Jim went after his lover. He found him outside beside the truck. "Take me home, Jim," he said as Jim wrapped him in his arms. "I can't go back in there. He was willing to die for me. I can't…"
"You've never had anyone in your life willing to sacrifice themselves for you," Jim said as he held Blair. "You've never had anyone love you that much. Naomi did her best, but I don't think she would have done what Ray did tonight. She wouldn't have attacked Alex knowing what it might cost her. He did. He grabbed her and fought her to save you. He did it knowing he might have a heart attack. He continued to fight her knowing he was having a heart attack. He loves you that much. And guess what, so do I. I would lay my life down for you Chief. If it came down to a choice of saving you or losing my life, I'd save you every time. So would Ray. So would Bodie for that matter. Ray loves you, Blair. He loves you with everything he has in him. He's loved you ever since it was a possibility in his mind that you might be his son. Are you going to run out on him now?"
He felt Blair shake his head. He smiled as he kissed the top of Blair's head. "Go to him. I'll be up there in a minute. Simon just got here."
He pulled away from Blair and wiped the tears from the younger man's face. He kissed him. "I'll be there in a minute."
Blair nodded and walked back into the hospital. Simon and Joel came up to Jim. "Is Ray all right?" Joel asked.
"He's going to be fine," Jim said as he looked at them. "Blair just realized he has a parent willing to die for him and it overwhelmed him."
Simon and Joel exchanged a look. They promised themselves they would keep all opinions of Naomi Sandburg to themselves.
Blair opened the door to Ray's room. As he slowly walked in, Bodie got up. He went over to the younger man and directed him to the chair. "You to talk. I'm going to go see if they have any decent tea in this place."
He winked at Ray as he left father and son alone. "I'm sorry I ran out," Blair said.
Ray reached out his hand and Blair took it. "You know I would do anything for you, Blair."
Blair just nodded. "It's just…"
"It's just you haven't had someone willing to lay their life on the line for you before?" Ray asked.
"No, Jim has been willing to do that before," Blair said as he looked away.
"But not a parent," Ray concluded. "Blair, I'm your father. Fathers are supposed to be willing to lay their lives on the line for their children. And to be quite honest with you, I would do it again if it meant you were safe in the end."
Blair's head shot up. "No, you can't do that. I can't lose you. I just found you."
"You're not going to lose me," Ray smiled. "Not any time soon. You and Bodie have given me a reason to live that I wasn't sure I had any more. Yes, I loved my life here and you were part of it, but until we actually confirmed that you were mine, I felt like there was a hole in my soul. Then we found out you were my son and Bodie showed up and all the holes filled. This setback is not going to keep me from either one of you. You and Bodie are always my first priority."
Blair nodded. "I love you Dad."
Ray smiled. "I love you too."
Ray was released from the hospital a few days later. Bodie drove him straight to the cabin. Jim and Blair were waiting for them. Blair ushered Ray straight to the couch and Bodie made sure his pillows were fluffed. Ray looked at Jim. "Can you do something with these two? They're going to drive me mental and I've only been home five minutes."
Jim just laughed and looked at Blair and Bodie. "You two are going on a supply run. Ray and I will be fine until you get back."
He pulled a paper out of his back pocket and handed it to Blair. "Here's a list. Don't come back until every item has been purchased. Go, both of you."
He stood with his arms crossed until Blair sighed and pulled Bodie's arm. They left and Jim laughed. "That' will keep them busy for a while."
"Thanks," Ray grinned.
The TA that took over Ray's classes sent progress reports with Blair as well as papers to grade. Ray was glad that they had someone he could trust taking over his classes. Once he got the all clear from his doctors, he went back to work. Bodie went with him to make sure that the doctor cleared him for all physical activity before they made love again.
Everything was fine until Naomi showed up again just as Blair finished writing his dissertation. She read it without his permission. Then she sent it to a publisher friend of hers. She never consulted Blair. When the entire thing exploded in his face, she claimed she was doing it for his own good. Ray stood watching Blair discredit his entire life's work during his press conference. Then he watched as the dean demanded he clear out his office.
He went straight to his dean and quit. He said if they didn't want his academically tarnished son on their staff, they couldn't have him either. After all, he wasn't even a PhD. Then he went to the loft where he knew Naomi was waiting for Blair to come crawling to her. He slammed the door when he entered. "What has Blair ever done to you that you punished him like this?" he asked as he got in his ex-lover's face.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Naomi said as she backed up a little. "I was just trying to help Blair."
