Disclaimers:
Summary:
Warnings:
Notes:
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by
(// = Indicates Jim-Blair thoughts) (/ = Indicates other people's thoughts) (> (*="Phone" conversations)
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Last time at The Loft:
Jim pulled Blair on top of him to straddle his lap while they sat on the couch.
"All clear. We'll call Simon in a while and fill him in, but right now..."
With one hand on Blair's waist and one hand emersed in curls holding the back of his head, Jim pulled him in close for a kiss. Blair moaned at the onslaught and intensity of the kiss, wrapping his arms around Jim's neck and pulling in even closer, until they had to come up for air. Gasping, Blair rested his forehead against Jim's, and he was just barely able to find the breath to ask his question.
"But right now?" He smiled as he lightly nipped at his Sentinel's lips, causing Jim to groan and lever Blair slightly away from him until he was fully upright.
"But right now, as much as we'd like to continue with this, I really think that we need to talk, don't you?" He asked, looking into Blair's eyes questioningly.
Blair closed his eyes and swallowed nervously. He had been hiding this part of his life, not only from Jim, but also from himself for a long time. As painful as it was going to be to remember the past, it was time.
Nodding his head, he opened his eyes and looked into the eyes of his Sentinel and saw the love that he had for him, and he knew that he could do this. Once and for all, he could finally face his worst nightmare, and gratefully, he didn't have to do it alone.
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On to chapter 7
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The Loft:
Blair got up off Jim's lap and backed away until he felt the yellow easy chair behind him and sat down, holding up a hand to forestall a complaint from Jim when he tried to reach forward to hold him.
"I'm sorry Jim, but I need the space. This is actually going to be hard on the both of us and with my new gifts, if I'm too close to you, it can physically hurt."
With a worried expression on his face Jim sat back against the couch and crossed his arms. "Ok, Chief. What ever you say, but I have to tell you that you're scaring me. Why do you think that this will hurt you?"
Slowly blowing out a breath of air, Blair tried to explain in a way that wouldn't set Jim off. "Uh, well you know how you and I worked for weeks to build up my mental shields so that other peoples thoughts and emotions wouldn't swamp me?"
"Yeeeeaaaaah...?" Jim said slowly, knowing a shoe was about to drop.
"Well, Blair sighed, I can block almost everything out... 'ALMOST' everything.
I can block anyone with my shields, anyone but you that is. When it comes to you I'm too tuned into you to be able to keep my shields up for very long. I can't 'NOT' tune into you. Not for long anyway, it's just not possible."
Blair held his breath as Jim quietly got up off the couch and walked to stand in front to the balcony doors. When he finally spoke it was barely a whisper but the disappointment was thickly embedded in the words.
"Why didn't you tell me this before? We could have worked on it some more... tried harder to help you tune me out..."
Smiling slightly, Blair broke into Jim's restrained diatribe, and quietly said "Jim, do you know the saying 'Don't think of pink elephants'?" He paused before adding, "Don't listen to my heartbeat."
Automatically, Jim tipped his head and tuned into Blair's heartbeat. Just like he would have done any other time he was concerned about Blair..., just like Blair knew he would.
Blair chuckled. "Not as easy as you thought it was, huh? You've had years to practice Jim, and I can pretty much guarantee that you use your senses to check me over without consciously knowing about it. It's our nature Jim. We can't block each other out. It goes against everything we are to each other. Please Jim, just sit down."
Jim sighed and hung his head as he walked back to the couch and sat down, leaning his head against the back of the couch as he wiped his hands down his face once before looking at Blair.
"Okay, I guess I can understand that. Lets get this over with, Chief. I'd like to be able to have some time to process what ever it is before we talk to Simon."
Blair nodded then brought up all of his mental shields as best as he could before he began. He swallowed once nervously before he spoke.
"As I told you once before, I finished high school early at the age of sixteen, took a few pre-college courses during summer break then started college right before my seventeenth birthday. You also know that Naomi was off traveling and wasn't always there for me."
Jim nodded as Blair continued.
"Even though I was in college, I was still a minor. This had it's good sides and bad sides. One of the good sides was that everything was paid for, for me. Once I hit eighteen at the beginning of my second year though, money was a very rare commodity and I wasn't going to be able to pay for the following year. I applied for every grant and loan I possibly could, got a few side jobs and just barely managed to finish out the year. The day after the end of semester exams let out I woke up in the hospital. Seems that I had collapsed due to extreme exhaustion and anemia, my room mate couldn't wake me up, so he called 911."
"Jesus, Blair. What were you thinking?" Jim groaned.
Blair shrugged. "At the time I was just thankful I had made it as far as I did without breaking down earlier. After it happened though, all I could think of was that I couldn't go on like that and needed to find another way to get through college that would at the very least allow more than 6 hours of sleep a week. So I broke a promise to my mother and joined the Army to pay for college. Needless to say, they just LOVED my academic scores."
Jim chuckled and leaned forward. "I'll just bet they did." He paused for a second before chuckling again. "How are you doing, Chief? Your heart-rate is starting to rise... and don't even THINK about saying 'I told you so'."
Smiling sadly, Blair nodded. "Yeah, I'm ok. This is where it starts to get tough though." He took a deep breath before continuing again. "Boot camp was exactly what I expected it to be. Although I saved myself some flack and cut my hair before I got on the bus, and ditched the jewelry. I went through the typical grunt stuff, being picked on and hassled. Once one of the bigger guys figured out pretty quick that I was smart, he started to 'protect' me, and in return all he wanted was help with the academic stuff. I would have helped him anyway. We became fast friends and he helped me out with the physical stuff as well as being my bodyguard. I was... I always did well with weapons, but it was obvious to anyone with eyes that I didn't want to have anything to do with them. Right after boot camp I tested out for several of the officers exams. Turned out that I was good at organizing things and making sure that things got where they needed to go and when. They put me in Supply and after six months I was B.J. Sandburg, Warrant Officer First Class. T.J. followed me. He said if he had a choice between following someone strong or following someone smart, he'd choose smart every time. " Blair said with half a smile before frowning.
Jim watched as Blair began speaking again, this time it was evident that he was becoming anxious, and his heartbeat rose a few more notches.
