I do not own the Sentinel.

Edited: 15 Feb 19

Chapter 2

Blair watched Jim Ellison move through the bullpen and settle down at a desk, all the while carefully avoiding eye contact or even a glance in Blair's direction. In fact, it looked as though the detective had effectively dismissed Blair's existence from the face of the earth. Still, Blair could feel the tension in Ellison, could even see it in the detective's shoulders and posture.

A quick sweep of the room showed Blair where Captain Banks's office was located. Even as he weaved around the desks to the door, he kept one eye on Ellison, a perplexed frown growing on his face. There was something about the detective. If Blair didn't know better he'd say the man was a Sentinel, judging from the vibes he was picking up, but there were no registered Sentinels working with Major Crimes at the moment. Granted that was why he was there, to observe the department and verify that no latent Sentinels were working in the department unaware of their own potential.

Blair could sense Sentinels in a way few others could. It was more akin to a sixth sense than anything else, a skill that was rare even among Guides. It was partly why he'd been assigned to the job of locating and helping latent Sentinels find themselves and their own potential. Perhaps Detective Ellison didn't realize what he was, but that didn't make sense either. The impression he received from Ellison was more of a full blown Sentinel, with fully realized sense but muffled and distorted, and that would be definitely noticeable, especially to a police detective. If that were the case, then the detective would have certainly reported it if only to get a Guide.

Blair frowned again as he mulled it over. He'd have to talk to Captain Banks about it when he introduced himself. The only problem was Captain Banks wasn't in yet. Blair realized it after a moment of staring at the drawn blinds and darkened room behind them. He turned around to look at the nearly deserted office and realized just how early he was. Somehow he'd pictured Captain Banks to be the early-to-the-office type and in his eagerness to start, hadn't realized he'd arrived almost an hour early for his appointment.

With nothing else to do, Blair glanced around the room. After a moment, he headed to the bathroom partly to kill time. A few minutes later he was back in Major Crimes with just as little to do as a before. He had the brief idea of striking up a conversation with Detective Ellison but the man was a block of unwelcoming ice bent over his paperwork. Grabbing an extra chair, he found by an empty desk he started going over the notes he prepared for the meeting with Captain Banks. He wasn't sure of what kind of reception he'd get from the captain so he wanted to be as ready and professional as possible. True, the Guide and Sentinel Center in conjunction with Rainier University was invited to work out a program with the department, but that did not ensure he would be welcomed with open arms. He knew all too well that what the powers-that-be thought was a good idea did not always coincide with what those under their direction believed.

The minutes ticked by and still the room remained just as empty as when Blair first arrived, the only other occupant being Detective Ellison who still refused to look up from his desk. Blair ran through his notes once, twice, and a third time for good luck. The study he was there to conduct was twofold. His primary reason was observe the department for any latent Sentinels that either had not come online or were just beginning to gain their talents. His secondary goal was to conduct research for a comparison between the law enforcement closed society and known Sentinel groups. He was hoping to discover if the protective instincts that were so typical of Sentinels could also be found in those without heightened senses. There was still quite a bit of debate within the academic world on just how much of a Sentinel's behavior was due to genetics and how much was due to social expectations and learned behaviors.

As Blair was mulling over the various points within the age old debate between nature and nurture, Blair failed to notice the figure approach to stand before him until a gruff voice roused him from his thoughts. "You must be Dr. Sandburg."

Blair looked up and up to the very tall, dark man standing before him. The man held a briefcase and was looking at him expectantly.

"Ah, yes," Blair jumped out of his seat and extended his hand, "You must be Captain Banks?"

The man gave a short nod and a firm shake of Blair's hand. "Yes, why don't we take this into my office?" he said before leading to the dark office.

Blair followed as the captain flipped on the light and turned on the coffee maker, his nerves easing just a bit. The captain seemed polite enough if a bit on the gruff side, despite his intimidating size.

"Have a seat, Doctor. Why don't you tell me what you want with my department," Captain Banks said, taking off his jacket and settling in behind his desk.

Blair paused, "You haven't been told why I'm here yet?"

"Oh, I've been told, some academic-babble about studies and looking for Sentinels that don't know they're Sentinels, but I want to hear it from you, first, in plain English, preferably."

Oh, the captain wanted to get it from the horse's mouth rather than second or third hand in some memo. Blair could do that. "Well," Blair started, ordering his thoughts, "You must know that over the past several decades maybe even the past century the number of active Sentinels being born has been decreasing. In the past ten years, this decline has taken a noticeable plunge. According to studies, less than forty percent of the amount of Sentinels are being born today than fifty years ago. Then add to that the death rate of Sentinels has risen and fewer are coming fully online than before and you have a severe decrease in functioning Sentinels in general."

