Disclaimer: Just discovered them. Want to play with them, but unless I win the lottery (and to win you got to get in!) I can't claim them as my own. Mores the pity.
Everything hurt. He was tired, worn out, exhausted – the term rode hard and put away wet came to mind – having moved from one case to another for the past six weeks with no let up. The rain, well that was simply an added bonus.
If there really was a God, he thought, as he limped slowly toward the building, the elevator would work, just this once. If it refused, he wasn't sure he would make it up the three flights of stairs. He dropped his head against the wall as the elevator sluggishly moved upward. When the doors opened, he struggled to straighten up and dragged his uncooperative left leg behind him.
Once in the loft, he shrugged out of his wet leather jacket and managed, just barely, to get it on the hook. The distance from the door to the living room seemed a lot further then he remembered. He sagged onto the couch, collapsing slowly as each worn out muscle gently gave up the fight to keep him upright.
Blair entered the loft talking to himself about the whimsy of the building's elevator. He was halfway through making himself a cup of tea when he noticed Jim's still wet jacket on its hook. "Jim?" When he got no response he shrugged and completed his task before heading for the living room.
He stopped short at the sight of his pale roommate asleep on the sofa. "Jesus, Jim," he whispered before bending over the body. "Jim? God you're freezing," he said in a normal tone as he reached for the blanket resting on the back of the couch, "Jim, come on man, wake up."
The blue eyes opened to a slit, carefully scanning. "Blair?" he whispered hoarsely.
"Right here big guy," he smiled as he reached for a light, "you okay?"
"Just tired." He didn't make any effort to move, giving the smaller man a chance to run his eyes over him.
"You look like shit," he exclaimed, taking in the dark circles under the eyes, the two day's worth of stubble and a paleness that spoke to the level of his exhaustion.
"Anyone ever tell you, you have a way with words Chief," was the soft rebuttal.
"Seriously Jim, are you alright?" Blair perched on the couch, one hand resting on the soft chamois covering the broad chest.
"Just tired." He forced his eyes open all the way and struggled to sit up, wanting to allay the worry he saw on his friend's face.
"Easy Jim," Blair said, his voice sliding into guide mode, "just lay still. Everything's alright."
The tightness in the jaw relaxed slightly and the blue eyes softened. His hand reached out to grab Blair's forearm. "How are finals going Chief?" He winced inwardly at the harsh sound of his own voice
"One more to go." The smile warmed Jim somewhere deep inside and he felt a layer of tension dissipate. "Why don't you take a shower, and I'll make dinner."
The blue eyes closed. "Need some help getting up," Jim said softly, not wanting to admit it.
"Not a problem." Blair helped him into a seated position before offering him a hand off the couch. The big man swayed slight once on his feet, steadying when a firm arm grabbed him around the waste. He smiled his thanks before moving to the bathroom. Blair watched, a frown on his face at the effort it took his partner to walk across the room.
Blair was on the couch, a tray of sandwiches and soup resting on the coffee table, when Jim came out of the bathroom. Jim ran a gentle hand across his partner's head before easing himself down. They ate quietly, the silence comfortable. Jim's yawn broke that silence as he finished his soup.
"What's going on Jim?"
"Just been a little crazy lately."
"When was the last time you slept?"
"Look Chief…" Jim stopped and shook his head slightly. "Two days ago."
"And your knee?"
"I'm getting too old to chase kids through back alleys and over fences." He softened his shrug with a smile.
"I am so not going to touch that one, tempting as it is." Blair laughed and received a cuff for his troubles. His expression became serious as he continued to gaze at his best friend. "Have I done something wrong?"
Jim's head came up, blue eyes mirroring the confusion he felt. "NO!" He took a deep breath, "Why would you think that?"
"The last two weeks, you haven't asked me to come with you." Blair was suddenly fascinated with his hands.
"No, no," Jim said shaking his head. He put his hand out and picked up Blair's chin so they were looking at each other. "Blair, I…I'm not mad at you. I haven't asked for help lately because, well because I wanted…damn." He snorted. "Look, you have so many jobs Chief – student, teacher, civilian observer, guide, shaman, best friend – I, I realized how selfish I've been and I wanted to give you time to focus on your jobs – not mine – especially with it being finals." It was his turn to stare at his own hands as they rested on his lap.
"Jim, that's…thank you." Blair couldn't find the words.
"We good?"
"We're great."
The phone rang and Blair rose to answer it.
"Sandburg, tell Jim to meet us at 26th and Lima in 30 minutes." Simon ordered.
"Simon, he's done in."
"Just give him the message Sandburg. Tell him Catlow is supposed to be moving his stuff tonight."
Jim headed out of the loft 15 minutes later after Blair helped him slip on an elastic knee brace. "Jim I wish…"
"It's what I do Chief, you know that. I'll be fine, I promise. Now finish up your studying and get some sleep. I want you rested and ready for that exam tomorrow."
"Yes sir," Blair responded, a small smile playing across his face.
They waited five and a half hours in the cold rain for Catlow to make his move. Jim signaled his Captain that he was going in for a closer look after a second truck drove up to the loading dock. "Six people," he whispered into his mic, "four on the first floor by the loading dock, and two upstairs. "Give me two minutes before you move in, and I'll take the two upstairs."
