The Rival

by Arnie

"Pet! Get out here, Pet! Now!"

Blair Sandburg heard the yelling and slowly pushed himself up from the floor of the closet, wincing as his still-healing body protested the movement. Alex, 'his' Sentinel, was calling. He didn't know why she needed a Guide; she had fairly good control over her senses, and it was rare for her to enter a zone out. However, she'd decided that she needed one and that he was the one for her, hence his current position in her closet. Kidnapped and beaten into apparent servility, he bided his time. Sooner or later she would fall into a zone out and when she did, their 'relationship' was history. Hearing her call again, more impatiently than ever, he pushed open the door and stepped out, his eyes fixed on the floor. As expected, she was waiting for him.

"There you are, Pet." Her hand reached out and touched his face.

As his eyes flickered up to meet hers, he could see that they were as hungry as the mind he felt pressing against his barriers. Dropping his gaze, he stared back down at the floor.

"Okay, Pet, have it your way. But you'll cave, sooner or later." Grabbing his arm, she hauled him towards the sitting room of her hotel suite. "Sit down and take me through that hearing exercise again. I want to practise it before my...friends arrive."

Waiting until she'd taken her seat, he sank to his knees by her side, his face carefully blank. No matter what he thought or what he felt, he'd do this and hide every trace of hatred for her. For some reason she was unable to force a bond upon him, although he'd heard that it was fairly easy for a Sentinel to force their way into a Guide's mind. He didn't know why she couldn't overcome his barriers but he was grateful for the reprieve.

Leaning forward, he dropped his voice into a lower tone than his normal speaking voice, and started talking her through the exercise. For a second her eyes met his, blue on blue, then she looked towards the door.

"Stretch out your hearing, go through the door and down the corridor. What can you hear?"

She smiled. "Your heartbeat." Her eyes returned to sweep his face hungrily. "We could be so good together, Pet. You and me. Bonded forever." Her hand stroked his arm gently, before moving up to grab his chin. "Why do you fight it?"

He ignored her words. "Concentrate on your hearing. You're through the door and at the elevator, what can you hear?"

"Such a professional."

For a second her eyes hardened and he thought she was going to strike him again, but instead she released him and looked towards the door.

"I can hear the elevator moving. It's stopped on this floor - they must be early." Pushing him away she stood up. "Get back into the closet and don't listen if you know what's good for you."

He rose obediently - two weeks of beatings had taught him the value of doing what she said - and went back into the bedroom. Opening the closet door he stepped inside and shut it again, thankful that he wasn't claustrophobic. He'd seen more of the inside of her closet than he had of the hotel room - and considering that being in the hotel room meant being with her, he much preferred the closet.

The murmur of voices reached him and he settled himself down on the floor, leaning his head back as he listened intently. It was possible that anything he found out could be used against her. He wasn't a fool; he knew how difficult it was to escape from a Sentinel and, once he was away from her, he intended to make sure that he stayed well away. But if she caught up with him, he'd need some kind of insurance, and information could be that insurance.

He could have gained more information by using his empathic abilities, but there was a risk that Alex would realise he was reading her and her guests and react accordingly. Although he'd never linked with her, she'd tried to force her way into his mind more than once. Each time she'd been met with a stone wall which had frustrated and angered her, but her fury hadn't been enough to overcome his barriers, so she wouldn't recognise the touch of his mind. However, as he was the only empath in the hotel suite, it wouldn't take a genius to work out who was picking whose brains if he started reading people.

Suddenly his head jerked up as he heard a yell. It wasn't Alex; it was a man's voice. Pushing open the closet door he crept out slightly and listened harder. There were two men with Alex. One of them was groaning in a way which suggested that he was hurt and on the verge of passing out, while the other was shouting almost hysterically.

"Shut up, Guide!" There was the sound of something hitting flesh, a thud of something hitting the floor, and the man was silent.

Blair couldn't stay back any longer. If these men were enemies of Alex's, then they were potential allies of his. He burst through the door and careered into Alex. She fell back, then swung around to face him, a gun, complete with silencer, clutched in her hand.

For a second he stared at her, then he turned to look at the two men huddled near the wall. Both of them were unconscious. One of them had been shot in the shoulder while the other one had a large red mark, a forewarning of a huge bruise, on his face, indicating that Alex had hit him with the gun instead.

"Decided to come out and play, Pet?" She smiled, apparently unconcerned by the sudden appearance of her chosen Guide.

"You...what are you doing?" Carefully he stepped away from the door, towards the window, which meant that she had to turn her back on the two men to face him. They couldn't stay unconscious forever, well...unless they died, he mused, so if she was kept busy they might be able to do something. He wasn't sure what, yet, but as one was a Guide, the other had to be his Sentinel - and as the Guide had been attacked, he figured that the Sentinel should be angry enough to try anything.

"None of your business, sweet pea," she told him, her gun steady as she aimed it at him. "Now be a good Guide and go sit in the closet."

He swallowed, then shook his head. "You don't want to do this, Alex." He dropped his voice to the soothing Guide-tone once more. "Whoever these people are, you don't want to kill them."

"Don't tell me what I do and don't want to do, Guide!" Her voice made an insult of the description. "I make the decisions around here, remember?"

"I know that, Alex. But this is a mistake."

"Oh, the Guide has decided that this is a mistake. Just who do you think you are?" Her voice was scornful, her eyes intent. "While you hide in your closet, I work to earn the money to support us. While you murmur sweet nothings in my ear, I use my senses to help us both. While you refuse to bond with me, ME, I protect you and keep you safe."

"Safe from whom?" Blair's temper was rising. At no point had it been his idea to sit in her damned closet or try to help her with her senses. "Look around, Alex. You're the one who's been beating me. You're the one who kidnapped me. You're the one who stuck a gun in my face and forced me into your car so I could sit in your fucking closet playing nice while a psycho Sentinel demands that I bond with her! Bond with you, Alex? Not now, not ever!"

Her eyes widened as the Guide's voice rose, getting louder with every accusation, and the fury in her face was replaced with a hard determination. "You will bond with me. You won't have any choice. Sooner or later your barriers will fall and when they do, Pet, I'll be there in your mind every minute of every day. So you better play nice with me now or I'll turn your mind inside out and leave you gibbering in a corner!" She leaned closer to him, and inhaled his scent loudly, ignoring it as he moved back again. "I can do it, you know. You won't be the first Guide I've taken in and spat out."

Behind her, Blair could see that the taller of the two was starting to come around. 'C'mon, Sentinel, get up and protect your Guide...and this Guide.' The Sentinel wasn't fully conscious yet though, and Blair realised that he was going to have to keep Alex busy for a little while longer. "Easy to say but not so easy to do when it comes to me, is it, Alex?" he asked hurriedly as she started to turn to check on her other prisoners.

Her attention snapped back to him. "And what exactly do you mean by that, Pet?" She stepped forward again, every inch of her a hungry predator.

He backed off once more, moving closer to the window and the balcony beyond it with every step. Shrugging, as though unconcerned with her anger, he said, "Well, you've had me here two weeks and all you've managed to do is beat me every time I refused to bond with you. Seems to me that if you were able to bond with me and turn my mind into Swiss cheese, you'd have done it by now." He stared her in the eye, refusing to adopt a submissive position. If these were his last moments on earth, he wasn't going to be ashamed of himself.

She screamed furiously and lunged at him, the gun raised to snap across his head with brute force. Blair shrank back instinctively, falling onto the floor and scrabbling backwards away from her until his shoulder hit the door onto the balcony and his escape was blocked. The gun flew down towards his head and he ducked, wincing as it whipped across his hair but before she could strike again the door burst open and she swung around to face the new threat.

There was a single shot and she fell, crashing onto Blair as she went. Her head landed in his lap before his frantic hands pushed her off. She rolled and lay still, heavy across his legs, as a pool of blood spread from beneath her face.

Blair yanked his gaze up, away from the red pool, to the gun that had ended Alex's life. For a second it remained still, pointing directly at him, then the tall man holding it moved forward to collect Alex's gun and drop it into an evidence bag. Once Blair had apparently been judged unarmed and not dangerous, the gun that killed Alex was slowly lowered before being tucked away out of sight. For a second Blair's gaze caught that of Alex's killer, then the man swung around to check out the downed Sentinel and Guide.

"You okay, Edwards?"

"I will be. David's still out of it though."

The growled answer got Blair's attention and he looked over to where the Sentinel was. Fully conscious now, he moved to be closer to his Guide, ignoring his own injury. "I told you I shouldn't have brought him," he added, glaring at the tall man who was standing over him.

"She insisted on meeting both of you, you know that. If you'd refused to bring David, she would have got suspicious and cancelled the deal."

Blair's eyes slid from one to the other, wondering if the man who'd shot Alex was also a Sentinel - he didn't want to chance anything by trying to read the man. Glancing around, he realised that there were quite a few people in the room, some of whom were heading in his direction. Pushing at the dead body, he managed to get his feet free and he rose to his feet, his back pressed against the window. He didn't know who the hell any of these people were, and he was damned if he was going to sit on the floor while any of them loomed over him.

"So who's the kid?"

"Alex's Guide," Edwards answered, before adding, "well, attempted Guide. He liked her just about as much as we did."

The taller man stalked across the room towards Blair, the other people stepping out of his way apparently automatically. Blair's deductive reasoning kicked in. From the way they were all acting, this guy was obviously their leader, and it didn't take much deducing for Blair to realise that the guy didn't trust him.

"So who are you?"

Tilting his head back, Blair met the guy's gaze head on. "Blair Sandburg. And you are...?"

A muscle twitched at the corner of the guy's mouth, although Blair couldn't tell if the guy was repressing a smile or a snarl. "Detective James Ellison, Cascade P.D."

Glancing around the big man standing directly in front of him, Blair looked at the other Sentinel who was arguing with the Paramedics who were trying to treat him. "I guess he's a cop too?"

"That's right. We're all cops."

"David isn't!" Edwards took time out from his argument to contradict him bluntly.

A half smile appeared, then disappeared. "Apart from David." The stern gaze looked him up and down. "And what exactly are you?"

"I'm a grad student and a Teaching Fellow at Rainier University."

The man nodded slowly, then reached out a hand, but Blair jerked away before he could touch his face. Indicating the bruising on his face that was courtesy of Alex, Ellison asked, "Do you need a doctor for that?"

Blair shook his head. "I'm fine," glancing down at Alex's body, he added, "now."

Ellison's head tilted slightly, reminding the Guide of Alex during a hearing test. "I think you'd better get checked out by the paramedics anyway." Turning, he waved one of them over, ignoring Blair's protest. As the paramedic reached Blair he continued, "And don't go anywhere. You'll be needed for questioning."

Blair watched as the detective strode back over to his colleague and started overriding his arguments. Surprisingly, Edwards caved and allowed the paramedics to treat him at the same time as some of them were treating David - he had been insisting that they treat his Guide first.

Turning his attention back to the paramedic who was attempting to shine a light in his eyes, Blair smiled. "I really don't need any help. I'm fine, honestly."

In an abstracted tone, the paramedic replied, "Uh huh. Do you have a headache or any pains in your head?" The light was discarded as he began to gently press on the bruising.

"Nope, not at all."

"Any pains anywhere else?"

Blair shook his head and smiled again, reassuringly. "Not a one. Thanks."

"Well, if you do develop -"

"He was being beaten. Check him over."

Ellison's voice was cold and disinterested, but the paramedic listened and turned back to his charge who promptly protested, "I'm fine!"

"Why don't we let me be the judge of that?" the guy asked. "After all, I'd hate for all this training to go to waste."

~'~

"I've heard from the hospital. Edwards is out of surgery and is going to be fine. David has a concussion and his face will look like a rainbow, but he'll be fine too. So tell me, what went wrong?"

Ellison looked at the police captain in whose office he was sitting. While he answered to no one as Senior Sentinel Prime of Cascade and the Northern Territories, as Detective James Ellison he answered to Captain Banks first, and Banks' superiors after. "It looks like Barnes intended to double-cross Edwards anyway." He accepted the mug Banks was waving at him and waited for it to be filled before he continued. "She had a contact in New Mexico who'd already paid her for the nerve gas she stole and, as his price was higher than the one she'd accepted from Edwards, I think she was prepared to sell to him. Well, unless she had yet another offer from somewhere. We haven't finished going through her papers yet."

"Do we have enough information to pick up the contact?"

