Disclaimer: I do not own anything taken from any television series contained within this story. Only the plot is mine.
Warnings: There is the usual mangling of timelines due to using many different shows from different eras, some violence, and some shipping between different characters. I do not know how many different shows will be added to this universe. I'm starting out with the Sentinel and Due South.
Summary: When Jim Ellison holds his own press conference to undo the damage done by his Guide's self sacrifice, many other Sentinels discover what they are and what they are capable of becoming.
Very unusually for the 27th major crimes unit, all of the detectives were in the bullpen. They were gathered around watching the news broadcast over a small TV. Normally they wouldn't have been interested in news from halfway across the country, but what was being announced was far too familiar for them to ignore. James Ellison, a police detective from Cascade, Washington, was holding a press conference explaining that his friend, a college student who had declared himself a fraud, had only done so to protect both his life and his privacy. He was in fact the Sentinel that the earlier reports had said he was. All five of his senses were heightened; however, the publisher who had stolen the thesis had taken excerpts out of context, and had not released relevant information. That being; that all of the statistics had been taken from a jungle environment, rather than an urban one.
Detective Ellison stated that there are no jackhammers in the jungle and went on to point out many other things that would drastically change the outcome of any tests he underwent. "I have been tested under both urban and jungle conditions. My senses are more acute in a quiet environment than in a crowded and noisy one, just like anyone else's. In fact, my abilities aren't even that uncommon. About one in ten people involved with this country's Special Forces have at least one heightened sense. In the general population, it is more like one in a hundred. Everyone has heard of taste testers for wine and coffee. Perfume manufacturers have people who make a living with their sense of smell. The mechanic who can hear what's wrong with an engine is considered to have a gift and is someone garages are grateful to have. The only reason that I was the subject of this study was the fact that I have all five. That is a rare combination, nothing more. In fact, the object of this study wasn't that I have heightened senses; it was that my senses prove that an old myth was based on fact. Now, if you are an anthropologist that is some exciting stuff." Ellison shrugged. "To me, it doesn't matter much except that it brought me into contact with not only the best friend I've ever had, but one of the best investigators as well. Everyone has said how my being a Sentinel is what has made me the Cop of the Year for the past three years. That isn't true. What has made me one of the best cops this city has is my civilian partner, who couldn't be honored because he is a volunteer rather than a police officer. Blair Sandburg has an IQ the size of the national debt, is ethical beyond what many people would see as reasonable, has an inquisitive nature that just won't quit and deals with witnesses better than anyone I've ever seen. It is my hope, once Blair gets done suing the publisher and the others who were involved with this fiasco, he will be hired by the department so that I may continue to work with him."
"Jesus and I thought Big Red was the only one." Welch breathed.
"Yeah, him and his bat ears," Ray said. They had all seen the big Canadian cop pick up evidence in the strangest ways; tasting a fur to figure out it was a sea otter pelt, hearing conversations that should have been impossible, identifying things by their scent, and identifying things at an incredible distance.
"Do you think he has all five?" Huey asked Ray.
"Of course he does. This is Fraser we're talking about." Ray scoffed at Huey. There was no doubt in his mind that Fraser was one of these Sentinel guys. The only question was what they were going to do about it.
"Hey, Lieu; do you think you can call up this guy's captain? I'm sure Fraser would be willing to do his part to take some of the heat off another cop if he could." Ray asked. "Even if the Ice Queen won't let him, it might help this guy to know there's more like him out here."
"Your right Ray, this guy is taking a lot of heat right now. I'm glad he's a stand up enough cop to not let his buddy take the fall like that. But you better check with Fraser before you volunteer your partner for something that could get out of hand fast." Welsh pointed Ray out the door. Ray threw off a salute and ran out the door, headed for the consulate. Welsh headed for his office and his phone. There was something Ray didn't know that would make this call a little easier. He knew Simon Banks from a seminar for Major Crimes Units' department heads from all over the country. He had hated the seminar of course, but he had made some great friends that he still kept in contact with. Simon Banks was one of those friends. He put the call in to Simon's private cell number, knowing that the man would be bogged down with calls right now. "Hey, Simon, it's Harding Welsh over in Chicago. I know you're probably swamped right now, so I'll get straight to the point."
"Don't bother, Harding. I need all the relief I can get right now from the mayor, the commissioner and the like. Thank god I can get Rhonda to deal with the reporters." Simon relaxed back in his office chair. He knew Harding was calling about Jim's news conference, but didn't mind talking to a friend about it.
"Well, I was just calling to offer my support about this whole Sentinel deal. I think I got a guy in my department who's one. Well, he's the liaison for the RCMP, and one of the weirdest guys I know, but he fits the bill as far as I can see for this Sentinel stuff. I got his partner chasing him down now; to see if he and his boss with the RCMP would be willing to let him take some of the heat off your guy."
"How sure are you?" Simon asked. It would help Jim and Blair if another Sentinel was to come forward as long as he wasn't as crazy as Alex Barnes had been.
"Well, Big Red's always doing weird stuff like smelling and tasting the evidence. It gives more than one guy around here the heebie-jeebies, to tell you the truth. We're sure he has about four heightened senses. Touch is the only one we're not sure about. But knowing Fraser, he's got that one as well." Harding admitted. "I got no idea how to test for that or even if we should."
"You blindfold him, have him sit in a chair and identify things by touch behind his back. Just make sure it isn't something that is obvious and no one else can do it. Test some of your other men first. That's what Sandburg did, or at least the one test I saw." Simon told him. "If he passes, and you can get the ok, let me know. If we can find another Sentinel it will take the heat off Jim and Blair will be thrilled. One thing though, Sentinels are very territorial. Your man can't come to Cascade unless we know ahead of time and can make arraignments. I'm serious Harding. We did have an unbonded Sentinel come through here about a year ago. God, I never want to have that happen again."
