Disclaimer: I have no claim to the characters from The Sentinel. This is for entertainment purposes only, No profit was made. Notes:
Finally my first Sentinel story is finished.
Though I suppose I shouldn't make it out to have taken a long time. I actually wrote it in a day but it came together so much better then the one that is stuck in the mud right now.
Anything in italics are thoughts.
Thanks go out to Rachel for coming up with the title, Ale for being the first to read it telling me it didn't suck.
This was written on August. 6th, 2005 and was completed that same day.
It is Jim/Blair slash but really very mild slash.
Edited on August. 11th, 2005 and again on Sept. 16th, 2005.
Edited once again on February, 16th, 2008 because the amount of errors makes me feel sick.
Detective Instincts
Detective Blair Sandburg walked into the 7-11 at a quarter to midnight. He had just finished his last report and wanted a coffee. His captain, Simon Banks would be happy with him for getting the reports done. Now all Blair wanted to do was get his coffee and crawl into bed. Unfortunately Blair wouldn't get his wished anytime soon. His rotten luck was about to kick in.
As he walked toward the cash register three men walked into through the 7-11's automatic doors. Blair slowed and watched them warily, wishing not for the first time that he had Jim's senses. His newly found Detective instincts were telling him something was seriously off with the men. Blair found out just how seriously wrong when the tallest of the three men pulled out a gun.
The man pointed it toward the clerk yelling, "Don't move!!"
He motioned to the other two, wanting them to detain the stores only two customers – Blair and a young woman. The shortest man grabbed the woman by the arm and pulled her roughly toward the front of the store. The woman screamed but was backhanded into silence.
Blair winced and started making his way toward the front on his own accord. "Hey Charlie!" The middle man yelled. "We've got one who fancies himself a smart-aleck."
Charlie, the obvious leader of the group looked Blair up and down, "Bring him over here. There's nothing smart-alecky about someone who can do what they're told without having to be forced."
Blair grunted as the middle man shoved him forward. The coffee in his hand slipped out of his grasp and hit the floor. Blair jumped back trying to avoid getting hit by the hot liquid.
The man grabbed him by the scruff. "Watch where you are going," he growled and proceeded to drag Blair toward the front of the store, where he deposited him on the floor beside the frightened young woman.
This day just keeps getting better and better. Blair shifted closer to the woman, "Are you alright?"
To his surprise the woman snorted, "Well I'm trapped in a 7-11, I've been backhanded and I want to go home but I suppose it's other than that you meant."
Blair snorted, "Yeah other than that."
"Then I'm good. My name is Ada."
Blair stuck out his left hand and as they shook hands he said, "Blair."
They continued to converse until the shortest man, who's Blair heard the leader call Mick kicked Blair in the leg, "Hey you two. Shut the hell up!" Blair bit back a snarky retort.
So far they haven't tried to kill anyone. I just hope they don't decide to search me. Thank god for shoulder holsters or they would have seen my gun already. Now I just have to wait for a good time to announce just who I am. Man, I will never live this down at the station. Blair was pulled out of his thoughts when the still unnamed middle man came over dragging the clerk behind him.
The man was tossed gracelessly beside Blair. Blair watched the middle man carefully and observed the other two as well. He noted that Charlie was definitely familiar with the gun he carried and Mick seemed just as comfortable with the knife he had pulled out. Blair turned his attention back to the clerk when he felt a weight against his left shoulder. The clerk didn't look injured to Blair's assessment.
"Are you injured?" He asked the clerk quietly.
The man shook his head, "No."
Blair was about to say something else when he heard a gun barrel un-cock. Looking in front of him Blair gasped and jerked backward. Charlie was standing directly in front of him with his gun in Blair's face.
"It seems he fancies himself a smart-aleck after all. Didn't we tell you to shut up?"
Blair barely managed to hold back his groan. "Hey man I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. No harm was done. Can't we just put it behind us? Why don't you tell us what you want and we'll see if we can't help you get it man?"
Behind everyone the clock stuck midnight. Well, so much for that bet. I can't even stay out of trouble for one day. Man my life sucks. Please let Jim notice I'm late and come looking for me. I don't think I can take these guys out by myself.
Charlie seemed to ponder what Blair had said for several moments. Then he cocked the gun and lowered his arm to his side, "Fine but any funny business and the woman dies."
Blair and the clerk gulped while Ada whimpered. "Fine," Blair said.
"Then get up," Charlie handed the gun to the middle man. "Ryan watched the girl. Either of these two tries anything shoot her."
"B-but you said nobody would get hurt," Ryan stammered. At Charlie's look Ryan gulped and stepped back. "Whatever you say man," his voice was full of false bravado.
With Mick holding his large hunting knife to the clerk's throat and Ryan training the gun on Ada didn't dare try anything. Oh man. My badge, it's on my belt. How come they haven't notice it yet. Or maybe they have and…
"We want all the cash," Charlie snarled, "and you better make it fast hippy."
