Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters, and any other characters or real-life folks are clearly not mine. NO money is involved. None are mine. I do not own the characters or any rights to the television show The Sentinel. They were created by Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo and belong to them, Pet Fly Productions, UPN, and Paramount.
June 14th, 2003 – 1:00 AM
The vampire executive in charge of the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram & Hart paced the floor yet again. He'd been holding out on the Sunnydale refugees for the last two weeks, not telling them that Spike was back, though not corporeal.
The Slayers were both back to good health, and Buffy would be heading for Cleveland with Willow, Dawn and an ambulatory Giles. The Watcher had taken a few hits that had turned out to be much more damaging than at first believed, but was now doing better; only his Ripper persona starting to come out in frustration at immobility had finally forced Angel for his unlife's sake to loan him money until the firm's lawyers could free up the Council funds. With Dawn instead of Xander, the Scooby Gang were back to their original numbers.
Faith, on the other hand, in the meantime had her previous sentencing thrown out; Wesley found the personal and case logs in the W&H archives and they specifically showed a determination to 'frame' the girl who'd been only seventeen at the time of the crimes. And putting the case in front of an appellate judge previously in the law firm's pockets but told all would be forgotten by the new regime if he'd quietly ensure her exoneration, didn't hurt. Yesterday she was confirmed as a free woman. Her escape was considered an issue, but Angel offering to hire her for a year, and to include public service as part of it swayed the State prison officials and DA's office to drop all opposition.
June 14th, 2003 – 2:00 AM
Hank 'Digger' Summers reviewed the subject as dispassionately as he cold, but remembered the time when years before he'd told the teen that he owed him for saving his daughter.
'No sign of dhampiric capability yet, though we'll need to watch the significance of the colorblind situation. The only possible exceptions, are a seemingly sporadic increase in senses. 'John' heard me ask a question of Karen over loud music and across the bar, and was able to guess what I was writing from that distance on another occasion.'
Digger paused in his thoughts, letting them gather. 'He's now made more of his life in the last two days than he ever would have. Someday, I'll let you know who you were, Mr. Doe. But until then, I won't think of you except as you are, not as you were.'
June 14th, 2003 - Noon
John had been told by Frank to stay away from the case with the little girl; as a civilian being investigated, it wasn't Doe's place to actively participate. The detective then thanked him for the excessive data the man had given him to consider. John had seen her in color but that mattered only to him. Last night, he'd been looked at funny by both 'Digger' and that girl Karen at the bar. Lot of energy, she had. And so he'd explained he was colorblind.
So now he was here, walking along the 'boardwalk' and thinking, when he watched a couple get a regular hotdog from a vendor, and a spicy one. John didn't know if he'd like either kind. He ordered one of each…his metabolism the last few days had really kicked in with a vengeance now that he was active and healed.
The ferry had just left, and he was watching it head out toward the various stops, when he heard a woman's voice, and looked up. A gal in her twenties was in color, fashionably dressed, and was waving to him.
"Harri—" she called, and even as he strained his hearing, the departure warning horn of the ferry cut her off. After a moment of trying to communicate, Aura headed in to get a seat for the rest of the trip. Even though they'd never been friends, it was still nice to know that another person from Sunnydale was still around. And maybe she'd run into someone else after she headed back to San Fran the next day.
June 15th, 2003 – 6:00 PM
Doe had driven Detective Frank Hayes to distraction; between Doe getting involved in the case of the missing girl and then rescuing her by helicopter, the man didn't know what to do. Maybe he could get Ellison to dig around some and see if the guy showed up on any military databases; helicopter piloting just wasn't a common skill.
"And no, John, I haven't come across any Harry entries in missing persons that match your description. I'm sorry. Can we talk about this on the way up to Cascade tomorrow?"
"Yeah, sure. It's just, Frank, she seemed to know me. Her accent was also Southern California. Add to that her obvious ability to afford the clothes she wore, means that if we were at least friends, then someone in that same socio-economic bracket going missing should have been reported."
"But if none of them know you're missing? No one would know to look for you John. And you said yourself, you waited for a possible return, you checked the various stops. If she were important in your life, surely she would have tried going back. But we now have at least a partial for you to keep in mind when searching for yourself."
"Okay, you're right, Frank. I'm sorry."
"And hey, look at it this way…if you were really rich before, we should have found you already. So at least when you find out who you are you have that fine car and a decent place."
"Thanks, Frank, I'm not sure where I'd have ended up without you."