Ellison shook his head. "Not yet. We're attempting to trace the cell phone number."

Banks nodded slowly. "So what about this kid? What's his name...Sandburg?"

"Henri and Rafe are taking his statement now. Seems that Barnes kidnapped him and was planning on bonding with him," Ellison frowned suddenly as he remembered part of the conversation he'd heard on his way to break up Barnes' meeting after the gunshot that took down Edwards, "only she couldn't."

"Couldn't?"

"From what Sandburg said she'd been trying to bond with him and he refused. That's why she beat him."

"But I thought that most Sentinels, especially one of Barnes' strength, were able to overcome a Guide's barriers?"

"We can." Ellison regarded the coffee in his cup. "If a Guide is unwilling to bond it is possible to...break through their barriers and bond anyway. But most Sentinels prefer a willing Guide." He didn't add that if a Guide was unwilling to begin with, the Sentinel could 'seduce' a compatible Guide into bonding. Given that most non-Sentinels or Guides had an odd idea of the non-sexual bond between a Sentinel and a Guide, he didn't want to muddy the waters by throwing around the word 'seduce', in spite of the fact that that was what it was.

While reluctant Guides were known for running from the Sentinels hunting them, once caught, pinned and bitten, the heat of bonding frequently took over, leading them to succumb despite the extreme reluctance they felt in the beginning. A Guide's neck was the way to overcome their barriers as the glands located there, once bitten, would release the pheromones allowing them to bond with a chemically compatible Sentinel. Mother Nature, being far smarter than the average human, had ensured that when a Sentinel bit his or her chosen Guide, the Guide's brain would be flooded with endorphins - and those pesky beggars had one job: convince the Guide they're having a good time. Therefore, while a Guide might start out unwilling, any Sentinel worth his or her salt would end up with an empath who would willingly and enthusiastically drop their mental barriers during bonding, regardless of how much they might complain in the morning.

"So why wasn't Barnes able to overcome this kid's barriers?"

Ellison shook his head. "I have no idea. From all indications, Barnes was a Dark Sentinel, and so far as I know - or knew - there's no Guide alive that can fend off a bonding by a Dark Sentinel." He noticed the way Banks' head had snapped up when he mentioned her being a Dark Sentinel, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that his friend and captain was longing to comment, "Just like you!". Not giving Simon the chance to say anything, he continued, "The only thing I can think of is that they weren't compatible, although I've never heard of that mattering with a Dark Sentinel before - not that there's that much known about Dark Sentinels and Guides. Anyway, there's no indication that Sandburg was involved in the theft of the gas canisters or in any of her other crimes. It appears that he's another one of her victims - although he's certainly luckier than the other Guides she got her hands on."

Simon leaned back in his chair and raised his eyebrows. "There were others?"

The Sentinel nodded. Investigation into Alex Barnes' background had already turned up the fact that she had bonded with two Guides on separate occasions. Both Guides were now in mental hospitals, their minds fried beyond repair by the bonding they'd undergone.

"Two others." Ellison grimaced. "They'd be better off dead."

"So Sandburg really was lucky," Simon mused. "Is he strong enough to handle a Dark Sentinel?"

There was silence for a few seconds as the Sentinel regarded the face in front of him, his blue eyes meeting the dark brown ones that showed only concern for a Bondless Sentinel. "I don't want a Guide, remember, Simon?" The voice was soft but there was a warning tone within it.

"I'm not saying you should bond with him. He was able to work with Barnes in spite of the fact that he wouldn't bond with her - surely he'd be able to help you?"

The Sentinel shrugged. As a Bondless Sentinel he risked zone outs every time he stretched his senses, and being bonded to a Guide would give his senses a stability they lacked at present. However, the thought of laying claim to another human being in such a fashion appalled him. While the Sentinel might need a Guide, the human wanted no such permanent fixture in his life. "It's possible."

"Then why not give it a go?"

Ellison grinned suddenly. "There's no guarantee that Sandburg would want to help me. I didn't exactly lay out a welcoming mat last time we met!"

"You did save him from Barnes," Simon reminded him. "That might count for something."

The grin faded as Ellison considered that point. His senses had been bothering him for a while now, and maybe the kid could suggest something to keep them under control. "I'll have a word with him and see what he says."

~'~

The kid, Blair Sandburg by name, was currently sitting in Interrogation Room three being outstared by a pair of detectives who were obviously unconvinced as to his status as one of Alex's victims as opposed to being her co-conspirator. Blair's gaze drifted over the two men. He'd guess that they were partners, although their clothes and style were radically different. The perfectly cut suit of one was offset by the glaring Hawaiian shirt of the other. For a moment, Blair wondered if this was some new version of bad cop/good cop, where one cop wore clothes guaranteed to induce a migraine, then his attention was caught by the sound of approaching footsteps.

When the door opened, and the detective who'd killed Alex came in, Blair felt relieved. He hadn't seemed to see him as a co-conspirator - unless he'd changed his mind later.

"Brown, Rafe." The detective cocked his head towards the door and the two left quietly.

Blair glanced at him then at the large mirror at the back of the room. He could tell that there was now someone hidden behind the mirror, but he didn't think it was anyone he'd met so far, and he wasn't willing to scan anyone in case any of the much larger cops he'd seen took objection. He turned his attention back to the large detective in front of him and waited for the cop to make the first move.

Flipping open the file he'd brought in with him, the detective's gaze met Blair's. "Blair Sandburg, B.A., M.A.. Joined Rainier University at the age of sixteen. Grad student and Teaching Fellow there. And Dark Guide."

Blair's breath caught in his throat. That wasn't in his file - he'd made sure of that. A friend of his was a whiz on computers and had made short work hacking into the personnel files at Rainier and making sure that not one hint of a Dark Guide appeared in Blair's file. The file claimed, erroneously, that Blair was an Empath with a rating of eight on a good day. High enough to rate as an Empath, low enough to avoid attracting the gaze of anyone searching through the databases for a strong Guide.

"At least you're not denying it."

"What would be the point?"

A shrug and a half smile was all the answer he got to that. "You were working with Alex Barnes...."

"No!"

A raised hand silenced him. "You were working with her as a Bondless Guide helping her to control her senses."

"Not by choice!"

"But you were helping her to control her senses without bonding with her."

Blair frowned. The detective was oddly insistent on what Blair considered to be a minor point. He'd already told them everything he knew about her contacts, (not that that was much), and her future plans, (even less knowledge of them!), and yet here this guy was harping on about him being a Bondless Guide who'd worked with a Bondless Sentinel. He looked at the detective and realised that he'd been right earlier. "So you are a Sentinel."

He got a full smile for that, one with a hint of a predator in it. "Yes, I am. To be specific, I'm a Dark Sentinel."

~'~

Ellison watched as the colour drained from the kid's face. He hadn't been looking particularly colourful, apart from the bruising - being held captive by a Dark Sentinel for two weeks had obviously been no holiday - but now he was looking positively ashen. Standing, he moved around the table and pulled the kid's chair further out before pushing the Guide's head between his knees. He ignored the involuntary flinch the kid gave when he touched him. "I'm not going to hurt you, kid. Keep your head between your knees until you feel less like fainting."

Leaving him to it for a few minutes, Ellison left to fetch him a cup of coffee. Any possible working relationship between them would be bound to go wrong if he made the kid faint on their second meeting.

When he got back the kid was sitting up again. He didn't look much better but he accepted the coffee Ellison offered him and leaned back against his chair, his eyes wary.

"So what do you want with me?"

The Sentinel could hear the tension thrumming its way through the Guide's body. "I want your help. I don't want to bond - and unless I've suddenly become irresistible, I'm assuming you're not looking to bond either - but I do want some help with my senses. You managed to help Barnes without bonding with her, that's all I'm...asking for. I'd pay you for your time, of course - you wouldn't lose out." He managed to stop himself from grinding his teeth. He didn't like being a Sentinel and he sure as hell hated asking for help, but if the kid could help him control his senses even a little bit, it'd be worth it.

"There are plenty of Guides out there -"

"Who are all looking to bond. As I said, I don't want to bond, I just want to control my senses."

"Bonding would give you control over your senses."

Ellison regarded him steadily. "Are you offering?"

Sandburg stiffened, and the Sentinel could smell the fear that flooded through him. "No! I'm-I'm just saying -"

"Don't."

He watched as the kid licked his lips and swallowed nervously. "Am I gonna be arrested if I say no?"

He couldn't help it, he grinned. "I'm not a bent cop, Chief. You say no, you walk out of here. You say yes, I'll give you a lift home."

He won an answering grin at that. "Well, that's tempting."

~'~

Blair regarded the older man steadily. If he really didn't want to bond, and he had no reason to lie as Blair was reasonably certain that no one would try to stop him from taking a Guide by force, then the job offer was genuine and extremely tempting. As his tutors at Rainier wouldn't have been able to reach him for the past two weeks, the summer classes he was scheduled to teach would undoubtedly have been reassigned and he might have trouble getting them back. A summer job was his other option and with bars and cafes flooded with students, teaching assistants and Teaching Fellows looking for jobs, finding one might prove difficult. The main risk, of course, and it was a big one, was that the Sentinel would probably become possessive of his Guide and want to claim him. Could they work together? He bit his lip and considered it. No, his situation wasn't that desperate yet that he could risk it.

"Sorry. I think the risk's too great."

"What risk?" Ellison looked puzzled.

"The risk of your Sentinel side deciding to bond." There was a flash of anger in the detective's eyes that Blair couldn't miss, and he knew it was because the man hated being reminded that his Sentinel side could and would influence his actions.

"I've already told you -"

"I know." He shook his head again. "I'm sorry. No."

"Fine, kid. You're free to go." Ellison stood and slammed his chair back into place before leaving. The only reason the door didn't slam behind him was because he left it open.

Blair sighed, then looked up as an even taller man entered the room. He met the dark eyes steadily, not sure what was going to happen next.

The dark man leaned forward on the table. "Mind telling me why you said no?" a deep bass voice rumbled, the tone demanding. "He did save your life."

Blair stood up. He knew the detective had saved him from Alex, he just wasn't sure the detective could save him from himself. "He doesn't want to bond, I don't want to bond. Our working together would be a big mistake."

"Because you think that Jim can't control himself, is that it?"

"It's not a question of Jim's control. The Sentinel side takes over completely and no amount of 'control' is going to stop a Sentinel who's determined to bond with his Guide." Blair sighed and ran a hand over his face. "The man isn't given a choice. Ask any of your Sentinels how much control they had when they found the Guide they wanted."

"Fine. As the man said, you're free to go. Where can we reach you if we need you?"

Reaching inside his backpack, Blair grabbed some paper and a pen and hurriedly scrawled a few numbers. "That's my office at Rainier, and there's my cell phone number."

"Home address?"

Blair paused, not really willing to give his address out, then capitulated as the large man stood back and crossed his arms, making it clear no one was going anywhere until he had the address.

Another quick scrawl on the paper and Blair put his pen away. "Okay?"

"You'll be hearing from us."

"I'm sure I will be." Gathering up his backpack, Blair left, totally unaware of a pair of intense eyes that followed his progress down the corridor and into the lift.

~'~

Getting back to Rainier wasn't a problem for Blair, as there were plenty of buses that went to the university. Finding his car was a problem though, as the green Corvair wasn't where he'd left it in the parking lot on that fateful day when Alex had decided to snatch the Guide she saw as hers.

Having walked through the parking lot three times to make sure that his car wasn't there, Blair headed for the campus security office. Maybe they knew where his car was.

"Great. Just great." Blair shut the door behind him and cursed under his breath. His car was in the police compound having been vandalised and reported as abandoned during his two week enforced hiatus. Deciding to check that his office was still in one piece before returning to the police station, he headed over to the main building.

"Blair!"

Blair flinched before he saw who'd yelled his name with such enthusiasm. "Oh, hey, Julie." For a moment he thought he was going to faint with relief. The sound of a woman calling his name brought back strong memories of Alex, even though she'd quickly decided that 'Pet' suited him far better than 'Blair'.

"Where have you been? Dean Edwards went crazy when she had to reassign all your classes because you were a no-show!"

"Uh...I uh...had some trouble. I guess I'm out of a job for the summer then, huh?"

"I'd say so." Julie's face was filled with sympathy. "And if I were you, I'd avoid her until the term starts. She's got her panties in a wad about something and she's looking for a target to take it all out on."

