The Seven’s Sentinel
The 7th story in the Sentinel.com Series
A TS/M7 ATF xo
This is the seventh story in my Sentinel.com universe, so I figure it’s fitting that it is also a Magnificent 7 crossover. For those who don’t know TS, a Sentinel is a person with a genetic advantage. All five of his or her senses are naturally enhanced so that they can hear a pin drop in another room, or taste a grain of salt in a cup of water. This advantage does come at a price. Sentinels need a Guide, a partner to help them. Though they can function at low levels without a Guide, in order to reach their full potential, they need that one special person who can reach them if they zone. Zoning comes from focusing too much on one sense. It can be deadly if not interrupted. The Guide is an equal in the partnership, working to help the Sentinel learn how to control the use of his senses and watching his back to prevent zone outs.
The Sentinel.com universe begins at the end of The Sentinel TV series. Blair does go on to become a cop, but the arrival of Sentinels and Guides looking for help soon leads to Jim and Blair starting a foundation to help unite Sentinels with their Guides and teach the pairs to work together successfully. This story takes place several years after the Sentinel/Guide Foundation is opened.
For those unfamiliar with The Magnificent 7, this show is a
western set after the Civil War, in the late 1800’s. Seven very different men
are drawn together to help defend a Seminole village and end up staying on to
protect a small, nearby town from the wilds of the West. MOG took these seven
men and transported them into the modern age. Today they are ATF agents working
out of
I don’t spend a lot (or any?) time introducing the characters, I just assume that since you choose to read it, you are at least slightly familiar with them. I hope you enjoy the story.
Spoilers: For the first 6 stories in this series, though nothing says you can’t read this one before reading the others. Also for ‘Warriors’ and ‘The Sentinel, Too.’
Warnings: Some language.
Kudos: To my most wonderful cousin and bestest beta ever, Cheryl. Sometimes it’s just scary how she finds the words I couldn’t.
Disclaimers: Other people own them, I’m just borrowing. Percy,
Paul and Dennis are mine, all mine… hehehe...
*************************************************
The Seven’s Sentinel
“I don’t get it,” Blair
Sandburg, Shaman and Guide of Cascade said as he dropped onto the couch beside
his friend and Sentinel, Jim Ellison.
“It’s all about politics, kid,”
Simon Banks replied, leaning back in the chair he’d claimed early in the
evening. “The President wants to look good for the up-coming election and since
we’ve ‘come out of the closet’ so to speak,” Simon grinned, “having ‘The
Watchman’ on his security escort will do wonders for his image.
Jim shook his head. “It’s a
wonder he didn’t request us for the entire tour and not just the
Joel Taggart set his empty
glass on the coffee table as he spoke. “Nah, the President has picked out
‘celebrity’ guards for each of his stops. Some of them, like you, actually have
experience. Like Simon said, it’s all political. I doubt you’ll even be asked
to look at security between all the parties and interviews.”
“Great,” Jim mumbled. “We get
to be the entertainment.”
Blair smirked. “True, but
you’ve got to admit, it’s a great opportunity for the SGF as well. We’ll just
have to be sure to take along a few of our own watchdogs so that we don’t get
any nasty surprises.”
~~~~~
Ezra Standish frowned. There it
was again. I must be going insane. He
closed his eyes and tried to think more pleasant thoughts. Warm, sunny cabańa on the beach. Cool drink in hand. And a lovely
seńorita singing just for me. He smiled, drifting for a few moments in the
daydream before the annoying sounds of reality barged back in. “Honestly,
Ezra,” he said, pushing himself into a sitting position on the floor of his
‘cell.’ “If you’re going to imagine a rescue, at least imagine them opening the
door and letting you out. This ridiculous hallucination of hearing them looking
for you is getting tedious.”
He sighed. The last three days
had been difficult. Somehow his cover had been blown. But instead of being shot
on the spot, his contact had gotten cold feet over killing a ‘cop.’ Instead
he’d knocked Ezra out and the next thing the agent knew, he’d woken up in this
small, dark windowless room. The only reason he knew three days had passed was
due to the light on his watch. Otherwise, every minute had been spent in the
dark.
Lately, Ezra fancied that the
room had grown lighter. He could make out the spider web hanging in one corner
and the crack in the floor that, if you held your head just right looked a bit
like a rocking horse. Of course, Ezra knew this was nothing more than wishful
thinking on his part. Lack of food, water, light and companionship were slowly
depriving him of his senses.
“Mother always did say I had an
overactive imagination.” Ezra leaned his head back against the wall and closed
his eyes again. Still… the voices of his teammates did seem quite clear.
“This room’s clear,” Buck Wilmington said.
“This one, too,” JD Dunne parroted.
“There aren’t many more on this level,” Josiah Sanchez said. “Are you
sure you he’s here?”
“He’s here!” Buck said. “I don’t know how I know, but he’s here. I can
feel it.”
“I believe you, pard,” Vin Tanner said. “Let’s keep looking.”
“Here’s a stairway down to the cellar,” Nathan Jackson said.
Multiple footsteps sounding
like a herd of horses caused Ezra to gasp and open his eyes. The steps changed,
softened somehow, but were closer. Ezra stood up unsteadily and crossed to the
door. He leaned heavily on the wall and pounded the door with his fist. “Buck!
Josiah! Can you hear me? Are you real?” he called out, resting his head against
the wall. He felt so weak. “Are you real?” he repeated to himself. “Or have I
finally gone mad?”
“Ezra?” Buck’s voice sounded,
right outside the door.
“Buck.”
“Ezra, hang on, we’re here.
Just gotta open the door.”
“Buck,” Ezra repeated softly, comforted
by the sound of his friend’s voice. He couldn’t summon the energy to move from
the wall.
Ezra frowned at the strange
scratching noises on the door.
“Hurry up, JD,” Buck urged.
“Let me do it,” Vin argued.
“I got it, I got it,” JD said.
“Just stand back and stay out of the way.”
Ezra heard a loud click then
clapped his hands over his ears at JD’s exuberant shout. The door opened and
light flooded the room sending sharp spikes of pain right to Ezra’s brain. He
cried out and clenched his eyes shut as he fell to his knees. Anxious voices
pounded him from all sides and Ezra succumbed to the blissful darkness of
unconsciousness.
*****
Ezra woke suddenly. He remained
still for a moment trying to discover his whereabouts before opening his eyes.
The last thing he remembered was being rescued by his teammates. But was that a
dream? He heard beeping… could be hospital monitors. The smell of disinfectant…
again associated with hospitals. Lastly, the scratchy feeling of the damn
hospital gown against his skin and the pinch of the catheter in his arm. Not to
mention the other catheter.
Ezra opened his eyes slowly and
was pleasantly surprised that the light didn’t bother him. He sighed.
“Hey, pard,” Buck said, moving
to stand beside the bed. “You feeling better?”
“Buck,” Ezra rasped, his throat
dry. Buck raised the bed a bit and gave him a drink of water. “Thanks. I
thought I was dreaming.”
Buck grinned wickedly,
smoothing his mustache. “Well, now. I always fancied being in someone’s dreams,
but I sorta hoped that someone would be a woman.”
*****
“Here you go,” Percy Brett
said, handing Jim a manila envelope. “It was delivered by two secret service
agents,” the ex-cop-turned-head-of-operations at the SGF continued with a grin.
Jim took the envelope that held
their itinerary for the President’s visit. “Are you sure you don’t need me for
something next week?” he pleaded.
Percy’s grin broadened as he
shook his head. “No, son. I think we can handle things for a week while you’re
gone. We have before and undoubtedly will again.”
“You’re not helping Perce,” Jim
grumbled. “Some days being the head honcho really sucks.”
Blair entered the room
chuckling as he had heard Jim’s last comment. “I think I’m rubbing off on you,
Jim.”
“Wonderful,” Jim drawled. “Why
couldn’t it be the part that allows you to talk people into submission? Maybe
then we could have gotten out of this circus with the President.”
“Ah, come on, Jim. It can’t be
that bad. We get a paid vacation to
Jim ran his hand over his face.
“I don’t see how you expect to ‘enjoy’ this trip with the press ‘hanging on our
every word’ and watching our every move. And heaven help us if the President
really expects us to act as security, because we already know how well that
works when people know who I am.”
Blair’s eyes widened at the
reference to the dissertation leak. He looked away from Jim, his heart pounding
faster at the memory. A warm hand landed on his shoulder and Blair looked up.
“I’m sorry, Chief. I didn’t
mean that the way it sounded.”
“I know, Jim. It just caught me
off guard. I’m okay.” He gave his friend a small smile and shrugged. “Look, I
know this trip to
Jim smiled. “Right, Chief. Besides,
if things really get crazy we can sick the press on Paul and Dennis.”
Blair chuckled. “That’s evil,
Jim. And you can deal with Paul if he finds out.”
Jim laughed. Professor Paul Donaldson
was an ex-marine and a Sentinel. He had shown up at the Foundation before the
first buildings were finished and helped keep the other Sentinels and Guides
that appeared at that time in line. His Guide, Dennis Kirkpatrick was a karate
instructor and had also been one of the first dozen or so people to
mysteriously find their way to the newly formed Sentinel/Guide Foundation.
Both men had stayed on as
instructors at the school and would be coming along with Jim and Blair to
Blair frowned thoughtfully.
“Kind of strange, don’t ya think?”
“What’s that, Chief?”
“That a city as large as
Jim shrugged. “Probably just
hasn’t come online yet.”
*****
Ezra leaned his elbows on his
desk and rubbed his temples. It was only a little past ten and since he’d only
been in the office for half an hour, he couldn’t very well take off for an
early lunch. He sighed and grabbed the bottle of Tylenol from his desk drawer.
He popped four of them into his mouth and washed them down with a swig of
bottled water.
Nathan watched from across the
room. He knew from the fact that Ezra hadn’t even tried to hide his headache
that it must be bad. The medic crossed the room, not missing the Southerner’s
flinch as he passed. Probably thought I
was going to bother him about his headache. But I know better, I’m going
straight to the top. Nathan knocked once on Chris’ door then entered.
“Come on in,”
Nathan closed the door and sat
down in the chair in front of Chris’ desk. “I’m worried about Ezra. He’s got
one humdinger of a headache. Now, I know he had a slight concussion, but that
was almost a week ago. He should be better by now.” The black medic twisted
slightly in his seat to look out the window into the bullpen.
“I’m concerned that he’s
bleeding in his skull. A hematoma could be causing his symptoms. Sensitivity to
light, sound and smells, and the headaches. He needs a cat scan.”
“All right,”
“Now?” Nathan asked, relieved.
“Now.”
~~~~~~
The doctor shook his head. “I
don’t see anything to worry about on these scans, gentleman.”
“I told you,” Ezra muttered.
“Then how do you explain those headaches?”
Nathan shot back. “And the light bothering you so bad, not to mention the
nausea and sound sensitivity?”
The doctor frowned. “All of
those could be secondary to the concussion, although I would have expected the
symptoms to resolve by now. In light of the lack of physical trauma, I’d have
to say these problems could be psychosomatic.”
Ezra’s eyes widened. “I am NOT
crazy!”
“No one said that, Ezra,”
“He might as well have,” Ezra
said pointing at the doctor. “I’m not imagining these headaches.”
“I’m not saying you are,” the
doctor replied calmly. “Psychosomatic symptoms can manifest as real pain and
certainly seem real enough to the one suffering them. The mind can play
tricks…”
“Argh!” Ezra growled. He stood
up and stalked out of the doctor’s office.
“I thought I was going crazy,”
Ezra said softly, without lifting his head. “When I was trapped in that room…
It was so dark and quiet. After a while I began to think I could see in the
dark. And then… I heard you searching the house for me. I… I know it wasn’t
real, but I…”
Nathan put his hand on Ezra’s
shoulder. “It’s okay, Ezra. That was a horrible experience. The mind does what
it has to sometimes to keep us sane.”
Ezra looked at Nathan, his green
eyes pleading. “But I’m out now. I’m safe. Why can I still hear people behind
closed doors? Why was I able to drive home last night without my headlights on?
How can I smell that dreadful meatloaf they’re serving in the cafeteria
downstairs?”
Nathan glanced across to
“I’ll be right back,”
“What?” Ezra asked, looking at
“Tell me what you smell?”
Ezra opened his mouth then
closed it and licked his lips nervously. “Potatoes… green beans… carrots… and
something vanilla… cake maybe?”
Ezra frowned and shook his
head.
“Can you hear what she’s saying
now?” Nathan asked.
Ezra turned to Nathan,
breathing faster as he tried to control the panic he felt building in his
chest. “What are you…? Nathan, please… I can’t…”
“Ezra,”
Nathan nodded. “It’s all right,
Ezra. I’m sorry.”
Ezra took a few deep breaths
and dropped his poker face into place. “I apologize, gentlemen. I fear I’ve not
been myself lately.”
“No need to go all Iceman on
us, Ez,”
They walked out to the car in
silence. Ezra opened his door, looked over the roof and met Chris’ eyes. “It is
the result of our search that has me concerned,
“Me, too,”
~~~~~
“Are you sure you don’t want me
to send someone with you?” Simon asked. “Megan and Joel, or Brown and Rafe?”
“We’ll be fine, Simon,” Jim
assured his ex-boss. “We’ve been working with Paul and Dennis on security
training since they joined up. Paul was an MP for God’s sake. I trust them to
watch our backs.”
“Besides,” Blair chimed in.
“The President’s people already have the entire Denver PD, plus their local ATF
division on duty for the convention.”
“Feds,” Simon grumbled.
Although the ATF had never given his people any real trouble, he still had less
faith in federal agents than he probably should.
Jim grinned. “They can’t all be
that bad, Simon. Granted, we’ve run across our fair share of stupidity, but
there have been a few we could trust.”
“Yeah, well, just make sure you
come home in one piece so I can tell you ‘I told you so,’ if things go bad.”
Blair shared a mischievous grin
with Jim. “I think Simon’s trying to tell us to be careful, Jim. And that he’ll
miss us.”
Simon growled. “Go! Get out of
my office, I have work to do.”
Jim and Blair stood up smiling,
saluted the Captain and left his office with Blair giving him a last little
wave over his shoulder. Simon grinned and shook his head. “Be careful, Jim,” he
added softly. Jim turned back at the door to the hall and nodded.
*****
JD frowned. “Monday when we
came in, like usual.” He looked at Buck to back him up.
“Yep,” Buck said, “Clean as a
whistle. Why?”
“Do it again,”
Josiah and Vin exchanged a
quick look and followed, not wanting to miss anything. As they entered, Buck
and JD were pulling out the equipment to check the room for bugs.
Ezra sat beside Nathan at the
conference table looking rather tired.
“The room’s clear,” Ezra said
suddenly.
“How do you know that, Ezra?”
His tone made the others frown.
It wasn’t the expected sarcastic come back or a teasing jibe.
The Southerner folded his hands
on the table and kept his eyes down. “I don’t know. But you won’t detect any
anomalous surveillance equipment.”
They waited in silence until JD
and Buck confirmed Ezra’s statement and took their seats. Ezra relaxed
minimally as Buck sat down.
“All right,” Josiah said.
“What’s wrong? What did the doctor have to say?” he sent a worried glance at
Ezra then pinned Nathan with his gaze. Ezra was the closest thing Josiah had to
a son, even if they refused to acknowledge their feelings openly. He knew Ezra
respected his opinion and Josiah cared deeply for the young Southerner.
“Nothing’s wrong, Josiah,”
Nathan assured. “The doctor gave him a clean bill of health.”
“Then what about his
headaches?” Vin asked. He’d seen the affects of Ezra’s headaches in the last
week. Some of them had sent Ezra to his knees.
Ezra leaned his elbows on the
table and covered his face. “Just tell them, Nathan. The doctor thinks I’m
nuts. Cuckoo for
“You’re not going crazy, Ezra,”
Josiah and the others frowned.
“Why do you think you’re going
crazy, Ez?” Buck asked.
Ezra sighed and explained the
things he’d seen and heard in the cell during his confinement. He focused his
gaze on the table top as he continued. “Last night, I drove home. It was dark
when I left the office. When I pulled into my driveway, I realized I’d driven
all the way home without the headlights on. But I had not required them. I
could see the road quite clearly. I actually had to leave the lights in my home
off because they were too bright.”
“You said you could hear us,”
JD asked, brushing a lock of hair from his eyes, “when we were upstairs looking
for you? And out in the hall?”
Ezra nodded, trying to keep the
fear in his gut from showing on his face. “I heard you picking the lock. I
could hear the tumblers clicking over, the pin scratching the surface of the
metal.” He looked up at JD. “Good job, by the way.”