Monday, June 16th, 2003 – 11:00 AM – Main HQ, Cascade Police Department
Frank and John had gotten out of their vehicle just moments before and waited as they noticed Jim Ellison drive up with Blair Sandburg in his green Ford F-150 pickup truck and park near the fuel pumps. They waited and listened as the two men walked up, John's hearing a little better than Frank's though 'Oscar and Felix' were loud enough.
"Trust me," Blair tells him, casually waving at the two men, one he'd met the previous week.
"It's still not working. Let's just go over it again."
"Again?"
"Yeah."
"What's the problem now?"
"You got to drop that 'thin blue line' routine, okay?"
"Oh, no, no, no, no. That's some of my best stuff, man."
"I'm telling you, drop it."
"Look, I may be a rookie in your little Dirty Harry world here but I'm telling you, man. When it comes to thesis speak, I am a pro."
"In anthropology. The trick is to convince the captain that you're studying police science."
"I will dress up in an evening gown like J. Edgar Hoover if you thought it would help. I want this partnership..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop right there, Chief."
"Yeah, I know. I'm never to refer to us as partners."
"That's right."
"I'm strictly the observer."
"Right. This sentinel stuff stays between us. I don't want anybody finding out what's going on with me." They don't notice a moment of confusion on John Doe's face at the comment.
"Okay, fine!"
"All right?"
"Yeah."
Jim paused as they neared the doors. He looked at Frank and his friend, then around. Blair noticed while the two men they were meeting looked confused.
"What's up, man?"
"I thought I smelled blood."
"Oh, ho-ho! Man, you are good! Your senses are way up there. I sliced myself cutting a bagel this morning."
"Oh."
"Man. That is great!"
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with sharp objects?"
Frank looked at the odd pairing, and exchanged handshakes.
"You guys feeling alright? You're talking strange? And Jim, you just pulling Sandburg's leg with that jungle voodoo of yours?"
"Yeah…" Jim responded, looking like he'd been caught, and quickly changed the subject. "Hey, who's your friend?"
"This here's John Doe. No lie. He went out and somehow got himself an id when I wasn't looking. Since he helped us out on that case with the little girl you may have read about this past weekend, I decided not to look too closely until you have a chance to contact a few folks about him."
Ellison looked the man over, six foot tall, two hundred plus pounds of dense muscle, slight callusing on the hands, firm grip and intelligent eyes. And extremely good healing if what Frank faxed him was to be accepted.
"Pleased to meet you, 'John Doe.'
"Yeah, I'm really hoping you can help out, Detective Ellison," John replied as they got into the elevator. None of them really noticed the uniformed officer who joined another as he took something out of a trunk of a police car. Or the body of a police officer in the trunk.
As the doors of the elevator closed, John decided to ask, "Forgive me for overhearing, but I overheard a bit of your conversation. Putting together the keywords of Sentinel, jungle, exceptional smell, and Frank's mentioning that Mr. Sandburg was reading up on Central America—"
"John, give him a minute to get used to you," Frank interrupted to the relief of Jim Ellison, "Let's get you squared away. I called Jim earlier, and we're going to try to put you down on their consultant list, then I'll take a copy back to Avery and hope it's easier to set you up the same way."
"Really? Wow, thanks Frank. This isn't just a way of keeping track of me?"
"Just? No. But as long as we keep you from touching anything or getting too close to a crime scene until we let you," Frank smiled smugly, "I see no reason not to have you shortcut my work."
"How's that?" Blair asked.
"John here seems to have a freaky encyclopedia for a brain. You want to know what the population of Peru was in 1853? If they had a census, he knows it."
Jim frowned, "I though you had amnesia?"
"I, I do, but while I know nothing about myself, other than liking spicy hotdogs better than plain…"
"Don't we all…" the two cops agreed as Blair smiled at the earnest man. Jim added, "Except Blair here."
"There's no accounting for taste..."
"Hey!"
"That's what I told him."
"Hey!"
"I meant that taste is a whole different consideration, so I can't offer an opinion since I'm just starting to have my own."
Jim decided to keep teasing Blair as a way of further avoiding the possible discovery of the sentinel situation by Mr. Doe.
"Well, I suspect that if it isn't scary to normal people, Blair isn't interested. Like those Microbacteria stuff."
"Macrobiotic," John and Blair corrected, causing the cops to roll their eyes this time. Frank turned to Jim.
"We need to keep the brains apart; the dynamic in this group would be scary."