"Thanks for the warning!" Blair's thanks were genuine. The current dean was not a fan of his and had frequently taken any chance she could get to humiliate him. Leaving Julie behind he made his way to his office, thanking all the gods there were that Alex had left his backpack alone. As long as his office hadn't been re-assigned along with his classes, his keys would get him in there.

Stepping inside the small office was like stepping back in time. Blair rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. How could this small, untidy place look the same when his world had changed so much? For two weeks, he'd been held captive, at the mercy of a deranged Sentinel whose only thought was to subjugate the Guide she possessed. For two weeks, his life had not been his own and every breath he'd taken had been with the knowledge that at any moment the Sentinel could snap and turn on him, inflicting damage, inciting terror, demanding a total submission that he could not and would not give to her. Two weeks. And yet his office looked the same. Sure there was a little more dust here and there, and he was pretty sure that that coffee mug hadn't had a huge lump of mould in it the last time he'd used it, but the South American artefacts that surrounded him, the stacks of papers with important notations on them, they had all remained the same.

Moving some text books off his chair, he sank down onto the seat and looked around. He would get his life back, he would feel the same. He swore it. No Sentinel was going to have the right to control him. Not now, not ever.

~'~

Naturally, Simon Banks entered all of Blair Sandburg's details into the Cascade P.D. computer system. He was, after all, a witness to Alex Barnes' death, to say nothing of the fact that he had been with her for two weeks previous to that and had made a statement of all the information he had had about her. It only took a few minutes for someone with the right to access the Cascade P.D. computer system to enter their clearance code and read up on Blair's current address and status. It was child's play to a determined Sentinel.

~'~

Ellison frowned when he spotted Sandburg in the reception area. Had the kid changed his mind? He'd seemed pretty determined earlier. Debating internally as to whether to stop and talk to the kid, he eavesdropped on the conversation between Blair and the apparently less-than-impressed officer at the desk.

"I'm sorry, sir, but unless you can produce your registration documents, the car will remain in the compound."

"I've told you, the registration documents are in my car. If you check with the database you'll see that I'm listed as the owner!"

The officer shrugged, obviously not interested.

"Look, all I'm trying to do is get my car back. If you'd just check with the DMV you'll see that the car is registered to a Mr. Blair Sandburg - that's me."

The man opened his mouth to issue another brush off, but Ellison surprised himself by stepping forward. "What's the problem?"

Blair's startled gaze met his then slid away. The officer straightened up as Jim glared at him. Obviously, snubbing some civilian who looked like he was a poster child for the hippie movement was fine, but not in front of a Major Crime detective.

"Uh, nothing, Detective. I was just checking the database for Mr...." He looked at Blair almost imploring him to help him out.

"Sandburg."

"...Sandburg's car."

"And?" Ellison's gaze was as cold as his tone.

The fingers flew over the keys. "It's in the compound. It was reported as being abandoned." The officer peered at the screen for a second. "Uh...it was also vandalised, Mr. Sandburg."

Blair shrugged. "Yeah, so I've been told."

Facing the said vandalised car was another matter though. His jaw dropped as the saw the extent of the damage.

"Are you sure you want to pay to get that thing back?" Ellison asked, having insisted on accompanying Blair to the compound by the simple method of walking after him and ignoring any hints, subtle or otherwise, that Sandburg wanted to be alone. "It'd probably cost more to repair it than it would to buy another one."

"What did they do? Put it in a derby?"

"Either that or drop bricks on it from a great height. C'mon, Sandburg, I'll give you a lift home."

Blair followed Ellison back to the P.D. garage then stopped. "Uh...."

A grin flashed across the detective's face. "Don't worry, your virtue's safe with me. I'll try to restrain myself." He waited until Sandburg was in the truck and added, "At least until we get to a stoplight."

"Ha ha. Funny, man."

Jim grinned in reply. At least the kid wasn't so wound up he couldn't respond to a little humour. "So where we headed?"

"The docks. I live in a warehouse over there."

"A warehouse?" Ellison was surprised. "Apartments too conventional for you?"

Blair grinned. "No. I was in a hurry to rent somewhere and I had a Barbary ape as a temporary roommate. A warehouse was all I could get. For some reason landlords found Larry off-putting."

"I wonder why. An anthropologist and an ape. It could only add a certain tone to the neighbourhood."

"Larry could do that all by himself, believe me!" He shook his head. "Anyway, now he's gone I can start looking for something more 'conventional', at least once I find a jo -"

His voice broke off suddenly and Jim saw the nervous glance that Blair shot at him. "Look, kid...if we did work together we could make sure it was always in a public place. That way you wouldn't have to worry about me jumping you." Ellison shrugged, his mouth twisting a little as he noticed the fear that was tainting the kid's scent. "I can understand your concerns, but, believe me, bonding is the last thing I want to do."

"I know that, Jim. I'm just...."

He waited a few seconds then offered, "Worried?"

"Yeah. I mean, you are a Sentinel. I know you say you don't want to bond but working with a Bondless Guide, it's gonna drive you nuts."

"Is that your official opinion, Professor?" Jim tried to keep his tone light.

Blair sighed. "As a matter of fact, it is."

"Then I guess we won't be working together."

"I'd guess not."

Ellison glanced at Sandburg's back as the kid turned to look out of the window, but he remained silent until they reached the docks and he needed directions. It wasn't until they'd arrived at a run down warehouse that looked like it had seen better days a long, long time ago, that Blair's eyes met his.

"Thanks for the lift anyway, man. I appreciate it."

"No problem, Chief. If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"Yeah. Thanks again."

~'~

Leaving the truck, Sandburg expected the detective to drive away immediately, but he didn't. Shrugging a little to himself, and refusing to expend any energy on working out why the guy was sticking around, he headed into the warehouse and glanced around. At least his stuff was still there.

Moving further into the warehouse, he went to shut the door behind him and stepped back hurriedly at the sight of the tall, thin man waiting behind the door.

"Uh...look, man, I don't have anything of value, but take what you want and get out."

"I intend to, Guide." The unknown Sentinel's tone was husky, his eyes as hungry as Alex's had ever been. One hand slammed the door shut as the other reached out towards Blair's face.

Blair backed off out of reach, his stomach churning. He'd just escaped from one Sentinel, he was damned if he was going to submit to another one. "I'm not interested, man, okay? There are plenty of Guides available in the Guide programme, why don't you go ask one of them?"

The hand was still stretching out eagerly as the Sentinel advanced. "I'm not asking anyone, Gui -"

It was fortunate for him that he'd moved forward, otherwise he would have got the door in his face as Ellison threw it open.

Blair continued to retreat. Great, now he had two Sentinels to deal with.

"Becker. What are you doing here?" Ellison slammed the door behind him and faced the other Sentinel, his body language screaming a warning that Blair could hear very clearly.

Becker paused, and his gaze left Blair to turn towards the other Sentinel before it finally dropped submissively. "My apologies, Senior Sentinel Prime. I thought the Guide -"

"You thought wrong." Ellison's tone was harsh, a growl rumbling underneath the words. "He is claimed."

Blair swore silently. This was what he'd been afraid of. He wasn't even working with Ellison and here the guy was, verbally claiming him. And God alone knew what he'd do once this Sentinel had given in and gone away.

"M-my apologies, Senior Sentinel Prime." Becker's head drooped lower, his eyes staring at the floor.

"Get out."

"Yes, Senior Sentinel Prime."

The door closed behind him and Ellison's gaze turned to Blair. "Come here, Guide."

Blair continued to back up, his hands held up as he tried to placate the Sentinel. "Look, Jim, it's not that I don't appreci -" He hurriedly backed up again as Ellison stalked towards him, only stopping when his legs hit a crate. "Uh...Ellison!"

One hand grabbed his wrist and yanked him forward, while the other arm curved around his waist and held him tightly. "Stand still, Guide." Lowering his head, he scented Blair's neck loudly and growled, "My Guide, mine."

Trapped in position, every muscle straining to back away but getting nowhere fast, Sandburg waited for what felt like an eternity, wondering if Ellison's next move was going to be to pin him to the floor. Finally glancing up, he realised that the detective was listening to someone or something just as Ellison's arm relaxed and he was allowed to step away.

"He's gone." The Sentinel's gaze met his, and Blair was surprised to see a grin appear on his face. "Relax, Sandburg, I wasn't after your body, or your mind. Becker could hear us. I was just making sure that he got the message."

"Oh." Blair tried to calm his racing heart. "I - I think he got the message."

"If he didn't, he'll come back," Ellison told him, his gaze moving over the warehouse. "Do you have anywhere else you can stay?"

"My office at Rainier," Blair offered.

The detective shook his head. "He'll have got those details from the P.D. computer system along with your address. What about family, can you stay with them?"

"Last I heard, my Mom was in Mexico and I don't have any other family." Blair shrugged. "I'll crash at a friend's. It's not a problem."

"Grab whatever you need, Chief. I'll drop you off."

Blair's fingers reached for his cell phone before he remembered that Alex had smashed it. "I need to find a phone first. It's not a problem, honestly, I'll be fine."

"Here." Ellison shoved his cell phone into Blair's hand. "Let me know when you're ready to go."

~'~

"Edwards, David." Ellison took a seat by the Sentinel's bedside and looked at the badly bruised Guide. "How's the concussion?"

The shy eyes glanced up then slid away. "Fine. Neds will be discharged in a couple of days, then we can go home."

Edwards growled. "He should never have been there in the first place, Ellison."

"I know. But you know she insisted on meeting both of you." Ellison restrained a sigh. If he was bonded, would he be this protective of a Guide? For a second, the memory of Becker at the warehouse and his angry response to the situation flickered through his mind, but he shrugged it off. He'd just been protecting Sandburg as a police detective, not as a Sentinel, that was all.

"I know!" Edwards glanced over at his Guide. "If that kid hadn't been there, she might have shot David before you got up to the hotel room."

Ellison's eyes snapped up to meet Edwards' gaze straight on. There was no accusation in them, or in the tone he'd used, and his momentary anger dissipated. What was Edwards up to? "Yeah, I know."

"He kept his head. Kept Barnes talking, kept her away from David."

Jim smiled slightly. It looked as though Sandburg had acquired a friend. "He did good."

"So what happens to him now?"

Edwards' tone was casual in the extreme but Jim's thumbs pricked as he caught the hastily hidden smile on David's face. "Nothing, I'd assume. He's gone back to the university."

"Oh? Is he working there?"

"You know he is, Edwards. He said so."

"Oh. I thought maybe things had changed."

"Things don't change that much in two weeks, Edwards. It's not like he's been out of the loop for a decade or two." Jim decided to put an end to the game. "He doesn't want to bond. I don't want to bond. So whatever thoughts are in your head, just forget about them."

Edwards' gaze was steady, but there was a smile at the back of his eyes. "Yes, Senior Sentinel Prime."

Jim frowned and the smile vanished.

"Ellison?"

"I gave the kid a lift home yesterday. Becker was waiting for him."

"Becker? He's not bonded."

"No, he had plans though."

"I thought you said that the kid didn't want -"

"He doesn't."

Edwards frowned, a look of concern on his face. "Was the kid hurt?"

"No. I heard Becker's heartbeat in the warehouse and stuck around for a few minutes to make sure there was no trouble. I persuaded Sentinel Becker to look elsewhere."

"Jim, if you're not going to claim him, then, technically, he's up for grabs."

The annoyance on Ellison's face deepened. "He's not up for grabs at all, technically or otherwise."

"Says who?"

The face tightened into near fury, the tone harsh. "The Senior Sentinel Prime of Cascade and the Northern Territories, that's who."

There was no challenge from the Sentinel opposite him. "Then, Senior Sentinel Prime, you should tell the Clan."

Ellison stood and stalked to the door. "I intend to." He opened the door then stopped, his back rigid. Turning back, he gave a half smile. "Hope you're both feeling better soon." Then he was gone.

~'~

Edwards listened as Ellison made his way down the corridor, then nodded to David once he was sure they could speak freely without the Senior Sentinel Prime hearing them.

David smiled. "I wonder what Blair's like, well...under normal circumstances."