JD grinned, but it quickly gave
way to a thoughtful frown. “This sounds familiar…” he muttered slumping back in
his seat to think.
“I agree,”
Josiah looked at Nathan. “The
doctor didn’t have any suggestions?”
Nathan shook his head. “He
thought the symptoms might be psychosomatic, a result of the concussion and
maybe related to PTSS. I’m with JD and
“Did you do an internet
search?” Vin asked. The others looked at him. “What? That’s usually the first
thing you do when you need an answer.” The team’s sharpshooter could make any
weapon dance in his hands, but found computers a bit scary.
Ezra chuckled. “Vin’s right.
I’ve probably unconsciously been avoiding it.” He looked at JD. “Would you do
the honors?” Ezra asked motioning to the terminal in the corner. It was handy
to have a computer in the conference room so that they didn’t have to break up
a meeting to collect additional information.
JD moved over to the computer
and pulled up the internet connection. “Okay, what should I look for?”
“Hyper senses,” Josiah offered.
“Sensitivity to normal sensory
input,” Nathan added.
JD nodded and typed in the
search phrases. He hummed to himself as the search engine worked and he started
to scan the list. “Huh,” he said, surprised.
“What?” Buck asked, moving with
the rest of the team to stand around JD and try to see the screen.
“Remember that movie a few
years ago, ‘The Watchman?’”
“Yeah,” Vin said with a smile.
“It was about a detective with… heightened senses…” He looked at Ezra with
sudden understanding. “He had the same problems, hearing things no one else
could, vision picking up things others couldn’t see… Geeze, Ez, you’re a
Watchman.”
Ezra stared at Vin. He absorbed
what the sharpshooter was saying but kept recalling scenes from the movie. He,
Vin, Buck and JD had gone to see it together, and then dragged the others to a
second viewing. They’d spent weeks playing around afterward, making jokes about
how a Watchman would have smelled that explosive or been able to listen to a
conversation without the aid of technology.
How could he possibly be a
Watchman? That was a fictitious character. He wasn’t some super hero. He just
wanted to do his job and enjoy the family he’d found with Team 7. He had no
need for this… this…
“No,” Ezra said firmly. He
shook his head and backed away from the others. “I’m just having some strange
reaction to that concussion.” He turned and walked to the bank of windows that
looked out over the street, tuning out the others as he tried to find some
logical explanation for everything.
“Hang on a second,” JD said. “I
remember at the end of the credits there was a website. Thought it was a joke
then…” He typed in www.watchman.com and
huffed. It was a blank screen. “That’s weird.”
“Probably just an inactive site
now,” Nathan said.
“But inactive sites usually say
something,” Buck countered. “Why just a blank screen?”
Vin squinted at the screen and
frowned. “It ain’t blank. I can’t tell what’s on it, but it ain’t blank.”
“What?”
Vin pointed at the screen.
“There’s somethin’ here, I just can’t really make it out.”
The others looked at each
other.
Nathan shrugged. “Vin’s always
had really good eyesight. Maybe…”
“Hey, Ezra,” Buck called,
turning to see what the undercover man was doing.
Ezra stood looking out the
window.
“Ez, come over here and look at
this,” Buck said. “Ez?” He moved to stand by his friend and glanced at his
face. “Shit. Nathan! Something’s wrong.”
Nathan shot over to Buck and Ezra.
“Ezra?” he asked moving the man far enough away from the window so that he
could see his face. Ezra stared right through him, his face blanker than any
poker face he’d ever worn. There was no sign of life in his green eyes.
“Ezra!” Nathan shouted. He
shook him by the shoulders and patted him on the cheek. Nothing changed except
that Ezra began to list to one side. “Help me get him in a chair.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Buck
asked as he took one of Ezra’s arms and guided him into a chair.
Everyone moved back in around
Ezra, concerned by this strange behavior.
JD snapped his fingers. “It’s
a… whatchamacallit? Zone. The Watchman in the movie ‘zoned’ when he
concentrated on one sense too hard.”
“Right!” Vin agreed. “But how
do we snap Ez out of it? In the movie he had a partner…”
“Shit,”
Buck shook his head. “Don’t we
have that on DVD?” he asked JD.
“We don’t have time to watch
the movie!” Nathan exclaimed. “Maybe I can give him something…”
“No!” Buck shouted. Ezra
flinched, but Buck didn’t see it as he continued. “You can’t give him anything.
You know he’s always been sensitive to medications and anesthesia, guess now we
know why. I’m not gonna let you give him something that might make this zone
worse.”
Vin, JD, Josiah and
“Buck,”
“What?!” Buck asked, still
upset by Nathan’s suggestion.
“I think he’s listening to
you.”
“What?”
“Look.”
Buck looked at Ezra and saw
what
Ezra blinked and took a deep
breath. He looked Buck in the eyes, confused by his close proximity. “What
happened?” He frowned and looked around at the others. “What?”
“Now, Ez,” Buck soothed. He
squeezed Ezra’s shoulder gently. “You zoned on something. Do you know what you
were focused on?”
“Excuse me? Zoned?” Ezra asked.
He shook his head. “Nothing… I was just looking out the window. I saw a flash
on the street below,” he swallowed hard. “It caught my attention and I wanted
to see what…” Ezra looked at Buck, wide-eyed. “It was a ring,” he whispered
breathlessly, “on the… sidewalk.”
Vin whistled and sat back in
his chair.
“That’s eleven floors down,”
Josiah said, as if they all needed the reminder.
“Ezra?” JD said softly. “Would
you look at this screen? See if you can see anything?”
Ezra slowly turned his head to
look at JD. He licked his lips then nodded once. He and JD led the way back to
the computer with Buck and the others close behind them.
Ezra stared at the white screen
then shrugged. “I don’t see anything.”
“Come on, Ez,” Vin encouraged.
“It’s right here. I can see there’s something, but I can’t tell what it is.”
“You can see it?” Ezra asked.
“Just that there might be something.
It’s real fuzzy and almost blends in with the background.”
Buck stood behind Ezra and put
his hands on Ezra’s shoulders. “Come on, Ez, you remember in the movie how they
did things. The Watchman had to relax. Don’t force it, I know you can see what’s
on the screen, you just have to let your instincts take over.”
Ezra sighed a bit shakily, but
nodded and gave his hands and arms a little shake to release some of his
tension. He looked at the screen and let his mind wander. It was a bit like
finding his center when he practiced his Taekwondo forms. Ezra jerked forward
and touched the screen. “Good Lord,” he whispered.
“What’s it say, Ez?” JD asked.
“It’s another website address,”
Ezra answered automatically. “Www.sentinel.com.”
JD typed in the address and
they found themselves with another puzzle. This time the screen had only the
words ‘enter password’ and a box. “Now what?” JD asked looking up at Ezra.
Ezra frowned at the screen for
a moment and tilted his head. “Is the sound on?”
JD checked and nodded. “Yeah,
just turned down all the way.” He adjusted the knob on the speakers and waited.
“I don’t hear anything.”
“It must be another test,” Ezra
drawled. “Like the first screen, only this one has an audio component as well.”
“What’s it say?” Josiah asked.
Ezra swallowed. “It’s telling
me to relax and focus. There’s a picture, too. Try typing ‘water lily,’” he
said reluctantly.
JD followed Ezra’s instructions
and a new screen appeared. This one was a questionnaire.
“Well, brothers,” Josiah
grinned. “It does appear we’ve stumbled onto something.”
“Yeah,”
Buck frowned. “You think we
should stop? That it’s a trap?”
“Could be. What government wouldn’t
love to have someone with the abilities of a Watchman at their beck and call?”
“JD,” Vin interrupted, “Can we
do this from a secure address? So they can’t trace it back to us?”
JD frowned and chewed his lower
lip for a moment. “It’s gonna take me some time to set it up so that no one can trace it back. Right now, I’d
say we’re only safe from run-of-the-mill hackers.”
“Will do.”
“So what do we do now?” Buck
asked, leading a rather subdued Ezra back to the table to sit down. Everyone
but JD followed.
Josiah folded his hands on the
table and leaned forward. “Ezra, do you recall having anything like this happen
when you were a child?”
Ezra frowned and shook his
head. “No. At least, I don’t think so.” He ran a hand through his hair,
careless of his appearance in the face of this strange revelation. “But
Mother’s always been a stickler for appearances. If I did something she
considered ‘odd’ you can bet good money she would have schooled it out of me
expeditiously.”
Nathan frowned. Ezra was
looking pale, maybe even a little shocky. “Let’s take a break from this for
now, at least until JD gets us a secure line.” He looked at
“Good idea,
Buck settled into the chair
beside Ezra. “If I recall, the President has added some ex-detectives from
“I wonder why?” Nathan asked,
keeping a close eye on the silent Southerner.
“Something to do with publicity
and getting in nice with the law enforcement community, I’m sure,” Buck
answered, also watching Ezra.
“He’s chosen different people
for each stop on his tour,” Ezra added distractedly. “All of them have
experience with law enforcement. I believe you are correct in assuming it is
for show, but that does not mean these VIPs won’t insist on some sort of deference
from the local agencies. A friend of mine with the St. Louis PD told me that
their VIPs were a royal pain. The President has named these
“Damn,” Buck said. “Just what
we need. A couple of retired cops who probably haven’t fired a weapon or seen
the inside of a police department in ten years.”
Ezra grabbed the file and slid
it over in front of him.
“What?” four voices asked as
one.
“Get him some water, JD,”
Nathan said.
JD nodded and left the room.
“Sentinel?”
“As in www.sentinel.com?” Buck asked just as JD
entered carrying a bottle of water.
“Holy shit,” JD exclaimed.
“This Ellison and Sandburg are Watchmen?”
Buck stared at
“Makes sense,” JD said, turning
his attention from Ezra to his roommate. “He responded to you during the zone.
And you two have always had a way of clicking, even when you were pissing each
other off.”
Ezra guzzled about half the
bottle of water then shook off Nathan’s hand. “Ah’m fine,” he drawled, his
accent thick and heavy with stress. “And Ah’m right here in the room, thank
you.”
“Do you want me to continue
this,
“Are you ready to talk about
this now?”
Ezra, his face studiously
neutral, met Chris’ eyes briefly. “What do you wish to discuss?” he asked
amenably.
“Damn it, Ezra,”
Ezra stared at him for a long
moment, weighing years of friendship and trust. He dropped his gaze to the
table and his shoulders sagged minutely as he dropped his mask of control. Fear
shone in his green eyes as he lifted them back to Chris’.
“I don’t really know what to
say,” Ezra said softly. “I can’t… or maybe don’t… want to believe this is
happening to me, but it is rather difficult to refute the evidence.” He paused.
“I need time to adjust, Chris. Please?”
Chris nodded. “All right, but
this isn’t something you can push aside and ignore, Ezra. When you’re ready to
talk, come to one of us.” He looked at Buck. “I think maybe you and Buck need
to talk.”
Ezra met Buck’s eyes and saw an
uncertainty there that was surely mirrored in his own. He nodded. “I want to
talk to these detectives,” he said firmly.
******
Becky shook her head and looked
up at Blair. “It’s strange. I could have sworn we had a hit on the Watchman
site, but now… it’s gone.”
Blair frowned at the computer
tech. “A glitch, maybe? We haven’t had a hit on that site since the DVD came
out, end of last year.”
“Maybe,” Becky said, twirling a
strand of her hair between her fingers. “But I don’t think so.”
“Well, Jim and I will be
available if you figure it out. Just give me a call. I’ll let Percy know you have
permission to use our emergency number.” Blair looked at his watch. “I’ve got
to get going. We have to meet our flight in three hours.”
“Have fun,” Becky grinned.
“I’ll let you know when I figure this out.” Cool,
I get to use the Bat phone.
“Thanks.”
******
When Vin and Josiah got back
with the food, they took the time to eat and discuss the upcoming Presidential
convention. JD finished setting up a secure line and they all gathered around
the computer again to see where the next screen would lead them.
“We’ll have to go through the
passwords again,” JD informed from his seat in front of the computer. Ezra had
declined the position even though he would be answering the questions.
Ezra looked at the screen and
exhaled despondently. Buck patted him on the shoulder. “The password is
mushroom, or perhaps toadstool, if the prior does not work,” Ezra said.
JD nodded and typed in
mushroom. The screen changed to the same one they’d seen before. It appeared to
be a questionnaire of some sort. JD started reading aloud.
“If you have reached this site, then you are probably looking for
answers to a specific problem. In order to protect you and the creators of this
site, we need for you to answer the following questions as truthfully as
possible. If everything checks out, you will be contacted by e-mail within
twenty-four hours.” JD looked up over
his shoulder at Ezra. “Wanna keep going?”
Ezra just nodded.
“Please answer the following questions as truthfully as possible,” JD continued.
“Briefly explain a few of the things that led
you to look for
this site.”-------- This site is secure
“You didn’t finish it, JD,” Vin
said before Ezra could.
“What do you mean?” JD asked,
peering at the screen. “That’s the end of the sentence.”
“Naw, it goes on to say that the
site is secure,” Vin said, casting a quick glance at Ezra to confirm. Ezra
nodded.
The others squinted as they
stared at the screen.
“Adjust the picture, JD,” Buck
recommended.
JD fiddled with the monitor controls
to no avail. He then opened another window and played with the screen
resolution without any luck. JD frowned and glared at the monitor as he
thought. With a flurry of fingers flying over the keyboard, JD “worked his
magic” as Buck called it and did something that allowed him to look at the
programming language of the webpage they were viewing.
JD sat back. “Huh,” he grunted.
“What?” Josiah and Nathan
chimed at the same time.
“He’s right. The sentence was
coded to fade gradually to almost white to blend with the background,” JD
explained. “The naked eye couldn’t have picked it up and as you saw, just
messing with the usual viewing settings didn’t reveal it either. Someone would
have to be really good with programming languages and know what they were
looking for to see it… or be a Sentinel,” he added slowly, looking at Vin.
Vin backed up, shaking his
head. “I ain’t no Sentinel,” he protested.
“Then how did you see those
words?” Chris asked, his gaze shifting from Vin to Ezra and back. How could they
possibly deal with two Sentinels on the same team?
Ezra took a deep breath and
exhaled noisily before putting a hand on Vin’s shoulder in support. “This is
easily solved, gentlemen. Vin.”
“Yeah, Ez?” Vin asked
anxiously.
“You’ve always had superior eye
sight, correct?”
“That's what y'all keep telling
me,” Vin shrugged. “Seems normal to me.”
“Are any of your other senses
heightened?”
Vin shook his head. “No.”
Ezra lifted a shoulder as he looked
at the others. “See, simple. If I recall from the movie, the… Guide had been
studying people with one or two heightened senses as he searched for a true
Sentinel, with all five.”
Nathan nodded. “Right... Right,
I’d forgotten about that. Vin’s vision scores have always been off the charts.
He’s probably got some Sentinel genes, but not enough to enhance all five
senses.” He paused. “Ezra, do you see the fading sentence?”
“Of course,” Ezra replied
solemnly. “Mr. Tanner beat me to the punch.” He met JD’s eyes. “Please
paraphrase a few of my experiences, JD. The night driving would be a good place
to start, I believe.”
JD nodded and turned back to
start typing. After several minutes he stopped. “Okay, next question. Was there a significant event that took
place in your life just prior to the advent of these symptoms? If so, please
describe the event.”
“Guess that would be your
kidnapping,” Buck said softly, glancing at Ezra. The under cover agent met his
gaze and nodded.
JD typed some more. When he finished
he read the last question. “Do you have a
friend who seems to be able to help you with your problem?”
Josiah chuckled. “That would be
Buck.”
The others grinned and JD
answered the question with a simple ‘yes.’ He hit enter and the screen suddenly
went blank. “What the…” Then just as suddenly a message popped up in the
center.
“You will be contacted.”
“Damn,” Chris mumbled. He
looked around the room at his team, not liking the feeling of helplessness that
seemed to be shrouding them. “All right, ladies. Knock it off. You’d think
someone was dying by the looks on your faces. We have work to do, let’s get to
it and stop worrying about something we can’t change. We’ll deal with this…” he
waved his hands in the air, “when we hear back from the experts.” Chris pinned
Buck and then Ezra with a mild glare. “Okay?”
Buck huffed then grinned.
“Okay, pard.”
“Whatever you say, Mr.
Larabee,” Ezra said, seemingly unperturbed.
~~~~~
They all hung around the office
while they looked over the security plans for the President’s visit. Although
they didn’t really expect a reply so soon, they were anxious and didn’t want to
miss the e-mail. The conference room always had at least one man in it.
