Summary: After Blair dies Jim finds a new reason to live. Set after Sen Too, before The Sentinel By Blair Sandburg Major character death(Blair off screen) (Jim after a long life) Reincarnation. Jim/Blair
I made family trees for this story and though not all of them are mentioned I thought I'd share anyway. As well as ages that they are at the beginning along with if they are sentinel(S) or guide(G).(D)=deceased
William Ellison(D)-Grace Ellison(?)
Jim Ellison(90+) (S)
Steven Ellison(90+)
Naomi Sandburg(D)-?
Blair Sandburg(D)(G)
Steven Ellison(90+)-Woman (Unnamed)(90+)
Devon (50)(S)
Blake(45)
Arron (41)
Liam(39) (S)
Devon Ellison(50)(S)-Terra Ellison (52) (G)
Madison(32)(S)
Ana(29)
Terrence(29)(S)
Maybel(26)
Steven Jr(20)(S)
Blake Ellison(45)-Amy Ellison(43)
Aiden (27)
Jasimine(24)(S)
Jake(20)(S)
Darren(18)(S)
Liam Ellison(39)(S)-Jen Ellison(38)(G)
William Jr(17)(S)
Jack(15)(S)
Emmiline(13)(S)
Naomi(9)(S)
Simon Banks(D)-Joan Banks(D)
Daryl(67)
Daryl Banks-?
Joanie(21)
Simon jr (15)(S)
Megan(11)
Brian Rafe(D)-Megan Conner-Rafe(D)
Henri Jr(45)(G)
Daisy (D)
Henri Brown (D)
Joel Taggert(90+)-Mrs Taggert (90+)
Torra(45)
Tava(45)
Tina(45)
"He loved me too early, I loved him too late." The whispered words were soft and had an air of sadness that was somehow light. "I should be grateful for the time we had, and iI am, believe me, I would not trade his presence in my life for anything. Because for all that we missed one another in this life we had a good life being friends and friends is better than never meeting him at all."
"Do you think you'll meet in the nest life?" The nine year old daughter of his brother's youngest son asked.
"Hmm?" The old man questioned, gaze turning to her from the window he'd been gazing out of.
"Will you find him in the next life?" The girl repeated.
"What have your parents been teaching you, Naomi?" The man asked with a quirk of his lips.
"Nothing, I learned it from one of my teachers."
The man raised an eyebrow, "And how far away was this teacher?"
The girl sighed knowing she was caught, "Two classrooms away."
"You need to be more careful, Naomi."
"I know, I could zone, but it was way more interesting, Uncle Jim." Naomi whined.
"I suppose it would be." Uncle Jim rose up from his chair and limped over to the room under the stairs and opened the doors where he trailed his finger along the spines of several old and unmarked books before pulling one from the shelf.
"Here, this should help you better understand the concepts of reincarnation." He said handing the book to her.
"There's no title." She said.
Uncle Jim shool his head and sat on the couch next to her.
"Use your sense of touch, Nomi." He advised her.
"Oh, that's how you knew the right book?" Naomi asked, many of the books in the room were well used with faded titles if they had titles at all.
Uncle Jim allowed the Sentinel's Institute to borrow them, although never Sir Richard Burton's Manuscript of Mr. Sandburg's original unfinished Dissertation, he had allowed it to be copied and mass produced, it had become the main source of information on how to work with or care for Sentinels, even her parents had a copy with chapters by the people Uncle Jim had worked with.
Uncle Jim looked from her to the door, "Your parents are here."
"Okay." Naomi said, bouncing to the door to let them in, her book clutched to her chest.
"There's my Nomi!" Her father grinned, "Did you have fun with Uncle Jim?"
Naomi nodded, her red curls bouncing as she did, "He's even letting me borrow a book."
"Well, you'll have to take very good care of it."
"I will."
"Thanks for watching her, Uncle Jim."
Uncle JIm waved the thanks away, "You found the kid?"
