Back to part 9

Who Says Timing Isn't Everything
by Sammi M.

"I hear that," Naomi replied holding the towel in her hand.

The younger Sandburg nearly jumped out of her skin when she realized she wasn't alone. "Ga, Mom. Scare somebody, why don't ya." She gained control of herself and climbed out the rest of the way. "I am so not use to people being in the bathroom with me."

"Don't be silly. I always use to wait for you so I could dry your hair. It was a part of our mother-daughter ritual."

"Yeah, when I was ten. It's been a while and I'm really out of practice." She sat at her makeup table and watched as a smiling Naomi came up behind her and started rubbing her hair vigorously. "That feels incredibly good. Nice to know some things never change."

The older woman stopped and bent over to give her daughter a small hug. "You knew no matter where either of us were, all you had to do was call and I would have been there to dry your hair, to give you a hug or to…"

"Sing me a lullaby?"

"Always, my Little One." Naomi released her and returned to the monumental task of drying what she affectionately referred to as "the mop". "Do you remember how we use to worry you'd never have any hair? I knew that year of cutting your hair all off every few months would come back to haunt us."

"First, the accident took most of it. Then, Leigh's beliefs stated my hair had to be shorn every three months, so we had to do that. Finally, the whole thing with Blair and letting him know he wasn't alone. Do you realize I was five before I knew what a full head of hair looked like?"

Happy laughter drifted from Naomi as she remembered, "And then it just grew and grew and *grew*. It was so amazing! I felt you and Blair were in some type of competition to see whose hair would grow the longest and the fastest. And you," she said as she tweaked the girl's nose, "went around telling everyone it was witchcraft. I had the hardest time convincing Mrs. Manelli, I wasn't going to carry off her little brown grandbabies."

"Hey, she had every reason to be frightened. You had already absconded with one; who was to say you wouldn't do it with four more?" Schuyler jumped up before her mother realized what she'd said and headed for her dressing room laughing all the way. "That woman was so-o-o gullible."

The elder Sandburg stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips and a slightly miffed look on her face. "She was Old Country; she couldn't help it. I just can't believe you started that rumour."

Yelling from the small room. "I didn't; Blair did. He told her you had taken him away from gypsies and I was saved from a wicked Rastafarian family. It stopped her from asking a lot of nosy questions, so I just went along." The girl walked out in a cute bell dress and smiled. "So, whadya think?"

"It's nice, but I'm not forgetting what you went along with. A Rastafarian family, indeed. Sometimes I wonder where that boy came up with things."

She raised her arms in easy surrender. "I have no idea how Blair's mind works. I was an innocent in most of his scenarios. I'm not even sure at that time I knew what they were when I went along with them. He was my big brother and I just followed his lead like any doting little sister."

Naomi shook her head and glanced at the room. "I like this place. It's a lot more spacey than the one in S.F." She laughed as her eyes fell on one particular item in the corner. "There's something else that hasn't changed. Blair Bear looks mighty happy in that corner."

"I think he likes it. B.B. has been looking for a place to call home and I do believe he's found it." Schuy quirked her head a bit to really look at the gigantic stuffed animal. "Mr. Todd did an excellent job on him. I can't tell where the stitches are at all."

They sobered. "It's just hard to believe Harriston is still around. I had hoped all of his bad karma would have caught up with him, but no such luck."

"You're a lot better person than I am; I don't want to leave it up to fate. After what he did to Hannah, I wouldn't mind being the bearer of his karmic justice."

"I'm no better. If it were up to me, I would gladly trade all of my good karma for an hour with him tied up and my having a dull knife. I've had to spend many an hour meditating to reach a modicum of peace whenever you told me you saw him."

Schuy reached over and hugged her. "I just love this mother-daughter bonding over how best to torture my tormentor." A quick glance at her watch had the girl jumping. "Oh, man. I told Jim to be here at seven. It's 6:55. We'd better get down there before Blair opens the door."

The women happily exited the room arm in arm and headed downstairs. No sooner had they reached the last steps when the doorbell rang. Schuyler crossed her fingers and headed in that direction.

Dressed in a coat and tie and carrying a bottle of wine *and* two bouquets of flowers, Jim beamed at his hostess when she opened the door. His spirits were high and he was determined to get the air clear tonight. As Schuyler motioned for him to enter, he decided to put on the charm. With a little bow, he gently lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. While she was still stunned, he handed her a bouquet and walked to Naomi where he performed the same ritual.

The elder Sandburg chuckled and bestowed on him the family smile, "Laying it on a bit thick, don't you think, Jim?"

"Not at all. I just wanted to let you ladies know how much I appreciated your setting aside your feelings to help Blair and I work this out."

Schuyler closed the door and joined them further in the room. "I must say, you impressed me. I was…"

"What is he doing here?" A voice demanded from the direction of the study.

All eyes turned to see Blair standing in the doorway with his arms crossed and glaring at them. Without missing a beat, his sister answered, "I invited him."

"Why? Hasn't he done enough or maybe Harriston forgot something and asked him to check it out for him."

