Who Says Timing Isn't Everything by Sammi M.Dinner had been interesting for Ellison. After the bomb had been dropped about them being siblings, Jim had spent most of his eating time trying to find the family resemblance. As far as he could tell, there was none. But, he couldn't shake the bond between the two. Judging by their joy at just being near one another, there was something there. How it equaled a familial tie would certainly be explained. He hoped.
He realized the room had grown quiet and turned to find he was the subject of two sets of eyes - one blue and the other hazel grey. "Ummm, is something wrong?"
Blair chuckled. "No, man. We were just wondering if you were okay. You've been pretty quiet all evening and Schuy was thinking it might have been the food."
"I tried to go easy on the spices. Blair had told me you were really sensitive to that kind of thing and I wanted you to enjoy your meal."
"The meal was fine." This and something the girl had said earlier really bothered the detective. Seemed like Blair had told her all about him, but he had never told him about the girl. Though he wasn't sure this was the right time, Jim decided he needed some answers. He braced himself and in true military fashion proceeded full speed ahead. "What has been bothering me has more to do with why you felt the need to break into my place rather than just wait for your …. *brother* to get home."
"Jim!"
Schuyler placed her hand on Blair's to calm him and shook her head. "It's okay, H.B. I understand where he's coming from." She faced the detective with a smile, but it was a smile backed in strength and steel. "I'm sorry I entered without your permission, but I was trying to surprise my brother with some of his favourite foods and I needed to get in. When I arrived, I decided to check out your security as a challenge." She shrugged. "It's just something I do. Didn't take me long to crack it and I had plenty of time to get everything ready." A glimmer of mischief returned to her eyes. "You know, you really should look into getting a better system. That one's pretty pathetic for a cop."
"Well, thank you, Madame Expert. You do realize I could arrest you for "checking out" my system and don't think I wouldn't just because your last name is Sandburg ... supposedly."
That was it! Blair had heard enough. " Look, Jim. I don't know what your problem is, but this is uncalled for. So she broke into the loft. She's not the first and she sure did a whole hell of a lot less damage than some of the others." He stood. "And if you have any questions about me and Schuyler, one simple call to Naomi would clear everything up." Blair walked to the phone and lifted the handset. "Shall I dial?"
Without conscious thought, Ellison reached out with his senses to get a feel for the situation. The girl - Schuyler - was upset but not in a devious sort of way; it was more worry over what was happening. Anger and hurt radiated off his partner as he clutched the phone, his eyes begging for what they had - what their friendship was all about. With a deep sigh, the Sentinel relented and sent the "okay" message through their bond. "Sorry, Chief. You can take the detective out of the precinct, but it's a bit harder to take the precinct out of the detective." He also stood and moved to stand beside his friend. "You don't have to call Naomi. I believe you."
Blair relaxed and let the older man take the phone out of his hand and return it to its cradle. He looked deeply into Jim's eyes and saw the trust and caring within. He smiled shakily and placed his hand on his friend's arm. "Thanks, Jim." With a little more strength, he managed to control his emotions and his breathing. "You really had me going there. I thought for sure I was going to have to tap into my grant money for bail." He chuckled at a recalled memory. "Not that it wouldn't be the first time where Snip's concerned."
"Blair David Sandburg! You're going to have the detective seriously reconsidering his decision *not* to arrest me if you're not careful. Before you start throwing out careless comments like that, maybe you should remember *why* I was in that situation in the first place. Blame your libido; Mom certainly did."
As the siblings glared at one another, Ellison shook himself out of the mini-zone he'd experienced when Schuyler had said "Mom". With just one word, the girl had managed to instill enough love and affection to leave no doubt of how she felt about Naomi. *And Naomi makes three. I don't know how, but these guys are a family,* he thought. *So, where does that leave me in Blair's life?* A slight shiver ran down his spine as that last phrase sunk in. He had naturally assumed he filled that type of void in his guide's life. Suddenly, he realized exactly how his friend might have felt when Steven returned to his life. Trying to dispel the depressing thoughts now filtering through his head, he tuned back into the arguing siblings.
"It wasn't my libido. Shara's parents wouldn't let her date but she could go to a movie with a bunch of her friends. It wasn't my fault that Naomi wanted me to watch you, and it wasn't my fault the older kids had been drinking and decided you'd be the perfect pawn in a practical joke. I was just as much a victim as you."
