The Ways of Family Series

This is my first Sentinel fanfic so please let me know what you think.

Summary: How will Blair cope after a really hard day and an unfortunate oversight on a promise to Jim, the anger of all the bullpen guys and various injuries?

Note- In most of my sentinel stories (as is the case with this one) I've played with the ages slightly, to achieve some of the characteristics and relationships I want. Blair is usually younger (22-25) while Jim remains about 40-42ish Simon, and the other bullpen folk are all between 37(Rafe) and 52(Joel) (with Simon being a year older than Jim).

My Blair is also on the physically small size being only 5'4 and 120lbs soaking wet. The others are same as in cannon.

By the way, I'm often criticized for being overly dramatic or too out of character, too bad, it's how I like to write.

Chapter 1: Family

'I should have just stayed in bed' the little voice whined from inside his head.

This was strange, well, not that he had a voice inside his head, which was actually quite commonplace, the fact that the voice was actually whining was unusual. In most cases the voice, like Blair himself, was quite cheerful and content, and more often than not a bit of a chatterbox. Even in those cases, the voice never whined, instead it tended to take on a remarkable resemblance to Jim's voice. The 'You should be staying in the truck Sandburg' or 'Eating half an apple cannot be counted as lunch...' those were always Jim's voice, in fact most of the time they were actually Jim.

This time however, the little voice was definitely whining, although it was a little hard to judge due to the pounding that permeated his brain cavity. His head felt awful, his throat felt raw and to make things even better, he could hardly move his muscles were so sore. It was just one of those days. Everything that could have gone wrong...had.

And Jim was going to kill him.

Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but none-the-less, Jim would not be happy. WHY?

Whether it was working together, living in such close proximity, a sentinel/guide thing or just fate, Blair and Jim had grown very close of the past few years. Their relationship had developed into something resembling that of close brothers, and in some cases, even father/son like behaviour. Blair just seemed to have specific affects on particular groups of people, for instance, If there was a serial killer or someone of vicious, usually illegal intent within a hundred miles of cascade, than guaranteed, Blair, usually through no real fault of his own, would be stuck right in the middle of it.

Being the trouble magnet that he was it was probably all well and good that he indivertibly chose the finest of Cascade's major crime unit as his friends, protectors and family, in particular, the men of this group, who were predominantly much older than Blair felt the need to protect the young anthropologist, as while it was obvious that the boy could talk rings around just about anyone they came across, it was also woefully obvious that he had no real sense of self preservation, in anthropology that didn't really present too much risk, but it was a whole other ball game in crime investigations.

Each and every one of Blair's self appointed family knew that the grad student was certifiable genius, a complete set of walking, talking encyclopaedias and a basic Google search along with an incredible sense of loyalty, compassion, kindness and decency all crammed into one small, 5'4" individual with a soul and heart of infinite size and immeasurable quality.

With the way that Blair attracted people, both the good and the bad he was never short of champions, defenders, sounding boards, shoulders and in some cases, discipline. It seemed that each member of Major crimes had seen fit to take the young anthropologist under his wing. Most of the time Blair quite enjoyed his relationship with the guys, for although they all treated him as a nephew, younger brother or son, they also respected his intelligence and input, not belittling or underestimating him because of his age. All the men cared for the boy (as he was to them- much to his protest that he was almost 22) and as the relationship deepened and mutated he found himself subject to their love and in very rare cases their disapproval.

That was one of the biggest things he had to adjust to, although he had the unwavering love of all the men (a fact that he sometimes forgot or disbelieved due to his own upbringing) he also had to face the disappointment and anger of all of them if he did something they didn't approve of, (like forgetting to eat or putting himself in danger) In most cases however, he was usually only offside with one or two at a time and had the others support.

It kind of peeved Jim and Simon off, that they could both be furious with Blair for leaving the truck during the middle of a shootout and Rafe, Brown, or heaven forbid Joel(he was the worst, completely wrapped around his honorary grandsons little finger) would be treating the boy to a hockey game on the sly. Although Jim, nor Simon would agree, in reality it was probably a good thing that in most cases he had someone on his side, as reassurance that just because they were angry didn't mean they didn't love him or wanted him gone, for if there was one thing that Blair was insecure about it was the belief that he was worthy of love, an insecurity that came from years of being used to play into his mothers affections than cast aside like an old toy. Eventually everyone got rid of him, and if his own mother couldn't love him, than who could be expected to? None of the guys knew anything other than the basic facts about Blair's childhood, that his mother was a hippy and that he had travelled a lot before starting Uni at 16 years old. And that was the way it was going to stay, he knew, just knew, that if they ever found out how screwed up he was that they'd be saying goodbye forever. Blair just didn't have enough faith in their love for him to come clean.

