Revenge

by Sandra

Can Blair's friends help him survive a deadly virus ?

Revenge
by Sandra Schwarzer

*******************************************************

Disclaimer: The Sentinel and all its characters belong to Bilson & DeMeo and Pet Fly Productions. I just borrow them for some fun. Any other characters you don't recognize mentioned in this story I made up on my own wicked mind.

This story is corrected by my great beta readers Andromede and Christina.

* Thank you for the help *

*******************************************************

"Okay Jim, see ya in a minute", Blair Sandburg said.

Then he closed his cellphone, and shoved it back into his backpack. He had spent the last 36 hours, grading papers in his office at the University. Now it was Friday 3 p.m., and he was hungry and exhausted. Jim had called, to tell him that he'll pick him up in a few minutes, since his car had once again broken down.

Blair just started to get the remaining papers together, when he heard the door to his office open.

"Hey Jim.....", he wasn't able to finish the sentence.

Two strong arms grabbed him from behind, and hurled him against the wall. Blair had no chance to react in any way, as soon as he hit the wall he lost consciousness. He couldn't see the syringe, the stranger extracted from his pocket, and he wasn't able to feel the sting in his arm as he was injected with a clear liquid.

------------------------------------------------

Jim pulled the truck over to the parking lot of the University. Due to heavy traffic, the ride to the University had taken him longer than he had expected. He was concerned about his partner, Blair had sounded really exhausted on the phone. Not only because of grading papers nearly nonstop over the last one and a half days, Jim knew for certain, the kid hadn't had a whole nights sleep for weeks. Blair had been with him on stakeout at night, and then had to spend his days either doing paperwork at the station or teaching at the University. Jim had tried to convince his Guide, that he didn't need to be around on the stakeout, but Blair had refused to stay home. Now the case was solved, and they were looking forward to their first free weekend in weeks.

Jim entered the Anthro-Building, and nearly slammed into the man who hurried down the hallway where Blair's office was headed. Before he could apologize to the stranger, the man was out of the door. Jim shook his head and started to open the office door.

As soon as he entered the small room he sighed at the picture he saw. Blair sat in a chair in front of his desk, deep asleep, his head resting on his arms on the table top. 'At least he is getting his sleep', the Sentinel thought, as he walked over to him. As gentle as possible not to startle the sleeping form he touched Blair's shoulder.

"Come on, Chief. We need to get you home and into your bed"

Blair was immediately awake, and the first thing he recognized was the pounding pain in his head. The incident, that had happened just 10 minutes ago was completely forgotten.

"Ow", he moaned.

"Hey, Chief, something wrong ?" asked Jim.

"Oh...Hi, Jim. My head feels like it's going to explode", Blair said, realizing Jim standing in front of him.

Jim stepped closer to him, now a concerned look in his eyes.

"What do you expect, Chief. You don't sleep, you don't eat regularly and you've spent way too *much* time grading papers."

"Jim, I ....."

"No. Listen, Blair, even you need to rest sometimes."

"Okay, okay. But I needed to finish those papers and there are still some more left. I'll have to take them home."

He struggled to get up, but would have been dropped to the ground without Jim at his side, grabbing his arm and easing him back into the chair.

"That's it, Chief. We'll go home, and you go straight to bed."

"But, Jim, ......."

Jim raised a hand to stop him.

"No discussion, Sandburg", he said in a tone that would not allow any further word from Blair.

He picked up Blair's backpack, helped his friend to his feet and guided him out to the truck.

------------------------------------------------

Blair managed to climb into the passenger seat on his own. Jim walked around the truck, climbed into the driver seat and slammed the door shut. Blair flinched at the loud noise that sent waves of pounding pain through his head. The Sentinel registered the motion and took a closer look at his Guide's face. Blair was obviously in agony and Jim cringed noticing the tears forming in the expressive blue eyes.

"We should get you something for that headache, Chief", he said in a soft tone.

"Okay", was the simple answer instead of the expected 'No chemicals enter my system', and Jim was more concerned than before.

------------------------------------------------

Jim stopped at a store to pick up something to eat, and some painkillers for Blair. When the Sentinel returned to the truck, Blair had fallen asleep again. He managed to close the door as silent as possible, turned the key in the ignition and drove to the loft.

------------------------------------------------

"Hey, Chief, come on wake up. We're home", Jim said, as he parked in front of the loft.

No response.

"Sandburg", a little louder.

Still no response.

He reached over to shake him, but stopped in his movement, deciding to pick up instead Blair's backpack and the stuff he bought before getting out of the car. He opened the door to the loft and tossed the things he carried on the table. After that he returned to the truck and managed to scoop Blair up in his arms.

Blair stirred slightly in his sleep, when Jim carried him to his small room and laid him on the bed.

'He must be really tired. I hope he is not getting sick', Jim thought, while he undressed his Guide and covered him with a blanket. Then he tuned his senses onto the heartbeat and breathing pattern of the still form on the bed. Everything seemed to be normal. Convinced that his friend was alright, he left the room and closed the door. Then he grabbed something to eat from the fridge and sat down on the couch to watch the news.

------------------------------------------------

He must have fallen asleep in front of the TV, because the next thing he noticed, was the ringing of the telephone. He glanced at the digital clock of the VCR, it showed 6 p.m., then he walked over to the telephone and picked up the receiver

"Ellison"

"Jim, it's Simon", came the voice of the captain.

"Hey, Simon. Something wrong ? Don't tell me we'll end up at the station on our first free days since ages", Jim said in a slightly amused tone, as he walked back to the couch to sit down again.

Simon ignored the last comment, "Where have you been we've been, we're trying to reach you since nearly 3 hours ?!"

"I was right here, must have fallen asleep in front of the TV.........."

"Listen, Jim. Is Sandburg with you ?", interrupted the captain, his voice sounding concerned now.

"Yeah, he's sleeping. Why ? What's wrong ?", Jim asked again, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Shortly after you left, we got a call from McLean, he's leading the investigations on a crime scene downtown. They found a dead man in one of the motels there."

"And?"

"Jim, they found a message directed to you on the scene, it say's: It's game time Ellison. Play along, or the little hippie freak is going to die. I'll expect you and him at the department tonight at 8 p.m. to receive the next message", after reading the text Simon stopped.

Jim sighed, they were not receiving such a message for the first time.

"You take that serious, Simon, don't you ?"

"Yes, Jim", replied the captain, "the message was pinned to the man's corpse. We had Forensics going over the place twice, they found nothing, but we learned the fact, that the words were written with the man's blood."

"*With his blood ?!*", Jim exclaimed.

"I guess *now* you know, why I take this serious. Are you and Sandburg okay?"

Jim again tuned his hearing to his partner, but he still seemed to be sleeping safe and sound.

"Yeah, we're okay. The kid is sleeping."

"I'll send someone over to pick you up, and take ........."

Jim stopped him in mid-sentence, "No listen, Simon. I'll just have a quick shower, then we'll be coming to the station on our own. I can take care 'til then."

"Okay, if you say so", answered Simon, but he sounded everything else than convinced.

"Simon, have you checked about Brackett and Zeller?"

"That was the first thing we did after the call, but they are still in jail like every other lunatic, you and Sandburg had ever contact with."

"Okay, Simon. We'll be at the station in an hour."

"Okay, but Jim, if anything happens call me !"

"Sure, Sir", he said and hung up the receiver.

Then he went upstairs to take a shower, Simon's words running like a mantra through his mind.

There might be a lot of people with the intention to kill him or Blair, but who would express it in that way ?

------------------------------------------------

He had finished his shower, and was dressed in a pair of boxers and a T-shirt, when he heard a soft moan from Blair's room. The Sentinel hurried downstairs.

"Hey, Blai .....", he stopped, when he saw the pale face and the dark shadows under the eyes of his friend.

He sat down on the bed beside Blair, "Are you okay, buddy ? You look like hell!"

"I feel like shit, man", Blair answered, his voice raspy.

Jim reached out to place his hand on Blair's sweaty forehead, "Feels like you're starting a fever. We should get you to a doctor before we go to the station."

"To the station. Something wrong, Jim ?", he asked looking up into Jim's eyes, noticing the concerned look there. "Come on. Spill it, Big Guy"

Jim knew that Blair needed to know about the threat, but he was afraid now, that the kid was getting really sick.

"Jim,.......", Blair started again, this time his voice a little clearer.

Jim stopped him and explained, what Simon had told him on the phone 30 minutes ago. While listening to the story, Blair's face went even paler. "Blair, I don't think that you are in any condition to go to the station, maybe I should ask Simon about a safe house ......", he said after finishing.

"Stop it, Jim. I'm okay", to underscore the words, he sat up in the bed. The sudden movement sent a stabbing pain through his head, black spots were dancing in front of his eyes as he sagged back against his pillow.

"Easy, Chief. Easy", said Jim and grabbed him by the shoulders, to avoid that he hit his head on the backboard of the bed.

"That's enough. I'll call the doc right now", he stood up and was about to head to the living room, when Blair got hold of his shirt sleeve.

"No, Jim. *Please*, it's just a headache"

Jim turned around to look at his partner's eyes again, cringing to see them dull with pain and fear . "Blair, you're hurting, and I really don't think, that *this* is just a normal headache", he said not able to hide his own fears.

"Jim, I don't think that it is anything serious, and I remember that you bought some painkillers.", Blair said, now the famous 'lost-puppy-look' in his eyes.

Jim couldn't resist the begging look, and went to the kitchen to get the pills.

'I hope you're right, Chief, because if the pills don't help, you'll go straight to the doc, even if I need to carry you', Jim thought, as he poured a glass of water and picked up the painkillers. Then he returned to Blair.

He helped his friend into a sitting position, registering when he gritted his teeth against a new wave of pain.

Blair swallowed the maximum dose of the painkillers, and promised Jim to stay put, until the Sentinel was dressed and able to help him.

As soon as Jim was out of the door, Blair tried to get up. After a few attempts he stood, swaying slightly, one hand on the wall for support. He managed to get a pair of sweats and a shirt on before Jim returned. Now he sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hands, not able to bent down to tie his shoes.

"*Sandburg*, didn't I tell you to stay put !!!", an angry Jim said kneeling down to tie his friends shoes. "I should leave you here, you need to rest !"

"Jim, he wants us both at the station, right ?!", Blair stated, not wanting to go into any further discussion.

Jim watched him as he stood up again, and asked in a softer tone, "You're sure up to it, Chief ?"

"Yes", Blair answered, and walked slowly to the door to grab his jacket, "Can we go now. It's almost seven thirty."

Jim looked very skeptic, but picked up his keys and followed him out of the door.

------------------------------------------------

It was nearly 8 p.m., when they reached the garage of the station. They sat a few minutes in silence, before Jim once again asked Blair, "Are you okay, pal ?"

"*Jim*, ....."began Blair leaning his head against the window of the truck.

"Alright, but I want you to promise me something. Okay ?", Jim said in a very serious tone.

"Sure. What ?"

"If this gets too much for you, you'll tell me. *Got that* ?!"

"Yeah, got it. Besides, I think the painkillers kicked in, the headache is getting better", Blair replied, trying to sound convincing to his friend.

'Liar', thought Jim, as they exited the car and went to the elevators. He was able to pick up the slight change in Blair's breathing pattern and the Sentinel was sure, that every time, his feet touched the ground the agony his friend was in nearly stabbed his head.

They walked in silence to Simon's office, Blair looking on the floor all the time, to avoid eye contact with Jim.

------------------------------------------------

As they reached the office, the captain was on the phone. He waved them to sit down in front of his desk. He finished his call in time to see, how Blair eased himself slowly into one of the chairs.

"You look like hell, Sandburg. Are you okay ?", Simon asked the young man.

Blair focused on the floor again and replied, "Thank you, Sir, and *yes* I am okay".

Simon cast Jim a worried look, but Jim just shrugged his shoulders. Then he asked, "Any news, Sir?".

Before the captain had a chance to answer, the telephone started ringing again and he picked it up.

"Ellison ?", a computer generated voice asked.

Simon handed the receiver to Jim, and switched on the loudspeaker of the phone.

