caillech2000@yahoo.com

Author’s Notes: This story contains corporal punishment. Be warned.

Thank you Rhonda, Loopy & Spacepixell for beta-ing.

~*~*~

"Are we boring you, Mr. Sandburg?" Professor Tompkins zeroed in on Blair from across the crowded lecture hall, glaring at the youngster through narrowed eyes. Dozens of heads turned in unison, following the teacher’s gaze.

Totally absorbed in the much more interesting tome by Sir Richard Burton, Blair didn’t hear the Sociology teacher’s question. The student sitting next to him gave him a shove. Startled, Blair slid half out of his seat. The large book dropped to the floor and Blair scrambled to retrieve it. As he righted himself and placed the book on his desk he shot an embarrassed look back across the room.

"Um, ah, sorry. What was the question?" Blair pursed his lips and screwed his face into what he hoped passed for a ‘I was really paying attention to your extremely interesting and informative lecture I just didn’t hear the question’ look.

Muffled laughter raced through the room.

The professor straightened his shoulders and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger in a decidedly annoyed manner. Deciding not to let the bright student off the hook by asking a legitimate question, he re-phrased the original.

"Do you find my lecture boring?" His fingertips clutched the edge of the lectern, his shoulders hunched forward slightly and he pinned Blair with an aloof look.

Blair licked his lips nervously. The lecture had been dull and unimaginative and delivered in a staggeringly condescending manner. He looked around him, taking in the indifferent, glazed-eyed looks of his fellow students. He glanced at his friend Cody who was slowly shaking his head back and forth in a silent plea. Blair shrugged his shoulders in an offhand way and Cody closed his eyes and groaned.

Blair looked at Professor Tompkins again, cleared his throat, and answered.

"Well, now that you mention it…"

~*~*~

After Blair pointed out to Professor Tompkins just how inane he considered the material being offered, as well as the manner in which it was being offered, the astute man had smiled craftily and calmly invited his student to take over.

What ensued was an animated discourse exhibiting a remarkable grasp of the lecture material delivered from a refreshingly new perspective, punctuated by expressive gesturing and a natural ease at pulling even the most reluctant students into a lively discussion.

As the class ended and the students filed out, Professor Tompkins walked up to Blair shaking his head and chuckling under his breath. He stopped in front of the still bouncing youngster and clapped him on the shoulder. "Well done, Mr. Sandburg." He winked at the youngster. "I guess it’s time for me to re-vamp my methods a bit. I’ll see what I can do to make my lectures more, well, interesting at least, and you see what you can do about keeping me on my toes. What do you say?"

Blair smiled enthusiastically. "Deal, Professor!"

High fives and slaps on the shoulder greeted Blair as he left the lecture hall. Cody sidled up and fell in step with his friend as they made their way out of the building and out onto the commons. "Only you, Sandburg." He nudged the younger boy teasingly. "Only you."

Another less teasing nudge jostled Blair from behind, accompanied by a less than amused voice. "Yeah, you geek. Only you." Before Blair could react, the mocking continued with another shove. "Are you the little teacher’s pet?"

Blair turned abruptly and came face…to chest…with Travis Denslow. All six foot nine inches of him.

Blair had spent much of his young life fending off others’ appraisals of his unconventional looks, hyperactive enthusiasm and above average intellect. Naomi had never condoned violence, but instead encouraged her son to stand up for himself and use his wit and intelligence as a weapon.

Undaunted by Travis’ more imposing stature, Blair poked a finger in the broad chest as he raised himself onto tiptoes to try to come nose to nose with the burly basketball player. He managed nose to chin and seemed satisfied.

"Teacher’s pet?" Blair’s expressive face scrunched itself into a look of bemused disbelief, causing the older student to take a half step back.

"Did you say teacher’s pet?" Blair’s voice taunted as he pulled his hand away from Travis’s chest and waved his arm about. "Look around, man. This is college. College. Not seventh grade."

Cody began frantically tugging on the back of Blair’s shirt, trying to deter his friend from the suicide mission he seemed to be on.

Travis leaned forward into Blair’s personal space, granting the kid’s desire to be nose to nose. "Do you have any idea who you’re talking to, geek?"

"Travis Denslow, right? Starting center---number 97---here on a full ride---PE major---hoping to make it to the NBA. What’s your point?" The star player’s stats rolled off Blair’s tongue in one smooth breath.

Blair still hadn’t backed away and Cody was nervously biting his lip, hoping there’d be something left of Blair to pick up once Travis finished with him.

Travis seemed momentarily stunned. He pulled away from Blair and laughed. "You’ve got some balls, Sandburg." He nodded in approval and smiled. "I like that." He reached out and this time he shoved Blair good-naturedly. "It’s just, well, I took Thompkins’ class ‘cuz I thought it’d be an easy C. Thanks to you, prof, it looks like he’s gonna start makin’ us work for it."

