Jim poured himself a fresh cup of coffee, and felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. He spun around to find his partner standing in the doorway of his room, staring at him with an odd expression on his face.

"Something wrong, Chief?"

"Just thinking. Well, wondering something, actually."

Jim poured another cup of coffee and handed it to Blair.

"OK, shoot."

"Do you ever think about what would have happened to you if we had never met? I mean, do you think you would have been able to get a handle on your senses on your own, or do you think you would have just gone, like, totally ballistic and ended up in some loony bin somewhere?"

Jim exhaled sharply through his nose, and set his jaw. He did not want to have a conversation like this first thing in the morning.

"I hadn't really thought about it."

Blair smiled knowingly. "Oh, c'mon man. King of obfuscation you are not. You can't sit there and tell me that it's never crossed your mind. You were in a bad way the day I met you. Manhandling innocent civilians, biting people's heads off."

"Innocent? I seem to remember you calling me a cave man."

"True, but you're changing the subject. What if you hadn't found anyone who knew how to help you with your senses?"

"I did, and there's no sense in wondering what would have happened if I hadn't. Let's just drop it."

Blair looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then sucked in his breath and took a sip of coffee.

"What brought this on?"

"I had this strange dream last night. It was from an Edgar Allen Poe story..."

Jim's heart skipped a beat. No way was he about to find out they had both had the same dream. He shook his head. It was bad enough to have these senses, but if they were going to start having the same dreams then it was time to pack it in.

"What's the matter Jim? You look like a cop at the door of a closed donut shop."

Jim pursed his lips. "Very funny, Chief. What was the dream about?"

"Well, it was the Fall of the House of Usher, and you were going nuts..."

"That's a relief."

"Why?"

"Because I had a dream about Poe, but it wasn't the same story."

"Which was yours?"

"The Raven, I think. I was a bird, and I was being chased by Boris Karloff and Vincent Price."

Blair choked and spit out his coffee. Jumping up, he ran to the sink, snagged a handful of paper towels and wiped the coffee from his face and the front of his shirt. His face flushed a deep crimson. It took him a few moments to compose himself, but he finally calmed down, his deep breathing interspersed with something that was a cross between a hiccup and a laugh.

Jim watched the whole scene unfold with mild amusement. "Mind letting me in on it, Chief?"

"You dreamed about the Roger Corman movie, man. Not only that..." Blair started laughing. After several deep breaths, he continued. "Not only that, but you were playing the Peter Lorre part in your dream. That is too much!" He chuckled more softly now, and wiped his eyes. "Oh, man. My face hurts."

Jim didn't remember the movie, but then, he hadn't been into horror movies much when he was younger. He was certain that his memory would soon be refreshed. Blair was probably pondering his schedule now, trying to fit in a trip to the video store.

"So your dream was about the House of Usher? Isn't that the one..."

"Oh, yeah! It's amazing, Jim. I swear Usher was a sentinel. All of his senses were turned up to such a high level that it drove him insane. It's really fascinating. You should read it. I wonder how Poe knew about sentinels. I should do some research into his past."

"Sounds interesting. We don't have time for that now, though."

"Hey Jim, about last night. Did you ever hear that sound again?"

"No, it's gone. If it comes back, we'll deal with it then."

Jim gave his partner a reassuring smile and Blair returned it. Apologies weren't necessary between them.

As he watched his friend fly around the kitchen, hastily preparing breakfast, Jim became lost in thought.

Could he have turned out like Usher? Hiding away somewhere far from civilization, unable to deal with senses that were driving him insane? Yes. It could have happened that way. But it didn't. Because he had a teacher and a guide. A man selfless enough to stick by him until he was able to come to grips with this cross between a blessing and a curse.

And if that sound returned tonight, he wouldn't have to deal with it alone.

At that moment, Jim Ellison felt like a very lucky man.

The end


Thanks to my beta readers, Merry and Nita. Gosh you guys are fast! And thanks to Martha and all the IRCers who helped me choose between endings.