Title: Now that I’m Standing on My Own
Author: Laekin
Disclaimer: I hold no claim to the primary characters in this story. Jim and Blair belong to PetFly and Edwards and David belong to Susan. To PetFly, no money is being made or sought. To Susan, thank you again for creating Edwards and David and for being generous enough to let me play with them.
Warnings: (PG-13) Intense violence, angst, intense H/C This episode is a little more violent than And I Remember.
Notes: As before, I cannot say thank you enough to Susan for letting me play in the universe she created with the characters she gave life to. I also need to extend a world of thanks to Gail, not only for the excellent beta work she did but also for being a patient and supportive sounding board. Gail, I don’t know that I would have gotten through this without you. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Any remaining problems are mine, all mine.
Italics indicate thoughts.
Now that I’m Standing on My Own
For the drugged Guide awareness came back slowly. Consciousness had returned almost half an hour ago but drug induced disorientation kept Panther Clan Guide Prime, David Sutherland prone and silent.
His ears were filled with a terrible rushing sound; like the crash of ocean waves only magnified by a hundred. Worse, David was certain his eyes were open but all he could see was a series of stars racing across his vision like so many out of control comets.
Closing his eyelids did little to stop the sensation and the young Guide had to fight the urge to be sick. Rolling over onto his stomach, David pressed his cheek against the cool floor. His arms were caught fast behind his back and his ankles were bound together. David had never been leashed in his life but it only took a small, experimental wiggle to confirm the fact that he was expertly bound, by the disciplinary device.
For a moment, the flight response to danger took over. David tried to draw his knees up under his body, seeking to gain his feet, but the motion drew the leash taut and the collar tightened around his throat. The natural instinct to fight against the restraints trying to choke him engaged and David began to kick out with both feet, gagging as the collar jerked tight around his neck. Squirming with his whole body, the Guide Prime tried to flip himself inside out, seeking to relieve the alien pressure on his neck, wrists, ankles, and waist.
David was so intent on his battle with the leash that even if he hadn’t still been suffering the effects of the drug, it was doubtful he’d have heard the door to his cell opening. David wasn’t even aware of the presence of the GDP guards until strange hands landed on his shoulders and calves, flipping him over on his stomach and pinning him down.
“Damn it! I told them. His record indicated he’d never been leashed. He shouldn’t have been left alone like this.”
The voices sounded garbled and very far away. David whimpered, still struggling weakly against the hands trying to hold him still. In a coherent state of mind, the young Guide would have wondered how strangers were able to touch him without frying his empathic pathways but between the drugs and the panic, David was running on pure primal instinct.
~Sentinel! Sentinel! Neds! David’s mind screamed silently, the collar strangling him.
David wriggled and squirmed wildly making it difficult for the hands to hold him. Somewhere far away, behind the rushing sound in his ears, David could hear the voice that had spoken before.
“Ah, hell! He’s got this collar so tight it’s going to throttle him. Who the hell put this damn thing on? It’s at least a size too small. Get me a knife.”
A second voice spoke, but it was simply too distant to be anything more then noise.
“I don’t care what the Doc said! I’m cutting this damn thing off him before he breaks his fool neck or worse, chokes himself to death. Stop being such a rule pusher. Hell, he’s not Sandburg with that damn Dark Guide crap, give me the damn knife.”
There was more of the second voice, then the hands holding him down shifted until David felt the point of an elbow digging into the middle of his back, pinning him to the floor.
“Stop your damn wiggling, Guide. I’m trying to help you here.” The voice snarled and David felt an intense pressure against his neck, followed by a sharp jerk, then suddenly his neck, arms and legs were free.
Well, free of each other. His hands were still bound together as were his ankles. The heavy weight on his spine lifted cautiously away but David could still sense the presence of at least two people in the room. If he could have stopped breathing, he would have.
Flopping onto the floor, David hid his face against the cool tile and went as still as a mouse caught under a cat’s paw.
A large hand patted him between the shoulder blades in the manner that one might stroke a favorite pet.
“There, see? This one’s a hell of a lot more docile then that rabid Senior Guide Prime. We won’t have any trouble with him.”
The last thing on David’s mind was causing trouble. Closing his eyes, he remained as quiet as possible, hoping that if he didn’t move, they wouldn’t have any reason to hurt him.
“Docile? He’s just playing possum, he almost kicked me just now.” The second voice was female and finally close enough that David could understand her words.
“He couldn’t breath. I bet you’d kick too if you couldn’t breath.” The male voice growled.
“You’re getting soft, Jarhead. He’s just a Guide. I’m sure that Sentinel of his has had him leashed up plenty of times. I’ve seen Sentinel Prime Edwards. Now there is a man who doesn’t take crap from anybody, let alone his own Guide.”
The man still kneeling beside David snorted.
“You might want to keep that in mind, Henion. In case it’s escaped your notice, we’ve just taken a Guide, without his Sentinel’s authorization, out of his Sentinel’s territory. Edwards is going to be all kinds of pissed. If that wasn’t enough for you to chew on, remember, we’ve got the Senior Guide Prime Apparent of the Panther Clan tied up here. You know, Senior Sentinel Prime James Ellison’s clan; a Dark Sentinel’s clan.”
“Bah, Doc will take care of all those details. If Edwards had just signed the paper when Doc asked him too, none of this would have been necessary.”
“Well, that’s kinda the sticking point here isn’t it. Edwards didn’t sign. In fact I believe that Officer Carpentar is going to be out for six months with that compound fracture of the right forearm and all he did was touch this little one here.”
“What the hell is your point JarHead?”
“My point, you miserable bitch, is if you again feel the urge to get your kicks leashing this Guide, pick the right size leash.”
David fought the urge to hyperventilate as the room fell silent. Even with his empathic abilities numbed, he could feel the mutual animosity cascading off the two unseen Guards. He didn’t need to see to know they were facing each other down in an almost primal battle of wills.
“You’re getting way too emotional about this JarHead.”
“You know, Henion, your opinion means absolutely nothing to me. I’m the officer in charge of this situation and I’d like to come out of this whole operation with my neck intact.”
“You want an opinion? I think you’re wigging out at shadows.”
“You’ve never seen a Sentinel in Blessed Protector Mode have you?”
“Of course I have… in the lab.”
“Yeah, controlled setting and all that. Let me clue you in on something, when Edwards and Ellison show up here, and believe me they will, there will be nothing controlled about it.”
“JarHead…”
“Officer Henion, you’re dismissed… get out.”
There was a pause, than the man’s voice shouted loudly enough to make David jump.
“GET OUT!”
The woman must have retreated, because the next time David heard her voice, it was once again muffled by distance. The man, JarHead, made a dismissive noise in response to whatever it was she had to say. There was the sound of a door opening and closing, than silence filled the room.
David remained frozen in place on the floor. He was tempted to open his eyes and take a look at the man who seemed to be defending him but the stars were still dancing behind his closed eye-lids, keeping him slightly nauseous.
“I’m not taking the restraints off your arms or legs but the middle strap is cut so you can sit up when you feel a little clearer.”
David licked his dry lips and tried to say thank you, but his throat felt raw and bruised. All he could produce was a pathetic little noise.
“Don’t go thanking me. You’re turning out to be a hell of a lot of trouble. Better just hope Doc thinks you’re worth it. Keep your eyes closed, it will help with the nausea”
With those wonderful words of comfort, David felt the air move as the man stood up and moved away from him. Again, he heard the door open and close, then the room was truly silent.
Keeping his eyes screwed firmly shut, David slowly rolled on his side
and then curled his knees up towards his chest. He wanted to wrap his arms around his folded legs and burrow
into a small ball but his hands were still bound behind his back. Ducking his head towards his chest, David
bit his lip hard, trying to stem the flood of tears threatening to overwhelm
him.
In seven years, he’d never been involuntarily separated from Edwards for any extended period of time. Even when one, or both of them had been hospitalized for one reason or another, they’d been within sight of each other. The most time he’d spent away from Edwards had been just recently, when he’d been working with Blair on the interior shielding, and even then he’d known where Edwards was. Had known that Edwards would come for him in a few hours.
~Just, have to keep faith in that Dave me lad. You know Neds will come. He just… needs to figure out where I am. ~
David tasted blood as he bit into the soft skin of his lip, stifled a whimper.
~Where
am I? ~
~Neds! ~
~~~~~Flash Back~~~~~~
David was about ready to pull his hair out. How someone, as disciplined as his Sentinel could be so haphazard about keeping track of his checking account baffled the young Guide.
“Neds, where are your duplicate checks?”
“Huh?” The Sentinel’s voice echoed from the bathroom, where he stood, finishing up with his shaving.
“The duplicate checks? Those pieces of carbon paper behind the checks, they record when you wrote the check, to whom, and for how much?”
“Oh, those. I shredded them.”
David blinked, stunned. He was sitting on the couch a lap desk perched on his right knee, surrounded by bank statements, a checkbook and other bills. Leaning a little to right, he used a mirror on the far wall to look in the open bathroom door.
“You shredded them?”
“Yeah. I kept tearing the damn things out with the checks. I didn’t want to risk one of them falling out of my checkbook and getting picked up by someone who knew how to use that sort of information, so I shredded them.”
David reached up and rubbed at the bridge of his nose with his middle finger, mentally reviewing a meditation mantra he’d learned from Blair.
“By any chance did you record the checks you wrote?” David asked hopefully.
“Mmm… in my notebook.”
“Which is…?”
“Breast pocket of my gray blazer.” Edwards answered readily.
David grumbled as he carefully extracted himself from the piles of paper.
“I heard that.”
David didn’t bother to respond to the bait. Finding the blazer in question, he dug out the battered, leather bound spiral notebook that Edwards used for taking notes at crime scenes. Flipping through the small book, David frowned, as he couldn’t locate anything that looked like a list of checks.
Walking up to the bathroom, he leaned on the doorframe.
“What page are they on?”
“Page?”
“Page.”
“Uh…”
At that exact moment, David spotted a hastily scrawled line cramped along the side of an autopsy description.
“’Groceries, $122.38.’ In with an autopsy… nice. When did you write this?”
“Well, what was the date of the autopsy?”
“It doesn’t say.”
“Oh, well what does it say?”
“I told you, groceries…”
“No, no no, I mean on the autopsy.”
“Oh, uh… single GSW, dorsal POE on left side…”
“Yeah, yeah the Wemp murder. That would have been the, ah… ninth.”
“Are they all like this?” David muttered hopelessly, flipping through the book and confirming his worst fears.
“No. I mean I’m sure I dated some of those notes, I would have had to.”
“Neds, damn it.” David tried to sound angry but laughter threaded its way in through his voice.
In the bathroom, shaving cream still on the lower half of his face, Edwards gave his young Guide a sympathetic look.
“I know, Kiddo. I try, I really do, it just slips my mind.”
“That’s why we got the duplicate checks, so you wouldn’t have to think about it.”
“I know, but…”
“You tore them out with the check and then shredded them.”
Edwards looked properly abashed.
David chuckled softly, reaching up to lightly swat his Sentinel’s broad shoulder with the notebook.
“I swear, what is it with Sentinels and paperwork? You don’t need Guides for your senses, you need us to keep your financial affairs straight.”
David moved back to the couch, carefully resettling himself in the middle of the paper chaos that represented their day-to-day lives.
“Well, it helps that I’m bonded to an aspiring bean counter.” Edwards voice was muffled as the Sentinel toweled the excess lather off his face.
