Blair drove into one of the empty visitor parking spaces in front of the very expensive and exclusive Sherecliff Towers complex. Looking up at the high-rise building, Blair remarked, " I thought he'd have gotten somewhere a bit more ..."
"Eco-friendly? He's using it as a base for his business interests in the Northwest as well. Roger has had the apartment below the penthouse fitted out with all sorts of high tech gear so he can use it as an office."
"Sounds as if he's looking to base himself here," Blair remarked cautiously. He'd reluctantly told Naomi about Jim thoughts on the man over dinner.
"The Foundation means a lot to him. Rainier were lucky to be chosen. Universities from all over the country were on the shortlist. In fact, he'd decided to build it at Berkeley and then he changed his mind. " Naomi smiled. "I think it was just after we met at that seminar about Whales, last year. He's poured a lot of effort into the Foundation to get it up and running here in less than a year."
Blair sighed; he knew his mother had had something to do with it.
"Give him a chance, sweetie. Once Jim meets Roger and understands his standpoint a little bit more, then they'll both gradually come to a meeting of the minds. Roger can embrace the future and Jim will learn ..."
"What Naomi?"
"He'll learn to tolerate and understand other people's points of view. Roger's come a long way in a very short length of time, he couldn't speak her name when we first met."
Blair sighed; he just knew that somehow this was all going to head for disaster. "Don't push it with Jim, please Naomi. He's very on edge at the moment."
"Oh? You didn't say anything at dinner."
Blair immediately wished he'd kept his mouth shut. "We've just got a big case on at the moment and it is going to mean a lot of working with the GDP and..."
"Oh. Nothing connected with you?"
Blair shook his head. "For the first time in a long while, no."
Naomi relaxed. "I hate the thought of you working with those people on any case but..." She paused and then said, "Please try and discuss Roger with Jim though. When he comes out with such things, I don't think he really knows what he is saying, he only knows that he is in pain. He's had to go through such a lot, losing first his daughter in that forest fire and then Meggie."
Blair leaned his head against his window, and then commented, "The kidnapping was seven years ago, mom."
Naomi shook her head, she snapped, "I would have thought you of all people would have understood." She put a hand on the door catch. "It seems as though living with Jim has changed you more than I ever thought it would." She got out of the car and slammed the door.
Blair couldn't move for a few moments after Naomi had slammed the door on him. Then he jumped out of the car and yelled after her, "Naomi! Mom!"
Naomi just carried on walking. Within seconds she was entering the lobby of the exclusive building. As Blair got to the steps, Naomi was waiting for the penthouse elevator. As if she knew Blair was there, she turned to look through the doors.
Blair stood on the steps to the building, with his arms outstretched at her. He relaxed when he saw Naomi's mouth move, 'I'll call you tomorrow,..' before she stepped into the elevator. Once the doors had closed behind her, Blair blew out a breath and shook his shoulders until they'd relaxed enough for him to drive. As he turned the ignition key in his car, he hoped that Jim would be back at the loft so they could bond, he needed it tonight.
@@@@
Blair collapsed onto the sofa next to Jim, without a word being exchanged between them, Jim's arm snaked out and drew Blair closer, Jim's other hand moved over his guide.
Blair placed his head onto Jim's shoulder and sighed.
Jim held onto his guide and asked quietly, "Barriers?"
Blair sighed again. "Low." Jim rumbled menacingly. Blair patted Jim on the chest. "It's okay big guy, just a little mother-son interaction that didn't go too well." Jim growled and pulled Blair tight into him. Blair sensed the sentinel's disquiet, he asked, "What's the matter, Jim?"
Jim just said quietly, "My guide."
Blair nodded, "Yours big guy." Blair linked and gently probed his sentinel's mind. Blair shivered involuntarily as the image of the correctional center came into focus. Immediately Jim rumbled, "Not you, another. Tell later after..."
Blair let himself relax and the pair began to bond, Blair receiving the strength and shielding of his sentinel, the empathy working to soothe away the disquiet and balancing his sentinel's senses.
The wolf and panther settled down on the floor of the loft and watched over their humans as they bonded and then slept.
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"Ellison! Sandburg!"
Jim rolled his eyes at Blair as they got to their desks in the bullpen. "Our master calls!" The pair changed course and made their way into Simon's office.
Simon waited until they had shut the door. He waved a sheet of paper over at them. "Just got this from Chicago PD. I believe you asked them to find out about Mancini?"