"Blair David Sandburg! You take that back this minute or I promise you there will be Hades to pay." Naomi was livid. "You know I mean what I say!"

Jim's happiness had been short-lived as soon as he saw his Guide's hostility and heard the venom in the comment. His shoulders slumped as the weight of guilt once again took root within him and he realized this really hadn't been a good idea. "That's okay, Naomi. I shouldn't have come; I knew how he felt and in a lot of ways, he's right." He handed the bottle of wine to Schuyler. "Thanks for trying, kiddo. I hope this doesn't mess up the rest of the evening."

Before the older man could take a few steps, he was pulled up short by the sound of glass being thrown against a hard surface. He turned quickly and found the others staring at an enraged Schuyler. "No one leaves *my* home unless *I* tell them to go." She pointed at Jim, "I invited you because I knew you two would behave like stubborn asses and never resolve this on your own. You're so busy placing yourself in the role of villain you won't even accept none of this was your fault. You were doing your job. Not the one you get paid for, but the one you were created for. So, you picked the wrong person, your motives were still right." She turned to Blair. "There is no excuse for how you're behaving. The wrong was done to me, not you, and if I can forgive then you certainly have no right not to. I don't need you being righteously indignant for me; that's one area I can handle. What I do need is for you not to throw away something so wonderful it permeates everything you do. He's the other part of your soul and nothing that's happened here is worth destroying what you guys have.

"I don't want to be responsible for this stopping as well." Tears streamed down her face and her voice broke, "I can't handle the responsibility of knowing I caused you to lose this bond." Her eyes pleaded with Blair. "You've got to stop giving up things because of me. Ever since we were younger, I watched you sacrifice friendships and jobs and fun all because you wanted to protect me. I loved our family adventures even after what happened, but they stopped because you thought it would be too painful for me. You stopped hanging around Gary Copeland, your best friend, because he let me ride his bike and I fell going down that hill. It wasn't even his fault because I told him I could ride! There are so many instances like those and I'm in the middle of every one of them." Walking towards him. "Well, I'm sick of carrying around these burdens and I refuse to take on this one. If you want to end what you guys have, you do it because it's something *you* want to do; I'm sick of being the martyr for your causes."

Naomi gently took hold of the trembling figure and guided her towards the stairs. "I think you both have a lot to discuss. When you're ready to sit down to dinner like rational adults, call up and we *may* join you."

Neither man said a word as the women closed themselves off in one of the rooms. Both looked everywhere else except at each other. Finally, Blair left the room for a short while and returned with a broom, mop and dustpan. "Sweep or mop?"

"Sweep. I can see the glass better than you."

Quietly, they cleaned the mess left by the shattering bottle of wine. When they were both satisfied, they headed for the kitchen and the fridge. Ignoring the stares from the cooks, Blair reached in and pulled out two bottled waters. "I think we're going to need clear heads for this," the younger man explained. Ellison agreed and followed as his Guide led him to the formal dining room right off from the kitchen. Blair stopped for a moment and looked at the four place settings and then up at his partner. He continued until they found themselves in a room two floors high lined with books. "Welcome to the library. I thought this would be a good spot to hash things out since it's the farthest from the bedrooms and it has it's own exit."

"You mean *both* doors are hers? Well, I guess that explains why the neighbors weren't curious with all of the cops around." When no response was forthcoming, he shrugged and looked for something to hold his interest.

Blair claimed a high-backed chair and Jim walked around looking at the various books on the shelves. Neither acknowledged the other but it was obvious both were aware of where the other was in the room.

After Jim had been around twice on the ground level and was headed for the second, Blair decided enough was enough. "What was your real reason for not believing in Schuy?"

The older man stopped and closed his eyes glad his partner couldn't see him since his back was turned. He hated looking inside himself, but for his guide he'd try. "The evidence supported she was involved." Okay, so it wasn't a good effort.

"The truth, Jim. You owe me that at least."

*We owe each other, Chief.* "I … I guess I didn't want to lose you."

"Lose me? I don't understand."

"I'm not sure I do, but I'll try to explain," Jim paused. "From the time we partnered up, you turned to me if you needed something; I liked that. It made me feel like I was a big part of your life. Like I fit in somewhere. That's been the hardest thing for me – outside of your thesis subject, where did I belong in your world? Whenever you had to rely on me, I *knew*. I was your Blessed Protector. I was the guy you could call to get you out of trouble or to take care of you when you were sick or to cheer you up when things got to be too much. I was your partner in a jam, your friend in need, your dad when you got into something you shouldn't and your brother for all those other times in between. Outside of Naomi, I was your family."

Blair was dazed. He wasn't sure he'd ever heard in so many words how his Sentinel looked at their relationship. "So, what's changed?"

"Plain and simple – Schuyler Kaelleigh Symmonds Sandburg." A rueful smile lightened his features. "I was suddenly confronted with a sibling you'd never told me about and I saw the perfect little world I'd created shatter. Then, on top of that, you seemed to have a whole other life I'd never heard of. You and she had secrets I wasn't privy to and you didn't seem to want to tell me about them. I felt left out – like I didn't belong. I'd never experienced that between us. You're always an open book about everything, but this time you weren't letting me in." Jim sat on the sofa across from his friend. "You were keeping something major in your life away from me and that wasn't normal. So, when Lloyd showed up with his stuff, I took the bait – hook, line and sinker – because it suddenly explained why you weren't talking to me. It was easier for me to think you were trying to protect your sister from the police than … to accept you were shutting me out."