"This is Ellison", Jim said as he tried to focus on the sounds he heard through the receiver, but there was nothing else than the damn voice.

"Detective, I hope your long haired friend enjoyed my invention 'til now, because this is only the beginning", the voice stopped, and Jim shot Blair a worried glance.

"What do you mean ?"

There was a click, then the voice started again, "Well, I injected him with a virus yesterday, you should be able, to see the mark of the syringe on his right arm".

Blair pulled up his sleeve, and looked in disbelief on the little red spot, now clearly visible on his right arm.

Then the voice continued, "Mr. Sandburg should be running a major headache and a slight fever by now. Soon, he'll be suffering from very painful convulsions all over his body and, after 72 hours, the infection will cause his whole system to shut down", another click, and the voice stopped again.

"*Son of a bitch*", Jim exclaimed. Blair and Simon stared at him in shock.

Blair couldn't believe what he'd just heard. 'That can't be real', he thought when he began to feel dizzy.

Click, "Before you ask, Ellison, this virus is genetically designed and it will only affect your friend. There is no serum available, except the one I have", stop.

"What do you want?" Jim asked, his voice now a dangerous low whisper.

Click, "First of all, I wanna see you suffer along with your friend, but as I know you, you'd do anything to save his life, so I want you to do me a favor", Jim looked at Blair, who had his eyes closed, "You're going to release my brother from prison, then you'll give him $ 1 000 000 and a flight out of the States. Maybe *then*, I let you know where the serum is", stop.

"*Who* is your brother ?", Jim said, his jaw clenched.

Click, "I've heard, you're a good detective, prove it and your friend will live, but remember you have only 72 hours. ........Oh, and he will stay at your side all the time, no hospitals, otherwise I'll destroy the serum........ *NOW* detective enjoy the show, you'll hear from me", another click and the line went dead.

------------------------------------------------

Jim was zoned on the receiver, that was still in his hand. He didn't see Blair collapse in his chair.

"*Jim*", Simon shouted, as he hurried around his desk to catch Blair, before he slid on the floor.

Startled by Simon's voice, Jim looked up, and saw Simon lowering the unconscious body of his friend on the floor. Within one second he was at his side.

"Oh my God. Simon, what happened ?", he asked, as he kneeled down on the ground .

"I don't know, he just collapsed. You stay right here, I'm going to get the department medic up here", Simon answered and hurried out of the door.

Jim lifted Blair up into his lap, feeling the heat of the fever pour out of every pore of the sweaty body. Now the slight fever had turned into a real one. He tuned his senses on to the heartbeat of his Guide, until there was nothing more than the slow but steady pounding sound.

Blair's eyes fluttered open, he needed a few seconds to realize were he was. Then he looked up, ignoring the pain that the light caused in his eyes. His vision was blurred, but as he saw the Sentinel, he knew that Jim was completely zoned out. He started to talk to his friend, "Jim. Come on, Big Guy. I need you. Snap out of it.........."

Jim now realized, that there was another sound aside from the heartbeat, the voice of his Guide. It sounded weak, but it was there, begging him to come back. He couldn't ignore it. After a minute, he opened his eyes and looked down, into the now pain distorted face of Blair. Carefully not to cause any sudden movement, he pulled him closer to his chest.

"It's okay, Chief. I'm here. I'll take care of you. Just stay with me okay", he whispered into his ear.

He had just finished what he said, when Blair began to struggle against his hold.

"Hey, hey calm down, buddy", but Blair only struggled harder, and exclaimed almost hysterical, "No. Jim, let me go. *Don't* touch me...I. .I don't want you to be sick too." Jim immediately knew, what Blair was talking about, he must have missed the part when the bastard had told them that the virus does only affect him.

"Shhh.....Blair, calm down. I'm not letting you go. That virus can't harm anyone else than you. I'll stay with you I'm your 'Blessed Protector', remember ?...... Come on, buddy. Calm down."

Blair heard what his friend said and began to relax, suddenly feeling all the strength draining from his body.

"My head hurts, Jim", he managed to say, in a voice only audible to someone with sentinel hearing.

"I know, Chief. Just hang on. Simon is getting the medic up here", Jim said and hugged him closer to his chest.

------------------------------------------------

A few moments later, Simon and the medic came running into the room. Together they picked Blair up from the floor, and laid him carefully down on the couch in the office. The medic started examining Blair, but couldn't do very much since Jim was in his way.

Jim did not realize, that he hindered the examination, until Simon patted him on the back, " Come on, Jim. Let the Doc do his work", but Jim did not move.

"*Detective*, I need to talk to you outside", he now addressed him in a more formal voice.

Jim leaned closer to Blair, "I'll be right back, Chief. Okay ?"

"'kay", Blair whispered.

Jim stood up, "Take care of him, Doc", the medic nodded, and Jim followed Simon out of the room.

------------------------------------------------

Outside the office, Jim turned to Simon, "Do we have anything, Sir ?"

"Well, we've been able to track the call down. We know, that it was made from a telephone box on 42nd Street, but there was only a remote controlled tape recorder. They are checking it for fingerprints right now," he stopped, when he saw Jim slamming his fist into the wall.

"*Damn Son of a bitch*", he hissed.

"I know, Jim. This is hard, but we'll get him and with him the ser................", Simon started.

Jim interrupted him, "*That's easy for you to say, Simon, we don't even have the slightest idea, who he could be and we only have 72 hours*", he shouted, rage obvious in his voice.

Simon could sense, that his best detective, and friend, was close to run out of control. He realized, how much Sandburg must mean to Ellison. He grabbed Jim by the shoulders , and forced him to look into his eyes, "Listen, Jim. We'll find out who he is. Please calm down. The kid needs you. You can't let him down."

He must have chosen the right words, because he could feel, the built up tension slowly subside from his friends shoulders. In the same moment the medic appeared in the door.

"Sorry to disturb you, gentlemen, but Mr. Sandburg asked for you, Detective Ellison."

Jim turned around, and asked the medic about Blair's condition.

"Well, Mr. Sandburg is not in a very good shape. His fever is up to 101, and besides his headache he now has developed muscle spasms in his legs and abdomen", he paused a moment then continued, "If we were not in the situation we are in, I would call an ambulance within the minute."

"Can't you do anything for him ?", asked Simon, while he watched Blair ,who lay curled up on his side, hands clutching his stomach, on the couch in his office.

"The only thing I could do, was taking a blood sample, because we don't know anything about that virus", the medic said, and shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

Jim took a deep breath, and walked past the medic back into the office. Simon watched him, as he kneeled down besides the couch.

"They are close, aren't they ?", the medic asked.

"They're partners and best friends", Simon answered, wondering how close he had grown to Blair, since the first time they met. The 'neo-hippie-flower-child' had earned his respect, and he really liked him, but he would never show that to anyone.

"I'm going to have that blood sample checked out in the Laboratories as soon as possible, if anything comes up call me immediately," the medic turned around to go.

"Thanks", Simon said.

"Nothing to thank for, Captain. I just wish there was anything I could do."

------------------------------------------------

Jim kneeled down beside the couch. Blair had his eyes closed, and tried to relax between the painful cramps. Jim gently reached out and grabbed his hands.

"Hey, Chief, are you still with me ?", he asked.

Without opening his eyes, Blair sighed and then whispered, "I don't wanna die, Jim".

The words cut through Jim's heart like a knife, he responded right away, tightening his grip on his friend's hands and whispered into his ear, "You're not going to die, Blair. I'm not letting you die".

Blair opened his eyes, and looked at him, "I know, Jim. *You* won't let me down".

Jim was overwhelmed upon the trust he had seen in Blair's eyes. Tears started to run down his cheeks, when Blair gasped, and curled up on his side again. He felt totally helpless, once again he hugged him close to his chest and this time he began slowly rocking him back and forth. Then he began to speak:

"Come on, Blair, let me try something to make you feel better. Okay ?"

Blair simply sighed.

"Okay. I want you to listen to my voice, Chief. Turn everything else out", he tried to use the same tone that Blair used when he guided him, "Now breath in and out, just concentrate on that.............in and out.........in and out.........in and out.......", he repeated this mantra for a few minutes, before he felt Blair relax. "Okay Chief. Now I want you to recall a picture of the ocean on your mind ............. You can see the waves running to the shore, and you start breathing with the rhythm of the waves". He watched, as Blair's chest began to raise and fall in a slow steady rhythm," Yes, partner. That's it, slow and easy".

After a few minutes, Blair opened his eyes again, they were wide with surprise. "Jim, it worked, I feel better. I mean, the pain is still there, but I think I can control it better now. How did you know ?"

Jim smiled a little, "I had a good teacher", he squeezed his shoulders reassuringly, "I want you to rest now."

"But, Jim. I ............", Blair tried.

"No buts, you need to rest. You'll need all the strength you have, Chief", he laid him back down on the couch. "I'll check the computer, maybe I can find out, who his brother is", then he stood up to walk to Simon's desk.

"If we don't find him, I'll rest forever", Blair whispered, as he tried to turn around on the couch, feeling the pain coming back with the movement he stopped and lay back on his side.

Jim whirled around, as if something had hit him. "Don't you *ever* say that again, Blair. You're not going to *die* on me. don't even think about that !!!", he grabbed Blair by the collar of his shirt, and shook him, "*DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, SANDBURG ?!*"

Blair's eyes were wide with shock, as he watched his friend grabbing him, and nearly dragging him off the couch, "Stop it, Jim.......I'm sorry.....Please....You're hurting me", he stammered.

In that second, Jim realized what he was doing, 'Oh my God, oh my God', he thought to himself, and let go of Blair's shirt. "Oh God,...........Chief, I'm sorry" he said, as he watched Blair clutching his stomach with both hands, and gritting his teeth against the reawakened pain.

Blair laid back, and tried to relax. A few minutes later, the pain was at a bearable level again. He watched Jim, who now sat on the floor, head in his hands, he reached out and placed his hand on Jim's shoulder, "It's okay, Big Guy. I shouldn't have said that".

"No, Blair. It's not your fault. I'm the only one to blame for that. I don't know, why I reacted that way. *I've hurt you, Chief*", Jim said full of guilt.

"Come on, Jim. I'll survive, but I need your help. You'll go and check the computer and I'll try to rest. Deal ?", he said, feeling the exhaustion overwhelm him again.

"Deal, Chief. I'll stay right here in the office. If you need me, just say something. Okay ?"

No answer. He turned around quickly, and registered, that his friend had drifted of into sleep. He stood up, and walked over to the desk to check the computer files.

------------------------------------------------

Simon watched Jim walking over to his desk, and sitting down there. A few moments later, he entered the room and stepped behind Jim, who was staring at the blank computer screen.

"Hey, Jim, is the kid okay ?", he asked in a low voice.

"No, Simon, he's not okay, but he's sleeping right now. Did they find anything on the recorder ?"

"Sorry, there was absolutely nothing on it", after a short break, he sat down in front of his desk and asked, "Do you know, when this could've happened?"

Jim still stared at the screen, "He'd been at the University from Thursday morning till I picked him up yesterday at 3 p.m., when I called him Thursday night, everything seemed to be okay, but I was obviously wrong", he stopped, and dropped his head into his hands.

Simon turned around to look at Blair, before he started to talk again, "That means we have a timeframe from about 15 hours. Right, Jim ?"

Jim was about to answer, when he heard the sudden increase in Blair's heartbeat.

----------------

Blair was back in his office, he had just started to get his papers together, when the door behind him flew open. He turned around and saw a man, who was dressed in black clothes and wearing a black baseball cap, entering his office. The man approached him with one big step, grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him into the wall. This time he didn't pass out, he saw how the stranger extracted a syringe from his pocket.......

---------------

Jim and Simon hurried over to the couch, after Blair had started trashing around.

----------------

Now the stranger pulled up the sleeve on his right arm, and he could feel the sting of the syringe............

---------------

Jim grabbed his friend by the shoulders to hold him, and prevent him from falling off the couch. Suddenly, Blair bolted upright and cried out loud. Jim was surprised by the sudden movement, and fell backwards against Simon.