The Sentinel grinned in reply. "Why don't we go and meet him properly once we're out of here? I'd like to thank him for distracting Barnes for us and we might as well get to know him." After all, given Ellison's attitude towards the Guide now, it was only a matter of time before that slight protective stance turned into a possessive attitude and a determination to protect the Guide, his Guide, no matter what. Edwards shook his head as he considered the Sentinel's attitude towards bonding. While some Sentinels did treat their Guides with a near contempt that was painful to witness, any Sentinel with any sense, he cringed at his unintentional pun, knew better. Without a Guide, a Sentinel was faced with crumbling control over his senses, and even the possibility of madness if the sensory overload became too much for him. That was without even mentioning the risk of death during a zone-out. Ellison's stubbornness was legendary among the Clan, and Edwards would not be the only Sentinel to be relieved that there was now a crack in that attitude. Glancing at his own Guide, Edwards smiled. Maybe all Ellison had needed was to meet the Guide destined to be his; he knew that he hadn't struggled against fate once he'd found David.

"Yeah." David shrugged. "It looks like he's going to be joining the Clan at some point."

Edwards dragged his attention back to the conversation in hand. "As soon as Ellison stops being stubborn."

"And as soon as Blair decides that he does want to bond," the tone was half-chiding.

"Oh. That too, of course."

~'~

Finding a friend to stay with temporarily hadn't presented anything of a problem to Blair. All too often, late night discussions ended with the impromptu discussees spending the night crashing on couches, floors or in baths, before waking up in the morning and rushing off to wherever they were supposed to be. Therefore, it followed that his circle of friends were used to having extra bodies lying around the place. Finding a place to stay for longer, however, would present a bit more of a problem.

The main stumbling block was money. As he'd guessed, his summer classes had all been reassigned and unless he wanted to go and appeal to Chancellor Edwards' humanity (and the rumour was that she didn't have any), Blair had been stuck with finding himself a different kind of job. Fortunately, there was one advantage to having been on his own since he was sixteen - job experience. Less than a week after his release from Barnes' 'employ', Blair was working in a bar. It would not have been his first choice, or his second, or (if he was honest), his third, fourth or fifth, however the better jobs had all been taken by other students and staff who were at a loose end over the long vacation, and it appeared that none of them had wanted this job.

Okay, so the bar was in one of the seediest parts of town, and brutal fights were commonplace, but it was a job and it meant he was getting paid. And, as the smoky atmosphere in the place was thicker than pea soup, they didn't get a lot of Sentinels in there. After his recent experiences, he considered that to be a definite plus.

Pouring a pint for one of the more reputable regulars, a prostitute known as Leaky Peg, (don't ask), Blair smiled at the woman. "Good night, Peg?"

"Not too bad, lover." Peg gave him a practised leer. She wasn't coming onto him; she'd been in the game so long that she automatically leered at any man in her vicinity. "You off home when the bar shuts?"

"Yeah. I'm meeting up with some old friends in the morning."

"Old friends are good, lover." Peg briefly raised her glass in a salute. "You be careful going home though, there's trouble on the way."

Blair frowned as he took a quick glance around the bar. "What kind of trouble?"

"The usual." Peg slurped her beer noisily.

"What's the usual?" Blair leaned over the bar slightly, avoiding the large beer stains as best he could.

"Oh, you know." Peg's eyes narrowed suddenly. "No, you don't know, do you? You've such a friendly face that I forget you've only been here a few days, lover." She patted the friendly face gently as Blair smiled at her. "Old Robson's in town. He turns up every few months or so. This is, was, his local, so he likes coming down for a look around."

"And that means trouble?"

"Ooh, it does for them that put him inside!" Peg cackled with glee. "Just don't get in his way, lover, and you'll be fine. He doesn't bother them that doesn't bother him."

"Oh, okay." Blair picked up her empty glass intending to refill it, but she stopped him.

"I'm off now, lover. Gotta go work my trade. You just be careful goin' home, hear me?"

"Yes, Peg. I hear you."

It was an hour later that the trouble Peg referred to arrived. Blair looked up automatically as the path from the door to the bar cleared, and a huge red-haired man came stalking up to the bar. A hand on his shoulder made him jump, and he looked around to see his boss, pale-faced and sweating, standing behind him.

"I'll serve Mr. Robson, Blair. You go work at the end of the bar."

Blair nodded. He'd never had much luck seeing people's auras, but he didn't need to to know that Leaky Peg was right and that Mr. Robson was trouble with a capital 'T'. He made his way down the bar to the other end and started chatting to two very quiet working girls who were standing there, their fingers strained around the stems of their glasses.

Robson's voice carried clearly, the tone in it just on this side of hostile. "Who's the kid, Stan?"

"New barman, that's all, Mr. Robson. Harry, you remember Harry, don't you, Mr. Robson?" Blair saw him wait for the slight nod, although Robson continued to stare in his direction, as if fascinated by the new barman. "Well, Harry got himself killed the other week. After all the years working here, and he goes in a car crash. Ironic that, isn't it?" He gave a nervous smile, flashing his cigarette-stained teeth for a second.

There was another slight nod, then the dark eyes turned away. Blair relaxed slightly and turned to fully face the girls in front of him. Apparently he'd been judged as not important, and that suited him just fine.

The last hour of his shift dragged tormentingly as the party atmosphere of the bar was infused with the fear of all the regulars, and the lurking menace of the not-so-regular. Blair's stomach started to churn. The fear that flooded their minds was battering at his barriers, demanding an acknowledgement and seeking to seep into his mind. With every beer that he pulled, every drink that he poured, the fear seemed to build. He was finding it hard to breathe by the time the clock hand reached twelve and he was free to go. With relief, he followed Stan into the back room and hurriedly slipped his wages into his sneakers. While it was a fairly obvious hiding place, it meant that no one could pick his pocket for his wages, and there were too many sneak thieves around for anyone's comfort.

Stepping outside the front door, Blair inhaled the clean air with gratitude before moving quickly away from the open doorway where all that fear and horror lurked. Glancing around to make sure that no one was waiting for him, he set off down the road, keeping a sharp look out as he went. While trouble might be hard to avoid, seeing it coming would give him an edge he couldn't afford to lose.

Reaching a more respectable, and well-lit, neighbourhood, he paused to look around again. All the way down the road there had been an itch between his shoulder blades that told him that someone was watching him, but the impression he'd been picking up was one of protectiveness, not violence. Shrugging his shoulders, he attempted to dislodge the itch, then quickly walked on. However, the itch didn't fade until he was safely at a friend's house with the door locked between him and whoever had been following him.

~'~

Blair stretched, enjoying the feel of soft leaves beneath him and the soft breeze above him that lifted the humid air and made it bearable. His eyes flew open and he grinned as he realised that he was having a dream. It had to be a dream, he didn't normally have four paws. Standing up on his four legs, he stretched again, working out the kinks in his limbs and hoping that he wouldn't have any trouble running on all fours. It'd be pretty embarrassing to go falling over his own feet. He gave a mental shrug and dismissed his worries. This was his dream after all, and if he wanted to go falling over then he would.

He turned as he felt an unfamiliar motion behind him. 'I've got a tail!' He was delighted with his new acquisition and swished it back and forth a few times. 'So this is why dogs wag their tails all the time!' Trotting back and forth a bit to get the hang of this four-legged walking, he continued to wave his tail around, then decided to give trotting a go. Pleased with himself for managing to trot, he sped up a bit more and was soon racing across the jungle floor, his tail still waving and his tongue hanging out.

His ears pricked forward as he heard water running and he swerved to follow the sound, only stopping when he came to pool that was fed by the river he'd heard. Cautiously approaching, not sure of what he was going to see, he looked into the pool. He recognised the blue eyes that were staring back at him, he'd seen them every time he looked into a mirror, but the grey furry face, large nose and big ears that greeted him were totally different. 'I'm a wolf!' He grinned, watching as his tongue lolled out. 'This is so cool!'

The sounds of another animal approaching caught his attention and he sat up, watching and waiting. A thin leopard appeared on the other side of the pool and Blair felt a trickle of apprehension run down his spine. He didn't know who that was but he didn't like the look of him.

Blair backed away from the pool then turned and fled. It wouldn't take long for the leopard to work his way around the pool, large though it had been, and Blair didn't want to be waiting for him when he made it to this side. He could tell from the sounds behind him that the leopard was following and stepped up his pace. The fact that this was a dream had been forgotten, all he knew was that he had to avoid the leopard.

Crashing into a clearing, he skidded to a halt as a large blue-eyed panther appeared in front of him. He almost howled with panic as the panther leapt, but the large cat passed him by and ran to take care of the approaching leopard. Spinning on the spot, Blair watched for a few seconds as the two cats fought it out, then, deciding that discretion was the better part of valour even in a dream, he made a quiet retreat.

Obviously his retreat wasn't quiet enough as he hadn't gone ten feet from the clearing before a heavy weight brought him down. Rolling onto his back, he tried to fight his way free, but the large black panther had the advantage of weight and position and he was trapped. He screamed with terror as the jaws descended towards his throat, then found himself on the sitting room floor, caught between the couch and the coffee table.

Running a hand over his face, he lay back for a second and tried to slow his breathing and calm his frantically beating heart. "It was a dream," he gasped, needing to hear the words out loud, "it was just a dream."

~'~

"Blair?"

Lost in thought, and not really with it after a night of disturbed sleep and vivid dreams, Blair glanced up then almost jumped back as he recognised the shy-faced young man facing him. Even if he hadn't remembered the features, the large bruise marring one side of the man's face would have reminded him. "Uh...it's...David, isn't it?"

"I wasn't sure you'd remember me."

Blair gave a half-laugh that contained very little humour. "How could I forget?"

"I just came by to say thanks. You...you saved our lives."

He opened his mouth to give some off hand 'no problem' kind of reply then stopped. "You saved mine too. I don't know how long it would have taken me to escape and now...I don't need to worry about her coming after me again."

He got a smile and a blush as David said, deprecatingly, "I think you'll find it was Sentinel Ellison who saved your life." There was a pause then David gestured towards the empty seat at the table. "Mind if I...?"

"Oh, of course!" Blair jumped up. "Would you like a coffee or something?"

"It's okay, I'll get them. Mocha...latte...?"

Blair sat down again and tried to relax. "Actually, a chamomile tea would be good, thanks." Watching David's back as the young man retreated to the counter, he took a deep breath. He didn't know why the Guide had turned up, he was hoping it wasn't to try and persuade him that bonding was the best thing that could ever happen to an empath - he'd heard all those arguments before. Well, if the guy did start in on the great Guide talk he could just make his excuses and leave.

David looked as nervous as Blair felt when he returned, tray in hand. Blair hurriedly moved some heavy books so David could put the tray down, and then they sat back and looked at each other, then spoke at the same time.

"I...."

"Neds...."

They stopped, looked at each other again, then smiled. "Sorry," they said in unison.

"You first." Blair considered it was the least he could do seeing as David had paid for the drinks.

"Neds wanted to come down and say thanks too, but he's still in the hospital and they won't let him out yet."

"I'm surprised he let you out, after what happened, I mean."

"Neds doesn't own me." David shook his head, smiling. "He would have preferred me to keep within his sight, but he knows that Alex Barnes is dead and he knew that I-I wanted to come and talk to you, say thanks."

"Oh. Uh...how is he?"

"He'll be fine. He can be released in a couple of days, which'll be better because he's like a bear with a sore head right now." David took a sip of coffee and added, "He hates hospitals."

"Who doesn't?!" Blair relaxed slightly. The conversation still felt awkward, but it wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be. "How's your face?"

"It's fine. It'll be better once the bruising has gone down. Every time Neds sees it, he starts feeling protective."

"Well, that's Sentinels for you. Most of them, anyway." Blair's eyes dropped to his cup. The last couple of Sentinels, well, not counting Ellison, he'd got up close and personal with had definitely not been protective at all.

"Yeah." David took another gulp of his tea and added, "She was an absolute psycho."

Blair grinned. "I'll drink to that."

~'~

When Blair returned to the pub, he was surprised to find everything the same. From Leaky Peg's attitude, he'd expected at least one of the regulars to be missing, but they were all there, their life-hardened eyes scanning the area as if looking for the innocence they had lost a long time ago.

The evening went by much as normal, with no appearance from Mr. Robson to frighten the local drinkers. Blair was relieved. The normal party atmosphere, with its hint of desperation for happiness that underlay it in that awful bar, was enough for him. And tonight, the desperation was lessened, almost as if the regulars had been reminded that they did have a few things to grateful for - Mr. Robson's absence being one of them.

