And to Think It All Started with a Baseball by Sammi M.
He was impressed with the emotions between them once they had finally wound down. For maybe the thousandth time he wished he'd had that type of relationship with his father, but then he'd shrugged it off. At least he'd had a father no matter how bad the man had been at the role. He'd known he was there if he really needed him; Blair hadn't been that lucky.
Thoughts of what his friend had gone through stayed in his mind the rest of the night and had him tossing and turning. He wished he could have joined Schuy and Blair in the anthropologist's room, but he wasn't sure how much Simon had told his son about their arrangements. He'd told his captain about what he and his partner had to do when the girl's senses had gone haywire and the big man had seemed to understand. But, there was no telling how his son would react.
Everyone, except Schuy, knew the teenager had a slight crush on the girl and waking up to find her sharing a king-sized bed with two guys who *really* didn't have a blood tie to her could do horrible things to the boy's psyche. Even with knowing it was innocent and more for comfort than anything else, Jim could imagine how devastated Daryl would be.
So, he'd stayed in his room listening as the brother and sister talked their way through the fears this whole trip was bringing up. It had taken everything in him not to run to the other room when he heard his Guide breakdown when describing the looks on the faces of some of the kids at the concert. It tore him apart to hear how Blair had recognised his own face staring back at him when he stopped to help a little boy after his bandanna had flown off in the wind.
The Sandburgs had finally settled down around six in the morning and he had been able to take a small nap by tuning himself to their heartbeats. Still, it hadn't been enough and boy was he feeling it.
Judging by the quiet that filled the vehicle, no one had really slept. All during the trip, eyes would wander to the three seats that held the little family as they discussed old friends from their time living in the hospital community. Everyone was subdued at the thought of what might have been and they just wanted to sit back and enjoy basking in the presence of one who was so much apart of all of them.
As the RV was pulling up to the gate, Jim was able to catch another glance at the group of buildings that had been his friend's home for almost nine months.
There was nothing unique about the outside of the Centre, but to hear Blair talk about it, there had to be something spectacular about the place. His eyes did a quick scan of the grounds and he could easily make out various groups of people enjoying themselves. There were games being played and talks being given and the pool seemed alive with people enjoying the day. He shook his head in confusion. *This doesn't seem like any hospital I've ever seen. How can a place that deals with so much death be so alive?*
Blair had moved to the front of the RV to talk with the guard when they finally stopped. "Good morning. We're the Sandburg party."
The young woman efficiently moved back into her booth and returned with a clipboard in her hand. "Sandburg. Sand oh, here you are, but it says your Ceremony isn't till tomorrow."
Jim smiled as the Sandburg charm oozed forward. "I know, but I thought my group and I could spend the day checking out the place, so we wouldn't be in such a rush tomorrow. I didn't think it would be a problem. Is it?"
It must have worked because the girl returned the smile with her eyes twinkling. "Of course not, Mr. Sandburg. We welcome you and your group. If you'll just have your driver pull to the side of the building and park with the other large vehicles, you can follow the arrows to the entrance and someone will be more than happy to show you around. And, if you need any extra help, you can stop at one of the courtesy phones located all around and ask for Elenia."
Simon looked over at his friend as the younger man thanked the woman profusely and winked at her, "Like lambs to the slaughter."
"Table leg," the detective replied.
He had to avert his eyes when Schuy turned back with a wicked grin. Sometimes he still forgot her enhanced senses.
The driver followed the instructions and before long they found themselves in the lobby of something that looked more like a children's museum rather than a cancer hospital. The only way he could really tell someone hadn't played a trick on them was by the three Sandburg reactions. *Blair's almost humming with excitement and Naomi looks like she's returned to some type of haven. Schuyler looks afraid.* This puzzled him as he watched her carefully manoeuvre herself next to her brother and grasp his hand. *I wonder what that's about? Don't worry, Little Sis, I'll keep an eye out for you.*
As if she sensed his thoughts, the girl turned scared eyes toward him and gave him a wan smile. It startled him so much, he almost missed the young man walking up to them.
"Hello, I'm Jon and I've been assigned to take you to the Director's office right now and then to be your guide while you're here for the weekend." He walked directly to Blair and held out his hand, which the anthropologist took. "Welcome back, Mr. Sandburg."
"Uhh, thanks." Nervously. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you know who I was and why are we being escorted to the Director's office after only ten minutes on the premises?"
The smile never left the young man's face and seemed to increase with the questions. "All Ceremony participants have their files pulled complete with picture and family info. If you remember, when you first arrived here, yours and your mother and sister's picture was taken to be added to the wall. As soon as I was assigned to you, I familiarised myself with that photo." He chuckled. "With the exception of one thing, you pretty much look the same." Jon stepped back so that he could clearly see them all. "On the way up, I hope to learn all of your names and a little bit about you if you don't mind."