Blair relaxed his stance and stared at Travis incredulously. "An easy C? Come on, man, I know Ranier’s standards. Even for an athletic scholarship, you would have needed at least a B average in high school."

"Yeah, well…" Travis rubbed at the back of his neck thoughtfully. "I’m not stupid or anything, but in high school? I got a lot of extra help. They prepped me to play ball, but nobody prepped me for how to juggle college courses with practice time and playing time. I’m just having a hard time keeping up with it all."

"I hear that, man." The wheels in Blair’s head began turning rapidly and he started bouncing excitedly. "We could start a study group. For you and the other team members." Blair warmed to his subject now, peppering his remarks with manic arm waving. "We could work it around the practice schedule. Work as a team, take advantage of each other’s strengths…"

Cody just stood there, speechless, shaking his head in disbelief as Blair spent the next fifteen minutes organizing a study group schedule for the Ranier basketball team.

~*~*~

A half hour later, Blair burst through the doors of Major Crimes, his upper body still turned toward the elevator as he made one last remark to Jenny from records before the doors slid shut.

The youngster was still buzzing from the rush he always got from absorbing himself in any new academic adventure. He was anxious to share the details of his latest converts to the Sandburg learning express with Jim.

He was half way into the room, barreling full tilt towards Jim’s desk before skidding to a halt. He looked around in bewilderment at the nearly empty bullpen. The only activity in the normally bustling room seemed to be coming from Rhonda’s desk.

Blair spun on his heels and made a beeline for the secretary’s desk. "Hey, Rhonda, what’s going on?" He waved his left arm out across the empty expanse. "Where is everybody? Is everything okay?" He glanced toward Simon’s closed door. "Are they all in there? Is there a meeting? Oh, hey, I’ll bet…"

"Slow down, Blair." Rhonda smiled fondly at her favorite assistant. "Here." She pushed a plate holding three chocolate chip cookies across her desk. "Have one. I made a fresh batch this morning and it was no easy task to keep H from scarfing them all down."

Blair snatched a cookie from the plate, bit it in half and began chewing. "’anks." He gave her one of his dazzling smiles, only slightly marred by a gob of chocolate coating his front teeth and crumbs hanging at the corners of his mouth.

With Blair’s mouth momentarily out of commission, Rhonda hastily explained the whereabouts of the missing detectives. "You know the smuggling case Major Crimes was working on with Vice?" Blair nodded vigorously and popped the other half of the cookie into his mouth. "Well, it broke wide open a couple of hours ago. All available teams from MC and Vice are on it, with a few other departments pitching in as well. I’ve never seen so many warrants materialize so fast." She winked at Blair as she nodded at the pile of paperwork strewn about in front of her. "Simon called in about five minutes ago. The circus is coming to town."

Blair laughed at Rhonda’s non too subtle way of saying the bullpen wouldn’t be quiet for too much longer. He snagged another cookie from the plate, dropped his backpack on the floor and allowed himself to be put to work.

Within fifteen minutes the circus, along with the requisite sideshow, descended upon the bullpen. Suspects, informants, witnesses, detectives, undercover cops, uniformed cops, lawyers, and a bevy of assorted clerks and assistants vied for the center ring.

Blair followed the ringmaster’s direction and plastered himself into the corner behind her desk as Rhonda deftly handled the sudden flurry of incoming calls and demands for paperwork and extra assistance. He tried to take in everything going on around him, while keeping a watchful eye out for Jim.

For the past few weeks he’d been coaching Jim on ways to control and sharpen the use of his extraordinary senses. Wary at first, Jim had soon succumbed to Blair’s assessment of his gift and allowed the kid to conduct tests to gauge his abilities.

Much to Blair’s delight and later, regret, Jim exhibited an extraordinary talent at being a ‘human lie detector’. It was a talent Jim put to good use when Blair tried to obfuscate his way in or out of any teenage stratagems.

The sentinel had come to life. The guide had responded to the sentinel’s needs.

And as Jim’s senses came on line, he’d discovered he could be subject to spikes with any given sense if he allowed himself to concentrate on it too intensely.

Working together, through trial and error, Blair taught Jim how to ‘dial’ any of his senses up or down. If the spikes were too intense, or took the sentinel by surprise, it could overload his senses, resulting in what Blair called a ‘zone out’.

To the amazement of both Jim and Blair, they discovered it was Blair’s presence, touch or soothing words that helped prevent this from happening, or served as anchor to pull the sentinel from the zone if it did happen.

The flurry of activity in the bullpen alerted the young guide to be prepared to come to the aid of his sentinel.

Several minutes later Jim entered the room, dragging a very uncooperative suspect with him. By the disheveled look of both men, the suspect had put up quite a fight. Joel Taggart accompanied Jim, helping to manhandle the struggling man into the bullpen.

The swirl of activity and the near deafening noise level combined with the smells of cheap smoke, fear and perspiring bodies assaulted Jim’s senses, causing him to wince.