Ezra’s calm façade did not
last. As the day progressed he became increasingly restless. He actually
growled at Josiah for putting his hand on his shoulder and snapped at JD for
borrowing a pen from his desk.
Chris looked at the clock and
frowned. They still had several hours until the end of the day. He just hoped he
could keep Ezra from self-destructing.
~~~~~
Blair, Paul and Dennis followed
Jim out of the airport lobby and toward their waiting rental car. Blair bumped
into Jim’s back when his partner stopped suddenly. Blair looked up at Jim’s
face and shivered. “What is it, Jim?” he asked softly.
“Another Sentinel,” Jim said,
still focused on the feeling that had hit him as soon as they left the
building.
Paul frowned but only shook his
head at his Guide’s questioning glance. Ellison was sensing something that he
couldn’t yet detect.
“A threat?” Blair asked.
Jim frowned then shook his
head. “I don’t think so. Come on, Chief. Let’s get settled in at the hotel then
maybe we can snoop around a bit before the President needs our ‘help.’”
They got only a few more steps
before Blair’s cell phone rang.
“Sandburg,” he answered. “Hey,
Percy,” Blair grinned up at Jim and put his hand over the receiver. “What do
you want to bet he’s calling to let us know there’s a Sentinel in
“No bet, Junior,” Jim growled
good-humoredly.
“What’s up, Percy?” Blair
asked. “Really?” He chuckled. “Actually, Jim was just telling me that… uh huh.
Do me a favor and reply to the e-mail, see who it is and where we can find
them. We’ll go check into our hotel and go see them… Right… Thanks, Percy. Talk
to you later.” Blair ended the call and looked at Jim. “Got a live one, the
program narrowed the location down to
“Not good enough,” Jim said as
they continued to the rental car.
Blair chuckled. “Only because
you happened to land in the right city.”
~~~~~~
ATF Team 7 office
Nathan looked up from the file
he was working on at the soft pinging noise. He turned toward the computer as
he realized what it was. He stood quickly and rushed to the door of the
conference room. “Hey, there’s a message,” Nathan almost shouted.
Suddenly he was surrounded by
his teammates and they all hurried over to the computer.
JD took the chair and opened
the e-mail program. He glanced up at the men around him. “It’s…” he trailed
off.
“Open it,” Buck urged softly.
JD swallowed hard and did as
Buck requested. The message opened and JD read it aloud. “Thank you for taking the time to contact us. My name is Percy Brett of
the Sentinel/Guide Foundation in Cascade,
Silence reigned for a long
moment then everyone started talking at once, well, everyone except Ezra who
pulled out his cell phone and started to dial.
“Whoa, there, Hoss,” Buck
interrupted, grabbing the phone and Ezra’s hand in his. “What do you think
you’re doing?”
“
“Buck’s right, Ezra,” Chris
said. “We don’t know that we can trust these people. It could be a trap.”
Ezra sighed and dropped his
gaze to the floor. “I can’t explain how I know, but you must believe me when I
say that this message is real. It must sound insane… but…”
More silence surrounded him and
Ezra dared not look up for fear of the censure on his friends’ faces. A gentle
hand landed on his shoulder and Ezra looked up into Buck’s blue eyes.
“If you’re sure, Ez…” Buck said
softly. Ezra nodded. Buck smiled reassuringly. “All right then, call this
Sandburg and let’s go meet these VIPs.”
Ezra smiled gratefully back at
Buck and dialed the number. As he waited for the line to connect he could hear
his heart beating wildly in his chest. But what was that other sound? He tilted
his head to focus and found himself surrounded by soft, but insistent thumping
noises.
Buck watched Ezra with concern
as he waited for the call to go through.
After a few moments the newly online Sentinel’s face started to go slack
and Buck cursed. What the heck are you
zoning on, Ez? He pulled the phone from Ezra’s hand and passed it off
behind him then focused on breaking the zone.
“Ezra? Ez, can you hear me?”
Buck gripped Ezra’s shoulder and gave him a little shake. He leaned down a bit
to look into Ez’s blank eyes. “Come on, Ez. We’ve got stuff to do here,” he
muttered, his concern growing.
Behind him Chris had grabbed
the phone. “Hello? Anybody there?”
“Hey, I thought I’d lost the
connection,” a peppy voice replied.
“No, not you,” Chris mumbled.
He shook his head. “Is this Blair Sandburg?”
“Yes. How can I help you?”
“Percy Brett gave us your
number. We, ah, have a small problem at the moment though.” Chris paused, not
wanting to discuss things on an open line.
“Your friend,” Blair said
cautiously, “the one you’re calling about, is he able to come to the phone?”
“No,” Chris growled. “His attention is focused elsewhere,” he said
cryptically.
“Is someone with him?” Blair
asked concern clear in his voice.
“Yes, another close friend. But
he doesn’t seem to be helping.”
Buck turned to glare briefly at
Chris before returning his attention to Ezra.
A short silence from the other
end had Chris worried. “Are you still there?”
“Yes. Listen, there are five things you need to try, do you
understand? Five different things.”
Chris’ jaw dropped in
understanding and he nodded, forgetting that Sandburg couldn’t see him. “Hang
on,” he dropped the phone from his ear and spoke to Buck. “Try engaging each
sense individually, Buck. We have to figure out which one he zoned on.”
At the hotel, Jim listened and
then nodded to Blair’s questioning look. “They figured it out. I’d bet it’s probably
sound,” Jim added. “If he was calling us, he would have been focused on hearing
and probably got caught up in the sounds around him.”
Blair nodded. “That makes
sense.”
“Are you there?” the man on the
phone asked.
“Yes,” Blair replied. “Where are
you?”
“
“At the Denver Plaza Hotel.”
“You’re only twenty minutes
from here, the
“We’re on our way, but if you
don’t get a response from him in the next ten minutes, call me back.” Blair
paused for a minute. “Um, who will I ask for?”
“Chris Larabee.”
~~~~~
Chris hung up the phone and
looked at JD. “Let the desk downstairs know we have visitors coming. They’re to
show them right up.”
JD nodded and went to the
phone.
Buck had dragged Ezra into a
chair and pulled up another one in front of him. He sat back and sighed as
Chris came to stand by them. “I’ve already tried hearing, sight and touch
without any luck.”
“That just leaves smell and
taste,” Chris said thoughtfully.
“Is there any coffee left?”
Buck asked.
Vin frowned. “I made the coffee
this morning, Bucklin.” You could stand spoons up in Vin’s coffee and everyone
knew Ezra ‘loathed’ the stuff.
“I know,” Buck said with a
small grin. Vin grinned wickedly and dashed off to the break room.
“Nathan,” Josiah said, “do you
still have that cologne Rain gave you last year?”
“Hell yeah. There was no way I
was keeping that stuff at home,” Nathan shuddered. “She’d expect me to put it
on before I left the house. I don’t know what’s wrong with her sense of smell.”
Nathan’s eyes widened as he realized what Josiah meant. “I’ll go get it.”
Vin passed Nathan as he brought
a cup of coffee. “Had to heat it up,” he said, handing it to Buck along with a
spoon.
Buck took the cup and spoon
with a smile. “Good thinking.” He dipped the spoon into the coffee and gently
slipped it into Ezra’s mouth. He waited for a few moments then tried it again.
“Don’t think it’s working,” Vin
muttered.
Nathan came back with a bottle
in his hand. “Try this.”
Buck set down the coffee and
took the cologne from Nathan. He opened it and took a whiff then grimaced. “I
swear, Nate, this stuff could peel paint. What was Rain thinking?”
Nathan shrugged. “Beats me.” He
nodded toward Ezra. “Hold it under his nose.”
Buck did as instructed and the
results were almost instantaneous.
Ezra blinked and jerked his
head back. “What in God’s name?” he exclaimed then sneezed, coughed and rubbed
his nose, his eyes watering. He looked at Buck and the bottle in his hand. “Are
you trying to kill me?”
The others chuckled with relief
while Buck capped the bottle. “Well, geeze, Ez, if you hadn’t lied to us about
not likin’ Vin’s coffee, we wouldn’t have had to go to such extremes.” This got
more relieved laughter.
Ezra smacked his lips and
grimaced at the taste in his mouth. “Oh, good Lord. What have ya’ll been doing
to me?”
Josiah slapped Nathan on the
back. “Perhaps you should add that cologne to your medical kit, Brother Nate. We
can use it instead of smelling salt.” Nathan rolled his eyes, but didn’t
disagree.
Buck offered Ezra a cup of
water. “You zoned again. I couldn’t get through with sight, sound or touch so
we had to find something for taste and smell. Sorry about that.”
Ezra sat back in his chair with
a sigh. “No. I’m sorry. Thank you for helping.” He looked around at the others.
“It would appear I have become something of a burden to the team.”
“What?” “No!” and “What are you
talking about?” were a few of the reactions to his statement.
“Come now, gentlemen,” Ezra
said tiredly. “You cannot deny the liability of my… condition.”
“Seems to me,” JD countered,
“that the Watchman in the movie did an awful lot of good with his abilities.”
“Any new skill takes time to
develop,” Josiah argued. “You have to give yourself time to adjust and learn to
use them.”
“We don’t have time,” Ezra
protested. “The President will be arriving in two days.”
“Well, now, Ez,” Buck soothed,
“we do have a couple of experts on the way to help out.”
“You spoke to them?” Ezra asked
sitting up straight with interest.
“Chris did. They should be here
any time now.”
Chris looked at his watch and
nodded.
Ezra nodded his relief then
stood and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Chris
asked.
Ezra stopped and looked at his
boss with a raised eyebrow. “I find myself in need of the facilities. If that
is all right with you?” One side of his mouth quirked into a grin.
Chris shook his head. “Yeah. Just
don’t take all day.” He smiled. “And don’t leave the building.”
Ezra smirked and left the room.
~~~~~~
The men’s room was blessedly
empty. Ezra took care of the pressing issues and then washed his hands. He
splashed some water on his face and stared into the mirror at the stranger
reflected there. How could I not have
known? He met the anxious green eyes in the mirror, trying to recall any
instance in his past that might have provided a clue to his being a Sentinel.
Ezra shook his head. Nothing came to mind.
“Great,” he mumbled. That meant
he’d have to ask Maude and put up with her certain displeasure at what she
would, no doubt, consider a fault. A strange feeling started to curl in his
gut. A feeling that quickly worked its way to unease and even alarm.
Danger!
Ezra raced out of the restroom
and back down the hall to the bullpen. The others turned quickly at his hasty
entrance, instinctively reaching for their weapons until they recognized the
undercover agent.
“What’s wrong, Ezra?” Chris
asked, moving across the room.
Ezra stopped and tried to
control his breathing as he scanned the room. The danger wasn’t here, not yet.
He spun suddenly to face the door and growled.
Buck moved up beside him, the
others also closing rank as two strangers glanced through the open doorway.
Ezra pushed Buck behind him with one hand and took another step forward to put
himself between the strangers and his team.
“Chris Larabee?” the long
haired man asked.
“That’s me,” Chris said, taking
a few steps forward, only to be stopped when Ezra moved in front of him. Chris
sighed. “Are you Dr. Sandburg?”
The long haired man nodded.
“This is my partner and Sentinel, Jim Ellison. I assume that this is your
Sentinel?” he asked with a wry grin and a glance at Jim.
Jim nodded and took a step back
behind Blair to offer some distance for the obviously anxious Sentinel.
Chris nodded. “Ezra Standish.
We think Buck is his Guide.”
At the introduction, Buck put a
hand on Ezra’s shoulder and gave a squeeze. “Come on, Ez. These are our
visitors. Stand down.”
Ezra took a deep breath and let
it out slowly. Some of the tension in his shoulders eased and he looked up at
Buck. “I…” he stopped and looked at Ellison and Sandburg. “I apologize,
gentlemen,” he said shakily. “I seem to…” Ezra shook his head.
“It’s perfectly natural, Mr.
Standish,” Blair assured him, still standing in the hallway with Jim behind
him. “A Sentinel protects his tribe and can sense other Sentinels. In the
past,” he paused briefly. Jim squeezed his shoulder. “Well, sometimes that
allowed the Sentinel to sense attacking tribes before they arrived. Jim knew as
soon as we stepped out of the airport that
Ezra drank in the explanation
then suddenly realized that the two were still in the hallway. “My manners are
atrocious. Please come in.” He backed away, catching Buck’s arm to drag him
with him.
Chris stepped forward and
glared at Ezra as the Southerner started to block the way again. Ezra stopped
himself and nodded. Chris offered his hand to Blair and then Jim. “We’ve only
just found out about Ezra’s abilities. I’d… We’d like an explanation and any
information you can give us.”
Buck nodded fervently.
Jim looked back at the door to
the hall. “Is there someplace a bit more private for us to talk?”
Chris nodded. “Follow me.” He
led everyone back into the conference room. Jim and Blair hung back and entered
last, allowing Ezra to place himself where he felt most comfortable.
Jim stopped just inside the
room and did a quick scan.
“The room is clear,” Ezra
informed him, recognizing what the other Sentinel was doing. “JD checked for
bugs just this morning.”
“And so did Ez,” Buck added
somewhat smugly.
Jim nodded and took the chair
beside Blair as he spoke. “It’s a habit I doubt I’ll ever break. You’re all
Feds?”
Josiah grimaced. “ATF… Feds has
such a negative ring to it,” he added, trying to lighten the mood.
Blair grinned. “Don’t we know
it. We were just discussing that this morning with our captain.”
“I thought you were both
retired,” Nathan said.
“Technically,” Jim said. “We
still help out the PD every once in a while. Our captain, Simon Banks, worked
closely with us in setting up the Sentinel/Guide Foundation. Actually, our
entire unit, Major Crime, helped out.”
“You mind if I talk to him?”
Chris asked.
Jim smiled. “Now?” Chris
nodded. “Sure. You want to dial?” he asked, knowing that Larabee was concerned
about security.
Chris pulled out his cell phone
and dialed the number as Jim gave it to him.
A gruff voice answered.
“Banks.”
“Captain Simon Banks?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“My name is Agent Larabee.
Would you happen to know a Sentinel Ellison?”
The line was silent for a
moment then Banks spoke. “Is he there?”
Chris handed the phone to
Ellison.
Jim smiled. “Hey, Simon. Would
you mind setting Agent Larabee’s mind at ease? We’re here in
“You and Blair are all right?”
“Right as rain, Simon,” Jim
answered with their coded phrase. “Say hi to Sandburg,” he said handing the
phone to his Guide.
“Hi, Simon,” Blair said
cheerfully. “We can’t seem to get away from work even when we’re moonlighting for
the President.”
Banks chuckled. “Let me talk to
Larabee… but Blair, call me as soon as you’re through there.”
“Sure, Simon, but I don’t
really know how long that will be. I believe these are also some of the agents
we’re going to be working with for the President’s security,” he said looking
around at the seven ATF agents. They all nodded.
“Fine. Then call me in two
hours. If I don’t hear from you, I’m catching the next flight out.”
Blair chuckled. “Thanks, Simon.
We love you, too.”
Banks growled and Blair gave
Chris the phone.
“Larabee?”
“Yes.”
“I hope your men are better
behaved than mine.”
Chris chuckled. “Sounds like
we’re about even, Captain.”
“Call me Simon. We’re
practically family now. If you ever need a sounding board…”
“Thanks, Simon. It’s Chris.
I’ll be sure to keep your number handy.” Chris paused. “How long have you…”
“Six, almost seven years now.
Jim came online during a serial bombing case back in ’96. He and Blair hooked
up shortly thereafter, thank God. I don’t know what Jim would have done without
him. You might recall the dust up a few years back about a detective with
hyperactive senses…”
“We’ve all seen the movie,
Simon,” Chris said as he realized that the movie really was based on true
events.
“Well, most of it really happened.
Blair’s thesis on Jim’s abilities was leaked to the press and it took us a
while to clear that mess all up. Then they started getting visits from other
Sentinels and Guides looking for help. Eventually it became a full time job and
we started the Sentinel/Guide Foundation.” Simon took a breath. “All on the sly
at first, of course. We wanted to make sure we had the money and the power to
protect our people. That’s why we published the book and then the movie. With
those funds and other investors we were able to build a facility outside of
Cascade. The President knows about the SGF and we have several other SG pairs
in law enforcement.”
Chris blew out the breath he
didn’t realize he’d been holding. “Sounds like you’ve been busy.” He had easily
recognized the proprietary tone in Simon’s voice. It was similar to the tone
Chris used when speaking of his own team. That similarity eased his mind in
ways that no words could.