Jim kind of did mind and he wanted to know why his partner's question had been ignored. "I'll tell you what. I'll tell you about me if you explain why we're being taken to the Director's office."
The smile faltered just a bit. "I wish I could tell you, but I only know the request was made and I'm supposed to take you there. I'm sure everything will be explained once you're with her."
The small group decided to go ahead and follow the young man even though he seemed just as perplexed by the summons as the rest of them. Amazingly enough, he was able to convince the group to introduce themselves during the long trek to the head office. He even managed to get a chuckle out of Jim and Simon when he told a little joke at his family's expense.
By the time they reached the door, everyone was feeling comfortable with their guide's presence and he seemed to be almost bouncing with it. *Oh, no, not another one. I wonder if it's in the water here,* Jim thought as they were shown into the very nice and large office.
"Well, I'm going to leave you during your meeting and then meet back up with you after so that I can show you around the place. If you need anything before Dr. Chandler shows, just push that purple button on her desk and someone will be in to help you."
They watched as Jon left and suddenly the room took on a nervous air. Jim noticed rather quickly that most of it centred around his friend. "So, why do you think we're here, Chief?"
"What makes you think I'd know?"
Simon stopped looking at the books on the shelves embedded in the walls and turned back to the younger man. "This is your gig, Sandburg. I would think you'd know what's going to happen."
"This is as much a surprise to me as it is for you. There's no reason that I can think of that I'd be called to the Director's office moments after setting foot in the place. I didn't get into much while I was here."
Schuyler snorted. "I may have been young, but even I remember some of the stuff you pulled."
"Yeah, well, has anyone ever told you snorting is very unladylike?"
Naomi decided enough was enough. "All Sandburgs step back and assess the situation or we're going to participate in a little purging." She was quite happy to notice the closed mouths of her children as well as the slightly fearful looks. "That's better." She turned to eye her son. "Now, Blair David, what did you do?"
"Nothing, I promise!" He held out his hands in an almost pleading gesture. "Well, nothing that they should hold a seventeen year grudge about anyway." He swallowed nervously as all eyes turned focused on him. "Okay, so maybe they might want to have a few words with me about a certain cherry-bomb down the toilet incident that I might have been a part of " Seeing his Sentinel's intense gaze. "Okay, uh, instigated."
"I knew you had something to do with that but no one else would believe me!" A soft voice exclaimed from the doorway.
All eyes turned to see who spoke. A tall, elegant woman greeted them with a smile as Blair's forehead furrowed in remembrance. Her whole being glowed when he suddenly exclaimed, "Becky?"
"That's Dr. Rebecca Chandler to you." She finished entering the room and closed the door. "Do you realise how much trouble you caused with that toilet incident?" Tears filled her eyes as she moved closer to him and took him in a warm embrace that he returned. "And do you realise how many more times I'd endure it just to know that this is where we'd end up. You look so good, Kiddo!"
If there was any doubt in the group that this was definitely a person in Blair's good graces, the joy that radiated from the compact body dispelled it. "I thought you'd be long gone by now. I didn't think you'd still be here or else I would have asked about you." Stepping back to look at her. "And to think you got your Ph.D. and you're now Director? This is so great!"
"I know and to think you've got hair and lots of it!" She laughed as he turned a deep shade of red and looked at the two women right behind him. "All of you have hair." She held out her hands to them and they each took one. "Welcome back, Naomi, Schuyler. The place just hasn't been the same without you guys."
Naomi pulled the woman close and hugged her. "Boy, you are a sight for sore eyes. I can't believe you're here."
"I could say the same thing. You don't know how much I looked forward to the Sandburg family's return. You guys were my favourites because you always kept me laughing." She turned to the quiet young woman next to her. "Hey, Schuyler. I can't believe how much you've grown. Bet you'd have no problem reaching Pongo the Clown's stash today."
The girl looked mortified and it didn't help that almost everyone else in the group was now eyeing her with intense curiosity. "Oh god, I don't believe you still remember that!"
"Remember it? The picture's down on The Wall. I'll show it to you later." She looked around the room at all of the curious faces and addressed them, "Well, as you've heard, I'm Dr. Rebecca Chandler, but you're all on notice to call me Becky from here on out. I'm the Director of the Centre and I want to personally welcome you and hope that you'll enjoy your chance to participate in our Ceremony. For those of you wondering, I was Blair's counsellor when he was here and he was actually my first success story."
"Yeah, but I couldn't have done it without your help and Dr. Robyn! How is she? Do you still hear from her?"
"Trust me. More than I want to."
"I heard that!" Yet another voice exclaimed from the doorway. "If you weren't my best friend, I'd take serious umbrage." Her mouth fell open as she got her first look at the Sandburgs. "Omigod! You all have hair?"
Jim could only shake his head at Simon. "I don't know about you, but, after those reactions, this is a story I've gotta hear."
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