Blair's journey home was identical to the one he'd made the night before, down to the irritating itch that would not leave him be. However, one thing had changed: whoever was following him tonight was not alone. Unlocking his friend's front door, Blair took a chance and dropped his barriers slightly. His eyes snapped open in horror and he hurriedly slammed the front door behind him, making sure to lock it securely. His followers tonight had been a Sentinel and Guide.

~'~

The jungle was blue and taller than he expected for some strange reason that he couldn't quite figure out, but the Sentinel knew why he was there. His Guide was running from him, running from the bond. Growling deep in his throat with the pleasure of the hunt, he tracked him. His keen nose allowed him to follow the scent easily, while his sharp eyesight picked out the wolf's paw prints in the dark brown earth.

Leaping across a fallen tree, he spotted his quarry in the distance. He quickened his pace, his heart joyful as his paws pounded against the earth and he raced towards the spirit guide. His growl changed as he saw the thin leopard that was approaching the Guide. The wolf seemed frightened for a few seconds but it finally turned away from the leopard with a contemptuous growl.

Quickening his pace as the leopard lunged towards the wolf, he flung himself into the fight with pleasure. The Guide would be his, no one else's! The leopard retreated, his head hanging low as the panther asserted his superiority, even as the wolf fled from the fight. Following quickly, the panther leapt and brought the wolf down, pinning him beneath heavy paws. The wolf bucked and fought as his howl of fear rent the air. He was not trying to hurt the panther, merely seeking to escape, but escape was denied him.

Refusing to be thrown back by the wolf's struggles, the panther settled himself down, holding the wolf in place with his weight. Another fearful howl sounded, and the panther began to lick the wolf, seeking to reassure him that harm would not come to him. Finally the wolf quietened. Growling with pleasure, the panther dipped his head and bit the wolf's neck firmly, pushing forward with his mind as he did so. The Guide's mental barriers crumpled beneath the attack, and the Sentinel's mind flowed into that of his Guide. He roared with triumph as he felt the warmth of a lifelong bond. The Guide was his.

His eyes flew open. Shaking the disturbing images from him, Jim turned and punched his pillow into a more comfortable shape. Ever since he'd protected Sandburg from Becker's attempt to force a bond, he'd been plagued with dreams of jungles, wolves and panthers. Frequently there was a thin leopard skulking around, seeking to reach the wolf by any means possible, but in each dream he'd felt the pleasure of possessing his Guide's mind, joining with him telepathically and knowing that he would never be alone again.

"If you're not going to claim him, then, technically, he's up for grabs."

Edwards' words came back to haunt him. Resisting the urge to growl at the thought of Sandburg being 'up for grabs' at all, he turned on his side and shut his eyes resolutely. What the hell was it to him if Becker bonded with the kid? He should have driven away and let Sandburg deal with Becker alone. Turning onto his other side, he admitted that he couldn't have done that. He'd had no way of knowing who was waiting for Sandburg in the warehouse, and even if he had known that it was Becker, the kid had stated that he had no intention of bonding. His duty as Senior Sentinel Prime meant that he could not allow one of his Clan to bond with his unwilling Guide.

His eyes flew open. 'Sandburg's not my Guide at all.' This was infuriating. How long was he going to be thinking about that scruffy kid? And what the hell did the kid think he was doing working in a place like Stan's bar? When he'd been on stakeout, following Robson to make sure there was no trouble, and then he'd seen Sandburg leaving obviously having finished a shift there, he'd nearly exploded. Sandburg had been lucky he'd merely followed him home as opposed to leaping on him and shaking some sense into the little idiot. He'd been lucky that he hadn't been the only one on stakeout that night, or he would have been forced to leave Robson unwatched while he made sure the kid got home safely.

And he was no fool. He'd noticed the raised eyebrows and exchanged glances when he asked Lisa Pais and her Guide, Karl, to watch Sandburg for him last night; he would have preferred to do it himself, but he was still detailed to follow Robson. The whole Clan was convinced that he'd be bonding with Sandburg at some point, regardless of the kid's views on the issue.

That was it, he'd had enough. Robson had gone back to his own stomping ground, which meant he was the responsibility of another precinct, and now that Robson had gone, Jim was off night duty and back on day duty. Tomorrow he was going to see the Clan and tell them that Sandburg was not his responsibility. The kid could take care of himself. Although if Becker made another move on the kid he was going to knock the Sentinel's teeth down his throat.

~'~

"Hell!" Jim growl to himself as he slammed one hand down on the alarm and threw his bedclothes back with the other. He'd just spent yet another night dreaming of wolves, panthers and blue jungles and, to be quite honest, he was getting sick of it.

Okay, so he hadn't called off the Clan's protection on Sandburg; for some reason, it hadn't felt right to leave the Guide without any back up at all. But if these dreams kept up, he was going to be forced to bond with the kid to save his sanity.

Stalking downstairs, he stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. He'd had enough. Becker could have the Guide, what the hell did he care anyway?

~'~

"Hey David."

"Blair! I wasn't expecting to see you here." The Guide put his pencil down, he'd been passing the time until his afternoon art class by sketching a few people, and smiled at his fellow empath.

"I uh...was hoping I'd find you here."

David noticed the way Blair's eyes checked out the room, as if he was worried about seeing someone else there. "What's up?"

"Can we go somewhere and talk?"

"Sure." He gathered up his drawing materials and put them away carefully before following Blair out to a nearby bench. Once they were seated, he waited for Blair to start speaking but it was obvious that Blair didn't know where to start with whatever was upsetting him.

"What's wrong?"

Blair's mouth opened then closed, then opened again and he finally spoke up. "I'm being followed."

David looked blank. Whatever he had expected that had not been it. "What do you mean, followed? Who by?"

"That's what I want to know." Blair looked relieved now that he'd found a starting point. "The other night I was in work...I work at a bar down near Bellevue, and when I left I was followed home by someone. All this week, it's been the same. Sometimes it's a Sentinel and sometimes it's a Sentinel and Guide. That's why I came to you - I'm hoping you know something I don't."

David kept his face perfectly blank although his mind was racing. If he had to guess, he'd say that Sentinel Ellison was providing protection for his Guide but he really didn't think that Blair wanted to hear that. Meeting Blair's eyes, he realised that he'd been silent slightly too long. He sighed and came clean. "It must be Sentinel Ellison."

Blair didn't look surprised at that but he reminded him, "There was a Guide there too sometimes."

There was a pause then David told him, "If he's applied to the Clan to have you protected...if he's busy, it'll be another Sentinel, a Bonded Sentinel who'll...look after you."

"Why would he apply to have me protected? I'm not his Guide! I'm nothing to do with him!"

Haltingly, David explained, "He was kind of putting out the word that you weren't to be approached for bonding."

There was silence as Blair seemed to think this over then, indignantly, "He's put dibs on me?!"

"No, no! He said he has no intention of bonding, he just didn't want you being approached. After Sentinel Becker was at the warehouse and everything!" David could have kicked himself at the look on Blair's face.

"He told you about that? No, wait...he told your Sentinel about that."

Slowly, David nodded, cringing at Blair's reaction.

"I don't believe this! Where the hell does he get off having me watched?"

"It's for your own protection! If Sentinel Becker -"

"I don't give a damn about Sentinel Becker. Jim has no right to interfere in my life at all!" From the look on Blair's face he was furious. "And I'm going to tell him so!"

David groaned to himself as Blair stalked off across the lawn. He guessed that hadn't gone well. Reaching for his cell phone he phoned Neds. Fortunately for both of them, Neds was back at work, although he was still on desk duty, so he would be able to reach Sentinel Ellison without too much trouble.

~'~

By the time Blair reached the Cascade P.D., he had calmed down somewhat, although he was still determined to put one pushy Sentinel right. He'd told Jim that he had no intention of bonding with him and couldn't work with him so, so far as he was concerned, that meant that Sentinel Ellison had no right to be involved in his life whatsoever. And putting him under the protection of the Clan was an involvement - in a major way. It was only Guides who were bonded to Clan members, or would be bonded to Clan members, who were protected by the Clan. Although, naturally, Sentinels had an inbuilt instinct to protect any Guide. Well, except for Alex. Her inbuilt instinct seemed to be to beat any Guide, but that was neither here nor there right now.

Getting in to see Detective Ellison was far easier than Blair had anticipated too. He told the desk sergeant who he was, showed some ID and was waved through to the elevator as the sergeant phoned up to the Major Crime department. Blair didn't want to think about the ramifications of Jim having put him on any 'acceptable visitors' list, he was still too steaming about the whole 'Clan protection' issue.

Stalking into Major Crime, Blair spotted the errant and annoying Sentinel in question and stormed over to his desk, his anger rising again. For once his pacifist soul was thoroughly roused into justifiable anger and he intended to blast Jim as best he could. Naturally, the almost non-stop dreams of jungles, a blue-eyed panther and a thin leopard he'd been bombarded with had nothing to do with the feeling of being hunted that was driving him mad. It was just Jim and his over-protective, interfering attitude that had him annoyed. Reaching the desk where the aforementioned over-protective, interfering Senior Sentinel Prime was sitting, he was forestalled.

"Let's take this somewhere private."

Fuming, Blair followed the detective into the same room that he'd sat in after his release from Alex Barnes' imprisonment, only this time there didn't seem to be any silent watcher behind the two-way mirror. He shut the door behind them then launched into his complaint. "What the hell did you think you were doing putting me under Clan protection?"

Jim didn't seem phased in the slightest. "Having you protected. What did you think I was doing?"

"What does my protection have to do with you? You're not my Sentinel, you're not going to be my Sentinel - I'm not going to bond, remember?" He ignored the memory of the warmth of that alluring bond that had filled his dream the night before. "So what's with the protect the Guide crap?" He saw from the flash of anger in the Sentinel's eyes that he'd hit a nerve and took a step backwards as the Sentinel approached to loom over him.

"Sentinels protect Guides, Sandburg. I don't know what kind of Sentinels you're used to, but that's what we do. And it doesn't matter who the Guide in question is. Got it?"

"You don't have the right to protect me! You don't have the right to have anything to do with me, and sending some of your Sentinel friends to follow me home from work is just downright interference!"

There was a growl in the Sentinel's voice as he replied, "Right has nothing to do with it. You're a Guide, you will be protected. I put you under the protection of the Clan and until I say otherwise you'll stay under it!"

"You can't do that!" For a second Blair thought his heart was going to stop beating as the Sentinel grabbed the back of his neck and yanked him forward. Jim's face was just inches from his, and from the flaring of the Sentinel's nostrils he was being scented.

The voice was quiet, the tone, soft, but the threat was implicit. "I'm the Senior Sentinel Prime, Sandburg, I can do whatever I want." His neck was released and Jim stepped back. "Keep that in mind next time you try to pick a fight with me."

Refusing to be cowed, Blair kept his gaze fixed on Jim's face, although his voice was calmer, more reasonable. "Call your Clan off."

"No."

"You can't have me followed!"

"As I said, I'm Senior Sentinel Prime. I can do whatever I want." The Sentinel's hand circled the front of Blair's throat and Blair felt his thumb stroke over the quickly beating pulse. "You'd do well to remember that, Guide." Then his hand dropped and he left.

Blair shuddered, for a second then he thought he'd pushed the Sentinel too far after all. Taking a deep breath, he thanked his lucky stars that Jim had managed to keep his control. Rubbing one hand over his throat to eradicate the feeling of the Sentinel's hand, he left the room and headed towards the elevator. Maybe if he got another job, a daytime job, Jim would call off his Sentinel guards. Maybe it was just working near the docks late at night that was pushing all of the Sentinel's 'protect the Guide' buttons. Then again, no matter what he did, that wouldn't settle the issue of Sentinel Becker. If Sentinel Ellison was protecting him, his teeth ground together at the thought, because of Becker, there was nothing he could do until one or both of the Sentinels lost interest or was bonded to another Guide.

Pressing the button to call the elevator, Blair stiffened as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Swinging around, his gaze met that of Sentinel Becker. The Sentinel was staring at him, the hungry need that had been so visible in the warehouse still there in his eyes. Abandoning the elevator, Blair headed for the stairs. There was no way he was going to risk being caught in an elevator with Becker.

"Sandburg!"

Blair stopped and met the Sentinel's gaze with his head held high. Damned Sentinels were forever trying to intimidate people and he refused to give in to it.

"I can stop Sentinel Ellison from bothering you." Becker's voice held a coaxing tone, as if hoping that offering his protection would persuade Blair to bond with him.

Blair shook his head and snorted a half-laugh. "Sorry, man. The price is too high."