Simon chuckled. “I’m just an advisor
and member of the board. Jim and Blair are the front line team. Seriously
though, you can trust us to help you and your Sentinel. We don’t work for the
government, though we do help out when needed.”
“Thanks, Simon,” Chris said.
“You’ve eased my mind about a few things. I’m sure I’ll be taking you up on
your offer.”
“Do that. And watch out for my
men, would you? Sandburg… hell, the both of them are trouble magnets.”
Chris moaned, then laughed.
“Well, they’ll be in good company then. We’ll take care of them for you.”
“Talk to you later, Chris.”
Chris ended the call and looked
around the table at his friends and the two visitors. He took a deep breath and
exhaled slowly. “I suppose introductions should be made,” he grinned wryly.
“Our manners truly are lacking
today,” Josiah said with a suspiciously Southern drawl.
Ezra rolled his eyes, but
allowed a small smile to touch his lips as he sat back, some of the tension
draining from him. He watched as Chris introduced everyone, giving Ellison and
Sandburg a little information on their duties and specialties.
Blair sat forward and looked at
JD with awe. “You did a terrific job covering your cyber trail. We knew someone
had hit the Watchman site, but couldn’t find out who. And we have a very
sophisticated program in place that should have prevented you from doing what
you did.”
JD grinned and shrugged. “Well,
that sort of programming goes obsolete almost as soon as you install it. To be
truly foolproof, you need someone updating the security protocols regularly. At
least weekly, but daily is preferable.”
Blair grimaced. “Maybe you
could recommend someone? We are starting to go public, but our intranet has to
be secure to safeguard the identities of our SG pairs.”
JD chewed his lower lip
thoughtfully. “I’ll think about it and let you know.”
Blair smiled and wondered how
long it would take to convince JD that the younger man was the ideal person for
the job.
Ezra cleared his throat. “How
do you truly know when someone is a Sentinel?” He flicked his eyes at Vin
briefly. “As opposed to just having exceptional hearing, for instance.”
Blair leaned forward, his arms
resting on the table. “That’s a good question, Mr. Standish.”
“Ezra.”
“Ezra. We do have a few… exercises
we can run through to verify your abilities.” Blair cast a wry glance Jim’s
direction as his Sentinel grumbled “tests” under his breath. “They’ll also give us an idea of what level you’re
at developmentally and how well you adapt to new situations.”
Vin snorted. “That shouldn’t be
a problem, Ez is one of the best undercover agents there is. Adaptable is his
middle name.”
Ezra grinned at Vin’s
endorsement. “Yes, well, regardless, I’m not convinced…”
“Ez…” Chris groaned.
“It’s my life, Chris,” Ezra
snapped. He closed his eyes and sighed. He sent a silent apology to his friend
then turned back to Blair and Jim. “What if I don’t want it?”
Jim watched the exchange
sympathetically. “You do have a choice. There’s a lot more to being a Sentinel
than the senses. You have to be willing to work with your Guide… and there’s a…
metaphysical side to it as well.”
“Metaphysical?” Josiah asked.
Blair took over. “Yes. A
Sentinel and Guide are… linked on a spiritual level. There’s nothing hinky to
it,” he clarified, seeing a few dismayed looks on the faces around him. “We
each have a spirit animal, a guide. Honestly… there are still things we are learning about. We know it’s
important though. Some of us have received dreams or visions that have warned
us of danger.”
Five skeptical faces looked
back, but two were thoughtful.
Vin nodded and Josiah started
to speak, but Jim cut in. “Blair… I was able to bring Blair back with the help
of our spirit animals. He had been pronounced dead…” Blair sat back in his
chair and put his hand on Jim’s shoulder.
The phone rang, interrupting
Jim’s explanation.
Chris grimaced and answered. He
‘uh huh’d’ a few times and ‘yes sir’d’ then hung up. “We have to go over to the
PD and meet with Captain Tully about the conference.” He smirked. “He wants to
have a plan in the works before the VIPs show up,” Chris said, finger quotes
highlighting the word ‘VIPs.’
The others chuckled.
“Want to come along?” Chris asked,
his grin taking on an evil cast. “We can continue this tonight, after we get
off.”
~~~~~~
Chris led the other eight men
into the conference room he’d been directed to and smiled at Captain Sullivan
Tully. He and Buck had worked with the man when they were on the PD some years
back. “Hey, Sully.”
The distinguished looking black
man looked to be about Chris’ age, but he wore a well-tailored suit and his
dark hair had just a touch of gray at the temples.
“Well, if it isn’t Lone Ranger
Larabee. It’s been a while,” Tully said as they shook hands. “I see you
couldn’t get rid of this skirt chaser,” he said with a grin at Buck.
Chris chuckled.
“Sully,” Buck smiled back.
“Getting’ a little snow on the roof there, bud. Good thing Patty finally
hog-tied you and dragged you to the altar, before you lost your looks.”
Tully laughed. “I was smart
enough to let her catch me, Buck. When are you going to find a woman and settle
down?”
Buck leered. “I’d hate to
disappoint all those lovely ladies out there by limiting myself to just one.”
Tully exchanged a knowing
glance with Chris. “I see some things never change.” The Captain looked at the
other men with Larabee and
Chris chuckled. “No, we thought
you might like to meet Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg.”
Tully recognized the names and
shot a glare at Larabee before turning a smile on the visitors. “Gentlemen, I
didn’t realize you were already in town.”
Jim shook his hand and smiled.
“We had a little personal business to attend to that brought us down town
early. Chris didn’t think you’d mind if we tagged along.”
Blair grinned and shook his
head at Jim’s sudden humor. “I think the altitude is affecting my partner,” he
teased. “I’m sure you’re all nervous about our part in this security detail,
but we really are here to help, not hinder.”
Tully nodded, somewhat
mollified. “That’s good. We have basic plans for securing the areas involved. That’s
what I wanted to go over with Chris’ team this morning. If you’d like to sit in
and offer suggestions, they’d be appreciated.”
*****
Ezra’s nerves were frayed.
They’d stopped at the
He had to admit that the
thought of having even one of the other Sentinels in his home was enough to
make the hair rise on the back of his neck. And the Plaza was ‘their’ home
space, so to speak and not a good option either. Just stopping to pick up Paul
and Dennis had started Ezra’s heart to racing again.
He was so frazzled that he’d
even allowed Buck to drive his Jaguar. The two of them had spent the trip to
Chris’ in silence up to now.
Buck glanced at his friend.
“Ez?”
“Yes, Buck?”
Buck chuckled.
“What?”
“I just knew you were going to
revert to calling me Mr. Wilmington again,” Buck chuckled.
Ezra smiled ruefully. “It does
seem a bit ridiculous to stand on formalities considering the circumstances.”
He frowned. “You don’t have to do this you know.”
Buck’s brow furrowed. “I like
driving your Jag, Ez,” he said.
“You’re being obtuse,” Ezra
sighed.
“Maybe, but it’s better than
burying my head in the sand and pretending this ain’t happening.”
“I’m not,” Ezra protested.
Buck shook his head. “No, but
you want to. Not that I blame you. This is pretty strange, even for our team.” Buck
shifted the Jag down a gear as he began to slow to make the turn onto Chris’
property. “I’m going into this with an open mind, Ezra. I think you know me
pretty well by now, enough to know I don’t spook easy. And this Guide thing
doesn’t spook me.”
He pulled onto the dirt road
leading to the ranch and slowed to a stop so he could look Ezra in the eye.
“The thing that scares me is that I might do something wrong and not be able to
help you when you need me.”
Ezra stared at his friend in
disbelief. “Jesus, Buck. If I were in your shoes, I’d be running so fast in the
other direction…”
“No, you wouldn’t,” Buck said
with a small grin. “I know you well enough to know that for sure, too.” He waited for Ezra to nod then patted him on
the shoulder. “I just wanted to let you know, whatever you decide, I’m behind
you. I’ll be there for you, Ez.”
Ezra smiled and nodded. “Thank
you, Buck.” He looked down the road. “I suppose we should enter the fray…”
Buck chuckled and put the car
into drive.
~~~~~~
Fortunately, Chris was used to
having a crowd over to his place by now and kept enough food on hand to feed
his small army when they dropped by unexpectedly. This time it was an extra pot
of frozen chili Josiah had donated to the cause. The chili was put on to warm
up, bread was toasted and salad was made. Joint effort made short work of
dinner preparations and they all lounged around the living room to eat and
talk.
Blair waited for everyone to
settle in. “I suppose I should start at the beginning. I understand you’ve all
seen the movie…” The seven nodded. “Well, the Watchman in the movie is what
Richard Burton, the explorer, not the actor, called a Sentinel. A Sentinel has
five enhanced physical senses – sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. We’ve
found that for the most part each Sentinel also has a specialty. Jim’s hearing
is his best sense. Paul’s is his sense of taste.”
“Touch,” Buck murmured to
himself. Ezra’s head jerked toward his Guide. Buck looked up into Ezra’s
surprised, green eyes and shrugged. “It makes sense, your dexterity is
phenomenal. You should see what he can do with a deck of cards. And you always
insist on the best fabrics in your clothing. I don’t think that’s all conceit,”
he added with a teasing grin. “The more expensive the fabric, the better it
feels against your skin.”
Blair nodded. “Silk is less
irritating than cotton. You could be right, Buck. We’ll keep that in mind when
we test his range.” He looked at Ezra. “Speaking of… I think we should wait
until tomorrow to worry about that. Today’s been a bit rough,” he smiled
sympathetically at Ezra’s eye roll. “
Buck saw the relieved look on
Ezra’s face and nodded his agreement. Ezra was a very private person and even
though the others would be getting some of the same information, it would be
easier for the new Sentinel to ask questions without an audience.
“I can stay with the others,”
Buck offered.
Ezra shook his head. “No. Blair
is correct. I need you… to…” he frowned and looked around, his gaze landed
briefly on the other two Sentinels. Ezra sighed. “Will this ever get any
easier? Buck can’t stay with me 24/7.”
Jim smiled. “It’s a bit
amplified having two other Sentinels in close proximity. And you’re newly
online. It will get easier, but protecting the Guide is part of the package.
It’s something that your team needs to know to avoid misunderstandings.”
“You mean, like he was at the
office when you first showed up?” Nathan asked.
Jim nodded. “He sensed me in
the building, probably before I got to your floor. It sets off a sort of early warning
system when another Sentinel is near. I ‘felt’ Ezra as soon as I stepped out of
the airport. Paul said he could feel us about ten minutes before we arrived at
the hotel. Each Sentinel has a personal range. I think it probably increases
with experience. I’ve noticed my range has gotten wider.” He looked a question
at Paul.
“Me, too,” Paul agreed. “Though
it may have something to do with home territory, too. Jim’s territory is
Cascade and some of the surrounding counties. I don’t really have a specific
territory, except maybe the SGF and I share that with Jim and a few other
resident Sentinels.” Paul paused thoughtfully. “Because my ‘territory’ is
fairly small, I don’t know that my range will ever be as large as Jim’s.”
Jim frowned. “How big is
“The city itself, about a
hundred-fifty square miles,” Josiah said.
Blair nodded. “Cascade is
around the same,” he looked at Jim. “This is something we haven’t tested
scientifically. We have a vague idea, but… Remind me to put it on our list,
Dennis. It could be important to know each Sentinel’s specific range.”
The other Guide nodded. “Paul’s
range has never been very big. I think, due to his military background and
moving around so much, he hasn’t had a chance to form a connection with a
particular locale. Until now that is.”
Paul nodded matter-of-factly.
It didn’t really bother him. It was one of the reasons he got along so well
with other Sentinels. He didn’t feel he had to ‘claim’ territory.
“So do they feel the need to
protect the Guide from everyone or just from other Sentinels?” JD asked.
Jim and Paul both shook their
heads.
“No,” Jim said. “Any threat, or
potential threat,” he added with a rueful grin when Blair snorted. “Of course,
that again is a fairly individual response. As we’ve found out, you can’t lump
Sentinels or Guides into one cubby hole. We come in all shapes and sizes and
with just as many quirks.”
“So,” Blair said, noticing
Ezra’s slight fidgeting, “are you ready to split up?”
Ezra nodded and stood.
“You can use the den,” Chris
said.
Buck and Ezra led the way,
leaving the rest of the team to talk to Paul and Dennis.
The four men pulled chairs
toward the center of the room and sat down.
Blair leaned forward, his elbows
on his knees as he looked Ezra in the eye. “Go ahead, ask whatever you want.”
Ezra glanced at Buck then met
Blair’s frank, blue gaze. “Just how tied to Jim are you?”
Blair sat back and chuckled.
“That’s almost always the first question I get when a Sentinel comes to me with
a bond already in place.” He shook his head and shared a smile with his
Sentinel before answering the question. “I’m tied to Jim forever… because I
want to be,” he stressed. “This is a partnership, neither the Sentinel nor the
Guide is more important, both play a necessary role. The best analogy, though
very few of our pairs are actually couples, is marriage. One partner may do the
dishes, clean, cook and take care of the kids while the other goes to work
every day and brings home the money, but both do something that allows the
couple to take care of the family.”
Blair continued seeing that he
had their full attention. “With a Sentinel and Guide, the ‘family’ they are
taking care of is usually a bit larger than 2.3 kids and a dog.” He grinned.
“The tribe includes family, friends, co-workers, and anyone within the
Sentinel’s territory, but can be extended as needed.”
“Blair keeps teasing me,” Jim
jumped in. “He says my ‘territory’ gets bigger with each new Sentinel or Guide
that we find.” He worried his lower lip briefly with his teeth. “I guess in
that respect, our territory isn’t just a physical distance, it’s whatever we
decide is important to keep safe.” He shared a quick look with Blair. “Recently
that’s become much more than I ever expected…” He shook his head. “Anyway, it
has more to do with your sense of responsibility. That may just include your
Guide, your family, your team and their family, or it may extend to anyone in
“What exactly is this bond you
keep talking about?” Buck asked.
“And he asks the hardest
question,” Blair murmured. “All I can really tell you is what our bond is like,
Buck. I know when Jim is near. I can
often tell what his mood is, even if he’s not in the room. I have to
concentrate on it, but I can. I also know when he gets hurt. That part of the
bond seems pretty universal between Sentinels and their Guides, to varying
degrees.” He paused and let Ezra and Buck digest that information.
“You think we already have this
bond?” Ezra asked.
Blair sighed. “I would say you
are in the early stages.”
“But how can you know that?”
Ezra asked anxiously.
Buck cleared his throat. “I… I
knew you were in that house, Ezra.” He met the younger man’s gaze. “I don’t
know how, but I knew you were there somewhere.”
Ezra frowned at Buck noting his
friend’s uncertainty. He gave him a small, hopefully reassuring smile then
looked at Blair. “You…” Ezra licked his
lips. “Can you read each others minds?”
Jim shook his head. “Not in the
way you mean. Sure, I usually know what Blair is thinking, but it’s because
we’ve been partners for so long. It’s not telepathy or ESP or anything. But, we
can… share our thoughts if we… well, for lack of a better word we’ve just been
calling it bonding.” He shrugged and motioned for Blair to take over.
Blair nodded. “When we both
accepted our partnership, we accepted the fact that it would take both of us working
together to really make the Sentinel thing work. The Sentinel can function
without a Guide, and the Guide can get along without a Sentinel, but together,
they can do so much more. And when a pair is bonded the way we are, they share
a spiritual link that strengthens the partnership and increases each partner’s
abilities.”
Ezra and Buck both had frowns
on their faces, but remained silent.
“Another benefit of the link is
that we can share thoughts when we bond.” Blair ran a hand through his hair. “It’s
sort of like a mind meld, you know, like in Star Trek. Jim and I find it easier
to deal with strong emotions, fears, disappointments and the like in the bond.
We don’t have to worry about all that male macho crap about not showing
emotions. For us, that sharing is a very intense and private part of being a
bonded Sentinel and Guide. It strengthens our connection.” He waited to see if
they were going to say anything. “That said, not all of our pairs bond that
deeply. But since we’ve only been studying the phenomena on a large scale for a
few years, I can’t say whether all pairs bond on this level or not. I know it
took us about four years to get to the point where we were ready to bond,
although we really didn’t know about it until it happened.”
“So we have some time to get
used to this,” Buck said sending a tentative glance at Ezra.
Blair nodded. “Like I said, it
is a partnership. You both have to accept and want to be in the partnership for
it to work. You will be asked to make that decision sooner or later, though.”