In the three years they had worked together the sentinel and his guide had worked out a sort of routine, basically, after the number of times Blair was kidnapped, drugged, shot, killed, etc, as well as the thee times Jim had found Blair out cold at some ungodly hour of the morning and rushed him to hospital only to have to watch as he was pronounced exhausted and malnourished, yet again, an agreement had been made. Well, Jim had spoken and Blair had nodded sheepishly as he sat shamefaced on the couch after return from hospital after the third such visit, dark circles contrasting with pale skin and slightly shaking hands holding the mug of soup.

The conversation (if you can call it that) had gone basically like this.

**************************Flash back- **********************************

Throwing the keys into the basket as he passed, Jim steered the small figure along with one hand at the small of his back. He spoke as he walked "I can't believe... again chief....this is the third time in less than that many months. You need to stop working so hard" his tone, whilst not angry, yet, was disappointed and slightly aggravated.

Blair protested "But Jim, I'm fine really, I just stayed up a little late.. I have to do all this work...it's really important. I'm fine....it's really nothing to get so worried ab...." by this stage they had reached the lounge room and Jim gently pushed Blair down so he was seated, tugged the afghan off the back of the couch and tucked it to fit snugly around Blair, before he turned and headed into the kitchen. But he didn't say a word, and a silent Jim is never good, it means he was actually thinking before he spoke.

Jim came back out of the kitchen a few minutes later with a steaming mug which he placed on the small table beside the couch, before squatting in front of Blair "Give me your hands "he asked and waited until Blair placed two small hands onto Jims large ones. The delicate bone structure almost vibrated with fatigue as they lay on Jim's palm before being all but engulfed. "Blair, your hands are shaking, you have circles under your eyes that are so dark they're black, and your skin is so pale I can almost see through you...you are not fine. You are fatigued and malnourished" He let go of the small hands only to place the warm mug between them, holding them steady, he ordered "Drink... No I don't want to hear it... drink."

Blair seeing the determined look in Jim's eyes took a sip of the cups contents, chicken soup.

Trying his luck, Blair asked "But Jim, what about my classes at Rainer, I have to be at them by four and then tutoring until at least six..."

Jim cut him off "I rang the Uni while you were still out cold and told them to replace you for the next two weeks at least, I also organised one of your friends to take notes for you".

Blair almost dropped the mug, actually would have it hadn't been for Jim's hands as his emotionally charged mind heard Jim's declaration "What! You had me replaced, Jim man, that's going too far... I'm fine, I have to work!! I know you were worried but really, I'm 22, I can take care of myself, I love having you in my life, and thanks for everything you do, in fact thanks for everything all you guys do for me. But I was able to take care of myself before we met and I know I am perfectly capable of doing so now....I learned to take care of myself long ago, in fact I've just about always car....................I'm a perfectly capable adult thank you very much! " He was physically and mentally exhausted, to the point where everything he felt was in the extremes, as though twenty thousand vaults was currently passing through his emotions, sending everything skyrocketing out of control.

UH OH, now Jim was angry.

"TOO FAR!!! You call cancelling your classes when you're so damn exhausted you can hardly hold a mug going too far?!? " abruptly he let go of Blair's hands and stood, pacing angrily across to stare out the window. Blair carefully tightened his grip on the mug, he didn't know how to accept someone trying to help him like this, It was the sort of thing an older brother or father would do and he had no experience with either, he just didn't understand why Jim would bother.

Jim's voice came from the window, his eyes still staring unseeing, his hands clenched angrily "You may be 22 and for all legal purposes an adult, and believe yourself to be capable of caring for yourself, but despite what you may believe evidence points to the contrary, because you ARE NOT FINE. For god's sake, you just collapsed from exhaustion.... I know you have always been independent and reliant on only yourself for a long time but the fact remains you shouldn't have had to have been, and now you don't. I'm sorry Blair but I can't sit and watch someone I love self destruct like this. Can't you understand that...Do you know what it was like for me, I come home from a two week stay at a convention in LA, expecting to find you up and waiting, healthy and fine as you told Simon and I, you were over the phone, and what do I find?" He turned blue eyes to Blair that showed an emotion that Blair didn't recognise. "How the hell am I meant to explain your condition to the bullpen guys, they'll be after my blood, I come home to find you collapsed on the lounge room floor, unconscious...I thought you were dead! And that would destroy me" Jim finished on almost a whisper.

Blair shuddered, he hadn't thought about Jim's perspective, it made him begin to think about how he would react if he had come home to find Jim, decked out on the floor, so still.... The image flashed through his brain, bringing a tide of fear so strong to an exhausted mind and body already running rampart with unusually strong emotions, he felt as though he had been struck by a car. The cup, luckily almost empty, fell from nerveless fingers landing with a dull thud on the carpeted floor before rolling partially under the couch. Blair took a shuddering breath. Jim dead.....the shaking suddenly became ten times more pronounced and he squeezed his eyes closed tight, trying to forget the image. The best friend he had ever had, his blessed protector, dead... a chill unlike any he had felt before swept through his body like ice fire.

