On the Run - part 2

[dimity_blue]

Edwards shut the bathroom door behind him and held a finger to his lips to quiet the multitude of questions David had ready for him. Wrapping an arm around his Guide's shoulders, he steered him to the couch and sat him down.

"Well, what's up?" Edwards kept his voice quiet and knew David would do the same.

"Did Sentinel Ellison say why we can't tell anyone he's here?"

Edwards nodded. "Apparently, there's another Sentinel who's chasing him."

David shook his head. "I don't understand why that's a problem. Sentinel Ellison's the Senior Sentinel Prime of Cascade!"

"The other Sentinel is an international gun runner." As David's jaw dropped, Edwards could practically see the questions forming on the edge of his tongue. "I don't have any more details than that, David; we'll have to wait until Blair comes out. I should imagine that Ellison's worried about this other Sentinel finding out Blair's here, so we can't say a word about him to anyone."

David's eyes were as big as saucers, but he nodded. "I won't say anything." He frowned, a hint of distress colouring his scent and asked, "Do you think that's why he's homeless?"

"I don't think he's actually homeless but, if the other Sentinel knows where he lives, he won't be able to go home."

The frown deepened, as did the smell of David's unhappiness, as he snuggled closer to Edwards. "I'd hate to not be able to come home."

Edwards smiled and gave him a one-armed hug. "That'll never happen."

It was another twenty minutes before the quiet in the room was disrupted by the gurgling of the pipes as the bath began to empty. Lifting David from where he'd fallen asleep curled up against his side, Edwards laid him on the couch and tucked a cushion underneath his head. David would probably wake up once Blair was out of the bathroom.

Glancing at the clock, Edwards yawned and stretched, then headed towards the kitchen. He was positive Blair would appreciate a hot drink after his bath, and possibly something light to eat too.

~'~

Blair had expected to feel chilled once he got out of the bath, but the room was warm and the hot towels from the heated rail were bliss against his skin. He had definitely had enough of being cold.

Once he was dressed, he looked around the bathroom. If he had a choice, he'd really rather stay here than go out and face the Sentinel and Guide who were waiting for him. However, he didn't, so he opened the door and hopped out, his chin held high.

As he'd suspected would happen, the Sentinel was waiting for him.

"I'm just making some cocoa; would you like some?"

Blair nodded. "Great. Thanks, man."

"Good. Let's get you in the sitting room."

As Edwards moved to help him, Blair held up his hands hurriedly. "I can manage, thanks!"

There was a pause, then, "If you're sure."

"I'm sure." For a moment, Blair was positive that the Sentinel was going to sweep him off his feet and carry him into the sitting room, then he stepped back and gestured for Blair to precede him. Blair realised that that was all the concession he was going to get; obviously Edwards wasn't going to leave him alone in case he fell. He felt pretty stupid hopping, but his ankle wasn't up to walking and if it came down to a choice between hopping or being helped by the Sentinel, he'd take looking stupid any day of the week.

"Hey, you're out of the bathroom." David blinked sleepily at him over the back of the couch, then yawned widely.

Blair clenched his jaw as a massive yawn threatened to burst forth in return. When the urge was gone, he glanced at the clock and got a shock as he realised the time. Now that he was thoroughly warm, he could feel the tiredness creeping over him, and gazing at David, as the other Guide tried to wake himself up, wasn't helping. "I didn't realise it was so late. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. David's an early bird."

Edwards' hand on his elbow urged him towards one of the armchairs, and Blair sank into the seat with a sigh of relief, then blushed as Edwards fetched a low footstool and propped his ankle up on it. He couldn't remember the last time someone tried to coddle him this much; even Naomi -

"Blair, do you want anything to eat?"

Blair blinked up at Edwards as his mind fuzzily worked out what he'd been asked. "I'm good, thanks."

Edwards smiled. "I'll finish making the cocoa then."

He was back a few minutes later to hand out steaming mugs of cocoa, then settled back with his own next to David.

Blair watched them over the edge of his mug as he sipped. He'd never had a chance to see a Sentinel and Guide 'at home', as it were, and his anthropological mind was curious - well, as much as it could be with the intense need for sleep that was tugging at him.

David, despite there being a stranger in their home, was leaning cosily against his Sentinel, his eyes at half-mast, and his mug resting on his knee.

"Blair?"

Dragging his eyes from the other Guide, Blair looked at Edwards. "Hmm?" He blinked as the sleepiness of his voice occurred to him, and opened his mouth to try again.

"I was going to explain everything tonight, but I think you're too tired to take it in. I'll explain in the morning, okay?"

Blair nodded, even that movement an effort.

"Okay." Edwards smiled, apparently finding Blair's tiredness amusing. "We changed the beds this morning, so you can sleep in David's room." Putting his own mug down, he removed the mug from David's lax hands and stood up, one hand keeping his Guide in place. "I'll just put sleepyhead to bed, then show you where it is."