Blair sat there, eyes wide open, face pale and covered in sweat. His heart rate was going into overdrive and his breath came in gasps.

After a few seconds, Jim was at his side again and tried to ease him back into the cushions. He stopped dead in his tracks, when Blair flinched and backed away from him. He looked helplessly over to Simon, who hurried over to the phone to call the medic. Then he decided to change tactics, and started to whisper soothing words to the shaking young man. Moments later Blair began to sob and Jim took him into his arms.

"Everything is okay, Blair. Calm down buddy,....................come on. Nothing's gonna happen to you"

*I will not fail you twice, Chief, I promise*, he thought to himself, while he continued to talk to Blair.

Slowly the shaking stopped and the sobbing subsided, "I...I saw him, Jim, he was.....he was so real...." , Blair said, sounding like a frightened child.

Jim reached out and touched his chin, until Blair looked up into his eyes, "What did you see, Chief ?"

Blair closed his eyes as wave of dizziness hit him, he felt the pain in his stomach starting again, "I saw him, Jim, I even saw the...the syringe", his voice was shaking know.

"Okay, Blair. Take it easy. Can you describe him ?", Simon asked, after he kneeled down beside Jim.

"I don't know. I'd just started to get my things together after Jim had called......Ow!", he clutched his stomach and Jim held him closer, "he entered and shoved me against the wall....He was dressed in black clothes and wore a baseball cap...........Ow! Damn", this time, the pain doubled him over.

When the medic entered the office, Simon helped Jim to ease him back into a lying position.

-------------------------------------------

The medic worked on Blair, while Jim and Simon were waiting in the background. He extracted two syringes from a bag, "Mr. Sandburg, please lay still and try to relax. I'm going to inject you with some muscle relaxants and morphine against the pain." Blair flinched at the word syringe, but otherwise stayed still.

After the medic had finished the injection, he stood up to talk to Jim and Simon, "We had the virus tested in several labs, right now I can say that it is nothing we have seen before. We also tested, if the medications Mr. Sandburg just received cause any reaction with the virus. The tests were negative, so I think it's safe for him. It'll help him to relax, and it'll take off the edge of the pain, but that's about all we can do. If we give him more, we risk his live. I'm sorry."

-----------------------------------------------

Jim kneeled back down on the floor after the medic had left, "Chief, are you feeling better ?", he asked, while he checked the eyes of his friends, now clouded by the morphine.

"A little", Blair answered, "but it still hurts."

"I know buddy, but we need you awake if we wanna find the bastard and........",he suddenly stopped. "Wait a moment, Chief. Did you say it happened right after we talked ?"

"Mm", Blair mumbled.

"And he did wear black clothes and a black baseball cap, right ?"

"Yes. Why ?", Blair asked, now a puzzled expression showing on his face.

Because, when I entered the Anthrobuilding yesterday, I bumped into a man, who was obviously in a hurry. He was wearing black clothes," Jim explained and clenched his Jaw, "but I haven't seen his face."

Blair stared at him in disbelief, "You...You've seen him ?", then he moaned, and closed his eyes.

"What's wrong, Chief?", Jim asked concerned.

"You've seen him, you've seen him,.......", Blair repeated the words continuously.

Jim thought his friend had lost it completely now, "Simon, call the medic back up here, I think some...", he started to address the captain, who had just got two cups of coffee and some water for Blair, but Blair stopped him.

"NO! You don't understand, Jim. You may have not deliberately noticed his face, but I'm sure that...", he stopped to catch his breath, "I'm sure that you subconsciously registered his face, due to your sentinel abilities."

"Hey, hey, Chief, slow down. I'm not so sure about that", Jim said, still not convinced of the limits of his senses.

Simon walked over to them, handing Jim a cup of coffee and the water for Blair, "Come on, Jim, give it a try, it may be the only lead we'll get."

Jim helped Blair into a sitting position, and held the water for him while he was drinking. After he'd finished he asked, "You're sure up to it Chief ?"

There was a moment of silence, then Blair answered, "I'm sure, Jim, 'cause I wanna live."

-----------------------------------------------

Jim sat down beside his Guide on the couch, Simon sat on the floor in front of them. Blair turned his head so he could see the Sentinel beside him. "Okay, Jim, you know the drill", his voice was still shaking, but he was in full guide mode now, "Close your eyes Jim, recall the scene at the University .......concentrate on the man in front of you, zone everything else out........".

Jim tried to zero his sight in onto the face of the man, but he wasn't able to focus. After several tries he opened his eyes, "I can't, Chief.......I can't recall his face", then he shook his head and turned his gaze towards the floor.

Blair sighed and cleared his throat, "Maybe it 'll help, if we go to the University and try it again."

"No. No way, Blair. You stay right here.....", Jim started.

"Jim, I can't stay here and wait until time is up. I need to do something. We need to go to the University to find out who this guy is", he looked at Simon for confirmation.

Jim was impressed, when he heard the desperate plea that laid in those words. Then Simon spoke, "Listen, Jim, he is right. We need to do everything to find that bastard. We will both be at his side all the time, and if something happens we can be at the station within 15 minutes."

Jim raised his hands in defeat, "But, Chief, I want you to understand, that I don't wanna lose you. Okay ?"

Blair closed his eyes against the emotions, he felt fighting their way to the surface, "You won't, Jim. I promise", he whispered.

Jim stood up, "Okay then. Lets go !"

-----------------------------------------------

Jim and Simon helped Blair to his feet, but he was too dizzy to walk, so they half dragged half carried him to the truck.

-------------------------------------------------

The ride to the University was silent, except for the occasionally gasps from Blair, when a particular painful cramp shook him. They arrived at the University less then 23 hours after they had left yesterday.

They managed to get into Blair's office without being seen by anyone.

Once inside, Jim eased Blair into the nearest chair. He was just seated, when a coughing fit seized him. Jim held him in the chair with one hand and with the other he started rubbing his back.

After the coughing subsided, a small amount of blood trickled down Blair's chin. Simon took a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Jim.

"Hey ,Blair, look at me. Let me see your eyes", Jim said, while he wiped the blood away.

Blair looked up, and the Sentinel searched the eyes of his friend for any sign of a serious injury.

"Hey, Big Guy, I'm okay. I just bit on my tongue", Blair tried to calm Jim.

There was a knock on the door, and Simon went to open it.

A young man stepped in, "Are you Mr. Ellison?", he asked.

Simon pointed in Jim's direction.

Jim turned around to look at the tall young man, "I'm Detective Ellison."

"*Detective*?", the young man asked, a nonplussed expression on his face.

"Yeah, *Detective*. So what do you want, Mr.?", Jim asked.

"Oh, sorry. My name is Steve, Steve Morris. I attended one of the classes Mr. Sandburg teached last year."

Jim glanced at Blair, who nodded, then looked back to the young man, "And what brought you here on a Saturday, Mr. Morris?"

"Well, I forgot something in the library yesterday, and I wanted to pick it up now. When I entered the building there was a man, he gave me this letter", he held an envelope in front of Jim, "and asked me, if I would deliver it to Mr. Ellison at Mr. Sandburg's office."

Jim grabbed the letter out of Steve's hand, and teared the envelope open. There was just a small note in it. The words 'Good Move, Ellison. 66 hours to go' were written on it.

Jim nearly jumped onto Steve, he grabbed him by the collar, and began shaking him, before neither Simon nor Blair had a chance to react.

"STOP IT, JIM!", Simon shouted, and tried to tear Jim away from the shocked young man, who was now shoved against the wall by the enraged Sentinel. Simon knew that he had no chance coming through to Jim, when he was totally out of it.

Blair managed to get up from the chair, and squeezed himself between Jim and Steve. As soon as Jim realized, that Blair was now in front of him and what he was doing, he did let go of Steve and stepped backwards.

Simon opened the door, and stirred Steve out of the office into the hallway.

He was just out of the door, when Blair's knees gave way, and he dropped to the ground. Jim rushed over to him, lifted him up and helped him back to the chair. Then he turned around without a word and stared at the wall.

----------------------------------------------------

Outside the office, Simon questioned Steve about the man, who gave him the envelope, but the young man was still shocked about the previous event. It took Simon nearly 10 minutes of sweet talk to calm the man down, and convince him not to press any charges against Jim.

Steve described the man. He wore black clothes, a black cap and sunglasses. He had given him the envelope and 20 bucks before he disappeared into the parking lot.

-----------------------------------------------------

Back in the office, Jim was still staring at the wall. Blair fighted against the nausea that threatened to overwhelm him, after a few minutes, he was at last able to speak.

"Hey, Big Guy, what's going on here?", he addressed Jim, but the man showed no reaction.

"Oh come on. Don't zone on me now", he was about to stand up, when Jim suddenly turned around and pressed him back into the chair.

"What do you think you're doing, Blair...", he started, but Blair interrupted him,

"*No*, wait a moment. The question is what *you* think you're doing, Jim. You nearly killed that guy. It does not help us if you're going to kill any possible witnesses."

"I know, Chief. I don't know what's going on here. God, I'm so helpless and I don't know what to do.....", his voice trailed off.

Blair opened his arms, "Come here, Jim", he knew that his friend needed that kind of physical support right know. He had never seen the Sentinel looking so frightened, almost like a child.

-----------------------------------------------

When Simon entered the office again, Blair held Jim still in an embrace, but he looked at Simon.

"Is he okay?", Simon mouthed the words to Blair. Blair nodded.

After Jim had regained his composure, he addressed Simon, "I'm sorry, Simon."

" I know, Jim, no one understands you better than I do, but you have to stop acting like that. It will not help us in any way", after a short pause he continued, "I convinced Mr. Morris not to press any charges against you. Right now I'd sent him over to the station to get a composite drawing of the guy."

Blair just watched the conversation between the two man. He felt like shit, his whole body ached like he had worked out a whole week without any rest. Then his gaze fell on the note lying on the floor in front of him, he picked it up and took a closer look at it.

Simon and Jim were now talking about what they wanted to do next. When Blair focused back on the conversation the last thing he heard, was Simon saying something about heading back to the station.

"Jim, can you come over here for a moment", he addressed his friend.

Jim instantly was at his side, "Something wrong, Chief?"

"No, it's just the note. I think there is something on it."

Now Simon was also at his side, "Don't tell me you touched it, Sandburg. What about fingerprints?"

"I don't think there are any prints on it. The guy is a pro. So what is it, Chief? I can't see anything unusual on that paper", Jim asked.

"I don't know, it's just a feeling. Can't you try to check it with each of your senses?", he said, looking pleadingly into the eyes of the Sentinel.

--------------

Jim had tested the paper with his sight and his tactile sense without any result, now he sniffed at it.

"You're right, Chief, there is something on it, it smells like a chemical substance", he said after he had finished his examination, "we should head back to the department and get it tested."

"I knew it", Blair said, "Nobody is perfect."

Simons cellphone rang and he picked it up, it was Brown telling him that they had the composite ready.

Jim and Simon helped Blair out of the chair, and then walked slowly to the truck. Blair was completely drenched in sweat and tired as hell when the arrived at the parking lot.

-----------------------------------------------

The drive to the precinct took less than 15 minutes, but once there Simon and Jim were having quite a hard time waking Blair.

"Blair, come on. You need to wake up, buddy"

No reaction.

Simon started to shake Blair's shoulders, but Jim stopped him after he'd listened to the breathing and heartbeat of his friend again.

"Simon, it's okay he is just sleeping. I don't think we need to wake him up. Can you help me please and close the door?", he asked, while he scooped his guide in his arms.

"No problem, Jim, but don't you think there are better places for him to rest than on my couch. Come on, Jim take him home!"

"Simon, believe me. This is all I want right now, but we don't have time", he stopped and looked at his watch, " only 64 hours left", then he walked slowly to the elevators Simon at his side.

As the elevator began to move, Blair stirred and opened his eyes.

"Hey, Chief. Welcome back. How do you feel?", Jim asked when he gently lowered him into a standing position, still holding onto his waist, because if he'd let go Blair would've collapsed.