The guide immediately launched himself out of the corner and rushed to his sentinel’s side.

Grabbing Jim’s forearm and rubbing it softly, Blair began a soothing mantra. "Jim, listen to me; we talked about this, remember? You need to dial it down, man."

The suspect, a slimy looking misfit, eyed Blair speculatively. "This your girlfriend, cop?" His lip curled into a most unattractive sneer. "I’ve got a little something you could rub for me, sweetheart."

At the implied threat to his guide, Jim snapped out of the slight zone he’d been headed toward. He grabbed the suspect by the lapels and hauled him up on his toes, giving him a violent shake. "Shut your trap, Craddock."

Jim looked at Joel and nodded his head toward Blair. "Get the kid outta here, okay? Take him over to the bomb squad bullpen and make sure he stays put until I come for him." He pinned Blair with a no-nonsense look. "Use cuffs if you have to."

"But, Jim…"

"Can it, Chief."

"What if you…"

"Not a chance."

"You might…"

"My patience is in very short supply right now, kiddo, so I wouldn’t push it if I were you."

"Fine."

Blair reluctantly released his hold on Jim and allowed Joel to steer him toward the exit. Rhonda hurried to catch up to them and handed Blair his backpack. She reached out and ran a hand up and down his arm reassuringly before turning back toward Simon’s office in response to a bellowing request from the Captain.

Blair dragged his feet as he shuffled along with Joel. Knowing Jim could hear him, he muttered under his breath the whole way. "Just remember what we talked about, Big Guy. Dial it down. Deep breaths, man. I’m here if you need me."

~*~*~

Joel Taggart looked up from his work, peering over the stack of manila folders to check on his charge. Seeing an empty desk where Blair should have been, he quickly surveyed the bomb squad’s bullpen. There was plenty of activity, but no sign of the hyperactive teenager.

After hanging his head and shaking it slowly for a minute, Joel exhaled an exasperated sigh and called out across the room.

"Did anybody see where he went this time?" He pursed his lips and held his tongue as his request was met with a flurry of amused snorts and innocent looks.

"Where’s he gone every time he’s slipped out?" Doug Sanders didn’t look up from his own paperwork, the corners of his mouth twitching, not able to meet Joel’s gaze without breaking out into gales of laughter.

"If he’s not here when Jim comes for him, it’ll be all our asses." Joel’s soft spoken, assertive statement was not lost on anyone. "I’m not taking the fall for this alone."

"With all due respect, Captain, Ellison did leave the kid in your custody." Sanders made no attempt to hide the humor from his voice.

"Right. Great. Thanks, guys." Joel pulled himself to his feet, ready to go in search of the escapee. The big man mumbled to himself. "Shoulda took Jim’s advice and used the handcuffs."

"Captain, they’re not gonna let him anywhere near Major Crimes---," Sanders tried reassuring Joel. "They have uniforms at all the exits, at the elevators and all the stairwells."

As if on cue a uniformed officer strode into the room, towing Blair with him. Officer Parker marched directly toward Joel and deposited the youngster in front of his desk.

"Lose something, Captain?" Parker smiled at Joel as he released his hold on the squirming boy.

Blair’s expressive face displayed what he thought of the officer’s comment. "Come on, guys, I was just going to the men’s room."

Officer Parker arched one eyebrow. "Right." He looked at Taggart. "There’s no way on God’s green earth I’m answering to Ellison if the kid manages to get down there. The place is still a zoo." He pushed Blair in Joel’s direction and Blair took off across the room in a huff.

A strange sense of déjà vu washed over Parker as he remembered the last time he’d had to act as escort for the hyperactive youngster. He’d been given the task of delivering Blair to his foster father after the kid, along with a few other ‘rebels’, had disrupted a political rally at Ranier by mooning the speaker. The look on Ellison’s face when he’d opened the door was one the young officer wouldn’t forget for some time.

He gave Joel a sympathetic look and hurried away.

Joel resisted the urge to stick out his tongue at the retreating officer. "Coward."

Blair was on the far side of the room, pacing back and forth in front of a bank of filing cabinets, mumbling to himself.

Joel drew a steadying breath. The big man was a teddy bear at heart, laid back, calm and easy going…traits that came in handy when dealing with assessing bomb threats and disarming touchy devices. But he could also be stern and no-nonsense when the need arose.

He crossed the room and planted himself in Blair’s path. The agitated teen walked right into the older man and was startled when Joel grabbed him by the upper arms. Joel calmly steered the youngster back to the desk he’d been relegated to and pushed him down onto the chair.

Before Blair could open his mouth to protest, Joel held up a hand in warning. "Come on, Blair, why are you doing this to me?"

Blair tried his best to look contrite. "You don’t understand, Joel, Jim needs me. He…"

"The last thing Jim needs is you in the bullpen right now." Joel cut off any further protests by pointing a menacing finger at the boy. "The place is crawling with lowlifes, murder suspects, drug dealers; some of them were higher than a kite when we brought them in. Any civilian not authorized to be there could potentially be in jeopardy or jeopardize the investigations."