"Early in March of 88, Naomi emailed me and said that she was coming for a visit in two weeks. I was supposed to be on that weekend but T.J. switched with me since I hadn't actually seen my mom in person in over two years. I got to see my mom and I made it out that I had been traveling, and that I cut my hair as part of a purification ritual. She totally bought it since we'd both gone that route before. I spent four whole days with her before she decided to take off again. I wasn't due back to the base for two weeks but I showed up half a week early. It was late at night but I knew T.J. would be in the supply hanger since we always got shipments in on Wednesdays. I... I found him at the back of the hanger going through a shipment of guns. He was unloading large packets of white power from the crates of guns and stashing them in a duffel bag. I was pretty sure I knew what they were. I must have made a noise because when he turned around he had a gun in his hand. The gun had a silencer on it. He shot... shot at me, but I dove to the side. He said that he was sorry that I had found him out, that he had been drug running and doing favors for people higher up, almost since day one. He knew that I wouldn't join him and he was sorry that he was going to have to kill me. I guess he thought I'd be easy to kill. I had on my school clothes, so he must have thought I was unarmed, but he was wrong. I always wore my gun while I was on base, it was just force of habit. He came around the corner and was surprised to see me pointing a gun at him, but then he laughed. He said he should have known better and that he'd give me a fair chance. He started counting back from five and I knew when he reached one that he'd fire."
Blair was visibly shaking by this point and Jim couldn't sit still any longer. He got up and went over to Blair, picking him up and bringing him back to the couch and cuddled him tightly to his chest. Tears were running down his cheeks as he continued.
"T.J. always got the better scores on the shooting range, but I was always faster..." He whispered, then repeated "I was always faster." Something in Blair finally broke and the floodgates were pushed open.
Jim held him and rocked back and forth as he crooned soft words of love and comfort to his anguishing partner. "Shh, love. Hush. That's enough for right now. Relax. That's it. Shh."
Jim held him until Blair had cried himself out and fell asleep, then held on to him for over an hour until Blair whimpered softly and started to stir from his exhausted sleep just as the phone rang. Jim reached over the back of the couch and answered the phone.
*Ellison.*
*Jim, it's Simon. How is everything going?*
*Hey, Simon. We're fine. How is everything at the station?*
*Well the chief is having a fit over the fact that you are going back on leave.*
*Well Simon, If you want, I'm almost positive that I can have the President call him personally and request my continued leave of absence.*
"Oh, Man. He'd have a cow." Blair mumbled into Jim's chest.
*I may just take you up on that Jim. When do you want me to come over?*
Jim smiled at Blair's comment then rubbed his back to get his attention.
"Simon wants to know when to come by tonight."
Sitting up slightly, he looked at Jim. "I need more time. I have to finish what I started. Um, two hours should be good."
*Simon, give us two hours then come on over. We'll be here.*
*Ok, Jim. I'll be there in two hours and I'll bring supper. I want the whole story and I don't intend to miss supper to get it.*
*Sure thing. You know what we like.*
*Right.*
)Click(
Jim smiled again and looked at Blair. "You know, it's been over a month since Simon has said good bye to me on the phone. I think he thinks if he says the words, it will be the last time he sees us."
Blair kissed Jim softly on the lips then once on the forehead before maneuvering himself up off of Jim and the couch, then headed for the fridge to get a can of soda. Jim watched him the whole time as he leaned against the counter and took a few sips from the can, then held it to his chin in thought.
Blair lowered his shields briefly to check on Jim before raising them again then picking up right where he left off...
"The M.P.'s arrived almost before the sound of the shot stopped echoing off the hanger walls. They had come to get both T.J. and I. I don't remember too much of what was said at the time. I was in shock, big time. It felt like something inside me snapped. That was the first time I had ever aimed a gun at a human being. Let alone pull the trigger and know that I was going to kill the person. I can remember one of the M.P.'s shouting at me to drop my gun. I was just staring at T.J. on the ground with a hole in his chest, there was blood seeping across the floor. Finally I looked at the gun in my hand and the room started to spin, and then I blacked out. Turned out I was hyperventilating and didn't even realize it."
He paused to take a sip of his soda to quench his drying throat before continuing. Jim just kept quite, knowing that Blair had to tell it in his own way without interruption.
"I woke up in the brig's hospital. They ran a bunch of tests, then they called in the shrinks. At first, every time anyone even mentioned the word 'gun' I'd have a panic attack. I was in therapy for three months just for that. I was granted a medical discharge and my files were sealed, per order of the military courts, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Four days after I woke up in the hospital, they had me in for a formal hearing. Seems that they had known that SOMEONE was drug running but they thought it was me. Thankfully I was able to prove my whereabouts at the times my pass code was entered into the computer to accept shipments. Between school and my passport, it was easily proven that it was T.J. and not me. All except for one day."
Blair pushed off from the counter and went to sit back in the yellow easy chair and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, the soda can dangling from his finger tips. Jim noted that Blair's pulse was increasing by the second, and that he was looking at everything and anything but Jim.
"The... the day I switched with T.J. to go see Naomi was never logged in as a shift exchange, so it looked like I was on duty since T.J. used my pass code again. I didn't even know that he knew it. They were really interested about this specific day and kept badgering me about it. Finally my lawyer demanded that they state what I was being accused of since it obviously had nothing to do with shooting T.J. They finally told me that I was suspected of tampering with Army property resulting in the death of military personnel. I told them that we hadn't received anything that week except ammo and food rations... I really wished I hadn't met with Naomi when they told me the rest. It turned out that on March 23rd, while I was with mom, a rather large piece of equipment was brought through before being shipped of to a mission in Peru... helicopter to be exact."
Blair held his breath as he finally peeked a look at Jim from under his curtain of hair. Jim wasn't moving. Releasing his pent up breath, he straightened in his seat and looked directly at him.
"Jim?" He whispered softly incase Jim's senses were attacking him.
Nothing. Not a move not a flinch, not even a clenching of his jaw. This was not good.
"Jim?" Blair spoke in a normal but strong voice.
Still nothing. Getting up off the chair, he edged his way slowly towards Jim, then with out any conscious thought his instincts kicked in and he lowered his shields to check on his sentinel. Blair fell to his knees, dropping the soda can in the process and grabbed his head in pain as Jim's agonizing memories flooded his mind. Jim had zoned on the memory of the crash, replaying it over and over in his mind. Unaware of the pain it was causing Blair, unable to recognize Blair's plea's that he return to the present, with the screams of his unit as they crashed to the jungle floor. All to soon the pleading stopped as Blair fell sideways, his head impacting with the floor, and he became lost in the swirling flood of Jim's memories.
The loft was completely quiet except for the heavily labored breathing coming from the sweating body on the floor. The second body in the room, sitting stock still on the couch, just barely breathing.
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The Station: Simon's office
The cigar hung limply between Simon's lips as he watched the Black Jaguar, that had just suddenly appeared in his office, paced back and forth in front of his desk growling. A flash of gray and white in the bullpen caught his attention and he saw the wolf running back and forth unseen between all the people in the large office. Taking the cigar out of his mouth and placing it in its tray on the desk, he closed his eyes. The spirits definitely fit the personalities of the people they represented, if the hyperactivity of the wolf was any indication, and he knew that both Jim and his animal spirit were equally deadly.
Opening his eyes, he looked directly at the large cat and spoke.