"Okay."

Blair watched, his eyes sliding further shut, as the Sentinel shook David's shoulder, then gave up and lifted his Guide from the couch. David muttered something, then put his head on Edwards' shoulder.

"It's all right, David, go back to sleep."

As Edwards carried David out, Blair blinked, determinedly forcing himself into a more awake state. There was no way he was having Edwards carry him to bed, although he didn't doubt that the muscular Sentinel could do it. Putting the mug on the coffee table, he pushed himself into a standing position. There was no way he'd fall asleep standing up.

If Edwards realised why Blair was standing when he returned, he didn't say a word, merely taking one of Blair's elbows in a firm grip and helping him down the hall. This time, Blair didn't bother protesting. If he'd tried to go anywhere on his own, he was positive he would have ended up flat on his face.

~'~

Jim threw back the covers and got out of bed, scratching at the back of his neck irritably. His nerves were stretched as taut as wire, and he knew why.

His Guide wasn't with him.

Annoyed at himself, the situation, and his Sentinel side, he kicked the bedside table then stalked off to shower.

If only the kid hadn't hurt his ankle, he could have had him here, safe at his side -

Jim shook his head. The kid was safer away from Matthews, Henderson and their kind and while Jim's Sentinel side was severely tempted to abandon the operation and go storming off to Edwards' territory to reclaim his Guide, he was also aware that getting this pipeline of drugs shut down was necessary to help protect the tribe, and his Guide.

And the sooner the supply was shut down, the sooner the Sentinel could get his Guide.

As the warm water rained down on him, the drops seemed to beat out a mocking rhythm and Jim hurriedly pulled himself back from the edge of a zone.

Damn, he hadn't zoned on water since he was first fully online. Fortunately, the water in his hot water tank had run out, and the sudden icy shower had brought him back.

Slamming the water off, Jim grabbed the towel and quickly dried himself off, then threw his clothes on. First, he'd phone Edwards to see if his Sentinel Prime had discovered the kid's name, then he'd phone Simon to arrange a meeting. The sooner he updated the police captain on the situation, the better.

~'~

Edwards paused as he passed the door to David's room and listened. As he'd thought, Blair was still asleep. The kid had been dead on his feet by the time they'd reached the bedroom, and hadn't even reacted to having his hands checked over again before being tucked in.

Now all Edwards had to do was to phone personnel to tell them he wouldn't be in until next week and let Dr. Harvey know that if the Clan needed anything, he was at home.

Thinking of the Clan reminded him that he needed to question Blair about this other Sentinel, the gun runner. The Clan would protect their Senior Sentinel and Senior Guide Prime, but the sooner this other Sentinel was out of the picture, the better it would be for all concerned.

However, he'd have to get Blair to trust him first. Hopefully, explaining that Cyrus-the-drug-dealer was actually Detective Jim Ellison, Senior Sentinel Prime of the Cascade Clan, would go a long way to reassuring the kid that he truly was safe.

~'~

"Jim, what aren't you telling me?" Simon watched as Jim glanced around again. The Sentinel was being even more cautious than usual, and Simon's Ellison-radar was pinging.

"I don't know what you're talking about, sir."

Looking his best detective up and down, Simon shook his head. Ellison was in pure deny-everything mode. "There's something going on that you're not telling me about. First of all, you call this meeting out of the blue, then you say the operation has to come to an end. I've never known you hurry an undercover op along before. What's going on?" Suddenly worried, he moved closer to his friend. "Are you in trouble? Do they suspect anything?"

Jim shook his head. "It's nothing like that, Simon."

"Then what is it?"

There was the sound of Jim grinding his teeth together, then, "I've found my Guide."

"What?!" Simon flinched at the loudness of his own voice, then repeated, much more quietly, "What? Jim, if he's a drug pusher -"

"He's nothing like that, sir! Henderson caught him trying to sneak into one of the warehouses to shelter. He's on the run."

"From the police?!" This just got better and better.

Jim shook his head. "From another Sentinel. I don't want him mentioned in any official reports, Simon - he has nothing to do with the case."

Simon nodded slowly. He didn't understand the Sentinel/Guide relationship but, having seen various Sentinels go primal when their Guides were threatened, he knew that anything that could remotely endanger the Guide was a bad idea. "That shouldn't be a problem, so long as you're sure he's not connected -"

"He's not."

Backing off at the growl in Jim's voice, Simon continued, "So, what is the problem? You're the Senior Sentinel Prime of Cascade. I don't see why another Sentinel would get in your way."

"The other Sentinel is a gun runner."

Simon's jaw dropped. What the hell was it with Ellison and his complications? "Is nothing ever easy for you? I swear, Ellison, you do this on purpose!"