"But…"

Joel placed a large hand on Blair’s shoulder and squeezed gently. "Tell you what, Blair." He eyed the phone and nodded toward it. "Let’s give Jim a call. See how things are going, how long he thinks he’ll be yet. Whaddya say?" He raised both eyebrows questioningly and made it clear that was as good an offer as Blair was going to get.

Blair slumped against the chair back in defeat and began kicking the leg of the desk with his left foot. He looked at Joel, unsuccessfully trying to hide his disappointment. "Okay. Fine. Whatever."

Joel shook his head and smiled reassuringly as he picked up the receiver and dialed Jim’s extension.

After two rings Jim’s harried sounding voice could be heard shouting into the phone in order to carry over the din in the MC bullpen. "What!"

Joel grimaced and pulled the phone off his ear. "Jim? It’s Joel. How’s it going down there? Do you know how much longer you’re gonna be?"

"Damn, Joel, I’m sorry. Things are still crazy here. It could be a while yet. I’ll bet Blair’s getting antsy, huh?"

"Don’t worry about it, Jim. You got a minute to talk to the kid?" Joel nodded at Blair as if Jim could see through the phone line.

"Yeah, hang on." Joel waited as he heard Jim place a hand over the mouthpiece on the other end and call for one of the uniforms to keep an eye on the suspect seated across from him. "Put him on."

Hearing the reference to ‘the kid’, Blair straightened and began bouncing in his seat, his right hand wiggling impatiently in a ‘gimme’ gesture.

Joel chuckled as he handed the phone to Blair, who quickly snatched it. Joel retreated a few steps and leaned up against a nearby desk.

"Jim? Man, are you all right?" Blair swiveled his chair away from Joel, cupped his hand around the mouthpiece and lowered his voice to a whisper. "You almost zoned before. Are you dialing it down? Do you need me to come over there? What if I…"

"Whoah, slow down, there, Junior. I’m a detective. Remember? I do this all the time."

"Yeah, I know, but things are different now. I could…"

"What you’re gonna do is stay right where you are."

"But Jim…"

"What part of this are you not understanding Darwin? I appreciate your concern, I really do, kiddo, but I’m all right. My senses are just fine. Things should wrap up here in about an hour, maybe less."

"But Jim…"

"No buts, kiddo. Stay with Joel and behave yourself. I’ll come get you as soon as I can. I’ve gotta go. Behave yourself."

The ‘click’ of Jim hanging up abruptly ended the conversation.

Blair stared at the phone dejectedly for several seconds before holding it out to Joel. He resumed his slouched position in the chair as Joel took the receiver from him and hung it up.

A heavy silence hung in the air for several minutes. Joel was just about to say something when Blair suddenly jumped to his feet, stretched his arms lazily and turned toward the older man.

"Jim says he’s gonna be a while yet." Blair nonchalantly reached for his backpack and swung it up onto his shoulder. "I might as well head on home." He smiled innocently at Joel and shrugged his shoulders. "No point hangin’ around here." He moved from behind the desk and took two steps toward the door before a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

Joel spun the kid around to face him. "Nice try, Blair. You think I was born yesterday?" The look he gave Blair clearly stated the ‘teddy bear’ had had enough of his antics. "You are gonna plant your butt in that chair." He pointed emphatically at the seat Blair had just vacated. "And if you so much as think about getting up from that spot before Jim comes for you, I’ll put you over my knee and paddle you but good."

Blair’s eyes widened in disbelief and he swallowed nervously. He and Joel had hit it off right from the moment they’d met. Blair could relate to the man’s gentle demeanor and soft-spoken manner. It had honestly never occurred to him until this moment that there would have to be another side to the man. He held the rank of Captain. He had people under his command. When push came to shove, if the situation demanded it, Captain Joel Taggart would expect to be obeyed. And only now was Blair beginning to realize it.

Joel fisted his hands on his hips and watched as Blair slunk back over to the desk, dropped his backpack on the floor, and silently planted his butt in the chair.

~*~*~

Jim rested his elbows on his desk and rubbed tiredly at his temples. He had one more suspect to question and then he’d be able to call it a day. He sighed in exhaustion and smiled. It felt good to have everything go right for a change. His senses had stayed focused and under control. At the scene, while the bust was going down, he’d been able to locate and apprehend several suspects due to his acute hearing and sight. And during the questioning of several of the suspects, the lie detecting skills Blair had helped him hone had proven to be quite helpful.

He was surprised to realize he was anxious to tell Blair all about it and maybe even boast a little regarding the use of the abilities he’d so recently doubted. His smile grew at the thought of his young charge and the string of questions he knew the kid would throw at him. He shook his head and chuckled as he pictured the look on Blair’s face and imagined the animated body language that would accompany the kid’s inquest concerning the events from which he’d been excluded.