"You know, I believed that you were real, I really did... but I never actually needed
to see either of you...ever."
The low growl that came from the Jaguar was enough to stem that trail of thought.
Raising his hands slightly in surrender "Ok, ok. I get the picture. They both need help this time right?" He got a snort for his answer. "Ok, lets go."
Simon got up and grabbed his coat as he left the office and walked to the elevators, telling Joel that he was heading out for the day. The wolf was pacing frantically back and forth in front of the lift doors and the Jaguar brought up the rear behind Simon. The feline twitched as he passed the slightly open restroom door but didn't stop to investigate the accelerated heartbeat.
As the elevator doors closed on the trio, one person hidden out of sight in the restroom slowly released the breath they had been holding since first spotting the Wolf, then the Jaguar that Simon had obviously seen and been talking to.
No one saw the figure as it crept across the hall and left through the stairway.
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The Loft: Outside
Simon had slightly misused his privileges as an officer of the law and drove to the loft with the lights and sirens on. As soon as he parked the car he saw the two spirit guides, that had vanished once he was seated in his car, pacing outside of his car. He exited the car and tried to make his way to the loft lobby but was stopped by a low growl from the Jaguar and a frantic bark from the wolf, which was up on his hind legs trying to break into his car trunk.
"Shit!" Simon cursed as he remembered what Blair had just recently given him to keep in his car for emergencies. Quickly, he went back to his car and opened the trunk to get out the small case that he had laughingly called a 'Sentinel and Guide first aid kit'. He went over the contence of the kit in his mind as he ran up the stairs to #307. Blair had sworn to him that if he himself was ever unable to pull Jim from a zone, that one of the five ampules containing his carefully preserved blood samples would. The case also contained syringes of saline solution, glucose, muscle relaxants, Adrenaline, epinephrine, Demerol, and a mild anesthesia for Jim. Simon just prayed that he wouldn't have to use anything more than a blood ampule.
Upon reaching #307 he unlocked the door and walked in. The sight before him stole his breath. Blair lay on the floor shaking so hard it was almost convulsing, and Jim sat on the couch, barely breathing and starring at nothing, oblivious to his partner on the floor.
"God have mercy. Jim? Blair?"
Simon didn't even bother to try to pull Ellison out of the zone. He just started calling his name and telling him that Blair was in trouble as he opened the kit and took out an ampule.
"Ok, Jim. Time to come back now. I don't know where you are but you're needed here. Blair needs you Jim. Come on Jim, Something is wrong with Blair. Jim, Blair is hurt!"
He then moved to the other side of Jim so that he wasn't in-between the two partners, then broke the glass ampule a few inches from the side of Jim's face. The reaction was almost instantaneous. Jim's nostrils flared and his breathing increased rapidly then he suddenly took a deep breath and blinked. Simon made a grab for him before he could fall over, and righted him.
"WHOA! Easy there. Jim, are you with me now? Jim!" Simon spoke in a slightly below normal voice, since he had no idea what had caused the zone.
"Si... Simon? What... How did...?" Jim managed to ask as the world finally stopped spinning and came back into focus.
"Jim something is wrong with Blair." Simon was glad he had been smart enough to stand on the other side of Jim, as he made a dive for Blair.
"Blair! Oh, God. I'm so sorry. Blair, please come back." Jim pleaded both verbally and non-verbally through their mind link.
//Please, Love. Come Back. Don't leave me. // He begged despairingly, as his mind only met Blair's confusion and pain.
"Simon, I can't reach him. It's like he's adrift in his own mind." A tear slid down his cheek as he carefully lifted Blair's rigid form into his arms then eased him down onto the couch.
Simon passed the kit to Jim. "Hear, try this. I think he knew something like this might happen."
Jim looked at the kit he was handed, then flew into action. Quickly swabbing a spot on Blair's arm and injected him with a muscle relaxant. Blair's reaction time was much longer than Jim's was and Simon just watched as his best Decetive petted and crooned softly to his Guide. Never once flinching at the sight of his friend placing small kisses on Blair's forehead.
"Come on Chief, come back to me. I'm so sorry, this wasn't your fault. I'm sorry that I hurt you this way, please, please wake up." Jim froze, as a groan and then a slowly raising arm brought him back from almost zoning again.
"Blair?" Jim whispered.
"Jim...? My... he... head... hurts..." Blair's voice was almost too soft for Jim to hear.
"It's ok, Chief. I've got you. Simon, can you hand me the Demerol." Jim shifted Blair slightly so that he could administer a quarter dose of the painkiller. Blair winced and mewled pitifully when the needle pierced his skin.
"Shh, you're ok. You'll be fine now. Try to rest. I love you." Jim murmured comfortingly.
Blair opened his eyes slightly, his gaze barely able to focus on Jim.
"Still love me...?" He questioned with apprehension.
Jim grinned "Always, love. Always." Then kissed him on the lips. Blair was sound asleep before he pulled away from the kiss.
Clearing his throat to gain attention "Jim, just how long have you and Blair been a couple and what the hell happened here tonight?"
Jim got up off the couch and handed Simon the open kit and the used needles, then covered Blair over with the afghan. Brushing a lock of hair off of Blair's face before turning his attention to Simon.
"I guess that you weren't paying too much attention to Blair and I when Jaren and Brice were here. It's been almost two months since we got together." Walking into the kitchen on unsteady legs, Jim sat at the table and rubbed his face with his hands.
Simon walked over to the sink, placed the first aid kit on the counter and got Jim a glass of water before sitting next to him at the table. Shaky hands grasped the glass, as Jim looked over at the figure on the couch.
"God, Simon. This was my fault. He was telling me... well, what he told me brought back some bad memories and I zoned on them. He must have dropped his shields and... he got caught up in the feelings that I was remembering. It overwhelmed him. We... he was afraid that this would happen. I think he knew it would."
"Jim, what did he tell you that caused you to zone on memories? What could have possibly been so bad for that to happen?"
"I can't tell you most of it, it's Blair's story to tell, unless he asks me to tell you, but basically... he told me why he hates guns. I swear Simon, you never would have guessed the reason in a million years." Jim suddenly straightened and looked at the clock then looked at Simon.
"Simon... what are you doing here? It hasn't even been an hour since I got off the phone with you."
Simon shot him an angry glance before he smiled evilly.
"Funny thing, that. Oh, Sandburg's just gonna love this one."
"Sir?" Jim asked, confusion clearly written on his face.
"Well, see Jim, there I was just sitting in my office minding my own business, when all of the sudden I find myself being stared at and growled at by one reallypissed off black jaguar." Simon smiled at the drop jaw expression on Jim's face, then continued. " Then to top it off, I seem to recall that there was an overly hyperactive wolf running around loose in the bullpen that everyone just seemed to ignore. You wouldn't care to explain to me why I was seeing spirit guides at the station, would you?"