"Victim, my eye! While I was being terrorized by the thought that I was going up the river for the rest of my natural young life, you finally made it past first base in the back of the van. I saw the huge smile on your face when you and Naomi came to pick me up from the station."
"I was happy to know you were safe!"
"You were happy to know I hadn't been in the van listening and waiting to blackmail you!"
"Like h ..."
Jim decided it was time to intervene before blood was shed. "Children, children. Calm down. Whatever it was and whoever caused it, it was a long time ago. Give it a rest okay." He shook his head and fought a grin. They may not look alike, but they sure argued like siblings. "Now, I want you guys to clean up your messes so that we can spend a little quality time vegging in front of the idiot box."
Both Sandburgs stared at the man like he'd suddenly grown two heads but they followed his instructions and soon all of them were sitting comfortably on the couch watching a movie. As the night progressed, Jim noticed how Schuyler and Blair sort of gravitated toward each other. It was almost funny to watch the unchoreagraphed scene play out until finally the girl's head rested on her brother's lap. *There should be no doubt that Sandburg definitely has all the moves. I'd love to study some of them when he's on a date. The man can be smooth.* When he noticed the young people's eyes drooping, he glanced at the wall clock and realized it was late. *Well, time to get this show on the road.* Jim stood and stretched. "Okay, Juniors. Time for bed."
Blair stretched a bit making sure he didn't jostle the dozing girl. His eyes hadn't focused yet and his mind was still fuzzy so it was natural that he looked toward his Blessed Protector for guidance and direction. "What time is it? How much did we miss?"
"It's almost one and you missed the whole San Diego action sequence. Schuyler's been out since the kid saved her dad with her gymnastics." Jim stopped the tape and turned the television off leaving a soft glow to the room from the lamps scattered throughout. "Why don't you wake the princess and get her settled in your room." He smiled at his partner's surprised look. "It's too late and she's too out of it for her to try to make it wherever she's staying; *if* she even has a place to stay. As long as I don't find myself with another long-term roommate, she's welcome here until she has a place to crash."
A quiet voice interrupted before Blair could add anything, "It's just for a couple of nights. I've got a place lined up but it won't be ready for a few days." Schuyler sat up, stretched and kissed her brother's nose. "And *you* don't have to give up your room. If I sleep, I'll be perfectly fine here on the couch. Makes me feel like home no matter where I am."
"Are you sure, Snip?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." She looked up at Jim and set loose one of her brightest smiles. "Thanks for the offer. It means a lot."
"Think nothing of it. I was doing it more for myself anyway. This saved me from having to listen to Sandburg pace until he knew you were someplace safe and it also guaranteed I wouldn't have to go out and pull you away from any trouble just having the last name Sandburg would cause." Jim smiled when he heard the delighted laughter from the girl and headed for the stairs. "Well, I think I'm going to turn in. Chief, make sure you turn off the lights and clue her in on the rules before you hit the sack."
Blair reached the stairs and put his hand on his friends arm stopping him. "Okay, Jim ... and, thanks. It does mean a lot."
"Not a problem, Chief. But, I was serious about the rules thing. Don't forget. I would like some sleep before I'm due at the station." He resumed his trek up to his room and began to undress. Just as he was turning back his covers he heard a rather confused "Whadya mean no flushing after lights out?!". Jim climbed into bed and chuckled his way to sleep.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%Morning arrived way too soon for Ellison. Thanks to his many years of military and police service, his internal clock was set to an unbelievably early hour. On the off chance he could ignore his body, Blair had found him a clock that sent out a pulse wave rather than a sound alarm. With his senses, it was the best thing for him and it was just one more way that showed Blair's devotion to his sentinel.
No matter how he had awakened, it was still too close to the time he'd gone to bed. Reluctantly he stood and started gathering his things for his morning ablutions. A nice hot shower would go a long way in clearing out the fog that seemed to have settled in his head. It didn't take him long before he found himself on the main floor and facing an empty, but rumpled, sofa. No sounds came from the bathroom and the kitchen was obviously empty. He extended his senses and found two hearts beating in the soothing rhythm of sleep coming from Blair's room. Curious, Jim walked to the double doors and pushed on them gently. The sight that greeted his eyes had him feeling like he'd been played for the biggest fool. Wrapped in each other's arms, the two "siblings" slept the sleep of the fulfilled oblivious to their audience ... or their lack of clothes.
