Title: On The Edge
Summary: Snowy roads make for an interesting trip.
Disclaimer: I don't own them
"I really can't believe we're doing this." Blair Sandburg glared at his partner, blue eyes narrowed. "Only crazy people would be out driving on mountain roads on a day like today."
Jim Ellison sighed, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. "Chief, we've been over this already. Simon needs us back first thing in the morning. It's a four hour drive, and I don't want to wait too late to get started. The roads are only going to get worse."
"So why don't we just find a hotel and go back tomorrow afternoon?"
"You know why!" Ellison frowned over at his partner and then returned his eyes to the road. "There are already too many people out of the office between vacations and that flu that's going around, and Simon needs us!"
Sandburg ran a hand through shoulder length curls and sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just get a bad feeling about this. It's crazy!"
Ellison grinned. "Well, then it's right up our alley! Now settle back and relax. We're going to be fine. I *am* a sentinel, remember? I can use my senses to drive carefully."
"It's not *you* I'm worried about!" Blair grumbled quietly, leaning back in his seat. "But you're not the only driver on the road, you know."
" We ...will...be...fine!" Ellison spoke each word slowly and distinctly. "Now let's change the subject."
Blair glared at him, exasperated. "Fine. In that case, I have some tests I've been wanting to try..."
The trip had progressed without incident for nearly an hour, and Sandburg finally managed to relax. Staring out the window of Jim's truck, he watched the falling snow transform the forest into a postcard. The trees stood tall in a white blanket, the branches laden down with their heavy burden. Although it was still early afternoon, the headlights picked up the sparkle in the snow. He listened quietly to the crunch of the tires on the road, the whine of the windshield wipers completing the scene. As a child he had loved
scenes like this one. Now he knew better.
"Uh oh, what's this?" The truck slowed as Ellison watched the road up ahead.
Blair looked up sharply, wondering what had caught his partner's attention. Up ahead the traffic had come nearly to a complete standstill. Jim slowed the pickup, keeping with the flow of traffic. Blair's heart jumped as the tires jerked on the slick road before finding traction.
"Uh, .…Jim?" He looked over at Jim accusingly. "I think we may be in trouble here. You *do* realize that we can't stop now even if we try? There are no side roads through the middle of a national forest, and there are no shoulders on this road!"
Ellison relaxed his tight grip on the steering wheel and forced a carefree expression to his face. "Chief, you worry too much. How many times do I have to tell you we'll be fine?"
"Yeah, right. Well I still say that we should stop at the next town and spend the night. Simon will understand!"
"Once we get out of the forest and onto the highway it'll be a piece of cake!" Jim reached across and patted Blair on the shoulder. "It won't be too much longer now."
Sandburg glared at his partner again and looked back out at the road, staring silently at the long line of traffic snaking away from them. The front of the line of cars was far enough up the road that he couldn't see it. Glancing over his shoulder, he was surprised to notice that the line also stretched behind them as far as he could see. Traffic was moving so slowly it was impossible to maintain a steady speed. This caused all of the vehicles to stop and start frequently, often slipping on the icy roads. The icy *mountainous* roads. Blair swallowed hard as the next large downhill stretch came into view.
Jim eased the truck slowly down the hill, keeping a consistent speed and keeping well back from the car in front of them. As they neared the bottom, Blair looked off to the side in relief. "Good thing we're almost down from there." When Jim looked at him quizzically, he gestured off to the side of the road. "No guard rails. Scary!"
He looked back at the area in question, cringing as he thought of what could have happened. The side of the road stopped about three feet from the drop-off, which looked pretty severe, judging by the tops of trees protruding beside the road. He wondered again why there was no guard rail.
"Now what is that idiot doing?" Jim's harsh question broke into Blair's reverie and pulled him back to awareness.
"What?" He twisted his head back to see what Jim was watching in the rear view mirror. His heart started pounding as he spotted the problem.
There was a red eighteen wheeler behind them, and apparently the driver had tired of the slow traffic. He was attempting to pull into the oncoming lane. Blair wasn't sure if he was trying to pass or merely to see what was holding things up, but it really didn't matter. He had hung back toward the top of the hill, and as Blair watched in horror, the truck began to slide sideways down the hill.
"Jim!" Blair's voice was tinged with desperation.
Ellison was watching the road behind him, so he almost didn't notice when the cars ahead came to an abrupt stop. At the last minute he stepped on the brake, and the icy road caused the truck to slide toward the shoulder. The slide only lasted a few seconds before Jim regained control of the truck, but it was enough to twist the direction of the truck at an angle.
Blair's head jerked as he twisted to look back at the truck which was still sliding steadily down the hill sideways. As he looked back to the front, he realized what Jim had already concluded. The truck was going to hit them, and they had nowhere to go. The traffic ahead was still stopped, and if they tried to move the pickup, chances were high that it would take them off the edge of the road since that was the direction it was heading.