Captain Banks nodded, showing he understood the current situation. The decline had hit police stations harder than most areas of life and crime rates had risen in the past few years as more Sentinels retired or died with no one to take their place.

Blair continued, his hands illustrating the explanation, "There has been some speculation that the increase in synthetic chemicals and medicines has had some impact in the birth, development, and lifespan of Sentinels, but there's just not enough evidence to prove one way or another at the moment. Other theories have stated that the increase in technologies that can mimic Sentinel abilities have made Sentinels obsolete and are therefore being weeded out of the gene pool. Though, how that could happen within such a short amount of time, considering how long it takes for the genetics of a population to change, especially in a species as long living as Homo sapiens is anyone's guess."

"And what does this have to do with your study?" Banks, interrupted, not seeing how the genetic development of the human race had anything to do with his department.

Blair looked up, "What? Oh, it doesn't, not directly. This is just background for the reasons behind the program that the GSC developed."

"Mind keeping it to the topic?" Banks said with a sigh and small scowl, his shortening patience showing on his face.

"No, not at all," Blair said, reminding himself he probably didn't want to get on this man's bad side first thing on his first day. "You see, while Sentinel birth and survival rates have dropped, Guide birth rates have not. In fact, I believe it's estimated that for every Sentinel, active and online at this moment, there are over five Guides ready and waiting for a Sentinel. Then, there's the fact that there are far less concrete requirements to be a Guide. With the proper training, almost anyone could become an adequate Guide for a Sentinel so long as the two individuals have the right rapport. Though, there are some schools of thought that say there are more subtle traits which aid…"

Blair trailed off noticing the growing scowl on the captain's face. "But that's not important. Just knowing that there are not enough Sentinels, you can see the problems that this will cause, is causing. So, we've started to look more carefully into the areas that would normally attract a Sentinel as a career, police departments, search and rescue, fire departments, the military, etc. We think that there may be quite a few Sentinels out there that are latent and haven't come online yet, probably for the same reason why less have been born with the ability all together."

"And you hope that by finding them, you can prod their talents to come out and ease some of the shortage of Sentinels, right?" Banks finished for him.

Blair bobbed his head, glad the man caught on so quickly. "It's possible that something new in modern life is repressing the Sentinel abilities so they may need extra encouragement to appear. That's why Guides have been sent out to the various departments as observers in hopes of finding these latent Sentinels. If their talents do appear later on in life then they could have more serious problems adjusting than if they were coaxed into coming out earlier. In the end, it's better for everyone."

Banks nodded, a slow thoughtful movement, eyes fixed somewhere over Blair's head. "And having a few online Sentinels in the department would help ease the work load quite a bit," he added almost to himself. "What about the other part?"

"I was hoping to use some of my observations as a comparison between closed societies, specifically those of Sentinel groups and non-Sentinel groups with the same goal. Like I said, there just aren't as many Sentinels for we Guides nowadays and many of us have been broadening our areas of expertise. I'm also a professor of Anthropology at Rainier University, since I haven't been able to find my Sentinel yet."

Banks nodded, leaning back in his chair for a moment. "Alright, go and get your observer pass from Vera. She's down the hall. I'll arrange for a detective to be your official liaison. Just make sure you don't get in the way and you should be fine. In fact, it would be a big help if you could find some latent Sentinels in the department."

Blair couldn't help the large smile that broke out over his face. That had been much easier than he had anticipated. As he stood up preparing to leave a thought struck him. "Actually sir, would it be possible for Detective Ellison to be my liaison? We met earlier today."

"Ellison?" Banks repeated a slight hint of disbelief in his tone, "Are you sure? I mean, don't get me wrong, Ellison is a decent man, honest and trustworthy. He's the best detective I have, but the man is an iceberg. He likes his privacy, always keeps to himself. He's not going to be the friendliest liaison to have."

Blair hesitated, a small pang of doubt suddenly flashing through him. Did he really want to be landed with an iceberg for the duration of this study? But then he remembered the strange feeling he received from the man. There was something off about him and if it had anything to do with Sentinels then it was Blair's job to find out. "That doesn't matter, I'm sure we'll get along just fine," Blair said, a smile fixed on his face.

"Alright, he doesn't have a partner at the moment so he would be a good choice in that respect, but don't say I didn't warn you." Banks stood up and showed Blair to the door, pointing him in the direction of Vera's office before calling Detective Ellison in to see him.

Blair threw one last glance at Ellison catching the detective's eyes for a brief moment. There it was again, that strange sense coming from the man, suppressed but there nonetheless as Ellison cut his gaze away and entered the captain's office. Blair turned back toward the direction Banks had indicated and went to start his paper work. He'd have to keep an extra eye on Ellison.

TBC...