Acting on the obvious, Jim ventured further into the room and stopped beside the bed glaring at its occupants. "Sandburg! What the hell is going on?"
Startled, Blair and Schuyler shot straight up trying to discover the threat to their persons. Blair was the first to recover and assess the situation. Red suffused his face as he moved quickly to pull the girl's oversized T-shirt over her shoulder. "Calm down, Jim. It's not what you're thinking." The younger man stood in his boxers and shielded the girl from the other. "Schuy, why don't you go take a shower while I clear this up?" He watched her as she sent him a worried glance. "It'll be okay. Go on."
Schuyler hesitantly agreed as she climbed out of the bed, grabbed her pack and left the room. Neither man spoke until they heard the shower and were sure she was in. "Okay, Sandburg. I want answers. I want all of them and I want them as of yesterday."
"Fine. Let's just get out of here, okay?" They headed into the main room and Blair started folding the covers. "I haven't seen Schuy since her college graduation four years ago. Naomi and I flew out to see her and spend some time before she headed out to goodness knows what. We wrote some and called each other when we were in stable places, but there was no physical contact. That was pretty hard considering how close we'd been since we were little.
He finished with the covers and set them aside, taking a seat as he continued. "Schuy came to us when she was about 15 months old and I was seven. Her folks had been friends of Mom's for a long time. They had run together for years before Mom settled down with me and had made some pact to care for each other's children if something ever happened. Kael and Leigh were killed in an auto accident and Schuy was badly injured. She spent her first birthday in the hospital and by the time they released her, Naomi and a friend had already filed a petition to adopt. Kael had a will that stated custody was to be given to his "cousin," Naomi Sandburg. Since there were no other blood relatives and Mom was living the virtuous life *and* she had a lot of friends to back her and support her, the judge let the adoption go through even though it wasn't something they normally allowed." A smile grew as he remembered. "I was so excited. I'd grown up with a lot of mom's friends' kids, but I'd never had one around we could keep. I had a baby sister and it didn't matter how she'd come to be with us, she was all mine and I wasn't ever gonna let her go.
"We had the normal ups and downs like other families, but we knew as long as we had each other, we were okay. Both of us were accelerated, so school was always a breeze. A couple of years, we were home-schooled by one of Naomi's friends and that pushed us even further ahead. I finished high school pretty early and chose Rainier because it was close by and I wanted to keep an eye on the two of them. During summers, we would go all sorts of places on our little adventures and that's when I think we caught the wander bug. We stopped going places together after the summer when Schuy was thirteen, but we were still pretty close.
"You just don't understand, Jim. It's hard to explain how it felt to see her again. I missed her so much. We were tight - real tight."
"Okay, Chief. I get the tight part, but that still doesn't explain her being in your bed this morning with only a T-shirt and your boxers separating you."
"I have nightmares, Detective. Horrible, bone-chilling, so-scary-I-can't even-scream nightmares," Schuy explained as she left the bathroom drying her head with a towel. "Whenever I get really agitated about something, they resurface. There are only three things that help me function afterwards: Naomi rocking me and singing Beatles hits, my giant stuffed bear Blair bought me when I was thirteen after the shrink told them I needed it, and my brother holding me and daring the nightmares to come. I've been under some stress these last few weeks and they've come to me every night. Since Mom's in Ontario and my bear's in storage until my place is ready, I haven't had much sleep lately - until last night, that is. As soon as I awakened, I remembered where I was and headed to the one place where I knew they wouldn't bother me.
"As for our states of undress, I always sleep in an oversized tee and since Blair's been a boxers kind of guy for as long as I could remember, I'm assuming that's what he sleeps in. If it'll make you feel better, tonight, I'll sleep in pajamas, but I really kind of need my big brother right now."
Jim was stunned. He'd asked for answers and he'd definitely received them. All he could do was just stand there and watch as the two drifted towards each other yet again. He knew with how things had started, this was not going to be a run-of-the-mill visit. Nope, not by a long-shot.
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