"Tired. Why didn't you wake me up, Jim? You don't need to carry me around like a child, you know", he said sounding embarrassed. Jim frowned and looked at the floor.

"Hey, Sandburg. We just thought that it was the best for you. I mean, look at yourself kid you look like death warmed over and you can't even stand on your own right now. There is no need for you to be embarrassed, he just wanted to help you", Simon said and looked into Blair's glazed eyes.

"I'm sorry, Jim, it's just.........", his voice faltered, and now it was his turn to watch the interesting pattern of the elevator floor.

Jim squeezed his arm reassuringly, "I know, Chief, I know."

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped out into the hall.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Blair was already lying on the couch, when Brown and Taggart entered the office.

"Hey, hairboy. You don't look so good. What's up?", Brown asked Blair.

"That's *none* of your business", Jim snapped before Blair had a chance to answer.

Taggart throw a questioning glance at Simon, who just shrugged his shoulders.

Jim obviously didn't want anybody, except for Simon, to know what was wrong with his partner. But he had forgotten that Brown and the others had already witnessed the medic coming to the office twice and how he and Simon had dragged Blair inside the office.

Brown ignored Jim and walked over to Blair, "Sandburg, Taggart and I know what happened, because we listened to the tape of the call", now Simon looked at Joel, who nodded, "I want you to know that we understand what you are going through and that we promise you to get the bastard, okay?"

"Thank you, Brown. I really appreciate that", Blair said, his cheeks already red-hot from the fever suddenly glowed brighter.

"Brown, do you have the composite with you?", Simon came to his rescue.

"Sure, Sir. Here it is", he walked over to were Jim and Taggart were standing and laid the requested item on the table.

"We've already checked the computers...............", Taggart started.

"Let me guess, they found nothing?!", Jim asked, but it was more a statement than a question.

"Exactly, nothing. No name, no ID absolutely nothing."

"Wonderful", Jim said, picked up the picture and walked over to the couch.

"Blair, is this the guy?", he asked.

"Yes,... that's...that's him", Blair shuddered, fear and anger obvious on his face.

The Sentinel kneeled down in front of the couch, "Blair, he's gone. I will never let him near you again okay?"

"'kay. Jim, do you think I can have something to eat? I'm really hungry."

"Sure. What do you want?", Jim asked, noticing his own stomach rumbling from the lack of food.

"I don't know, just something to eat."

"I'll get you something, Blair", Taggart's voice came from the background and he vanished out of the office.

Jim and Blair smiled for the first time since the whole thing started.

-------------------------------------------------------

Taggart returned to the office with two sandwiches, a cup of tea and another one of coffee. Simon and Brown were sitting in front of the computer checking the files again. Jim was sitting in front of the couch on the floor and was staring at the composite as if it held every solution to the mysteries of the world.

"Here you go, Blair", he handed him one sandwich and noticed the shaking hands.

"Thanks, Joel", Blair said, while he watched him placing the tea on a small table besides the couch.

Jim showed no reaction when Joel tried to give him the other sandwich.

"Jim?", Joel asked again, this time louder.

"Oh, sorry about that. Thanks Joel", he said and took the offered sandwich out of the big mans hand.

"You're welcome", then Joel added, "You better help your partner with the tea, it's hot I don't want him to get burned", and walked over to the computer to join Simon and Brown.

Jim looked up to see his partner reaching for the cup on the table, his hand was shaking so bad now that he would spill the contents before it even had a chance to reach his mouth.

"Let me give you a hand here, Chief", he said and picked up the cup for him.

After Blair had taken a few sips from the tea he asked Jim, "Something wrong with the picture? You were staring at it like you were zoned out."

"No, I wasn't. It's just, that this guy reminds me of someone. I have seen that face a long time ago. I'm sure, but I don't know.................", he suddenly stopped.

"Hey Jim, does this mean you know who he is?", Blair said, while he tried to swallow a bite of the sandwich.

Big mistake, he started to cough violently, when a piece of bread blocked his air passage. Jim helped him to sit up and tapped him on the back. Simon, Taggart and Brown raced over to them to see if they could help.

Tears were streaming down his face, when, after a minute, he was able to breath again.

"Whoa, Chief. Would you take it easy here!", Jim said.

"Sandburg, what's going on. You need the medic?", Simon asked.

"No", breath, "it's Jim", breath, "He knows him!"

Jim raised his hands to avoid any comments from the others, "That's not exactly what I said. The only thing that I know is that I have seen this face, but I don't know when and I *sure as hell* don't know his name!"

Blair's face fell when Jim raised his voice, and he had to swallow hard against the lump that was forming in his throat.

Simon saw it and tried to help, "Maybe you know him from one of your cases. We should check that again."

"Whatever!", Jim growled, but followed Simon to his desk.

Taggart stayed at Blair's side. "You okay, Blair?", he asked in a gentle tone. " For a while you had me worried here."

Blair just nodded, his whole body was now shaking with exhaustion. Taggart laid him back against the cushions and he closed his eyes.

"Yes, that's right, Blair. Close your eyes and rest", the big man said and covered him with the blanket, that had slipped on the floor earlier.

-------------------------------------------------------

Jim and Simon were staring at the computer screen, while Brown typed on the keyboard to get the information they wanted. After five minutes Taggart joined them.

"Is he okay?", Jim asked him.

"I don't know. His eyes are closed, but I don't think he is sleeping. Have you found anything?", Joel asked back.

Jim was about to answer, when suddenly a picture, not unlike the one he held in his hands appeared on the screen. The man looked nearly the same the only difference was, that he looked older than the one on the composite.

"Wait a moment, Brown."

"What is it, Jim?", Simon asked.

"Simon, can't you see it ? *He* looks like him", he gave Simon the pic.

"Yeah, you're right, but it can't be him, that is Steven Conolly he is at least twice as old as the man on this pic."

"Conolly..Conolly, Simon, who is this guy?", Jim asked. "No, wait. I know him. It was the second case I was working with Jack, he was the one who killed the daughter of the former mayor and the mayor himself, right?"

"You're right, but how is his brother connected to all this? Brown, get the case files up here!", Simon ordered.

"I'm on it, Sir", Brown hurried out of the door, to get the requested papers from the archives.

----------------------------------------------

"I don't remember this case, can you fill me in, Simon?", Taggart asked the captain.

"Sure, Joel. That case was a big mess from the start. The mayor's daughter, she was 15 by that time, was kidnapped by Conolly. He was threatening to kill her, if he didn't received 200 000 $ within a two days limit. At first we had O'Donnel and McLean working on the case, they both got shot after they missed Conolly twice. He escaped with the girl. Jim and Jack managed to find him and got into contact with him. Our former mayor meanwhile had decided to pay the requested money, when he tried to deliver the money to Conolly, the mayor had suddenly drawn a gun. The girl at Conolly's side had no chance, he killed her and the mayor before Jim or Jack had even a chance to react. After that he was shot in the leg by Jim. He was judged to serve a life sentence in Seattle State Prison."

"That doesn't sound so good, Simon", Joel said.

"No, but there is more to it", Jim said, after he had listened to Simon's version, "as far as I remember Conolly had to take care of his little brother, because their parents had died a few years ago, I think he was as old as the girl maybe a little older. The kid had been with him when it all happened. He refused to accept that his brother had shot the mayor and his daughter and accused us for doing it, but when his brother was sentenced he looked as if his world had shattered and, then he........", his face suddenly went pale.

"Hey, Jim. What's wrong?", Simon asked concerned.

"Do you remember when the kid came over to me in court?", his voice sounded hoarse now.

"Yes. And?!"

"He'd asked me, if I had someone I cared for, when I said yes he said that I would regret taking his brother away from him someday.......................... Damn, Simon, I can't believe this. He was *just* a very upset kid! "

The door opened and Brown stepped back in several files under one arm. Jim eventually grabbed the files out of his hands. Soon he found what he was looking for.

"That's it ! His name is Brian Conolly, he is 22 years old now. Simon, we should check every Genlab for this name, we need any inform..........", he was interrupted by a sudden cry of pain from Blair.

----------------------------------------------------

Blair had tried to sleep after Taggart had covered him with the blanket. He had barely managed to drift off, when suddenly all his muscles seemed to cramp at once. It hurt like hell and he cried out in agony.

----------------------------------------------------

Jim was shocked by the sound of Blair's cry, he raced over to him and saw his body shaking with convulsions.

"Simon," he shouted, " I need to stick something between his teeth!", but before Simon reacted he used his own hand. Blair's teeth cut through his flesh and he began to bleed.

"Chief, come one everything is okay! You need to relax, Blair", he said through gritted teeth, his voice amazingly calm.

He began stroking Blair's cheeks with his free hand, and whispered soothing words to his guide.

Blair's eyes were wide open. Tears were streaming down his face and he had trouble breathing against the iron fist that seemed to press at his chest. He tried to concentrate on the motion of Jim's hand on his face.

Slowly, it worked but as the cramps eased up, he passed out.

Jim held the still body of his friend, blood slowly dripping from his injured hand.

"Jim, the medic will be here in a few minutes, you can let him go now!", Simon said standing at his side.

"Simon, I don't think he can take it any longer. We need to get that serum fast", he said slowly.

"Taggart, Brown. Check the labs for any trace of Conolly", Simon ordered the shocked men, who had just witnessed how serious this whole thing already was.

The minute Brown and Taggart were out of the door the medic entered for the third time on that day. He noticed Jim's bloody hand, "What happened, detective?"

Jim explained to him 'what just occurred , then he added, "Doc, I don't think he can take the pain any longer!"

After he had checked on the unconscious men, the medic said, "I'm afraid to tell you that there is nothing we can do to help him deal with the pain, it seems as if the morphine has already lost its soothing effect on him. He needs to relax. The best thing would be to call an ambulance and get him in ICU as soon as possible.........."

"*NO*, we can't do that", Jim said his voice raised.

"Alright, but there is nothing else I can do. The only thing I know is that it looks as if the virus doesn't pay attention to the time scheme", the medic explained.

"What?!", Simon and Jim both exclaimed.

"If I have the right information we have about 61 hours left. From what I heard on the tape the virus kills him if he doesn't get the serum in time, that means his system will probably start to shut down at the end of this time- period, but to me it looks as if he is not so far away from that. I guess you have no more than 48 hours to find that serum", he explained further, very aware that he was making the situation much more difficult.

"Oh my God", Jim slid down to the floor.

"That does not necessarily mean that I'm right........", the medic started in an attempt to help.

"No, you're right. Time is ticking away", Jim whispered.

"Can you please take a look at Detective Ellison's hand?", Simon asked the medic, but this was more to force Jim's attention away from his devastating thoughts.

"Sure, Sir"

The medic cleaned and bandaged the wound at Jim's hand. Jim didn't move, he just stared in front of him. Simon was beginning to think that he again had zoned out, then Blair stirred and Jim's attention immediately snapped back to the present.

The medic asked Blair how he felt and instructed him to lay as still as possible, because any movement could cause a new assault of cramps on his aching body, then he left.

--------------------------------------------------

"Jim,...I.....would....like.....to....talk...to....Simon...alone.........and I.....I...don't.....want .....you....to...listen...in..on........................he.......conversation,..can...........you..............you.... leave...us.... alone....for...a..few.. minutes?", Blair had to force out every single word, but he really needed to talk to Simon alone, because he knew what he had to say would drive Jim over the edge.

Jim looked him in the eyes for a last time, before he left the office.

After the door closed, Simon crouched down in front of the young man, "Okay, Sandburg. Now tell me what this is all about?"

"I want...I want to make sure......", he started shaking again, Simon grabbed him gently by the shoulders to steady him, "What do you want, Blair?"

"I want to make sure,....that you'll take care of Jim, when I......"

"Stop it, Blair. You're not going to die that easy, after all you've done for Jim", Simon interrupted him.

"Simon, I want to make this right", Simon looked at the pained expression on the face of the anthropologist and nodded.

"I promise you to take care of him", he said in a very serious tone.

"You'll need to get him a new guide", Blair continued, his voice gaining strength now, upon the importance of what he was saying.