Jim reached out for the paper only for Simon to move it away. "I heard this is a co-investigation now."
Blair opened his mouth to answer but Jim waved him away. "Yeah a joint police department / GDP investigation."
Simon leaned back against his desk, his expression serious he asked, "Not a clan matter?"
Jim shook his head. "Not a clan matter. Just thought I'd offer our services, the investigative unit lost one of their most experienced men a few months back. If the Mancini's are moving into Cascade, I thought we, I mean the PD should know about it."
"Uh-uh." Simon didn't sound convinced but passed the paper over. He commented, "You won't like what you read."
"What's it say, Jim?"
Jim read the paper once quickly and then read it again. "Chicago PD say there's a whole floor of nurses and doctors who will testify that Mancini was in hospital in Chicago for the past four days, came out this morning."
Simon butted in with more detail. "Rhinoplasty, one of the top plastic surgeons in Illinois too."
Blair creased his eyebrows, and asked, "A nose job?"
Jim gave the paper back to Simon. "Sounds as though someone arranged a cover very quickly."
Simon nodded and moved to behind his desk, and asked Jim and Blair "Coffee?" Jim nodded and followed Simon.
Blair looked at Jim and Simon, who were both helping themselves to coffee. "You're both taking this remarkably calmly."
Simon did a double take and asked Blair, "Taking what calmly?"
Blair gestured at the paper now lying on Simon's desk. "There must be a leak in the department."
Jim shrugged and sipped at his coffee. "Not necessarily. The Mob has contacts in all sorts of departments that would have noticed our request for confirmation of fingerprints."
Simon took a sip of his coffee and said, "Well at least it proves he was doing something he shouldn't have been in Cascade." Simon changed the subject of the conversation, "So while he's recovering from his surgery, detective, you can worry about finishing off your paperwork."
Jim made a face at Simon. Keeping his mug in his hand, he inclined his head at Blair and said, "C'mon Chief."
Blair asked as they were going back through the bullpen, "So that's it?"
Jim shook his head, "No of course not. It's still an active case; he's still got to move the stuff. Unless Dan's team gets a lead through their contacts we're going to have to sit and wait." Jim sat down and looked at the paperwork. "Or do paperwork." Jim reached for the top file on his pile and raised his eyebrows when he saw that it was papers from the Courcy kidnapping. Jim looked up at Blair who'd got into a conversation with Rafe and Brown. 'Maybe the file will explain why Courcy's like he is,' thought Jim. He knew from their bonding last night that Blair and Naomi had had a heated discussion about the man. Maybe if he understood the kidnapping then he would understand why the man was so anti Sentinels.
Just as Jim was about to start the file, the phone next to his elbow rang. Jim grimaced and instantly he felt a hand on his shoulder and the unspoken command, 'dial it down.' He grabbed the phone and growled into it, "Ellison.
"It's Dan Slater, I believe you spoke to G... Martin last night?"
Jim said, "Yes, I was going to call you about that." Struck by a thought, Jim pulled a pad of paper towards him and wrote the words, 'flowers' on the front sheet. He tore it off and clipped it to the top of the Courcy kidnapping papers. Once he was done, turned his full attention back to the conversation with Dan Slater.
@@@@
Mancini couldn't avoid letting out a groan as he came back to awareness, his face hurt too much not to. Immediately he felt hands gently touching his shoulders and then his face. Mancini kept still, he had guessed from the weight that was pinning him down, that his sentinel was in BP mode. He reached out to link and for a while floated in the warmth of the sentinel's shields, indeed the physical warmth that she provided by her lying on top of him. He was dragged back into the here and now earth when he felt his sentinel come to attention. A second later, there was a tentative knock on the door. Mancini attempted to rise to answer the knock but his girl pushed him down and kept him flat. Mancini didn't mind, he still felt a little dizzy.
"Gerry, can I come in?" Mancini groaned as his mother's voice sounded outside the bedroom door. Realizing that as usual, that both he and his girl were naked, Mancini pulled the sheet around them both. After doing this he tentatively opened the link up and after pushing through the fear, confusion and concern for him that flooded his mind, he projected calm at her. Once he felt the fear and confusion die away, Mancini shut down the link. After checking that the sheet was securely over their entwined bodies, he shouted, "Come in, mother."