Jim smirked as he realized his day was far from over; he heaved himself out of his chair and grabbed the last folder from the desktop.

Simon chose that moment to exit his office. As he approached Jim’s desk, he removed an unlit cigar from between his teeth and shook his head. "You look like shit, Jim." He chuckled as Jim rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, Simon. Same goes for you." Jim started walking toward the door and Simon trailed along.

"Anything you need me for?" Simon nodded at the folder in Jim’s hand.

"Naw, I’ve got it. This one’ll be easy. Once Craddock caved, everyone else has been falling over each other to cut a deal." The two men reached the interrogation room. "You could do me a favor, if you’ve got time?"

"Sure, what do you need?" Simon placed his hands on his hips and studied Jim.

"Blair was here when we started hauling perps in. Joel’s been keeping an eye on him over at the bomb squad bullpen. Can you check in on him? Let him know I’m almost done here?"

Simon frowned at Jim. "Why didn’t you just send him home?"

Jim rested a hand on the doorknob of the interrogation room and gave Simon an amused look. "Because I know how the little shit thinks. Once he saw what was going on, there was no way he was gonna leave. I had to have someone sit on him."

Simon snorted and turned to leave. "Say no more." He shoved the cigar into his mouth as he waved Jim off. "I’ll head down there and let the kid know."

~*~*~

Blair launched himself out of his chair the minute he saw Simon enter the bullpen, ignoring the scowl sent his way from Joel. He raced over to the big man, ready to bombard him with a million questions. Before he got the chance, Simon had his hands in the air, waving him down.

"Just hold your horses, there, son." He easily intercepted the youngster and quickly wrapped an arm around his shoulders, turning him back the way he’d come. "Jim’s almost done; just one more suspect to finish up with and then he’ll be down to collect you." He greeted Joel with a slight nod of his head.

"Are you sure, Simon?" Blair gave Simon a skeptical look.

Blair couldn’t explain it, but he was beginning to have an uneasy feeling about Jim’s ability to keep his senses at a tolerable level. After the near-zone he’d witnessed hours ago, he had a gut feeling the smallest thing might cause an overload.

He’d been so excited about confirming Jim was actually a sentinel, he’d never stopped to consider what would happen when he wasn’t around to guide Jim in the use of his senses.

If anything happened to Jim, if he zoned, if he had a bad reaction to something they’d collected as evidence, if…

Blair suddenly realized he really had no idea what he’d been doing. He couldn’t fathom what had ever made him think he could help Jim use his enhanced senses. If anything happened to Jim, it would be his fault.

Blair began worrying his bottom lip with his teeth as he allowed every conceivable worse case scenario run through his mind. His brow furrowed and the look he gave Simon changed from skeptical to near panic.

"How’d he look? What’s the noise level like over there? Did he say anything about having a headache or are his eyes bothering him? I should really go over there and…"

Simon shook the small body in his grasp menacingly. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, there. You’re not going anywhere." He turned Blair so the youngster was facing him and pinned him with a look that conveyed both understanding and warning. "Things are quieting down; Jim’s tired and looks like shi---; he looks like he might have a headache, but it’s been a long day. He just wanted me to let you know he won’t be much longer."

Simon and Joel exchanged looks and Blair flung himself back onto his chair, not bothering to hide the annoyed whining from his voice. "I know, I know. Sit down, stay put and behave." He added a mumbled ‘woof’ under his breath.

The two older men turned as one and shot identical warning looks at Blair, accented by identical rigid stances.

Blair gulped softly. He realized he might have been pushing his luck with that last remark. He hunched forward over the desk and busied himself with the homework he’d been pretending to work on. From beneath the curls hiding his face, Blair covertly observed the two men as they conferred quietly.

The unfounded sense of unease about his sentinel grew as the guide watched the two older men. It seemed odd to him that Simon would find it necessary to come down to the bomb squad just to tell him Jim would be coming soon.

Determined that something was not quite right, and Jim needed him, Blair resolved to go in search of his guardian as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

After a few minutes, Simon left, offering Blair a quick good-bye. Blair returned a half-hearted wave and resumed his pretense of being interested in the book lying open, upside down, on the desk in front of him.

Satisfied that Simon’s reassurances and warnings, added to his own threats to the boy’s backside had finally convinced Blair to remain where he was, Joel let his guard down momentarily and rose from his desk. He walked the few steps to the filing cabinets, opened several drawers and rummaged around, replacing reports he’d finished and pulling new ones from the files.

An expletive worthy of Blair’s colorful vocabulary, but seldom used by Joel, was uttered through clenched teeth as he turned and noticed the empty chair. He tossed the folders on his desk as he hurried past, crossing the bullpen much quicker than one might suspect him capable of. He pushed through the still swinging doors and barreled into the hall with a look of grim determination on his face.

~*~*~

Blair scurried along the corridors, bent on achieving his objective this time. Joel had tried to sound threatening, but Blair had convinced himself the big man was bluffing. It was Joel, after all.