Blair shook his head in disbelief, "I never meant you to feel shut out. Oh, man. I'm sorry, Jim. … I told myself I was doing this for Schuy – wanting you to trust her for her – but, I was really testing you."

"Testing me?"

"You may never have felt shut out from anything in my life, but it's almost an everyday experience for me with yours. There are so many things that happened to you I had no clue about, yet I would drop whatever I was doing to follow you with the blind faith you wouldn't steer me wrong. I trusted you like the brother I never had and that's how I hoped you saw me – until I met Steven.

"You said finding out about Schuy hit you hard. Well, I think the same could be said about when I learned of the younger Ellison. You had a brother, but if we hadn't stumbled into that case, I would have never known. But, I still tried to make the best of it and I extended my trust of you onto him; I wouldn't believe he was capable of doing what the evidence said because I believed in *you*. I think I was expecting the same sort of faith for Schuyler that I had for Steven and when I didn't get it, I started distancing myself like I've done in the past." Remembering another time. "She was right, you know. When she was a lot younger, I would give up things all in her name. Oh, I still went on a few trips and I had several friends, but, if you compare the ones I gave up, I come off…"

Jim grinned as he cuffed his friend's ear, "As pathetic as your Blessed Protector. Man, we are a sorry pair." *Since I've come this far, I might as well go all the way.* "Chief, I know I don't say it enough … I'm not even sure I've ever said it, but you are very important in my life – probably the most important part. You've saved my sanity, watched my back, pulled me out of a few fires, and shown me what true brotherhood and love meant – *means*. No matter what happens in the future, that's never going to change. Like I told your sister, you are what makes me complete."

"Man, if I bawl, Schuy and Mom are not gonna let me live this down," Blair smiled as his eyes took on a watery film. "I don't know if I can top that, but I can tell you one thing: you're my brother in everything; no blood bond could be greater. You have nothing to fear about Schuy or any other siblings – NOT that I have any more, mind you – because you are just as much my family as she is and I won't allow anything to ever change that."

They stood and Blair, still a little unsure how the older man might react to a hug, held out his hand. Jim shook his head and pulled the younger man into a tight embrace and they stood that way, just enjoying their bond.

Finally, they pulled apart – each recognizing the strength in their embrace and their family. It could only get better … at least until the ladies razzed them about their earlier attitudes.

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Blair had called earlier in the morning and invited Jim to a movie with him and the rest of the family. Without caring what film was picked, an unbelievable situation as yet unheard of by anyone who knew him, he agreed and even offered to purchase the refreshments.

Nothing could bother him today. After their talk and then dinner where they both groveled for forgiveness from the Sandburg women, Blair had brought his clothes back to the loft and slept in his own bed. The Sentinel had practically begged his friend to play the tribal music, at a reasonable level of course, and against all previous precedents had fallen into a deep sleep from the one beat that didn't come from the speakers.

Simon ventured out of his office for what seemed like the umpteenth time and headed straight for his detective's desk. "Jim, I was thinking of taking Darryl out for dinner and a movie to celebrate the wit … umm … Joan being gone. I was wondering if you would like to join us?"

"Thanks for the offer, sir, but we're doing a little 'family bonding' tonight ourselves." He smiled his this-is-almost-better-than-surfing smile and tapped a button to send his report to print. "You guys are more than welcome to join us. I don't know what we're seeing, but I trust Schuy and Naomi to make sure it's not too Blairesque. I'm buying the refreshments," he added as an extra incentive.

"Mr. I'm-so-cheap-I-use-my-suped-up-vision-to-scour-for-pennies is paying for theatre refreshments? That's probably a better ticket than the movie. Count us in." The Captain chuckled as his best man glared at him. "So, I'm taking this to mean everything's back to normal, or whatever proximity Blair inhabits, in the Sandburg-Ellison homes?"

"Couldn't be better, sir. We cleared things up and set a few things straight and then sat down to a peaceful and wonderful dinner last night."

"Glad to hear it. I was getting worried you guys were going to start dividing up assets and friends and I was going to have put you on separate shifts even with you being partners. Nice to know it didn't go that far."

Jim was just about to make a smart comment when his phone rang. "I'll refrain from commenting until after I finish my call." He picked up the receiver, "Ellison. … What?" Simon knew something wasn't right as all of the colour drained from his friend's face. "Calm down, Schuy. … I know it doesn't look good, but you can't fall to pieces right now. … Where are you? … Okay, stay there until campus police can get to you. I'm on my way." He slammed down the phone and grabbed for his jacket.

Simon put out a hand to stop him from bolting as he asked, "What is it, Jim?"

A look of pure anguish covered the detective's face as he looked at his superior. "Schuy went to pick up Blair at the university and found his office trashed. There was a note. Harriston has him and he wants a trade."

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