Becker lunged and grabbed his arm before he could make it into the stairwell. "He'll never leave you alone. Putting you under Clan protection shows that he intends to have you, sooner or later. He already considers you to be his."

Caught on the raw, Blair retorted sharply, "So you're challenging Jim for his Guide? Do you have a death wish or what, man?"

The shock on Becker's face brought home to Blair just what he'd said. "So you do want to bond with him!"

"No!"

"I'd leave him alone if I were you, Becker." Jim's taunting voice got both of their attentions. "Looks like he's already made his choice."

The hand gripping his arm released him, and Blair took his chance to stumble into the stairwell as Becker turned to face the Senior Sentinel Prime. Before the door swung shut, he saw Becker's face, white as a sheet as he stared at the stronger Sentinel. He'd been caught twice trying to approach someone under the Senior Sentinel Prime's personal protection; the next few minutes were not going to be pleasant for Sentinel Becker, and Blair was determined to get the hell away before either Sentinel could turn their attentions back to him.

Scrambling down the stairs as quickly as he could, it wasn't until he was almost to the third floor that he heard a door slam open and a bellowed, "Sandburg!" fill the stairwell. His breath catching in his throat, Blair quickened his pace, abandoning safety for speed. Jumping the last few steps, he grabbed the door and yanked it open, almost falling into reception. Dodging around the surprised police, Blair threw himself at the front doors and out onto the stone steps. He wasn't sure if Jim was going to give chase or not but he knew that the Sentinel in him would be sorely tempted to chase his fleeing prey even if he didn't want to hunt the Guide. Hopefully, if he could get far enough away from the Sentinel, Jim would calm down enough to remember that he really didn't want to bond, no matter what his Sentinel side was screaming.

Racing along the pavement, Blair saw a cab further down the road and headed straight for it. He was nowhere near close enough when he heard the crash of a door from behind him. Glancing back, his eyes met Jim's as the Sentinel stood at the top of the steps, and he flinched. He could see why James Ellison was the Senior Sentinel Prime of Cascade - the Sentinel's face was filled with a fury and a determination that was frightening to behold, and he knew that had he been a Sentinel, he would have acknowledged Jim's superiority rather than risk facing him in an arena. Wrenching his gaze away, the Guide rushed towards the cab. He was running out of time.

Startled exclamations from people unfortunate enough to be between the pursuing Sentinel and the fleeing Guide told Blair that Jim was gaining on him. Reaching the cab, he yanked open the door and threw himself inside, ignoring the indignant spluttering from someone who had obviously considered the cab his.

The uninterested cab driver, blatantly used to manic passengers who fought over his not-very-pristine seat, hit the meter. "Where to, bud?"

"Grant Street! Drive!" The squeal of brakes as the cab driver swung his way into the opposite lane without bothering to indicate was bliss and Blair slumped back against the seat. Over the sounds of the engine and the yelling of indignant drivers who objected to the cab driver's lack of road sense, Blair was sure he could hear the roar of fury that erupted from the Sentinel's throat at the sight of his Guide escaping, but he hoped that was his mind playing tricks.

Blair sighed with relief as the cab pulled up outside his temporary residence. He'd kept a sharp eye out on the drive back from the station but he hadn't noticed any irate Sentinel driving a truck. Hopefully, Jim had calmed down. Either that or the Sentinel had been killed trying to race for his truck in order to give chase. At the moment, Blair wasn't sure he cared which scenario was more likely, as long as he could stop running long enough to catch his breath. How the hell had things gone so wrong so quickly? All he'd wanted to do when he went to see Jim was persuade him to back off and leave him alone. Instead he'd managed to push the Sentinel's buttons in all the wrong ways. Added to that, the showdown with Becker with the weaker Sentinel offering his protection, it was no wonder the Senior Sentinel Prime had gone a little ballistic.

Paying off the cab and dragging his emotionally-drained body out of the car, Blair paused to consider that. Was it possible to go a 'little ballistic'? Or was it like being pregnant? You either were or you weren't. Shaking the thought from him, he slid the front door key into the lock and opened the door. It looked like no one was in and he was glad of it. He needed time to process everything that had happened.

He froze as he saw the ticking clock in the hall. He didn't have time - he was due at the bar in twenty minutes. Cursing to himself, he swung around and headed back towards the front door. If he'd been able to think clearly he would have told the cab driver to take him straight to the bar; at least he would have been early, now he'd be lucky if he wasn't late. Biting his lip as he neared the door he wondered if he should call in sick. If the Sentinel was still determined to bond, being in a place where Jim could find him was a very bad idea. Of course, that meant that he wouldn't be able to stay in either as Jim knew where he was staying. Making up his mind, he opened the door. If he was going out, he might as well get paid for being out and hopefully there'd be enough people in the bar to slow Jim down if he did turn up.

His eyes widened with shock as he realised that he wasn't going to get the chance to reach the bar; the Senior Sentinel Prime was standing on the doorstep. He took a hurried step back and tried to slam the door but one large hand shoved it back open as the Sentinel moved forward.

The door slammed shut as Blair backed up the hall, his breath catching in his throat. Thinking back, he realised later that the worst part had been the silence. If Jim had just spoken he would not have felt so afraid, but the Sentinel approached silently, determination to possess written all over his face.

Another step and Blair broke free of the mesmerising fear that was keeping him facing the Sentinel. He turned and fled towards the kitchen, hoping to reach the back door and get away, but determined Sentinels move fast when the Guides they want are attempting to escape, and the hand that grasped his collar brought Blair to a standstill. He struggled to get out of his jacket, but the hand that was firmly holding his collar had grabbed all the layers it could reach, and while he could wriggle forwards out of his jacket and shirt, his T-shirt was another matter.

As he was pulled backwards, he jerked his elbow back aiming for Jim's ribs but his aim was off and his elbow hit nothing. Instead the Sentinel grabbed the elbow and used it to swing Blair around so that his back was against the wall. With the wall behind him and the intent Sentinel in front of him, the Guide had nowhere to go. His other arm swung up and he braced it between the two of them trying to hold the Sentinel off even as he fought to reason with him.

"Jim! You don't want to bond - remember? You said so yourself!"

He could see the Sentinel's nostrils flaring as he was scented, then realised that his fear was also being broadcast loud and clear when one hand left the front of his jacket and began to stroke his arm. Any calming effect was negated when the Sentinel leaned in closer but as he made no further move and he finally began to speak, albeit only to make shushing sounds to calm him, Blair's heart rate began to return to normal.

"Jim, c'mon, man, you know you don't want to bond with me." Blair's voice was still shaky, but considering the day he'd had, he was proud of the fact that he was talking and not screaming incoherently.

There was still no reply from the Sentinel, just the shushing and the soothing strokes up and down his arm.

Finally, tiredly, the Guide let his head drop forward to rest against the Sentinel's shoulder. "Jim, please...." His voice trailed off. He was tired of being chased, tired of running from Sentinels, tired of worrying that he'd end up running into a bigger, stronger Sentinel who would be able to overcome his barriers and bond with him against his will.

"Let it go, Chief, just let go." The voice was quiet, the words whispered into his hair and finally he obeyed.

As he dropped his barriers, he was gathered into a close hug, the Sentinel's arms tightening possessively around the Guide. Blair stiffened in fear as Jim nudged his head back, leaving his throat exposed and vulnerable. He stared up at the light-fitting in the hall, oddly distracted by the dust on the light bulb, even as his mind was reaching out to blend with Jim's, then he slammed his eyes shut as his Sentinel bit into his throat. Unable to stop himself, he gave a cry of pain. Jim's arms tightened around him as the pain subsided, pleasure took its place, and their minds flowed together.

~'~

Triumphantly, the Sentinel tightened his arms around his Guide, holding him closely as their minds joined. His senses were filled with his Guide; sight, sound, touch, smell and even taste, each sense focussed upon Blair and learned to recognise him beyond doubt. No matter how many sights, sounds or smells assaulted his senses, he would always be able to find his Guide. The thrill of possession filled him. His Guide, no one else's. No Sentinel would have the right to reach out a hand to him, no Sentinel would have the right to scent him except at the Senior Sentinel Prime's express command. The thought of Becker flickered across his mind and the Sentinel growled softly, not wanting to frighten his Guide. Rubbing his face into his Guide's hair, he relaxed, then smiled as he felt the smaller man collapse against him. They were bonded now and only death could part them.

Bending, he scooped his unconscious Guide up over his shoulder, and headed towards the door. He was saved from having to open the door when it was opened from the outside.

"What the -"

"Excuse me." Smiling reassuringly at the startled woman, Jim moved past her towards his truck.

"Blair?!" The woman followed him to the kerb. "What's wrong with him...and who are you?"

"He's fine. I'm his Sentinel. And I'll be back later to collect his things." One arm clasping Sandburg's legs to his chest, Jim unlocked the truck's door. Once it was open, manoeuvring the smaller man onto the seat was child's play and he had his Guide safely seat-belted before the surprised woman had finished her objections.

"His Senti...Blair doesn't want to bond!"

He ignored her until he was sitting in the driver's seat, then he smiled, quite happy with the world, through the window at her. "He changed his mind." Putting the truck into gear, he drove away, still smiling as he went.

~'~

Blair's return to consciousness was slow as he fought the extreme tiredness that was keeping him under. It was with an effort that he opened his eyes. Blinking blearily, his fuzzy mind tried to make sense of things.

"Welcome back, Chief."

He blinked at the clock. He knew that voice. Suddenly he gasped and sat upright. "Look at the time!" Throwing himself off the couch, he glanced around then made for the door, only to pull up short as Sentinel Ellison appeared in front of him.

"Where are you going?"

"Work, I'm late." For a second his mind grappled with his memory, trying to make what he knew now into some kind of sense. Had he fallen asleep on Jim's couch? Or... "Oh my God! We bonded!"

Jim smiled, or smirked might be a more appropriate word. "That's right, Chief."

"What were you thinking?" Blair was indignant. "You didn't want to bond! You told me so!"

He got a shrug. "I changed my mind. Do you want some coffee or tea or something? You're probably still tired."

"I feel like I could sleep for a week! But," Blair continued, "I have to get to work - I'm late."

Jim stayed were he was. "The bar? I phoned them."

"Oh...you told them I was sick?"

He pursed his lips and considered, then admitted, "I told them you quit."

"What?!"

"I told them you quit."

"You can't do that! That was my job, man!"

"Uh...not any more."

One hand steered Blair back to the couch, and he went automatically, trying to process everything that had happened. How on earth was he going to cover his rent now? He needed that job - imperfect though it was. He didn't react as his Sentinel sat on the coffee table facing him and rested his hands on Blair's knees.

"It isn't a safe area to work in, Chief, and I can't guarantee that I'd be able to escort you home every night."

Blair glared at him. The fact that he'd been 'escorted' home each night was a sore point that was still rankling, but the Sentinel facing him didn't even have the grace to look shamefaced about it.

"Look at it this way, you won't have to worry about that any more."

He shook his head. It felt as though his life had just been tipped upside down. On one hand, he was now jobless and would have to find another job quickly, and on the other hand, he was bonded. From the smirk on Jim's face, the Sentinel was very happy with the fact that they were bonded, and he was having to fight to keep a huge grin off his face. He was bonded! But he was still annoyed with Jim, of course.

"So, you want that coffee?"

Jim's question interrupted his musing, and he tilted his head back as Jim stood up. "Yeah, coffee would be good, thanks."

"Okay."

As Jim moved away, Blair grabbed a cushion and hugged it to him. Wow, his life had changed. Oddly enough, he had Alex to thank...or blame...for this. If she hadn't kidnapped him, he wouldn't have met Jim, or Becker. He frowned as he thought of the other Sentinel, then smiled. He didn't need to worry about Becker, Jim would deal with him. His head drooped lower and he shifted on the couch slightly then jerked his head back up. He'd nearly fallen asleep then. Where was he? Oh yeah, Becker. He shifted again, trying to keep his eyes open. Becker. Jim. No need....

The thoughts went with him into sleep.

~'~

His next coherent memory was of waking up to see the morning sun peeking in through the blinds. He blinked, confused. Hadn't it been dark before?

"Morning, Chief."

"Hi." Blair sat up, looking around. Did he have that cup of coffee? He didn't remember surfacing at all the night before but he must have as he was undressed to his boxers and t-shirt and he'd acquired a pillow and blankets from somewhere.