"I didn't do this one on purpose, Simon. And I don't have any details."

There was a pause as Jim eyed him carefully, as if weighing him up. Just as Simon was about to point out that they'd been friends for years, and if that wasn't good enough, Ellison could take a running jump, Jim continued.

"Edwards is looking after him at the moment - and that's just between you and me."

"He called in this morning and took some personal days." Simon shrugged. "I assumed that David was sick."

Jim shook his head. "He's minding Blair for me. I asked him to find out what Blair knows about this other Sentinel."

"You want me to make enquiries?"

"Strictly on the QT."

"I can do that. I'll phone Edwards after I get back to the office." Getting back to the purpose of their meeting, Simon asked, "Are you any closer to finding out who the supplier is?"

"I don't know." Jim shrugged. "Benny might know, but Henderson keeps a close eye on him."

"I'm not surprised."

"Neither am I. If he says anything, I'll let you know."

"Okay. I'll look into that other matter." As Jim turned away, Simon added, "Be careful."

He was surprised at the smile on Jim's face as he glanced back. "Gotta be. I've got a Guide to bond with."

~'~

"He's what?!" Blair stared at the Sentinel and Guide on the other side of the table. This was great, just great. The drug dealing Cyrus of the night before was not a drug dealer - which was fine, Blair was happy about that. It was the fact that 'Cyrus' was Jim Ellison, a cop and the Senior Sentinel Prime of Cascade, which was concerning him.

If there was any scalp Alex would love to hang from her belt, it had to be that one.

Blair saw the look Edwards and David exchanged, and started talking before they could explain it to him again.

"I can't bond with him! Look...Alex, the gun runner who's after me? She'd just love to take down someone like him. She hates cops anyway, and a cop who's the number one Sentinel in Cascade -"

"Calm down, Blair." Edwards sounded reassuring, but he obviously had no idea who they'd be dealing with.

"You don't get it, man! Alex won't think twice about killing him and if he bonds with me, he's a dead man." Blair looked at them despairingly. They were so convinced of their Clan's ability to defend their Senior Prime that they weren't about to listen to him.

"Everything will be all right, Blair." Edwards grabbed his hand, his thumb rubbing across the back of it, and Blair felt the reassurance and protection the Sentinel was projecting to him. "We can stop Alex. But you need to tell us everything you know about her."

Pulling his hand free, Blair folded his arms and thought it over. It couldn't do any harm to tell them what he knew. Maybe they could stop her - they were cops, after all; they had to be interested in arresting her because of her weapons trafficking, and the same went for the rest of the Cascade police force. Taking a deep breath, he made up his mind; he'd tell them everything he knew because he really had nothing to lose by co-operating. And if they couldn't stop her? Well, he'd escaped from one Sentinel before - a psycho one at that. How difficult could it be to avoid bonding with this one?

~'~

"Hey, Cyrus."

Jim glanced up as Benny came up to him. "Hey, Benny."

"I - I wanted to apologise for last night." He sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "I was a bit out of it an' I uh..." He shrugged, then bounced on the spot a little. "I can't believe I accused ya of bein' a cop. I mean, ya saved my life, right?" He rubbed his nose on his sleeve again, then tucked his hands into his pockets. If he was doing it in an attempt to stop fidgeting, it failed.

"You all right?" Jim looked at him in concern. There was an unhealthy sheen to the kid's face.

"Yeah!" Benny rubbed his hands on the sides of his jeans, then tucked them back into his pockets. "Carl told me to lay off the stuff until we've finished makin' this deal with you." He grinned. "If we can go national, we'll be big, man!" His grin faded. "I - I mean, I don't wanna screw up Carl's chances here, ya know? Ya - ya wouldn't go makin' a deal with someone else just 'cause o' what I did, would ya, Cyrus?"

Jim shook his head. "No, Benny. I'm not going to drop Carl because of last night."

"Good." Benny's unlovely smile appeared for a moment, then disappeared as he leaned in to murmur, "Ya know, I can kinda see Carl's point. I was out of it last night, and this is serious business, ya know?"

"I know, Benny." Jim ignored the urge to lean back until Benny's breath was out of his face, instead turning down his sense of smell.

"But!" Benny straightened up, much to Jim's relief, and waved a finger in his face instead. "I am the one who made contact with the man first, so Carl should know that I'm not gonna screw this up for him. He's...he's just bein' a prick." With that, he nodded, then fidgeted his way across the warehouse to where the bags of stuff lay, all ready to be shipped off to Jim's 'extensive contacts'.

Jim watched him stroke a bag lovingly, the longing evident in every fibre of his being. It looked like Jim was right and Benny was the easiest way to find out who this 'man' was.

Assuming Jim could get the information from him before Benny's need for drugs overcame whatever common sense he had left.

Part 3.