"Just trying to help him?" Ray laughed. "You sent his dissertation to a publisher against his express wishes. You forced him to discredit his own work to protect Jim. You forced him to say he's an academic fraud. What kind of mother does that?"
"What kind of father shows up after nearly 30 years and decides he wants to be father of the year?" she said as she got in Ray's face. "You show up and all of a sudden you and Blair are best buddies. You took my son from me. You forced me to do everything I could to bring him back to me. You and Jim and these so called friends of his forced me to do this."
Ray just shook his head. "You're unbelievable. You did this because for once in his life, Blair has a stable environment where he has people who love and care about him. You did this because you are jealous that there are people in his life that he cares about just as much, if not more, than you."
"Is that true, Naomi?" Blair said as they both turned to their son. Neither of them had heard him come in.
"Blair, Sweetie," she said as she walked over to him.
"You see this box, Naomi," he said as he indicated the box he was holding. "This is the stuff from my office at the university. I've got a couple more in the car. Everything I have worked on since I was 16 packed in a few boxes and labeled an academic fraud. Everything I have dreamed about accomplishing in my life, up in smoke. I had to give a press conference to discredit my work because you submitted it without my permission. You didn't give me a chance to take Jim's name out of it. You read it. You knew what kind of impact it would have on Jim's life if it was published or if the public got a hold of it. You didn't care. He is my soul mate, Naomi. He is the man I love more than life itself. You forced me to discredit my work to protect him."
"Baby, I did it because he is a bad influence on you," she said as she took his hands. "He and Ray and that Bodie character are bad for your spirit. They are taking you down roads you should never travel. They have exposed you to violence and…"
"And love," Blair said as he pulled away from her. "They have exposed me to unconditional love. Ray nearly died to protect me not that long ago. Would you do that?"
"I wouldn't have to because your life wouldn't be in danger if you were with me," she argued.
"That's not true and you know it," he laughed. "You know full well some of your boyfriends put us in dangerous situations. The only reason you left Bob was because he started beating you. He'd been beating me since the day we moved in with him. When I told you that, you just laughed and said I needed to learn respect. I knew the only way to protect myself was to make sure none of your boyfriends could hurt me again. I studied as hard as I could and I got into Rainer at sixteen. You tried to talk me out of leaving. You said I wasn't ready for college. You just didn't want me to leave you alone. You only kept me because you didn't want to be alone. I heard you say that to your brother when he offered to let him stay on his ranch. You're scared of being alone but you ditched me every chance you got."
He sighed and looked at her. "Do you love me, Mom?"
"Of course I do," she said tried to touch his cheek. He pulled away from her. "You don't believe me?"
"You say it, but I don't think you mean it. Can you accept my relationship with Jim?"
"He's the wrong man for you, sweetie. His job is more important to him than you are. If he loved you he would be here right now."
"He's not here because Simon was shot," Blair clarified. "He's not here because he is seeing if his boss, his friend, my friend, is going to be all right."
"Why wasn't he at his press conference?"
"I didn't tell him about it," Blair admitted. "I knew he would try to talk me out of it. He didn't want me to sacrifice my career for him. I knew I had to in order to protect him. He wasn't willing to let me do that, so I didn't tell him. Unconditional love, Naomi. I have another question. Can you accept my relationship with Ray?"
"He doesn't deserve you," Naomi said as she glanced back at Ray. "He used me…"
"He told you that he didn't want to hurt you," Blair interrupted. "He told you he tried to protect you from what was happening in that drug raid. You were the one who wouldn't hear him out. You were also the one who chose to keep me from him."
"He doesn't deserve you!" she shouted. "I raised you! I'm the only parent you ever knew."
"Because you kept me from him!" Blair said then he took a breath. "Listen, we're never going to get anywhere like this. So I'm going to put this as plainly as I can. I love Jim. We are going to be together for the rest of our lives. We might get married, I don't know yet. I love Ray. He's my dad. He loves me with everything he has in him and he is willing to put his life in danger to protect me. I love you. You're my mother. I may not agree with some of the choices you have made but I love you. You need to decide if you can share me with Jim and Ray, and yes, Bodie. He's my step-father for all intents and purposes. My relationships with them do not change my relationship with you. The only thing that is putting our relationship in jeopardy is you. What you did with my dissertation was foolish, but if you realize what you did was wrong and why it was wrong, then we can move on. I don't know what I'm going to do now. I have to go to the police station and clear out my desk there. You think about what you want to happen between us. I'll see you when I get back."
