Connectivity: senses working overtime.

Content warnings: pedestrian v car mention.

Blair's first clue that something might be wrong as he stepped into the apartment, was the set of keys lying on the floor- not in the bowl as per instructions and Jim's own ingrained habit. He picked them up and put them in the bowl.

"Jim?" he called out and dumped his rucksack by the door with a thud.

The second clue was Jim himself. Jim, who liked neatness and order, was slumped on the couch (still wearing his jacket) with the throw draped haphazardly across him, one cushion already threatening to slip out from under his head. He looked awful.

Blair Sandburg didn't know what it was exactly, but it had shanghaied Jim and taken him down fast. He'd come home early, relishing the chance to play some loud music and light a few candles, and had discovered an ailing Jim instead. His brow wrinkled in confusion, Jim had been fine this morning. Hadn't he?

He went to his roommate.

"Jim? What's up big guy?" he watched as Jim's eyes slowly blinked open and focussed on him.

"Hey, time izzit?" Jim asked tiredly.

"3.30, how long have you been home?"

Jim thought about it for a second "Lunchtime?" he guessed.

"Okay, did you eat something bad? Breathe something? Someone throw crappy liquids at you? What?" asked Blair worried.

"None, of the above," Jim replied with a faint smile. "Just don't feel right…"

"Okaaay," drawled Blair, inwardly digesting this tasty fact and getting nowhere with it.

"Feel…really tired and achy. Was cold but now I'm feeling a bit hot. Probably some 24 hour bug," Jim suggested.

"Yeah, could be. I'll get you some Tylenol and some water. Do feel like eating? Perhaps you'd be more comfortable upstairs in your bed? You look a bit squashed there." Blair fired off questions at Jim in his anxiety.

"I am thirsty, not hungry though. Don't think I have the energy to get up and down the stairs, Chief."

"Right. I'll get some bedding so you're more comfortable down here instead."

So he did. The rest of the afternoon and evening passed slowly and quietly. Blair tried not to fuss too much and Jim lay there and let the virus do its thing- he had no other option. As the night wore on he grew more restless and feverish.

He was so hot. The air felt humid and heavy, smothering him. He was slick but could not get cool. He gasped for air and shifted position again, hunting for a cooler spot.

TSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTS

A street. A busy street, lots of traffic on the roads, pedestrians going about their business.

Feet in ratty sneakers on a skateboard. Gliding, swerving in and out of people, the board rumbling loudly on the sidewalk. Swerving one last time, board catches and sneaker feet stumbling off and a body weight taking a man by surprise. The man stumbles into the road…

A covered body lies on a gurney in an ER Trauma room.

A nurse walks down a corridor clutching a clear bag with a bloodied flannel shirt, a Rainier University library card visible at the bottom. She meets a tall bespectacled black man and shakes her head sadly at his question and points back to the Trauma room.

TSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTS

Jim fell off the couch with a thud. He groaned and rolled over, relishing the cool floor for a few seconds before his brain kick started. Blair. He needed to find Blair.

Staggering to an upright position and weaving slightly he made his way to the small room and opened the door. Looked okay. Sound asleep, sprawled in as much disarray as the rest of his room. He started searching the room. Blair woke up as a stack of books slid over with a thump.

"Wazz goin' on? What are you doing Jim?"

"Skateboard." said Jim as if this made perfect sense- which it didn't to Blair.

"Huh?"

"Get rid of it."

Blair had no clue what Jim was doing or why. He got out of bed and grabbed at Jim, to make him stop. He was not prepared for the scorching heat he felt when he did so.

"Jeez, Jim you're burning up!" Blair was really worried now, high fever could be dangerous. He managed to steer Jim out and into the bathroom, turn the shower onto tepid and gently nudge Jim into the stall. After a few minutes he turned the shower off and got towels for Jim. Jim seemed to rouse a bit and sluggishly dry himself and put dry boxers and t-shirt on.

Blair steered Jim back to the couch and got some water and Tylenol for him. He laid his hand on Jim's arm- still hot -but not as bad as before.

"Blair?" Jim said.

"I'm here. I'm okay. And so will you-I hope. Maybe we should go…"

"No, hosp…"

"You want to go to hospital?"

"No!"

"Okay, we won't." soothed Blair when he saw how agitated Jim got at the mention of the word hospital.

Blair sat and worried and watched him fall asleep again.

Morning

Jim woke up feeling uncomfortable. The sheets, blanket and his clothes were all sweaty. The temperature he'd had last night must have finally broken. He had vague memories of bits of a dream, wandering round the apartment – but mostly of feeling lousy and very hot. He sat up and rubbed his face, his hand scraping across his stubble. He took a moment to take stock of things.

He stood up and swayed a little "Chief, you get the number of the bus that ran me over?" he said to the slumbering sprawled room mate in the opposite chair, only his curls visible.

"Nughhh?"

