Midnight on Prospect

Part 3

Ellison cringed as Blair struggled to get air into his lungs. Banks was lowering his weapon, realizing the futility of the standoff. Jim knew that neither he nor Simon would be able to pick him off with Blair’s body blocking the field of fire. He saw out of the corner of his eye as Banks started to lower his also. That was when all hell broke loose.

Michaels switched his aim at the last moment, firing at the same time. Jim could only watch helplessly as the bullet caught Simon high in the chest.

Blair and Jim screamed out their anger at the act at the same time. Blair renewed his struggles. Jim was torn between the need to help Simon and the need to rescue Blair. It was a lose-lose situation and it was Jim who'd end up the loser.

"Hold still, damn it." Michaels cursed, his arm tightened once more. "Hold still or I’ll do Ellison, too."

Blair stilled instantly. Jim raised his weapon once more but was unable to use it. Vaguely he was aware of a small crowd of student, which was forming somewhere behind him. He heard one of them telling another to call the police and an ambulance. Jim was grateful but his attention was too focused on the two men before him to acknowledge the student’s quick thinking.

"Now, Detective, what’s it going to be? Come after me and your Captain dies. Or stay here to help your Captain and your partner dies. Your choice." Michaels chuckled wickedly as he began to drag the grad student with him.

Jim was torn between the need to protect the Guide and his need to protect the tribe. There were too many innocents around and he couldn’t risk them. He watched helplessly as his partner, his Guide, his best friend and his brother was dragged bodily away. He watched in complete despair as Blair was forced into the car, on the driver’s side and pushed through to the passenger side. All the while, Michaels kept his body hidden behind a target too precious to even attempt a shot.

As they drove away, Jim’s heart screamed in denial. Every instinct told him to give chase but he couldn’t. He couldn’t leave Simon here, bleeding to death, maybe even dead already. Agony seared through him at the latest blow the fates had dealt him and his Guide. He cursed his Sentinel gift that couldn’t help him save the two people who meant the world to him.

Falling to his knees in the cold grass, he assessed Simon’s injuries. The bullet had lodged somewhere in his upper left chest area. The wound was bleeding profusely but Simon was still alive, his breathing ragged, his heartbeat irregular, but still alive.

Jim quickly removed his jacket and outer shirt. He pressed the shirt against the wound, holding it tightly even when Simon moved against the painful pressure. The EMT’s arrived within minutes and took over for him but by then the car carrying Blair and Michaels was long gone and he could no longer sense any trace of it.

~*~*~*~

Blair huddled against the wall as far away from the door as he could get. He had no idea where he was; Michaels had injected something into Blair when he wouldn’t stay still. He had continued to struggle and fight, using both physical and verbal attacks. Even after they had pulled away from Jim at the University, the car had swerved until Michaels had grabbed a syringe and plunged it into Blair’s thigh. He had blacked out, only to wake here in this dark hellhole with no idea where here was. There were no sounds other than the faint dripping of water coming from somewhere; there was no light at all. The only reason he knew he was far away from the door was because he had found it in his blind search and eventually, after discovering that he couldn’t get it opened, he had moved away. He hoped that the distance might give him some advantage when Michaels came for him again.

He also had no idea how long he’d been there, the lack of light made it impossible to tell what time of day or night it was. He hadn’t worn his watch that morning so it could still be morning or it might even be night. The concrete floor he sat on was cold on his legs, even through the khakis he wore. His leather jacket had been taken and now all he had to protect himself from the cold was a lightweight cotton tee shirt. He sat with his arms wrapped around his knees, hugging them tightly to his chest, trying to maintain some warmth in the freezing cold of the room.

He didn’t need to think too hard about what was going to happen to him. He refused to speculate. All he needed to know was that Michaels no doubt blamed Jim for his arrest and lose of his business and that he would now use Blair as a means to exact his revenge.

Blair was quite certain that even now Jim would be blaming himself for Blair's abduction and whatever was to happen next. The Sentinel's built-in guilt factor was usually set high but when his Guide was involved, that guilt would easily double or even triple. Jim would run himself ragged trying to find Blair, risking zone outs, over stimulation of his senses. His temper would flare and things would just get worse until his Guide was back at his side.

Blair knew this to be the case because every time Blair needed rescuing the same pattern had been followed. It was comforting in a way but it also scared him when he couldn't be there to help. Of course if he was there, he wouldn't be here and there would be no need for him to get all panicky like this.

Blair grinned at his own turbulent thoughts. It was something to wile away the time but he knew it wouldn't be long before Michaels came for him. Did whatever he planned to do to him. The fear bubbled to the surface again as despair built.