Jim's mouth was moving but no sound was forth coming, when a sound caught both of their attention.
"Spirit guides to the rescue...cool." The mumbled words were just barely audible to Simons ears, but it was pure music to Jim's and he practically tripped over himself trying to get to Blair fast enough. Simon was close behind him, just in case, but stayed far enough back to give them a bit of room.
Blair looked up at Jim with half open, sleepy eyes as he smiled and whispered. "Hey."
"Hey, yourself." Jim said as he gathered Blair up in his arms. "How are you feeling Chief?" He asked as he lovingly brushed another lock of hair out of his face, and tucked it behind Blair's ear. //Can you hear me? How are your shields? //
"I'm ok. My shields are back in place. I'm just kinda..." Blair interrupted himself with a huge yawn. "Tired. How about you man? Are you ok?" Blair grasped the front of Jim's shirt as he snuggled deeper into the embrace, his eyes drifting shut.
Holding him tighter, Jim asked. // Blair, what can I tell Simon? Do you want to keep this quiet? I don't want to leave him in the dark but we'll do whatever you want. //
Blair fidgeted for a moment before exhaling quietly with a sigh. // I don't want to start keeping things from him now either. Will you tell him for me. I can't stay awake much longer. I only woke up because I could feel you worrying about me. I needed you to know that I was ok. I love you Jim. //
Jim eased himself away from Blair and got him resituated on the couch. Blair's mind had drifter into the random patterns of dreaming, and didn't hear Jim's reply.
// I love you too. //
Getting up off the couch, Jim walked back into the kitchen with Simon following silently behind him once more. Opening the fridge, Jim pulled out four beers, handed two to Simon and gestured towards the table again.
"Jim?" Simon asked, concerned.
"Take a seat Simon, I'll explain as much as I can to you about where we're going and why and then I'll tell you why Blair hates guns... but you're not going to believe it... ANY of it."
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The Loft: an Hour and a half Later...
Simon was the one with the drop-jaw expression on his face.
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"Jim?" Simon asked, concerned.
"Take a seat Simon, I'll explain as much as I can to you about where we're going and why and then I'll tell you why Blair hates guns. but you're not going to believe it. ANY of it."
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The Loft: The next Morning
The following morning Blair awoke to find himself in bed instead of on the couch where he had fallen asleep. Jim was laying next to him on the bed, leaning on his side and up on one elbow, fully clothed and had obviously been watching him sleep for a while.
"Good morning, sleepy head. How are you feeling?" Jim asked as he leaned forward and placed a kiss on the top of Blair's head.
"I'm okay. Everything seems to be back in balance again. Is Simon still here?" He stifled a yawn as he stretched then snuggled in closer to Jim.
Jim chuckled as he hugged him even closer. "You must have really been out. The phone has rung seven times in the past two hours. You normally wake from a sound sleep to jump at the phone before I can even get to it."
"So, who called?" Blair mumbled sleepily.
"Well, lets see. Simon called first to ask me how you were doing after last night. Then O'Neill called to co-ordinate when we were going to meet in Colorado and where. Simon called back a second time to tell me to expect a call from the Chief of police granting us permission to extend my leave time again. Then of course the Chief DID call, telling me that the President had called him personally and how proud he was of both of 'his men'." Jim smiled at the shocked look on Blair's face, then continued. "Ummm... General Hammond called to ask us if we decided what we wanted in exchange for our information, just in case we wanted it before we gave the info to them. I told him that what we wanted could be given to us after we got to the mountain. Daryl called, but he wanted to talk only to you, so I told him that you'd email him as soon as you could. Oh, and your mother called. She said that she felt that something might be wrong. I told her that you were just really tired and that you'd call her in a few days when you were better rested. Basically, it's been a busy morning and. you have to get up now."
Blair grumbled. "No, I don't wanna, I'm comfortable. Why now?" He asked as he slowly rolled out of Jim's embrace.
Jim got up and went around to the other side of the bed and eased Blair into a sitting position before answering.
"You have to get up now, so that you can take a shower and have breakfast. Our plane leaves in an hour and a half. We're all packed and Simon will be here in an hour to take us to the airport. Daniel and Colonel O'Neill left shortly after they called, but we'll meet them at the airport when we land. Then we will all have a late lunch before heading to the base. Uh, Blair. about last night?"
"Jim." Blair quickly cut in. "Last night was bound to happen sooner or later. I knew that it would, but We are ok. Just make sure that we bring at least two of the first aid kits with us."
With that said and with a parting kiss, Blair got up and headed for the bathroom to start his day. He had a feeling that it was going to be a long one.
Twenty minutes later, Blair exited the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and a cloud of steam trailing behind him, just as Jim was serving up his food.
"Oh, Man that smells good. I can't believe I missed lunch and supper yesterday." Blair said, as he stole a quick kiss from Jim as he snagged the plate of hot food from Jim's hand and sat down to eat.
Munching appreciatively on a few mouthfuls he added. "Oh, this is SO good. Did you eat already?" Jim smiled and Blair shook his head. "Never mind, dumb question. You must have been up for hours already. Did you get any sleep?" He asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I slept. I got up about 5:30am. I think for a change, I'm the one that's hyped up. Especially after everything that's happened." Jim cringed slightly, wishing that he could reclaim the last statement.
Blair slowly put down the heavily laden fork that had been half way to his mouth, and stared at the food on his plate.
"Jim, what did Simon have to say? He didn't think that I was. that I. God, I'm afraid to think about what he thought of me." Blair turned into the arms that instantly appeared and enfolded him in a large, warm hug.
"Blair, Simon didn't think anything of you other than how strong of a person you really are. He was shocked, to say the least, but he understands why you couldn't share this with everyone. He wont say anything either, unless you bring it up." Jim whispered as he comforted Blair by rubbing his hands up and down his back and into his hair.
"I looked for you." Blair's voice was barely audible, but Jim heard it and froze in place.
"What? What do you mean you looked for me?" Jim asked, trying to get Blair to look up at him.
Blair shivered slightly as the memories ran amuck through his head. "I looked for you. I still had some contacts in high places. You tend to make a few friends when you can slip a few special items home to the wives and children or to ship a package of real food from home overseas in 24 hours, sometimes even less. It took forever though, Jim. Finding you, I mean."
Blair finally looked up into Jim's eyes, with his own tear stained eyes. Jim brought up a hand to the side of Blair's face and brushed a tear away with his thumb.
"How long did you look, Blair? Why did you look? As far as anyone knew, we were all dead."
