Disclaimer: I own nothing, yak, yak, yak…
Rating: G
Summary: Snapshot of Blair, student in another man's worlds.
Notes: Written exclusively for the Sentinel Angst list. Since I'm now no longer a member, I'm placing all the fics here.
"Blair"
By NorthernStar
"What you doing out here, Chief?"
There was a bitter wind screaming across the police department roof, snatching the words from his lips. Jim shivered in the icy darkness, his pupils expanding, chasing away the gloom. Sandburg sat on the edge of building, one arm linked through the fixed iron ladder that snaked up the side of the department and crested up to terminate on the small wall surrounding the roof tiles. He was staring out at the tall, gaily lit buildings of Cascade, huge monoliths that cut the grimy sky and robbed the city of the splendour of the night's sky. The young mans breath ghosted in the air, almost as if he were smoking. It was the only movement Jim could see.
"Its pretty cold out here, Sandburg, you wanna come inside?"
The kid didn't answer, didn't even move.
Jim huddled further into his jacket, quietly cursing to himself and came closer. His vision zoomed in on the bent figure of his friend, picking out the sheen of goose pimples across his skin. The kid was woefully underdressed, wearing only the joggers and T-shirt he'd been given when forensics took his clothes.
"Thought you couldn't stand heights."
Still no answer. Worry started to creep in.
"Chief?"
He frowned; worry giving way to real anxiety. Jim stopped beside Sandburg and glanced over the edge.
"Blair?"
The lights from the cityscape reflected on Blair's skin, splashes of bright gaudy colour mottling the cream, and played on the moisture in his eyes. Jim sat down beside him and watched his friend's profile. Blair continued to stare silently out at the city. The city spoke back – distant alarms, car horns, traffic… somewhere in the ether, a chopper circled, blades slicing the heading wind.
"Long way down." Jim commented, filling the airy void between them.
"Yeah." The words were raspy, coming from dry lips. Hearing it, Jim realised Blair probably hadn't had a drink for nearly a day. Probably hadn't eaten either. Damn.
A single ringlet escaped from behind Blair's ear and fell across the one eye Jim could see. He watched it dance in the wind, bobbing and tossing. Jim's eyes followed it, narrowing down to the individual hairs making up the lock, each spun in on the other, feeling all the time, the familiar grounding of Blair's presence.
"You did real good back there, Sandburg."
A slight flicker of a smile twitched at the young man's lips, reacting to the praise.
"Kept your head." He continued, "kept everyone calm."
Blair's grip tightened on the ladder. "Not everyone."
"The old lady?"
A faint nod.
"Coroner hasn't got back to us with the post-mortem yet, Chief, so he hasn't confirmed this, but when I asked him at the scene, he said the old lady probably had a pre-existing heart condition and she could have collapsed at any time. The stress from the robbery probably didn't make a difference." He leant in. "OK?"
Blair shuddered and then carried on shuddering – shivering, Jim realised, and probably still shaky from the adrenaline of being caught up in the robbery, tired and hungry from sitting through the long hours of hostage negotiation. And being out on this rooftop wasn't helping any.
Jim shrugged out of his jacket and laid it around his friend's shoulders.
"I saw what you did, Chief, on the bank CCTV. You kept a lot of frightened people from getting hurt." He shook Blair's shoulder. "I was proud of you, Sandburg."
Blair's head snapped around and Jim had to force himself not to flinch at the anger in his eyes. "I didn't do anything to stop them, man, not even when they-" The words choked off and Blair's grip shifted on the ladder. Jim felt a rush of fear that his friend was going to jump, and berated himself for the stupidity two seconds later. Blair took a steady breath. "Not even when they just tossed that woman's body aside and carried on as if nothing had happened." He finished quietly.
"You did exactly what you should have done, Chief. You kept down the casualties. You couldn't have stopped them and if you'd have tried they'd have killed you and maybe some of the other hostages. Sometimes being the hero isn't about storming in, making grand gestures and cuffing the bad guys; sometimes it's about keeping your mouth shut, doing what you're told and making sure you keep everyone safe."
"Is it?"
"Yeah." Then he got up. "Now how about we go inside? There's a cup of coffee down in Major Crimes with your name on it."
Slowly Blair untangled himself from the ladder and stepped away from the side. He wobbled, probably low on sugar and about ready to crash. Jim steadied him.
"Chief?"
A half smile appeared. "I really don't like heights, man."
---Fin---