“That was long ago Neds. Besides, I told you, I’d just declared my accounting major. I didn’t even have half the core classes completed.”
Edwards stepped out of the bathroom, the towel wrapped over his bare shoulders. Leaning against the wall, he looked at the top of his Guide’s bowed head.
“You should go back. To a real college this time, not a GDP run facsimile and get your degree.”
David paused in mid notation and looked up at his Sentinel. “Neds, we’ve talked about this before.”
“I know but we haven’t talked about it since coming to Cascade. With Sandburg at Rainer…”
“Neds…” David squirmed, shaking his head, dismissing the thought.
Edwards sighed softly. “All right, it was just a thought. I mean if you wanted to.”
David looked up sharply, his green eyes darkened with annoyance. “I don’t! I mean, really I appreciate the thought Neds but I’ve got enough on my plate and even if I got the degree, I can’t do anything with it. It’s a waste of money.”
Edwards took a couple of steps towards his agitated Guide. “It’s not a waste of money, David.”
David sucked in a quick breath, then slowly let it out, leaning back on the couch and looking up at his approaching Sentinel.
“It’s still a waste of time.”
“Not if it’s something you want.”
David sat silent for a moment, staring at a spot on the far wall. Then, he gave a little grin and swung his eyes back up to his Sentinel’s face.
“Hell Neds, keeping up with your finances are enough of a challenge.”
Edwards matched his Guide’s smile and gracefully backed off the subject. “Glad to know I’m keeping you occupied.”
“Mm, more than. However, you
should be worried about keeping Sentinel Doctor Harvey waiting. You’re going to be late… for your da-ate.”
David drawled out the last word in his best needling tone of voice. Edwards shot a mock glare at his grinning Guide.
“It is not a date.”
“Of course not. Its just lunch.”
“Exactly. We are meeting to discuss Clan business.”
“Just ‘business’?”
“David Sutherland.”
“Hmmm?”
“Does the word, ‘swirly’ mean anything to you?”
David wisely closed his mouth and lowered his eyes in a demure manner. Edwards watched his Guide warily for a moment before turning to head towards his bedroom.
“You know…” David began, grinning like a mad fiend. “Blair and I were reading up on Sentinel mating habits. Really primal stuff… lot of times first names were never exchan…oof!! ACK!”
The Guide’s voice broke off as he suddenly found himself pinned beneath
his much larger Sentinel, having his hair tousled
mercilessly as the larger man mock wrestled with his soul mate.
After thoroughly subduing his Guide, Edwards had finished getting ready for his non-date with Sentinel Harvey. If asked, Edwards could pinpoint the exact moment when he and the female Sentinel lost control of the situation. They had been discussing the future of a couple of unbonded Sentinels who were new to the Clan. Work obligations kept interrupting them and they had decided to meet at the end of the week for a Saturday lunch and a more focused discussion. At the time they had both naturally assumed that their Guides would accompany them.
Jon, who had been sitting at the break table with David, had looked up from his fruit salad and quickly explained that he needed to finish editing Harvey’s most recent medical paper. There had been a moment of silence as Jon’s toe found David’s shin with a pointed kick pulling the younger man’s attention away from the book he was reading. At first, David had looked at his fellow Guide Prime like he’d grown a third eye but he quickly caught the clue bus and came up with the fact that he needed to do the monthly bills.
Subtle they were not, but the point got across. Harvey and Edwards were going on a … non-date da-ate, together, alone.
David eventually got Edwards out the door only after the Sentinel had made a thorough sweep of his territory. Windows had been checked multiple times and David had had to promise to lock, every single lock on the door and not to answer the door for anyone, unless it was Ellison.
It had been almost comical when Edwards had stood outside the closed apartment door and waited, listening, until David had thrown every last bolt. The young Guide had been tempted to pound his fist on the door, just to let his Sentinel know that he was aware of what the older man was up to but even though Edwards deserved it, David couldn’t bring himself to cause his Sentinel even the minor discomfort. He understood the imperative behind the over-protective behavior.
Two hours had passed and David had finally reached a turning point in getting everything to balance in Edwards’ checkbook. He had a meditative piece of music on and was humming along with the steady drums, the music masking the first couple of knocks on the front door.
>Bam-Bam-Bam<
The series of knocks, which followed, carried clearly into the living room.
Blinking, David looked over at the clock and frowned. No one was expected. He didn’t think he had his music turned up loud enough to disturb anyone else in the building. Setting aside a small stack of bills, he stood up and cautiously approached the door.
>BAM-BAM-BAM<
The noise caused him to jump a little and he quickly closed the distance to the door, standing on tiptoe so he could look through the peephole.
Outside the door stood two people. A man and a woman, both dressed in GDP uniforms.
Biting his lip, David rocked back on his bare feet. He’d promised Edwards he wouldn’t open the door for anyone but Ellison. Given the events of the past few weeks, ever since the GDP had become aware of David’s secondary shielding, Edwards had been hovering on the edge of Blessed Protector Mode almost 24/7.
>BAM---BAM---BAM<
“Guide Sutherland? Open up, we know you’re home.” The male voice practically boomed through the door, making David jump again.
David took a step back from the door. Every instinct in his body told him not to open the door but he’d been trained in GDP protocol since pre-adolescents. A Guide never refused the request of a GDP officer. That had been one of the very first lessons driven home in his Guide training and it was conditioning that was very hard to break.
His hands shook as he reached for the locks. Leaving the chain latched, David pulled the door slightly open, peering out at the two officers.
“Yes?” He asked shyly.
“Guide Sutherland, I need you to open this door please.” The man spoke in a no-nonsense tone of voice.
“Ah, Sentinel Edwards is due home any moment, can this not wait?” Usually the GDP spoke about David, to Edwards.
“No, it can not. Please open the door.”
David started to push the door shut, uncertain himself whether he meant to release the chain or redo the locks. Either way, the choice was taken out of his hands. A sharp sting suddenly exploded on his exposed thigh, causing him to jump back, startled.
Looking down, he stared at the fletched end of a dart buried in his upper thigh. As he watched, the red faux feathers started to blur and the room suddenly felt unbearable hot. David was unconscious before he hit the floor.
~~~~~ End Flashback~~~~~
Whatever drug cocktail had been in that dart had done a number on David. His head was clearing a little but his vision was still messed up and he was desperately thirsty, but what was of greater concern, was the sensation of being wrapped up in yards of cotton wool.
David had read of drugs that were used by the GLA to help empaths tamp down their sensitivity. With the cobwebs starting to clear out of his mind, David figured that whatever else was in that dart, something to inhibit his empathic sensitivity was part of the mix.
With the drugs still running through his system, he was having a hard time getting his bearings. How long had it been since they’d taken him? David cautiously squirmed around until he could get into a sitting position. Leaning his head back against the wall of his cell, he tried to get his muzzy thoughts to move in a coherent pattern.
Okay Sutherland, think. What’s going on here? Well, besides the obvious.
David drew his legs up until he could hide his face behind his folded knees. Forcing himself to take deep, calming breaths, he fought to get some sort of perspective on his situation.
The GDP has you. Grabbed you, took you down like a rogue. I’ve never been rogue, why would they do this? Wait, I’m asking for logic out of the GDP? Okay, lets look at the facts Sutherland, heaven knows you’ve hung around Neds long enough to be able to do that.
Lifting his head, David perched his chin on his knee, staring across the room at the closed door. Eyes fixed on the only entrance into his cell, so that no one could enter without his seeing them, David let his inner eye wander over the facts at his disposal.
I’ve never given the GDP any reason to pick me up. Well, heck with Blair around, Karl, Jon, Tina and I could be tap dancing on the GDP’s heads and they wouldn’t notice us. Those who follow the rules are so leery of Ellison they treat us with kid gloves and the rest… well Sandburg is their primary focus. So, what changed the order of things? Well, let’s go with the obvious, my secondary shielding.
Okay,
so that is most likely the cause of this little incarceration. I haven’t done anything else that would
warrant so much as a second glance.
Okay, I’ve got a reason, now I need a ‘whom’. Who’s got me?
Commander
Slater said that the GDP would leave the research of the secondary shielding to
Sandburg. Slater promised Edwards that
the GDP would respect this as Clan business and stay out of it.
Okay
Sutherland, stop being naive. All this
means is that this is someone working independently of Slater. Like that’s never happened before.
David gave a discreet little snort to go along with his mental musing. He’d lost track of the number of times Blair had been promised something, only to have someone conveniently misplace the memo.
So, I could be held by just… wait a minute. What was it that female guard, Henion, said? ‘Doc’ she said ‘Doc’ Oh bother, what was the name of that doctor who wanted Neds to sign me over to the lab for a week so he could re-test my level and run a few EEGs? Gah, I thought Neds was going to put the man through Captain Falks’ window. What was his name?
David felt the
urge to press the heel of his palm to his forehead as if to squeeze the
information out of his head. Without
thinking, he tried to pull his right hand up and winced as his left shoulder
wrenched painfully. He’d completely
forgotten that his hands were tied behind his back.
Closing his
eyes tightly, the young Guide fought back tears of frustration. David couldn’t understand why he was being
treated like this. He’d never done
anything wrong.
He’d been
identified as a Guide at the age of thirteen.
Even at that intractable age, David had been a biddable young man and
the sudden upheaval in his life had done little to change his openly accepting
nature.
David had been
looking forward to a season of Little League, and instead he’d been taken off a
team he’d played on for years and sent to a summer session of GDP introduction.
Most of the
other young people in his group had given their GDP mentors a hard time. They’d been disgruntled at the change in
their lives and sullen at loosing their summer fun.
A few had been
terrified, filled with images of Guides living a life of complete servitude;
beaten, raped and completely at the mercy of their Sentinels.
David’s father,
Julian Sutherland, had not been thrilled at the news that his youngest son was
now an identified Guide. David’s three
elder siblings, two boys and a girl, were already well on their way to
fulfilling the Sutherland legacy. His
eldest brother Samuel was a corporate lawyer, one year away from making
partner. The second Sutherland child,
Edmund, had shipped out to the American Embassy in India two months before the
summer break had started, and David’s sister Juliette was reveling in her
summer internship at the DNC headquarters in Washington.
Julian
Sutherland had expected his youngest son to follow his mother’s footsteps onto
Wall Street. Katherine Sutherland had
been a leading Wall Street analyst before she’d walked away from her job to
raise her growing family. A case of
wing ice on a shuttle flight back from New York had turned Katherine into a
statistic before she could enjoy her youngest child’s first birthday. David had no memory of his mother but was
constantly told how much he resembled her.
David had grown
up knowing exactly what was expected of him.
For David, the news that he was a Guide and his future was now in the
hands of the GDP was not that big a deal.
His future had been in the hands of his grieving father for as long as
David could remember.
Then he’d
bonded to Edwards. While Edwards was a
man used to being in control, the Sentinel had always sought his Guide’s input
and opinion on matters that concerned them both. Edwards often made his own decisions all the same but he never
failed to really listen to David’s thoughts.
It was more then Julian Sutherland had ever bothered to do.
Gah, Sutherland, now is not the time to
be strolling down memory lane.
David gave his
fuzzy head a shake and leaned his shoulders back against the wall.
Neds will be looking for me. I know he will. I’ve just got to hang in there until he finds me. If it is that doctor... what was his name damn it? If it is that doctor, then he just wants to run some tests. Okay, you can do tests Sutherland. You can do tests till Neds gets here.