Jim closed his eyes as he wearily leaned against the cool pane of the window, he didn't know how to get through to the boy, make him understand... He heard the soft gasp and the dull but resounding thud as the mug hit the floor. He spun around and upon seeing the glassy blue eyes, and the harsh tremors that sook the small frame, he quickly closed the distance between them. "Chief? Blair...." he saw a pearl tear make its way from a tightly clenched eye. "Hey, Blair, you're okay" he crooned sitting on the couch and pulling the shaking figure to his side, frantically running what he had just said back through his mind, but coming up empty as to what had caused this sudden turnabout from determined defiance to something bordering on hysterical catatonia. Although he was furious that Blair had done this to himself, again, he'd had no intention of upsetting the boy, not when he was so exhausted and already emotionally unstable.

"Hey now...it's okay, come on buddy, you don't have the energy to get upset, it's okay... take a deep breath..." Blair took a rasping breath, trying to get back under control. Seeing that Blair was actively trying to get himself under control Jim continued speaking to offer him an anchor" Come on chief slow breaths, I need you to tell me what this is all about, Cos I've gotta tell you buddy, You've lost me..." This was obviously the wrong thing to say as Blair suddenly went even paler than before, if that was possible and swayed alarmingly where he sat, as though about to pass out again. Jim bodily lifted the boy into his arms, cradling the chestnut wreathed head against his chest what the hell was going through the kids mind, what was the last thing I said before he did his skin as white as snow impression again? Energy? Nope, Breathing? No. Lost M... oh shit!!! As it dawned on him Jim, he pushed Blair far enough away from his chest so that he had direct line of sight with the presently closed lids, with Blair cradled in his left arm he cupped the white face with his right hand, thumb gently brushing the smooth check, tactile support, for Blair of course. Steadily he began to speak "Blair, I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere, come on buddy, open your eyes take a deep breath, look at me, I'm still here and so are you, still together. No one's leaving you alone, That's it, Slow and steady, I'm still here" he encouraged as Blair slowly opened his eyes and actually began to listen, Jim was still there, not going anywhere. He suddenly gasped again and threw his arms around Jim's waist, hiding his face against the broad t shirt covered chest.

Hiding his face from the worried blue gaze above him Blair gave into the shuddering sobs fighting to escape him. God he was so pathetic, of course Jim was still here, not going anywhere, was he? What the hell was going on with his emotions, one moment he was so angry he was ready to explode, then he was cowering beneath a fear so strong he could breath, now he was sobbing all over Jim, face beet red with embarrassment so acute he couldn't bear to look one of the people who meant everything to him in the eye. Oh god, Jim must hate him. This thought once again sending tendrils of panic through him, what if Jim sent him away, he couldn't bear it. What the? He was an independent full grown man...so why the hell couldn't he stop crying?

Jim gently rubbed his hand over the full length of Blair's back, not that this was a very large area. The doctor had warned them that Blair's emotions would be out of wack and he wouldn't have much control over them until after he got some rest, something about the body's natural mechanisms used to stay awake, increasing every emotion. He just had to calm Blair down, enough to get him to sleep, he had made as much of his point as was going to be possible tonight and the rest could wait until Blair was more, or less, whichever way you wanted to look at it, himself.

Jim continued the gentle rubbing motion until he felt Blair's rigid body start to go limp against him, and then thinking that Blair was asleep he stood, taking Blair's 120lb form up with him cradled in his arms. Relishing the moment, the feeling that at this exact moment he was keeping Blair safe from everything, taking care of the boy his partner really still was, because no matter how grown up or mature the grad student was, and there was no doubt that he was much older than his years in many ways, the fact still remained, a fact that the bullpen guys picked up on straight away, Blair really was still just an innocent, naive 22 year old boy. Smiling to himself Jim crossed the room to the small doorway that had become Blair's, thinking, or rather knowing that Blair would never let himself be carried if he was awake.

As Jim set the small form down on the soft bed he heard a murmur that was so low, only sentinel hearing would register it. "I'm sorry Jim, I really am, I promise I'll do better...and I'll own up to the guys...and Simon on my own" the last was lower than a murmur and even sentinel hearing was hard pressed to picked it up. Blair was deathly afraid of the others reactions.

Jim looked into the sleepy, exhausted blue eyes "I'm going to hold you to that promise, I give you free access to my senses and let you tell me what's best in regards to them. Well junior I want you to let us do the same, let us take care of you. You're like a brother or a son to me and the guys and we never want to lose you, and after the few close calls recently,well we're worried, we want you to let us take care of you, stop trying to be so independent, you're so open, generous and you never refuse to help someone, you've taken on a lot more than anyone should be asked to do over the last few years, with your Uni course and the classes you teach, the private tutoring you offer , not to mention the other side of it, the police work and my sentinel stuff. The guys and I aren't asking you to drop anything or refuse others, because if you did than you wouldn't be Blair, at least not our Blair. We just want to help you manage such a large workload. Help you manage the things you think matter less but we disagree, like eating and sleeping..." Jim finished seriously.