"If it *ever* comes to that, I will do it myself", the captain said and was rewarded with a slight smile.

"My diaries containing the sentinel stuff are under the mattress of my bed in the loft. You'll need to read them if you want to understand the whole thing...........", his voice faltered again, "I can't do it, Simon. I can't leave like that. He needs me."

"Then don't", were the only words Simon said, before he hugged the smaller man and felt salty tears falling on his shirt.

*It's time for you to fight, Sandburg. You're not giving up so easily on everything that matters in your life*, Blair thought to himself, while he cried. This time the tears helped and he actually began to fell a little bit better.

After Simon had released him, he began one of his breathing exercises to calm down and fight against the pain.

He now had an aim to fight for. It was not only his life but the sanity of his Sentinel that was worth the fight.

----------------------------------------------

Jim had left the room knowing full well what his guide was going to tell Simon, but he had promised not to listen to the conversation, instead he went over to Brown to check for any news.

"You found anything?", he asked.

"No, I called every Genlab in Washington, but nobody knows the name Brian Conolly. Taggart checked the computer for an ID again, but came up with the same result. I guess he has changed his name", Brown replied.

"Damn, *Brown*, why can't anything work today!", Jim said, trying hard not to lose control again. This was getting to be to much for him.

"I'm sorry. I'll sent the composite to the labs now, maybe.....", Brown tried to calm the man.

Brown picked up the pic and went to the fax to sent it to the labs he had just recently called.

-------------------------------------------

Simon was still in the office with Blair while Jim was walking around in the bullpen like a caged animal. Suddenly Taggart and Brown came rushing towards Jim.

"Jim, we have a positive ID on our man. The Seattle Bios Lab identified him as one of their security staff. He calls himself Brad McLean.......", Taggart announced, his voice trembling with excitement.

"So, what are we waiting for. Let's go and get the bastard", Jim said and was about to run out of the door, when Brown's hand on his shoulders stopped him. "What?!", he exclaimed angrily.

"What about your partner in there", Brown motioned his chin toward Simon's office," you wanna leave him alone?"

*........Oh, and he will stay at your side all the time, no hospitals, otherwise I'll destroy the serum........*, Conolly's words echoed through Jim's mind. His expression changed from an angry look to the one of a very helpless man. " I can't leave him alone, but.....", Taggart stopped him.

"No buts, Jim. Brown and I are going to the lab. They have already said that they fired him since he hadn't showed up at work for the last two weeks. If we find out anything, you'll be the first one to hear from us. Now go and take care of Sandburg", the big man said and patted Jim on the shoulders before he and Brown went to the elevators.

"Joel, Earl. Thank you", he said before the elevator doors closed behind them.

Blair actually felt like he had regained a little control over his battered body again. He still had cramps in his legs and was still shaking, but he knew that the breathing exercise was helping him to relax.

Simon stood up from his crouched position on the floor and sat down on the edge of the couch.

"Do you feel okay now, Sandburg?", he asked in a gentle tone.

Blair opened his eyes, "Yes, Simon. I need to thank you......", he started.

"It's alright, Blair. I'm here for you whenever you need to talk, but don't tell that to Jim", the captain said and reached out for the cup of tea on the table besides the couch.

"Here, you need to drink something", he held the cup for the anthropologist while he drank.

------------------------------------------------------------

Jim stood outside the office and watched Simon talking to Blair and giving him something to drink.

*He looks better than when I left*, he thought, feeling hope rise inside of him. Then he went to knock on the door.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Simon and Blair heard the knock and they both knew that it was Jim standing in front of that door.

"You ready, Blair?", Simon asked.

Blair looked him in the eyes and nodded.

"Come in, Jim", Simon said in a normal tone, knowing full well that Jim was able to hear him due to his abilities.

The door opened and the Sentinel stepped in, his gaze fixed on his guide.

"Simon we have a positive ID on Conolly. He changed his name to Brad McLean and worked for the Seattle Bios Lab security staff", he said still looking at his friend trying to judge his reaction.

Blair showed no reaction, he was too absorbed with his breathing exercises to get the importance of what Jim had just told them.

"Brown and Taggart are out there to get more information", Jim continued.

"Does this mean they went there without any backup, Jim?", Simon asked and stood up to walk over to Jim.

"Yes, Simon. But there is no reason for backup since Conolly was fired for not showing up at work for the last two weeks. They're calling in as soon as they have any news", he paused a moment and looked at Simon before he started again, "Is he okay?"

"I think he is now, but you should take him home. He needs his bed to rest properly, Jim. It's already 5 p.m.. I promise I'll call you immediately if I hear anything from Brown and Taggart", he stopped and waited for Jim to answer. He had no hope that Jim would actually take Blair home.

"Ok, Simon. Can you help me get him into the truck?"

Simon stared at him in disbelief, "That means you'll take him home?"

"Yes, Sir. I don't think there's nothing else I could do right now", the Sentinel said and walked over to his guide.

"Hey, Chief. How are you holding up, buddy?", he asked his friend.

No reaction, Jim threw a questioning glance at Simon.

"He's doing some kind of a breathing exercise, he probably missed our conversation", Simon whispered.

This time Jim touched Blair's arm before he addressed him again, "Chief?"

Blair snapped back from his self induced trance and fixed his gaze at Jim, "Hey, Big Guy"

"Welcome back, buddy. How are you feeling?"

"Actually, I think I feel like a 80 year old man, but otherwise I'm okay", he tried to joke and finally Jim began to smile.

"Do you think you're up for a ride home, Pops?", Jim asked, his voice a mixture of teasing and gentle concern.

"Home? You mean my own bed? Sure, Jim, but I don't think I will be able to walk."

"No problem", Jim said and scooped him into his arms for the second time on that day. This time Blair was not embarrassed by the action.

"I see you two are ready. I've sent a patrol car over to the loft. They will take care of your safety during the night", Simon said and went to open the door.

They reached the truck after a few more minutes and Jim eased Blair into the passenger seat

and buckled him in. Then he turned around to face the captain, "Thank you, Simon"

"No problem, Jim. Take care of Sandburg. I'll keep you informed about the situation and I want you to call me if his condition worsens, okay?"

Jim climbed into the driver's seat, "Yes, Sir", then he started the truck and drove off into the direction of the loft.

---------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile at the Seattle Bios Lab:

Taggart and Brown had met with the head of the Security, Glen Corkindale, in front of the entrance of the huge laboratory. He'd showed them around and now handed them the personnel file of McLean.

The picture in the file matched the composite drawing they had from Conolly due to the statement of Steve Morris. They checked his personal data and called the station to see if the address Conolly had written on the form checked out. He hadn't filled in any telephone number.

The result came back almost immediately, the street did not exist neither in Cascade nor in Seattle.

The Security Chief confessed or told them that during the 3 months preceding Conolly's disappearance, things from the lab had been stolen including a sample and some technical equipment part of a project the lab was currently working on. A further investigation after the theft brought no results.

As Brown and Taggart had further questions concerning the project, they were introduced to Professor Cunningham the leader of the research group. The professor explained them that they were working on the development of a serum against several viruses on behalf of the government.

The sample that was stolen contained a mixture of several viruses. They hadn't found a serum yet.

"Do you think someone like Conolly could use the sample to built a special kind of virus?", Taggart asked professor Cunningham.

"No, detective I don't think so. You need to get your doctorate in biology to understand the basics of the work we are performing here. I've met McLean, or whatever his name is, several times and he seemed to me not exactly intelligent, if you understand what I mean. Now I must excuse myself, gentleman, but we're in the middle of a difficult experiment", he had just finished his last word when he was out of the door.

Brown raised his eyebrows and looked at Taggart, the big man just shrugged his shoulders.

Corkindale opened the locker Conolly had used to store his clothes while he wore the security uniform. A jacket was still inside, hanging on a coat-hanger.

Brown got a plastic bag from the car and placed the jacket inside the bag for further investigation at the station.

Taggart gave the security chief his card, before they started their drive back to Cascade.

It was 8 p.m.. According to the medic there were only 44 hours left.

---------------------------------------------------------

Jim was driving down the streets leading to the loft but instead of concentrating on the street he glanced over to where Blair was half lying half sitting in his seat.

"Jim, I would feel safer if you would focus your attention on the street instead on me", Blair said after Jim nearly missed a red light. Then he added, "I'm okay, big guy"

Jim pulled the truck to a halt at the side of the road.

"I know what you talked about with Simon, Blair", he said staring at the steering wheel.

"You listened?", Blair asked obfuscated.

"No, I promised not to, but who couldn't guess what you were up to say, Chief", Jim answered and focused his gaze onto the blue eyes of his partner. "Blair, I want you to know that I'm very proud on how you handle the situation, but if we lose this fight...if I lose you I don't wanna...."

Blair interrupted him before he was able to finish the sentence," No, Jim. We're not going to lose this fight. It took some time to convince myself about that, but I'm sure that we can walk out of this together. My mother told me once that you could do everything if you believe in it and that is what we need to do now. I believe that we are going to get the serum in time and you should do that too."

"Okay, I believe that we'll win, but it is so hard for me to see you suffer without being able to help", the Sentinel said.

"I know it, but you are there for me and that is the greatest help for me right now", Blair reached out and touched Jim's hand, "Can we drive home now, it's getting a little cold in here"

Jim turned on the heater before he started the car. It was not that cold in the car which meant Blair's fever was up some degrees again.

They arrived at the loft 10 minutes later. Jim noticed the patrol car standing across the street from the entrance. He parked the truck in its usual space and helped Blair out of the seat.

Jim carried his friend all the way up to the apartment, once inside he gently laid him on the couch and tried to catch his breath.

Blair's clothes were soaked through with sweat, Jim had to tune down his tactical sense while he had carried him. The Guide was burning hot.

"Blair, you wanna stay here on the couch or in your bed?", Jim asked his friend.

"Couch", Blair mumbled.

"Okay, I'll just get your pillow and blanket."

"Hmm" Blair was tired. The day had taken his toll on him.

Jim returned with the blanket and pillow and found his guide sleeping on the couch. He covered him with a thick blanket and went to the bathroom to get some wet towels. Then he returned and wrapped two wet towels around Blair's legs and covered them with dry ones, the third towel he placed on Blair's forehead. He had remembered his mother doing the same to him whenever he had a high fever in his childhood.

After he got a pitcher of cold water from the kitchen and the portable telephone he sat down in font of the couch. Thoughts of what happened in the two years since he had met Blair wandering through his mind.

---------------------------------------------------------

Taggart and Brown arrived at the department a few minutes past 9 p.m.. They went straight to Simon to inform him what they had found out at the lab. Simon called the forensics lab and sent the evidence bag containing Conolly's jacket down there after he'd made clear that he wanted the results as soon as possible.

"Where is Jim?", Taggart asked the captain.

"He took Sandburg to the loft one hour ago. The kid really needed some rest", Simon explained.

"Sir, do you think he'll make it?", Brown asked.

"I don't know, Earl. I really don't know. When they left he seemed to feel a little bit better, but he wasn't able to even stand alone", Simon said and shook his head in defeat. He was tired as hell since he hadn't slept in two days, but he would never go home without knowing Sandburg would be okay again.

"Simon, you said they are home now. What about safety precautions?"

"I've a squad car stationed there and I had the telephone wired earlier today, in case Conolly calls again", Simon answered while he filled his coffee cup for what seemed the hundredth time that day.

Both men looked at each other, acknowledging in silence what they were thinking, and then, Taggart said, "Captain, if there is a possibility we would guard the loft tonight too, just in case.........."

Simon knew that both of them really cared for Blair and he also knew that if he would keep them at the station they wouldn't be a great help, since their thoughts were obviously somewhere else.

"Okay, guys. But under one condition, I want you to stay in permanent contact with me, as soon as we have any lead on the whereabouts of Conolly you'll be here within 10 minutes. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir", Taggart and Brown vanished out of the door.

Simon picked up the phone and dialed Jim's number.

------------------------------------------------------------

Jim was still deep in thoughts when the telephone started ringing.

"Ellison"

"Hi, Jim. It's Simon. You two okay?"