Caught up in
his mental pep talk, the opening of the cell door startled the young Guide and
he jumped. Despite his brave words to
himself, David felt his mouth go dry and his heart rate accelerate as two large
orderlies entered the room, followed by an older man with a queer sort of smile
on his face.
“Ah, good, he’s
awake and alert. Excellent, excellent,
I had no wish to add more drugs to his system.
I need the subject as natural as possible.”
Subject? David thought to himself, drawing further back
against the wall and staring at the man with an expression of growing horror.
“Jerry, let’s
get a blood sample. I want to compare
it to the sample on file and see how much of the drug he’s worked out of his
system already. Then we’ll form a time
line on when we can get started.”
“You want a
urine sample also Doc?”
“Hmm, oh yes,
yes, thank you for reminding me Jerry.”
“Sure thing
Doc. Len, give me a hand here, we’ll
get the urine sample first, then the blood.”
David glanced
rapidly between all three men. The
doctor was focused on a chart he’d brought in with him and wasn’t paying a bit
of attention to the other people in the room.
The horror he’d felt when they’d entered spiked sharply and David tried
to scoot back towards a corner of the room.
Len was on him in an instant, grabbing his shoulders and pushing him
down onto floor, using David’s own weight to pin his arms. Pain lanced through David’s shoulders and he
cried out, kicking with his legs, trying to roll over. The pressure on his shoulders just increased,
forcing him to lay flat or inflict more pain on himself.
The other man,
Jerry, was stripping the packaging off a large syringe. Expert fingers added a long needle to the
syringe and then he was turning to the Guide on the floor. Using his one arm to pin down David’s
trembling legs, he grabbed the bottom of David’s shirt and yanked it upwards,
then began to unbutton David’s jeans.
Confused and
hopelessly pinned, David lay still trying to figure out what Jerry was
doing. A flash of the horror that Blair
Sandburg had endured assaulted the young Guide and David bucked.
“Bah, keep him
still will you Len, I don’t want to miss.
I hate having to poke em twice.”
More pressure
came to bear on David’s upper torso and he had two choices, lay still or risk
dislocating his shoulders. Panting
heavily, he peered down his body at Jerry as the man started to squeeze points
in his abdomen.
Realization
dawned on him.
They were going
to draw the urine sample straight out of his bladder.
“NEDS!” David screamed desperately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clement ‘Neds’ Edwards was, to put it kindly, frantic.
He’d arrived home from a pleasant afternoon spent with his fellow Sentinel, exchanging Guide Handling 101 tips as much as anything. Edwards had been whistling, twirling his keys on the end of his finger and pondered stringing David along with a much more exciting tale, just to see how far the younger man would let himself be lead before he realized Edwards was funning with him.
Edwards could
still remember the sense of peace he’d felt as he turned the corner of his
hallway towards his apartment. He could
remember the way that peace was shattered in an instant, when he saw the
partially open door.
The partially
opened door had lead to minute pieces of fletching left behind from the
dart. The evidence of the dart had
alerted the panicked Sentinel to the presence of the unique ‘unscent’ that GDP
guards wore in the mistaken belief that a Sentinel wouldn’t be able to scent their presence. All of the evidence had lead to one conclusion.
David, his
Guide, was gone.
Taken.
Ripped from the
security of his Sentinel’s territory.
Taken.
Now, two and a half hours later, Edwards stood by the large window that dominated the office of Captain Simon Banks. Behind him, Ellison, Sandburg, Banks, and Dan Slater, were discussing the apparent GDP abduction of his Guide. Ellison had ordered Edwards away from the conference table after the agitated Sentinel’s second attempt to throttle Dan Slater.
“I’m sorry Jim. Yes, I agree that all the circumstantial evidence points towards the GDP, but there is nothing concrete that will justify a warrant. Even if we could get a warrant, which facility would we get the warrant for?”
Dan Slater sounded properly contrite about the situation but Edwards still had to bite his lips to keep from growling at the man.
Blair shot a quick look at the tense set of Edwards’ shoulders before turning his attention back to Slater.
“Dan, come on. You know David. Edwards had instructed David to open the door only for Jim. There is only one circumstance that would prompt a Guide to disobey a direction from his Sentinel; a GDP order.”
Simon Banks chuffed. “Sorry Blair, but that’s a hell of a statement coming from you.”
Blair responded to Simon’s humor with a tight grin.
“Yeah, I know, but we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about David, who is practically the poster child for the GDP’s image of a ‘proper’ Guide. David would never have disobeyed Edwards, unless his Sentinel was in visible danger, or the GDP overrode the order.”
Slater sighed and sat back in his chair.
“Blair, I hear what you’re saying and I agree but it still doesn’t change the fact that we have no hard evidence to tie the GDP to this, and even if we did, what facility do you think he’s at?”
“Vancouver.”
Edwards’ rough voice was so soft that the other three men in the room barely heard him.
Ellison turned in his chair and looked at Edwards’ haggard profile.
“Vancouver?”
Edwards took a deep breath and turned his head to face his clan leader directly.
“Doctor Francis Gelt. He wanted me to sign David over to his care for a couple of weeks, to retest his level. That was the official reason. Unofficially, he wanted to test David’s secondary shielding. He wasn’t too pleased with my ‘no’.”
Slater frowned. “How do you know…”
Edwards turned, snarling. “Because I do Slater! And if that isn’t a good enough answer for your ‘concrete evidence’ seeking heart then because he told me.”
Slater closed his mouth and looked down at the top of the table. His face was schooled to a noncommittal expression but Blair could read the hurt set in his shoulders.
Jim and Blair exchanged a quick glance before Jim stepped into the uncomfortable silence Edwards’ outburst had created.
“Okay. How do you know Vancouver?”
Edwards had turned back to the window.
“Part of the paperwork he needed me to sign involved transportation for David across the boarder. Hell, it wasn’t even a proper passport, it was like David was freight.” Edwards paused clenching his jaw so tightly Ellison was afraid he’d crack a tooth. “Anyway, I read the destination on the paperwork, it was for Vancouver, Canada.”
“Did you see an address?”
Edwards shook his head. “No, I didn’t go that far down into the paperwork.” He didn’t bother to add that he’d been too busy throwing the papers back in Dr. Gelt’s face to read further.
Slater chewed thoughtfully on his lower lip, darting a quick glance towards Edwards before starting out cautiously.
“Well, if it was Gelt then that fits. There is a secluded research center just north of Vancouver that Gelt is attached to.”
Blair bounced forward in his chair. “Alright then, we’ve got a who and a where and we know why. Let’s go.”
“Blair, it’s not that simple.” Slater cringed even as he spoke the words.
“Yes, it is.” The matter of fact answer was pure Dark Guide.
“We need to get GDP approval…”
“Screw GDP approval. Dan, they are illegally holding a Guide against his will and against the will of his Sentinel.”
“Blair, they won’t even let us through the gates without proper authorization.”
“Well then ‘you’ better get started.”
“Blair, it’s not that simple.”
“Yes Slater, it is that simple.” This time it was the Dark Sentinel who answered. “We can go in with or without GDP authorization, but we are going in.”
For the most part, Simon Banks had been staying out of the conversation. Matters pertaining to the Clan and the GDP usually left him feeling out of step and he wasn’t comfortable getting involved with something that was not his business. His personal opinion of the situation wasn’t important but he still had a professional obligation to uphold and that involved keeping the situation within its legal means.
Sitting forward he pinned Jim with his best ‘I am Captain, hear me
roar’ expression.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that Ellison because you are very close to making statements that would require official action on my part. If this is all circumstantial, you go barging in half-cocked and you’re wrong… you are in for a heap of legal trouble. You don’t know for certain that Sutherland is at this facility. This facility is not even in your jurisdiction, let alone your country. Now, calm down and do this by the numbers Jim.”
“By the numbers?!?” Edwards couldn’t contain his incredulous cry. “How long will that take? How many days do you want me to sit here, while my Guide is in the hands of a man who sees him as little more than a verbally proficient lab rat?”
“Edwards…” Slater began only to be interrupted.
“No! No ‘Edwards’. You didn’t see this Gelt. David isn’t a person to this man. He’s a curiosity, a paper topic. I will not tolerate sitting and waiting for talking heads to push papers while my Guide is being treated like…”
Edwards trailed off, visibly shaken by the mental images of the treatment that his gentle Guide was possibly enduring.
The pain flowing off Edwards was an almost tangible force. Blair scooted his chair back and stood up, crossing over to Edwards. Standing next to the Senior Sentinel Prime Apparent, he reached up and laid his hand against Edwards’ forearm, helping the frazzled Sentinel focus and regain control of his ragged emotions. Edwards was doing fairly well in controlling his senses, but the emotional stress he was under was threatening to cripple the frantic man.
Jim watched his Guide move to sooth his SIC. There was a tense moment where Jim feared that Edwards would push Blair away, but then the taller man exhaled a shuddering breath and turned towards his Senior Guide Prime, pressing his face into Blair’s shoulder and letting a Guide, not his own, help him.
Turning back, Jim fixed both Banks and Slater with a look that could freeze lava.
“Where is this facility, Slater?”
Jim’s tone brooked no nonsense.
“Approximately 50 miles northwest of the Vancouver city limits.”
Jim quickly did some mental figuring then looked down at his watch.
“We will be leaving Cascade for Vancouver in three hours. It will take us six hours to get to Vancouver. I plan to be at the gates of this facility by 2:00am tonight. You have until 1:59am to get us authorization, Dan. That gives you seven and a half hours. I suggest you get started.”
Slater studied Ellison’s expression for a moment, then nodded and stood, scooting his chair back out of the way.
“You can reach me on my cell. I’ll call you when I have word.”
Slater snatched up his coat and looked towards Edwards, who had straightened and stepped away from Sandburg. The Sentinel was regarding him with an expression that was part hostile and part desperate. The looked of an injured wild animal that isn’t sure he wants to trust, but knows there are very few options.
Slater gave Edwards a reassuring nod then turned and slipped out the door.
Edwards turned so he could face Jim, Simon, and Blair directly.
“Twelve hours.” He spoke softly.
Simon frowned and looked at Jim but it was Blair who answered Bank’s silent question.
“David will have been in Gelt’s control for close to twelve hours.”
“We don’t know…” Simon began but bit the words off as three pairs of ice-cold eyes landed on him. “All right, just stop glaring at me.”
Jim stood and walked over to his fellow Sentinel, talking in a low voice that was meant for the other man’s sensitive ears only.
“We’ll find him Edwards.”
“He’s never been held by the GDP, Jim. He’s never been leashed, he’s never…”
Jim laid his hand on Edwards’ shoulder, gripping it tightly. He knew what the other man was trying to say. Edwards had always protected David from the harsher realities of Guide life. Even when David had been beaten, Edwards had been close enough to respond immediately.
“I’ve never not been there Jim. I might have been late…”
“And that’s all you’ll be now Edwards... late. Just a little late, but you will be there.”
Edwards turned as if to pull away from Jim, but the taller man tightened his grip on his SIC’s shoulder.
“No, listen to me. I know what you’re afraid of. You’re afraid David won’t survive this. You’ve always been there. You’ve always protected him. But you have to trust your Guide Edwards.”
“This isn’t how it works Jim.”