Jim might be another matter. If he could just see the big guy for himself, make sure he was okay, then he’d hightail it back to the bomb squad’s bullpen. He was sure he’d have no problem obfuscating his way past any recriminations from Joel.

And if Jim’s senses really were acting up, he’d be able to help…thus eliminating the possibility of any punishments from that quarter.

It sure seemed like sound reasoning at the time…

~*~*~

As Blair neared Major Crimes, he noticed the level of activity from earlier had dwindled considerably. Several uniformed officers were milling about in the corridor ahead. He hung back, waiting to see where they were headed. When they turned to come his way, he backed away cautiously.

He’d retreated several steps when he bumped up against a wall of flesh. Assuming Joel had caught up with him, and not willing to give up his goal when he had gotten so close, he turned abruptly and slapped both hands against the large chest, in an attempt to push off and run the opposite way.

His wrists were caught and he was yanked forward. He found himself staring into the sneering face of the suspect Jim and Joel had brought in earlier.

"Well, if it isn’t Ellison’s little sweetheart." A leering, snarky voice snarled.

Momentarily undaunted, Blair allowed his teenage bravado to overcome good sense.

Naomi’s teaching of striving for a non-violent solution flew out the door as Blair found himself facing more than a jock’s juvenile intimidations. He kicked the man’s shins as hard as he could and tried to wrench himself free.

"Let go of me, you bastard!" Blair spat the words at the man holding him, unsuccessfully hiding the fear in his trembling voice.

He was yanked harder and pulled up onto his toes, bringing him nose to nose with Philip Craddock. As the man spoke, his hot, smelly breath drenched Blair’s sense of smell, causing the youngster to stifle a gag.

"Who the hell do you think you’re talking to, you little punk?"

Blair went weak in the knees and tried to keep his gaze level as the proximity of Cradock’s beady green eyes threatened to make him go cross-eyed.

"Let him go, Craddock." Joel Taggart’s firm, calm voice filled the air.

Craddock and Blair turned their heads in unison, their temples touching, to see who’d spoken.

Joel stood not six feet away, his right hand instinctively reaching for the gun holstered at his shoulder.

A split second later, another man, in business suit and tie, appeared at Joel’s side.

"For chrissake, Phil, what’re you doing? Put the kid down." The suit looked from Craddock, to Blair, to Joel.

Craddock released Blair, letting the youngster drop the few inches to the floor. He held his hands away from him, acting as if he’d been holding something dirty.

"Hey." Craddock jerked his head toward Blair. "I wasn’t doin’ nuthin’. I’m on my way outta this cesspool, finally, and the kid assaults me."

Joel motioned to Blair with his left hand, and Blair scrambled to his side. Joel pushed Blair behind him protectively, never taking his eyes off Craddock.

"Blair?" Joel’s question of Craddock’s story hung in the air.

Blair cleared his throat and licked his lips. "I-I didn’t mean to. I ran into him by accident." He looked sheepishly up at Joel from under the man’s armpit. "I, um, thought he was you. I was just trying to find Jim."

Craddock laughed as his lawyer hurried to his side and grabbed him by the elbow.

"Are we free to leave?" He waited for Joel to nod his assent and then steered his client toward the exit.

Craddock’s guffaws echoed in the halls as Joel relaxed his stance.

As the realization of what could have happened hit him, Blair began to shake. Joel wrapped a large, warm arm around his shoulders and walked the two of them the short distance to the Major Crimes’ bullpen. He rubbed Blair’s arm soothingly, muttering soft reassurances the entire way.

He guided the youngster across the bullpen towards Simon’s office. Rhonda gave him a startled, questioning look as they passed, but Joel merely shrugged. The lift of the gentle man’s shoulder indicated something had happened, he had the situation under control and he was going to make use of the empty room he was headed to.

Rhonda nodded silently and gave the two of them an encouraging smile. As the door to Simon’s office closed, Rhonda shook her head knowingly and went off to find Jim.

As the door closed behind them, Joel’s warm, comforting hand left Blair’s shoulder and landed with a resounding SMACK! on the seat of his jeans. The force of the swat propelled Blair a few steps forward, and before Blair could voice his surprise at the attack on his unsuspecting bottom, he found himself being danced across the room to the rhythm of additional swats landing on his butt.

"Joel! Joel!" Blair squawked as he tried to shield his butt.

Reaching a straight-backed chair, Joel pulled it out, sat down and yanked a now protesting Blair down and over one knee. He expertly positioned Blair so the youngster’s backside was at an advantageous angle and pinned the boy’s legs under his own right leg.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing, Joel?" Blair tried unsuccessfully to shield his butt and maintain his precarious balance as he wiggled to extricate himself from Joel’s hold.

His question was answered with six rapid swats, delivered unerringly to the dead center of his butt.