Jim sighed, "He's sleeping, his fever is up to 104"

"Damn. Taggart and Brown returned from the lab. It seems as if Conolly has stolen a sample from the current project they are working on. We received a list of the contents of that sample, but nothing fits the virus the lab found in Sandburg's blood. The Leader of their research group told them, that he doesn't think that Conolly is able to built anything out of it. They checked his personal data. The address he has filled in the blank does not exist, but they found a jacket in his locker Forensics are checking it right now. I have put an nationwide warrant out on him every hospital and airport is informed."

"That's not the news I hoped for, but anyway thanks, Simon", Jim said.

"Are you sure can handle this on your own, Jim?", Simon asked. He had noticed the weariness in Jim's voice.

"Yes, Simon. Keep me informed, okay?"

"Okay. Take care, Jim. Bye."

"Bye, Simon", Jim heard the line disconnect and placed the telephone back on the table.

He turned around and faced his sleeping guide, some strands of hair were covering his face so he reached out and carefully removed them.

*You don't know how much you mean to me, Chief. If it wasn't of you, I would be dead by now*, a single tear started to run down his cheek and soon was followed by more. Jim cried silently for a long time, until he heard Blair's breathing pattern change and he knew that he would be awake in a second. Quickly he brushed his hand over his cheeks to remove the traces of his tears.

"Jim?", Blair's voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I'm here, Chief", Jim reached out and touched Blair's hand for confirmation.

"Jim, I'm so cold.....I can't get warm", his teeth chattered.

*You're not cold my friend, you're burning hot*, Jim thought and stood up from his place on the floor. He walked over to the fireside and started a fire.

Blair was trembling uncontrollably when he returned. Slowly he eased himself on the couch, cradled Blair to his chest and covered him again with the thick blanket.

The heat pouring from the body now laid against him was barely tolerable for him, but he held onto his friend and began rocking him slowly.

After a while Blair finally went back to sleep. Jim closed his eyes too, but all of his senses where focused on his guide. If anything changed he would be awake within the second.

----------------------------------------------------------

It was nearly midnight when the telephone rang again, Jim carefully picked it up not wanting to disturb his friend.

"Hello"

"Hey, Ellison. Did I wake you?", a male voice sounded through the receiver, "How's your buddy doing?"

Jim knew that this was Conolly, this time it was his real voice not the computer generated one he had used before, "Conolly, what do you want?", he hissed into the handset.

"Oh, I guess you figured out my name. You're good, detective. Release my brother now and I'll eventually give you the serum", Conolly continued unimpressed.

"Your damn virus is killing him, he has no time for anymore of your games", Jim continued trying to force Conolly to stay on the phone for the 40 seconds they needed to figure out his position.

"I'm *sooo* sorry for your friend. RELEASE MY BROTHER ELLISON", Conolly said still sounding unimpressed then continued, "You'll never get me cop", a click and the line disconnected after exactly 35 seconds.

"Damn", Jim had to force himself to stay calm.

He punched on the speed dial button that would connect him to Simon's office.....

------------------------------------------------------

Captain Simon Banks sat in his office still waiting for the results of the forensics analysis on Conolly's jacket.

The door opened and a uniformed officer stepped in.

"Captain Banks, there has been a call to Detective Ellison's apartment, but......", the ringing of the telephone stopped him in mid sentence.

"Banks"

"Simon, he called", he heard Jim's voice sounding through the receiver.

"Jim, wait a moment", Simon said and focused his attention on the young officer now standing in front of his desk.

"Were you able to track the call down, Chandler?"

"I'm sorry, Sir. The time period was too short, he disconnected the line after exactly 35 seconds."

*Damn*, Simon thought. "Okay, thank you, Chandler"

The young man turned around, left the office and closed the door silently behind him.

"Jim, the time was too short, we couldn't track the call down". There was silence on the other side.

"Jim?"

"I heard you, Simon", Jim's voice was trembling, his whole body was tense with unreleased anger, the dead weight of his friend lying on him forced him to stay still. He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down.

"Everything okay, Jim?", Simon asked concerned.

Instead of answering the question Jim said, "Simon, there has to be something", after a short break he continued, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything you want."

"Please come over here and bring the recording of the call with you."

"Okay, I'll be there in 20 minutes."

"Oh and Simon, bring your key to the loft. I don't think that I'm going to be able to open the door."

"Jim....", but Jim had already hung up the phone.

Simon grabbed his coat and left the office to get the tape.

The clock he passed when he left the bullpen showed 1 a.m..

-------------------------------------------------------

"Is he coming?"

The three whispered words startled Jim, he looked at his guide and saw the amazing blue eyes staring back to him. "I thought you were sleeping, Chief", he stated and slowly shifted into a sitting position on the couch.

Blair was now sitting between Jim's legs, his back leaned against the muscular chest of the Sentinel, " The ringing of the phone woke me. It was him, right?"

"Yes, buddy", Jim turned his tactical sense up again and reached out to touch the forehead of his friend. It still felt too hot, but the fever seemed to have dropped to 101.

He grabbed the glass of water he had earlier placed on the table, "Come on, Chief. You need to drink this. We've got to bring your fever down"

Jim coaxed Blair into drinking two glasses of the much needed liquid, before he stood up and went to the bathroom to renew the wet towels he had wrapped around Blair's legs.

----------------------------------------------------------

Simon arrived at the loft 15 minutes after he had talked to Jim on the phone. He was not surprised, when he saw Taggart and Brown walking towards him from across the street. Concern was clearly visible on their faces.

"Captain, something wrong with the kid? He isn't ....", Taggart asked.

"No, he is not", Simon answered the unfinished question.

"Thank God", Brown whispered and Taggart looked as if a huge weight had been lifted of his shoulders.

"Conolly called 30 minutes ago, but the line was disconnected before we had a chance to track the call down. I'm here to check on them", he explained to the two men, "I want you two to stay alert and keep your eyes open, maybe Conolly is around here somewhere"

Taggart and Brown nodded and slowly started to walk back to their car.

Simon walked to the entrance to the building, but before he opened the door he turned around and watched the two crossing the street.

*He's going to make it , guys*, he thought to himself and then entered the building.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Jim was still in the bathroom, when he heard someone climbing the stairs towards the loft. He went back to the living room and opened the door before Simon was able to insert the key.

"Hey, Simon. Come in"

Simon passed Jim, hung his coat up on one of the hooks at the wall and glanced over to the couch where Blair was struggling to sit up. He handed Jim the tape and walked over to Blair. Jim followed suit.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Blair was desperately trying to get up, he had the thought on his mind that he needed to leave this place as fast as he could.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, Sandburg. What's wrong?", Simon asked and extended his hand to help the young man sitting up.

Blair stared at the man standing in front of him, there was no recognition in his eyes. He stopped struggling, but kept staring at Simon. Suddenly his expression changed and a look of fear spread on his face.

"Go....GO....AWAY", he started mumbling at first, but with every time he repeated the words, his voice sounded more hysterical, at last he was screaming.

Simon stepped back immediately, Blair was obviously scared of him, he was not just screaming, but kicking with his legs and trying to get away from him.

Jim stepped forward and tried to calm his friend down, Blair's only reaction was to kick him against the shins. Blair's heart was racing so fast, Jim was afraid he would suffer a coronary. He motioned Simon to step behind the couch and grab his friend.

As soon as Blair felt something touching his shoulders, he began screaming even louder, "LET ME GO !!!"

Jim had only one way left to calm him down, *Sorry, Chief*, he thought before he knocked him unconscious with one single punch to the chin.

The screaming stopped instantly and Simon slowly laid the now still form of the anthropologist against the cushions.

Jim sat down on the table in front of the couch rubbing his eyes with one hand, the tape Simon had given him was lying on the floor now.

"I...I can't believe this, Simon. Ten minutes ago we talked and now he's totally out of it.....", he whispered.

The captain walked over to him and placed a hand on the Sentinel's back.

"You had no choice, Jim......."

"His heart was racing so fast, I thought if I couldn't calm him down he would die of a heart attack. There was ....." he paused a moment to swallow, "there was no other way than to knock him out."

"I know, Jim. You had no other choice. He is delirious, because the fever is too high. Do you have any idea how to bring it down?"

"I wrapped him up in cold wet towels and for a moment it helped, but now it seems as if his temperature rises again", he glanced at his Guide, who looked like he was not very far away from meeting Dr. Death itself.

"Jim, you said wrapping him up in wet towels helped, how about if we lay him in the tub filled with cold water?", Simon asked.

Jim nodded, "Sounds like a possibility. Let's do it."

Simon started to the bathroom but before reaching it he became aware of someone knocking on the door and went to open it.

Outside a group of Jim's neighbors was gathered.

An old woman stepped forward, "We heard someone screaming. Is everything alright?", she asked.

Jim realized that it was Mrs. Evans, the old woman who lived next door, who had asked the question and went also to the door.

"Sorry for the disturbance. Mr. Sandburg, my roommate, had a nightmare, but he's okay now. I promise it won't happen again", he addressed the group.

They did look less than convinced, but Mrs. Evans patted Jim on the shoulder and said, "Everybody has bad dreams once in a while. Try warm milk, it always helped my children", then she turned around and went back to her apartment the others followed her example.

Jim closed the door and returned to the couch. Simon went to the bathroom to fill the tub.

Soon the sound of running water echoed in the loft.

-----------------------------------------

Carefully, Jim undressed his friend. He had stripped him down to the cotton boxers when Simon stepped back into the living room to announce that the tub was ready.

Minutes later they had placed Blair in the cold water, Jim was kneeling on the floor besides him holding his head up, careful to not let him slip beneath the surface.

---------------------------------------

Simon was standing in the door for several minutes watching Sentinel and Guide. A tear started slipping from his eyes.

Suddenly he remembered the tape and went again to the living room to get it.

Jim watched his captain leave and turned his attention back to his Guide.

Blair was still unconscious, but his heart rate was almost back to normal and his body slowly relaxed. He reached out with his free hand and stroked the wet hair out of Blair's face.

With the tape in his hand Simon returned, "I don't know, if this is the right moment, but you asked me to bring the recording of the call......"

"Yeah, the tape. I would like to try something, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it without him", he glanced to his helpless guide and then turned to Simon, his eyes pleading.

Simon shrugged, "Well, since he won't be able to help you and I'm here, maybe you can take your chances with me."

"I'm not sure.............Okay, let's try it. Do you remember the case when we had that team from True Crime with us?", Jim asked.

"Yes, how can I ever forget about that"

"Okay, do you also remember when Blair explained how I was able to find them in the warehouse?"

"He said, that you were able to filter out the background noise from the recording.....Wait.....Is this what you want to try?"

"Exactly. Maybe there is some kind of noise that can give us clue on the whereabouts of Conolly"

"Alright. What do you want me to do, Jim?"

"At first, I would like you to get the tape recorder from Blair's room"

Simon immediately went to get the requested recorder. He returned to the bathroom and positioned it on the floor in front of the tub.

"What now?"

"Now we have to switch positions. You'll need to hold his head while I'm concentrating on the tape"

They changed places, Simon was now holding Blair's head and Jim was sitting on the floor with his back against the tub.

Then Jim continued, "Simon, you'll have to keep me from zoning out. Do you know how to do that?"

"Yes, Blair explained it to me after the Golden incident"

He could almost picture the young man, now lying deadly sick in the water besides him, describing in his always excited manner how to handle a zone out.

"Start the tape now, Simon", Jim instructed and Simon did as he was told.

--------------------------------------

When Jim closed his eyes he saw nothing but images of Blair flashing through his mind, he had to force his thoughts on the task ahead and after a few more seconds he was able to focus his hearing on the tape the way Blair had teached him.

At first he only heard Conolly's voice, Simon had to rewind the tape twice before he was able to detect anything else. But then he heard the sound of waves brushing against wood, the cry of a sea gull and the very distant sound of music.

-------------------------------------

It was when Simon played the tape for the third time, that Blair regained consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, it took him a few moments to register where he was.