“Yes, it is. You trust him, he trusts you. This is something beyond the control of you both but you have to keep reminding yourself that you ‘both’ will come through it, otherwise you are going to paralyze yourself with the ‘what ifs’ and then you’ll be no use to David what so ever.”
Blair had walked up beside his Sentinel as Jim spoke to Edwards and the young Guide nodded his agreement, his usually laughing blue eyes sober and serious.
“Jim’s right and David will be all right Edwards. He’s strong.”
Edwards gave Blair a skeptical look, his dark eyes full of confusion and automatic distrust. Blair knew that conversations of a personal nature did not come easily to the Boston Sentinel and he smiled reassuringly.
“I’m not feeding you a line Edwards. I’m telling you what I ‘know’ from working with David and his shielding. He is strong. You and he aren’t the Apparent pair just because of ‘your’ abilities. David is also equal to the task. Have some faith man.” Blair risked a small grim smile. “Hell, I’m willing to bet this Gelt is already regretting grabbing David.”
There was a pause, where Blair worried that Edwards wasn’t going to respond at all, but then the Sentinel gave a small snort and turned back towards the window, muttering darkly.
“He’s going to regret it a whole lot more when I get a hold of him.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It could safely be said that David was already regretting the whole experience. He was strapped down on a cold metal table, electrodes glued at different points to his skull, digging into his scalp where he lay on a couple of them. He was naked to the waist with more sensors taped down to his torso, keeping track of his heart rate, respiration and blood pressure.
The tests had started out simple enough. They had tested his level, compared it to whatever they had on file and then run a series of normal diagnostic tests: unpleasant but bearable.
Bearable until they graduated to more insidious tests.
It had started as a quick, sharp pain to his temple, like a sudden quick flash of a headache. Then there had been another, and another. They had then begun working on a series of electrical shocks, designed to map out the form and function of the secondary shielding.
David had been reduced to a sobbing mess by the time they finished with the battery of tests. He had been barely aware of the conversation, taking place between Gelt and his assistant over his writhing body.
“The shields don’t seem to be able to block out any sort of physical stimuli. Mark down that the secondary shielding seems to serve an emotional purpose only.”
‘No
SHIT!’ David caught himself thinking through the agony. ‘ I could have ‘told’ you that you sadistic
bastard. Why not just ‘ask’ me?’
“Do you want to continue on with the structural tests Doctor?”
“Hmm? Mmm, not at the moment. I want a chance to study this mapping we did. Also I want to approach those tests from a ground zero baseline. The subject is stressed and agitated, I don’t think we’d get an accurate reading if we proceeded at this point. Have the Guide taken back to his cell and fed.”
“Do you want him sedated?”
“Not unless he doesn’t sleep on his own. I want to keep him as drug free as possible.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
David kept his eyes screwed shut as the electrodes were plucked off his head, pulling out his hair. He felt the restraints holding down his legs being released and then his arms. He was transferred off the exam table onto a gurney and tied back down.
All the young Guide wanted to do was curl up in a ball and be left alone. His torso ached, his arms ached, his head was killing him, and his neck and back felt like a pretzel. Some small part of David’s mind told him he should open his eyes and try to get his bearings but he didn’t want to show that much awareness.
It’s not like I have any chance of escaping. I wouldn’t even know how to escape, or where to go.
David felt a tear track it’s way down his temple. It tickled, annoying him and he wanted to lift his hand and brush it away but his arms hadn’t been his to control since he woke up in this hellhole. Unable to perform the simple act of wiping away a tear frustrated the young Guide unbearably and he couldn’t take it.
Crying wordlessly, David threw himself with a strength that surprised even him, against the bindings on the gurney. The sudden, violent action surprised the orderlies and David tipped the gurney over, sending it and him crashing to the floor.
“What the hell!”
One of the orderlies shouted.
“GUARD! GUARD!”
David knew he should feel pain but he was simply too overwrought at that moment to feel anything except the desperate urge to be free. He wriggled wildly but the restraints holding him to the gurney barely budged. Lodged up against the wall, the gurney itself barely moved and in short order the young Guide exhausted himself. Hanging, uncomfortably to the side, David’s tense muscles suddenly relaxed and his body sagged against the hard metal railing of the over turned gurney.
Somewhere near his head there was movement. Blinking tear blurred eyes, he craned his head around to look up into the face of the GDP guard, JarHead.
“Hey. You done?” JarHead asked in a reasonable tone.
Miserable, David nodded, closing his eyes and letting his head hang.
“Yeah, kinda thought you might be. Fitz, get over here and help me get this gurney back up.”
Ears filled with the frantic rushing of blood as his adrenaline high wore off David heard only a muffled response. Then his world was being tilted back up on its axis and he was not longer hanging.
“I’ll take him back to his room.”
JarHead’s deep voice sounded from somewhere near David’s head and without waiting for a response the guard began to wheel the gurney on down the hall.
David turned his head to the side and pushed his face against the pillows trying to wipe the sticky tears off his temple. He rode along quietly, eyes closed, feeling the gurney take a couple of turns before it came to a stop. He heard a door open and then he was tugged along and back into his room.
Eyes closed, he felt JarHead moving around him, freeing his legs, then his arms, and finally the bands across his torso.
“Come on, we need to get the leash on.” The GDP guard’s voice was not unkind.
However, the word, ‘leash’ struck a new wave of terror through the battered young Guide and from somewhere; some well of determination David had never suspected he had, he found the strength to throw himself off the gurney. Landing awkwardly on the floor with a knee cracking momentum, he scuttled into a corner of the room and curled himself into as small a ball as he could manage.
JarHead watched the Guide’s quick retreat with a bemused expression, blinking a couple of times as he met the fearful but slightly defiant green eyed glance the younger man was shooting him overtop of his knees.
“Not too keen on this leash hmm?” JarHead kept his voice calm and reasonable, the way one might speak to a child, or a wild animal.
His voice raw from screaming, David just gave the guard a look that spoke volumes.
“Yeah, I gettcha.” JarHead hunkered down on his heels, threading the leash through his fingers in a pensive gesture.
“Listen, if it were up to me, no leash. I mean, little fellow like you… heh I don’t need a leash to handle the likes of you.”
David blinked, uncertain whether the guard was trying to be reassuring or insulting.
“However, lot of these other folks, well… for them the only good Guide is a leashed Guide and I don’t think you really want them getting their kicks putting this thing on you.”
The guards words just helped remind the Guide Prime of the near hopeless situation he was in and he whimpered softly, laying his head down on his knees.
“Hey now, it’s not so bad as all that. Just… well you gottah let me do my job.” JarHead’s rough voice held a certain tone that drew David’s eyes back up to his face.
Studying the guard for a long moment, David blinked a couple of times then blurted out without stopping to think about his words.
“Who did you know?”
JarHead rocked back on his heels as the Guide’s ravaged voice, like crushed velvet, washed across him, surprised not only by the fact that the Guide spoke, but the question.
“What are you talking about?”
David swallowed a little, trying to get some moisture down his dry throat.
“You … you lost somebody. Somebody you knew… somebody close.” David tilted his head rubbing the corner of his eyes against his knee but keeping his gaze focused on the GDP guard across from him. “Were they a Guide?”
JarHead’s face flushed and for a moment he looked murderous. Frightened, David drew further down on himself, his green-eyes wide and panicked. At the smaller man’s obvious terror, JarHead forced himself to relax the tight muscles of his face.
“Not a Guide, a Sentinel. My older sister.”
David didn’t ask the follow-up question. He was afraid to see that murderous look in the eyes of the one person who seemed to remember he was a person. He simply waited.
JarHead sat down, looping his arms loosely around his knees and threading the leash back and forth.
“Jennifer was identified pretty young, she was seventeen. It took her a couple of years to find a Guide, but Kelli was worth the wait. They were a hell of a combination let me tell you, spitfires, both of em.”
There was obvious brotherly pride in JarHead’s voice and a hint of something more.
“They worked together in Colorado, doing mountain rescue. Kelli got jumped by a group of youngsters who were just out to cause mischief. Jennifer was there in a jiff and managed to chase them off but Kelli sprained her ankle. Couple days later, there was an accident up on the mountain. Jennifer was dispatched and Kelli insisted on going with her. They were able to secure the victim but the mountain was unstable. On the way down an avalanche started. Long story short, Jen was able to get herself and the victim into a cave and out of the way but with her ankle… Kelli couldn’t move out of the way fast enough.”
JarHead paused tugging on the leash a couple of times in agitation.
“Jen… was…” He stopped and took a deep breath giving his head a sharp shake. “Jen took her own life a day before the funeral. We buried them both on the same day, side by side. It seemed the right thing to do… the only thing left to do.”
David was quiet as he just listened. Sometimes, you could encourage a person to talk just by not interrupting them and though his empathic abilities were battered, raw and almost painful, he could not miss the wistful surge of emotion coming off the man sitting across the room from him.
Emotion… and something else.
David had tried to keep the secondary shields locked up high and tight while they had been testing him but he was tired and the shields were starting to crumble. As JarHead rode the tide of his memories, David found himself reading more and more off the man.
There was something….
There was something….
There was…
“Oh!”
David’s sudden exclamation drew JarHead out of his thoughts and he frowned forbiddingly at the Guide.
“Oh, what Guide?”
The young Guide blinked at the ex-marine and he licked his lips, biting back the words on the tip of his tongue. The older man’s uncommon kindness, almost protectiveness towards him made sense all of a sudden.
JarHead was a latent, weak talent Sentinel.
It was unlikely that the Marine would ever develop the keen senses of a full-fledged Sentinel, but the genetic make up was there along with the primal instinct to “protect the Guide.”
The instinct, however, was almost subconscious at this point and David’s instincts told him that the ex-Marine, however kindly, would not take kindly to being told why he was feeling the urge to help a Guide.
Taking a deep breath, David considered fabricating a reason for his short outburst but he quickly discarded the idea. JarHead did not strike him as someone who appreciated being lied to. Instead he took a deep breath and slowly uncurled himself from the wall. Trembling from head to foot, his arms already aching from where he threw himself against the restraints of the gurney, skin chilled by the institutionalized air, David stretched out, stomach down, on the cold floor.
Folding his hands behind his back, he bit back a whimper as stiff muscles protested the action but presented himself to the GDP guard for leashing.
JarHead watched the younger man adopt the humiliating position with a quiet, painful dignity. Reaching for the gurney he grabbed the blanket off the top then set about the distasteful task of leashing up the Guide. Neatly folding the blanket around David’s bare torso and wrapping the leash in such a way to help hold the cloth in place.
“There. Not so bad eh? Also keep you from catching a cold.”
David couldn’t help a small grin. The words sounded just as unconvincing to JarHead as they did to David and he could tell the ex-Marine knew it.
“Yeah. Okay, point taken.”
JarHead carefully picked the Guide up and set him back against the wall. The GDP Guard set a cup of water with a straw within reach of the leashed man.
“There, a little water should help you feel better. I’ll be honest, I don’t know that it’s not drugged but I don’t think it is, Doc wants you as … ah…”
“Un-compromised specimen?”
JarHead had the grace to wince at David’s dry delivery.
“Well… yeah.” What else could the guard say?
David just closed his eyes and exhaled a breath that seemed to deflate his already small form.
JarHead stood, watching him for a moment then he hunkered back down in front of the Guide.
“Hey…”
He waited till David’s tired, frightened green eyes opened and looked at him.