Jim huffed lightly. “That’s the
spiritual part you won’t have a choice about. You each have a spirit animal
guide. Ezra, yours is a cougar, a mountain lion. Buck’s is a wolf. You may see them in times of stress, or if the ‘Powers
that be’ decide it’s time for a lesson or a choice.”
“The ‘Powers that be’?” Ezra
asked with disbelief.
Blair chuckled. “That’s Jim’s
name for it. All we know is that there is a spiritual guidance behind the
Sentinel/Guide phenomena. I have no idea who or why or how, but I do know that
you don’t ignore your spirit guide. It can be deadly.”
Jim nodded solemnly.
“How do you know what our
guides are?” Buck asked. He scanned the room briefly as if expecting to see
them appear.
Jim smiled. “I’ve gotten used
to at least that part of the mystical side. I usually see a Sentinel’s spirit
guide before I get close enough to meet the person. And Blair will often see the Guide’s.”
Ezra ran a hand through his
hair and then pinched the bridge of his nose. He still wasn’t sure this was
something he wanted. “How do I… turn it off, if I don’t want it?” he asked,
looking to Jim for the answer.
Jim pushed his tongue against
the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. “You’ll be given the choice to go back to
the way things were or to be a Sentinel. Probably within the first six months
to a year.”
“That long?” Ezra exclaimed,
dismayed.
Blair leaned forward again.
“Think about this, Ezra. You’re an undercover agent. How many times have you wondered
if someone knew you were a cop? Being able to hear them talking in the next
room without a listening device would be useful. And I’m sure there are a lot of other ways an undercover agent
could benefit from being a Sentinel.”
“Yes,” Ezra said slowly. “But
what about the zoning? I can’t always take Buck under with me, and you can’t
tell me I won’t ever zone out, I’ve done it twice today.”
“No,” Jim said, “we can’t tell
you that, but I can tell you that zoning is usually caused by inexperience. When
you focus on one sense to the exclusion of all others, that’s when we tend to
zone. That’s why we set up the SGF, to help school Sentinels and their Guides
in safely using your senses. We can give you a few pointers to help through the
week, then maybe you can get some leave and come up to Cascade.”
“We don’t have time to sit
through a bunch of classes,” Ezra argued, his frustration growing.
Buck scooted his chair closer
and draped an arm over Ezra’s shoulders. “Easy there, pard. We’ll work things
out. Chris and the others are behind us and,” he continued with a classic Buck
Wilmington confident grin, “we’re smart guys, it won’t take us long to figure
this out.”
Ezra eyed his friend for a long
moment, Buck’s smile never faltered and Ezra finally let a small grin through
in response. “Very well. But,” he turned back to Blair and Jim, “tomorrow we
are having a crash course in using these enhanced senses I now find myself
possessing.”
Blair grinned and Jim nodded.
“I understand where you’re
coming from, Ezra,” Jim said. “I just wanted to get rid of them myself when
Blair first told me what was going on. We had quite a few arguments over the
usefulness of my senses.” He smiled fondly at his partner. “But I have to
admit, I’m glad Blair didn’t give up. Being a Sentinel has changed my life in
ways I couldn’t even have imagined. It’s well worth the hassles.”
“Hassles?!” Blair exclaimed,
jokingly. “What hassles, man? And don’t give me that ‘hair in the drain,’
crap.”
Jim chuckled and tapped Blair
on the side of the head. “Nah, that’s why we have separate baths now.” Blair
huffed and popped Jim on the arm. “The hassle,” Jim continued with a grin, “is
dealing with the smell of the nameless green goop he drinks for breakfast.”
“Oh, please,” Blair replied.
“What about what I have to put up with?”
“And what’s that, Junior?” Jim
teased.
Blair opened his mouth then
closed it and smiled benignly. “Why nothing, Jim. Nothing at all.”
“Sandburg,” Jim growled.
Blair’s grin widened.
Buck chuckled and gave Ezra’s
shoulder a squeeze. Ezra shook his head minutely at the rather familiar,
playfulness between the other two men. They seemed to be genuinely happy with
the arrangement they had. And if he was truthful with himself, he’d already
committed to Team 7, quite some time ago. This Sentinel thing might come in
handy, but first he had to learn to control it.
*****
Out in the living room, Paul
and Dennis suddenly found themselves the recipients of five rather intense gazes.
But Paul was an ex-Marine. He simply held his hand up then pointed to the man
closest to him who happened to be Chris Larabee.
“You first.”
Chris suppressed a grin.
Donaldson reminded him of one of his commanders in the Seals. He took a moment
to consider everything he wanted to know. “Just how dependent on Dennis are
you?”
Paul raised an eyebrow. It was
not an unexpected question considering that Ezra was an undercover agent. “You
want to know if he’ll still be able to go under on his own.”
Chris nodded.
“I don’t see why not. It will
take some time for Ezra to become comfortable enough to use his senses safely.
The main thing is for him to practice and refrain from using them until he’s
got better control.”
Josiah was next to Chris and
when Paul looked at him he smiled. “How long have you known you were a
Sentinel, and how often do you zone now?”
“That’s two questions, J‘siah,”
Vin teased. Josiah just grinned and settled his gaze on Paul.
Paul leaned back in his seat.
“Well, I found the name for what I am about three years ago when I came across
the book. Before that I knew there was something different about me, but all of
my senses weren’t online. My sense of taste was always pretty sensitive. I had
to get out of the service in self-defense,” he added with a grin.
The others chuckled.
“Just before the book came out,
I started having problems with all of my senses.” Paul paused for a moment. “I
thought I was going crazy. But as soon as I saw the blurb on “The Watchman’s”
cover, I knew. I did a little research and headed for Cascade.” He looked over
at Dennis. “I’ve never looked back, never regretted it for a minute.”
Dennis smiled at his friend.
“Paul hasn’t had a zone out in… at least a year. Once he learned how to split
his focus, zone outs became few and far between. Jim and Blair have been a
great help. Blair’s pretty much written the book on Guiding a Sentinel.”
Vin spoke softly. “Do you have
anyone at your Foundation with only one or two enhanced senses?”
Dennis nodded. “There are a few.
Blair’s theory is that some people carry the Sentinel genes, but not in the
right combination to create a true Sentinel with all five senses enhanced. When
this happens, the person may have one or more superior sense. Usually it’s not
a problem, they don’t need a Guide, don’t have zone outs. But we have a few
individuals with such extreme sensitivities that they did need help getting
control of them.”
JD glanced at Vin who had sunk
back into his chair and looked thoughtful. The computer tech fidgeted but
waited for Paul to acknowledge his turn.
Paul grinned and nodded at JD.
“Can any of us help Ezra,” JD
asked with a wave of his hand, “or is it just Buck?”
Dennis glanced at Paul,
surprised by the insightfulness of the question. “That’s a good question. It
really depends on a number of factors.” He ticked off the points on his
fingers. “What the Sentinel zoned on. How long he’s been zoned. The
relationship between the Sentinel and whomever is trying to help him.” Dennis
paused. “It’s better to catch a zone before it happens. If you pay attention
while he’s using his senses, you should be able to see the change from
concentration to zone out.”
Nathan scooted to the edge of
his seat. “What sort of medicines should we watch out for? Ezra has
sensitivities to certain drugs we already know about, but I get the feeling
there’s more.”
Paul tilted his head and
shrugged. “That, unfortunately, is something you’re going to have to figure out
as you go. Not all Sentinels are susceptible to drug allergies. I’ve never had
a problem with any drug, and I’ve had numerous surgeries, vaccinations and
exposure to…” he grinned ruefully, “let’s just say, certain recreational drugs,
when I was younger.”
Josiah snorted.
“What about other Sentinels?”
Nathan persisted.
Dennis nodded. “We do have a
database of reactions. I’m sure Blair will give you access. If Ezra has already
shown signs of allergies, then you can work from there. Any derivatives or
similarly structured compounds are suspect.”
Chris kept his eyes locked on his
hands, mindlessly folding and unfolding the edge of his pant leg as he
listened. After Dennis’ last statement he looked up and took a deep breath. “I
hate asking this… but I get the feeling that if I don’t, it’ll come back to
bite us in the ass.”
Paul and Dennis shared an
amused glance.
Chris sighed and shook his head
minutely. “What is the deal with these spirit animal… guides?”
Dennis nodded, understanding
the reluctance in Chris’ voice. “Animal spirit guides are not unique to
Sentinels and Guides,” he started.
Vin and Josiah nodded.
“That’s true, Chris,” Josiah
said. “Many cultures believe we have animal totems that assist us in times of
need. In many of the Native Americans tribes, young men and women, especially the
warriors, would go on a vision quest to find their totem as they were accepted
into adulthood.”
“The totem,” Vin added softly, “is supposed to
be a guide, give them a sense of direction, let them know what their place in
the tribe will be. Sometimes the visions show exactly what a person expects to
see and sometimes… sometimes they are led in a totally different direction.” He
fell silent, studying the inside of his glass with focused intensity.
“Vin?” Ezra asked. He and the
others had entered the room quietly.
Vin looked up and gave them a
quick half-smile.
Ezra and Buck replaced the
chairs they’d dragged into den and sat down. Jim and Blair reclaimed the empty
chairs near Dennis and Paul.
“You sound as if you’ve been on
one of these vision quests,” Ezra said seriously.
Vin nodded. “My
great-grandfather was a pureblood Kiowa. He was the only family I had left when
my Ma died. I lived with him on the reservation until I was eleven. After he
died,” Vin shrugged and took a quick sip from his glass. “We didn’t have any
other relatives and the ‘system’ wouldn’t allow a white boy to live on the
reservation,” he finished sarcastically.
Josiah reached over and gently
squeezed the back of Vin’s neck.
Vin smiled his thanks and
continued. “On my eleventh birthday he insisted I was old enough to seek my
totem. We prepared everything and I spent two days with him staring into the
campfire, waiting for my totem to make itself know.” Vin grinned fondly. “I
never did have a vision, but on the way back to the car to head home, I found
an eagle’s feather. Grandpa smiled and said my totem had shown up after all.”
He paused for a long moment. “He died a few weeks later.”
“What kind of eagle feather?”
Blair asked.
Vin looked at Blair. “A golden
eagle.”
Blair nodded. “Like I said
before, we don’t really know that much about how spirit guides are chosen or
why they appear to us like they do. I suspect the Native peoples could teach us
a lot about listening to them,” he quirked his lips ruefully. “At first, I
thought all Sentinels would have a jaguar… panther,” he shrugged, “for a guide,
but the first Sentinel who found us had a mouse for a guide and his Guide’s
spirit animal was a bulldog.”
“A mouse?” JD asked
incredulously.
Blair nodded and grinned. “You
have to understand the symbolism of the animal totems. It really has nothing to
do with size of the animal, but what the animal represents. In the case of the
mouse, curiosity and attention to detail. Still, the majority of the Sentinels
tend to have feline guides, while the Guides totems are widely varied. I’m sure
there’s a pattern there in the types of spirit animals and the Sentinels they
are associated with, but I just haven’t had time to correlate it.”
“Do you know what your totems are?”
Vin asked Ezra and Buck.
“A cougar,” Buck answered,
pointing at Ezra. “And a wolf.”
“Cool,” JD grinned. “I wonder
if we have animal spirits, too?”
Josiah shared a grin with Vin.
“Well, we can certainly find out. We’ll just have a little vision quest of our
own.”
Nathan and Chris narrowed their
eyes suspiciously while Vin hid a smile behind his glass.
JD’s eyes widened. “Yeah, that
would be great.”
“Of course that means fasting
for… what Vin? Two days?” Josiah continued.
Vin nodded. “Maybe longer.”
“Right. And a ritual cleansing.
Usually that’s done in a sweat lodge.” Josiah looked at Chris. “But we could
probably rig something up here on your ranch, if you don’t mind.”
Chris bit the inside of his lip
to keep from smiling and shook his head.
JD had a disturbed look on his
face. “Um, well, maybe I’ll just wait and see if it shows up on its own,” he
stammered.
The others chuckled.
Blair controlled his laughter
and met JD’s miffed gaze. “That’s only one way to find your totem, JD.
Meditation is another well-respected method.” He sent an amused glance at
Josiah. The older man’s grin widened wickedly.
“Well,” Chris interrupted, “as
amusing as this is, it still doesn’t answer my question. What do these animal
spirits mean to us? How will they impact our lives?”
Blair met Chris’ gaze and
stared thoughtfully at the hazel eyes for a long moment. The vision of a hawk
flashed briefly before him and Blair blinked. “Mainly I’d recommend that you
pay attention if you see one of their spirit guides, whether in a dream or a
vision. And listen if one of them has a vision.”
“What’s the difference?” Buck
asked.
“Well, a dream usually comes
when you’re asleep. Visions can happen when you’re wide awake. Even if you think
what you see is real, you should consider the possibility that it’s a guide
trying to tell you something.” Blair paused. “Truthfully though, you should
make note of any animals appearing to you. It could be a warning of another
Sentinel that is entering your territory, or even someone in trouble.” He
shrugged. “That’s part of the problem we’ve had figuring it all out. Visions
and dreams just aren’t usually very clear.”
Dennis yawned and several of
the others followed suit.
“I don’t know about ya’ll,” Vin
said, “but I’m tired and it sounds like we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us
before we’re ready for the President’s visit. Think I’ll hit the hay.”
Chris nodded. “Any of you are
welcome to stay. It’s a long drive back to town this time of night.”
Jim and Blair shook their
heads. “The four of us will go back to the hotel,” Jim said.
Ezra nodded. “I believe I will
head home as well.”
Buck glanced at JD who nodded.
“Me and the kid, too.”
“I’ll stay, Chris,” Josiah
said. Chris nodded.
“I’d better get home to Rain,”
Nathan said reluctantly. He had the feeling Chris, Vin and Josiah would be up
late talking and he really wanted to be in on the discussion, but his wife
deserved to have her husband home when he had the chance.
Chris met his eyes and a slight
smile lifted the corners of his mouth in understanding. “Tell Rain we said
hello.”
Nathan nodded. “See you in the
morning.”
“
Ezra just nodded and Chris
frowned. He caught Buck’s eye and the other man nodded.
They all headed outside. Chris
watched as the group split and headed for their cars. Buck stopped to talk to
Ezra by his Jag. After a brief moment, Buck sighed and stepped back allowing Ezra
to get into the driver’s side. Ezra started the vehicle and pulled off.
Buck glanced over his shoulder
at Chris and shrugged then went to join JD at his truck. JD had borrowed it to
bring himself and Josiah out to the ranch. Jim, Blair, Dennis and Paul climbed
into their rental and headed back to town. Vin and Josiah leaned on the porch
supports to either side of the stairs and waited for Chris to join them.
Chris eyed them both as he
walked back to the porch. “Anything else you two care to share about this?”
Josiah shrugged. “I studied a
bit with a Cherokee holy man, but I can’t say that’s it’s given me any insight
into our current situation. We pretty much have to go with Blair’s expertise,
Chris.”
Vin straightened and tilted his
head toward the door. The three men went back inside and made themselves
comfortable.
“I’m not sure there’s much more
to know,” Vin said. “Other than to keep an eye out for visiting spirit guides,”
he added with a lazy grin.
Chris rolled his eyes and
Josiah chuckled.
“All right,” Chris said
reluctantly. He tipped his chin toward Josiah. “What’s your take on Ezra’s
state of mind?”
Josiah laughed incredulously.
“Although our brother has opened up quite a bit in the last few years, he still
has the ability to close down when he wants to. Honestly, Chris… I’m not sure
what he’s thinking. I hope…” he gnawed the inside of his cheek, “I hope that he
and Buck will talk.”
Vin nodded. “JD was right.
Those two have always had an easier time relating than you’d expect. I don’t
think Bucklin will leave this hanging. I expect he’ll be over to Ezra’s before
Ezra even thinks about headin’ to bed.”
Chris nodded. Yes, Buck
wouldn’t let Ezra stew over night. Buck was good at helping friends in need.
Chris knew that without doubt. And Ezra needed a friend tonight, no matter how
much he might deny it.
*****
Ezra glared at the snifter of
brandy on the coffee table. The normally comforting beverage had burned his
tongue. What other things would he have to give up for this ‘gift?’
A knock at the door brought him
out of his fugue. He frowned. It was almost
Ezra opened the door. “Buck,
what are you doing here?”
The ladies man looked up from the
spot on the ground that he’d been staring at and offered a small smile. “I was
in the neighborhood?”
Ezra rolled his eyes and opened
the door wider, stepping back to allow Buck to enter. He noticed that his
friend was carrying a duffle bag. Ezra’s eyebrows rose. “Are you planning to
stay?” he asked as he closed the door.