Blair leaned into the hand caressing his face. "It took about six months before I was a totally stable person again, and granted a medical discharge. My therapist told me to get a hobby, something to concentrate on other than T.J.'s death. I did some digging and found out that they never even sent a plane to do recon photo's of the crash area. So I started doing some recon of my own. That became my hobby, actually it was more of an obsession, really. That's how I ended up meeting Jack Kelso. I kinda threw up a few red flags with all my computer searches over an eight month time period. He was able to open a few doors that would have otherwise been closed, and pointed me in the right directions. When I found. I found. I hacked into a satellite link via a few guys I know and. I found the wreck. and Jim, they had known all along where you were."
Blair was breathing rapidly, trying to drawn in the required air as he remembered how pissed he had been when he found out the truth. Jim hugged him closer and shushed him, mumbling nonsense words of love and comfort. Once Blair had calmed down a bit, he continued.
"Jack helped me get the photo to a new up and coming officer that could use the career boost that went along with finding MIAs. It still took almost four months before the photo was acknowledged and people were sent in, but. I found you."
Jim kissed the top of his Guides head. He had already known that they knew where he was, had already dealt with that pain and anger. Blair had looked for him and found him, even without knowing him and he found him. Smiling, Jim pulled Blair's face up towards his own and kissed him tenderly and repeatedly, before pulling back to look into his Guides stunned and glazed eyes.
"Yeah, Blair. You found me. you found me. I didn't think it was possible for me to love you more, but I was wrong, so very wrong. Just don't ever let me go. Now, lets go get you dressed so we can leave. Simon will be here soon."
Blair smiled as he let Jim lead him upstairs. Jim knew everything about him now, there were no more secrets, no more lies to hide, and he still loved him. That was all that really mattered, everything else would work itself out because Jim still loved him.
~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~
The Loft: Ten minutes later
Simon showed up at the door just a Blair was coming down the loft stairs and Jim quickly grabbed his coat and the luggage and brought it all into the elevator so he could pack it all in Simon's car. Doing this served a dual purpose, one of which was to give Simon and Blair a few minutes alone to try to sort out anything that needed to be sorted out.
Blair sat on the couch putting on his shoes and then carefully packing the Guardians Journal and Daniel's half of the Journal, both separately wrapped, into his backpack with one of their first aid kits and sneaking peeks at Simon through the veil of his long hair. Simon, always having been a good Decetive saw through the hidden tension and spoke.
"Blair, nothing has changed. You're still the same person I knew yesterday morning, I just have an even larger respect for you now." Simon smiled, but the truth was clearly written on his face and in his eyes for anyone who cared to see.
Blair's head shot up and his mouth hung open in shock. Respect? Simon respected him? WOW!
// Are you really that shocked Blair? // Blair looked down to hide his face, feeling the blush rise as Jim's words drifted across his mind.
//I guess I thought he just tolerated me, because I was part of the Sentinel package, you know? // Blair looked up at Simon again and smiled.
"Thanks Simon. That means a lot to me. More that I can ever say." Blair said as he stood up and grabbed his backpack and headed for the door.
Simon took Blair's coat off the rack and handed it to him as they locked up and headed down to join Jim.
"Any time, Blair. Any time."
~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~
Denver Colorado Airport: A Little Over Three Hours later
The Car ride to the Spokane airport was relatively quiet, as Jim and Blair went over everything that was about to possibly happen in their heads. This could either make them or break them, forever.
The non-stop three hour and five minute flight from Spokane to Denver was spent with Jim half zoned on Blair's heartbeat, so that he wouldn't zone or have a sensory spike on the noises inside or outside of the plane. Blair spent most of the trip reading, while keeping his heartrate at an almost meditative rate, and every few minutes he'd check Jim to make sure he was well set in the self-induced zone.
After landing, Blair brought his heartrate up to normal speed and Jim eased out of the zone on his own. They grabbed their carry-on gear then departed the plane to meet Daniel and Colonel O'Neill
As soon as they walked off the exit ramp, Blair could see Daniel and it was obvious to him that his friend was full of questions.
"So, how was your flight?" Daniel asked as Jack came up behind him carrying both Jim and Blair's suitcases. To make their time shorter at the airport, Jim had labeled their luggage and given Jack a description of their bags.
"Did you guys have anything else that you needed to pick up before we head to the base after dinner?" Jack asked as he handed over the larger of the two suitcases to Jim when he reached for it.
"No, man. This is everything. I always carry the important stuff anyway." Blair smiled as he hefted his backpack higher on his shoulder.
Jim had been quiet up to this point. He had slightly extended his senses and could detect Colonel O'Neill's sent totally surrounding the young archeologist and smiled at him. The pinking up of Daniel's cheeks and the slight eye aversion between them was more proof that the young man had finally gotten his hearts desire fulfilled.
Jim nudged Blair. //Well, SOMEBODY had a really good night last night, Chief. //
Looking up at Jim, he asked quietly. // What do you mean, Jim? //
Jim flashed Blair a smile. // Even though I can tell they both showered, I can still smell them on each other, but it's more like a lingering smell that marks them as belonging to each other. //
// Cool, maybe I could do some tests later? // Blair said as he returned Jim's smile then shot a knowing glance at Daniel and the Colonel.
"Shall we?" Jim asked, smirking slightly in the Colonels direction, leaving Jack to wonder just what had caused that look to be aimed at him.
"Lets go, then."
Once they got to the car and stowed their luggage they all piled into the car and headed out.
"What kind of food are you guys in the mood for, there's some great Chinese and Italian food places around." Daniel asked.
Jim just looked at Blair before answering. "To tell you the truth, neither one of us is in the mood to eat much. Maybe we could just pick up some burgers at a drive-thru somewhere. Do you have a Wonderburger around here?"
Blair rolled his eyes and groaned, the sound was quickly followed by an echoing sound coming from Daniel. Jack and Jim snuck a quick look at each other right before bursting out laughing.
"That's right, keep it up." Blair grumbled. "I just want to know who's going to keep Daniel and I company after the two of you eat your way into early graves?"
The laughing abruptly stopped. Jack cleared his throat and Jim placed his hand on top of Blairs'.
"I. I'm sorry. I don't really know why I said that." Blair said hanging his head slightly so that his hair hid his face.
"Blair. Blair, we'll be ok, relax." Jim whispered his reassurances.
"Umm, why don't we just head over to the base then. If we get hungry later we can all go down to commissary and grab something there, the foods not really as bad as you'd expect from the military." Daniel said, offering another option.
"I think that just might be the best bet right now. Thanks Daniel." Jim squeezed Blair's hand and he shook his head in agreement.
"Ok, the base it is." Jack said as he changed direction and headed straight for the mountain.
~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~ Cheyanne Mountain:
After all the effort Jim put into convincing Blair that everything would be fine, a few minutes from the base Jim started to get edgy. The closest thing he could compare the feeling to was the feeling he had before he knew about Alex and threw Blair out of the loft to try to protect him. The feeling was a lot less intense than it had been then, but the feeling was starting to be more than just an itch at the back of his brain, the closer they got to the base.