“Right now, it’s your job to survive, and you need to do anything and everything you can to do your job.”
There was an intensity to JarHead as he spoke those words and David felt himself responding to the older man’s sheer determination of will. He still couldn’t bring himself to speak but after a couple of beats, he nodded.
JarHead waited till he saw that nod then he stood back up.
“Okay then. You hang in there. Try to get some rest. They want to wear you down, don’t let them.”
David swallowed as he tried to absorb what JarHead was telling him. There was a military hint to the older man’s mannerism and David couldn’t help thinking that Edwards would be saying the same things.
Edwards.
If he could just keep thinking about Neds, maybe he’d make it through this.
JarHead stared at the young Guide for another long minute, then he turned and took the gurney back out the door, leaving David alone with his thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only noise that came from the Ford Explorer was the hum of the tires over the road and the deep growl of the eight-cylinder engine as it speed along. Blair had relinquished the front seat to Edwards, knowing that the Boston Sentinel would find a little comfort in being able to track their progress towards Vancouver, exit by exit.
At the start of the trip, the young Guide had attempted conversation to pass the time and take Edward’s mind off the swarm of ‘what ifs’ that were probably running through the older man’s head at the moment. Each attempt had been politely responded to but the worried Sentinel hadn’t engaged the conversation further and eventually, Blair accepted that Edward’s thoughts were with David, and David alone.
A tense, watchful silence had fallen between the three men at that point and remained as the SUV continued northwards.
Edwards ticked off another exit as they swept past it, fifty miles closer but still over a hundred miles away. He closed his eyes as a set of headlights coming the other way sent a spike of pain through his head. Age, experience and focused work between himself and David in the past was helping him keep control on his senses even though it had been over fifteen hours since he’d bonded with his Guide.
Over fifteen hours since he’d felt the soothing mental touch or heard the dulcet, accented tones of his Guide. In the entirety of their partnership they had never gone longer then ten hours without bonding and had never been more than four hours out of each other’s eyesight. By this point Edwards clothes, washed in the special soap that David insisted on using, no matter what, were beginning to itch and while Blair’s excited voice was tolerable, Edwards had barely kept himself from snarling at Jim when the Senior Sentinel Prime had asked his Guide about an exit.
It hadn’t been what Jim asked that bothered Edwards, it had just been the grating quality of his clan leader’s normal deep, soft-spoken words. He’d started having trouble when they had been getting ready to leave. Lisa Paris had been arguing that this was a clan matter and as such the entire clan should be involved in retrieving David and punishing those who took him.
Edwards knew Ellison had considered bringing the whole clan in a hunting pack but in the end, it had been decided that Lisa and the remaining Sentinels of the Panther Clan would stay in Cascade. They would protect the tribe while Ellison, Sandburg and Edwards retrieved the Senior Guide Prime Apparent.
Edwards had turned on Lisa when she kept making a case for the entire clan going. In truth the female Sentinel hadn’t pushed the issue that far, but Edwards, already painfully aware of the time that had passed and the time still separating him from his Guide, had been dangerously unreasonable.
The Senior Sentinel Prime Apparent, known as a very cautious, self-controlled man had exhibited a level of agitation worthy of their Dark Sentinel clan leader. Only, Edwards had been without the balancing factor of his gentle Guide to soften the edges. It had taken Sandburg’s quick thinking and the Dark Guides no-nonsense attitude to settle the volatile Edwards.
‘Oh, am I going to be apologizing to Lisa for the next six months.’
Edwards thought to himself as he leaned his aching head against the cool glass of the Explorer’s passenger window.
Seated just behind his Sentinel, Blair watched Edwards closely trying to read as much of the older man’s body language as possible. If he had to, he knew he could connect with Edwards, get an accurate read on the man’s mental and emotional state, possibly leech off some of the distress he could see the man was feeling, but he didn’t want to pressure the fretful Sentinel into a connection.
He’d connected with Edwards a couple of times, since David was taken. First, when he and Jim had found their nearly zoned SIC sitting in the middle of his open doorway, staring with deadly intent at a minute piece of red fletching and the second time in Simon’s office. Though the Dark Guide had no problems handling even the overwrought emotions of the desperate Sentinel, Blair Sandburg felt his heart ache every time the depth of despair Edwards was feeling revealed itself to the Guide when they connected.
Edwards may have had a reputation as being emotionally distant from his Guide in public but in the privacy of his own mind Blair had come to learn, Edwards desperately needed the other half of his soul. Though the Senior Sentinel Prime Apparent accepted and allowed the guiding touch of his Senior Guide Prime to steady him, Blair could still ‘hear’ the older man’s distraught mental cries for ‘his’ Guide, for ‘his’ unique mate.
Sighing softly, Blair reached forward and ran his hand along Jim’s left shoulder, using the brief physical touch to help ground his own emotions. His Sentinel shifted his broad shoulders, returning the gesture without taking his hands off the wheel.
Usually, it was Blair or Jim who were in trouble with the GDP, the rest of their clan coming to their aid. Now the shoe was on the other foot and Blair didn’t like the sensation. He could feel the Dark Guide lurking in the recesses of his mind, furious at the interlopers who had forcefully kidnapped one of ‘his’ Guides, ‘his’ Beta.
He and Jim had made use of a free hour to bond, taking the time to settle and solidify their own connection before embarking on this journey. Within that bond, Blair had learned that the Dark Guide and the Dark Sentinel were of one mind in this matter.
This retrieval would be executed along with an object lesson.
No one was allowed to play free and easy with the Panther Clan and anyone foolish enough to try was going to pay a steep price for his or her foolishness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sound of a key in the lock drew David’s eyes to the door. It seemed too soon for another round of tests, but David realized he might have lost track of time. Bracing himself for more pain, he blinked in shock as JarHead, instead of the orderlies who normally fetched him for the Doc’s fun and games, came barreling into the room.
“Hey, good, you’re awake.” JarHead spoke in a low, urgent voice.
Figuring the man didn’t need an answer to the obvious David blinked at him again. Once the GDP guard had the door closed he moved quickly towards the leashed Guide. There was a bundle tucked under the man’s arm and David quirked a curious eyebrow at what looked like an oversized jacket.
He was opening his mouth to ask about the coat, when JarHead suddenly yanked him forward. David smothered a yelp of surprise as he felt the man begin to work the leash off of his wrists and waist.
“We need to get you out of here.”
JarHead answered the Guide’s unasked question. Throwing the leash across the small room, the guard pushed the bundle of clothes into David’s lap then stood up and moved back to the door.
“There are some hunting socks and boots in the coat. I know the boots won’t fit but you need to put them on, I think if you lace them up tightly they should work. Put the jacket on as well, it’s looking like snow.”
Stunned and confused David just sat there blinking owlishly at the guard. JarHead turned away from the door to find the Guide unmoving and he snapped firmly.
“Now, Guide.”
The whip crack, military tone pushed its way through David’s fogged brain and he shook himself into action. Putting on the socks, he discovered that the boots were at least two sizes too big, but he pulled the laces as tight as he could, wrapping them around the top of the boots to help secure the foot-ware in place. Scrabbling to his feet, he swayed a little as he stuffed his arms into the jacket. It threatened to dwarf him, but at least it was warm.
Stumbling the first couple of steps, David found himself, automatically, falling into position behind JarHead’s left shoulder.
The guard looked back as the Guide slipped into place. He frowned inwardly once again questioning his decision. It would mean the end of his career in the GDP, at least, but he had only to look into guileless green eyes to know that he couldn’t let Gelt and his group dispose of this young man standing patiently behind him.
“Alright, stick to me like I was your Sentinel. We’re going to get you out of here.”
JarHead thought about telling the Guide why he was breaking him out. He thought about explaining the conversation he overheard.
~~~~~FlashBack~~~~~
“What?? What do
you mean a warrant has been issued for this facility, how the hell did that
happen?!” Dr. Francis Gelt was nearly
purple with fury.
“Dan Slater has
a great deal of pull when he’s properly motivated and it would seem the Senior
Sentinel Prime of the Panther Clan can be a real motivating force, and if that
wasn’t enough, Jim Ellison’s father William Ellison can pull enough strings to
put an orchestra to shame. Face it
Frank, this was a bad idea from the start!”
“Alright…we get
rid of the Guide.”
~~~~~End FlashBack~~~~~
Instead he lowered his hand to doorknob and opened it a crack, peeking up and down the hall to make sure the coast was clear.
“Come on.”
Confident that the younger man was right behind him, JarHead lead them out of the small cell and to the right. David tried to walk quietly but the oversized boots seemed to want to clump along. As they made their way first down one hall then to the left and up another, David had to squash the urge to grasp a fist of the guard’s jacket, the way he would hold on to Edwards.
Without being aware of what he was doing, JarHead applied his limited Sentinel abilities to keep their progress as stealthy as possible. This mainly consisted of avoiding everyone, a not unchallenging task as David came to realize just how big the facility was and how populated. David found himself automatically sorting through a regular cacophony of emotional ‘noise’ pausing as different thoughts caught his attention.
JarHead reached back and tugged on the Guide’s jacket, careful not to actually touch the younger man directly.
“Hey, this way.” His whisper was a low growl, calling David back to the present.
The young Guide blushed and turned his attention away from whatever it was that called to him, following the guard through a door and down a short stairwell. Here they encountered a door that looked pretty well forgotten.
Taking a set a lock picks out of his pocket, JarHead hunkered down in front of the lock and got to work. The lock was as old as the door looked and it took him a bit of finagling and eventually a little bit of good ole spit, but he finally got the door open.
David reeled back a little as the cold night air blasted against his face. Still the scent of fresh air invigorated the Guide and he moved forward into the inky spill of night without urging from his older companion.
JarHead still hurried the Guide along in front of him. Here was the unknown part of the equation. He was taking a risk that the old door wasn’t tied back to the more modern security system. That hopefully he hadn’t just triggered the alarm with his actions. His plan was to follow the fence line that ran along the northern boarder of the facility to the west, then get them on the main road towards town. The ex-Marine knew it was a sketchy plan at best, but he was working on short notice and it was the best he could come up with.
Unfortunately, luck was not with them.
No sooner had they gotten halfway along the fence line then a soft ‘pat’ broke the night’s silence and the snow kicked up by his left foot.
JarHead looked over his shoulder and spied the red dot of a laser sight bearing down on them. He gave a low shout and dove forward throwing himself between the pinpoint light’s deadly aim and David.
Initially, it felt like some hothead had kidney punched him a couple of times, but JarHead knew that he was hit and hit bad. At least three bullets had embedded themselves in his body and one of those bullets had severed his spine, he could no longer feel his legs.
Beneath him, David wriggled trying to free himself of the crushing weight. JarHead didn’t know why, but even mortally wounded, his only thoughts were how to get David to safety. The GDP guard pushed himself awkwardly up and to the side, looking up at the electrified fence nearby. Pain was beginning to fog up his mind but he tried to remember what he’d been told about the fence, something about section G…
“Alright,
kill power to that part of the grid and we’ll get it fixed.”
Forcing his head around, JarHead looked towards the top of the fence.
‘D’
Free of the GDP guard’s weight, David got to his feet but wisely remained hunched over. Years of working with Neds taught him how to keep low and present as minimal a target as possible. His reaching hands were gently but firmly pushed aside by the wounded man.
“Don’t…” cough, “Don’t touch me.”
“But…” David began softly.