"I'll take that as a no then…"Jim muttered as he slowly made his way to the bathroom, desperate to get 'un-sticky'.

Blair woke up properly when he heard the bathroom door shut. Jim had seemed so ill last night- no- early this morning. He vaguely remembered the fever breaking in a sudden burst of heat and then Jim sleeping soundly. He waited for Jim to emerge.

"It wasn't a truck that ran you over but a teeny tiny virus! You still look bad but you really scared me last night, man."

"I did? Sorry. Don't remember much."

"Look it's after 8am .You want me to call Simon and take another sick day?"

"Yeah, thanks. Gonna be no good to anybody today."

The shower and eating some toast took all of Jim's remaining energy. Finally, yawning he climbed the stairs to bed. He was sleep again before he knew it.

Returning later that day Blair had a minor sense of déjà vu, although Jim's keys were in the bowl, Jim was once again on the couch. Obviously nodded off reading a book. A mug and bowl sat on the table in front of him. 'Well at least he's eaten.' thought Blair.

"Is it that time already?" asked the object of his observations.

"How are you doing?"

"I feel a lot better thanks."

"Good."

And that was that. Although Jim could not get rid of his unease that something was about to happen to Blair. He drove Blair nuts checking where he was going, and when he'd be back. Blair had asked why he was searching his room the night he was ill but Jim was unable to put into words the images he'd had. He just kept telling Blair to be careful and to take the car whenever he could.

"Look, I'll be back when I am…dad!" said Blair exasperated and dodging the head thwap Jim aimed at him.

Nothing happened and life continued as before and Jim surrendered the power his fever dreams had over him.

Jim was with Joel on a task force investigating a series of bomb threats to city officials. Following some leads from a snitch, a device was discovered and Joel called his squad in to disarm it. Then another threat appeared and the snitch was found dead. Whoever it was, meant business and it was escalating. But the latest note was easier to decode and the device was isolated. Joel and his team steered the min-bot camera to look at it. It wasn't the same as the first one. Joel recognised it and knew what to do. As Joel walked towards it in his gear, Jim dialled up his senses. He waited while Joel disarmed it. As Joel stood up and turned saying "All clear!" stripping off his gloves and goggles- Jim smelt and heard something. He yelled to Joel to 'run, get out,' but he was still caught in a minor blast.

He ran to Joel and was relieved to find he wasn't too badly hurt. His warning had spared him from greater harm. One of Joel's team ran over with the special First Aid kit the Unit had. Jim secured the scene and made phone calls while Joel's burns and cuts were attended to as they waited for the ambulance.

About an hour later Jim drove to the hospital to check on Joel's condition. He could spare a little time off the investigation to do that.

While he waited in the burns unit, one of the desk clerks came up to him.

"Detective? I got a message from your Captain saying your friend Blair Sandburg is downstairs in ER and he needs you to come immediately. He's…."Jim lost the end of the sentence as he bolted down the flights of stairs to the ground floor.

Heart thumping, he tried to calm himself down as he pushed open the stairwell door and jogged along red pathway to ER. At the desk he asked for "Blair Sandburg" and the clerk pointed him along the corridor, he ignored the shouting behind him. As he walked down it a nurse appeared with a clear plastic bag with bloodied clothes and personal items in it. Simon appeared from another corridor and asked her a question pointing at the bag. She shook her head and pointed up the corridor. The same direction as Jim was going.

This seemed horribly familiar. He knew what was coming now. He had dreamt it after all. He steeled himself as he got to Simon.

"Jim! You got the message then? I'll go up and see Joel in a bit."

"Blair?"

"This way."

"His clothes, stuff?"

"We can sign for them at the desk, later."

They got to a Trauma room and Jim pushed the doors open.

"Jim! You can't go in there!"

"Why not? I need to see…"

The door swung shut behind him and he ignored Simon's repeated calls. He heard him go away muttering.

Jim walked slowly to the gurney. It was very quiet and still in the room, but Jim was very aware of the ever present bustle and the ebb and flow of life around him. Only here was it still. There was still the tang of blood and chemicals and electricity buzzing in the air. There was almost a taste of desperation in the room.

He could not believe this was happening. Not Blair. Not like this. Just as he'd discovered what it was like to have a good friend and working partner after all these years it was going to be torn away from him. His heart broke as he went to pull the sheet away.

"Jim! Don't! They need to clean him up first!"

At first Jim could not comprehend what his ears were telling him. Blair's voice?

His fingers twitched the sheet back and he looked down anyway. He recoiled in surprise.

"Jim!"

He dialled up smell and realised Blair's scent was behind him. He turned and saw Blair in green scrubs. Jim stared at him in shock.

"What?" he said his voice rose in disbelief. Dimly he noted Blair still wore his own sneakers, just the clothes had changed. He smelled soap, grit, traces of blood and….Blair was upset.

Blair come over and gently moved the sheet to cover the face of the young man lying there. And when he touched Jim's arm, worried by Jim's stillness, Jim came awake again. Suddenly Jim reached out and hugged him, breathing him in.