Buck grinned sheepishly.
“Wasn’t sure what time we might finish talking.”
“Come on in,” Ezra sighed
leading the way into the living room. “Would you care for something to drink?”
Buck noticed the snifter on the
coffee table. He frowned as he set his bag on the floor by the armchair. “It’s
a little late, don’t ya think?”
Ezra waved a hand dismissively
and plopped down on the sofa. Buck’s eyebrows rose in concern.
“Ez?”
“I haven’t been drinking,
Buck,” Ezra replied tartly. “The brandy… It… I couldn’t…” he faltered, not able
to come up with the right phrase to describe the sensation.
Buck moved around the coffee
table and sat beside Ezra. “You’ve got to talk to me, Hoss. I can’t help you if
you don’t.”
Ezra leaned forward and grabbed
the snifter. “All of a sudden, I can’t even drink brandy without your
assistance,” he snapped, his hand moved in concert with his words sloshing the
brandy over the sides. “How am I supposed to live like this?”
Buck intercepted the hand and
removed the snifter, setting it back on the table. “Ezra… do you want to be a
Sentinel?”
“It doesn’t sound like I have
much choice,” he replied bitterly as he stood and stalked into the kitchen.
Buck followed. “Sure you do.
Remember, Jim said you could choose.” He watched as Ezra washed the brandy from
his hand.
“He said it could be months or
even a year before I have the chance to go back to normal.” Ezra braced his
hands on the edge of the sink, his chin rested on his chest. “You know me,
Buck. I’m the world’s worst control freak. These senses are wild. I don’t know
what’s going to set them off. I can’t live like this.”
Buck exhaled sharply through his
nose. “That’s baloney. You can learn how to control them, you’re just afraid.”
Ezra’s head jerked up and he
looked at Buck with confusion written all over his face. “Afraid of what?”
“You tell me. Why does having
these abilities spook you so much?”
Ezra closed his eyes. When he
opened them he faced Buck, fear and old pain clear in his green eyes. “I
think,” he said softly, “I believe my father might have been a Sentinel. I
can’t be sure without speaking to Mother. I was very young when he died.” Ezra
looked away. “He was overseas in
“That doesn’t mean your father
was a Sentinel, Ezra.”
“No, I just have a feeling.”
“You gonna talk to Maude?”
Ezra huffed. “Not any time
soon, at least, not about this. I don’t believe the information is vital to our
pursuits.” He frowned at Buck. “Do you?”
“No. I don’t think so,” Buck
replied. “Might be nice to know someday though.”
“Yes,” Ezra nodded. “I suppose.”
Buck glanced at the clock on
the wall. “It’s late, Ez. We need to get some sleep, but I need to know…”
“What, Buck?” Ezra asked
earnestly.
“Do you want me as your Guide?
‘Cause I’m sure one of the other guys…”
“Buck.”
“That is, if you think…”
“Buck,” Ezra interrupted,
putting a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “If one of the others was meant to
be my Guide, I think we’d know by now.” He shook his head with a fond grin.
“No. You are the one who can help me… if you are still willing to?” Buck
nodded. “Then I suppose tomorrow we will be getting our first lessons on being
a Sentinel and Guide.”
Buck grinned and grasped Ezra’s
shoulder so that they stood squared off, connected hand to shoulder. “I think
it’s going to be fun, Ez.”
“We’ll see.”
******
Blair was up early, moving
around the hotel suite with a hurried purpose. Jim listened to him for a while,
smiling as his brother muttered to himself making plans for Ezra’s tests this
morning. Jim closed his eyes as Blair came into the bedroom. He peeked through
half opened lids when he was sure Blair wasn’t looking and saw his Guide
rummaging through the dresser drawers.
Blair picked up several shirts,
checked the labels and put all but one back in the drawer. The last one was
placed into a large zip-lock baggie.
Where did he get those? When did he get those? Jim frowned and quickly closed his eyes as Blair
turned back toward the bed. The Sentinel heard the sound of leather creaking
and a zipper being opened. Okay, he’s in
my overnight bag for something. Jim focused his senses and smelled fresh
toothpaste. He heard the baggie zip shut and grimaced at the smell of a magic
marker. Finally, the scratching of a pencil on paper. Then he smelled his
shampoo.
Jim sat up. “Sandburg!” he
said, startling Blair. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Geeze, Jim. Give a guy a heart
attack why don’t you?” Blair took a deep breath and waved at the baggies he’d
set on the foot of Jim’s bed. “I’m getting things together to test Ezra’s
ranges.”
“And you need my shirt and
toothpaste and shampoo for that?” Jim asked.
Blair looked at Jim and raised
an eyebrow. His partner knew good and well what he was doing and why.
Jim chuckled. “So what’s the
shirt for?”
“Buck seemed to think Ezra’s
sense of touch was his most sensitive. I want to have a wide range of materials
to test it and I saw you pack this silk shirt.”
“What if I wanted to wear that
today?” Jim teased.
Blair grinned. “I know you
packed this for one of those fancy dinners. Even though you love it, you only wear
it on special occasions.”
Jim scowled. “Do you know how
expensive those things are? If I wore one everyday, with all the shit we run
into, my budget would be blown on replacing my wardrobe.”
Blair laughed. “True. Get
dressed and come see what I have, see if you can think of anything else. Then
we can grab breakfast and head over to the
Jim nodded and followed Blair’s
suggestion.
*****
Buck and Ezra entered the
bullpen at one minute to eight bearing two paper bags each. They nodded and
smiled greetings to everyone as they made their way to the conference room and
started to empty the bags. Cinnamon rolls and cups of coffee were set out while
everyone gathered around.
“Cutting it awful close there,
Ez,” Vin teased, tapping a finger on his watch.
“We were here before
Vin grinned and grabbed his
breakfast before taking his own seat.
As they all settled in, Blair
watched Buck and Ezra closely. They seemed to have come to some agreement. At
least they weren’t as tense as they’d been last night. Ezra looked up and
caught Blair’s eye. The agent lifted one brow questioningly.
“Are you ready to get started?”
Blair asked.
Ezra nodded slightly.
“How do you want to do this? Do
you want the others here?” Blair asked.
Buck shook his head.
“I think we need to know how
this all works,” Josiah said.
Buck sat forward on his chair and
met Josiah’s frank gaze. “No. Not for this part. Let us have some time to
figure things out, then, when Ezra’s more comfortable, ya’ll can see. I won’t
have ya stressing him out with questions and helpful suggestions.” Buck’s drawl
got thicker with his intensity and he pinned each of the other five men with a
look that brooked no argument.
The corner of Ezra’s mouth
quirked into a grin. Nobody would question Buck when he got that tone of voice.
He was in full big brother mode.
“Ezra?” Chris asked.
“I agree with Buck,” Ezra
replied. “I would feel more comfortable learning what I can do first, then we
will share. You all need to know what I’m capable of, but first ‘I’ need to
know.”
The others nodded.
“Okay,” Chris said. “Let’s go
over the security detail for tomorrow one more time while we have breakfast and
then we’ll leave you to it.”
~~~~~
Blair dragged a box out from
under the table as the others left. He pulled out two books. One was a notebook
to record Ezra’s tests in. The other was part of the test. He looked up at
Ezra. “Ready to get started?”
Ezra nodded hesitantly.
“I thought we’d start with
sight,” Blair said as he grabbed the second book and went to the far end of the
room. “I’m going to open the book and I want you to read the first line on the
left page, okay?”
Ezra frowned slightly, but
nodded again.
Blair opened the book. Buck
leaned forward in his seat and squinted, trying to see the letters on the page.
Jim snorted and quickly turned
it to a fake cough.
Ezra rolled his eyes. “The book
is upside down.”
Blair suppressed a smile and
looked at the book. “Oh, right, sorry.” He flipped it around and held it open
again. “How’s that?” he asked with an innocent grin.
Jim coughed again, this time into
his fist. He whispered Sentinel soft, “he always does that.”
Ezra smirked and cast a sly
glance at the other Sentinel.
“What?” Buck and Blair asked in
unison.
Ezra and Jim turned innocent
faces on their Guides.
“Nothing,” Jim said.
“Shall we continue?” Ezra
asked, then read the first line aloud.
“Good,” Blair said when he was
finished. “Are the letters clear or fuzzy from there?”
“Quite clear,” Ezra replied,
relaxing a bit as he realized that these ‘tests’ weren’t going to be too
difficult.
“Good,” Blair said coming back
to the table. He set the book down and held up his hand. “I just wanted to
start with something easy so you’d relax a bit. We’ll try some long distance
stuff now.”
Ezra frowned and focused on the
pad of Blair’s thumb. “Why do you have a number five written on your thumb?” he
asked.
Blair looked at his hands.
“What five?” Buck asked,
craning his neck to see as Jim grabbed Blair’s hands and examined his thumbs.
The older Sentinel chuckled and let go. Buck frowned. “I don’t see anything.”
Blair shook his head. “You
shouldn’t. I wrote the five in ink and then washed my hands. What Ezra and Jim
are seeing is the microscopic ink particles stuck in the ridges of my
thumbprint.” He looked at Ezra. “What color ink did I use?”
Ezra sighed. “Green.”
Blair grinned. “That’s great.”
He made a quick note in his booklet and moved over to the windows. “Let’s see
how far you can see. Jim I need you to verify the distance for me.”
Both Sentinels joined Blair by the
bank of windows. Buck moved up behind Ezra to watch.
“Now, tell me the license plate
number on one of the cars on each block. If there’s not a car, then describe
someone or something else.”
Ezra did as directed and with
each number or description Jim told Blair how far away the object was.
“That’s it,” Ezra said after
about a dozen times.
“What?” Blair asked, looking up
from his notes.
“I can’t see any further.”
Blair frowned and looked at
Jim. He had expected quite a bit more from Ezra.
“He’s right, Chief,” Jim said,
“We hit the top of a hill. Even Sentinel’s need a direct line of sight.”
“Oh,” Blair replied. “Well, I
guess we’ll have to try that again later. For now we can move on…”
“Wait,” Ezra demanded. “I have
a question.” Blair nodded expectantly. “Isn’t seeing small, microscopic things
different from seeing objects far away? And what about seeing in the dark?”
“Technically, yes,” Blair said.
“Although you do have to use your eyes for all three,” he grinned. “We have
found that some Sentinels have much better microscopic vision than telescopic,
and some see better in the dark than others. Again, that’s one of those things
that still needs researching. Everyone we’ve tested so far has at least some
enhancement in all three areas.”
“I found out a few years ago
that I’d be a bit near sighted without my Sentinel abilities,” Jim said.
Ezra and Buck waited for more,
but Jim only shrugged.
“It was one of those
decision-making times,” was his only answer.
Ezra raised an eyebrow and looked
back at Blair. “All right then, what’s next?”
“Sound. Can you tell us what’s
being said in the next room?” Blair asked. At Ezra’s frown he added, “It’s
okay, I told the others before you arrived that we might be listening in. They
shouldn’t be discussing anything you wouldn’t want to overhear.”
Ezra nodded then tilted his
head in what Blair called the classic ‘Sentinel listening pose.’ It never
seemed to matter which direction the sound was coming from, they all tilted
their heads the same way.
After a moment Ezra chuckled
and looked at Jim. The older Sentinel rolled his eyes. Ezra looked at Blair and
Buck. “JD seems to be sharing his latest joke with the rest of the team.”
Buck groaned. “We’re lucky to
be in here.” He grinned suddenly at Ezra. “Although you still had to suffer
through it.”
Ezra lifted his chin, with
pretend indignation. “I do believe Mr. Sandburg requires proof of what I can
hear,” he said, his green eyes glinting evilly. “Isn’t that correct, Blair?”
“Oh God,” Buck groaned dramatically.
“Spare us, please.”
Blair and Jim chuckled.
“JD’s joke goes like this…”
“Ezra…”
“How do you kill a circus?”
Ezra continued blithely.
Buck covered his face with both
hands, shaking his head mournfully.
Blair laughed. “It can’t be
that bad.” Jim closed his eyes knowingly as Blair replied. “I don’t know, how
do you kill a circus?”
Ezra grinned, Buck sank lower
into his chair and Jim started to chuckle.
“You go for the juggler,” Ezra
deadpanned.
Blair stared at the ATF agent
for a long moment, then closed his eyes and shook his head in a quick shivering
motion. He opened his eyes to Ezra’s dimpled grin. “You’re right, that was
bad.”
Ezra’s grin widened. “The boy
has an unlimited supply of bad jokes. I believe he looks them up on the
internet for the express purpose of tormenting us.”
Buck laughed. “I think you’re
right, Ez.” He looked at Blair. “Now I have a question. Ez zoned during that
phone call to you, I’m pretty sure it was on something he was hearing. Do you
have any ideas?”
Jim nodded. “He probably zoned
on someone’s heartbeat.”
Ezra’s eyes snapped to the
other Sentinel’s face. “How did you know?”
Jim gave the younger man a
small smile. “You were so intent on talking to us that you focused exclusively
on hearing. The sounds closest to you would have been your teammates. When you
focus that intensely it’s common to zoom in on unusual or unexpected sounds.
You wouldn’t have expected to hear someone’s heartbeat. By that point you were
so intent on figuring out what you were hearing that you fell into a zone.”
Ezra nodded slowly. “I was
eager to speak to you. I was totally focused on the phone call and suddenly
heard this thumping noise. When I tried to pin down its location I heard more thumps.
They were oddly comforting and… familiar, but I found myself unable to break
away from them. The noise just surrounded me.”
Jim nodded sympathetically.
“We’ll show you how to avoid that.”
Blair nodded his agreement as
he cut in. “But first I want to finish these tests.”
Buck frowned and opened his
mouth to argue.
Blair raised his hands. “I know
that sounds harsh, but we’ll get a better idea of yours and Ezra’s capabilities
if we have a baseline. A ‘before and after,’ if you will.”
Buck sat back tugging at his
mustache in frustration as he met Ezra’s eyes.
Ezra gave a slight nod and a
quick smile. You won’t let me down, my
friend.
The new Guide sighed and looked
back to Blair. “Okay, but as soon as we’re done…”
“I promise,” Blair said,
raising his right hand. “Now I want you,” his eyes rested on Ezra, “to find the
guard in the lobby and tell us what he’s saying.”
Ezra’s eyes widened. “That’s
ten floors away.”
“You can do it.”
Ezra swallowed and looked at
Buck. Buck reached over to squeeze Ezra’s shoulder, but he didn’t let go,
instead he let his hand rest where it was.
“It’s okay, Ez. I got your
back. Just relax. You should be able to hear ol’ Bobby without any trouble. You
know the man likes to talk, almost as much as you,” he said with a grin.
Ezra pressed his lips together,
but didn’t reply. He was a little too nervous for a good come back. He tried to
figure out what to do. Could he hear through
ten floors? Or should he try to track through the halls and down the stairs or
elevator shaft to the lobby? He sighed and closed his eyes to get rid of the
distractions in the room. Blair was watching him like a hawk.
Okay, Ezra, you can do this.
He tilted his head and identified the sounds in the room. Jim sat still, only
his breathing and heart beat audible. Ezra dismissed them. Blair’s chair
squeaked a bit as well, since the man seemed as incapable of sitting still as
JD. Ezra logged the noise and discarded it. Buck was a different matter. He
cataloged all the sounds from his Guide and set them into a corner of his mind
so he could keep track of him.
Next Ezra let his hearing drift
out to the bullpen where he cataloged and dismissed the sounds of the rest of
his team. I wonder if I can keep an ear
on more than one… Later… For now he had a task to complete. Later he could
experiment. He continued out into the hallway and paused near the elevator. No,
that wouldn’t work. Too many changes with new people coming up and down in the
car. Maybe the stairs.
Ezra sent his hearing down the
stairwell, gaining confidence as he swiftly noted and dismissed the various
sounds until he reached the ground floor. The sounds from the lobby hit him all
at once. Voices, the buzzing from the security equipment, noises from the cars
outside... He stiffened at the assault and felt a hand squeeze his shoulder.
Buck’s voice soothed from the corner of his mind and Ezra relaxed. He let the
din flutter around him for a moment then began to sort through it until he
found Bobby’s voice.
With a slightly detached tone,
Ezra repeated what the guard was saying until Buck cut in and told him that was
enough.
Ezra took a deep breath and
opened his eyes. He blinked quickly to give himself time to adjust and turned
his head to look at Buck.
Buck smiled. “You did great,
Pard.”
Jim and Blair nodded.
Ezra glanced at his watch,
surprised to see that only a few moments had gone by.