Things came to a head, briefly when an airman at the entrance of the base had placed his hands on the backpack straps and tried to take Blair's backpack with the Guardians book in it from him, to examine the contence. Jim had grabbed the backpack tossed it to Blair then placed himself between Blair and the airman. and growled.
Daniel was trying to explain that for religious reasons, the pack didn't need to be searched, but the airman wasn't paying attention and almost knocked him down to get around him in an attempt to get closer to Jim and Blair.
Jack barely caught Danny before he could hit the ground. The stubborn airman tried to make another grab for the pack and Blair, Jim being Jim. reacted. When Jack had finally gotten Daniel steadily on his feet again he turned to face Jim, only to find that Jim was holding the airman with and arm pinned behind his back and another around his neck. Not to mention that there were guns being drawn on Jim and Blair.
Thankfully Jack had had enough. "Oh, for cryin' out loud! At ease, damn it! Lower your weapons, that's an order! And YOU.!" Jack said, pointing a finger at the still immobile airman. "The next time he. (pointing at Daniel,) tells you ANYTHING. you Damn well better pay attention!" Jack looked at Jim before asking politely, "I'd really appreciate it if you didn't kill him, but if you really want to I don't think the General will hold you accountable."
Jim smiled at Jack as he felt the airman tense up. Then spoke softly. "The only reason you're alive is because you didn't actually touch Blair, because he doesn't really like it when I kill people. and because Colonel O'Neill asked nicely." Jim tightened his grip on the airman slightly before adding, "Consider this a warning not to ever try to touch him without permission again because if you do, you wont be alive long enough to regret it." Jim released the airman, grabbed their gear, still keeping himself between Blair and anyone else, then looked at Daniel and Jack.
"OooooKay! And for our next trick, we'll try to make it to the elevator with out actually killing anyone. Shall we?" Jack said, motioning towards the elevators as he lead the way, with Daniel following close behind him, then Jim and Blair.
Blair was somewhat confused. He didn't know what had really set Jim off like that, but that was definitely NOT normal.
// Jim, are you ok? What's going on? Are your senses spiking? // Blair asked as he placed a hand on the small of Jim's back.
Some of the tension left Jim at Blair's touch. // Yeah, I'm ok. I feel a little weird, like I need to protect you, like there's something that doesn't belong here. I don't know. No spikes though. Lets just get to where we need to go. Jaren said that we had a long journey ahead of us and that we would both know it when the time came. We need to see this through. //
The ride down to the gate level was uneventful and they were ushered directly into the briefing room, where General Hammond was waiting for them. Jim was still getting that weird feeling and whatever it was, was getting even closer. Jim and Blair sat down at the end of the briefing table with Jack sitting to Blairs' left and Daniel to Jims' right. Blair's backpack was on the table between both Jim and Blair. The next person to enter the room was Major Samantha Carter, who sat between Colonel O'Neill and the General after introductions were made.
"Were just waiting for the last member of the SG1 team before we start the briefing. He's just gotten back to the base after visiting his wife and son. He should be here momentarily." General Hammond said to Jim and Blair before turning to Jack."Colonel, have you had a chance to brief them about Teal'c"
"Ah, no sir. I felt that it was best to wait until we were here to do that." Jack said with a bit of unease in his voice.
Suddenly, both Jim and Blair tensed up. "Jim." Blair grabbed Jim's arm with one hand and his own head with the other before his slightly pained whisper was heard.
Jim quickly stood grabbing the backpack and dragging Blair up with him, pulling him in close to his body to protect the dazed and pained Guide, from whatever it was that was approaching.
Outbursts were heard from those still sitting at the table, all except Daniel who was trying to avoid Jacks questioning gaze.
Seconds later, Teal'c entered the room then stopped short just a few feet into the room.
Blair looked up at the newest arrival, starring directly at him, showing absolutely no fear. Jim tightened his grip on Blair and growled threateningly.
"No." Blair whispered as he straightened and a confused look crossed the face of the large man. Blair concentrated his mind on the strange man and lowered his shields.
Then for absolutely no seeable reason, Teal'c crumpled to the ground like a puppet with it's strings suddenly cut.
A few seconds later, Blair followed suit. The only thing stopping him from hitting the floor was Jim's cat-like reflexes, leaving the room filled with silence and stunned expressions.
~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~
Last time at The Loft:
"Jim?" Simon asked, concerned.
"Take a seat Simon, I'll explain as much as I can to you about where we're going and why and then I'll tell you why Blair hates guns. but you're not going to believe it. ANY of it."
~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~
The Loft: The next Morning
The following morning Blair awoke to find himself in bed instead of on the couch where he had fallen asleep. Jim was laying next to him on the bed, leaning on his side and up on one elbow, fully clothed and had obviously been watching him sleep for a while.
"Good morning, sleepy head. How are you feeling?" Jim asked as he leaned forward and placed a kiss on the top of Blair's head.
"I'm okay. Everything seems to be back in balance again. Is Simon still here?" He stifled a yawn as he stretched then snuggled in closer to Jim.
Jim chuckled as he hugged him even closer. "You must have really been out. The phone has rung seven times in the past two hours. You normally wake from a sound sleep to jump at the phone before I can even get to it."
"So, who called?" Blair mumbled sleepily.
"Well, lets see. Simon called first to ask me how you were doing after last night. Then O'Neill called to co-ordinate when we were going to meet in Colorado and where. Simon called back a second time to tell me to expect a call from the Chief of police granting us permission to extend my leave time again. Then of course the Chief DID call, telling me that the President had called him personally and how proud he was of both of 'his men'." Jim smiled at the shocked look on Blair's face, then continued. "Ummm... General Hammond called to ask us if we decided what we wanted in exchange for our information, just in case we wanted it before we gave the info to them. I told him that what we wanted could be given to us after we got to the mountain. Daryl called, but he wanted to talk only to you, so I told him that you'd email him as soon as you could. Oh, and your mother called. She said that she felt that something might be wrong. I told her that you were just really tired and that you'd call her in a few days when you were better rested. Basically, it's been a busy morning and. you have to get up now."
Blair grumbled. "No, I don't wanna, I'm comfortable. Why now?" He asked as he slowly rolled out of Jim's embrace.
Jim got up and went around to the other side of the bed and eased Blair into a sitting position before answering.
"You have to get up now, so that you can take a shower and have breakfast. Our plane leaves in an hour and a half. We're all packed and Simon will be here in an hour to take us to the airport. Daniel and Colonel O'Neill left shortly after they called, but we'll meet them at the airport when we land. Then we will all have a late lunch before heading to the base. Uh, Blair. about last night?"