"I thought…you…bloody clothes…"

"It's okay"

"You were all bloody. You fell off the curb into the road..."

"I'm here. I'm okay sort of."

"You were dead. I….saw it.."

"Not me, a student. But I was there, that's how I got all messed up and I tried so hard…until the ambulance came…"

Jim felt Blair hug him back as events caught up with him. The door swung open and a nurse came in.

"I'm sorry but we need to clean up in here before his family arrive. You'll have to leave now."

"Yeah, okay." Jim replied and they left. They sat in the corridor. Simon was conspicuous by his absence.

"So, what …happened..?" Jim asked.

"I don't think I can do this another time, once was enough with the uniform in ER while the docs were working on Stefan…. So, just stick with me until family arrives and you can hear it then." Blair said staring at his clenched hands in his lap. He slumped in the chair and leant his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

Silence reigned.

"Did Simon call you?"

"Sort of. I was here to check up on Joel and…"

"Wait! Back up. Joel? What?!"

"We found another device and Joel disarmed it, but there was as a secondary. I tried to warn Joel…"

"Oh my God! Is he going to be okay? You left him alone?"

"Whoa, hang on a second, Chief. He's got some flash burns and cuts and bruises. My warning got him further away from the blast than if I hadn't heard something."

"So you're telling me Joel and you or the Unit almost got blown up this afternoon? And you were dialled up when it happened! Jeez."

"He'll be okay, I was waiting for further information when I got Simon's message that you were in ER."

"You mean you don't know how he is? Let's go now! Not everything is about me!"

"Wait, Simon's gone upstairs. And I had a second to dial down. I knew something was wrong. It was too easy."

"And you're okay?" Blair asked checking him over visually.

"Yeah I was further away."

"Okay then." And Blair heaved a big sigh. The nurse came out of the Trauma room.

They sat next to each other and waited on uncomfortable plastic chairs. Blair drifted, emotionally drained by events. Jim sat on watch. Blair needed his support for the final act of the day and he could not abandon him now.

Jim noted a minor commotion at he end of the corridor. A nurse went to fetch a doctor who then talked to an anxious couple that had arrived. The trio went into a side room. Jim could hear the muffled anguished cries. He waited and nudged Blair as the doctor came out with the couple and headed towards them.

Blair wiped his face with his hands and stood up as they all went into the Trauma room. Out of respect Jim and Blair stayed outside. Positive ID was made and the parents hugged and cried. The doctor talked some more and gestured to Blair outside. Jim stood next to Blair, his hand tightened momentarily on Blair's shoulder as they came out.

Jim watched and listened as Blair described the accident- a meaningless chain of random events, leaving horror and death in its wake. How Blair was unable to prevent Stefan from being accidentally pushed into the road after the skateboarder came off and fell into him. How he said he was okay and stood up, seconds before the car hit him. How Blair tried to stop the bleeding and had to do CPR with another bystander until the ambulance arrived.

The parents were grateful but shattered, Jim could see that. What else was there to say? They thanked Blair and went back into the room to be with their son.

Jim tugged Blair's arm "C'mon. Let's see how Joel is doing and then go home."

"Why did you think it was me, Jim? I told Simon I was okay, to tell you that I was fine, but I'd be late."

"I didn't get that part of the message, I left in a hurry."

"Oh."

Jim didn't think Blair had the energy to go up several flights of stairs, so they got in the elevator. Back in the burns unit they found Simon.

"Sandburg, how are you doing?"

"I'm okay, Simon." Jim shook his head behind him.

"How's Joel?" Jim asked.

"The burns are painful but shouldn't be life threatening. He'll be in for a while to check there's no infection and to change the dressings. Could have been a lot worse from what I hear."

"That's good. Can we go and see him?"

"Best to check with the desk first."

So they did. They got to visit Joel who was not in too much pain and glad to be alive. He thanked Jim for the warning. They didn't stay long so that Joel could get some rest and begin recovering.

The day wasn't over yet. There was still a bomber out there and the taskforce would be working round the clock. It was only a matter of time. But for now Sentinel and Guide needed a little 'time out' to re-group. Simon headed back to HQ. Blair picked up his possessions bag at the front desk and said he'd return the scrubs soon. The nurse smiled at him. Life was returning to normal, Jim thought as he watched Blair. They burst out of the doors and into sunshine, heading for Jim's truck

"Hang on. What did you mean you 'saw' it Jim?"

Jim sighed as he reached in his pocket for the keys. Blair was right to ask. He couldn't explain it. The dream- vision- whatever it was had been right and wrong at the same time. Or was it just the product of an over heated brain?

Like he needed another sense to add to the others! What next- seeing ghosts?

He started the truck, it was going to be a long drive home, but at least for now Blair wasn't dwelling on the accident. Although he was sure it would take some time for Blair to come to terms with it.

"Jim?"

END.