Deciding that even the dim light in the room was too bright for his headache, Manicini shut his eyes. Comforted by the warm weight of his sentinel, Mancini relaxed. As his mother entered the room, he asked, "What time is it?"
"Ten. Your father told me at breakfast what happened when you got in. I thought I'd come across and check you were all right."
"He told you he had Tony give me two black eyes and concussion to justify an alibi?" Mancini didn't attempt to hide the bitterness in his voice.
"Tony is now your father's appointed heir. If you had been in his place you wouldn't have hesitated to do the same. You know how your father feels when people make stupid mistakes."
Mancini sighed. She was right; he'd been stupid to handle the dampeners without gloves on. He said bitterly, "Especially his no good guide son." Mancini felt his sentinel tense slightly and he began to stroke her back to keep her calm. He could hear his mother setting a bag on the floor and then crossing over to the en-suite bathroom, the dim sound of water running and then his mother's footsteps on the carpet. He didn't hold his girl back when she shifted slightly; he knew she would want to check out what his mother was doing.
"Sentinel, it's a wash cloth with nothing on but water. I'm just going to wash Gerry's ...your Guide's face, if that's all right with you?"
Mancini sighed internally, as always his mother's tone was grudging. She still didn't really understand, even after having Mikey round for years and then the girl, that a sentinel in blessed protector mode would never let anyone else anyone near. As he tensed, he also felt his girl's muscles tense. He recommenced his strokes down the sentinel's back, projecting peace and calm.
After a few moments, he heard his mother say, "You can do it if you wish. I only want to make sure of his health."
There was no reply, he didn't expect there to be. Mancini relaxed as the cool washcloth glided gently over his bruises. He sighed, Meg was infinitely gentler than his mother would have been, with her sentinel touch guiding her when to apply pressure and when not to. It was one of the advantages of having a Blessed Protector at your beck and call. As if reading his thoughts, his mother commented, "I met Frank as I came across from the main house. He told me that your ...girl tried to get between you and Tony."
Automatically, Mancini forced open his swollen eyes and tried to focus on her to check if she was okay. Meg changed position so that her head was resting on his right shoulder. He winced as a wave of disgust and discomfort emanated from his mother.
"She's all right. He managed to get hold of her leash and keep her on the floor while Tony hit you."
Mancini speeded up the calming strokes as he could feel Meg begin to shiver and whimper a little. " Ssh, you were only doing your job." He opened up the link and projected peace and calm and in return found his mother's edgy emotions blocked at last as his girl boosted the shields around him.
"I've asked Dr Cimino to come and check you over. He said he'd come around twelve-thirty. Your father wants to see you at one for lunch, alone."
That was an almost unheard of honour. Mancini forced his eyes open and looked at his mother. "Really?"
"Yes." His mother smiled back at him. "Annoyed at the simple mistake you made but that was more than made up for the excellent profit you will make from the deal. He actually mentioned the word respect. He said that he would like lunch alone with his eldest son so he could tell him of the respect he'd regained personally."
Mancini shook his head in wonder. It had been twenty years since ... Suddenly, he could see a time when he moved back into the main house with the rest of the family and not having to live in the guest house out in the grounds. He could take back his proper place in the family. "Thank you for telling me that, Mother. I have several ideas that I want to discuss with him."
"Your father said alone, do you need the Doctor to bring something to keep your girl quiet?"
Mancini idly stroked Meg's back while he quickly thought. After a few moments, he said, "No, no I don't. Frank can keep her busy while I'm over with father. He has to be here, I'm expecting a call from my Cascade contacts."
"I'll see you after your lunch then. Mrs Valeria and her daughter Maria are visiting with me this afternoon. Maria is a very attractive and intelligent young woman, you know. The Valeria's are hopeful of doing business with your father down in Baltimore. Her DNA's been checked, she doesn't appear to have any of those sort of genes. Of course, it is a pity that Tony's actually gone to Baltimore, this morning, so he won't get to meet Maria, but you will."
Mancini nodded, understanding all the little nuances in his mother's speech, his father aside, it was a tradition in the Mancini family that the matriarch in the family arranged who should marry whom. Plainly, he was being invited to have first refusal on Maria Valeria. "I promise, I will come up for coffee directly after lunch."
His mother bent down and kissed both of his cheeks and left the room.
Only when his mother had shut the door did Mancini let out a triumphant, "Yes!" He lay back on the pillows and opened up the link, this time he openly basked in the warmth of the shields surrounding him.
TBC