A single tear slipped past his defences and he wiped it brusquely away. He closed his eyes, cleared his mind and fought to find his centre, the control he needed if he was going to survive this.

He began to meditate.

~*~*~*~

Jim stood in the corridor of the hospital, watching through the plate glass window as the doctors and nurses worked around his Captain. He watched them taking temperature, checking his wound and replacing bandages. One nurse switched the IV while another double-checked the heart monitor. A third had already changed the sheets and before that a nurse had changed the catheter and made sure that everything was as it should be. The familiar hustle and bustle of the doctors was comforting. It meant that Simon was still alive.

He had been in surgery for nearly six hours. The bullet had missed the lungs and heart, but had done serious damage to the muscles of the chest and left arm. Simon would live though he would be weak for a long time. For that, Jim was grateful, but he was still hurting inside. For two days he had searched for any signs of Blair or Michaels. So far, nothing. The fact that no body had been found was the only thing that kept Ellison going against a severe loss of hope.

He knew that Michaels would want to draw out the torture as long as he could. He would want Ellison to find the body. He would probably know that Blair’s death would hit Ellison hard but Jim was certain the man had no idea just how hard. Jim knew something that no one else knew, possibly not even Blair. If Blair were to die, so would Jim. He had felt it for a while now. There was some sort of bond between them, a tie so strong and so deep that it amazed Jim from the moment he first felt it. He and Sandburg had never discussed it so he didn’t know if Blair was aware of its existence, but it was there and it was very powerful.

In all his years, Jim had never known anything like it. He had never had a friendship strong enough to support such a bond but now that it was there, he didn’t want to lose it. He couldn’t lose it. He couldn’t lose Blair.

"Detective?" The doctor’s voice brought Jim from his revelries. "Captain Banks is awake and asking for you. Please don’t keep him long, he is still weak and needs his rest."

"Thank you, Doctor. I won’t be long with him." Jim assured the man before entering the now quiet room. Simon’s eyes were closed as Jim approached the bed. The dark, bare chest was covered in a stark white bandage from shoulder to waist on the left side. The blanket was laid lightly over the man’s torso but he didn’t look cold, only peacefully out of pain.

Jim sat in the chair next to the bed. He reached out and gently touched the uninjured shoulder. "Simon?"

Dark brown eyes slowly opened and a faint smile revealed an even row of white teeth. "Hey, Jim. Did we win?"

Jim had to swallow hard before he could reply. "No. Michaels got Blair."

"Shit, Jim. What the hell are you doing here then? You gotta find him. Michaels will kill him for sure." Jim reached out to calm his agitated friend. He placed one hand against Simon's good shoulder to prevent him from trying to sit upright.

"Easy, Simon. You aren’t ready for doing any marathon butt chewing. We are looking. So far there is nothing to go on. I just haven’t got a clue where to begin looking. All leads we had were dead ends." Simon watched in horrified amazement as the usually stoic cop’s face began to crumble, tears building but not quite falling in silent sorrow. "Sorry, Simon. Didn’t mean to bring this in here. I’m just scared, you know."

"Tell me. Everything. Maybe together we can come up with some ideas." Banks’ usually gruff voice was soft with compassion.

Jim began, starting with the search for the car Michaels was driving, including any known or possible hideouts. Nothing had come to fruition and the three detectives were stumped on their next move.

~*~*~*~

Simon listened intently, fighting the pain medication as Ellison spoke, efficiently explaining everything he and Rafe and Brown had done to find Blair. Joel had pitched in where he could but while Simon was out, Joel was in charge and needed to remain near the station. Simon could feel the frustration Jim felt. He heard the tiny sounds of defeat that marred the usually calm voice. He sensed the guilt that Jim was carrying yet he said nothing. Not yet. He needed to hear all first before he could start helping.

"So, we checked all his old haunts and some likely new ones but came up blank." Jim finished. His face rested in his hands as he attempted to maintain control.

Simon was silent for a long time. Then, finally, he spoke, his words carrying strength that he knew Jim needed so badly right now.

He had a few ideas, some good ones that the others had not contemplated before.

"Check the city limits. Especially old, abandoned cabins or mines. He likes that sort of thing. Any place that might had an underground basement or maybe even an old bomb shelter. Someplace that sound would not be a problem. Somewhere that activity at all hours would not attract attention. "Michaels’ll probably avoid warehouses now, since he’ll figure that’d be the first place you’d look." When Simon finished speaking, he closed his eyes. The painkillers were making his thoughts run pell-mell through his mind. They were foggy at best as he fought to clear his head. He needed his mind to be working if he was going to help Jim and the others find Blair. Time was running out and they both knew that if they didn't locate Michaels' hide out soon it would be too late for the young observer.

~*~*~*~

Part 4

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