Blair muddled through the words that seemed to be seeping out of Jim's mouth in slow motion. He kind of liked that Jim was being rather sentimental; he had never had a male role model or anyone in that position to tell him they loved him or even to tell him off. He sighed in resignation "Okay, I promise I'll try." The words were wispy and slurred but the sentinel understood them no problem.

Leaning down the older man gently brushed the brown ringlets off the still pale forehead answering "That's good enough for me, now sleep" the last directive wasn't needed as Blair was already out like a light bulb.

***********************************End Flashback***********************************

From that day on Blair took care of Jim's senses and in return, Jim, Simon and the rest of the bullpen gang made it their responsibility to take care of Blair, period, making sure he ate and slept enough. Breakfast was Jim's responsibility, and usually he and Blair ate at home, before leaving for work, sometimes, when time was in short supply, they would grab a bagel from the deli across from the station. Dinner was also easily organised, as Blair and Jim took alternate nights to cook both their dinner and the whole gang would meet up at a pre- designated house or restaurant on Friday night.

Lunch, however, proved to be a bit difficult to manage, as it was never certain where Blair would be, at the station or at the Uni. If he was a t the station there wasn't a problem as the gang would all sit down a have lunch together, those that weren't in the field that is. At the Uni though Blair would become engrossed in his work and often completely skipped lunch, and because he didn't snack while at work (he never seemed to have a free hand) this meant he didn't eat between 7:00-7:30am and 7:00-8:00pm, leaving him feeling rather peaked and less able to concentrate, not a good thing he had tests to both sit and write, and definitely not a good thing when involving oneself in shoot outs.

It was Rafe and Brown who finally fixed the problem; both men were on lunch break at 12:30, the same time they knew Blair had his own personal office hours. They drove to the Uni and dragged Blair out o his work long enough to eat a decent meal, before they headed back to the station. Simon re-arranged the schedule, so someone from the gang had lunchbreak at 12:30 every day and they were assigned the duty of "Lunch Sitting" Blair, a term that even Blair found funny.

Jim also made sure the grad student slept a decent amount each night, he was sure that Blair would become more of a morning person if only he got more sleep. One all nighter, on occasion, when necessary was not frowned upon, but the constant after 3am bedtimes were. Jim would tell Blair that it was time to start thinking about turning in at around 11pm, and Blair would murmur a yes into whatever he was working on, or nod distractedly. Jim would come down the stairs two hours later for a glass of water or a toilet pit stop and find the curly head still visible over the back of the lounge, the tapping of laptop keys or the scrawl of a pen audible to sentinel ears from the middle of the staircase.

After many yelling matches in which Blair insisted that he was fine and "absolutely had to stay up" and finish whatever he was working on, despite having plenty of time until it was due, while Jim adamantly argued that the opposite was true. Jim tried everything, all of his idea's, all of the ideas from guys, even ideas from the net, most centred around how to get unwilling kids to sleep. Jim even hid all of Blair's work stuff, hoping that with nothing to do the student would just go to sleep anyway, instead Blair, being stubborn, sat awake on the couch all night, just to prove a point that both he and Jim were unsure about. Finally Jim could only think of one thing left to try.

************************************** Flashback***********************************

Jim stood from the coach as the Terminator's credits started rolling, glancing at the clock he saw that it was 11:15pm, and decided to turn in as he had to work tomorrow. H e knew that Blair wasn't working on anything with an impending due date so looking across to where the curly head was bent over the book sitting on pulled up knees he suggested that Blair do the same "Hey kiddo, it's getting late, why don't you finish that tomorrow and go catch some shut eye, we had a pretty big day today, and tomorrow we have Kellinger's trial, so it will probably be just as busy".

Deep Blue eyes peeked out from behind cascading chestnut curls, "Yeah, sure Jim, Just give me a few minutes to finish this chapter" Jim nodded and headed off to clean his teeth, before heading up and sliding into bed, placing his sleeping mask over his eyes to block out any pinpoint lights and slipping in the soft foam earplugs that Blair had gotten him to soften street and city noises while he was asleep. He was just drifting off 40 minutes later when he had just about the worst feeling anybody can get when their comfortable and warm in bed, almost a sleep.

He had to go.

He slipped off the mask and, without bothering to remove the earplugs, lest he drop one, he headed down the stair and into the toilet. It was only on the way back to the stair case that he saw Blair still curled on the couch, reading and highlighting passages from the book on his lap. He pulled out the earplugs and tucking them carefully into his pocket he called out, "You finished that chapter yet?"

Blair's head shot up and an embarrassed blush painted itself on his face "Sorry man, I just have to finish this book, it's so interesting and I need it done for my class"

Jim snorted "Yeah, Your class that happens to be on Thursday...next Thursday, Blair you need to put it away and get some sleep"

Blair frowned "Jim, I'll sleep when I think I need it, and at the moment I think I need to finish this book" he protested with slight aggravation in his voice.