Blair nodded and made his way over to the cash where he opened it and began putting all the bills into a bag. Well at least that answers one question "You want the change too?"
Blair inhaled sharply when Mick brought the knife all that much closer to the clerk's throat. "I said all the cash smart-ass!! Now move it!"
As quickly as he could Blair dumped the change into the bag and knotted it. "Here man," he held the bag out for Charlie to take.
Charlie took the bag and looked over to Ryan, "Shoot her."
Blair yelled, "Hey! Wait a minute. Nobody has to die. I mean we gave you what you wanted man. How 'bout you just let them go?" Blair deliberately left himself out of the question.
Looking to Charlie Ryan lowered the gun, "Can't we? I mean they haven't really done anything wrong."
Charlie growled and tossed the bag over to Mick, who pushed the clerk to the floor to catch it. Advancing on Ryan Charlie snarled, "They haven't done anything wrong but we have. What's to stop them from calling the cops as soon as we leave? There has to be no witnesses!" During his little tirade Charlie had backed Ryan into a corner.
Seizing this moment of distraction Blair went for a cheep shot at Mick -- kicking him in groin -- and pulled out his gun. Pointing it Charlie and Ryan he yelled, "Cascade PD, Freeze!"
Charlie spun around and growled, "Damn it!" He cursed as he grabbed the gun from Ryan. Ryan just slide down the wall and stayed where he was. He felt no reason to get into more trouble than they already were.
"Don't move man," Blair said as stepped forward. "Put the gun down. You're under arrest." Blair had been so focused on Charlie he hadn't realized that Mick had recovered from the cheep shot to his groin.
Mick groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. Grabbing the knife he lunged at the hippy cop freak. Ada and the clerk let out a cry of warning but it was too late. Blair only had time to turn half way around before Mick plunged the knife into Blair's shoulder with all his might. Blair cried out in pain as he dropped his gun and tried to get Mick off of him.
Mick yanked the knife out of Blair's shoulder roughly and went to stab him again. Charlie who was watching the fight with only a mild interest turned to Ryan and un-cocked the gun, "You shouldn't have gotten into this if you weren't prepared to go all the way." He pulled the trigged. The bullet entered through Ryan's chest, collapsing his lungs and cutting through a major artery.
The sound of the gun going off startled Mick just enough for Blair to get a kick in and push him away. The clerk grabbed the heaviest thing he could find and bashed Mick over the head with it. He wanted to help the cop. Blair muttered thanks and steeled himself the best he could against the pain as he reached for his gun.
Damn! Damn! Damn! That freakin' hurts. Man why is it always me? Blair slowly pushed himself off the ground. When he was on his feet he swayed slightly as his equilibrium righted itself. Looking in front of him Blair groaned; Charlie once again had his gun trained on him.
"Drop it," Charlie ordered. Blair dropped his gun and raised his hands as high as he could. His right shoulder was throbbing and his vision was starting to fade. Not good. Come on Jim. Now would be a really good time for the Calvary to come.
Charlie smirked, "Very good, at least we know you can still follow orders." Charlie began to pull the trigger but he was hit from behind. He fell to the ground and twisted around trying to get a hold of whoever hit him.
The gun skidded out of reach and Blair moved as quickly as he could over to Charlie. Charlie had managed to get a hold of Ada, who had smashed into him and was trying to choke her. Just as Blair reached them Ada managed to knee Charlie in the groin. As he groaned in pain and went to protect himself from another hit Blair did the only thing he could -- he kicked Charlie in the head.
With all the perps unconscious or dead Blair sank to the floor. His vision began to swim dangerously in front of him and the walls seemed to be converging around him. Concerned the Ada ran over to him after catching her breath.
"Are you okay?"
Blair gave a weak snort, "You mean beside the all this? You guys shouldn't have done that. Thank you."
Ada and the clerk nodded. "We couldn't just let them kill you now could we? I mean you tried to protect us," the clerk said.
Then Ada smirked, "And besides when they got finished with you they would have come for us anyway. I'll call an ambulance and the police." The clerk was using the outer shirt he'd been wearing to try and stop the bleeding coming from Blair's shoulder.
Just as Ada picked up the phone sirens and red and blue flashing lights filled the dark sky outside of the store. Looking from the phone to outside and back again Ada put it down and ran outside. Picking an officer Ada ran over to them.
"We need an ambulance. Three men tried to rob the store. A police officer tried to stop them. One of the men is dead and the other two are unconscious. The officer was stabbed in the shoulder," Ada was breathing quickly after she finished.
The officer nodded, "I'm Captain Banks. Do you know who the police officer was?" Please don't say Blair. Please don't say Blair.
"He said his name was Blair."
Before Ada could say anything else or Simon could reply they both heard a growl and cursing.
Detective Jim Ellison stalked into the store. Why is it always him? Can't the universe lay off my lover for a bit? He stopped just in front of Blair extending his senses to check over his partner. His heart beat was steady but weak, he was breathing heaving and there was an awful lot of blood. "Damn it Blair. How do you get into these things?"