Blair looked quickly back at Jim. "Jim? Uh..I'm open to suggestion, man. What do we do here?"
Jim hesitated, then came to a decision. "Get out. Jump out of the truck. It'll be safer outside than in here." As he spoke, he swung his door open. "Go!" With one backward look at his partner, he lunged from the vehicle.
Blair groaned, closed his eyes and , pushing the door open, jumped from the truck. He hit the ground hard, skidding across the icy pavement on his stomach. When he stopped his slide, he shook his head to clear it. His heavy coat and gloves had protected most of him from the friction as he slid, but as he lifted his head, he was aware of a burning sensation on the side of his face.
He had barely had time to recognize that he was all right when the sliding rig hit Jim's pickup with a crunch.
Jim's leap from the truck had propelled him nearly to the bottom of the hill, sliding past the stopped cars in front of him. The cold flakes landing against his skin distracted him for a moment, but he quickly turned down his sense of touch. Sandburg! He swung around to face the pickup just in time to see the eighteen wheel rig slam into his truck.
The force of the blow sent the pickup sliding forward, pushing it off the edge of the road. Jim winced, pushing himself to his feet. What had happened to Sandburg? The rig came to a stop at the cliff, and Ellison's heart froze as solid as the road as he realized that it was sitting directly over the spot he had last seen his partner.
"Sandburg!" He scrambled back toward the truck, barely aware of the driver swinging his door open and climbing shakily to the ground.
"I am *so* sorry! Are you okay, Mister?" The driver came toward him, shaking with reaction.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ellison snapped. "Where's my partner?"
"I don't know," the man quavered. "All I wanted to do was check out the problem up ahead. I couldn't control it. My God, what have I done?"
"Shhhh." Ellison made an abrupt motion to silence the man's apology. "Be quiet for a minute." Concentrating carefully, he extended his hearing. There! He heard it! A heartbeat...coming from beneath the truck. Almost afraid to look, he knelt down and peered warily under the vehicle.
Spotting a hand lying under the truck, he flattened himself to the ground and inched his way beneath the rig. "Sandburg? Blair? Can you hear me, Buddy?"
The hand moved as he made his way toward it. "Jim?" The voice was soft and weak, but it sounded wonderful to Ellison.
"Yeah, I'm here, Chief. You hang in there. I'm going to get you out of here, okay?" As he pulled even with Blair's hand, he grabbed it, sliding his fingers up to
wrap around his partner's wrist. Blair's pulse was rapid but strong. He sagged in relief. "How ya doing?"
Blair rolled over toward his partner. "Jim, I'm not dead." He sounded entirely stunned about that fact. "I'm not dead!"
Ellison laughed. "No, you're not! Are you hurt anywhere?" He ran his hands quickly over Sandburg's arms and legs. He couldn't find any damage there.
"No, I'm okay." Sandburg began to move toward the road, climbing out from under the truck. Ellison helped him to his feet, looking him over critically. Other than a large scrape on his left cheek, there were no visible injuries.
"Are you sure you shouldn't sit down? Are you okay?" Ellison nodded gratefully as someone wrapped a blanket around his shivering partner. Looking around, he realized that everyone had gotten out of the stopped cars and were milling around, talking excitedly.
"Hey, Jim?" Blair's blue eyes looked steadily at Jim, reclaiming his attention.
"Yeah?"
"That wasn't any more fun this time than it was last time." Blair spoke the words solemnly.
"What wasn't?" Ellison struggled to make sense of Blair's unexpected statement.
"Getting run over by a truck. It still really sucked."
Jim looked at his partner, stunned. Then he spotted the twinkle in Blair's eyes and began to chuckle. "Yeah, it did, Chief. It really did!"
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Epilogue
By the time the police , ambulance and tow trucks had arrived, true darkness had fallen. After assuring himself of Blair's safety, Jim had peered over the edge of the cliff, startled to discover the pickup truck lodged nose down on a tree branch only a few feet below the edge of the cliff.
The rescue workers had been able to tow the truck back up to the road, and although it was not drivable, the auto mechanic had assured Jim that it was repairable. Blair was relieved that his laptop had been saved. After the vehicles had been towed away, the statements had all been taken, and everyone had been checked out by the medics, a policeman drove them to the nearest town to stay at a motel until the pickup was repaired.
Blair had taken some heavy duty pain medication to ease the pain of a bad headache and the bruised scrape on his cheek. Jim watched him as he tossed in his bed, trying to get to sleep. Jim sat on the other bed, trying to find an interesting program on the television.
"Hey, Jim?" Blair's voice was sleepy.
"Yeah?" Jim turned his attention from the television to his groggy partner. "What's up?"
"I was just thinking......"
"Yeah?"
"The next time you decide we need to drive through a storm to get back to Major Crimes?"
"Yeah?" Ellison looked at his partner warily.
"Take Simon instead!" Sandburg grinned unrepentantly at his partner, then rolled over and went to sleep still smiling.
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