Jim knew that if this went on further along this track, Blair would end up yelling at him, he'd yell at Blair, bad feelings of anger would be created and tomorrow there would be a tired, guilty Blair and a pissed off, guilty Jim, because that's the way it always happened. Jim decided to try something different.

He wandered over and sat on the couch beside Blair, pulling the boys feet over his lap to make room "Fine then, I guess I'll just stay here, from now on You stay awake, I stay awake, you sleep, I sleep" Jim said the ultimatum softly.

Blair's head shot up again "What, that's just stupid!! You need to sleep; you've got work tomor....."Silence reigned for a few minutes as Blair thought it through than shrugging nonchalantly he said "Fine, do what you like, I'm not going to tell you when you can and can't sleep" neither spoke aging that night with Blair finally going off to bed at 3:20am, followed by a tired Jim.

The next morning not much was said as Jim was allowing Blair to stew and Blair was angry that Jim was trying to manipulate him. Well it wouldn't work! He thought as he headed towards the station. And it didn't, for four nights. Blair stayed up into the wee hours of the morning getting less than3 hours sleep a night and Jim sat there right beside him. It wasn't until the fourth night that Blair looked up from his book at 10:30pm, to Jim who was sitting beside him reading his own book, and said softly "God Jim, This s ridiculous, I'm going to get you killed, I'm sorry, I'll sleep when you say I should"

"Good, because I could really do with some about now, we have stakeout tomorrow" with that he heaved Blair off the couch placed both their books on the coffee table and pulled Blair into a hug "Thank you Blair, now sleep, so I can" and gave the small form a gentle shove towards his bedroom. Jim was very glad that the only thing more stubborn than Blair was himself when it came to Blair's health because he wasn't sure he could have dealt with many more nights of so little sleep.

After that Blair would be asleep most nights by 11:30pm and the guys at the bullpen noticed something about the student that they hadn't even thought possible within the realms of physics, he got bouncier, more energetic, he was on the go constantly, and as long as he slept normally, never seeming to need a break. As H liked to say, Blair could put even the energiser bunny to shame. Much to Jim's disappointment however, Blair never did become a morning person, he in fact became even worse, Rafe theorised that it was because Blair had enough time to get into a much deeper sleep, allowing it to really sink its claws in that it was that much harder to wake him up, H simply said it was because Blair actually liked to sleep now.

***********************************End Flashback***********************************

After a few months in which Blair made sure he remained healthy, the closest scrutiny started to dwindle and he was allowed some of his own space again. Basically he had earned back their trust.

And now he had lost it again. He was so stupid! He should have just told Jim.

It had all started when Jim had told Blair that the Major Crimes sector was required in LA at a mandatory police training session, and that vice would be covering them for a week. Jim had asked Blair to come with them. Blair had really wanted to, but it was finals week and as he had both tests to write and mark for his students and his own to sit, he couldn't. The guys, although not happy at the thought of leaving Blair completely alone, especially during finals week, probably the most busy and stressful times of the year, they had accepted that they really had no choice, besides he had been much better the past few months. They gave him the spiel of eating right, sleeping enough, looking after himself and to ring if anything, anything at all happened. Blair had nodded and agreed that he would be careful and promised to ring.

So they had left and Blair had stayed, intending to be perfectly healthy and happy when they returned.

************************************Flashback*************************************

Monday-

The guys had organised to all travel to the airport in Joel's 4WD, and Blair was going along to drive it back. So at 4:15 that morning, when Jim heard the vehicle's approach he gathered his suitcase and made his way downstairs.

He put his bag in on top of what he presumed was Rafe's as it was the fanciest one there and then wondered to the empty front passenger seat, seemingly left for him as Simon's unofficial second in command, looking in the back he could see a reasonably awake Rafe and Joel, both sipping coffee. As his was the last stop before the airport, he asked Simon, who was in the driver's seat, also sipping coffee, "Where's H?" A low grunt and a hand was thrust over the far back seat. "Right, of course" A chuckling Jim said to the half asleep Henri, who was the only other person who was definitely not a morning person, although he wasn't in the same league as Blair. Right on cue Joel asked "Where's Hairboy?" Jim turned as if expecting to see Blair and when he didn't he sighed in exasperated affection before hurrying back into the building.

Blair was slumped fast asleep against the wall of the lobby. Jim reached down, lifted him up and basically carried him out to the car, tucking him in between Rafe and Joel, who clicked his seat belt together as Jim carefully, shut the door.

Climbing into the front seat and clicking his own belt, Jim looked back to see sleepy blue, peeking out from mostly closed lids, before the sliver the colour of late evening sky disappeared as lashes fluttered closed against the pale cheek. Rafe sniggered and gently tugged on a brown curl "Morning sleepy head" he teased, Blair, surprising them all answered "Morning Rafe" before turning and snuggling into Joel "Night Joel" he was fast asleep again.