"Yeah, he'd wedged himself in the rocks to get away from his kidnappers."
"Good." Uncle Jim said as he leaned on his cane, "How have the otehr children been?"
Naomi's mother shrugged, "Emmiline has been enjoying learning her senses with Will and Jack. Of course, Steven managed to take all three to the fun faire, Naomi wanted to come here."
"Jen and I were planning to meet them there now the kid has been found, would you like to go?"
Uncle Jim shook his head, "One of the new kids is having trouble with listening to the teachers at the Sentinel's Institute, so, they are bringing him here."
"If anyone can get throughto him it's the first Modern Sentinel." Naomi's father laughed.
"That's what they are hoping." Uncle Jim said with a shrug.
"Daddy, I want to see Grandpa." Naomi said.
"Alright, see you for Sunday's dinner, Uncle Jim." Jen said with a wave as they left.
Uncle Jim nidded and shut the door them, leaning his forehead against the door.
'The first Modern Sentinel' He snorted at the thought and went to make tea for himself and his expected guests. He'd stopped drinking coffee when Simon had finally passed on three years ago, amazingly enough, quietly in his sleep after enjoying his grandson's tweleveth birthday.
Many of the former Major Crimes people that had worked with him and Blair those first year had passed on into the nest world.
Megan Conner had married Brian Rafe and they had two children even though only their son Henry Jr. had survived to adulthood Megan and their daughter Daisy dying in childbirth. Rafe had held on for his son until his twenty first birthday when Henry Jr had told his father that it was okay for him to join his wife. Two days after that they had buried Rafe next to his wife and daughter.
Jim knew that Joel Taggert and his wife were hanging on to life, their triplet daughters taking a meal each with them everyday, the oldest calling dinner with the middle on having lunch with her parents and the youngest having breakfast with them. As a couple that had helped Jim start the Sentinel's Institution they were like honerary Grandparents and still spent most of their time with the young Sentinels and Guides.
Those that had come after, well, Jim hadn't cared much to learn their names and after Simon and the others explained they understood. Neither Jim nor Rafe had been the same after the bust gone bad that had killed both Henry Brown and Blair Sandburg and Simon had never had the heart to permanatly partner them with anyone new, letting Rafe and Jim partner together when they needed back up but otherwise they worked alone.
After Blair died Jim hadn't cared about much, he had spent the weeks that had followed Zoned after trying to find Blair's heartbeat, one that had dissappeared in an instant, it hadn't been until later that he'd learned about Brown.
With Blair gone Jim had been tempted to return to the Zone when the funeral was over but Steven had shown up with his son and asked for his help because the child wouldn't stop screaming no matter what they tried and Stven and gone to their Father and William had been reminded of Jim's infancy and told him to ask him.
Even still, it had taken Jim hours to realize that his abilities might be hereditary and the moment little Devon Ellison was wrapped in one of his sweaters with a white noise generater on in the loft he had slowly quieted.
It had been a long night of explaining and Jim had faultered several times when Sandburg's words exited his mouth.
Devon had been the first but not the last, Jim had come across a young man while investigating a crime at Rainer and saw him come online.
Jim had realized that these new young Sentinels needed help and so, he had done as Blair had done for him, he Guided them until they found their Blair. Jim still thought that most of them would have had better control if Blair had been there to help and Guide them but they were stuck with him.
Steven and his Father had had the idea to have a school just for Sentinels so that they knew that they were not alone.
When Simon had been forced to retire from the force Jim had asked him to be the principal and the rest had followed, even Naomi Sandburg, Blair's mother had been a frequent guest speaker and teacher on the helpful techniques of Meditation while JIm set quidelines and made sure that none of the children felt like they were wrong for what they could do, Blair's reassurances to him finding their way out of his mouth to the ears of the students.
And now there was one Sentinel Insitute in every U.S. state and country. As a younger man Jim had been at every opening and stayed to help the students and staff for the first two months, now that task belonged to Devon.