"How bad was it? And what do you mean about unbonded?" Harding asked cautiously. He certainly didn't want to cause any problems for either Ellison or Fraser.
"Sandburg refused to bond with her and she killed him. I have no rational explanation for why he's still walking around; I'm just glad he is. The Sentinel ended up in the nut house. Honestly that was where Ellison was headed when Sandburg found him. I think Barnes had passed that point before she came to Cascade. Ellison and Sandburg bonded soon after that. The bonding I don't know much about just that a Sentinel needs to be bonded to a Guide. So tell me about your man, maybe I can give you a few pointers from here."
"Well first off, Fraser is from the Northwest Territories. That's about as isolated an area as you can get on the planet earth these days. He was born up there and never left home until his dad was murdered by an American hit man hired by a dirty cop. Fraser's old man was a Mountie too. Fraser tracked the hit man to Chicago, teamed up with my man Vechio, who had the case on our end of it and brought the dirty cop in. You never want to get this man on your tail. He will literally track you down to the ends of the earth and be happy to do it. The RCMP shipped Big Red back down to the consulate down here as a punishment. The red line is as bad as the blue one it seems. Personally, I'm glad. I like the guy, and he's brought up my stats like you wouldn't believe. He's a real oddball, though. He's an all truth, justice, and the Canadian way type of guy. If he wasn't so weird, the guys would call him Superman. He's got this deaf half wolf that follows him around. He treats the wolf just like another person; he even holds conversations with him. What's worse is the fact that he's got us doing it too." Welsh laughed. The first time he'd found himself talking to Deif, he'd startled himself, now it was almost expected. At least he wasn't fluent in wolf like Kowalski was. Watching his detective carrying on a conversation with the wolf like the Mountie was a bit mind bending, although the wolf was smarter than some of his men. "He spends half his time pushing paper at the consulate and the other half working with Vechio on Vechio's cases. They're the best team I've got. But they get into the weirdest cases! You don't want to know about the one with the fake ghost pirate ship, the submarine, the toxic waste dumping and the stolen gold shipment."
"Oh you don't have to tell me! It sounds right up Ellison and Sandburg's alley. I swear they can't go anywhere without something happening to them. And the more unbelievable, the more likely it is to happen to them." Simon shared a laugh with Harding over that. "Tell me about Vechio."
"Sometimes I think Ray Vechio fully wired and about half nuts. The kid's got a full blown case of ADHD that just won't quit. You practically have to hold him down to keep him in one place, and even then the only way he'll hold still is if he's run out of gas. At that point he usually passes out. The guy runs on instinct and the Mountie is the only one who can keep up with him. He's an ex-boxer, nothing big or professional but he's got the attitude to spare. He's also a skinny shit. He runs on caffeine and sugar and most of the time the Mountie is the only one who can make sure he doesn't forget to do things like actually eating real food or sleeping. It makes it tough to be his boss sometimes, especially if we get a difficult case. I dread the day the RCMP pulls their collective heads out of their asses and ships Big Red back up to Canada. If he's around I don't have to worry about Ray. The man can be the worst mother hen, and somehow it gets through to Ray when nothing else can."
"Does Fraser obsess about Vechio's health? Does he go a little crazy trying to take care of his partner from time to time?" Simon asked. If they were very lucky, Vechio was Fraser's guide and they had already done whatever that bonding thing was.
"Yeah, he does, especially if Ray is hurt. Most of the time the Mountie is the only one who can make Ray go to the hospital so I back him up. Then I let them drive each other crazy." Welch shook his head even if Simon couldn't see it. The only thing worse than one of those two recovering was the one who wasn't hovering over the one who was.
"I got one last question, Harding. Are the two of them practically inseparable off the job as well as on?"
"Yeah, they are. How did you know?" Harding asked suspiciously. He knew he hadn't told his friend that much about his oddest team over the years they'd known each other.
"It sounds to me like Vechio is Fraser's Guide. Sandburg has told me that it's pretty standard behavior for Sentinel and Guide pairs. I've seen that mother hen from hell attitude more often than I'd like to think about. Get Fraser tested for touch and I'll tell Ellison and Sandburg. If Vechio and Frasier haven't done that bonding thing, they'll know what to do about it. They'll also know if we're wrong or not. I don't want to get on a high horse and say a lot of stuff is fact when I'm only guessing. Sandburg is the only expert in the entire western world in this area, although I won't say there aren't some shamen out there who don't know more than he does. The main thing you need to know is never separate them, especially if one is hurt. They will literally go through anything and anyone who gets in their way to get to the side of their partner."
"That explains some stuff." Welsh said, remembering Kowalski doing more than one stupid thing to get to Fraser when Big Red was in a bad situation, like riding a bike through a window and jumping through a skylight.
"You also need to know that Ellison has some very strange reactions to modern medicines, so if Fraser gets hurt, you don't want to give him anything unless it is absolutely necessary. Sandburg has a long list of what can and can't be given to Ellison. If Fraser checks out I'll have him e-mail you a copy."
"Thanks Simon. You have no idea what that means to me." Welsh said, shuddering at the though of Fraser whacked out on standard meds. Thank god he hadn't been seriously hurt since Kowalski took over.
"You have no idea what you're getting into you mean. The more a Sentinel practices and gets control over his senses, the stranger things get. Good luck either way my friend," chuckling at the idea of Harding Welsh putting up with a similar pair to his own dynamic duo Simon Banks hung up.