"The bathroom's over there if you want to grab a shower. I'll make breakfast."

"Okay. Thanks, Jim." He made his way into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face to wake himself up. There were fresh towels on top of the laundry hamper with what looked suspiciously like his clothes. But not the ones he was wearing yesterday.

"Uh...Jim?" He poked his head out of the bathroom and looked around for his errant Sentinel.

"Yep?" Jim wandered over, a frying pan in his hand and a flowery apron around his waist.

Staring at the apron, totally surprised that Jim was the flowery apron type, Blair continued, "Where did my clothes come from?"

Jim shrugged. "I asked Simon to collect your stuff last night. I couldn't leave you alone while you were sleeping." He wandered back to the cooker, obviously not seeing anything wrong in his actions.

Blair left the bathroom. "You had your boss collect my stuff from Melody's?"

"He's a friend too, Chief. He didn't mind."

"But you had my stuff collected?" Blair felt as though he was belabouring an obvious point here.

"Yeah."

"And brought here?"

"Where else would it go, Chief?"

"Well...I...."

"After breakfast we'll go and collect the rest of your stuff from that warehouse. Although you'd better hurry up with your shower."

Blair was astounded at Jim's calm re-ordering of his life. "Say what?!"

"Your breakfast will get cold if you don't hurry up."

"Not the shower part - collect my stuff? Why? Now that we're bonded Becker won't be a problem and I can go back to the warehouse!"

Jim turned the stove off and put the frying pan down before turning to face Blair. "You're not moving back into the warehouse."

"It's my home."

"It's a warehouse."

"I pay rent on it!"

"Chief, whatever you're paying for it, it's too much."

"Listen, I'll live where I choose to live! And if I want to live in a warehouse, a lighthouse, a shack or a mansion, it's my choice!"

The Sentinel advanced and stood over him. "You're my Guide. That means that you don't live in a rat-infested warehouse. And if I want you to live in a lighthouse, a shack or a mansion, I'll move you to one!"

"You can't decide where I live!"

"Oh? And who's going to stop me?"

"Me! That's who!" Blair was too angry to heed the warning signs until one large hand grabbed the back of his neck and yanked him forward into the Sentinel's personal space. He gulped as his Sentinel scented at his neck, then moaned as his Sentinel's teeth scraped across his Adam's apple.

"Are you defying me, Guide?" The tone was whispered against the soft, vulnerable flesh of his neck.

"No-o." Blair felt as though he was flushing from the feet up as the bonding heat began making it difficult to think.

"Good." The teeth scraped against his neck again. "We'll go and collect your things after breakfast then."

"O-o...kay." The Guide offered no resistance as he was backed up to the couch. His Sentinel's mind was already sliding into his in preparation for the bonding and his thoughts were slowing down. As they sank into the bond, his last coherent thought was that he didn't think it was possible for anyone to be all alpha male while wearing a flowery apron.

~'~

"David!"

David was surprised to see Blair at the station. He'd heard, from about five other Guides, about Blair's rapid exit from the P.D. while being chased by a furious Senior Sentinel Prime and he hadn't expected to see Blair within a mile of the station ever again. "Hi, Blair. What are you doing here today?"

For some reason, Blair was blushing. "Oh, well, I uh...."

"C'mon, Chief, we're gonna be late. Hi, David."

David watched open-mouthed as the Senior Sentinel Prime ruffled Blair's curls as he went past, then he grinned widely as Blair reddened even more, shrugged and followed the Sentinel. Just wait until Neds heard about this!

Hurriedly collecting the files he needed, he ran back to Neds' desk with the grin still firmly in place.

"What are you so happy about?"

"Neds, you'll never guess who I just saw!" He dumped the files on the desk instead of putting them down tidily as he normally did.

"Well, if I'll never guess, you'll just have to tell me, won't you?" Neds replied calmly, reaching for the top file.

"Blair!"

"Sandburg?" Neds shook his head. "The kid must have a death wish. I heard plenty about Ellison chasing him from the building the other day."

David could feel his grin growing. Neds had no idea! "They're bonded!"

"What?" The file dropped from Neds' hand as the shock rippled through their bond.

He nodded eagerly. "I saw them just now."

"Are you sure you weren't mistaken?"

"Positive! The Senior Sentinel Prime touched his hair." As far as David was concerned that was proof positive that they were bonded.

"Well, I'll be..." His own Sentinel sat back in his chair, his gaze reflective. "I guess that's why Ellison was chasing him the other day then." He shook his head. "I hope Becker has the sense to keep his distance once he finds out. Okay, David, c'mon. We have work to do here."

~'~

Just outside the doorway, Becker's mind clouded with anger as he withdrew. He'd heard what Edwards' Guide had said - his Guide was now bonded to the Senior Sentinel Prime. Nausea rose in his stomach. He should have forced the issue sooner. He should have taken what was his instead of hoping that his Guide would realise they were meant to be.

Furious with his Guide and livid with himself, he reeled away down the corridor. He'd get out, call in sick; he couldn't face them today. But just wait...just give it a little bit of time. Ellison would be keeping Blair under his thumb, especially for the first few weeks, but he was patient, he could wait. And sooner or later Blair would be alone and vulnerable. And when he was, he bit his lip as delicious anticipation filled him, oh when he was, Becker would be waiting for him. Waiting to just stretch out his hand and fill the aching void with his Guide's mind.

Dwelling upon that thought, he was almost crooning to the imaginary Guide in his arms as he left the station.

~'~

Blair frowned as he was followed to the rest room by his Sentinel. As the door shut behind them, he glared. "Jim, I've been going to the bathroom by myself for quite a while now. I think I can handle it!"

"I know that, Sandburg." Whistling cheerfully to himself, Jim used the facilities and washed his hands.

Rather uncomfortable with the idea of peeing in front of Jim, even though he knew, oh God, he knew, that nothing he did was really private where his Sentinel's hearing was concerned, Blair retreated into one of the stalls. He listened as Jim dragged out his hand drying, obviously waiting for his Guide, then scowled as he decided he really couldn't hold it any longer. Especially as Jim was now flicking a tap on and off and the sound of that trickling water was making his brain send ever more urgent messages to his shy bladder.

A few minutes later he emerged, knowing there was a flush on his face. Why on earth Jim felt the need to baby-sit him during a toilet break, he couldn't imagine.

His frustration grew throughout the day. Every time he made a move, be it bathroom or break room, his Sentinel was right behind him. Either he and Jim were so well bonded that their bladders were in sync or Jim was nervous about something.

He finally found out what that something was later that afternoon when Jim hauled him off to view the Sentinels' and Guides' break room. Word must have spread - Blair darted a glance at a grinning David - as the room was packed with Sentinels and Guides. Feeling fairly appalled at the sudden 'social situation' shoved upon him, Blair managed to greet David and Neds with genuine pleasure. While he'd only met the Sentinel once after that momentous day in Alex's hotel room, Neds had been friendly without being overbearing and Blair had felt more relaxed around a Sentinel than he would have thought possible in those after Alex/before bonding days.

After a few minutes, he began to relax. This wasn't so bad and the Sentinels were all keeping their distance.

"Okay, Chief, here's the hard part."

Jim's voice was quiet in his ear, but he had no doubt that the other Sentinels could hear him perfectly well.

"Hard part?" He glanced up at Jim feeling puzzled.

"All the Sentinels have to scent you."

"They what?!" Blair just about managed to keep his tone moderate as he figured that the Sentinels present would prefer to avoid having their hearing spiked by their brand new, freaked out Senior Guide Prime.

"It's because you're the Senior Guide Prime. Just relax, it'll be over in a few minutes."

"Now you tell me!" Unable to help himself, Blair leaned into Jim as Neds approached, glad that Jim's arm tightened around him in response.

"Just relax, Blair," Neds murmured to him.

"Easy for you to say!" Blair thanked God that he was the 'a shower a day keeps the flies away' kind of guy - he'd hate to be worrying about BO at a time like this.

As the line of Sentinels shortened, Blair realised that Jim's tension had heightened and that his attention was not fully upon the Sentinels present. Blair would have sworn Jim was waiting for someone unpleasant to walk through the door.

With a metaphorical slap to his forehead, and a total mix of metaphors, the penny dropped. Of course, Becker! Having decided that Jim would deal with Becker, Blair had forgotten all about him. Especially after a weekend of having Jim lay down the law about where his Guide would work and live. Having one flowery aproned Sentinel in 'me in charge' mood all weekend had kind of driven any worries about Becker out of his mind.

Finally they were done, and the two most senior Sentinels were left alone with their Guides.

"No sign of Becker?" Jim's voice was terse.

Neds shook his head. "I haven't seen him all day. No one has."

Jim nodded then said, "I'll check with Personnel." One hand tugged at Blair's curls then, "C'mon, Chief. As soon as the paperwork's done we can head home."

~'~

Jim had mixed feelings after he'd phoned Personnel. While he was relieved that Becker had not been there - the thought of that Sentinel inhaling his Guide's scent raised all his hackles - he would have preferred Becker to accept Sandburg as Senior Guide Prime in front of the Clan. The fact that Becker hadn't, left him in an unsettled mood all evening.

He was aware of his Guide's concern as he prowled around the loft, checking and double checking that the door was locked and the windows secured, but ignored it for now. No threat could be allowed to reach his Guide.

~'~

Blair looked up from his laptop as Jim's shadow passed over him again. He could feel the tension that was being given off by his Sentinel and he knew, as Guide, that it was his duty to calm his Sentinel down.

He gnawed on the inside of his lip. He'd never initiated a bonding before - normally he didn't need to as his Sentinel tended to be a bit on the possessive side. He turned off his laptop and shut the lid. He could do this. How hard could it be?

Standing, he put himself in Jim's way. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." The answer was growled as Jim stepped around him and continued his pacing.

Following his Sentinel, Blair put a hand on his arm, only to be practically shook off as the Sentinel continued his pacing.

The Guide frowned; that was no way for his Sentinel to treat him. Debating to himself for a second, he smiled and retreated to the couch again. A change in tactics was called for.

"Is it Becker who's got you so wound up?" he asked, his voice deceptively calm as he listened to the pacing going on behind him.

His Sentinel growled at the sound of the hated name, and Blair hid his smile.

"You needn't worry, I'm sure that Neds can protect me if he approaches me in the P.D."

The pacing stopped.

"Neds?"

Ignoring the harshness of the tone, Blair nodded as he picked up a book to read. "You know, Sentinel Edwards."

"I know Edwards."

Although Blair wouldn't have thought it possible, the tone was even harsher.

"Why are you thinking about Edwards, Guide?"

Blair shrugged as he flicked through the book, apparently looking for the page he was on. "Well, you know, he's big and strong. Looks like he could defend his Guide."

A shadow fell over the book and the Guide looked up to find his Sentinel looming over him. He kept an innocent look on his face. "Something wrong?"

The book was plucked from his hands and tossed aside, in spite of his protest, and his Sentinel growled as he leaned forward.

The Guide leaned back, and stretched slightly, exposing his neck as he did so. "If you've got something on your mind, just say so." He resisted the urge to grin as he noticed that his Sentinel's eyes were fixed upon his exposed throat.

Sliding onto the couch beside him, his Sentinel leaned in to scent at his neck. "Don't act the innocent with me."

Teeth scraped across his neck and Blair's toes curled in response, his mental barriers dropping at the contact.

"If you need protecting," the voice paused as the teeth bit down, marking him for all to see, "I'm the one you'll run to. Understand?"

The Guide could barely speak but he managed to force out his answer as his Sentinel's possessiveness surged along the empathic pathways of his mind. "Yes, Sentinel."

~'~

Becker continued to be absent from the P.D. for the next few days and, even when he did return, he made no attempt to approach Blair, and frequently appeared to go out of his way to avoid him. Blair was exceptionally thankful for that as the Sentinel gave him the creeps.

Therefore, when he saw Becker disappear through a doorway near the other end of the corridor he was on, he thought nothing of it but simply carried on his way, keeping his barriers high. That was one person he did not want to read.

As he passed by the door he heard it yanked open, but there was only time for one startled gasp before a hand clamped down on his mouth and he was dragged backwards.

Dropping the files, he started struggling. He jerked his head back in an attempt to hit the Sentinel in the face, but the taller man simply held his head firmly in place against his shoulder and swung him around through the doorway. Blair heard the door slam shut behind them before he was turned, shoved back against the wall and pinned into place, the bigger man using his body to hold him still.