Simon felt the movement on his arm when Blair turned his head. He looked at him and was more than relieved, when he saw that Blair's eyes were almost clear again. A smile crossed his face and he motioned him to be silent.

------------------------------------

Jim slowly was drawn into a zone out, he'd strained his hearing to the limit, because he wanted to identify the distant music on the tape. Now the sound of the spanish music mesmerized him.

------------------------------------

Blair was too groggy to realize that Jim was zoned and Simon had not enough experience to register the signs of a zone out on an early level.

It was the sound of Simon's ringing cellphone that brought Jim back. Simon picked it up and Blair leaned his head back against the cold porcelain on the top of the bath-tub.

Jim shook his head several times to clear the cow webs and the turned around to find Blair staring at him.

"Blair, how are you?"

"Don't ask, but it is getting cold inside of here. Maybe you can help me get out"

Jim slowly stood up and grabbed some towels from a rack, he helped Blair out of the tub and checked his temperature to recognize relieved, that it dropped again. But this time Blair had spent nearly 25 minutes in the cold water.

Simon left the room while Jim managed to get Blair out of the tub and dried him with the towels. He helped Blair get dressed in some sweat pants and in one of his own huge sweatshirts.

He carried Blair back to the couch, covered him with the blankets again and forced him to drink some more water.

Simon finished his call and sat down in front of them, "That was Selena, they found no prints on the jacket. But they found salt crystals attached to the cotton fibers, which means that it must have been exposed to the salty air on the waterfront throughout a long time period."

-------------------------------------------

It was 3 a.m., Jim Ellison sat in front of the couch Blair Sandburg was lying on, Captain Simon Banks chose the table in front of them. He had just announced the results of the forensic analysis on Conolly's jacket.

Surprisingly Blair was the first who started to speak after hearing the news, "Does this mean he lives at the waterfront?", he asked.

"Not necessarily, but it might be a clue", Simon answered. But buried deep in his mind, hidden to the others, he thought, *Half of Cascade is at the waterfront and while we'll be checking everything we'll be running out of time*.

Jim seemed to guess what Simon's thoughts were about, "There was something on that tape, Simon. I heard water, it sounded like waves brushing against wood, maybe a boat or a wooden pier. And I also heard some mexican music playing from a distance........"

Blair interrupted him, "From a distance ? Like what ? A car radio ?"

"No, Chief. It was more like the live music they play in bars."

"Okay, you two. I think I should head back to the department to get a list of all bars on the waterfront. Meanwhile I want you to rest, and I include you in this statement, Jim. You don't look so good either", for the first time Simon registered how tired his friend looked, dark circles under the eyes, pale as hell, not as pale as Blair was but pale enough for the Captain to notice it.

After Jim had reassured Simon that they would be fine, the Captain left the loft.

Outside he met again with Taggart and Brown and updated them about the situation. He ordered the two men to stay there until he returned.

-------------------------------------------------

After Simon had left, Jim brought his attention back on the shivering form of his friend lying behind him on the couch.

"Are you cold, Chief?"

"No"

Jim turned around, alerted that something might be seriously wrong with his Guide.

"Hey, come on. What's going on, buddy?", he asked, trying to force his voice to sound as gentle as ever.

"I....I'm.....afraid."

"It's okay. I promise you we'll get the Serum, Partner. Remember what you've told me earlier you have to believe in it", the Sentinel said and locked his gaze with the eyes of his friend.

"It's not about the Serum. It...It is that I'm afraid of the pain", tears started forming in his eyes, "I can't take anymore of this pain, Jim. I...I can't...........", his voice broke at the last words.

Jim hurried to get up from the floor and sat beside Blair on the couch, he had clearly heard the sound of defeat in those words.

Blair was starting to cry in earnest now, soon his sobs were muffled by the fabric of Jim's shirt, when he was embraced by his friend.

The crying didn't last longer than a few minutes, but Blair did not let go of the fistful of Jim's shirt, that he had grabbed, he clung to the Sentinel as if he was his life preserver.

"You feel better now?", Jim whispered into his partner's ear after a few more minutes.

Blair did let go of him immediately, "Sorry"

"There's absolutely nothing you need to be sorry about, Chief. Now, I want you to listen to me, okay?"

The answer was a nod followed by a sniffling sound.

"I know that you've experienced a lot of pain during the last hours, and we both know that there will be probably some more pain ahead of you until we have the Serum. I'll be at your side all the time helping you however I can, but as much as I want to, I can't take the pain away from you. You can give up right now and right here or you can fight. Which way do you choose ?", Jim was aware that his last words sounded harsh, but he knew that they needed to be said that way.

"Fight", Blair whispered and stared at the blanket covering him.

"Okay, Chief. Do you know what's the best thing against pain?"

"Aside from my potions and your pills: No."

"Distraction."

"Distraction?"

"Yes, and I think we should start trying some kind of distraction right now."

"Sure, as long as I don't have to participate in something that requires any kind of movement", Blair stated.

Jim was relieved, to hear that the defeated undertone had vanished from the voice of his friend.

"No, I promise you need to do nothing else than to listen", he flashed a small smile to his friend before he continued, "Do you remember when you wanted to know my lifestory, starting with the day of my birth ?! Well I think now is the time to fill you in on the details...............", and with that Jim started talking.

Blair was totally stunned to hear from somebody as private as Jim, who never mentioned more than one sentence about his personal course of life.

Listening to his friend, the pain, that seemed so threatening and overwhelming a few minutes ago, was forgotten.

-------------------------------------------

Simon was sat in his office since 45 minutes waiting for the results of the computer defined search on bars at the waterfront. He was chewing on one of his unlit cigars when the door opened and Karen D'Angelo stepped in, one of the computer experts of the department.

"Captain Banks", she walked towards Simon's desk and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of him.

"Miss D'Angelo", Simon greeted her and then continued, "So what have we got?"

"Well, this", she placed about 5 sheets of paper on the table, "are the bars within reach of the waterfront. And this", she reached for a another sheet of paper, " is the result after I refined the search strings to bars that play south american live music."

Simon picked up the stack of papers lying now in front of him, "I didn't know that we have that many bars in Cascade. How many are on these papers?"

"We have exactly 35 bars in Cascade that are at the waterfront or somewhere really close to it, but only 20 of them host live music and only 9 of them spanish live music."

"Okay, Miss D'Angelo. These results will probably help us very much. Thank you"

"No problem, Sir."

Simon watched her standing up and leaving his office, than he grabbed his phone.

----------------------------------------------

Jim had talked for the last hour and was about to tell Blair why he had joined the army when the telephone interrupted him. Both men immediately tensed when the ringing started. Jim slowly picked up the receiver.

"Ellison"

"Jim, we have a list of bars that fit our profile."

"Hey, Simon. That's the first good news today", mentioning Simon's name the tension left their bodies. Blair slumped back against the cushions of the couch while Jim sat down on the table.

"We have 9 bars to check. I'll order Taggart and Brown to come back to the station then we'll go and check if anybody there knows Conolly."

"Sounds good, but what did you mean with ordering Taggart and Brown back to the station aren't they at home?"

"No. Watch out of your window and you'll see their car just across the street. They refused to go home earlier, because they were really concerned about the kid, Jim."

Jim left his place on the table and walked to the window. With his Sentinel vision he could clearly see both men sitting in the dark blue Ford across the street.

"Oh, well I guess they really care about him."

"Yeah, you could say that. Now how is it going? You two had some rest?"

"Not exactly, but we are having a nice long conversation."

"Okay, then. I'll get back to you as soon as I have any news."

"Thank you, Simon. Bye."

Jim watched the car through the window a little while longer, recognizing that Taggart picked up the radio and the car started finally into the direction of the department. He turned around when he heard the sound of Blair's growling stomach.

"Sounds like you could need something to eat, Chief."

"Not really, Big Guy", Blair made a disgusted face, but Jim was already rummaging through the cupboards in the kitchen.

"Have I told you what my mother used to do when Steven or I were sick?"

"No"

"Well, she sat at our bedside and told us stories all day long and then she fetched us this really good chicken soup.......", he paused a few moments then cursed, "Damn where have I placed the beef cubes."

Blair smiled at the image of little Jim lying in his bed with his mother sitting at his side reading from his favorite story book, then he heard the curse, "Try the cupboard in the middle they must be behind the bean cans."

There was a loud noise when one of the cans crashed to the floor, "Oh, shit........ah......there they are."

Jim started again talking about his life, while he prepared the chicken soup for his friend.

Blair closed his eyes and tried to focus his hearing on the voice of the Sentinel, soon he drifted off into sleep.

20 minutes later he woke up to the smell of fresh soup, Jim sat at the table again holding a bowl of the steaming meal under his nose.

"I didn't know that my life is that boring", he said.

"No, it is very interesting........", Blair tried to reassure him.

Jim started smiling, "I was just joking, buddy."

"Oh", now Blair started smiling too.

Blair ate nearly half of the bowl, before the pain started again.

Jim placed the bowl on the table and helped his Guide to relax the way he had helped him in Simon's office the day before.

-------------------------------------------------

By 6 a.m. Simon, Taggart and Brown had checked every one of the 9 bars with no result. Most of the bars had been already closed and in those which were still opened nobody seemed to know Conolly.

They returned to the loft to fill Jim in on the news.

This time all three men entered the building.

Brown and Taggart wanted to convince themselves that the anthropologist was okay.

They knocked on the door, but nothing happened. Simon used the key Jim had given him a few months ago to open the it.

Jim was lying on the floor besides the couch deep asleep, even his hyperactive senses hadn't registered the visitors. Blair was curled into a fetal position on the couch, his face covered with strands of his long curly hair.

Simon motioned the other men to be as silent as possible as they entered the loft.

Taggart and Brown walked over to the kitchen table and sat down there. The Captain continued his way over to Jim and crouched down in front of him. He reached out and patted softly on the shoulders of the Sentinel.

Jim was awake within one second, he seized the intruder by the arm and dragging him to the floor. Suddenly he realized that it was Simon and let lose of his throat immediately.

"Sorry, Simon."

Simon rubbed his bruised wrist, "It's okay. My fault", he stood up and extended his hand to help Jim off the floor too.

Blair was still sleeping.

Soon all four men were sitting around the kitchen table, everyone of them held a steaming cup of coffee in his hand.

"We showed the people we met on the street the composite too, but either they didn't recognize him or they didn't want to tell us what they know", Brown finished the explanation of what happened to them while they were asking around at the bars and on the streets.

Jim clenched his jaw and shook his head, "We have to find him", he stopped a moment then asked, "Do you have the list of the bars with you?"

Taggart handed him the requested paper, "Why?"

But Jim didn't answer the question focusing his attention on the piece of paper he held in his hands.

After going over the names and locations of most of the bars he suddenly snapped his fingers, "That's it!"

"What?!", the other three men exclaimed.

"Which one of you checked the "La Cuervos" near the old pier?"

"I guess that was me", Simon answered, "It was closed. Why?"

"Simon, remember what I told you about the tape.......It sounded like waves brushing against wood."

Taggart throw Brown a questioning glance, but Brown just shrugged his shoulders.

"The old pier consists of wood", Jim continued.

"Hell, you mean he could be somewhere close to that location?", Simon asked.

Jim simply nodded.

"Now what are we waiting for. Let's go", Brown announced.

"Hey, hey, guys. Take it easy. I checked that part of the harbor nobody knows Conolly there", Simon tried to calm the over enthusiastic man down.

"Wait a moment, Simon. Maybe if I check that part again............", Jim started.

"There is noth......", Simon interrupted him, but than it hit him that maybe Jim was able to find something with his senses, "Okay, but what about your friend here?", he asked and pointed in the direction of the couch.

Before Jim had a chance to answer, he heard a small but steady voice:" I'm fine, Jim. I can come with you".

All four of them turned around amazed to see the young man sitting on the couch. He looked better then he had since they saw him the last time.

"I don't think that is such a good idea, Chief......."

"Don't start with that again, Jim. You said I needed distraction, now what do you call this?"

"You're sick, Sandburg", Simon intervened.

"Yes, I 'm. But sitting around won't help me", he slowly tried to stand up.