"Jim." Blair quickly cut in. "Last night was bound to happen sooner or later. I knew that it would, but We are ok. Just make sure that we bring at least two of the first aid kits with us."
With that said and with a parting kiss, Blair got up and headed for the bathroom to start his day. He had a feeling that it was going to be a long one.
Twenty minutes later, Blair exited the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and a cloud of steam trailing behind him, just as Jim was serving up his food.
"Oh, Man that smells good. I can't believe I missed lunch and supper yesterday." Blair said, as he stole a quick kiss from Jim as he snagged the plate of hot food from Jim's hand and sat down to eat.
Munching appreciatively on a few mouthfuls he added. "Oh, this is SO good. Did you eat already?" Jim smiled and Blair shook his head. "Never mind, dumb question. You must have been up for hours already. Did you get any sleep?" He asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I slept. I got up about 5:30am. I think for a change, I'm the one that's hyped up. Especially after everything that's happened." Jim cringed slightly, wishing that he could reclaim the last statement.
Blair slowly put down the heavily laden fork that had been half way to his mouth, and stared at the food on his plate.
"Jim, what did Simon have to say? He didn't think that I was. that I. God, I'm afraid to think about what he thought of me." Blair turned into the arms that instantly appeared and enfolded him in a large, warm hug.
"Blair, Simon didn't think anything of you other than how strong of a person you really are. He was shocked, to say the least, but he understands why you couldn't share this with everyone. He wont say anything either, unless you bring it up." Jim whispered as he comforted Blair by rubbing his hands up and down his back and into his hair.
"I looked for you." Blair's voice was barely audible, but Jim heard it and froze in place.
"What? What do you mean you looked for me?" Jim asked, trying to get Blair to look up at him.
Blair shivered slightly as the memories ran amuck through his head. "I looked for you. I still had some contacts in high places. You tend to make a few friends when you can slip a few special items home to the wives and children or to ship a package of real food from home overseas in 24 hours, sometimes even less. It took forever though, Jim. Finding you, I mean."
Blair finally looked up into Jim's eyes, with his own tear stained eyes. Jim brought up a hand to the side of Blair's face and brushed a tear away with his thumb.
"How long did you look, Blair? Why did you look? As far as anyone knew, we were all dead."
Blair leaned into the hand caressing his face. "It took about six months before I was a totally stable person again, and granted a medical discharge. My therapist told me to get a hobby, something to concentrate on other than T.J.'s death. I did some digging and found out that they never even sent a plane to do recon photo's of the crash area. So I started doing some recon of my own. That became my hobby, actually it was more of an obsession, really. That's how I ended up meeting Jack Kelso. I kinda threw up a few red flags with all my computer searches over an eight month time period. He was able to open a few doors that would have otherwise been closed, and pointed me in the right directions. When I found. I found. I hacked into a satellite link via a few guys I know and. I found the wreck. and Jim, they had known all along where you were."
Blair was breathing rapidly, trying to drawn in the required air as he remembered how pissed he had been when he found out the truth. Jim hugged him closer and shushed him, mumbling nonsense words of love and comfort. Once Blair had calmed down a bit, he continued.
"Jack helped me get the photo to a new up and coming officer that could use the career boost that went along with finding MIAs. It still took almost four months before the photo was acknowledged and people were sent in, but. I found you."
Jim kissed the top of his Guides head. He had already known that they knew where he was, had already dealt with that pain and anger. Blair had looked for him and found him, even without knowing him and he found him. Smiling, Jim pulled Blair's face up towards his own and kissed him tenderly and repeatedly, before pulling back to look into his Guides stunned and glazed eyes.
"Yeah, Blair. You found me. you found me. I didn't think it was possible for me to love you more, but I was wrong, so very wrong. Just don't ever let me go. Now, lets go get you dressed so we can leave. Simon will be here soon."
Blair smiled as he let Jim lead him upstairs. Jim knew everything about him now, there were no more secrets, no more lies to hide, and he still loved him. That was all that really mattered, everything else would work itself out because Jim still loved him.
~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~
The Loft: Ten minutes later
Simon showed up at the door just a Blair was coming down the loft stairs and Jim quickly grabbed his coat and the luggage and brought it all into the elevator so he could pack it all in Simon's car. Doing this served a dual purpose, one of which was to give Simon and Blair a few minutes alone to try to sort out anything that needed to be sorted out.
Blair sat on the couch putting on his shoes and then carefully packing the Guardians Journal and Daniel's half of the Journal, both separately wrapped, into his backpack with one of their first aid kits and sneaking peeks at Simon through the veil of his long hair. Simon, always having been a good Decetive saw through the hidden tension and spoke.
"Blair, nothing has changed. You're still the same person I knew yesterday morning, I just have an even larger respect for you now." Simon smiled, but the truth was clearly written on his face and in his eyes for anyone who cared to see.
Blair's head shot up and his mouth hung open in shock. Respect? Simon respected him? WOW!
// Are you really that shocked Blair? // Blair looked down to hide his face, feeling the blush rise as Jim's words drifted across his mind.
//I guess I thought he just tolerated me, because I was part of the Sentinel package, you know? // Blair looked up at Simon again and smiled.
"Thanks Simon. That means a lot to me. More that I can ever say." Blair said as he stood up and grabbed his backpack and headed for the door. Simon took Blair's coat off the rack and handed it to him as they locked up and headed down to join Jim.
"Any time, Blair. Any time."
~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~
Denver Colorado Airport: A Little Over Three Hours later
The Car ride to the Spokane airport was relatively quiet, as Jim and Blair went over everything that was about to possibly happen in their heads. This could either make them or break them, forever.
The non-stop three hour and five minute flight from Spokane to Denver was spent with Jim half zoned on Blair's heartbeat, so that he wouldn't zone or have a sensory spike on the noises inside or outside of the plane. Blair spent most of the trip reading, while keeping his heartrate at an almost meditative rate, and every few minutes he'd check Jim to make sure he was well set in the self-induced zone.
After landing, Blair brought his heartrate up to normal speed and Jim eased out of the zone on his own. They grabbed their carry-on gear then departed the plane to meet Daniel and Colonel O'Neill
As soon as they walked off the exit ramp, Blair could see Daniel and it was obvious to him that his friend was full of questions.
"So, how was your flight?" Daniel asked as Jack came up behind him carrying both Jim and Blair's suitcases. To make their time shorter at the airport, Jim had labeled their luggage and given Jack a description of their bags.
"Did you guys have anything else that you needed to pick up before we head to the base after dinner?" Jack asked as he handed over the larger of the two suitcases to Jim when he reached for it.
"No, man. This is everything. I always carry the important stuff anyway." Blair smiled as he hefted his backpack higher on his shoulder.