The hand was back over his mouth and Becker used that to force his head to one side. Blair was almost hyperventilating as the Sentinel's nose touched his neck and he heard the Sentinel inhale. Memories of Alex and her attempts to bond with him raced through his mind and fuelled his struggles. As the Sentinel's teeth bit into his neck, the Sentinel adjusted his stance in order to press closer to the Guide, and Blair realised his mistake and took the opportunity offered.

His knee jerked up and connected sharply with a certain portion of the Sentinel's body. Man or Sentinel, it still had to hurt like hell and Blair was rewarded with a scream of agony as the Sentinel fell back.

Shoving his attacker away, Blair threw himself through the door and attempted to run. His feet landed on the files and as he pushed forward, they slipped back, and his head hit the wall with a bone-jarring thud.

~'~

Becker straightened as the agony began to ebb, and he blinked away the tears of pain that were streaming from his eyes. He had been so close. His arms had been filled with his Guide, his senses saturating themselves with him, his mind reaching forward, hungrily anticipating the possession of his Guide's mind, and then....

Agony. Sharp, burning pain had filled him, disrupting the bond that had begun to flow between them. As the pain began to subside, he dialled his sense of touch down to zero. He could deal with his injuries later once his Guide was found and bonded to him.

Turning to the door, he was delighted to see his Guide on the floor, a woman kneeling by him. In the remnants of his mind, he recognised her as working in the records office but right now she was touching his Guide. Diving forward, he shoved her away with a feral scream. As she retreated, he yanked his Guide into his arms. He would take his Guide and, once they were away from this place, bond with him ensuring that no one could ever take him away again.

"Becker!"

His head jerked up and he stared at the approaching Sentinel. The rival for his Guide had arrived.

Smiling, he laid his Guide down and threw himself into the fight. He would vanquish his rival and bond with his Guide over the Senior Sentinel Prime's dead body.

~'~

David shuddered as he watched the two Sentinels attack each other. Unconsciously, he moved closer to Neds and held onto his own Sentinel. He could feel the hatred the two feral Sentinels bore for each other and knew that all the Guides present were attempting to block the overriding emotions too.

His eyes were wide as he watched the fight in front of him. David had never witnessed two Sentinels fighting over a Guide before, and hoped he never would again. The Sentinels were savage, and he shuddered once more, pressing even closer to his Sentinel, overwhelmingly glad when a warm arm was thrown around his shoulders and he was held tightly against his Sentinel's side.

Staring at Sentinel Becker, David was unable to drag his eyes away from the blood dripping down his shirt front. At first he thought that the blood was from the punch Sentinel Becker had received in the mouth, but then, as the Sentinel coughed, spitting out yet more blood, he realised that he'd been injured internally. For some reason, Sentinel Becker didn't seem to notice. As each cough brought up more blood and threatened to send him to his knees, the Sentinel rallied and continued to attack Sentinel Ellison, his insane cries making David's stomach churn.

~'~

As Edwards tightened the grip he had on his own Guide, his eyes turned to the Senior Guide Prime who was lying only a few feet from the two Sentinels fighting to the death over him. The kid looked like he needed medical aid but any attempt to approach the Guide at this stage would be taken very badly by both the Sentinels who were determined to claim him.

David shuddered again, dragging Edwards' attention back to the fight. From the blood that was continuously dripping from Becker's mouth, he'd guess that the Sentinel was close to death. Shaking his head, he realised that Becker must have turned down his sense of touch, and of pain, as the man should have collapsed long before now.

He looked at Ellison and shook his head again. The feral Sentinel was in charge. Even if Becker had collapsed or capitulated, he doubted if anyone but Sandburg could have stopped the Senior Sentinel Prime in his tracks. Becker had attacked the Senior Sentinel Prime's Guide, had obviously attempted to force a bond. No Sentinel would stand for that.

~'~

Finally, Becker collapsed; his entire body shaking as it started to shut down. Feebly, he realised that he had failed - his rival would claim his Guide. As his vision started to darken, he tried to reach his Guide but the other Sentinel was in the way.

As life slipped away from him, the last sound he heard was a roar of possession as his rival took his Guide from him.

~'~

Waking up was not much fun, Blair decided. His head was pounding along with his heartbeat and, he panicked, there were a pair of strong arms around him. Becker!

He began to struggle. He wasn't going to bond with Becker but he'd have to hold the guy off until his Sentinel realised he was in danger and came to save him. Not that Blair was into being saved like a damsel in distress but, given the way his head was aching, he was finding it hard to come up with any plan at all apart from struggle like hell - and that was getting him nowhere.

His panic deepened, then a tinge of indignation crept in. Becker was rocking him back and forth, and shushing him like a baby. If he could have got to his feet and given the Sentinel a piece of his mind (no bonding involved), he would have.

One hand was gently cradling the back of his head, while his face was held close to a shirt-covered shoulder. He was about to tell the unwanted Sentinel to back off, right now, when he recognised the man's aftershave and went limp with relief. He was being held by his own Sentinel. "Jim. I thought you were Becker, man."

Getting no reply, he opened his eyes and squinted up into his Sentinel's face. "Jim?" The Sentinel's gaze was intent and he could tell that every sense was focussed upon him. Lowering his eyes, he saw the split lip Jim was sporting and the splashes of blood that marked his clothing, and realisation flashed upon him. "Becker?"

"You don't have to worry about him any more." The answer was growled and the Guide could tell that his Sentinel wasn't calming down.

"What did you do?" He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer but he had to ask.

The Sentinel's face tightened with anger and a hand swept his collar back as the question was ignored. "He marked you."

The Guide stared up at his Sentinel, unsure of where this was leading. "We're bonded - he didn't break our bond!" Blair wasn't sure if he was reassuring Jim or seeking reassurance for himself but, with perfect timing, they were interrupted.

"Senior Sentinel Prime?"

Blair tried to sit up to see Neds, but Jim wasn't letting go.

"The ambulance is here."

~'~

Lying in the hospital cubicle, Blair fumed...and worried. His Sentinel had not touched him since they'd reached the hospital. He'd hovered, certainly, and paced the perimeter of the cubicle getting in everyone's way. He'd even growled at the junior doctor who'd originally attempted to check Blair's head, making the young doctor back off hurriedly and insist, in a loud voice, that he wasn't going back into that cubicle unless That Man was removed. But he had not, at any point, touched his Guide.

Blair's mental barriers, already battered by Becker's actions, were fraying rapidly and he had no idea what he was going to do. He needed to bond to restore them and his Sentinel was rejecting him. He buried his face in the blanket that was covering him, and thought as quickly as he could with an aching head.

Was it possible that his Sentinel didn't want him any more? His hand crept up to the repulsive bite mark on his neck, his skin crawling as he felt it. It wasn't his fault! He'd fought Becker off. God, why couldn't Jim see that?

He sighed noisily. Jim probably did see that - it was the possessive, territorial Sentinel who was having one hell of a problem with it.

~'~

Having run off one doctor, who was obviously too young to know how to deal with his Guide's probable concussion, Jim was busy arguing with another doctor. Definitely older, probably just as inexperienced. Finally the doctor caved and agreed that yes, the Senior Guide Prime could go home as long as there was someone there to look after him. The doctor paled as a loud growl erupted from the Senior Sentinel Prime's throat. Did he honestly think that Blair would be left alone in the loft at a time like this?

"If Guide Sandburg will sign these, he can leave."

The doctor handed over the forms and Jim watched as he retreated hurriedly.

Turning, Jim looked at the curtain that was separating him from his Guide. His Guide. He glanced down at himself, noticing the splashes of blood that were still covering him. He'd killed to defend his bond today, and he wasn't sure if his Guide would want their bond any longer - not that he had much choice about it. He'd been attacked, marked. He'd been surprised that Sandburg had bonded with him after all he'd gone through with Alex. Now he was thinking that Becker would be the straw that broke the camel's back...or his Guide's spirit.

Every instinct he had was screaming for him to march in, grab his Guide and bond with him until the whole world acknowledged that his Guide was his and no one else's but, while the Sentinel was more than ready and willing to do that, Jim, the detective, was not. Sandburg had been attacked by Becker. While he could not refuse to bond forever - his barriers would collapse sooner or later leaving him empathically defenceless if he did - he might not want to bond for quite a while. Jim was pretty sure that his Guide's barriers were already on the verge of collapse but he could not, in all conscience, try to persuade his Guide to bond again until Sandburg was ready.

"Jim?"

He was yanked out of his introspection so quickly it almost hurt. "Edwards." Then he nodded to David as that Guide moved towards the cubicle to see his Guide.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." He grabbed Edwards' arm and walked him down the corridor a bit so that they were out of earshot of their Guides. "I'm worried about Sandburg."

"If he's being released already, the doctors must think he's fine."

"It's not his concussion, it's... Will he want to bond after this? After being attacked by Becker?" Jim could feel the anger building up in himself. That Sentinel was dead but if he could have brought him back to life just to kill him all over again, he would.

Edwards was about to answer when Jim's hand shot up to silence him. Although he'd been talking, he'd unconsciously been listening to his Guide, and now his Guide was talking, explaining how he felt to Edwards' Guide.

~'~

Hope flared as the cubicle curtain flapped back, but it was David. Blair slumped back against his pillows. Jim must really hate him if he couldn't even come back in.

"Hey, Blair. How are you doing?"

Blair shrugged. "Okay, I guess." He avoided looking at the other Guide and wasn't surprised when he felt David lean on the edge of the gurney.

"You're being released, aren't you? I thought you'd be pleased to get out of here."

He shrugged again. "I'll have to go back to the loft with Jim...and...I'm not sure he wants me to."

"What are you talking about? He just fought to the death for you - I don't think you can doubt his commitment to the b-"

He stopped as Blair yanked down his collar and Blair could see his eyes staring at the bruised bite mark on his neck.

"Becker marked you?" David's eyes jerked up and he met Blair's gaze. "I - I thought -"

"I fought him off. I kneed him in the groin - but I didn't manage it before he marked me. Jim must think...Jim..." He gave a frustrated sigh at his inability to put it into words. "How can Jim want to bond with me now?"

"It wasn't your fault! You can't think that Sentinel Ellison would blame you for that?"

"I don't know any more. I just -"

The cubicle curtain flapped open again and this time it was his Sentinel.

"Okay, Chief, we're out of here. David."

"Sentinel Ellison. I'll see you soon, Blair, okay?"

Neds' voice chimed in, "We'll both see you soon, Blair. Take care of yourself. Well, you take care of him, Ellison."

"I'll do that, Edwards." Jim stood back to let David pass, then approached the gurney.

Blair was surprised when one hand gently pinched his toes. "C'mon, Chief. I've got your release papers, all you've gotta do is sign them."

"Okay, Jim." Maybe it would be better to get back to the loft quickly and get this over with. Whatever 'this' would be.

~'~

Once back at the loft, Blair took a shower, then wandered around until his Sentinel sat him on the couch. That great restorer, tea, was made and a cup placed in front of the Guide with orders for him to drink it.

Blair was surprised that Jim hadn't whipped out the pain pills prescribed by the doctor and he debated whether or not to ask for them. Pills were really not his thing; if given the choice, he'd take something herbal, but his head was pounding and his barriers were fraying. Not that he expected the pain pills to bolster his barriers, only bonding could do that, but at least he'd be able to ride it out without pain from his concussion.

He'd finally decided to take the pills when the mug of half-cold tea was removed from his hands. Glancing up, he realised that Jim was sitting next to him, an intent look in his eyes, as he placed the cup carefully on a coaster and pulled his Guide's collar back.

Blair flushed as he remembered what Jim would be looking at right now. That damned bite mark. He looked down, unwilling to look his Sentinel in the eye but a tap under his chin got his attention.

"Chin up, Chief." There was a smile on Jim's face as he leaned in, pushed Blair's head back and gently settled his mouth over the mark that Becker had left.

The Guide gasped as the teeth bit into the bruised flesh, his fingers digging into his Sentinel's shoulders. The teeth bit harder, and he knew that any trace of Becker's bite would be hidden beneath the bite of possession left by his own Sentinel.

"Jim...."

The teeth eased off and a growl vibrated against his throat. "Claimed and marked, Guide."

With a shuddering sigh that was almost a sob, he dropped what was left of his barriers and joined his Sentinel in their bond. "Claimed and marked, Sentinel."

~finis~

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