Major Crimes Department – Captain Simon Banks Office
Simon had just given the okay to Frank and Jim behind closed doors regarding John Doe as a possible consultant-observer to the department based on his help in Seattle, and a five minute absolutely correct demonstration of forensics knowledge. In his observer status, he would be unpaid, but as necessary when he'd proven his knowledge to a greater degree, he'd earn standard rate. As Hayes led Doe to fill out the appropriate paperwork, Jim, Blair, and Simon were left to discuss the second situation further, Blair going on a bit.
"The central hypothesis to my dissertation is how the quality of evidence gathering at a crime scene can affect the capture of a perpetrator and ultimately the outcome of the trial."
"And you're requesting full access credentials to observe Detective Ellison on the job?"
"Yeah. He is the best on the force, isn't he?"
"Did you tell him that, Detective?" Jim mouths the word 'no' and shakes his head. "Look, Mr...Sandburg, is it? You don't seem like the law enforcement type. What got you interested in this field?"
"Well, I've always been fascinated with the concept of the thin blue line."
"The thin blue line."
"It's that slender thread that separates the lawful and the criminal elements of our society. It's a concept that dates back..."
"I'm familiar with the concept," Simon told him, holding up a hand to stop him. "Could you excuse us a moment? I'd like to talk to Detective Ellison alone."
"Yeah. Sure. No problem. I'll be right out here, man. Thanks. Great."
Simon shuts door and turns around to face Jim. He looks at the former Ranger half in pain and half in amusement.
"Jim, when you first told me about this guy I was expecting an academic not some neo-hippie flower child with time on his hands now that the Dead have broken up. Frankly, I'm having a hard time buying that you want him on your tail. Though that Doe guy might make up for it if yo don't get them together in the filed too often."
"Yeah, I hear you, Simon. This is a family thing."
"Family?"
"Yeah. Blair's my cousin's kid. They've been supporting him through college for the last seven years. They figured if he finally got his doctorate he'd go out and get a job."
"And all this talk about you only working alone?"
"Look, even my mom called and begged me on this one. As far as I'm concerned he's just another ride-along. Anything happens to him, it is my responsibility. I take the heat."
"All right. Have him go over to Personnel and start the paper work. If he can pass the security clearance, I'll sign off on him."
"Terrific. I appreciate it."
Communications Room
The blinds drawn and doors locked, no one in the busy offices nearby noticed the very soft sounds of silenced weapon fire.
Major Crimes a few minutes later
Jim's just finished up sending off the information Frank's given him on Doe, and the two are just catching up when Carolyn walks up and notices both men.
"Frank! Good to see you, it's been forever."
"Yeah, I know, and the way Jim's been going on about you owing him lunch I was ready to pay a buck for a candy bar to keep him from going cannibal on me."
"Hey," Jim protested with a smile to their chuckles, and turned to his ex-wife, "I tried calling you. Where you been?"
"Stuck in a deposition all morning."
"Ah. So where's my lunch?"
"See what I mean," Frank shook his head with a smile and pointed his thumb at Ellison.
"Yeah, I know," Carolyn commiserated, "And Jim, you don't have to be so damn smug about it."
"I just knew your sister wouldn't go through with the wedding."
"Right, now on top of canceling her shower tomorrow, I have to buy you lunch?"
"It wasn't my idea to bet on it."
"My afternoon is packed, but if you can be ready in five minutes, I know a great new Indian place."
"No, no. That's too spicy."
"Too spicy…you kidding me, Jim," Frank mocked, "Live a little. You can't live on those Wonder Burgers I always see you chowing down on."
"Hey, they're great!"
"And how often do you need to cram your exercise before the next physical?" his friend rolled his eyes. "I just got through mine…I was told by the doc to lay off the things myself."
Carolyn smiled and nodded her thanks, "I seem to recall from our married days that you loved Tandori. And since it would be rude not to include Frank in our lunch plans, so that's two votes to one."
"Okay, okay. We just have to check on a couple of civilians we have filling out papers over in Personnel."
"Meet me downstairs."
Joel Taggert walked up to the group and smiled greetings, and shook the Seattle detective's hand, "Hey, Carol. Frank, long time, no see."
"Yeah, last year's softball game where we whooped you guys."
Carolyn gasped in disbelief as she shook her head and left, "Hey. One run is not a whooping."
"Okay, okay." Hayes looked at the other cops, "I better go check on the brainiac twins."
Joel smiled and turned back to Ellison
"Hey, Jim, did you hear about Alton and Morrison? They were just convicted for the ferryboat bombing. Life sentences for both."
"That's good, but that's only two of them."
"Yeah, but the way Garrett Kincaid disappeared maybe the Sunrise Patriots are gone for good."
"Yeah, and maybe the sun won't rise."