Jim had been quiet up to this point. He had slightly extended his senses and could detect Colonel O'Neill's sent totally surrounding the young archeologist and smiled at him. The pinking up of Daniel's cheeks and the slight eye aversion between them was more proof that the young man had finally gotten his hearts desire fulfilled.
Jim nudged Blair. //Well, SOMEBODY had a really good night last night, Chief. //
Looking up at Jim, he asked quietly. // What do you mean, Jim? //
Jim flashed Blair a smile. // Even though I can tell they both showered, I can still smell them on each other, but it's more like a lingering smell that marks them as belonging to each other. //
// Cool, maybe I could do some tests later? // Blair said as he returned Jim's smile then shot a knowing glance at Daniel and the Colonel.
"Shall we?" Jim asked, smirking slightly in the Colonels direction, leaving Jack to wonder just what had caused that look to be aimed at him.
"Lets go, then."
Once they got to the car and stowed their luggage they all piled into the car and headed out.
"What kind of food are you guys in the mood for, there's some great Chinese and Italian food places around." Daniel asked.
Jim just looked at Blair before answering. "To tell you the truth, neither one of us is in the mood to eat much. Maybe we could just pick up some burgers at a drive-thru somewhere. Do you have a Wonderburger around here?"
Blair rolled his eyes and groaned, the sound was quickly followed by an echoing sound coming from Daniel. Jack and Jim snuck a quick look at each other right before bursting out laughing.
"That's right, keep it up." Blair grumbled. "I just want to know who's going to keep Daniel and I company after the two of you eat your way into early graves?"
The laughing abruptly stopped. Jack cleared his throat and Jim placed his hand on top of Blairs'.
"I. I'm sorry. I don't really know why I said that." Blair said hanging his head slightly so that his hair hid his face.
"Blair. Blair, we'll be ok, relax." Jim whispered his reassurances.
"Umm, why don't we just head over to the base then. If we get hungry later we can all go down to commissary and grab something there, the foods not really as bad as you'd expect from the military." Daniel said, offering another option.
"I think that just might be the best bet right now. Thanks Daniel." Jim squeezed Blair's hand and he shook his head in agreement.
"Ok, the base it is." Jack said as he changed direction and headed straight for the mountain.
~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~^~~~ Cheyanne Mountain:
After all the effort Jim put into convincing Blair that everything would be fine, a few minutes from the base Jim started to get edgy. The closest thing he could compare the feeling to was the feeling he had before he knew about Alex and threw Blair out of the loft to try to protect him. The feeling was a lot less intense than it had been then, but the feeling was starting to be more than just an itch at the back of his brain, the closer they got to the base.
Things came to a head, briefly when an airman at the entrance of the base had placed his hands on the backpack straps and tried to take Blair's backpack with the Guardians book in it from him, to examine the contence. Jim had grabbed the backpack tossed it to Blair then placed himself between Blair and the airman. and growled.
Daniel was trying to explain that for religious reasons, the pack didn't need to be searched, but the airman wasn't paying attention and almost knocked him down to get around him in an attempt to get closer to Jim and Blair.
Jack barely caught Danny before he could hit the ground. The stubborn airman tried to make another grab for the pack and Blair, Jim being Jim. reacted. When Jack had finally gotten Daniel steadily on his feet again he turned to face Jim, only to find that Jim was holding the airman with and arm pinned behind his back and another around his neck. Not to mention that there were guns being drawn on Jim and Blair.
Thankfully Jack had had enough. "Oh, for cryin' out loud! At ease, damn it! Lower your weapons, that's an order! And YOU.!" Jack said, pointing a finger at the still immobile airman. "The next time he. (pointing at Daniel,) tells you ANYTHING. you Damn well better pay attention!" Jack looked at Jim before asking politely, "I'd really appreciate it if you didn't kill him, but if you really want to I don't think the General will hold you accountable."
Jim smiled at Jack as he felt the airman tense up. Then spoke softly. "The only reason you're alive is because you didn't actually touch Blair, because he doesn't really like it when I kill people. and because Colonel O'Neill asked nicely." Jim tightened his grip on the airman slightly before adding, "Consider this a warning not to ever try to touch him without permission again because if you do, you wont be alive long enough to regret it." Jim released the airman, grabbed their gear, still keeping himself between Blair and anyone else, then looked at Daniel and Jack.
"OooooKay! And for our next trick, we'll try to make it to the elevator with out actually killing anyone. Shall we?" Jack said, motioning towards the elevators as he lead the way, with Daniel following close behind him, then Jim and Blair.
Blair was somewhat confused. He didn't know what had really set Jim off like that, but that was definitely NOT normal.
// Jim, are you ok? What's going on? Are your senses spiking? // Blair asked as he placed a hand on the small of Jim's back.
Some of the tension left Jim at Blair's touch. // Yeah, I'm ok. I feel a little weird, like I need to protect you, like there's something that doesn't belong here. I don't know. No spikes though. Lets just get to where we need to go. Jaren said that we had a long journey ahead of us and that we would both know it when the time came. We need to see this through. //
The ride down to the gate level was uneventful and they were ushered directly into the briefing room, where General Hammond was waiting for them. Jim was still getting that weird feeling and whatever it was, was getting even closer. Jim and Blair sat down at the end of the briefing table with Jack sitting to Blairs' left and Daniel to Jims' right. Blair's backpack was on the table between both Jim and Blair. The next person to enter the room was Major Samantha Carter, who sat between Colonel O'Neill and the General after introductions were made.
"Were just waiting for the last member of the SG1 team before we start the briefing. He's just gotten back to the base after visiting his wife and son. He should be here momentarily." General Hammond said to Jim and Blair before turning to Jack. "Colonel, have you had a chance to brief them about Teal'c"
"Ah, no sir. I felt that it was best to wait until we were here to do that." Jack said with a bit of unease in his voice.
Suddenly, both Jim and Blair tensed up. "Jim." Blair grabbed Jim's arm with one hand and his own head with the other before his slightly pained whisper was heard.
Jim quickly stood grabbing the backpack and dragging Blair up with him, pulling him in close to his body to protect the dazed and pained Guide, from whatever it was that was approaching.
Outbursts were heard from those still sitting at the table, all except Daniel who was trying to avoid Jacks questioning gaze.
Seconds later, Teal'c entered the room then stopped short just a few feet into the room.
Blair looked up at the newest arrival, starring directly at him, showing absolutely no fear. Jim tightened his grip on Blair and growled threateningly.
"No." Blair whispered as he straightened and a confused look crossed the face of the large man. Blair concentrated his mind on the strange man and lowered his shields.
Then for absolutely no seeable reason, Teal'c crumpled to the ground like a puppet with it's strings suddenly cut.
A few seconds later, Blair followed suit. The only thing stopping him from hitting the floor was Jim's cat-like reflexes, leaving the room filled with silence and stunned expressions
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