The unfinished Thesis that Blair Sandburg had been writing and his notes on Jim were published along with a few papers by those that had worked with Jim were reveredas groundbreaking and Blair had been a Doctorate when Jim and finished collecting everything together for publishing, the Doctorate hung in the reception room of the first Sentinel's Institute, the one that Jim had dedicated to Blair at it's opening.
Most of the graduates of the Sentinel's Institutes ended up in public services, mostly police, doctors, search and rescue, and firefighters, though a few ended up in social services, though many stayed at the Institutes to teach others, one or two even ended up in the culinary field.
For Jim the ones that stayed on to teach others made him proudest but Jim knew that Blair would probably be prouder of those that went on to the police academy. Jim saw a little bit of Blair in every student that came and even more in those that stayed on to share thier knowledge like Blair had always done.
Jim had been sure to help Steven and his wife cope with Devon's abilities and the ones that followed, giving privet lessons to his nephews and their children that ended up having heightened senses.
They all called him Uncle, even the ones not related to him and Jim felt both blessed and tortured by it. He'd gone fron a man alone against the world to a man raising the world and all because some neo-hippie witchdoctor who'd not take no for an answer and had refused to let him flounder alone. Jim wished Blair was here with him doing all of this with him instead of doing it all alone even if there were dozens of people were all around him.
JIm sighed and poured his tea, Blair would have understood the children much better than Jim managed. JIm wished Blair was still with him, he missed Blair, loved him in a way that he'd been afraid to love Carolyn, wholeheartedly and neverending.
Jim opened the door as his guests guardian raised his hand to knock.
"Come in, Daryl." Jim invited Daryl, Simon's son.
"Hey, Jim, this is Zack." Daryl nudged the boy forward.
The boy stumbled and glared at Daryl.
"I'll pick him up at six." Daryl said ignoring the the boy.
Jim nodded as Daryl left to do other work for the Sentinel's Institute.
"Tea?" Jim asked.
"Okay." The kid said, heartbeating a mile a minute.
"No need to be nervous, kid." Jim said.
"I'm not nervous." The kid shouted.
JIm set the boy's tea on the table, "I may be old but my senses still work."
The boy bit his lip as he sat down.
"Let's begin." Jim said and so they did.
Two houors later they stopped.
"Very good." Jim said.
"Why do you do this?" Zack asked.
"Use my gifts? Because they do good, I can help people."
Zack shook his head, "Still giving privet lessons to stubborn brats like me."
Jim smiled softly, becasue Blair would want me to and Naomi encouraged me."
"Naomi? That girl at the Institutewhose whole family is prctically Sentinels?" Zack aske, wrinkling his nose.
JIm shook his head and pulled a photo from his pocket.
"No, Naomi was Blair's mothe, my Blair, my guide and teacher." Jim looked at the photo of the laughing man before offering it to the boy, "Without him I would be in a Mental Institute or dead, he saved my life, literally the second time we met."
"What happened to him?"
"A bust gone bad decades ago, getting close to fifty years now." Jim answered.
"A Sentinel can live without a guide?" Zack asked.
"Yes, but it is hard, I had many good friend that helped me and I see Blair sometimes when I dream, his animal spirit and mine play together."
"You miss him." Zaxk said softly.
"I always have when he was apart from me, we had our problem, our momentaray breaks and no matter what I did he'd forgive me." Jim shrugged as he took the photo back, looking at the smiling face, "He would have been better at this than I am."
"I don't think you're doin to bad, you got me to learn something." Zack grinned.
"Yeah." Jim smiled, "Daryl should be up here soon, can you hear him?"
Zack listened and grinned, "Yeah!"
Jim nodded.
"Are you going to give me more lessons?"
Jim looked at the boy, "I don't think I'll be giving any more lessons." Jim told him honestly as his eyes tracked a blank jaguire through the loft as it chased after a wolf.
Jim stood and opened the door for Daryl.
"Have I mentioned that I hate when you do that?"
