A/N: Since I am not a native speaker and I don't have an english Beta at the moment, I apologize for eventuell mistakes I overlooked.
The Prey
Jim watched Blair intently as he read the letter the police department had send him. He watched as the shoulders of his guide fell in a silent defeat. He did not have to read the letter to know what was written in it. After all, he was the one who had set things in motion. He was not really interested in hurting Blair even more, but it had been necessary after Simon nearly had destroyed his opportunity to get his guide finally into his own stronghold in Peru. But he wont held it against his captain. He was his friend, at last, he was the friend of the Jim Ellison persona he had created for his daily police work.
Jim Ellison, hero extraordinary…how someone could believe this bullshit, Jim would never know. His father has taught him early on that you should always look out for your own interests first. Jim never went to the army to protect his country. He went to get the skills necessary to be a fearsome fighter.
Sometimes Jim wondered how people could be so gullible. Which soldier would stay in the jungle and try to complete his mission after his whole unit had been killed? Not even the rangers were THAT dedicated. Jim stayed first because he was hurt and unable to hike out. Later he stayed because he had discovered an opportunity.
He did not STOP the drug trading through the Chopec territories. He took over the business, made himself the most feared drug baron in Peru. When the army finally send the search team, he already spent more time on his big estate than in the jungle, drinking cocktails and fooling around with the pretty Alicia Bannet. It was luck that he was at the village to speak with Incancha when the chopper came. Luck and another opportunity. It was time to widen his operation.
It was a gamble, but the army bought his explanation about "waiting for his relief"…right. He supposed that narrow minded people will buy every kind of lie as long as it fits in their very own small world. The even gave him money for the time in the jungle, without ever questioning his story. Idiots!
Alicia was not happy with his decision and left his estate instead of taking care for it. Jim did not care. He supposed he loved her but he won't allow her to dictate his actions. In the following years he became the biggest crime lord of Cascade. Many people thought that "the panther" was only an urban myth, because he took great care to keep a low profile. Only a few people had ever met him personally and even fewer knew what he looked like. Nevertheless he managed a big network of criminals. Especially his time at Vice gave him enough opportunity to find the right people for his little but rapidly growing operation. Since he did his work as detective as good as possible (sometimes benefitting from his shady contacts), nobody in the police department ever suspected. Well, nobody beside Jack, but Jim just had to ignore the right request for backup to get him out of the picture. The scrutiny aftermath was a hassle, but it was also worth it because nobody thought about questioning his methods or his high solve rate again.
He had thought about leaving Cascade and going back to Peru when the hassle with the senses began. Incacha had warned him that he would not be able to suppress them infinitely and that he may loose control without his right guide, but Jim had not bothered to find him. Knowing that he had to get a grip as fast as possible, he decided on a dual course of action: Looking for help from modern doctors and searching for experts on the spiritual side of the problem.
He immediately recognized Sandburg as he walked through the door. He poked a little bit fun about his disguise, but decided against explaining him that he had already had taken a look on his paper about sentinels. He had planned to approach him after his (fruitless) visit to the hospital and now he did not have to do it as a beggar.
Admittedly, when he shoved Sandburg against the wall and smelled the sweet odour of a real guide, he freaked. He did not plan to meat his guide in this fashion. Luckily, Sandburg proved to be unusual ready to forgive. But also very law abiding.
Jim had found his guide, but surely the young man would not be ready to give everything up in order to life with a crime lord on an estate in Peru. And even if Blair was a free spirit, somebody was bound to care for him. A kidnapping may raise too much attention.
So he began his elaborate plan to make Blair dependent on him. First he paid someone to blow up the warehouse Blair was residing in under the disguise of a street war. To get Blair into his loft was the easy part. To hold him there was more difficult. Beside all the people who where out to get him (sadly Jim had to decide against killing Kincaid off like he did it with Lash, but he could make sure that Brackett had a little accident in prison), to ward of the females proved difficult. Especially Maya was a real risk, so Jim had to destroy one of his very own business partners to get her out of the picture.
When Simon decided to make a vacation in Peru, Jim saw his chance to capture Blair…to become missing in the jungle was a good way to vanish once and for all. He paid the chopper pilot to fake an engine failure and to leave Simon in the jungle. But he had not counted in the village and the children, or on the incompetence of Karl Reischer. The trip was successful because he could dispose of a potential thread, but he had to allow Blair to go back to the US.
Well, he was a patient man. Rather sooner than later the university would getting feed up with Blair's constant absence. And in the end, it turned out a good thing that he had to stay. This way he was there when Incancha came because of the actions of Cyclops oil. The damned company had no right to do anything on this land. Jim had purchased it for the Chopec as part of the agreement!
Before he died, Incancha warned Jim that Alicia was on the loose. He had a vision, telling him that she had now obtained her sentinel abilities. Jim knew, one day they would cross path again. When he had the first visions of he spirit animal, he reacted impulsively, evicting Blair out of his life. He knew his guide would forgive him his erratic behaviour, but he won't be as understanding when he learned that he was involved with a criminal. Or at last that was, what Jim thought. Turned out that his naïve guide used his very own explanation for the obvious connection between the two sentinels. The same he created when Laura tried to lure Jim in her scheme. Pheromones…Jim would never allow pheromones to control him that way. He simply loved dangerous woman. The biggest kick was being with Caroline, risking to get discovered every day.
Although nothing worked like he had planned it, in the end he was the winner. He had still Blair, Alicia (or Alex) was out of the picture and he had gotten new powers. His senses were better than ever. But he was also getting more and more desperate to go back to Peru.
He deliberately ignored the problem Blair had with Ventriss, knowing that the university would more likely dismiss Blair than risking to lose a lot of money. He was right, but when Brad Ventriss, the little idiot, attacked Blair physically, he had to do something. But he got another opportunity. To allow the dissertation getting leaked to the press (he controlled every mail that was send from Sandburg's computer) had been a gamble, but he had been sure that Sandburg would feel guilty enough to deny his own work. He had been right. And now it was finally time to lock the trap.