The trip to the airport was mostly quiet, no-one really wanting to disturb the still morning atmosphere, each just enjoying the quiet company of the others. Upon arriving they had booked their luggage in and then headed to the food court area, making their way to a rather secluded spot for the two hour wait. Simon shouted breakfast, while Joel shouted second cups of tea or coffee. As 6:00am came and went the five men managed to wake Blair enough to get some brekkie down him as well as a few cups of tea, as they knew better than to ever give him coffee before 10:00am, from experience they knew that a hyper Blair was one thing, a caffeine hyper Blair at 4:00am in the morning is a whole other ball game.

When the boarding call came at 7:00am they were confident enough that Blair wasn't going to fall asleep in the airport waiting lounge after they left, and they were sure he wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel on the way back home in the 4wd. As they gathered their carry on items and their onboard entertainment in the form of magazines and books, Jim tugged Blair close and whispered in his ear "Behave yourself while we're gone, no roaring drunk parties at the loft... Seriously though, promise to call if anything goes wrong, be careful, chief" Blair had nodded through a yawn "I promise" he said as he hugged back. He was then engulfed in hugs by the other four men with similar warnings and advice.

Rafe: If you could take a vacation from the whole trouble magnet thing while we're away, that would be much appreciated, call if there's any trouble though.

Henri: It's only a conference on morals, ethics and decent suspect treatment, all stuff we know and do already, knowing that if we don't you'll kick our butts, so if for any reason you need us, call, we can be back in a few hours mandatory training or not, everyone knows that major crimes unit has its own ethics, morals and conscience, his name is Blair Sandbur, our invite is only a formality.

Joel: Take care of yourself; we need our anthropologist in good order to help solve crimes during the next spike. Really, Let us know if you need anything.

Simon: Blair, good luck during finals, not that you will need it though, give us a call once a day to let us know how you are; don't forget.

This may have seemed a little extravagant for a 22 year old but this was the first time that they had left him completely alone since he had collapsed last time. Blair wasn't going to be a happy camper if he didn't take care of himself or at least let them know if anything went wrong, but what could possibly happen in a week, at Uni.

So they had boarded and left, and Blair after waving them off drove the car home, made some tea and grabbed some lunch before heading off to his first day of testing. Monday went perfectly. He ate lunch and dinner, and was asleep by half past 11. Perfect.

He should know that fate never let him have break yet, so why now?

Tuesday-

Things started to go downhill.

His alarm didn't go off on time, so instead of waking at 6:30am, with enough time to go over the exam material one more time, he woke at 8:30am with only just enough time to throw some clothes on and get to the Uni. He skipped breakfast promising to pick something up later. Only later didn't happen. His first exam went fine and he made his way to the second with no problems. However, half way through the second, some smart student decided to let off a series of stink pellets and smoke bombs off.

All the students leapt to their feet, rushing to get out of the suffocating smoke and toxic smell. Blair, having taken one of the only seats left, furthest away from the door was one of the last ones out, only escaping the room after having smashed his shin against an overturned desk. His eyes were watering and irritated and he was feeling a little lightheaded as he made his way to his car, after being informed that the test would be resat on Thursday. He wondered if he should drive or call a cab, but he really just wanted to be home in bed and besides taking a cab meant he wouldn't have his car tomorrow morning, so he drove home, thankfully he arrive quite safely. After making it home, eyes streaming and head aching, Blair fell into a cool bath, rinsing and re-rinsing his red rimmed, bloodshot eyes.

Painfully clambering out of the tub, he pulled on a pair of loose sweat pants and forgoing a shirt, he took two painkillers and slept for the next four and a half hours, waking again at 7:00pm.

He still felt a little ill to the stomach, but never once contemplated telling Jim as it wasn't as if he was dying. He skipped dinner, not realizing he hadn't eaten all day and phoned Jim's mobile.

Thanking god that he only got the message bank, he took a few deep breaths than left his message, sounding as happy and energised as possible.

"Hi guys, I assume that you're at dinner or still at the training. I'm great; I've finished two days of testing, with none on tomorrow, so I'll be here most of the day, although Jenny is having a study group in the afternoon so I might head over there. I won't be staying up too late toning, just enough time to upload my student's timetable for next term. Goodnight and love you all, I will call again tomorrow".

Uploading the table however, was a lot more hassle than he had predicted. The internet wouldn't connect, service was unavailable, and he noticed an error with the timetable itself, his computer crashed. What should have only taken half an hour took over six hours, but he had promised his students that it would be up tomorrow, so he plodded away at it, finally finishing well after two in the morning.