“This isn’t a ti…” cough, cough, “There isn’t time for ‘buts’. You need to get out of here.”
David automatically started to shake his head. He couldn’t imagine leaving the man behind. This man had helped him escape. Even at weak levels, he was still a Sentinel, and David couldn’t leave a Sentinel behind.
JarHead was adamant however. ‘Protect the Guide’ was singing through his veins, a subtly voiced refrain that was causing a desperate ache in his chest.
“I’m…” cough. “I can’t go any further and I’m done. You need to get out of here and away from me…so” cough, cough. “so the backlash doesn’t catch you, and they don’t catch you.”
“Sir…” David felt his eyes fill. He knew it was as much reaction to everything as to this relative stranger’s sacrifice, but he had to bite his lip to force the tears back.
Once again, JarHead had to stop himself to keep from touching the Guide. This time, David caught the motion and took the dying man’s reaching hand between his own. They only had a split second of communication, of connection.
Though a new experience for David, he could feel on an instinctual level an age old Guide’s response to the loss of a Sentinel of his clan. The touch, which should have been painful, or at least debilitating for the Guide, was instead an act of comfort and support given to a tribe member in his last moments.
For JarHead, it was as if the most amazingly peaceful sensation was running through his body. The sounds of the world were muted, the cold of the ground at his back warmed by the soul deep understanding he saw in the Guide’s green eyes and the comforting emotions coming from the younger man. In that moment, JarHead knew that despite the pain and the sacrifice, he’d done the right thing in the end, and now, it was time to rest.
David’s little smile was weak but genuine as he laid JarHead’s hand back across his chest, then with one last touch to the man’s face, he looked towards the fence.
The Guide’s quick glance rallied the dying ex-Marine to one last effort.
“Keep, going…” cough. “The way we were headed. Look for section “G”. There will be a tear in the fence and the electricity is off. Go into the woods and then try to keep going westward, you’ll come to the main road. Follow it to town… find your Sentinel. He’s coming for you.”
David swallowed tightly, looking back at JarHead with an expression of trepidation.
“I…”
“You can do it, Little One. Do it… for ‘him’.”
For Neds… he had to survive for Neds. David chewed on his lower lip for a minute then nodded and got to his feet, keeping his body low.
“Thank you.” It was all he could think to say.
“Get out of here.” Was rumbled softly back to him. A growl, so much like Neds’.
With one last little smile, David turned and started to scurry along the fence line in the direction JarHead indicated. By now, he could hear the sounds of people swarming towards where he and JarHead had been. He guessed they had been closing on their position all this time but that he hadn’t noticed them, being focused on JarHead.
Moving more quickly, a sense of dread knotting his throat, David was almost at a full run when he reached the tear in the fence. He thought he could hear heavy boots pounding just behind him as he wriggled through the tear in the fence and ducked into the dark woods. Though the woods were pitch black, the Guide was soon in full flight, crashing through the saplings and running blindly. Forgetting, at first, to head westward as he’d been told, instinct alone chasing him along.
The sound of a gunshot, echoing through the night drew David up short. Only his training with Blair allowed his mind to move quickly enough to recognize what the shot meant and erect weakened secondary shielding before the backlash of JarHead’s death crashed over him. David gave a soft cry, falling to the leaf littered ground and holding his head as the riot of emotions bombarded the already fragile shielding, threatening to overwhelm him.
David chanted to himself over and over again, desperately trying to hang on to his sense of identity, and more importantly, his consciousness.
As soon as the sound of rushing blood receded from his ears, David scampered back up to his feet. The shields he forged with Edwards were gone now and the drugs given to him by the GDP seemed to have flushed their way out of his system. With only the secondary shielding to buffer him from the world, David could sense the emotions of the other guards, lurking now at the edge of the woods, uncertain about entering the murky darkness that now sheltered the Guide.
Just their presence, what they represented, and the sheer terror that spiked through him at the idea of going back to Gelt, spurred David to panicked action. Turning northwards he took off through the woods as fast as he could manage through the dark and tangled underbrush.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only reason Dr. Francis Gelt survived the initial rush of Sentinel rage was because Jim Ellison got to him before Edwards could close the distance.
Ellison, Sandburg and Edwards had arrived two minutes behind Dan Slater who had taken one look at the faces of all three men and was silently thanking his decision to helicopter up to the facility to make up time.
All four men had descended on the guardhouse, warrant and attitude at the ready.
As arrogant as GDP guards could occasionally be, between the warrant, Slater, and Ellison, they had buckled like cheap plastic, no one getting between the four men and their destination; the testing wing.
Edwards had spotted Gelt almost immediately as the doctor was attempting to head towards a back exit from the facility. Hyper-aware of his SIC’s emotional state, Ellison had quickly located the cause of Edwards’ deep throated snarl and the Dark Sentinel had sprung loose, beating his SIC to the punch and grabbing Gelt by the lapels, driving the doctor up against a handy wall.
Ice cold, blue eyes froze Gelt’s words in his throat. The expression on Ellison’s face was more primal than reasonable and when the Dark Sentinel snarled out his request for ‘The Guide’, Gelt found himself wishing he had an answer for the man.
“Where is ‘The Guide?’”
“I don’t know.”
At that answer, Edwards shook off Blair’s restraining arm and crashed his fist into the wall right beside Gelt’s head, busting the plaster wall like a piñata.
Gelt yelled and ducked his head to the side. Ellison didn’t even bat an eyelash.
“WHERE IS ‘MY GUIDE?’ WHERE IS DAVID?”
Edward’s bellow echoed up and down the hall, drawing a few curious stares which were quickly quelled by Slater’s glare.
Trying to lean as far away from Edwards as possible, while still held by Ellison, Gelt gave his head a shake.
“I’m telling you the truth, I don’t know. A guard took him, about half an hour ago.”
Both Ellison and Edwards snarled in unison, both men shifting to inflict physical damage on the doctor but the Dark Guide’s voice cracked across the air, the force of Blair’s personality driving like a physical blow across all three men.
“HOLD!”
Gelt’s eyes shifted towards the Dark Guide. For a moment a light of academic interest brightened his eyes. It was quickly snuffed out by Ellison’s warning growl coupled with the pressure of the Dark Sentinel’s fist against doctor’s exposed throat.
Blair paced towards them, his blue eyes flashing dangerously.
“What do you mean a guard took him?” The Dark Guide’s voice was whisper soft but it left Gelt feeling ice cold.
“Just… just what I said. A guard, Jarvis Kedgewig took him from his room and…they left the building.”
The Dark Guide listened to Gelt closely, his head tilting to the side, the way a wolf might regard a prey item of interest.
“And…” Blair encouraged.
Gelt swallowed again. He was wondering if he could get these four men to believe that Jarvis had taken off with the Guide and they would redirect their focus elsewhere.
“Our people tracked them out towards the northern border of the facility.”
Edwards and Ellison exchanged a look before both Sentinels glanced back towards the Guide, seeking confirmation of the doctor’s words.
Blair nodded and Edwards was in motion immediately, heading towards an
Exit sign. Ellison turned and pushed
Gelt towards Slater.
“Keep an eye on ‘this.’” The Dark Sentinel snapped before collecting his Guide and heading after the now running Senior Sentinel Prime Apparent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The moon was completely blotted out by cloud cover when David finally stopped running. The young Guide was out of breath and his legs felt numb. He simply could not imagine taking another step. He swayed erratically as he drew to a halt next to a large tree. Reaching out, he tried to brace his hand against the bark but his knees still buckled from under him, dropping him to the leaf littered floor of the forest.
Once down, David couldn’t make himself get back up. He knew he needed to keep moving but all of a sudden it all seemed too much. Curling his knees up to his chest, he hid his face against his thighs, curling as much of his body as he could possibly manage, up into the oversized jacket JarHead had thrown over him.
JarHead.
David bit his lip as he felt the man’s death echo once more through his mind. The young Guide knew that even without his empathic ability, he would have felt guilty of the older man’s murder. He hadn’t pulled the trigger, but if JarHead hadn’t been so damn determined to get David out of that facility, he might still be alive.
David lifted his head and set his chin on his knees. The night was getting colder and there was a definite hint of snow in the air.
He gave his life getting me out of there and there’s a 90% chance I’m going to freeze to death before I ever get to civilization.
The young Guide chuckled mirthlessly.
Of all the things you taught me, Neds, why couldn’t basic woods survival have been one of them.
Closing his eyes, David lifted his head and perched his chin on his knees. The muscles in his legs were burning painfully and he knew he should get up and stretch, but he couldn’t seem to make himself move. He was just so tired.
I’ll just close my eyes for a minute, just a minute.
The soft hoot of an owl drew David’s head back up almost immediately. Blinking, blearily around he tried to pinpoint the position of the bird. It sounded so close.
The bird’s soft call echoed through the woods once again, this time drawing the young Guide’s attention to a small opening directly across the path from his position. Through the break in the underbrush, David could hear the soft rush of water mingling with the owl’s gentle calls.
Frowning, David rocked forward onto his hands and knees. He couldn’t remember having heard a river nearby when he’d been running through the woods earlier but he’d been so panicked it was possible he just hadn’t noticed. If it was indeed a river, he might be able to follow it to help. Wasn’t that what people in movies always had to do? If nothing else, he could at least get a drink of water. He was suddenly so thirsty.
Crawling on his hands and knees, David wriggled through the brush than struggled up to his feet. The owl hooted again and David thought he heard a hint of urgency coupled with approval in the bird’s call. Stumbling a little David ricocheted from sapling to sapling like an out of control pinball until he found himself on the bank of a river.
Moonlight shone brightly down from the night sky, illuminating the water below. The young Guide’s brows drew together in puzzlement. He was certain that heavy snow clouds were blocking out the moon and starlight; had he been asleep so long the cloud cover had passed?
A noise on the far side of the bank drew David’s attention and his eyes focused on three figures emerging from the trees.
A black panther, a large gray wolf and a snow leopard burst from the cover of the winter deadfall, each animal plowing to a halt as they drew up at the very edge of the river.
As he watched, the gray wolf pressed its front paws into the icy water, alternating between whining and growling. The panther lunged forward, snarling angrily before it grabbed the wolf by the scurf of the neck, drawing the canine back from the water’s edge.
Simultaneous to the actions of the wolf and panther, the snow leopard leapt around them, trying to jump into the water. David felt his heart jump in his throat as he watched the animal’s desperate actions. He could see shards of ice lacing the river’s banks.
Now, moving as one, the panther and wolf both leapt at the snow leopard, knocking the other cat down and back onto the safety of the bank before the animal could get into the water. The leopard screamed definitely and tried to get up but the panther closed its massive jaws around the other cat’s exposed throat, holding it down, gently but mercilessly.
Leaving his mate to handle the leopard, the gray wolf trotted along the edge of the riverbank, whining worriedly towards the water. David followed the wolf’s line of sight out into the water. Approximately half way across the river, swimming desperately for it’s life, David could see the dark head of another wolf.
David blinked.
Spirit Guides. Those are our Spirit Guides. Jim, Neds, Blair on the far bank and me in the water.
David swallowed, watching as the icy water washed over the swimming wolf’s head. The water logged animal battled back to the surface but it whimpered and started to get turned around.
‘No,
NO!’
David felt himself trying to yell the words, trying to get the wolf’s attention. If the animal got turned around, it would never make it back to the other shore, the water was too cold.