"I'll go with you," Ray said as he followed his son out of the apartment.
They arrived at the station and Blair went over to the desk he had been given. He put a box on top of it and slowly started putting his things in it. He saw Rafe, Megan and Brown watching him but he didn't say anything to them. When he got everything in the box, he looked up at them. "I'm sorry you all had to deal with the fallout from my dissertation. I told Naomi it wasn't ready for a publisher, but she didn't listen to me."
"Blair, we just wanted to know why you and Jim didn't trust us with your secret," Rafe said as they walked over to him and Ray. "We knew there was a reason he could see and hear and feel things that we couldn't. He solves cases, that's all that matters. And you bring heart into this bullpen. We don't want you to leave."
"The brass might have different ideas," Blair sighed as Joel and Bodie came in followed by Simon, whose wheelchair was being pushed by Jim. Blair smiled at the captain. "I'm glad you're all right, sir."
"Sandburg, what are you doing?" Simon asked as he saw the box on the desk.
"Packing my things," Blair said as he gave Jim a confused look. "I thought my consultant status had been revoked."
"That's true sir," Jim said as he tried to hide his grin. "Of course his new status is still intact."
"Yes, it is," Simon said as he pulled a cigar out of his shirt pocket and stuck it in his mouth.
"What new status?" Blair asked as he looked at Ray. His father shrugged. He looked over at his lover. "Jim?"
"You're going to be a detective, Chief," Jim said as he tossed Blair a badge.
"What?" Blair asked surprised.
"I told the Chief that you were a valuable asset to my squad," Simon said as he looked at the younger man. "You'll have to take a few training courses at the Academy but the job is yours if you want it."
"Seriously?" Blair asked as Jim came around and put his arm around Blair's shoulders.
"Seriously," Jim said as he teased Blair about cutting his hair.
"No!" came the shout from behind Bodie and Joel. They parted as Naomi walked in. "No," she said again as she came up and snatched the detective's badge out of her son's hand.
"Naomi, what are you doing?" Blair asked as he took the badge back. "They're offering me a job that I was just about to accept."
"You can't," she pleaded. "You can't become a cop. Not after everything I did to get you away from them."
"So you did do it on purpose," Bodie growled.
"Of course I did," she snapped at him. "I had to protect him from you and Ray and Jim and all these other pigs. My son was never meant to be a cop."
"Naomi, I'm taking the job," Blair said as he put his hands on her shoulders. "You have to decide if you can accept this or not."
"But you're not a US citizen," she pleaded. "You were born in London. I lied on your birth certificate."
"Naomi, you're lying," Jim said as he looked her in the eye. "You're just desperate to keep him your little boy."
"I'm not lying!"
He nodded and looked at her. "Okay. Say you're telling the truth. Blair was born in London. You lied on his birth certificate and said he was born in Portland. You got him a US passport based on his birth certificate. If you did all of that, you now run this risk of him being deported for being in this country illegally. Now we all know that I can tell if you're lying or not. Do you really want to say he was born in London?"
She slumped her shoulders, defeated. "No. No I don't."
Blair grabbed her arm and led her into Simon's office. He closed the door and looked at her. "Are you going to be able to accept this? Because I am taking this job. I'm staying with Jim. I'm going to continue to have a relationship with Ray and with Bodie. What you did was selfish, Naomi and it backfired. I didn't come crawling back to you and I won't. If you can't accept the people in my life and the direction that my life is now taking, walk out that door and don't come back."
Naomi stared at him for a long time. Then she straightened her dress, pulled her purse back up onto her shoulder, turned and walked out of Simon's office. She walked past Jim and Ray and got on the elevator. She turned to see her son watch her just as the doors shut. "Blair," Ray started.
"It's okay," he smiled. "She made her choice. And I have made mine. I accept your offer Captain. And we'll talk about the hair cut."
Simon just nodded.
The next month, Blair did cut his hair as he started classes at the academy. Jim offered Ray the store space in the building for an art studio. Ray took advantage of it and opened a studio and school. Neither Blair nor Ray regretted the decisions they made in the wake of the dissertation fiasco and they started new lives with the men they loved the most.