Wednesday-

As murphies law dictates, because he had nowhere he desperately had to be and no timetable to follow, his alarm went off, at 6:30am. Feeling incredibly tired, Blair reached up and pushed the off button before trying to go back to sleep. But it seemed that being waken up had informed his body that he really needed to use the bathroom. He shoved the covers back, and swung his feet to the floor. Standing up, he almost screamed as pain shot up his right leg and he let himself collapse back onto the soft mattress. Looking down he pulled the leg of his sweats up and stared at his lower shin. It was black, shiny and had an egg the size of a baseball on it. That desk yesterday had done a right number to his leg. He got the pain under control and made an attempt to get up again, finally making it to his feet even through the pain. He shuffled and hopped his way to the bathroom and did his business. But being upright made him feel really dizzy and nauseas.

Debating what to do, call the guys, or hope he was better before they came home he decided that a cool glass of water might help clear his head and soothe his parched, stinging throat. He slowly limped into the kitchen and pulled out a glass, filling it with water. He raised it to his mouth and was about to take a sip when the phone rang. Startled, he could only watch as the glass slipped from his fingers and seemed to fall in slow motion to the ground, where it shattered. Spinning as the phone continued ringing; he slipped in the water and went down hard, banging his head against the marble bench top and flinging out his right hand to catch himself he felt immense pain shoot up the limb. His right flank and shoulder landed in the glass, hundreds of tiny, razor sharp shards piercing and becoming imbedded in his bare skin, sending tiny rivulets of blood streaming across his back like some kind of morbid lace work. Red hot pain engulfed him and he blacked out.

The phones message machine picked up the call and the guy's voices filled the room. The phone was obviously on speaker."

"Jim: Hey junior I guess you're either still fast asleep or you decided to head to Jenny's a little early

Rafe: Yeah, she's the cute redhead with those incredible green eyes isn't she?

Henri: Just calling to check in, we go your message hairboy, you take it easy on your day off, don't overdo it

Joel: Good luck on your exams kiddo, we'll see you when we get back late Friday night

Simon: Blair, ring us later toning, we'd like to actually talk to you, we should be finished around 8pm.

Jim: Bye Chief,

Henri and Rafe: yeah bye Babe, hairboy

Simon: call us later Son,

Joel: take care Blair

The massage machine clicked off, the callers unaware that Blair was currently out cold less than three feet from the phone.

Two hours later Blair began to come around. A low sob escaped him through the pain, his wrist was swollen and his shin felt like someone had beaten it with a hammer, his head hurt so much that he didn't notice two things, the yellow blinking light on the answering machine or the fact that his back was imbedded with glass and covered in dry streams of blood. He pulled himself to his feet and made his way shakily into his bedroom. He downed four painkillers dry and lay down on his bed. He could feel pain all over, couldn't distinguish one injury from another. He remembered Jim's demand that he ring if anything went wrong but couldn't do it. He wasn't a child; he could take care of himself, besides calling involved getting back out of bed...

This angry protest however was just a mask for his true feelings. What if Jim and the guy's realize what a burden he was? They always did after a while. Then they cast him aside, he couldn't stand to lose his new family.

If Blair had a normal upbringing with a positive male role model, like a father or an older brother he may have realized that he was being ridiculous, there was no way that Jim was going to give up his kid brother or son. Nor would Simon be willing to give up the boy he thought of as a son. Simon knew how intelligent Blair was in educational ways. But he also knew that the boy had virtually no experiences with an older male role model. Blair didn't know how to act around them and Simon was determined to teach the kid that not only did he deserve someone to care about him; he now had them whether he wanted them or not, Simon had adopted another son. Rafe and Henri both looked on Blair as their kid brother whom they were helping to raise. He was partially there responsibility, therefore partially answerable to them. And Joel. Joel loved Blair's kindness and generosity, but knew his tendency for attracting trouble. Blair was without a doubt both accident prone and a trouble magnet. This was part of why they loved him and would never give him up. Blair had never had to answer to anyone's authority like that and to suddenly having five was a little daunting and unbelievable.

He fell into a pained and troubled sleep; unaware that he was missing the call of time of 8pm or that again he hadn't eaten all day.

Thursday-

Blair awoke, feeling the immense heat that surrounded him, assumed that the air-conditioning had turned off, forgetting that it was the middle of winter. He was so hot that he didn't even realize that he had slept almost all of Wednesday and straight through Wednesday night. Looking at his clock he realized it was only 1pm. He had only slept for a few hours since his fall in the kitchen. Climbing out of bed he had to stop abruptly, repeated times to get the dizziness and the nausea under control. He slowly made his way shakily out to the lounge room where he found that the heater was on. No wonder he was hot, he though, he must have turned it on by accident instead of the air-con. Reaching up he flicked it across to its coldest setting and immediately felt the blast of cold air across his skin, which was so much better, he moaned in relief.

Looking at the phone he saw the light blinking and reached across to push it. The guy's message filled the air. Smiling softly at as their voices filled the air he worked out that he still had several hours before 8pm. Deciding that he really didn't feel up to going to Jenny's as his head was aching and he felt so hot and dizzy, he shuffle, hopped his way to the coach, and curled up. He slept again, until just past 10pm.