Blair looked up at Jim, "I have no idea man but I am seriously getting tired of it."
Jim smiled and, being mindful of the clerk still putting pressure on Blair's shoulder he gently brushed a curly mass of hair off of Blair's face.
The clerk smiled, "Hey. I know how you feel." The clerk hoped that whoever this man was he would get what he meant.
Jim gave the man a small smile, "Thanks." He leaned over and gently gave Blair a kiss. Then the paramedics came rushing in and Jim was pushed away from Blair.
Sighing Jim knew he had little chance of pushing his way back to Blair. For some reason he just didn't feel like scaring and intimidating the paramedics and Blair wasn't, to his ears in any immediate danger. Turing back to the clerk Jim said, "I'm Detective Ellison; can you tell me exactly what happened here?"
The clerk nodded, "I'm Connor O'Brian. You're partner came in and after him those three guys did……he tried to get them to stop……Mick stabbed him...I smashed the guy over the head and the other dude shot the dead guy…..Ada rush the guy before he could shoot Blair and Blair knocked him out." Jim knew that he had been given the cliff-notes version but he would get a full statement later.
"Okay. Thank you. There's another ambulance outside, they're gonna want to look you over and if you could speak to Captain Banks before you leave that should do it," Jim tuned to watch the paramedics loading Blair into the ambulance.
Connor smiled, "Go, I'll find you're Captain. Trust me after what just went down I ain't going very far." Jim didn't answer but instead took off toward the ambulance, making it just as they were closing the doors. It took a lot of convincing and the scaring and intimidating he hadn't felt like doing earlier but Jim got in the ambulance.
An hour later he was pacing the waiting room waiting for word about Blair. Simon Banks walked in, not in the least bit surprised at what he found. He motioned for the two people behind him to take a seat, which they did after carefully avoiding Jim. "How's Sandburg?"
Jim looked up, "I don't know. They haven't told me anything and I can….." He paused when he saw Connor and Ada sitting in chairs by the door, "Well you know."
Simon nodded, "Yeah, well why don't we see if this young woman can tell us anything?" He motioned toward the doctor that had just entered the room.
Dr. McCray smiled and shook her head. She had seen way too much of the two people currently standing in her waiting room. "Well I think it would be a moot point to ask who you are waiting for. So shall we just get down to business?"
When she received four nods of confirmation she turned to the two people she didn't recognize, "I'm sorry but who are you?"
Ada spoke, "We're part of the reason Blair is in there. He was trying to help us. We just want to make sure he is okay."
Looking over to Jim and Simon and getting their nods to continue Dr. McCray did just that, "Blair's going to be fine. He's going to need some physiotherapy for his shoulder but nothing major was hit. He lost a lot of blood though and whether he likes it or not he will be staying in the hospital for a least two days. Yes Jim you can go and see him. Just get Nancy to bring you," Dr. McCray finished rolling her eyes at Jim's already retreating back.
"Oh and Jim? Do you think you could keep him out of here for at least three months? I mean as much as I like ya'll…." she let her voice trail off throwing in some of her southern twang. Dr. McCray got the reaction she wanted; Jim gave her a smile before going to see Blair.
Simon answered the question, "Don't worry. I plan on keeping both of them on a tight leash. I will try my best to keep Sandburg out of danger but then again when has either ever listened to me." Simon thanked Dr. McCray and brought Connor and Ada home.
Jim entered Blair's room to find what he always found when Blair was in the hospital; one very grumpy and agitated guide. Jim shook his head and pulled a chair up to the bedside, "Why is it that you can find trouble even when catching up on paperwork?"
Blair though still drowsy from the pain meds and sedatives shrugged and then winced, "Ow. I can't believe it. I actually forgot where the wound was; been in here way too many times. Man when can I get out?"
Jim shook his head, "You didn't answer my question? Dr. McCray said you would be here for two days whether you like it or not. Don't even try to argue with her Blair she meant business."
Dejected Blair answered while trying to stay awake, "I don't know why I find trouble everywhere, man. Oh, for the record I wasn't doing paperwork I was getting coffee." The end of Blair's sentence was lost in a giant yawn but Jim managed to catch it.
"Coffee's even worst Blair and you lost the bet."
Blair grimaced, "Don't remind me."
"Okay I won't. Go to sleep." Jim leaned over and gave him a chaste kiss and then picked up a magazine that was miraculously on the other chair. Jim would have to remember to thank Nancy, the head nurse when he saw her again.
Blair mumbled, "Love you," and then was out cold. He knew he was resigning himself to a Blessed Protector, mother-henning lover for the next week or more but at this point he would take anything.
To tell you the truth he never did mind it all that much before either. It meant he got out of having to do chores, cooking and having to follow the house rules. The only thing Blair was really worried about was how he was suppose to live down the fact that he was really a trouble magnet because he couldn't even get a cup of coffee without ending up in the hospital.
The End