"Be careful," was the reply from Simon.
He was on the stairs, when the noise started out front. He took out the first man with no trouble, but met his match as the second man launched at him from above, before he could regain his balance. They wrestled frantically for a long moment before gravity overtook them and they rolled down the iron stairs locked together. At the bottom, the other man banged Jim's head into the cement floor twice. Jim fought to hang on as he entire body was screaming at him, and he was having a hard time finding his way around the pain. He managed to flip the other man over and cuffed him before rolling off.
"Jim? Ellison? Jim come on," Simon said half out of breath as he knelt beside his battered officer. "Jim, you with me?"
"Hurts."
"That was quite a tumble – you okay?"
"Help me up," was the gruff response.
"Easy Jim, let's have the EMTs take a look."
He ignored his boss and started pushing himself into a seated position. "Not my brightest idea today," he muttered as his muscles protested.
"Ellison, enough!" Simon barked as he watched his detective's face pale. "Stay still, that's an order."
The EMTs wanted x-rays, but Jim refused. "Nothing's broken, just bruised," he said angrily, uncomfortable with the strangers poking him as he sought to control the pain.
"I'll call Sandburg." Simon said quietly.
"No…he has finals today…I really am okay," he paused as he looked at his captain. "Alright, x-rays but I'm not going in the ambulance."
He spent three and a half hours in the ER before the doctors confirmed his initial assessment – 'bruised and battered'. H drove him back to the precinct, and he did his report. Then a uniform drove him home.
Blair found him on the couch when he got home that afternoon. This time his paleness was offset by the bruises forming on his neck and cheek. Blair put a hand gently on the chest and when he got no reaction, he unbuttoned the top three buttons on the shirt and found more bruises. "What the hell happened to you?" He said, his teeth clenched.
"Took down a couple of bad guys."
Blair jerked at the response and found himself staring into tired eyes. "You okay?"
"Just bruised and battered - you don't have to take my word for it, ER docs said the same thing."
"What happened?"
"I didn't zone Chief, if that's what you're thinking. I took down the first guy easy enough, second one – we came down a flight of stairs together." Blair's face didn't look convinced. "Give me a break Chief, he was bigger than me."
"Yeah, right. No one is bigger then you Ellison." Blair snorted.
"He was 6'9" andhad the advantage of gravity being on the top stair." Jim ground out, the petulance in his voice making his friend smile.
"Okay, okay, I believe you. Why don't I start a bath – looks like a hot soak would be good."
Jim looked longingly at the steaming tub for a long minute, before shaking his head. "Hey Blair, I…I need some help…please."
Blair walked in and did a double take at the bruised body before him. Jim's chest and shoulders were covered in black and blue and purple. He started to say something about it, but stopped when he realized that his housemate's head was down. "Okay big guy, why don't we sit you on the side of the tub and swing your legs over – that way you don't have to lower yourself quite so far down." He was very matter of fact and was glad Jim was facing away from him when he saw the extent of the bruising on his back.
"God that feels good," Jim whispered as he finally settled in the warmth. "Thanks Chief."
"Let me know when you're ready to get out - in the meantime I'll dig out the Tiger Balm."
Fifteen minutes later, Jim moved carefully up to the side of the tub. His muscles were no longer screaming, but he wasn't sure he could manage to extract himself. "Blair?" The younger man entered immediately and kept up small nonsense talk about dinner as he helped his partner move from the tub to the toilet seat.
"In the chair Ellison," he ordered when Jim emerged from the bathroom. Jim straddled the chair and leaned his arms and chin on the chair's back. Blair took a healthy amount of balm and began to gently rub it into the bruises that nearly coated the broad back. Jim remained quiet throughout, only a soft sigh escaping as Blair's fingers eased through a particularly nasty spot near his shoulder blade.
"Do you have plans for tonight?" The bigger man asked breaking the silence as he stood up and moved away from the chair.
"Plans?"
"Well I…we have reservations at Antonio's for 7:30 tonight. I wanted to…I thought you might like to celebrate the end of the semester. I can't go now…but I thought you might get one of your friends. It's on me."
"Wow, Antonio's! I think I would like to wait and go another night, when you can come. Maybe tomorrow?"
Jim's head came up so his eyes met Blair's. "I'd like that."
"Cool, why don't I get us some stew and then get you to bed. You're about to fall asleep on your feet."
After dinner, Jim headed for the couch. "Hey, I thought you were going to go to bed?"
"I am. Look, I'm not going to make it up those stairs tonight, so the couch will do just fine."
"Take my room. At least you can stretch out."
"No, I'm fine here. Just going to build up the fire a little first. And if you want to watch TV, that's fine, I think once I lay down, I'll be out of it pretty fast."
Blair went upstairs and got the comforter and two pillows from the king size bed and helped Jim settle on the couch. "You doing alright?"
"Yeah…thanks Chief, for everything." The blue eyes were soft and warm as they sought the younger man's.
"Back at you big guy. Get some sleep – you need to catch up on your beauty sleep or you're going to be scaring the bad guys into submission." The tone was gentle, as was the half hearted cuff he received in response. "Sleep well Jim."