoring your heart beat and I didn't go far to begin