On the same side of the river where he stood, David heard the owl start hooting wildly, also trying to get the dark wolf’s attention. On the other side of the bank, the leopard cried out, terrified and the wolf turned back towards it’s mate but the current was strengthening, making it dangerous for the tired animal to attempt to return.
“Oh, Neds.”
David wanted to yell, ached to reassure, but his voice was little more than a whisper. He took a step closer to the edge of the riverbank and felt the icy water wash across the toes of his boots.
He caught a brief flash of the gray wolf wheeling up the far bank, nuzzling the leopard, attempting to calm the frantic cat, then fluffy wings gently battered his face and chest, pushing him back away from the river. This time, the owl’s hoot sounded right in his ear and he watched his Spirit Guide turn back towards himself and the owl.
The animal swam desperately, using the last of its strength in its battle against the cold and the current. As he watched, the wolf made it’s way to the riverbank through sheer strength of will, dragging it’s soaking wet body out of the river and up onto the shore.
The owl flew away from David and landed on a branch just above the black wolf. The exhausted canine lay flat out on its side, rib cage heaving.
From the far side of the river, David heard a low noise. Taking his eyes off his battered Spirit Guide, he looked at the gray wolf, ‘Blair’. The large gray alpha was watching his exhausted beta with intense, concerned eyes. Suddenly the gray wolf threw its head back and howled up towards the moon.
In his mind, David felt an echoing call.
David called back, even as he turned his head, watching his Spirit Guide lift it’s head and howl weakly in return.
The panther and the leopard’s deep throated screams echoed along with the twin howls coming from the two wolves but it was the owl’s soft hoot that sounded the loudest in the young Guide’s ear.
His head snapping up, David gasped as the soft tickle of snowflakes danced over his cheeks. He looked around, blinking wildly trying to orient himself. He was no longer near the bank of the river, could no longer see the Spirit Guides. The moon was no longer shinning down and a quick glance at the ground told him that snow had been falling for almost half an hour.
“Wha?”
David scrambled up to his feet, brushing snow off his legs and shoulders.
~Who,Who~
“Huh?”
The disoriented young Guide spun around, feeling the world tilt dizzily around him. His eyes focused on the dark form of a great horned owl, sitting at almost eye level.
David threw out a hand, bracing himself against the tree he’d been curled up against, staring at the owl. The owl stared calmly back.
Giving its fluffy breast a quick preen, the owl suddenly took wing and flew west a couple of trees before it alighted on a low branch, facing David.
~Who, Who~
David blinked.
After a long moment in which more snow gathered on the young man’s head, the owl seemed to sigh, and then it flew back to it’s original perch, right in front of David’s nose.
~Who. ~
David heard the echo of a wolf’s howl in the back of his mind, the canine call sounding almost like an answer to the owl.
This time, when the owl took wing and flew westward, David found he was moving to follow. It made no logical sense but he didn’t have any other options available to him. He couldn’t risk going back and with the snow starting, he had to keep moving or risk freezing to death.
“Neds.”
David whispered his Sentinel’s name softly into the silent night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the northern most edge of the facility two Sentinels and one Guide found the dead body of GDP guard Jarvis Kedgewig.
Jim knelt down beside the body, studying the multiple bullet wounds scattered across the man’s back and the tell tale single shot right between the eyes. Blair hunkered down on the other side of the body, his face pale but determined.
“Jim? Do you think he was the one who helped David escape?”
“Probably, Darwin.” Jim looked over his shoulder into the dark woods that stood beyond the electrified fence. “Those woods would provide excellent cover.”
Slowly approaching the fence, every muscle in his body taut, Edwards growled low in his throat.
“Only if you know how to take advantage of it. Otherwise…”
The Sentinel trailed off, his heart leaping into his throat. The woods were neither friend nor foe. They would test everyone with equal brutality and Edwards’ felt a flash of terror spike through him at the thought of his gentle Guide alone, in the cold and the dark, lost in the woods just beyond the fence.
Jim Ellison watched his SIC as the man began to pace frantically along the fence line. Only his own keen eyesight and Blair’s quick shout gave Jim the warning he needed to tackle Edwards to the ground a moment before the desperate Sentinel could throw himself at the electrified metal barrier.
The body of the dead GDP guard, carrying hints of ‘his’ Guide’s unique scent was throwing Edwards into a Blessed Protector black out. His Guide was alone and in danger and the desperate Sentinel was prepared to risk destroying himself in his attempt to get past the barrier. It ripped at Jim’s heart to hold the other man on the ground, listening to the normally calm and reserved Edwards frantically calling David’s name, over and over.
Once he was certain that Jim had Edwards in hand, Blair moved a few feet away from the two Sentinels, his eyes focused out into the woods. Unaffected by the distance that separated them from their missing clan member, the Senior Guide Prime ‘listened’ in a way neither Sentinel was capable of.
Blair, well aware of the dangers posed by the falling snow, cast himself into his own mind trying to reach for the subtle connection that seemed to tie the Senior Guide Prime of the Panther clan to his clan’s Guides.
Images from the spirit world came to him in quick flashes.
The river
The swimming wolf
A pale figure on the far riverbank
The call of an owl
The howl of a wolf
Blair rocked back on his heels blinking rapidly as he became aware of the snow falling on his upturned face.
Shaking his head, the young Guide crossed quickly to where his Sentinel held Edwards against the ground. Jim growled warningly at Blair, nervous at the idea of his Guide getting too close to the frantic Sentinel on the ground, but Blair ignored him and dropped to his knees beside Edwards.
Taking the stricken Sentinel’s face in his hands, Blair forced Edwards eyes to focus on his own.
“Edwards, Edwards. It’s all right. I ‘heard’ him. He’s all right.”
Edwards stared up at Blair for a moment, his dark eyes unfocused and confused but then his attention snapped back to the here and now and he relaxed under Jim’s hold.
“He’s all right?”
Blair nodded. “For the moment. He’s moving. West, back towards the road I think.”
Jim’s brows tucked together as he looked at his partner. “Chief?”
Blair broke eye contact with Edwards for a split second to look over at Jim. “I’ll explain later Big Guy. We still need to get to him.”
Jim studied his Guide’s face then nodded, rocking back on his heels and releasing Edwards’ shoulders.
The younger Sentinel had scrambled quickly to his feet. The primal instincts of Blessed Protector banked for the moment, he approached the electrified fence with the respect it deserved. Behind him, he heard his clan leaders getting to their feet, talking directions and walking back towards the building behind them. Unable to help himself, Edwards called, once, towards the dark woods.
“DAVID!”
It was no use. There were too many white noise generators scattered about the Vancouver facility. He could barely hear his own frantic heartbeat, let alone the soothing sound of his Guide’s heart.
“David.” Edwards whispered, his voice hitching on the two syllables of his Guide’s name.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deep in the woods, David paused looking back over his shoulder.
“Neds?” He whispered hopefully but there was no answering grumble.
David’s shoulders feel forward and he looked down at his feet. The snowfall was almost covering the tops of his boot. At the rate the snow was now coming down, David knew he had to soon either find shelter or find the road JarHead spoke of, or he’d be in trouble.
Hunkering down on his heels for a moment, the young Guide hid his face in his arms. He was so tired, the cold seemed to be sapping his strength and he just wanted to lie down and rest his eyes for a moment. Just for a moment, just for a quick moment.
~Who, Who!~
David’s head snapped up as the owl screeched at him.
“Oh, leave me alone!” The exhausted Guide snapped, sitting all the way down on his butt and covering his face with his hands.
“Leave me alone!”
For a moment, David thought the owl had taken his words to heart, and then suddenly powerful wings were buffeting him, beating against his head and shoulders.
David gave a yell and struggled to his feet, arms lashing at the bird, tangling with the wings.
“Damn you! Leave me…”
David’s voice trailed off as the bird flew up out of reach and he realized he was back on his feet. Gritting his teeth, the young Guide spun around, finding the bird sitting serenely in a pine tree, preening its wing feathers.
“All right, you made your point.”
David wrapped the jacket more tightly around his body, reoriented himself in the snowy landscape and started to walk westward again. At least he hoped it was westward.
The soft whisper of wings swept past him and his feathered guide was soon winging gracefully in front of him once more.
David sighed softly and gave a little humorless chuckle. He could even see his breath. He had no idea how he was finding his way
across the overgrown wood floor, but he just kept putting one foot in front of
the other, watching the owl. He had
gotten so turned around he had no idea if he was heading towards the road or
deeper into nowhere.
Walking along, David tracked the progression of time by the amount of snow falling on the ground. He was hopelessly lost at this point and he couldn’t help but wonder if he wouldn’t have been better off at the facility.
‘You know better than that Sutherland. JarHead didn’t break you out for fun. Chances were something bad was in the works. He said Neds was coming. If Gelt knew Neds and Ellison were on their way… oh.’
David tripped and winced as a branch smacked him in the face along with the realization that the very rescue mounted by his Sentinel and Clan leaders had probably also signed his death warrant. The thought made the young Guide frown and he looked up towards an evergreen where his feathered friend now sat perched, watching him.
“Okay… well that just ticks me off.”
David’s normally velvet smooth voice was still gravelly. The owl gave a hoot, sounding agreeable to the Guide’s sentiment.
“I’m not going to please that sadistic sonovabitch by dying out here.” David decided for himself, hugging his arms around his torso and looking up through the trees towards the falling snow.
The owl gave another agreeable hoot.
“Okay, that’s one decision out of the way. Now… how the hell am I going to accomplish this not dying thing?”
The owl was unhelpfully silent in response to that question. David gave the bird a half-hearted glare.
“Now you shut up?”
The owl serenely turned to preen its feathers.
David sighed heavily and rubbed his arms, continuing to talk to himself.
“Think Sutherland, think.”
“Blair...”
David bit his lower lip thoughtfully. He knew that Blair, Edwards and Ellison were looking for him. He’d felt Blair’s touch, granted it was while in connection with the spirit world but, if he could reach Blair, if he could reconnect with the spirit world and call to Blair, maybe, just maybe, the Senior Guide would hear him.
It was a long shot, hell an experiment really, but David didn’t see that he had many other options.
David looked at the owl as he slowly lowered himself down to his knees. His legs were already damn near numb so he barely felt the icy chill of the snow as it wrapped around his calves and knees.
His gaze still on the owl, David closed his eyes and whispered softly. “Here we go.”
Behind his closed eyes, David reached back into his own mind and carefully deconstructed pieces of the secondary shielding. Making himself focus on the silence around him, he soaked up the sense of peace and harmony that had fallen over the woods when the snow started to fall. Bit by bit, David exposed himself to the world around him, letting Nature’s touch cradle him as he consciously sought the spirit world.
It felt like someone was slowly turning up the sound on a stereo. Soft hints of noise at first, gradually building to greater clarity. The howl of a wolf, the call of large cats, other sounds that David associated with the members of his clan, called to him, buoyed him, and encouraged him.
Gasping, David’s eyes snapped open as every instinct he possessed urged him to reinstate his shielding. Once again, in his minds eye the snow that he knew blanketed the ground was gone, the moon shining brightly through the clouds and standing just before him was the battered black wolf.
The animals amazing green-gold eyes watched the young Guide with unfathomable intelligence. Though it’s coat was matted where bits of ice still clung to the fur and it bore the tell tale cuts and abrasions on it’s legs where it had been recently caught in a leg snare, it was calm and serene.