"Ouch! Ow, ow , ow! Stop! Ow!" Blair tried to push himself up and off Joel’s lap; but his efforts were met by a strong hand placed on his back, holding him securely in position.

Ten more blistering swats landed on his bottom before Joel finally spoke.

"What I’m doing, young man, is exactly what I promised I’d do if you did exactly what you did."

Joel continued lecturing as he spanked, establishing a steady cadence of swats landing on Blair’s squirming backside.

"We look after our own, son. And since your Jim’s, and Jim is one of us, that makes you one of ours, too. And there’s no way I’d let anyone’s kid get away with the stunt you pulled on me."

Swat after swat after swat continued raining down on Blair’s butt, and as the stinging grew, he silently cursed himself for having assumed Joel had been bluffing.

"You were told to stay put because it was way too dangerous for you to be anywhere near Major Crimes. Do you have any idea who Philip Craddock is? What he’s capable of? Do you have any idea what it felt like when I saw he had hold of you?"

Joel continued the relentless paddling, his pace fueled by the dread he’d felt when he’d seen Blair in Craddock’s filthy grip.

Blair’s frantic squirming escalated in a vain attempt to free himself from Joel’s hold. The silent cursing quickly changed to very vocal cursing as a string of expletives worthy of a longshoreman flew from Blair’s mouth.

Joel shook his head in disbelief as he repositioned Blair, tilting the small, wriggling bottom higher before delivering a round of extra hard swats to the underside of the boy’s butt.

"I can’t believe Jim lets you get away with that mouth!"

Blair quickly swallowed the disparaging remark he’d been about to make regarding Joel’s ancestry and decided he’d best try for sincere contrition.

"I’m sorry, Joel. Ow! Ouch! Ow!" Blair’s protests began to fade into hitched breaths and choked apologies. "I-I’m sorry. I-I am. Ow, ow,ow! I was w-worried about Jim. You-you don’t understand."

Joel landed ten more swats and stopped. He let his hand rest for a moment on the warmed bottom, as he decided if the punishment would suffice.

Blair shuddered involuntarily, as he realized the spanking might resume. He sniffled miserably and swiped at his runny nose. He tearfully whispered a muffled apology.

"I’m sorry, Joel. Really sorry."

Joel exhaled a long slow breath. He released his hold on Blair, helped him to his feet and then pulled the youngster into a hug. He patted the boy gently on the back as Blair continued mumbling his regrets into the big man’s chest. He allowed a few minutes to pass, and then walked Blair to a corner of the room. Turning the boy so he faced into the corner, Joel patted him once more comfortingly on the back.

"Stay there until Jim comes." The command was spoken gently, with no censure.

Blair sniffled a few more times and wiped his eyes and nose once more with his shirtsleeve as he nodded in understanding.

~*~*~

Jim was half way into the interrogation of his last suspect when he ‘sensed’ Blair nearby. He looked up, startled, expecting to see the youngster at the door. He shook his head to clear it, confounded by the sudden feeling.

Detective Robbins looked toward the door, following Jim’s gaze. He frowned at Jim, silently asking if there was something wrong. Jim shook his head again, this time in response to Robbins, and continued the questioning.

A few minutes passed, and an inexplicable uneasiness seemed to wash over him; he looked up again, and cocked his head to one side; sure he was hearing the kid’s heartbeat. He tried to shake off the feeling, chalking it up to the long day, but it persisted at the edge of his awareness.

Finally, he could no longer ignore the nagging feeling. Something wasn’t right. He turned the rest of the interrogation over to Robbins.

Rhonda was waiting just outside the room, poised to knock on the door. Jim pushed past her, and headed in the direction of the bullpen. Rhonda had to practically run to keep up; she breathlessly explained what little she knew of what had happened as they hurried along the hall.

They brushed past Simon, who was headed the opposite way toward a rendezvous with the Chief. Seeing the looks on Jim and Rhonda’s faces, he immediately changed direction and fell into step beside them.

The trio burst into Simon’s office, greeted by the sight of Joel lazily sipping a cup of Simon’s French Roast and Blair standing in the far corner, rubbing his butt.

Rhonda pursed her lips and stifled a smile as she immediately assessed the situation, turned quietly and exited the office, pulling the door shut behind her.

Blair fidgeted restlessly, not daring to turn around, as he waited for the ax to fall. He shifted from foot to foot, and tried to melt into the corner as he strained to hear Joel’s indictment of his behavior over the last half hour.

He didn’t have to see Jim’s face; Blair could feel his guardian’s gaze boring into the back of his skull and the displeasure of all three men wafting across the room. He hung his head and sighed, rubbing once more at the sting in his backside in the hopes it might subside to a tolerable level before Jim added to the fire.

Jim began questioning Joel, demanding to know what had happened.

To Blair’s immense surprise, Joel refused to say anything more to Jim other than what had happened was between him and Blair.

Jim persisted, clearly not pleased by Joel’s refusal to offer an explanation.

Joel held his ground.