Waking up he looked at the clock above the mantel piece and saw that it was after ten. Oh shit, he had to call the guys. He reached for the phone and hit the redial number, but when he received a no service message he breathed easier. Jim would just figure that Blair had called and left a message but he couldn't access it because his phone was flat. Replacing the handpiece he didn't realize that the phone connection was partially unplugged, and had been since his fall.

He lay back down on the couch, back into the material and he was so exhausted and dizzy that he didn't know if he just fell asleep or passed out. Not realizing that the guys were a mere two hours away and coming closer.

Wednesday night in LA-

Jim looked at the other guys as they sat around the table with drinks in hand, poker cards and innings lying forgotten on the surface. Each was silent and they all knew why. Blair had been meant to call at 8pm, it was now 1:30 am and still no call. They had tried to reason it out and explain it.

Jim: He still hasn't called and he isn't answering

Rafe: You know Blair, he's probably still at Jenny's

All: laugh

Simon: Even if he was at Jenny's he would still ring though.

Henri: But you know how hairboy gets when he's studying, he loses track of everything else

Joel: That's true, but we had him pretty much looking after himself properly before we left, I just don't want to see all that progress undone

Jim: If he hasn't rang by 10 tomorrow morning I'm going home.

Simon: I'll go with you

Joel: I think we all will

So it was decided. If Blair he hadn't rang by 10:00am the next morning they were out of there on the next available flight.

Thursday in LA-

10am came and went with no phone call and Simon booked tickets home. They all boarded the plane at seven that evening. No words were spoken as unabated worry warred with an awful sense of dread.

Friday morning Early in Cascade-

The taxi pulled up outside Jims loft building and the five men go out, Joel paid the driver and they headed for the lobby elevator.

Jim led the way through the halls until he reached his own door, not bothering to knock, he used his own key to unlock the door and all five men entered the dark apartment.

The first thing they noticed was that it was freezing cold. The air-con was running on full. Rafe quickly turned off the cold air with the hall remote and the soft humming that had filled the apartment disappeared. There was only silence. What the hell was going on?

Jim tilted his head before speaking "He's here, I can here six heart beats" Jim's ability's were no secret among the team. Rafe hurried into the small downstairs bedroom while Henri ducked up the stairs, they both came back shaking their head in the negative. No-one could see the small figure on the couch as it faced away from the entrance.

Jim tilted his head once more and followed each heart beat. Ruling out the owner of each, because although he could usually depict Blair's heart anywhere he couldn't here its familiar thum-thum, thum-thum, and he didn't recognise each of the others on sound. Finally securing the isolated one he headed around to the front of the couch. The others followed.

Blair was curled up on his side on the coach wearing nothing more than a pair of sweats in the freezing cold air. His skin was all translucent white, except his cheeks which were bright pink with fever.

Jim fell to his knees before the still body of his friend "Call an ambulance Rafe, Henri I need a blanket, he's freezing" As the two scrambled for the requested items Simon and Joel helped Jim do a quick check over.

Joel: I don't understand, what's causing the fever, he looks fine

Simon: I can't find any inj...Wait a second; his wrist is very swollen, perhaps strained or even broken

Jim, Help me wrap the blanket around him

Jim and Simon gently pulled Blair off the couch to rest more fully against the warmth of Jim's chest as Henri tucked the blanket he had fetched around the small form. Pulling the blanket tight and running a smoothing hand down the slim back, the men were startled when Blair let out a bloodcurdling scream and woke up

"Ow, Uh, Uoowh..." he was having trouble drawing breath and struggled against the arms that restrained him

"Blair, Blair, it's just us, Jim and the guys...you're going to be okay" as Blair quietened down to fitful sobbing of immense pain Simon gently pulled the blanket away from his back "Oh my god, what the hell happened?"

The guys were shocked at the sight of their boys back, blood and pus surrounded pieces of glass, infection ran rampart across the injuries, no wonder he had a fever.

"Ambulance is here" Rafe shouted and Jim went to lift Blair himself Blair soft gasp of "Careful...Leg hurts too" had Joel pulling up the sweat pant legs. His right leg was black and blue and swollen to three times its size from knee to ankle. "When did you do that?" he asked not expecting an answer.

He got one anyway "Tuesday" Blair murmured.

The five men looked at each other as Blair was lay carefully on a stretcher, thinking, You certainly have some explaining, but first they had to get him well.

End Chapter one—

I want your opinion- What consequence do you think would work for their relationships

All five are going to be angry so he has to deal with that alone

If this is not what you want to see you need to let me know what you do want- Read and review people.

Was thinking that at some stage I would write a series of chapters of the gang taking a road trip in a van or 4wd for some reason, Conference, Holiday.... just to see what I could do with such limited setting.

Also a hint please- Joel's wife's name, my minds blank.