Jim rolled his eyes, "I'll walk you to your car, come on, Zack."
Zack frowned as they walked, "What did you mean, Mr. Ellison?"
Jim looked at the boy, "You will learn the answer later, for now, trust your visions and your teachers, they will guide you until your guide reveils themselves."
"Bye, Uncle JIm." Daryl said with a hug as they got into the car."
Jim waved and then followed after his spirit animal as he loped along beside the wolf, he sat heavily on the grass next to the weatherworn gravestone, the flowers he'd brought by yesterday already withering.
Jim let his fingers trace the engraving of a wolf and a jaguire curled together and let himself lean against the stone, closing his eyes.
"Hello, Jim." Blair's voice said softly from where he knelt beside him.
"Blair." Jim's eyes found his and Blair offered a hand and JIm took it, letting Blair help him up.
"It took you long enough." Blair laughed, smilling.
"I'm sorry." Jim whispered.
"Don't be , man, I'm proud of you and of the Sentinels Institute." Blair said, "I just missed you, I guess."
"Me too."
"I know, wolf let me visit you in dreams."
"What now?" Jim asked as they stood in the blue jungle he had visited in his dreams so often.
"Now, now we move on to the next life." Blair told him.
"You waited for me?" Jim asked.
"Always, man." Blair informed him with a broght smile.
Jim pulled Blair into a tight hug and let him go when Blair pulled away gently.
"We have to go."
"How do we get to the next life?" Jim asked.
"You'r egoing to love this." Blair said as he pulled JIm ove to a cliff that had a waterfall cascading over it with a big, beautiful lake at it's base, "We jump."
"Jump?" Jim asked.
Blair nodded, heart beating faster.
Jim took Blair's hand in his and laced their fingers together.
"We'll go together, ready?" Jim asked.
Blair grinned, "Yeah, let's go."
And they jumped, laughing as they did.
Madison Ellison tried to sooth her three year old son, being the first of their family to have a child after Uncle Jim died she'd won the right to name her son James, she just hadn't expected her son to be as stubborn as old Uncle JIm and Joanie would be here to sow off her new baby boy Blair, named by Joanie's father because she'd asked him to and Daryl Banks had explained about a young man who had saved his life, twice, and had been friend with Uncle Jim and Daryl's father.
"What are you feeling or hearing, Baby?" Madison asked, fairly confident that James was a Sentinel like his namesake and herself.
And then James just quieted as a knock echoed through the house.
"That's Joanie, you remember her?" Madison asked.
"Baby." James said.
"Yea, she's bringing her baby Blair to meet us." Madison said and went to open the door with James at her heels.
"What's up? Usually you open the door before I knock." Joanie asked as she hugged Madison, setting down the baby carrier to do so.
"James had a bit of an issue."
"Ah."
"Baby Blair." James said and traced the baby's cheek with his finger tips, "Hi, Baby Blair, my guide."
The two women looked startled and glance at the two as Blair wrapped his hand around a finger and began sucking on it, cooing.
"He's never done that before." Joanie said.
"James either."
"Well, I suppose playdates will be neccessary." Joanie laughed.
"Like they wouldn't have happened regardless." Madison reminded her.
Later with James wrapped around a napping Blair, refusing to move until the baby woke. Madison wondered at the two spirit animals that wrapped around them.
A balck Jaguire soothed a restless wolf cub just as James petted Blair's hair as the baby fussed momentarily.
Madison sigher and listened to the breathing of Joanie as she rested, Blair having spent the last several nights crying and refusing to be soothed by mother or father, even Daryl had been refused, until they finally came to Madison and James had reached out for the baby and two minutes later Blair was sleeping and James was keeping a close eye on him as he did so.
Madison stood to make dinner, knowing Blair would be fine with James watching over him but keeping an ear trained on them anyway, ignoring the strange nonesense James whispered to Blair as he slept about how they'd get it right this time and they'd find the others when they were older.