A tense silence finally fell and Blair held his breath, waiting.

He heard Jim coming up behind him, and couldn’t wait any longer. He spun around and walked into Jim’s embrace, sobbing softly. Jim held on tight, tucking the curly head under his chin and rocking Blair back and forth, swaying gently.

"Shhhh, kiddo, it’s all right. It’s all right." Jim continued rocking the boy until he felt Blair relax a little. The he pulled Blair away from his chest and held his face in his hands. "Tell me what happened."

Blair let his gaze fall to the floor. He pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth and began a barely discernable bouncing. Deciding to take advantage of the reprieve Joel had granted him, Blair sucked in a deep breath. Before he could begin his diversionary obfuscation, Jim cut him off.

"Look me in the eye, Blair. I want to troubleshoot."

Blair’s gaze quickly darted up to meet Jim’s and he gave his guardian a dirty look.

‘Troubleshoot’ was Jim’s way of saying he wanted to play their version of truth or dare combined with twenty questions he’d invented after the discovery of Blair’s fake ID a few weeks earlier.

The rules were simple. Jim would ask Blair a question, expecting a truthful, no bullshit answer, and he ‘dared’ Blair not to answer honestly. The sentinel abilities Jim was finally accepting, along with Blair’s guidance in using them, made him, essentially, a human lie detector. And if Blair ‘failed’ Jim’s polygraph, his butt paid the price.

Jim had hit upon the moniker thinking back to when he’d first entertained the notion of fostering Blair. Not having any experience in the parenting department, he’d jokingly compared the experience to needing an instruction manual. And all instruction manuals have a troubleshooting section.

He’d never let Blair in on that little tidbit of information and the kid had no idea how or why Jim used the term. What Blair did know, was when Jim used it…any and all attempts at obfuscation were useless.

Blair looked at Joel, then Simon. Twin sympathetic looks, laced with ‘you’re on your own kiddo’ met his gaze. His shoulders drooped and he sucked in a deep breath as he steeled himself for the upcoming explanation. He looked back up at Jim and the account of the afternoon’s escapade slowly emerged.

As the narrative wound down, Blair could hear Simon’s muffled grunts of disbelief interspersed with requests for Joel to confirm the kid’s story. Blair’s shoulders sagged further and he released a shuddering breath as he ended his discourse.

Jim let go of Blair’s face and let his hands drop to the kid’s upper arms, retaining a firm grasp on the boy.

"What got into you, Chief? Do you have any idea what could have happened?" Jim’s eyes were filled with a mixture of concern, confusion and subdued anger. "I told you to stay put, more than once." Jim sighed heavily. "When we get home, kiddo, I’m gonna warm your bottom again."

"Damn straight," Simon interjected.

Blair nodded sullenly, acknowledging the additional punishment.

"I had to Jim. I-I had to find you." Blair looked Jim in the eye stubbornly. "You almost, almost zoned, and I, I, had this bad feeling, and then Simon came and he and Joel weren’t telling me what was going on, and I just knew your senses were acting up and nobody’d know what to do and…"

As his earlier sense of foreboding and panic once more washed over him, Blair’s voice quivered with uncertainty and confusion.

"What’s he talking about, Jim?" Simon demanded.

Jim and Blair had talked about this; they both knew Blair couldn’t always be around when Jim might need him. They’d discussed telling Simon and had come to the conclusion it would be necessary sooner or later.

Blair and Jim turned to face the other occupants of the room. Two baffled faces stared back at them.

Sentinel and guide spoke at the same time.

"Jim’s a Sentinel…"

"Nothing…"

Sentinel and guide looked at each other, then back at Simon and Joel, and then spoke once again in unison.

"Nothing…"

"I’m a Sentinel…"

Simon and Joel exchanged confused looks.

A long suffering sigh escaped Simon’s lips as he motioned for everyone to gather round his desk.

"Have a seat, gentlemen." Simon chuckled at Blair’s uncomfortable groan. "Those of you who can, that is." Blair rolled his eyes, but smiled gratefully nonetheless.

"From the beginning, gentlemen, if you please." Simon settled himself and lit a cigar.

The sentinel and his young guide looked at each other and silently acknowledged now would be as good a time as any to let others in on Jim’s secret. And someone, under Blair’s tutelage, would need to know what to do to help Jim and prevent zone outs.

And the sentinel also needed to know there would be someone who could help keep his headstrong, over-eager, persuasive young guide in line, if necessary…like today.

Jim grinned at Blair, who was still idly rubbing at his stinging butt. Blair returned Jim’s knowing smile as they both turned their gaze to Joel.

Blair cleared his throat and prepared to launch into what had become his favorite subject.

Jim’s grin broadened into a full-fledged smile as he watched his charge…his guide…begin bouncing and gesturing wildly before the first words had even left his mouth.

"In all tribal cultures, every village had a sentinel. Now, a sentinel is chosen because of a genetic advantage…"

The End