Taggart rushed over to him and catched him just in time as his knees gave way, "Hey, kid. Take it easy!"

Jim was also at Blair's side, he turned around and said, "I really would like to talk to my partner for a few minutes alone."

Simon, Taggart and Brown walked out on the balcony to *enjoy* the great outlook.

"What is this all about, Chief?"

"If you go there, you'll have to concentrate on your senses to find him. What if you zone out? You need me, Jim."

"I won't zone, Blair. I promise."

"You can't promise something like that, and you know that damned too well, don't you?"

"Okay, I can't. But I'm absolutely positive that I won't take you along with me."

"Jim, please", Blair started begging now, "don't leave me alone. Remember what he said would happen to the Serum if you leave me alone."

"STOP", Jim said, "I know very well what he said. You are not even able to stand up, how do you think you'll make it if I drag you along?"

"I can stand", Blair was determined to go with them to the harbor. The last 3 hours of sleep seemed to have restored parts of his energy, he felt absolutely no pain and his fever was now not more than barely recognizable.

"I'll tell you something, buddy. If you can stand up from this couch on your own and walk to the door, I'll take you with me."

After nearly five minutes and a lot of sweat Blair stood at the door, he had fulfilled his task.

Jim helped him to change his clothes and then they drove to the harbor.

Simon sat with Jim and Blair in the truck. Taggart and Brown were following them in their own car.

-------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile Brian Conolly was sound asleep on his old houseboat near the old pier. He dreamed about the reunion with his beloved brother.

--------------------------------------------------

It was now Sunday morning 8 a.m. , 40 hours had passed since the whole nightmare had begun.

After a 15 minutes drive, they arrived at their destination.

Blair had promised to stay in the car as long as Jim was within earshot. Taggart stayed with him while Simon and Brown were asking some early risers about Conolly.

The door to the "La Cuervos" was closed, but Jim could see through the greasy windows that a woman and a girl were cleaning the place up. He knocked at the door.

A few minutes later, the woman opened, he showed his badge and entered the bar.

"I'm sorry to disturb you so early in the morning, ladies, but this is an emergency", the woman looked at him with huge eyes.

"Sorry, Detective. My mother does not understand english. Maybe I can help you?", the girl offered.

"Well we are looking for this man", he showed the composite drawing to both of them, "Have you seen him around here during the last 36 hours?"

The older woman immediately started shaking her head, "No!"

After a bit of hesitation the teenager also denied to have seen Conolly, but Jim was monitoring her and he was able to detect that she was lying.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but if you see him please call immediately this number", he handed her his card.

"Mr. Conolly is seriously sick he needs help", Jim continued with a lie, then he left.

Well, it was not exactly a lie, Conolly was a psycho he needed professional help.

He was about to walk back to the truck when the door behind him opened and the girl came out.

"Wait a moment, Detective. Can I have a look at the picture again?", she asked.

Jim handed her the drawing, "Sure, Miss. Do you remember him?"

"I'm not sure, but I think he lives on an old houseboat down by the pier."

"Thank you very much, Miss?"

"My name is Maria Cortez."

"Okay, then. Thank you Miss Cortez"

"Maria", the old woman from inside called.

"I have to go now, Detective", she said and turned around, but before entering the building she turned back to Jim and asked, "You'll help him, don't you?"

Jim flashed his sweetest smile, "Sure"

Then she was gone.

He walked back to the car and filled Taggart and Blair in on the news then he went to find Simon and Brown.

Soon they spotted the place at the old pier, where the houseboat according to Miss Cortez's statement should be. But in that part of the harbor were not only one but 20 old houseboats and they all looked the same. The owner of those boats rented them to people that couldn't afford to rent a regular apartment.

Jim at first focused his sight on each of the boats, but there was nothing unusual. Then he focused on his sense of smell and suddenly it hit him. There was a strong chemical smell coming from one of the boats. It overwhelmed him immediately. Simon grabbed him by the shoulders and slowly laid him on the ground.

Blair managed to get out of the car and to Jim's side with Taggart's help in record time. He dropped down on his knees besides the Sentinel.

Simon ordered Taggart and Brown to get the first aid kit out of the car, not because he needed it but because he knew that Jim had zoned out and he wanted to distract the men long enough so that Blair could bring him back.

Blair switched into Guide mode, and started whispering into the Sentinel's ear.

Brown and Taggart returned in time to see Jim opening his eyes and sitting up.

"Hey, Jim. You okay?", Taggart asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I guess the last two days were just a little bit too much for me."

He stood up and dusted his pants off, before reaching down again to pull Blair up from the cold ground.

The Guide was shivering again.

"Taggart do me a favor. Get him back into the truck and turn the heater on."

Taggart put Blair's right arm around his neck and helped him walking back to the truck. Brown followed them to open the door.

"Simon, I think I know on which boat he's on."

"How?"

"Do you remember when Blair asked me at the University to check Conolly's note."

"Yes"

"I smelled a chemical substance on it, the same smell is coming from that boat", he pointed towards one of the houseboats 20 yards away from them.

"And you think this is Conolly's boat?"

"Yes, I think so. I can hear someone sleeping in there. We should move in and get him."

Brown returned and Simon filled him in on their plan.

The three men slowly advanced towards the boat.

-----------------------------------------------------

Conolly never knew what happened to him. He had been sleeping and now Jim Ellison was nearly strangling him.

"Where is the Serum you bastard", Ellison yelled at him.

The hands around his throat were blocking his air passage, and slowly all the color drained from his face.

---------------------------------------------------

Simon and Brown were tried to pry Jim's hands away from Conolly's throat.

They had caught the man by surprise, he'd been sleeping. Jim was all over the place within a few seconds, he found nothing that looked like a serum. Then he turned all the pent-up anger on Conolly.

"JIM, LET HIM GO", Simon shouted.

No chance. Jim showed absolutely no reaction except hardening his grip on the man's throat.

Taggart and Blair had heard Simon's shout, and Blair convinced the Big Guy to take him to the boat.

"Jim, you need to let him go if you want the Serum", Simon tried again.

This time Jim heard him and did let go. Brown dashed forward and handcuffed Conolly.

Conolly had a hard time regaining a normal breathing pattern.

"Where is that Serum, Conolly?", Simon asked.

"I don't know", breath, "what you're talking about, Cop", breath.

That obviously was the wrong answer, Jim turned back to him, his eyes cold as stone.

He grabbed Conolly at the collar of his dirty sweatshirt and pulled him forward until their faces were only inches apart, "YOU TELL ME WHERE THAT SERUM IS, NOW! OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

Conolly nearly wet his pants at the pure hate he saw in the eyes of Ellison. He had no doubt that the Detective would kill him without a second thought.

"Okay, I'll tell you where it is. Just get Ellison away from me", after Jim stepped back he continued, "it's in the toaster."

Jim checked the toaster, the he turned it around and a small glass ampoule filled with a green liquid dropped into his hands. He showed it to Conolly, "Is that it?"

"Yes"

"Okay, how does he need to receive it?"

"You need to inject it."

"You have a syringe?"

Conolly did not answer.

"DO YOU HAVE A SYRINGE?", Jim asked louder now and stepped closer to the man again.

Conolly saw Ellison coming near him again he immediately answered, "Hell, yes. There are some in the right cupboard."

Jim opened the cupboard, took one of the still sterile wrapped syringes. He plunged the needle into the liquid and filled it. After he checked for any remaining air bubbles, he left the boat.

Simon and Brown were left alone to deal with Conolly.

Jim walked along the landing-stage towards Blair and Taggart. They had just stepped on the landing-stage and stopped immediately when they saw Jim walking towards them.

Blair was relieved when he saw the syringe Jim was holding in his right hand.

A few minutes later, Jim had injected him and helped him back to the truck. Now he sat there besides his Guide while the Serum made his way through his system.

------------------------------------------

Simon and Brown had secured Conolly. Now there were standing 15 yards away waiting for another police car to arrive. Taggart had called an ambulance for Blair and was presently walking towards the street to show the medics the right direction.

"Jim.....", Blair whispered.

"What's wrong, Chief?"

"Jim....I...feel...so....cold."

Jim touched Blair's hands, they were cold.

"Hang on just a moment longer, Chief. The Serum will probably help you get warm again. And then you'll have a nice warm bed in the hospital", the Sentinel tried to reassure his friend.

Then suddenly Blair's whole body tensed, "Jim....I...I...can't...breath."

Jim instantly focused all of his senses on his Guide, he heard the painful rasps as Blair tried to suck in air, but the most frightening sound to him was that he could hear Blair's heartbeat slowing down, "Chief, come on don't do this to me."

He hurried to get his friend out of the car, then he laid him down on the wet ground.

"Blair, come on. Breath. I know you can do it."

Blair's eyes were wide open, the color of his lips slowly began to turn into a bluish shade. He was still conscious.

"C...a...n..'...t", then his eyes closed and he lost consciousness.

"NOOOO, SANDBURG !!!", Jim screamed.

Simon and Brown turned around when they heard the sudden scream of Jim. They saw Blair lying on the ground and started running.

Jim could clearly hear Blair's heart slowing down until it finally stopped. The moment it stopped, he zoned out.

Brown was the first one to arrive at their side, he checked Blair's pulse and breathing, "Captain, he is not breathing, I can't feel any pulse."

When Simon kneeled down beside Jim on the ground, he registered that the Sentinel was unconscious too, "Oh no."

---------------------------------------------

Blair was floating in total darkness. The first thing he registered was that he was able to breath again, then his feet touched the ground. He turned around, but there was nothing there just total darkness.

"Am I dead?", he asked, not realizing that he was asking the question loud until he suddenly heard an answer.

"No, Guide. Your time is not up", a male voice echoed around him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the guardian over the mankind", the voice answered and suddenly an ancient man materialized in front of him. The ancient was dressed in some kind of tribal clothes.

Blair's first instinct was to step back, but the man laid a hand on his shoulders, "There is no need to be afraid of me, Guide."

The eyes of the man glowed like the eyes of a cat in the darkness.

"Why am I here?", Blair asked.

"Because you need to know some things, Guide", he stepped closer to Blair and continued, "Your time is not up yet, my friend. You are much needed Your destiny is to guide the Sentinel to help him save the tribe. He needs you as much as you need him."

"What do you mean?"

"It is your fate to guide the Sentinel", the man repeated.

"I understand."

"You'll need to go back now, Guide. The Sentinel needs your help", the ancient shapeshifted into a huge black panther.

"Go now, Guide", the words echoed all around him. The panther brushed his head against Blair's legs than vanished into the darkness.

"Don't forget your fate................"

-----------------------------------------

The medics arrived at the scene only seconds after Simon and Brown had started CPR on the anthropologist.

They rushed over to where the body was lying on the ground and hooked him up to their equipment immediately.

They' d worked for a few minutes on the unconscious man, then one of the EMT's announced that they had a heartbeat and a pulse.

Meanwhile Simon had tried to come through to Jim. He was about to give up when he heard the EMT announce that they had stabilized Blair.

In exactly the same moment Jim opened his eyes.

"God, Jim you scared the hell out of me"

Jim was not surprised to find the black panther sitting beside Blair. The cat stared him in the eyes for a few moments and then vanished into the air.

"Sentinel and Guide bounded by destiny", Jim heard the words clearly in his mind.

------------------------------------------

Blair was rushed into the hospital, but they found no trace of the virus left in his body. After several days he was released and followed his Sentinel back home. The bound between them had grown from a great friendship to something beyond imagination.

Conolly was sentenced to spent 20 years in the same jail his brother was imprisoned.

------------------------------------------

The End

Well, that was the first long fiction I ever wrote. I would like to thank all the people that encouraged me with their comments to finish this. But most of all I would like to thank my roommate Claudia , Christina who helped me a lot when I got stuck somewhere in the plot and who was also one of my beta readers, Andromede who was my other beta reader and saved me from a lot of translation problems, Karin (I'm really looking forward to "Eyes of Blue") and Bilson and DeMeo for creating such great characters.

*Thank you*

************************************************

"The Choices we make dictate the live we lead"

************************************************