“You did very well, Buck,”
Blair said. “You kept him from zoning out.”
Buck shook his head. “I didn’t
do anything, Ez did fine by himself.”
“That’s not true, Buck,” Ezra
argued. “It was your presence that kept me focused. I did feel a zone coming
on, but you squeezed my shoulder and spoke to me just at the right time.” He
met his friend’s eyes. “Thank you.”
Buck pursed his lips
thoughtfully and gave a slight nod. He still wasn’t convinced that he’d helped
much, but Ezra didn’t say thank you often, so maybe he did need his help.
“I don’t remember you saying
thank you very much, Jim,” Blair teased.
“I gave you a roof over your
head and rescued you from the bad guys, Chief, wadda ya want? A Hallmark card?”
Jim snarked back.
Blair grinned. “That would be
nice.”
Jim smiled. “Okay. As soon as I
find one that says ‘To the best Guide ever,’ I’ll get you one.”
“Jerk,” Blair said fondly.
Buck turned to Ezra. “No cards,
Hoss. I don’t want the ladies getting the wrong idea.”
Ezra grinned. “Flowers and
candy, it is then.”
Buck moaned dramatically and
looked at Blair. “What’s next?”
They went through scent and
taste using some of the items in the plastic baggies than Blair had prepared.
Ezra managed to get through those tests without any problem. Blair made notes
on everything.
Finally, he pulled out a two
bags containing shirts, and a legal size pad of paper. “Okay. I want to do a
couple of quick tests on your sense of touch, then we’ll get on to some
practical exercises to help you with control.”
Blair pushed the bags across
the table to Ezra. “Can you tell by feel what they are made of?”
Ezra quirked an eyebrow
dismissively as he opened both bags. He stuck his hand into the first one.
“Silk.” Then into the other bag. He frowned. “Silk and… something else. It’s
not pure silk, but I’m unfamiliar with the combination.”
Blair grinned and nodded. “It’s
a rayon mixture. That’s excellent. I can’t tell the difference by touch. All right,
now I want you to run your fingers over this paper and tell me what you feel.”
He slid the pad over to Ezra.
The top page was clean. “Don’t
look at it, just feel,” Blair admonished. Jim had already taken this test and
told Blair that he could just barely feel the indentions from what Blair had
written on the now missing top pages.
Ezra ran his finger tips
lightly over the paper, his tongue peeking out between his lips as he
concentrated. He grinned suddenly and chuckled. “This is only a test,” he said,
‘reading’ what was on the paper.
Buck laughed.
“Cool,” Blair said. He tore
five pages off and nodded to Ezra. “Can you feel anything around the edges?” he
asked indicating the remaining paper.
Ezra’s eyebrows rose. He had
concentrated on the center of the page, not expecting Blair to be so sneaky. He
should have known better. He felt along all four edges of the page before
reporting his findings. “Along the top are several stick figures, a man, a
woman and a four-legged beast of some kind.” Blair nodded. “On the right side,
four daisy-like flowers and the number eight. Across the bottom you’ve written
‘sentinel’ backwards and on the left edge, in very small print, the letters B,
K, A, Z, a smiley face and the number 715. I assume there is some significance
to this?”
“Not really,” Blair smiled. “I
just wanted to see how sensitive your touch is. Jim checked all over the first
sheet and only just felt the first message. You were able to feel the stuff
along the edges five pages below that. How easy was it for you to read this
page?”
Ezra shrugged. “Easy enough.”
Blair tapped the pad. “I want
you to feel each remaining page and tell me when you have trouble
distinguishing the letters.”
Ten pages later, Ezra frowned.
“It’s difficult to know if I’m not just remembering what is written, but I
believe I would be unable to determine the individual letters on this page.”
Blair noted the number and
nodded. “I’ll work up some more tests for later, but I think Buck was right.
Your sense of touch seems to be your best sense. Everything else seems to be in
the more normal ranges for a Sentinel, although that may change once you’ve had
a chance to work on them.”
He collected the items on the
table and placed them back in the box then looked at Ezra. “Next I want to…”
Buck shook his head. “We need
to take a break, Blair,” he said, flicking his eyes toward his Sentinel
meaningfully.
Blair paused, then nodded.
“Yeah, I could use a few minutes to stretch my legs myself.”
Jim and Ezra snorted, not
having missed the silent exchange between their Guides. They all stood and
headed for the door.
“That’s something you need to
know about Guides, Ezra,” Jim said in a conspiratorial stage whisper. “They are
the biggest mother hens.”
“Only beaten out by their
Sentinels,” Blair threw over his shoulder as they entered the bullpen.
“Ya’ll done already?” JD asked.
Buck smiled and shook his head.
“Nah, just taking a break and making sure you guys haven’t started any trouble
without us.”
“Now, Brother Buck,” Josiah
said with a grin. “Do you have so little faith in us?”
“On the contrary, Josiah,” Ezra
replied. “We have every confidence in your ability to get into trouble. That’s
why we are checking on you.”
Vin, JD, Nathan and Josiah
chuckled.
“Where’s Chris?” Buck asked. Ezra
tilted his head with a slight frown.
“He had to see Travis about
something,” Vin said. “Should be back soon. Ya’ll ready for lunch?”
“I could eat,” JD piped up.
“You two can always eat,” Buck
teased. “It’s barely eleven, Vin.”
“So?”
“Gentlemen,” Ezra cut in.
“Chris is on his way and he’s bringing company. We should appear… busy,” he
said, moving to his desk and taking a seat.
Jim and Blair followed and
stood behind Ezra, ‘studying’ the screen on his computer. Ezra quickly brought
up the schematics for the convention center.
The others took their seats as
well so when Chris came in with two suits, everyone seemed to be working
diligently.
“Gentlemen,” Chris said with a
knowing grin. “These men are with the Secret Service. They are going to brief
us on what to expect at the convention. Let’s adjourn to the conference room,
shall we?”
Blair shared a quick worried
glance with Jim. The box was still on the table, but Ezra had already moved
into the conference room. When they entered with the Secret Service men, Ezra
was throwing the empty cinnamon roll boxes and several coffee cups into a box.
He looked up with a grin. “We
had a working breakfast. I’ll just dispose of these.” He headed for the door.
“I’ll be right back.” Ezra winked at Blair as he passed the Guide and Blair
could see that it was indeed the box of tests. He smiled back at the undercover
agent and joined Jim at the table.
Ezra rejoined them and took his
seat by Buck as the president’s agents got started.
“I’m Agent Hendricks, this is
Agent Limdell.”
“What, no Jones and Black?” Vin
whispered loudly to Chris. Chris smirked. The rest of the men smiled as well.
Hendricks frowned to cover his
grin.
Limdell snorted. “They have a
sense of humor Sammy,” he said to his partner.
“We do have a time table here,
gentlemen,” Hendricks replied with a roll of his eyes before turning more
serious. “We’ve found that it’s more effective to have multiple, smaller teams
working the area under their own regular commander than to try and get everyone
to report to the SecServ Agent in charge. Only the team leaders report to the
AIC.” He paused to make sure everyone was clear on that point, then continued.
“Each team will provide their own communications and report directly to their
team leader. The team leader will also have a radio linked to the base of
operations. He will maintain contact with the AIC, reporting back to him and
passing on any needed changes in orders. There’s less confusion amongst the
troops if each team gets their orders from only one person.”
Limdell opened his briefcase
and pulled out a folder. “Since the ATF teams are smaller than the DPD teams,
we’ve asked the other field teams to join forces for this event. Teams 4 and 8
will be one team and Teams 6 and 5 the second. We hoped you would add the Cascade
contingent to your team, Larabee,” Limdell said, looking at Chris without a
trace of doubt about him.
Chris glanced at Ellison and
Sandburg then nodded at Limdell. “Not a problem.”
“Good,” Hendricks replied. “The
team rosters, leaders and assignments are in the folder, as well as ID badges
to get you into the convention center tomorrow.” He tilted his head at Limdell.
The other agent pulled a small black box out of his briefcase and set it on the
table. “Here’s the comm unit for you to communicate with the base.” He and
Limdell stood in unison.
Limdell closed his briefcase
and smiled. “Please be familiar with the information in the folder, gentlemen.
Things will go much smoother if we all know where and what the others are
doing.”
Hendricks grinned at his
partner. He loved the cloak and dagger part of the job. “We’ll be doing a radio
check at 0700. Be sure your team is in place.”
“What, no big morning briefing
with all the troops?” Buck asked.
Hendricks shook his head.
“There’s no need. You have everything you need to know in that folder and it’s
more efficient to have everyone at their assigned posts from the start. If you
have any questions, my number is in the folder, Agent Larabee.” Hendricks
glanced at his partner and they headed for the door.
The other nine men in the room
looked at each other in amazement as the Secret Service men left.
Blair broke the silence. “I
thought there’d be more…” he trailed off searching for the right word.
“Ostentation?” Ezra provided.
“Bullshit,” Buck offered.
The others laughed.
“Exactly,” Blair chuckled.
“I find it quite refreshing,”
Josiah said. “Most agents we work with from outside our turf come in with major
chips on their shoulders.”
“And you guys never go in to
assist other departments feeling like their intelligence rates somewhere below
a woodpecker’s?” Blair asked with a wry grin.
Josiah chuckled. The chagrin on
his brothers’ faces answering Blair’s question.
Jim smiled. “When you’ve got a
reputation like yours, it’s hard sometimes not to let it go to your head. The
fact that you’ve continued to make the busts you do for so many years tells me
that, for the most part you’ve kept the egos in check. Doesn’t mean they aren’t
there, just that you don’t rely on the rep to get the job done.”
Chris stared at Ellison for a
moment. “Your files are pretty impressive themselves, Jim. How is it that you
managed to remain so humble?” he asked with a teasing grin.
“That would be Blair,” Jim said
pointing his thumb at his partner. “It’s hard not to be humble with him constantly
reminding me of my faults.”
“Yeah, right,” Blair grunted.
“If we’re going to go eat, can we call Paul and Dennis and have them meet us?
I’d like to pass this information to them now in case we get tied up working
with Ezra and Buck later.”
“Sure,” Chris answered. “Why
don’t we go to the Saloon?”
“Like that was a difficult
choice, Cowboy,” Vin drawled.
Chris glared at his
sharpshooter, but it had no effect. “You call the hotel and tell them where to
meet us, Tanner. The rest of us are heading out now.” He picked up the file the
Secret Service men had left and strode from the room.
Vin grinned at the others as he
pulled out his cell phone and followed.
“I suggest we follow them,
gentlemen,” Ezra said, putting his words to actions.
The others fell into line
behind the new Sentinel.
*****
The Saloon
They asked Inez for one of the
private dining rooms she had recently added upstairs, so that they could talk
without fear of being overheard. Paul and Dennis joined the group and
discussions ranged from the President’s security detail to various forms of
Martial Arts. And that was the ‘light’ dinner talk.
After the wait staff filled
their drinks one last time and cleared the table, Ezra switched topics for the
entire group.
“Blair,” he said, “you said
that you’d show us how to prevent me from zoning out while using my senses.” He
shrugged with a rueful laugh. “I do believe we are running short on time.”
Blair grinned and raised one
eyebrow. “You want to do it now?”
Ezra nodded. “As Josiah said,
they all need to know how this works, and… there’s no time like the present.”
“The idea itself isn’t
difficult, just applying it in real life.” Blair leaned his elbows on the table
and folded his hands together. “You need to split your attention between the
sense you’re focusing on and another. If you’re trying to see something far
away, keep track of Buck or one of the others through the sounds they’re
making. If you’re trying to hear, use touch to stay grounded.”
Ezra nodded thoughtfully. He’d
done that automatically when trying to listen to the guard in the lobby. Though
Buck had certainly played a major part in keeping him from zoning. He looked at
Jim. “Do you always use Blair to ground you?”
Jim shook his head. “At first,
yeah, because we were still learning and it was the easiest thing to do… It
came naturally. But after a while we could both see that it’s impractical for a
Sentinel to rely strictly on his Guide. Blair wasn’t a cop when we first
started working together. He wasn’t always with me,” Jim grinned ruefully, “and
me being the go-get’em kinda cop I was, couldn’t wait for him to show up so I
could use my senses.”
Blair snorted. Jim chuckled
then continued. “With practice you can divide your attention and use your
senses without Buck around, but you’ll find it’s easier and less stressful when
he’s watching your back. Not to mention your senses will seem sharper.”
“Seem sharper?” Chris asked.
Dennis cleared his throat.
“It’s not that a Sentinel’s senses are duller when they work without a Guide, it’s
that the Sentinel has to put part of their effort into not zoning. Basically
they put out the same amount of effort, for less gain.”
JD nodded. “That makes sense.”
Nathan’s eyebrows rose.
“Really?” he asked, still trying to wrap his head around the concept.
“Sure. Just think about it like
this. If you have a computer running one program, it works fast, smooth, but as
soon as you start a second program on the same machine, both programs slow
down, they aren’t as efficient.” JD shrugged. “The human brain is the same way,
and what a Sentinel does with his senses surely uses a lot more memory than
normal. It just makes sense that trying to use two senses at that level at the
same time would be less efficient than using one.”
Nathan nodded slowly. “Okay, but
then why can you do so much better, even splitting your
attention when your Guide is with you?” he asked, making eye contact with both
of the older Sentinels.
Jim let his gaze wander over
the
Blair took over smoothly. “The
team works best when all seven of you are working together because you trust
each other and know how each of you will react in a given situation. It’s a bit
more than that with a Sentinel and Guide, but essentially Jim knows I’ll be
there to keep him from zoning or being hurt while he’s doing his thing.”
“I’m still not sure what the
Guide gets out of this partnership,” Ezra muttered. He’d thought that learning
to split his attention while using these senses might free Buck from his
obligation to help, but evidently that was not to be.
Blair shared a look with Jim,
then turned his attention back to Ezra. “That’s something you and Buck will
have to iron out, Ezra. Just be aware that you can’t make the decision for him,
one way or the other. He wouldn’t be your Guide if he didn’t want to be.”
Buck watched the emotions in
Ezra’s eyes. To the four from Cascade, the undercover man probably seemed
unperturbed, but Buck and the others had had years to learn to read Ezra
Standish and they all saw that the fear and uncertainty were still clamoring
around Ezra’s soul.
“Come on, Ez,” Buck said
softly. “Let’s focus on the problem at hand here and worry about the rest once
the President is out of town.”
Ezra’s green eyes met Buck’s
warm blue gaze and he nodded slightly. “Very well. Blair, how do you want to go
about this?”
~~~~~
They spent the next few hours
putting Buck and Ezra through their paces, and even letting the others try
helping Ezra a few times to see how they did. Surprisingly, Nathan and Chris
had the best luck pulling Ezra out of a zone, while JD, Vin and Josiah were
able to keep him from falling into one in the first place. Buck, of course, did
better at both than all of them.
Blair assured them that both
abilities were necessary because some zones weren’t going to be preventable.
Ezra groaned. “Then what’s the
point of all this?”
Jim chuckled at his Guide’s
confused face. “What Blair meant, Ezra, is that no matter how much you prepare,
there is always going to be something that you didn’t expect. At least you know
you have friends who can help you. And the more experienced you become, the
lower the chance of a zone-out will occur.”
Ezra sighed and leaned back in
his chair. He was tired and both frustrated and elated by his new abilities.
The practicing they’d done today showed him just what he might be able to accomplish, but also that there were more
than a few drawbacks to having these gifts.
Chris looked around the room.
Everyone seemed pretty comfortable with each other. The excitement of the
initial tests had died down to a quiet determination to help Ezra and Buck any
way possible. The Cascade crew had offered suggestions and silently supported
all of Team 7 and Chris felt good about having them on the team for the next
few days.
“I think it’s time to head home
and get some rest,” Chris suggested. “I want everyone at the convention center
at six in the morning.”
Ezra groaned. Chris just
grinned. “We’ll double check the comm equipment and be able to get into
position by seven.” The others nodded and stood, grabbing jackets and
stretching out kinks. Chris caught Buck’s eyes with a questioning tilt of his
head.
Buck glanced at Ezra then looked back at Chris and nodded, a small smile on his lips. Got it covered, old dog.
Chris’ lips quirked an
acknowledgement and the men filed out of the room, jostling and joking like old
friends.
*****
The
Chris listened to the chatter
on his team’s comms with amusement. JD was keeping them all groaning with his
supply of jokes, each one worse than the one before. Even the Cascade men were
joining the good natured ribbing of Team 7’s youngest. Meanwhile, on his other
comm, after initial check-ins, all was quiet. Chris wondered how they’d take one of JD’s jokes. He
smirked to himself and shook off the idea. Maybe at the end of the day.