For a heartbeat, David and his Spirit Guide regarded each other half way between their two realities, then the wolf gave a small sneeze and sat back on it’s haunches. Lifting its muzzle towards the moonlight, its soft howl rose swiftly till it pierced the night air.
As his Spirit Guide’s voice called to the rest of the clan, David closed his eyes, feeling the cold of the snow against his legs as he cast his own mental call to the thought winds.
~Blair…
Neds… Blair!!~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“STOP!”
Blair shouted the command right in Jim’s ear, causing the startled Sentinel to fishtail the Explorer as he stood on the brake.
“What the hell, Junior?” Ellison’s snap came from puzzlement and a spike of fear.
Edwards, now clinging to the dashboard, also gave the Guide a perturbed glare.
Ignoring both of them, Blair scrambled out of the SUV, nearly stumbling to the road. He stood there, staring into the dark woods.
They had been traveling for almost half an hour, tracking their way slowly along the road studying the edge of the woods. Due to the rate of falling snow and the lack of visibility, the helicopter had been grounded and now they were just hoping for some sign that David had made his way to the road.
Blair felt a tug, an impulsion. Closing his eyes he felt the Dark Guide rise up and lead him halfway between the spirit world and the reality of the SUV at his back. He ‘heard’ the howling chorus of wolves, his own Spirit Guide and David’s.
~David?~
Blair laced the mental word with his hopeful emotions, throwing those emotions towards the woods.
Deep in the woods, David felt the answering brush of emotion, strong and undeniably Blair.
~Blair…
BLAIR~
Again, David laced his mental cry with his emotions. Fear. Hope. Trepidation. Longing.
Clinging to the door of the Explorer, Blair jumped in place.
“It’s him… it’s him! Edwards get over here, we’ve found him!!”
Edwards and Ellison exchanged a curious glance before both men were moving out of the truck. Ellison quickly took up position beside his partner, while Edwards trotted around the back of the SUV coming up beside the Dark Pair.
“Where is he Darwin?” Ellison asked in a low tone, watching Blair’s eyes dart back and forth as if searching the dark woods stretching out before them.
“There… he’s…. he’s near. I ‘heard’ him.” Blair continued his intense study of the woods for another minute before he turned his eyes towards Jim. “I think you can locate him physically Big Guy.”
Edwards’ eyes snapped towards Ellison and the Dark Sentinel gave his Guide a wary look.
“Chief…”
“No, you can do it. Scent, use scent, I’ll continue to call him.” As he spoke, Blair closed his hands around Jim’s forearm.
Looking down into the eager and hopeful blue eyes of his Guide, Jim could only nod. He exchanged a quick glance with Edwards, keenly aware of the other man’s need to believe in his clan leader’s ability to help find his missing Guide.
Laying his hand over Blair’s, Jim turned back to the woods and concentrated on filtering out everything. Turning back the dials on sight and touch, Jim focused on scent and sound, reaching through the still night air for some hint of David. The barest whiff of cedarwood, or sage, two scents he associated with his Senior Guide Prime Apparent or the slightly accelerated heart rate, which was normal for the young Guide. Something.
Deep in the woods, David felt a cold thrill wash through him, the hint of a brush of wind and then suddenly the black panther burst through the brush off to the side of the path. The large cat plowed to a sudden halt, it’s feral eyes seeming to glow in the night as it looked between the wolf and the Guide. Lowering it’s head, the panther touched it’s nose to the wolf, who crouched down in front of the cat, whining eagerly and bumping it’s muzzle against the panther’s jaw.
Taking one last sniff, the panther threw its head back and the scream that issued from the big cat’s throat tore through the night air, full of triumph.
“I’ve got him!” Jim exclaimed, charging forward and almost colliding with Edwards as the other Sentinel moved as well.
Squished between the two larger men, Blair made an impatient noise, pushing Jim forward and pulling Edwards back a step so all three of them could make their way down the roadside bank. Dialing up his sight, Jim led the three of them unerringly through the snow-covered wood, his larger form crashing through the branches and clearing a path for his Guide and fellow Sentinel.
Deep in the woods, David turned westward and shifted forward, as if to stand and close the distance to his clan, but a large black form inserted itself in front of him. The panther growled low, soft and affectionately at him as it bumped him with its broad head. The message was clear. He was to stay put.
Blinking, between one heartbeat and the next, David once again found himself on his knees, looking up at the snow as it fell on his face. He swayed back and forth, exhaustion, fear, hunger and the cold sapping the last of his strength. The part of him that had carried him this far in this strange, terrifying journey pushed David towards his feet. But, his legs were numb and that, combined with the sudden weakness that washed over him, kept the young Guide kneeling.
Somewhere, from the depth of the woods, the snow leopard screamed.
As the scream echoed through Edwards’ heart, the Sentinel put on a burst of speed and blew past his clan leaders. Some indefinable tie drew him on a straight path through the woods, until his overwhelmed senses were able to identify the beloved heartbeat of his Guide.
David.
A branch
slashed across Edwards’s face, cutting deep into his cheek as he burst past a
clump of saplings, landing on the scant trail his Guide had been unconsciously
following. Plowing to a stop, Edwards
grunted as Jim careened into his shoulder, Blair yelping as he in turn
ricocheted off his larger partner’s back.
The scent of
blood, coming from Edwards, drove the comforting scent of the Boston Guide out
of Jim’s nostrils and he reeled back a step, turning automatically towards his
own Guide for comfort. Blair responded
instinctively, running his hand across Jim’s upper arm.
Time stood
still in those first few moments. The
snow fell silently, the quiet broken only by the panting breath of the three
men. Edwards spun frantically back and
forth, looking up and down the trail and finally risking a zone out by dialing
up his sight, and was rewarded when he spotted a shadowy shape, kneeling on the
ground.
Standing at his
Sentinel’s shoulder, Blair Sandburg watched as, after such a headlong race
through the woods, Edwards now paced unhurriedly towards his Guide. The Boston Sentinel’s measured approach
puzzled the Senior Guide Prime of the Panther Clan. He could sense the intense eagerness rolling off Edwards, could
see the way lean muscles trembled with the need to dash forward and grab up the
Guide.
Yet Edwards
approached David with an eerie sort of calm.
Jim also
watched his SIC’s apparently strange behavior with a curious expression on his
face. He felt Blair grasp his arm in a
silent sort of question and he reached up to cover his Guide’s fingers with his
own hand as they bore silent witness to the events unfolding before them.
David’s
heartbeat now drummed rich and strong in Edward’s ears, echoing all the way
down into his soul. As he drew closer
he could see the individual snowflakes as they settled on his Guide’s upturned
face, watch them in the split seconds before they melted against David’s warm,
living skin.
Drawing to a
stop before his partner, Edwards stood silently, soaking up features he knew as
well as his own countenance, losing himself in the depths of impossibly green
eyes. Even though David knelt in front
of him, even though Edwards could hear his exhausted mate’s heartbeat, hear the
breaths David took, he still reached tentatively towards the younger man, as if
afraid he was an illusion, which disappear into the falling snow.
Laying his open
palm against the side of David’s face, instead of the apparition he still
feared the other man might be, Edwards felt the cool, slightly damp skin of his
Guide. The physical touch pushed a
shuddering breath out of the Sentinel, something almost akin to a sob.
The Guide,
kneeling in the cold snow, watched his Sentinel’s approach with dazed eyes,
still slightly connected to the spirit world.
It wasn’t until he felt the blessed warmth of Edward’s hand against his
cheek that David snapped fully back to himself.
“Neds.”
The name was a
breathless benediction, whispered in relief, instead of the angst-ridden
desperation of before. Closing his
eyes, David turned his head and pressed his lips against Edwards’ palm.
At that moment,
the eerie control broke.
Edwards sank
gracefully down to his knees, catching and rotating his Guide as the smaller
man collapsed against him. Wrapping his
other arm across David’s chest, the Sentinel pulled his partner snug up against
himself, back to chest, his own body curling down around his Guide even as he
settled the younger man against his thighs, holding David off the cold
ground. Pressing his face against the
younger man’s chilled neck, Edwards slid both arms around David’s chest,
embracing him in a grip just this side of savage.
As his Sentinel
pulled him against the warmth of his body, David let his head fall to the side
so his cheek was pressed against the older man’s temple. Seamlessly, effortlessly, the bond between
them established itself like the interlocking pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. It was so rare to unheard of for Edwards to
allow himself the comfort of the bond in ‘public’ but at that moment, it was as
natural a response as breathing. David
released the last broken vestiges of his secondary shielding and fell
desperately into the welcoming mental embrace of his partner.
Within the
bond, Edwards caught David and held him as close mentally as he did
physically. It wasn’t until he felt
that gentle warmth invade his soul that he realized just how lost he’d been
over the past hours without his Guide.
Shadows, Edwards wasn’t even aware of were dissipated like a morning
mist as David’s bright presence cast it’s light across the bond.
“David.” Edwards whispered into the peaceful silence
of the snowy night.
Ten feet away,
Jim and Blair, painfully aware of Edwards intensely private nature, turned away
as the stressed Sentinel and exhausted Guide reconnected. It was a moment to be shared only between
the Apparent pair.
Jim smiled down
at Blair, unwilling to break the silence that fell around them, but his eyes
bespoke of the pride he felt in Blair’s ability to help them pinpoint David’s
location. Wrapping his arm around his
partner’s shoulder, Jim pulled his Guide against his side in a relieved
embrace.
Blair felt the
same sort of excited relief. They had
their Clan back, safe and whole.
Edwards lost
track of time, as he often did when within the sanctuary of the bond. It was the trembling of his Guide that drew
the Sentinel back to his own mind and his own body. Opening his eyes, he swept a collection of snow off David’s knee
and with one last nuzzle into dark, damp curls, he lifted his head and drew
back.
“Hey, Kiddo.”
David turned
his face till he could meet his Sentinel’s warm brown eyes and he returned the
goofy smile.
“Hi, there.”
“Wanna go
home?”
“Yeah.”
Simple words
softly exchanged beneath looks of intense communication. Perfect understanding.
Edwards
gathered his Guide in his arms and powered up to his feet. The movement drew the attention of his Clan
leaders, both of whom turned back towards them.
David curled
quietly in his Sentinel’s embrace.
Laying his head against the older man’s shoulder, he closed his eyes and
let his awareness of his surroundings synchronize with his Sentinel.
Edwards said
nothing as he stepped past Jim and Blair, angling towards the hole he’d made in
the trees. His Guide was cold,
exhausted, and at that moment Edwards didn’t want to let himself dwell on what
else might be effecting the man in his arms.
There was so
much to be dealt with that it was almost overwhelming. For the immediate moment, there was nothing
more important than the fact that he had David back. That he held his Guide close to his heart, safe and whole.
The rest would
be dealt with accordingly.
Jim and Blair
watched their respective SICs as Edwards carried David back towards the SUV.
Blair, anxious
to check David out for himself, curbed the urge as he felt the Dark Guide ghost
across his psyche. Beside him, he felt
the answering touch of the Dark Sentinel coming off Jim.
“This isn’t
over.” Blair spoke in a low tone. His words both question and statement.
“No Chief, its
just got started, and on a whole new playing field.” Jim’s voice was a low growl.
Standing in the
dark woods, beneath the falling snow the leaders of the Panther Clan shared a
glance. The GDP had just upped the
stakes.
Their Clan had
been attacked…
And that was
intolerable.