Team 7 had been assigned to
check the main auditorium before the President’s arrival and then assist with
security within, during and after the conference. There were three levels to
the auditorium, the audience seating, the stage and backstage areas, and the
upper balcony and catwalks.
People were being let in already,
but that was another team’s headache. He’d taken Blair and Jim’s advice for
positioning the Sentinel/Guide pairs in the group. Due to Jim’s experience, he
and Blair had been given the audience seating area where the noise level was
already rising to obnoxious. Paul and Dennis were checking out the backstage
areas and Ezra and Buck had the catwalks. Vin and Nathan were in the balcony
and JD and Josiah were checking out the stage area and backing up Jim and
Blair.
Chris had the onerous task of
overseeing them. He grinned. He actually had more freedom of movement than the
others. As the leader of the team, Chris constantly moved between one area and
another to check on his men and offer assistance if needed. So far everything
was quiet.
~~~~~~
About a
“We’ve had a bomb threat,” AIC
Thompson’s voice said through the comm. “It’s an anonymous tip with no other
information. Everyone go back over your assigned areas with a fine tooth comb.”
~~~~
Chris scowled as he thumbed his
link to his team. “Boys, we’ve had a bomb threat,” was all he said as he made
his way back toward the audience seating area. He passed Dennis and Paul on the
way pausing only briefly to figure out what they were doing. Dennis was talking
to Paul with a hand on his Sentinel’s shoulder, while Paul seemed to be staring
off into space. Chris grunted and continued on his way as he realized they were
trying to search the area using the Sentinel’s senses.
Out on the stage he saw JD and
Josiah checking behind the curtains off stage. Chris moved out onto the stage
just enough to see into the audience. Hundreds of people were already seated,
waiting for the convention to begin. No one would be allowed in or out once the
President arrived. He scanned the area himself as he looked for Jim and Blair.
Finally, in one of the alcoves
along the side of the seating area, Chris spotted the Sentinel and Guide. Jim
had the same look Paul had had, and Blair seemed to be talking to his partner
as well, although without the physical contact. Chris cut back behind the
curtains and strode quickly across the stage. He closed on the pair, but held
back so as not to interfere. He just wanted to see how they worked and to know
immediately if Jim found something.
~~~~~
“It’s awfully loud in here,”
Blair said as Jim took a deep breath.
His partner chuckled and
grinned. “You’ve had me work in more strenuous situations than this,
successfully, I might add.”
Blair grinned back. “True, but
I always worry about you. We don’t even know that there is a bomb, but it
certainly makes sense to try your best sense first. If you can hear it…”
Jim nodded and focused on
tuning out the miscellaneous noises.
By the time Chris joined them,
Jim had searched the entire area with his hearing. He shook his head. “I don’t
hear anything suspicious, Chief, but they could have used a digital timer, or
it may not be on a timer.”
Blair nodded thoughtfully.
“What about smell?”
“Okay,” Jim agreed.
Chris watched as Jim breathed
through his nose. He looked as if he was scenting the air, like a dog. Chris
snorted. He’d better not let Standish ever hear him make that comparison, or
Ellison for that matter.
Chris looked back up at Jim and
caught the amused look in Blair’s eyes. Larabee grinned wryly and shook his
head.
Sandburg leaned towards him and
whispered, “Simon made the comparison all the time, don’t feel bad.”
Jim cast a glance at his Guide
and Larabee. “The dogs get more respect,” he grumbled then continued his
search.
Blair chuckled and casually put
his hand on Jim’s shoulder. Chris waited for him to remove it, but then
realized that the younger man was helping to ground the Sentinel.
Jim stiffened. “I’ve got
something,” he said as he started quickly for the stage. Blair and Chris
followed.
“This is Larabee. We’ve got a
hit in the auditorium,” Chris said into both of his comms, then switched over
to just the team unit. “We’re heading backstage.”
Jim led them through the props
and wires backstage to where Paul, Dennis, JD and Josiah were already standing.
Vin, Nathan, Ezra and Buck joined them seconds later.
“What do we have?” Chris asked.
JD pointed to the plain wooden
box. “Paul says it’s in there.”
Jim and Ezra stared intently at
the box while Buck and Nathan knelt beside it.
The two Sentinels nodded at the
same time.
“Smells like…” Jim started.
“Semtex,” Ezra finished,
meeting Jim’s gaze with a grin.
Jim smiled back grimly. “We
need to call in the bomb squad and get this area cleared of civilians.”
“You forget,” Buck said, eyeing
the box thoughtfully, “we are the bomb squad.”
The others chuckled at the look
on Jim’s face.
“Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms,
and Explosives,” Nathan reminded glancing at Buck. “What do you think?”
Buck met his eyes then looked
up at Jim and Ezra. “Semtex? Are you sure?”
Jim nodded. “Dealt with it
before. No timer that I can hear.”
Nathan shook his head. “That
could just mean it’s on a digital timer, or motion sensor, hell, he could just
be waiting somewhere to blow it manually.”
“Chris?” Buck asked, looking for
orders.
Chris met his eyes, but
continued to listen to the AIC over his comm. “Yes, sir,” he said finally
before addressing his men. “They’re going to clear the auditorium, the
President’s been rerouted to a secondary location. Once the civilians are out,
we’re to assess the situation.”
The others sighed. That meant
sitting on the bomb for a while, never a fun past time.
They could hear the commotion
from the audience as an announcement was made and the other teams began to
escort people out. It was doubtful the bomber was in the audience, but they
would be checking everyone before releasing them.
Jim tilted his head and
frowned. “I just heard a click,” he said softly.
Buck and Nathan’s eyes widened.
They both pulled out a pocket knife and slipped them carefully into the crack
between the top and sides of the box. Ever so gently they pried the top just
millimeters open.
Buck looked at Ezra. “You want
to check for wires?”
Ezra swallowed hard and glanced
at Jim. “I think…”
Jim shook his head ever so
slightly. “You can do it,” he said softly.
Ezra nodded and knelt beside
Buck and Nathan. He leaned forward, resting his hands on the floor as he gazed
through the narrow opening.
“You’re looking for anything
that might trigger the bomb if we pry the lid off,” Buck said quietly. “A wire,
a piece of tape or cloth or string.”
Ezra’s sight kicked in and the
small sliver of darkness lightened, he could see the grain of the wood and the
nails still holding the top on. He crawled around to the next side, and the
next, inspecting each nail and the open space visible through the crack. Ezra
sat back. “I do not see anything.”
Buck took a deep breath and
looked at Nathan. He got a quick nod from the other explosives expert. “Stand
back,” he warned at both men began to pry the top off.
Out of instinct, everyone did back
up a few steps, but once the lid came off, they all moved forward out of
curiosity.
There was indeed a digital
timer counting down inside the box. It was attached to several blocks of
Semtex.
“Damn,” Buck said.
“Looks like a professional
job,” Nathan said with a sigh. The timer ticked down, now reading
“Buck? Nathan?” Chris asked,
afraid that he wouldn’t like the answer.
“It’s a tricky one,” Nathan
replied. “There’re too many wires going into the explosive. There’s only one
that is actually primed by the timer, but you can bet that cutting the wrong
one will set it off anyway.”
“And we’d need some way to test
each wire for a current to determine which one is safe to cut,” Buck added.
“The one attached to the timer won’t be live until it hits zero.”
“Is it safe to touch?” Jim
asked. “As long as we don’t cut or pull the wires from the Semtex?”
Nathan frowned. “Should be. It
looks pretty straight forward, no motion detectors of any kind.”
“Let me in,” Jim said. He knelt
by the box, Blair moving right in behind him and placing both hands on his
shoulders. Jim gently touched one of the wires, his head tilting with his
concentration. He frowned and touched another one, then another. He shook his
head. “It’s no good, the insulation is too thick for me to feel the current.”
Blair bit his lower lip. “Could
you hear which one is dead?”
Jim shook his head. “I’ve been
trying to do that while Nathan and Buck were explaining. The wires are too
close together for me to tell which is which.”
Ezra took a step forward and
stopped. “Buck?”
Buck looked up and into the
uncertain eyes of his Sentinel. A wide smile bloomed on the ladies man’s face.
“Your sense of touch is a hundred times better than Jim’s, Ez. You can do it.”
He put his hand up inviting Ezra to kneel by the box.
The timer continued its silent
countdown.
Ezra rubbed his fingertips
together lightly and reached down to touch a wire. He jerked his hand back
suddenly.
“Ezra!” Buck exclaimed.
“No. I’m fine, it just
surprised me,” Ezra explained. “Get ready to cut the wire I tell you.” He
leaned back over the box and touched each of the wires in succession, then
started again. “There are two dead wires,” he informed them. “The third from
the left and the eighth.”
“We should cut them together,”
Nathan said sharing another look with Buck.
They each poised their scissors
over one of the wires.
“On three,” Buck said. “One,
two, three.” He and Nathan snipped the wires and sighed.
The timer flashed then the
numbers started to scroll faster.
“Shit!” Buck said. “Ezra?!”
Ezra stuck his hand back into
the box, his poker face firmly in place as he literally stuck his hands down
amongst the wires. He grabbed one lightly between his thumb and finger. “This
one! Cut this one.”
:15, :14, :13…
Buck snipped the wire.
The timer flashed and went
blank.
Nathan and Buck sat back with a
sigh then grinned and gave each other a high five.
“Good going, Ez,” Buck said
turning back to his Sentinel. Ezra still had his hands in the box, a look of…
horror? on his face. “Ez? Pard? What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” Ezra repeated
softly. He pulled his shaking hands back and met Buck’s eyes with disbelief. “I
almost got everyone killed!”
“What? What are you talkin’
about, Ez? You just saved the day,” Buck said.
Ezra shook his head, staring
into the box. “I must have missed that wire the first time. I don’t know how,”
he continued, unaware of his audience, only the horrible guilt in his gut.
Nathan examined the bomb while
Buck scooted over closer to Ezra. Jim and Blair held the rest of the team back
with a quick glance and shake of their heads. Let his Guide handle this, was
their silent message.
“Ezra,” Buck sighed. “Even if
you did miss it the first time, you found it in time. You did good. If that wasn’t a test under extreme
pressure,” he grinned confidently, “then I don’t know what would be.”
Ezra shook his head.
“Ezra,” Nathan interrupted. The
undercover agent looked up. “You did feel a current in that last wire
initially. The bomb was rigged with a backup trigger. If those first two wires
were cut, the third one was activated to prime the bomb.” He stared into the
uncertain green eyes. “No one else would have been able to stop this bomb under
these circumstances. No one. Not even with the right tools.”
Ezra ran a still shaky hand
through his hair and looked around at the rest of the team. They were all
smiling proudly at him, even the other Sentinel/Guide pairs. He took a deep
breath and brought his gaze back to Buck and Nathan. “I honestly don’t know how
you two do this all the time. My heart is still pounding.”
Nathan and Buck just grinned.
“Yeah,” Nathan said, “well, we
could say the same for you and your undercover work. I’d rather face a bomb
than some of the guys you have to work with undercover.”
Chris interrupted. “Is that
thing safe now? The AIC has been yelling in my ear for a report.”
“Yes, sir,” Nathan said with a
smile as he stood and offered Buck and Ezra a hand up. “They can call in the
disposal squad.”
Buck clapped Ezra on the back,
his proud smile still in place. “I knew you could do it, Ez.” His gaze landed
on Ellison and the smile dropped a bit. “Um, you know, Jim, I didn’t mean anything
by what I said earlier,” he stammered.
“Oh?” Jim said, his face
carefully neutral.
“Yeah,” Buck stuttered, “I
mean, Blair said it himself, so I, um…” he looked to Ezra for some help and
found his partner trying to stifle a laugh. “Ezra…”
Blair chuckled and nudged Jim
with his elbow. “Let the man off the hook, Jim.”
The Cascade Sentinel stared at
Buck for a long second then let a grin crook his lips. “It’s all right, Buck. I
was about to suggest Ezra try when he stepped forward. I’m man enough to admit
my limitations.”
“I didn’t… that’s not, um…”
“Give it up, Buck,” Ezra said
kindly. “He didn’t take offense, what you said was simply the truth, just like
the fact that I couldn’t hear the live wires, even from two feet away.” He
looked at Jim. “Yet he could hear them from almost six feet away.” Ezra took a
deep breath and sighed. “Truly amazing.”
Blair rested his hand on Jim’s
shoulder. “I’ve been trying to tell you guys that for years. Somehow, it never
seems to stick. Your abilities, your gifts are amazing.” He looked from Jim to
Paul to Ezra. “No matter which of your senses is best, what you can do… it
blows my mind. It never fails to amaze me.”
Jim chuckled fondly. “It must,
you don’t usually have this much trouble expressing yourself.”
Blair snorted, but simply
squeezed his partner’s shoulder affectionately.
“Well,” JD said, “I’m with
Blair. You guys were awesome. First Paul found the bomb,” he paused and looked
at Jim, “but you sensed it too, didn’t you?”
Jim smiled.
JD returned the smile and
continued. “Then for Ezra to be able to feel the current… too cool,” he
exclaimed, smiling broadly at his friend.
Ezra brushed his sleeves with
either hand and buttoned his suit jacket before feeling composed enough to meet
the others’ eyes. “Well, gentlemen, I think we’ve earned our pay today. What
say we finish up and head to the Saloon to celebrate?”
Larabee nodded distractedly as
he was still dealing with the AIC over his comm unit. “Yes, sir. I know, sir.
We’re still waiting, sir.” He rolled his eyes and sighed, obviously still
getting some instruction from the AIC. Chris suddenly grinned wickedly. “Excuse
me, sir? Do you know why the policeman was in bed?” Chris paused, grinning
broadly at the sputtering on the link. “Because he was an undercover cop…”
*****
Blair turned from handing his
baggage to the porter and offered his hand to Buck. “Seems like we’re always
leaving new friends lately,” he said, shaking Buck’s hand, then Ezra’s. “You’ve
got our e-mails and phone numbers if you need anything… and be sure to get on
the list. That’s been one of our best tools to help new SG pairs.”
“We will, Blair,” Ezra smiled.
“Don’t worry, Pard,” Buck
replied. “We’ll call if we need to.”
Jim clapped both his hands down
on Blair’s shoulders. “They’ve taken care of the luggage, Chief. We’re all
checked in, Paul and Dennis are going ahead to the gate.” He looked at Ezra and
Buck. “You two make some time to come see us at the Foundation.”
“Perhaps,” Ezra started.
“We will,” Buck said firmly.
“Although, the rest of the guys may insist on coming as well,” he finished with
a grin.
“Family is always welcome,”
Blair said.
Ezra put his hand out for Jim
and they shook hands. “Thank you both,” he said sincerely. “This will take a bit
of getting used to, but seeing the two of you, and Paul and Dennis work
together,” Ezra glanced at Buck. “Well, I think I just might find I enjoy being
a Sentinel.”
Jim smiled. “I know you will,
Ezra. Trust Buck, and keep him safe.”
“I will.”
Blair snorted and looked at
Buck. “Same goes for you, though I don’t think you’ll have a problem with the
trust part.”
Buck shook his head. “Naw, I’ve
trusted Ez for a long time. Getting him to trust himself, that’s the hard
part.”
“I object,” Ezra stuttered
indignantly. “I most certainly do trust myself.”
Buck smirked.
“We’ve gotta go, Chief. Take it
easy guys,” Jim said with a wave.
Ezra and Buck each gave a nod
in the Cascade pair’s direction as they continued.
“What exactly do you mean by
that?” Ezra demanded.
“By what?” Buck asked.
“That smirk?”
Blair grinned and met Jim’s
eyes.
“What smirk? I’m not smirking.”
“You were to, after I corrected
your claim, you smirked.”
“Did not.”
“Did, too.”
“Did not.”
“Did, too.”
“Sounds like the beginning of a
beautiful friendship, Chief,” Jim smirked.
“Yep,” Blair grinned. “Sure
does.”
“What do you mean, ‘cheesy
grin?’” Buck’s voice floated after them.
“You heard me…”
Jim and Blair chuckled as they
headed for their gate and their ride home.
The end.
Feedback, I love it. I love to
hear what you think. Let me know. Judy
Back to Magnificent 7 indexNotes: I completely made up
everything about Native Americans and animal totems… okay, maybe not everything,
but it’s my twisted version of anything I’ve read or heard.
JD’s jokes were taken from
several ‘bad jokes’ web sites. Really.
http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/scanner/jokes/police/cops.html
http://www.rinkworks.com/jokes/